"RURIIIIIIIIIIIIII !" The moment I stepped on the Merry, Nami caught me and started shaking me, " WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY MONEY ?!" She screams

"I-I h-h-have It w-w-with me !" I said as I handed her the bag, she quickly snatched it and started counting it, "as an apology I even added another 5.000."

She turned to me, berries sign in her eyes and hugged me, "I love you Ruri ! I never doubted you as my friend !" Talk about a 180 change

"Ahem !" Keita coughed, drawing attention to him, "I believe you forgot something Ruri ? He said as he crossed his arm.

"Ah yes, Nami this is Keita Kodou, my nakama, Keita this is Nami, Luffy's navigator."

"Nice to meet you Keita." Nami said

"The feeling is mutual Nami." Keita returned with a slight bow

A cannon shot resounded followed by Luffy's cry, "wow you hit it on your first try Usopp !"

"Of course I did, I am an expert when it comes to aiming !" Said Usopp with a smug look.

"I've decided you can be our sniper !" Luffy exclaimed

Then they noticed us and we moved to the kitchen shortly after so that I can explain where I went

"So Ruri where did you go last night ?" Nami asked me once we all settled

"Well you see, I had to meet with my friend here, Keita," I pointed at Keita who said hi, " then we may or may not have raided the G-16." A silence settled as me and Keita's smile grew.

"You did what ?!" They all screamed at us. But before we could explain a yell interrupted us

"COME OUT YOU DAMN PIRATES !" An angry yell came from outside followed by the sound of things breaking, " I'M GONNA SLAUGHTER YOU !"

Luffy rushed outside followed by me and Keita

"Hey ! Who are you !" He yelled angrily at the intruder.

Said person started shaking, "who am I ?" He pointed his sword at Luffy and screamed, "THAT'S WHAT I SHOULD BE ASKING ! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE KILLING MY FRIEND ?!"

He rushed at Luffy and attempted a swing, Luffy grabbed him by the head and slammed him into the wall across the deck.

"A-almost had him..."

"Just what the heck are you shouting about anyway ?" Luffy asked him

Zoro, who got out of the kitchen spotted the man, " Hey ! Aren't you Johnny ?"

"Z-ZORO?! Is that really you bro ?" Asked Johnny surprised.

Zoro ignored his question," where's Yosaku ? Isn't he always with you ?"

"He's sick !"

We moved Yosaku on the deck and johnny started explaining.

"He was fine just a couple of days ago, but all of a sudden he turned pale and kept passing out ! His teeth have begun to fall out, and his old wound reopened !" Johnny said between sob.

Me, Nami and Keita just exhanged looks.

"I don't know what to do anymore, i was trying to let him rest on top of a rock but all of a sudden a cannonball blew on us." Luffy and Usopp started sweating

"We're very sorry." They said in unison

"It's fine what is done is done. If all problems could be solved with an apology there wouldn't be a need for policemen." Luffy and Usopp started crying and excused themselves again.

"Hey Nami, think we should let those idiots work it out ?" I asked her from the side. She just sighed.

"God, how stupid can you get ?" She said as she approached the other

"What did you just say ?!" Zoro yelled at her, she just ignored him

"Luffy, Usopp ! There's some lime in the kitchen ! Go squeeze out some juice and bring it here !"

"Yes Ma'am !"

They brought a pitcher and made Yosaku drink the juice as nami explained what he had. Meanwhile Yosaku and Johnny started dancing

"Sorry for the late introduction. The name's johnny !" Johnny said

"And I'm yosaku ! Zoro used to bounty hunt with us in the past." Yosaku added

"Nice to meet you all !" They said in unison

Then yosaku fell and coughed up blood

"Will you just shut up and get some rest already !" Zoro, who lost his patience roared at them

Me and Keita just sighed, " let this be a lesson for all of you. This are the kinds of dangers we'll have to face during our travel." I said

"They would've died if they hadn't met us." Keita paused, "although a cannonball isn't the best way to meet." He added, Luffy and Usopp just excused themselves again

"We definitely need someone that knows how to cook, a chef of the sea." Ussop said

"If you think about it, that's one of the most important talent to have on the seas." Nami nodded

"Alright ! I've decided, let's recruit a sea cook ! Eating good food is never a bad thing." Luffy exclaimed happily with his tongue hanging from his mouth

"Bro !" Johnny exclaimed

"What is it Johnny ?"

"If you're looking for a cook, I know just the place ! Although getting one to join your crew is another job entirely."

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

He explained about the Baratie, a floating restaurant

"A restaurant on the sea ?!" Everyone exclaimed except for me and Keita

"That's right. It's about 2 to 3 days from here, but that place is close to the grand line so you gotta be careful. If you want me to I can lead you there !" Johnny said

"Alright !" Luffy and Usopp said at the same time

2 to 3 days huh ? I quickly approached Keita

"Hey Keita, you think we should teach them about haki ? We'll have a week to train if we count the 4 days between Gin departure and krieg's fight."

He closed his eyes and thought, "it's not a bad idea, Luffy and the other will get stronger faster if we teach them."

"So you do it ? I don't know how to use haki yet but I'm sure you do."

A grin settled on his face, "of course I do. Well time to train I guess." He went towards the other

"Hey you guys, if we got 3 days ahead of us, how about I teach you something from where I come from ?"

And like that we spent our next three days training haki at all time

~3 days later~ An encounter of the Fullbody kind~

It'a sunny day, with little to no clouds.

Me, Zoro and the swordsman duo Johnny and Yosaku were still training Haki

Zoro, who after seeing the power of haki, hasn't stopped trying to get used to armament. He succeeded in using it every once in a while, which is a miracle when you don't have a god making it easier for you to learn it

I wasn't doing any better though. Sure I picked up how to use it faster but that's only observation haki, armament was out of my league for now and of course I don't want to put myself in a highly dangerous situation to discover if I have conqueror's haki (god won't tell me the prick)

The real surprise was Yosaku and Johnny, seems like they had a natural affinity towards observation haki, they learnt how to use it rather quickly and they can perceive immediate threat to their life, of course they can't sense other people yet

All the others were relaxing, Luffy complaining about being too hungry to train

The training session was cut short when johnny stopped mid swing, "We're here at the restaurant !" He screamed to get everyone's attention

The Baratie is a boat that is designed to look like a fish

"What do you think everyone ?" Said Yosaku and Johnny while poiting at the Baratie

"What a huge fish !" Three guesses to who said that

"Wow."

"That's so funky !"

Then from behind us I noticed a marine boat

"Everyone !" I called out, "marines are here !"

"The marines !" Everyone screamed

"They're not going to attack us are they ?!" Usopp screamed, I could see his legs shaking

"I believe they would, I mean we have a pirate flag hanging !" Keita said cheerfully

"Hey we ain't pirates !" Johnny said as he hid behind a barrel

"Ah ! Someone's coming out !" Yosaku added as he joined Johnny

The man who came out wore a white pinstripe suit. His hair was well-combed and he had a scar under his right eye and bolts attached to his knuckles, he looked at the flag

"I've never seen this pirate flag before, I am the marine lieutenant known as ironfist Fullbody. Who is the captain of this ship ?" He asked looking at us

"I'm Luffy. I made my pirate flag the day before yesterday !"

"He said the day before yesterday..." Johnny and Yosaku tried hard to fight back their laugh

It was at this moment that Fullbody noticed them, "wait a minute, I've seen you two before..." he thought for a bit, " ah yes, you guys are Yosaku and Johnny, small time bounty hunters. Finally been caught by pirates ?"

"Hey Yosaku, I think this guy is mocking us." Johnny said while scratching his hair

"Well we can't just let someone like him call us 'small time' and get away with it..." Yosaku said

"You cocky little shit !" They yelled at the same time

They both drew their weapon and jumped on Fullbody's boat

Fullbody said nothing and dodged Johnny and Yosaku's attack, he then attempted a punch at Johnny

"Duck !" Yosaku yelled and Johnny ducked before swinging his sword at fullbody's right side who blocked with his iron knuckles, Johnny and Yosaku jumped back on our boat

They were getting ready for another round when a voice called out to Fullbody, "Darling, enouh playing around with weaklings and let's get going shall we ?"

"Ah yes, let's do that." He turned towards a marine soldier, "sink them."

"Yes sir !" The marine said and shot a cannonball at us

"He fired !" Usopp screamed

"I got it ! Gumo Gumo no balloon !" Luffy turned into a ballon and threw back the cannonball

On the baratie

"The hell ?!" Usopp and the swordsman duo yelled

After that Luffy got dragged by Cooks while the other stood there looking

Zoro looked around, " hey where's Ruri ?" He asked

"She had something to do." Keita replied

No one noticed her getting on board of Fullbody's ship