Yo. I’m back. Sorry for the wait, things have just been insane this week. I gotta warn you guys, I may take a little longer to update, but nothing too extreme. I’ll make sure to pump out at least two chapters a month, at the very least. Man, college application season is brutal. Oh, and I apologize with the botched interaction with Hitomi and Law. Yes, they will meet this chapter. They are going to be attracted to each other, but aren’t going to delve straight into a relationship. It’ll happen gradually. After all, both of them have trust issues. So… yeah. Enjoy. I hope.
XOXOXO
Disclaimer: I do not own neither Naruto nor One Piece. Leave that ish to Oda-sensei and Kishimoto-sensei.
Pairing: Law X OC
Ratings: M
Warnings: This story is rated ‘M’ for a reason. The following content contains vulgar language and graphic violence. Read at your own risk.
Notes:
Bandages around chest: You know, like Erza.
Canatanalopis and Clemantophylis: Random shit I just made up. Don’t waste your time by googling it.
Chapter 6
The ship gently rocked as it sailed towards Sabaody. The moon shone brightly in the sky, and there was the lulling sound of waves gently hitting the boat. Soma was in the kitchen making their dinner. Hitomi smiled. It was good to be back on ‘The Lone Wolf’ again. Being land locked for an entire two months deprived them from being out on sea.
Hitomi thought about the latest island they had just left from. It was a lush, thick jungle with so much vegetation and humidity that keeping your bearings was almost impossible to do. And like all jungles in the world, it had been brutal.
Hitomi and Soma had found out very soon after arriving that almost everything on the island was poisonous. They had varying ranges of toxicity, from simply giving you an upset stomach to making you vomit out blood the moment it touches your tongue.
Hitomi and Soma would have had no way to survive if they had not found Pallow.
-x-x-x-
Hitomi and Soma had hastily docked on the island after being pursued by group of particularly stubborn ‘marines’.
It wasn’t like they were too powerful to handle, but this batch of them contained people who were only 80 years old and above who claimed that they were ‘coming out of retirement because of the influx of damn rookies in the Grand line’. Most of them couldn’t stand without walkers or were confined to wheelchairs. All of them possessed hearing aids, and Hitomi had glimpsed more than a few dentures fly out when the old fossils were yelling at them.
Either one of the Silver Pirates could have easily dispatched of them, but both of them were a little reluctant of killing harmless senile senior citizens. Even if they were annoyingly cursing about ‘damn young people’ every chance they got.
So, Hitomi and Soma had decided not to engage them.
They had finally gotten their break when they arrived at the island. They looked back to check on the marines and saw that they were in a state of panic. Upon further investigation, they looked terrified of the island. Before either of the Silver Pirates could get a word in, they turned tail and fled, all the while screaming that the pirates were as good as dead.
Hitomi and Soma could only stare blankly. For these obstinate fossils to leave the prey they had been pursuing for days, there must be something bad waiting for them on the island.
They both turned to look at it. There wasn’t anything that looked particularly off about it other than the fact that it looked like an untamed jungle, with plants and shoots sprouting from every inch and beastly roars sounding from the thicket.
But there was one thing that bothered Hitomi. She had been to many jungles over the years, but none had smelled as acidic as this one.
“Big sis…”
She turned to Soma, who had his faced scrunched up and his nose wrinkled.
“I’ve never been to a forest before, but they’re not supposed to smell this… sour, are they?”
Hitomi slowly shook her head. A flash went through Soma’s eyes, his eyes taking on a molten flaming look when he flipped his ‘switch’ on. That’s what Hitomi playfully called it when he went into battle mode. The intensity present on his frame in this state was extraordinary.
Seeing Soma with his switch on, Hitomi also turned her full attention to the jungle. Her Sharingan’s examined anything she could see, but she was unfamiliar with the entirety of the vegetation, so she couldn’t confirm what the danger was. The only thing she could do was memorize all the different plants she saw in order to use it for future reference.
Cautiously, they drew their weapons and entered the thick vegetation.
-o-
Things were going quite well. They found a river a short distance from where they delved into the verdure. It was decided that the best course of action was to follow it, as there may be settlements of some kind along the coast.
They walked in silence, constantly observing the foliage for any approaching dangers. Nothing was said between the pair as they travelled. They had gone quite a distance before it happened.
-o-
It had started off as a scratch. Both of them unconsciously scraped a mild itch they had developed. Both of them were soon vigorously scratching at an unknown irritation on their skin quite roughly.
Soma was the first one to notice that something was wrong. When he looked to Hitomi, he had to stifle a gasp. Almost the entirety of the back of her navy blue kimono was stained in blood. That’s when he noticed a dampness in his own shirt, and with only a quick glimpse, determined that his too was soaked all the way through with blood. This was bad.
“Big sis. We’re bleeding.”
Hitomi immediately did a self-examination and determined that he spoke the truth. They had unconsciously lost a large amount of blood. They would soon become dizzy and loose concentration of their surroundings. That would be fatal in an unknown territory like this one, which had already injured them without their knowledge.
Immediately, Hitomi bolted towards the river with Soma close on her heels. They jumped in without a second thought. The river was a dangerous gamble. With the flowing water, they would lose blood even faster because of its inability to coagulate with the flowing liquid all around it. However, Hitomi knew that whatever was ailing them was present on the surface of their skin. They needed to scrub it off before any further damage was caused. It was a race against time, whether they could scrub off the foreign substance or become unconscious due to the loss of their blood.
Just as Hitomi and Soma were about to start scrubbing, they met a pair of wide, owlish eyes. They belonged to an abnormally small man who stood at about 3 feet tall. He was balding, and whatever hair he had was fluffed up perpendicular to his head. He wore a simple button up shirt and slacks, although they were both extremely faded and slightly tattered. A pair of beaten up dress shoes adorned his tiny feet.
“My, oh my! People! Live people! What a surprise! My, oh my, oh my!”
He examined them closer, and gasped.
“My, oh my! You two are bleeding! Based on your symptoms and current states, you’ve been infected with the Canatanalopis flower! You must have gotten its pollen on you when you were walking through the thicket! My, oh my! If we don’t do something soon, you both will bleed out!”
He dug through his small pack and pulled out a bottle of cream.
“My, oh my, come quickly! You both have already lost too much blood to be healthy! Any more and you’ll fall unconscious!”
The Silver Pirates just stared at the odd man. Hitomi and Soma met eyes, and they agreed: they would trust this man. They felt absolutely no malice emanating from him. Instead, his entire aura was of a deep concern. That, and the fact that they were going to die if they did nothing to treat themselves.
They pulled themselves out of the river and slowly approached him. He was immediately all over them, grabbing the sticky cream and rubbing it over every inch of their exposed skin. When he reached their back, he started to pull Hitomi’s kimono off of her shoulders. Soma immediately pushed him away and went on the defensive.
“What do you think you’re doing, old man?! Don’t you dare touch big sis in that way!”
Hitomi placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, which unruffled him just a bit. When she confirmed that he wasn’t going to attack, she turned back to the owl-eyed dwarf.
“It’s ok. He’s trying to help. However,” Her eyes flashed and promised of pain, “If he dares to touch me in any way that I deem inappropriate, he’ll lose his hands faster than he can blink.”
The tiny man’s eyes widened even further.
“My, oh my! My dear, you don’t have to worry about that! You are a nice young lady, but a bit tall for my tastes. I prefer women that are shorter than I am.”
Soma just gaped unbelievingly while Hitomi nodded and slid the kimono off her shoulders, never once taking her eyes off of the man. She wasn’t completely indecent, as she had bandages wrapped around her chest, but she was still more exposed than she preferred, especially in front of a complete stranger, even if he was trying to treat her.
He took globs of the cream out of his bottle and smoothed it over the plane of her back. Hitomi’s shoulders were tense, prepared for the man to cross his boundaries, but he completed it without any mishaps. He turned to Soma.
“My, oh my, it’s your turn, young man.”
Seeing that Hitomi wasn’t violated in any unseemly manner, he slid off his over shirt and removed his t-shirt. He too turned his back to the man and received the healing cream from him. After he finished, he closed the jar and replaced it back in his pack and turned to the island’s newest visitors.
“My, oh my! This is the first I’ve ever seen of you two! You must have just arrived on this island!”
“Hn.”
“My, oh my! You two will have to wait for two months for the Log Pose to set in order to set! Until then, we’ll be co-inhabitants! Nice to meet you! My name is Pallow! May I know what your names are?”
“… My name is Soma, and this is Hitomi.”
“Excellent! I am the only one left on this island. I am a poison specialist, you see, and all of my fellow colleagues have died. On a poison island like this, it would be best to stick with an expert like me in order to survive!”
Hitomi’s eyes narrowed. Soma spoke for the both of them.
“Poison island? Meaning that this island is completely poisonous?”
“Correct! Only a handful of plants are edible with no adverse effects, and I know all of them! I have one condition for working with me, though.”
The pirates instantly tensed up. In order to survive in this hell-hole for two months, they needed this man. If they were unable to comply with his condition, then they were as good as dead.
The owl-eyed man, Pallow, gave them a longing look.
“My, oh my, I’ve been able to survive on this island because of my knowledge of the poisonous vegetation of this island, and have been living off of the harmless ones. But I crave meat. Oh my, I haven’t eaten meat in years! As you can see, my body isn’t the most suitable for hunting, so I was unable to get some for myself.”
He brightened and looked up at the fit pirates.
“My, oh my, unlike me, you both are physically capable enough to hunt! Our deal is that I will help you survive on this island in return for meat!”
Their answer was instantaneous.
“Deal.”
-x-x-x-
Pallow had led them to the cave he was staying in and let them recover in it. While they recuperated, he taught them about the plants on the island, about which ones were the most poisonous and which one were edible. After they had convalesced, Hitomi and Soma kept up their part of the bargain and went out to gather prey.
They had formed a kind of routine. Hitomi and Soma would wake up in the morning and go out to hunt, while Pallow would tend to his herbs and prepare antidotes. They would return in the late afternoon or evening with their kill and begin cooking it. While they cooked, Pallow would heal any injuries or poisons they had gotten infected with, all of which were minor. During their dinners, they would have their lessons on poisons and continue it all the way until bedtime. This cycle repeated itself for one and a half months.
They had stopped getting poisoned after the second week into his lessons, hunting in relatively safe areas and watching out for any dangerous plants. Their lungs had grown stronger every day from having to breathe in mild poisons constantly. They both had to admit, while this forest was a death sentence for many, it was an effective training ground as well.
-o-
It was on one such day that disaster struck. Soma had gone with Pallow to help him collect herbs and Hitomi had gone alone to hunt. The day passed by normally, and after collecting a suitable amount of prey, she started her trek back to the cave.
She was met with a sight she never expected. There was a trail of blood leading into the cave, and at the mouth of it sat Pallow, with several heavy lacerations all over his small body. He was breathing heavily and his normally wide eyes were struggling to stay open. Immediately she looked around for Soma.
Missing.
A wave of panic hit and threatened to drown her. She shook it off and ran to Pallow.
“Where is he?”
He looked up at her with a wheeze. “My, oh my, dear Hitomi, young Soma has been taken! While we were working on the shore, a fleet of bounty hunters spotted us and attacked! Soma fended them all off, but when I was taken hostage, he stopped fighting! They said that they were looking for Quicksilver Hitomi, and they would wait until the sun sets before they killed him! My, oh my, my dear, save him!”
He slipped into unconsciousness then. Hitomi knew that he wasn’t going to wake up for a while. She glanced up at the sky. The sun was already halfway behind the horizon. This isn’t good. She only had a little over 20 minutes to find him and save him.
Without a second thought, she went into Godspeed mode and vanished into the jungle.
-x-x-x-
Hitomi was running out of time. She had no idea where the bounty hunters were, and she only had around five minutes left. The sky was rapidly darkening. The final rays of the sun which were normally beautiful looked foreboding. She was becoming urgent.
‘Where is he? Where is he? Where is he! WHERE IS HE!’
Suddenly, she felt it. She could sense his presence from across the island. She saw that he had around a hundred figures surrounding him. She felt all of their presences, like they were flickers of light in darkness. She had absolutely no idea how, but she knew intuitively that this feeling was correct. She turned heel and rushed towards Soma.
-o-
The bounty hunters were laughing and celebrating, although they were disappointed. They had hoped to nab the infamous rookie, Quicksilver Hitomi, by taking her companion Point-Blank Soma hostage, but she hadn’t showed up yet. Maybe she was as cruel and heartless as the rumors said, forgetting about her own nakama. Oh well. At least they had a head of 80 million to turn in. That kind of money would last them a very long time indeed.
Just as that last thought passed through their head, she appeared. She looked a little weird though, all electric-y and glow-y. But who cares? Now that she came, they had a total of 255 million bellis to collect from the government office! The leader stepped forward to talk to her, grinning all the while.
“Quicksilver! It’s good that you’re here. We are now going to capture you. Now, don’t put up a struggle, or the little boy here gets it.”
He pulled Soma in front of him and placed a blade at his throat. Soma, however, didn’t look perturbed in the slightest. In fact, he looked a little bored. He was worried before, but now that big sis was here, these scrubs didn’t stand a chance.
Hitomi stared blankly at the leader. Taking her silence as an affirmative, the rest of the bounty hunters approached her as if to apprehend her. She turned her glowing, scarlet eyes to them, and then vanished.
Within a span of 3 seconds, all of the men were lying headless on the floor, and she stood right next to the leader. The gravity of the situation still hadn’t hit him. She leaned close to him and whispered.
“I am a professional assassin specialized in the art of killing. Petty tricks like taking hostages will not stop me.”
She raised Shippou Kiremei.
“I am not as merciful as Soma. Die.”
And she brought it down.
-o-
Hitomi freed Soma from his shackles and finally deactivated her mode. After inspecting him and guaranteeing that he was unharmed, she smiled.
“I’m glad you’re alright.”
And she collapsed.
-o-
Soma panicked when he saw Hitomi drop to the floor. He quickly bent down next to her and turned her over so that she was lying on her back. He gasped. She had cuts and scrapes everywhere, and they were all colored green. She was severely poisoned when she had rushed through the forest, uncaring of the venomous plants in her path as she raced to rescue Soma. Because of that, she had more than a dozen potent poisons running through her body. Soma knew that is she wasn’t treated as soon as possible, she would most definitely die.
He lifted her limp body into his arms and entered the forest. He had to find Pallow as soon as possible in order to save his benefactor and beloved big sister. With that single thought in mind, he sprinted through the jungle. His intense will to find Pallow allowed him to sense his presence from across the island, making him able to use it as a homing device.
With the help of his newfound power, he ran towards the poison expert’s presence, unminding of the state of his own body and focusing all of his energy on shielding Hitomi’s vulnerable form from any further harm.
-o-
Pallow had woken up sometime after Hitomi had left to find Soma. He dressed his wounds, and then waited restlessly for the duo’s return. Just as his anxiety was about to overwhelm his sanity, a figure emerged from the thicket. Pallow gasped when he saw that it was Soma and Hitomi. He hastily ran up to them.
“My, oh my! Are you both alright?!”
He received his answer when Soma fell to his knees and gently dropped the unconscious form of Hitomi. Pallow could see that the both of them were severely poisoned, almost beyond no return.
“Old man. Save her. Big sis has saved me more times than I can count. She’s the most important thing I have. If she dies, I’ll be all alone again. Please, save her.”
Upon hearing those words, Pallow’s eyes teared up. He urgently kneeled next to the gasping boy.
“My boy, you both are at the precipice of death. There is but only one cure for you: The Clemantophylis flower, which is more commonly known as the ‘Miracle-cure’ flower. This flower has the capability to cure any poison and make you immune to any poison that has ever existed.”
He looked straight into Soma’s eyes.
“But, I must warn you. Only one in a million are able to ingest this flower without succumbing to its potent chemicals. I am one of them, and that is how I have survived on this island for such a long time. All my fellow researchers died because they weren’t compatible with it. Do you still wish to go through with this treatment?”
Soma’s body was wracked with pain and he was uncontrollably trembling, yet he looked into Pallow’s eyes resolutely, without a shred of doubt.
“We are going to die either way, right? We’ll do it.”
-x-x-x-
Soma mustered up the last of his strength and lifted up Hitomi. She was burning up with a severe fever, her body trying a last ditch effort to save itself. Soma knew that he had a high fever as well. He had to eat this flower before he succumbed to the toxins circulating through his system.
Pallow led him through the forest towards the location of the Clemantophylis tree that grew the flowers. As they walked, Soma’s eyes blurred in and out of focus, and his knees buckled unconsciously every few steps he took. His entire body was coated with a thick sheen of perspiration.
They finally arrived at the tree. Soma couldn’t discern the details because of his swimming vision, but he saw that it was huge, with delicate looking white flowers sprouting from every inch of it. Pallow scurried to the base and quickly plucked two. He hurried back to the now collapsed Soma, who was lying next to an ailing Hitomi.
Soma struggled to raise his torso off of the ground. He grabbed the flowers from Pallow’s hand, took one of them and approached Hitomi’s form. She too was sweating profusely, and her expression showed how much pain her body was in even through her unconsciousness. Soma opened Hitomi’s mouth and placed the white flower in it. Slowly, he closed it and tilted her head slightly upwards to make her swallow. When he was sure that she had indeed consumed it, he lifted his own flower to his mouth and gulped it down.
Finally, he relaxed. He lied down next to his beloved big sis. With a smile on his face, he closed his eyes. Only fate would tell if he would ever open them again.
-x-x-x-
Soma first heard sounds. The rustle of leaves as the wind ruffled them. The constant chatter of insects. Animal roars in the distance. A low, feminine voice and a rather squeaky male voice.
He slowly opened his eyes. He first saw leaves of trees above him. As he slowly turned his head, he saw the sources of the voices. Ahh yes. Of course, it was big sis and Pallow.
He didn’t have to wait long to get their attention, as Pallow soon noticed that he was awake. With a cry of joy, he leapt forward and scuttled towards him. Hitomi approached much slower.
“My, oh my! You’re awake, my boy! I’ve never seen anything like it! Both of you survived after eating the Clemantophylis flower! This is a miracle!”
He did a strange little jig and turned back to Soma.
“I couldn’t move you both, so I set up camp here. None of the animals ever approach the Clemantophylis tree, so this is a safe zone. Dear Hitomi woke up just an hour before you did! My, oh my, the resilience of young bodies!”
Hitomi finally reached Soma and sat down by his side. Although her face was blank, her eyes were filled with affection.
“Thank you.”
Soma grinned.
There was nothing else that needed to be said.
-x-x-x-
Hitomi found herself pulled out of her reminiscing. Soma was calling her out for dinner. Before she left her room, she looked fondly down at the latest profile she had written.
Tiny Poison-obsessed Owl
Name: Pallow
Appearance: Extremely short, faded clothes, wide eyes, balding but has fluffed up hair. Tends to say ‘My, oh my’ a lot.
Thoughts: A little eccentric, but has a pure heart. Extremely knowledgeable on poisons. Taught us so much and has saved our lives more times than we can count. Will always remember him.
Hitomi closed her book and went out to eat.
Soma was waiting for her with their meal, which was hot and steaming, just waiting to be devoured. They both served themselves and began to eat. Soma talked while Hitomi mainly listened, ‘Hn’-ing when she deemed it necessary. Suddenly, Soma’s face looked a little sad.
“Big sis… will Pallow be ok by himself on that island?”
Hitomi swallowed her mouthful of food and turned her eyes towards the boy.
“He was alone for years. He’ll be fine. He is immune to the poisons, after all.”
Soma’s face brightened up.
“Oh yeah! We’re immune to all poisons too! Because we ate that clam-toffee-loss flower!”
“Clemantophylis.”
“Whatever! Because of that clay-man-dopyless flower, we won’t have to worry about any poison-coated weapons or anything!”
“Clemantophylis.”
“I said that, big sis. Are you going deaf or something?”
Hitomi sighed.
-x-x-x-
Hitomi immensely enjoyed the rest of their sail, even though it was a surprisingly short one.
Soma wasn’t amused.
“Really? We waited two months, fought those stupid bandits, ate those shitty bitter plants every day and faced getting poisoned to death all for this? A three day trip?”
“Hn.”
“Big sis, you suck.”
-o-
The archipelago was extremely strange, with its independent land masses, tall trees and bubbles floating everywhere. They docked the ‘Wolf’ and walked out onto the land.
Up close it was even stranger. The inhabitants had their own weird hats, which was spherical and poofy. There were a variety of stalls that were scattered throughout the landmass, each selling their own unique product. And, people were riding the bubbles?
Hitomi suddenly felt it. Rayleigh. He was here on this island. After 10 long months of travel, she was finally going to meet him again. She tried to focus on his exact location, but found herself unable to do so. After several attempts, she found something. It wasn’t him, exactly, but it was a place where his presence was strong, as if he frequently visited that location. It wasn’t what she was searching for, but she would take what she could receive.
“Rayleigh.”
Understanding dawned in Soma’s eyes, and a spark of excitement entered them. What kind of pirate wouldn’t be eager to meet the legendary first-mate of the Pirate King?
She started towards the location. Wordlessly, Soma followed her.
-o-
They had reached their destination. Soma looked at it skeptically. It was old and run down, the font on top spelling out ‘Shakky’s Rip-Off Bar’.
Hitomi examined the place. She wasn’t mistaken. This was it. From inside, loud laughter was heard. There were several voices, all of which sounded happy and care-free. Hitomi took a deep breath. Something told her that things inside were going to be eventful.
-o-
After Hitomi entered the bar, she looked around. It wasn’t too bad, just a little old. The prices stated on the counters were insane. No wonder the name ‘rip-off’. She looked towards the counter and met four pairs of inquisitive eyes.
Slowly, she walked towards the counter and sat herself down. Soma sat next to her. She looked at the woman behind the counter. She was pretty, with short black hair and a full figure. As she examined the woman, the woman amusedly stared at her back.
“Well, speak of the devil, boys. This young lady is a supernova just like you, little monkey.”
Hitomi turned her Sharingans to the other guests of the bar. One of them was a skeleton with a large afto. Another one was a little furry creature, maybe a tanuki of some kind? And the third was a boy wearing a straw hat.
Ah. This boy must be Luffy, the one that Shanks had mentioned. As for the other two, they must be his crewmates. It was obvious that they had eaten some sort of Devil Fruit. After all, you don’t see many skeletons and tanukis walking around. Hitomi turned back to the bartender lady.
“Nice to meet you, Quicksilver Hitomi. Rayleigh has told me a lot about you. It’s a pleasure to meet an alien such as yourself.”
Alien? That one was new. Soma’s eyes narrowed at the comment but he said nothing. The action didn’t go unnoticed by the lady, however.
“And you, Point-Blank Soma. You’re an interesting little one, I see.”
When the duo just stared at her, she laughed.
“Forgive me, where are my manners? My name is Shakky. I’m the owner of this bar. You must be looking for Rayleigh, yes? I’m afraid he’s not here. Been missing for around 6 months. But feel free to stay. We’re talking about all of the big-time rookies that are gathered on Sabaody right now. You’re one of them. Another is little monkey over here.”
“Nice to meet you! I’m Monkey D. Luffy, and I’m gonna be the King of the Pirates!” He beamed.
So her suspicions were right. This was the ‘Luffy’ character. He continued on with his statement.
“This here is Brook, he’s an awesome musician, and here’s Chopper, the best doctor ever!”
The skeleton let out a loud “YOHOHOHOHO” and the tanuki started dancing, all the while cussing out Luffy with a joyful expression on. Hitomi and Soma sweatdropped. Just as the rumors had said, this crew was unbelievably strange.
“Gintamashi Hitomi.”
“I’m Sylva D. Soma. Nice to meet you…” he trailed off.
Shakky laughed again, all the while puffing on a cigarette.
“Rayleigh was right. You are a woman of few words. As I was saying, you and little monkey are a part of a group of pirates known as the ‘Worst Generation’, or ‘Supernovas’. All of you are rookies with a bounty of over a 100 million Bellis. Quite an accomplishment, if you ask me.”
She puffed on her cigarette and took out a stack of bounty posters. She spread them out over the table and began reading them out.
“Capone ‘Gang’ Bege. Bounty: 138 Million Bellis.”
A stout man middle aged man with a five o’clock shadow on his upper lip, a green scarf-like tie and a pinstripe suit.
“’The Glutton’ Jewelry Bonney. Bounty: 140 Million Bellis.”
A pretty bodacious girl with long pink hair wearing a short tank top and suspenders on her shorts. Loud glaring stockings and a green hat.
“’The Magician’ Basil Hawkings. Bounty: 249 Million Bellis.”
A tall man with long, wavy blonde hair. Triangles tattooed over his eyebrows. A flowing white ceremonial robe-like shirt and purple pants.
”’Roaring Tide’ Scratchman Apoo. Bounty: 198 Million Bellis.”
A man with two arm joints and piano-like teeth. Hair up in a braid and a dark pink Chinese-style top. Orange headphones and sunglasses.
“Eustass ‘Captain’ Kid. Bounty: 315 Million Bellis.”
Spiky bright red hair pulled in place with a pair of goggles. Brown captain’s coat, pants with huge yellow spots and black lips.
“’Red Flag’ X Drake. Bounty: 222 Million Bellis.”
Pointed cap and black mask over eyes. ‘X’ shaped scar on chin and large ‘x’ tattooed onto chest. A long, dark blue cape with a fur lining.
“’Mad Monk’ Urouge. Bounty: 108 Million Bellis.”
A huge man with a grin on his face. Priest-like robes and a necklace with giant red beads. White wings on his back.
“’Massacre Soldier’ Killer. Bounty: 162 Million Bellis.”
A masked man with long dirty blonde hair. Jeans and a black shirt with white polka-dots.
“’Surgeon of Death’ Trafalgar Law. Bounty: 200 Million Bellis.”
A man wearing a furry cap with spots on it. A yellow and black sweatshirt and jeans with spots.
“Then is your first-mate, little monkey. ‘Pirate Hunter’ Roronoa Zoro. Bounty: 120 Million Bellis.”
Short green hair. A white shirt with a green waistband, and black pants and boots. Three swords slung at his waist.
“And you, little monkey. ‘Strawhat’ Monkey D. Luffy. Bounty: 300 Million Bellis.”
300 Million, huh? Very impressive.
“And finally you, alien. ‘Quicksilver’ Gintamashi Hitomi. Bounty: 175 Million Bellis.”
The tanuki and skeleton gasped loudly.
“So high!”
“What did you do to become so wanted, little miss? And by the way,” He leaned towards her conspiratorially. “May I see your panties?”
A gun pressed against the skeleton’s temple.
“Get away from big sis, you pervert.”
Instead of worrying about his crewmate, Luffy whooped and laughed, while Chopper looked at Soma with something akin to awe, his eyes sparkling.
“So cool!”
“Wow kid, you’re really fast with that gun! Reminds me of someone I met a long time ago.”
“Benn Beckman. We both had the same teacher.”
“Yeah! Benn! So you know Shanks then! How is he?”
“Fine. Talks about you a lot, though.”
“Really!”
Luffy took on a dreamy expression, and Shakky cleared her throat, grabbing everyone’s attention. She had a small, fond smile on her face as she looked at the group of pirates.
“To answer your question, she attacked a Celestial Dragon.”
The strawhats suddenly became serious.
“Celestial Dragon? Like the ones outside?”
Hitomi’s and Soma’s eyes flashed.
“They’re here?”
Shakky answered Soma’s question. “Of course. After all, we are right next to Mariejois.”
There was silence. Luffy broke it with a big laugh.
“So, you hurt one of them, red-eye? I like you! You must be a good person!”
Hitomi looked at the teen. He had an unmeasurable charisma about him. He would undoubtedly be a very important man in the future. She cracked a small smile.
“So, kids. That’s all I have to say. You came here for Rayleigh, right? If you want him, you’d better go and look for him.”
That was true. Hitomi and Soma looked at Shakky.
“Thank you.”
They got down from their stools and approached the door.
“I hope that I’ll see you again, red-eye and gun boy!”
Hitomi smiled. She hoped so too.
-x-x-x-
Hitomi and Soma wandered around. Hitomi still couldn’t sense Rayleigh, so they had no leads to go off of. So, they were stuck with just going wherever their feet took them.
Hitomi was lost in her thoughts when she suddenly felt a large, furry figure bump into her. She turned around to find… a polar bear? In an orange boiler suit, no less. To add to her already growing confusion, it suddenly bowed its head and spoke.
“I’m sorry.”
Soma gaped at the large creature, his mouth hanging wide open. Hitomi collected herself.
“Hn.”
The bear lifted its head and stared at her. Then, without warning, it sniffed her.
The sudden action startled both Hitomi and Soma.
“Bear! Big sis isn’t for eating!”
The bear stared at Soma for a few seconds, then bowed its head once more.
“I’m sorry.”
The Silver Pirates sweatdropped. Such a sensitive creature.
After he recovered, the bear looked into Hitomi’s eyes.
“You’re not from this planet.”
Hitomi examined the bear. Did he have the power? No. He figured her out by smelling her. It seemed legit. An animal’s senses were really a force to be reckoned with.
“Bepo.”
The three pairs of eyes turned to look at the newcomer. He was tall and lean, and wore a yellow sweatshirt with black sleeves. On it was some sort of symbol, his Jolly Roger, maybe. Jeans with spots scattered over them adorned his legs. Each of his fingers was tattooed with a letter of the word ‘DEATH’, and his arms bore some kind of tribal tattoo. On his head sat a furry white hat with spots scattered over them, the same as his pants. Two gold rings were pierced in each ear. He had scruffy side burns and a small goatee, both of which emphasized his gunmetal gray eyes. They had shadows below them, making the gray seem even more piercing.
Hitomi felt her breath catch in her throat. As a high ranking shinobi, she had seen many important men, many of which were attractive. But in all her years, she had never seen a man as… alluring as this one.
Both of the Supernovas were staring into each other’s eyes. Finally, the man broke the silence with a smirk.
“Quicksilver.”
“Surgeon of Death.”
His smirk grew even wider.
“The Captain of the Silver Pirates. Or, should I say, Silver Devils?”
Hitomi just blankly stared at him. He stared back. Without breaking eye contact, he spoke.
“Bepo.”
“Yes, Captain?”
“What was it you said?”
“She’s not from this planet.”
“Fascinating. But not surprising. These eyes are not from our world.”
His eyes took on a slight tinge.
“It would be most interesting to… study you.”
Hitomi felt a shiver run down her spine, but not from fear.
He leaned close to her, as if to speak in her ear. Damn. He smelled really good.
“You’ll be visiting the auction house later, won’t you? Everybody is waiting for you, after all. The one who brought down the largest Celestial Dragon slavery chain in a matter of minutes.”
He drew away from her ear and looked back into her eyes.
“I’ll be looking forward to seeing you again, Quicksilver-ya.”
He turned to face Soma.
“You too, Point Blank-ya.”
He gave one last smirk before he left with his Polar bear.
-x-x-x-
As they continued walking, Soma pouted. When Hitomi looked at him questioningly, he huffed and turned away. Hitomi continued to stare at him confusedly. Soma wasn’t usually the type to sulk. She wondered what was bothering him. Whatever. He would tell her when he wanted to.
-o-
The Silver Pirates found themselves in front of a large amusement park. Soma’s eyes widened in wonder and he looked at Hitomi pleadingly. She gave a short nod with a small smile on her face. He excitedly ran to the ticket counter and gestured for her to come faster. At least he wasn’t moping anymore.
As she walked to the counter, she saw that the ticket-seller girl was fawning over Soma about how ‘precious’ and ‘cute’ he was, and how she was lucky to have met such a ‘darling little boy’. Soma completely dismissed her praises, but the girl didn’t even notice.
Hitomi walked up to the counter, and when the ticket-seller lady laid eyes on her, her personality did a 180. Her face twisted into an ugly snarl.
“Well well well. What do we have here? The great Quicksilver herself.”
Hitomi had no idea what crawled up this woman’s ass, but she decided to ignore her and pulled out the money for the tickets. The girl viciously grabbed it.
“What, too good to talk to normal people like me? This is why I hate you, bitch. Just because you have a little fame, you think that you’re better than everybody else. You and that Glutton slut. Bet you both fucked your way to fame. Tell me. Did it end with that Rear-Admiral, or did it go any higher? I heard that you had met with Vice-Admiral Momonga. Bet you fucked him to make him let you go.”
Hitomi didn’t give a damn about what the woman thought, but Soma had more than enough. He whipped out his gun and placed it on her forehead.
“Talk about big sis like that one more time and I’ll blow your brains out.”
The girl’s eyes widened, then she turned back to glower at Hitomi.
“What, can’t fight your own battles? Making little kids fight them for you? You really are a disgusting woman. I bet that instead of bringing down that slavery chain, you were a part of it. Oh, I get it now, you did much better that a Vice-Admiral. You fucked the Celestial scum instead.”
Soma had enough. He clicked the safety off of his gun. The color drained out of the woman’s face and she broke out into a cold sweat.
“Stop.”
Soma looked at Hitomi, still seething.
“But why, big sis?! This woman was completely disrespecting you!”
Hitomi looked at Soma, then turned her piercing Sharingans onto the woman. She looked unnerved under Hitomi’s stare. All of her previous confidence had vanished.
“Mariejois is right next to us. We don’t want any unneeded trouble. And besides, if we kill her now, we’ll be no better than she says we are.”
Hitomi intensely regarded the girl.
“I don’t have time to waste on scum.”
Quicker than the eye could follow, she grabbed two tickets from the counter and started walking inside. Soma gave one last menacing stare, then put away his gun and ran to follow his Captain.
The girl promptly fell to her knees and passed out.
-o-
Soma enjoyed the amusement park immensely. Because of his poverty when he had lived with old man Nasha, he had never been to one before. He spastically ran from ride to ride, wanting to try each and every one.
Hitomi had a hard time keeping up. Rides weren’t really her thing, but for Soma’s sake, she would grit her teeth and endure it.
When she was about to lose her lunch, she decided that she had finally had enough.
“Soma. It’s time.”
Soma pouted a little, but without complaint followed her out of the amusement park. As they left, they saw that the girl who was badmouthing them earlier was still there. Hitomi approached her. Once the girl saw that Hitomi coming towards her, she panicked. She tried to run away, but Soma was too fast for her. He stood in front of her before she could make her escape.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
The girl started violently trembling. “Please don’t hurt me.”
“Don’t worry. We just have a few questions for you.” The girl’s trembling increased.
Hitomi spoke up. “Auction House.”
“Grove 1! I swear! Go north and you’ll find it!”
Hitomi gazed at her for a second, then gave a short nod to Soma. He stepped away from her, and she bolted, her poofy spherical cap bouncing madly. It was a rather pitiful sight.
“So… an Auction House, sis?”
“Hn.”
Soma continued to stare at her for a moment, then silently followed her when she began walking north.
-o-
Hitomi and Soma looked up at the auction house. It was odd, a mixture of elegant and filthy. The bottom section was marbled and elegant, while the second floor and roof had moss growing all over it. Loud chatter could be heard from inside, as well as raised voiced bidding on some poor enslaved soul. Suddenly, Hitomi felt it again. Rayleigh. This is where he was. She chuckled. She wondered what kind of game he was playing to be in a place like this. As she thought about it, she supposed that it suited his twisted sense of humor.
She looked at Soma and he nodded. They both took a deep breath to prepare themselves, then stepped into the building.
XOXOXO
Whooo. Things are picking up now. In the next chapter, shit will hit the fan. I’m gonna deviate a little from canon… ok, a lot. Not that I haven’t already, but whatever. So… if you have any questions or new ideas, feel free to send me a review. Always greatly appreciated.
I-Dont-Like-I-Obsess: Yeah… no. Call it fate, but Hitomi met all those famous personalities for a reason. Don’t worry, I’m not that cruel. And as for the span, I haven’t decided yet. I guess I’ll just see where the story takes me. And I hope that you’re satisfied with my explanation for how the both of them got their Observation Haki. They had a big upgrade in the process!
Smoukii: My friend, you really don’t know how much that means to me. I hope that you liked this chapter as well, and feel free to give me any suggestions!
Guest: As you can see, I have continued XD. I hope that you liked this chapter.
Peace out peoplez. I’ll see you next time.
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