The moment they docked, before the ship had completely put down a loading board in anticipation of the supplies they would pick up, Kana was crouched on the ship railing, grinning down at where Kyou was eyeing her with an expression akin to exasperation.

"Kana-c-"

"C'mon, ya know yer little...kl... klepa...klepti..." she began, trailing off with a furrowed brow as she tried to remember what exactly the word used to refer to Kyou had been.

In response, he simply sighed and shoved one of his hands through his hair.

"Kleptomaniac? You know that's not an adjective, right?"

"Tha's it! Ya know ya wanna git yer maniac hands on somma them Gran' Line folks 'n' see if they're harder ta 'it than ordinary folks! C'mon!"

Despite the fact that he'd initially opened his mouth to correct her usage of the word maniac, Kyou paused, a rather hesitant expression flashing across his face. Glancing back at the doorway to the deck- a spot that Law had long since appeared in- he was relieved to see his captain simply shrug, a musing expression on his face.

"... alright, yeah, sure. Let's go, Kana-chan! We'll be back later, Captain!"

Within seconds of that declaration, both rather over eager pirates- only one holding the excuse of being a child- had vaulted over the side of the ship and darted down the wooden planks towards the small town. Law simply watched them go, having already come to the decision that whatever came of this would be to his benefit. After all, either Kana would be out of their hair for the day while they refilled their low stores or she'd drag the entirety of whatever small marine force might be on the island down upon them. At which time Law would be given a chance to make a name for himself without having to actually go out of his way to draw attention.

There had to be advantages to Kana's ability to draw trouble.

After all, beyond the local law or perhaps a few irritable villagers, what other trouble was there for her to cause on a small island like this?

______________________

"I'm so sorry, ma'am! I wasn't watching where I was going," Kyou apologized, his expression the picture of abashed innocence. "Are you okay?"

The older woman in question opened her mouth to snap at whoever had run into her, but at the sight of him she sighed, offering a faint smile instead.

"I'm fine. Don't..."

She blinked, trailing off as she studied him a bit closer. A second later she bit her lip and shook her head.

"You're fine. Sorry, I've got to go."

Then, without another word, the woman took off. As Kyou watched her with a slightly furrowed brow, attempting to disconcern why such a reaction had been given to him several times since the start of his and Kana's little escapade, said blonde appeared through the crowd and drew up next to him.

"Well, whatcha git?"

Startled to attention, he discarded the woman's strange behavior from his mind and grinned, holding up a coin-pouch for the girl's viewing. Kana whistled in response, her grin matching the boy's.

"Yer jus' a grea' little thief, ain't ya?" she asked, laughing. "Why, I be' ya coul' lif' anyone 'roun' 'ere!"

As she began looking around, with full intentions of pointing out a harder target for him to try, she suddenly became aware of something that until that moment had been lost on her. Unlike Kyou, she hadn't really been paying much attention the strange reactions of the townspeople had upon spotting them. At least, not until that moment when the stares of the passerbyes became obvious. With a scowl, she thrust a finger towards one of them to point them out to Kyou and turned her attention to the boy.

"Wha's their problem, eh?"

Drawing his gaze away from his prize, Kyou looked to the person in question who'd scurried off the moment Kana had pointed them out. Uneasiness prickling at him, he slowly shook his head and cast an uneasy eye towards the direction they'd come from. As fun- and morally corrupt- their game of pickpocketing was, something about this situation was starting to rub him wrong.

"Ya know, Kana-chan, why don't we head back towards the ship?" he suggested slowly. "I'm thinking--"

"Bu' we 'aven't even 'ad a look at their taverns ye'!" Kana protested. "I'm all outta sake- as ya damn well know! An' don' try 'n' tell me tha' Cap'n Bastard will git som'thin', 'e'll probably git some weak as shi' stuff, ya know!"

He winced as her loud exclamation drew even more wary eyes to them than had been settled on the duo previously. The reaction immediately shifted to wariness as a figure detached itself from the the other unsettled islanders and approached them. The moment that the person had taken even two steps from the others, the rest of them diverted their eyes, many of them instantly hurrying along to wherever they'd been going without as much as a second glanced back at the strange duo.

"Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear," the man commented, turning on a charming smile- something that sent a shudder down Kyou's spine. He had too many experiences with such expressions in the past to believe it. Something was wrong. "You're looking for a place that sells good liqueur, right?"

Any wariness that might have been in Kana's expression disappeared, replaced by a wide grin.

"Yer righ' 'bou' tha'!" she agreed readily. "Ya know a place, then?"

"Kana-chan..." Kyou began.

"'course I do," the man replied easily, shifting a hand through his black hair as that charming smile grew into a grin. "What sort of working man would I be if I didn't know?"

"The borin' kin'," Kana answered instantly.

He laughed.

"That's true," he replied, dropping his hand from his hair and sticking it out for her to take. "Richter Flynn. Pleasure to meet you miss..."

"Kana," she informed him. "Jus' Kana, fer now."

Kyou stared at them helplessly as the man shook her hand, then shoved both of his in his pockets and announced that he'd lead the way to the best place in town. Despite the several attempts to catch her eye and indicate that they should probably split, Kana followed after the man with a grin, obviously pleased at the idea of filling her stores. After glancing around them and not spotting anyone from the ship- only the locals who were now obviously looking anywhere besides them instead of at them like they'd been doing before- Kyou sighed and took off after them. If he left her and the charismatic stranger alone, he had a bad feeling that something horrible was going to happen.

In an action so miniscule it was unnoticable, Flynn relaxed as the boy rejoined them.

His efforts would be useless without the boy, after all.

________________________________________________

"Hey, Captain?"

"I noticed."

As they exited the market part of town- all of the supplies they would be needed ordered and currently being transported to the ship- Law and the few crewmates that had elected to stay with him began to realize that the attention of the locals was suspiciously drawn towards them. After their eyes had raked over the unfamiliar pirates, however, they would soon look away in an almost disappointed, anxious manner. Almost unconsciously those standing around children that belonged to them would tuck their hands over the children's shoulders in a protective manner. The children in question- used to such feeling- never pulled their eyes away from the pirates.

Put it altogether with the fact that since they'd arrived Law hadn't seen a hint of Marine presence on the island it made for a rather unsettling situation.

In a reaction similar to the one Kyou had, had, Law turned to the crew members with pursed lips.

"Head back towards the ship, I'll find those two idiots, then we'll leave."

There were a few hesitant expressions over leaving their captain alone to handle the manner, but his order was slowly met with nods of agreement as they turned tail and headed away from the stares of the locals. As soon as he was satisfied that it looked as if no one had any intentions of approaching them as the crew members retreated, Law turned his gaze to those around him once more.

There was something off about the island.

Almost unconsciously, he began running over the information he'd managed to gather about the path he planned on taking. The first island they landed on was- for the most part- unsettled. Something about the temperamental nature of the volcano that made up the center of it. Their compass would take a day to adjust to the island- which was the main reason he'd chosen the path. It was the only initial island with such a short adjustment period which meant they'd be able to travel further into the Grand Line that much faster.

As this information crossed his mind, he began down the street once more. Just as he was attempting to decide where to start with his search, a child darted out of a side-street after some toy that had gone flying through Law's path. He stopped just in time to keep from colliding with the kid, which enabled him to see the desperate expression on the face of the woman that appeared within a second and scooped the protesting kid from the street and into her arms.

"What have I told you abo--" she began, cutting off as her eyes landed on Law. The moment she picked up on the fact that it was an unfamiliar face she paled considerably. "Ah... excuse me--"

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to share what's so interesting, or perhaps frightening, about my crew?" he questioned bluntly, a musing expression on his face.

The woman hesitated, clutching her struggling child to her chest.

"Okaasan!" the boy complained. "It's okay, Nikki saw two others earlier and one of them was a kid! She said that Richter got them! So lemme go, I don't wanna go home yet!"

If anything, the woman blanched further at the words. As she released the kid partially- letting his feet touch the ground but one of his hands fully caught in her own- her eyes flickered over Law uncertainly. Within a second, however, her expression hardened and she spun away.

"If that kid's yours, I would get it," she muttered under her breath. "It's the end of that month, you know. Orinda's time."

Without another word, she disappeared down the side-street. Law's brow furrowed, the name tickling the back of his mind. It meant something- he was certain. He'd heard it when gathering information about the path they would taking. What exactly it meant was lost on him for the moment- but something told him that it was important that he figure out exactly what it was. Without hesitation, he started walking again, his feet taking him to the nearest tavern as he made the decision to simply look in the areas that the two missing crew members to have gone.

As he scanned the crowd inside the first, it hit him.

Law's jaw clenched.

Orinda's time.

He hadn't originally planned to have such a young crewmember aboard, so he hadn't paid much attention to the rumor when he'd first heard it. The temperamental volcano on the island was believed by the villagers to hold the spirit of a giant serpent that when unfed, would grow angry and punish the island. The rumor said that for some reason, time had transformed the legend into a ceremony three times a year where the villagers would feed the serpent in an attempt to keep the volcano from erupting.

Legend said that the serpent ate those who had yet to completely mature.

It ate children- and Kyou was no where to be found.

___________________

Kyou eyed the cup sitting before him with something akin to uncertainty. His eyes flickered to where Kana was standing among a few of the more drunk patrons of the tavern they'd ended up in, telling a joke that had all of them roaring with laughter. That same uneasy feeling that had been bothering him all this time hadn't faded, given the fact that the lucid villagers sitting around the bar all seemed to have stared at them when they walked in- and if he wasn't wrong, they were still glancing at him occasionally.

Flynn dropped himself down in the seat next to Kyou, slapping his hand down on the kid's shoulder.

"Not gonna try it?" he questioned.

Kyou eyed the cup a bit longer before shaking his head with a faint, pleasant smile. Instinct told him that showing how uneasy he was feeling wouldn't be a wise idea. Assuming that insulting their host would be a poor idea as well, he carefully composed his expression into what he would expect of someone younger and less world weary than himself.

"I'm a bit young for alcohol, don't you think?" he replied.

Flynn blinked, then laughed good-naturedly.

"Like I'd give alcohol to a kid," he retorted. "Give that a big wiff, there."

Kyou glanced at the cup once more before slowly plucking it from the surface of the table and sniffing the liquid. He was surprised to discover that it didn't have the sharp scent he'd been expecting, but smelled more like fruit juice. He shot the man a questioning look and received that same, charming grin they'd been been getting this entire time.

"I'm a father myself, you know. I'd be pissed if someone got my little girl drunk, that's just juice there. Figure you 'ought to be able to have something while your friend there has fun."

Hesitantly studying the glass for a moment longer, Kyou shook his head and gave in. It wasn't like he wasn't thirsty. Taking a small, testing sip he was surprised to discover that the man was telling the truth- it was just juice.

"... thanks."

Flynn's grin grew.

"No problem."

His wariness fading somewhat, Kyou easily downed the cup, his parched throat grateful for the liquid. He blinked slowly a moment later as Flynn drew to his feet with the reasoning of getting more for Kyou to drink. In Kyou's eyes, the man had suddenly multiplied.

There was a startled shout as Kana collapsed among her group of drunkards. Kyou's fuzzy vision just barely alerted him to the event as his head began to swim.

Just juice?

A/N: So, hope you enjoyed! I've been meaning to finish this chapter for a long time~ Kyou is actually becoming one of my favorite characters rather fast- although I'm trying to decide if I can lower his age to 13 and it still be viable that Law would have picked him up. Like, I currently have him at fifteen... but I can picture him even younger. He's a street kid who lead a small little group, the way he acts a bit mature, I can picture it being the result of that. I keep picturing him younger... *muses* 

Anyways, hope you like the almost cliffhanger~!