The Curse of the Fruits (A One Piece Fanfiction)

Chapter 3

Kaede

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My body shoots up right as sweat slowly slides down my skin. I jab the palms of my hands into my eyes hoping to stop the tears that were forming from falling. I take out the worn brown journal and gently set it against my forehead. Why do I have to remember that now of all times? Is it a warning to not get close to this crew? To get out as soon as I can? I don't know. I think and I shake my head to clear the thoughts. I replace the journal against my forehead and feel myself relax. I put the journal away before lying down and turning on my side. I curl up into a ball before slowly drifting off again.

~~~

Zoro

A quiet whimper, almost inaudible catches my attention and at first I think I imagined it until I hear it again. I set my dumbbells down before moving over to the open window in the crow's nest. I lean out and look up to the roof since the sound had come from above. Not being able to see anything I climb out of the window and the sound of panting now fills my ears. When I can see the onto the roof I spot Kaede sitting there with palms pressed into his eyes and something glimmers in the corner of his eyes.

I blink in surprise when I realize that it's a tear. He's crying? I mentally ask myself as I see him pull out a worn brown journal and he places it against his forehead. A couple seconds later he shakes his head and replaces the journal against his forehead. This time he seems to relax and in the blink of an eye the journal's gone. I try to figure out where he put it but he lies down and he turns away from me. His breath evens out after he curls up into a ball indicating that he fell asleep. I raise my brow in confusion before sliding back into the crow's nest and picking up my dumbbell to continue training. I'll ask Kaede about that later.

----A Couple Days Later----

Kaede

I slouched even further into the couch in the Aquarium Bar. Franky, Robin, and Sanji were also here. We were just casually talking away about unimportant stuff. Over the few days that I've been here I came to realize a couple of things. One, Luffy was still an idiot; two, this crew was crazy; three, they were strong as hell and four; they really cared about their nakama. A splash breaks my train of thought and I look behind me to see a shark in the fish tank now.

"Do those idiots not know a shark's gonna eat the other fish? Better yet do they even have a brain?" I ask no one in particular.

"I'm starting to wonder that myself." Sanji says while the other two nod their heads in agreement.

"Have you seen the shark we caught?" Luffy and Usopp yell as they burst through the door.

"It doesn't get along well with the other fish though." Robin says and I shake my head. I quietly slip out of the room and start climbing up to the crow's nest. I've kinda claimed the top of the crow's nest as mine even though Luffy made sure the guest room was mine. Instead of going through the crow's nest I start climbing around using the outside of the crow's nest.

"You know there's an easier way to the roof." A voice says beside me and I almost let go of the ledge in shock. I send a glare at the green haired swordsman who was leaning on the window sill with an amused expression on his face.

"Don't do that and yes I know there's an easier way. I just prefer this way;" I say and Zoro just raises an eyebrow. "It helps to keep my senses sharp and it also helps strengthen my arm strength." I keep glaring at Zoro and he starts to glare back. We stay like that for a bit just glaring back and forth until Zoro speaks again.