12 Chapter 12: Gecko Island And A Liar

Third Person's PoV:

Among one of the many islands in the vast ocean of the East Blue, is a rather smaller sized island that isn't really special.

The island was very ordinary. There was a simple village located in the center of the island, maybe big enough to house around 50-100 people at most. The only thing out of place is the luxurious looking giant mansion located at the top of a hill, further away from the village.

The name of the village is called Syrup Village... Goda-sensei must've been eating breakfast when he came up with the name.... This village was also the exact destination of the 4 people currently traveling together. As well as the home of one long nosed liar that puts Noland to shame everyday.

During their journey to the certain island, Josh has been trying his best to make Nami comfortable. Not only was she still a bit unnerved by the knowledge of riding on a seaking, he also wanted to get her to smile and laugh. Not the fake cheeriness that she showed up until now.

Nami had been hiding most of her true feelings and pent up stress like that is very bad for the body and mind. Although she looks like a perfectly cheery girl on the outside, one can only imagine what she's feeling on the inside.

Zoro must've sensed this as well to an extent, as swordsman usually have much sharper senses if they are truly masters. He was a bit wary of her at first but didn't really want to bring it up.

Soon, Nami got to know and understand the three people who she's traveling with more and the genuine smile on her face just can't seem to go away when she watches their antics. The darker side of her that is telling her that they were the same pirate scums was subdued and wouldn't surface again, at least for the Straw-Hats.

Seeing as the island was already in sight, Joshua had the sea turtle stop. He idly wondered where Manni gets enough food from, especially here in the East Blue where a seaking roaming around is a rare sight. If he ate like Luffy, the whole world would be out of food by now because of his size.

He's also been thinking about buying a Devil Fruit for his pet and first traveling companion. Preferably one that can change his size whenever he wants. Crossing through reverse mountain with a giant seaking like Manni is beyond impossible. It might work if they were to go through the Calm Belt but it's way too troublesome.

As the other three people were finishing their game of rock-paper-scissors to determine the person who would go first and who would follow after. Josh can only carry two people so one gets the "express" passage. Nami joyfully danced around because she won. She is currently wearing a white and blue striped shirt with a rather short and revealing orange skirt.

After dropping Nami off by herself first with her bag of treasures that she hurriedly stashed in a nearby bush. She had insisted that she went first in fear of staying on Manni alone.

Now, all three of them were on the shores of the small but peaceful island that housed Syrup Village.

"H-hold it right there, are you p-pirates!? If you t-try anything funny on t-this island, my 80 mi-million underlings will s-swarm you!" After a sound of pachinko balls being shot at Luffy's feet, a stuttering of a voice can be heard.

"This place is under the p-protection of the Usopp Pirates!", The voice continued. From the forest of the cliff above, the shadow of a man slowly creeped it's way towards the shining sun.

This man has on mostly a brown getup, as his hat, down to his pants and even the bag pack he slings around his shoulder were all different shades of brown. The only clothing that weren't brown were his white sash and alternating colors of blue and white long wristband.

His weapon of choice is oddly a green slingshot that can be assumed he used for the pachinko balls. The two most prominent features on his face are his extremely thick and slightly pink lips, along with his exaggeratedly long nose.

Seeing the appearance of the newcomer, not even Nami had much to react about, except for calling him out on his lie and examining his pachinko balls he used as bullets.

"D-don't take a-another step! I-I might not have 80 million subordinates b-but my aim with the slingshot a-are as d-deadly as a pis.. pistol!" The man "proudly" let the strangers to know his skills with the slingshot. This seemed to have caused a reaction from Luffy as his hat overshadowed his eyes, making him look menacing.

"Now that you mentioned pistols... bet your life on it!" He stated, startling the other teenager. "Guns aren't used for threats." He finished loud enough to be heard by everyone present.

Zoro and Josh backed him up as the swordsman took a posture to draw his prized Wado Ichimonji and the lightning man sent a bit of killing intent he had honed over the years.

The long nosed youngster went weak kneed and fell on his butt... "I can't measure up to a real pirate.." he sighed dejectedly.

"Your Usopp right, Yasopp's son?" The rubber man asked, the now named Usopp fell down the cliff in surprise at being called out and the stranger seemed to even know his father!

The 5 of them made their way to a restaurant simply named 'Meshi', which means food, to talk properly.

In the restaurant, Luffy explained about Yasopp and the time when the Red-Haired Pirates came to visit his village of Foosha when he was way younger. The liar was ecstatic about hearing of his father's exploits.

"Do you know a place we can get a ship from on this island?" Nami finally asked after letting the two rant off for a while. She was just as happy, if not more, about the prospect of getting a ship as her travel partners.

Usopp mentioned that they might be able to get one from the owner of the mansion up on the hills before suddenly remembering some sort of business he had and ran off.

Not long after the long-nosed was gone, three little kids came into the restaurant and demanded to know what the pirates had done with their captain.

The three kids were with Usopp earlier but ran off after the show that they had put on, leaving their captain to fend for himself.

"Whew... that was some good meat." Luffy sighed in contentment while rubbing his bulging stomach. The three of them seems to misunderstand as they fearfully accused them of eating their beloved captain.

"We... ate him!" To which Zoro added oil to the fire by menacingly confirming their doubts, half of his face shadowed. It seems it was too much for 7 year old kids as they started freaking out and running around. The rest of us just laughed except for Nami as she received all of the kid's accusations and being called an Onibaba.

After the misunderstanding was cleared up, one of the kids explained that Usopp went over to the mansion to lie to the owner of the mansion. They further went into detail about how that was actually a good thing. The mistress there has been sick and ill for 3 years now and their captain's lies would always cheer the girl up.

Luffy suggested that they went over to the mansion to ask for a ship.

"Is it okay if me and Nami stayed here to discuss something? You guys can come back for us later." Josh refused his suggestion because he wanted to finally have a word with Nami.

The girl in question was a little worried about the tone in which Josh spoke. Hearing the seriousness in the blonde's voice, the swordsman cocked an eyebrow, but Luffy just shrugged and dragged Zoro off with him.

Josh and Nami were now alone in the restaurant. As the village was quite rural and didn't have a lot of people. There weren't much customers, especially on a day without significance.

"So.." the thief started, "what did you want to talk to me about?" She nervously questioned. Although she has gotten much more comfortable around the group of pirates, the sudden change in atmosphere around the blonde worried her a little.

"Nami...", as they were sitting side by side, the only man in the room turned his body around to face her. Letting out a silent sigh, he continued, "I know about Arlong and what he's done."

Nami felt indescribable fear, along with a pang of regret creep up inside her heart. She had considered the man in front of her, as well as the other two to be her friends even though they had known each other for only less than a day.

Everyone that learned that the girl was affiliated with the Fishman pirates had varying degrees of three of the following reactions; fear, alienation, or hostility. Sometimes even all three combined.

Learning that the first friend she had made since Nojiko, although she doesn't really count, might potentially know that she was working for them, she felt fear. Fear that she might be shunned, alienated, feared, or worse... turned away.

Nami could count on one hand the number of times she had truly enjoyed herself and be genuinely happy ever since that hateful incident. Now, even her small solace was about to be taken away again, all because of Arlong.

The poor girl did not even dare to meet eyes with Josh because of her guilt and shame. "I'm not blaming you for anything." He softly interjected. Seeing the look of anguish on her face, he couldn't take it. Josh pulled the still girl to a reluctant hug.

Before Josh met any of the straw hats, they were just characters from an anime. Although he admired them very much, he did not feel much personal connections with them. After spending real time together with them, he had already treated all of them as his irreplaceable friends.

The one thing that the dimensional traveller always liked about shounen anime in general is the unreal bond of friendship that keeps everyone together. When he was still back on Earth, he had friends.. sure, but their bonds were not even comparable.

He always chocked those up to anime shenanigans but he was feeling that exact shenanigan right now. He felt especially closer to Nami because of a more personal reason.

"I know I don't have any reason to say this to you but, please trust us. I promise you, we can beat Arlong! I already told Luffy and Zoro about this but I'm from the Grandline. I know exactly how strong he is." Before the girl could protest, he let her in on his "secret". "I've heard of his deeds and the Sun Pirates." He assured her that he knew exactly what he was talking about.

"No... no. No! You can't! Not now... I'm so close. You will get everyone killed!" The orange head desperately grabbed his shirt and looked up to him, tears in her eyes. She was truly scared now. Not for herself, but for the crew and her sister along with every villagers in Cocoyasi.

"You have a plan?" Josh asked her. He knew full well what it was but there wasn't a reason for him to. Knowing about the Arlong Pirate could still be explained, but having knowledge of her personal life is out of the question. Nami bobbed her head up and down. Wiping the tears accidentally on Josh's clothes.

Nami told him all about her past and her deal with Arlong. This way, if the man thought of her as a friend even a little bit, he would abstain from doing something that might jeopardize it.

"I understand everything now." The blonde assured her, "just in case that fish goes back on his words, don't you want a back up plan?" He still asked. Nami couldn't understand what he was saying for a while. Then her eyes sank, he was serious about fighting them, even knowing that he was strong.

She could not register a human becoming ever stronger than Arlong. She had tried every possible method so she would know. It seems like she hasn't been exposed enough to the world.

"I'll prove to you how strong I am the next time there is a fight," he suggested, "if you deem that I can at least stand a chance against him, will you at least consider asking for help. Just incase your deal doesn't pull through?" The girl hesitantly nodded. She hadn't seen much of Josh's ability and neither have Luffy and Zoro. It was about time that he revealed some of his strength.

"Why would you go so far for me?" She questioned, a little scared of the possible answers. "You've only known me for a day."

"That's easy." He started with a wide smile, "you remind me so much of my little sister.... and who needs a reason to help a friend? Besides, Luffy and Zoro would gladly help if you told them your circumstances. No, Luffy would probably still help you if you just asked without even knowing anything." He started with a bit of melancholy but ended with a small chuckle. It seems like he's gotten a bit more homesick than he thought.

[Ding! Congratulations Host!

Mission Complete!

Mission Rewards: 500,000 System Points, Ring of Protection x 1!]

It would seem that he finally managed to complete the mission. Although, he did not do it solely for the sake of the rewards. He genuinely wanted to help Nami. What he said to her weren't lies.

After calming down the previously frantic girl, Josh finally let go of the hug and they just stayed there in comfortable silence.

That was until, the doors to Meshi went wide open with a bang, and in came a slightly annoyed Zoro, followed by a frantic Usopp.

It looks like things are finally starting.