The Silver Haired Pirate

Chapter 48

Aki stared at the curve of what looked like the end of the world, unblinking. There was a large expanse of glittering water that held mysteries beyond belief, just past that curve. It was almost taunting, the island they're stuck on, trapped with whirlwinds of boundless negativity.

Aki sighed, causing Zoro to look at him, but he said nothing. Aki pulled away from the railing but remained staring at the open expanse of space in front of him. Zoro frowned at the strange aura coming from Aki.

"You goin' somewhere?" Zoro asked. Aki turned to him, almost surprised. Zoro didn't blame him, he hadn't said anything in a while.

"Yes I'm going for a walk," he said softly, "will you be alright on your own?" He asked, walking closer to the other. Zoro smiled tiredly at him and nodded.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Be careful," the swordsman said. Aki nodded back and headed down the hotel and into the street of Water 7. 

While Aki was walking around he sensed a familiar, comforting, presence near by. He turned to see Kazan sitting at a table outside of a coffee shop. He wasn't drinking coffee or anything of the sort, he was just staring at the table blankly.

Aki's mind was racing.

On one hand his Haki had just led him to a familiar presence unconsciously in a moment of distress. But on the other hand, his usually cheery and gluttonous friend was being very odd and Aki, knowing why, wanted to comfort him. 

"Kazan."

The red head looked up from the table to see Aki sitting across from him. His duo colored eyes widened before drooping again.

"Hey Aki, I thought I sensed you," he said slowly.

"Kazan please speak your mind. Your behavior is frightening and I do not like to see you like this."

Kazan huffed out a laugh. This was Aki's way of getting people to spill their guts. He'd done it before, when they were younger. Kazan sighed, glanced around the area as though he had a terrifying secrets to share and then looked back at Aki.

"Honestly," Kazan began. Aki leaned back in his chair, he slid his arms into the opposites sleeves. This was going to be a long conversation. "These people are fake. They don't know pain, but they act like they do. The second the news got out everyone was in a panic. They shed fake tears and placed comforting hands our shoulders," he scoffed, "look at them.

Aki did. He turned about to see people of Water 7 going about their business as usual. Even without Haki Aki could tell there was no distress in relation to the incident that had occurred. The waves of fear and panic he could feel was from the ship dock workers and next to nobody else.

He turned back to Kazan who was frowning with his whole face.

"You and me? We know pain. And these people are playing with it, like it doesn't have an affect. They still come in asking for things. They don't care. They're all fake," he finished. 

The wind suddenly picked up. Aki's ear mirrored Kazan's, they were both flapping in the wind, pulled to the side and tousled. 

WEEoOO WeeOOo

"This is an advisory from the Water 7 weather bureau. The entire island is on Aqua Laguna alert at this time."

Aki and Kazan looked up to a speaker that was high up on a pole at the end of the block.

"Repeat advisory..."

Kazan stood up violently and grabbed Aki by the forearm. He began walking away and practically dragging Aki along.

"What's going on?" Aki asked, fingers suddenly itching for his blade.

"Aqua Laguna. It's a high tide that comes in. With all this chaos around Iceberg-san I completely forgot about it," he murmured, "it happens every year, the town's gonna get covered in water."

"It'll be submerged?" Aki asked himself. 

"Yeah so we gotta find some high ground," Kazan said, glancing at Aki who was now walking along side him.

"When will it hit?"

"Probably around mid-night," Kazan paused and looked back at Aki who had stopped walking. "What's wrong? We have to go help people board up their shops."

"Sorry," Aki said after a moment of contemplative silence. "It's just that there's someone that is important to me who is currently missing and I'm a bit worried." He walked up to Kazan who frowned at his friend in worry. The two continued walking through the town.

"I'm sure you'll find them! You have really strong Haki and this town is only so big besides..." he trailed off as the two came to another slow stop. This time what caused them to stop was a crowd of cheering people. One of the people noticed him, no doubt because of his vibrant hair, and approached Kazan with a large grin on his face. 

"Did you hear Kazan-san?!" They asked excitedly practically bouncing where they stood. Aki looked around the crowd. Now what Kazan had said was stuck in his head. While people seemed to be joyful and truly happy most of them were uninterested with whatever happened. 

"Hear? Hear what?" Kazan asked, confused and slightly unnerved. 

"Iceberg-san is out of his coma!" The crowd shouted in mangled synchronicity. Aki glanced at Kazan with furrowed brows when the he felt Kazan's joy swirl up before being shoved down. 

'That's strange'