Boy With a Scar

Chapter 26: The Town of the Beginning and the End

Five teenagers stood before the entrance arch, staring at the plate attached to the top that proclaimed the town's name in carved letters.

Loguetown was big, bustling, and seemed to be much more developed than the villages and towns any of them had visited before. Buildings that stood several stories tall towered everywhere, and between them were paved streets packed with people of all sorts.

Luffy's gaze flickered here and there, a wide grin slowly growing on his face. He felt excited. "I want to see it," he declared suddenly, catching his crew's attention. "The view the Pirate King saw before his death, the place where the Great Pirate Age started. See ya later!" And with that, he took off.

"Hey! We haven't decided on—huh?" Usopp blinked when he couldn't see the straw-hatted teen anymore. One moment he could still spot him and the next he vanished completely out of sight. He scratched his head. His captain had surprisingly low presence when he really wanted to. He shrugged, banishing the thought out of his mind as not worth the trouble. "Well, I'm gonna go buy some equipment for my upcoming great adventures!"

Sanji's nostrils flared, sniffing all the delicious smell of the food and perfume in the air. "I bet there are a lot of good places to stock up on food," he said. A moment later, he murmured something under his breath, too quiet to hear in the noise, but if the giggle that followed was any indication, it was definitely something lewd.

"I need to go to a weapon store," Zoro admitted grimly, glancing down at his single katana. "Santoryu won't work with just one sword."

Nami's face lit up with an overly honest and innocent grin. "Oh? You don't have any money, right? I can lend you some." Her voice, on the contrary, was way too smug and suave to be remotely virtuous. "With interest, that is."

Zoro grimaced at being the target of that sly, business-like attitude. Unfortunately, he had no real choice in the matter. "Tch," he grunted. "Fine."

"Wonderful!" The navigator clapped her hands in glee. She reached for the pouch of beli, but noticed the other two males already starting to wander off on their own. "Sanji-kun, wait! I'm coming with you!" she immediately called out, hurrying to catch up with the cook.

And that left the swordsman behind without his promised money. "Oi!"

"Pick out your swords first, send me the bill!" Nami yelled to him over her shoulder.

Soon, Zoro was the only one left standing at the entrance. "Damn witch..." he grumbled under his breath. He scratched his head, thinking on what to do now, but then just shrugged. "I guess I'll go and look around."

xxx

Sanji put a new cigarette into his mouth and shot a fleeting look at their lovely navigator, walking right next to him. They were strolling without saying a word for a while now. "What's wrong, Nami-san?" he asked.

"Ah? Nothing! I just—" the girl floundered. After a moment, she sighed and fixed the cook with an intense stare. "Did Luffy tell you what happened to him?"

Sanji's finger hesitated on the ignition mechanism of his lighter. "Not exactly," he replied as he flicked it. The fire flared up without a problem and he let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He half expected it to not work again. "But I can guess what happened to him. Not in details, but..."

When he trailed off, Nami furrowed her brow. Seeing that her nakama wasn't going to continue, she quietly asked, "It's something similar to my situation, isn't it?"

The blond blew the smoke out, observing how it dispersed in the air. He offered no comment this time.

The thief drew her own conclusions from his silence. "Maybe something even worse..." she whispered, crossing her arms and rubbing them lightly to stave off the sudden chilly feeling that prickled her skin.