Chapter 2 | "Accompany me."

Now, some might ask: Why was she being friendly to Captain Kuro of the Black Cat Pirates in the middle of the night?

Well, it started about a week ago, the day when they arrived at Syrup Village, which was also the day that she laid her eyes on him.

"Now, please leave, all of you."

Scarlett, or 'Scar' as Luffy prefers to call her, calmly stood by a window, where a young, blonde girl was bedridden.

She had idly listened to the exchange between Usopp and Klahadore as she stared unblinkingly at the latter, trying to remember just from where she recognized the man. She took note of how he abnormally uses the heel of his palm to adjust his glasses. It was almost as though he had something on his fingers, or rather used to have something on them. But then if that's the case—

"—Do I need to call the guards on you?" A low voice threatened, pulling her out of her thoughts. Scarlett blinked in surprise and noticed that the man was now looking straight at her. She looked around to see that the others had already left the premise, leaving her with a sobbing, young lady and a glaring butler.

Sighing, Scarlett gave them a curt bow before kicking her leg fast enough to move at an inhuman speed, "Soru." She whispered.

The two residents were left stunned as she vanished from the grounds, only to reappear on the other side of the island, on top of a cliff. A screech of horror greeted her, followed by the tattle tale laugh of Luffy. "Wha–Wha–What was that?!" She heard someone shriek from behind a tree, while Luffy merely laughed.

"Shishishi. Scar! Hey, Scar!" The rubber boy called as he walked up to the long-nosed boy, who was hiding behind the tree, "Remember Yasopp? The one who always talks about his son?" Scarlett tilted her head in thought for a moment before giving him an affirmative nod. Luffy yanked Usopp out of his hiding place and patted his back, "Turns out, Usopp here is Yasopp's son! Isn't it neat?"

She hummed in wonder and gave a nod to her friend's son in greeting.

Not one to be rude, Usopp rushed to bow back and stuttered out, "A–Ah, it's nice to meet you too."

Luffy laughed at Usopp's sudden change of behaviour. "You're very funny, Usopp." He grinned, making the other boy smile bashfully, before starting on a funny tale that he remembered about Yasopp.

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"—And then he fell asleep!"

"Just like that?!" Usopp asked in disbelief. His eyes had been growing wider and wider as the story went, that by the time it ended, they're almost as big as saucers.

"Shishishi! Yeah, I was surprised too!" Luffy chuckled, looking up at the sky. Somewhere along the tale, he had laid on his back, using his arms to cushion his head. Scarlett listened with half an ear as she sat under the lone tree on the cliff. Her mind was still whirling around the identity of that butler but even with the mild hint of him used to have something on his fingers, she was still unable to come up with a name.

By the time the sun sets, Luffy and Usopp parted ways with a promise to meet the next day so Luffy could share more stories about Usopp's father.

The sole reason as to why the Straw Hats were still docked at the village was because Luffy's adamant to get a new and much more bigger pirate ship before they set off to a new island. And that was why, Scarlett found herself back at the same back on the cliff during her midnight walk. She wasn't feeling like sleeping early but she also didn't want to accidentally wake the others up, hence the walk.

What she didn't expect was for anyone from the village to still be out of their houses during this late of night. Scarlett walked into the clearing, deliberately revealing her presence so to not to scare the villager.

"Good eve—"

CLANK!!

Scarlett had barely managed out a greeting when the figure turned on their feet. In a flash, her sword was in her hand as it clashed against the blades of her opponent's. She let out a comprehending hum when the moonlight shone upon both of their faces. Her assailant clicked his tongue and jumped away when it was obvious that Scarlett had enough strength to stand her ground. "Ah yes, I remember now." Scarlett mused to herself, "The Captain of the Black Cat Pirates. No wonder you seemed so familiar, Butler-san."

Kuro stared at her with a blank expression. "So you've heard of me." He remarked, using the heel of his right hand to adjust his glasses back in place.

The hood shifted slightly when she tilt her head, "Well, I can't really say that I know your name, but I do remember enough to know that you were quite notorious in the East Blue."

Kuro narrowed his eyes at her. "Yet you still dare to confront me. Why?" He waited for the hooded figure to explain but the lack of a response had him clenching hit jaw. "So you have a death wish, very well then." Kuro began walking faster and faster towards the woman, "I shall grant you that wish!"

Scarlett let out a sigh. All she wanted was a peaceful walk. But she suppose that it can't be helped.

The sound of metal against metal echoed in the dark as Scarlett calmly blocked every hit Kuro was sending her. Swing after swing, Kuro came at her with the intent to maim, kill, hurt, yet somehow none of his attacks landed. It took him an hour to admit that they were at a stand still. The more Kuro attacked, the more obvious that he stood no chance against his current opponent while Scarlett on the other hand...

"Why won't you fight?!" Kuro gritted in frustration at the woman who hadn't budged since she arrived. The following silence only frustrated him more, spurring him into more harried attacks. He took no notice of his rapidly dulling blade.

If he couldn't subdue her now, his plans would fail.

If his plans fail, he would be back on the run with those idiots who he doesn't trust to have his back.

CLANK!!

It was at that last attack when Kuro's claws finally gave in and broke, blades of metal flinging dangerously into someplace he couldn't see properly due to the darkness. Fortunately, they were in the middle of the forest, which meant that no harm was done.

Letting out a sigh in the face of defeat, Kuro slumped in his place, his face twisted with frustration. He walked back towards the edge cliff and sat himself down, gazing down to the village just as he had been when she'd first found him.

"Go ahead and kill me already." Kuro said in a tone that had Scarlett tilt her head in intrigue. It was drastically different from his prior fiery behaviour, as though a flip had been switched and drained all of his spirit along with it. He just sounded tired at that moment.

When she made no move nor sound, Kuro continued, "I know when I've been outmatched. Just get it over with."

At that, Scarlett approached him slowly, but instead of complying, she merely plopped down beside him, shifting into a comfortable position by leaning on a rather large boulder nearby. She got a bewildered glance from him but she just kept silent.

Kuro pretended as though she wasn't there.

The next night, Scarlett went to the same cliff to find that he was also there. She took a seat beside him and kept silent.

It went on for another day before Kuro finally broke and asked what her deal was.

"Nothing." She said simply.

Then he asked why she didn't kill him the other day.

"Is there a reason that I should?" She retorted. "Unless you stand in my way, I am not going to wreck whatever it is you are planning to do, so relax."

Scarlett ignored the inscrutable look Kuro sent her.

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The next night weren't as quiet.

When they were not silently looking down at the village, Scarlett and Kuro filled the air with short, idle chatter.

It was just some simple things — how the weather that day was like, what the cloud over there looked like, how the wind was pleasantly blowing the bugs away. Though occasionally, Scarlett would ask him something hypothetical to get his gear going — what would it be if he was a crew member rather than a captain, what would he be doing if he's still out in the sea, and for the heck of it, what would happen if he was a marine.

Then the last night came and now, here we are.

It was only when Scarlett couldn't feel Zoro's presence anymore did she comment, "Well, the cat's out of the bag."

Pun intended or not, Kuro merely hummed.

It was a while before Scarlett spoke up again, "What is your purpose for doing this?"

It was a simple question and he only needed to tell her his motives to answer. He could have gone with the obvious one, wealth and status. But he didn't. He thought about it for some time and answered, "Stability."

Though intrigued, Scarlett stayed quiet to let him elaborate.

"I suppose I've gotten tired of being on the run." Kuro admitted, his glasses glinting in the moonlight as he tilted his head upwards, "The pirate life in reality is different from what I had imagined. And with my subordinates always pushing me to fight all our battles instead of fighting together, I became bitter. Perhaps even frustrated."

He didn't know why he's spilling all of his thoughts to this woman. Perhaps it was because she had spared his life, perhaps it was because he had become comfortable in the last days, or perhaps it was because he thought that he wouldn't meet her again. He honestly didn't know, but it's too late to stop now.

"At one point, I started taking it out on my own crew." Kuro gritted, with a hint of regret so faint that if Scarlett hadn't been listening closely, she would've missed it. "Then one time, I came to to realize that I actually almost killed off one."

"And then, you faked your own death and came here." Scarlett concluded.

Exhaling through her nose, Scarlett thought about what to say. "I don't think you're a good captain to your crew." She said honestly. "You are a named pirate sure, but it doesn't mean that you're a good captain. You don't actually care for the well-being of the crew who, despite their incompetence, trusted you with with their lives and you said so yourself, you only care for the delusion that you made up, giving up when you realize that the life of a captain was not as you expected."

It seemed that he silently agreed with her words as Kuro did nothing to contradict her statement.

In all honesty, when Scarlett looks at the man, she only had one word in mind — Tired. He's tired of his crew, he's tired of being a captain, he's tired of being on the run, he's tired of being chased for a bounty, he's tired of feeling that he is the only one that he could trust. Basically, he is tired of just about everything.

And that thought was probably what prompted the proposition in the first place.

"Accompany me."

Eyeing her in suspicion, Kuro quirked an eyebrow at her sudden invitation. "Are you stupid? Do you not hear yourself?" He scoffed, "You are contradicting your own words."

"I said that you're a bad captain, I didn't say that you'd a bad crewman." Scarlett retorted cheekily, she could feel a smirk growing from beneath her mask. "And I can attest that you make a good companion. These last few nights had been calming and engaging." That earned a surprised glance from the pirate, unable to mask his expressions at the sudden confession.

"And I think you have an idea of my strength," Scarlett added when he kept silent, "I can promise to protect you on the journey should you decide to come along. You won't have to do chores nor fight for me since I only want your company."

Standing up, Scarlett started making her way back to the boat as the sun was starting to rise, "Just think about it."

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Settled in the nook of a nearby tree, Scarlett passively watched as the two sides went at it.

She watched as the Straw Hats chaotically fought the Black Cats and somehow seemed to be on the winning side.

She watched as Kuro appeared and decided to take matters into his own hand.

She watched as Kuro showed incredible speed and stealth with his Stealth Foot even after his enemy figured out how it works.

She watched as his slashes expertly avoided the Black Cat crew despite the speech he gave about using them as disposable tools.

She watched as Luffy headbutt Kuro into unconsciousness, then watched as the latter got abandoned by the very crew he tried to discard.

Having seen enough, Scarlett leaped over towards Kuro's unconscious form, surprising the others still present in the scene of the battle. She hefted him over her shoulder and glanced up the hill where Zoro and Usopp had just came back with Kaya and three boys in tow.

Zoro was quick to unsheat his swords and took up a stance while Usopp fumbled with his slingshot. Nami stood frozen, hiding the haul she had behind her.

Luffy merely tilted his head curiously and asked "Are you going to help him, Scar?"

Scarlett nodded in response.

Nodding as though he understood, Luffy gave her a thumbs up, "Okay, then!" He said, gaining incredulous looks from all around.

With that, she vanished from the hillside.

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Scarlett: *Saying that Kuro is a bad captain who doesn't care about his crew*
Kuro: "Yeah, sounds like me."
Scarlett: "So, accompany me on this journey."
Kuro: "Huh?!"
Scarlett: *Slyly* "I said bad captain, but not a bad companion."
Kuro: *deadpan* "Are you stupid?"
Scarlett: "Not like you can hurt me. I'll even protect you, come onnnn."
Also Scarlett: *Watched Kuro getting beaten by Luffy*

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Sooo, what do you think about Scarlett inviting Kuro?

Do you think he'll accept it? Refuse it? Or maybe refuse it now, then meet them later only to accept it? :o

And what do you think about their conversation? I hope I didn't stray Kuro's character that much that he seemed OOC, though I did twist a bit of his actions soooo, yeah.

Anyways!

Next Chapter: "She's your– What?!"

J Out!