One Piece X Reader Various One Shots

Love on a Battlefield [Luffy X Reader]

Normally you could handle hearing what you heard. Normally you could handle fighting such a hostile group with ease. Normally... you could do a lot of things, but the intense aura of hatred and murderous intent that filled the atmosphere made it so damn scary. When things were scary, they were harder to do, and now you wavered with every swing you made, nearly getting yourself killed with every encounter. What did it matter to you though? With the rate that things were going, your reason to live would soon cease to exist. What, with all the 'kill Luffy' this and 'burn him alive' that, it was no wonder you were slightly losing your mind.

You were supposed to be clearing a path for your captain to make it to the roof, but it really was quite a hard task. Every soldier you slaughtered your way through had something to say about Luffy, and it was usually along the lines of killing him as fast as possible. You had never heard so many people want him dead in one area, so the longer you fought, the more you heard it. Things were starting to look grim as you went, more and more of them coming with the intent to kill. With how emotionally distraught you were, it was getting hard, and you wondered if you'd even be able to do the bare minimum of keeping your precious captain safe.

"_____! What are ya doin?!" Luffy's voice rang out.

Oh dear. He had caught up with you. The path was supposed to be clear for him by now, but here you were, an emotional mess flailing your fists around still struggling to keep what you could for enemies at bay. When you whipped around to look at him, you were unaware of the incoming unit of soldiers with their swords raised. Luffy was always a surprisingly fast thinker on the battlefield though, so what would've been your demise from behind, ended up being theirs by means of Luffy rocketing his fists over your shoulders and taking the whole lot of them out.

"Luffy I... I'm sorry I should've had it cleared for you! I can't risk you getting hurt because I'm incapable of doing such a simple task." You blathered to him.

The area was clear of threats for the moment, so Luffy was able to let his guard down to really see what your issue was. The first thing he saw was tears, which was not normal to see on you. The streams of built up emotion were easy to be seen on your cheeks due to the firelight of everything burning around you. He approached you and stepped over many flaming beams on his way, all while you still struggled to see straight past your tears.

"Why are you crying? Are you ok _____? Your attacks have been... off." Luffy asked you.

"I'm sorry I... I'm failing you as a crewmate. I can't. I can't do well. Not with these waves of strong enemies." You sobbed.

"Well that doesn't sound like you at all! You're stronger than 'em, so what's the problem?" He asked again, completely oblivious.

"They're stronger than you think, Luffy. I'm going to end up dying for you today, because it's gonna be one of us. These freaks are willing to throw their lives away to kill you. Same goes for me, but to protect you." You explained.

"You don't need to though! I'm way stronger than any of these fools!" He reassured you with that usual big grin of his.

"You haven't heard the threats, have you? Every corner I turn, someone has a new sneaky way to kill you. I stop them before they get the chance, but it's been hours of the same thing. I can't stand to hear your life get threatened so casually! I will throw myself in harm's way for you, not only because you're my captain, but because I love and care for you so intensely I refuse to let Kaido and his army of pricks take you from me!" You blurted out.

Luffy just stared at you, processing your words. He was a little slow on the uptake, but he got it. Unfortunately, he was slow enough for you to keep rambling, giving him no room to respond as you babbled on, still drunk on adrenaline and the desire to keep him safe.

"Do you know how many assassins I've just killed in the last ten minutes alone? At least forty! All of them screaming death threats with your name in between. It hurts so much to hear! Love has no damn place on the battlefield because of shit like this. Shit that makes it harder for me to protect you because all I can think about is failing to do so. I see you die in my mind over and over and I can't handle it anymore I-!"

"_____, you gotta stop. Like, now." Luffy interrupted, putting his hands on both of your shoulders. "I will not die. You will not die. I'm the man who's gonna be king of the pirates for crying out loud! I will defeat Kaido, and you'll live to see it. I promise. Just pull your head outta the ground and get on like the crewmate I know you are!" He encouraged.

You had stopped whimpering, but tears still streaked down your cheeks. Luffy was impossibly optimistic right now, and it was almost concerning that he was so confident in both himself and you. How could he do it? With all the negative pressure, just how could he do it?

"But how do you know you're gonna make it? How do you know I'll be there with you?" You questioned once more, still filled with disbelief.

"Well, it's simple. I'm the strongest one here!" He laughed shamelessly. "You should know that by now, _____. You're part of my hand selected crew! I'll make it because I'm strong, my crew is strong, and your words are even stronger. I can't die, because I have a promise to keep with you now. Don't think your wording went unnoticed by me. That's something we'll be talking about once we get out of here. Alive."

You blinked at him, and finally all your tears stopped. Your wet cheeks were now occupied by a hot blush, only now just processing exactly what you had said. It just sort of came out of your mouth in the heat of the moment, so it was too late for a coverup. Not that you would need one though. He seemed to be reacting quite positively.

""I-I'm sorry I... I didn't mean to... say that yet..."

"Don't be sorry, _____. I'm stupid, but I'm not dumb. Now if it'll get your ass back on the battlefield with confidence, I'll tell ya I've been thinkin' the same thing recently! We're just a little... busy!" He informed you all while gesturing to the fire that surrounded you.

"O-oh. You... Oh."

"Yes, yes I do! So! Get your ass back in gear! We have a war to win! You're a Strawhat for crying out loud!" He yelled with a smile.

He gave you a strong hug and a pat on the back after that. He looked down at you with confidence, completely unbothered by anything around him. It was just you and him in this moment, and once you took his words into consideration, you couldn't help but beam.

"Alright! I'll keep it stable down here! Go, and come back alive god dammit!" You screamed, straightening up.

Luffy bounced up a set of broken stairs to continue on his path to the roof. He threw a thumbs up at you while you dusted yourself off, running on newfound confidence.

"You can't die, alright?! I'll fuckin' kill you if you die!" You added on.

"I'd believe that!" He laughed. "I'll see you again when we win, _____! You have to live too!"

"I promise!"

ANd like that, he was gone. Luffy pursued the roof of Kaido's lair once more, leaving you in the flaming inferno below. There was still work to be done, so you pressed on and got back to the matter you were assigned to: keeping you, and the crew, and the samurai safe. You could do it, and you would do it. After all, you had to live if it meant finding out if he would live too.

Love may not have an appropriate place on the battlefield, but just this once... perhaps it gave you just enough direction to keep going.