The idea of taking on Shanks and the Red Haired Pirates left a bitter taste in my mouth...

But I was loyal to Kid, so if his goal was to defeat them, then it was mine too, no matter how idiotic. It certainly was on brand for me, but I had never aimed that high.

Sure, I'd tested my luck with higher ranked pirates such as Firefist Ace and Mihawk, but that hadn't been in battle. There was no way that Shanks fellow, an Emperor of the Sea, no less, would back down without one hell of a fight.

We moved through the New World at our usual pace, stocking up on supplies and doing what we usually did, but there was now a tense air about the Victoria Punk. Impending doom, perhaps?

Whatever it was, I wasn't a huge fan of the feeling, and I tried to busy myself with meaningless tasks, such as restacking barrels or scrubbing the maw of the figurehead.

"If you scrub any harder she'll lose her teeth, (Y/N)..." Heat chuckled awkwardly, watching as I retracted the hand I held the coarse bristled brush in.
"Yeah, I know..." I sighed, sitting back on my heels and using the back of my wrist to wipe the sweat from my forehead. "I just need to keep myself busy. Kid's in his weird, barbarian warfare headspace right now, and that's not exactly my favourite genre of Kid, y'know?"

Heat nodded in understanding, holding out his hand in an offering to help me up, which I accepted.
"While we're being honest, it's not my favourite version of him either." It was then that I noticed Missy perched - or rather draped and oozing - upon his shoulder. He was likely the softest, sweetest man I knew, and I smiled as I reached up to rub under the globulous feline's chin.

"Can I ask you a question?" I wasn't sure where I was leading. I had so many questions I could decide from, seeing as the lanky man before me had known Kid infinitely longer than I had. "How long have you known Kid?"

That seemed to be the easiest to start with, and Heat mumbled under his breath as he counted upon his fingers.
"Well...I guess for about ten or so years, if we're talking personally. Thirteen if you count having heard of him."

Oooh, so he knew Kid as a...well...kid?

Bouncing up and down on my heels, I sought more answers.
"Can you tell me about what he was like when he was younger?" I asked curiously, but Heat didn't look very willing to continue the conversation.

"That's...really his story to tell. I don't want my ass kicked..." He murmured, scratching at his chin, and I pouted.
"But he won't tell me anything! He talks about the now, and the future, but never the past!" I complained, but he wasn't going to budge.

Placing a hand down upon my head, Heat gave me an apologetic smile, squinting with his left eye when Missy decided it was the prime place to begin to groom him.

"Sorry, but he'd literally kill me. Boss is...sensitive about his childhood..." He admitted, which only made me all the more determined to find it all out. "For what it's worth, he was just as brash, if not more so." It was something, but not enough. I was greedy, and I didn't find it fair that I could very well be the only person on board who was in the dark.

"That doesn't surprise me, really." I chuckled softly, tossing my scrubbing brush into the nearby bucket before starting towards the main deck. "I'm gonna go hound Killer. Wanna sit next to each other at dinner and sneak scraps under the table for Missy?" Heat nodded eagerly, his stitched smile making me feel all warm and fuzzy.
"Absolutely."

Killer was much harder to locate than he usually was. On any regular day he was typically found in the galley, or his room, perhaps even just hanging out on deck, but this time he was in the last place I looked.

Up in the crow's nest.

Grunting as I pulled myself up and over the surrounding barrier from the rope ladder, I beamed when I saw the sun glint off of his helmet.
"There you are! You playing hide and seek or something?"

Killer's head tilted towards me for a moment when he heard me speak, but quickly returned to gaze out towards the ocean.
"Something like that." He hummed, elbows leaning against the wooden surrounds. From where I stood, I could see plain as day that he had almost doubled in body mass. Seeing him day in and day out, it had been difficult to properly notice, but now, seeing him there in a fitting blue T-shirt, it was almost jaw-dropping.

"I have many questions, but I'm gonna ball them all up into one big, fat open ended one, if that's okay? Or...if you want to be alone, I can go..?" I still wanted to tread kind of lightly around Killer, after what had transpired on Water 7. It wasn't awkward, exactly, but I didn't want to hurt him more than I already had, even if he denied it.
"Go ahead. I need to take my mind off Red Haired, anyway."

Don't we all?

Slowly, almost cautiously, I moved to stand a foot or so beside him, not wanting to get too far into his personal space in case it made him uncomfortable.
"Kid won't tell me anything about his past...and I know it's shady for me to go behind his back, but...is there anything you can tell me?" Man, I probably sounded so pathetically desperate with the tone my voice took, but I honestly was. Any time I asked Kid he'd either change the subject, curse under his breath or just straight up ignore me. I was over it.

"His past is mostly my past too. Who says I'm comfortable telling you any of it?" Killer responded with his own question, and I immediately deflated. He had a point. Boundaries were being crossed here, after all.
"That's fair..." I sighed, resting my chin on top of my folded arms. I wasn't trying to guilt trip him in any way, but it possibly seemed like it.

I can't help but want to know...

Things were quiet for a while, up in the crow's nest. It was nice up there, just the two of us. I hoped Killer wasn't uncomfortable with my presence.
"I'm sorry. I just...I feel like I barely know him. I mean, I know him now, obviously...and you...but I'm always wondering on how you guys came to be who you are. I'll stop prying." I was being sincere. I didn't want anyone to be upset with me. We had enough on our plates as it was without my whining added as an unwanted garnish.

"I get that. It's not that I'm opposed to telling you..." Killer began to speak, fingers drumming against the wooden railing. "...I'm just not sure it's worth getting assaulted by Kid over. He'd be pissed." So I had been told. Was there something he was trying to hide? I didn't mind if that were the case. It was common knowledge that he wasn't the best person in the world in terms of actions.

"Last time I tried to ask him about it he locked himself in the bathroom for an hour long shit. Allegedly. I think he was just sitting on the other side of the door waiting for me to leave the room..."

Killer puffed out a short breath in place of a laugh, still looking out over the vast ocean blue.
"Yeah, that sounds about right." Again, another silence took over, and I turned so my back was to the sea, my eyes travelling skyward as I thought. It was definitely best to let sleeping dogs lie, it seemed.

"So...What's for dinner?" It was a poor change of topic, but it was all my little peanut brain could muster up.

"Haven't decided yet. Any requests?" Our small talk was lacking, and I hated it. Had our friendship really been strained that much, or was I just reading too much into things? I knew Killer had said things were okay between us, but were they really? Had he just been lying to spare me from extra guilt?
"Mmmm...Nah, everything you make is good." I replied, glancing over to him as though I'd be able to get a read on his mood.

The wind whipped his aureate hair around as though it were made of silk, and it took a lot for me not to reach out and touch it. Killer was protective of his hair, and I couldn't blame him. If I had hair like his I would have stopped at no ends to keep it in pristine condition. He wasn't looking at me, and I wasn't sure whether that was a good sign or bad.

"He was young when I met him. Real young." His sudden words snapped me out of my thoughts, and I became instantly attentive, eyes not leaving the front of his striped helmet. "The country we came from was a shitshow. Didn't fall under the World Government's umbrella, so it was lawless. Dangerous. Not a place for brats like us."

Is he going to tell me..?!

I stayed completely silent, just watching him, waiting to see if he would continue. Not once did he turn towards me. He just looked out ahead, hair slittering around his covered face, wrists limp over the side of the railing where he stood. There was no chance I would ever tell what he was thinking from a glance, or even a long stare, but I could feel it. He was tense.

"I was eleven when I found him...and not to sound self righteous, but I'm pretty sure I'm what saved his life..."

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***[Garbled dying sounds]

I got a knew writing laptop, so hopefully this will make me write more. Hopefully.

Next Time: When We Were Kids***