Chapter Fourteen: Strawhats in Loguetown
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"Oi, does this look like Y/n to you?" He snapped his eyes onto his blue haired brother, hands clutching a piece of paper. Holding it to his face, Ichiji saw that it was a wanted poster. He quirked a brow at the odd picture. Shanks and Mihawk in one corner, Sengoku and Garp in another, Doflamingo being chased by the admirals..
What was wrong with this photo? Maybe an even better question would be what the fuck was wrong with these people.
Ichiji's eyes traced Niji's finger, following it to the one specific point on Doflamingo's back that had a big circle around it. He was confused for a moment, before realization dawned upon him that it was you, looking extremely distressed with the situation that you had gotten yourself in. Or perhaps you weren't and you were just distressed with the fact that you were literally ten feet off the ground (he would know, since he's done it to you before).
"Yes, it does appear that way," he mused, grabbing the paper from his hands. Rather surprising that the Marines would actually let a photo like this on a wanted poster. They didn't think to crop it? Or perhaps they didn't have the means to. Sitting up from his chair, Ichiji swiveled to look at Niji.
"Did you and-?" Niji grinned.
"Already did. It looks pretty good, if I say so myself." He nodded in acknowledgement, making his way out of his room.
"I'll take a look then." Walking down the halls, Ichiji made a turn, knowing exactly where to go. Passing by the room that you had used during your stay, he opened the door of the room beside it. Stepping inside, Niji followed suit, eyes trained on the wall in front of him. Yonji was in the air plastering something onto the wall when he noticed his two brothers.
"Yonji," the red head spoke.
"Oh, I didn't expect you to come in so soon, Nii-san." The man grinned, letting himself fall back down the ground gracefully. "So? What do you think?"
"It looks good. There are more photos on my desk." Yonji laughed, expecting those words to come out of his brother's mouth.
"Ah, she looks absolutely beautiful, doesn't she?" Niji spoke, eyes staring at the multitude of photos of your face on the wall. There were probably thousands of photos of you, all cut out to show only you. There were enough photos to rival Kizaru's photo collection. The biggest photo was one of the Vinsmokes and you, a painting that they had done as a memory for your time with the Vinsmokes.
That one had to be their favorite because they were in it with you.
Besides the photos in the room were other trinkets of yours that they had collected. Hair ties, blankets, hair, anything that you used had been taken and neatly arranged in the room. It was a museum dedicated to a beautiful angel. You. The only people who were allowed in the room were themselves and the maid who came to clean the room.
They had to train her properly and make sure she didn't throw all the wrong stuff away. The previous maid had been discarded for doing that exact thing. How could they have seen all that as trash? Utterly ridiculous.
The only sad thing about the room was that it reminded them that your presence was no longer with them. You were with those lowly pirate scum, and that thought alone made them even more frustrated. If only you could visit them more often, that would be amazing.
Leaving the room, Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji froze when they saw Reiju in front of them, raising a brow as to the fact that the three of them were in the same room together with small smiles on their faces. If anything, that was pretty suspicious.
She smiled at them nonetheless. "Father has been looking for you three." That was not a lie, their father actually had been looking for them. "May I ask what you three were doing in there?"
"Just discussing plans," Niji lied (if you minus the fact that they were discussing about you then yes). Yonji, meanwhile, was locking the door. Curious, but deciding not to pressure them further, Reiju played along with their lie.
She could always find out later, after all.
---
It was quite obvious to Luffy the moment he set foot in Loguetown that you were there. Why exactly was it obvious? He had this feeling that you would be here waiting for him. Call it intuition, but that was how it was. He was sure that you were in town, he just didn't know where.
Once he saw you he was going to talk all about his crew that he gathered, and everything that you transpired through the time that you missed. He had so much fun in all his adventures in the East Blue, but now it was going to get better, because you were going to be a part of those adventures. The Grandline wouldn't know what hit them once they got there. It was going to be amazing.
Luffy looked around eagerly.
There was one thing however. He just needed to find you first. Luckily for him, he had your transponder snail in his hat. At that thought, Luffy grabbed his hat, freezing when the snail was nowhere to be found.
Nami raised a brow at Luffy's sudden moment of quietness. "Luffy? What's wrong?"
"I-I...." He turned to his navigator with sad eyes, almost near tears.
"I lost Y/n's snail. How am I going to find her now?!" Nami blinked, registering his words for a second, before crying out.
"EH?! You had her snail on you?! Why didn't you tell one of us you idiot!" She groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. Now how were they going to find their first mate? Maybe you had some sort of way to find them, considering the new discovery of your bounty. Damn though, 500 million berries... That had to be almost seventeen times Luffy's own bounty!
Nami shook her head, she shouldn't be thinking about money at the moment when they needed to find you, especially considering how stubborn their captain was. "Luffy, is there some other way you can find her or she can find you?
The poor boy shook his head.
"We can't go to the Grandline without her! We promised!" Luffy spoke. "We have to find her! Nami! Find our first mate! You're a navigator!" She punched him in the head.
"IT DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY YOU IDIOT!" She exhaled with force, very obviously distressed. "Oh this is bad.." Nami mumbled.
If they couldn't find you, then it would be a while until the set sail.
"What's bad, Nami-swan?" Sanji asked, suddenly appearing right next to her.
"Luffy lost our only source of communication with our first mate." Sanji widened his eyes. Luffy had a way to communicate with his goddess and he lost it?!
Luffy earned himself another welt on his head.
"Damn it Luffy! How are we supposed to find my goddess now?!" Nami raised a slight brow at Sanji's nickname for you, but didn't question it as Sanji was a flirtatious guy anyways. Grabbing Luffy by the front of his shirt, Sanji glared down at him. "Do you know where she could have gone?"
Luffy pointed down the streets of Loguetown.
"..."
"..."
"...my goddess in Loguetown?" Sanji whispered, eyes beginning to turn into large pink hearts. Luffy nodded his head sadly.
"Yeah, but I don't know where she is," Luffy pouted.
"Y/N-HIME, MY BEAUTIFUL GODDESS I'M COMING FOR YOU!!"
Sanji yelled as he rushed down the streets away from the group, ignoring all the ladies around him. Nami face palmed. Well at least he wasn't annoying the ladies and was doing something productive.
At Sanji's exclamation, Luffy realized that he, too, should be searching for you. "I'm going to find Y/n too!!" he spoke, running down the streets.
"Wait- Luffy!" But it was already too late, he was gone. Nami sighed. Now there was only herself, Usopp, and Zoro- oh wait. Nami looked around her, not seeing the marimo anywhere. He was gone too. Great, just great.
"Geez, those idiots..." Nami grumbled under her breath.
Hopefully one of those idiots finds you.
---
Sanji's eyes scanned every single produce in the market, eyes occasionally straying to look at the beautiful ladies in front of him. When he did, he would aggressively shake his head, reminding himself to stay true to one beautiful lady. Additionally, he needed the freshest and top quality foods to feed you. A goddess must be treated as such.
He chewed on his cigarette, a blush appearing on his face as he remembered your beautiful features. Oh those beautiful imperfections that made you so perfect. It made him so giddy just to know that he was so close to you!!
Obviously, Sanji needed to find you quick, but he also needed to get shopping done. What was more important? Feeding you top quality food, or finding you? Ahh, this was a very difficult decision indeed.
Gritting his teeth a bit, Sanji sighed, deciding to look over the produce. Luffy would find you somehow, Sanji just knew that idiot would. His first priority now would be to stock up food. His eyes wandered over to the fruits, looking so appetizing.
He wondered if a desert would sound appealing to you. Oh, and perhaps a side of tea. Earl Grey Tea with a side of scones sounded like something you would enjoy.
---
You yelped, stumbling back when your body collided with another's. You were, once again, in an alleyway, after your little chat with Smoker. You were a bit hesitant with talking with him at first, but everything was fine in the end. You gave him your transponder snail so the two of you had means of communication!
Sure you had to leave him to avoid him getting into trouble, but he told you that you could visit him any time you wanted! It was all great!
Ah, but you suppose that stumbling into another person wasn't that great.
"I'm sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going!" You bowed in apology to the dark skinned lady before you, her eyes scrutinizing your every fiber. Looking up when she didn't say anything, you blinked in surprise when you recognized her as the waitress that served you at the restaurant a couple of days before.
"You're quite the lively one, aren't you?" Her voice was beautifully deep, smooth and pleasant to the ears. There was amusement in her voice, and you wondered what she could mean by that.
"I'm sorry?" Her lips upturned into a small smile.
"You make me curious..." she mused, reaching behind her to pull out a knife. It was a rather large dagger, shimmering slightly with odd symbols engraved into the side of it. "Let's see that beautiful blood of yours."
In a blink of an eye, she had appeared in front of you, and you widened your eyes, sidestepping to avoid being cut.
"Playing hard to get, are we?" Thinking quickly, you flung your bag off your shoulders, quickly digging around to find your bokken. You didn't really like having anything to do with swords, but sometimes you have no choice but to use it. Granted, a bokken was't sharp (it didn't have a blade at all), but it didn't mean you liked to use it.
At least you wouldn't hurt anybody with it. Well, not that bad at least.
Grabbing the hilt, you were about to pull it out and parry the dagger when someone had jumped in, taking the hit for the attack. You watched with wide eyes as they were cleanly cut in half, and your eyes flashed gold for a brief second.
Oh.
They were going to be just fine.
"Hahaha! You can't cut me! I ate the Bara Bara no Mi!" Your savior cackled as he put himself together again. Pulling out several blades, he grinned at the lady. "Now, time to die flashily."
Looking rather annoyed, she sighed, tucking her dagger back into her pants. Buggy furrowed his brows in confusion. Was she such a coward that she wasn't going to fight? The woman tsked, before jumping up and disappearing into thin air.
Not taking your hand out of your bag, you made sure to verify that the lady was indeed gone. When you could no longer sense her, you let out a relieved sigh,
slinging the bag back over your shoulders before looking to your savior. A cloak obscured his features, but you could tell by their voice that they were at least male.
You thought back to Pica, pursing your lips. Probably, but you knew you shouldn't assume.
Looking up into his hood, you gave him your best smile. "Thank you for helping me! What's your name?" You watched as he tucked his weapons away, feeling his eyes on you.
"They call me Buggy the Clown, but you can call me Buggy, sweetheart."
"Alright, thank you Buggy!" you spoke without much care that he gave you a nickname, much to his surprise. Buggy wasn't exactly sure why he had stepped in to help you, probably almost blowing his cover away. Though, he had to say, he was rather intrigued by you.
"You're- uh, welcome." You certainly had a lot of pure energy radiating from you, that was for sure. There was something about that energy that made him think of Luffy, and that made him clench his teeth.
Seriously though, why did he even think to help a helpless girl from getting killed? He was a pirate for fuck's sake! A ruthless pirate who should be feared! Not thanked!
A squawk from above you caused you to look up, and you saw Phoenix flapping his wings from above.
Ah. Turning to Buggy, you gave him another smile.
"Thanks Buggy! I have to go now! I won't forget this!" Running out of the alleyway, you waved him goodbye. Buggy's eyes trailed to your retreating form, as if he were in a trance until his subordinate called to him, stepping out of the shadows. They were all a little confused, but thought that Buggy was pretty cool to have stepped up and saved you like some awesome guy.
Well, he was an awesome guy, so it made sense.
"Captain?" Buggy's eyes flickered over to Cabaji.
"Let's go."
---
"So one of them is in here?" you asked, holding a very small Phoenix in your hands as you looked up at the shop. Love Love Pirates it was called. He nodded. "Do you know which one?"
Long nose.
"Ah, Usopp, I think it was," you said to yourself, walking inside.
"-is from people who returned alive from the Grand Line!" You perked up when you saw the owner speaking. He seemed to be talking to Usopp. They didn't seem to notice you, and since you weren't really a part of the conversation, you decided to walk around a bit. Around you were trinkets and stuff that didn't really look like things that would come from the Grand Line.
Was this what your Master called 'con artists'?
Oh no, that means you have to save Usopp!!
Rushing to Usopp, he looked like he was being swayed to buy a weird looking gun that looked like a fish.
"Usopp!!" you spoke, causing the man to look in your direction.
"Eh?! First-mate?!"
His jaw dropped when he saw you there in all your glory. You really were in Loguetown! Damn, Luffy has good instincts. You gave him a big smile that made something in his heart flutter.
"Call me Y/n! We're going to be friends after all!" Not even a couple minutes and he was already friendzoned. Not that he wanted something more out of his first mate. No, that was a big no no. Especially after the warning that Zoro told Nami that she told him about. What if you showed up to kill him?!
"Ah, Usopp? Are you okay?"
"Ye-Yeah! Wh-Why wouldn't I be?" You tilted your head in a confused manner, eyebrows slightly raised as your eyes trailed down to his shaking legs.
"You're shaking a lot. Oh yeah, I have a question for you. Do you know where Luffy went?"
"I-I-I think he went to the p-platform..." Usopp widened his eyes. Why the hell did he say that?! Now you were going to kill Luffy or something! Oh god oh god no. You gave him a big ominous grin, which was in reality, nothing of the sort, but he was internally screaming.
"Alright, thanks! Oh yeah, don't listen to the guy. That gun is too new to be something of Roger's, much of the stuff here is anyways." You hummed as you caught a glimpse of a pink feathered coat. The store owner, meanwhile, was giving you glares.
Picking up the coat, you turned to the owner. "Say, where did you get this coat?"
Plastering on a fake smile, the man answered you, despite the malintent in his eyes. "Ah! You have a good eye Miss, that coat belongs to one of the Great Shichibukai, Doflamingo!" You frowned a bit, and Usopp was confused by the exchange.
Why exactly were you frowning...? He watched as you twirled the coat around, feeling the feathers, before a sigh escaped your lips.
"Who sold it to you?"
"Nobody! The man gave it to me himself! You could ask him if you wanted a confirmation!" Internally, the owner smirked. You wouldn't be able to ask the man himself even if you wanted to. You looked too weak to know such a renowned person.
He quirked a brow when you let out a sigh, digging through your bag before pulling out a transponder snail. It was silent for a moment, as the two men watched you as you waited for the other person on the line to pick up.
Was it possible that you were calling...? Nah, what were the chances that-
"My little princess? I didn't expect you to be calling me again so soon." That familiar voice sent shivers down Usopp's spine as the store owner stiffened. That had to be the same guy you were calling on Baratie. Usopp would never forget such a creepy voice.
"Ah, Doffy, did you ever give someone in Loguetown your coat?" On the other end, Doflamingo was rather confused by your question.
"I have not." You turned your head to look at the store owner. Staring him down, you spoke your next few words to Doflamingo.
"I think there's someone trying to sell a knock off version of your coat." You spoke thoughtfully. "He also told me that you gave it to him and that I could ask you myself. I guess he was lying then." The said man was currently sweating bullets, and Usopp was slowly piecing the information from this little conversation together, feeling as though his whole body was about to collapse in fear.
Did you... Did you know a shichibukai?
"..Fufufufu, really? And he tried to sell it to you?" Doflamingo chuckled on the other end. "And when you already have the real thing, that's rather hilarious. Let me talk to the man." You stretched your hand out to pass the snail over to the store owner. He shakily took it from your hands, awaiting for a response.
"I'm going to assume that you're listening, and if you aren't, well too bad." He laughed a bit before continuing. "I only have a couple things I want to say to you, but I just want you to know, if I wanted to burn your store to the ground, I would. I could make you go bankrupt with a snap of my fingers and I wouldn't even bat an eyelash." Usopp and the man gulped. Despite not being on the receiving end of the conversation, Usopp felt like he was going to die.
Usopp turned to look at you with fear in his eyes. Were you really on their side? Were you really their first mate, and Luffy's friend? If you were truly, and you didn't have any ill intentions, you would be such a formidable ally. You had to be a friend, you tried to help him from purchasing a cheap knock off gun!
Someone who acted like a child and seemed so innocent and good-hearted wouldn't be lying about friendship. And Luffy really seemed to like you.
Noticing his gaze, you turned to look over at Usopp, giving him a reassuring smile and a small wave.
He let out a breath, feeling his cheeks heat up at your kind face. You had to be.
"Now, I'm not pissed that you were trying to sell a fake version of my beloved coat, I'm pissed that you had the audacity to try and sell pathetically cheap items to my princess. Things like this I do not overlook. Because I'm so generous I'm letting you off with a warning, but if I get a complaint about something else, I will not be as forgiving."
Feeling that Doflamingo was done talking, you walked over to the man, plucking the transponder snail out of his hands.
"And Y/n, remember to not be swayed into scams or else there I'll have to do some talking with those people." You grinned.
"I won't!"
"Good." He paused for a second, before sighing. "And Caesar and Monet wanted me to tell you that they say 'hi'."
"Oh, tell them I said hi too!" You could hear Doflamingo chuckling in the other end of the line.
"Of course. Make sure to take care of yourself, especially at sea. I must leave now. Let me know if any other problems arise."
And with that, he hung up.
You turned to look at Usopp. "I'll be going now to look for the others. I'm sure the boat- the Going Merry was it?- is at the dock. Make sure you don't get scammed! If you do, let me know and I'll call Doffy again!" Adjusting your hold on Phoenix, you walked out the door.
The store owner looked at Usopp with scared eyes, shoving a bunch of stuff into his hands. "Just take everything..."
Well at least you were helpful to a frightening degree. Nami might take a liking to you.
---
"Captain Smoker! We have word that Monkey D. Luffy is on his way to Loguetown!" The marine lackey opened the door to the said man's office, only to see the man smoking his heart out. The room was so smokey (haha) that anyone could barely see through it. "Erm, he's a pirate worth 30 million berries," he spoke, a little less confident now.
Right, he kind of forgot that it was just today that they found out that you were a pirate. Of course Smoker would be sad. You were the only person they had seen him willingly interact with, despite clashing personalities. The rest of the marines would be lying if they said they weren't the least bit sad. You were such a prominent person in their life, despite it only being about a week.
To find out that such a person in their life was a pirate was just... heartbreaking. A person like you especially! It just goes to show how fucked up the government was. Nobody on Loguetown had the heart to capture you anyways. If they saw you, they'd probably cry and run away.
Smoker sighed, looking out the window (though it wasn't like he could see out of it with how much smoke was in the room), having just come back from a little chat with you. He let out a puff of smoke. "30 million..." he mused. "That's worthy of congratulation." But it was nothing compared to your bounty.
"Y-Yes! He's a person who even defeated Don Krieg and Arlong the fishman!"
"Quiet!" Smoker grumbled. "I get the idea, but it's not good to be tense. I got my own pace I do things at. Isn't that right?" Walking over to the window, he opened it, and the smoke immediately spilled out of the room. For a brief moment, he thought he saw a speck of red, but when he blinked, it had disappeared.
"This is my friend Phoenix. I called myself Lady Phoenix because I couldn't think of a name at a time. Oh yeah, I also have another friend who has 'phoenix' in their title. Pretty cool right?"
"So what now?" Smoker asked, turning to the marine behind him. It was probably just his imagination.
"Right, a pirate group! We believe they will show up in town some time today!" Huh, you mentioned that you had a few friends that would be coming to Loguetown today. Was it possible that that group of pirates were the people you mentioned? He let out a sigh.
"Have any pirates who've set their foot into this town ever escaped since I took charge here?" he asked the marine, grabbing his jacket and slipping it on to cover his bare top half.
"No sir."
"Then calm the hell down, you're gonna screw up my pace." Walking toward the door, another marine marched in.
"Reporting, sir! We have word that pirates have appeared at the port! Please go there at once!" Adjusting his coat, Smoker sighed once more, stuffing another cigar into his mouth.
Hopefully they weren't your friends, or else he and you were going to have a few more issues. One of them is letting them go if they were, because he knew he could never say no to you.
Ah, but that would be the worst case scenario. After all, what were the chances of that ever happening?
Walking down the street, Smoker paused, looking back at the marine. "Where is Tashigi?"
---
It hasn't been the best day exactly for Tashigi. First off, she woke up to the knowledge that the person that had been hanging around the base and had been growing on her was a pirate, with a ridiculous amount of berries on their head. Second, she had been bothered by these lowly pirates. Third, this moss head decided to break her glasses.
So yeah, it was safe to assume that it wasn't the best day. It was probably the crappiest day ever.
"I didn't mean to!" Zoro said, eyes widening. He seriously didn't mean to. And fuck, he didn't have the money to replace them.
"Those were expensive!" she cried out in frustration. Mostly because she had so much pent up frustration and needed to take it out on something- or somebody in this case -and Zoro had been on that end of the spectrum. "How could you do something so horrible?!"
"I told you I didn't mean to!"
"Pay me back for them!" Staring down at him harshly, she got up. "Tch, follow me. This is the worst day ever.." she mumbled under her breath.
If she had never met you, then she would never ever be having such conflicting feelings inside of her. Then again, how could she not want to meet you again? You gave her happiness that she had never known was possible. Why did you have to be so innocent and likeable?! The world was so cruel. She clenched her teeth as she knocked another one of the marines down with her bokken.
Despite being distracted, she still got the best of them. Then again, maybe it was because they, too, were distracted by the sudden reveal that you were a pirate. She remembered the innocent expression on your face, those eyes filled with awe and wonder. How was it possible that a person like you was a pirate?
And with such a high bounty? It just didn't make any sense. She bet Smoker wasn't any better either, having stormed off of the base when he had gotten word. This world was so fucked up.
Tashigi stared confusedly at the note and cash that said it was for her glasses. A sigh left her lips.
Definitely fucked up.
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Author's Note:
I always feel so nervous when I post a new chapter. It's always 'is this too stupid' or 'did I miss any grammatical errors' or 'oh god, what did I write?!' XD