Freedom & Fate | One Piece x Reader

Chapter 32 | Ball

{ On a certain island }

"Hawkeyes! Just what've you come here for?!"

"I have no business with the rest of you. Where are your officers?" Mihawk asks casually. He follows the path deeper into the forest, wondering why this crew would stay on an island like this.

"Ah, Hawkeyes, quite a rare guest I've got today," a certain red-haired pirate remarks.

Mihawk holds up a wanted poster in front of Shanks' face and shows him the intriguing pirate he came across. He tells Shanks this kid reminded him of a story he told him a long time ago.

"That story about an interesting little kid in a small village..." Shanks recalls. "So you've come out, at last, Luffy." A grin is plastered on his face.

"Come on everybody! Let's drink and celebrate!"

ஐ

Mihawk sits there idly with a mug in his hand, waiting for Shanks to get his load of Sake. Shanks' mood changed immediately when he saw Luffy's bright smile on that wanted poster. He laughs and chats loudly about how Luffy wanted him to him on an adventure.

Until the party quieted down a bit, Mihawk did not speak a single word. He wanted to wait for the right moment to bring up a personal topic of his.

"Red Hair."

"Yes~" Shanks answers, leaning towards him, already feeling a little tipsy from the booze.

"Do you remember that girl I told you about?" he asks, looking down and swirling the drink in his cup.

Shanks blinks a few times, surprised by the question. He does remember Mihawk telling him about a girl he met in his adolescence before but they were both extremely drunk at that time. "Could it be, when you were 16...?" Mihawk nods. "Ah~! What about her?"

"I met her again," Mihawk says in a serious tone.

"No way!" Shanks' eyes widen. He pats him on the back. "Good going there, my friend! How did you recognise her? Ya~ she must've matured quite well!"

"That's the problem." He gulps down the content of his mug. "She doesn't look too different from the last time I saw her."

━ 25 years ago

Ever since Mihawk was little, he trained to become a swordsman. A strong swordsman or even the strongest in the world. He set out to sea at a young age, seeking challenge from opponents nobody thought he could beat.

At the age of 16, he fell under the eyes of the World Government. His progress was closely observed and his potential was recognised very quickly. They reached out to him and he agreed on cooperating. Frankly, he did not care about their values at all. He simply wanted to maintain his freedom while following his path to becoming the strongest.

Shortly after their agreement, his first order came in: To assist with the search and capture of a girl.

He accepted the letter from a white pigeon. After reading the short description of the target, he neatly folded the paper in half and stored it inside his coat pocket.

'Around the age of 14, wearing a belt with the carving of the letters S and G, carrying a golden gun...' he repeats the most decisive points in his mind.

In the end, he never actively sought out for her.

A month later, he attended a ball on a cruise ship. It was not just any ball, it was a masquerade ball. He carefully chose an appropriate outfit and mask for the occasion, making sure nobody would be able to recognise him.

The gathering started in the late afternoon and after the humble buffet in the evening, music started playing. Everyone's attention was focused on the young girl sitting behind the grand piano, gracefully moving her fingers, creating a beautiful melody. Her red dress contrasted with the black of the piano as well as her hair.

Like everyone else, Mihawk enjoyed the music. In the whole duration of her performance, he was not able to take his eyes off her. After her, another two or three musicians completed their piece. All of them came out on stage again and introduced themselves as a travelling music group. The audience applauded, they bowed and went backstage.

Quietly and unnoticed, he followed after them. When he heard the loud and garish voice of the holder of this ball, he quickly hid behind a cabinet.

"...more emotion and sense! I want to leave an impression!" he howled. "That's what I get for trusting a low-class music group like yours! Get out of here!"

"What about our payment?"

"Hah?! You think you have the right to ask for money after your lousy performances?!" he shouted and points at the door. "Now leave before I decide to stomp your reputation to the filthy ground it belongs to!"

Mihawk takes a peak from behind the cabinet and observes the way the girl's body starts to shake with fury. She pulls off her red dress, revealing another set of light clothing, barely covering parts of her body. Around her waist, a thick leather belt is revealed, along with a golden gun strapped onto it.

His eyes widen. It was beyond him how she kept it hidden underneath her dress. Before she could make a potentially dangerous and foolish move, Mihawk swiftly came out of his hiding place and draped his coat over the thinly clothed girl, hiding away her weapon once more. Surprised, she looked at the masked boy, noticing his glowing golden eyes.

"A guest?" the holder shrieked, shocked. "Sh-Shouldn't you be in the ballroom...?"

"I was having a good time but unfortunately I was disturbed by somebody's yelling," Mihawk said calmly. "It's a shame what I had to witness behind the scenes."

The holder of the event began to sweat and quickly worded a poor apology. And as quickly as he apologised, he fled. She gritted her teeth, tightening her grip on the gun she did not get the chance to use. The other members of her music group looked at her sorrowfully. One of them walked up to Mihawk.

"Thank you for stepping in," a frail man in his forties said. "I'm the leader of this group."

"Thank you?! I could have handled it! We lost the money!" she yelled but her voice sounded weak and shaky. She clutched her chest, coughing her lungs out.

"Are you okay?" Mihawk asked worriedly, supporting her fragile body.

The leader shook his head and sighed. "I'm sorry about her attitude but could you please accompany her to our ship? Neither of us has the energy left to do so."

✘

Oh~? What an interesting encounter...

...

Wooow!!! (ﾉ^ヮ^)ﾉ*・ﾟ✧

Thank you all so much for over 10 thousand reads! I'm super excited and happy! 

Did you enjoy this chapter? My hand was shaking when I clicked on the publish button, I was so nervous! I hope it came out well hehe~  

I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend~ Take care and stay awesome!

~ Rin