Two Hearts

Family Business

Life in the town seemed to be moving forward normally. There was an investigation by the local police into Grama Grey's disappearance, but no evidence was found. As far as anyone was concerned, she had simply up and walked away.

A notable of the town, Tanner James, had also been declared missing. Though the search for him was more involved, his family begged police to cease the investigation when ties with Sam Herman, suspected human trafficker, became apparent.

The crew had determined that no one either knew or cared that they were in town, and Trafalgar had, reluctantly, agreed to stay for a while and let them stretch their legs. The only downside was that someone had to stay with Aisuru if she wanted to go into town. He didn't want to have to chase her down again. "It's a drain on my medical supplies." he had groused.

It was Bepo's day to babysit, and he agreed to take her shopping, as long as they got to go to the bookstore first. After several hours there, Aisuru had gotten bored of memorizing dog training books, and had taken to watching the bear scour the store for a new book series.

Aisuru leaned back in the overstuffed arm chair, watching Bepo carefully count his beries. He was on the floor in front of a bookshelf full of manga, with all his money in front of him. He recounted, a little frantically. He looked up at her with teary eyes. "Aisuru, lend me two hundred bery? I can't buy the whole series without it..."

She laughed and shook her head. "I still need new clothes and a pillow. Maybe if I have anything left, okay?"

"But... But... I'll be a book short..." He whimpered. "Sorry, I'm so sorry..."

"Come on, Bepo." Aisuru hopped to her feet and stretched. It felt nice to be able to move without feeling her stitches getting tight. "Let's go see what kind of clothing stores they have, and I'll pick the cheapest."

"Okay..." He lumbered after her with a final glance at the series, "Plastic Hearts".

They meandered through town, stopping to pet every dog on the way. Bepo pointed out a second hand clothing store, and they made their way inside. "I need a new wetsuit," Aisuru asked the nearest uniformed person. "Preferably white, but I'll take grey as well." She eyed him somewhat suspiciously.

"Ah," He shook his head, leaning back against the checkstand. "We don't have any right now, sorry. Why do you need something so specific?" He had his hands in the pockets of his green and grey uniform, serious expression on his square face.

She shrugged. "I just prefer it." Bepo wandered over to the jewelry counter, looking with an open mouth. Aisuru was sure he was out of earshot. "By the way, do you make it a habit to sell movie tickets at one hundred times the cost, or was that only for Sam?"

He sucked in a breath through clenched teeth. "You can leave."

"We all have to make money," she reasoned, resting her arms on either side of him and lowering her voice. "You're such a hard working man, keeping two jobs! So good looking, too. Just like Sam. It would be a pity to see that pretty face of yours cut in half..."

He swallowed hard, glancing around for help. Throughout the rows and rows of well organized clothing racks, not a single person came to his aide. It seemed that the rest of the employees were busy folding clothes or chatting with other customers. "I wouldn't make threats, little girl," he hissed, glowering down at her.

Aisuru leaned into him, licking her lips, "How much would you have made, if Sam had lived? If I had made it to auction?" She traced hearts on his exposed forearm. "Or, if you had given me back to Doffy? Would you have been rewarded with Sam?" His devil fruit powers felt like thick slime on her skin, suffocating her pores. It was nearly as strong of a feeling as Law's.