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You were bored, your legs had started to throb from having to stand still for so long, and you didn't like how the Prince kept giving you glances before turning to the King and muttering something to his ear with that stupid grin and reddened cheeks. God, you just wanted to leave already!
Your coworkers, Lines and Eliza, were on opposite sides of the room as well and looked just as done with the ordeal. However, the alliance agreements -or whatever the hell they were talking about now, you had stopped listening ages ago- between the Nagagutsu and the Satsuruzo Kingdom were yet to be finished, so all you could do was... wait.
It was hard not to lock eyes with Prince Tritobu when he made it so clear he was staring at you, as if you were an animal at a zoo on display for his enjoyment. Still, you were adamant about not returning the gesture because you had the feeling that if you did even for a second, he would see it as you reciprocating his feelings and then come after you after this meeting.
Ugh.
You weren't exactly into men with a double chin, stubble around their mouth, and short blond hair, especially so when they were known to have no problem with using their position to "convince" the ladies to sleep with them.
...Honestly, why were most noblemen like this?
You looked at the clock. This meeting started around eight, but you were ordered to come at five, and now it was almost one o'clock. You had not anticipated that this damn thing would take so long, so you had nothing but a piece of toast with a bit of jam and tea for breakfast before leaving.
And while you were starving here, all these pompous assholes were stuffing their greedy mouths with bruschettas, tartelettes, and all the other fancy stuff you didn't even know how to pronounce the names of, let alone taste before.
Being a Marine really did mean getting the short end of the stick, didn't it...
Well, at least you could get something to eat from the market after this was over. If you were lucky, you would maybe even avoid the lunch rush, too. You had gotten this Éclair thing a few days before, it was stuffed with this vanilla cream that was just so good, and you wanted to buy another one before leaving the island again. It was a bit expensive, 450 belli a piece, but definitely worth the price. That, and a plate of fries. The ones they mix spices with, too, and not with that cheap ketchup and mayonnaise that tasted like crap the fast-food restaurants always gave you.
Gosh, just the thought of food made your mouth water...
It was a really beautiful day. The sky was clear and had this beautiful blue to it; the weather was neither cold nor hot enough to make you sweat, with a bit of breeze that carried the smell of the ocean. Well, being close to the docks probably helped, too. But, really, this was not the kind of day you would have wanted to waste inside, watching old men argue out this and that, and you regretted not changing shifts with that one girl you shared a room with when she had asked last weekend; what was her name again? Yoko? This might sound mean, but you hadn't really talked to her much since you knew you were only staying at Nagagutsu for six or so months before being shipped away again anyway. All you knew was that she was one of those legacy hires or something like that. At least, that was what you had heard from the others, gossiping, while you were busy using the loo. You hadn't really been paired to work together thus far, either.
You think you were about to doze off again when the men got up, the way they pushed their seats, scratching on the marble floor, startling you. Oh, so it was finally over, then? You quickly wiped away the little stream of drool that had escaped your lips with the back of your hand before anyone looked at you. You were thankful that no one had seen this, really.
Then, you heard a cough and turned your head. It was Lines, and he motioned for both you and Eliza to leave with a nod of his head. You didn't question him and just did as he instructed, as he got between you two and the rest of the noblemen.
"Let me escort you to your next destination, sir." He said to the King.
Furrari huffed and took another puff from his smoke with his son Tritobu standing behind him, looking flustered. He was probably upset that he couldn't go after you and your coworker since the King hadn't dismissed him yet.
Ah, who would have thought there would be a day you would be glad about all those noble etiquettes and hierarchies?
Lines could really get annoying with his constant arguments and ordering around, but at least he made sure no one tried to harass his subordinates, and you really appreciated that.
"It's finally over!" Eliza whined next to you as you two stood at the left side of the grand door. "My legs are killing me!"
"Tell me about it. My legs are cramping really badly. I want to sit down somewhere and rest a bit!"
"Same!"
Then, you noticed Lieutenant Commander coming your way and saluted him. Fullbody nodded but didn't stop to talk to either of you and entered the meeting room instead. He was probably going to escort the King of Satsuruzo and his spokespeople to the docks, and, of course, take all the credit for a good day's work.
Then, Eliza peeped inside, clearly trying to hear what they were talking about.
"Stop it," you nudged her. "You'll get reprimanded if you get caught."
"Haha! Sorry!" She smiled, scratching the back of her head, while not at all looking apologetic. "Aren't you curious what is going on in there, though?"
You shrugged. "Not really. It won't affect me either way, you know?"
"It will affect the kingdom and its citizens, though."
"No one was screaming or anything," You dismissed her. "So it's probably fine."
"Wow," the girl crossed her arms. "Your work diligence is very admirable, Miss Warrant Officer."
"Oh, shut it. Why do you care so much, anyway? You can ask Lines later if you're that worried."
"He won't tell everything, though!"
"Well...that's the point. You know, to keep the state secrets and all that? He would get into a shit ton of legal trouble, otherwise."
The other pouted but didn't say anything further. Really, she was so nosy sometimes, you were worried that she would find herself in a cell in Marineford for breaking privacy laws or something like that.
The noblemen finally left, following the Lieutenant Commander. You felt as if you could finally breathe freely now that their constant judgmental gaze wasn't on you anymore.
"Good job, lasses," Lines said then and closed the doors to the meeting room. "Everything went really smoothly in there."
"All we did was stand like statues, though." You complained. Yeah, it was an easy job, but when you had joined the Marines, you hadn't exactly been expecting to babysit Kings and Queens all the damn time, rather than doing something actually productive.
"I will take this over running around the battlefield any day," the man said. "Did you ever get shot? That shit is not fun, I can tell you that much, and takes a long while to heal."
"...Well, I guess you're right about that."
"Can we take our break now, then?" Eliza asked, then. "I got up at three to get here on time, you know? I'm exhausted, sir!"
The man looked like he wanted to object, so you quickly agreed, "Yes. We can barely keep our eyes open, and I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!"
"A little break would help greatly, Lieutenant! We won't be too much help if we can't even see straight, right?"
That seemed to do the trick. "Fine..." Lines sighed, as if you two going for lunch was greatly inconveniencing him. "I'll give you two hours, got it?" He looked at his watch. "Be back here at three-fifteen, and then I'll inform you of your next duties for the day."
"Yes, sir!" You said, and the other girl followed your lead. "Thank you, Lieutenant!"
Both of you quickly went down the hallway before the man could change his mind, and started to chat about this and that.
"I think I'll just grab something from the cafeteria and then have a quick nap," Eliza said as she stretched her arms above her. "What about you?"
"I'm not eating that crap they serve there," you said. Just the thought of it made your face contort in disgust. "It's gross, and the plates are always dirty, too. I'll go find something at the town square or something."
"Really?" She tilted her head as if this was the first time she was hearing about this. "I don't think it's that bad."
"Every week, something nasty comes out of the food, be it hair, gravel, or" you almost gagged, "nail."
"...I think that happened only, like, once."
"That's one time too many, Eliza! How the hell does something like that end up in soup, anyway? Clearly, someone did it on purpose!"
The girl shrugged. "Could be worse."
You looked at her, horrified. "What could be worse? Wait-! You know what? I don't want to know, don't tell me."
"Hahaha!" Eliza slapped your back. "Is that why you stack so many instant noodles every time you go to the commissary?"
"Yup. At least I know no one touched that."
"Isn't it unhealthy, though? I thought they caused cancer or something."
"I don't care. I'll risk getting a stomach ulcer than eat that crap they serve us as food here any time."
"Jeesh," The girl said. "By the way! I noticed how casual you were with the Lieutenant today. Are you guys friends?" Then she smirked and nudged your side, "Or...perhaps...a bit more?"
You scoffed. Even the idea of dating Lines was ridiculous. "Don't even start. We took training in the same division back then. He might try to look all respectable and wise, but he's actually a total blockhead. I was actually surprised to see him at Nagagutsu, you know?"
That seemed to get the other girl's attention. She was such a gossip, honestly. "Really?!"
"Oh, yeah. He did stupid shit all the time. Got caught smoking in the toilets, broke a pipe and flooded the bathroom, got punished several times for skipping training, got caught talking to a call lady with a government-issued den den, tried to flirt with the older cadets, fought with other guys all the time... But I guess his attempts to try to turn a new leaf are commendable now that we're actual Marines with pretty good ranks."
"Wow! He really did all that?"
"Oh, he did so much more. It's actually diabolical that he wasn't kicked out for all the stunts he pulled. He would actually die if he knew I told you this, so keep it to yourself, okay?"
She nodded, though you didn't miss the mischievous glint she had in her eyes. "Your secret is safe with me!"
"It better be!" You warned. "Or I'll make sure you go down with me, Eliza! I don't want him to chew me out when I just got a couple of months left here."
She chuckled. "Okay, okay! I swear! I won't imply anything or tease him! At least...until you're relocated again."
Hmm...
You know what? That was ... actually fine. Pretty good, even. You could live with that. Lines had complained about how boring things were here a few times anyway, so this might as well give him that fire he so desperately seemed to want, right?
...And he did sneak into your office and eat your truffles a few weeks ago. Two-thirds of the pack at that, too. Gluttonus bastard. You were still salty about that. They had cost you over 5000 belli at the time!
"....Give me a call when that happens. I want to know how he loses it."
Eliza winked. "No problem, Y/N!" Then, she stopped in her tracks. "Oh, by the way! Since you're going out anyway, could you go to the post office for me? I got a letter a few days ago, but I didn't have the time to go."
"I'm not sure if they would give it to me, but I can try. Do you have your ID?"
She reached into her pocket and handed it to you. "Here."
"Okay. I'll be going, then."
"Thanks! See you later."
"Bye."
And with that, you parted your ways. When you finally left the palace doors and walked towards the gates, the warm sun hit you. It was nice, and you wished you had left your jacket and tie inside. You were too lazy to go back, however, so you just headed towards the town square with them held under your arm instead.
Some civilians greeted you when you walked past them, and a few kids asked if you could help them get their kite back that was stuck on a tree, but other than that, everything was calm. You almost fell and hurt your knee, but it was fine. At least the kids were happy and playing again.
The post office was the first place you went to. There was a long line at the counter, and it took half an hour just to get there. It made you feel a bit of regret for agreeing to help the other, if you were being truthful.
"Good afternoon," you said to the young man. "I'm here to pick up a letter."
"Got any ID?"
You slipped Eliza's ID. "Here."
The guy took it, and you watched as his brows furrowed when he looked at the photo, then you.
"It's my coworker's," you explained. "She couldn't leave her patrol, so I came to collect it for her."
"I see. May I check your ID as well, then, miss? Sorry for the trouble, but this is standard procedure. We don't want mail to get stolen, you know?"
"Sure, no problem." You said. "I don't have my citizens' ID with me, though. Would a Navy-issued Field ID suffice?"
"Of course."
"Here, then."
He took your card next and checked something at the back before returning with the letter in question.
"Here you go, miss," the young man said, and pushed both the IDs and the letter towards you. "I'll need to get your signature before you leave, though."
"Okay."
You didn't really bother with reading the slip and just signed wherever you were pointed at before you were handed a copy. "Have a nice day!" You told the guy and put the IDs back into your pocket.
The envelope was old and yellowish, you noticed, and had a drawing of a little dragon and a koala wearing a big hat at the corner. It was kinda cute.
They all looked like they were drawn by different people, though. Maybe it was from Eliza's siblings or something? You weren't really sure if she had any sisters or brothers, however, and no one had bothered to write their names on it. Did you forget about it, perhaps? Or maybe it was from her friends back from her hometown, that was an option, too.
Whatever. You could ask her later, anyway.
You put the envelope in your pocket, too, carefully as well, but you were sure it would get wrinkled either way. Hopefully, it didn't have any photographs or anything sentimental like that.
Now, you could finally eat...!
You quickly made your way to the small restaurant near the bazaar and looked around until you saw the [Kajika] sign. Oh, you could already smell the sizzling oil and the spices from here! You had already visited this place several times a week in the last two months and were pretty much a regular, so the owner, Mrs. Lucie, recognized you when you got into line and smiled at you.
"Nice to see yo' again, Miss," the woman greeted you. "What can I get yo' today?"
You looked at the menu behind her, "Good afternoon, ma'am, I would like to get some shaker fries with sour cream seasoning, and a bottle of cola, please!"
"Comin' right up! It'll be 1,115 belli."
You pulled out your wallet and gave her a 5000 belli bill, then pocketed the change.
"Here." She handed you your receipt. "You can tell the waitress if it's for here or to go."
"Thank you."
You looked around to see if you could find somewhere to sit, but alas, every table was full. Well, mostly. Some people hogged the chairs with their backpacks and jackets even though they were sitting alone, but you didn't really fancy sitting in front of a stranger, anyway, so you just decided to go to a park or find a bench to eat your meal at the end.
You got your fries in a bag, and they handed you the cola right there.
"And this is something extra for you, miss." The waitress smiled at you and gave you another little package.
"Oh! What's this?"
"An apple pie pocket. The owner told us to give you something a little extra, you know?" She told you. "It's still hot, though, so be careful!"
Jackpot. Now you have something sweet after lunch, and it didn't even cost you a dime! Being a regular was definitely the best.
"Tell her I say thank you. Have a nice day."
You happily left the restaurant and searched for a nearby place to sit while adding the spice to the bag of fries and shaking them. It smelled so good!
You checked your watch. You had forty-five minutes left before you had to return to the palace. "Jeesh," you sighed to yourself. "I hope I don't have to attend another conference today."
A few feet before you, you saw a new shop opening. It was another Nyarmani clothing store. "How can people afford this stuff?" you wondered to yourself as you gazed at the designer garments inside.
Your eyes caught a particular dress that was just your taste. Light blue, short-sleeved, it went a little past the knees. It looked very well-fitted on the mannequin's body, too.
Really, no wonder the guy was known as the Emperor of the Fashion World. He really knew his way with clothing. But, come on, 15,000 belli for one dress? That was almost half your salary!
...Maybe you could afford to get one after you got your New Year's bonus.
....If you had any money extra after you paid the next installment of your trainee loan, that was.
You sighed as you walked away from the store and started to look around to find somewhere to sit instead. Civilians all around you were going about their way, merchants were shouting to get your attention to get you to buy this or that, while kids whose school just ended were running to either play with their friends or home to take a nap.
You were a little unfortunate with your endeavour, and when your stomach growled, you said, "Screw it," and grabbed a handful of fries and stuck them in your mouth. The seasoning got everywhere, of course, and a little voice in your head kept telling you it was too unhygienic to eat with your hands when you spent the whole day touching countless door handles, but you opted to ignore it for now.
Then, when you were just about to take a sip from your cola, your den den started to ring.
"Fu-ugh, what is it now?" You swore under your breath.
Pereperepere....pereperepere....pereperepere....
You reached for the small snail but then stopped. Your hands were dirty. Gosh, you forgot to get some napkins! Damn it!
Pereperepere....pereperepere....pereperepere....
Okay, okay! Uhh... there were no fountains here, but...uh... screw it. You just wiped them onto your jacket and tried not to cringe. Now it smelled like sour cream, but at least your uniform wasn't stained, right?
Pereperepere....pereperepere....pereperepere....
You then grabbed the damn snail and accepted the call.
"Yes? Warrant Officer is speaking."
"Warrant Officer Y/N!" Some rookie screamed from the other side. "We've got a PRT161820 situation!"
Shit, of course it had to be pirates out of all things. You didn't even get to finish your lunch! "Where?!"
"East Coast! They were hiding their vessel as a trader's ship, but someone spotted their Captain! He was wearing a straw hat!"
"You mean that Monkey guy?!" You asked, flabbergasted. "Shit! I didn't think that a rookie like that would actually manage to reach Paradise! How the hell did they even do that with that small ship?"
"No idea! But he and his crew are causing havoc right now! Lieutenant Commander Fullbody already went to catch them, Miss! But the crew separated, and he wants you to get your squad and deal with the little guys while he gets the captain!
"I'm nowhere near the base, damnit!" You swore and tossed away your lunch. And so was your money wasted as well. Gosh, why could you not catch a break? "What's Lieutenant Lines doing right now?"
"He's trying to stop the monster from destroying the town!"
"...A what now?"
"A monster, Miss!" He repeated. "Their raccoon dog ate some pills and turned into a huge creature somehow! It's running around punching buildings!"
Okay, that was not something you'd try to understand right now. "Okay, I'm coming back right now. Please inform SQ11 that they should get ready!"
"Yes, Warrant Officer!"
'Gatcha,' the den den closed its eyes, and you stuffed the little thing back into your pocket as you dashed down the road. The civilians who saw your alarmed face quickly opened up the way for you as well, standing near the stalls to get out of your way, while mumbling to each other what was happening and if they should be worried as well.
You hoped there wouldn't be much to worry about, but, at the end of the day, these were pirates they were facing, and things never went well when those scums came to an island.
You weren't really that familiar with the Strawhat Pirates, but you knew that they had at least one devil-fruit user, their Captain. This meant it would be tricky to fight him. What were his powers again? Something that had to do with rubber, you were sure of it. You should go and check if you have any sea-stone handcuffs and maybe even bullets. Yes, Nagagutsu was a very small kingdom, but, as far as you knew, any island registered under the World Government was given a yearly supply of sea-stone made ammunition exactly for this type of event. And it wasn't like this place got attacked by anyone since your arrival, so there had to be something useful.
Well, you didn't get to think about it much before you were stopped in your tracks and slammed against the wall. The back of your head bounced against the stone, and before you knew it, your head was spinning, and a very sharp and very deadly sword was held against your throat.
Great. Really, just great.
"Let's use this one as a human shield!" The man on top of you said. It took a couple of seconds for your eyes to adjust again, but the one thing you noticed about him was his green hair.
You tried to kick him away from you, but it didn't exactly do anything. It was quite pathetic, really. Thank God that none of your colleagues were here to see it, at least.
"Oh? You got a jarhead already?" Another man appeared from the side. This one was blond, holding a smoke between his lips. It didn't take a genius to figure out that they were probably from the Straw Hats' crew, too. "Didn't expect you to-What the hell are you doing, you idiot?! Leave the pretty lady alone!"
...Wait, what?
And just like that, before you could even open your mouth, the swordsman was kicked away from you. With a very violent kick to the head, too, mind you. "What the hell, you stupid cook?! I thought we were going to take a hostage?!"
"How dare you hold a sword against a woman's throat, you piece of shit?! I'll beat your ass to a pulp!"
"I would like to see you try, swirly brow!"
Okay... now you were confused. These two idiots were kicking and cursing each other like they were mortal enemies, and it made you question whether the blond one was actually a pirate or just a civilian who had jumped to help you.
But they did agree on...finding a hostage, right? So, surely, he was, at least, some kind of criminal?
Well, no matter, you had to stop them either way, so you pulled up your gun and raised it. It was the swordsman who noticed it first. "Shit-"
And just as you gave the first warning shot, he sliced the bullet in fucking half as if it were the easiest thing before he got a hold of you again and held your hands against your back. Very roughly, too, mind you!
You tried to break free from him, but it didn't really do much. "Damn it..!"
"Zoro! I told you to stop hurting the lady!" The blond said again and kicked him behind the leg. The man fell on his ass as you got free. "You really don't learn, do you, you piece of shit?"
You quickly grabbed your gun, but it had broken when it fell to the ground.
Great.
"Haa?!" The Zoro guy said. It looked like they butted heads like this often. "What else was I supposed to do? In case you didn't notice, she was trying to shoot us!"
"So what?"
"'So what?'?! What? You have a death wish or something? You should be thanking me, stupid!"
The blond ignored him and rushed towards you, "I apologize for how this oaf treated you, Mademoiselle! It won't happen again! Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"
"I, uh, I'm fine," you stuttered. "I-"
"I'm so glad to hear this, Madame," he kissed the back of your hand, then, "Ah! How rude of me! I'm Sanji, by the way, at your disposal!"
This was the weirdest encounter you had with a criminal, but fuck it, you could adapt.
"Well, Sanji, you and your friend are under arrest for assault on an officer."
The blond looked at you for a moment, then he just lost it, with heart eyes and everything. "Really, Lady?! Of course, of course, please, do! Please handcuff me and take me with you!"
Okay, he was far too into this, right?
"Oh my God, you cannot be serious right now!" Zoro groaned from behind and actually looked disgusted. "We need to find the others and get the hell out of here!"
"Yeah, yeah, shut up," Sanji said, and extended his wrists to you instead. "Go ahead, Miss! Handcuff me! I'll comply with everything!"
Really? He really wasn't going to fight you? That was new.
You actually pulled out them out and got ready to handcuff him.
"Sorry, woman, but that's not happening."
"Wha-!"
Aaand, that damned swordsman cut them into little pieces, too. Was using a sword actually that easy?
"God damn it, Zoro!" The blond huffed. "Just go and leave us alone!"
"Yeah!" You agreed. "If he wants to get arrested, then it is his right to do so; you don't get to boss him around." And if you could at least bring in one criminal in, then, hopefully, Lieutenant Commander would leave you off the hook for this mess. "Why are you even still here?"
"You two cannot be serious right now..."
"Why the hell not? It was my-"
Then, your den den started to scream again. "Warrant Officer Y/N! We got two of the pirates! A long-nosed guy and his orange-haired girlfriend! We're handing them to SQ11. Please get to them and assist them in transferring the criminals to the underground cells!"
Yup, great timing, that one.
"Oh, no!" The blond suddenly roared. "My beautiful Nami is in danger! I need to save her!"
"...Really. So is Usopp, you know?"
"So? A man should be able to save his own ass, you know? It's not like he's defenseless or anything."
"For fuck's sake," the swordsman huffed and quickly grabbed you again.
"Hey-!"
"I told you not to hurt her, Zoro!"
"I'm not hurting her, you stupid cook," the man spat back. "I'm disarming her so that I don't have to hurt her."
"Oh! That's...actually smart of you. I didn't think you could actually think and plan that far."
Zoro looked like he was going to snap back, but then just huffed and shook his head.
He held your wrists in one hand and then broke an iron pipe on the wall with his other, before bending them to make a makeshift pair of handcuffs, practically making you bound to the building like a dog on a leash.
You tugged at the pipe with all you got, but it did not budge. You couldn't even bend your hands with how tight it was, let alone pull them out.
What the fuck? How was this even possible?
And these guys were supposed to be rookies?
...Damn.
"Okay," Zoro said, and wiped his hands for a job well done. "We can leave now."
"Oh, by the way," he reached to you to grab something from your inner pocket.
"H-hey?! What the hell?!"
"I'm taking this."
You looked down.
It was your den den.
"Hell no! You can't take that!"
"Sorry, but I'm not exactly asking now, am I?"
"Zoro! I'm not letting you steal from the pretty lady!"
"Yeah? Then how the hell are we supposed to find Nami and Usopp before they gett their asses killed?"
"Agh...! I hate it when you're right!"
The swordsman rolled his eyes before grabbing the other man. "Let's go!"
"W-Wait, at least let me make sure the lady is fine!" Then, "You're going in the wrong direction, you idiot! You can't even distinguish your left and right?"
"Shut up! You lead the way, then!"
And just like that, those two idiots vanished into one of the side streets. You had more important things to worry about, however, like how to contact the base and tell them that the pirates had gotten a Marine-issued den den into their hands, or how to actually get free from this damned pipe.
You struggled a bit more, and even a few civilians tried to help, but it was clear that you would have to wait for a blacksmith to get you free, and who knew how long that would take with all the commotion going on right now?
Yeah, today was really not your day...