beloved daughter of the sea

a friend's treachery

When you woke up, you were still leaning on the ship railing outside, your body aching from the awkward position you had fallen asleep in. Zeff was standing over you, his face stern, arms crossed. The sight of his disapproving glare made you immediately jump to your feet, bowing deeply in apology.

"I'm sorry for sleeping on the clock, Zeff!" you said, your voice filled with genuine remorse.

To your surprise, his serious facade melted away, and he let out a hearty guffaw, ruffling your hair with his large hand. "Don't worry about it, lass! As long as you train the new chore boy, you're out of trouble."

Chore boy? You furrowed your brows, trying to recall if there had been any mention of a new chore boy recently. The last you remembered, there wasn't anyone new on the Baratie—the only one running errands was you. You were about to ask Zeff what he meant when he suddenly pulled up a scruffy-looking boy by the back of his collar.

The boy raised a hand in greeting, a carefree smile on his face. "Yo."

Zeff grunted, his grip firm on the boy's collar. "This is the new chore boy. He's a mess and a bringer of misfortune, but he has to pay for the damage he's done, so he's working here for a year."

At that, the boy started struggling in Zeff's grasp, his carefree demeanour quickly turning to panic. "Hey, what do you mean a year?! I thought we agreed on only one week?!"

"WE NEVER AGREED THAT, IDIOT!" Zeff barked back, his booming voice echoing across the deck.

You sweatdropped as you watched the exchange, realising that this boy, as chaotic as he seemed, was now your responsibility. You stiffened your resolve—you'd dealt with countless demigod children before, and some of them had powers! You could handle a teenage boy with none.

"O...kay, I'll handle him, Zeff," you said, your voice firm.

"Hm, good. I'll leave him to you then," Zeff replied, dropping the boy onto the deck with a thud before turning and walking back into the kitchen.

You beckoned the boy—Luffy, as he introduced himself—to follow you as you made your way to the dining hall, mentally preparing yourself for the challenge ahead. As you descended the stairs, you heard a female voice call out.

"Chore boy!"

Luffy turned and leaned over the railing, looking down to where the voice had come from. "What are you doing?" he asked, his curiosity evident.

A boy with a strangely shaped nose answered, "We heard you had to work here for a whole year!"

Then a green-haired man chimed in, "Is it okay if we redraw the flag for the ship?"

In a rage, Luffy bolted down the stairs to the table where his crewmates sat, leaving you standing alone at the top of the stairs.

"UGH! You're eating all this delicious food without me?! What kind of crew are you?! How could you do this to me?!" Luffy exclaimed, his voice filled with betrayal as he confronted his crewmates.

Since it seemed like the boy and his "crew" knew each other well, you decided to give him a brief break and picked up the orders for some other tables before pulling him back to work.

As you served table by table, you finally made it back to where Luffy was. His crew was laughing at him, and you couldn't help but wonder what had happened to leave him on the floor.

Before you could ask, Sanji rapidly approached you, his usual charming smile in place. "Y/N-sama! Why are you serving instead of taking a break? You were sleeping because you were tired earlier, right?! Please, you must rest!" He knelt on the ground and kissed your hand, his affection always so over the top.