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It was a warm and crisp evening. The sun was shining low in the sky and Toru and Vivi were off on their own. The rest of the Strawhats were off dealing with… well, they weren’t actually sure this time.
Toru didn’t dislike Luffy and the others, but the sight of Vivi walking along the street with a smile on her face, well it made him wish they would stay out a bit longer than usual.
It was just a small shopping trip, looking for little baubles and trinkets they could bring back with them. Toru hadn’t found anything particularly eye-catching enough that he thought Vivi would enjoy, but she had found a book she had been searching for.
So all was not lost.
“Hey, look at that store!” Vivi pointed to a tailoring shop that had leather bags hanging in the windows.
“You want to go inside?” Toru offered, gesturing to the building.
“Can we?” She lit up like a firework.
Toru couldn’t have said no even if he wanted to.
“Of course, the others can wait for us for a bit. They make us wait all the time.” Toru can’t help but roll his eyes which makes Vivi giggle.
“Alright, but if Nami gets upset we sacrifice Sanji.” Vivi laughs, grabbing ahold of Toru’s hand.
“But then we won’t have a cook, Luffy is more durable.” Toru counters, his fingers intertwining with hers.
“Fiiiine.” Vivi whines playfully, a skip making its way into her step.
The warmth from her hand makes a soft blush rise to his cheeks, unable to help the soft smile that makes its way onto his face.
“You know I’m right.” Toru laughs, and they head inside.
The inside of the store is mostly coats, suits, and leatherwork of all kinds. A few of the bags catch Vivi’s eyes, the one with white lacing, one of the few cloth ones with embroidered flowers. Toru can’t help but watch her more than the products, he doesn’t particularly need anything from this store.
Then he sees it.
A leather hair barrette, embossed with flowers and colored bright yellow, orange, and red. He leans in and nudges Vivi with his hip, she turns to look at him and he can’t help the way he smiles.
“May I?” He asks softly.
“Of course.” Her voice is giddy.
He leans down and presses a kiss to her forehead, resting his hand on her cheek. All while sneakily grabbing the barrette so she can’t see it. He hides it behind his back, before pointing her to a bag with his free hand, it looks similar to the one with the white lacing.
Vivi grins and wanders over, her back to him.
“Quick, I need to buy this before she catches me.” Toru says in a stage whisper to the shopkeeper who laughs.
“Sure thing buddy.” He rings it up and Toru has a receipt and a little cloth pouch in his hand.
He walks up behind Vivi, who is almost done looking at a different bag on the rack.
“Ready? The sun’s starting to set.” He slips the pouch into his pocket.
She turns around and nods, and they both make their way out.
They’ve barely made it off the building's porch when they hear a loud scream. Vivi and Toru’s heads snap to the left, where a young girl is being held tight by a couple of rough looking Marines. They don’t rank high on the pecking order, both of them could see it.
“Little thief! Trying to steal from a Marine is a punishable offense.” The Marine barks, the young girl starts to cry.
“I didn’t! I didn’t take anything!” She squeals and squirms but they hold her firm.
“Sure thing kid, maybe we should break an arm to keep you from doing it. Better than jail time, am I right?” The grin on his face is too wide.
“Enough.” Vivi’s voice finds the Marines before Toru’s does.
“Let her go.” Toru echoes her, he won’t let her stand alone.
The Marines straighten up, letting go of the girl who scrambles away in fear.
“And just who the hell do you two think you are? We’re Marines, and that means you’re interfering with Marine business.” The leader of the small group steps forward, his weight swaying.
“We’ll kill you.” Vivi says simply, a smile on her face.
“Bye Bye, Baby.” Toru waves at them with his pinkie.
Neither of them were dressed for combat. Toru in a simple white men's shirt and slacks while Vivi had gone for a green top and white skirt. But both of them still had their weapons.
The glass vial Vivi throws this time is a sickly green, it smashes against the floor and a cloud of noxious green smoke rises up.
“What the hell!?” The four Marines start to panic before they realize nothing's happening.
“Come on!” Vivi yells, grabbing Toru’s hand.
Vivi’s hands are warm in his as they sprint down the alleyway. Her laughter mingles with his as they tear through, nearly slamming into each wall right and left with the shouts of Marines following quickly behind. Toru can hear their shoes slamming down
hard on the cobblestones.
Her teal hair is glimmering in the sunset and Toru can’t help the way his heart soars with the sight of her smile.
“Come on!” She pulls him along faster.
A cart is crossing in front of them and Toru tosses Vivi up onto the pile of hay in the back. She waves to him with a giggle and he turns, taking off in the other direction.
“Over there!”
“They’re getting away!”
“You go that way, we go this way!”
Toru’s already blocks away ducking away into another alley before the sound of rushing Marine steps echo off into the distance. He can’t help but chuckle to himself, knowing they’ll just meet back up on the Going Merry.
He just hopes that girl is alright.
Toru tries to take a breather, walking towards the sound of a fountain. He might as well wait a moment until those marines cool off. He can’t help the way he stretches as he walks, his eyes opening to reveal a familiar white head of hair.
“Good evening.” Oh shit.
Smoker. A Marine Officer, standing in front of the fountain looking at him. Shit.
“Evening.” Toru tries to play it cool, just catching his breath.
“Was told some punks gave my marines trouble.” He takes a long drag from his cigar.
Wait, was that a belt of them across his chest? It looked almost like gatling gun ammo, that was… kind of disgusting if he was being honest. That couldn’t just be a fashion statement, but what the hell else was it for?
“Ever think the Marines like to lie?” Figures they would.
“That’s for me to deal with. Still, there’s a procedure.” Smoker takes another drag.
“Is breaking a little girl's arm a part of this procedure?” Toru bites, unable to help himself.
“Smart little mouth on you, huh, punk?” Smoker doesn’t move, instead he just holds his hand up and makes a ‘come here’ gesture.
Toru glances down, seeing the rock at his feet. He kicks it up into his hand before hurling it at Smoker’s face. The aim is perfect and he’s honestly surprised he got that much momentum.
It passes through a cloud of smoke. Smoker raises a brow at him.
Shit.
Wait. The cigars? That had to be it. Toru can’t help but swallow and before Smoker can move he throws himself forward. He drops to his knees and grits his teeth against the feeling of skin scuffing.
He clicked the trigger on his bat, the end shooting off with its coil of corded wire attached. It passed through the smoke of Smoker’s body easily, the wire laying limply on the solid part of his waist.
Toru wrapped his arms around Smoker’s legs at the same time, pulling them in close and lifting with everything he had. The forward momentum was enough to make him stumble, torn between trying to reform the smoke into his body midfall.
The water splashed up around them as the fountain swallowed them both.
It was freezing, the water plastering everything except his crown to his body. He was already hauling his ass over the edge of the fountain by the time Smoker found his feet. Toru turned, flicking the trigger again, the wire system pulling everything back into place.
Smoker stood up, soaked to the bone. He spit the water out of his mouth, the angry look on his face enough to make a shiver run down Toru’s spine.
The Devil Fruit user pulled a cigar from the belt across his chest, squeezed it between his fingers and watched as water poured out of the sodden tobacco.
Toru couldn’t help the hysterical giggle that escaped him. Now it was just who gave out first, he couldn’t hit him but eventually he had to slow down, right?
Smoker cocked his fist back and Toru could see the billow of smoke pouring from his arm.
He dove to try and roll to the side, the ground nearly cracked under his fist. One direct hit from that and he would break. Toru scrambled to his feet, his eyes wide. He’d have to do something or he was a dead man.
Smoker stomped out of the fountain.
“That was all I had really.” Toru managed.
“That wasn’t all I had.” Smoker challenged, his voice dark.
“I-I see that.” Toru tried, he’d only have one shot at this.
He rushed Smoker full force and threw his bat down towards the ground, it bounced with a heavy clang as he dropped to his hip and slid.
Smoker caught the bat in his hand mid spin, his eyes locked on Toru’s as he slid underneath him.
Toru scrambled to his feet but smoke flooded his mouth and nose, his eyes watered as his vision blurred. The wind left his lungs as he slammed into the back of a wall. The smoke from Smoker’s hand covering his entire body and keeping him pinned.
Everything burned and itched from the smoke. He choked, struggling and flailing against it.
“-vi!” He tried to spit out, his eyes floating up to the sky as his legs kicked.
Smoker is staring at him, he can feel those eyes burning into his skin. He looks pissed, getting angrier by the second before the smoke recedes.
Toru hits the ground hard enough to sting, hacking his lungs out.
“What the hell are you doing kid!?” He growls, throwing another cigar at him.
It lands on the ground in front of him with a wet plap.
“You’re no fucking pirate, a whelp is what you are.” Smoker is pointing at him, his voice rising in volume.
He looks like he’s going to burst a blood vessel.
Toru can feel something throbbing in his ribs, something deeper than a muscle, he hopes its not a bone. He’s sure something cracked in his back as he tries to get his arms under him.
He doesn’t get that far, Smoker hauling him up by his collar.
“Why the fuck are you fighting so hard? What could a guy like you possibly have to fight for?” Smoker’s voice is crawling with a growl and Toru can barely get his bearings.
“To protect her.” Is all he can say before he’s thrown back down to the ground.
His face bumps the floor and he can taste blood in his mouth and something pops in his nose.
“Get the hell out of my sight.” Smoker growls and storms off, shaking his head.
Toru wastes no time, he hauls himself to his feet, stumbling away from where Smoker had choked him. He collapses against his left side, the pain in his right making his vision blur. He turns a corner, ready to try and walk again.
Vivi screams when she sees him.
“What happened!?” Her hands are on him and he’s falling to the floor before he can stop himself.
She catches him, she always catches him.
“Smoker…” He wheezes out, feeling the dried blood on his face crack.
“Alright. Let's get you to Chopper.” Vivi says softly, holding him up in her arms.
He was a bit much to contend with when it came to the amount of limb he had, but she couldn’t help but find it kind of cute.
“Sorry.” Came from Toru after a moment.
“None of that.” She shushes him, making her way back onto the Going Merry.
“Chopper! 9 is hurt!”
—---------------------------
Smoker’s footsteps echo through the Marine base. The troops welcome him back like normal, saluting and bowing their heads as he strolls past. Tashigi ended up somewhere and he almost wanted to worry, but his gut was telling him she was fine. Either way, he needed to write a report.
That stupid kid, what the hell was he thinking going against him like that?
The handle of the door squeaks as he turns it. Smoker enters, the door shuts behind him and he rolls his shoulders to relax them. Here he could just breathe for a second, and after the little skirmish finally take a nice long drag on a cigar and-
Who the hell was sitting on his desk?
She had teal hair and dark skin, with her butt planted firmly on his desk and her legs crossed. The breeze played with the curtains of the open window behind her. There was a mean look on her face. Like he’d stepped on her favorite puppy.
To protect her.
Ah, that must be it. Smoker can’t help the way his body sags, she couldn’t be any tougher than the little brat who tried him earlier. Was this the one he wanted to protect so badly? She had a sneer more sour than a lemon.
“Good evening.” He tries, and her eyes narrow.
He can’t help the soft laugh that escapes him and he reaches into a small decorative box on the side table by the door. One of his dual cigars is pulled from the box, and Smoker makes quick work of cutting the end off with the cutter on his belt.
“So, who do I have the pleasure of arresting tonight.” He asks dryly.
“Nefertari Vivi.” Her voice is flat.
“You hurt someone very precious to me.” She doesn’t sound nearly as angry as he figures she should be.
He puts the cigar between his lips, lights it with his lighter, and takes a nice long pull.
The smoke curls out from his mouth and he can’t help but shut his eyes in relief, the nicotine hitting hard. He hates it, the addictive part of his power, but fuck if it didn’t feel good after a while.
“So, I take it that kid was your boyfriend or something?” He finally says, raising a brow at the young woman in front of him.
Vivi doesn’t smile, instead her face wrinkles up and she throws something.
Smoker braces, but it's clear the bottle isn’t going to make its mark. He relaxes as it crashes into the floor spilling purple liquid over the floor. He watches as it seeps into the carpet. The glass twinkles in the low light, he looks back to her.
He can’t help but chuckle and takes a step forward.
His legs buckle.
The floor comes to meet his knees and he tries desperately to dissipate, spread himself thin and wisp back a few feet. Nothing responds, instead his muscles tense and he can hear his own pulse. He looks to her, as far as his head will allow. The smoke of his body no longer responding.
She still isn’t smiling.
Her feet find the floor from his desk and her steps are slow and careful. She kneels down to face him, her eyes locking onto his.
“He means everything to me.” There’s an icy fire beneath her tone, so thick he wonders how the hell he missed it before.
“Paralysis works on Devil Fruit users just as well as any normal civilian.” She pulls something from her belt.
Smoker tries to say something, but his voice comes out as a strained grunt.
“You won’t hurt him again. Understand?” There is no question in her voice.
Smoker tries to nod, anything to give him just a second to try and move.
“I don’t think you do.”
She leans in and suddenly there is fire across his face, his voice comes out in a choked squeak instead of a scream. Hot blood drips down the left side of his face from his cheek, the pain of the gash throbbing up into his eye.
She’s back in front of him, this time a soft smile on her lips but empty in her eyes.
“Now you do.”
She stands up and without a care in the world begins walking away.
“It’ll wear off in an hour.” She waves without looking back.
She hops out of the window like a school girl on their way to church.
Smoker lets his body sag into paralysis, staring down at the floor. A whole hour of this?
Fuck.
—-------------------------------------------
The moon had come out to say hello by the time Vivi made it back to the Going Merry. She had a pleasant smile on her face, but her eyes were flat. Sanji waved to her as she boarded, but she paid him no mind. She needed to make sure Toru was okay.
Chopper was sitting at his desk in the sick bay, Toru laying against a couple of pillows.
His nose was bandaged and his lip was split. What worried her was the pillow tucked up against his right side.
Chopper smiled at her when she came in.
“How is he?” She nearly whispered, trying not to wake him up.
“He’s alright, although he did fracture his fifth rib. From what 9 told me, Smoker slammed him into a wall.” Chopper gestured to the seat beside Toru’s bed.
“Feel free to stay, I know how you two are.” Chopper stood, heading for the door.
“I’ll be back in an hour or two to check up on him, make sure he doesn’t try to stand and when he wakes up have him take deep breaths.” With that Chopper was out the door.
Vivi ignored the chair and instead tucked herself up against his left side. She drew little patterns across his chest, just listening to him breathe. Her eyes staring off into space.
“Sublime.” Came mumbled from Toru, his voice rough with sleep.
Vivi loved the sound.
She looked at him, their eyes meeting. Her smile grew, and the flat look was replaced with something sinister. She would do it again, she would have taken it further.
Toru froze for a moment.
A silly smile started to stretch across his face and a blush came rising up his cheeks. She had done something, he knew she had, there was no other reason for that dark look in her eyes. He couldn’t help it, a soft laugh escaped him.
“For me?” He asked softly against her hair, letting her curl up into his chest further.
“Of course.” She mumbled against the pale skin of his chest, unable to help herself as she kissed him.
He laid there for a moment before he gasped.
“Vivi!”
“What!?” She sat up.
“I got something for you, I nearly forgot.” Toru grinned, wide and bright.
“What?” She nearly laughed, realizing that he was serious.
“Close your eyes.”
“Really?” Vivi whined.
“Please?”
Toru’s voice had gone pointedly soft.
“Fine.” Vivi grinned big, and felt his hands take hers.
She felt something leathery in her hands.
“Open them.”
She did. She saw Toru first, his big bright smile and soft loving eyes. Then she looked down.
A leather barrette, still intact.
“Oh Toru.” She breathed out, pulling him into a kiss.
He melted into it, his eyes fluttering as she pulled away.
“I’m glad you like it.” He said, a soft tremble in his voice.
“I’m glad I have you.” Vivi echoed, laying back down against Toru.
He froze for a moment, before laying his arm over her shoulders and letting out a sigh. She snuggled up with her hands curled up by her chest, the barrette held gently in them.