By Your Side

Chapter 3

He grabbed a hold of the windowsill and shot up, joining us once more. "Yummy! That was great. Wow, this tunnel is cool."

"I'm glad you're having fun, truely." Wanda spoke up, smiling at his enthusiasm. Wanda frowned, and began telling us how it used to be before they were attacked.

A man from Wano in Kaido's crew came looking for a man named Raizo, a samurai. When they told the pirates that they didn't know anything, they were attacked as the King of Day and Night were badly injured while some of them were infected with some kind of gas.

Now it makes sense why Momonouske is hiding and why Brook said to not mention Wano or samurai here. I froze in my spot. Wait- what are we going to do about Kin'emon and Kanjuro?!

I thought about everything as we continued walking, now crossing a bridge. "Ha, watch!" I heard Luffy shout before he began shaking the bridge.

"Hey! Cut. It. Out." Usopp exclaimed through gasps, "This isn't funny!"

Luffy simply ignored him and kept shaking the bridge. I placed my hand on the railing to steady my footing as I made my way over to him. "Luffy, you're gonna make us fall!"

I finally made my way over as Usopp placed his hands on one of Luffy's arms. "That's enough! Get your hands off there."

It seemed to work, because Luffy suddenly stopped, allowing us to let out a breath of relief. "Whoa... that was fun."

"NOT FOR US!" The others yelled, glaring daggers at Luffy.

"Let's hurry... we'll reach the Duke's Sanatorium in just a moment." Wanda informed everyone as she began leading the way again.

I grabbed hold of Luffy's hand, pulling him along with us. "Just come on and don't do anything reckless, okay?"

"Shishishi! Okay!" He simply laughed and smiled.

I shook my head at his carefreeness, before chuckling. "See? Watch what you say to the Minks." Brook whispered to us all, "So no talk about ninja, samurai, or Land of Wano talk. If they find out Kin'emon has a possible connection to this tragedy, it'll be a complete disaster."

"What a bummer..." Luffy trailed off, staring off into space.

"What's wrong?" I looked at him confused as to what he was talking about.

"Where's that ninja from Wano? Kin'emon wanted to see him, right? What a shame." I paled as Luffy spoke his thoughts out loud.

I clamped my other hand over his mouth, shushing him. "You idiot, Brook just said not to mention those things!" I whisper yelled at him.

Wanda stopped walking, turning to us. "Ninja?" She then let out a gasp of surprise.

"Ninja!" Brook shouted in a whisper as he chopped Luffy on top of his head.

"Pffft-!" I stifled a laugh from seeing Luffy's face as Brook, Usopp, and Nami began beating him up.

"I see, so you are familiar with that term." Wanda concluded, "And utea must know something about Wano."

"Don't mind him.~" Nami smiled up at Wanda, whilst punching Luffy. "He's new here! We're teaching him now... about Minkship!"

"GARACHU! GARACHU!" Usopp shouted ferociously as he punched Luffy.

"That wasn't my question, what was he saying about ninja?" Wanda spoke more clearly.

"I think you simply misheard him." Brook said, holding his hands up, "What he really said was... uh- INJURED! He's worried about your injured dog!" Nice save Brook.

"Not ninja...? Oh, of course! How foolish of me, that's so kind of utea.~ I'm touched utea are so concerned about our leader." Wanda exclaimed.

"Why of course we are~" Brook gushed as everyone threw on fake smiles.

"Well, let's keep going!" Wanda nodded before walking once more.

As everyone began to follow, I helped Luffy up, staring at the three's handiwork. "Do you get it now?"

He nodded his head, tears rolling down his face. "Yeah..."

I let out a sigh, "They really did a number on you..." I mumbled out as we caught up with the rest. I placed one of my hands up, as it immediately began to glow. "I'll only do this once, okay? If they beat you up again, you're stuck with it." I lectured him as I began reversing the bruises and swollen parts.

He gave the best smile he could muster, having a swollen face and all. "Thanks (Y/N)."

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Published: 07/27/2022
Updated: 02/17/2024