All the underdogs in the world

A day may come when we lose

But it is not today

Today 

we 

fight!

No not today

언젠가 꽃은 지겠지

But no, not today!

~~~

"No way." Vivi clasped her mouth with her hand. The reaction made the insides of my stomach squeeze in unison.

"You are not serious. Right?" Nami turn towards me, exasperation clear on her face. She swung me around, so her hands tightly rested on my biceps. "Y/n, please say he's kidding. It's a joke, right?" She pointed at the man, not tearing her appalled face from mine. "Like, it is no way... Isn't he a killer?"

"Nami, I-"

"You bastard!" Sabo launched ahead. If it weren't for Ace and Franky, the male would have ended up in a fight with Kid, and the end result would have been devastating. "What did you do to her?! I swear, if you touched just a single hair on her head, I'm going to blast that disgusting face of yours!"

Kid gave away an enigmatic smile. "You are? Well, let me demonstrate how you do it correctly then."

A stab of pain twisted through my abdomen. "Kid, stop!" I ran towards him and pushed him away from the blonde. "Don't!"

The male looked at me silently for a moment, dwelling on what I had done. He seemed conflicted, but then as he realized on whose side I was, his mouth bent.

"Why do you always have to starts a riot, Eustass-ya? It's like you are purposely staling. Killer, please restrain your boss. Without limitations, he'll likely kill half of my house residents." But before the masked man could reply, Sabo snapped.

He tugged the brothers from behind, which only ending up in a failed attempt to free himself. "Stop lying, it is no way she would be with someone like you!"

Relaxing his trembling arm, Kid expectedly looked down, however there wasn't the usual mischievous spark in his eyes. I hardly swallowed the gathered salvia without visibly struggling with my words.

If I were to deny my relationship with the redhead, everything that I had said that night would have been in vain. There was a possibility of ruining the progress we both had made till now. But on the other hand, there were my friends who were worried sick and witnessing my confession would certainly create a ubiquitous hassle.

"No, Kid wasn't lying, guys. He was telling the truth." I didn't know if I saw it correctly or not, but for a split second, Kid looked surprised, but perhaps it was just a part of my imagination. He wiped the expression carefully from his features. The same went for the blonde.

"Sabo..." I said, reaching to touch his shoulder. He moved quickly out of range and my outstretched hand fell to the side.

"Shit. He brainwashed her. No person in the right mind would think like that. They must have kept her looked somewhere for a week or so." Ace finally whispered. The regression of our conversation as more and more noticeable.

"No! Don't say that!"

"Were you forced into this?"

"No! It isn't anything like that!"

"That what was it, huh?" Sabo's lips thinned. "Do you think we will just magically believe that you actually feel something for the psycho over there?" His eyes softened when his eyes set back on mine. "Tell me honestly, Y/n."

The smell of the smoke coming out of the cigar invaded my nostrils. It was as if someone had put a piece of coal into my lungs. Looking at the man seriously inhaling the smoke, I wondered what had possessed him to involve himself in this talk.

"And what will you gain with all of this, boy? Don't forget, this is our territory and that we are the most wanted criminals. Even if that were the case, you don't have any actual power to stop us, do you?"

The entire room stiffened at the remark, whilst leaving the blonde perplexed. I didn't know how I couldn't see this before, but I finally realised the voluminous gap between us. Capone intentionally enunciated where we actually stood in comparison to them.

"Have you got gunpowder in your possession? Over hundred workers in each state? Traffickers between borders? Influence, connections, money.

The experience?" He took a deep drag and exhaled the smoke into the air, watching it disappear in the cloud of smoke above. "I believe not. You're just a kid."

"What was our shitty brother thinking when he joined you guys?!" Spat Ace, his forehead wrinkling from the inhaled grey stench.

It was the orange-head's time to react. "Wait, what?! Your brother works for them? Marco or Thatch?"

"... Marco."

"Well damn." Whistled Franky and dragged his hand through his messy hair.

Bege took a puff from a cigar and snorted the smoke out of a flaring nostril. "That's a question you have to ask him. Truth be told, your personal pities don't interest me in the slightest as this all..." He pointed to all of us, not excluding the equally involved mafia members. The gold that decorated his fingers glittered within the movement. "Is just a temporary alliance. Nothing more and nothing less, see."

"Then, there is no other way then to prove that we are worthy, right? We just have to do what the redhead said. " Luffy's tone dropped to a serious one. The girls behind him exchanged a feeble look.

"Does this mean you are actually going to accept that challenge?" Vivi perched herself on the edge of the table.

"No, Vivi." I dropped the squeezed part of my shirt and let a week smile spread on my lips, so that the volatile exchange of opinions would loosen up. Even if that meant a measly 1%. "You know that there is no one that can change Luffy's mind. We just have to follow his whimsical decisions."

I glanced over, the corners of the redheads lips fighting a smile, his forehead slightly raised. I looked away before that mischievous look of his spread. 

~~~

To be continued ...