Protectors [One Piece Fanfiction]

Irin and the Three Musketeers

Irin and the Three Musketeers

It was already the break of dawn when Ryuu D. Irin awakened from her sleep. There was a plate of egg sandwich placed next to the bed, on the bedside table. She rubbed her eyes. There were no windows in the room so she wasn't sure of the time but there was a clock a few steps away from her, it read 7AM. Although it was slightly earlier than when she'd usually wake up on her holidays she still got up and took a bite out of the egg sandwich.

Irin had no idea who left the sandwich there but she assumed it was Izou because he was the only person that was allowed in and out of the room. It was his room after all.

"Urgh... I should've brushed my teeth first," she groaned, not liking the idea of eating breakfast before brushing her teeth. She put the sandwich back onto the plate and headed straight to the washroom to clean herself up, freshing herself up for the hectic day that was to come.

After cleaning herself up and delving into a more refreshed mood, Irin changed into a new set of clothes that consisted of a cropped white t-shirt with the words 'onigiri' on them, a pair of light blue high waisted shorts and a pair of her 'ugly' sandals. She looked at the light yellow open front shirt that was laid out on the bed. Irin had planned to wear that over her outfit but decided against it.

It was Ace's shirt afterall and she thought it was inappropriate to wear something of his when she had not apologised for lashing out on him.

Her lips wobbled downwards a little as she thought about what happened. She was indeed hurt by his words but she cared about him too much to let her hurt get in the way of their friendship.

'I decide how I feel and I am in control of how I act'

That was what she thought and that was why she always blamed everything on herself.

Irin forced a smile onto her face, "Happy thoughts," she whispered to herself as she made her way towards the room door with the plate of egg sandwich in her hand. She gently twisted the door knob and walked out of the room.

The pinkette walked up the steps and onto the deck, the sunlight hit her eyes the moment she stepped onto the deck. It wasn't as noisy as it usually was. Most of the men were still asleep and the only ones awake at that time were Marco, Thatch, Vista and Izou. The four were sitting together and eating their breakfast.

"Oh, Irin! You're up early-yoi!" Marco called out, "Come join us-yoi!"

She smiled as she nodded, making her way to the four men with her plate of sandwich in her hand, "Good morning Marco-san, Thatch-san, Vista-san and Izou-san," she greeted.

"Good morning!" They greeted her.

Irin took a seat next to Izou as she usually would.

Izou eyed her carefully, trying to see if she was still upset about what had happened between Ace and her. Of course, she didn't know that he knew...

"So... Why weren't you at dinner yesterday, Irin-chan?" Thatch asked, attempting to start up a conversation.

"Oh yeah, you weren't there at dinner last night," Vista noted.

Irin blinked twice at their question, formulating a safe reply so they wouldn't question any further, "I err... fell asleep," she fake chuckled, "It was a tiring trip to get here..."

"Ohh..." the two men nodded as Izou continued to silently eye her.

The three men were satisfied with her reply and decided not to question any further. Marco then decided to inform Irin about what happened at dinner the night before and about what she had missed out.