Luffy x isakai Girl

Battle

Luffy held Misaki tight, kissing her on the head. He never knew what to call them. But us sounded right to him.

He was so happy earlier. The way he felt as they danced half-hazard-ly across the deck was nothing short of amazing. Never did he ever think that being with someone could make him feel so free.

He wanted to memorize her face. He wanted to memorize everything about her. Her voice, her mannerisms, the way she smiled, the way she danced. The way her hair bounced as she tilted her head when someone called her name. The way her eyes shimmered when the light hit them just right.

He wanted so bad to tell her to stay. He wanted so bad to tell the navigator to go in the opposite direction. Every fiber of his being wanted to. Except one part. The part that wanted Misaki to be free. Free to choose. Free to live. To love. To do whatever she wanted in this world. Or in the other.

   Maybe this guy would be able to do even more for them — like unlimited travel. Or maybe it was a dead end. But something told him there wasn't going to be an endless amount of trips to the other reality. And as much as he wanted to ask Misaki to stay, he knew she had to make that decision on her own. The best they could do was show her support and keep doing what they were doing. More than anything though, he wanted her to be anything but miserable.

Misaki reached up and kissed him gently again, making his heart skip a beat. He never wanted to let her go. He wanted to sit there in the bath and hold her forever. But Misaki had other plans. She pushed herself away from him, dipping under the water just long enough to wet her hair, and popped back out.

"I'm gonna head out. What about you?" She said, making his heart sink.

"I guess I'll go too." He said. He hopped out of the tub and grabbed his clothes, wringing them out. He really didn't think when he came in here. He had no plan. Which meant he had no clean clothes and he got his soaked. Nice. Good thinking. You shouldn't have even jumped her in the first place. Not when she felt like that.

"Thank you, Luffy." Misaki said as she wrapped herself in a towel. "I feel a little better."

    At least it made her feel better. Luffy knew he could have gotten the same effect by just holding her and talking to her, but he liked speaking through his actions too. There were things he wanted to say, but it wasn't about him right now.

"Of course M'! I have to go talk to everyone about some stuff, so I'll give you some time for yourself."

_______________________

     I needed to sleep. Actually, I needed to mope in my room and not talk to anyone. Luffy didn't join me. Instead, he had some talking to do with the crew. Probably went to tell them they couldn't bother me right now. It didn't matter. I needed to just be mopey for the afternoon and then I would be able to pull myself together.

     I made it to the girl's room without bumping into anybody and plopped onto my bed, face down. I groaned into the pillow. Part of me wanted to go home. Another part of me wanted to stay. I groaned again. I knew I could pull myself together. Things didn't need to change yet. Hell, I still didn't need to make a decision. But it almost felt like, by heading that way, we were making that decision. I knew I hadn't made any decisions, but it felt like it. I felt like I didn't even have a decision. Like, any moment, I was going to find myself sucked back into my reality.

I groaned again. I needed to do something. I couldn't just sit here and do nothing. The anxiety would destroy me otherwise. I poked my head up and looked around. I could feel my hair tussle against my face, still a little damp from my time in the bathroom.

My stomach flipped as I remembered the way Luffy grabbed me. I wish I knew what he was thinking. He was so open and vocal but ever since he asked me to join the crew and I fought with him, he had taken a huge step back from forming opinions about my choices. I figured he wanted me to stay, but he would never say it now that we were so close to the time. I knew he was going to support whichever decision I made... but a part of me wished he would ask me to stay. Make my decision easier. Nobody on the crew would do that, actually. And I didn't know if that would actually make it easier or harder.

I can't lay here anymore. I jolted out of bed, filled with a new kind of determination. I strode out onto the deck and glanced around. Nobody was outside. Good. What I was going to do was not for show. It was for me. To prove I could still do it. I walked over to the ladder leading up to the crow's nest and began to climb.

I winced as I felt the scar tissue on my torso, chest, and back, stretch as I reached up with my hands. I pulled myself up and continued on, trying to steady my breathing. It was definitely uncomfortable, maybe even a little painful, but I could handle this. It was my final goal to my recovery. The final obstacle to overcome. The final battle to win.

I gritted my teeth and looked up, realizing I was only about a third of the way there. Huffing through my nose, I continued. I thought about everything I had done while being here. Every hurdle I leapt, every obstacle I overcame, every friend I made. I felt my hand slip a little and grasped the bar tighter. This used to be as easy as breathing. I thought about how I would climb up here to hang with Zoro, or talk with Luffy during the night watch. It was an important part of the ship. An important part of my experience here. I needed to get to the top, no matter what. I needed to do it until I was comfortable doing it again. As easy as breathing.

   I looked up and smiled. I was only about ten feet from the top. My chest and stomach hurt and my back burned even, but I was so close. Beads of sweat started popping up all over me. I went up another pole and let out a sharp breath.

     As I scaled another pole, my hand slipped again and I lost my footing. Shit. I held on with one hand, my whole body screaming at the pain. I pinched my eyes shut for a moment, a growl ripping from my throat. I felt my hands getting harder, stronger. I opened my eyes, realizing I was using haki. I can use haki? I didn't even think that was possible, being from a different reality. I reached out and grabbed a pole with my other hand. The armament haki was also surrounding my torso, keeping the pressure off of my wounds. I repositioned myself and kept climbing up the ladder until, finally, I made it to the top.

    I dragged myself into the crow's nest and laid on my back, panting. I did it. I fucking did it! I won the battle. I made it to the top.

A huge smile broke on my face. I couldn't believe how climbing a mere ladder was enough to make me this happy. Such a simple task was enough to send me flying. I threw my arms up and hooted and hollered. It didn't matter if I was the only one who experienced it. This was a victory in my recovery, and that is all that mattered to me.