Freedom & Fate | One Piece x Reader

Chapter 22 | Priority

The moment you appear in the kitchen, you hastily make your way to Kaya's room in hopes of finding her perfectly safe and soundly sleeping in her bed. But those hopes are crushed when you see her bed completely empty. The rest of the room is also lacking human presence.

A bad feeling in your gut tells you that something must have happened in your absence. You walk down the corridor and hear heavy breathing getting louder and louder. The door to the living room is wide open. What you see past the doorframe most definitely shocks you. Anger and worry build up inside you.

Merry is sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall, his hand clutching his chest tightly. From where you are standing you could clearly see the cuts and blood all over his body. You quickly kneel down in front of him and tend to his wounds. The slashes on his face aren't deep, but you can't say so for the ones around his chest.

"Y/N..." he huffs. "I was in the wrong."

You concentrate on your right hand placed near his heart.

"That young man tried to save us, but we chased him away." Streams of tears are running down his face.

"I know, I know." You wipe them away. "Who did this to you?"

"...It was Kurahadol," he almost whispers.

You glance around the room and recognise the pair of glasses you picked up. A present from Kaya to Kurahadol. Smashed and stepped on. You grit your teeth. "Where is Kaya?"

"Young mistress is the only one who can stop him. He wants her wealth. I told her to follow him and talk to him."

"I don't think talking will stop this now," you say. "We'll protect Kaya and this village."

After closing the rest of his cuts, you stand up and walk towards the door. The night is almost over. According to their plan, they want to finish this before sunrise. Luffy and the others must be fighting with all their might right now. You have to catch up to Kaya as fast as possible.

You run down a straight path, which you assume leads to the shore. Midway through you already start panting. You silently blame your low stamina for wanting to stop running. With all your willpower, you push through and sprint to the end of the path.

You arrive at the fight scene. Kaya's desperate pleads for Kurahadol to stop his wrongdoings are futile. You are baffled when you see her raise a gun at her former butler. The hesitation in her eyes is evident even from meters away.

"All I ever did for you is so that I can kill you today!" Kurahadol's words leave his mouth with spite.

Kaya's tears are flowing endlessly. She drops the guns and almost breaks down crying. You run to her and put an arm around her shoulder, supporting her frail body. Usopp can't stand this anymore and throws a punch full of fury at him. But Kurahadol dodges his attack without a second thought.

"Cover your ears," you quietly say to Kaya.

An ear shattering pow echoes through the air. A loud clank follows less than a second later as you watch one of Kurahadol's claws drop to the ground. With a blank look on his face, he stares intensely at you, now distracted from Usopp. The model of Kaya's gun is old. Old... and very loud. A smirk spreads on your face as you see a rubber fist stretching towards him, hitting him straight in the face and sending him to the ground.

You look down on him, ears still ringing from the shot. "Don't you dare make her cry again."

Three kids run up to him and pound him with various weapons. He stands up and completely ignores them, only showing interest in Luffy's strange abilities.

"Jango!" he shouts. "I will take care of this straw-hat kid. You take care of the young mistress. Make her write her will and then... kill her!"

He turns around and faces you, scanning you from head to toe. You defensively point the gun at his deadly long claws and hold Kaya a little closer.

"And who are you trying to fool?" he asks mockingly.

You raise an eyebrow at his question, but don't let your guard down for a second. "What do you mean?"

Kurahadol lets out a snicker. "Hah! Your getup! Do you think you can trick anyone into believing that you're her? Math must not be your strength, you're a few decades too short, little girl."

Eyebrows knitting closer together in thought, you stare at him wordlessly. You have no clue what he's talking about.

Did he confuse me with someone else?

"Look, if you're not going to be more precise, I won't understand," you answer a bit impatiently.

In the corner of your eye, you see Jango getting closer to you. His explanation will have to wait. In addition to holding the gun, you plan to pull out your knife and knock out Jango if he comes too close.

"Usopp Pirate Group!" the boy with the long nose shouts from the ground.

"Yes!" three kids answer.

"Protect Kaya! I'm giving you the most important task. Take Kaya away from here safely!"

Your features soften, letting out a short sigh. You push the gun into Kaya's hands and lower yourself into a crouch. You pull your arms around her legs, interlocking your fingers and hoist her up with one heave. She instinctively wraps her thin arms around your neck.

"Y-Y/N," she stutters, a little startled, "are you sure about this?"

You give her a quick thumbs up. "Just hold on tightly."

"You guys will have my back, right?" you turn to the three children. "Let's get Kaya out of here."

You slowly back away and take a look at the fight at the steep slope. A part of you wants to stay by their side and fight alongside them, but the desperate look in Usopp's eyes convinced you what the priority is.

To protect Kaya at all costs.

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