𝙈𝙔 𝙋𝙄𝙍𝘼𝙏𝙀 𝙃𝙐𝙉𝙏𝙀𝙍, 𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙘𝙚 (𝙡𝙖)

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑: 𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐍𝐎 𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐒

When you wake up, the first thing you see is Luffy proudly raising a flag.

"It's ready!" Luffy yells with excitement.

You rub your eyes and sit up, squinting at the flag. "And what is that?" you ask, still groggy.

"Our Jolly Roger! Every pirate crew has to have one. And now we do!" Luffy says, beaming with pride.

"We're not a crew, and you're not hanging that on my boat," Nami says sternly, crossing her arms.

You smirk and glance at her. "Well, technically, you can't say it's your boat, Nami. This boat doesn't belong to you."

Zoro emerges from the cabin, still half-asleep. "Zoro! Zoro! Check it out!" Luffy runs over to him, holding up the flag. "The girls don't like it, and I don't understand why!"

Zoro stares at the poorly drawn skull and crossbones, clearly unimpressed. "That's... unique," he says, giving Luffy a half-hearted thumbs-up as he sits down next to you.

Zoro stretches and then looks over at you. "Red hair, I think the toilet's busted."

You raise an eyebrow. "Green hair, we don't have a toilet."

Zoro blinks in confusion. "Oh. Well... something back there's leaking," he says, pointing vaguely toward the back of the boat.

Nami's eyes widen, and she bolts to check. "We're taking in water! What did you do?!" she demands, glaring at Zoro.

"I didn't do anything," Zoro replies, holding his hands up defensively.

"The way you're always clanging those swords around, you must've broken something!" Nami accuses.

You sigh and roll your eyes. "Why are you blaming Zoro? Can't a boat just break and take in water on its own? We'll stop at the first village we see and get a new one. I don't see the problem."

Zoro nods in agreement. "Maybe you should've stolen a better boat," he mutters, casting a sidelong glance at Nami.

Nami glares at him but doesn't respond, clearly annoyed.

"Guys. Guys. Guys!" Luffy interrupts, waving his arms. "Okay, crew meeting!"

"We're not a crew," the three of you say in unison.

Luffy doesn't seem to care. "We're gonna need a better ship to make it to the Grand Line. A real pirate ship. One worthy of the Straw Hat Crew!"

"Wait, Straw Hat Crew? Really?" Nami asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah! I thought it had a nice ring to it," Luffy says, looking proud.

"'Demon' has a nice ring to it, Headgear," Zoro chimes in, smirking. "Not scary."

Luffy shrugs. "Who says pirates have to be scary?"

You give him a look, one that screams Are you serious?

"The point is, we need a new ship," Luffy continues, brushing off Zoro's comment. He turns to you. "So, where do we get one, Akane?"

You pull out the Grand Line map and scan it briefly. "Our closest bet is the Gecko Islands. We can probably make it there before our ship sinks. Ditch this one and get a better one."

"Good. With a working toilet," Zoro adds dryly.

Luffy grins. "Great job, Red Hair!" He musses your hair playfully.

"Hey! Stop it!" You try to grab his hand, but he stretches his arm out of reach and drops you, making everyone laugh.

When you finally arrive at the Gecko Islands, you, Luffy, Zoro, and Nami take a break after securing the ship. You sit on the ground, while Luffy lies on his back with his feet resting on a nearby wall.