Art of the cover is from the amazing artist Ceejindeed.
*
In the next couple of hours, Heat got to see a side of you he hadn't imagined before.
Of course he hadn't known you for long, but he used to think about you as a restless, chaotic person. Now, looking at you taking your time inspecting each stand, he realised he should have known better.
You were a sniper, after all, someone who doesn't rush into brawls, but instead stays steady and chooses the right moment. So it was always right there, that certain stillness inside you, below all the aggressiveness and the insecurities.
«Heat? You awake?»
The pirate blinked at you.
«Sure. You didn't take-- ahem, buy anything?»
After the time you spent looking at the accessories made out of shells and other sea creatures, it was a little surprising. Then it occurred to him.
«Oh, wait, you don't have any money.»
His eyes flicked to the crowd, already scanning for a target to punch and rob when you chuckled, tugging his slacks to catch his attention.
«Hold on, big guy.»
Heat turned to you to see a small bag bouncing in your hand and your signature crooked smile.
«When did you get that?» he asked, frowning lightly.
You shrugged, the bag disappearing inside your long jacket.
«The place is filled with pirates, and I'm smaller than most of them.»
«I didn't think you would be okay with stealing.»
You scoffed, a pout suddenly puffing your cheeks.
«This money was stolen already. They're mine as much as they were theirs.»
«Then why didn't you use them?»
«What for? Those trinkets would look ridiculous on me. Besides, I prefer to spend this on food. Hey, takoyaki!»
Heat watched you spring to another stand, cutting your way through the little crowd and enthusiastically placing your order.
The rest of the morning proceeded pretty much in the same way, with you dragging Heat around form a food post to another. He didn't seem to mind anyway, you could even guess his slight amusement right below that ever-sad expression of his.
Plus, he was kinda handy. People recognised him as member of the Kid Pirates and decided to let you alone.
For the most part.
«Oi, Heat of the Kid Pirates!»
You were munching at an octopus skewer when the coarse yell reached you, making you both turn.
Two tall pirates stood in the middle of the alley, dark cloaks draped on them, the cowls projecting a shadow over their wicked grins.
Magician's men.
Heat's face didn't falter as his sullen eyes met them.
«What's with that tiny guy you're walking around?» one laughed.
The blue-haired man shifted so he could properly face the two as they approached. The people around seemed to sense the tension, because they stepped back, partially clearing the street.
«Look at you, gay mask.» one of the pirates sneered, stopping a couple of feet from you «Are you really part of the Kid Pirates? Your crew is falling low.»
Without losing eye contact with him, you bit down another piece of octopus and slowly chewed it.
His smirk twitched it irritation.
«Did you fucking hear what I said?»
«Oi.» the other one faced Heat «Is your little bitch deaf or something?»
Heat let out a sigh that clearly meant "not this shit again". It almost made you chuckle.
«Hey, watch your tongue.» you grunted, pointing your stick at him «He's in a committed relationship!»
Heat's eyes dropped on you with a spark of alarm.
«Hum, Koto... something.»
You looked up at him with a grimace.
«What?»
«You promised.»
Your lips curled.
«But they started it!»
«I know, I know.» he breathed, pressing a hand on your shoulder and pushing you back lightly «Just let me deal with them, okay?»
«Oi, oi, you fuckers, don't you dare ignore u–»
The pirate never got to finish his sentence.
Heat turned his head and the next thing you saw was a bundle of flames raging out of his mouth and enveloping the two men.
You jumped away with a gasp, and so did the rest of the crowd.
For the next few instants, you couldn't bring to look away as you watched the bodies writhing and dying in the fire, horrible screams crackling through it.
When Heat closed his mouth, the black remains dropped on the dusty street.
Your wide eyes were still staring at them when he grabbed your arm and shook you delicately.
«Er... I don't remember your fake name.»
You slowly raised your gaze to him.
«Is this how you deal with things?»
«Well, pretty much.»
«I... am not sure it's much better than my way.»
He huffed, one hand crawling up to mess with his hair, like he did when he felt slightly uncomfortable.
«Hum... it's faster, and less messy.»
You blinked at the remains.
«If you say so, big guy.»
Oddly enough, the smell of burnt flesh made you crave some grilled meat. It wasn't difficult to find.
Nobody paid too much attention at the accident. Anything was allowed during the Pirate Expo, plus you were sure Kid had already caused much more trouble by himself.
You ended up eating too much and became sleepy right after noon, so you convinced Heat to let you get back to the Victoria Punk to take a nap. The idea of having Kid's cabin for yourself for once was too inviting. Plus, you wanted to let Heat off the hook for a while.
He wasn't the biggest fan of the idea at first, but upon seeing that Booka was the one in charge of the ship, he agreed.
You felt a weird peacefulness while climbing up to the deck and waving. A feeling you hadn't known in years, maybe decades.
You stuck out your tongue at the other pirates before disappearing towards the cabin.
«Is she even allowed to do that?» Leo smirked, sitting up on the railing.
Booka turned to him with a snort. He wasn't happy to be on ship duty during the Pirate Expo.
«What?»
«Walking in the captain's room so casually.» Leo shrugged «If one of us attempted the same shit, I'm sure captain Kid would break at least our leg. And she's a marine on top of that!»
Booka's hand heavily swatted the nape of his neck.
«Ack--! What the fuck man!» Leo coughed, stumbling back on the deck and pressing his palm on the offended area «What was that for?!»
But Booka only puckered his lips and abandoned his chin on the railing.
«I just felt like it.»
4 pm, West Ring of the Festival.
«WELCOME EVERYBODY! THIS IS YOUR BELOVED DONALD MODERATE, READY TO COMMENT THE AIR SHOOTING CONTEST FOR YOU!»
The bleachers were packed with noisy pirates, while visual Den Den Mushi were placed on a number of high bases around the stadium, transmitting the images all over the island.
«It's my pleasure to see so many of you joined for one of the biggest events of the day! We have snipers from many infamous crews ready to compete to see who's the best!»
The crowd cheered loudly as new fireworks exploded in the sky and the jolly rogers of the contenders were hoisted at the starting point.
Despite that, Killer cut his way through easily. Not many people wanted to mess with him, after all.
He was scanning the way for a good spot, when someone got tossed and tumbled at his feet.
«Make room, you scum!»
The familiar bark caught his attention, and he finally caught sight of Kid.
Looked like his captain had cleared his own good spot, throwing people away from that edge of the bleachers.
«Kid.»
«Oh? Killer.»
The blonde walked up to him while some of the beaten up pirates crawled away.
«You came to see Y/n competing?»
Kid's face turned into a grimace and he scoffed.
«I was just passing by! What about you instead, hm?»
Killer took place beside his comrade and crossed his arms.
«I want to make sure she won't cause a mess.»
«Captain! Killer-san!»
The Mohican elbowed his way towards them, followed by Heat, Wire, Kai and a bunch of other men. They were carrying enough food to feed an army.
«What are you idiots doing here?» Kid huffed.
Their movements lost confidence for a second at the question, and they quickly exchanged uncertain glances with each other.
«We... were passing by and, hum... decided to check out the event?»
The Massacre Soldier turned his helmet to the redhead.
«What a coincidence. Just like you, Kid.»
«Shut the fuck up, Killer!»
The targets consisted in flying objects hurtling through the airspace of the stadium. Despite being mobile, they seemed to be assigned to certain areas, with the fastest and smallest ones situated toward the end of the route.
Contestants were supposed to cut through the race with board-shaped wavers, adapted to fly at low-medium height. Any weapon was allowed, as long as the in-house bullets were used. Fighting the other participants was not only allowed, but encouraged.
Donald Moderate jumped enthusiastically from his high plateau.
«Here we see the snipers taking place at the starting line!»
About a dozen of infamous jolly rogers were placed at the beginning to indicate the crew of the contestants.
«Waah, I see several members of the Worst Generation's groups!» Donald chimed in his microphone «From right to left, I give you Nutari of the Fallen Monks! And right beside him, Vito of the Fire Tank Pirates! Oho, the two are already glaring at each other!»
He proceeded in presenting the rest of the pirates among the cheers of the crowd, everybody already picking their favourites.
«Then we have someone from a popular, yet elusive crew. They barely took part in any competition. But here he is: Uni from the Heart Pirates!»
The man only offered a slight nod of his concealed face, rolling his shotgun over his shoulder.
«And finally, last but not least, a sniper from the fearsome Kid Pirates! He's quite small compared to his comrades, but will he be as fierce? I give you...!»
Donald voice trailed off along with the yells of the crowd.
The announcer's grin fell into a confused pout as his eyes scanned the place marked with Kid's flag.
«Hum... there's no one there. I guess the man of the Kid Pirates bailed?»
It took only a few seconds for the audience to start laughing and booing at the crew, although most of them probably didn't realise they were sitting in the crowd.
The Mohican grabbed the railing and stuck out of the bleachers towards the ring.
«Oh fuck. Ooooh fuck.»
The whole crew tensed up immediately, many even taking a step back from their captain, who hadn't moved or talked for the past minute.
«She... bailed?» Wire finally murmured, making his comrades shudder.
«Shit.» Killer hissed, rapidly glancing over Kid before turning to the others «Heat! You were with her this morning, where did she go?!»
The sad man blinked, finally moving his eyes from the ring and to the first mate, quite alarmed by Killer's unusual haste.
«Er... she was sleepy after lunch, so I escorted her back to the ship.»
Killer immediately jabbed his finger into the Mohican's bicep.
«Contact the ship immediately!»
They were interrupted by the gunshot and Donald's yell announcing the start of the race.
The shooters jumped on their flying boards and took off towards the marks. Some of them were handling their device better than others, and the first targets began to explode.
«WHAT A GREAT BEGINNING!» Donald uttered «As you can see behind me, this screen keeps track of who's on top! All the participants are equipped with marked bullets, so we can assign each shot to the rightful crew!»
The small jolly rogers that served as tokens on the screen were rising at different speeds. The Heart Pirates symbol was doing best so far.
Killer's attention was only briefly captured by the competition before he noticed the railing cracking under his captain's furious grip.
«Kid, let's not jump to conclusion...»
The low, terrifying growl that rumbled in the redhead's throat shut him off.
A mad grin distorted Kid's features, but the blonde could perfectly read the rage underneath.
«So she really wants me to murder the entire island.»
«Kid...»
The captain turned abruptly, marching towards the closest exit.
Meanwhile, Donald was getting more and more into his commentary.
«Uni is already approaching the first ten-point target! He managed to dodge his rivals' blows for now, but Vito his tailing him! This target is faster and more erratic than the others, will he be able to hit it?!»
Uni's face was not visible, but he seemed to be struggling a bit between aiming and avoiding Vito's bullets at the same time.
«Here he goes, he takes aim, and...!»
When the target exploded, the noise was louder than usual.
«HE GETS IT! This is a big leap forward for the Heart... uhu?!»
The surprised gasp made a good portion of the audience move their focus to the screen.
Uni cursed.
«That's impossible!» Donald shouted «Why do I see the Kid Pirates getting the points?!»
Killer stopped.
«What?»
«Captain!»
Wire's call had Kid turn his blazing gaze to the race. The tall pirate was frantically pointing at a small figure in the middle of the ring.
«I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M LATE!» you shouted, lowering your rifle and running down the course «I OVERSELPT!»
Donald's wide eyes twitched as he stared down at your tiny frame in shock.
«Did he just say... that he overslept?»
«YEAH, YEAH, I'M SORRY! I'M HERE NOW!»
You didn't lose any time and aimed at some of the closest targets. It was a bit far from the ground, but still pretty easy for your skills, so you took down two of them in two seconds.
Even with that, you were still pretty behind the rest of the shooters.
«Well, there is no rule against latecomers.» Donald admitted, but his surprised expression quickly morphed into a wicked grin «But there is no spare board for you! Sorry, little guy, this is your punishment for being late! You'll never make it from the ground!»
Your lips twitched at him, while most of the crowd burst in coarse laughter.
Well, aren't you a little shi–
«BIRDIE!!»
The blasting roar cut through the chaos and startled you so bad you almost ended up rolling on the ring.
Fuck!! He's here?!
You managed to recover your balance and turned, eyes feverishly scanning the bleachers until you spotted him.
And not only him, but the rest of the crew as well.
The colour drained from your cheeks when you saw Kid's face.
Uh-oh.
He bared his fangs and the crowd retracted.
«YOU BETTER FUCKING WIN THIS RACE NOW, OR YOU'LL RESPOND TO ME!»
You swallowed and lowered your face, but a small smirk quickly replaced your grimace.
«Ryōkai*, captain.» you whispered, before turning and running off.
«You can run, little guy, but you'll never be able to catch up with the others!» Donald chimed.
He has a point.
So you stopped.
«Ohoh, he finally gave up... wait, is he aiming at the other contestants?!»
«Well, it's not against the rule, ain't it?!» you yelled, shooting down the closest pirate, who was also the last of the race.
He wasn't paying attention behind him, obviously, so he had no mean to avoid it.
The bullet hit his heel exactly, making him lose his balance and control of his board at the same time. In an instant, they were both precipitating in the ring.
You hurried toward him, quickly retrieving the flying board. It seemed the fall knocked him unconscious.
«Sorry about that.» you muttered, trying to figure out the different buttons on the vehicle.
«Looks like this little sniper is as ruthless as the rest of his crew!» Donald yelled in delight «But he still missed the training to operate the Dialboard, so I doubt he... WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING?!»
You must have pressed the wrong button, because that devilish device darted in the air at full power with you desperately clinging on it with your arms, which was NOT how it was supposed to be.
«HOLY SHIIIIIT!» you cried out.
On the Kid Pirates' side, the atmosphere was oddly quiet.
«You know...» the Mohican finally murmured «I'm not sure whether this is entertaining or painful to watch.»
Your crazy run was only stopped when you accidentally hit one of the other participants, knocking him out of his vehicle.
«Sorry!» you shouted at his falling form.
At least your board was hovering steadily now.
You took the chance to jump on it, testing your balance.
Turned out the commands were not so different from your usual power-boots.
At last, a bit of luck!
You tried out a couple of pirouettes.
«Oi, Kotori! Quit messing around, they're leaving you behind!» Killer yelled from the bleachers.
You huffed.
«Fine, fine.»
You turned to face the airspace in front of you, filled with flying shooters and darting targets.
Your rifle started rotating in your hand.
«Here I come, bitches.»
* Ryōkai (了解) means "roger" in Japanese – I'm sure we all heard it in some anime!