His Shadow (One Piece | Reverse Harem)

Chapter 8 | "Do not waste your black blade on the weak."

Chapter 8 | "Do not waste your black blade on the weak."

"I reckon that we'll depart soon to catch up with the ship. If you're still bored, would you like to come along with us? I'd like to hear more stories about ol' Heartbreaker."

The request was not one Mihawk had ever considered. However, it didn't seem all too bad, either. He never had companions whenever he went on a voyage, so it was intriguing to see what it would be like.

"I do have some time to spare." The man mused.

Scarlett blinked at his answer, as though not expected the positive response.

"Okay, great!" She chirped happily, "Then please wait here, Eyes-san. I'm going to check on a couple of things."

She left her seat as soon as he agreed. Though before going out to see her brother, Scarlett made a small detour towards the upstairs balcony, where two chefs had taken Ghin, the Krieg underling who were amiable with Sanji and Luffy, to get some fresher air in effort to combat the poison in his circulation, given by his own captain.

Looking at the pitiful sight in front of her, Scarlett made a half-hearted decision and took out a small vial from a hidden pocket on her coat.

"I have a strong antidote that works on even the most vile poison in the seas." Her sudden statement caught three of the men's attentions before her. "I am certain the it'd be helpful for your case. If you follow me, I'll give it to you." Scarlett offered, rather apathetically.

Dumbfounded, the two chefs and the pirate just stared at her. They kept at it until she started wiggling the vial back and forth. "So? What do you say?" Scarlett prompted, "I don't have all day."

As she expected, the man refused her offer. The reason being that he didn't want to betray the Krieg Pirate even after all the things he suffered because of his captain. Nevertheless, she still threw the antidote at him, uncaring whether they actually caught it. One of the chefs fumbled for it, panicking when it slipped out of his grasp, when he realized that it's sturdier than it looked.

"If the crew is what you care for, then ditch that sorry excuse of a captain and meet us in the Grand Line." Scarlett's tone was obviously challenging the man to take charge, and she could see him actually contemplating the notion.

Satisfied with the outcome, she left them at the balcony and finally went to check on her brother.

✧⁠◝⁠(⁠⁰⁠▿⁠⁰⁠)⁠◜⁠✧

After a few hours of a badly staged-drama from the cooks of Baratie, Sanji finally relented and joined the Straw Hats, and Scarlett found herself getting into Mihawk's Hitsugibune.

"Now that I know where you are, I'll be sure to visit in the future, Chef-san!" Scarlett promised Zeff, shouting over the crying chefs. "And don't worry about Swirly-chan, he's in good hands!"

It was subtle, but the woman could see the old man nodding at her assurance.

With that, they were off.

"Now that I think about it, I don't think we've formally exchanged names, Eyes-san. My name is Scarlett." Scarlett suddenly said, sitting on the edge of the coffin-like boat. "Ah, and I hope you don't mind me letting Kitty-kun join us. He's with me."

Mihawk merely nodded in response, but not before giving Kuro a calculating once-over. "It's of no problem, Scarlett, Kitty."

Kuro's eye twitched. The only thing holding him back from acting upon his immediate wish to throttle the man before him was his awareness of the drastic imbalance of power between them. So, instead, he went for the non-fighting route.