Ameliorate ✦ One Piece

53

Akira walked through the main cabin of the ship, making her way for the kitchen where she could hear the sound of metallic scraping. She was just about ready to question Sanji's dedication to his knives as she stepped into the space only to find it wasn't him but only Zoro occupying it.

"You should keep these sharp." There was no greeting or questions, he didn't even glance up from the dagger he was scraping against the sharpening stone.

"Hello to you too." So, Akira took the act of having manners upon herself as she walked over to the table, eyeing the familiar black blade curiously. "Please tell me you didn't sneak into my room in the middle of the night to take that?" She questioned, eyes going down to the belt at her waist and counting the daggers adorning it.

There were a few empty spaces, two for those she had stashed in her boots, and one for the dagger she'd lost during the fight in Whiskey Peak. But no others were missing.

"I picked it up." Zoro knew she'd reach the conclusion of where the dagger came from as he watched her count the ones on her person. "You should keep track of them."

"Noted, oh great blade-master." Akira shook her head at the constant instructions, almost scolding-like in that dry tone of his. "Anything else to add or is it my turn?" But he wasn't the only one who had complaints disguised as instructions to share.

"Your turn?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Next time I ask where the rest of the crew is, you should tell me the truth." She sent him a rather pointed look, making it clear she had neither forgotten that detail nor let go of it just yet. And the big sigh he gave out at the words did little to make it happen.

"I found them," Zoro pointed out. And in response Akira just tilted her head, rather unimpressed with the defence. And once he became aware of it, Zoro rolled his eyes. "Fine." He relented, knowing that if he stayed silent too long he'd be in for it then.

"Lovely." She smiled now like nothing even happened, satisfied with the newfound acceptance he was displaying. "Now that we've gotten that out of the way, wanna explain the assassin we seem to be friends with?"

"Nami made the deal." Zoro's explanation wasn't really much of one. However, Akira was momentarily distracted from it as he handed her back her dagger now that he'd deemed it sharp enough again.

"Thanks." She took it from his hands, stashing it away back at her belt. "I'm gonna go figure out more about this deal." Akira decided a second later, pushing away from the table and heading for the door which led to the deck of the ship.

By now she was familiar enough with the sound of Zoro's swords moving around to be able to tell he got up to follow after her. Both left the kitchen behind as they made their way out, warmth hitting Akira's skin as soon as she walked through the door. She looked around, easily spotting Usopp and Sanji in the midst of a heated discussion about Sanji's chances with the twin assassins who'd tricked the pair of them last night.

But Nami and Luffy were the two focused on what Akira thought more important, standing off to the side and looking to one of the upper decks. The blue haired assassin stood there, alone and tinkering with a white piece of cloth in her hands while she stared out to sea with an unfocused gaze.

"So, you got your fight?" Luffy asked as he noticed Zoro make his way to their captain's side.

"I did." While Akira wasn't entirely sure what they were talking about, she didn't linger on it. From the way he'd been counting the opponents he'd defeated, even without context, it had been clear that whatever happened at Whisky Peak was something he needed. "Did you figure out what your gut was telling you about her?"