The McPuffin Part 5

\_-o(X)o-_/

"What, eager to see your girlfriends nerd?"

I rolled my eyes as I leaned against the railing of the Patch, looking back at Yermak, "They're not my girlfriends. They're friends who are girls. I mean, come on, I'm eight. How would I have girlfriends yet?"

"Feh. So you say nerd."

"You're just jealous because he's got more game than you Yermak!"

"Shut up Barley!"

I grinned and shook my head, looking back out over the rail at the port as we approached. I couldn't see Ami's distinctive blue hair, or the surprisingly tall Makoto on the dock, but that wasn't saying much. My eyesight was better in this life, but not amazing. Even if they weren't there, it wasn't a huge surprise, I'd go check Ami's place. Even if Makoto had been moved somewhere else in the few months since the Eyepatch Pirates had been here, Ami would know where she'd moved to.

Jogging up towards the small complex that was Ami's home, I looked about. Despite Ami's mother wearing outfits of middling quality, they had a pretty good sized home in a slightly richer end of the town. It was the home of a doctor, straddling the line between mansion and house. It and all of the surrounding houses were either walled or fenced off with decent sized yards, all old timey Japanese homes. Ami's house was outright walled off, with little ponds and a pavilion in the yard.

Last I was here, Makoto was staying in Ami's room with her still, though that could have changed. Ami's mother had been looking for a foster family for her, but had been taking care of her until then.

I went up to the front gate… which was closed and locked. Hrm.

I scratched my chin briefly before walking around the compound. Ami's mother might yell at me some for hopping the wall, but eh, whatever, Ami wouldn't get in trouble.

The streets in this section of the town were pretty quiet, the kids usually were either playing in the houses or elsewhere. Now, I couldn't jump the fifteen foot wall yet, I wasn't absurdly superhuman. Buuuuuuuut…

Standing across the street from the back of the compound, I assumed a runners stance, a grin flitting across my face. Launching off I mimicked a ninja and just ran straight up the wall, grabbing the tiled lip of the wall and hauling myself up and over in a single smooth motion, thank you bad environment! And this one was actually past life knowledge, yay ghetto.

My knees bent as I landed on the grass on the other side of the wall and I landed in a crouch.

'… huh, now that's a fancy carriage…'

The yard looked the same, little pavilion on this side, koi pond and a bridge because reasons, it was so Japanese it hurt. It was also rather serene and nice, but oh god so Japanese. Ami's house was two stories, with the second story smaller than the upper and with a porch out the back. Ami's room was on the second floor to the back of the house, her window facing out over the tile roof of the overhang over the porch.

But unusually, I could see a fancy carriage around the corner of the house proper, not far from the gate.

Ami's mom was doing a reverse house call? Or meeting guests…? Regardless, it's not a concern of mine since I'm here to check on the girls.

Straightening out, I dusted off my shirt and shorts, shaking a bit of dirt out of my sandals before I jogged up to the porch and with a soft grunt launched myself up, catching the edge of the tiles and hauling my runt ass up. An eight foot vertical for someone who barely topped out at three foot is a bit ridiculous but very useful.

And now I could hear Ami's mother…?

A curious look crossed my face and I crept up to Ami's window and peeked over the windowsill.

There was Ami's mother in a demure stance and talking to a noble… like a legit noble. He was a bit on the chubby side, in that kimono and with that little hat, but… was he from both the long-arm tribe and long-leg tribe…? He had unusually long arms and legs… he also had a few wrinkles on his face and a long black fu-man-chu mustache to compliment his tied back hair– "-and my daughter has been mastering the arts of medicine since she was able to walk."

I frowned as the noble used the cane he had to move some of the books on Ami's desk about. It was a simple room with her bed, a few bookshelves, and her desk and drawers. There were only three people in the room, Ami's mother, the noble, and another middle aged man. The noble asked, "You truly believe that your daughter is a worthy match for my son?"

"What?!"

Let it be said, I could be really stupid sometimes.

Despite being absurd for a little kid, I didn't really have much of a chance to react before I was hauled in through the window by the non-noble man I hadn't recognized. A knife being held at me threateningly as I was held at arms length and off of the ground as I struggled.

"And who are you?" Props to the nobleman in that he was still quite calm and unruffled, walking over to look at me in curiosity as he leaned on his cane.

"Ami's friend!" I said, still struggling as I was held up by the collar of my shirt at least two feet off the ground and my brain rushed, trying to process this mess.

The bodyguard (I guessed?) had a Marine tattoo on the side of his neck and had drawn the shorter of the two swords at his hip and was a good seven foot. However, he was merely threatening with the blade and not actively pressing it against me, and the noble seemed more amused than annoyed as he leaned against his cane. He turned towards Ami's mother, "Quite the friends your daughter seems to keep."

I grunted as I found a position at least less uncomfortable as I hung by my collar, holding onto the bodyguard's wrist, scowling at him.

Ami's mother was too 'refined' to make a face like she'd just sucked on a lemon. But you could certainly tell that she wanted to, "She's taken on the task of tutoring this poor child, and every lady should have their charity cause."

"Quite true, though the lady of the house has a certain image to maintain." The tall nobleman said genially.

"Are you crazy?!" I snapped, and both of the adults in the room that weren't holding me up by my collar gave me 'refined' little scowls, and I made sure to clarify. Swiveling myself some I looked at the nobleman, "Not you, actually. You've actually been reasonable from what little I've seen so far. But if you'd give me a moment to yell here?"

He blinked in confusion for a few seconds and I took that as acceptance and swiveled back around to glare at Ami's mother, "Are you seriously crazy? Trying to get Ami betrothed at this stage?! What the hell happened to looking out for what's best for her?!"

Ami's mother blinked once before scowling even as she tilted her head up to look down her nose at me, snapping her fan shut, "Don't your parents care about you? You poor child."

"Yes! She does! By ensuring that I'm as well informed as I can be to make that choice when the time comes and not making the choice about my future happiness for me!"

She obviously twitched at that one before smiling at the nobleman, "Isn't it precious how he believes he understands the complexities of being an adult?"

"Oh don't try that!" I snapped, pointing a finger at her from the somewhat awkward angle, "Ami's brilliant, easily the smartest person I know! If you really care you'd let her achievements and capabilities speak for themselves! By the time marriage is an active concern she'll have suitors clamoring for her attention! You're limiting her choices!"

And for just a moment, she lost her cool, taking a half step forward as she gestured with her fan, "I'm planning for her future!"

"You're planning for yours by using hers!" I half snarled, "You're trying to improve your position by paying for it with her hand in marriage!"

"How dare you?!" she hissed, giving me a cold glare.

"I dare question your insistence at doing this as quickly as you are when you'd be better served letting them come to her!"

"Why you–!"

"Miss Mizuno, if I may?" The nobleman said, and like a switch had been flipped, Ami's mother smoothed out her expression as well as her kimono in a quick little motion.

"Yes, of course my lord." She said, stepping back and swiping a strand of hair that had escaped her bun back behind her ear in a small motion as she got herself back under control.

The nobleman gave a little bob of his head as he approached, his long legs making him nearly tower over me as he looked down at me curiously, "Child, you said you were a friend of little Ami's, correct?" I nodded, a bit surprised he didn't seem to be looming over me, "You really believe that she would have her pick of suitors as she got older?"

"Yes," I affirmed, "She's brilliant and I fully believe she'll prove herself to not only be capable but innovative. Given time, she'll prove herself capable enough that suitors will be clamoring for her attention and she'll have her pick of them." I pointedly said the last part at Ami's mother.

"Do you believe my family are insufficient?" he asked mildly.

"I actually don't know who you are," I admitted, before honestly apologizing, "Sorry, but I'm usually on a ship out at sea so I don't recognize local nobility very often. So I don't have enough information to actually make a judgement one way or another. I mostly object to betrothals on principle, especially ones without a political purpose."

A small smile crossed the noble's face, "And because you are interested in her yourself?"

I gave a little snort at that, "I'm eight, so no. But her being my friend is a large part of it, yes."

The nobleman smiled subtly in amusement, lifting his cane to gently tap it against the bodyguard's arm who obligingly let me down. There was no hostility from the bodyguard, though he kept a wary eye on me and his sword out at his side. The nobleman leaned against his cane, "You're just looking out for your friend aren't you?"

I dusted myself off and reminded myself to bow, especially since this guy actually seemed to have some sorts of brains and sense, "Yes sir, as best I can sir."

The middle aged noble surprised me as I stood, ruffling my spiky brown hair with a hand, "You do well by her, child, may I ask your name?"

"Jacob, sir." I said, still a bit stunned, most nobles I'd seen didn't want anything to do with touching commoners in such a fashion, though I was a bit biased.

"Well, Jacob, I am Taira Carl, head of my family." He said, pressing a hand to his chest and giving a small leaning of his upper body in a bow, "While I cannot promise that your friend won't be betrothed, I can certainly promise that it won't be rushed into."

I pouted with all the grace and flair an eight year old could manage. Damnit, it was easy to be angry at Ami's mother for being a piece of shit sometimes, but this guy was being reasonable-ish. Especially given the apparent class difference. I didn't have enough information to be reasonably angry with him... but still, "I honestly still don't like it, though I appreciate the assurance."

Carl nodded in acknowledgement before asking, "And you were looking for Ami weren't you?"

'Oh no you aren't…' "Yes sir?"

"She's at the library at the moment with her friend, why don't you head along to see her?" He said, sending a meaningful glance over my head.

A hand was settled on my shoulder. 'God damnit he is.' "Of course sir."

-oOo-

"It could totally sprout wings and fly!"

"But doing that would be hard, why would it do that when it can already breathe fire and eat anything in the water?"

"Because it would be cool!"

"Yeah, but if you're struggling day by day to live, you don't want 'cool', you want easy."

"What… are you doing?"

Little Oluchi in my lap and I looked up at the young woman who'd spoken, "Figuring out Fire Hippo biology?"

"Yep!" The young girl had taken up residence in my lap as we'd talked, I really hadn't gotten any work done, but it'd been fun to talk and try to teach the little girl.

The young warrior woman standing over us shook her head some, "Anyways, Katlego is here, I thought you should know."

My notebook snapped shut and I stood, easing Oluchi to the ground, "Alright, where at?"

Katlego was a pretty big dude. Not enormous or anything silly, but he stood a solid seven foot… hell, he looked more like a professional basketball player than anything else, just with one of those really short mohawk looking hairstyles. He had some white facepaint of lines radiating outwards from his nose, he wore a grass skirt with woven grass circlets on his ankles and wrists and a little breastplate, something that only loosely covered his pecs and back.

Also, dem eyes.

His eyes were almost bubbling, even from this distance I could see blue eyes with little flecks that radiated outwards, they were pretty intense as he stood on the outskirts of the village with his arms crossed, "Where is this challenger?!"

"Speaking!" I shouted back as I walked up, crossing the line between the village and the hard packed dirt right around it. The village had basically already gathered, just outside of the ring of the huts, Malaika herself standing out by herself off in what was probably supposed to be a 'referee' position, "I'm kind of the only guy out here!"

"You-!" An angry finger was pointed at me as I stood across the way, "You're the one trying to take my Enitan away from me!"

"Damnit! I'm not yours yet Katlego! Don't go around claiming people!"

"A-Ah! Enitan… I-I didn't know you were there…" Katlego flushed as his entire body language changed, from confident and dynamic to shy and quiet, pressing the tips of his index fingers together.

"Oi, Katlego!" I shouted, cutting off anything further with an eyeroll, "I don't want her, you can have her!"

"Hey!" said woman shouted in indignation.

"Are you insulting her?!" her betrothed echoed her sentiment.

"No! Just don't want to take her from you!"

My honesty seemed to give him pause, "I-… what?"

"I beat her in a fight that apparently had meaning, didn't know it meant some sort of marriage." I shrugged, "'M not interested, already got a girl." Who I may or may not marry… not sure really but hell, I was only 18 in this life. I'd see where it went. But first I had to get out of the Grand Line and deal with this mess, "So I forfeit."

That definitely threw Katlego for a loop, his pointing arm falling slowly, "… I… um… seriously?"

"No."

I frowned and turned to glare at Malaika, the woman who'd spoken having stamped the butt of her re-built spear into the hardpacked dirt. I reiterated, "Yes. Yes I am."

"Challenges to Marriages of Conquest can only be settled through combat–"

"And I fucking forfeit." I reminded her tersely.

"But the challenge is not valid unless there is blood drawn on both sides," she soldiered on, "Otherwise it is considered a slaughter and not a duel."

That got an eyeroll out of me, "Bitch please, do you really think I'm just going to accept this bull? I told you I won't just go along with traditions I feel are pointless."

"No, you've made that abundantly clear," there was a bit of sarcastic mirth in Malaika's voice before she jerked her head back towards the only other man present "But he? Does."

I turned to meet Katlego's unusual but intense gaze, and found it almost… apologetic. But at the same time, determined. I sighed and facepalmed, muttering, "Oh are you fucking kidding me…"

"I won't allow something to jeopardize my betrothal," he said at a more 'normal' volume.

"K-Kat-!" To my mild surprise, Enitan rushed from her place beside her mother to stand in front of Katlego-… huh, with her long neck her head came up to just beneath his, "I… be careful! He's strong…"

The seven foot tall man frowned, the white facepaint distorting, "You don't think I can beat him?"

Enitan hesitated, not wanting to say that but apparently believing it, "I… just… be careful… please…" she pleaded.

"Eni…" he said, his face softening.

But that seemed to be Enitan's cue to clam up, crossing her arms over her chest and turning her head away from him. "You're a pain but he's far more of one and… he doesn't look as good… just…" she started with a firey passion but had trailed off as she went, looking down at the ground before she asked, "Be safe, okay?"

"I… okay…" with a nod, Katlego's arms raised, obviously intending to hug her but hesitating. The smaller woman taking the initiative and wrapping her arms tightly around his torso in a hug, burying her face against his neck, making the face beneath his facepaint turn a bright red, "Ah-! … ah…" slowly he wrapped his arms around her, "… I will."

I shot a withering glare over at Malaika, making her cringe away slightly as I tried to convey, 'And you want to get in the way of this?'

After a long moment, the two pulled apart and Katlego stepped around his betrothed, walking towards me. I sighed just a bit, "You're determined to do this?"

"Yes," he nodded.

"Alright," Another sigh escaped me, I couldn't just tell him to fuck off if I wanted the information on the McPuffins. I could let him miss to judge his strength before just tanking it 'enough' to allow it to draw blood, it wouldn't be too much of a strain or sacrifice to do that… I met his gaze and deliberately crossed my arms over my chest, "Draw blood then so I can forfeit. I have no desire to stand in the way of your betrothal."

"I am sorry, I cannot let something get between me and Eni!" the young woman behind him practically swooned before catching herself, and I had to resist rolling my eyes and smiling. He was being serious and passionate, at least give him a bit of courtesy, "Brace yourself!"

He lowered his head and began to charge, his body starting to expand–

'Of course he's got a Devil Fruit… at least it's 'merely' a Zoan…' I thought to myself as Katlego expanded outwards into what I will always think of as the 'were-whatever' mode… of a zebra. '… huh… I wonder if the facepaint came before, or after he got the fruit…'

His body expanded out into that almost comical body-builder V with bulging muscles, black and white stripes across his entire body in bands, his legs turning into those of a zebra with hooves and all. His hands were still hands, but the back of his knuckles became black and hard looking… likely a deliberate partial transformation into hooves. His face elongated into the muzzle of a zebra and his short hair became a true Mohawk of a mane down his now even longer neck. Oh, and his speed increased some.

I sidestepped the straight jab at my head, giving myself six inches of clearance just in case, my right arm coming up to deflect it upwards not out of necessity, but to gauge the raw power behind his blow.

I knew a lot of things in that instant.

The flexing of his muscles beneath my hand and the difficulty I had pushing his arm up indicated that his hybrid strength exceeded my baseline, but not my metallic strength. The distance he'd covered in that time compared to the comparative tension of his muscles indicated that he had gone full tilt and that he was comparatively slow, unable to keep up with me in agility, though his baseline movement speed was comparable. The slight tremble of his musculature beneath my palm, the shift of his stance and the tilt of his torso… they indicated that he'd pulled his punch at the last moment. I'd sensed that he'd intended to take my head off through my Observation Haki, that initial attempt, that first movement… he'd been going full force, but he'd restrained himself, he'd hesitated at the last moment. The way his eyes widened and his muzzle wrinkled indicated his response time and emotional reaction, slower than mine by a significant margin and a combination of surprise and an instant of fear followed by immediate determination. This all indicated that without my powers I should avoid close combat, his hardened knuckles and kicks could be tanked but would be painful even through my tekkai and with his speed and size there was an unacceptably high risk of him catching me with a blow in close quarters. Preferred serious engagement method would be at range from his blind spots using Hardened bullets, but between my Ability and my Tekkai I was more worried about him being able to draw blood than meaningfully injuring me.

Mind you, my actual thought processes in that instant was more like, 'Eh… I can tank that.'

With good form, Katlego's left arm snapped back and his right came forward as he twisted his hips, a textbook right hook at my head, he wasn't going to pull this one. Nor was I going to dodge, I let my arms fall to my sides as Katlego shouted, "Bucking Fist!"

Every single muscle in my body flexed as one as everything beneath my skin turned to steel, "Tekkai."

*WHAM!*

My head turned with a metallic groan, following the blow in spite of everything, my feet lifting off of the ground several inches before I dropped back to the hard packed dirt with a resounding thud! The momentum forcing me to skid back several inches, my shoulders bunching up as I reflexively readied myself to counterattack.

Fuck that actually hurt-!

My head snapped back, locking gazes with Katlego, who'd hesitated in a follow-up attack, clutching his right wrist with his left hand, the larger man freezing as his eyes met mine.

Right, dial it back… did he draw blood so we can stop this bullshit–?

*Drip… drip…*

The small sound made me glance down at the reddish dirt. There was a speckling of silver on the ground that was slowly fading into dark red. I raised my hand and wiped the corner of my mouth with my thumb, looking down at my hand as I slowly straightened into a more relaxed stance. My thumb was a dull gray silver… huh… slowly I rubbed my fingers together… it seemed almost like mercury… fascinating… but the faint ache in my jaw told the truth, "Well then…"

I'm… legit a little surprised that hurt… then again, there had been his love and passion behind that blow, a precursor to the usage of Armament Haki.

I looked past Katlego at Malaika, declaring, "I forfeit."

"B-Blood must be drawn from both sides–"

"Oh for the love of-! Ugh! Fine!" I turned back to him, and Katlego immediately and reflexively brought his forearms up in front of his zebra-shaped face, "Rankyaku!"

My arm snapped out with a whip-crack as I threw out a vacuum blade, the blue crescent flashing across the short distance between us. A horizontal cut burst into existence across his forearms and on the outside of his shoulders, a small splash of blood spurting out as he blocked the weak vacuum blade.

I turned back to Malaika, and did my best to convey exactly how I would react if she kept trying this bullshit. She would be down a limb in some fashion. "I. Forfeit."

Hesitantly, Katlego peeked out from behind his boxing stance, his eyes wide in surprise.

Malaika nodded, almost hesitantly, "R-Right."

"Good." I turned back to Katlego, looking up at the even taller man. Originally he was just 'tall' at seven foot or so, but in his hybrid form he was nearly ten feet tall with the muscle mass of a professional body builder. Eh, I'd seen bigger. Now actively wiping the blood from my split lip away with the back of my hand, I asked, "Katlego, would you mind answering a few questions of mine? Since I'm not in contention for Enitan's hand my friend and I aren't allowed in the village anymore and I was hoping to get some information on McPuffins."

"The… McPuffins…? You're here looking for them…?" He asked in surprise, obviously hesitant to transform back just yet, probably still coming down from the adrenaline he'd gotten going.

A quick check confirming that my hand was coming away with no more additional dark gray silver on the back, so I put my hands on my hips, "Yes, my captain–" still not used to calling her that, "–wants to catch some to cook. She really likes food. No one in the town could tell us much so she sent out a few groups to search. We're one of those groups and I was told you'd know more than the tribe."

Katlego shook his head, his hands slowly drifting to hang at his sides, "No one knows where they nest–"

"Are you okay-?!" Enitan cut him off, rushing up to his side, the long necked woman reaching up to check on the honestly small cuts on his forearms, the good-sized-man getting manhandled by the much smaller woman, "Let me see!"

I snorted in amusement and watched as Enitan berated her husband-to-be into shifting back into pure human so she could properly check and clean the little cuts on his forearms and shoulders. I hadn't packed a whole lot into that Rankyaku beyond the bare minimum to make the vacuum blade work, it was really just a cutting edge meant to draw blood. The effect had been more surprise than anything else.

"Eni… I'm okay…" he said almost hesitantly, "You don't have to worry…"

The long necked woman blushed, almost recoiling as she sputtered, "I-I'm not worried! You're too stupid to get seriously hurt!"

"Enitan?" I prompted, getting the young woman's attention.

She turned to look at me, "Ah, yes?"

"You might want to go get something to wrap those up so they don't get infected," I said with a bit of a smirk, nodding at the bigger man, "And you know he won't do it himself."

"Ugh, you're right," she rolled her eyes before spinning back around and jabbing a finger up at Katlego's face, "I'll be right back, don't you go anywhere!"

"Yes ma'am."

I couldn't help but smile a bit as she rushed off to the village, excuse in hand to tend to her betrothed. Still, I was here for a reason, and ignoring the crowd at the village I turned back to the taller man, "Anyways, you were saying?"

"The McPuffins are very dangerous, they can punch a hole straight through an earth buffalo. While a lone McPuffin can be taken out by a skilled hunter, their nest must be an absolute horror. There's only one man that has found it and survived the event, and he refuses to tell others where it resides for fear that people will get themselves killed visiting the nest."

"Who?" I prompted.

"My king, Shaka," Katlego said with a solemn respect.

I nodded, "Would it be possible for him to release the information to me or my crew? I could go there and not die." I'd like to see these things punch a hole through a mass of metal enhanced by my jury-rigged Tekkai Kenpo.

But Katlego shook his head, "He would not want to give out such information. Though he would not object to others knowing it."

"So find it on your own."

"That is correct," he agreed with a nod, "Though I am reasonably certain that it is not on this side of the island."

I crossed my arms with a small sigh, looking away in thought. Less than I'd hoped, but more than I was afraid of. I turned back to him, "Is there anything you can tell me about the McPuffins?"

A small nod, "They like water, and congregate near lakes as well as rivers. But there's no real areas of the island that are truly forbidden or too dangerous for others to go, so their nest has not been stumbled upon in such a manner. My only suggestions are the rainforest or the rocky crags, which are inhospitable enough to deter casual travel or exploration."

I gave a slight bow, "Thank you."

Katlego thumped a hand against his chest in a sort of salute, "Thank you, for not competing for Enitan's hand and accepting my adherence to tradition… I… thank you."

"It's no problem," a smile found its place on my face before I turned, "I shall leave y'all to it then." Facing the small crowd that had gathered at the edges of the village to watch the 'duel', my eyes scanned the women's faces. Not seeing my companion, I shouted, "Oi! Jaime! We're heading out!"

Silence greeted me.

Frowning slightly, I began to walk towards the village, looking about even as Enitan, laden with honestly far too many bandages, rushed past in the other direction, "Oi! Jaime!"

Again, nothing…? I swept my gaze across the crowd again, "Hey, anyone know where Jaime is?"

There were some shrugs as the long-necked women glanced amongst themselves, getting a frown from me… because there was honest confusion from them, I could feel it in their 'auras'. So where had he…

… they weren't confused.

My eyes snapped over towards the source of the tickle in my Observation Haki and I began moving in that direction, prompting again, "Where'd my friend go?"

The same way I'd feel the intention of an enemy before they attacked, I **felt** the confusion of the crowd… but in that confusion was a spark of something else- there, right there, fear and something else.

"You." I pointed, and the small crowd hesitated before slowly parting, revealing one of their own. Generally unassuming, in the same leopard-skin bikini as her fellow tribeswomen, her neck-bands were mostly copper with some silver interspersed, and she didn't try to get away from my pointing, "You know. Where is he?"

Her feet shuffled back and forth briefly as she shifted her weight from foot to foot, her gaze going around at the rest of the crowd and finding no help there… so her gaze returned to mine, "He… he went out into the savannah."

I let my hand drop, "Why?"

"To kill Snugglewumps."

"Explain."

"H-He was arrogant!" she shouted defensively, her hands balling into fists at her sides, "He said his style was so good! I told him that if his style was that good then he could prove it by killing the King of the Savannah!" There were gasps from the crowd around us, "He's probably dead by now!"

There was dread and anger in my chest, "Where?"

She started to gesture, "Somewhere out that way–URK-!"

The metal bands around her neck bent slowly inwards as I pulled the long necked woman down to my level, meeting her suddenly terrified gaze unflinchingly, "Pray. Pray that his style is that good and that he isn't dead… because if he is, you will suffer for your part in the death of someone close to me."

She whimpered, and I tossed her aside. I needed to check on Jaime. I hoped he was fine but that was not a risk I was willing to take. Malaika stepped in front of me as I started to walk, and met my glare unflinchingly, "What?"

"Hunting Snugglewumps is not a task that any outsider should be tasked with. You may use my Makena to search for him," her mount had trotted up at some point, standing beside her, "She will be able to sniff him out quickly."

Slightly surprised and honeslty a bit touched, I gave a small bow, "Thank you."

Walking up to the large hyena, I held my hand out towards her muzzle, letting her sniff me, "Did you understand all of that?"

A nod.

"Do you know who we're looking for?"

Another nod.

"May I?"

The hyena bumped her muzzle against my palm, rubbing against it briefly, getting a smile from me. Malaika asked, "Do you require a saddle?"

"No." I'd ridden horses bareback in my past life at my little sister's insistence, a fuzzy and intelligent hyena when I was a lot more superhuman was more than doable. Stepping up beside the saddle-less hyena, I grabbed the scruff of her neck before vaulting up onto her back, patting the side of Makena's neck, "Thank you."

A little laughter from Makena who ran in a little circle, sniffing the ground quickly. And I took the opportunity to glance at Malaika, "I'll be back."

As the matriarch of the village nodded, her mount's head shot up and the hyena took off into the savannah in search of my friend.

\_-o(X)o-_/

"So you haven't met him yet?"

"No, but his dad is actually really nice and very smart."

"While I agree that getting you married into the family is an intelligent plan, it's not something we really want to happen." I paused before clarifying, "Unless his son is actually really cool and you really do like him, in which case it's fine. I'm mostly against forcing you into it with someone you haven't even met."

Ami, Makoto and I were walking up stairs on the pathway through the forest. My hands were in my pockets and I wore my usual rough t-shirt, shorts, and sandals. Makoto was on my left, in a cotton t-shirt and denim overalls with some boots, her hair up in its usual ponytail and her rose earrings glinting in the dappled sunlight as she kept her arms loosely crossed over her chest. Ami was on my right, her hands clasped behind her back and her arms straight as her sundress swished with every step, much daintier shoes on her feet than either Makoto or I.

"You'd really be okay with it if he was nice…?" Makoto looked at me funny as she climbed with me up the steps.

"I'd be fine with it if she liked him." I countered, pointing at Makoto for emphasis, "But she hasn't even met him, and I think that making a decision like this at our age is silly. This is a decision that spans your entire life, and without a spanning political reason for it the potential consequences heavily outweigh the potential rewards, especially for the person bearing the risk, which is Ami here."

While Ami nodded, Makoto looked at me funny, squinting one eye as the other eyebrow went up, "A little less geek-speak Jake?"

I blinked a few times before letting out a little embarrassed noise, "Ahhh…" I scratched the back of my head as I thought over a way to simplify that, "Marriage is a big, important, permanent decision, and we're too young to make it reasonably. But Ami's mother shouldn't get to make that choice for her, since if the guy sucks it's Ami that has to live with him while Ami's mother is the one that gets all the benefits."

"Oh," my fellow brunnete said, before nodding in agreement, "Okay."

We continued on up the stairs together in relative silence, nothing more than birdsong and the sounds of cicadas to accompany us for a ways before I asked Makoto, "How much further is it?"

"What," she grinned teasingly, "Getting tired already?"

I snorted, dramatically pressing the back of my hand against my forehead, "Oh woe is me, my one nemesis! However shall this poor soul survive its one true weakness-! Stairs!" Ami giggled beside me even as Makoto rolled her eyes with a smile of her own. Mission accomplished, I let my hand drop and returned to my normal small smile, "But seriously, this is a lot of stairs, do you make this walk every day?"

Honestly, I was pretty impressed that Ami was keeping up with Makoto and me. Makoto was big for a ten year old and quite the tomboy, and I had absolutely absurd physicality for an eight year old runt, but Ami? Ami was a nerd. And this is from someone who was proud to call himself that. Ami was a super-nerd, but despite climbing the path up the mountain to the temple that'd taken Makoto in for the past two miles and our resident supergenius was only a bit winded.

"Yeah," the tall girl shrugged, "It's not all that bad really."

For a moment, I was struck by how little that really struck me. The path alternated between stairs and dirt that probably should have been stairs. It never really leveled out. We'd been going for over two miles and there was some more flat area between the base of the mountain and the town. This was kind of ridiculous. And Makoto did it almost every day to meet up with Ami, occasionally a couple times as they went back and forth between the library and Makoto's new place. That was a little absurd.

"Do you like it there?" I asked, looking up the pathway through the trees… I think I could see the walls of the temple now…

"It's not bad, I think I like it better than Ami's place," Makoto mused, tapping a finger against her bicep as she kept her arms crossed across her chest, her head tilting up to look up at the dappled sunlight coming through the treetops. "I miss being able to just talk with Ami any time I want, but it's nice to have a room for myself again… and Ami's mom could be a pain sometimes, but she's a better cook than the priests."

"I could teach you how to cook," I offered. I wasn't exactly talented, but I had the advantage of enjoying it and having learned a good bit of cooking in my past life as well as from my momma in this life, "My momma's the ship cook and I'm pretty good at it myself."

Makoto perked up at that and I could practically see the sparkles in her eyes and the shojou background of bubbles and roses as she asked, "You could? That'd be great!" Her beaming and eager expression cracked though before she pouted and looked away, "Though we'll have to watch out for the jerk."

I raised my eyebrow, waiting for an elaboration that didn't come. So I turned to Ami on the other side of me with the same expression, "Eh?"

"The granddaughter of the head priest at the temple," Ami said with a small, amused smile, "Makoto doesn't like her."

The brown-haired girl huffed and I turned to find her looking away, arms crossed even tighter across her T-shirt and overalls, "She's stuck up!"

I looked back at Ami with a raised eyebrow and a small, amused smile, and the blue haired girl shook her head, "She's a little aloof and distant, not really that bad."

"You don't have to live with her." Makoto pointed out with a grumble before pointing a finger at Ami, her arm invading my space to do so, "And she's mean to you! It bothers me!"

"Rei just expects me to be better," Ami said a bit sheepishly, "And she's not really that bad about it."

Makoto snorted, "Not being bad compared to your mom isn't saying much."

Ami just sighed, shaking her head, not wanting to get into that one again.

"We are going to have to avoid her though," the tall girl grumbled, "She doesn't really like boys."

"Eh, it shouldn't be a problem? It's not like I'm going to put a frog into her hair or something."

While Ami giggled, Makoto's face scrunched up, "Ew."

I grinned just a bit at that, this was a bit weird, but I was determined not to be surprised by any further curveballs this island threw me. So long as there wasn't a fucking Queen Berryl I'd be happy.

… and so long as I'm not getting roped into the positions of either Sailor Moon or Tuxedo Mask, because fuck all of that.

I mean, I look retarded in a tophat.

*WhumpaWhumpaWhumpaWhumpa*

"That's how you knead the dough…?"

"It's how I do it." I said with a small smile before chopping at the dough with one hand and sweeping it over with the other, folding in a quick motion, "The point is to ensure that the dough is thoroughly mixed and to activate the flour and yeast."

Beside me, Makoto mimicked the motions with significantly less flair and far more dainty motions with her own mass of dough. Ami sat at the table in the moderately sized kitchen of this building of the temple compound as I walked Makoto through the steps of making spaghetti. "Now, don't forget to we add some more flour on it to ensure that it doesn't stick to the board."

"What are you doing?"

"Mm?" I looked over my shoulder to find a slender girl with long black hair, somewhere between Ami and Makoto in height with absolutely striking purple eyes, she had a look somewhere between blank and confused on her face and was in a classic miko's outfit. I smiled a bit and turned back to the dough, "Making noodles."

Her lips pressed together the slightest bit, "… why?"

I could see Makoto bristle out of the corner of my eye, but I countered, "Why not?"

That seemed to throw the young girl off her game, though I wasn't sure if it was the question itself or my cheery attitude. And without a response she simply turned, her head tilting up as she let out a little, "Hmph."

As she walked out of the kitchen of the temple I called out, "Be sure to swing by to try it when we're done!" That made her pause at the doorway as I continued, "We need someone who's unafraid to give criticism to improve."

I turned back to the dough as I began to roll it out into a cylinder, jerking my head at Makoto to indicate that she do it as well. The taller girl's mouth worked quietly for a moment before she frowned in thought before doing it as well. After the long moment of silence, the girl I could only assume was Rei asked calmly, "When will it be done?"

"Mm…" I hummed thoughtfully, thinking, taking into account that I'd be teaching Makoto some things as we went along… spaghetti for the win~ "Probably an hour, give or take a handful of minutes."

With a sound that was too refined to be called a grunt but too short to be called a hum, Rei walked out of the room quietly with measured steps. And I smiled.

As the footsteps faded down the hallway, Makoto glanced at me, "The crap was that Jacob?"

"… playing nice?" I couldn't help the shit-eating grin on my face.

"Tch, she'll just say it's bad."

"If she says anything unreasonable, I'll call her out on it." I said honestly, "But it's always good to have a good critic. When you start to get really good at something, someone who's willing and able to give an honest criticism is a godsend, because it gives you a chance to improve."

My friend harrumphed at that, looking back to the dough in front of her, "Not like she'll actually show up."

"She asked when it'll be done, she'll probably be here a little after that so she's not waiting around." And probably to make it look like her idea. Heh. But I doubted Makoto wanted to hear that, that and I wanted to believe the best of her.

"Pfft, right."

I gently elbowed my friend in the side, "Give her a chance. How'd you feel if some stranger suddenly moved into your house?"

Makoto pouted as she mimicked my motions with the dough, "I wouldn't act like that though."

"No, but you're you, and she's not you."

The taller girl stuck her tongue out at me and with all the elegance and refinement innate to me, I blew a raspberry right back. Ami giggling at the table.

My grin at Makoto said it all. And her pout was equally eloquent.

'Neener neenr neener~ I~ was~ riiiiigggghhhhht~'

'Oh screw you!'

Makoto huffed and my shit-eating grin widened as we stood behind Rei, the young girl demurely tasting the spaghetti that we'd made. Daintily tapping at her mouth with her napkin, not that she needed to, she'd quite skillfully avoided getting any of the meat sauce on herself at all, Rei finally said, "It is bitter."

The tall girl beside me bristled once more and I just smiled, "It's supposed to be. This is the authentic form of the dish, or the classical style. Makoto actually did it very well. I personally prefer to add some sugar to the sauce for exactly that reason though."

"Makoto made this?" Rei asked, and I wasn't sure if that was surprise or curiosity… she was hard to read, she was rather stoic.

"Yeah! I did." Said burgeoning chef said, the 'You got a problem with it?' going unsaid, but not unheard.

There wasn't a reply from the black haired girl immediately, instead she folded up her napkin properly and set her silverware on the plate before saying, "Acceptable."

'Okay, I know I just saw a smile.'

Beside me, Makoto gaped, her mouth working silently for a moment before she shouted, "Acceptable?!"

"Yes." Rei said, standing from the table, "Acceptable. Be sure to add sugar next time."

"Why you–!" But before my bigger friend could get into a brawl, I grabbed her arm, "What?!"

"Makoto," I couldn't help but grin, "That means that she liked everything else about it." My fellow brunette looked at me in confusion even as Rei turned to look at me with a blank face. So I elaborated, "She didn't criticize anything else, that means there wasn't anything else to criticize." I grinned at the black haired girl, "And I'm betting that she actually rather liked it."

Makoto's green eyes snapped to the other girl who was giving a small but very noticeable pout, as if I'd ruined the joke.

Knowing someone's demeanor beforehand made interpreting stuff like this much, much easier.

"Didn't you?" I pressed, my grin widening.

She gave a little huff, turning away, "You are a good teacher."

"Nah." Mind you, I really thought that was true, but that's not what we were talking about. I reached up to ruffle my significantly taller friend's hair, which was difficult both because she was a lot taller than me and because she had her long wavy brown hair up in a ponytail, "She's just a good learner."

And she had been, while I'm not sure I'd say she was talented, she was definitely determined to learn.

So she shoved me, snorting, "I'm older than you!"

"Yes~!" I agreed before slapping a hand to my chest dramatically and grinning, "But I'm your cooking sempai! And I am entitled to being proud of my cute little student Rosebu– ACK!"

My much larger friend had promptly put me into a headlock, giving me a noogy, half laughing out, "You brat!"

I made dramatic noises as I squirmed. I probably could have gotten out of this, but that wouldn't have been as fun, and I could hear Ami giggling just outside of my vision, but I could see a small smile on Rei's face, the stoic girl not having left yet.

Now, I was no Luffy, Naruto, or Usagi, but I liked to think I did a good thing here. Especially given my inability to help with Ami's potential betrothal…

-oOo-

Makena ran at a relaxed lope, parting the tall grass of the savannah as she ran, following Jaime's trail, and here I was just hugging her back like a monkey.

Really shouldn't have left that saddle… but I didn't really know how to put it on in the first place… I mean, I probably could've figured it out, but that would've taken a while, which given the risk Jaime was at, wasn't something I'd have wanted to do anyways.

… still should've gotten a saddle though, because while Makena was fuzzy and otherwise comfy, she was warm as hell in an already hot place. And I was only able to stay on her back by wrapping my arms and legs around her torso. I don't think I'd have minded so much if I could actually look around on my own and she didn't smell like wet dog.

There was a laugh from Makena as she trotted to a stop, and I finally raised my head and… that is a big lion…

… huh, so that's a bone lion…

There was some… words…? I think it was Spanish…? It was slurred as all hell. I turned to look at– "Fucking hell Jaime?!"

Nearly throwing myself off of the hyena, I rushed over towards the man, who blinked blearily at me as he bled out onto the ground!

There were three massive but thankfully mostly shallow cuts on his torso, his left shoulder looking like fucking road rash central. His rapier was raised and I slowed slightly in my rush over to him, the man stumbling in place, "Jaime! Fucking hell, it's me! I just want to get you fixed up!"

The Mexican-esque man stumbled in place, rapier still trained on me as he blinked unfocused eyes, saying something else in spanish that was too slurred for me to understand. Damnit, his turtleneck was basically destroyed, and his front was soaked in blood.

"Buddy, you've got to use your words," his eyes were unfocused and bleary. He didn't recognize me? Damnit, I could turn to metal to walk right through his attacks but I'd really rather him not fighting me while he's like this! "I can't understand you."

"Wha-… wha'shr you doin' here…? Though' I lef' you doin' y'er thing…"

"I'm here to help you out, heard you were after something scary… came to help…" I slowly approached him, hands up placatingly, "Come on big guy…"

"Tú… tú…" he stumbled some, the tip of his rapier slowly drifting down.

I could smell the alcohol on his breath, making me blink a few times before I glanced over at the huge predator that was lying very, very still. I couldn't sense anything from the bone lion, so it was certainly dead. And it would have stood… fuck, forty, maybe fifty feet tall at the shoulder, covered in hard bone plating and bone quills… shit, this lion was nearly the size of the Cake honestly… And that should have been out of Jaime's weight class… I knew that, I knew how tough animals tended to be in the Grand Line and how tough he was since I'd been training him… "Do… you get stronger the more you drink…?"

His eyes narrowed for a moment before he growled and the tip of his rapier snapped up to threateningly waver within a few inches of my nose, "Did… did you jush call mí madre a fink?!"

A blink as I tried to assess how best to do this, "… nnnnooooo. No I didn't."

"Oh…" back down the blade went, "M'kay…"

"Jaime…?"

"Yeah…?"

"How about you take a nap? I'll take it from here."

"M'kay… sounds good… nap… a nap…" he stumbled a bit before pitching forward and I surged forward myself to catch him before easing him towards the ground, the taller man already snoring.

"Fucking hell…"

Patting the side of the mount as I walked beside her, I said, "Thanks Makena, your walk is a lot smoother than mine."

"Hya hya hya…" the large hyena gave a little bob of her head, walking along with the snoring Jaime on her back. I'd used all of the bandages I kept in my utility belt as well as my scarf to compress the wounds on Jaime's chest, and his own shirt torn up to be used on his shoulder. I'd done what little stitching I could with the materials I had on hand, but I needed to boil water, get some alcohol, or otherwise sterilize the wounds.

I needed to get him to the village long enough to get him stabilized and then to the Cake so that Akira could work on him. I could only do first aid, not treat the absurdity that Jaime had gotten himself into.

The village came into view slowly, normally hidden by the tall grass and the unusual curvature atop the plateau, a sigh of relief escaping me. Even if they weren't going to be helpful on their own, which I doubted, I could and would force the issue if I had to in order to get medical supplies.

Within minutes, the three of us were approached by a patrol of long necked warriors on their mounts, a brief look of sympathy crossing the face of the lead warrior as she glanced over Jaime's prone form as they came within comfortable speaking distance, "I am sorry."

"He's alive. But he's in need of medical attention."

"Of course, he is lucky to be alive, Snugglewumps is more than almost any man or woman is able to handle."

"Actually, he took him out, just was injured in doing so," I lifted the sign I'd appropriated from the massive lion, "Though… Snugglewuss? Not Snugglewumps? Or do you guys use different–?"

*Thump-!*

I blinked a few times, staring back at the squad as the leader flailed and fell off of her mount in surprise, her warriors gaping at me, a few of the hyenas falling down and covering their heads with their paws. I glanced back and forth a few times before raising my eyebrows, "… what?"

"Snugglewuss?!" One of the warrior women squeaked before her head craned back to peek out from behind her own shoulder.

"That- is that really his sign?!" the leader asked, struggling to sit up.

"YYyyyyeeeessss…?" I said, holding it up, "It was the one on the lion that Jaime killed…?"

The warriors all stared at the comparatively little sign, "… he killed Snugglewuss…"

"… is that bad…?" I asked cautiously.

"Bad?! He's a hero! Dayo! Get back to the village and get them ready! We have an injured to take care of!"

"R-Right!"

"Come! Quick!"

I shared a glance with Makena, who just did this half-shrug, which I returned before we started walking again. I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"So, wait, the 'King of the Savannah' is Snugglewumps, who's a pretty big bone lion at about forty feet tall, but the nastiest one is Snugglewuss who stood at nearly fifty…?"

As the tribe's shaman slowly applied a poultice to the still snoring Jaime's wounds, Malaika and I sat on the floor

"Yes, Snugglewuws is… was…" Malaika paused before correcting herself, "An old bone lion, the oldest we knew of, and the mightiest. He'd hounded my grandmother, and it was her sacrifice that got the sign around his neck… he left our village proper alone out of respect of the deed, which is why we are the only tribe on this plateau." Malaika trailed off, staring at the prone form of Jaime, "… but he would pick off any groups he'd encountered away from the village…"

"And now he's dead," I said, somewhat amused.

Enitan and Katlego were off somewhere doing the Tsundere routine, and a number of the long-necked women had swung by the hut to just sorta stare at Jaime for a bit. Malaika had sent out a good sized group to go break down the big Snugglewuss's body for all of the bone and meat and such.

Malaika looked over at me, "He truly killed him?"

I gave her a bit of a look at that, understanding the real question, "Yes, he did. I was actually a bit surprised when I found it, because I didn't think he was that strong."

She shook her head in near disbelief, turning back to Jaime as the shamaness worked over him.

Silence reigned over the hut for several minutes after that. I would've been more comfortable with Akira treating Jaime, but until I was sure he was stabilized, this would have to do. I was sure his organs hadn't been cut all to pieces, but he'd have trouble moving, but I didn't know all of the bits and pieces involved in the absurdity of One Piece healing… kinda wish Ami was here.

… no, wait, really wish Ami was here. She could fix Jaime up no problem and we could've gotten back to Gin Mirieniu on our own with no more of this… I… did I…

"What crew are you from?"

I blinked, my thoughts interrupted, looking at the middle aged woman, "… the Bonney Pirates."

"The Fisi tribe is indebted to your crew… you are welcome here whenever you so desire."

"… thank you."

"Nng… wha…?"

"Welcome back to the land of the waking, sleepy-head," I said, looking up from my notebook at Jaime as he lay on the pallet beside me, the taller man slowly stirring.

"Jacob…?" he blinked a few times, looking up at me blearily.

"Eyup," I closed the book in my lap as I sat cross legged on the dirt floor, "How you holdin up?"

"I…" wincing slightly, he pushed himself up and I reached out to steady him as he clutched at his chest, "… ugh, how long was I out?"

I held out his cowboy hat towards him, allowing him to take it, "A long time."

His eyebrows shot up, "Really?!"

I couldn't help but grin, "Nah, just messing with you, it wasn't a long time unless you consider a day a long time."

"Punta!" Jaime said with a smile, swatting me with his hat and making me laugh.

"Tcheheheh, you were just out for a day, it's just before afternoon the day after you headed out."

Jaime shook his head a bit slowly, an exasperated smile on his face as he sighed, "I need a drink."

A small smile crossed my face and I turned towards the entrance to the hut, "Hey! Could you get him a drink?"

Confused, Jaime leaned to look around me at the entrance and found that the doorway was nearly filled with the faces of the ladies. With their foot long necks it was a lot easier to crowd in and basically fill the doorway up. The warrior that'd been in here had heard Jaime waking up and gone to get the rest.

"Right!"

"I've got it!"

"No! Me!"

The ladies scattered, nearly stumbling over each other to go get a drink for him, and I turned to grin at Jaime, "You've got a fan-club."

"… tú es serio…?"

"Mhm. You killed the wrong bone lion." He groaned, facepalming and I grinned, "You stepped it up a notch. You went above and beyond. You're kind of a local hero now."

Jaime paused before looking back up, blinking in confusion, "… wait, what?"

"Basically, they asked you to kill the lion's Vice Admiral and you went straight for the Admiral."

"… oh." He frowned in thought, shifting slightly to get more comfortable "But... he had a sign…?"

"Snugglewuss, not the Snugglewumps you were supposed to go for."

"… I did wonder about that."

"No! I'm going to bring it!"

"No! Me!"

"I got it first!"

"Eeek! That's my top!"

"Ahahahaha! Mine!"

"Tcheheheh," I chuckled even as Jaime blushed just a bit, a small smile appearing on his own face, "We're going to be leaving once you're up to being moved. I was able to get the info from Katlego, and we need to get it back to the Cake for you to be treated properly."

Jaime nodded, "How long until I'm good to be moved?"

"That's up to you, though it's not likely to be long. It might be longer for you to be combat ready, but not very long for you to be able to move."

"Hah!"

"Eeek! Give me back my bikini!"

"No! I'll be the one to bring it!"

The Mexican-esque man's mustache straightened out as his face flushed just a bit more, "Ah… I might not be up for a few days."

I smiled warmly and stood, turning towards the entrance of the hut, "I get it. Just don't take too long."

"Shiver my timbers, shiver my soul… yooo hooo eee ooohhh…" I sung badly beneath my breath as I sat side saddle on the back of the giraffe as it ate from the tree. The tall animal had been pretty uncomfortable when I'd first come over, but it'd gotten used to me being nearby when I hadn't done anything other than poke it a few times. I was now recording my notes as I sat on its butt.

The savannah was pretty quiet really, there were only a few trees out there, some zebras, a wilderbeast off in the distance… gonna stay way the hell away from that.

Looked a little like a buffalo, but oh fuck no can we not? They were poisonous, venomous, and disease ridden. Oh, and pound for pound they fought like a honey badger… and they weighed about a ton.

I was superhuman and had a metallic body on command, but I wasn't invincible and I wanted none of that.

So… yeah. No thanks.

"Florida?"

The giraffe shied away from the sound of Jaime's voice and I looked over. While his old turtleneck had been destroyed, cannibalized in my efforts to staunch his bleeding, the Fisi tribe had apparently made him a new turtleneck out of leopard skin. It looked super weird with his dark skin and I looked over at the man as he looked up at me, "Yeah?"

"I'm ready," he said with a small smile.

Closing my notebook, I dropped from the back of the giraffe and tucked the book away, "Done with being pampered by your fan club?"

It'd only been three days since Jaime had woken up, I'd spent most of the time out in the savannah proper studying the various creatures, and spending the nights in the village proper, learning about their history and culture and legends from the shaman. Amusingly, while Katlego had left the next day, Enitan had ranted and raved about him in a negative fashion for several days.

It was all she talked about, amusingly so at that. Tsundere much?

Jaime pouted at me, "I can only recount a story I barely remember so many times before it gets old."

A smile spread across my face, "Not a fan?"

He snorted, "No, none of them are interested in learning my style."

I rolled my eyes and started to walk towards the edge of the plateau, "You use a rapier, they're mounted cavalry, of course not."

His pout intensified, "Yeah, but I still want to spread my style…"

"Tcheh. Now you're starting to sound like Lucca, just replacing seed with style."

Jaime cringed, "Ewww."

"And the ladies sure seemed eager to let you do that part at least."

"… less ew, once you get past the necks they're quite attractive."

"Yeah, but I personally struggle to get past the necks," I paused for a moment before tapping my own neck meaningfully, looking at Jaime's own, "Speaking of necks, you probably want to clean yours."

Jaime blinked before reaching up to the part of his neck just above his turtleneck, feeling the smudge of lipstick and blushing slightly, rubbing it away, "Well, they aren't as attractive as Captain Bonney, no."

"Very few women are," I pointed out… only to get a smirk in response, "… what?"

"Nothing."

"Come on Jaime! Cut me!"

The trip back to the port town had taken longer than the one to the plateau. Mostly because Jaime needed to take it a bit easier than he had before. Still refused any help scaling the side of the plateau, the silly bugger. But we returned to the port town in relatively short order, Bonney had left a small crew on the Cake that included Akira for exactly this sort of reason.

"You're made of steel amigo!" The man with the pear shaped head snapped as his rapier lashed forward as flashes of steel. He'd left his hat on the deck not too far away, laid atop the carefully folded leopard-skin turtleneck and was sticking to just shorts and this world's equivalent to a wife-beater shirt and suspenders, "I can't cut you with my sword!"

We'd returned before any of the rest of the crew had, and the crew didn't have enough Den-Den Mushi to spread amongst all of the teams, so we just had to wait till the others returned.

"Yes you can! So stop with those silly little swings!" My arms flashed into a dark metallic state as the thin sword flashed about, deflecting the blade.

I was taking the opportunity to give Jaime some one-on-one training in between my work on rebuilding my tools. The mexican-esque man was faster than most people and honestly very skilled, but he had yet to show the gumption and raw physicality that he'd have required to beat Snugglewuss. It was inconsistent, possibly linked to drinking.

We were going to fix that.

"They're not silly!" Jaime grit his teeth, his mustache twitching as he lunged, the point of his blade smashing uselessly against my metallic skin. While this session was mostly about training Jaime, I was also practicing turning myself into metal reflexively in response to an attack.

"Then stop trying to cut me and cut me!" I snapped, grinning.

It'd been just over two weeks since we'd all headed out, and just under a week since Jaime and I had returned to the Cake. Akira had basically just done touch-ups for Jaime's treatment, declaring it almost satisfactory.

Jaime pulled back, bringing his feet together, standing ramrod straight as he brought the hilt level with his belly button, the blade pointed perfectly upwards. There was steel in his eyes this time, and I was intrigued, "Oh?"

"Equis!"

He lunged, the tip of his blade blurring into a figure eight so quickly that it barely seemed to move, the light flashing off of the dancing tip giving the illusion of a silver X at the tip of his sword, plunging past my guard and slicing across my chest.

Sparks flew as the tip of his blade slid across metal, and I felt that through my skin as more than a distant sensation. I began to grin at him, but Jaime grit his teeth, "Dos!"

Another blur of steel drew an X across my chest, sparks flying with no more effect than before.

"Tres! Quatro!" The force of the slashes dragging across my metal skin pushed me back a step, the edge of his blade ringing as it cut through the air. Just a little bit more...

"Cinco–!"

*Clang!*

"Wha-?!"

I caught his rapier in my palm, grinning at the larger man, "Better! But is that really all your style has to offer?!" I deliberately pressed his buttons, throwing the tip of his sword aside and holding my hands out, giving him a target, "Stop it with these little baby swings!"

Jaime wasn't as fast as I was, or as strong, even though he was significantly above average. But this wasn't about conditioning, it wasn't about how strong or fast or tough he was. It was about will, it was about determination, about focus. He didn't need to swing his sword harder or move faster or anything like that, though those would help. He needed to cut me. To know he could cut me and just do it.

There was a wild fury in Jaime's brown eyes, his long and curly mustache twitching several times before he slid into a different stance.

"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow at him as his own pressure started to spike. I'd hit a nerve, quite on purpose I might add. Nothing visibly changed about him, but to my Observation haki it felt like I'd hit a tipping point.

He presented his left side to me, knees bent and his left arm pointed straight at me, palm out. His rapier was held tightly in his right hand and perfectly horizontal, brought back and level with his eyes. Eyes that had become the color of amber.

"Tap the Keg..."

My grin widened, "Well then..."

"Half Keg!"

There was a flicker of black about the tip of his blade as it plunged forward–!

*SCCCRREEEEEEEEECCCHHHH!*

Jaime stared, sword extended and his eyes wide. I grinned, the corner of my cheek twitching in pain, "Much better."

I'd intercepted his rapier with my palm, and the blade had pierced straight through my metallic hand, several inches of the thin sword sticking out of the back... but still well over a foot away from the center of my chest where he'd been aiming.

Letting my hand relax and the metallic musculature loosen, I slowly pulled my hand off of his rapier with a soft grinding sound. I looked curiously at the nearly perfectly diamond shaped hole through my palm, flexing my fingers and watching what little effect it had on the hole proper. It was rather fascinating, because I could feel the hole, and that had hurt briefly and more immediately than most things did, but it didn't hurt now.

"I- um... sorry?"

"The hell for? I was telling you to cut me, and while this might not be cutting, it'll do." It was strange… there was no silver this time, just that dark blue gray all the way through my hand… it wasn't like it was different parts of my body turning into different metals… so what was the difference…? It wasn't like I was deliberately becoming something else… "I told you to cut me, and you did."

He blinked a few times before a small smile began to appear on his face, "I-… I did, didn't I?"

Jaime, for just an instant, had used Haki, he'd imbued the tip of his rapier with his will and life force to pierce my own. And I'd been pouring my own power through my hand to intercept him without pouring it out into a barrier around me in the fashion of Armament Haki.

"Yes, you did." I flexed my hand, hard, and with a metallic *whump* the hole in my hand filled back in. There was a still a seam though... so I flexed harder, my brow furrowing as I tried to push the pieces of my hand back together the same way I moved my metallic body parts. There was a moment of pain as the spot glowed a soft orange, steam rising from the spot... and then it was gone, my metal hand whole once more.

"Now..." I grinned at Jaime, letting the metal melt away from my body and visibly returning to flesh, "Do it again."

The attack had cut my steel form, but it hadn't cut me. It was possible that I only 'bled mercury' if I was injured by a haki-infused weapon and I didn't counter it with haki of my own. If that was the case, then this confirmed something I'd been suspecting: that Haki could be used to buffer against Haki. The admirals hadn't been one-shotted by people using Haki despite it 'bypassing' the defenses of an intangible logia I was right, it meant that in order to meaningfully harm a skilled haki user made of light or fire, you needed to overwhelm their will with your own.

"Um... again?"

"You heard me. An attack you can't use under pressure is worthless." My grin got just a little bit vicious at that. I wasn't going to hurt him, but I enjoyed training, I loved to teach and learn and push my limits, and this was D). All of the Above, "Now cut me again."

"I'm guessing that you weren't successful."

Bonney looked up at me as I sat on the railing of the Cake, smirking a bit down at her. She was ruffled as hell, the edges of her jacket ragged, her hair a mess, and generally a dirty mess. Her lipstick long gone. She still looked good though even as she frowned up at me in confusion, "… what the hell are you doing back already?"

"Got some information from locals early on, and it looks like the McPuffins are on the other side of the island. At least from his best guess." Her team was actually the first to get back to my mild surprise, only a few days after Jaime had started to pick up Armament Haki.

The pink haired woman facepalmed, "… of fucking course."

Pushing off of the railing of the Cake, I dropped lightly to the ground in front of Bonney, "That rough of a time?"

"Yeah… ugh."

"Hey," I patted her shoulder, giving her a grin, "I made a hot shower?"

"You did?!"

Bonney and I normally managed by sitting in a shallow tub that was partially filled and toweling ourselves off, and honestly using that much water while out at sea would be retarded without something like a Clima-Tact to basically pull water from the air. But while at an island? Perfectly viable.

"Mhm, it doubles as an emergency rinse while working with chemicals, but I made sure to let it double as a hot shower–"

She grabbed my biceps, "Where?!"

"Just outside my lab. There's a metallic screen and changing room–

I was suddenly crushed in a surprisingly strong hug, "Thank you!"

"Welcome."

And then she was gone so fast that I spun in place a few times before skidding to a stop.

\_-o(X)o-_/

I smiled as the Patch approached Gin Mirieniu, I could see the two figures at the dock as we approached, relatively small but one with a shock of blue hair.

So, no, I wasn't some magical shonen hero capable of attracting heroes from everywhere. A sads. Still, it was good to see my friends again. The Patch was coming in for supplies again, Captain Billy knew of some event going on that meant that all of the merchant ships were going about in the area, we were going to be around Gin-Mirieniu a lot more than normal.

It'd be nice to at least play at having normal friends who didn't murder people. That'd be greeaaaaat.

Also silly, I loved my momma and the crew and they weren't horrible people but this was a nice change of pace.

"Ugh!" Makoto threw the newspaper away, and Ami and I looked up at her in curiosity.

The three of us were in Makoto's room in the compound that she now lived in. Ami had to study some before she was allowed to play and I was taking the opportunity to catch up on some of my reading beside her. Makoto had taken to reading a cookbook initially but had moved on to the newspaper. While Ami and Makoto both had on a blouse and skirt, with Ami's noticeably fancier than Makoto's, I was in a simple shirt and pants.

I shared a glance with my blue haired friend who shrugged slightly. So I opened my big mouth and asked, "What is it?"

"Pirates. Just... they hit one of the nearby islands." She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away, muttering under her breath, "I hate pirates..." My heart ached and I looked away. Even if I didn't consider myself a pirate, I was part of the crew of them. And even if it was irrational, I felt responsible. Freaking emotions. "They just destroy and break and hurt and take, no love or justice in them at all."

'Don't sugarcoat it, tell us how you really feel.' I mentally snarked over the ache in my chest, setting the book into my lap. While the larger, brown haired girl sat against one wall, Ami and I sat together on the other just a few feet away, all three of us gathered at the corner.

"I wish all pirates would just die," Makoto said with the conviction and frustration and hurt of a ten year old.

I said nothing, I didn't want to advertise that I was part of a pirate crew even if it wasn't by choice. While I had a pretty good feeling it wouldn't make her hate me if I told the truth, I also didn't want to have to tell her that and the fight and isolation that would ensue…

To my surprise, Ami spoke up, "Not every pirate is horrible, some are just fighting for their islands, like the Shichibukai Jinbei."

"I bet he still takes from people and kills though." Makoto grumbled, her arms tightening across her chest.

"Ah... well... yes," Ami admittedly softly.

"Tch, whatever," Makoto stood, "I'm going outside to play. Catch up when you're done studying."

I watched her go sadly for a moment. I was going to have to tell her eventually, but lord did I not want to… and how much she was hurt…

Warm arms wrapped around my shoulders and I suddenly found myself hugged to Ami's chest. I blinked a few times in confusion before looking up at her, "Ami?"

"It's okay," she said softly, "She doesn't hate you, she's just hurting."

A small sound of disbelief escaped me and I looked away, leaning into Ami's embrace, accepting the comfort. After a moment I said, "I never told you either, y'know."

She giggled, "Jacob, I've known you for years, of course I knew. I'm surprised she hasn't figured it out yet." I sighed, placing a hand on Ami's forearm and giving it a small squeeze, though she continued before I could find the words I wanted to say, "… you need to tell her though."

"I know, I was just thinking that…" I said softly as one of her hands came up to mess with my spiky brown mess of hair, "I'm not looking forward to it is all."

"You're not like other pirates, and the Eyepatch Pirates aren't really that bad," Ami pointed out. And while she was right, I couldn't help but fixate on something.

I tilted my head back to look up at her, "Okay, I can get how you knew I was part of a pirate crew, but how'd you know what group?"

"Once I figured out you were a pirate, I looked up your name and cross referenced that with old descriptions and bounty posters as well as the members of your crew I'd seen personally." She said proudly, as if that were a simple task in a world without internet or even collected stores of knowledge.

"… you're crazy smart, you know that right?"

Ami smiled, ruffling my hair as she hugged me, "I try."

I couldn't help but smile, "Hey, that's my line."

She tweaked my ear, "I learned it from you."

"Tcheheheh…" I grinned just a bit before my smile melted into a more melancholy one, "… I'll tell her before I leave this visit, but after she's calmed down from this."

"Good."

-oOo-

I yawned just a bit as I scratched my chin, walking towards the washroom attached to the 'barracks'. Ugh, couldn't sleep. What day was it…? Ugh, right, we were en route to the other side of the island to follow the lead that Jaime and I had found. It'd take a few days given the currents and the winds, but we'd be there soon.

My stomach was grumbling as I pushed open the door and slipped into the washroom, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I'd stayed up too late working on the brooch of Bonney's and now I'd be better off just staying up till the next day was over. I stopped at the sink, pulling my lighter from my belt and lighting the candle beside it before flicking it closed and back into its pouch.

"Oh wow… I have not been paying attention…" I muttered softly, a tired and bemused smile finding its way onto my face at my bedraggled appearance. My spiky hair had fallen over my forehead during my sleep and there was a mess of scruff had appeared along my jawline. Hadn't shaved in a day or two and it'd entirely gotten away from me.

Turning on the water briefly after closing the drain, I got a pool of water in the sink and splashed some water on my face. A quick bit of effort had my hair swept back away from my forehead once more… it was starting to get long on me, getting closer to looking like Archer than like Zoro… but Tilting my head up and to the side some, I turned my skin and fingernails into steel… but not my hair. Moving the candle with one hand, I did something I'd seen in the movie Hancock, shaving with the razor blades of fingernails against my metal skin.

It didn't take long for me to grow stubble, and I could rock an actual beard in about a week or two, but between the scar on the underside of my chin and genetics, it was too patchy to look good. Too bad there wasn't laser hair removal, wouldn't mind just getting rid of the beard entirely now that I had the scar.

A flick of my fingers sent hair and water into the drain and I turned my head from side to side, trying to make sure I hadn't missed a spot. My fingers trailed across the scar at my temple and I paused, slowly tracing the length from my ear to the corner of my eye… a scar following the line of a high rimmed glasses… I stared at my reflection for a long moment.

'What am I doing…?'

The thought came nearly out of nowhere, almost like a punch to the gut, the memory of the scar sending a cascade of half remembered things through my head and heart. With a shuddering breath, I let my head fall forward and my forehead press against the mirror as I supported myself with hands on either side of the sink, fighting back the sudden urge to tear up.

'I'm a pirate.Why.' My eyes felt hot and wet as I closed them, a cool trail tracing down my cheeks and I thudded my forehead against the mirror once in frustration with myself,'The people I grew up with are dead. I was doing all of this for them. I fought for them, stole for them, killed for them… and now that entire reason is gone… why am I doing this all again…?'

What did I want? Knowledge. Happiness for myself and others. To have fun. To fucking kill Onigumo. To protect those closest to me… but… the people close to me were gone…

The answer was obvious: Because even if they weren't my family, I did care about the Bonney Pirates. I didn't want them to be hurt and I'd fight to protect them if I had to, I'd kill to protect them, to avoid the risk of them dying from infection as I'd seen before… and so long as I could limit the damage caused, I'd steal as well.

The Bonney Pirates weren't that bad honestly, especially given their preference for subtlety and avoiding direct conflict. They weren't the Strawhat pirates (who I still hadn't heard anything about yet), but no pirates I'd ever met in reality were like that. So long as the Bonney Pirates kept the stealing at least mostly focused on the warlords and other pirates, I could stick with them in mostly good conscience.

… and there was a better chance for me to run into Onigumo while out as a pirate than laying low on Gin Mirieniu.

I stared at my reflection, deep set green eyes that looked gray in this limited light, a beauty mark on my left cheekbone, the scar that stretched from temple to temple across my eyes, short, spiky brown hair and a good sized forehead, a scar on the underside of my jaw. Without a particular expression, there was a slight downturn to my lips.

I looked like a pirate.

And now… now I had a chance to not be a pirate. A resigned but amused smile crossed my face,'Well, not just yet. I've got to go to the end of the Grand Line to get off it unless I get an Eternal Pose for the Reverse Mountain or steal a Marine ship…'

It was a bit frustrating. The Calm Belts on either side of the Grand Line prevented anyone other than the Marines with their special ships from entering or leaving the Grand Line except where the Grand Line met the Red Line, the single true continent our planet had, and it stretched around the planet perpendicular to the Grand Line. And in order to travel through the Grand Line you either needed a Log Pose, which would take you in one direction in certain routes, or an Eternal Pose to a specific island, so I was stuck on the Grand Line until I got to the end of it.

With a small sigh, I wiped the tears from my eyes before splashing water on my face to ensure there were no remnants from my shaving.

There was a soft gurgling grown from my stomach, voicing its displeasure at the lack of food in the past few hours, "Alright alright… give me a minute, I've got to get to the kitchen…"

I paused briefly on the steps leading up from the sleeping quarters to the kitchen, hearing the sounds of eating in the kitchen. Remembering what ship I was on, I continued with a small smile. Despite the darkness of the ship and the slow rocking of it in the waves, I could still see Bonney's shock of pink hair in the dim starlight filtering through the windows to the kitchen.

Her back was to me from this angle, several plates of food arranged before her she dug in, almost off of her chair as she dug in. While I was used to seeing this during the day, it was a bit unusual to see it at night. "Hey," I said with a small smile, one that broadened when she nearly jumped out of her skin.

She jerked to look at me, purple eyes wide in the dark and surprise, her words muffled by the mouthful of food, "Ff'ori'a!"

"Tcheh, sorry, didn't mean to scare you." I said somewhere between amusement and actual apology, walking past my captain and to the main refrigerator, opening it up as I asked, "Couldn't sleep?"

"Nng…" I could hear Bonney settle back into her chair as she grunted, and I grabbed one of the bits of leftover pizza that she hadn't grabbed just yet. She audibly swallowed before speaking, "No."

I turned around with my pizza in hand, walking back towards the table, but I paused, a small frown appearing on my face. Even in the dim light filtering through the two circular windows of the kitchen something was obviously off.

Bonney's eyes were red.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked softly as I came around to her side of the table. She shot a small glare at me even as she took a bite out of the half eaten pizza slice. My lips pressed into a thin line as I kicked a chair over beside her and sat down, "Oh don't give me that."

For a moment, I thought she was going to snap at me, but then she looked away with a grunt, chewing. I didn't press, but nor did I leave, sitting beside her and waiting as I ate my own slice of pizza. She hadn't talked about what she'd seen or done on her own expedition over the past few days while we'd waited for everyone else to return, but it hadn't seemed like it was all that bad… Softly I asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

'… well that was blunt.' I thought with a trace of amusement even as she dug into the mounds of food before her determinedly. But I was determined too, I just needed a method of 'attack'. A direct question would just make her defensive obviously, so… come at it from the side? Or at least get her to relax first…

Swallowing my bite of pizza, I leaned back in my chair beside her, "Hey," she shot me a small warning glare, but I continued, "Why'd you choose to be a pirate?"

That threw her off and she blinked a few times before her eyes narrowed, pizza in hand, "Why'd you?"

I grinned, "I asked first."

She slugged me in the arm and I chuckled before tilting my head back to look at the ceiling, "Honestly? I never thought of doing anything else… not in a long time. I was born into this, literally, born on a pirate ship, the first mate helped deliver me." I reminisced on stories I'd been told as my eyes unfocused, "I never really wanted to be a pirate… I just wanted to protect my family. Without that reason, I'm going to be getting out of it when we get to the end of Paradise."

She shot a glance at me and I shrugged at the implied question, "I told you I'd stick with you, and so long as you don't do psycho shit, I'll stick to that. It's not like there's any way out of the Grand Line except at the ends anyways, unless you work with the Marines."

Bonney's gaze returned to the slice of pizza in her hands as she chewed slowly before swallowing. The kitchen was dark and quiet, only the soft creaking of the ship and the distant sound of the waves against the hull.

On the Gothic Islands, I could have gotten away, I could have just left, but… I honestly hadn't thought about it at all. It had never occurred to me at the time to just stop being a pirate, I'd lived this for… god… almost fifteen years now consciously. I was a pirate. It was just… a fact to me at this point, had been for years. And now, with that reason, my family, gone… I had an opportunity to get out.

… well, okay, I didn't have an opportunity to get out of this right now. I don't think I'd be able to find a ship on the island while it was in the middle of a civil war like this. And honestly, it'd be a dick move to ditch the Bonney Pirates at this stage.

My Captain started to reach for another piece of pizza and I gave her a little shove with my elbow, saying teasingly, "Come on, your turn."

"And why should I tell you?" she almost growled in the half-light from the moons filtering through the windows.

I resisted the urge to sigh at her defensiveness. It wasn't completely unexpected, but something was obviously wrong and damnit, Ididcare about her. I chewed my lip briefly before taking a shot in the dark. Reaching into my vest, I pulled the finally refurbished brooch from the pocket I'd put it in and set it before her, "Because family talks to one another."

The young woman stiffened, eyes darting to it before she snarled at me, hissing out, "Who told you?!"

I leaned away just a bit, raising my eyebrows but saying calmly, "I guessed…? It's what made sense, that it was something from or about your family…"

Nearly throwing the remains of her slice of pizza back onto one of the plates on the table, she snatched up the brooch, almost hurriedly examining it, seeming to relax once she ascertained that it was in good condition. Better than good if I said so myself. Though I was curious what had sparked that reaction, she had let me work on it the past few days... With a little sigh of relief, she leaned back into her chair and chewed her lip. Shooting a little glare at me before turning back to the brooch, she sighed, "Promise not to laugh?

I held up the hand not holding my slice of pizza as I vowed, "I'll only laugh if it's really, really silly."

So she slugged me in the shoulder.

"Tcheheheh…" I chuckled even as she snorted in amusement, the young woman stifling a smile with her glare. But she still stared down at the brooch she held in her lap, and I gently bumped her bicep with my forearm to get her attention, giving her a reassuring smile, "But seriously, I promise. No laughing."

Holding my gaze to ascertain my seriousness, I smiled a bit wider. Satisfied, she turned away, looking at the brooch in her hands.

Inhaling deeply, she let the breath out as a sigh before starting, the words coming slowly at first, almost hesitantly, "This… it was my grandma's. I didn't know her too long before she passed away from old wounds, but it passed to my mother… and now to me." She turned the gold embossed lapis lazuli over in her hands, "My grandma and mom were both active at different parts of the Golden Age of Piracy that the Pirate King started…"

Saying nothing, I brought my slice of pizza up and took another bite as she continued.

"It's supposed to be a painting of my grandpa on that side…" she said, tilting the picture at the center of the brooch towards me and glancing my way before looking back to it. I knew what it was since I'd been working on it the past few days, it was a portion of a man's face, angular with sharp cheekbones and rich brown eyes. His eyebrows were subtle and blond, and in the edge you could see long, wavy, platinum blond hair.

"I… when my mom…" Bonney bit her lip, taking a breath in through her nose before blowing it out in a sigh, hands tightening on the brooch, "I grew up on stories about my grandma and mom's adventures. And… okay, Ialwaysate a lot, alright?" I raised an eyebrow at her in confusion and she scowled a bit before admitting, "I was hungry."

"You shay 'at 'ike it's a huge reve'ation." I said around the pizza crust in my mouth.

So she slugged me in the shoulder. Again. But this time I rolled my eyes and shoved her, "Woman, I was starving on that island before you arrived, I do get it. I'm just saying it's not some super huge revelation. Metabolisms like ours suck."

She frowned almost petulantly, making me grin, "You don't eat nearly as much as I do."

"Tchah! No," I admitted freely. Even exempting my much better table manners the woman beside me in the dim light of the moons ate far more than I did. "But I do eat more per body mass than anyone else on the ship."

Bonney snorted, rolling her eyes, "It's not the same."

"In what way?" Purple eyes glared at me and I held up my hands in surrender, "I'm honestly asking! I don't know."

The pink haired woman held the glare for a moment, almost daring me to crack, but I was being honest here. So after a moment she sighed, wrapping an arm around her stomach as she stared at the brooch in her other hand, "My mom left me some money she'd saved up from her pirating days, but I couldn't actually make enough to feed myself, I was going through it too quick." Her hand tightened on the brooch as she said softly, her voice rising in intensity as she went on, "I was hungry all the time, it felt like someone was trying to dig my stomach out with a pasta fork… my stomach ached and nobody gave any sort of shit… they just wanted to know what I could give them in return for fucking scraps."

Bonney grit her teeth for a moment before sighing, the tension and anger seeming to vent out of her with it like a release valve, leaving her half slumped in the chair, "I grew up hearing about my grandmother and mother's adventures, I didn't want to be hungry any more, and I wanted absolutely nothing to do with this stupid noble that wanted to use me."

I grimaced at that and her tone as she said it, "Oh, that bit of delightfulness."

"Yeah," she said with a small snort as she shifted, pocketing the brooch, "Bastard thought that just because my mom was gone I'd come running to him."

"Oh wonderful," I snarked with an eyeroll, crossing my arms on the table and laying my head on them, looking over at her, "Local asshole right? Because I'd expect a much higher bounty if you'd told a World Noble to fuck right off."

She smiled a bit, leaning back in her chair and kicking her feet up, planting them on the table, "Heh… yeah… local asshole…"

The pink haired woman stared up at the ceiling as I struggled to find something to say. But whatever I was going to say fled my brain as I saw the small smile on her face fade, and a tear start to roll down her cheek before she brushed it away, hiding it in the motion of brushing her hair behind her ear.

Wordlessly, I reached out and put a hand on her bare calf. She shot me a small glare, but I met her gaze steadily, and after a moment she looked away, arms wrapping around her stomach, "I… never really got to know my grandma. Barely remember her outside of stories. She was really strong…" trailing off, Bonney stared at the tabletop, piled high with plates, both with and without food, her bare heel pushing one of the plates away from the edge of the table.

"I never got to meet my grandparents," I offered with a melancholy smile to fill the silence. And I hadn't met them in this life, after having a full set in my previous one, "My mom's side was dead before I was born and my dad's disowned him."

Bonney let out a little amused snort, tilting her head back, her hair falling off the back of the chair as she balanced it on its back legs. She'd put on her shorts to come eat, but she hadn't even put on her suspenders when coming from her bed to the kitchen. I pulled my hand back from her calf, tucking it beneath my head resting on the table.

After a moment of staring up at the ceiling, she asked without turning, "What was your dad like?"

"Never really met him." I said with a shrug, awkward as it was with my head pillowed on my forearms, "He was dead before I was even born."

She grunted, squirming some in the chair to settle her balance a bit better, "Probably better than an asshole."

"So long as the other parent is good, yeah," I admitted, remembering more than a few friends in my past life that had horrible parents of one or the other kind, "Your dad I'm guessing?"

"Yeah, mom kicked his ass to the curb," she said with a small grin, drumming her fingers against her bare stomach. But the grin slowly faded as she looked up at the ceiling, her toes scrunching up as she re-crossed her ankles atop the table and swallowed. She bit her lip, chewing on it for a moment before her arms tightened around her waist and she looked away, saying in a small voice, "My mom died two years ago today."

My heart ached at the thought, remembering my own mother and momma both, gone. I pushed myself upright once more, reaching out to lay my hand on her calf as comfortingly as I could manage.

Her eyes flicked back at me, almost daring me to say something. But I had nothing to say. The silence stretched on before she demanded, "What, no apologies or pity?"

I shook my head, "No… nothing I could say could make it better. And I don't have anything to apologize for." Purple eyes as hard as flint bore into my own green ones, and the words were gentle as I said, "Any more than you have to apologize for my momma being gone."

Bonney's eyes widened for just a moment before her gaze softened and she looked away, her hands clenching at her elbows, "… right." I gave her calf a comforting squeeze, and she glanced back at me, to which I smiled just a bit. She took a slow breath before letting her head tilt back, looking up at the ceiling and biting her bottom lip, her eyes blinking a few times as a few tears slid down her cheeks. The trails of the tears glistened in the dim starlight of the dark room, and softly, she whispered, "I miss my mom."

A few hot tears escaped my eyes, and softly I replied, "… yeah… I miss mine too... it doesn't get any easier."

-o-

The McPuffin End