Avisa Tries to Make Friends and Makes an Enemy

It took a minute for Avisa to figure out where she was and what had happened when she first opened her eyes after getting drugged. But realization and panic slowly dawned on her as she heard a rustle beside her and saw Chopper staring.

"You're awake. How do you feel?"

The audacity of this creature.

"How do I feel?! I feel like I just got drugged against my will! That's how I feel!" She still managed to keep her tone relatively manly despite her burning anger, but then she realized if they had stitched up her wound then they probably already know her secret. Shit.

She looked down and sure enough there was a bandage around her waist, and she was in new clothes under the blankets. "Who else knows?"

Chopper looked at her with a sorry expression as he explained that he and Zoro had been the ones to drug her and start taking off her clothes for stitching her up. But then they soon realized that she had used binding and baggy clothes to hide her sex and was actually a woman, so they quickly got Nami and Robin to help undress her and cover her for stitching.

"So, is it just you four then?" God, she hoped it was. She didn't need this right now.

"Yes, we told our captain, but no one else. We figured you'd tell the rest yourself when you wanted, and we had already invaded your privacy enough as it was." Chopper seemed genuinely apologetic at least.

Avisa sighed as she laid back down on the bed with some relief. Finally, she said, "Thank you for taking care of me. I know you guys were just doing what you thought was right and I won't hold a grudge for that." She paused as she thought some more and then added, "I think it's best for now that I continue to keep my secret. I have my reasons, but I'd rather not get into it right now. I just want to get to the next island, and I will leave you all in peace. Does that sound alright?"

Chopper looked thoughtful but nodded. "Can I at least know your name?" He said it with such a cute little expression that Avisa couldn't help but melt a little.

"Yes, of course. I'm Avisa, but it's best if you call me Alexei for now. That's what I call myself at the moment."

"Nice to meet you, Alexei," he said with a grin.

After checking her pulse and making sure she wasn't in too much pain, Chopper left her in the dark to rest.

...

After resting for a few days, Avisa felt so much better. Her wound still burned with pain a little, but it wasn't at all as bad as before. That Chopper was amazing. She tried to tell him so when he came in to check on her, but he got all cute and blushed. He obviously loved it though.

She was well enough that she got up for breakfast now and walked into the kitchen slowly. She had put on some of the clothes Zoro had brought her and made herself look like a man again. It was a combination of elements that helped the trick. She wore a really good outfit that made her look like she had broader shoulders and she used binding fabric to flatten her chest as much as possible. Unfortunately, she had an ample bust, so it was probably one of the hardest parts. Anyone who says there aren't problems with having big breasts just haven't had to experience it, so probably only see the benefits—which was mostly attention from people who were attracted to that sort of thing. Her face, however, was somewhat androgynous looking and her hair was longer than some other men, but she styled it to look more masculine. At one time, she had even taken a serum that helped grow facial hair naturally, but she hated the stuff because it also gave her painful acne. Instead, she relied on her voice and imitation of masculine behaviour to trick those around her. Thankfully, so far, she had been pretty successful.

As Avisa walked into the room, she heard the chatter around the table die down and the crew looked at her with interest. "Welcome! Please take a seat!" Luffy gestured to a chair next to Zoro and Robin and she slowly sat down taking care not to move her sore waist too much. It looked like most people had gotten their food already. She carefully reached over to begin piling food onto her own plate. She was starving. Apparently healing up a lethal wound was very taxing on one's body. With her plate piled high she began to scoff down her food almost as fast as Luffy did. At some point, she realized that someone had said her name, or rather, her alias.

"Alexei!" Sanji towered over her with an annoyed expression.

"Uh...yes, sorry I didn't hear you."

"Since you're feeling better, why don't you help with the dishes and cleanup after you're done eating. The deal was that you were going to do what I said, correct?"

Fuck, already?

"Yeah, sure. Of course, I'll help. I'm nothing if not a man of my word."

A few of the crew smirked as Avisa said this. No doubt they saw the irony in saying she's nothing if not a man of anything. They also seemed to find her banter with Sanji humorous, especially Zoro.

Zoro looked at Sanji and crossed his arms with some seriousness, though, and said, "Just take it easy on the kid, won't you? He just barely survived a stab wound and you're giving him chores to do."

Sanji took very great offense at everything Zoro did it seemed, so he very quickly argued for the fact that the stab-wound victim recently tried to kill him, so it seemed perfectly fair. The argument continued for a while as Avisa continued to eat her food unbothered. Once she was done, she simply got up and took her empty plate to the sink and began cleaning up the rest of the crew's dishes.

As she made her rounds collecting plates, she made the mistake of winking at Nami. It was her habit to be merely chivalrous to women when dressed as a man as she was, but because she knew the ladies knew her secret, she felt compelled to act flirty in jest. Although Sanji was still bickering a bit with Zoro, he didn't miss this and immediately gave one of the deadliest looks she'd ever seen. "Leave the women alone or I'll make sure that stab wound never heals. You hear me?"

"I meant no offense. I won't do it again. I promise," Avisa watched him a little nervously as she made this apology. She could see that Nami was growing embarrassed and furious at Sanji's reaction, so she quickly moved away to try to prevent the discussion from going any further.

So, he definitely has a thing for Nami. Best to avoid flirting then. Good to know.

As Avisa started washing dishes she heard Nami whispering something harshly to Sanji which made him flinch and look repentant. She figured Nami was giving him a piece of her mind. She had a feeling though that Sanji would only resent her further if Nami took her side so this was probably just the beginning of Sanji's aggressive behaviour.

Avisa flinched as she saw Sanji watching sternly behind her suddenly. The rest of the crew had left the room and it was only them left. Ah, fuck. What now?

Avisa decided to start the conversation so that she could hopefully placate him somehow. "Uh, hey. I know we've kind of gotten started on the wrong foot with me trying to attack you and all, but I just want you to know that I don't mean to harm you or any of your crew. I just want to get to the next island and get out of your hair as soon as possible." She gave him a slight smile to try and show him she was sincere. But her smile quickly faded as he pushed her against the counter and held her by the collar.

"Let's get one thing straight. I do not want you here and I do not want to be buddies with you. I don't want you near the women on this ship and if I ever see you doing anything suspicious, I will not hesitate to throw you into the sea. Understand?" His nostrils were literally flaring with anger as he said this. And although she should have been afraid of him and feel very intimidated, at the moment, she was kind of into it. Is this guy kind of hot?

Shaking off this new disturbing contemplation, she tried to think of something to say to Sanji that would smooth things over but finally decided to simply say, "Understood. Now will you please let go of my collar?"

Sanji scowled as he backed off and started to put away cookware and leftover food. Avisa quickly began washing dishes again, this time with a lot more nervousness.