𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 ➳ 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐭 𝐒𝐞𝐚 (one piece fanfic)

Chapter 20

"Captain! Nanko went off again!" A marine shouted at his captain as he ran to the marine boat decked at the port.

Smoker's eyebrow twitched as smoke escaped from his fists. "That brat escaped again?!" That had become a sort of daily occurrence−Nanko not wanting to do escorting missions. Though they were usually hated by everyone, since nobody wanted to keep company to some snooty self-absorbed brat, these missions however made for more than half the budget of the Marine, they couldn't afford to refuse them.

Unfortunately, Nanko wasn't one to keep silent when faced with an arrogant person, he never bent down, and remained unwilling to be the dog of some celestial.

That also meant more trouble for Smoker who was his superior. And that pissed him off, when he recruited Nanko, he didn't take into account how his personality would be a major hindrance. He had been in Smoker's division for a few months, but Smoker still couldn't control him.

While Smoker was having a headache due to him, Nanko was on the other side of the island, cotton candy in his mouth. He was leisurely admiring the landscapes, greeting the children. He was dressed in the marine uniform, the buttons down his collar open showcasing his toned muscles.

He would probably be scolded later on for escaping and leaving his client alone, but he didn't really care.

Nanko stopped in his tracks as he spotted pirates through the open doors of the bar, drinking alcohol. Their tattoos were proudly on display for all to see, Whitebeard pirates. That can't be good... he was still in his marine uniform. And as he expected, at his sight, the atmosphere dropped and a heavy silence ensued. The civilians quickly scurried off, not willing to be caught in the fight. With a quick glance, he didn't notice any of the main players of their crew, that was reassuring, in some ways.

Well, it would have been if he didn't vaguely sense that his own captain was approaching. Knowing Smoker, he would never let them escape. However, as Ko, she knew that the Whitebeard pirates were very far from the usual dumb and cruel pirates, she didn't really feel like arresting them. Plus, Konan knew Luffy greatly admired these kinds of pirates, she didn't want to attack what could be a role model from her little brother.

So with a sigh, she entered and closed the doors, switching the sign to closed. Nanko smiled and raised his hands in goodwill. "My captain won't be happy to see you here, and I don't really feel like fighting you so I suggest you all stay silent for a moment..."

That incited an odd reaction, they remained wary and kept their guard up in front of the man whose strength they couldn't gauge. But they couldn't help but notice the pink candy in his hand, one he kept munching on.

"Up to you if you don't believe me, but at least keep silent for a moment." And silent they were, up until Nanko felt the familiar presence go away.

With a mock bow, Nanko waved to the dumbfounded pirates and walked away, his cotton candy nearly finished.

The pirates left behind turned to stare at a blonde man who had been standing in the dark, against a pillar. "Commander Marco? What do we do, do we follow him?"

Marco stared with interest at the figure walking away before turning back to his beer, "No need, better have him as a friend than an enemy." He could feel the danger in sending someone to tail the seemingly weak marine, plus he didn't seem to hold any enmity against them, no use in creating one. Though he would have to tell his gramps about the interesting encounter...

Once back to his client, he slipped amongst the numerous other guards unnoticed. His client consisted of a woman, going around shopping and her daughter, too busy reading to care about her surroundings, sat on a slave who carried her around. The marines were trying to keep the curious citizens away to avoid any altercations, because the World Nobles would always win and the citizens always suffer, such was the law that separated those born lucky from the others.

"You!" the daughter cried out, pointing at Nanko. "My book!" she whispered, a faint blush dusting her cheeks, looking pointedly at the book at her feet — one he had clearly seen been thrown away on purpose. He could only shake his head internally, it seemed like she had set her sight on him —probably the only problem with being handsome was this. And for once, the other marines didn't envy his looks.

Nanko approached the girl, his signature smirk slightly twitching in annoyance, in a swift movement, his feet slipped under the book and the book flew in the air to land perfectly in his stretched hand. "Here my lady," he courteously said, his blinding smiled making her unable to retort to his presumptuous action. With a sudden meekness, she took the book and held it close to her heart.

His comrades couldn't help but roll their eyes at the absurdity of the scene.

A few days of travelling later, they were nearing their destination, Dawn island. Konan was already planning her escape route to go see her cute little brother who she imagined would hug her with his bright smile. And she would get to see how far they were along in their training. She would just have to ditch the pretentious Noble family to go see her cute little family.

"Nanko, take a few men with you to inform the king of our near arrival," Smoker ordered Nanko who had been lazing around the whole trip, while still managing to avoid the infatuated daughter of the World Noble.

The previously napping boy stretched and jumped down from the crow's nest, landing perfectly in front of his captain. "Aye smokey!" and he disappeared before Smoker had the time to land a good hit.

"That fucking brat!" Nanko could hear behind him as he left with a smaller boat and one other marine.

"To the castle?" he asked fearlessly while rowing the boat.

"You, yes, me no," Nanko replied with a smirk. His comrade was used to it so he just shook his head and sighed.

She never could have expected the events that would burn through the bright sky of the peaceful island. Maybe if she hadn't left at that time, she could have avoided the tragedy to follow.

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I hope you're doing okay, life isn't going that great for me rn. it's hard watching the people I care about dive down while being unable to do anything. but it's life I guess?

Anyways, positive vibes (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*.✧ Thanks for making Lonely Flower reach 30k reads, that makes me incredibly happy, it has officially become my most read work! And at one point it was #1 in #onepiecefanfiction! <3
Virtual hugs for everyone 🤗