Regrouping

After doing this AGAIN and editting it AGAIN, here's the chapter everyone. I'm so...XCKLU:VIB"N{OJHPI:?GOUyflitukdxryfc g,jlv.h;kbo' just why.---

"Are you sure you don't want me to run with you? I don't wanna strain you," I told the reindeer. He's been running ever since we left Udon Prison. We were told to meet up via den den mushi where the rest of the Samurai and some of our crew are at.

Chopper shook his head and continued running, "You're alright! I can carry a few people in this form!"

I looked at the passing trees and then back at him, "Okay but how about this, I get off and beat you to the base."

"What?! You wouldn't be able to! Plus! You would be wasting energy!" he blurted, his eyes wide.

"That sounds like a challenge."

"ITS NOT A CHALLENGE!"

I looked back at Otama and raised a brow, "Hey, does it sound like a challenge to you?"

She looked surprised that I suddenly pulled her into this, but she quickly brushed that surprise off and nodded quickly with a wide smile, "Yes! It sounded like a challenge!"

I raised my fist and yelled, "IT'S A CHALLENGE, THEN!"

"IT'S NOT A-"

I jumped off of Chopper and sprinted ahead. Otama laughed and patted the reindeer's back, "C'mon! We can't let her beat us!"

I looked back to see Chopper's eyes bulging out of his skull, not believing the shenanigan that he'd been dragged into, "But it's not a-"

"I'M WINNING! I'M WINNING A RACE AGAINST A FOUR-LEGGED ANIMAL!" I taunted loudly, turning back around and running even faster.

I could hear the pacing of his hoofs hitting the ground getting faster as Otama's cheering slowly started getting closer to me. He was actually gaining on me after a minute more of running. Upon realizing this, I started running faster so I wouldn't lose. I love winning, and that is what I plan on doing.

There was a clearing not too far away. I could see some people there, and when I looked back at Chopper, it was clear that he recognized this spot as the base. He started going faster after he saw the last stretch that we had to do. They were side by side with me in a second.

"We're gonna win!" Otama chimed, raising her arms.

"Oh no you're not!" I huffed out. I started pushing off the ground harder when my feet met the floor, trying to use sheer strength to win.

"OI! DON'T CHEAT!" Chopper scolded me in a heave of breath after noticing the area I was covering with each jump horizontal jump I was doing.

"Dunno what you're talking about~!" I sang, continuing with my gallop style running.

He made it beside me again so I made a desperate jump into the clearing, consequently coming to a rolling stop with the amount of momentum I created with the running I just did. "CHEATER!" Otama and Chopper accused at the same time, pointing at me aggressively after they stopped skidding across the ground to stop.

"Hey, I was racing you on foot, so therefore IT ISN'T CHEATING! I'm just way too smart for you guys," I explained with a shrug. 

They stared at me plainly. I returned their looks. Seconds passed before we all busted out laughing. Otama jumped off of Chopper and we all calmed down. With a quick look around, we could quickly tell that we were in the right place. Otama spotted her master sitting on a rock, making sure to greet him.

"Oh! (y/n)! Chopper! Otama!" Nami called for us. We responded by calling back to her. She looked at all of us separately and then her smile dropped a bit. She asked, "Where's Luffy? I thought he was with you all."

The three of us looked at each other and then at Chopper's back. He was gone. "DAMNIT!" I yelled, facepalming. Otama and Chopper gave each other a look and then turned their gaze to me. I just let them stare at me for a second, ignoring their implied blame, before sighing dramatically and giving in. "OKAY! Fine. Maybe it was my fault. I'll go get him."

"Okay! We'll stay here! I'm going to make hats for everyone!" Otama chirped.

"Yep! Have a good time!" Chopper followed up. He shifted to his regular form and the two of them waved me off expectantly.

I grumbled and walked back into the forest. I have no idea where Luffy might have fallen off. I stopped walking after I heard some faint snoring to the right of me. Given that clue, I started running around with no luck for about 10 minutes until I finally found my captain laying in a bush.

He was peacefully sleeping, like he hadn't been thrown off a reindeer during a fast-paced race. The bush was consequently smashed by his body. I picked him off of it and laid his body on the ground, taking a look over his back since that's what hit the bush. He was a little scratched up, but definitely not anything that he couldn't handle.

"Huh..." I mumbled, admittedly just staring at him at this point. Compared to when I first met him, he's got way more muscle than I realized. I guess I never really... LOOKED at him till now. He's nowhere near Zoro's mass, but Luffy's body type just wouldn't look right if he were crazy buff. Ya know, minus the gear forms and how those look.

I came out of my thoughts when he turned in his sleep, muttering something about meat through his unconsciousness. It was then that I realized what I've been doing for the past five or so minutes. With a shake of my head, I picked him up and put him on my back, beginning to walk to the base again. I didn't run though since that's kinda what got him lost in the woods in the first place.

He shuffled after a few minutes of me walking. "Mmmmm... (y/n)?" he mumbled, placing one of his hands on my shoulder so he could pull his slumped torso upright.

I nodded, "Yup, the one and only."

"Your hair... smells nice," he complimented, rubbing at his eye with his free hand tiredly.

"Really? Thanks, it's the power of showering," I laughed.

His head started turning left and right. Seems like he was taking in our surroundings. "Why are we in the forest? Where'd Chopper and Otama go?" he questioned.

"Funny story, Chopper and I had a race back to the camp and you went flyyyying off his back. Somehow you stayed asleep through the whole thing. Even when you landed in a bush, so I came back in here to find you," I explained.

"What?! A race?! Why didn't you wake me up?!" Luffy exclaimed. Looks like he's going to ignore that we dropped him in a bush. Or rather, he was flung into one.

I shook my head, "That would have been impossible, you were completely knocked out."

He whined about the race while he got off of me and instead walked beside me. We walked in silence for a second after he stopped whining. When the base came into sight, Luffy stopped. I looked to him in confusion and I stopped as well

He had a puzzled look on his face. Then he faced me. "You're gonna stay with me, right?" he asked.

I raised a brow, "What do you mean by that? The question came out of nowhere."

He shook his head, "No! Not like that. You're gonna stay with me while I train and stuff! Right?!"

"Well I don't know about that, it's been a while since I've seen everyone," I laughed, waving him off. "You're free to train without me being there to punch something next to you though."

"When you're done talking to everyone, you'll come stay with me though, right?" he pushed further.

I pursed my lips and said, "I can't really promise that. Whatcha need me for?"

He grinded his fist into his forehead as if he were trying to remember something and he responded with, "Nothing, I think...? Just make sure to come back!" His expression seemed troubled, but he gave a firm nod at his last command.

"Alright Luffy, I'll make sure to come back," I said with a smile of amusement.

The teen nodded, "Alright! I'll keep this out until then!" He pulled out the ball of wires from his kimono.

"Oh wow, you kept it even after we left. Do you want me to make that smaller? It's gotta be annoying to carry around. I could even make it into something cool if you really wanted," I offered.

He grinned widely, "REALLY?! Ummmm.... make it into... make it into a meat!"

I shook my head and took it from his hand, absorbing it into my body and bringing all the small wires closer together to shape into a small charm-like thing in the shape of his favorite thing to eat: meat on the bone. I brought it back out of my hand and placed it in his.

"WOOOOOWWW! THIS IS AMAAAAZING!" he sang, his eyes sparkling as he brought it up to his face.

"I'm gonna get going now, you have fun. DON'T eat it," I chuckled, turning around and running back to everyone else.

My running came to a halt when Nami yelled my name. She was waving her hands when I set my eyes on her. "I thought you would like quick little summary of everything that's happened since you've been gone!" she said, patting the spot beside her on the rounded stone she was sitting on.

I gladly plopped my ass in the vacant spot. "Yes! That would be great. All I know is that Komurasaki died, and I don't even know who that is besides the fact that she's mega beautiful. I also saw everybody fighting in the capital after Yasuie died since Queen wanted to see the funeral for the woman."

She nodded in understanding, "Oh, I see. So you know about Yasuie, probably the smile fruit, and kind of about Momo's sister."

"Momo's sist-"

Nami held her hand up to stop me from speaking, "Shhh. Let me explain." I smiled and shrugged, relaxing and leaning back on my hands to show I was going to listen. "Sooo much stuff went on! I'm going to skip over some stuff so you'll stay here and not go running off. That will wait til the end." I nodded.

~~~

"WOW! You really do miss a lot when you're behind bars," I blinked in surprise. Let this be a lesson to you kids, don't break the law.

"I know! You definitely wouldn't have helped with all the ruckus though, you'd have probably made it worse," she teased.

I sighed, "Ya know, I'd like to disagree but then I'd be a liar. Anyway, what's the news that you've skipped over?"

She grabbed my shoulders and used all her strength to hold me down, which I found weird, "Okay. Stay calm." I slowly nodded. "One of Zoro's swords was replaced-" My eye twitched. "BECAUSE! Because it was one of the Land of Wano's sacred swords!"

I slowly nodded and mumbled, "Alright.... So... it was probably Shisui..."

"Right, right, whichever one it was. Now, Hiyori, Momo's sister, she gave him one of Oden's swords! So, he has a replacement that's crazy strong!" she went on.

I grabbed her hands and easily moved them from my shoulders. Then I grabbed her waist and put her to the side of me. "Thank you, Nami. You're the best, and you're very smart to tell me this last. So, uh... Tell me where he is," I said, looking around.

She sighed, "Alright. He's training over there."

Once she pointed in the direction, I was off. He was in the bamboo forest, probably training with this new sword. I didn't have to go far before I spotted both Zoro and Momonosuke. Zoro had all three of his swords out while Momo had his bamboo sword.

In his right hand was a purple hilted sword. It was not a black blade but just from here I could tell it was still a beautifully made cursed sword. Similar to Shisui, actually. After my 2.5 second evaluation of the sword from afar, I jumped from the trees to tackle the green haired man.

Momo let out a shriek of fear when I emerged from the bamboo, but Zoro simply turned to me. I see he has accepted his fate. I brought him to the ground and moved to snatch the sword from his hand to get a better look at it.

He moved it away from me and put his other swords away with his other hand, "OI! You can't just take it! It take haki like it's nothing!"

"REALLY?! That's incredible!" I gushed, pulling it from his hand anyway. Almost immediately, I could feel my arm begin to lose strength. I grinned in excitement, "It seems to know when it will be used versus when it's simply being held. Must be why my arm isn't completely void of strength by now. It's demanding and strong willed. Kinda like you!" I laughed at the realization.

The green head rolled his eyes and sat up, motioning for me to get off of him. I did as told and continued scanning over this sword. Maybe it was created by the same swordsmith, especially since they're both from this country. It's a great sword. Since it hasn't become a black blade yet, Zoro's probably gonna make it into one with his haki.

"When they offered the sword to me, Hitetsu said it could cut through hell. It's got a mind of its own on top of that," Zoro informed me.

I chuckled, "Yea? Maybe when you die it can pave the way for you then." He let out his own huff of amusement at that statement.

"My-my father... he used dual sword techniques!" Momo jumped in on our conversation.

My attention switched to him. He'd stopped whacking the bamboo trees and was looking at me. "He must be incredible to be wielding this sword with another. The second sword must be just as amazing. Probably just as energy consuming as well," I assumed.

"Yes! He was a great swordsman! His second sword is here, and I will claim it as my own when I am powerful enough!" he declared, clenching his fists to his sides in determination.

I smiled, "I'd love to see you use it when the time comes. I'll have a look at the sword once you upgrade it with your own strength."

He smiled right back, "Really?! Alright! I'll make it my own! Soon!"

Footsteps moved all three of our gazes towards the direction of the camp. A turquoise haired woman was running our way. She was around my height and definitely beautiful. That must be Hiyori. She greeted Zoro and I before she told Momo that they had to get going. Apparently, the samurai were leaving for the meet up spot in order to be the first ones there.

When they were turning to leave, Hiyori took a look between Zoro and I quickly. She sucked in her lips as if she was trying not to say something and meekly muttered, "Okay, I will see you both again! When the raid takes place!" She went running off with Momo before we could even respond.

I nudged Zoro in his side once they were out of sight, "Hey, I think she likes you."

His eyes returned to me and he furrowed his brows, "You'll assume that, but not understand other things? Is somethin wrong with your head?"

"What the- I didn't order a personal attack!" I gasped, pushing his chest. He gave me a mocking laugh in response. I shoved the sword back into his right hand and pointed at a bamboo tree. "Here! Cut some stuff up for me so I can see how it works with you!"

"Yea, yea. No need to get so offended," he brushed me off and took out another sword. Kitetsu. He did as he was instructed to. Occasionally, his arm would shrink in size, then he'd bring back what was taken from him like he was fighting with the sword. It seems to be testing him. That's what cursed blades do, though, so I'm not surprised.

I walked over to him while he was swinging the blades around, taking notice of how much the sword was taking from him. "Hey, do you regret agreeing to give Shisui up? Do you think you'll be strong enough with this new adjustment for such an important battle?" I asked, standing beside him.

"You doubting me?" he shot back, a smirk on his face.

"No, I'm just curious as to what you're thinking. Shisui was an amazing sword," I clarified.

Zoro sighed and shook his head, "I couldn't keep Shisui, even if they didn't replace it. Not after their explanation. But this one... this one will make me stronger, considering I've got to make it stronger myself."

I grinned, "Nice." I sat on a nearby stone and hummed, "Not to brag, but I've gotten stronger while I was away."

"You wanna see how strong you've gotten then?" he tested, turning his body to face me.

"Oh? Is that a challenge? I have to warn you, I've won once today already. You very well may be my next victim," I cockily replied, my tone making it very clear that I'm joking.

He walked over to me and sheathed his swords as he did. I didn't move, just stayed sitting on my comfy lil stone seat. "Maybe we can finally see how resistant your devil fruit is to swords," he offered as he stopped walking right in front of me.

I grinned, "Oh? Are you finally going to entertain my curiosity for that or are you not being serious?"

He showed his teeth in a wide smirk, "Why wouldn't I be serious if I'm the one a proposing it."

"Oh, I suppose I should come back later," Hitetsu's voice brought me back to reality.

The two of us looked over at him. He was standing a bit away from us. I looked back at Zoro who I now realize is centimeters away from my face with his own. "Yea, you should," he grunted.

"Right, I am sorry for inter-"

"NO COME BACK," I yelled, "NOTHING WAS INTERRUPTED! DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING SWORD RELATED TO SAY?!" To be honest I didn't realize what tension Zoro and I were building up for a second there.

Hitetsu nodded, "Yes actually."

Zoro sighed and facepalmed, "Are you kidding me."

---DONE. I AM DONE. NOW ITS TIME FOR WORK. GOODBYE.