Destined for Flames (One Piece Fanfic)

Enter: Yosaku and Johnny!

Third Person POV

Luffy hits the deck in a half crouch, already moving out of the way of the stranger's next attack. He doesn't know who the man is, but since he's already attacked him, and his ship, he was going to take him out.

"I've killed many pirates," the man says. He's a man of average build, in a purple shirt, light-blue hoodie, and baggy whitish pants, and a strange tattoo on his cheek. A pair of close fitting sunglasses hide his eyes, though it's clear he's incredibly angry... about something. "An infamous pirate like you..." He raises his sword, moving to attack Luffy. "Shouldn't dare to kill my buddy!"

Luffy, oddly calm in the midst of this assault, bunches the muscles in his legs, ready to spring into the air. "I don't know what you're talking about," he says, leaping above the man as he dashes forward. Flipping upside down, he grabs onto the man's head.

"-but-"

Luffy throws his weight forward, his hold on the man tightening.

"-stop-"

His feet his the ground and he throws the man over his head, right into the wall before him.

"-destroying my ship!" Luffy finishes angrily. The man slumps to the ground, in a heavy daze, groaning. His head aches, and he knows he'll be sore tomorrow, if not in the next few minutes. "I almost got him," he groans, now spread-eagle on the deck, lying on his back, his sword nowhere in sight.

Luffy reaches for his hat, which flew off in the attack, and sits cross-legged on the deck, a few feet from the man. He plonks the hat onto his head, and frowns at the man he nearly knocked unconscious. "What are you saying?" he asks, no longer angry. "I don't understand."

It's then that Raya, still on the balcony above, shakes her head, moving out of the way of the opening door. Zoro steps out, blinking the sunlight. He looks at Raya questioningly, then at the deck, where the man still lies. "Huh?" Zoro says, his face openly showing surprise. "Is that Johnny?"

"Johnny?" Raya repeats, squinting at the man as his head jerks up and, upon seeing Zoro, jumps to his feet. "You know him?"

"BIG BROTHER ZORO!"

"Yeah," Raya growls, plugging her ears to drown out the sound of Johnny's incredibly loud exclamation. "You know him."

Zoro smirks at her.











Raya's POV

So yeah, Zoro knows the weird guy. Apparently they were bounty hunting buddies a while back, when Zoro was only just making a name for himself. I scowl at Johnny, or whatever his name is, sitting cross-legged in front of me. I don't like bounty hunters, for obvious reasons. He catches my dark look, and quickly turns to Zoro, sweat dropping. The little bastard just finished explaining to his "big brother" that their friend, Yosaku, is sick.

"Sick?" Zoro questions, eyeing Johnny before sliding his gaze to the messed-up-looking man lying flat on his back. Yosaku is about the same height and build as Johnny, with some weird head protector, a shaved head, and a long green hoodie. I kneel down beside him, peeling back one eyelid, before Johnny swats my hand away.

"Hey!" I say, growling at him. "I wasn't doing anything! I was just checking to see if he was awake! You freaking baka!"

He sweat drops.

"Anyway," he continues to Zoro. "About three days ago, he was still healthy. But then he passed out and I don't know why. His teeth started coming out, and his old wounds started bleeding." Johnny practically starts blubbering, holding his head in one hand. "I didn't know what to do. We took a rest at that island, and then... this ship shot its cannons at us!:

Luffy and Usopp blanch, jaws dragging down to the floor, sweating nervously, and profusely. Then, they both bow their heads to Johnny, whose shoulders have just begun to shake quite violently. "We are very sorry," the two of them chorus, sounding genuinely sorry for their actions.

"It's ok," Johnny sniffs, head still in his freaking hand. "Since you said you were sorry, I won't get the Marines to arrest you." This only makes my captain and sharpshooter start to sweat again, identical looks of horror on their faces. Ah well, at least they can both understand what a threat this guy could be. Maybe we should just chuck him overboard...

Nah, Zoro wouldn't allow it. Big Brother... Tch. How stupid.

Ah, wait, that baka Johnny is talking again. Might as well listen.

"The names 'Yosaku and Johnny' have become well known to many pirates," he cries, like actually crying, with tears and everything. "He's my best buddy who has been helping me with pirate hunting for many years! Will he survive, Big Brother?"

Zoro only starts to sweat, though not nealy as horribly as the other two. I raise an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to give this guy the obvious answer. But he says nothing, staring at the bleeding form of Yosaku uncertainly.

"You're so stupid!"

"Thank you!" I shout mockingly, turning to see Nami stalking towards us. "At least someone here has a bit of brains in their head!"

Zoro, ignoring Nami, scowls at me. "What did you just say, Raya?" he growls, fisting both hands. I draw myself up to my full height, and though I only reach Zoro's shoulders, if that, I glare up at him with all the intensity I can muster. "Well, Swordsman," I reply, drawing out the word to make it an insult. "I was just glad that someone on this ship wasn't a total idiot! I mean, come on! It's so incredibly obvious what's wrong with this guy!"

Johnny looks up at me, hopeful expression transforming his face. "You know what's wrong with Yosaku?" he asks. "Yes," I mutter, not taking my eyes off of Zoro's. "And both of you baka should know too. It's scurvy!"

"That's right," Nami agrees, studying her nails. She then jerks a thumb behind her, towards the kitchen. "Alright, Luffy, Usopp, there are some lemons in the kitchen. Grab them, make some lemon juice, and bring it back here."

"Right!" they shout, running comically to the kitchen, retuning a few minutes later.

"Lemons?" Johnny questions, as Nami instructs Luffy and Usopp to force feed Yosaku the juice, with Luffy pouring and Usopp clutching the man's bleeding head. "Like Raya said," Nami explains. "It's scurvy. But you're lucky. It's not too late. He'll get better in two or three days."

"Is that true sempai?!" Johnny asks, yelling again. Nami looks back at him with distaste. "Don't call me sempai," she orders, then turns back to the rest of us. "Raya, you want to explain?" she asks me, sounding bored again. I shrug, accepting the invitation.

"In the past," I begin, "anyone who got scurvy would die. However, the cause is a lack of vitamin C, and in those days, ships didn't store any kind of fruit or vegatables on board. It was such a simple fix though, that most people don't get it any more. Except, apparently, you bakas." I nudge Yosaku with my foot, and to my surprise, he jumps to his feet, beginning to jump and dance around the ship with Johnny.

"I'm healthy!"

"Yay! My buddy is strong now!"

"Scurvy isn't cured that fast!" Nami and I yell, with me nailing a punch to both their heads. It does nothing at all though, because they just get back up and stand in identical poses: Feet shoulder-width apart, one arm across their chest, the other resting on that arm, holding that hand to their chins. The only difference is that Yosaku is smoking, which I very much think is an awful idea. I irritably swat the smoke away from my eyes, swallowing a few coughs.

"Sorry," Johnny says. "Let us introduce ourselves. My name is Johnny."

"And I'm Yosaku. We used to be pirate hunters at the same level as Big Brother Zoro. Nice to meet you all."

I shoot a quick look at Zoro, then step forward and peer up into the faces of Yosaku and Johnny, who both sweat drop under my harsh gaze. "I've never heard of you before," I inform them. "So how can you be at the level of the Pirate Hunter, Roronoa Zoro?"

"Uh..."

"That's..."

"Thought so," I mutter, turning away and taking a seat in front of the mast. I watch through hooded eyes as Yosaku thanks Nami, and the crew, and asks how he can repay us. Well, I doubt he's including me, and I don't really give a damn anyway. Then, Johnny starts to express his shock at finding out Zoro is now a pirate, but before the Swordsman can give any sort of explanation, Yosaku coughs violently, and falls to the ground, blood streaming from his nose and mouth. "Yosaku buddy!" Johnny cries, mouth agape, eyes bugging out of his head. "Baka!" I shout. "Just shut up and rest!"

"Is baka your favorite word or something?" Nami inquires, taking a seat on the steps on this side of the boat. I shrug. "It wasn't," I say, rolling my eyes. "Until I met these guys." I jerk a thumb at the boys, including Johnny. I would add Yosaku into that gesture, but he's currently resting inside the cabin.

"I still can't believe the three of you didn't know about scurvy," I admonish, nodding towards Zoro, Luffy and Usopp, who've just come to stand and/or sit around Nami and me. Usopp flops to the ground beside me, arms behind his head.

"I mean, seriously, I've never even been on the ocean, and even I know about it!"

"She has a point," Nami says, leveling an annoyed glare at the three boys. "Well, we know about it now!" Luffy says. "And I've decided! The next person we need to join this crew is a chef!" I regard Luffy curiously, wondering if he's remembered the chat we had earlier, or is just thinking of this now. Either way, at least he's finally gotten his mind off that damn musician idea.

"Ooh! Ooh! Big Brother!" That's Johnny, his head bent forward a bit, one arm raised high in the air. 'What is it, Johnny?" Zoro asks. Johnny grins, and I find I really don't like that look on his face. "If you're looking for a chef," he says, the grin only growing in size. "I would like to recommend one place. However, I'm not sure that one will join you."

"You're talking about Baratie, right?" I ask, lifting my head to meet his shade-covered eyes. He looks startled, jumping back and away from me. "How did you know?" he asks frantically, probably upset that I've stolen his thunder. Ha! Baka.

"I read about it in a book before, about the East Blue," I say, gaining everyone's attention. "It's a floating restauraunt, owned by and led by a former pirate. Zeff, I think. Anyway, all the people that work there are either former pirates themselves, or some other type of thug. But they've all gotten kicked out of other kitchens, because of the way they act. But at Baratie, they fit in just fine. Makes sense why we should try to snag a cook from them. I should have thought of this earlier," I add, muttering to myself.

"Floating restauraunt?!"

Is that really all Luffy got out of my explanation? Jeeze, I'm letting this guy be my captain? Man, I really must've gone off the deep end. Maybe that fruit I ate back on Maya was poisoned or something...

"Well, I don't know how to get there, but..." I say, looking pointedly at Johnny. He jumps at the chance to regain his command of the group's attention. "From here, it should take two or three days for us to get there," he says, beginning to walk towards the other side of the ship for whatever reason. As he passes Zoro, still acting all cool and aloof, he says, "I've heard that that "Hawk Eyes" man you've been searching for used to appear there too."

I don't think anyone else notices the sheen of sweat that breaks out on Zoro's face, or the trembling grin on his lips, full of nervousness and excitement.

I faintly hear Johnny say something like, "I'll take you there!" And my crewmates cheering. But I ignore them both, standing so that I can look Zoro in the eye. "Are you alright?" I ask. He blinks, like he's surprised to see me. Then he wipes the expression from his face and smirks at me. "Fine," he says, turning away and following after the others.

Hmmm. I wonder what that was about...