Freedom & Fate | One Piece x Reader

Chapter 18 | Nostalgia

"How big of an idiot are you?" Zoro grunts. "Now get away from her!"

Usopp frowns and quickly steps to the far end of the table while pretending to throw a fist at the swordsman. "I'm no idiot!" he states. "You," he sits down and points at you, "have no presence whatsoever!"

You don't pay attention to his speech and sway your eyes back at the menu in search of a dessert section. When you face the truth that this restaurant doesn't serve dessert, you lean back on your seat and let out a long sigh.

"Come on! Y/N might be a little quiet at first, but she's definitely not unnoticeable," Nami argues. "You just didn't pay enough attention."

Usopp accepts her reasoning and looks at your limp form. He nervously taps his foot against the ground, thinking he is the cause of your listless behaviour. "Never mind that, let's order some food, shall we?"

ஐ

After a couple minutes, the owner brought you the dishes you ordered. You settle with some noodles, while Luffy keeps asking for more plates of meat right after he finishes each portion. During the meal, Nami tells Usopp about their current situation on needing companions along with a big ship.

"There's only one place where you can find the stuff you want. It's not a very big ship, but it's not that small either!"

"Where?" Nami asks.

"There's a mansion not far from this village that belongs to a wealthy family. The ship belongs to the mansion's owner. Although she is the owner, she is a weak and sick young girl."

"Then how is she the owner?"

"That girl's parents died of sickness a year ago, leaving her everything behind they had."

You twist the noodles around your fork and let them slide down onto the plate again. You completely blanked out from the lack of sweet taste of your meal. Usopp looks at the clock hanging on the wall and hurriedly finishes his dish.

"Well, it's that time again. I gotta run!" He says and leaves a few coins on the counter before dashing out the restaurant. Because you lost every interest in eating the plate of noodles, you pour the rest of it into Luffy's bowl. You plop a caramel candy, you still had, into your mouth and decide to look around the village.

ஐ

"Can we get some tea?" Nami calls out to the restaurant's owner. "You guys want some too?"

"Sure," both Zoro and Luffy say at the same time.

"Y/N, what about you?" When Nami gazes at the empty seat you were sitting in just a moment ago, her eyes widen. 'Maybe her presence really is a bit lacking...' she thinks. "Where did she go?"

"Hm?" Luffy looks up with a mouthful of meat.

"She went after long nose," Zoro says.

The navigator raises an eyebrow at the green-haired swordsman. "You saw?" she asks, unconvinced.

"Guess what," he replies in a snarky manner, "you see things if you pay attention." With this, he gains a bump on his head.

ஐ

You are walking towards, what you believe, the centre of this village. Nothing on your way particularly catches your attention until you see an impressively big mansion, compared to the other houses you have seen.

Two guards are standing beside a gate leading to the mansion. A fence surrounds the whole property. You walk up to the entrance, waiting for one of them to stop you from treading in, but the guards don't even flinch as you directly go through the gate. With ease, you manage to enter the mansion as well.

You stroll into the living room and admire the large space. The more you see, the more this home feels sort of nostalgic to you. You don't know if it is the bright marble floor or the large windows that create a certain warmth inside you. A wistful smile graces your lips. This overwhelming feeling even lets you forget that you intruded someone else's home.

At the end of a hallway, you open the doors to a barely decorated room. A lone bed is placed in front of a tall window. And in the bed sits a pale girl with fair hair, currently leaning out the window and laughing heart-warmingly.

You get closer to see what she is looking at and to your surprise, it's the boy with the long nose from earlier. "Ah, it's you from the restaurant," you start to talk without thinking, finally making yourself noticeable to the fair girl.

The girl looks at you in shock. Her mouth drops the moment she glances at your weapons. But before she could scream for help, Usopp takes over the situation.

"Ohhh! This must be the new maid Merry told me about!"

... Oh no.

✘