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A HAUNTING IN VENICE (2023) dir. Kenneth Branagh
↳ I know only that we cannot hide from our ghosts. Whether they are real or not, we must make our peace with them. And live life, somehow.
In 1993, the New York Times published an article criticising Federico Fellini and some other foreign language films for being "hard work". MARTIN SCORSESE sent this incredible letter in response.
The Storyteller - Monkey D. Luffy x Reader OneShot
MAIN MASTERLIST
Fandom: One Piece Live Action
OPLA MASTERLIST
Pairing: Monkey D. Luffy x Fem!Reader
Synopsis: this is the story of how Luffy saved Y/N’s life.
Genre: romance, fluff
Warnings: Angst, mention of attempted suicide.
Words: 4783
CC: I wanted to write this so badly. As always English is not my first language but I still hope you’ll enjoy it.
Today - Y/N's pov.
The night was the moment of my daily routine that allowed me to dedicate myself to writing my stories. And living on Going Merry provided me with enough material to tell the story of the crew of Straw Hat at least for the rest of my life.
I sank the pen into the inkwell and continued to write hastily, trying to make the most of the time I had left before sleep came. The light from my cabin lantern was the only one to keep me company while the ship was rocking slowly. In the distance, the thunder foretold the arrival of rain.
'They may not be the scariest pirate crew of the seven seas. But they certainly are the most adventurous and determined. Beware you who stand against Straw Hat. Because he will never stop.'
I wrote straight away, and a smug smile automatically dipped into my lips.
I had just finished my last story, and I knew he would appreciate it too.
The creaking of the door that opened just behind me made me swiftly turn against the exit of my room.
Not even to do it on purpose, as soon as I had thought about him here, his funny face framed by wild brown curls had peeped from behind the door.
He had heavy eyelids, and his face was tired, but that timeless smile made me realize he was far from going to sleep.
"What happened?" I asked him quietly, watching him enter timidly with his gaze fixed on his feet. When Luffy looked back at me, a childish and naive expression coloured his gummy cheeks.
"I can’t sleep..." He barely mumbled, crunching his eyes. After a year that I was now a member of his crew - and girlfriend not yet official - I realized that was his way of asking me to spend some quality time together.
And he knew he could melt me with those helpless puppy eyes.
"Close the door and come here..." I grinned, resigned, putting my pen down and placing all my papers on the desk before lifting myself from the chair. Then, I stared at him with my arms wide open. Without even getting repeated, the young man stretched his arms disproportionately close to my body before crashing impatiently into my arms.
"I missed you..." he chuckled, holding me tightly against his chest. The recoil of his impetuous hugs often knocked me out. And as exhilarating as it was at the beginning of our dating, Luffy was now trying to balance to the best of his abilities to show me all his delicacy.
"You know we met earlier at dinner, right?" I sighed back, letting him sink his face into the space between my collarbone and the curvature of my neck. I just vibrated when his lips barely touched my skin, kissing me spitefully at the base of my throat.
"It’s a long time anyway..." Luffy emerged from his hiding place just enough to steal a little kiss from my lips.
"Can you tell me a story?" He barely muttered, blowing his warm breath on my mouth.
"Which adventure of the Straw Hat crew do you want me to tell you?" I whispered in my turn, slowly lifting my hands over his pecs, caressing them just above the garments and then tying my arms around his neck, inviting him to hold me a little tighter.
I loved that feeling of all-encompassing warmth that could wrap me up whenever he hugged me.
It wasn’t just a reassuring feeling. It was liberating.
Ever since Luffy came into my life, I acknowledged that I had never felt so alive.
For too long, I just existed.
Instead, he had rekindled my curiosity, my thirst for adventure, my desire to live.
"Ours..." and at that sentence, on his mouth was painted that crooked smile that I would do anything for.
It was absurd to think that such a stubborn and childish boy could make me shiver in emotion.
And yet, it was that absurdity that drew me to him from the very first moment.
Tightening him with greater vigour, I lifted myself just on the tips of my feet to sink my lips into his and smooch once again that mouth that tasted of sweetness and hope.
I felt his tongue open to my lips and swirl rhythmically around mine as his hands sank, clinging eagerly to my hips.
Then, with the same eagerness of a child, he dragged me to the bed, crawling under the covers. I could feel the electricity emanating from his skin the exact moment I slid under the sheets beside him. Smiling satisfied, Luffy sank his face on my lap, grabbing my hand to place it right on his head, inviting me to caress his hair as I used to do on nights when the storm was out and he couldn’t sleep.
I felt a slight twinge in my chest. But it wasn’t pain. It was surprise and excitement.
That was the first time he asked me to tell him our story. And I didn’t want to disappoint his expectations.
As soon as I cleared my throat, I took a deep breath and gently sank my fingers into his brown curls:
"It was a quiet night, embellished with many silent stars. Yet, as peaceful and perfect as that night seemed, Y/N was locked in her room in a large palace on a small island. She had climbed up the cornice of her window and held on tightly to it, breathing in the evening wind. She wanted to end it all..."
- 1 year earlier
From up there, the wind blew with a disarming delicacy, as if it were a tender caress that let her soft hair dance. Y/N remained motionless for a few minutes, breathing deeply with her eyes ajar and her hands firmly clinging to the sides of the window. Her hair, just like the lace of her pyjamas, moved in time with the breeze, dragging with it silence and humidity.
From her room came a dim warm light, and the wind began to scatter untidy pages and pages of unfinished tales and tormented letters.
She had prayed for years to her parents that although they had raised her as a lady worthy of her surname, she still did not feel ready to take on a husband. Especially when it came to planning a wedding with a man much older than her she had never seen before.
She didn’t want much. She just wanted to be left alone, to write her novels and maybe run the family business and do some charity work.
Yet, all her pleas had been in vain. Not even the excuse of pursuing a monastic career had succeeded in persuading them.
But what her parents didn’t expect was that Y/N was willing to do anything rather than give up her freedom.
Of course, she could escape. But she knew she wouldn’t survive half a day alone.
No one had taught her how the real world works. And now she felt all its weight crush her and take her breath away.
And in the throes of anger and despair, that open window in front of her seemed at that moment the only way out for her.
The height from up there was very high.
With her eyes blurred by tears, she briefly tried to do some calculations in her head, and she agreed that she would most likely be able to end it without even feeling so much pain.
By a strange twist of fate, Luffy was walking right down that street at that exact moment. He and his crew had stopped in a tavern, and since it was a wonderful evening, he thought it would have been a real shame to return to his ship without having explored the island that had welcomed them.
So, as he walked with his hands sunk in the pockets of his trousers and his trusty straw hat well compressed on his head, he suddenly felt what to his hearing seemed as much a hiccup as a shy cry for help.
He looked around several times, wondering if maybe he had imagined it.
Then he heard it, as clear as a thought:
"I can’t take it anymore..." was a person’s voice, which came from right over his head.
The young man held his breath and remained completely unarmed to see her a few meters up from him, standing at the window.
"Hey? Hey!" His warm and ringing voice rang almost all over the neighbourhood, so much so that Y/N had to appeal to all her reflexes not to jump from the fright and fall. Cursing softly, the girl suddenly looked down and, sharpening her sight, glimpsed his figure in the middle of the road. It was pretty dark so she didn’t understand who it was, but that straw hat immediately caught her eye:
"Don’t lean so far! You could get hurt!" the lad said at her feet with apprehension:
"Mind your own business!" she yelled nervously, barely gesturing to tell him to leave. All she needed was for him to attract the attention of her father’s guards. In that case, she would be doomed.
"What?" the guy asked awkwardly in the middle of the street.
After all, they were quite far apart, no wonder he couldn’t hear her:
"I said mind your own business and get out of the way!" Y/N raised her voice, looking nervously around in the hope of continuing to go unnoticed.
"Wait, I can’t hear you!" said the lad below her.
It was at that moment that Y/N got scared, so much so that she lost her balance. But the survival instinct is often stronger than any rational thought, and rather than falling forward into the void, the girl fell backwards on the floor of her room.
What terrified you so much?
Simple: the boy’s hands stretch out like elastic bands, and his tapered fingers cling to the cornice of her window right at the sides of her feet.
She remained motionless on the ground with her eyes wide. Then, silently, Y/N observed his silhouette rushing over her window, sitting comfortably on it with his legs dangling inside her room.
"Hi!" He had a playful and contented expression. He watched her carefully as he adjusted his straw hat on his head:
"What are you?" she whispered in panic:
"Long story short: I am Monkey D Luffy, and I will be the king of pirates!" The boy with thick brown curls chuckled, jumping inside her bedroom and looking around with an intrigued look.
He had never been in a room so refined.
Yet, all that mess around him immediately made him realize that, perhaps, he had arrived just in time before something bad happened.
"If you’ve come to steal, be my guest. I don’t care," swiping backwards, Y/N soon realized she was up against the wall. Getting defensive, the girl curled up with her knees compressed against her chest. Her eyes remained fixed on the figure of the young man who, on the contrary, slowly approached her, kneeling less than a meter away.
He had a serene and apprehensive look.
He glanced at her with a certain tenderness that almost made her uncomfortable.
"What did you think you were doing?" he asked her bluntly, trying to study her reaction.
That question caught her completely off guard.
Silence.
Why did he look at her like that? Why was a pirate worried about her?
It was the very first time someone looked at her like that. And as embarrassing as it was, she also felt a certain curiosity.
"You could hurt yourself, you know?" the young man added, urging her to speak with a reassuring smile.
Y/N waited only a few moments to make sure his intentions were good. Then, sighing shyly, she looked down and sighed:
"I know... But I feel suffocated here..." The girl took a short break, barely holding back the hiccups, and then added:
"Please, steal whatever you want, but then leave me alone..."
However, the young pirate with the straw hat did not move. And he never looked away from her figure.
"Do you want to talk?" he asked shortly afterwards, barely approaching.
Y/N had a cold shiver, staring at him as he came closer and closer.
"You’re strange for a pirate," she shyly commented, sceptically studying every detail of his face.
He had big, dark irises and a small scar under his eye. However, what clashed with her idea of a "pirate" was that crooked and cheerful smile that lifted his lips on both cheeks.
"You’re not the first who tell me this... but you’re still avoiding my question..." He chuckled, just tilting his head to the side, continuing to look at her as a curious puppy. And that view, for the first time, made her feel an unexpected quiver along her spine.
"I don’t see why my life should interest you," she stammered shyly:
"You seem like a nice person. Maybe I can help you," he replied shrugging, sitting more comfortably in front of her with his legs crossed, assuming a listening position:
"You don’t know anything about me," Y/N kept being sceptical and intrigued by his funny behaviour.
"So what?" Luffy laughed tenderly, "I don’t have to know you to help you..."
It was disarming how - in fact - that boy was right.
Luffy then saw her relax her shoulders and assume a much more comfortable position:
"I don’t even know where to start..." Never in her life, she would have thought to confide all her fears and anguish with a stranger who, by the way, was also a pirate.
A pirate quite out of the ordinary... but undoubtedly kind.
"Try from the beginning. It usually works..." Luffy just chuckled, leaving her plenty of time to open up and confide in him.
But in the meantime, his inquiring gaze fell on all those parchment sheets, elegantly handwritten, that surrounded them. He just extended himself to look at some of them and glimpsed phrases like:
'Although the night was dark as a mystery, the crew knew they could always count on the support of their pole star to return to their haven.'
They were stories, tales about pirates.
"Did you write them? Can I?" Attracted by those words, the lad picked up those sheets with enthusiasm, unable to hold back all his enthusiasm and curiosity:
"Do as you please..." she replied, looking at him hesitantly.
She still had some reservations about revealing herself. But - either out of personal pride as an author or out of mere curiosity - Y/N couldn’t help but hold back that question that, shortly after, popped into her lips:
"... are they horrible?"
"Are you kidding me?!" said the young pirate with wide-eyed surprise:
"These are adventures by sea! My favorites!" He laughed, continuing to read with enthusiasm.
And the funny expression on his rubber face managed to snatch an amused, albeit bitter, smile on her lips.
"Too bad I only saw the sea once, and everything I tell is fake..." commented the girl, sighing slowly.
After a moment of silence, recovering from the blurred feeling of lightheartedness that her tales were able to instil in him, Luffy looked back at her curious and fascinated:
"So you want to be a writer," he stated, rearranging all her papers in a pile next to him,
"Yeah... but I’m not allowed to..." the young woman snorted, nervously playing with her nightgown lace.
There was a little incredulous smile on her lips.
In a few moments, that boy had understood her dream and had not laughed at it.
"And why not?" he asked her, frowning his thick dark eyebrows.
"Have you ever seen a noblewoman be a writer? Or even worse, a pirate novelist?" Her tone of voice had returned to being serious and annoyed.
Everyone knew that the nobles - par excellence- hated pirates and vice versa.
The former saw pirates as the scum of society. Discarding waste.
The latter viewed the nobles as corrupt loafers, slavers and hypocrites.
But Y/N had categorically refused to take a position.
She had read so many books and stories that she knew that - at least in theory - the world wasn’t just black and white.
There were nuances in any dynamic.
And yes, there were often contradictions.
But one thing was to see it in theory, and another was to try to understand it in practice. But no one in her family had ever really allowed her to live except within the walls of her palace. So, all her theories remained but ideas... or fantasies.
"I don’t see what’s wrong with it," the young man naively commented, and that childish, romantic observation made her laugh sadly:
"It’s all wrong... but it’s my dream, I can’t help it..." Y/N sighed softly, adding:
"I started writing as a child because I had no one to play with. I have always been alone with my dolls in the courtyard of this mansion,"
"once from this window, I saw in the distance the pirate vessels, and the view of the crowd screaming for fear and emotion has intrigued me a lot. So I snuck out and saw them. Strong, fearless, free men..." The young woman stopped for a second, almost savouring the thrill of that memory imprinted in her memory:
"Back home, I took my diary and started writing about my pirate adventures. It was better than sewing or other stupid little lady things..."
"My parents have turned a blind eye so far, but now I'm of a marriageable age, and they want me to get married no matter what..." A colourless tear crossed the cheek of the young woman, who had begun to fix an indefinite point in the void.
"I’m so sorry..." was all the young man could pronounce.
He had a sad, bitter look.
Then, he could feel all her loneliness.
For him, who had fought so hard to pursue his dream of being a pirate, hearing that story was like a painful twinge in his chest.
"People think that being noble means being fortunate. But in my case, more than luckiness was a sentence. I can’t run away because I know absolutely nothing about how the world works, and I’m so scared..." The hiccups slowly began to swell her lips in a crescendo of anguish and despair that soon led the young woman to hide her face in her hands, no longer any hesitation or shame.
And when he saw her slowly crumbling in front of his eyes, Luffy could do nothing but remain silent and soar toward her.
It was a sudden, awkward hug.
And yet, in that warmth, Y/N felt her heart beating again. And she let herself melt into that reassuring feeling.
"Come away with me..." Luffy realized that he uttered those words when he felt her suddenly stiff in his arms:
"Are you crazy? I don’t even know you!" Her reason had rationalized that sentence so quickly that she did not immediately understand that she had pushed him away with force, in a mixture of amazement and modesty.
"Too bad," the young pirate laughed, casually standing:
"I needed a storyteller in my crew. But if you’d rather stay here, do what you want..." he replied mockingly as he walked towards the window.
If you thought about it, the boy didn’t say anything so absurd.
In fact, he had just offered her a way out. And he had done it gently, without expecting anything in return. He did it with the same ease that only a friend could give you.
But Y/N never had a real friend before.
"Wait!" Luffy had climbed over the cornice of her bedroom window, and he had sat there, motionless, looking at her with an eyebrow pulled upwards and an amused and spiteful grin:
"The thing is... don't you think that a storyteller in a pirate crew is a bit useless?" Y/N stood up in turn and began to nervously caress her hands as she spoke.
She felt visibly distressed, but she didn’t want to give up so soon on that glimmer of hope that strange boy was offering her.
"Are you kidding me?! It’s an essential element of the crew!" He firmly affirmed, returning to her room, eliminating the distance between them in a very short time.
"Who will write our adventures otherwise?" he asked, grinning, pleased and playful. Oh, but his gaze was serious. So serious.
Y/N felt her skull pierced through. And a warm shiver came back to make her skin crawl.
"Would you do this for a stranger?" she whispered, in a mixture of awe and shyness:
"What’s your name?" he suddenly asked, catching her off guard again:
"Excuse me?"
"Your name..."
"Y/N" and to her answer, Luffy smiled at her, swelling his chest with pride before extending his hand playfully and joyfully:
"Will you be my friend and my storyteller?"
And the sound of that laugh rekindled her will to live.
"Hell, yes!" She exulted, totally ignoring his hand and barely reaching out to embrace him once more and feel again that soothing warmth that gave her courage and hope.
For a few moments, Luffy was petrified by that unexpected gesture. Then, laughing cheerfully, he returned the embrace with enthusiasm, swinging with joy in a funny dance.
Then, recomposing themselves, the two separated awkwardly, with embarrassment. It was strange how much this whole situation was tiptoeing into their lives, and yet, even though it was a brief moment of extraordinary madness, both found themselves looking at each other smiling as accomplices.
"So!" Luffy mumbled, clearing his throat "Take what is necessary and let’s go!"
"We can’t go out like this, my father’s guards will find us!" admitted the girl with her eyes shut in panic.
Her father had an exorbitant number of guards. It was impossible to leave her room and walk the halls of the mansion without being seen.
Luffy, however, with all the nonchalance that distinguished him, began to fix her with a spiteful grin raised on the lips:
"Do you trust me?" he asked, winking with amusement.
Y/N pretended to mask a shy gasp.
"How crazy is that thing you’re about to do?" She asked, quickly reassembling herself, grabbing a large bag in which she collected all the bare essentials: some underwear, comfortable clothes, her notebook, her pen and a bottle of ink still sealed with wax.
"Quite enough," he replied, looking after her as she wrapped a heavy cape around her shoulders and tucked a pair of comfortable shoes under her nightgown.
"Do you think it will work?" She asked, suddenly stiffening as she looked at that room that had kept her locked in that splendid golden cage.
For a few moments, Luffy began to fear that she might be having second thoughts. She seemed to get sad all of a sudden, but not because she wanted to stay.
Y/N was grateful to her family for raising her with love despite everything.
But now she felt that she should be the author of her own story, and that bedroom and that life no longer belonged to her.
"I’m positive about that..." Flanking her, Luffy sought her gaze for approval.
Y/N smiled, sighing and grabbed his hand for reassurance:
"Good. Let’s do it"
Luffy intertwined his fingers with her tapered and soft fingers. And with candid enthusiasm, dragged her towards the window, accompanying her in her movements as they both climbed the cornice.
The air had become even colder and pungent. Y/N barely closed her eyelids and lost a heartbeat when her eyes looked down at the road below them.
It was so high.
"Hold me tight," said the young man. Paying particular attention to where she put her feet, Y/N turned against him with her shoulders against the void and tied her arms around his neck.
While he was holding on to the window hooks with one hand, with his free arm, Luffy tugged firmly at the girl’s hips, making sure she remained anchored to himself.
Feeling her chest slamming against his, Y/N barely gasped, gently blushing as an amused laugh hatched on the young pirate’s lips:
"Don’t get used to it!" the girl muttered, timidly hiding in the pit of his neck, holding her breath for fear of falling.
"I’ll try," He confessed, stretching his leg out of proportion until he felt the sole of his foot resting firmly on the ground.
"Listen, on the count of three, hold on to me as tight as you can and hook your legs around my hips. Never let go for any reason. All right?"
"All right..." sighed the girl. For a few moments, Luffy felt her heart pounding frantically against his chest.
Then, after a deep breath, the young pirate began to count:
"One... two... three!" And with a decisive click, the rubber boy let go and threw himself into the void, stretching his second leg towards the ground, to guarantee a quick but safe descent.
A frightened scream had just hatched Y/N's mouth, who, however, had followed the directives of the young captain and had climbed tightly against his slender body.
Y/N had her eyes clenched. Her heart may have already exploded in her chest.
She understood it was all over when she heard the boy giggling spitefully as he held her firmly in his arms.
When she opened her eyes, they were magically safe outside her mansion. No one seemed to have seen anything.
In a mixture of astonishment and disbelief, the girl jumped down from his body and began to look at her surroundings as if that was the very first time she left the house. And her big Y/E/C eyes swelled with tears of joy.
Y/N started laughing and crying at the same time.
With a gentle smile, Luffy flanked her, taking her hand gently:
"Shall we go?"
"Yes," she sobbed, exposing a bright, vibrant smile for the first time.
It was at that moment that the young captain understood how attractive she was, but he tried to disguise his embarrassment by suddenly lowering his gaze and dragging her away with him.
- Today, Y/N’s POV
A crooked smile painted on Luffy’s lips, and totally abandoned on my lap he sighed dreamily:
"Since that day, he never let go of her hand. Y/N writes about all her incredible adventures with Luffy and his crew... She owes him her life." Those words came out of my mouth with absolute and devout gratitude.
My life had changed for the better since he came out of my window.
He had saved me, and not even a skilled writer like me could ever find the right words to express what I felt for him at that exact moment.
"It’s quite a story..." commented the young man with the thick rebel curls, emerging from his comfortable place to look for my face.
With a subtle giggle, he just leaned over and stole another kiss from me.
"Do you know I never thanked you for what you did for me?" I suddenly asked, letting myself be overtaken by his body. Tying my arm behind his neck, my free hand gently caressed his cheeks, adjusting a rebellious curl that was spitefully covering his face.
"You don’t have to. As long as you’re happy, then I am too..." he whispered tenderly, leaving a shy kiss on my cheek. Then, he wrapped me close to him, letting himself be pervaded by my warmth and perfume, abandoning himself completely with his face embedded in the hollow of my neck.
"How do you think our fairy tale’s gonna play out now?" My words had become a whisper that accompanied my gentle fingers, which had returned to dip in his thick hair to rub his neck:
"I have half an idea..." Luffy chuckled, his voice had become more hoarse and masculine, while spitefully he let his hands run down my body, barely tickling me.
"You are awful..." I immediately began to struggle, prey to his sweet torture. Then, almost breathless, I found myself still motionless under him, who started staring at me with wide eyes dripping with love and desire:
"Face it, you’re crazy about me..." He whispered maliciously, bending very fast to bite my earlobe, making me tremble under his searing body:
"Shut up and kiss me, dummy," I gasped, clinging greedily, totally at the mercy of the first chills of pleasure. Luffy’s lips went down seductively, leaving a wet trail of kisses all along the curvature of my throat.
Ace of Swords - Dracule Mihawk x Fem!Reader (feat Roronoa Zoro) smut imagine
Main Masterlist
Fandom: One Piece Live Action
OPLA masterlist
Pairings: Dracule Mihawk x Fem!Reader; slightly Roronoa Zoro x Fem!Reader
Synopsis: Zoro and Y/N are very close friends. But the swordsman knows his friend has a secret. And he’s willing to do anything to find out. The truth is that Reader still has feelings for her sword Trainer, Dracule Mihawk.
Warnings: mention of blood, Violence, ANGST, SMUT ( but there is always some Fluff).
Words: 6210
CC: Yes. There is a SMUT part. I regret nothing. As always, English is not my first language but I truly hope you'll enjoy it.
For a few months now, the routine of my days had taken a pleasant turn.
Breakfast with the crew below deck, adventures all around the world, endless celebrations.
I had been alone so long, I completely forgot what it was like to have friends.
Well, I'm not exactly honest: I spent many years of my life with the man who taught me how to defend myself. To be who I am today.
But as grateful as I am to him, this is still a topic I don’t feel ready to talk about.
Anyway.
The part I enjoyed most of my days was training with Zoro. Dueling with him was always a challenge I gladly accepted, not just to improve my skills. By now, I had realized nothing could make me feel as alive as holding my saber in my hands.
I was born as a child who was afraid of the world, its secrets and its dangers. Now, I was a fighter, indeed, a pirate, ready to sail the seas to tear down every border and amaze me at every new goal achieved.
My sword trainer always told me that no matter how big or strong your opponent is. Dueling is a dance: a strategic game between attraction and aggression that - once you memorize the steps - can lead you to victory.
And I studied those steps perfectly.
I hovered lightly, almost twirling around my crewmate.
Zoro had never shown any fear of showing me all his physical strength and swordsmanship, because he knew just as well that I wasn’t afraid to defend myself.
"It’s starting to get boring" grinned the young man, peering amused as I effortlessly dodged yet another of his blows:
"And you continue to be predictable..." I smiled spitefully, raising just one hand to beckon him to come forward again.
If he wanted to be the strongest swordsman in the world, he had to show me more.
"How about we make the challenge more interesting?" He asked in a moment of pause, quickly tying the bandana around his head, hiding his thick green hair,
"What do you have in mind?" I already had a vague idea of where he was going with this, but I still let him continue.
"Duel at the first blood..." he began, a malicious grin lifted the corners of his juicy lips,
"Who loses buys a drink?" We asked each other, in the end, in unison.
For the past few months, both Zoro and I had spent hundreds of Berries on a flood of alcohol as a result of our gambling.
It was pretty childish as a game, but the truth was that that was the perfect excuse to create our little moment of peace from the rest of the crew.
I was always fascinated by that guy.
Despite his perennially serious and intimidating air, he knew how to be a kind, honest person.
He didn’t like to talk about himself too much, but on the contrary, he was good at listening and giving good advice.
He gave me so much calm and serenity, and perhaps it was for this very reason that, from the beginning, we always got along.
And I was happy to call him my friend.
"Are you reading my mind?" He joked nicely, returning to position, ready to restart our duel.
"You’re like an open book to me, Roronoa Zoro," an evil grin stunned his concentrated expression.
And in the blink of an eye, the man disappeared from my sight.
I smiled, amused.
Then, simply moving a few inches to the left, I dodged effortlessly his attack from above.
A snort full of frustration emerged from the bottom of his throat, attacking me with more vigour. And I continued to defend myself, limiting my small strategic attacks that - I knew - would make him back and return to the starting position.
With an amused grin, Zoro finally decided to draw the third sword. After placing the handle of the Wado Ichimonji between his lips, I realized that he had decided to get serious.
His frontal attack was disruptive but silent at the same time.
Like a bolt, out of the blue.
I managed to parry it, but his weight still made me step back a few meters.
Who could see us dueling, could surely admire a shower of sparks shining every time our blades crossed.
Suddenly, he closed me in a fatal embrace. I was surrounded by his swords. But I managed to free myself by pirouetting on the spot and then slipping away almost on tiptoe.
I was quite satisfied with my counter-offensive, especially when I noticed his shirt opening with a gash. Yet, I wasn't able to cut him.
However, all my complacency disappeared when I saw that mammoth scar furrowing the skin from his left shoulder, going down against his right side.
It was a sharp, precise wound, punctured with surgical precision and without the slightest hesitation.
It was a type of injury that only one sword could cause.
His sword...
That half-second realization sealed my defeat.
Zoro had moved fast, and I didn’t even realize it. And a tiny, dense, red drop had begun to run solitary from a small scratch on my arm.
Almost waking up from a dream, I looked still upset first my wound, then his face.
Zoro stood there beside me, his expression visibly confused and rather annoyed:
"What the hell happened to you?" He was disappointed, and I couldn’t blame him.
"I got distracted..." I answered hesitantly. But when my eyes returned to his scar, a cold shiver made me quiver.
"Sorry..." was all I could tell him before I headed below deck in wide strides as if I were running away from him.
And maybe I was.
There were things about me that I didn’t dare to tell anyone.
And this was one of those things I’d rather take to my grave.
It triggered too many important memories.
"Y/N!" I heard Zoro call me several times, but I didn’t stop.
Not even for him.
—
We had stopped on a small island to make supplies, and that night, we decided to stop in the local tavern to rest and set sail at dawn.
Usopp was telling the maids about our endeavours with exceptional charisma.
And everyone listened to him grinning from time to time.
All except Zoro. His big dark eyes had been staring at me all night. And I tried to ignore it by using every opportunity to avoid any possible confrontation.
I hoped that paying for his beers would help him realize that I didn’t want to talk about what happened...
But when he had set a target, Roronoa Zoro had to catch it.
After all, he was still a former bounty hunter.
I sighed with resignation when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw him moving quietly and sitting beside me at the bar.
"What happened to you during practice?" he asked bluntly, sipping directly from the neck of his beer bottle.
"I told you, I just got distracted," I replied sharply, staring at my half-empty glass of rum.
"You’re the best fighter I know. You can’t distract yourself like that," he was angry, but at that very moment, I didn’t immediately understand if it was for me.
I remained silent for a few more instants. Then, I felt his hand resting heavily on my shoulder.
I felt all my nerves suddenly stiffen. Although I could boast of being his friend, Zoro had never shown such a blatant physical gesture towards me.
I turned, and his dark eyes swallowed me.
He was worried. His whole face oozed with apprehension, confusion and frustration.
"Y/N... What’s going on?" he asked, this time with a kindness that left me surprised and baffled.
I knew that it was his way of showing how much he cared about me.
And by that mutual affection, I smiled at him:
"Not here..." I whispered, barely lifting my hand over his.
I caressed his fingers tenderly. Then, I gently brushed them away.
With one movement, I lifted myself from the stool and invited him to follow me.
We went back to the Going Merry undisturbed and locked ourselves in his room.
"Take off your shirt" was all I could say when I heard the door closing behind us.
I admit that perhaps I had been too bold in making such a request because an amused and vaguely embarrassed grin grew on his lips:
"Well, I didn’t expect this..." his voice was maliciously hoarse, but there was nothing sensual about his movements.
Indeed, I noticed a certain inconvenience in unbuttoning his shirt, perhaps because of the embarrassment I had caused him:
"I just want to check your scar, dummy" I chuckled, reassuring him as I helped him take off his shirt.
He stood still, breathing slowly, while my eyes carefully studied every detail of that statuary torso.
Under the warm lights of his room, his scar had almost taken on a golden hue:
"In all seas, only one blade can cause such a wound..." I admired sighing melancholy, caressing that scar with the same respect that I would have felt in front of a work of art:
"Yoru..." and when I said that name, I felt Zoro’s body shudder to the touch.
"If you know that sword, I imagine you know the swordsman who wields it," he said, quickly pulling himself away from my body, putting on his clothes, and avoiding my sight.
He probably didn’t expect the reaction that my confession would have triggered.
"Of course I do..." I answered, sitting heavily on his hammock, swinging a little before feeling his weight balancing the structure as he positioned himself at my side:
"How well do you know him?" he asked, looking into my eyes.
He was curious, but there was a dark light in his irises.
And the more I looked at him, the more he confused me:
"Enough to know that if he left you alive, it is because you sparked his interest" I sighed bitterly, staring at my feet swinging in the void.
"He beat me like a rookie..." he commented, clenching his fists.
That was a wound to his pride that hadn’t fully healed yet.
Then, he asked:
"Who is Dacule Mihawk to you?"
Silence.
Just hearing his name made me quiver and burn at the same time.
How could I explain to him that that man had meant so much to me?
After a few minutes, I chose the easy way:
"He was my trainer. And that was a long time ago..." I limited myself to answer him, lifting myself from his hammock, and heading towards the door:
"That’s it?" That question came out of Zoro’s lips with a certain sarcasm.
But I didn’t want to play his game.
Not when my head was back to thinking about him.
"Yes. That’s all..." As much as I could ignore it, I had to resign myself to the fact that Mihawk would always be a vanishing presence in my story.
I was about to leave his room, but Zoro’s voice once again blocked me:
"I’ll beat him... I’ll beat him one day," when I turned, he was staring at me with a serious look, full of challenge, anger, and something else. Something I really couldn’t explain in words. But it was scary.
"I wish you all the luck," a bitter grin rose on my lips. Then, another awareness pierced my skull, one that was worth expressing aloud:
"But don’t forget... that no matter how much you may be a demon, he will always be the Devil." And when a malevolent smile fell on his lips, I left Zoro's room without looking back.
—
The weeks had passed quickly, and this was because the Navy had started hunting us again.
We were smart enough to lose them but had to be careful.
Most of the time, the Navy fleets were a real pain in the ass.
However, we had heard that there were islands that were experiencing problems with crews of pirates who were tormenting civilians.
Of course, that would have given us a valuable ruse to disappear and look for the One Piece. But we all knew that it would take the Navy weeks to solve the situation, and the thought of leaving innocent people at the mercy of abuse was a concern that Luffy wanted to make sure he could resolve.
At the end of the day, we were going to flee anyway, so we might as well do the right thing.
We docked at the harbour at the exact moment that, several miles away, a cloud of dark dust arose.
It came from the other side of the coast, where we were told that these pirates and smugglers had set up their camp.
And when we arrived, the scene in front of us was disturbing.
Bodies are being thrown through the air, explosions staining the sky. It had even begun to rain ash, while a notch of apocalyptic proportions had almost succeeded in tearing the sea apart, tearing down an entire vessel, which sank and broke in half.
And he was there, undisturbed and bored, moving elegant and sinuous while his Yoru tore the air and broke anything that dared to touch its blade.
Those few pirates who had the intelligence to understand the situation had retreated.
On the other hand, we stood there, staring at him at a safe distance as Mihawk placed his sword on his back, neatly cleaning his coat of dust residue.
Then, his big yellow hawk eyes landed on us.
There were several meters between us, yet when he looked at me, it was as if he could touch me for a moment, taking my breath away.
As always, his face was devoid of any emotion. But at the corner of his lips, there was a curvature of just half a millimetre, a symptom of his huge ego to see me in his audience.
"It’s getting bad here..." commented Nami, while everyone was staring at the grandeur of a warlord of his calibre.
For a moment, everyone was on alert when they saw Mihawk’s big hand rising in midair, but it was equally bewildered when we realized he had no intention of attacking us. He had beckoned to approach.
To tell the truth, It wasn’t a gesture he made at all of us.
Zoro spontaneously squeezed his hand around the hilt of his sword. But when he stepped forward, I grabbed him by the arm. And at that touch, the young man with green hair stared at me earnestly and impatiently:
"It’s not you he wants..." I felt his body stiff. But after a few seconds, he stared at me intensely and decided to back off.
Luffy gazed at me with apprehension, but I told him to back off and let me go.
Meeting him was a possibility I had already considered in the last months.
But I had to admit that I was not ready to handle that feeling of panic mixed with excitement and turmoil in my limbs again.
I felt my heart almost explode in my rib cage as I sank my feet into the sand and shortened the distance between our bodies.
And he remained motionless, stoic, staring at me intensely.
Only time would tell if I was a prize or a prey for him.
"Of all the crews I thought you’d join, Straw Hat was the last one I’d ever come up with," he said, breaking the silence that surrounded us. Not even the waves of the sea were more audible. The bubble in which we had locked ourselves was stronger than anything.
That’s what always happened when I was with him.
It was just us. The whole world could be locked out.
"Are you disappointed?" I asked spitefully. Although he was not one to show it, I could guess his curiosity from the small micro-expressions on his perfectly shaped face.
"I would say that I am surprised, I must admit..." his eyes finally released mine, and his gaze slid down my body, studying me carefully.
Maybe to see if the image of the person he had in his memories still matched that of the woman I’d become.
"I’m glad to see you’re okay too..." I smiled, "Has anyone disturbed your nap?" And to my question, an evil grin finally cracked his wax mask:
"Maybe..." he was arrogant, but from his clever look, I knew he still had something in store for me.
"Good. It was nice to see you again, Master." I sighed, turning to start walking towards my friends again.
But my steps were slow... pondered.
"It is unwise to turn your back on your opponent" I smiled at his sentence, and my hand swiftly slid over the hilt of my saber.
When I turned around, he was where I left him.
Oh, but his look... I would have killed someone if it had granted me that look on his face forever.
"Maybe I want you to come closer..."
Mihawk smiled. Then, he vanished.
Without saying anything, I drew my sword.
---
Everyone knew that Y/N was a killer fighter. A skilled swordswoman. But what they saw that day was a one-off show.
They hovered lightly as if their weapons weighed like feathers.
And Dracule Mihawk was leading the young woman in a dangerous and sensual sword dance.
"It’s incredible!" Nami gasped, almost clinging to Luffy’s arm, who grinned and admitted:
"Y/N is amazing!"
"Is it just me or does it look like they’re... flirting?" Usopp glanced at Sanji, who replied with a mischievous wink.
The only one who didn’t seem to have any reaction was Zoro.
But something was boiling in his blood.
—
With a metallic burst, my sword parried Yoru before it could touch my back. Mihawk had managed to attack me that way because our difference in height, and size, allowed him to have more access. For my part, to block his attack, I had carried my arm behind my head. But the recoil of the blow pushed me against his chest.
With his free arm, the swordsman surrounded my hips, making sure I was safely leaning against his body.
His warm breath caressed my cheeks as a spiteful smile pulled on his lips:
"You still keep your guard too low, bunny," he remarked boldly:
"That’s exactly what I wanted you to think..." I whispered, slightly grinning. Seeing his hawk eyes barely graining when he realized that my free hand was pressing a small dagger against his naked skin gave me a thrill of satisfaction I had never felt before.
"Good girl..." He was serious, but a flash of pride had brightened his eyes.
Then, we released our deadly embrace.
When our bodies parted, I felt cold, almost shivering.
I still felt my heart in my throat, but knowing that I had managed to turn our duel positively had made me more confident:
"Be our guest. You have created a nice diversion with the navy" I put my sword in its sheath, beckoning him to follow me:
"Unless you’re already busy," I just provoked him to make sure he didn’t run away from me again so soon.
We had so much to talk about, and this time I wouldn’t have been silent to suffer.
"For you... I think I can make an exception," he said elegantly, flanking me as we returned to my crew.
---
To say that people were intimidated by his presence was an understatement.
However, Luffy’s carefree attitude and all the alcohol available in the tavern managed to mitigate the mood.
Zoro stayed out of the way, but I knew he’d understand the situation.
Proud as he was, he was still my friend. And I knew he wouldn’t interfere. His sense of honour was stronger than his presumption.
"You fit well into their group..." Mihawk joined me at an isolated table, wielding a cup in his hands that he left shortly after in front of me.
"They’re good people," I answered, accepting his drink. I knew he was a much more refined person than other pirates, so I was not surprised when I realized that I was drinking red wine and not the usual cheap rum:
"Although sometimes I miss the old days..." I whispered, barely turning the glass between my hands, leaving the sweet, dark liquid swaying in the cup.
The swordsman sat by my side, staring at me in every single movement without saying a word.
But then he broke that short silence, making me tremble:
"You would never be happy in Kuraigana... with me," he said those last words as cautiously as he did with regret. And that enraged me.
Nobody could confuse me like him. He always made me believe that I could be everything and nothing at the same time.
And the fact that he was the strongest swordsman in the world, but also the most indecisive, literally freaked me out.
I thought about when I left his house forever:
"Please stop me... Stop me..." I had hoped so eagerly.
Yet he had let me go without looking for me anymore.
I had been his pupil. But nothing more, and this conviction still tore my limbs.
I sighed slowly, barely holding back the tears:
"I’m afraid we’ll never find out," I angrily sipped my glass and I suddenly lifted from my spot. The sound of the chair drifting away from me attracted some curious eyes, but I ignored them all.
Then, without saying anything, I left.
The cool evening air calmed me down. My feet were moving in total autonomy, leading me back to the Going Merry.
"Y/N" I was about to go under deck when his voice forced me to stop. When I turned around, he was just a few meters from me.
A thrill of anger and frustration made my skin crawl:
"Please spare me the lecture. I already know what you’re going to say"
"And what am I going to say?" His voice was calm, enigmatic. He would never fully reveal his cards, and I was getting seriously fed up with his games.
"That I’m still that scared little girl you took under your wing. That life still has so much to teach me and that as Master you already know what I’m getting into," I said, spitting out all my poison:
"But let me tell you a secret. You don’t know everything,"
At my last provocation, I decided I’d leave.
"I was going to say that I miss you..." he admitted. And the seriousness with which he uttered those words struck me as a slit on the back.
I turned, staring at him, confused:
"You’re right when you say I don’t know everything. I figured it out after I let you go..." he whispered softly. I could sense his regrets in his velvety voice.
I blamed the low light, but I swore to see his face relax and take on a melancholic and tormented expression:
"Why didn’t you come to take me back?" It was stronger than me, but my body took a few steps in his direction. And Mihawk did the same.
"Because - as a Master - I have nothing more to offer you..." he said bitterly.
Only one meter divided our bodies.
Maybe I was wrong about him.
Maybe all he wanted to hide from me were his insecurities, not his feelings.
But maybe... it was too late.
"That's a shame," I smiled sadly, "Because you were all I wanted..." we looked at each other one last time, and I hoped that he would not notice the tears that had begun to swell my eyelids:
"If we’re done. I’m leaving..." I said.
In cases like these, retreat was the only solution. Otherwise, I was sure that my heart could not stand it.
But as I took one more step towards the stairs, I felt his hand clinging against my wrist and squeezing tightly. He pulled me to him with strength, forcing me to lose myself in those big, eerie eyes:
"Oh no, no... My dear" he whispered, his breath caressing my mouth:
"We have just begun" After pronouncing his sentence, his lips finally rested on mine, trembling with trepidation.
I never thought it would take a miserable touch to mess up all my beliefs, anxieties and fears.
And yet, as I melted between his lips, I began to feel both frightened as the little girl I once was and confident as the woman I have become.
We clung to each other, literally attaching to our clothes or hair, almost fearing that something terrible would happen if we had parted.
My head had started to spin probably due to the lack of oxygen, so much so that I felt the earth miss under my feet.
Only when I found myself slamming my shoulders against the walls of the hallway below deck I realized that I was in his arms, legs tied around his hips.
His was a ravenous, voracious kiss. He could have annihilated me, I was certain of this.
The door of my cabin closed with a thud that accompanied my back against the wooden wall.
His showy hat flew off into some corner.
Letting me go, he turned me like a puppet, pressing me against the wall with my hands on the surface. With his bare hands, he vigorously tore my clothes, leaving them on the ground in miserable shreds.
Though I was showing my back to him, I felt his eyes weigh upon me, completely naked in front of him, as he sighed in anticipation, caressing my shoulder blades.
I felt his bare chest stretched out on my back. The golden cross around his neck caused a cold shiver that automatically made me arch further against him.
His lips left a moist trail of kisses that fell from my nape along the curvature of my neck, resting on my shoulders. One of his big hands had begun to explore my breast, massaging it gently.
Despite his rough and impulsive ways, his touch was delicate and respectful.
A whine disclosed my lips. Shutting my eyes in the grip of the first chills of pleasure, I abandoned my head backwards against his chest. His lips returned to mine, opening my mouth forcefully with his tongue, while both his hands had begun to pinch my nipples, testing the turgidity.
I winced between his lips, and lifting a hand, Mihawk took advantage of that short pause between our kisses to place two fingers in my mouth.
I moistened them slowly, just sucking them, and that gesture provoked a hoarse growl that climbed from the bottom of his throat.
Wet with my saliva, Mihawk firmly carried his hand between my legs.
He whispered an evil chuckle when he noticed how wet I was already for him, and gasped with pride when he heard me moan when he started touching me. He tortured me by drawing invisible ovals on my clit before finally sticking two fingers inside me.
He tied his free hand around my neck, and I had to lean against the wall to hold me up.
He moved his fingers rhythmically inside me, and my legs inexorably began to shake.
"Mihawk" I gasped, breathless "Please..." I felt his sex harden and press against my lower back, and a familiar knot began to fill my lower abdomen.
"As I told you, Y/N..." he said, barely biting the base of my neck,
"We’ve just started" and with a loud and malevolent chuckle, he increased the rhythm of his fingers, causing me an electric spiral that clouded my brain while a scream of pleasure filled my throat, and my orgasm flowed from me, wetting my thighs.
I abandoned myself to him, who promptly smiled, gently guiding me to the small isolated cot in my room.
A few moments later, I was leaning under him, gasping in a vain attempt to restore my heartbeat.
Mihawk stole another kiss, this time sweeter, biting my lower lip. Then he descended again upon my neck, eagerly searching for my breasts, which he sucked greedily, making me vibrate beneath him. He breathed spitefully on my belly, spreading my legs wide with an elegant and authoritative gesture. He penetrated my skull one last time with his fiery eyes before disappearing between my thighs, feasting on my sex while I found myself struggling in the spasms of pleasure.
However, if he thought he would have led the game as when I was his pupil, he was wrong.
My hand quickly went down, and my fingers intertwined with his thick, dark hair. And I pulled them hard until he decided to lift his head and crawl back down my body:
"I want you." I whispered imperiously: "I want you inside me. Now"
"You must deserve it" On his face appeared a cruel grin, and promptly returned to my thighs, but I was quick enough to go back to pulling his hair.
"No"
"Excuse me?" Mihawk raised an eyebrow upwards, visibly amused by my confident and pestiferous attitude:
"I’m not your pupil anymore. Now if I want something, I take it" My words left my lips as a threat, and at that sound hawk-eye smiled. Lust stained his gaze, making his eyes as dark and shiny as gold:
"Very well... bunny," he whispered, stealing a greedy kiss. Then, he spitefully lifted himself from my body.
Not feeling his skin on mine caused a thermal surge that almost made me tremble. I raised myself sitting on my cot, observing him while, with sadistic slowness, he stood in front of me and stripped of his coat:
"Show me what you’re capable of" his voice was husky, trembling with impatience.
His eyes kept me under constant scrutiny, even as I pulled him towards me for the band of his trousers. I left the invisible print of a kiss on his lower abdomen as I started to undress him.
His member darted in my direction when I finally released him. His tip was just wet with precum. I gave him a fleeting look of challenge before I gently began to massage him, taking care to let my hands rest for the whole length. I slightly moistened my lips before I welcomed him into my mouth, quickly adjusting to his size.
A long-awaited sigh finally came out of his throat, and I knew I could finally start moving. I sucked him rhythmically, alternating speed and delicacy, letting his deep moans guide me in his preferences.
By reflex, I felt my eyes and lips were swollen, but I began to accelerate the pace when his calloused fingers intertwined with my hair, tightening them vigorously, but never pulling them.
I felt a feeble prayer leave his lips as he squinted his eyelids, almost at the mercy of an ecstatic state. And that’s when I made my move. Getting out of his grip, I took advantage of his distraction to pull him against me and push him onto the bed. His back rolled on my cot as I straddled him. With the tip of his member, I caressed my wet entrance, and I sighed in the thrill of pleasure when he was finally inside me.
His hands grasped my hips, like claws on his prey, guiding me in my movements.
Holding myself against his chest, I didn’t even realize that I had scratched his pecs with my nails while I started to ride him with eagerness, totally clouded by desire.
Rising suddenly, Mihawk sat still, clasping his arms against my shoulders, pressing them down so that he could penetrate me deeper.
That movement took my breath away, and the dark-haired man laughed softly at my reaction, hiding his face in the space between my breasts. His lips returned to mark my skin with soft kisses.
"Mihawk... I think..." I felt that pressure again, and the swordsman dragged me under him, this time grabbing my legs to lift them over his head. He laid my ankles on his shoulders, and as he penetrated me from that angle, I felt suffocated.
The pleasure blinded me, and I felt myself explode while, with the last push, he made me come, causing me a cry that left me breathless.
And though I felt like I was dying, with all the adrenaline still in my body, I snapped up and carried him back under me.
I sucked his member rhythmically, enjoying his long moans when, with his big hand, he clasped the back of my neck, holding me firmly as he came down my throat.
I coughed softly, but I went through every drop.
Then, with no strength, I collapsed at his side. With a hoarse laugh, Mihawk barely lifted himself to grab me and drag me towards him. He covered our naked and sweaty bodies with a sheet and let me rest on his chest. Now that I was slowly regaining clarity, I could hear the vigorous sound of his heartbeat. It was a rhythmic, pleasant sound that kept me in a state of semi-unconsciousness.
"Y/N..." His voice seemed like a dream. He had never said my name with that sweetness.
I snuggled close to his chest and felt him sighing resignedly, striving to hold back a faint laugh. His hand then dipped again into my hair and guided my face against his:
"Bunny..."
"Hmm?" I was struggling to keep my eyes open, but I tried not to miss a single second of that moment.
"I think..." he breathed against my lips. He was sweet and hesitant.
"Yes?"
"I think I’m in love with you..." he said, almost as if a weight had finally lifted from his chest. And he said it slowly, in a whisper.
It was a confession just for the two of us.
My sight went clouded again, but this time by tears of joy.
I barely leaned over, and cupping his cheeks - framed by his well-shaped beard - I stole one last kiss:
"You're lucky, Hawk-eyes. Because I already love you..." I sighed happily, collapsing into his arms.
—
It wasn’t dawn yet, but when I woke up, Mihawk was already dressed and leaving soft kisses on my lips, cheeks and forehead.
"Are you going back to Kuraigana?" I asked, just stretching while sitting on my cot,
"No. I have some business to attend to first," he said, fixing a rebellious strand of hair from his face. His gaze was very attentive, but also caring.
"I understand..." I sighed, tying my arms around his neck craving for another kiss.
The swordsman sighed between my lips, slowly opening my mouth with his tongue, engaging in a sensual but restrained dance.
"I’d like to ask you to come away with me," he said, putting his forehead against mine,
"But something tells me you’d rather stay here. With Straw Hat"
And he was right.
As much as I had hoped to live in my bubble with him, I had now learned a new and unexplored side of myself.
And I still had so much to discover...
"The crew needs me..." I answered, releasing from the hug only to get out of bed and look for something to cover myself with.
"I thought I was all you wanted" his provocation did not go unnoticed, and putting on an old nightgown, I hurried back to him grinning amused before throwing my arms around his neck:
"You’re the only man I want," he chuckled while I was showering him with tender kisses:
"But they are my friends..." I whispered shortly after, and in the light of his gaze, finally, I saw understanding, maturity and so much pride.
"At least I’ll leave knowing you’re in good hands."
"I can defend myself, you know?"
"Of course. You learned from the best after all..." he remarked, drawing with the tip of his thumb the shape of my lips with desire:
"I’ll be back soon," he said soon after, penetrating me with a serious and imperious look:
"And I will wait for you," I whispered, smiling.
I accompanied him to the catwalk that would have landed him from Going Merry. It was still dark, and a slight mist had made the environment around us barely visible.
The swordsman greeted me with a gallant bow, then gave me his back and got off the ship:
"Mihawk!" I called him, and with surprise, he turned immediately to stare at me:
"Be careful..." and to my prayer, the Hawk-eyes smiled amused.
Then he disappeared into the fog.
---
Zoro was there, in the corridor below deck. He leaned against the wall with a serious and austere look.
"How come you’re already up? It’s not even dawn," Y/N noted, flanking him with apprehension.
The green-haired swordsman shook his shoulders and walked away gruffly:
"I couldn’t sleep..." he said, almost gritting his teeth as he pulled away from her.
She knew that when he couldn’t rest, Zoro was darker than usual.
Y/N wondered if she and Mihawk hadn’t been too loud. And that thought made her tremble in mortification.
So she went back to her cabin, embarrassed.
But if she had stayed in the corridor for a little longer, the young woman would have been able to hear Zoro say:
Hear my voice sing with the tide (ShanksxFem!Reader) part 2
MAIN MASTERLIST
Fandom: One Piece Live Action
OPLA MASTERLIST
READ -> PART 1
Pairing: ShanksxFem!Reader
Summary: While Luna makes an important discovery, a flashback shows us how the romance between Y/N and Shanks began.
Genre: romance, fluff
Warnings: Contains little SPOILERS, mention of blood, angst.
Words: 5754
CC: I'm going to divide this fanfiction into 3 parts.BTW - The title and song mentioned in the story refer to Davy Jones Lullaby (by Fialeja), which I kindly suggest you listen to while reading. As usual, English is not my first language but I hope you'll enjoy it!
Today - Village of Foosha
Luna knew her mother would never forgive her.
And yet, everything at that moment, even the air she breathed, had pushed her to rummage all over the house. And now she was hiding in her bedroom with a well-rolled scroll in her hands.
It had not been easy, but in the end, she had succeeded: she had found her father’s bounty.
She knew that her mother would not resist keeping it. Besides, it was the only photograph of him she could keep for herself. And Y/N hid it well inside the empty leg of the kitchen table.
But Luna was an extremely smart little girl, and after all, she was her daughter.
The child took a deep breath and unrolled the page altogether so as not to ruin the surprise.
Then she stared at that image for minutes that seemed endless.
Thick hair, red like fire and three scars on his left eye.
His gaze seems intimidating but gentle at the same time.
He was exactly as her mom had described him.
Shanks the Red-haired.
Her father.
Foosha village, more than 8 years before.
The day began peacefully. The sun was shining in the clear sky, and the breeze brought the sweet scent of the sea.
Then, a call.
And whenever Y/N heard Luffy’s name, the young woman knew she had to make up for some of his mischief.
This time, however, rather than hiding for hours or fleeing to the sea, the thick brown-haired boy stood in the corner of the Partys Bar with his head pouring over a table and his hands clasped around his stomach.
He sweated cold and complained softly, barely holding back the hiccups.
"How many times have I told you not to eat too much?" Y/N’s voice was as reassuring as her hands that gently caressed the boy’s head.
She immediately thought of indigestion and had the confirmation as soon as she could gently touch and study his swollen belly.
"Sorry Y/N," the boy hissed, retracting painfully.
"You have to be careful, young man," she chuckled, returning to her feet to rummage through her large leather bag, from which she extracted several ampoules containing coloured liquids.
While her father was in charge of the visits to the clinic, Y/N often made occasional visits to her client's home, and she mainly dealt with uncomplicated cases, or at least that was her father’s will until she finished studying.
"Y/N, I must get my strength back!" cried the boy, annoyed by his malaise,
"Shanks is coming back. This time he will take me with him in his crew, I know it!" he added, smiling hopefully.
"Shanks?" asked the young woman with a curious and amused expression on her face.
"The Red! He’s the captain of the world’s best crew! And I’ll be a member soon!" The kid’s quick wit was truly enviable. He had never seen someone his age working so much for his dream.
"Then maybe you should learn to swim first," Y/N suggested, mixing some of her tonics and herbal extracts inside a cup, preparing a concoction that turned out to be dark, vaguely sticky and smelly.
"Now, drink it all," Y/N handed the cup to the little boy, who promptly walked away from the table with his chair.
"It smells bad," he commented, observing the medicine as if it were a monster, ready to come out of its container and swallow him.
"But it will make your tummy ache pass..." She leaned just next to Luffy, tenderly laying a hand on his shoulder, tracing sweet circles above his t-shirt.
She knew that children hated her tonics, and she knew just as well that, in these cases, she had to arm herself with a reassuring smile and a lot of patience.
Luffy’s dark eyes sought out the large, encouraging eyes of Y/N, who smiled lovingly at him.
Then his attention was captured by someone else. The young woman immediately realized it. She couldn't help it and followed the trajectory of his gaze to the entrance of the tavern.
There was a tall, well-built man with thick red hair crushed by a funny straw hat. He had three scars on his left eye and a crooked but gentle smile on his lips.
"Makino! You’re as beaming as ever!" the man chuckled, entering followed by other people Y/N imagined might be his crew.
Then, her mind returned to the words of his young friend: "The Red".
"Where did you go to make trouble this time?" Makino emerged from the bar with a bottle of rum, ready to serve them with a smile spread across her thin lips. The owner of the Partys Bar was so comfortable with them that the young daughter of the doctor immediately understood that they had to be regulars.
And yet, she was surprised that she had never seen them before.
Or rather... that she had never seen him before.
"I swear this time we were real gentlemen..." the Red politely joked, promptly grabbing his glass of Rum. Then, for some absurd reason - perhaps because he felt Y/N's gaze fixed on himself- he turned to look back at her.
It was a fleeting glance. Yet, its brevity did not spare the woman a long shiver that - in a mixture of surprise and shyness - led her to blush.
"Oh, uh, hello!" Almost assuming a funny gentleman’s air, the Red hastily took off his straw hat to pay his respects.
"Good afternoon..." answered the woman politely, rising from her spot to flank Luffy, who had abandoned his forehead again on the table, deprived of all his euphoria.
Seeing the little boy so quiet was not a good sign, and Shanks knew it. His eyes analysed the table on which the boy was resting his head and noticed his small hands holding his belly.
In the meantime, in Y/N’s eyes, that didn’t look like a typical pirate.
The pirates rarely cared for the children. Instead, he had laid his eyes on the little boy next to her, and immediately his expression had changed.
He seemed worried.
"So you’re the famous Captain Shanks," commented Y/N as she watched him approach them, almost studying them carefully.
Y/N had always been fascinated by pirates, although her father had always encouraged her not to get too close to them.
Yet she couldn't help it. The idea of a life at the mercy of the waves fascinated her as much as it terrified her. Perhaps this was the reason why she often found herself warning little Luffy about the dangers related to his ambitious dream.
"Depends on who you ask... Miss?" His tone of voice had become playful, and now that they were finally only a few steps away, the young woman managed to catch more little details of his face, such as the colour of his eyes, the shape of his scars, the curvature of his lips framed by a thin beard.
And that crooked smile on his lips was the reason why she couldn’t reply for a moment.
"Y/N Y/L/N" she answered hastily, looking down to her feet to regain her composure and not seem impertinent.
"The daughter of the doctor..." commented Shanks, further shortening the distances between them, so much so that Y/N almost had to back up for the surprise.
He seemed an impetuous man, and his very presence sparked in her a curiosity mixed with an unusual fascination.
Y/N had never thought of a man in other terms than clinical.
In addition, the young woman had always boasted of having good nerves and confidence.
Yet the very fact of feeling uneasy in his presence made her fear that she was not feeling well, or that something strange was happening inside her.
Something she couldn’t explain with logic. And that scared her.
"Last month, you treated the wound of a member of my crew. I am immensely grateful to you." Holding a hand to his chest, with a slight bow Captain Shanks thanked the young woman who, smiling shyly, replied:
"I’ve only done my duty, sir..."
"Y/N..." Luffy's sore voice was masked by his gasps of pain.
It was the signal that allowed the young woman to regain her poise and concentration.
"Honey, does it still hurt so much?" She asked, stitching herself by his side again, trying to rub his back to provide him with some warmth that could relieve his suffering.
"Luffy! Are you all right, boy? You seem a little... pale." commented the captain, taking a chair and sitting next to them.
"My belly hurts" was all the boy could pronounce, barely holding the tears with a puff that swelled his soft cheeks.
He was trying with all his young pride to show himself strong. And in the light of his gaze, Y/N finally understood all the admiration and respect Luffy felt for the man at her side.
"The young man thought he’d eat himself to death," Y/N glanced fleetingly at the Red.
Then, she tenderly fixed the rebellious curls of the boy and handed him again the cup containing the medicine she had prepared for him.
"Please drink the tonic I made you,"
"I don’t want to. This stuff stinks!" Luffy muttered, pushing the cup away from him.
"Come on, Luffy, how can you become a pirate if you can’t even drink your medicine?" Barely leaning out, Shanks provoked him playfully.
"And I’m sure Miss Y/L/N has prepared it so carefully just for you... It would be rude to send it to waste." Both the captain and the young daughter of the doctor exchanged an accomplice look.
Y/N smiled at him without even knowing.
And Shanks, for his part, stared at those lips, almost forgetting for a few tenths of a second what he was doing.
However, Luffy, despite their efforts, did not seem convinced at all.
"Listen, how about we drink it together?" suddenly proposed the Red-haired captain, swallowing his Rum in one breath to empty the cup and fill it with half the medicine destined for the boy.
"You don’t have to..." Y/N commented, leaning just toward him, tempted by the idea of stopping him.
She knew that that concoction - healthy as it was - didn’t taste good at all and was perfectly superfluous for him to drink.
But when she saw the crooked grin on the pirate’s lips, Y/N immediately felt a shiver running down her spine.
"What?" the pirate chuckled, reassuring her,
"At most, it will be bitter than rum... but since we are real men, we will now drink this medicine together, right Luffy?" Shanks smiled playfully at the child who, almost magically reinvigorated by the captain’s words, promptly grabbed his cup to make it slam against that of the Red in a thunderous cheers.
"Yes!"
"On the count of three," the man proposed. And for a few moments, the air all around them charged with an electricity that smelled of anticipation and impatience.
"One... two... three!" Shanks and Luffy drank the tonic in a single sip, and their faces almost simultaneously assumed an expression of disgust mixed with surprise.
Everyone, including the crew, burst into a roaring laughter.
All except Y/N.
She stared at Shanks, who started hugging Luffy in a loving and fatherly manner.
Her heart gasped and biting the inside of her cheek, the young woman barely held back an amused smile.
—
Night enveloped the sky. Y/N had tucked an old blanket on the shoulders of the little boy, crouched with his lips half open on a cot in the back of the Partys Bar.
He often slept there until Makino finished her shift and brought him home. And often - especially when he wasn’t feeling well - Y/N stayed with him to make sure he rested.
"Cruel and cold like winds on the sea, will you ever return to me..." the young woman’s voice was tuned, soft and velvety. Luffy's eyelids had struggled hard, only to close heavily. Y/N had begun to caress his head, almost massaging his scalp, and that loving touch was what relaxed him the most.
"Hear my voice sing with the tide... Our love will never die." Shanks remained to observe the scene with his shoulders against the door frame.
He listened to those words with meticulous care.
That woman was charming. And he didn’t think so because of her beauty.
She was smart and kind. But she also looked like there was so much more about her that she was hiding.
Shanks wondered if he would be able to unravel her mysteries.
Why? He couldn’t explain it right away.
Shanks wasn’t the kind of man to overinvestigate his emotions.
He was more of an instinctive man, who followed the flow of things to see which adventure they would take him to.
Finding out where she could lead him at that moment was the desire that drove him to stay there, to watch her enchanted while she was putting Luffy to bed.
Only when she stopped singing Y/N did realize that he had always been there, watching over them.
She slowly lifted herself from Luffy’s cot to reach him at a brisk pace, trying not to make any noise.
She didn’t dare look at him, but she knew he was smiling at her.
And she knew just as well that that curvature of his lips was starting to cause her an involuntary tremor that was undermining her pride.
So she just looked at her feet advancing one after the other.
Shanks, amused by her demure and fierce reaction, barely left to allow her to leave, and closed the door behind them.
"I haven’t heard that song since I was a child," the Red commented, flanking the woman as they walked down the hallway that would take them out of the tavern.
"It’s a lullaby my mother used to sing to make me fall asleep..."
"A pirate song as a lullaby?" a note of curiosity just tense his mocking tone. Shanks knew it wasn’t a song everyone could know.
This knowledge further ignited the spark of his interest.
"You just met me, Captain. There are things I don’t know about you as there are things you don’t know about me..." She answered, returning for the very first time his provocation with another.
Here’s a new side of that woman's character.
And from a spark of interest, the first flame was born.
"Touchè..." Shanks laughed, this time peeking for her gaze:
"May I escort you home, Miss Y/L/N?" his voice had become hoarse and manly all of a sudden.
And those hazel eyes stared at her with an ardour no one had ever looked at her before.
"I’m not afraid of the dark." her reply was a faint whisper.
However, the slight tremor of her voice betrayed all her confidence.
She felt her throat tight and dry, her heart running in her chest.
Yet, she forced herself to remain calm, and alert.
After all, he was a pirate. And she was too clever to be fooled by the flattery of a man of the sea.
"I have no doubt..." he laughed, barely shortening the distances between their bodies, just enough to make her feel his warmth and perfume but never touching her:
"I’d just like to enjoy a few more moments of your company," he whispered, drawing a crooked smile on his lips.
That was the blow that cracked her shield.
"I’ll show you the way."
---
Since that night, when the Red-haired Pirates were resting from their travels, Shanks had always found the perfect way or pretence to accompany her home.
As much as she tried not to show it, Y/N also began to appreciate his presence in her life.
Often, in their long walks, he told her of his adventures and absurd vicissitudes from which - thanks to some amazing stratagem - he had always managed to get out unscathed.
"It’s nice that you take care of Luffy," she commented that evening as they walked through the deserted streets of the sleepy village.
"I do what I can. Even if he’s stubborn..." He laughed, shrugging, walking beside her with his hands sunk in the pockets of his pants. His cloak, rather than framing his shoulders, protected those of the young woman from the damp that had fallen on the village.
"He has a very ambitious dream..." Y/N smiled in turn, watching him sigh thoughtfully:
"I just hope he realizes he’s not ready yet... and I do not want him to lose his innocence" At his confession, the young woman remained silent for a few moments, carefully analyzing his words.
Ever since she had the good fortune to know him, she had realized that Shanks was brave but also caring and generous.
He was nothing like those pirates her father mentioned.
He was able to show her that there could be so many good people in the world who had simply decided not to live according to the patterns decided by others.
"Captain, can I ask you a question?" she suddenly asked,
"Of course, but only as long as you call me Shanks," he said with an amused grin imprinted on his thin beard-framed mouth.
"So, Shanks... how come you wanted to be a pirate?"
"For the most banal reason of all, I think..." The captain sighed cheerfully,
"Savoring freedom," he finally said with a veil of melancholy.
And when he answered, the young woman’s lips bent upwards.
"I made you smile. May I ask why?" he asked back, intrigued by that unexpected gesture:
"Pirates of all kinds have passed on this island. You are certainly the kindest of all. And this is unusual..." Y/N took a short break to take courage and finally look him in the eyes:
"But it also gives me hope that maybe the world isn’t so bad after all"
Silence.
And plunging into those eyes, Shanks had a shiver.
To disguise the embarrassment, the Red nervously scratched his head, grinning, trying to gain valuable time to compose himself.
"Miss Y/L/N..."
"Y/N..." She corrected him playfully, making him smile again.
"Right. Y/N, why are you following in your father’s vocation?" he asked her, changing the subject.
"My motivation is pretty obvious too. I like taking care of people"
"Seems fair" The two threw a fleeting glance, and almost in unison, they burst out laughing.
It was a laugh full of complicity, and hope, but also a lot of lightheartedness.
The truth is that they were slowly beginning to feel comfortable to reveal their cards, to break down blocks of their inner walls.
It wasn’t that scary, in fact... it was almost liberating.
"Actually... Dr Y/L/N is not my biological father..." the young woman admitted suddenly, stopping at her spot. Shanks flanked her but said nothing and did nothing.
He understood that she was about to shed a great burden, and decided to respect and honour her effort with the patience and gallantry that distinguished him.
"My real father was a pirate who died while looking for the One Piece... and when Dr. Y/L/N married my mother adopted me and raised me as his daughter, I owe him everything..."
"I understand..." For the captain, now everything became clear.
He understood her fascination for the sea, her knowledge of the old songs, the customs. But more importantly, he comprehended all her fears and concerns, especially towards Luffy.
"Thank you for sharing so much with me," Shanks whispered gratefully.
"I hope that one day I can repay him and all those who took care of me"
"I’m sure about that," he said, smiling reassuringly. For a moment, he wanted to grab her hand, but when his large, calloused fingers barely touched hers, he hurriedly withdrew, in embarrassment.
"Thank you so much for the walk, and for taking me home," Y/N and his father’s home clinic were just before a hill that led to an old abandoned mill right on top of the cliff.
"At your service, Miss!" Regaining his comic verve, Shanks bowed elegantly before her, causing her to laugh amused and embarrassed at the same time.
Y/N took off his cloak from her shoulders, folding it neatly before handing it to him carefully.
"Shanks," At the exact moment their hands touched again, the woman uttered his name with a devastating sweetness. Her gaze had become serious:
"Promise me you’ll keep taking care of Luffy. I respect his dream, but he’s still too young to play pirate," she said, barely clutching the captain’s cloak. Shanks took courage and placed his hand on that of the woman, tenderly holding her:
"I promise," he said, staring deeply at her to seal their pact.
Y/N had a sigh of relief and smiled again. Then, with a spiteful grin, she rushed towards the Red.
His distraction left him helpless like a child while the young woman, with a disarming delicacy, left him the print of a chaste kiss on the cheek.
"Goodnight!" She chuckled and ran away so fast that - even if he wanted to - Shanks couldn’t hold her back.
"Good night..." The Red stood there, in the middle of the street, smiling naively as he watched her vanish behind the front door.
—
When she was nervous, Y/N often bit her nails.
But when she was angry, her whole face began to stretch and sharpen.
This time, however, the doctor’s young daughter was furious.
She had just seen the stitches still swollen and reddened a few centimetres under Luffy’s eye.
The kid told her how he got that wound with pride.
But there was no cause for pride in the young woman who now climbed onto the access ramp to the Pirates of the Red-haired vessel, slamming her feet like a storm of lightning ready to strike them.
Shanks understood that something was wrong when emerging from below deck, he saw the members of his crew standing still, fearful, waiting.
Even with that angry frown, Y/N was always beautiful, and without even realizing it, he smiled at her, watching her come at him with wide strides.
"Y/N! What a pleasant..." Shanks did not finish the sentence that felt a decided snap. He needed a few seconds to feel his cheek pulse.
With her hand open, the woman slapped him in front of his crew without any hesitation. And she did it so hard, she almost twisted his face.
Normally, in cases like this, a ruckus would have happened if someone had dared to lay hands on the captain.
But when Shanks' crooked smile turned into an amused grin, all his companions immediately realized that it was not a normal situation at all.
"I deserved it..." He nonchalantly commented, recomposing himself quickly as the woman began to rant at him like an uncontrolled fury:
"You promised me!" she cried,
"You looked me in the eye and promised me!" She had also tried to push him with all her strength, but the captain’s broad chest was definitely stronger, and not even her miserable fists could give her any satisfaction.
She was so angry. Disappointed.
"Y/N I can explain. It was an accident..." Shanks' voice was reassuring and calm, demonstrating that he was a mature man fully aware of the gravity of the situation.
And as much as she appreciated that side of him, Y/N, at that moment, just wanted to yell at everyone and probably smash something too.
"He could lose his eye! He’s just a child!" Adrenaline and electricity had pervaded her body, radiating shivers and tremors:
"I’m trying, and he’s so reckless... it’s hard to keep him."
"Try harder then!" Y/N’s scream was so loud that, in the end, the young woman found herself gasping.
It was when he noticed her big Y/E/C eyes framing themselves with tears that Shanks's face became serious and apprehensive.
"You’re his idol, Shanks," she sobbed, "... No matter what I do to warn him. It’s just you that he listens..." Barely coughing, the woman carried her hands to her face, covering herself with frustration and shame as her reddened cheeks began to shine with bitter tears.
"Y/N..." Slowly, Shanks ventured a few steps toward her. Only when he understood that he had her green light, he allowed himself to lay his hands on her shoulders, dragging her gently to his chest.
"I’ve known him since he was so young... if anything happens to him I... I..." she whined, crying out all her anxiety and fear.
And when her body began to warm in his arms, Y/N went back to breathing normally to regain her lucidity.
She knew the captain wasn’t to blame. How could she blame a man for taking care of a boy who wasn’t his own while he also looked after his crew?
She knew it was an accident. And she never doubted that Shanks was doing his utmost to keep Luffy safe.
Still, she couldn't help it.
The truth was that she wished she didn’t feel helpless and that perhaps all she had said to him was a mere projection of her insecurity.
"I’m so sorry..." Shanks whispered, almost swinging as he caressed the young woman’s arms tenderly.
He could feel her damp, warm breath at the base of his neck. And it was in the thrill of that feeling of warmth that he realized he wouldn’t let her go.
But when he felt her hands pressing against his pecs, all he could do was loosen his grip, helpless.
"I have to go... please be careful next time..." Y/N said without daring to look at him. And in a state of shame and embarrassment, she hurriedly dried her tears and ran away.
No one tried to stop her.
But Shanks stared at her carefully while she got away from him.
And it hurt him.
All his crew could not help but notice a gloomy and worried look on his face as his childlike expression faded away.
—
It had been several weeks since that night, and the two had never spoken again.
Shanks and his crew had left for one of their travels.
The port had just docked a crew of low-level pirates with an unprecedented level of rudeness, but these were the risks of being an open and peaceful village.
Her father had categorically forbidden her to approach the Partys Bar until the situation had subsided, but Y/N was as worried about Luffy as she was about Shanks.
She had no right to give him that lecture, and the fact he was distant caused a pain in her chest that - especially at night - almost took her breath away.
That morning, Y/N was cleaning up the house when she heard her father calling her loudly from the dormitory.
They had used the ground floor of their house with an office and a dorm room so that his father could personally host and treat his patients.
"Y/N! Y/N!" He seemed nervous, and that meant one thing: his father was worried.
Rushing down the stairs, the young woman stormed into the empty dormitory.
"Father, did you... Shanks?" It was impossible not to notice his red hair spread across the pillow of the cot. He was lying on the mattress wriggling. His forehead was covered in sweat, and his eyes were narrow, while a sore grin had crippled his face.
"I’m afraid it’s intoxication... or poisoning," Y/N's father commented, seeking her support.
Y/N’s heart lost a beat.
"What?" With wide strides, the woman immediately zeroed the distances between them, flanking her father,
"It doesn’t seem serious, but it’s painful. Stay with him. I’m going to prepare a tonic," Her father hastily lifted himself from the edge of the cot, disappearing into his study and closing the door behind him.
On the bedside table that lined the cot, there was a basin with a vase full of water and a piece of cloth.
Without wasting time, Y/N damped the cloth before gently dabbing it on the Red’s face.
"Shanks, please talk to me..." the slight tremor of her voice betrayed her confidence, showing all her concern.
"Where do you feel pain?" she asked him, gently stroking his cheeks, just running down his neck so she could clear all the sweat.
It was exactly at that moment that Shanks, almost changing face, assumed a spiteful grin:
"Here you are! I’ve been waiting for you for a while," he said in a calm voice, as if, in reality, he could perfectly stand the pain despite the visible signs of intoxication such as chills, red skin and excessive sweating.
"What do you mean?" The woman’s voice became uncertain and confused.
"Since I got back, you haven’t shown up at the Partys Bar. I was afraid you were avoiding me..." Shanks confessed with the same shyness as a boy caught in the middle of a mischief. His big hand had lifted to grab one of hers and held it lovingly.
"Why should I... wait a second," The realization coloured Y/N's cheeks, who stiffened as soon as she understood that there was something odd:
"Shanks, what did you do?" And that question came out of her lips both as a charge and a plea:
"Well," the Red chuckled, "Let’s say I may have taken some of the special peppers from Makino’s secret stash..."
"Did you get intoxicated just to come here? To see me?" Her face had become a mask of disbelief:
"It could be..."
"You're..." the woman sighed resignedly: "...an idiot" Y/N just left his grip to rise from his cot. She put the piece of cloth back in the basin and - much more calmly and relaxed- reached a cupboard leaning against the other side of the dormitory.
If that man wanted to give her a heart attack, he almost succeeded.
Even though she had to admit he was sweet.
Stupid, but still very sweet.
"It worked though," Shanks lifted slowly, leaning his shoulders heavily against the wall so he could sit comfortably on the bed while, on the other side of the room, Y/N was starting to mix something into a glass,
"If you wanted to talk, you just had to knock, you know?" she commented sarcastically.
"Maybe I wanted to be taken care of by you," There was some unexpected malice in his words. Even his tone of voice had become less playful and more... provocative.
"That’s very cheeky of you, Captain..." Y/N’s hands had a slight tremor, but she tried to disguise it wisely as she returned to him with the glass that contained a dense, golden liquid.
"I desperately wanted to apologize, you know for what happened with Luffy in the last few weeks..." he confessed with a crooked smile, never taking his eyes off her as she returned to sit by his side.
"Now drink, slowly..." Y/N handed him the glass with a gentle and patient gaze.
"What is it?" Shanks observed that mixture with the innocent suspicion of a child. And that image made her laugh tenderly.
"Cognac, honey and a drop of milk"
"My favourite" commented the Red, winking at her before starting to drink slowly.
"However, you have nothing to make up for. My reaction was exaggerated... and I’m sorry that I slapped you in front of your crew." Y/N sighed softly, caressing her hands to try to mask her embarrassment.
"No problem, the boys had fun... they had something to gossip about for a while," the captain admitted, observing her hoping to meet her gaze:
"The thing is that since those new pirates arrived, there have been some problems at the Partys. In these situations, my father does not like to send me around alone... That’s why I haven’t been to the tavern lately," explained the young woman, finally looking up at him.
"It is Understandable"
They smiled at each other without saying a word.
For a few moments, they let the silence speak for them, jealously guarding those unspoken confessions.
"They told me that you managed to avoid a fight," Y/N said suddenly, breaking the quiet that had surrounded them.
"Sometimes it’s better not to create unnecessary problems, especially with people who wouldn’t be able to reason," he replied, this time regaining the authority of the adult he was.
"You are so wise, and yet you didn't hesitate to inflame your stomach to come here..." Y/N provoked him spitefully, impatiently observing his crooked and attractive smile that always managed to bewitch her:
"Different purposes require different means," Pivoting with both arms, Shanks just slid on the mattress simply to get even closer to her.
Sitting now facing each other, they began staring straight into each other’s eyes, almost taking on a challenge that neither of them knew who would win.
"I don’t know if you’re a strategist or a fool," she said, sighing as Shanks's big, sturdy hand lifted on her oval, caressing her cheeks gently:
"Maybe I'm both..." he whispered, biting his lips gently:
"Why don’t we try to find out together? Maybe this evening, at dinner?" he asked her immediately after catching the chance.
With an amused grin, Y/N raised an eyebrow upwards.
That man was absurd. But surely he knew how to move.
And that drove her nuts.
"You’ve got a lot of nerve, Captain Shanks," Y/N stood perfectly still, beginning to feel a cool chill make her goosebumps as, with caution, the Red-haired approached his face more dangerously against hers.
"Yeah, I know..." Shanks blew those words within inches of her juicy lips.
In his imagination, he could already taste her. The captain squinted, convinced he had succeeded in his quest.
But after a few seconds, he realized that if he continued to bow his head soon he would kiss the mattress.
Y/N had been very fast and silent in escaping from that lethal grip and had lifted herself from his bed.
Her heart was beating fast, but she could not give him such great satisfaction.
Not now that she was starting to understand the rules of that game of seduction and attraction.
"Get your strength back for this evening," she said, winking at him before heading out.
"Yes, madam!" laughed the captain in a mixture of excitement and frustration, shaking his head in disbelief.
Hear My Voice Sing with the Tide (ShanksxFem!Reader) part 1
Summary: Shanks learns from Mihawh that he has a daughter. The news leads the captain of the Red-haired pirates to remember his first love. Warnings: Angst, but also fluff. Words:4442
Sweet as jam - Vinsmoke Sanji x Reader
Summary: Y/N has always had a crush on Sanji, but the cook - although it is well-known that he loves to flirt with anyone - has never given Y/N any special attention. This attitude convinces her that he has absolutely no interest in her. But is it really so? Luffy thinks otherwise. Words: 4164. Warnings: A bit angsty but basically it’s a Fluff.
Ace of Swords - Dracule Mihawk x Fem!Reader (feat Roronoa Zoro) Smut imagine (VERY SOON!)
Synopsis: Zoro and Y/N are very close friends. But the swordsman knows his friend has a secret. And he’s willing to do anything to find out. The truth is that Reader still has feelings for her sword Trainer, Dracule Mihawk. Pairings: Dracule Mihawk x Fem!Reader; slightly Roronoa Zoro x Fem!Reader. Warnings: mention of blood, Violence, ANGST, SMUT (there is always some Fluff). Words: 6210
Hear my voice sing with the tide (ShanksxFem!Reader) part 1
MAIN MASTERLIST
OPLA Masterlist
Fandom: One Piece Live Action
Pairing: ShanksxFem!Reader
Summary: Shanks learns from Mihawk that he has a daughter. The news leads the captain of the Red-haired pirates to remember his first love.
Warnings: Angst, but also fluff
Words:4442
CC: This is me awakening from my slumber only for One Piece live Action - which brought back to life my inner child. I’m already planning part 2 so stay tuned (I swear I’m gonna fully commit to this).
Ps: Luna is an Italian name which means Moon.
BTW - The title and song mentioned in the story refer to Davy Jones Lullaby (by Fialeja), which I kindly suggest you listen to while reading. As usual, English is not my first language but I genuinely hope you’ll enjoy it!
The festivities for the first bounty of Luffy had just begun, and never as that morning, the Partys Bar had worked with more than double the covers. Luna, who had always considered the young captain as a member of her family, had just finished decorating the tavern with drawings of his Jolly Roger with the Straw Hat.
Now, however, she had decided to draw something different, something she had always dreamed of since she was five years old. And now that she was eight, and her artistic skills had definitely improved, she had finally begun to sketch her black flag.
"Luna, can you please clear the table over there?" Makino came out of the kitchen with bottles under her arm, casting a curious glance at the little girl with thick hair as red as fire.
"One moment..." said the little one, immediately stopping to draw, leaning forward to cover her work not yet finished.
"Luna..." The woman’s voice had now taken on a more serious tone, so much so that the little girl was convinced to put aside her colours and pick up a cloth soaked in water and soap.
"All right, sorry Makino."
Reaching the most remote corner of the tavern, Luna quickly cleaned the last table, thus allowing a distinguished gentleman to be seated. He was dressed bizarrely, but then again she knew, from the time she was born, that the Partys Bar was a pirate tavern, and the man in front of her was obviously one of them.
Yet there was something different about him. Something threatening and yet authoritative.
Maybe it was his perpetually expressionless face.
Perhaps it was his huge sword, which he carried on his back as if it were weightless like a feather.
Or maybe it was his big yellow eyes that seemed to peer at her and the entire inn with the ravenous and inquiring look as a hawk.
"What are you drawing this time?" The voice of one of the usual customers of the tavern resonated throughout the whole room, waving the drawing of the little girl who - promptly- returned to the counter to tear it from his hand:
"My Jolly Roger!" She said, making sure that with his dirty wet fingers, the fishmonger had not stained it.
It represented a red-haired skull sneering at the observer:
"Scary, isn’t it?" commented the little girl, proud of her work.
"It’s not enough to make Foosha tremble with your shenanigans? Now you also want to be a pirate?"
"You want to give your poor mother a heart attack?" Laughed his wife, resigned.
"Piracy is in my blood!" Luna retorted, with enough energy to bring the silence inside the inn and all eyes on her.
"Here we go again..." Makino commented softly, watching her climb up the bar counter as if that were now her stage:
"You all know my father is a great pirate!" She stated, proudly.
"And when I’m old enough to sail the seas, my crew and I will search for him!" Among the patrons, some smiled amused at her exclamations while others, like the mysterious man of the last table, only observed the scene, curious.
"And when I finally find him, I’m gonna punch him right in his face for making Mom cry!" A chorus of applause rose and the child swelled her chest, bowing proudly at the end of her speech.
"Indeed, you have a mighty purpose, bunny... And who would your father be?" A deep and well-set voice lifted into the room. They all turned at once, watching the mysterious man now advancing towards the bar counter.
"Mom didn’t tell me his name. But he’s still my dad. I will recognize him when I'll see him" Luna, with the grimace of an eight-year-old girl who says an obvious, watched the man lift just a corner of his lips, almost to simulate a vague sceptical grin.
"If you don’t even know his name, how do you know for sure that your father is a pirate?" asked the man with the great sword.
"Mom told me. And she never lies."
"Oh well, if Mommy said it..." The tone of the man’s voice was serious, and the child started to get upset from his challenging manner.
Luna had grown up alone with her mother, Y/N, who was the only doctor in the village. She was the strongest and smartest woman she knew and despite everything, since she was not yet perfectly able to walk, she had told her of her father’s legendary feats.
Yet, despite the esteem and love in her words, Luna remembered hearing her cry, at night, alone in her bedroom for his distance.
For this reason, anyone who questioned her maternal figure spurred a sudden rage that - often - she could not manage.
"Are you implying that my mother is a liar?" The girl’s voice had taken on a vibrating shrill, which immediately made it clear to all the guests at the Partys Bar that she was about to lose her temper.
"Maybe little bunny, she just blew up the story about your father so you could go to bed early and have dreams worthy of your vivid imagination," added the hawk-eyed man with a purposely spiteful tone towards her.
That was the drop that broke the tiny pot of Luna’s patience.
"How dare you?!" Her voice thundered for the tavern, and for a few meagre seconds, all but the pirate with the great cross-shaped sword paralyzed on the spot.
The swordsman did not break up because his experience and force of will had been forged by time, sweat and battles won throughout his life.
Yet, Dracule Mihawk found himself grinning in amusement when he felt the ambient temperature suddenly drop and a slight shiver, more like a spiteful tickle, caressing the base of his neck.
The girl’s big eyes stared at him almost as if they wanted to pierce his skull through.
Then, the silence was broken by an acute and repetitive series of squeaks frightened of many small mice that, en masse, left the place in a panic.
Mihawk then had no doubt.
That little girl had a Haki. A very powerful one, though still unripe.
"Luna!" A woman hurried into the room, warning the little girl who, looking away, stared at her with innocence and mortification:
"Mom..." Hawkeye immediately observed the real reason he had ended up in that remote village.
There was a ma who talked about her, and in fact, the rumours were true. Y/N was beautiful, but that wasn’t what made her "charming".
It was her temperament, her determination and love. He immediately understood this in seeing her arrive as a sudden storm, ready to stop her fearless daughter from inveighing - without her knowledge - against a warlord of the sea.
"Apologize to the gentleman for yelling at him." Y/N stood next to the child, watching her seriously and sternly:
"But mom..." Luna didn’t even have time to argue that her mother immediately warned her:
"Now!"
After a few moments of hesitation, due to the bitter realization that she would have to swallow her pride, Luna snorted, swelling her soft cheeks in a pouty expression:
"Excuse me, sir," she said, slowly, as if those words were causing her a real physical annoyance when saying them.
"It’s all right..." replied the man, without in the least getting upset
"It was almost entertaining," the swordsman announced, as he approached a few steps, almost as if he wanted to study every detail of Luna's mother:
"So you’re Y/N," he said, just raising his eyebrow upwards.
"You know, now that I think about it, this little red bunny of yours, looks a lot like an old acquaintance of mine."
Y/N immediately understood who Mihwak was alluding to.
Although the proximity of such a notoriously dangerous man agitated her, she tried not to betray her expression by smiling politely:
"If it’s him you’re looking for, I’m sorry to warn you he hasn’t been here in eight years," it took the swordsman a few tenths of a second to make a few calculations. Then, his big yellow eyes passed to stare at the red-haired girl, and then again to her mother.
"Interesting..." he finally said, returning expressionless.
"I paid for your consummation to make up for your waste of time. Now I think you better go, Hawkeyes" Y/N’s invitation was harsh but justified. His presence in the village would not have gone unnoticed.
"Thank you, Y/N. It was a pleasure to finally meet you," he said politely, heading out to the door when, just before crossing the threshold, the woman’s voice drew him to her for one last time:
"Mihawk." Y/N’s voice was now more serious:
"You’ve never been here, and you haven’t seen anything..." she said, and her statement seemed as much a threat as a plea.
And the man began to understand perfectly its motivation.
"... Please" the woman’s last word reached the swordsman’s ears as a gentle, respectful whisper.
It wasn't the prayer of a helpless woman.
But the request of a mother and a devoted companion.
Hawkeye said nothing, only peered into her face once more. Her big Y/E/C eyes were shiny, full of fears, hopes and melancholy.
Then he went away.
—
What can we say is that the parties of the pirates of the Red-haired were famous in all the seas.
Rivers of alcohol, songs, dancing to no end.
And yet, though there was quite a bluster around him, Mihawk continued staring at the bonfire, occasionally sipping from his mug.
"A coin for your thoughts" Slouching in the sand beside him, the red-haired man - the one that, when sober, could still consider himself worthy of Mihawk's time - chuckled, wiping his rum-dripping lips with the back of his only hand.
"There’s one thing I didn’t tell you," Hawkeye’s voice was always so calm, smooth. One could say that - although he was not the type who showed his emotions easily - he was able to speak with a clarity and elegance that was hardly associated with pirates.
And Shanks found it extremely amusing to try - by any means possible - to penetrate that perpetually solemn wax mask of his.
"Is it serious? Because I remind you that we are at a party, and I am too drunk to worry," the Red asked, barely lifting his shoulders in a bored manner, going to drink with greed.
"I went to Foosha while I was looking for you"
"Nice place. Very quiet. Is there still the Partys?"
"Yes," he simply replied, turning around enough for him to look closely at the face of his oldest rival. The scars on his eye had cleared again, and the first lines of expression around his eyelids had begun to form. On his mouth, however, his unmistakable smile assumed an unusual curvature. Melancholic, almost.
Mihawk wondered if Shanks had already figured out where he was going with this... but his act as an eternal child was often indecipherable for him.
"I hope you brought my greetings" was all that came out of the Red’s lips, and he uttered that sentence with extreme care.
No frills or excess of any kind.
And in those quiet moments, Mihawk knew he could expect anything from his friend.
"I met an interesting little girl. She begins to show the first signs of a rare and powerful Haki..." he said, without looking away from him.
Shanks, on the other hand, shook his shoulders again, almost shivering, and then returned to drink and smile crookedly as if to want to drive away who knows what thought.
"Luffy also grew up there. Perhaps that village is a cradle of child prodigies," the captain laughed, minimizing the matter as his usual.
Shanks knew that all his involvement was strange. Unusual. Suspicious.
Even with his mind clouded by the rivers of alcohol, he tried to understand why Mihawk was insisting so much. And mostly why he went to Foosha?
Sure, he was looking for him.
But something began to make him fear that the matter was about to become decidedly delicate.
Something he wanted to deal with when sober.
However, the swordsman at his side had no intention of giving in.
"The child was eight years old, with the hair bright as red fire..."
Silence.
Then, after filling his mouth with his hot Rum, the Red burst into a thunderous laughter.
"Look, we’ve talked about this, not all red-haired kids have to be my kids! I may be a pirate but I’m a gentleman and I’m not used to..."
"Her mother is the doctor of the village. Y/N Y/L/N" Mihawk’s words struck him with the same care and precision as when they duelled with the sword.
Shanks' phrase hung in the air. And his smile faded slowly.
For a tenth of a second, his hazel eyes were lost in the void, disappearing in a cloud of memories that led him to assume a pensive and enigmatic air.
Then, suddenly, his irises darkened, and even his tone of voice as an eternal child took on the hoarse timbre of a man tested by time and the sea.
"This little girl.. - he whispered, almost afraid to be heard by the rest of his crew - how old did you say she should be?"
"Eight. The mother specifically told me not to tell you. But the resemblance to you is undeniable..." admitted Mihawk, sighing softly
"I fear that soon someone will notice and attract some unwanted attention"
Silence. Shanks looked bewildered.
"Why are you telling me this?" he darted for the swordsman’s gaze, and in that stare, Mihawk realized that the Red had returned to being the man he valued and feared.
"Because I respect you... and because it’s the right thing." The honour of Dracule Mihawk, despite his reputation, was commendable, and this Shanks had always known.
What he never imagined, though, was that he came to tell him that Y/N... his Y/N, had a daughter.
A red-haired child who, apparently, showed the first signs of the haoshoku haki.
As he lowered his head, Shanks’s face almost disappeared for a few moments while, with his only arm, he loosely wiped his sweaty face.
And in that gesture, right from the bottom of his throat, the roar of a hoarse laugh climbed on his vocal cords, echoing across the entire beach.
He laughed as he had never done in recent years, keeping his arm on his stomach and his eyes tightened.
"Why are you laughing now?" Mihawk found the Red-haired captain annoying when he did that. But then, he understood that, in reality, all that charade was nothing more than his way of justifying his shiny eyes.
Shanks was like that. Nobody would change him.
"It’s nothing important," said the captain, returning thoughtfully. The shadow of a bitter grin pinched the corner of his lips, framed by a thin beard.
"If you say so..."
"No. You don't understand..." he stated at first:
"Y/N. She told me this right before I left Foosha. She wanted to tell me something, but then she pretended it was nothing. I felt she was lying, and yet I preferred to believe her... She tricked me..." He explained to the swordsman, sighing softly, looking at the starry night that had now embraced the sky:
"That woman is incredible..." he said, smiling wistfully.
"Well, I've done my field duty," Mihawk announced as he drank the last sip from his mug. Then he stood, dusting his clothes neatly from the sand.
"I take my leave before I’m forced to listen to your pathetic, lovesick complaints," he said with that veil of malice that only two men with their lives could share.
The strongest swordsman in the world walked away without adding anything else and without ever looking back at his old friend, who followed him with his eyes and said:
"Thank you..." he was serious like he had never been before.
"You're welcome..." and with a vague nod, the swordsman disappeared into the night.
Savouring that brief moment of solitude, almost managing to isolate himself from the noise of the world around him that continued to turn wildly, Shanks closed his eyes.
The words of an ancient pirate song came out of his lips slowly, almost as if he were revealing an old secret to the night:
"Hear my voice sing with the tide, my love will never..." then laughed softly, shaking his head slightly.
He'd rather hear that song from her.
- Village of Foosha, 8 years earlier
Y/N knew from the first moment she saw that crooked smile that her life would change forever.
But becoming a mother. Since she had given her heart to the Red-haired captain, of all the new adventures she anticipated to live with him this was the most unexpected.
Of course, this would not have stopped him from taking the way to the sea, yet in her heart, she already foresaw the smiles, the tears, the laughter, and the happiness that that novelty would bring to their lives.
Shanks was not a pirate like everyone else, and this was the only certainty that had reassured her on all those nights when he was away, fighting evil pirates and corrupt members of that navy that had done anything but protect them.
On the other hand, she always wanted to become a doctor... or more specifically, Foosha's Doctor, just like her father.
He was her ocean. She was his lighthouse in the night. That was all that mattered.
By the time she found out she was pregnant, Y/N had begun to walk briskly through the streets of the village, sighing happily as if nothing could touch her at that exact moment.
She juggled the streets of the market smiling more than ever, welcoming with an amused resonance the compliments of people who began to see her more radiant than usual.
However, only one sentence of Luffy - found crying wildly with the straw hat of Shanks on the head - was enough to crush her heart and crumple her limbs as if she had suddenly found herself drowning.
"Shanks... he said they’re not coming back."
Her step, from graceful and ethereal, had quickly turned into a race against time.
Her breath was short, and her eyes were swollen with tears.
They had long discussed together the possibility of a trip of that magnitude. And yet, when she was clutched to his chest, all those thoughts seemed merely futile fantasies.
Distant concerns that both of them often tried to ignore.
Rather than follow the path to the dock, Y/N climbed up the hill, to an old abandoned windmill that stood right on top of the cliff.
Their secret place.
She opened the door with such force that perhaps she could even break it for all the adrenaline in her body.
And there he was, his face fronting the horizon, his eyes pointing to the blue waves. The sea breeze made his thick red hair dance, dragging his perfume with it.
"Shanks..." she called him quietly, her concern was undeniable. Her voice was already trembling.
"Love..." When he turned to look at her, his smile was still there. He seemed serene, just like always.
Yet a different light betrayed his apprehensive gaze.
"I need to talk to you," he said, immediately eliminating the distance between their bodies, bringing the only remnant hand to the young woman’s face, caressing her cheek lovingly.
"Me, too, to tell the truth..." and to her hesitant assertion, the captain barely detached from her body as if to study her carefully, serious and worried at the same time.
"But before that..." Y/N slightly bit the inside of her cheeks, looking for the courage to speak without beginning to sob like a helpless child.
She hated being seen like that... especially by him.
"Can you tell me if it’s true that, this time, you’re not coming back?" Despite the turmoil, she had been good, had taken a deep breath and had asked him her question slowly, afraid to predict his next words.
Shanks remained silent, looking at her with a heartbreaking sweetness and the knowledge that what he was about to say would destabilize everything they had created together.
"We don’t know when we’ll be back exactly," he sighed bitterly. He just glanced down at her, trying to make himself as decent as possible. Then he looked back at her with a glimmer of hope in his big hazel eyes:
"That’s why I wanted to talk to you," he said, taking her hand, caressing her tenderly,
"I’d like to persuade you to leave with us... Even if I’m afraid I already know your answer," the captain darted down hastily as he spoke those last words.
He knew their worries were no longer distant ideas.
They were a certainty.
They just had to figure out who among them would soon pay the highest price.
And by all that exhausting love, the young woman realized that, perhaps, there was not much more to do.
She loved Shanks because he was a free spirit. A kind man. A devoted lover.
It was at that moment that the young woman decided to make a terrible choice.
Y/N felt a tingle. A tear slid silently down the curvature of her cheek. She then pulled the man’s arm towards her, wrapping him in a loving, sorrowful embrace.
She wanted to feel the warmth of his skin. His arm held her tight and reassuring.
She wanted to have him all for herself one last time.
"Shanks, love, your place is the ocean... mine is this village," she whispered, barely holding back the hiccups as she stared deeply into his eyes, caressing the edges of his scars on the higher point of his cheekbone.
Watching her fall apart made the Red quiver.
"I hate the idea of separating from you," he whispered, hiding his face in the hollow of her neck, showing that frailty that only in front of her he dared to reveal.
"You’ll be back," Y/N whispered, caressing the back of his neck lovingly,
"Like the waves that bathe the shores... you will return. And you’ll always find a haven here, with me, Shanks," the captain emerged from his warm hiding place to look for his beloved’s eyes.
Her face was drenched with bitter tears, but a gentle smile had nevertheless curved her trembling lips.
Smiling in turn, the man again carried his large, calloused hand to the woman’s face, gently cupping her cheek before completely cancelling the distance between their faces.
"I love you," he whispered on her lips before slowly kissing her.
It was a kiss that tasted of absence and torment.
"I love you too," she repeated, then sinking her face into his chest, letting herself be pervaded by that perfume that she would not have felt for a long... very long time.
"What did you have to tell me?" he suddenly asked, almost grabbing her gently by the back of her neck to convince her to look him in the eye.
"Oh, well..." Y/N avoided his gaze, however, her cheeks faded from a white blush,
"It’s nothing important..." she said, awkwardly brushing her still flat tummy.
- Village of Foosha, present
"Cruel and cold like winds on the sea, will you ever return to me..."
Under that same starry sky, Y/N was now gently stroking her baby’s bright red hair.
The flame of a candle lit the small bedroom.
Her voice sang that same lullaby that her mother used to sing for her when she was about the same age as Luna.
"Hear my voice sing with the tide, my love will never die" Luna had sunk under her blankets, and kept her eyes ajar in a sort of battle between sleep and wakefulness. But even though she knew it was an unequal fight, Luna was the kind of girl who, regardless, would have the last word.
"Good night, Mom," she whispered, yawning loudly as a tender smile stretched across Y/N's lips.
"Sweet dreams my love..." he told her, barely sewing himself to print a little kiss on her forehead.
The woman carefully tucked her in and slowly walked away, taking the candle with her, so that she could let her child rest in peace.
"Mom?" Luna's voice broke that short silence at the exact moment her mother was leaving her room:
"Yes?"
"That pirate... at the Partys..." Luna just lifted from her pillow. On her face, there was a thoughtful expression. It was like she was looking for the right words to ask her that question that’s been nagging her all day,
"He was looking for dad... right?" She asked hesitantly, carefully studying the movements of his mother who, sighing slowly, returned to sit at the corner of her bed:
"Yes, love. " she simply said. Hard as it was, she had decided to raise her trying to always tell her the truth. Especially when it came to her father.
"Why didn’t you ever tell me his name? Or showed me his bounty? Or..." asked the little girl, barely taking it up:
"Because as much as your father is an extraordinary kind and brave man... he also has many enemies. And I promised myself that I would protect and take care of you until he came back..." With her fingertips, Y/N fixed the wild fringe that masked her face, and then descended on her chubby and soft cheeks, pinching them playfully.
"Do you really believe he’ll come back?" In a fit of euphoria, Luna just leaned over to her mother, smiling hopefully:
"Who knows... Maybe even sooner than we think..." sighed Y/N.
She didn’t just say that to make her happy.
Hawkeye was an unpredictable man. He was known to do what he wanted whenever he wanted.
And after what happened, she seriously doubted that he would keep it a secret.
"Good. He’ll pay for making you cry..." a crooked chuckle came out of the pink lips of the little girl before a yawn completely swelled her face, accompanying her as she fell heavily with her head against the pillow.
"Now sleep, my little pirate," her mother whispered, kissing her head once more.
"Goodnight Mom. I love you!" Mumbled Luna, already halfway between reality and the dream world.
"Me too, my darling," Y/N smiled, closing the door behind her.
She went down to the ground floor of that windmill that had once been her love nest and now became her home.
In the distance, the sound of the sea crashing on the coast escorted her to that large window overlooking the ocean.
Y/N stared at that expanse of waves and stars with a smile full of love and melancholy.
Summary: Y/N has always had a crush on Sanji, but the cook - although it is well-known that he loves to flirt with anyone - has never given Y/N any special attention. This attitude convinces her that he has absolutely no interest in her. But is it really so? Luffy thinks otherwise.
Words: 4164
Warnings: A bit angsty but basically it’s a Fluff.
CC: Even though I’m a slow writer… Requests are welcome. As usual, English is not my first language but I hope you’ll enjoy it.
When I decided to join the Straw Hat crew, my only wish was to stay by his side.
Sanji and I spent the last years of our lives working together at Baratie, and if it wasn’t for him, I’d probably be shark food right now.
I’ve always been grateful to him, but it wasn’t gratitude that made me change my whole life and become a pirate.
It’s hard to explain the moment when you realize that your esteem and affection for a person turns into something different... deeper.
But I’ll try my best.
It all started when I realized that Sanji treated me differently from everyone else.
He is a shrewd, intelligent and friendly man. Affable and elegant, especially with women.
Or rather, with all beautiful women.
Except for me.
It didn’t bother me at first, perhaps because I hadn’t paid much attention to it.
Besides the clients, Baratie didn’t have too many women on staff.
But now that we were living on a pirate vessel with four other people, our entire microcosmos had alternated. And I began to notice the little things, even the most insignificant details that - over time - began to make me feel weak as much as to make me nervous.
As, for example, all affectionate nicknames with he called Nami: Madame, My Lady, Princess, Delight, Swan, and Cutie.
On the contrary, when his big blue eyes finally met mine, from his lips came out only and exclusively my name, with a feeble and monotonous voice.
I wasn’t mad at Nami. She’s so wild, adventurous, stubborn and smart. No wonder he lost his mind for a strong woman like her.
But I was angry and disappointed with myself for my carelessness and insecurity.
I changed my life for a man who didn’t even notice me.
Who ignored my feelings because I didn’t have the guts to let him see me.
Maybe I made a bad decision.
Luffy often told me that I was the sunshine of the crew because I was kind and brought joy.
But inside, I started to think that maybe he had also commenced to pity me for my uselessness.
Needless to say, after a few months of travelling together, the meals aboard the Going Merry had begun to become a torment for me.
The thought of it made my stomach ache.
And even that evening, like the last two, I found myself staring at that beautiful slice of salmon in golden crust with a sauce that had the appearance of jewels shining before my eyes.
But I didn’t touch it.
"Nami, darling, can I offer you some wine or bubbles that go well with your plate?" The blond’s voice was affable and soft as a caress.
Its only sound squeezed my limbs so strong, almost making me tremble for the pain.
"Y/N" calling me sweetly, Nami barely touched my shoulder, almost taking me down to earth. I slightly jumped, caught off guard, and started staring at her with a curious frown on my face:
"Are you not feeling well?" she asked me, pointing at the plate still full of great food that - however - had filled me at the mere sight.
"I’m just a little tired. I think I’ll go to sleep," I replied, smiling politely as I grabbed the cloth napkin from my knees, folding it neatly and then putting it back near the cutlery.
"I can make you something else if you want," Sanji immediately stretched out to me with his back to the kitchen. In his clear eyes was a slight spark that caused me a chill.
"It’s not good for you to go to bed without dinner," he said with an encouraging and hopeful tone. I knew how much he cared about us all eating his treats, but it was stronger than me.
"No, it’s just... I’m not hungry" and without going into further explanations that I had no desire to invent, I limited myself to leaving the room, while the others were smiling at the captain who - with his mouth still full of food said:
"If she doesn’t eat it, I can!".
--
Lately, spending the evening on the stern of the ship, eating occasionally some of Nami's tangerines, had become my favourite hobby.
From the open sea, there was a quilt of infinite stars that seemed to wrap me in a reassuring grip. The sound of the waves crashing on the keel also created the perfect background that could calm me down, to convince me that maybe all this was still worth it.
I tore a tangerine from one of the trees and began to peel it, staring at an undefined point in that dark and mysterious expanse.
"Wasn’t Sanji’s dish better?" I jumped on the spot, feeling my heart explode in my chest for a few seconds when I heard his voice ringing and cheerful. You coughed loudly, spitting into the sea a piece of fruit that, because of the fright, had remained stuck in my throat.
Of all the people I thought would come to disturb me in my little moment of loneliness and self-pity, everyone I expected to see except Luffy.
"What are you doing here?" I asked him, visibly annoyed.
He had made me die.
"There’s something wrong with you and I’d like to help you," he said, further shortening the distance between us.
He was strangely serious.
My captain hardly took on that brooding, gloomy look.
But when he did, it was because he was really worried.
"There's nothing wrong with me..." I answered with a false confidence that - as if it were a game - painted on Luffy's lips a crooked and resigned smile:
"Y/N" he sighed at first:
"I’m your captain. I can tell if you’re not as lively and cheerful as usual..."
I didn’t dare to answer him.
He was right. But I couldn’t talk.
I didn’t mean to.
Saying my thoughts out loud made them real. Tangible.
And as long as they were secure in my head, I could still feel safe.
"Why are you mad at Sanji?" His question made me freeze, and from his satisfied expression, I understood that he too had understood to have hit the target.
"What makes you think he’s the cause?" I asked, trying in vain to mask my embarrassment.
"You haven’t eaten his food in days. And for someone like him, this is a blow to his pride..." He said, flanking me and then sitting on the floor with his legs folded and his face facing the sky.
"Don’t joke. His food won't be wasted with you on board" I said sinking heavily at his side, as he chuckles bitterly.
"And I know he won't be mad just because I don’t want to eat" I admitted, revealing all my resignation with a long sigh.
The evening breeze began to lift slowly, so much to ruffle my hair and the brown curls of my captain. Then, grinning amused, he just turned to throw a spiteful look at me:
"You didn’t notice, did you?"
"What?" I asked, confused.
"When Sanji prepares rations for the crew, your plate is always the most beautiful and abundant one," said the young man at my side, and his statement left me barred.
"No. I hadn’t noticed..." I admitted, bringing my knees to my chest almost in a vain attempt to disguise myself from his inquiring gaze.
Luffy was amazing. With that careless and perpetually cloudy air, he had managed to capture a detail so interesting and significant that I had not noticed.
"Why do you think he does that?" Luffy asked me, with the tone of someone who already knows the answer but has no intention of revealing it until the most opportune moment.
"I don’t know..." I sighed. The hoarse, good-natured chuckle that echoed from the bottom of his throat annoyed me a little.
"Why are you laughing?"
"Because I think he has feelings for you," he admitted with a simplicity that almost made me open my mouth in amazement.
"Are we talking about the same Sanji?" I asked, sarcastic
"The one who flirts with everyone as long as they breathe?" I realized I said it only when it was too late and that second question had come out of my lips with a veil of malice and extra anger.
For a few tenths of a second, Luffy remained silent, visibly confused by my reaction.
Then, his face almost stretched in an oblong and unnatural expression of wonder mixed with fascination:
"Oh my God... you’re jealous!" He shouted so loud that I had to throw myself at him and lay both the palms of my hands on his gummy lips to shut him up.
"Shut up!" I growled
"You are!" he mumbled, almost blowing through my fingers.
"No. I’m not... it’s just... " I let go of my grip on him, closing myself up again.
"God can’t believe I’m telling you this..." I still whispered in disbelief.
He had me cornered. But maybe talking to someone who wouldn’t judge me wouldn’t have hurt me more than telling the person in question.
"Well, I’m your captain. There’s no better person to vent to!" Luffy laughed tenderly, just approaching so that I could talk to him quietly.
One could say so many things about him: he was childish, a troublemaker. Chaos made a person.
But there was no doubt that, for a friend, he would be there.
And seeing him there, for me, warmed my heart.
"Come on, spill the tea" he whispered slowly, giving me plenty of time to feel comfortable.
"I might have a crush on Sanji"
"But that's amazing!" An inhuman smile pulled on his lips, and even his eyes assumed a size and swelling completely absurd.
"No. It’s not." I shivered. "Not when he seems to have eyes for anyone but me!"
"Why don’t you tell him?" Luffy asked as if it was the easiest question in the world
"Are you crazy? I could never!" I admonished him, giving him an educational hit on the shoulder.
"But it’s so simple! Go to him and say: hey, I like you. Do you like me back?" his imitation of my voice was embarrassing and wrong, but it made the idea very clear.
For Luffy nothing was impossible. That was the silent message he wanted to tell me.
"He would refuse me" I quickly cleared the matter, but the captain continued to stare at me with persistence and determination:
"Why on earth?"
"Do you listen to me when I talk to you? I just said he doesn’t even consider me!" I had barely raised my voice, and hearing my own words rumbling in the wind made me tremble.
I had to be careful. Very careful. Anyone could hear us.
"The way I see it, if someone tries so hard to cook me something good, it’s to show me how much they care about me..." Luffy’s phrase was charged with wisdom that almost contradicted his childish and playful expression.
And no matter how hard I tried to deny it... he was right.
"It’s not a very immediate way to prove it..." I admitted, shyly.
"But maybe it’s his way," the captain remarked, gently placing a hand on my back, barely massaging it with reassuring action.
I stood there. Motionless, staring into the void, pondering with maniacal care over all his words.
I compared them to the attitudes Sanji had had towards me in the last weeks.
He was always so good to me. Always available to give me a hand, always present in times of need.
What if all this time I hurt myself... for nothing?
It wasn’t a faith I could hold onto with certainty...
But maybe it was worth finding out.
I turned slowly to Luffy. His dark eyes met mine, and they awakened a courage I no longer thought I had.
"Thank you..." I whispered, throwing myself in his arms so I could hold him in a warm embrace. Then, without even letting him talk, I jumped up and started running below deck.
"Hey, do you finish that tangerine?" Luffy yelled at the few pieces of fruit I had left in my hand. I threw them at him without even looking back.
—
I came to the kitchen, my heart was in my throat, and my breath was short.
Sanji was there, his shirt sleeves neatly folded over his elbow and his head bent over the kitchen. He was washing the stove thoroughly, and for a few seconds, he seemed so focused that he didn’t realize I was right behind him.
Then he turned, and his face shone with an astonished smile
"Hi..." I just said, trying to limit the embarrassment.
"Do you feel better?" He asked, putting down the rag with which he was doing the cleaning, rinsing his hands quickly so that he could also make himself more presentable. It was a habit he learned from Zef.
When a customer comes in, I want you clean and tidy - he loves to repeat it.
The memory made me smile automatically.
"Yes, I was just a little tired..." I sighed, looking into his eyes.
And... God, I wanted to drown in those blue eyes.
Sanji stood there, staring at me in silence. Unlike me, he wasn’t embarrassed at all.
But there was something about the way he looked at me.
He wasn’t studying me. But he was careful. Alert.
I asked myself why he did it. But the possible answer was hidden in a tangle of thoughts that I was afraid to dissolve.
"Isn’t there something left to eat?" I asked, trying to destroy the quietness that was beginning to weigh on my shoulders.
"Of course. I saved you the dish so that..." Smiling comforted, the cook immediately reached the pantry with wide strides. But when he opened it, the plate that was supposed to hold my dinner was empty.
Not even the crumbs were left.
"Luffy... That bastard," he whispered with a sigh full of anger and self-control. Then, straightening his back, Sanji swelled his chest and looked back at me, smiling and purposeful:
"Can I make you something else? Do you have any particular craving?" he asked me, starting to put his hand back on his bedpan.
I could have asked anything with the certainty that he would be able to cook it excellently.
Then, that kind of expression reminded me of a precise moment in my life.
"Do you remember when we met?" And when I asked, Sanji was petrified on the spot. His gaze assumed for a few tenths of a second a frowning expression.
When I got to Baratie, I had lacerations on my hands and knees.
I crawled in there barely alive. My eyes, and the skin of the face, burned for the salt and the rediscovered light that - for some time - I had missed.
The pirates that abducted me had kept me locked underdeck in a ship that rarely docked in ports. I only managed to escape because other prisoners from my village had helped me. And now I was in that kitchen filled with delicious smells I had never felt before.
My stomach turned several times when crawling like a worm, I reached a deserted post. I had to gather all my last strength to climb up and support myself on the work table, on which a piece of stale bread, a knob of butter crumpled in the leftovers, and the bottom of a jar of jam remained unattended.
I haven’t eaten in days.
It burned my skin making those movements, but nothing prevented me from wetting that bread with the other ingredients and giving it a small bite.
I gasped at the pain in my gums. But I would have killed to finish that bite.
"What are you doing here?" That voice caught me so unawares that I trembled as I turned against him with my hands raised in surrender.
With a slight thud. My stolen meal fell to the ground.
The young blond-haired cook stared at me with a mixture of curiosity and concern but did not move against me.
"What happened to you?" he ventured a step forward, but seeing me gasp he realized how scared I was.
"It’s okay... I just want to help you..."
I stood in silence, watching him as he approached me slowly, showing me his hands as if to make sure he had good intentions:
"What’s your name?" he asked with a frightening sweetness, quickly taking off his chef’s jacket. Then, with a fast and impalpable movement, he gently laid it on my shoulders.
"Y/N" I barely whispered, a lonely tear crossing my face.
At that sight, the blond smiled at me.
And in that elegant and generous curvature, I felt myself melt.
"I'm Sanji," he said, gallantly framing my back with his arm to help hold me up.
"Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you now"
That same smile was still drawn on his mouth. Then, nailing me with the lucid look of memories of a past life, he said:
"Yes, I do..." Sanji regained his gentlemanly Chef composure. With an elegant gesture, he pointed to the counter that divided the kitchen from the living room.
"Please be patient for just a few moments, Miss," he said, winking at me amusedly before turning his back on me and starting his prestige act.
I always loved watching him cook.
He was fast and confident. And he looked at food with a truly enviable love and respect.
It didn’t take long, and I asked him for a dish of embarrassing simplicity. But he was Vinsmoke Sanji.
Even the poorest and humble recipes, if handled by his expert and wise hands, could become something extraordinarily sophisticated.
Like that dish, he served to me shortly after:
Crispy bread, a soft and creamy cloud and a glossy and aromatic jelly.
"French toast with buttercream and rosemary-scented tangerine jam," he said, exposing the dish to me with professionalism.
"It looks delicious" I whispered, smiling ecstatically as its perfume entered my nostrils.
"Taste it," the blond urged me, bypassing the bar to come and sit on the stool next to me.
It was an invitation I didn’t let me repeat twice.
I hurried into it, and I felt a warm chill creeping up my skin when I felt that explosion of flavour making all my taste buds dance.
"You are a God in the kitchen", I chuckled shyly, trying to hide my gaze from his attentive and inquisitive look- focusing solely on food.
"Yeah... I’m pretty good," he laughed, beginning to stare at me with his cheek resting comfortably on his closed fist.
"I’ve been a little worried the last few days... for you" he admitted, this time his tone of voice had taken on lower notes, worried but at the same time apprehensive.
I bit my tongue. And swallowing loudly, I momentarily laid the cutlery on the plate.
"About that..." I sighed, trying to regain the courage that Luffy had managed to reinvigorate inside me.
And yet, now that I could almost feel the warmth of his body close to mine, I felt my strength falter.
"I haven’t been very honest with you and others lately..." I admitted shyly, avoiding his gaze.
"What do you mean?" Sanji raised an eyebrow.
"Let’s say I didn’t want to spend time in your company... and since you’re the cook..." I could only look him in the face when his expression changed from curiosity to trepidation. Then, I looked back at my hands. I started stroking them nervously, and I hoped that he wouldn’t notice my anxiety.
"Did I do something that offended you?" he asked softly, just laying a hand on my shoulder to invite me to look at him.
I took a deep breath, and when I finally decided to look up, his face was there, inches away from mine.
His blond hair perfectly framed his pale oval, and in those eyes, I saw the same unconditional kindness of that young man who had saved my life.
"No. No absolutely..." I said, smiling in an attempt to reassure him.
"It’s just me getting annoyed for a really stupid reason... and I want to apologize," I confessed, in a thread of voice.
"What annoyed you?" he asked, understanding.
"Well," I sighed "The thing is, I noticed that when Nami’s around - or some other pretty girl- you’re always so charming to them. But never with me..." and it was just as I finished revealing my most unspeakable secret that I saw the realization colour his face.
"Y/N..." he muttered my name in a whisper. Penetrating me with vigour, but also tenderness.
"I mean, it's stupid, right? I mean, it’s normal for you to hit on other women, so why do I..." I started talking in a burst, convincing myself that maybe I would confuse him, to send everything into chaos so that I could ensure a dignified exit from the scene and free of further inconvenience.
But with a vigorous grip, Sanji grabbed my hands:
"Y/N!" he said, firmly, inviting me to listen:
"Perhaps you misunderstood my intentions..." he said, clearing his voice. He even looked down, as if he were now the embarrassed one. Then he took a deep breath and continued:
"... but I’ve been trying to woo you for months without success" A bitter smile pinched his lips.
"What?" I must have taken on a particularly funny expression because, looking at the blond, I saw he could hardly hold back an amused laugh.
"I’m not that straightforward with you just because I think you’re amazing, and you deserve a more... old-fashioned romantic approach," he confessed, almost massaging my hands before bringing them to his face.
He kissed my fingers with an elegance of the past. An electric shock pervaded me, almost making my skin crawl. And he could feel it too. I was sure.
Prey to what I recognized as a mixture of panic, happiness and embarrassment, I hurried away from him and went back to eat, convinced that everything that had just happened was the most normal thing in the world.
Sanji laughed softly, remaining at my side to watch me eat with a proud and satisfied look.
"I like you too..." I mumbled with my mouth still full, giving him a fleeting glance.
In return, the blond lifted a hand towards me, forwarding it into my hair,
"I knew I would tempt you with my delicacies," he said with confidence, caressing my head slowly, with small and elegant movements, causing a whole series of warm chills that - from my head - radiated throughout my body, relaxing like soft dough all my muscles.
"I hope you will also tempt me in some other way..." I whispered, almost abandoned to that relaxing feeling. I realized the exact words I had spoken only when I heard my voice ringing through the kitchen, and his mischievous laughter accompanying his movements.
From my hair, his hand slid skillfully and expertly over my face, my cheeks, stopping on my chin, so that he could turn against him, who had now come dangerously close.
His warm breath caressed my cheeks, and at that moment I couldn’t help but tremble with impatience.
"Oh, you have no idea what I have in store for you..." he whispered, making out with me with fatal speed.
And when his mouth began to taste mine, his whole body moved, clutching me in a hot and passionate grasp. Defenceless, I could do nothing but melt to his chest, tying my arms around his neck.
Praying and hoping that all this was happening.
His hands began to move along the perimeter of my back, squeezing my hips, almost shaping them above my clothes.
It was an intense kiss, in which Sanji guided me like a dance through every phase of its sweet rhythm.
Then, leaving me quivering on his lips, the cook barely strayed from my face. His clear eyes were stained by a darker and devilish light.
With the tip of his thumb, he drew an invisible line on the contour of my lips, almost cleaning it from the residues of our saliva, but also from something else.
Some cream - which I may have accidentally soiled myself with earlier.
Gradually, Sanji licked his finger with a damned slow and sensual motion. A malevolent grin unfolded on his mouth:
"Now that I think about it..." he smiled, "I could add cinnamon."
I stared at him again, with a fire inside that - now that was burning - I had no intention of stopping.
I grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him to me hard so I could steal another kiss.
---
Luffy, prey to one of his nocturnal hunger attacks, had taken advantage of the fact that everyone was now in bed to steal something from the kitchen.
Hear My Voice Sing with the Tide (ShanksxFem!Reader) part 1
Summary: Shanks learns from Mihawh that he has a daughter. The news leads the captain of the Red-haired pirates to remember his first love. Warnings: Angst, but also fluff. Words:4442
Sweet as jam - Vinsmoke Sanji x Reader (Very Soon)
Summary: Y/N has always had a crush on Sanji, but the cook - although it is well-known that he loves to flirt with anyone - has never given Y/N any special attention. This attitude convinces her that he has absolutely no interest in her. But is it really so? Luffy thinks otherwise. Words: 4164. Warnings: A bit angsty but basically it’s a Fluff.
20 seconds - Shuntarō Chishiya x Fem!Reader Oneshot
MAIN MASTERLIST
AIB masterlist
Title: 20 seconds
Show: Alice in Borderland
Summary: It all started with 20 seconds of warmth. But Chishiya pushed her away. Now that he’s in Borderland, he’s starting to realize that maybe he made the wrong choice…
Words: 6744
Warnings: Possible spoilers from S2. Mention of Death, blood and violence. Fluff.
A/C: I couldn’t help it. I tried to leave Chishiya IC as far as I could, but since it is a FLUFF he could be slightly OOC. Anyway, as always, English is not my native language but I sincerely hope you enjoy it.
Now that he thought about it… It had all started when – in the real world (if it could still be called that) he was just a medical resident.
Chishiya had only been in service for a few months but remembered that he stood out - without surprise - for his resoluteness and his exceptionally above-average intellect.
Yet, on that specific day, something had gone wrong. They had operated on that little boy putting all their effort into it. Yet, during the post-operative observation period, the patient went under arrest and died before anything could be done to save him.
It is said that day comes for all doctors, sooner or later.
But honestly, Chishiya had the presumption to think that, for him, that day would come as late as possible.
And now he found himself all alone on the roof of the hospital, staring into space as the sun slowly disappeared beyond the horizon.
“Someone has found my favorite place…” although -outwardly- he maintained a completely calm and expressionless attitude, her voice came straight to the man’s ears like a blow behind his back, catching him totally off guard.
She was a woman about his age, probably a resident in another department because the more he looked at her, the more he realized he had never seen her before in his medical wing.
“I don’t think there was your name written on it” Chishiya replied, unbothered.
“This is because I am a magnanimous and generous person,” said the young woman, picking up his provocation in a playful and rather friendly tone.
Summary: You and Niragi are like the devil and holy water. He calls you weak, but you are willing to do anything to prove otherwise.
Words: 5756
Warnings: ANGST, mention of blood, violence, death, smut, fluff (if Niragi is involved, even the “fluff” is a warning).
A/N: Just finished to watch Alice in Borderland and I'm literally OBSESSED. As always, English is not my first language but I hope you'll enjoy it! xxx
When Aguni told me about the beach, I never thought he meant what once was the most exclusive resort in Tokyo. They had found a way to make electricity work, and they had become completely autonomous. A real utopia based on total loyalty to the Hatter. Even if I still didn't understand the mechanisms of that new reality, I decided that staying with them and supporting them would still be much better than going through all this alone. The word that I was a nurse spread quickly, and it didn't take long for me to become a new executive member. It was at my first official meeting that I met him: Niragi, Aguni's right arm. We were all seated at the conference room table, and while the others were discussing the next plan, I noticed out of the corner of my eyes that the young man was staring at me, licking the corner of his lips with the tip of his tongue, making a small glimpse of his piercing. I don't know why but I felt embarrassed. Not so much because it was him, but because probably in my life no one had ever looked at me like him: with greedy curiosity.
I tried to compose myself, pretending nothing happened. But after a while, I noticed that his big hazel eyes had never left my figure. I barely returned his gaze, smiling shyly. But at my gesture, Niragi looked at me with a decidedly more serious. Snorting, almost annoyed, he returned to focus on the meeting.
I thought that perhaps I had misunderstood his intentions. After all, I had never been able to understand how the mechanics of courtship work, and honestly in this new world I had neither the time nor the desire to distract myself from my goal: finish the game and stay alive.
From that day on, the hatter entrusted me with the task of medicating those who managed to return alive from the games. I didn't object. It was good to feel useful, especially in a cruel world like this.
However, I noticed that day after day, in the comings and goings of people asking me for help for their injuries, there was always a person who remained motionless in front of my bedroom door, never entering.
And even that day, when I greeted a young man who had a bad cut on his leg, Niragi was right outside, looking at his surroundings and hugging his rifle.
I had the boy - who was yelling and cursing in pain - lie down on the extra bed in my room, and I took the opportunity to go out for a second:
"Can I help you?" I asked him directly, drawing his attention. Niragi began to stare at me, bewitched.
"Do you need help? Are you hurt? " I then asked kindly, smiling as he, on his side, just shook his head:
"No"
"Then why are you always standing outside my door?"
"Aguni asked me to keep an eye on you," he replied gruffly, snorting as if he wasn't exactly happy to be there.
"Oh really? Thank him but I don't need it." I stated, continuing to smile politely at him. And at my affirmation, the man looked back at me, this time seriously.
"Go have fun, I'm sorry to bother you," I added shortly after, turning away from him to go back to my work.
"I only take orders from my Boss," he stopped me just when I was about to close the door in his face.
His eyes met mine, and for a split second, I swore I saw a different light in the bottom of his irises. But I couldn't figure it out. To bring me back down to earth then were the screams of the injured boy in my room.
"Okay ... So do you want to stay with me?" At my question, Niragi just raised his eyebrow adorned with a silver piercing. He seemed amused by my embarrassed expression:
“Keep me company while I medicate him. He's very agitated maybe you can calm him down for me” I confided as I let him in, closing the door behind him. Niragi flanked me as I began to clean his wound, but just when I was trying to stitch him, he was kicking back in pain, and I thanked my reflexes for a moment for being able to dodge his attack.
"Please try to stay still or I won't be able to stitch you" I tried to pin his injured leg gently, but the moment I managed to pierce his flesh with the sterile needle, the boy under me kicked me with all his strength, screaming at the top of his lungs. Without realizing it, I found myself on the ground, just rubbing my head. Puffing, Niragi raised the butt of his rifle and then gave a sharp blow to the boy's head. I felt the young man flinch before collapsing to a dead weight on the bed. With my heart in my throat, I jumped up to check that he hadn't caused him any further damage:
"Now he shouldn't give you any more problems" Niragi sighed,
"Don't worry. He just passed out " he specified, giggling spitefully as he turned his heels, walking with wide strides towards the door of my room.
"Thank you" but at my statement, the dark-haired man barely snorted:
"I'm outta here. Call me if he still gives you problems. " He just answered before closing the door behind him.
—-
A few days passed. I heard someone knocking on my door animatedly, but when I opened it, I found myself in front of a girl who, starting to scream, punched me in the face. The shock of being caught off guard by her brought me to my knees.
"Nasty whore!" And as the girl continued to hit me, for a few moments I could not help but raise my arms above my head, protecting me as she vented on me.
"You think you're a prude but you fuck all those who ask for your help" she barked with all the breath that was left in her lungs. When she no longer had the strength to hit me, I rubbed my split lip:
"May I know what the hell are you talking about?" I asked in shock.
“You fucked my man” she growled, staring at me with hatred and resentment.
"I highly doubt it," I replied trying to stay calm, but my composed and disinterested attitude towards her seemed to freak her out.
“Bitch don't lie to me! He came here to get stitches on his leg and now he brags about the blowie you gave him! " Realizing immediately what the problem was, I sighed as I lifted myself off the ground, looking into her eyes seriously:
"Listen ..." I said, snorting annoyed "I just gave him stitches. If he says he fucked me it's his problem but it's not the truth! " But the girl didn't seem satisfied with my statement.
"Fuckin' bitch" she raised her fist ready to hit me again, but suddenly a male voice coming from down the hall stopped her.
"If I were you I wouldn't do it ..." We both turned abruptly, freezing in place when we noticed Niragi approaching with sweeping strides and his rifle aimed at the girl in front of me.
"Niragi ..." I called him softly, surprised by the fact that he was helping me. But the guy just ignored me, addressing directly the girl who was attacking me:
“Tell that asshole of your man to take back what he said. I was there that day, and I can assure you that his cock wouldn't have hardened even with the viagra" he then loaded the shot in the barrel, pointing the rifle at her head:
“And if I see you still hanging around her, I'll kill you both. I made myself clear?" Her eyes were serious, dark, troubled. He seemed to growl those words like a wounded animal ready to bite its prey. Trembling like a leaf, the girl hastily bowed in front of me before running away with her tail between her legs. Niragi stared at her going away for a few seconds, and only when he was sure she was gone did he lower her rifle, relocking it.
"Thank you ..." I stated bowing politely in his direction, but all I received in response was only a:
"Girl, wake the fuck up" he sounded angry. I looked up abruptly, finding myself pierced from side to side by his stern and wary gaze.
"Excuse me?"
“I said wake up. She threw a punch at you and you didn't do anything to defend yourself” he scolded me, approaching menacingly. Almost automatically, I stepped back, finding myself against the wall of the corridor.
"I was just trying to explain..." I barely lowered my gaze when, with a vigorous punch, the young man shook the wall behind me, further shortening the distance from my face. My heart automatically started beating madly in my chest. And while the tachycardia almost made me collapse, I felt his warm breath caressing my cheeks, while with a firm and vigorous grip he grabbed my chin to force me to look into his eyes:
“This is the problem Y/N. You're too nice to these assholes. Start getting your respect because I won't always be there to protect you”.
Letting me go, the man headed away, leaving me standing there with tears in my eyes.
So this was what he thought of me.
Well, he was wrong.
___
The game arena was a twelve-story building. At the entrance, I found myself in front of six other people, and there were two cell phones left. I grabbed the first one that came within range, and immediately after the facial recognition, I started waiting together with the other participants for the pre-recorded voice to explain the rules of the game.
The lights of a long corridor came on abruptly, and at the far end, a second table displayed four pairs of high-tech collars illuminated in different colours. I recognized those devices immediately. The last time that I had seen them on someone's neck, that person was dead: his head had exploded, splattering blood and grey matter everywhere.
I breathed softly, advancing with the others as the pre-recorded voice had finally begun to speak:
“The registrations have ended. The number of participants is 8. Level of the game: Seven of Clubs. Please choose a partner and wear a collar of the colour you prefer "
I arrived first in front of the exhibitor and grabbed the red collar. A boy approached me timidly, and when I was about to pass him my same device, a hand grabbed the young man by the shoulders, pulling him away abruptly.
"Get out of the way, asshole" with an amused and mocking smile, Niragi just winked at me, snatching the collar from my hand before putting it on with absolute nonchalance.
"What are you doing here?" I asked him with an annoyed sigh,
"What do you think, doll?" He just answered me, exposing an arrogant and annoying smile. It had been several days since our last meeting. Seeing him there had taken me by surprise but at the same time had made me feel an unexpected euphoria. Now that we had to play together, I could prove to him that everything he thought about me was wrong.
The game - "Button"- consisted of dividing into pairs and reaching the top floor of the building as quickly as possible. The first couple who would have pressed the button on the twelfth floor would have won, thus decreeing the death of all the other participants.
The starting point was the four entrances at the corners of the building. The elevators were out of order. For the rest, the use of any weapon or blunt object was valid.
As the countdown marked the imminent start of the game, Niragi handed me two guns, positioning himself as a shield in front of me.
"Stay behind me, baby doll, or you'll get hurt," he said, safely removing the lock on his rifle. And at that umpteenth provocation, I officially felt my patience abandon me.
"Niragi?" I called him softly, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.
"What's up?" He asked, turning abruptly so that he could stare at me. He was focused and worried at the same time. But for whom?
"Game START"
"Fuck you!" I said pushing him away to be able to pass him and start running inside the building.
“Y/N! Where the fuck are you going? Wait!" Taken by surprise, the young man could not help but chase me, covering me as I led the way to the service stairs.
I fired at a girl who was coming at me crying.
And seeing my total lack of hesitation, Niragi remained motionless for a few seconds staring at the now lifeless body of that girl.
“Stand behind me and cover me. We don't have time to waste” I said seriously without even turning around.
"Yes, ma'am!" he laughed behind me with some excitement in his eyes. For the first time, Niragi finally gave me the reins of command.
We reached the top floor, the button was right in front of us.
Niragi headed towards it to press it but, taken by all the adrenaline that was still flowing in my body, with a sudden snap I reached towards him, blocking him.
"What the fuck ..." the boy looked at me, dazed as I stood between him and the button.
"Shut up and listen to me..." I said while breathing deeply:
“It's true, I'm kind to everyone and I care about others. I am not a brawler like you and I don't like to throw hands. But it's not true that I don't know how to defend myself. " And closing my hand into a tight fist, I went to press hard that button which, within a fraction of seconds, blew the heads of the last couple of participants that we had not killed yet during the game.
"GAME CLEAR"
Then I turned back to stare at him. My eyes were swollen with tears, and I had to appeal to all my self-control not to burst into tears in front of him. His eyes seemed to have gone dark. Yet he didn't hesitate to look into my eyes, stare at me with an amused and proud grin painted on his well-drawn lips.
“All the lives I try to save at the beach make up for the ones I take in games. So don't call me weak just because I try not to be like the others"
Without saying anything, Niragi smiled, raising his hands almost as a sign of surrender, continuing to stare at me even when I took off the collar and went back to the ground floor, where the cars were already waiting for us.
___
Since our last game, I haven't seen Niragi again. And although I didn't want to admit it to myself, it had left me frustrated and unsatisfied. I had gotten used to his constant presence around me. And although he was rowdy, ruthless and far too impulsive, there was something in the way he "kept an eye on me" that flattered me and, at the same time, made me feel protected.
For some absurd reason, I had come to think that maybe he was really worried about me and my safety, but my rational side immediately brought me back down to earth. Suguru Niragi was simply following orders.
For him, I was just an incompetent who - apart from during the games - didn't have the guts to take the lead.
That night the Hatter had organized one of his crazy pool parties. Not that I wasn't in the mood to celebrate the fact that I was still alive, but the idea that he would probably be there too made me anxious. But I had promised Kuina that I would go and keep her company.
And a promise is a promise.
For once, I had put on a slightly lower-cut black swimsuit than usual, adorned with a sarong tied around my hips. I wasn't the type to show off but something inside me made me dare more, just for that night. And my move had its effect.
I found all eyes on me the exact moment I entered the area surrounding the pool.
The music was blasting, and I had to enter that sea of ​​sweaty and hot bodies dancing to the rhythm of the music to try to reach the bar area. And as I wriggled in that shapeless crowd, my eyes almost automatically rested on him: sprawled on a leather sofa, drinking with two half-naked girls on either side of his body who entertained him in their own way.
I don't know if what I felt was anger mixed with jealousy. The fact is that I found myself walking with wide strides towards the bar counter, grabbing a glass and a bottle of rum. The bitter taste of the liqueur immediately sent my oesophagus ablaze, and for a few moments, it gave me relief. But then I went back to look at him. Niragi hadn't even realized I was there, and this made me want to drink again.
I poured myself a second glass of Rum, and at that moment, I saw a hand reach out to me, waving an empty glass in front of my face. When I looked up, my eyes collided with the dark ones of the young man with thick blonde hair.
“It's a little sad to drink alone, isn’t it Y/N?" Chishiya smiled sweetly at me, watching me pour him a drink. Then he brought his glass against mine to make a little toast.
"What are we toasting?" I asked
"I don't know ... maybe the fact that you finally left your room?"
“I'm already regretting it, trust me” we swallowed our drinks, and Chishiya laughed as he snatched the bottle from my hand so he could refill our glasses. I swallowed yet another shot, and once again I found myself looking for the man on the sofa across the room.
"You know he likes you, right?" I felt Chishiya's warm breath caressing my skin, and it was only when I turned towards him that I realized how close he was.
"What?" I asked him pretending to be stupid, even though I knew what he wanted to say.
“Niragi likes you. The whole beach has noticed it except you" he said with some disappointment in his voice. Without even realizing it - probably because of all the alcohol I was drinking - I burst out laughing directly in his face.
"You're wrong. He thinks I'm too weak” I said, barely tapping the bottom of the glass on the counter, implicitly asking him to pour me more booze.
"Maybe ... but if I were you I would stay away from him. He's a psycho” he said bitterly. I brought the glass to my lips, drinking it all in one gulp, this time to find the courage to answer him:
"It's a bit presumptuous of you to lecture me, don't you think?" And at my question, Chishiya smiled amused, just raising an eyebrow upwards.
“Nobody here is a good person. At least not anymore. And you are as cruel as he is ... "
"Touchè" the blonde man chuckled, drinking greedily before pointing at someone with his eyes:
"By the way, if you wanted to get his attention, you did." I whirled around, unable to help but shudder when I finally bumped into Niragi's furious and burning gaze. Seeing me so close to Chishiya seemed to have upset him. He bit his lip slowly, continuing to stare at me as if he wanted to bite my throat without mercy.
"Chishiya give her some peace for once she has come to have fun ..." I suddenly felt the weight of two arms wrap around my shoulders, and when I caught a glimpse of Kuina's face out of the corner of my eye, I breathed a sigh of relief.
“My work here is finished” the boy replied, finishing his drink before walking away in silence and disappearing into the chaos.
Kuina dragged me to the dance floor, and by now I had too much alcohol in my body to resist. So I found myself dancing close to her, eyes half-closed, swinging just to the rhythm of the music. My head felt extremely light, and continuing to laugh I leaned on my friend. Within moments we found ourselves surrounded by other people who, confused by the fumes of alcohol, began to dance with us, separating us. Regaining my lucidity, I paused for a moment to try to understand what happened to Kuina. Then, two large and tapered hands landed on my hips, just squeezing them almost as if he wanted to mould them under his fingers. Wrapping me in a warm embrace from behind, I felt his lips settle on my neck, making me tremble on the spot. Then, the tip of his tongue traced a wet and invisible trail along my skin, going up to my ear. He then bit my earlobe, sighing in frustration.
"What do you plan to do Y/N?" Niragi's voice was hoarse, provocative while his hands were holding me tightly against his chest.
"You're not the type to hang out here and party," he added shortly after, brushing my hair back to leave the print of a seductive kiss on my bare shoulder.
"Once again you prove that you know nothing about me" I replied turning against him so that I could stare into his eyes. Niragi allowed me to wrap my arms around his neck. His hands returned to my hips, this time massaging them with desire. His eyes plunge into mine, and just shortening the distance between our faces, the man moistened his lips with the tip of his tongue.
“Looks like it. But you seem to be more and more interesting” I placed my hands through his raven hair, stroking the nape of his neck, already anticipating the taste of his lips on mine. I immediately felt a knot forming at the height of my stomach. And squinting, I waited impatiently for that kiss that I had unconsciously craved all evening. I felt his mouth just brush against mine. But he didn't kiss me.
The music had stopped abruptly. And when I opened my eyes, I realized that we had been embraced even while the hatter made a new announcement: new game arenas had appeared in the city. My gaze returned to Niragi's, who reluctantly let go of my hips.
"I have to go..." he said, loosening my embrace to get away with the other militants.
"I'm coming with you" I replied flanking him, but at my statement the man stopped abruptly, grabbing my face with both hands to scrutinize me with a serious and stern look.
"No. You still have several days left on your visa. It's safer if you stay here for tonight ... "
"But..." I didn't even have time to argue that Niragi completely shut the distance between us, leaving me a little kiss on the cheek. I felt my skin begin to burn with embarrassment while, laughing out loud, the dark-haired man said:
“Don't worry baby doll. I will not get killed, I promise ... "and throwing me one last malicious wink, Niragi left, taking up his trusty rifle.
-—
It was late at night, but I couldn't sleep. The thought that Niragi was out there participating in a new game had me so agitated that I would not have been able to rest even if I wanted to. He had gone away like that. With a miserable kiss on the cheek and a promise made with a laugh. And the frustration and concern that grew in me made me understand how important it was to always grasp the moment in this absurd world. At any time, it could be too late.
Suddenly I heard someone knocking on my door. So strong that he seemed to want to knock it down. I rushed to open it, and the image that appeared before me made my blood run cold.
"Aguni?!" I said almost breathless. The militant leader towered over me. Niragi's body hung in dead weight on his shoulders. He was pale, trembling, and his lips were tinged with an eerie purple colour.
"What happened?" I asked, trying to stay calm as I let him into my room. The situation was serious and I couldn't afford to panic.
“It was a game of Spades. They had to come out of a cold storage ... he is the only survivor" the man explained to me.
"Put him to bed, quick," I gave him instructions and waited for him to lay him on my bed. Niragi was unconscious but, luckily, his heartbeat was still strong. Without adding a word I began to undress him, throwing his clothes on the floor. I took all the blankets available and wrapped him carefully, making sure I turned on the heaters.
"I'll leave him to you Y/N" Aguni affirmed staring at me intently, placing a hand on my shoulder with apprehension.
"I'll do my best ..." I replied, smiling politely. Without saying anything, the man left us alone. With the kettle available in my room, I heated some water. I filled a couple of hot water bags which I placed near his feet. Then I armed myself with a thermometer and waited.
The temperature was slowly starting to rise.
Too slowly though.
"... Fuck" I snorted in anguish, starting to take off my clothes. Gently, I slipped under the covers, wrapping him in a hug. Almost in search of my body heat, the man buried his cold face in the hollow of my neck, hiding between my skin and my hair. I felt his hands return the hug, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Come back to me, you idiot," I whispered softly, placing my hand through his thick dark hair, lovingly stroking his head.
We remained in that position for several hours. Though I felt my eyelids getting heavier and heavier, I struggled to stay awake. The heat of my body should have accelerated the rise in his temperature, but knowing that he was still unconscious made me stay alert.
"Sorry..." soft as a whisper, his voice made me jump on the spot.
"You're awake! Thank God!" I sighed reassuredly squeezing him further in my arms as I felt his tapered fingers just caressing his skin, almost exploring me.
"Y/N..." he called me softly:
“…Sorry for the awful things I said to you," he said suddenly, leaving me dumbfounded.
“…The fact is, sometimes you remind me of who I was a long time ago. A weak. One who didn't dare to stand up and fight for himself. But you're not like me…" Lifting his head from his comfortable hiding place, Niragi finally looked back at me. His eyes were sleepy, yet in his small half-closed slits, I could still see a proud look.
"You are the strongest and most honest person I know in here ... that's why I like you" he added immediately after, just looking down, for the first time in the grip of an almost unreal embarrassment.
He had never shown himself for who he really was. And allowing me to do that was the greatest gift for me.
"You don't have to apologize for anything ..." I said, smiling sweetly at him as I brought my hand to his face to caress his cheek and remove some rebellious locks from his face.
“You came back without getting killed, just like you promised me. And that's enough for me "
And we stared at each other once more. Then, suddenly stretching out, the man put his lips on mine. They were warm, soft. And in a split second his mouth completely merged with mine. Squeezing me tightly in his arms, Niragi grabbed me by the back of my neck, as if he were afraid to let me go, parting my lips with his tongue.
It was a sweet, slow kiss. But soon he became more and more fiery, passionate, eager. Without realizing it, taken by the heat of the moment, the man now towered over me, and his hands were tied to mine, blocking them on the sides of my head.
"Niragi..." I breathlessly whispered as our lips finally parted.
"Yes, princess?" He just chuckled, climbing down my neck to trace a trail of invisible kisses on my collarbone, spitefully reaching my breasts.
"We should stop ... You could get muscle damage if you don't warm up properly ..." I whispered softly, arching against him as he began to gently suck on my nipples.
"Do you want me to stop?" He asked, rising a little just to look into my eyes with his intense black irises that burned with passion.
"I don't want you to get hurt ..." I replied in turn, smiling shyly at him. And at that sight, Niragi burst out laughing, hiding again in the hollow of my neck:
"Christ ... when you act like this you make me want to devour you..." he whispered, biting me softly, making me shudder when he started sucking my skin right where I felt weakest.
"I'll be gentle then, okay baby doll?" He asked, looking for my gaze again. But he didn't even give me a way to answer that his lips silenced me with yet another kiss. Biting my lower lip slowly, Niragi went back to tracing humid trails of kisses all over my body, slowly descending, causing me long and exhausting shivers that made me goose skin. His head suddenly vanished under the covers, but it wasn't hard to tell where he was headed. Grabbing my legs, he positioned them on the sides of his head, fitting perfectly in front of my sex. He began to eat me out, slowly, as if he wanted to taste me first. His tongue soon became greedier, permanently clouding my brain.
My moans filled the whole environment. My vision was so blurred that when he emerged from his hiding place, his figure seemed grainy to me. He returned to kiss me vigorously, as he tied my legs around his hips, slowly entering me. A low and prolonged moan parted his thin lips, letting him assume an expression of ecstasy as he began to move rhythmically with my body. With one hand he grabbed my throat. He squeezed enough to let me know that he was in charge, dragging my face towards his to continue kissing me passionately, while with his free hand he clung to the headboard, to have a better grip and penetrate me deeper. Everything suddenly went black, my head began to spin as I reached the peak of pleasure, screaming his name.
"Christ Y/N ..." he gasped, never slowing down,
"I think I'm about to cum ... Could you give me a hand, baby doll?" He whispered in moans, slowly stroking the outline of my lips with his fingertips. Panting softly, I began to move to allow him to position himself under me, and without wasting time I slipped under the covers. I tasted his sex taking it slowly in my mouth, finding the rhythm that soon after led Niragi to stiffen and tremble with pleasure under me. Clinging to my hair, he growled loudly as he accompanied me through the motions. His free hand gently stroked the whole profile of my back, and then hit me hard on the butt, making me vibrate under him.
I savoured all of his orgasms down to the last drop of him, and when I emerged from the sheets, his big hand once again adorned my neck, pulling me to him to snatch one last kiss.
We covered ourselves, and clinging to my body Niragi went back to hiding his face in the space between my breasts.
"Niragi ..." I called him softly, lovingly cuddling his hair
"Hm?" He just yawned,
“Try not to get killed. Let's finish this game together ... "at my statement, I felt his arms wrap me tightly around his body. His lips left a last kiss on my skin:
"I'm not going anywhere without you, baby doll ..."
-—
When I regained consciousness, I found myself still naked in an empty bed.
Jumping up, I looked around the room for Niragi, but both he and most of my clothes were gone. All I had left was his shirt and my costume panties. I dressed casually, trying to cover myself as much as possible although his shirt left little to the imagination, and slipping on a pair of slippers I left the room.
At every step I took, I could not help but notice how the gazes of the others were all aimed at me, but I did not give it importance.
I found him sitting on a deck chair by the pool talking about something with Aguni and the others.
"Suguru Niragi!" I didn't realize I shouted his name until I found myself observed by all the militants and other people who were sunbathing. A mocking and victorious smile was painted on the lips of the man who, blatantly apologizing to his companions, reached me with a cunning and proud look.
"You should have stayed in bed ..." I said crossing my arms over my chest,
"Aguni needed me" Niragi just replied, looking me up and down like a hungry animal, maliciously licking the outline of his lips.
"Where are my clothes?" And at my second question, Niragi burst out laughing:
"Who knows ..." and bending over, he grabbed me by the throat, pulling me to him to steal a greedy kiss.
"... But at least now everyone knows that you are my woman" he added immediately after, taking advantage of my brief moment of bewilderment to grab me and lift me off his shoulders:
“Sorry boss! The doctor said I have to go back to bed” he shouted, bursting into a thunderous and disturbing laugh, giving me a powerful slap on my butt. Flaunting me like a trophy, Niragi made his catwalk, throwing a merciless wink at Chishiya who, with his back leaned into a corner, was staring at us with an annoyed look.
"It was your plan from the start, wasn't it?" I asked swinging on his back as the man dragged me into my room.
Summary: A promise is a promise. Even after centuries of distance.
Words: 3209
Warnings: Angst AF, blood, death.
A/C: Usually I don't write about musicians... I don't know why but I felt the need to write this one... I still don't know if I'm going to make a part.2 but hope you'll enjoy it anyway. As usual English is not my first language so please forgive me if it's not 100% perfect. Lots of Love <3
Joseon's era - unknown year.
The sun was setting, painting the sky with soft purple colours, shading within the dark presence of the night. Dense and purple clouds could be glimpsed on the horizon, heralding a storm.
Locked up in her rooms, a young woman seemed to admire her reflection in the mirror as a maid finished styling her hair. Her gaze seemed lost, absent, even though she couldn't distract her attention from her figure wrapped in fine silk clothes with gold and jade jewels.
It was supposed to be the best day of her life.
Yet she couldn't help but feel anything but disappointment and sadness.
Her Y/E/C's big eyes began to shine, but the young woman used all her willpower to hold back the tears.
Suddenly the sound of quick, heavy footsteps began to echo through the entire corridor surrounding her splendid golden cage. Diverting the attention from her reflection, her irises pointed straight at the door which slid quickly, letting in a guard who, judging by the drops of sweat on his skin, seemed to have run out of breath throughout the royal palace.
"Lady Y/N. Your presence is required at court" he said catching his breath, composing himself with an austere and severe manner.
"But the wedding’s still hours away..." commented her maid, immediately hushing when she noticed the quick wave of her mistress's hand.
"King's orders" replied the guard in turn, this time casting a cold and serious glare at the noblewoman who, sighing softly, merely replied:
"Just give me some time to make myself presentable", and stretching her thin, tapered hand over the large shiny surface of her dressing table, she grabbed a small box of fine porcelain. Inside it, there was a thick reddish groundbait that she gently dabbed with her fingertips on her lips as a small lonely tear quickly ran down her face.
The sky, for a miserable fraction of a second, became completely white, and then returned to wrap the earth in his starry embrace. In the distance, the rumble of thunder seemed to shake the earth beneath her feet. Escorted by the royal guards, Y/N silently advanced along the courtyard that faced the throne room.
The wind began to rise, and drops of icy water began to accompany them as they climbed the wide staircase.
And once she reached the top of it, the great doors opened showing the young woman a disturbing scene:
The braziers burned with warm light, revealing a few wooden boxes. The floor seemed wet and sticky. The young woman shuddered a little, as it took several seconds for her to figure out that it was blood.
However, no grimace of disgust or pity broke her serious and resigned expression.
She would have liked to have been surprised by the fact that there was blood in the presence of the king ... but it would have been a useless lie.
And there he was, sprawled on his throne. Her king. Her future husband. The man she loved with the same ardour with which she hated him.
He had his blond hair neatly gathered, revealing his perfect pale oval just stained with blood, and even his brocade robes of black and gold silk were also soiled with that same purple liquid. His gaze, hungry like that of a fearsome predator who had just set his sights on his prey, followed the young woman's body in her every slightest movement, almost as if he was trying to study her.
The expression on his face was indecipherable, disturbing.
And Y/N knew exactly what she was going for, but without ever lowering her gaze, the young woman continued to stare at him with those eyes so large that seemed to almost swallowing him.
He had set a whole country on fire to have her by his side. And now he admired her advancing towards him with the conscious and proud gaze of a rebel ready to give his life to defend his ideals.
Silence enveloped them.
The thunders in the distance were starting to get closer and more violent, and even the flames of the braziers seemed to dance in rhythm with those mighty roars.
"Leave us alone." He suddenly declared as his guards just bowed in front of him before leaving the room, closing the doors behind them.
Without saying anything, the king lightly licked the outline of his lips. Then he rose from his throne, slowly approaching the woman, continuing to scrutinize her while she remained perfectly still, allowing him to walk around her. Y/N knew too well that he was armed and dangerous.
Yet she stayed in her place, patient, waiting for his next move.
“Tonight, five men tried to attempt the life of your king. Of your future spouse. But I think you already know this… ” he sighed softly, stopping behind the young woman who, barely lowering her gaze, went back to counting the boxes placed at her feet.
Five…
"Do you want to open them?" His voice now seemed to have grown lower, husky. He had shortened their distances, and if Y/N concentrated a little, she could perfectly feel his warm breath almost caressing her neck.
"No, your Highness..." the young woman replied, swallowing slightly as she felt the king's arms tie around her hips, bringing her small back against his wide chest.
"I guess you remember exactly what they contain," he chuckled with sadistic amusement as he rested his chin on her shoulder, breathing deeply the strong scent of flowers emanating from her pale skin. Without even realizing it, such was the intoxicating power of that strong essence of plantain lily, the king found himself holding her tight, distinctly feeling her shudder in his arms.
"Answer me," he said with narrowed eyes, this time almost growling against her skin.
"Y-yes, your Highness" the young woman gasped softly, slightly arching her neck on the side, giving her king enough space to allow him to leave the invisible print of a burning and sinful kiss.
"Y/N, you really disappointed me..." he whispered softly, almost rocking her in his dangerous embrace.
"There are so many ways to kill a man ... Why did you choose this one knowing that you would fail miserably?" He asked sternly.
Without any wonder, the woman brought her hands to her waist, placing them right on those of her king, caressing them with bittersweetness:
"Because it was the only way to commit high treason, your Highness," she replied softly, feeling all the muscles of the man behind her suddenly stiffen.
Without warning, the king pulled away from her body just far enough to be able to grab her by the shoulders and make her turn abruptly, pinning her with his dark magnetic eyes. He remained silent for a few seconds, staring at her intently as his large hands tightly gripped her small silk-lined shoulders.
For a king who was notorious for being a man of unprecedented cruelty, he now seemed to be looking at her with his eyes filled with frustration.
Unlike him, Lady Y/N was the sweetest creature that could exist. But he knew that she was also extremely intelligent and farsighted. She was the only person who had managed to glimpse the man behind that monster feared throughout the kingdom.
And he had admired her from afar for so long that loving her in secret became an unbearable agony.
He didn't blame her for plotting his death.
After all ... He was the one who had treacherously slaughtered her family. He was the one who locked her up in his palace.
He could understand her anger, her desire for revenge, her hatred.
But he couldn't accept this compliant attitude of her. He didn't want to.
"Do you despise me so much, my lady?" He suddenly asked, breaking that disquieting silence that had just begun to accompany the bright tears of the young woman who, smiling shyly, sobbed:
“I don't despise you. I never did, Your Highness." The girl's warm hand slowly approached his face, gently caressing his alabaster skin. Touching his cheek, her delicate fingertips just lingered on the thin scar that furrowed her king's eye, and then slowly descended on his chin:
"... But I swore on my family's grave that I would rather die than marry you," she later added, unable to hold back a desperate sob that barely swelled her trembling lips.
And that sight seemed to hit him in the chest like a sudden stab that, for a few seconds, kept his heart from beating.
A cold shiver made his skin crawl as he came to the realization that — hard as it was — he should do what he most feared.
"So be it..." he whispered, barely looking down at her dress.
A bitter smile painted on his thin lips.
"In the end, however, I still managed to get you to wear the wedding dress ... I guess it's a small consolation" he commented sarcastically as he found the courage to look at her with the fierce and severe austerity of a monarch of his calibre.
"Do it, Your Highness ..." she stated, almost urging him on while, hastily wiping away her tears, the young woman returned to smile tenderly at him.
"I-I'm ready" she sobbed softly, trying with all her strength not to start crying again while, with a sudden and impulsive click, the king slipped a hand around the girl's neck, tugging her vehemently against him to steal a fiery and greedy kiss. Without a fight, Y/N simply indulged in that voracious kiss with shy desire, savouring every second of that swirling dance between their tongues.
The passion and the heat were all-encompassing, intoxicating, so much so that the young woman wasn't even aware of the fact that the king had pressed her to his chest to mask, with a single movement, the sudden stab with which he pierced the tender flesh of his beloved, making her shudder and wince between his lips.
Arching against his chest, the young woman clung to his shoulders. Supporting her in his arms, with decisive movements he rotated the blade in her limbs, making sure to get deep, letting the blood flow copiously from her wound, staining her wedding dress.
"I hope that in your next life the Gods will be more magnanimous to you." He blew desperately on her lips, suddenly pulling out the blade and then throwing it to the ground to hold her close to him. He then brought his bloody hand to her pale oval, staining her cheeks in a vain attempt to collect the last tear that had furrowed her soft skin.
"And I hope you'll find happiness, my love," she replied gasping with heavy breathing, smiling at him as her eyes - clouded with pain and tears- watched him suddenly turn pale as he too began to tremble.
A trickle of blood then began to slowly drip from his nostrils.
His head was starting to spin, but he still managed to make sure to hold her firmly in his arms even when he felt his legs collapse.
Prostrate on the ground, with the body of his bride beginning to tremble in the cold, the king stared with amazement and pride that fragile creature who, however, had managed to bring him to his knees.
"It was on my lips ... the poison ..." the girl whispered in a faint voice while, trying to hold back the spasms, the king indulged in a thunderous and disturbing laugh that, for the first time, brought him to tears.
Now everything seemed clearer and perfect.
She had succeeded in carrying out her revenge.
Yet, at the same time, she was freeing him.
"Now I see my queen," he said, amused, just bending a little to steal one last kiss from her lips.
And when their mouths finally parted, Y/N started to whisper something just before exhaling her last breaths, but with sudden sweetness, the king pressed her to his chest in a vain attempt to warm her:
"Hush, save your energy and listen to me carefully," he said, just lying on the cold floor of the throne room, letting Y/N rest her head against his chest.
"I don't care where you'll end up, when or in whom you'll reincarnate ... I will find you" and as his heart was starting to beat more and more slowly, and his senses began to leave his body, he added in a last and merciless sigh:
"And this is a promise, my love."
—-
Today
Walking briskly through the corridors of the production house, the young woman juggled the myriad of people who, like her, ran from one side to the other in an attempt to complete each set-up of their brand new project with meticulousness and precision.
With a tablet in her hand, Y/N was carefully observing all the photos of the set location for the shooting of a new video clip she was working on as production manager and assistant director.
"So? What do you think about it? It's an ancient palace dating back to the Joseon era that has recently been restored... "and when her eyes rested on the images of the large concrete courtyard, the young woman stopped abruptly, zooming the image to study it carefully.
There was something disturbing and at the same time familiar in that building. But this thought - professional deformation - didn't make her think about anything other than that was that perfect place for the shootings.
"Braziers. I want braziers all along the aisle. Next to them, I want wooden boxes with fake corpses covered by white sheets arranged next to each box " she later said to her assistant, returning the tablet to the girl before checking her smartphone: the director had just sent her a text message, asking her for a consult in the makeup and costume department.
"Boxes?" Asked the girl beside her, visibly confused:
"For the heads ..." Y/N replied simply throwing an annoyed look at the girl who seemed visibly bewildered by her reaction:
"The king cuts off the heads of the traitors ... Oh come on Ji-Ah I emailed you the concept two weeks ago!"
“Oh God. Sorry Y/N I forgot about it!"
“Don't worry" She giggled "Sorry now I have to go. See you later! Please don’t forget the boxes are important!" She finally replied patting her on the shoulder before taking wide strides towards the makeup and costume department.
While the director was waiting for his colleague, the make-up artist was finishing dabbing some concealer on the pale oval of the young artist.
"So what do you think?" Suddenly the director asked the raven-haired guy who, rising to his feet, began to look carefully at himself in the mirror.
He had a very clear idea of what he wanted to look like in his new music video, and the whole concept of the Mad King seemed to fit him perfectly.
Yet there was something that still could not satisfy him.
"Yeah, not bad but I think something is missing..."
It was at that moment that the study door swung open, revealing a young woman who, hastily arranging her Y/H/C hair, walked over to them smiling sweetly.
"Oh, here you are! Come Y/N! I haven't introduced you yet..." said the director enthusiastically, mimicking the young woman to approach them. Turning abruptly, the young artist was thrilled for a few moments by the sweet features of her face. From her big Y/E/C eyes which seemed to swallow him.
"Y/L/N Y/N this is Min Yoongi, aka August D"
"Nice to meet you," said the latter, bowing politely. Feeling scrutinized and studied by his feline eyes, the young woman shyly lowered her gaze, while continuing to keep her smile.
"My pleasure" she replied, bowing to him before adding:
"Preparations for the locations are almost complete"
"Perfect, thanks Y/N. So what do you think of the costume?" And at the director's request, the young woman looked back at him, this time with a more attentive and professional look:
The clothes they had chosen for him seemed to fit him very well, highlighting his slender, athletic physique. However, if she had to find a "flaw", she felt that there was something in his makeup that still made him too "cute".
"Not bad..." she finally stated, just frowning in an attempt to think about what could be missing to make him "perfect" as she had imagined her ruthless king.
"I keep thinking that something is missing..." Yoongi commented in turn, sitting back in his chair, looking carefully in the mirror
"We could add some details..." the director tried to suggest when, suddenly, the girl next to them stated, lapidary:
"A scar"
Silence.
Everyone looked at Y/N as if she had said something absurd. Yet, for a few split seconds, Yoongi was enraptured by her statement.
"What do you mean Y/N?" The director asked, observing her as the girl approached Yoongi, observing the makeup artist's equipment.
"Excuse me, can you lend me the eye pencil in the shade butter please?" And without answering, the make-up artist did as requested, passing her pencil.
Then, slowly adjusting the distances, Y/ N leaned towards Yoongi's face, studying it carefully as if to measure its symmetry.
"Close your eye please..." she whispered, this time staring into his eyes.
At that precise moment, the young man shuddered.
Maybe it was the sound of her voice that suddenly seemed to have become particularly seductive, or maybe it was the strong scent of plantain lily emanating from her skin... but for a second the young rapper felt a strong cold shiver climbing all along the spine.
"A thin scar. Like a sword cut... right here ..." Swallowing silently, Yoongi closed his eye, remaining perfectly still while Y/N carefully traced a vertical line starting from his forehead, cutting perpendicularly his eyebrow and his eye to reach the cheekbone. As soon as she lifted the tip of the pencil from his skin, with a gentle caress on his shoulder the girl brought him back down to earth, making him open his eyes.
Now that he could see himself, with that scar just hinted at, Yoongi almost had a start.
As if she had managed to read his thoughts, that girl had just made real the image of August D that he had in his head.
"The king I expect to see in this music video is ruthless, cruel ... he is awe-inspiring with a single glance." Admitted the girl, observing his expression of amazement with some pride.
"Without that scar, your face is too cute and clean" she finally giggled, smiling politely.
"... Thank you Y/N" was all he managed to answer her, following her closely with his gaze as she bowed hastily:
“It's just my job. Now I have to go. Have a nice day” she simply replied, heading with wide strides towards the exit, closing the door just behind her.
"I would be lost without that girl ..." the director proudly admitted, patting him hard on the shoulder.
areudirty
turnnoffyourmind
gummygunk
germansingergirl
stormborns
kianamaiart
