𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐞

05 〤 adventure

While you and Yuri ate your own food while watching them, the crew laughed, mostly Chopper, Luffy, and Usopp. Luffy asked abruptly, "Ace! Are you sure you won't join us?" Ace began, smirking at them, "I'm pursuing a certain man." Before continuing, he took a drink from his cup. "Blackbeard is his name."

"Blackbeard?!" Usopp repeated.

Vivi joined in the conversation, "He's the pirate who attacked the Drum Kingdom!"

"He used to be a member of the 2nd Division of the Whitebeard Pirates, one of my men. But he committed the worst possible sin on a pirate ship: he killed a crew member and jumped ship. So, as the commander, I gotta find and get rid of him."

Something terrible is about to occur to him. In your mind, you asserted. "Are you putting your life on the line, Ace?" you asked, gulping down your food. He replied, "Just as I said, as the commander, I'm going to find him." "Well, then, there's nothing I can do to persuade you otherwise," you said with a smile.

"Oh yeah, Y/N, do you want to join us?" Luffy asked unexpectedly, his gaze fixed on you. "Of course..." you muttered, turning your head to the side. "Please take me with you, if that's not too much trouble."

"All right, here's some food," he says, handing you half of his meat. You thanked him and divided the meat into two parts, one for you and the other for Yuri, who was salivating at the sight of it.

Ace gave you a perplexed look. "If you really wanted to join them, why didn't you join mine?" your eyes met his as you both made eye contact. "Ah..." you stammered as you tried to come up with an excuse.

"It's fine." He gave a toothy smile before looking away from you.

"Then your destination is the same as ours!" Nami implied.

"We've just entered the Sandora River," Vivi said as she points at the map. "First, we'll land at Erumalu, then head into the interior of Alabasta to reach Yuba here! The leader of the rebel army is in Yuba."

"I see. So you're headed to Yuba next." Ace commented.

"I'll follow Nami-san, Vivi-chan and Y/N-swan wherever they go!" Sanji retorted, doing his usual noodle love dance with hearts in his eyes. "Get lost, Love Cook."

"Say what, you—?!"

"A-anyway! It looks like we'll be able to travel together for a while!" Nami said, stopping the boys from going any further. You watched them squabble, but Yuri was enthralled by the scene in front of him. Usopp stated, "Yeah, yeah! His brother and Y/N are more than welcome here!"

Luffy laughed loudly as he raised his cup. "Let's have a fun time, Ace, Y/N!"

"Yeah!"
—

The ship was still sailing, and Usopp and Luffy were tinkering with the food that Sanji had prepared in the kitchen. "Hello! My name is Captain Rice Ball Usopp, and who are you?" "I'm a riceman!" Luffy exclaimed, lifting a large rice ball that resembled a snowman.

As you read your book, you smirked at the sight of the two idiots and sighed. "Luffy, Usopp, please refrain from playing with your food," you lectured, still concentrating on your reading. But, of course, they didn't pay attention.

Ace, who was sitting next to you, was just tugging on his lips with a small smile. "Do they always act like this?" "Don't be concerned, Y/N."

Yuri teased them while Sanji smacked them both with a pan. He chastised them, saying, "Quit playing with our food! If you have free time, go wash dishes or something!" "Geez, I have to finish our lunches before we cross the river!"