The Blind Brawler [ Roronoa Zoro X OC]

Chapter 14

"Are you serious!" Luffy exclaimed, his voice brimming with joy and excitement.

"Yeah," I smiled, "I accept your offer. I'm gonna join your crew!" The rubber man cheered loudly, joined quickly by Usopp and Sanji.

Nami ran up and hugged me, startling me as she squealed in delight, "I can't believe it! We finally have another girl on the crew!" She let me go and held me at arm's length, "This is the best news I've gotten all day!" I chuckled nervously as the pirates continued to dance around happily.

"This calls for a celebration! Sanji! Food!" Luffy cried out.

The chef screamed at him, "Idiot! You ate all of my Blue Fin Tuna! We don't have enough food for a party right now!"

I laughed as they began to bicker. When I told them my decision, I did not expect such a joyous reaction. Things will be different on board now, but, as far as I could tell, that is a good thing.

A man's impatient cough caught our attention and the other pirate's celebration died down. A woman's frustrated voice followed, "Excuse me? I'm sorry to interrupt... whatever this is, but we should get going!"

I scowled at the direction of Miss Wednesday's voice as her partner spoke, "Indeed! If we want to reach Whiskey Peak before it gets dark we need to set sail right away!"

Anger etched into my face as I stormed over to them, "And who the hell put either of you in charge?!"

Luffy cut me off before I could continue, "It's fine, Kaori! I told them we would take them home."

"You can't be serious!" I gaped at the rubber man, "They were trying to kill Laboon!"

"Yeah, but they said they wouldn't anymore. Besides, Whiskey Peak sounds like a place we can get good food!" He began laughing.

I sighed, knowing a captain's order was absolute, "Well, at least we are taking them away from Laboon so they can't try anything," I turned back to them, my voice icy, "Alright, you two. I will only say this once, so listen up," They squeaked in fear and I scowled, "If either of you tries to step out of line, I will not hesitate to send both of you to the ocean floor. No funny business, understand?"

"Y-yes, ma'am!" They whimpered in unison.

We all boarded the Going Merry to prepare for departure. After the anchor was raised and the sails were unfurled, we said our goodbyes to Crocus and Laboon, promising to return soon. Sanji ducked back into the cabin with the kitchen, growling about Luffy eating all of 'Nami and Kaori's' lunch. Luffy and Usopp went back to their normal routine of generally goofing off while Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday went into the cabin to stay out of everyone's way. Nami checked and double-checked our heading before confidently going to weed her tangerine garden. Zoro had fallen asleep, his snores could be heard over the soft crash of the waves.

As for me, I continued to explore the layout of the caravel. I no longer needed Nami's help to get around the ship anymore, but I was still moving too cautiously for my liking, "If this is the ship I will be calling my home, I need to be able to move around it quickly and efficiently. I can't be stumbling around if we fall under attack."

We sailed along like this for a few hours, stopping once to have a late lunch that Luffy was not allowed to join. The captain was in a sour mood for a while after that, but his pouting was replaced with cheerful shouts in an instant, "Hey! It's snowing!"

Sure enough, the temperature plummeted and fat, fluffy snowflakes were quickly covering the deck. My fingers worked the knot out of the sash around my waist and I wrapped the strip of cloth around my neck. Nami and I ducked into the girl's room to change into something a bit more fitting for the cold.