An Eternal Bond

Linked

While Nekomamushi went to get the person he said would come to Wano, I waited on the ship, scanning the island. It was the island I went to train with Izo about two years back.

"Izo is from Wano..." I mumbled in thought. "And he did join Oyaji's crew at the same time as Oden, so maybe he is the one Nekomamushi-san is planning on bringing with us."

I leaned on the ship's railing and looked at the island with a smile. The people there were actually really kind, even if I was a pirate. They always asked if I was alright and let me buy things without much issue. Izo chose the right place to settle.

There was a loud gunshot and I flinched, my hands immediately going to my ears and covering them as I turned away from the island. My breath was shaky and I crouched down, my back to the island, leaning on the railing.

With my head down, I kept telling myself it wasn't the gunshots from Marineford. It wasn't the gunshots from the day my village was raided. It wasn't...

"Hey."

My eyes opened and I looked up, seeing Izo knelt down in front of me. "You alright?"

I lowered my hands slowly and nodded. I turned my head in slight embarrassment, but Izo put his arms around my shoulder and sat next to me.

"You-gara have a gun on your belt. And yet you-gara don't like guns?"

I shook my head. "I usually use Ace's Devil Fruit power instead of a gun. But... I know that sometimes fire isn't the best option, so I thought I'd learn how to use a gun."

"She had a lot of trouble with it." Izo recalled. He squeezed my shoulder. "Guns don't trigger the best of memories."

"Well, there's one." I smiled to myself, bringing my knees to my chest. "My father used to have this small gun he'd always have on his belt. He'd always show me how he shot it and such,, but my mom scolded him since I was only three."

I held my hand up in the shape of a gun. "He'd stand right behind me and he'd signal me by going 'Bang.'"

Izo furrowed his brow. "I thought you didn't like your father."

"...I liked my father when he was actually a father. But that spot was filled in by Oyaji."

I stood up. "Um, we were supposed to be headed to Wano, remember? Are we going or not?"

Nekomamushi nodded. "Alright, let's go."

•••

I sat below deck, reading a crumpled newspaper with little rips at the edges. They were all about Wano, but most importantly, one was from two decades ago. It was about Oden, as expected, but it also mentioned a few other people.

The Akazaya Nine, Toki, Momonosuke, and Hiyori.

I scanned the paper, seeing it mention the Akazaya Nine being on the run, Oden's house being set on fire... "Oh my gosh..."

"What's wrong?" I heard Izo walking down the steps to below deck and he saw me reading the newspaper.

"Izo-kun, what's the Akazaya Nine?"

He sat next to me and saw the newspaper I was reading. "The Akazaya Nine are Oden's followers that remained with him in Wano, fighting against Kaido in attempts to open Wano again."

"And he didn't succeed, right?"

"Correct. Him and the Akazaya Nine were meant to be boiled alive, but he managed to save them while he ended up passing away."

I looked down at the newspaper once again. "Who are they?"

"There's my sister, Nekomamushi, Inurashi, Kin'emon, Kanjuro, Denjuro, Raizo, Kawamatsu, and Ashura Doji."

"And you're not part of it because you were with Oyaji, right?"

He nodded, guiltily looking at his hands. I put my hand on his hands and smiled. "Hey, just because you weren't there, doesn't mean you weren't a big help. Oden wouldn't have become such a great warrior if you hadn't convinced Oyaji to allow him onboard, and then he wouldn't have joined the crew of the King of the Pirates. Everything is linked, and you happened to not be linked with Oden at the time. Do you regret joining Oyaji's crew?"

He shook his head and smiled. "Thank you."

"Just doing a little sister's job!" I swung my legs. "Speaking of which, I'm excited to meet yours! I hope we'll be friends."

"I'm sure she'll love you."

I heard some sort of awkward edge in his voice and I tilted my head. "Izo-kun, are you alright?" I moved a strand of his hair out of his face so I could see it clearly. "Whatever's bothering you, you know you can talk to me."

"You would care about my sister no matter what?"

I nodded slowly. "Of course I would. It wouldn't matter if she's not girly, if she's not 'pretty' in the eyes of some, if she cries a lot, if she yells a lot, even if she's a man." The last one sounded odd, but after hanging out in a queer bar in Impel Down, it's not out of the question. "I'd care about her as if she were my own sister. In my eyes, everyone's worth being cared for in some way."

Izo seemed to recall the day I fought Blackbeard. I didn't kill him. For some unknown reason, unknown even to me, I kept him alive.

"Who sent you to our crew?" He asked with a chuckle.

"Like I said, everything is linked. And I so happened to be linked to you guys." I stood up, holding out my hand. "I'll ask if Nekomamushi-san has a kitchen on the boat. Then I can cook one of Thatch's dishes!"
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Akazaya Nine - The Nine Red Scabbards

EXTRA

Art by Alphanmix on Tumblr

Y/N: PFT-

Marco: that's why you gave me a cracker and started laughing hysterically...

Ace: Yes, very much so.