Chapter 09 | Cooperation

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The clang of the key making contact with the stone-paved ground makes you turn around. The person towering over you three is Nami.

"Hey, our navigator." Luffy looks at her without moving.

"Says who?!" she snaps at him, "I just came to repay my debt to you because you saved my life back there."

"You stole the cage key!" Luffy sits up excitedly.

Just when he is about to reach for the key, the dog moves his snout close to the ground, picks up the key and swallows it in one go.

"You stupid dog!" He grabs it by the neck, about to start a fight again.

After a moment of staring, you realise what happened and quickly go to stop him from harming the dog. "Stop choking the dog." You snatch Shushu away from his hands and hold it up to see if it suffered any injuries.

In the meantime an old man approaches your group, introducing himself as the village chief. You quickly tell him about Zoro's cut and he offers him to rest at his house. You excuse yourself from everyone and help Zoro get to the old man's house.

"Say, is that girl with you guys?" Nami looks down at Luffy.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" he replies.

She folds her arms and frowns. "I just wanted to know if you forced her to join your crew."

"She lost her memories and wants to stay with us until she regains them. I won't force anyone to be in my crew!"

"Yeah right you won't!"


Good thing the chief's house was just next door, it didn't take long for Zoro to properly lay down and fall asleep. While you take a look at his snoring face, you think about the attack Buggy dealt on him.

I saw it coming, why couldn't I react fast enough to stop it? 

You grunt at the thought of Buggy's underhanded attack. You walk up to a window and open it to let in some fresh air. As you stare at the empty streets, you wonder if Luffy managed to get out of the cage.

Your ear twitches at the sound of loud roar and your nose takes in a smell of burning wood. Worriedly, you lean out the window and look around, trying to see where it is coming from. The moment you glimpse to your right, you freeze for a split-second. A cannonball is flying in your direction, fast. 

This time, you take the resolve to not let Zoro receive any more damage, therefore you act immediately. You leap onto his bed, grab his arms and throw them over your shoulders. You let out a small whimper under the weight.

"What are you doing?" Zoro wakes up from the movement.

"Bear with me. I'm going to use it again."

With all your strength, you jump off the bed and whilst being in mid-air, the image of the ground kicks in. poin The sound of the cannonball smashing the row of buildings echoes through the air. You could feel the cold ground underneath you, as well as a few rumbles falling on your back. You grab your head. Everything around you is spinning and you are getting extremely dizzy. Several screams could be heard.

"Y/N and Zoro were in there!" Luffy's voice halls through your head.

"That was a bad way wake up," Zoro utters next to you.

Luffy runs closer to you and sees you two on the ground, mostly uninjured and breathing. "What a relief, you're alive!"

"...And just how is it you survived?" Nami questions.

They are talking about something, but you blend out the rest of the conversations. You still feel terrible after using your ability. It was the third time you used it and each time the headache and dizziness got worse.

The aftereffect is really bad.

Nami sees how uncomfortable you look and offers you a hand, but you wave it off, saying you merely need a moment to recover from the shock.

"Just you wait, Buggy the clown!" The village chief storms off, determined to beat Buggy.

"This is starting to feel more fun," Zoro says.

"I agree." Luffy chuckles.

You feel the headache dwindling and try to stand up. To you, the two of them sound like they are about to beat someone themselves.

"Our destination is the Grand Line and we'll need to steal the map. Will you join us? You need the map too, don't you?" Luffy reaches his hand out to Nami.

"I'm not going to become a pirate. Think of my situation the same as Y/N's, we're cooperating until I achieve my goal," she answers and smacks her palm against his.




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