𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 ➳ 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐭 𝐒𝐞𝐚 (one piece fanfic)

Hina's POV - Part 1/2

Warning : this chapter and the next are written in Hina's point of view.

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- Somewhere in the past -

Glasses clinked against each other, the sound buried by the bustling around the bar.

"To our friendship I guess," Hina giggled, a faint blush already staining her cheeks.

Nanko merely chuckled, sipping his drink in thoughtful wonder, "Yes, to our friendship I guess." In the corner of his eye, he spotted a group of older men watching the already drunk Hina. The leer in their eyes and whispers was unmistakable.

"You're distracted," Hina whined, leaning on the table as she stared out of the window, her words were beginning to slur, "And you're still not drunk..."

"I don't really like being drunk," Nanko grinned, needles flying out of his sleeve unnoticeably. If a few bodies fell down in strange harmony, they could only blame their drinks. "Losing control of my body is not something I fancy."

Hina hummed, understanding to some extent his reasoning, "I guess I've never really seen you drunk, despite the fact that you drink quite a lot..." she pointed to his already empty drink, "you know sometimes I believe you would have made quite the fine pirate." He had the drinking part down at least.

Nanko shook his head, "I wouldn't have met you then." Plus he wasn't really drinking, merely acting out the part.

"Yeah I guess that would have been bad..." She took another swing of her drink before putting her hands down, "Alright, humor me, I've always wanted to know why you joined the Marine... You're not patriotic, nor are you very justice-driven, you're just... I don't know, you just go with the flow."

"Well..." Nanko pondered the question, choosing his words carefully, "Let's just say I wanted to find something in the Marine and I ended up staying for another reason."

"No," Hina groaned as she shook her head wildly, "don't give me another one of your cryptic phrases, be honest, it's not like I'll remember this tomorrow anyways."

"If you absolutely must know..." he put a piece of candy in his mouth, savoring the burst of flavor before answering, "I stayed because I found people worth staying for."

"Awwww," Hina cooed, wobbling over to hug him, "I love you too, I'm happy we're best friends." Words of drunken honesty came tumbling down as she hugged him tightly, rubbing her cheek against his.

Nanko smiled into her hug, rubbing her back in silent agreement. She would probably forget everything the next morning. But he still found a quiet piece in the moment.

Hina never forgot that night.

Years later, when she found herself caught up in the war, she would find herself reminiscing his words.

There he was, walking through the fights, unnoticed by most, yet she found herself following his every steps. His blue hair shone like a beacon in the darkness of the war.

She fended off the daring ones who attacked her while keeping him in the corner of her eye. She was worried out of her mind, the second he disappeared from her sight, she worried he had fallen down somewhere she couldn't see, bleeding out, alone in some dark corners.

But she couldn't afford to be distracted, not as hundreds of people were rushing towards her, all determined to break through. So she fought, using her abilities to imprison them, hitting them and getting hit, there was no sense to be found in her fight, merely flesh hitting flesh till blood came out. Her arms started aching after some time. A while later, it was her vision that started blurring at times. Then slowly, she couldn't feel the cuts littering her body, the adrenaline was the only thing keeping her fighting left and right.

She fought till all she could smell was her own blood, and all she could hear was her own breath. She was tiring out, it was tedious and slow, faces blurred as she faced waves of new opponents that never seemed to stop.

When she raised her head again, the sunlight was replaced with a chilling sense of bitterness. When would this madness end? Till when did she have to fight? How much longer would the blood remain on her hands?

When did she last check on Nanko she thought as a dull sense of panic spread again.

Finding him wasn't hard, he was standing on the scaffolding, all eyes on him as he—freed Ace? One moment he was smiling that careless grin of his and the next, his face seemed to shift and change, revealing another one under. A pirate she was somewhat familiar with, Konan. In that moment, everything clicked into place, the discrepancy she sometimes felt around Nanko, one she had never quite put her finger on. Everything suddenly made sense.

The wall he had built around him finally crumbled. So that was what he had been hiding. The truth behind who he really was.

Hina's legs gave out, bringing her to her knees—her presence overwhelmed by the eruption of chaos all around. But it didn't matter, no one was looking at her, all eyes were focused on the brilliant woman fighting her way through the strongest Marines after having freed Ace. Somewhere deep inside, a tiny part of Hina felt that it suited Konan, being under the spotlight, shining bright like she was always meant to be.

She had always felt that Nanko was meant for things grander than being a mere Marine officer. But never did she think her vision would come true in this environment and at this cost...

She refused to fully register what it meant for them, what it meant that her friend had probably made her way to the top of the hit list of the Marine. She would register all of this at a later time, preferably when she wasn't in the middle of a full-blown war. Preferably when she wasn't as likely to do something she might regret forever.

The aftermath of Nanko's decision resounded throughout the seas, making History in a way no one would have predicted.

The person who was supposed to die that day hadn't and the person who was supposed to live didn't. In a way, Nanko was said to have exchanged his life for Ace's. If the media was to be believed.

No one came out of this war winning, the Marine had lost the people's faith, the pirates had lost their leader, the greedy ones hadn't gained what they came for... and they all lost people. They would have lost more if not for Red Hair's intervention.

In a way his appearance was amongst the many mysteries of this war. His mere presence had sufficed to cut through this grim war, putting it to a stop. Few could manage the feat, fewer still could garner both respect and fear from all. But that was who Red Hair was.

What had really surprised Hina though, was the care with which he handled Konan, carrying her in his arms as he walked away from the battlefield. She knew they had some sort of friendship, given the few times Nanko had met up with him, but had never really managed to wring out any details from Nanko. She would have harassed him after the event but... could she even talk to him now?

He had been lying to her for the past decade, she wasn't even sure they were friends to begin with. Did he ever consider her as one? What was she supposed to do now?