Author's note: First of all, I would like to emphasize that in my One Piece fan fiction, I try to keep as close to canon as possible in regards to approaches to romance on principle. But with that said, this is (sort of) high school. So there are implications and teasing of varying magnitude. But there's not going to be anything very definitive, if you were worried. I felt the need to say this after noting that this chapter contains mentions of Usopp/Kaya and Kohza/Vivi as well as Wiper-Conis interaction (which, if you follow my One Piece writing, you probably know is something like my One Piece OTP).

Second of all, this spur of updates was brought to you by bad internet in combination with the necessity of internet in order to complete tasks I have to complete in real life. My life will now officially take over for a while again. I might manage to update before the end of September, but it's not likely. But I will update! And finish! Honestly, it'll probably only take one more bout of enthusiastic writing to get through the last 3 chapters, because after this it's very much plot, action, plot, reveal. I'd write it right now if I had the time.

Lastly and most importantly, this chapter is dedicated to the three wonderful reviewers who motivated me to spend my non-internet time writing this: All the Aspects, SniperKingSogeking0341 and archsage328.

Deeper Than the World

5: Kohza Yuba

When everything is said and done, most things that happen in the world are dictated by timing. A change of tide in battles, the swaying of a heart in love, the salvaging of a crumbling friendship: these important events cannot be executed if the timing is wrong. A man may love a woman who loves him back, but lose her because he missed his timing to tell her of his feelings. A battle may be lost because a general didn't take a brief opportunity to charge further behind enemy lines and chose to await a better opportunity that never arrived.

Though of course no one could know it, the future of Luffy's gang was dictated by the fact that Nami happened to decide that they ought to leave bars for last as she, Sanji and Vivi searched for Luffy. How could they have known that they walked past Blueno's bar when the others had just gathered in the back? How could they have known that had they had rejoined at that point, the inclusion of Nami and Sanji in the group's following operation may have changed the course of everything that happened afterwards?

But it was not to be. Sanji's whines that all the beautiful ladies gathered in the bar was met with a glare from Nami, who insisted that they would not search bars until they had searched everywhere else, because otherwise she was certain that Sanji would get sucked into the bottomless vortex that was alcohol and women, and they'd never be able to leave until Gen arrived—to bring them into the station, more likely than not. So they walked past the bar.

Not a minute later, a certain young man entered the bar. He scanned the room and then made his way straight to the back door, where he poked his head out and saw Luffy and the others.

"I've been looking for you," Kohza announced, stepping out and closing the door behind him. "I need to talk to you."

There was a beat as everyone stared at Kohza.

"W- we don't know anything about your involvement with Miss Nico!" squeaked Usopp. "We haven't been-"

Franky's fist slammed into Usopp's stomach, cutting him off. Kohza was smiling wryly.

"I thought it might be something like that," said Kohza. "That's why I decided to come and talk to you."

"What do you want to do to Vivi, you bastard?!" exclaimed Luffy.

"Wait, don't go throwing accusations around!" Franky said. "He's here to talk to us, so let's listen."

"What if he tries to brainwash us?" asked Usopp in a stage whisper that everyone could hear.

"He can do that?" asked Chopper, frozen on the spot.

"Just be quiet and listen to the boy, would you?" snapped Franky.

"I'm sorry," said Kohza, his brow furrowed as he looked between them. "I think there's some sort of miscommunication—I don't want to harm Vivi. I'd never want that."

"S-so what are you doing with those guns?" snapped Usopp.

"It's part of the reason I could come up here," Kohza said. "Being an assistant gardener is just a cover. I'm one of twelve hired bodyguards here in Fuchsia, hired to protect Mayor Woop Slap."

"Oh!" said Luffy, and his face cleared. "Now that you mention it, the old pumpkin man was saying something about that. So you're actually a good guy, then?"

"I thought so—but I'm not sure anymore. And that's where I need your help."

"Wait, what?" said Usopp. "I'm not following."

"It sounds like there's a story!" said Chopper. "Is there a story?"

"Start at the beginning, kid," said Franky.

"It all started back when Vivi came here," Kohza began. "There was the whole issue of Kuro, and in any case it's not exactly ordinary for a person from a family as influential as Vivi's to hop off to another country without proper protection. So I started trying to find ways to come here as a bodyguard, using the fact that Kuro might be here as an excuse.

"But the thing is, Robin Nico contacted me and told me that Kuro wouldn't be a good excuse, because what if he got caught before my visa got issued? She told me that there was some suspicion that there was a plan to assassinate Mayor Woop Slap, and that I should apply to be one of his bodyguards. It was a longer process, because I had to be properly hired at a job here—that's how I ended up being an assistant gardener.

"So I got my visa and plane ticket, and came here. For a while, things seemed pretty normal—I do my normal job during regular hours, and at other times I'm assigned shifts to keep an eye on the mayor. But of course, no one can know that I'm a bodyguard, and so I have to stay inconspicuous.

"But the thing is, the mayor's never been assigned a proper bodyguard. And I understand that it makes sense that most of us are undercover—we don't know who might be trying to kill the man, or when, so it's easier if they don't know who we are. But usually you'd at least have one or two official bodyguards, because all the sneaking around wouldn't help at all if, say, someone pulled a gun and shot at him. Whereas if there's already someone standing next to him, they can shove him out of the way, or something.

"So I asked my contact—Robin Nico, obviously—why she didn't assign one or two of us to that job. Her reply wasn't exactly a…reply per se, but she heavily implied that that would be asking for trouble. Which got me thinking, and I realized…"

Kohza swallowed. Usopp, Chopper, Luffy and Franky followed suit. Zoro made a sound that was half way between a snore and a cough. No one had to look to know that he was asleep.

"I don't know anyone involved in this operation except Robin Nico. I don't know who any of the other bodyguards are—I don't actually even know if the mayor himself knows we've been hired! I mean, I always assumed so, since he doesn't seem concerned by the fact that he's being followed…but what if he genuinely hasn't noticed? What if all this about an assassination is-"

"The mayor knows," said Luffy. "The pumpkin guy said the slap guy told him."

Kohza blinked, but after a moment, nodded. "I see. That's a relief. No, but still!" He shook his head and slapped his palms to his knees.

"I spent the last week keeping an eye out for other people following the mayor. Because, you know, at the very least they ought to have two or more of us on duty at once. But there are times when I can swear that there's no one else around. And furthermore, with the bodyguards sneaking around, isn't it just as probable that one of us is the assassin, just biding his time till he can make the excuse that he's not the assassin because clearly, if he were, he'd have pulled the trigger a long time ago?"

The four conscious parties exchanged a look.

"It seriously took you weeks to figure out that there's something amiss with that whole scenario?" asked Franky.

"No, actually," said Usopp, "at least the sneaking around part makes sense. I mean, maybe not anywhere else, but this is Fuchsia, Nothing Central. Come on, if there were even one bodyguard hanging around the mayor, the town would go wild and the ruckus would make a super time for an assassin to turn up and go bang or stab and no one would even figure out who did it because it's a crowd full of people we think we know!"

The others stared at Usopp for a moment.

"I'm almost tempted to wonder if you were emotionally traumatized by the fact that Klahadore was Kuro," Franky remarked.

"Shut up!" snapped Usopp. "It's not me, it was Kaya!"

A resounding snore made everyone jump, and this time they looked. Luffy and Zoro were snoring in chorus.

"They're both not interested," sighed Franky.

"No, they just don't like listening to longwinded stories," said Usopp.

"But I like stories!" said Chopper.

"Even this one?" asked Usopp.

"Well, uh…"

"Thought so."

"But Usopp," Chopper implored, "we have to do something. What if the mayor does get assassinated, and-"

"First of all," said Usopp, turning a glare on Kohza, "don't you think it's odd that the mayor of a tiny backwater town like Fuchsia that no one knows about would get assassinated? I mean, what is there in this town that's so valuable that-"

"The Institute," Kohza replied coolly. "The anonymity of a backwater town that no one knows about where there are nevertheless several powerful people."

"Wait, what?" But Franky's confusion went unheard.

"Vivi wasn't sent here at random. She was sent here because it's honestly the best place in the United States, especially for people from powerful families who might be targeted by all sorts of things otherwise."

"Like what?" asked Luffy.

"When did you start listening again?" asked Usopp, but no one paid him any heed.

"Like assassins," said Kohza. "Look—there's royalty in your Institute. Doesn't that strike you as odd for just another backwater town?"

"You mean Princess Shirahoshi?" asked Chopper. "But she's just from a little African country."

"She's still royalty," said Kohza. "And her brothers graduated from here before her. Just think—the mayor of Fuchsia would have a certain amount of influence with the Institute. They'd have several people who are probably going to become world powers right under their noses. There's a reason why the political science department in your Institute is so huge."

"Wow," remarked Luffy. "So this really is an awesome place, huh? Gramps said something like that when he sent me here, but everyone seemed so normal that I figured he'd lied."

"Who's your grandpa?" asked Usopp suspiciously. "Another ridiculously important person?"

"Oh, he wasn't bringing me here because of him," laughed Luffy. "He said people might try to use me to get at Pops."

"Who's pops?" asked Franky.

"My dad."

"I got that—who is he?"

"Dunno."

A beat.

"Let me get this straight," said Usopp, shaking his head. "Your grandfather claimed to have sent you here to protect you from being hurt on account of a father you don't know?"

"Yep."

"What about your mother?" asked Chopper.

"I think she's dead, but I'm not sure," said Luffy.

"Do you at least know her name?" asked Franky.

"Nope."

The group stared at Luffy for a moment before turning back to Kohza.

"Getting back to a more normal conversation," said Usopp. "Assuming that what you—and apparently Luffy's grandpa—claim is true, then we have more to worry about than just the mayor's assassination."

"Why?" chorused Chopper, Luffy and Franky.

"Because clearly, if a person wants to gain control over Fuchsia and the institute so badly that they're willing to resort to assassination, there's only one thing that they can possibly want."

"What's that?"

"They're trying to take over the world!"

There was another beat, and this time everyone was staring at Usopp, including Zoro.

"Has anyone ever suggested therapy?" asked Zoro. "This is no way to live, being permanently concerned that the world is going to get taken over."

"I'm not!"

"You said the same thing about Kuro," Luffy pointed out. "Remember? But he wasn't trying to take over the world—just Kaya's fortune."

"Well, maybe I was a bit paranoid about that…but look, he was trying to kill Kaya! He locked me up in a basement!"

"I'm pretty sure you were calling wolf before the basement," Luffy said.

"Oh, come on, what do you have, selective memory?" snapped Usopp. "You'd never have remembered something like that if it had been something we read in English class!"

Luffy shrugged.

"Can we please get back on topic?" asked Kohza. "My shift with Mayor Slap starts in about fifteen minutes."

"You could have come when you had more time," Chopper pointed out.

"This is urgent," said Kohza.

"So what, exactly, are you asking us to do?" asked Franky.

"Be Mayor Slap's bodyguards," said Kohza.

The group blinked at him.

"What makes you think we can do that?" asked Usopp.

"You guys stopped Kuro, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah, but that was more of a…team effort sort of occasion."

"Look, if the mayor knows he's in danger, it's easy. Just walk up to him, tell him you're a bit worried and you'd like to keep an eye out for him."

"What if he says no?" asked Chopper.

"Then convince him!"

"I don't get it—why don't you do it?" asked Usopp. "Or at least offer to do it in shifts with us?"

"Because I think that there should still be at least one person undercover, that no one knows about."

"And this can't be any of us because…?"

"Because everyone already knows about your gang," said Kohza, rolling his eyes as though this ought to have been obvious. "If one of you is blatantly hanging around the mayor and another is slinking around in the background, every single person in this town will know that the one slinking around in the background is watching the mayor."

"Oh," said Luffy. "Alright, then."

"And…I know this might be a bit much to ask, but I have another request," said Kohza. "Could you maybe not tell Vivi about this?"

"Why?" asked Usopp, brow furrowed.

"I wouldn't ask if you were all getting along, but there's this split anyway," said Kohza. "And if you tell her, she'd want to join you. If she gets hurt…" He gulped. "I mean, she might be the one to change our country! She's too valuable to put in danger that way. And if the assassin happens to have designs on Alabasta…"

"But what about the rest of us?" demanded Usopp.

"Never mind that, Usopp," grinned Luffy. He looked at Kohza. "I like your dedication! We'll do it!"

"We will?" asked Usopp faintly.

"But I don't even know how to drop and roll," whimpered Chopper.

"Super!" grinned Franky.

"Bring it on," yawned Zoro.

"Shouldn't we wait for Conis?" asked Usopp.

"If she hasn't turned up yet, I doubt that she will tonight," said Zoro.

"So," said Luffy. "Where's the mayor?"

They left the alley behind the bar and followed Kohza to a big house at the edge of the woods, a few streets down from Kaya's house and near the beginning of the path to the broken shack that they had intended as their base.

"It's nicer than your girlfriend's house," Zoro remarked.

"She's not my girlfriend!" snapped Usopp. "And Kaya's house is bigger!"

Any retort Zoro might have made was lost when the front gate opened and a short, feeble-looking old man appeared.

"Can I help you?" asked Mayor Slap, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Isn't this bad?" Franky muttered under his breath, turning to look at Kohza—but the younger man was already nowhere in sight. Franky raised his brows. "I suppose he is a pro, after all."

"We heard people want to kill you, so we're here to save you!" Luffy chirped.

"Could you try to exercise a little bit of delicacy?" muttered Usopp.

"I exercise all the time," Luffy grinned.

"Ah…I give up," said Usopp. "Zoro, do something." Zoro opened his mouth. "No, wait! Don't say anything. You'll make it worse."

"Who went mad and made you the boss?" asked Zoro, rolling his eyes.

"Thank you for your concern," Mayor Slap piped up just as it looked like they might forget why they had come here in the first place. "But I'm afraid I have to decline your offer."

"Why?" asked Franky coolly. "If your life is in danger, a little caution wouldn't go amiss. And even if it isn't, it's not as if you'd lose anything by letting us stand guard just in case. We're not asking for anything in return."

"Nothing costs more than that which is freely offered," said Mayor Slap. "I have a number of measures in place in case the rumor turns out to be true, but it's highly unlikely. This isn't a position worth killing for—anyone who wants this seat can participate in the next election."

"But-"

"Thank you for your concern. Have a good evening." And the gate slammed shut. They heard the click of a lock sliding into place.

"Well, that was useless," sighed Chopper. "What do we do now?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" grinned Usopp. "Nothing is useless where there's a mystery. He knows his life is in danger but doesn't want protection—that's another piece of this puzzle we're trying to work out."

"I don't know what puzzle you're playing with these days," sighed Luffy, "but I'm here to keep that guy from being killed whether he wants to be saved or not."

"And how do you intend to save a man who doesn't want to be saved?" asked Usopp.

"He can tell us not to be his bodyguards, but he can't tell us not to follow him around, can he?"

"Oh!" said Chopper, his eyes lighting up. "Of course!"

"That's the spirit!" grinned Franky.

"I'm pretty sure there're laws against stalking," said Usopp, but no one seemed to hear him.

"Let's do it, then," said Zoro.

"We can just convert Operation Nico Watch to Operation Mayor Watch, can't we?" said Chopper.

"That sounds good," Franky agreed. "The schedule ought to work out and everything."

"Except for the fact that that schedule was for spying. This schedule is for guarding. I don't know about you guys, but I'm confident that I'd be useless if a couple assassins came at the mayor under my watch."

"Don't worry, it'll work out," grinned Luffy.

"I'll try my best!" said Chopper.

"What about Conis?" asked Franky. "We can't just assign her up as part of this. Luffy, Zoro, you two can fight, right?"

"Yep," grinned Luffy.

"Do you have to ask?" smirked Zoro.

"Then you two take Conis' shifts in addition to your own. How you split up the shifts is your own business, but now we don't have to worry about people getting lost so much as people getting beat up."

"I call first shift!" said Luffy.

"You have the night shift tonight," Usopp pointed out. "I'm not switching with you. Go get some sleep. Zoro can take over for Conis."

"Sounds good to me," said Zoro.

"Just remember to keep a really, really close eye on Zoro," whispered Chopper to Usopp.

"Like I'd forget," snorted Usopp.

Chopper and Franky started back to the bar, dragging Luffy with them as he babbled about bodyguards and awesomeness.

"Luffy!" snapped Chopper. "You've got to get some sleep now, or you'll never make it through the night shift!"

"I can do it!" grinned Luffy.

"But it's not healthy," retorted Chopper. "Sleep!"

"Fine," said Luffy. And he proceeded to lead them back to Blueno's bar.

"Didn't you say you'd sleep?" muttered Franky.

"I have homework, so I have to go home now," said Chopper.

"And I have work and lesson plans and grades to submit with individual reports, so I have to go home too."

Luffy frowned. "See, this is why we need that secret base."

"You mean the one in the woods?" asked Franky.

"Yeah! Then we can have a place to study, and a place to eat, and places to nap and everything!"

"That sounds awesome!" chirped Chopper, his eyes practically sparkling.

"Doesn't it?" grinned Luffy.

Franky glanced between them, and sighed. "Don't worry, Usopp and I are working on it—well, it's more like I'm working on it and Usopp's trying to help out. But you'll have your secret hide away eventually."

But Luffy wasn't listening. He had suddenly stopped, his expression thoughtful.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" muttered Chopper.

"We're thinking alike," said Franky.

"I've decided," said Luffy, "that we have something more important to do."

"Which is what?" asked Franky.

"More important than what?" asked Chopper.

"If you're really busy you can go home, and I'll work on it alone," said Luffy.

Franky and Chopper exchanged a glance of understanding—whatever it was, Luffy working alone spelled bad idea. But then,

"Luffy!" came a familiar voice. They turned to see Vivi running towards them, Sanji and Nami behind her.

"Vivi!" said Luffy, waving to her. "Sorry! Kohza's a nice guy after all!"

Vivi frowned and exchanged a puzzled look with the other two. "Did you talk to him?"

Luffy's expression froze. His eyes slid to the side and he started to whistle, nudging the concrete awkwardly with his toes. "…Nah…" he said after a long, long pause.

"What do you make of that?" whispered Nami.

"He's obviously lying," hissed Sanji. "I'll kick him till he tells the truth!"

"No," said Vivi, grabbing Sanji by the ear. "He…apologized, so isn't that enough?"

"If you say so," said Nami. "But doesn't this whole situation strike you as odd? Doesn't it bother you that he's lying about talking to Kohza?"

"Well, yes," said Vivi. "But this is Luffy. He usually has reasons for what he does."

"No matter how twisted," grumbled Sanji.

"He probably had a reason for not liking Kohza in the first place."

"Are you sure?" said Nami dubiously. "He's not the type to keep quiet, and at the time he claimed there was no reason in particular."

"Yes, but…" Vivi looked back to Luffy. "Luffy, I'd like to put this whole Kohza thing behind us for a little while."

"For a little while?" Luffy repeated.

"Luffy, we have a bigger problem on our hands than these squabbles amongst ourselves," said Nami.

"A woman is being abused!" raged Sanji. "We must rescue her, whatever the cost!"

"Sanji…" said Nami, rubbing her temples, "while I don't deny that that's a large part of the issue, it's hardly the core of it."

"Who cares?" Sanji declared. "She's trying so valiantly to pretend that nothing is wrong while her husband drags her into alleyways and hits her!"

"Wait a second," said Usopp, swallowing hard. "Who exactly are we talking about?"

"'Whom exactly are we talking about' is the correct sentence construct," snapped Nami. "I knew I should have hunted all of you down when no one showed up for tutoring—you're going to drag Luffy and Zoro down with you!"

"Are you implying that you don't care if I fail as long as they pass?"

"You have always studied by yourself. You only join in the tutoring when you feel like it. They are my charges, and I will make absolutely certain that they graduate!"

"What're you going to do when you're in college next year?" grumbled Usopp.

"I'm going here," Nami reminded him. "It's not like I can't keep tutoring them just like this year."

"Oh, really?" Usopp grumbled.

Nami rolled her eyes. "No, I'm just saying it to mess with your head. Of course really! And don't act like I haven't told you that before."

"Back to topic," said Usopp, "whom exactly are we talking about?"

"Why, the beautiful, elegant, lovely Miss Robin of course!" said Sanji.

"See?" said Luffy to Franky and Chopper, pointing at Sanji accusingly. "I told you."

"And I backed you up," Franky grumbled.

"It's amazing," said Chopper to Franky. "Luffy and you were more perceptive than all the rest of us combined."

"That's a really, really scary thought," Sanji shivered.

"Wait," said Nami, holding her hands up. "Am I right to understand that Luffy guessed that Miss Nico was being abused?"

"It's not hard to see, the way she's stiff moving her joints sometimes," Franky spoke up. "If you know what to look for."

"I'm surprised that Luffy knew," said Sanji, glancing at the boy.

"But we can't help with that right now," said Luffy.

"What?" yelped Nami.

"Why?" asked Vivi.

"You selfish shit!" snapped Sanji.

"We have a more important mission," said Luffy. "But I can't tell you about it, because it's a secret mission to protect the mmph!"

Franky's hand clamped over his mouth, and the man sighed.

"You should have ended the sentence at 'secret mission.' That or just tell them."

"But we promised not to!" said Luffy, struggling out of Franky's grip.

"Yeah, but that was when you and that guy's sweetheart were at odds, and if that's solved…" Franky glanced between Luffy and Vivi, then shrugged. "Well, whatever. I suppose you did promise."

"Who's whose sweetheart?" fumed Sanji.

"So this has to do with Kohza," mused Nami.

"Wait," blushed Vivi. "What are you implying?"

"In any case," said Luffy, "we need the bones guy if we want to help Robin."

"What bones guy?" chorused Franky and Nami.

"Don't refer to her so familiarly, she's your teacher," snapped Sanji.

"It's useless, Sanji," said Chopper sympathetically. "You should calm down before you rupture an aneurism."

"I don't have any aneurisms to rupture!" roared Sanji.

"What's wrong with you?" huffed Luffy. "Calm down, Sanji."

Nami grabbed Vivi's arm. "Vivi, I think I'm dreaming. Did Luffy just tell Sanji to calm down?"

"I heard that too," said Vivi. "But Luffy, what's Kohza doing? What's this secret mission?"

"It's secret," said Luffy as if that ought to be obvious.

"You might as well just ask Kohza," said Nami. "If you can't get it out of him in the first few minutes, you never will."

"So let's go look for the bones guy!" announced Luffy. "He can help us solve everything, about Robin and Kuro and maybe he can help Zoro and Usopp!"

"Speaking of which, where are those two?" asked Sanji.

"On the secret mission that you can't know about."

"Are you asking for a fight?"

"No," said Luffy with a finger up his nose. "I'm saying we're going looking for the bones guy to save everybody."

"Luffy," said Nami in the tone that meant that she was seconds away from kicking the daylights out of someone, "what bones guy?"

"I don't actually know him, but the old guy said he knows everything there is to know about the passages."

"You're kidding," said Franky. "If that guy really exists, I want to talk to him too."

"Passages," Nami repeated. "Like the ones under Kaya's house?"

"Yeah, they go everywhere around town, to almost every house!" said Chopper. "It's really amazing, but even more confusing."

"Uh…huh," said Nami.

"So come on!" said Luffy. "Let's go look for the bones guy!"

"How is this going to help Miss Robin?" asked Sanji.

"Or the other two cases?" Chopper muttered.

"Because we were trying to follow Robin around, but we kept losing sight of her because she would go places where there weren't any passages or places to hide outside of the passages. But if the bones guy knows ways to keep an eye on those places, then…" Luffy trailed off, his eyes following a moth.

"Then?" urged Nami.

"Look, it's a really colorful moth!" said Luffy.

"Luffy!" snapped Nami, grabbing his cheek. "Focus!"

"What? Oh, bones guy!" said Luffy.

Nami sighed. "And here I was, thinking that he was developing logic skills."

"But it is true," mused Franky. "He's right. If the bones guy really knows everything there is to know about the passages, it could solve most if not all of the mysteries we've been trying to solve."

"Let's go!" said Luffy, and bounded towards the alley behind Blueno's bar.

"I guess we're going," grumbled Sanji as the rest of the group broke into a run after him.

"Wait a second," said Nami, chasing Luffy. "Luffy! I also have a million messages for you! You've been ignoring your baseball team, and they're at a loss for how to practice without their pitcher, and you owe Mr. Morgan eighty-one assignments that I don't know how you managed to accumulate in a week, and Mr. Krieg wants you to know that pictures of water and fish aren't maps, and Mr. Dorry is ready to fry you alive for- Are you even listening to me? Luffy!"

"Doesn't anyone care about Conis?" muttered Chopper.

"She's not around tonight," Franky pointed out. "She's probably got better things to do than go along with Luffy's weird plans."

"But still, she just disappeared," said Chopper. "She could be in trouble."

"Doubtful," snorted Franky. "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll be around again tomorrow."

"Why are you following me around?" demanded Wiper Shandora as soon as Conis Pagaya came running around the corner.

She jumped and stumbled to a stop, staring wide-eyed at the boy she had been following supposedly undetected.

"I…" But she couldn't really think of a good excuse. You love your sister, and your sister loves you. You're not a bad person. But Aisa had said that she wanted to keep their friendship secret.

Wiper's eyes narrowed, and he grabbed Conis by the arm and pulled her forward so he was staring her straight in the eyes. "I've said this a million times, and I'll keep on saying it because it's the truth. I didn't do it. I didn't take the files on you and your father. First of all, my family's records are missing, too. Does that seem logical at all to you?"

"No," said Conis, shaking her head emphatically. "No, that's not why I'm here at all!"

Wiper raised a brow disbelievingly.

"I mean, yes, it's because they said you were the one who took the files, but I never believed it!"

"You're following me around because I was accused of stealing your family's personnel files and you don't believe it?"

"I talked to Miss Califa," said Conis. "She said that if I could find proof that it wasn't you-"

"Then what?" scoffed Wiper. "You're claiming that you're trying to prove my innocence?"

"Yes!" said Conis.

"Why? If I'm out of the way, it'll be more convenient for you and that job-stealing dad of-"

With a resounding smack Conis slapped him across the face. Breathing hard, she looked straight at him.

"That was for implying that I would abandon a person in trouble if it suited me. This" -she slapped him again- "is because I've told you time and again that you couldn't have taken the job. You were under age. My father will step down when you're ready, even if you take another four years to go to college. I promise."

Wiper snorted. Conis wondered if she was imagining that it held less derision than before.

"For the record," he said, "following me around and hoping that you'll magically find something to prove me innocent is a little ridiculous."

"I know," said Conis. "But it's the best I can think of just now."

She turned around and stomped away.

"Wait, what are you planning now?" Wiper called after her warily.

"I'm going home to sleep so that I can get up in the morning to go to class, unlike some people who seem to think that they don't need high school diplomas and do whatever they like all day long to ensure they don't have any alibis to prove them innocent of anything!" Conis called back. She glared at him for a moment before turning on her heel and rounding the corner.

Wiper stared after her, blinking. "Weird girl," he muttered to himself as he turned and continued on his way home.

Two streets north and one street west of Wiper, Mayor Slap was just leaving his house.

"I thought I told you to go home," said the mayor.

"We're just out for an evening walk," Zoro deadpanned.

"Kids," sighed the mayor wearily. "Thank you for your concern, but go home."

"Nope," said Zoro. He and the mayor glared at each other for a moment.

"Oh, come on," sighed Usopp. "This is juvenile."

"Children shouldn't be out and about at this hour. You should be at home eating dinner or doing homework." The mayor started down the street.

Usopp and Zoro followed him.

They had scarcely turned a corner when a familiar voice rang out. "Hey, Zoro, Usopp!"

"Chopper?" replied Usopp confusedly, looking around to see the source of the voice.

"Shit," Zoro said under his breath, and leapt for the side of the road. It was too late. A flicker of light caught is eye and he felt rather than saw the object shoot past him. He pulled a folding knife from his pocket and had it out with a flick of his wrist. He leapt to the wall from which the attack had come and jammed his knife into the slit between bricks. There was a clang of metal on metal. A moment later, Zoro felt the darkness closing in for a mere second before there was nothing else.

Usopp heard the body slump to the ground and spun around. His eyes widened in alarm.

"Mayor Slap!" he called. "Mayor Slap!" He felt blindly for the man's carotid artery. There was no pulse. "Zoro," he said. "How does CPR-"

A bad feeling nudged at the back of his mind, and Usopp looked around. There was no one to be seen but a single figure running in the opposite direction a few streets ahead. Usopp would have known that odd ponytail anywhere—no one else had black hair that long, or tied it in so many places.

He laid the mayor on his back and started pushing on his sternum.

Where's Zoro? Usopp wondered wildly. Please, please don't die. Why am I suddenly in this alone? And what was Wiper Shandora doing here?

"Please don't die," he said to the still body in front of him. It didn't matter. The old man's heart was stopped, and would not start again.