𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 { 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 | 𝟏 }

Chapter 2:An arranged what now?

She's thunderstorms

-Arctic Monkeys (She's Thunderstorms)

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Third pov

The Mardelna home was a traditional Japanese mansion. It was what Mardelna Akira requested in the past, when he first became the head of the Mardelna mob. After the mansion was built, the people of the Grand Line couldn't tell if Mr Akira was either really into traditional Japanese culture, or was just a picky architectural snob.

Kora thought that it was the latter.

As Kora floated through the mansion towards the meeting room, whenever she and Anahera came across a servant, they would bow to acknowledge her presence. Then once they were out of her sights, they would carry on with their duties as servants. It was often that Kora found that she wanted to talk with them, but Akira was a very impatient man.

"I will be waiting out here if you need anything, Lady Kora." Anahera bowed. "Thank you, Anahera."

Kora opened the paper sliding doors. The guards all stood as soon as Kora entered the room. She silently walked towards where her Father sat: On his throne. However, red and gold silk provided cover over his throne, so that his appearance was shrouded in darkness.

Kora bowed to her Father, "Greetings, Father." Akira spoke, his voice Dignified and Diplomatic, "Kora," He said, "I see that you are early. Ten minutes early to be precise." She held back a spiteful comment, by digging her nail into her finger tip. "Anahera told me that the meeting was regarding a new ally, of course I was going to be early." She quipped, "New allies are important to us, after all." Vaguely, she could see Akira incline his head, "That is true. Take a seat while we wait for our ally."

Despite hate being told what to do, she took her seat on a large purple pillow on the floor. She hated sitting how she was: with her legs tucked in, so that her feet wouldn't be seen. She can recall the many times during meetings where she wanted to just stretch her legs and become a starfish, but she hated getting snapped at by Akira. She didn't find it scary, she just found it incredibly annoying.

'Whatever this meeting about better wrap up quick, I need to get over my hangover before he notices that I'm hungover.'

Later, Kora heard the paper sliding doors open, followed by the guards standing to respect the appearance of the ally mentioned. She followed suit and stood, making sure to not fall due to the sudden rush of blood flowing back through her body.

'No way...Father must be having a brain aneurysm if he thinks that we're allying with...'

Kora had to contain her surprise, as the infamous Whitebeard walked towards Akira's throne, a subordinate following close behind. The other individual was tall, broad, and had auburn hair that was styled into a pompadour, blue eyes, a stitched scar running down his face near his left eye, and a black goatee around his chin. She looked around about his age. For a moment, the two made momentary eye contact.

'Who is that guy though....he's kinda cute. What am I thinking, they're the enemy!!!'

Kora had to continuously dig her nails into her hand, to stop herself from yelling out of anger and confusion. It was a known fact that Mardelna Akira and Whitebeard are enemies. Whitebeard would often be the reason why Akira was always angry. She can recall him cursing the mighty figure, and wishing impeding death on him. So seeing him here, was a true shock horror for Kora.

'Why...why is he here?! He's our enemy! What is going on in Father's mind?! Has he forgotten everything that's happened?! But most importantly..why didn't he consult me first before going ahead with an alliance?!'

Whitebeard and the named individual took a seat next to Kora, signalling for everyone to be seated. Begrudgingly, Kora sat down. Akira stood, and emerged from his throne. He was doing quite well, despite being in his 50s. He had cruel black eyes, a black goatee, and greying purple hair. Whitebeard laughed, "Thank you for inviting me in, Akira." Akira smirked, "Thank you for coming, Whitebeard."

'Okay but seriously, what the fuck is going on?!'

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Kora pov

Whitebeard looked at me, "This must be your daughter that I've heard so much about." "Yes. Kora, I'd like for you to meet Whitebeard. He's going to be our ally from now on." Dad said. I bit back the urge to yell, "It's nice to meet you, Whitebeard." I greeted through gritted teeth. "And this is my son, Thatch." Whitebeard adds.

I looked over to the dude now known as Thatch, and saw that he was giving me a polite smile, "Hi, it's nice to meet ya." He greeted. I managed a confident smirk at him, "Heya."

'Well I guess if they're allies now, I can finally flirt with all those cute Whitebeard boys. Now that I think about it, since he's a part of their syndicate, how come I've never seen Thatch around before? Every girl knows of most of the Whitebeard boys, so how come I've never seen him before?!'

"Now...we must discuss." Dad started. "The matter at hand." He said. Father looked at me, "Kora, as you know, Whitebeard and I used to have...a lot of conflicts."

'A lot is an understatement.'

"But...we've decided to meet in the middle, and we found that we both agree on a lot of things. For example, we agree on uniting our syndicates..through a bond. Yes, it is true that we are now allies, but we want to strengthen that bond between us." Father said. Dread flooded through my system. I don't like where this is going at all. "And so we both decided, for you to marry this young man here."

My jaw fell slack, and I didn't bother in hiding it.

'No. Fucking. Way.'

Thatch was the one to talk, "Wait what?!" He exclaimed. "We hardly know each other!" I exclaim. "That's why we're having you two to be married a couple years after you both finish at high school." Whitebeard said. "Why can't you guys just...be friends, and forget about the marriage?" Thatch asked. "Because we want to make sure that neither of us will betray each other, it's so that we can ensure that our alliance stays." Father adds.

"Thatch is also transferring to your school, so that the two of you brats can at least get to know each other first." Whitebeards adds. I could feel my anger bubbling, but I took a calming deep breath. "Isn't there another way?" I asked my anger and annoyance becoming clear from my voice. "No-Kora, where are you going? Kora!"

Despite hearing my Father yell for me, I kept walking. I knew that the guards can't touch me, so I was free to just walk out on my own. If they tried to stop me, I could drop them. I threw open the doors, and saw Anahera sitting.

"Anahera, I'm going out." I said abruptly. "Do you want me to tell the Master that you're in your room?" Anahera asked. I shook my head, "No, I don't want you to get into trouble." I sighed deeply, "Just tell him I'll be back later."

By later, I meant midnight.