By Your Side

Chapter 6

All of us were awoken by the sounds of a bell, and Minks running around in a rush.

"Two samurai, two samurai have arrived!"

I let out a groan as the person yelled. Why are they so loud, and why is he talking about samurai?

...

I bolted awake as I processed what the man had shouted. Samurai!? This isn't good, Kin'emon and Kanjuro must've arrived while we were asleep!

I turned to see Nami was waking up, the others still asleep. "Nami, we forgot about Kin'emon and Kanjuro when we arrived!"

She widened her eyes, beginning to wake the others up.

"Luffy!" I shouted. Shaking him in attempt to wake the man up. "Now's not the time to be sleeping!"

I turned to Nami, seeing Zoro was awake and gave her a look. "Help me out here?"

She let out a sigh, coming closer. "That moron..." She clenched her hand into a fist, knocking him in the head. "Wake up!"

The bubble coming out of Luffy's nose popped as he began fluttering his eyes open. "Huh...?"

"Get up, we need to get going." I told him as we all stood up.

"What the hell is going on?" Zoro groaned, a hand on his forehead. "Why'd you two wake us all up so early?"

"Turns out Kin'emon the other guy you told me about arrived in the city, and now all the Minks are rushing there." Nami told them, cutting to the point.

"This is bad! The Minks hate the samurai!" Chopper began freaking out as we all began to run in the direction the Minks did.

"No fair, no fair, no fair! Why do I have to run before breakfast?" Luffy complained, still half asleep as we were running.

"I just told you! Cause Kin'emon and- what's his name?" Nami shouted back to him.

"It's Kanjuro." Usopp informed Nami.

"Right. Kin'emon and Kanjuro are here! The whole country's already in an uproar, ringing the visitors bell and yelling about samurai." Nami continued what she was going to say, "To make matters worse, Cat Viper is running to the city with a team of guardians as we speak!"

"Yeah, and I have no doubt that Duke Dogstorm and his men are on the move as well." I spoke up.

"Think we'll get another feast?" Luffy asked, now awake as he thought about food. "Sure would be awesome to do two days in a row!"

After a few minutes we reached the city, seeing the Minks surrounding Cat Viper and Duke Dogstorm as they made their way to each other. Off to the side, I noticed Kin'emon, Kanjuro, and even Momonouske standing behind part of a broken wall.

"Guys, over there! I see them!" I told the others as I pointed in their direction.

As Kin'emon began taking a step forward, Usopp, Chopper, and Nami charged towards him. Usopp and Chopper tackled Kin'emon to the ground, Franky appearing and tackling Kanjuro as well.

We met up with Brook and Robin, who were with Franky, luckily making it in time before the Minks saw them.

"Aw man, that was close." Usopp stated, holding Kin'emon to the ground with Chopper's help.

Nami grabbed hold of Momonouske, holding him in her arms and placing a finger over his mouth, shushing him. "You're in danger, don't say another word and go back to the Sunny, quickly." She whispered out, keeping her voice low.

We all glanced over the wall, staring at the group. "Looks like a fight." Luffy stated.

"Listen! If you go out there now, it'll be like pouring gasoline on a fire!" Usopp warned the three.

The three nodded, though confused, as they were let go. Kin'emon looked over the wall, staring at the group just as Duke Dogstorm and Cat Viper pulled out weapons. "Huh? A dog and a cat?"

Usopp jumped at him, placing a hand over his mouth from his loud exclaimation. The two clashed their weapons together, the power from the clash causing Minks nearby to get thrown back.

"I heard those two were strong, but this is scary...!" Usopp yelled out, hugging Kin'emon's back as he began walking forward.

"No...! Come back!" Chopper whispered out, chasing after him.

"STOP FIGHTING NOW!" Kin'emon's shout gained the attention of all the Minks, as they turned their heads back in our direction.

"It's true.... A samurai!"

One of the Minks in the crowd exclaimed. Usopp fell off of Kin'emon's back and onto the ground. "I hope you're happy now... they're all gonna kill you! Come on, run away!" Usopp jumped up and began pushing Kin'emon.

Momonouske wiggled out of Nami's grip, running towards Kin'emon. "Momo!" Nami shouted to him, running after him, Kanjuro following not too far behind.

"Why do all of you have a death wish?!" Franky exclaimed, peering over the wall.

"Momonouske wait! Kanjuro! What are you doing, you gotta get outta here!" Usopp turned his attention to the two.

Their clash long forgotten, Cat Viper and Duke Dogstorm began making their way over, the other Minks following suit.

"Cat Viper, Dogstorm, just listen to me!" Usopp began pleading, holding a hand out to them. "They don't mean this country any harm, I promise!"

Kin'emon walked forward a couple steps. "I am the samurai, Kin'emon! A loyal retainer of the Kozuki clan, hailing from the Land of Wano!"

Well so much for the warning Brook gave us yesterday...

"I am here to reunite with my comrade, Raizo, a fellow warrior! Can he be found in this land?" Kin'emon continued.

"LOOK, HE'S NOT HERE AND THE COUNTRY WAS PRACTICALLY DESTROYED BECAUSE OF IT, YOU MORON!" Usopp and Chopper yelled at him, though it did little good.

"Luffy, aren't you going to do anything?" I glanced beside me seeing he had a blank expression on his face.

"Yeah, do something!" Nami ushered him, worried of what is going to happen.

"On it." He simply replied, walking forward, Brooke, Franky, and Zoro following behind him.

Finally meeting in the middle, everyone stood in their spots, not moving an inch. The tension was thick as everyone waited for whoever was going to make the first move.

"Wha-?!" I let out a gasp as Duke Dogstorm and Cat Viper sat on the ground, looks of surprise on their faces as tears welled up in their eyes.

"How I've longed for this day..." Duke Dogstorm whimpered out, the tears rolling down his face.

Cat Viper clenched his eyes closed in attempt to stop the tears from falling. The two, along with the other Minks, bowed their heads. "Sir Raizo, is here. And he is well..."

I couldn't believe it, they were bowing... and Raizo, who they were attacked over, was actually in Zou.

Luffy and Brook fell down to the ground from the shock, as Kin'emon spoke up. "I'm glad to hear it, thank you friend."

Well how about that... I let out a sigh of relief, "Well, looks like we were worried for nothing."

———
Published: 07/30/2022
Updated: 02/17/2024