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erideights · 1 year ago

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Little pieces here and there (2)

Pairing: Buggy x Fem!Reader (One Piece Live Action)

Chapters: one, three, four, five

Word Count: 2K

Warnings: Flirting, suggestive flirting, heavy pinning

A/N: GUYS THIS CHAPTER HAS ME ON THE FLOOR, I HOPE YOU ENJOY, THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE and if you like it let me know to start preparing part 3 ♡ (sorry for any grammatical mistake!)

"The One Piece will never be yours!" He shouted angrily, that -now- dwarf with a red nose, giant hands and feet, when he was defeated. Just like in a cartoon for kids.

"You're just a sad, lonely little boy wearing another man's hat!" She could not understand how it was possible that this intimidating, psychopathic, eccentric clown had turn around so quickly into this little thing that was so... dare she say pathetic, but she didn't wanna be too cruel to him.

The moment Luffy declared his intentions again, Buggy began to look around him, desperate for a way to escape, maybe one of his crew members who would miraculously come to the rescue, or an unexpected ally. Like (Y/N).

"Wo wo wo wo, no no no no, wait wait!"

He opened his mouth and begged, probably to suggest some kind of pact, to promise (Y/N) a place among his crew like he did with Luffy before, but before he could say anything else, the rubber boy already threw him into the sky.

And that was the last time she thought she would see Buggy The Clown. Little did she know, she was wrong.

Oh, so wrong.

Let's say that the days to come were anything but calm. From the Kuro Incident™, at least they won Usopp's friendship and the Going Merry, one of the cutest ships she has ever seen, to be fair.

And then they arrived at the Baratie, where they met the oh, so attentive Sanji, Zoro was about to die, and Nami... Nami left with the fishmen. Although (Y/N) was on Luffy and Sanji's side when they claimed something bad was actually happening, because she wouldn't have chosen to leave with them just like that, without a hidden, ugly reason behind. Didn't fit in with the idea she had of the ginger.

"I know someone who knows where to find her," says her "captain" when they all discuss their next step.

"Hello boys!" Buggy's head coughs and exclaims in the most forced, sarcastic way possible. Imagine threatening to kill those people after kidnapping them less than a week ago, and now your life depends on them. Low blow, if someone asked her. "Sweetheart." He then smirked devilishly when he saw (Y/N) a little further back, resting her side on the kitchen counter. Surprised to see him and the way he calls her, she raises an eyebrow and gives a small, amused smile. "Hello Buggy."

"Arg, Doll! I'm so happy to see a beautiful face like yours around here." The clown shouts when (Y/N) comes out on deck after several hours organizing the pantries with Sanji. She looks at him out of the corner of her eye with a little smile on her lips when she leaves a snack for Usopp and goes towards the bow of the ship or, in fewer words = in the opposite direction to where her mere existence is spiritually needed. The clown is already tired of giving Usopp directions after all morning arguing where to go, so infatuated and hypnotized by the mysterious aura that surrounds the woman, he doesn’t give up, and his head floats in the direction of the girl, following her, resting right by her side as she sits on the ground, legs falling over the ship's railing and out to the sea.

"Pretty sure you didn't hear me back there" because the idea of someone ignoring him was unthinkable. A war crime. An insult to God itself. He was still Buggy The Clown, The Flashy Fool, even without his crew. Or his ship. Or his body. Fucking hell, what did he have left apart from the head? "I was saying I'm glad I'm not only surrounded by idiots. Having your beautiful face around here makes standing them much easier." He flirts, winking an eye, which (Y/N) doesn't fully get but finds kinda interesting. "We had a moment the other day, right? It wasn't just my imagination, I know it."

"Yeah, we totally had a moment" She agrees, clearly being sarcastic to everyone but him. "You kidnapped us, you called me pretty, you searched me, I threatened you, you liked it..." she lists, lying her back on the deck, arms raised, own head resting on her hands, enjoying the breeze, the sun, and the smell of the salty water.

"I loved it," he corrects her after emitting a little grunt of satisfaction, vividly remembering that scene. What would he not give to go back and enjoy it a little bit more before the rest of her crew ruined his entire day -week- so blatantly and unnecessarily over the top.

"You're welcome. Any time." She answers after an amused giggle, eyes closed.

"Don't tempt me."

"Now tell me," Buggy resumes the conversation after about 30 seconds of silence. He clearly doesn't know how to enjoy it. He is that type of person for whom silence not only makes him uncomfortable, but also terrifies him. Theatre kid. "What's a woman like you doing with a bunch of insufferable kids like them? I know they're trying to organize their boy band and go on adventures around the world, but you... you should look for someone more suitable to your needs, capable of giving you different stimuli. More mature." He adds in the end with a low, seductive tone of voice, shamelessly feeding on the image of the curve of her body now that she's not paying visual attention to him.

"Hmhm. Maybe I'll look for them." She answers nonchalantly, just because. She finds really entertaining this type of tug-flirting-war. Even if he's the only one that flirts and she just gives him opportunities to do so.

"You don't have to look too far." He was so cliché, how cute.

"You talk too much to be no more than a floating head."

"I could always put my tongue to better use." Snapping her eyes open, (Y/N) holds her breath for a second, taking in what she just heard = what he just offered. That would be, literally, giving head. In all the glorious sense of the expression. Raising both eyebrows, she turns her face on the ground to observe him, nibbling at her lower lip. She seems to consider it for a few seconds, because no, she cannot deny how interesting and, at the same time, weird, degenerate, the idea is. But before he has the opportunity to keep talking his way into convincing her, she breaks into a cruel smile and decides to cut his mood "You mean like guiding us to the Konomi islands instead of talking with me? You're right, you should get back to work."

He looks at her like he was just betrayed by his second in command, hoping she would agree by the expression on her face seconds ago, the way she looked at him and how she was biting her own lip in that tortuous way that pushed him to want -need- to do it by himself.

"Wait, no need to play difficult with me sweetheart, I--" But it's too late, (Y/N) is already standing, grabbing Buggy's head between her hands, and before he could add anything else, she winks at him, kiss one of his cheeks, screams at the top of his lungs "USOPP!! CATCH HIM!" and throws his head like she was playing volleyball, Usopp jumping to be able to reach him, both of them celebrating the pass like children, ignoring Buggy's complaints.

The third time he flirts -tries to- with her, she's back on the deck, helping Zoro and Sanji moving some things around. He begins to scream desperately, and knowing damn well that if no one pays attention to him he won't stop even if that means losing his voice, she approaches, hands on her hips, sighing as she looks at him like someone that is about to regret getting close to a crying, annoying child. "What's wrong with you?" she asks dryly, pressing her lips together. "Ah, my guardian angel. Could you do me the favor of scratching me behind my ear?" Oh. A waaay more harmless request than she expected. Of course, she relents, because she sees nothing wrong with this small favor; she’s quite the empathetic, and in his place she would surely prefer to jump headfirst -ba dum tss- into the sea rather than suffer that itch and not be able to scratch it. After granting his wish, just as she is about to leave, Buggy moves his head much faster than anyone would predict, to catch one of the girl's fingers in his mouth and suck and lick and nibble, in a… God, a sample of what he could do with his tongue somewhere else.

A shiver runs down (Y/N)'s spine, and it reaches a pleasurable end between her legs, causing her to press them together as she inhales deeply.

"Wanna see what else I can do?" He whispers as he releases her. She can hear him over the crash of the waves against the hull of the boat, eyes fixed on his face, will to complain nowhere to be seen. Bold, not in a hundred years she would have expected that. And for a moment, she is tempted. That has been undeniably attractive. And it had a really strong effect on her. "I would gladly show you if you let me, you just have to ask, sugar lips. I bet it's been a damn long time you don't treat yourself--"

"(Y/N)!!" Zoro calls her, instantly exploding the bubble between Buggy and her.

She sighs in relief because only God knows she was close to give up. Then swallows, shakes her head exaggeratedly to shake herself out of his spell, and, licking her lips, gives the clown a mischievous smile, recomposing herself. "Nice try"

"Stop trying to deny the obvious" He tried again for the... 5th time? She /really/ lost count during their journey. Appearing from nowhere, he startled her in the process. He was now in a shelf of the kitchen, at the same height as the girl's face. "The chemistry between us is unbearable, you can see it from miles away." Jumping to approach the edge of the shelf, his eyes look her up and down. "Turns me on how you play hard to get because I don't like easy things either, so I respect your game," he nods, raising an eyebrow "But come on... I know you like me. I've seen how you look at me or bite your lip when I flirt with you, you have nothing to be ashamed of."

This whole thing was really trying her patience. Not because she wanted to fuck him off, but because she knows that all that flirting would end with her giving in and doing something she certainly shouldn't. As of for now, he had gotten her to vaguely consider it, and she had to admit, she was growing some kind of attraction slash fondness slash crush for him, but it wasn't enough to fall to her knees.

He wanted war, tho? He would have it.

"You're right, I like you, but you know, I like my men body and all, capable of grabbing me by the hips and pushing me on theirs, to fuck me and make me scream their name until I lose my voice. To make it difficult for me to walk straight the day after." she whispers, approaching him slowly until they share the same air, her nose touching his red one. (Y/N) closes her eyes, taking a deep breath as her tongue caresses her own lips, almost touching the clown’s ones too. Yes, she likes him, she has some sort of twisted soft spot for men who ranged from intimidating psychopath to the most pathetic human being depending on the day, and Buggy was the perfect example for that. "And you..." she tilts her head to the side, attempting to close the distance between each other and kiss him, but at the last second she withdraws, leaving the poor clown with his eyes closed, waiting for the touch of her dreamy lips. "Unfortunately you're just a head."

"Try again when you get your whole body back!"

#buggy the clown #buggy x reader #buggy one piece #buggy the clown fanfiction #buggy x you #op buggy #one piece x reader #one piece live action #captain buggy

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fanaticsnail · 1 year ago

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You Kissed the Clown? Part 4

Ok, this chapter got out of hand. I had been dwelling on it for a little while before I did a final few readthroughs. There might be still some grammatical errors and formatting issues, but here it is!

Word count: 4,675 (I am so, so sorry!)

Part 3 is here.

After marinating in the deep warm liquid of the large porcelain tub for what you deemed to be an appropriate amount of time, you stepped out of the soapy liquid and dried yourself with a large, fluffy towel. Placing a robe from within the bathroom around yourself and gathering your pile of dirty clothes, you made your way back down the hall to find the guest quarters containing your friends.

Your hair was wrapped up in the fluffy towel in an attempt to dry the strands with more haste than simply air drying it. Your bare feet being the only sounds omitting from the long hallway, you strained your ear to hear light conversation coming from the guest quarters. You reached for the door handle, let out a deep breath and made to face your mismatched crew of straw-hat pirates.

“Oh my dear, how was your bath?” Nami asked you once she saw your form entering the space.

“It was relaxing, thank you,” you responded with a sweet smile. You raked your eyes over her and studied the fine clothes she was wearing.

“Wow, red is absolutely your colour!” you exclaimed at her, gesturing to the dress she had chosen to wear for the evening.

“Where were you when I needed you, tinkerer?” she smiled before turning to Zoro and Luffy, “this is what I was talking about. You guys didn’t give me anything to work with!”

Zoro scoffed and craned his head back to stare at the ceiling while Luffy craned his head to the side in confusion.

“I said you still looked like Nami,” he shrugged, “and you do! What was I meant to say?”

You rolled your eyes and laced your arm in Namis, leading her to the vanity and sitting her on the stool in front of it.

“I’m thinking hair up?” you suggested with a downturned smile, quirking your eyebrow in suggestion. She shrugged and looked over her features.

“Definitely an updo,” you said, gesturing to her short locks. You used your eyes to ask permission to touch her hair, to which she nodded in response, “maybe a few face-framing pieces down. Lower to the nape of your neck I think. With some feathers?”

Her eyes seemed to brighten just a little as she nodded at your suggestion. You picked up the brush on the counter of the vanity and began to draw her hair into the palms of your hands and twirl pieces around your fingers. You heard Zoro move to the place behind the changing shield and begin removing his bathrobe and sorting through the clothes he had chosen.

“What are you wearing, Captain?” you called over your shoulder while holding your gaze on the locks of the orange-haired woman sat in front of you.

“Nami picked out these for me,” he said with a broad smile, “classy, no?”

You brought your eyes up to view your captain in the silver lined mirror in front of you, looking over the dark vest and pant combination held in front of him.

“Very you, love,” you nodded, returning your eyes to the hair in front of you as you began pinning some of the pieces in place. You smiled slightly, catching Nami fawning slightly over herself as you fashioned her hair to suit your vision.

“How did you get so good at this?” she asked you, meeting your eyes in the vanity, “this girly stuff.”

“My mother,” you responded with a smile, “she used to wear her hair showcasing several of our handmade pieces to demonstrate our craft to the customers in the shop.”

You placed a few white-tipped feathers in Nami’s lower bun, securing them with several small brass pieces. Nami nodded slightly for you to continue talking.

“And when she deemed me ready,” you said, focussing on one brass piece and slotting it within her hair, “that task fell to me.”

You smiled at your work, placing your hands on her shoulders and bringing your face down to her level and looked at her in the vanity.

“You’re really good,” she commented, turning her head slightly to gaze at the back. You picked up a smaller mirror and held it to the back of her hair and angled it in a way she could see the rear of her updo.

“Thank you,” you responded warmly. She offered you a sincere smile and you placed your hand once more on her shoulder.

You heard Zoro cough, prompting you to turn to view his attire. You let out a low whistle and Nami nodded in approval at the dark suit he chose with a tanned shirt beneath it.

“Nice ensemble, swordsman,” you complimented him with an arched brow, which he in turn smiled at the ground in response to your words, almost bashfully.

“Now,” Nami said, interrupting your train of thought slightly while rising from her seat at the vanity, “lets sort you out. Can’t have you attending dinner in a bath robe with your hair in a damp towel.”

You laughed at her comment and followed her lead to the many racks containing a vast collection of tinted silks, satins, chiffon, cotton and feathers. Several items drew you in, but one in particular had you buzzing slightly. A deep, blue dress held you in a trance as you pictured the colour matching the irises of your newly infatuation’s eyes. You reached for the material and smoothed your hands over the frock. Several layers of tulle, fine satin and chiffon fell over the gown with a corset-style back. You held the fabric as you imagined yourself being twirled before being held in the arms of the clown captain. Your eyes began to glaze over as you leant in to your fantasy, imagining the music playing as he held your body against his and whispered his loving desires into your hairline.

“That one?” you heard Zoro ask over your shoulder, noticing how close he truly was to you. This immediately broke the spell you felt over encumbered by. You shook your head before presenting the material to him.

“Oh, I’m sorry Zoro. Did you want to wear it?” you taunted him while removing the hanger from the rack and holding it up to his torso and furrowed your brows in playfulness, “not really your colour.”

You heard Nami laugh as she continued to sift through the racks for something more appropriate than a ballgown for you to wear to dinner. You laughed and turned to put the dress back onto the hanger, only to have your movements halted by Zoro grasping your wrist lightly.

“You’re thinking about the clown again, aren’t you,” he murmured in your ear, in a low enough tone that only you (to your current knowledge) would be exposed to. You inhaled sharply before shaking your head and putting the gown back onto the rack and turning to face him. While training with him and discussing the prior battle he engaged with against Buggy, he noticed how your expression changed. Your posture would stand slightly less alert, eyes glazed over slightly as you pictured the shared kiss in your mind again.

You challenged him with your eyes, opting to not speak to give yourself away. The way his eyes searched yours left an unsettling feeling in your chest.

“You know he’s murdered potentially millions, destroyed towns and nearly killed us, right?” he asked you, holding his hard gaze. You felt a small wave of sadness come over you at the thought of the violent crimes he had committed in his acts of piracy.

“You can’t change a person that far gone,” he uttered to you, breaking his gaze from you to look at your captain, “and if you leave, it’ll break him.”

You followed Zoro’s gaze to look at your captain, now freshly adorning his vest and pants. He reached up to readjust his straw hat and smiled broadly at you both.

“What do you think?” Luffy asked, and without missing a beat; Nami responded.

“You look like Luffy,” she yelled over her shoulder. You saw the captain smile and nod his head in response.

“You’re right. I do look like Luffy,” he confirmed, sitting down on the plush stool in the centre of the room again.

You felt Zoro remove his hand from your wrist and place it on your shoulder as he leant in closer to you and whispered into your ear.

“You can do better than some psychotic clown,” he said before releasing your shoulder from his grasp and turning to take up his swords and fix them on his hip. You furrowed your brows and pursed your lips, shaking your head slightly at the words and continuing to sort through the materials.

“This is the one,” you heard the voice of Nami call from a rack several isles over.

You turned your head to look at the dress she was cradling in her arms. The way you could describe the outfit she was holding out to you would be whimsical. Something from within the pages of the novels you would read while attending the shop back home.

You smiled broadly and took the dress from her arms with a wide smile.

“This is beautiful,” you commented, immediately taking the dress behind the changing screen and pooling the robe at your feet. You stepped into the dress and brought it over your hips first, before placing your arms in the sleeves and pulling it over your torso. You stepped out from behind the screen to reveal the dress. Nami smiled at you as you presented your back to her.

“Would you mind doing me up?” you asked her, pulling the strands of your drying hair over your shoulder to aid her with her task.

“This looks so good on you!” she commented, placing her hand on your zipper and pulling it to the hilt. You walked over to the vanity and looked yourself over, nodding in affirming her words.

“You’re right, it suits me,” you declared while running your fingers through your hair and beginning to fashion it in a style you were accustomed to wearing in your family’s shop. You placed several sentimental pieces of jewellery in your hair, interlacing them between several braids you managed to weave in a few minutes.

A knock appeared at the door, indicating it was time to commence the birthday meal of Miss Kaya, you walked to the side of your captain with a smile.

“Well,” he said, “let’s go eat!”

He offered his arm to you, which you took with a laugh and allowed him to escort you to the foyer where several variety of hors d’ouevres were being offered on silver platters by the staff. You accepted a class of sparkling wine from the tray while retracting your arm from Luffy’s elbow.

Luffy sprung to commence his dining experience, opting to skip the beverages and go straight to the source of the delicious smell he had been craving. You were left alone slightly, as Zoro was speaking with Klahadore, Nami was conversing with Usopp and Kaya while the other members of staff would offer trays of food and beverages to your crew and another man who was introduced to you as ‘Merry’.

You continued to have the uneasy feeling of being watched by someone, often peaking from the corners of your eyes to catch the source in the act – only to find nothing awaiting your gaze. You sighed and raised the champagne flute to your lips and took a small sip of the tart, bubbling liquid.

“Something the matter?” you heard a voice purr to you, pulling you from your trance to meet the gaze of Klahadore. You felt yourself jump a little at his introduction, bringing your attention fully onto him. You sighed before smiling at him, hoping he did not sense your uneasiness at his presence.

“I’ve not had a good pampering for some while, Mister Klahadore,” you said with a warm smile, “I’ve been at sea for longer than I ought to have been, I think.”

He hummed in response, offering you a fresh glass of champagne; which you accepted graciously. He took the empty glass from your hand and replacing it with the full one, “you seem to be one affiliated with the finer things in life.”

“I have been educated, yes,” you responded, narrowing your eyes slightly at his accusation.

“I mean no disrespect,” he said, using the palm of his hand to adjust his glasses closer to his eyes, “you just do not seem like one suited for piracy.”

You maintained your narrowed eye contact, scepticism displayed in questioning his unintentionality of the subtle jab.

“Yet here you are,” he continued, pausing between each word.

“Here I am,” you confirmed with a smile, raising your glass to your lips and sipping at the wine while looking over to make eye contact with the swordsman of the crew. You widened your eyes at him, hoping for him to catch on to your subtle cry for help at being left alone with this unsettling figure. As unaware as one could be in this type of situation, Zoro pointed to the butler with his chin and shook his head in question. You mentally screamed at him, hoping for some unnatural telepathic ability to inflict great harm on the clueless swordsman before attempting to calm yourself and returning your gaze to the butler at your side.

“You’ll be escorted to the workshop after supper,” he said with a twinge in the corner of his mouth before continuing with a small list, “there will be a work bench, some oil, some better tweezers, screws, nuts, bolts, a red hot poker, soldering metal, a blackened glass visor, magnifying glass, and to rehash your words; how did you put it?”

You widened your eyes as Klahadore leant in ever so slightly to your ear and purred into it like one would taunt a helpless, flightless infantile bird.

“A bloody stiff drink,” he uttered with a small chuckle in your ear. You sharply inhaled a breath at this comment and stepped slightly away from the butler, prompting him to teeter his laughter slightly and readjust his glasses before adding, “I’ll escort you myself after I lay Miss Kaya to rest in her chambers.”

You nodded your head to him with an uneasy smile, confirming your attendance before walking over to the place Zoro was standing.

“What the hell was that,” you whispered in a berating manner at him.

“What the hell was that,” he said in the same hushed tone, gesturing to the place you were once standing in with the butler, “when I said you could do better than the clown, I didn’t mean moving on from one unhinged weirdo to the next.”

“What the hell, Zoro,” you hissed at him through clenched teeth, “I was giving you the signal.”

“That you wanted to kiss him? Yeah, I saw,” he whispered back.

You groaned at the comment, using all of your willpower to not smack the swordsman upside the head. Breaking you out of your thoughts, you were alerted to the beginning of the dinner by Klahadore as he escorted Miss Kaya to the head of the table.

“I’ll give you a lesson on what the signal is later, swordsman,” you hissed at him, brushing past him and plastering a fake smile on your features as you entered the dining room.

Unlike your companions, you had been trained in debutant-like manners in your education for formal negotiations with upper-classed individuals. You waited for Klahadore to ensure Miss Kaya was comfortably sat in her chair before reaching for your own to take a seat, unlike Zoro, Luffy, Usopp and Nami who sat down as soon as they found their designated chairs. You mentally sighed at their inappropriate table manners before nodding to Miss Kaya and taking a seat at the table.

You commenced your meal after Miss Kaya took her fist bite, enjoying the meal so dutifully prepared for you; choosing to keep yourself away from engaging in conversation with the troop. You were feeling so unlike yourself, completely thrown by the act you had committed days prior. Usually, you displayed your bubbly, semi-flirtatious and intelligent personality with an organic ease. You furrowed your brows at the thought that the clown had a fierce hold on your very soul, a pull urging you to bring yourself over to him and give in to your unbridled emotions.

And at this thought, you finally snapped. You refused to dwell on the improbable circumstances of ever seeing Captain Buggy again, and especially foster a romantic relationship with the; as Zoro so eloquently put it: some psychotic clown. You had come too far in your crafting skills, education and ability to challenge a persons apprehensions with your charisma to throw it all away to be some love-struck puppy for a powerful sea-captain on an insane rampage. You shook your head from your thoughts and plastered a smile on your face and began to make conversation with Merry who was seated beside you.

You were shocked when Luffy decided to stand up on the table and walk over to the woman who had so openly invited to host you within her halls that your words halted in your throat, causing you to do nothing but to gawk at the scene presented before you.

“Everyone, out of this house at once!” Klahadore demanded, to which Kaya responded.

“No,” she said with a gentle cough, “it’s late. Let them stay the night.”

Klahadore reached for Kaya, bringing her to her feet and beginning to escort her to her bedchambers.

“As you wish, Miss Kaya,” he relented, “but they are to be out first thing in the morning.”

He led her up the stairs, causing you to rise to your feet and bid Kaya goodnight.

“Well, that went pretty well,” exclaimed Luffy with a playful smile, “don’t you think?”

Silence engulfed the dinner guests seated around the table as they all contemplated the sheer ignorance of their young captain. You rolled your head back with closed eyes, hearing a slight click front your left side as you groaned at the knowledge you were about to undertake handling a potentially dangerous item for the cat-like butler.

“I’m retiring to the guest quarters,” you exclaimed, turning with a smile to the ram-looking Merry and giving him a polite bow.

“Sleep well,” he said with a wide smile. You gestured with your eyes to your remaining comrades and suggested with a subtle crane of your neck to exit from the dining room. Nami sprung to her feet after pushing her chair back in response to your gaze. Zoro creased his brows and shook his head in question, prompting you to roll your eyes.

“At least someone understands what ‘the signal’ is,” you said under your breath, linking your arms with Nami and escorting one another up the stairs towards the suite you were all sharing.

You both walked in silence towards the room, enjoying being in the comfort of just the two of you. She seemed to pay close attention to several of the more shiny pieces littering the many benches throughout the hall as you walked.

“Did you live in a place like this?” she asked you, continuing to fix her gaze on a gold-dipped light fixture.

“Absolutely not,” you replied with a small smile, “I grew up with my siblings in an apartment above the shop.”

She hummed in response, continuing the slow pace you kept on your way to the suite.

“You would work with stuff like this, though?” she unlaced your arms and picked up a pristine silver box and weighed it in her palm, “rich people, stuff.”

You sighed and took the box from her hands, “yes, I worked with this stuff.” You placed the item back on the bench before turning to smile at her.

“What do you want me to say?” you asked her with a shrug, “that we were well off? That I was exposed to the finer things in life?”

She creased her brows and crossed her arms at your comments. You sighed and took a step towards her.

“Look, Nami,” you said, placing your hands on her shoulders, “I did overhear parts of your conversation with Zoro. Eat the rich and all that.”

She unlaced her arms and widened her eyes a little at your statement.

“Wealth doesn’t equate to happiness,” you said, searching your gaze into hers, “and every penny I earnt was spent running the shop, and caring for my fourteen younger siblings when my mother passed.”

She let out a small gasp at your declaration and gave you a look of slight sympathy.

“Now,” you said, releasing her shoulders from your gentle grasp with a smile, “let’s agree to not judge one another for our histories and move on. I won’t pity you or pry your past from you, and we don’t question one another’s life choices, yeah?”

She nodded slightly at your words and you both continued on to your chambers.

BONUS BELOW

Holding a hand up to his missing ear, the famed clown captain sat atop his stage chair and hanging on to every word he managed to hear you disclose from its place among he assumed was the bottom of a skirt? His feet were both dangling over the left arm of the chair as he rested his head on the right arm, laying completely down on his back on the firm, wooden base.

He recalled letting out an insane amount of laughter at the fact that he had manage to unintentionally woo you with a simple kiss exchanged between you. He did not restrain his chuckles as he eaves-dropped the private conversation you seemed to be engaging with yourself about in the showers.

“How could this particular woman be so desperate for me,” he maliciously spat with an air of smug confidence surrounding him, “all I did was threaten her and in response, she kissed me.”

He laughed again, kicking his feet slightly at how utterly ridiculous the whole situation was. He pressed the blank space his right ear was no longer attached to and continued to listen to you argue with yourself.

“It wasn’t even that good of a kiss anyhow,” he heard you mutter to yourself in an echoing room.

“Not that good of a kiss, my right ass-cheek,” he growled, sitting up from his reclining position and planting his feat on the ground, leaning forward and resting his arms on his knees, “it blew your absolute mind, baby. You’re crazy about me!”

He smirked at his own comment, before an uneasy feeling in the pit of his chest began to grow slightly.

“I didn’t even enjoy it that much,” he heard you say, also listening to the sound of a tap filling something large.

“Didn’t enjoy it that much?!” He yelled in a slight fit of rage, bringing the attention of Cabaji as he entered the tent. Buggy’s frown deepened at your words as he felt his chest bubble slightly at the feeling of inadequacy.

“Who are you talking to, Captain?” he asked.

“Shut-up!” he barked at him, “get out, I’m busy!”

Cabaji held his hands out defensively in front of himself and backed away slowly to return to the green room, leaving Buggy alone with his thoughts.

Buggy had a deep frown plastered on his face as he continued to hang onto every word he heard escape your lips.

“He could’ve been faking,” he heard you whisper to yourself, “it could’ve all been an act, a trick to lull me into a false sense of security, only to kill me after he was done with whatever he was doing with Luffy.”

“No,” he felt himself whimper slightly at your comment, dropping his frown and widening his eyes. The pit in his chest appeared to be growing and overcoming him slightly. He brought his other hand up to his lips and traced them with his fingertips lightly, attempting to bring the memory of the taste of you back to his skin.

His memory was flooded with your tender touch. His immediate reaction to push you away and inflict harm on you for daring to pull his body into yourself completely dissipated as you gently brought his body flush against your own and placed your lips against his. He remembered his sinister frown falling away from his brows as they turned upward in shock as he whimpered like some touch-starved stray animal against your embrace. Against his better judgement, he wanted nothing more than to hold you there for as long as you were willing to freely give him. He remembered lacing his gloved hand into your hair and pulling you gently into his embrace, squeezing the soft flesh of your back.

He had never felt a touch like yours before. This was his first encounter with another person so willing to freely express this amount of affection to him, he never wanted to part from your embrace – even ignoring the fact he felt you reach into his pocket to claim one of his throwing knives. He didn’t care if you were going to attempt to stab him in that moment, he would survive and you would look completely and utterly stupid. He was enjoying your touch and didn’t want to tear himself away from your clutches to brace himself for something as small as a dagger in his side.

While bracing himself in expectation of feeling the sharp object to be pried into the flesh you were exposing beneath his jacket, he felt your hands begin to explore his flesh, prompting a unrestrained moan to escape his lips. He wanted more. He wanted all of you, to be with you completely. If you were not holding him so firmly against yourself, he felt as if he would’ve become a puddle of broken pieces below your feet. Your touch brought him to his knees, in a hypothetical sense.

He cradled the empty space his right ear was missing from and felt overcome with the need to be in your presence. He was brought from his concentration on your words as he shook his head to bring him back into the present.

“What the hell?” he asked himself, looking at the position he was sitting in while cradling his ear, “why am I so focussed on you? I don’t even know your name!”

He gasped as he heard the final words escape from between your lips in a tone just above a whisper.

“I think I’m in love with Buggy the Clown.”

His jaw grew slack as he opened it in shock, the feeling in his chest warming his torso with an uncomfortable new emotion. His body slumped back into the broad backboard of his chair as he shook his head slightly, mouth continuing to hang agape in shock.

He felt his eyes begin to glaze over slightly, replaying your final words over and over again within his mind like a well-lit merry go round.

“That’s-,” he uttered in a voice below a soft murmur, “that’s all I ever wanted.”

He felt the well within his chest overflow and shoot tingles throughout his body. He closed his jaw and gulped back the saliva collected in his mouth as he continued to focus on your confession. He dropped his hand down from the empty space beside his head and hung it beside his shocked body. He looked down at his chest as the warmth continued to spread over his form as he came to understand the emotion he was feeling.

“Oh fuck,” he whispered with a wide grin forming on his face, a subtle bashfulness arising alongside a large warmth to his cheeks, “I love you too, baby.”

He let out a teetering giggle with a twinkle in his eyes as he came to terms with the adoration he had developed for you. He couldn’t wait to see you again, to tease you before pulling you into his arms. His love, his queen. His.

Part 5

#buggy x you #buggy the clown x reader #one piece #opla #x reader #captain buggy #chop chop fruit #devil fruit power #captain kuro #klahadore #straw hat pirates #zoro #nami #usopp #monkey d. luffy #strawhat reader

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justauthoring · 2 days ago

Text

This is the Beginning [2/?]

Summary: You never thought you'd be able to escape Buggy, and yet, a boy with a straw hat, a man with three swords and a girl with orange hair somehow manage to free you. The journey that follows afterwards is your chance at freedom and maybe something more.

A One Piece Live Action Rewrite

Part One - Part Two

Pairing: Live Action!Zoro Roronoa x F!Reader

TW for this chapter: kuro, canon typical violence, kuro makes a comment about your eye, that's about it

Word Count: 11,044

A/N: This chapter was so fun to write and I'm even more excited for the next because... SANJIIIII!! Which of course means we get to see some jealous Zoroooooo

I hope to have chapter three out soon, but school is crazy as usual so be patient with me <3

Tag List: @emmaiscool22

Chapter Two - Acceptance

“Are you sure you don’t mind me borrowing some of your clothes, Nami?”

Glancing up from the Grand Line map she’d been studying, Nami just raises a brow down at you. “I’d rather you borrow my clothes then wear those atrocious clothes that clown had you in,” she shakes her head, almost shuddering at the memory. The sight pulls a small smile to your lips. “Seriously, he had no fashion sense.”

You let out a small laugh. “They were pretty ugly, weren’t they?” You grin up at her, and she pauses, as if shocked you were smiling so openly. You don’t mind. You realize you did look pretty miserable that time they’d set you free, extremely self-pitying too. You still had your self-doubts, of course, but Luffy’s excitement at you joining them was pretty reassuring and it was hard not to appreciate how freeing the whole experience had been.

There was still the whole issue that Luffy seemed to be the only one convinced that you were in fact a pirate crew. Nami and Zoro seemed insistent on denying that, repeatedly telling him they were not a crew when he’d tried explaining it to you. Nami said she was only with the two because she had a shared interest in the Grand Line map. When you asked Zoro, he’d just shrugged, saying he was seeing where it took him. You’d snickered silently to yourself at that, thinking to yourself that the both of them just weren’t ready to admit that they were in fact a part of Luffy’s crew and probably liked that fact.

But you’d let them lie about it for now.

As for you, you nodded at Luffy when he explained how the goal was to find the One Piece and for him to become the Pirate King. In response, you’d shrugged and said; “Sure, Captain. Sounds like a plan.”

His eyes had practically sparkled at that while Zoro and Nami instantly groaned in response, berating you for enticing Luffy. You’d only laughed, saying you didn’t mind calling him Captain and being in his crew because there was nowhere else for you to go.

You’d been a captive of Buggy’s for years. Forced to be a part of his crew and do his bidding day in and day out. There really was nowhere else for you to go or call home. You’d suffered scars and injuries that would never leave, both mentally and physically. But Luffy, Zoro and Nami seemed to think nothing of your doubts, especially your eye. Despite his initial assurance, you felt extra assured by the fact that you had your eyepatch back and no one was going to be forcing you to take it off to make a mockery of you again.

Those days were gone.

With a wistful sigh, you turn, moving to the edge of the boat and breathing in the air. You never enjoyed being on Buggy’s boat but that hadn’t been because you didn’t enjoy being out on sea, but rather because it had been Buggy’s boat in the first place.

You are unaware of Nami’s eyes following you until she lets out a rather undignified snort.

“More than ugly,” she rolls her eyes as you turn back to glance at her. “More like atrocious. We should burn them when we get the chance.”

You let out a chuckle. “You think? I’d sure like to get rid of the memory of them.”

Nami’s lips part to respond, but before she can, she’s cut off by Luffy;

“Nami! Y/N!”

Rolling her eyes, Nami shifts her attention in front of you as you spin around to face Luffy. “What?”

Grabbing the large sheet of fabric he’d been fiddling with for the past hour or so, he stretches it wide in front of him, blocking what you’re sure is a beaming smile, and calls out; “it’s ready!”

Lips parting, you tilt your head, trying to get a good look at the lopsided skull.

“And what is it?”

Lowering the fabric so his face pokes up over it, Luffy grins; “our Jolly Roger. Every pirate crew has to have one. And now we do!”

“We’re not a crew,” Nami huffs, “and you are not hanging that on my boat.” With that, she turns back to the map.

Luffy blinks at her.

Stepping forward, you smile gently at Luffy; “it’s a little lopsided too, no?”

Peeking over the top, Luffy raises a brow. “I think it’s perfect.”

You bite your lip, holding back your laugh just as the door squeaks open behind him. Glancing over Luffy’s shoulder, you meet Zoro’s gaze.

“Zoro!” Luffy wastes no time spinning to face his friend, “Zoro, check it out.”

Pausing in the door, Zoro lets his eyes drag across it for a moment before meeting Luffy’s gaze, expression never changing.

“That’s unique.”

“It’s kind of cute in a way.” You offer, feeling a bit bad for Luffy who clearly had worked hard on it. “It has its own charm.”

Zoro just rolls his eyes at you. “It’s definitely not going to scare any other pirates.”

Turning back to Luffy’s jolly roger, he turns to you expectantly. As you let your eyes drift across it again, you have to admit, it’s more adorable than frightening. With a grimace, you offer him a pitying smile.

“Nami,” Zoro calls, leaning against the edge of the boat. “I think the toilet’s busted.”

Peering at him behind her glasses, Nami blinks, “we don’t have a toilet.”

There’s a pause, before Zoro offers a short; “oh.” Turning back towards the door, he shrugs. “Well, then something back there’s leaking.”

“What?”

Not hesitating a second more, she hops off the boxes she’d been sitting on, storming past the three of you and slamming the door shut behind her.

Luffy waits one second before he says; “where should I hang it?”

“Uh, Luffy,” you call, “I don’t think Nami will…”

He ignores you, eyes snapping round to find the best place.

“It’s best to let him do what he wants,” Zoro calls from behind you, your head turning round to glance at him. He’s crossed his arms over his chest again, leaning nonchalantly back. “And not get involved.”

“Is that what you do?” You ask, raising a brow. “Choose not to get involved?”

Zoro just stares at you. “Not if I don’t have to,” he answers, as if that’s the obvious answer.

Something told you that wasn’t the whole truth.

Before you can respond, however, Nami comes back out.

“We’re taking in water. What did you do?” She accuses Zoro.

Zoro leans towards her; “I didn’t do anything.”

Eyes flickering between the both of them, feeling the tension rising, your stomach twists uncomfortably.

“Guys, maybe we should—”

“The way you’re clanging those swords around, you must’ve broken something,” she scoffs.

Zoro snorts. “If you’re such a good thief, maybe you should’ve stolen a better boat.”

“Guys, guys, guys,” Luffy calls, successfully cutting their argument off. You let out a breath of relief at that, grateful they at least chose to listen to Luffy. “Okay, crew meeting.”

On cue, both of them huff; “not a crew!”

You offer a nervous smile.

Unphased as usual, Luffy turns to the three of you. “We're gonna need a better ship to make it to the Grand Line. A real pirate ship.” Then, pausing for dramatic effect, he smirks; “worthy of the Straw Hat crew.”

“Wait,” Nami calls, “Straw Hat crew? Really?”

“Yeah,” Luffy nods, “I thought it had a nice ring to it.”

“‘Demon’ has a nice ring to it,” Zoro scoffs. “Headgear? Not scary.”

“Well,” you speak up, meeting Zoro’s eyes before turning to Luffy. “I like it. It’s unique.”

Nami rolls her eyes, “do you have to keep encouraging him?” She asks you.

You shrug, smiling.

Luffy beams at you. “Thank you, Y/N.” He turns to Zoro, “and who says pirates have to be scary?”

At that, both of them give pause.

“I definitely don’t want to be scary,” you mumble, more to yourself than anyone.

“The point is we need a new ship.” Luffy backtracks, “so where do we get one?”

Grabbing her maps, Nami sighs. “Our closest bet is the Gecko Islands. We can probably make it there before our ship sinks. Ditch this one and get a better one.”

“Good,” Zoro drawls, “with a working toilet.”

Nami glares at him but Luffy just grins; “great job, navigator.” He turns back to grab his jolly roger.

“You’re still not hanging that on my ship,” Nami reminds.

After Luffy and Nami’s disagreement of stealing a ship and the former running off to somehow convince a salesman to just give him a ship, you’re left wandering around with Nami and Zoro.

You weren’t a big fan of stealing a ship either, but you knew realistically that Nami was right. None of you had enough to berry to be able to buy a ship legally and Nami’s old ship was no longer an option.

Trailing behind Nami and next to Zoro, you let your eyes drag across the hustle and bustle of the shipyard, unable to fight the smile that curls on your lips as you watch people flutter around, completely in their own worlds. It’s such a simple thing and yet, you can seem to pull your eyes off of the bustling crowds completely engrossed in their worlds.

“Never been to a shipyard before?”

It takes you a second to realize Zoro is talking to you. With a blink and parted lips, you turn to him, meeting his eyes. It’s clear he’d been watching you, dark and intense eyes already on you and the realization pulls a light flush to your cheeks.

“I’ve been,” you answer, nodding. Eyeing Nami out of the corner of your eye and watching as she carefully glances around, entirely for a different reason than you had been. She’s in her own world, promptly and probably pointedly ignoring the both of you.

Focusing back on Zoro, you lick your lips. “It’s just…” But you trail off, unsure.

“What?” Zoro asks, blunt as usual.

The look on his face tells you he’s waiting to hear what you were going to say.

“Different,” you shrug, moving to hug your arm as you curl in on yourself. It’s clear you’re not as open as you were trying to pretend you were since joining Luffy’s crew. While the three of them were definitely nothing like Buggy, it was hard to deny that Zoro was intimidating. You’d only been with them for a short amount of time, but Luffy was easy to get along with. He did most of the talking anyways and his energy was infectious.

Nami you’d been unsure of at first too, and while she sometimes seemed closed off, she was easy to hold a conversation with. Sometimes short or cold, you still found her approachable.

Zoro, for some reason, made you nervous. You couldn’t rightly explain it. Every time you met his eye or tried to talk to him, you’d clam up with nerves and find yourself stumbling more than you usually did. Honestly, you made yourself look like a fool more times than not with him. His gaze was heavy, and the second it landed on you, it was like he was trying to unearth all your secrets.

“Different how?” He asks, pressing.

You lick your lips. “It’s… different seeing all these people without having to fear that Buggy might snap and kill them all.” Glancing at him out of the corner of your eye, taking in his eased stride and the way he always keeps at least one hand on his swords, you glance out towards the sea of boats. “He enjoyed making people's lives miserable.”

There’s a beat of silence before; “yours especially, it seems.”

You turn to him in shock, eyes widening at him. He’s no longer looking at you, head turned straight, but the expression on his face says it all.

“I guess,” you mumble, hugging your arm tighter.

Silence envelopes the both of you, all whilst Nami continues to lead to way completely oblivious to the tension that has surrounded the two of you. You’re careful to not glance Zoro’s way, even though you desperately want to.

Your mind races with wonder of what exactly he meant.

Luckily, you don’t have to stew in your thoughts for too long. A few minutes later the three of you hear the distinctive and familiar voice of Luffy, and with one glance at each other, you’re picking up the pace.

When you find Luffy, he’s standing at the front of a ship, grinning ear to ear.

“There you are,” Nami calls.

“Guys!” Luffy cheers, moving to make his way down to the three of you. “I found it,” he declares. “I found our ship.”

Turning your attention to said ship, you silently muse to yourself it’s not a bad choice. Luffy seemed to make rash decisions but he always followed his gut and you can’t say that this ship was a result of a bad decision. It was a decent size, not too big that it’d be unmanageable with four crew members but not small like the previous one. It had a certain charm to it as well.

“And this guy will sell it to us!”

You turn in the direction of Luffy’s gesture, noticing the man slumped over the edge of the ship that you hadn’t realized before.

Standing up, he turns to make his way down to Luffy as well, eyes wide as he stammers; “uh, w-wait, what…?”

“Yeah!” Luffy nods, oblivious. “The ship, we’ll take it.”

The man winces; “technically, she’s not for sale.”

“Huh?”

“And technically,” he continues, “I’m not a salesman.”

“Do you even work here?”

“Of course I do.”

“Okay,” you nod, smiling warmly. “What do you do then?”

He meets your eyes, “I’m Chief Technician in charge of encrustation removal and aviary waste eradication.”

Luffy’s face twists; “encru what?”

Zoro huffs next to you. “He scrubs barnacles and cleans bird shit.”

“He can’t help us,” Nami adds.

The two of them turn to leave.

“Wait! Wait! Wait!” The boy frantically calls, shaking his hands at you. “I can help you. The owner of this ship just happens to be my closest friend in the world.”

Nami seems unconvinced. “Your friend owns this ship?”

“Not just this one,” he grins. “She owns the whole shipyard. She’s rich rich.”

Luffy gasps; “oh!”

“I’m sure you could strike a deal with her.”

So it turns out Usopp, you learned his name was, was not lying about his friend owning the whole shipyard. It did, however, seem he was lying about how invited he truly was in his friends house—mansion.

Kaya herself didn’t seem to have any issue with Usopp, but her butler had a stick up his ass about him and that included the four of you.

If it hadn’t been for Kaya insistence that it was her birthday, you’re sure all five of you would’ve been promptly kicked off her estate and back to square one. Somehow, that didn’t happen and now you’d found yourselves invited to dinner.

Currently, you were eyeing the room you’d been given for the night with a sheen of excitement. You’d never been in a house, let alone a room this nice before. It was a major upgrade compared to the small, dingy tent Buggy had let you stay in. The bed itself was almost the entire size of what your tent had been.

It’s astonishing enough to you that you lose track of time. After spending far too long just exploring the room—because it was big enough to explore—you went to have a shower. It had been far too long since you’d been given the opportunity to bathe yourself, and you definitely weren’t about to pass it up.

You definitely spent far too long showering, letting the water soak into your skin and taking your time scrubbing the filth off your body.

By the time you’re finished, the bathroom is thoroughly fogged and you’re feeling refreshed.

It’s only then you remember you still have to find something to wear. Klahadore, the butler, had made it clear the clothes you all were wearing were not nearly good enough to eat dinner in—whatever that meant.

Leaving your room, you pause in the hall, glancing both ways as you try to remember what direction Klahadore had told you the clothes were in. He’d been rather gruff about it, barely able to hide the contempt in his gaze and you’d been too busy trying to ignore the discomfort to really listen to what he’d been saying.

You’re left wandering for about ten minutes before you see Nami slipping out of a room.

“I’m so happy to see you,” you breathe, grabbing her arm as she turns to you. She seems slightly unsure of your touch but she doesn’t pull away. “I’m sure I would’ve been lost for hours before I found my way. You look amazing, by the way.”

She really did. The red piece she had on was truly beautiful and it looked stunning on her.

Snorting faintly, she smiles softly. “Thanks,” she nods. “There’s a ton of outfits to choose from in there. The boys are in there too, but be careful, they’re hopeless.”

You let out a chuckle, “they weren’t any help?”

“Those two?” She rolls her eyes. “I’m pretty sure neither of them even know what a compliment is.”

Biting your lip, you pull back, letting her go. “Well, I’m gonna give it my best. Hopefully I can find something.”

Perhaps sensing a bit of nerves from you, Nami hesitates before leaving. “You’ll look good in anything, I’m sure.” She reassures, offering a gentle smile. “There’s lots of options and we might not get the chance to dress up like this again. Go crazy.”

You’re instantly eased by her words and sending her a warm smile and a nod, you turn towards the door, letting her head back to her room.

You’re instantly greeted by both Zoro and Luffy the second you slip inside, the two boys turning to face you as you smile at them gently in greeting.

“Woah,” you breathe, letting your eyes flicker across the room. “That is a lot of clothes.” You hadn’t thought Nami was lying, you just hadn’t expected this much.

Zoro snorts as Luffy nods; “right? What would a person even need with it all?”

You let out a laugh, letting your hands drag across a rack of them, not even sure where to begin.

“Well, I’m gonna go with this,” Luffy calls and you turn back to him, eyeing the waistcoat he’s holding in his hands. You pause when you realize he’s only holding a waistcoat.

“Uh, Luffy—”

“See ya!”

He’s out the door in the next second, leaving you gaping in the direction he’d gone.

A moment later, you turn to Zoro; “he’s aware you’re typically supposed to wear a shirt under a waistcoat, right?”

Zoro shrugs, chuckling. “Probably not.”

You let out a laugh in response before turning back to the clothes, suddenly realizing you’re alone with Zoro. You’re still unsure about the conversation the two of you had had back at the shipyard so it’s hard to ignore the slight uncertainty you feel at being in the room alone with him.

That and the fact that he makes you nervous in general.

“Did you, um,” swallowing thickly, you meet his eyes. “Did you find something to wear?”

He holds up the shirt that had been on his lap. It’s a dark bronze button up, with what looks like silk material. It’s beautiful, and you can’t help the thought that pops into your head that it’ll look extra beautiful on him. “Nami found something.”

“Ah,” you nod, “it’s a nice shirt.” You smile at him, before pausing by the folding screen at the back end of the room. “I guess I should hurry and find something, huh? I took too long showering,” you chuckle nervously to yourself. “It felt so good, I couldn’t convince myself to get out.”

Laugh fading out, you swallow thickly when you realize Zoro is just staring at you.

“Did you need help finding something?” He asks after an agonizing moment of quiet.

You turn to him in surprise. “Huh?”

“A… dress or something,” he gestures loosely to the clothes, now looking slightly uncomfortable. “Did you need help finding something?”

You stare at him, stunned. You for a moment think you’ve imagined Zoro’s offer. Maybe you were still in your room, or maybe you were still stuck with Buggy and this was one big hallucination.

You choose to ignore why Zoro would be a part of your hallucination.

“I thought you didn’t like getting involved?” You offer him.

Zoro smirks, the edges of his lips tilting upwards. “Only when I don’t want to.”

It’s hard to fight the blush that spreads across your cheeks at his words or ignore the flutter of butterflies in your stomach. You’d be stupid to say you didn’t notice that Zoro was a rather… attractive man, but you’d pointedly ignored those thoughts in favour of focusing on more important things. But when he smirked at you like that and offered to help you… find something to wear, of all things, it was hard to ignore them.

Turning away so he can’t see your flush, you swallow thickly. “S-Sure,” you mumble, before shifting the conversation to save you some face. “But Nami warned me you and Luffy were practically hopeless.”

Zoro huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m certainly more helpful than that idiot.”

Grinning, you bite your lip, turning back to him.

Zoro frowns at your grin. “I know fashion.”

“I didn’t say you didn’t,” you laugh, holding your hands up in defence.

Scoffing, Zoro stands up, leaving the shirt Nami had picked for him over the arm of the chair as he crosses the distance of the room over to you. You freeze as he grows close, trying to ignore the race of your heart as he stops behind you, chest inches from your back, and reaches past you to grab a dress off one of the higher racks.

You watch as he pulls it down, trying to ignore the bulge of his bicep as he does.

The dress he picks is light beige in colour, floor length with one shoulder strap. The strap of the dress has an extra piece of fabric that billows out around it. It’s a simple silk material, but the hem of the dress is decorated in a darker, bronze lace trim.

It’s beautiful.

You’ve certainly never worn a dress so beautiful.

“Here,” Zoro calls, handing the dress to you. “This one. It’ll look nice with...” he gestures loosely to your eye, as if unsure how to say it.

You blink up at him, warmed at his words and how he hadn’t just chosen the dress at random like it seemed he had. Had he seen the dress when Nami had been looking and thought of you? That thought made your heart race.

“Try it on.”

Wordlessly, you take the dress from his hands, meeting his eyes one last time before turning to step behind the folding screen. You hear footsteps grow distant so you figure Zoro went back to the chair, and with only a second more of glancing at the beautiful dress, you move to slip off your clothes. Once you’ve slipped the dress on, it takes you a second or two to fully zip it up, unused to the movement.

The second it’s fully on, you glance down at yourself, letting your fingers run down the length of the dress, marveling at how soft the material is.

“You done?”

Jumping at Zoro’s voice, you cough faintly, swallowing thickly. “Y-Yeah.”

“Let me see.”

Blunt as usual, Zoro leaves no room for argument, so, with a nervous dip of your stomach, you force your legs to carry you out from behind the folding screen. You hesitate to meet his gaze, feeling nervous and unsure in a completely different way at the way Zoro’s eyes drag across your figure.

You’ve never worn a dress before, period. And certainly not one as pretty as this. Nami wasn’t lying when the clothes Buggy had made you wear were ridiculous. Corny and too colorful, Buggy had adorned you in clothes that made you look closer to a doll than an actual human being. It had been objectifying and humiliating.

And even though this was still a form of dressing up and even though you’re nervous, you can’t deny you feel beautiful.

Truly beautiful.

“What… What do you think?” You ask, finally meeting Zoro’s gaze as you tip your chin up.

There’s the briefest of seconds where his lips are left parted and an expression you’ve never seen washes over his eyes. Your stomach twists painfully, thinking that reaction was one of distaste, but before you can say anything, he’s coughing out a response;

“It’s… good.” The words seem forced, but not in a way that he’s lying but rather that he’s unsure of how they sound on his own lips. “You look… pretty.”

The blush returns. Ten-fold this time. Your whole body grows hot in response, nerves feeling like they’re on fire, as you stand there. You’re frozen still, for some reason scared to move.

“Oh,” you finally manage. “Thank you.”

He stands. It seems like an unconscious decision. “You’re welcome.”

Silence follows.

“You think this is the one?” You ask, before turning to the rest of the clothes. “Or should I—”

“No,” Zoro cuts in, sharp, before righting himself as he coughs, again, trying to play it off. “I mean, no, I think that’s a good choice.”

Believing it, you nod; “okay.”

Zoro glances at you, before glancing down. “I should get ready.”

“Oh,” you blink, “yeah.”

“Yeah.”

Standing there, opposite ends of the room, the two of you don’t move for a minute more. Then, Zoro finally turns.

“I’ll see you at dinner.”

“You too,” you whisper, watching his back disappear out the door.

You catch sight of the dress shirt Nami had found for him, and try not to let out a gasp when you realize the lace trimming of your dresses matches perfectly with his shirt.

Letting your eyes drift across the array of dinner food set out in front of you, you try not to let your obvious desire show. It was hard to deny how good everything smelled, though, and the want to just dig in and stuff your face like Luffy currently was was more than tempting.

But you wouldn’t let yourself look so silly. Not only was this a fancy dinner, you were wearing the nicest dress you ever had and surely ever will. You had no intention of soiling that opportunity by being anything less than ladylike.

Sat in between Zoro and Usopp, you tentatively glance around to see if anyone else has started grabbing food.

Luffy was the only one actively stuffing his face full. Usopp and Nami had grabbed food, but the latter was taking it much slower and Zoro…

Well, Zoro didn’t really seem interested in eating at all. He’d grabbed the bottle of wine on the table the second he’d seen it and after managing to chug through the entire bottle in a few mere minutes, he was already asking for another.

Deciding to just bite the bullet and ignoring the nerves of reaching for food, you grab a little bit of everything that catches your attention. There’s so much placed on the table you’ve no hope of ever being able to try it all, even though that’s what your heart desires. You settle for starting with what looks most appetizing and leaving the rest for if your stomach has the room for it.

Smiling to yourself, it takes you a moment before you realize there’s a set of eyes on you.

You instantly glance to your left, in the direction of Zoro, blinking when you find his eyes already on you. He has the glass of wine he’d poured for himself pressed against his lips, angled back to be able to watch you more easily.

He seems to freeze at being caught and you quickly divert your attention back to your now full plate before either of you can say anything. You’re hyper-aware of yourself in that moment, especially the dress you're wearing.

“I’d love to try the fish tonight.”

Looking up from your plate, you glance to the head of the table, watching as Kaya turns to the maid with a gentle smile and flutter of excitement.

“I’m sorry, Miss Kaya,” Klahadore cuts in before the maid can respond, stepping towards the girl. “But that is not possible.”

Kaya’s face falls. “Maybe just a small piece?”

“Now,” Klahadore sighs, as if exasperated by her simple request. “You know that certain foods can affect your constitution. Here, Buchi has prepared your special soup.”

At his invitation, Buchi steps forward, taking the bowl off his tray and setting it in front of Kaya.

You almost immediately blanch at the sight.

Whatever that was, it didn’t look anything like soup.

“Kaya,” Nami calls, “it’s your birthday. You should be able to eat what you want.”

You instantly nod. “And certainly something more special than… that.”

“Miss Kaya’s medical condition necessitates that I closely monitor her dietary needs,” Klahadore explains.

You meet Nami’s gaze from across the table.

“Does it mean you also speak for her?” Nami challenges, glaring at the man.

Blinking, Klahadore tilts his head, the action oddly threatening.

“I’ll take her fish!”

Leave it to Luffy to miss the entire point of the conversation.

Pressing a hand to your forehead, you shake your head.

“Luffy,” Usopp says, and you silently thank him for diverting the tension. “Isn’t there something that you wanted to talk to Kaya about?”

“Oh, yes!” Luffy exclaims, pointing at Usopp in recognition. He turns to Kaya, grinning. “Usopp told me you own the whole shipyard.”

“Well, actually my parents founded the shipyard, and Merry’s been running the business since…” Her voice trails off momentarily, eyes falling to her lap. “Well, since they passed.”

Swallowing thickly, you fiddle with the napkin on your lap.

“But all of that’s about to change,” Kaya continues, pulling your eyes back on her. “Tonight, at midnight, I will become the sole owner.” Her eyes naturally drift towards Usopp and the two share a soft smile between one another.

You grin at the interaction.

“Ah,” Luffy nods. “Well, that’s great, because we want to buy a ship from you.”

Kaya’s face eases in understanding. “I see. Usopp mentioned that you’re sailors.”

“Nope. Not sailors.” Raising his glass, Luffy smiles. “We’re pirates.”

You freeze at that, pointedly ignoring the way Usopp chokes on his own drink. Your gaze falls to Luffy, as if in doubt that he’d actually just said that. By the proud grin on his face, you’d say he in fact did.

Bringing his glass to his lips, you hear Zoro mumble under his breath; “this ought to be good.”

Kaya falters. “Pirates?”

Luffy nods; “yup! We haven’t sailed together for long, but we have already defeated an evil clown,” you shift at that, “raided a Marine base, and taken down a captain with an axe for a hand.”

Biting your lip, you sink into your chair, pressing a hand to your eye patch. Maybe you’d blend in with the chair and disappear from sight.

“These sound a lot like your adventures, Usopp,” Kaya turns to her friend.

Usopp lets out a nervous chuckle. “Yeah, that’s… that’s crazy.”

“Oh yeah!” Luffy cheers, and before you even realize it he’s standing to his feet, taking the glass in his hands and climbing up on the table. “And we’re just getting started.”

“Oh my God… Luffy!” You whisper, trying to meet his eyes so he’ll get down.

“What are you doing?” Klahadore bellows, astonished. “Get down from there at once!”

Luffy ignores you and the butler. “Being a pirate has been my dream for as long as I can remember. And I’m finally making it a reality.” Ever oblivious to the reactions of everyone else there, Luffy shifts to take a knee towards Kaya. “We’re heading out to the Grand Line, where even more adventures await us.” He moves to stand up straight again, making his way down the length of the table towards Kaya. “And at the end of the journey, I’m gonna find the ultimate treasure, the One Piece, and become King of the Pirates.”

Head tilting back to meet his gaze, Kaya’s lips part; “you’re… serious?”

Handing the glass he’d been holding to Klahadore, who accepts it with a barely concealed growl, Luffy crouches in front of Kaya, grabbing her by the shoulders. “Kaya, you have a beautiful ship out there. A caravel with a sheep figurehead. It spoke to me. That’s the ship we need to follow our dreams. I promise you, we’ll take care of it. Maintain it. Treat it like any other member of our crew, because a ship is also a home.”

Silence follows, no one says anything for the briefest of seconds. You focus your attention on your lap, fiddling with your fingers, wishing Luffy would get down from the table.

But before Kaya or really anyone could say anything, Klahadore’s voice booms;

“That will be quite enough! I should’ve known Usopp would bring riffraff to our doorstep.”

Kaya shakes her head; “Klahadore, it’s okay. I—” A violent cough pulls from her lips. It starts to wrack her body, cutting off what she’d been about to say as she hunches in on herself in response.

You sit up, leaning towards her. “Are you okay?” You ask, not sure if you should get up and help.

Klahadore steps forward before you can, pointedly glaring at you before shifting his gaze to Luffy. “Now look what you’ve done. You’ve upset Miss Kaya. All of you, out of this house at once!”

“No,” Kaya rasps. “It’s late. Let them stay the night.”

After the disaster that was dinner, you’d elected to stay in your room for the night.

You’re almost positive that the rest of your friends wouldn’t be able to rest or stay still for that matter. Even though you’d only been with them for a short while, it was easy to tell that an opportunity like this wouldn’t allow any of them to simply stay in for the night and sleep. Luffy was probably looking for more food, given that dinner had been cut short. Nami was definitely exploring the mansion, whilst grabbing whatever shiny trinket caught her attention. And Zoro? He was probably looking for more booze. You’ve very quickly come to learn that the man enjoyed his alcohol, and needed it in most instances.

You, however, were exhausted. A lot of things in your life had so rapidly changed and being out on sea, cramped in a small ship hadn’t left you a lot of opportunities to rest. The bed you’d been given for the night seemed far too tempting to ignore, especially knowing you probably wouldn’t get a chance like this one again.

So, changing out of the dress you’d borrowed from Kaya, feeling slightly disappointed you hadn’t gotten the chance to wear it for longer, you changed back into the clothes you’d borrowed from Nami and lay down on the bed.

You instantly sink into the cushion that is your mattress for tonight, a soft sigh leaving your lips as you feel your tense muscle instantly ease.

However, you learn quickly it isn’t so easy to fall asleep. Even on a large and soft bed, you were now struggling with the actual act of falling asleep. You couldn’t completely relax. For a multitude of reasons. Even though you were free of him, you’d only escaped Buggy a short while ago. The scars of what he’d done to you were still heavily prevalent and you doubted they’d go away anytime soon. Every time you close your eyes, you can see those gleaming eyes and hear his laugh echo in your mind.

You can feel the scars that cover your body from his abuse.

Beyond that, you can’t get rid of the uneasy feeling you felt about Klahadore. It was obvious the man was more than just a nasty butler. He’d been extremely controlling over Kaya all night, starting with not letting her eat anything other than that soup (which definitely wasn’t meant to be consumed) and the presence of Usopp and you and your friends seemed to particularly annoy him. It was obvious he was hiding something, you just weren’t sure what.

An hour or so must pass of you lost in your thoughts without getting any closer to actually falling asleep. You’re just about to give up in frustration, pressing the palms of your hands into your eyes with a groan of frustration, when a large bang startles you. It’s instantly followed by a mechanical whirring noise. You jump up, gaze snapping around for the source of the noise. You frown when you realize the noise is coming from the large window in your room. There was a shutter coming down, blocking out the nightlight and effectively trapping any escape through it.

The lights in your room, despite having been turned off for you to sleep, were now flickering on and off.

Swallowing thickly, you crawl out of bed, moving towards the window. Your hands tentatively reach out for the window only to realize the shutter is on the other side of the glass pane. It was clearly intended to block people out, but also lock people inside.

“What the…”

Turning around, your eyes fall on your door, rushing towards it and letting out a soft breath of relief when you realize that it is still open.

The windows in the hall are no different than the one in your room. You also notice that the lights are flickering on and off in the whole house, making the large mansion seem entirely eerie in a different way.

Heart racing, your unease from before triples into terror as you begin moving down the hall. Your hope is to find one window or door that isn’t being barricaded, to try and escape. That doesn’t happen. Every window is blocked out by the metal shutters. Someone was putting the house on lockdown.

You fear you already know who that someone was.

Picking up the speed of your step, you turn down the hallway, glancing back the way you’d come in fear there was someone following you. Only, that causes you to crash right into another body. You let out a startled scream, fighting the hands that fall on your shoulders, thinking you’ve run into Klahadore himself.

“Y/N! Y/N, it’s me!”

Blinking, you turn, focusing your gaze in front of you and easing when you seem a familiar head of orange hair.

“Nami,” you breathe, relieved. Reaching for her, you grab her arms. “I’m so happy to see you. Where’s Zoro? Luffy? Do you know what’s going on? Why is the house in lockdown?”

She just shakes her head at you, eyes flipping around, seeming rushed. “I can’t answer all those questions right now,” she huffs, shuffling back as she tugs you along, fingers wrapping around your wrist. “There’s no time. Kaya’s in danger!”

She turns to race back down the way you’d just come from. You let her pull you, rushing to match her pace as you shake your head in confusion.

“Kaya’s in danger?” You echo, “Nami, what’s happening?”

Glancing at you over her shoulder, never slowing her pace, Nami frowns. “It’s the butler, Klahadore. Him and that maid and chef are going to kill Kaya! They’re pirates and they want the shipyard! They’ve been poisoning Kaya this entire time…”

Eyes widening, you quicken your pace so you’re next to her rather than beyond. Briefly, Nami glances at you once more, and you just nod at her. You’re shocked and you’re dying to ask more questions; like how she knows or where the rest of your friends are. But you know time is of the essence right now and you don’t need to know all those to believe her. “Lead the way,” you assure. “You know where Kaya’s room is?”

Blinking at you, Nami only pauses for a second. “Y-Yeah,” she answers. “It’s just down the hall.”

A few minutes later the both of you are stopping in front of a set of double doors. You let Nami take the lead, chancing a nervous glance behind you in fear that Klahadore will come around the corner any second. It takes Nami a few seconds before she manages to get the door open, and the second she does, you both rush in.

Her shoulders ease when she sees Kaya, Usopp behind her. “Thank God you’re alive.”

Kaya hovers by the table she’d been sitting at, frowning.

“Why wouldn’t we be alive?”

“Poison?” Kaya echos, breathless. “What are you talking about?”

Shuffling near the door, you glance between it and Kaya and Nami.

“I overheard them in the kitchen,” Nami explains. “It’s been going on for years.”

Kaya hesitates, fiddling her hands in front of her as she glances over at Usopp. “Did Usopp put you up to this?”

“I didn’t even know,” Usopp instantly denies. He doesn’t look angered by Kaya’s accusation, if anything, he looks more upset than she does. His face is distraught, eyes flickering across the tea set Kaya has on the table. “I gave you that tea.”

“Think about it, Kaya. When did you start getting sick? Was it around the time Kuro started working here?”

By the expression on her face, the answer is obvious.

“Listen to me,” Nami urges, grabbing her hands and pulling her focus back on her. “If we stay here, we die. We have to leave now.”

“Easier said than done,” you breathe. “Everything is locked down. And if Klaha—Kuro is after you, he’s probably already on his way here.” Shaking your head, you turn to look at them. “Where are we gonna go?”

Meeting your eyes, Kaya lets out a shaky breath.

You freeze when Kaya starts coughing, your entire body tensing.

Almost instantly, five blades slice through the wall of the mansion, missing Kaya and Usopp by an inch as the two of them fly back. You stumble back in response, trying to make room in the narrow servants corridors. But then, Kuro is pulling his blades back before slicing them back in in a different spot, this time right by Nami.

Just as Usopp turns to rush forward, Kuro’s blades stop him.

“It’s your birthday,” Kuro growls from the other side of the wall. “It’s time to celebrate.”

He slices his blades through again, this time both, one of each side of Kaya, the ones on her left nicking her on her arm.

Heart falling at the small cry that leaves her lips and processing just how dire of a situation you’re all in, the thought that pops up in your mind seems like the best option. You say it before you even realize what you’re saying. “Go,” you hiss, quietly enough that Kuro can’t hear you but the three of them can. Their eyes instantly fall on you. “I’ll distract him.”

Eyes widening, Nami shakes her head. “What? Y/N, no!” She turns to face you.

You jump as he sends his blades through once again, this time narrowly missing you, Nami stumbling back in response to avoid them as well.

“We’ve no choice,” you argue, “he’s going to kill Kaya!”

“Y/N—”

You don’t let Usopp finish, ignoring the look in Nami’s eyes as you step back.

“Stay here until I’m gone,” you whisper, meeting each of their gazes before nodding.

Then, with one last breath in, you pick up your pace, deliberating making your footsteps loud as to entice Kuro. You force a cough from your throat, hoping the barrier of the wall muffles the fact that your voice sounds different from Kaya's. As you run, you hear footsteps following you, and the distinctive voice of Kuro laughing;

“Come on then, Kaya! Don’t keep me waiting!”

With no plan in mind, you continue running, going back the way you’d just come and hope that Kuro continues to fall for the bait. You hope he’ll just assume Kaya got scared and went running back to her room.

Breathless, you continue to make your footsteps loud, forcing a cough every now and then, trying to buy as much time for Kaya and the others as you can.

Making your way back to the entrance you’d gone through in Kaya’s room, your eye flickers across her entire room, trying to find something to help yourself. You couldn’t fight to start with, but something was better than standing there helplessly. Grabbing one of the chairs around her tea table, you make your way towards the door. You definitely didn’t want to be trapped in her room with Kuro.

The second you step out of the room, you see Kuro in the hall, a few feet away from you.

You freeze and his eyes widen when he realizes it’s you and not Kaya. For a second, you both just stand there, waiting, and you watch as anger blazes in his eyes, mouth setting into a thin line. You fear he’ll go back in the direction of Kaya and the rest, so, stepping forward, you take the chair you’d grab and throw it at him. It doesn’t even reach him, crashing into the ground before his feet as his eyes lower to eye it, before falling back on you.

Then, you run. You turn to the right, racing down the hall opposite of him, making yourself move as fast as you possibly can. Maybe you could find Zoro, he’d know what to do. Nami had explained Luffy had been poisoned, but maybe if you could find him, you’d at least be able to help him. He’d defeated Buggy after all, so maybe he’d…. Shaking your head from that though, you remind yourself he’d been poisoned. Finding him would probably only put him in more danger.

Maybe you could find the switch that was keeping this place in lockdown. If you flipped it back, that’d help Kaya and the rest and give you an opportunity to escape.

You turn down a series of hallways all whilst hearing the thunderous steps of Kuro behind you. You’re happy he’s following you and taking the bait, but now that you’ve done it, you’re not exactly sure what your plan is. He curses at you, threatening he’ll do worse to you if you don’t stop. The threats make your heart race and your throat clam up with fear.

You never stop running though.

At least, until there’s nowhere else to run. As you make a turn, you realize you’ve made your way to the main foyer.

Your eyes instantly fall on the maid and chef.

Their eyes instantly zone in on you, gleaming with interest and smiling as your eyes widen at the sight of them.

“Fuck,” you breathe.

Just then, Kuro catches up to you, stopping right behind you.

You’re thoroughly trapped, pinned on either side by Kuro and his crew, and the only exit was currently locked down.

“Got nowhere to run now, have you?” Kuro laughs, voice thick with desire to kill. You inhale sharply, stumbling back as he steps towards you. As you make your way down the small set of stairs, you’re quickly reminded of Kuro’s crew as you hear them laugh mockingly behind you. A quick glance behind you tells you they're right behind you, so you freeze in the spot.

What the hell were you supposed to do now?

Cornered, you try to look for an escape, but there isn’t one. You already didn’t have a hope of fighting off Kuro, and you definitely didn’t have a hope of fighting all three of them. Your only weapon had been that chair, which was now broken and hadn’t even hit Kuro.

“Annoying,” Kuro hisses, glaring down at you. “Playing the hero and leading me away from Kaya.”

Shoulders tensing, you stare up at him.

His hand swings out before you can dodge it, slicing across your face in a way that pulls a scream from your lips. It hits directly on your right cheek, slicing across the strap of your eyepatch and into your skin. Blood beads across the four slices as your eyepatch falls to the ground. You watch it hit the ground in despair, shredded by his blades. Biting back the sob that wants to fall from your lips, you clutch at your cheek, turning back to look at Kuro.

He grins at you. With your right eye now visible, there’s a particularly cruel gleam that floods his eyes. “Well, look at that.”

Embarrassment brews in your chest, wanting to turn your face away and hide. The sting of your cheek is painful, and you can’t help the tremble of your body. You’re all too easily reminded of your helplessness. You’d told Luffy you were a lousy fighter and when he’d brushed it off with no concern, that’d given you the hope that maybe it wasn’t so bad. You were naive to think having no fighting skills wouldn’t catch up to you when dealing with pirates and even more of a fool to think that your brave plan to help Nami, Usopp and Kaya wouldn’t end in your death.

You didn’t regret doing what you had. You hope that by leading Kuro away, they’d already found an escape route. But you didn’t want to die either. You’d just escaped from Buggy too, and now you were going to die at the hands of another sick pirate crew.

“Such a shame too,” he mocks, “you were so pretty.”

Biting your lip, you swallow thickly.

“Finish her off for me and we’ll hide her body with the green-haired swordsman after I’ve finished with Kaya.”

Your heart starts at the mention of Zoro, terror flooding you at the thought that he might be hurt, or worse, dead.

“Zoro?” You breathe, voice pitching. Turning to Kuro, you shake your head. “What did you do to him?”

Kuro snorts, “he’s dead. Along with your captain, and your friends, as well as Kaya, will follow suit soon.” He grins, ear to ear, as his crew laughs behind him. “Try not to worry then, dear. You’ll be reunited with them all soon enough.”

Kuro turns to leave then, not sparing you another glance, leaving his crew to kill you off for him.

“Y/N. Y/N!”

Feeling hands grab at you, your limp body is spun and pulled into a chest as you slowly blink open your eyes. Everything hurts, your entire body is stinging to the point that even the slightest movement has you crying out in pain.

“Y/N!”

You recognize that voice. Forcing your vision to clear in your left eye, you ease when you see a familiar head of green hair. The relief that floods you is immediate, allowing you to ignore your own discomfort.

“Zoro,” you rasp, voice cracking with strain. “You’re alive.”

Zoro frowns down at you. “What the hell happened?” Shifting, his left hand falls on your waist, pressing against the nasty cut you were currently bleeding out from. His eyes fall on the wound and he huffs. “Shit. You’re losing too much blood.”

Setting you gently back on the ground, Zoro leans back, grabbing the hem of his shirt and ripping a strip of it off. You watch him with your good eye, bleary and dazed, body limp in his grasp as he tugs you up, slipping the strip under you so he can tie it around your waist, applying pressure to your cut.

Using all your strength, you raise your arm, gripping onto his arm. “Kuro,” you gasp, voice pitching. “The butler, he—”

Zoro shakes his head. “I know, Y/N. Fuck, did you really try to fight him?”

You laugh at that, weakly. “I’m a lousy fighter.” When Zoro doesn’t laugh with you, you sigh, letting your head fall back. “He was after Kaya… I distracted him to give them time.”

Zoro just blinks down at you, stunned, taking in the cuts across your cheek, and the bleeding wound in your stomach, his chest flooding with rage.

“We need to get you out here,” Zoro says, moving to pick you up. “We need to get you help.”

You just shake your head, pushing against his arm. “Kaya, Usopp and Nami… They… They need help.”

“Luffy’s got it,” Zoro says, trying to grab you.

You push harder. “Those two—the ma-maid and chef… they’re still—”

“Here?” A new voice cuts in, both you and Zoro glancing towards the front door only to see both of them there. Despite their ridiculous get up, your heart races with fear.

Something shifts in Zoro’s gaze. It’s an expression you’ve never seen. His eyes darken as his lips straighten, and he’s gently pulling back from you, making sure you’re settled on the ground, as he stands, pulling out the two black handled katanas.

“Just hang on, Y/N,” he whispers down at you, meeting your eyes from above as you glance up at him. You’re surprised by the burning rage in his gaze and it’s not at all directed at you. “I’ll kill them and then we’ll get you somewhere safe.”

Too tired to realize how those words would’ve made you feel normally, you nod weakly, letting your head fall back, knowing that Zoro will keep his word.

Zoro had been deliberate about keeping the fight away from you.

Having tucked you into the corner, you could only really hear the sounds of his fight. You wanted to get up and help, but you knew even without your injuries, you wouldn’t be able to do anything. And as you hear the sounds of metal clanging against metal, you make a mental note to actually take those lessons from Zoro up. You were learning and had learned far too quickly that having not even a bit of self-defence skill was not possible if you were going to be on Luffy’s crew.

It takes Zoro an impressively little amount of time to defeat Kuro’s crew. You can hear the waning sounds of fighting as you force yourself to turn, ignoring the ache that burns through your entire body. Your left eye shows you he’s in the midst of tying the two up, both of them growling in frustration and fighting weakly in protest.

Unaware of the way Zoro’s gaze falls on you, you press your hand to the ground, using it as leverage to push yourself up to your feet. Your teeth grind against one another as you lift yourself up, managing to shift your feet underneath you before a sharp shoot of pain has you crying out. Instantly, your arm gives out beneath you, and you go crashing towards the ground.

Or, at least, you would’ve, had an arm not caught your fault.

“Are you crazy?” Zoro breathes, shaking his head at you as he shifts you in his grip. “You’ve lost too much blood for you to be trying to stand up.”

Letting your hand fall on his arm, you breathe in sharply. “We… I’m worried about Kaya, Usopp and Nami,” you rasp, voice cracking at the end. “I need to check on them.”

“I told you Luffy had it, damn it,” Zoro huffs, before he shuffles, setting his left hand on your back and the other moving to hold your hand. He helps pull you to your feet, going slow to not hurt you more as his eyes flicker from the wound in your stomach to your face. You're drenched in sweat and blood, but the expression on your face is determined. “Worry about yourself.”

He says it with an expression of frustration, but he lets you lean your entire weight against him and doesn't pull away.

Meeting his eyes, you frown. “I’m worried about Luffy too.” You breathe, “and not because I don’t have faith in him but—”

“Zoro! Y/N!”

Lips parting, you glance up, eyes falling on Luffy himself as he comes racing down the stairs to your right. Behind him is Nami and then Usopp and Kaya. The smile that had been on Luffy’s lips falters at the sight of you when he sees the blood on your shirt, hesitating by the bottom of the stairs. Something shifts in his gaze, a look of anger you’ve never seen on the boy before. But before you can ponder on it for much longer, Nami pushes past him.

“Oh, my God,” Nami calls, eyes wide. “Y/N.”

She reaches you in seconds, bending to get a better look at the wound in your stomach.

You glance at her, then at Luffy, before your eyes drift past him to Usopp and Kaya. Everyone looks at you in a similar way, eyes drowning in concern.

“I’m okay,” you assure, trying to ease their worry. “It’s just a scratch.”

“She’s lying,” Zoro grunts, never letting go of you. “She needs medical attention.”

Nami shakes her head. “She probably needs stitches,” she breathes, voice pitching in panic as she pulls back your tattered shirt, getting a closer look at the wound. Turning to Zoro, she meets his gaze. “I know a little bit but not for something like this.”

“I can help,” Kaya calls out, weakly stepping away from Usopp’s arm as she smiles at you. “I know a little about stitching and cleaning a wound. Plus, it’s the least I can do. Leading Kuro away like that… I can’t ever thank you enough, Y/N.”

Smiling faintly, you brush her off; “you don’t need to thank me. You’re my friend, I wanted to help.”

Kaya looks at you astonished, but before she can respond, Nami is turning to her. “We better be quick,” she urges, looking concerned for you but also antsy. “The marines already know where we are. The longer we stay, the closer they get to catching up to us.”

Kaya nods, instantly moving towards her, just as Luffy speaks up;

“Where are we gonna go?” He asks, seemingly snapping out of his revere as he glances at his friends. “We don’t even have a ship.”

Pausing by you, Kaya turns to him; “yes,” she smiles. “You do.”

“Honestly, the both of you, I’m fine.”

Glancing at each other, Nami and Zoro make it clear they don’t believe you.

Sat in between them, you huff, touching the now stitched and bandaged wound on your stomach before letting your fingers drift across your cheek. After Kaya had stitched you up and given you something for the pain, you’d all headed out immediately. The ship she’d given you was named the ‘Going Merry’ in honour of her late friend Merry and Usopp and Kaya had shared a rather sweet kiss before the former agreed to join you.

Now with a bigger ship and five members, it was starting to feel like you all were actually a pirate crew. You felt closer with all of them and sharing that fight together, even if all you’d managed to do is get hurt, felt like you’d all truly bonded.

That, however, seemed to have both Zoro and Nami acting like overbearing, worried mothers over you. You could barely take two steps without one of them telling you to rest.

“Seriously,” you pout, crossing your arms over your chest. “I’m not a child. I can still do things for myself.”

“You have a cut that wraps around your entire waist, Y/N,” Nami reminds, curling a brow at you as she sets down the Grand Line map. “Not to mention your face.”

You gape at her, trying to find something to argue against and coming up blank, you turn your gaze to Zoro. He’s slouched back against the edge of the bench you’re all sitting at, head turned towards the window, but the expression on his face and his returning silence tells you he feels the same as Nami.

Seriously, for two distant and rather intimidating people, they sure were overprotective.

“I promise I’m fine. And the second I’m fully healed, I’ll be roping Zoro into giving me some fighting lessons so something like this never happens again.”

That pulls Zoro’s eyes on you. “I definitely will be teaching you some moves,” he assures. “For the next time you decide to sacrifice yourself.”

He glares at you but it doesn’t amount to much and you let out a small giggle at that, cheeks warming faintly. You miss the way his gaze softens the second you do, but Nami who’s sat across from him definitely doesn’t. Zoro promptly ignores her knowing smirk.

“I think it was badass!”

Sharply reminded of his presence, all three of your eyes fall on Luffy who’s sitting at the other side of the table.

“Though,” he pauses, a smile faltering on his face. “I would rather you didn’t get covered in blood next time we fight.”

You snort at that, sending him a reassuring smile. “No worries, Captain,” you send him a thumbs up. “I’ll make sure not to worry everyone again.”

Nami rolls her eyes and Zoro scoffs, but Luffy’s face stretches into a wide smile, nodding at you.

“A shame though,” he adds a moment later, almost as an after-thought. “I did think your eyepatch was cool.”

Shoulders tensing, you’re sharply reminded of the fact that because of Kuro, your eyepatch had been sliced to shreds. You’d asked Kaya if she’d be able to stitch it back together, but she’d only frowned and said it was ruined beyond repair. You knew you could just get a new eyepatch, but you didn’t know when you’d get the opportunity to do so. Let alone if you’d even have the money to buy one.

As a result, you’d been forced to depart from Gecko Islands without it and feeling entirely too seen and vulnerable with your eyes there for everyone to see. You’d been hiding behind it for as long as you can remember and you were desperately trying to ignore the fact that you couldn’t until now.

You knew Luffy meant nothing behind it, but you couldn’t help the way you instinctively curled into yourself in response.

“Cha,” Zoro calls out, clicking his tongue, “she doesn’t need it anyways. She looks badass enough without it.”

Lips parting, your stunned eyes fall on him. He’s pointedly not looking at you, eyes focused back on the window to his right, but you notice a faint flush across his cheeks.

Nami giggles quietly to herself. “Zoro’s right,” she agrees, smiling at you when you turn to look at her. “The eyepatch just hid your face and you shouldn’t be ashamed of the way you look.”

Lips still gaping, the warmth that floods through your chest is undeniable.

“Ah!” Luffy exclaims a second later, “you guys are right! Your eye is even more awesome than the eyepatch! Both of your eyes!”

A smile curls onto your lips, eyes falling to your lap as you let their words flood through you, basking in the kindness. No one has ever made you feel so… normal about your eye and the way it looks. Not just normal, but accepted.

In that moment, every cruel insult that has ever been thrown your way becomes immeasurable to the words your friends say to you then.

“Guys! Check it out!”

Swallowing thickly, the moment is interrupted as Usopp comes bounding into the room, a grin plastered on his face. “Using my unparalleled artistic talent, I made us a new Jolly Roger for the ship.” Grabbing Luffy by the arm, he pulls him up to his feet, making Luffy hold the Jolly Roger as he opens it to show you all.

It’s a skull, as expected, but… Usopp-ified.

“Ta-da!”

Usopp chuckles in excitement, still grinning from ear to ear, as you grimace. Luffy was not going to like that.

“I know. I know,” Usopp laughs, “my flair for design often leaves people speechless.”

Folding the Jolly Roger back up, Luffy hands it back to Usopp with a forced smile.

“I already drew our flag,” Luffy explains.

“Okay,” Usopp snorts, “but this one is so much better.”

Zoro just sighs from beside you. “Neither of the flags are gonna scare anyone away.”

“Okay,” Usopp drawls, wrapping his Jolly Roger around his shoulders. “But the Jolly Roger is supposed to reflect the captain.”

Luffy doesn’t hesitate; “I am the captain. We are the Straw Hat crew—”

“—They call me Captain Usopp.”

You bite your lip, watching as the two proceed to talk over one another.

Then, Nami laughs.

It gives everyone pause, turning to her as she lets her head fall in amusement, shoulders shaking with laughter.

Everyone follows suit after that.

Pressing your hand to your lips, your eyes crinkle in warmth and delight.

“You see?” Luffy grins, patting Usopp on the shoulders. “This is what it’s all about. From now on, it’s all gonna be smooth sailing.”

As if jinxing it, the sound of a cannon firing echoes right after his words. A second later, a thud hits the boat as the entire ship rocks, causing you to lose your balance and fall forward. You tilt, pain shooting through you as you agitate your wound.

Hands fall on you.

“You okay?” Zoro asks, eyes flickering across you.

You nod, “yeah.” You say slowly, breathless, as you glance around at the rest.

“What was that?” Usopp gasps.

Nami just sighs, moving to stand. “You had to open your mouth.”

Waiting for Zoro to stand, you follow after him, moving slower than the rest as they make their way up to the deck. Cannon continues to fire, some rocking the ship, until you all see the cause of the explosions.

“Marines!” Nami yells, “we’re under attack!”

Moving up the stairs, you nod gratefully at Zoro as he helps you up the final few steps, watching as Luffy takes the telescope to see who's attacking you.

Your eyes widen, however, when he calls out;

“Grandpa?!”

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