#and of course it would be the deicide ones i was adding the tag to that'd do it

[keikakudori]

Ever have your muse suddenly revive with all the force and power of getting slapped in the face with a bluefin tuna? Because that's how I feel right now. Aizen has awoken in full power. None of you are safe.

[the-bar-sinister]

Deicide (16852 words) by VickytheSnake, thesavagesabretooth

catch up here

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Rewrite, Wano Arc (One Piece) Spoilers, Possession, straw hat pirates polycule, Action/Adventure, Power of Friendship, Established Relationship, Kaidou Lives, basil hawkins lives, caesar clown joins the straw hats, Nefertari Vivi is a Member of the Straw Hat Pirates, Smart Monkey D. Luffy, Cuddly Monkey D. Luffy, Drinking, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tags May Change

Summary: Realizing something is very, very wrong after the fight with Kaidou, Luffy seeks out Robin for comfort and advice. What he tells her is unsettling.

Luffy is hearing the voice of a god, and he wants it out of his head.

-

By the time he was dragging Law by the wrist from their bath, Luffy at least seemed to be feeling better. Law would have hoped so, at least. The other young man was smiling brightly, his bare shoulders still steaming as he dragged Law down the corridor. He had said something about being hungry again, which wasn't a great surprise.

What was a great surprise was Captain Kid stepped out around the corner in front of them.

"Hey! Jaggy!" Luffy beamed widely. "Wanna have dinner with us?"

Law was half-leaned against Luffy when Eustass appeared, and didn’t feel all that compelled to move. He gave him sort of half wave. “Sup, ‘Jaggy’?” 

If he was going to be honest, he was surprised that Kid was still here. Sure, they had the alliance and all…but Kid seemed tense at best around Wano, and pissed the fuck off at worst. He’d thought he was going to ditch the island in the middle of the night. 

KId grunted. "I wanted to talk about the alliance. If the two of you aren't too… busy for that."

There it was. Even as Law felt a flustered sting of embarrassment, he set his jaw in a sharp smile “dunno, do we look too busy for it, Kid?” 

Eustass looked them over, and Law was sure he was lingering over the steam and their wet hair, and the way Luffy was half entangled with Law's body. Luffy of course, was just grinning widely.

"Yeah we're not busy any more," Luffy said. "Though I'm pretty hungry, so unless you wanna come eat with us, I don't wanna talk all day."

Kid snorted. "You already used up most of the day, Straw Hat. I've been waiting for the two of you. But come on. This shouldn't take long."

The metal armed pirate shouldered his way down the corridor, motioning for them to follow.

Law held the hand Luffy held tight in the air with a huff of breath. “nothin’ for it.” In a bit of turnabout he started dragging Luffy along beside him on Kid’s heels “Hell, I’ve been expecting this talk for a few days.” 

Luffy's arm stretched as Law dragged him– and he snapped like a toy until he collided against him. The impact didn't quite knock Law down; instead, Luffy wrapped himself around Law's shoulders and let him carry him.

Kid, at least, didn't pay it any attention.

He shoved open the tatami door of a room down the hall and stomped inside.

Law stumbled, feeling the flush crawl across his face. He had to think about how it looked from the outside. With a man like Kid, he clearly already had some notions about Law and Luffy’s relationship.

They weren’t exactly wrong, whatever they were, but it still made him grit his teeth as he carried Luffy into the room.

“So the whole Samurai-Mink-Pirate Alliance accomplished its goal, right? Kaidou’s gone, everything’s settled. You’re here to talk about what’s next, aintcha Eustass.” 

"Obviously," Kid said, settling down with a thump into a pile of cushions behind a low table. "There's plenty to talk about with this whole… mess. Though I'll be satisfied if you want to just nod and go our separate ways."

His gaze lingered on Law and Luffy again, and there was the slice of a smile on his lips. "I get the feeling you're open for discussion at least though."

Law’s face burned as he cleared his throat and tried to shift and pull Luffy off to plop him down on one of the cushions.

Of course he was going to snicker up his sleeve the whole chat. “Wonder where the hell you’ve gotten that impression from,” he drawled before dropping himself down as well. “But yeah. I’m open to talk at least.”

Luffy stretched before he unstuck but finally did make himself comfortable in the pillows next to Law, giving him a look like a rather put out cat, and wrapping his legs tightly around a pillow. He yawned. "I don't mind talking about it. You want to keep having an alliance?"

"Until we leave the island at the very least," Kid said, his jaw set. Despite his brusque demeanor, Law thought he actually seemed rather polite, all things considered, and the next thing out of his mouth told him why. "I'll admit that I have a request to make."

Law reached out to rustle Luffy’s hair by way of making it up to him. His attention turned to Kid as he nodded slowly. He liked Eustass Kid, all things considered. They’d been in one another’s orbits since the government lumped them all into the ‘Worst Generation’ together.

“Well ya got my attention, Kid.” 

"My first mate, Killer. You know what happened to him. It's… not something I'd know where to start with fixing. But the two of you– well, Trafalgar, you're obvious. And Straw Hat has those two ridiculous doctors following him around."

"They're great doctors," Luffy beamed. "Especially Chopper."

Law leaned on his hand, watching Kid with his serious eyes. “They’re talented, combined with me we’re almost miracle workers. You want us to find some way to undo the SMILE fruit’s effects, right?” 

"I did," he nodded. "And I thought Straw Hat might be interested in the idea at least, since I've seen him hanging around with that one girl from the village."

"Otoko!!" Luffy beamed. "You think we might be able to do something for her?" He looked at Law with big eyes.

Law felt the sting of discomfort deep inside him. He’d seen the negative effects of that damned artificial fruit. That destructive mania, the inability to stop the flood of endorphins, the damage to emotional expression on top of the long term health effects.

That kid and her village were suffering, and it didn’t take a medical genius to see that Killer was too.

“It’s possible.” He murmured quietly. “It's an artificial devil fruit, so it’s tricky. There’s aspects of those things that defy conventional science…that’s why making an artificial one’s such a shitshow, why it’s got such a low rate of success and serious drawbacks even when it works.” 

"Caesar made them, originally," Luffy said, with a harsh edge at the back of his throat. "I think he'd better at least try to fix it."

Eustass, in a deeply unusual gesture of civility, bowed his head. "If you could help my first mate, I'd be willing to cooperate with something if you needed it from me."

That was as close to begging as Captain Kid was going to get. Out of his lips it was 'please, I'll do anything.'

Law knew what that felt like. Your crew , your first mate, they were important. Your mates on the sea were closer than anyone else in the world. If Bepo had been the one to eat a faulty SMILE fruit, and he couldn’t fix it…

Law knew he’d be begging right there with him. “You don't gotta bow and scrape about it,” he grumbled “I’ll round up the doctors and we’ll investigate the problem together, alright? We’ll save your Killer. In exchange…”

He glanced at Luffy out of the corner of his eye. 

Luffy pointed quite seriously. "In exchange, I want to be friends! Even if we end up fighting each other later, I don't want you to forget that we all helped each other out! I want to be able to shake hands at the end!"

Eustass' eyes widened.

Law laughed, slapping his hand on the table before he gained his composure again. 

“That's it, man. You’ve been marked.” He held his hands up with a wry smile. “I agree to those terms. If I help you, then it’s just as Straw Hat says.” 

Kid grimaced and then finally barked a laugh as well, shaking his head. "So that's how it is. Very well, if you can help my first mate, then I will gratefully call you both my friends– whether we move forward from Wano as allies or rivals."

"Great!" Luffy beamed. "I'm really glad, I've been wanting to be real friends for a while now."

“You get used to it eventually.” Law drawled, reaching over to rustle his hair again with a smirk “he started calling me ‘his friend’ back on Punk Hazard. Haven’t been able to escape him since.”

"I'll align my expectations then," Kid drawled,looking Luffy over with what Law could only read as bemused curiosity. "Then I'm glad to have the help of my 'friends' with this before we leave Wano."

"I'll get Chopper and his assistant right on it, Jaggy!" Luffy said. He looked up at Law with big eyes. "Unless you think you can just take the smile fruit bits out of them yourself, Traffy?"

Law’s fingers tugged Luffy’s stretchy hair as he thought about it. “It’s…theoretically possible. I can take the souls out of people, after all. Switch them around…I’ll have to talk to the clown to see if I can get more information on exactly what he did to make ‘em. The nitty gritty, you know? Then I could at least give it a try.” 

Luffy nodded seriously. "Wanna start on that after we eat? Jaggy– will you have dinner with us?"

Kid sighed, but Law thought he caught the barest hint of a smile on the corner of his lips. "Yeah, alright."

Law’s smile etched onto his face as he looped an arm around his fellow pirate captain. “Kid. this is gonna be the start of a beautiful friendship.” 

-

Dinner was, as it always was with the Straw Hats, a noisy and wild-hearted affair. Sanji was still busy as he was with every meal on Wano, considering the ingredients and the recipes of each dish, and how to potentially incorporate them into his own cooking, a preoccupation which took up enough of his attention that he'd barely noticed that Luffy had arrived unusually late for a meal.

He did however, notice the even stranger fact that Luffy showed up with Captain Kid, as well as Law, and boldly announced that 'Jaggy' was their friend now, and was going to help them cure the smile fruit 'pleasures'.

To say he was taken aback would be an understatement. The guy was a rival, after all…one who always seemed almost pissed off every time they met. But Sanji was nothing if not accommodating and wasn’t exactly unfond of grumpy bastards, so he set to work preparing another plate of soba for the man with his trademark smile and gusto for the craft. 

After dinner, however– which was a while– he did pull his captain aside to talk to him about it once everyone else had broken up and gone their ways for the evening. He took note that Kid went with Law, along with Chopper– and Caesar.

“Captain,” Sanji said as he held his shoulders in the cleared out dining room. “I ain’t questioning your choices here, but you gotta tell me what’s going on. Is the alliance with Law an’ Kid still going?” 

"Nope!" Luffy declared brightly, curling his arms around Sanji's shoulders and his legs around his waist. "We're friends now, instead, like I said. Isn't that way better?"

Sanji hefted his captain up with a quiet snort and a grin. “ain’t that basically the same thing to you? You always treat your alliances like you’re best friends anyway.” 

"Yeah, and now I got Jaggy to acknowledge it! So he won't be all mad about it all the time," Luffy laughed, nuzzling his face against Sanji's neck. "He asked for our help with his buddy, and I said that was the condition. That we'd help, but we had to actually be friends."

Sanji rested his chin atop Luffy’s head, smiling fondly around his smoking cigarette. 

“hah! Classic, Luffy. Good thing you respect the guy as a captain, or I’d have to start worryin’ about a new mouth to feed.” He paused a moment before he asked “can we really help the ‘pleasures’, Captain?”

Luffy giggled, possibly at the idea of dragging Kid onto the ship, but then he grew a bit more serious. "I hope so. I'll be honest, I'll be pretty mad at Caesar if we can't, you know? But I believe that they can do it!"

“I’ll make the guy into soup if he can’t.” Sanji joked despite the sharp draw of his lips. Caesar Clown had once worked with a man who’s genetic meddling had made his life a living hell…some days Sanji had a hard time forgiving him for that.

He knew some about what messing with people’s ability to feel or express could do to someone, like his brothers and sister. “It can’t be that hard, right? It ain’t like it’s a real devil fruit.” 

"Exactly!" Luffy nodded. "I'm positive that they can do it. Honestly, I'm not sure that Law can't just do it by himself, you know? And Chopper already did a bunch of work curing the kids from Punk Hazard, so."

Sanji kept him held with one arm as he took his cigarette from his lips and kissed the top of Luffy’s head. “between the two of ‘em it’ll be a piece of cake. Then maybe we can see what Otoko’s real smile looks like, eh?” 

Luffy smiled widely back, and caught Sanji on the lips with his own before Sanji could put his cigarette back in his mouth. "Then we can! That would be great, huh?"

His captain. His bizarre, affectionate, unrestrained captain. He kissed him back eagerly as he held him close, before he offered him the cigarette.

“I think it’d be aces, Luffy. Does that mean we’re gonna delay shipping out for a few days?” 

Luffy nodded. "For a few days at least. I heard there's supposed to be a parade in a few days– so that seems like a good day to leave, don't you think?"

“Trying to avoid gettin’ caught up in another celebration, captain?” Sanji popped the cigarette back between his lips. “Works for me– I got some stuff I wanna pick up for the kitchen. Equipment, food stock. I’ve taken a bit of a likin’ to the food around here.” 

"Oh yeah! It's been pretty good, huh? Different than your usual cooking! Do you need any help getting stuff?" His captain looked up at him with big, adoring eyes.

“You wanna go food shopping with me?” he grinned. “Shit , I can’t say no to those fuckin’ eyes, Captain. There’s a lotta stuff here we can’t get elsewhere in the Grand Line. I wanna stock up. Especially if they wind up closing up again.” 

Luffy squeezed him tighter from around his back. "I'd love to go shopping with you! You know I love spending time with you."I

Sanji chuckled as he nuzzled his chin against the top of his captain’s head. “Yeah, yeah…I love spendin’ time with you too, you goofy bastard. S’long as you don’t eat everything before I get it to the ship’s pantry.” 

Luffy grinned too widely. "Buy me a treat while we're shopping and I promise I won't."

“You want some dango, then?” Sanji teased. “I’ll buy ya five skewers of it if it’ll keep my groceries safe.” 

"That sounds perfect!"

Three out of five skewers later, as Sanji wheeled a cart full of ingredients behind him through the warmth of the evening's open air market, Luffy finished chewing on a dango and looked at him with his big, warm expression again.

"Hey Sanji…."

Sanji looked down at him with a lopsided grin, wheeling the cart along as he took in Wano’s beauty for what he was sure would be one of the last times in a long while.

He met his captain’s wide, charming eyes and asked. “Yeah, Luffy?” 

"You're okay, right?"

The concern in his captain's voice was palpable enough to send a lance through his heart. So much had happened since they'd been separated on Zou.

Sanji’s smile faltered as he puffed on his cigarette. Between the failed wedding with Pudding, and the lead up towards the raid on Onigashima– he wasn’t surprised that Luffy was worrying about him.

With his fear that he was losing his emotions, the strange memory gap when he tried to think of his…ex?-fiance’s last moment by his side, and the trauma of facing his family and the Big Mom Pirates…he wasn’t exactly doing great.

“Better now, at least.” he murmured thoughtfully.

Luffy squeezed his hand, walking closely beside him. "I'm better since we got you back too. But… Zoro told me about what happened on Onigashima."

Sanji chewed his cigarette.

“Tch… Damn marimo…” He held Luffy’s hand tight. “I had to use the suit to get an edge in the fight...I was kinda worried I might, I dunno. Change me.” 

"I don't believe anything would change you," Luffy said, squeezing his hand back even more tightly. "But do you feel like it did?"

“I feel a little stronger,” he murmured. “a little sharper in my senses. Tougher. I’d worried that I’d started getting…I dunno, cold. Abusive. I thought I’d beaten a woman in a haze.” 

"Did you?" he asked softly. "Do you know?"

“I didn’t.” Sanji smiled weakly. “It was Queen of the Beast Pirates. He’d struck her while using one of his copied abilities from the Vinsmokes. But for a moment I thought I was changing. I was scared, Luffy.” 

"I know that feeling," Luffy said, even quieter than before.

“You do?” Sanji asked, cigarette balanced between his lips. He was surprised…he’d never heard anything like that sort of trouble from Luffy before. 

"I didn't want to talk about it," he said, leaning his head on Sanji's shoulder, "Because I didn't want to worry everybody. But I think maybe I should talk about it after all."

“If there’s somethin’ goin’ on Luffy, damn right you should talk about it.” He leaned over to punch his shoulder “if you don’t, how the hell is your crew supposed ta help?”

"You're right. And I'm rotten at keeping secrets anyway. Is there anything you bought that needs to go in the ice box?" Luffy gave him a soft, embarrassed smile.

“Little bit.” he chuckled, “why don’t we stop by the Sunny and get a drink or somethin’?” 

"I don't mind the walk. That sounds like a great idea." He pointed– in the complete wrong direction. "to the Sunny!"

“You’re just as bad as the fucking marimo.” Sanji griped and grabbed him bodily to throw him into the cart before he started pulling it the right direction. 

-

"It's nice to be back on the Sunny," Luffy said, pulling up a chair at the table in the galley once they'd put away all of Sanji's purchases together.

Sanji pulled out a couple of mugs and dropped one in front of Luffy with a wide grin. “Yeah…I liked the lil’ boarding house I shacked up in. I like Wano a lot, but there’s somethin’ about the Sunny that feels like home.”

"It is home," Luffy said happily, looking up at Sanji as he got their drinks. "I know I should be more afraid of the sea, but I love the feeling of it under us."

“Comfortable, ain’t it?” Sanji smiled. “The sea ain’t safe for a devil fruit user like you, but the best women are a little dangerous eh? And what is the sea but a beautiful lady?” 

The captain giggled happily. "The sea is a beautiful woman, huh? Well, if that's the case Sanji, she can't keep her hands off me."

“Ya lucky bastard.” Sanji poured him a healthy pour of beer from a pitcher. He grinned up at him. “wanna trade places?” 

"Hmmmm, tempting!" he giggled, raising his glass and taking a long drink. "I know how much Nami likes you, so that's a high selling point."

Sanji rubbed his chin with a wide grin, before he poured himself some and dropped into his seat. “on second thought,fuck the sea. I’ve already got an angel right there.” 

Luffy giggled, putting his feet up in Sanji's lap as he sat down. "I knew you were gonna say that." He scooted his chair closer to him.

Sanji rested his hand on Luffy’s ankle, leaning on the tabletop as he took a sip of his beer. “I’m predictable,” he joked. “So…what’s up, Luff?” 

Luffy took another long drink of his beer, and then set it down with a sigh. "Okay, so."

-

Sanji had listened to Luffy as he described his fight with Kaidou, and the strange feeling of loss of control– of being someone else– that had come over him. Luffy's usual bright smile was missing as he spoke, and his bare feet shifted nervously in Sanji's lap as he told the tale.

When he was done, he remained quiet, hands around his empty mug, looking at Sanji.

Sanji had a sharp grimace on his face, his hand wound through his golden hair as his brow furrowed in thought. “...Yeah I can see why ya can relate to my troubles too, Captain.” 

"Yeah," Luffy nodded. "When you mentioned it, I couldn't just keep it to myself, even if I didn't want to make you worried about me."

“I am a lil’ worried, but I’d rather know than not, ya know?” he admitted with a frown. He rested his hand on the arch of Luffy’s foot again, giving it a squeeze “can you do me a favor?” 

Luffy wiggled his toes against Sanji's fingers and nodded sharply. "yeah, anything!"

“Rely on us a little more,” he said as his fingers squeezed his foot “let us fight the hardest we can for you, okay? Try not to ever feel like you gotta break that power out until we find a way to understand it. I broke my raid suit, so I think you can do your best to avoid whatever the hell that is.”

He smiled weakly “the last thing I want is to lose the guy who made my dream possible, ya know? Not to whatever bastard’s will was inside that thing.”

Luffy wrapped his arms around Sanji and pressed his head to his chest, nodding. "I promise. I'm going to rely on my friends, not a power that I don't know if it's… making me someone else. That's not what I want."

“I’ll be real with you , Luffy.” Sanji murmured. “if we lost you, I’d be devastated. I’d kill whatever took your body and then myself.” 

"Sanji!" Luffy's eyes suddenly filled with tears and he sniffled, rubbing himself against Sanji's chest. "I won't let that happen ever. I just fought so hard to get you back. I won't go anywhere."

Sanji grabbed him tightly, his hand running through his hair as he grimaced. 

“I know…I know, Luffy. We won’t letcha. Not after all that work, not after you saved us time and time again.” He squeezed him. "we’re gonna get your dream, right? You’re gonna be king of the pirates, I’m gonna find the All Blue."

"Yeah!" Luffy nodded sharply. "We are!! I'm gonna be king of the pirates! and you're gonna find the All Blue! and we're gonna do it together, no matter what."

“No matter what.” Sanji took a deep breath. “...gotta wonder why this is happening to us, Captain.” 

"I guess it's just another challenge in our way, right? And we can tackle it the same as any other."

Sanji laughed “by beating the everlovin’ shit outta it?” 

Luffy's smile grew wide again. "Yeah, exactly!!"

He really meant it. He really meant it, and that was one of the most charming things about him. Sanji smiled, tossing his hair. 

“And if it tries rearin’ its head? The whole crew’ll smash its face into the deck until it stops. Me, Zoro, Nami, Robin, Carrot, Franky, even Chopper.”

"Good! I'll be counting on you guys." He thumped his head against him again, happily this time.

“You’d better, Captain.” Sanji tilted his head up with his fingers before catching his lips in a firm kiss. “to the end of the Grand Line and beyond.” 

Luffy made a pleased noise, melting into the kiss eagerly, the taste of beer in his mouth as he pressed his tongue into Sanji's lips, his body already close to him.

Sanji snubbed the cigarette on the well-known and well-used ashtray behind him on the table, holding Luffy close with one arm as he pressed his tongue between his captain’s lips. He held him close, deepening it with a pleasured hum.

It was clear as he kissed him that the captain was feeling relieved– relieved to have shared their troubles and renewed their support for one another in the face of this new danger they both felt like they shared. And Sanji knew the captain well. When he was relieved, he got particularly affectionate. And when he got particularly affectionate there was only a short timeframe in which to redirect things before the captain got… excited.

He could redirect…he could intervene and distract him…but at the moment he felt relieved too. Happy, riding high off the victory and the conversation.

This whole mess had made him so busy lately the two of them hadn’t had the time they’d once had together. 

How could he say no when Luffy's lips and tongue were so hungry, and his body curled in against him so closely that by now he had found his way into Sanji's lap.

A moment later, Luffy broke the kiss to catch his breath, and grinned his goofy grin at him. "We haven't gotten to see a lot of each other lately," he said, echoing Sanji's own thoughts.

Sanji grinned at him. 

“Between the bullshit with Big Mom and the whole mess on Wano?” he chuckled “yeah…it’s been a hectic time, hasn’t it? And you’ve been busy with all that trainin’ of yours.” 

"Yeah," Luffy pouted, nuzzling his face against Sanji's neck. "Too much training, not enough fun. Do you wanna?"

“I’d love to.” Sanji purred as he let his captain nuzzle on him like an affectionate cat.

Luffy's smile lit up his face. Sanji felt his posture shift, and suddenly the captain's knees were locked on either side of his thighs, straddling him in the chair. He put his arms over Sanji's shoulders and pressed another kiss to his mouth, as greedy and eager as he ever was.

Sanji was used to it, his captain’s almost commanding excitement. The way he took charge without restraint to pin him back on the chair and kiss him with all the eagerness in the world.

Without fail he kissed back just ass hungrily. Just as eager.

It would be a while before they got back from the ship.

[the-bar-sinister]

Deicide (12394 words) by VickytheSnake, thesavagesabretooth

catch up here

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Rewrite, Wano Arc (One Piece) Spoilers, Possession, straw hat pirates polycule, Action/Adventure, Power of Friendship, Established Relationship, Kaidou Lives, basil hawkins lives, caesar clown joins the straw hats, Nefertari Vivi is a Member of the Straw Hat Pirates, Smart Monkey D. Luffy, Cuddly Monkey D. Luffy, Drinking, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tags May Change

Summary: Realizing something is very, very wrong after the fight with Kaidou, Luffy seeks out Robin for comfort and advice. What he tells her is unsettling.

Luffy is hearing the voice of a god, and he wants it out of his head.

-

O-Kiku had rested enough. Sure, the doctors attending her had told her otherwise– certainly, Kin and the other Scabbards begged her to heal while they took care of solidifying Momotaro’s rule as the new Shogun of Wano. But she had more than rested enough.

Her brother was dead. Gone for longer than she experienced on an adventure she couldn’t understand before he came home and died in the line of duty. A proper samurai’s death– and a silent goodbye to the sister who missed him terribly.

Her arm was severed, aching still with the thrum of missing nerves and fingers that still felt like they could grip her sword despite the fact they simply were not there. Wano was saved, but she was adrift. Sitting and pondering in silence would do nothing, so she had taken to wandering the halls on silent footfalls.

Somewhere along the way she had found Otama pacing around outside the room she knew Luffytaro was previously recuperating in. The poor thing was clearly at a loss, brow furrowed as she chewed on a few strands of her soft purple hair.

She had urged her to follow, the teenage kunoichi relenting when it became increasingly obvious the object of her nerves was bound to be tied up for a good long while. Together, they wound deeper into the stately home, a halfhearted conversation about the way Wano would soon be changing on their lips as O-Kiku continued her aimless wander…her solitary arm raised to her lips to cover the lower half of her face with her sleeve.

Did she have a place with the scabbards any longer? Their duty was done and the fight had left its mark upon her. As she looked sidelong at Otama, she wondered as well– what sort of place would the kunoichi find for herself? As the sole survivor of the Kurozumi clan, a woman of her own in her 18 years of age, what place would the scion of a house Wano declared as cursed find in their changing world?

Deep in her thoughts she nearly barreled straight into another person as they emerged roughly and suddenly from a room along the corridor. Captain Kid– one of the pirate leaders from the assault on Onigashima drew himself up and backwards as nearly collided with him, his fiery eyes blazing, metal fist clenched.

O-Kiku looked down at him with a warm smile from behind her sleeve.

“Ah. Captain Kid.” She bowed her head in greeting before tilting her head. “This one thinks perhaps you look bothered…are you quite alright?”

Otama let the strands of hair she was chewing on fall from her lips as she pointed. “You’re that metal captain! Speed told me about you!” 

"Hmph." He took another step backward, and leaned against the wall, a slice of a smile crossing his chiseled face. "'That metal captain', yes that's right."

He glanced at O-kiku with a penetrating gaze– perhaps deciding whether or not to even bother to answer her question. 

He didn't. Instead he said, "what are you doing here? Am I in your way?"

“Of course not.” O-kiku chuckled softly before lowering her sleeve with a smile. “I have no 'way' to get in the way of at the moment.”

Otama huffed, tossing her hair over her shoulder with a puff of her cheek. “I wanted to see if Luffytaro was okay, but he’s– he’s busy. So we’re just walkin’ and thinking a bit.” 

"He's busy?" Kid grimaced, and snorted with annoyance. O-kiku watched the complicated fingers of his metal hand shift and click. "There goes my 'way' too then." 

“Ahhh…” O-kiku folded her arm around her stomach, an old gesture now missing its other hand as she ducked lower to try and properly meet Kid’s eye level, making herself small for the comfort of another. Something she’d often done in the past. “You were planning on seeing him?”

“He’s kissing Law.” Otama said glibly, giving O-kiku a start. 

Kid choked and his face turned as red as his hair for a moment, looking away. 

"Oh so that's what they're up to. I guess I won't bother for some time then." His lip curled for a moment before he composed himself, smothering his expression back into a hard line. "I was planning to see him. Business about our alliance."

O-kiku’s brow furrowed for a moment before she tilted her head. “This one has heard of that…it wasn’t just for the Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance? You’re going to stay allied when you leave Wano?” 

"I intended that to be the topic of discussion," he said, inclining his chin. "I have some guesses what Law intends. Straw Hat however, is a mystery."

“Luffytaro is a bit of a mystery , isn’t he? Unpredictable,” O-kiku mused with a shake of her head.

Otama ran her hand through her hair, smoothing it away from her face with another on her hip “and here I was gonna try and convince him to let me sail with him again.”

O-kiku’s eyes widened. Wano was to be re-sealed for a time before it finally opened its borders…at the moment, it was still illegal to sail away…

Like her brother and Oden had. 

Kid raised his eyebrows, his gaze immediately drawn to the teenage kunoichi. "You're planning to turn pirate, then?"

Otama shrugged her shoulders. 

“Yeah, I was talking to Speed about it…and I’d talked to Luffytaro about it a little too but…” She trailed off, and flashed a bright smile at him “I’ve seen the good pirates can do first hand, you know? I’d love to be just like them– I’m a kunoichi, which means I’ve got the skills to make myself useful on a ship, as well as being a rudimentary seamstress and hatter!”

O-kiku was struck for a moment before she found her voice. “This one is surprised to hear you say that, Otama…you’re really thinking of running off to be a pirate?”

Kid snorted, his shoulders squared up against the wall, and he clicked the fingers of his metal arm again, looking off down the hall. "You're not the only one surprised about this. Speed was with the beast pirates, wasn't she? I'd think she'd tell you what pirates are really like. We aren't all do-gooders."

O-kiku’s dark eyes flicked down, her hand reaching up to rub the pained stump of her shoulder. “No, they aren’t all do-gooders. My brother told me a little of the life he’d had in the moments before I lost him again. This one understands it’s a life of combat and strife.”

“Well…yes.” Otama crossed her arms. “Speed told me all about that too, ya know? How the Beast Pirates were pillaging and ravaging Wano…I even saw a lot of that firsthand! But…at the same time, don’t you think there’s unique good that can only be done by people like you, Captain Kid? Pirates…who ain’t beholden by the laws of society an’ propriety?"

"Sure," Kid smirked meanly. "The laws of society and propriety are just there to serve the world government and let them be the ones to pillage and ravage without resistance. Pirates at least are honest about it. "

“Exactly!” Otama put her finger to her cheek with a radiant smile. “And I like that sort of honesty. Wano..”

O-kiku wondered just how she’d meant to finish that statement. Her own mind filled in thoughts, feelings. Both nostalgic and stifling as they flickered through her mind– she pressed her hand to her head with a shake of her head. “Did you know this one’s brother was a pirate, Captain Kid? I don’t know if you were there to hear that.” 

Kid shrugged. "I don't remember if I was. I've had a lot on my mind. Your brother was a pirate? What drove him to sea?"

“Chasing after our daimyo, frankly.” O-kiku laughed as she shifted on her feet. “He’d gotten it into his head to explore the world outside our walls…and he wound up dragged behind the ship of a pirate named Whitebeard…”

She closed her eyes. “This one’s brother joined his crew in his attempt to protect our daimyo, even after Oden came home from Roger’s ship. I think there was something about the life that called to him.” 

"Something like getting off this rock of an island?" Kid laughed cruelly and ran the fingers of his flesh hand through his hair. "This place with all its rules and codes and hierarchies and politenesses? I can't imagine how anyone wouldn't feel smothered here. I'm looking forward to sailing away."

Otama nodded with wide eyes. 

“I love a lot about my country…and I love my people, and being a kunoichi…but..well.” She chewed her nail “it can be stifling, especially when people start looking at you different due to the consequences of your birth.”

O-kiku’s fingers tightened against her wounded shoulder. “...Captain Kid? Might this one ask if we can sit down for a moment?” 

Kid's expression was somewhere between a grin and a sneer. "Surprised you want to keep talking to me. Sure, why don't we go sit down somewhere. Maybe we can have a drink."

After the encounter in the hall, Kid had followed along after O-Kiku and Otama for that drink. He was, as he had expressed, surprised they were still interested in his company. Usually after a few minutes of his rough demeanor people were looking for any reason to leave– especially he'd noticed– the polite people of Wano.

Otama followed apparently without a care in the world, unbothered by his demeanor entirely. O-kiku the samurai however seemed to have something heavy on her mind with the way her delicate fingers clasped over her mouth and the furrow of her brow.

She hunched, bending down more to his level as she shuffled just in front of him out into the street. A moment later, she pointed towards a hunched series of wooden shops ridged with flapping banners. “There's a bar down that way…one that is likely not to be heavily populated at this time of day.” 

"Less heavily populated suits me," Eutsass grinned. "Fewer people means fewer possibilities someone will piss me off without Killer around to cool me down."

Killer. His first mate. His best friend. His emotional support masked man. Despite his name, it was often Killer who stayed Kid's hand when he was charged up. And for the moment, he was out of commission

O-kiku chuckled quietly before she slipped on some footwear and started walking with visible exhaustion towards the bar. She probably should have been out of commission too, it was clear she was pushing herself.

Otama however turned to look up at him with wide eyes. “Do you get pissed off a lot?” 

"Constantly." He grinned nastily at her as he followed along. Maybe he was trying to scare her a little. Hearing that she was thinking of turning pirate was interesting– but the idea that she thought of pirates as potentially some kind of force for justice, rather than what they were– people who did what they wanted and took for themselves– set his teeth on edge.

O-kiku stopped before a wooden door, sliding it open across the street and gesturing them inside as Otama half circled Kid to look at him with her hand on her chin.

“Have I pissed you off yet?” the teenage kunoichi asked with a tilt of her head. 

"You're still breathing, aren't you?" he smirked. "I'm in a generous mood today."

Kid swaggered into the bar and didn't even bother to look around before he sat down. As long as there were drinks, it didn't matter to him what the place looked like. He was hoping to get out of Wano soon enough anyway. He was hoping not to get attached to their aesthetics.

The girl behind the counter startled, looking for a moment deeply afraid before O-kiku waved her down and ordered a run of sake for the group.

After that Otama popped herself down at the strip of polished wood ringed by cushions, her legs folded under herself as she laughed. “Gosh, a pirate in a generous mood huh?”

O-kiku sat opposite her, hand once more on her missing arm’s stump as she looked up at Kid with a half smile. “Do you dislike Wano, Captain Kid?” 

He sneered again, and let his true feelings spill from his lips. "I dislike the national character. The country is beautiful. The aesthetics are charming. Its people are sheep. Brave sheep, a few of them."

Otama tilted her head to the side, pursing her lips. “Kind of a broad statement to make, mister Kid.”

O-kiku accepted the sake from the waitress, who’s eyes were boring into Kid with a barely restrained disgust.

She poured the alcohol with one hand into a series of cups, and placed it down before handing him his with a low chuckle. “This one supposes she can see what you mean. Our ways must be stifling to an outsider used to unrestrained expression, freedom of a sort.” 

Kid sneered back at the waitress before accepting the alcohol from O-Kiku and taking a long drink.

"The 'way of life' on the island I was born on was too stifling for me, samurai," he said, taking another long drink. "And it was a lot less rigid than yours. There's a reason I took to the sea rather than stay at home."

“And did the sea hold the freedom and purpose you were searching for?” O-kiku asked as she picked up her own drink and raising it to her lips.

Otama took her own, sniffing it before taking a hesitant sip. 

"No question," he said, watching Otama and her drink. How old was the kid anyway? 15? 16? Older than he'd been when he set to sea, or younger? He wondered if she'd ever drunk before or was just doing what the 'big kids' she was following around were doing. "I feel alive as a pirate in a way I never felt before I left home. I take what I want. I kill people who need killing. My crew fights for me, and I fight for my crew."

Otama looked up at him with a tilt of her head, before she seemed to stare him down just as hard as he was staring at her. She tipped the drink down with a slight shudder. 

“...you know most people in Wano couldn’t get sake except during festivals?” she murmured before she looked up at him. “So you’re tightly knit…like a band of samurai! And you’re living the way that makes you happy!” 

The idea that they were killing people, stealing from people…either didn’t seem to faze her, or went over her head.

O-kiku’s smile took on a slightly amused quality as she tipped her drink back. 

“Not quite like a band of samurai. Not ones who still hold official titles and duties, anyhow.” She pointed her shallow cup Kid’s way. “Captain Kid…This one has been a samurai for a long time. Before that she was a dancer, a musician, playing as part of a traditional troupe alongside her brother. She’s been constrained by people’s ideas of her– just as this one has been constrained by the ideas of gender and status. This one has pushed past the expectations once placed on her to find her true self, but the specter of the past still rears its head with her old legacy.” 

Kid hunched forward over the low table toward her, with his sake cup in his good hand. He finished it off, looking her over. He wondered if she was leading up to what he thought she might be leading up to.

"Well that sounds like an extremely shitty position for 'one' to be in, samurai."

She smiled. “Especially a samurai whose purpose has been…damaged. My goal, my mission, was the protection of Oden and the freedom of Wano from Kaidou’s control. In the process, I’d lost my arm.”

She’d spoken more plainly, the first person pronouns leaking back in as her brow furrowed. “I’d lost my honor. I’d lost my brother. But the duty was done– Momotaro is shogun, the land is rejoicing…but what is a samurai without a purpose? Momotaro has the rest of the red scabbards protecting them now yet I am left disarmed and dwelling on my brother’s choices. My brother’s tales of the open sea.” 

"Disarmed," he repeated dryly. He touched his own shoulder, above the scrap he had used to replace it. "Seems to be going around. So you've been thinking about your brother's tales."

He knew what she was dancing around. He wasn't going to make it easy for her. She'd have to ask.

“If freedom and a purpose can be found on the sea…” O-kiku began, her eyes lidded as she poured Otama more sake. “then I wonder if I can find it myself before the jaws of Wano snap back shut until the time is right.”

"No one's going to answer a question like that for you," Kid said. He reached for the sake bottle, taking it from her and poured himself some more. "Only you can decide if you're going to be satisfied with what the world gives you– or try to take what you really want from it."

“You really don’t like Wano’s way, do you?” O-kiku’s amusement leaked into her voice as she smiled, her shoulders shaking despite it. “This one has been thinking of leaving home. Oden once said Wano was too small– too stifling. Kin has seen the world, the traitor has seen the world, my dearest brother has seen the world…”

She bowed her head “when will it be my turn? The answer it seems is ‘when I take the chance’, don’t you think? What better time to take the chance than now?”

Otama nearly spit out her sake “YOU TOO, O-kiku??” 

Kid laughed roughly and slapped his metal arm on the floor. "So you're both thinking of turning pirate. Do you really think either of you has the stomach for it?"

O-kiku looked up at him with surprisingly hard eyes, her smile grim and rictus on her face. He’d seen her briefly in the fray of Onigashima, wearing the mask of a demon and dancing through the corpses she’d left in her wake.

Kikonojo of the Lingering Snow, framed in falling droplets of blood. “Don’t mistake my kindness and demeanor for weakness, Captain Kid. I’ve seen horrors in Wano, and committed many deeds in the service of Lord Oden. I’m not one to have a weak stomach for what must be done.”

Otama put her fingers to her lips. “What do you mean, ‘the stomach for it’? I’m not some child…” 

"Heh," he waved his hand. "If you say so. So, which pirate crew are you planning to ask to sail under? I imagine that's why you were looking for Straw Hat?"

“I’d already asked Luffytaro,” Otama frowned as she messed with a lock of her hair “...he said no, at least before Onigashima. I was going to ask him again, but he’s too busy.”

O-kiku closed her eyes. 

“I wouldn’t impose on him, myself. Not with Yamato already planning on joining. I’d heard him speaking of it before and while I do like him quite a bit…things may be a bit difficult between this one and himself, for a time.” She sipped her sake “This one was wandering without an intention until now– still unsure on if to take the chance until we spoke..”

Kid put his sake cup down on the table with a rough clack and looked between the two of them.

"Ask me, then. If you're going to ask."

He'd already resolved that he wasn't going to ask a second time. It was only for the sake of these Wano people and their strange way of communication that he even raised the question.

O-kiku reached out her shaking hand, blood soaking through the bandages against her shoulder as she smiled warmly. “May I join you on the open sea, Captain Kid? May I find purpose amongst the pirates…your pirates?”

The kunoichi opposite her pressed her hand to her face for a moment, thinking hard for a moment. “Luffytaro already said no…” she murmured, before looking up with a sunny smile, “so will you allow it, Mr. Kid?”

A shadow fell over the sun, darkening the bar in which they drank. It shadowed Kid's eyes as he grinned widely. 

"I'll allow it. Sail under my flag. Leave Wano behind and take what you want from the sea."

O-kiku grabbed her mask from her hip, and raised it to her face as the demonic smile upon it bathed in shadow. “O-kiku of the Lingering Snow will do just that…her blade is your blade…and she shall take all the sea has to offer.”

Otama grabbed his arm suddenly and grinned. “And Otama, kunoichi of the village of the village of kasa weavers, will do it too! Horsalina will be so happy to be back on a pirate ship, too!” 

The crew was growing today. Good. More crew to carve their legend across the face of the sea.

"Welcome to the Kid Pirates."