Luffy x Neko!Reader Warm

Chapter 17: A Flying Boat

Your ears laid back on your head when you saw it. A boat, a huge one, one that Eneru claimed could fly. You stayed silent as the Kami himself untied you from your post and retied your hands behind your back.

You didn't bother to snap at him anymore. The one time your teeth had connected with flesh, you'd gotten nothing for your efforts but an electric shock and a burnt tongue, with Eneru himself untouched.

He picked you up with almost exaggerated care, holding you delicately in his arms. Holding back a growl you allowed him to carry you onto the ship. You hated this. No one had ever held you but Luffy, and you were very unhappy for that to change.

But you couldn't fight. Couldn't risk it. It just wasn't worth it.

He tied you back up, on the ship now. You looked around, ears twitching on your head. The ship was impressive to say the least. Much of it was covered in gold, which made sense considering how well it conducted electricity.

You couldn't hold back the hiss when Eneru took hold of one of your ears. You didn't know why he was so fascinated with your cat bits. He kept holding your ears or touching your tail or squeezing your hands to make the claws slide out. He was like a six year old seeing a kitten for the first time.

You shook the thought of him as a six year old out of your head. You couldn't think of him as anything other than less than human. Sabo had always said you loved too easily, forgave too quickly... You choked back a sob at the thought of your older brother, long dead now. How can an old scar still burn so badly?

Eneru was gently petting your head and you gave a weak purr without thinking. It was quickly choked off, but you could see on his face that he'd heard it. He looked happy.

'Maybe he thinks something half cat, half human would make a good pet for a Kami...' You thought.

-meanwhile-

Usopp whimpered with fear when his captain turned to look at him. Luffy was covered in blood, none his own. They had set off to find Eneru and, Luffy believed, you. They had been stopped by a multiple choice roadway, each tunnel leading to a different 'challenge'. They had chosen the bubble challenge.

Met with two brothers, they fought against their use of dials. Everything was going fine until Luffy caught hold of one of them. Usopp hadn't actually seen what had happened clearly. Just a cut-off scream, a spray of blood, and Luffy, hatred in his eyes, lips drawn back in an animalistic snarl. He'd tipped his head back and howled. Luffy had thrown himself at the shell shocked remaining brother, and this time Usopp had gotten a much better view.

Kicking, clawing, scratching, and biting, Luffy was a whirlwind of death. Snapping like a starving wolf, he'd clawed his way up toward the throat and sunk in his teeth.

Another spray of blood. Another body.

Luffy wiped most of the blood away from around his mouth and started toward where their ship was drifting away down the cloud river. "Come on!" He said cheerfully. "We gotta go before the ship gets away!"

Luffy looked back at where Usopp was still sitting, terrified. "Hey." Luffy said quietly. "What's wrong? Usopp?" He looked down at himself, at the blood covering his bare chest. "Oh. Um... Hey. I'm still me okay? I wouldn't..."

Luffy's breath hitched and he tried to wipe his bloody hands off on his pants. "They took (Y/N)." He said quietly. "I can't forgive anyone who would dare to hurt her."

Luffy held out his hand and Usopp let himself be pulled to his feet. "Okay, just don't do that again, okay? It's terrifying."

Luffy looked down, ashamed. "I didn't mean to." He whispered.

You lifted your head and opened your mouth to taste the air. The wind was clean, sweet even. And yet... For a moment you'd felt like you were weighed down by blood soaked clothes, and you could have sworn there was iron tang to the air...

Must have been your imagination.