The Male's Scars!! James Wakes Up!!

The trek back to her home was a long and arduous one, straining Nami not only physically but mentally as well. Though the man hadn't been light to begin with, he seemed to way a ton by the time she was halfway home. She considered ditching him numerous times, but each time she started to, the deep scars would reappear in her mind, reigniting her curiosity.

Since she refused to drop him, she had no choice but to continue her efforts, half dragging and half carrying him through the dirt. Using this method, it took her quite a while to reach home.

The place Nami called home actually used to belong to her adoptive mother, Bell-mère's. However, after she was killed, Nami and Nojiko owned the place and continued to look after it. At least until Nami began to periodically leave the village for weeks at a time in search of money to steal and loot.

The small house was situated a little outside of Cocoyasi Village, not too far from the hill overlooking the water, right next to numerous crops of tangerine. The only reason itnwouod take her so long to get back home was because the man was rather large and heavy. If not for the young male, then Nami would only have to walk for about five minutes to reach her home, the trip however took a little over an hour to complete.

When she finally spotted the house in the distance, she managed to let out a sigh of relief and began moving faster, dragging the limp man faster along the ground.

As they drew closer to the small house, the front door opened and a female stepped out to stand near the doorway. The woman was of average height with a slim build, giving her body an hourglass figure. She had on a beige sleeveless shirt and blue trousers that greatly complimented her light blue hair and tanned skin.

"Nami, you better have a good explanation." Nojiko yelled, her expression showing one of frustration mixed with worry. "Better be a damn good reason why you didn't come see me the moment you arrived back in Cocoyasi village."

Nami ignored her as she continued her struggle, yanking the young male along with her. She had actually just recently arrived in the village today, having returned from 3 weeks out at sea in search of people to rob. The reason she had been in a bad mood earlier was due to the fact that she hadn't managed to gather even a single berry.

"Its none of your business Nojiko," Nami snapped as she began struggling underneath the weight of the male. "Just get your ass over here and help me!!"

Nojiko, having been completely focused on Nami, finally noticed the man that Nami was carrying. Without even asking why she was holding the male, she rushed over and supported his body from the other side, wrapping his arm around her neck.

"I demand an explanation the moment we set him down on the guest bed." Nojiko said as the two of them dragged him inside. "Are their any injuries that we need to check for?"

"I'm not sure as it was very dark and I couldn't tell," Nami admitted, pulling Nojiko and the male into the guest bedroom. "I did check him for money though.....hes flat broke."

Nojiko sighed, shaking her head as she and Nami placed the figure onto the bed. Nami had always been obssessed about money ever since Arlong made a deal with her, but it was only to be expected. The fate of the village rested on her shoulders, a huge burden for someone so young, barely at the age of 16.

"Okay, I guess we should get started then, Nojiko said, grabbing the fruit off the mans belt and placing it on the nightstand. "We should start by stripping him. We need to see if there are any wounds that he needs treated."

Nami, though a little reluctant after seeing the scars, nodded and began to undo the various straps and belts that held the black garment in place. She really didnt want Nojiko to see the scars, but as she was already here, she didn't have a good reason to refute.

For the first time, Nami actually could see the man clearly thanks to the light and she was amazed at his body, wondering how a male at a mere 17 years could look like this.

With his shirt on the floor, the young man with brilliant flaming red hair looked like a war god incarnate, or a sleeping assassin that could kill with a look alone. He still had a baby face, but not in a way that made him seem immature but rather that screamed of innocence and cuteness.

This however was thrown off by the rest of his exposed skin. His body was lean and toned, every part of him looked to be pure muscle, but that wasn't what drew the attention. It was the numerous scars, both deep and shallow, that caused their eyes to widen, that caused them both to take a step back.

"What in the hell?" Nojiko muttered as she cautiously reached out and traced a finger along one the deeper scars. "How? Why? Who is this man?" She had so many questions but felt her words getting stuck in her throat.

"I don't know," Nami admitted after finding her voice. The scars hadn't looked as bad as this in the darkness, but she had been expecting it so she wasn't quite as shocked as her sister. "I just found him near Bell-mère's grave...I would've left him there after I found out he was broke, but then I saw these."

"Come on," Nojiko said, walking back to the door of the room. "I wabt the full story, stsrting from what you did the past few weeks you were gone." She then slipped out the door.

Nami stayed by the strangers side for a few more seconds before drawing the blanket over his bare chest before following her sister out the door, closing the door behind her.

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Nami had found over ten million berries within the first week of her voyage, however things didn't go as she had originally planned.

The ten million berries worth of gold, silver and jewels, was located on a pirate ship belonging to a crew known as the Ethereal Pirates. It only took a day for Nami to join their ranks, opting to join on as the role as a navigator.

It only took roughly three days for Nami to gain their trust. Normally she would've outright robbed them first chance she got, but the ship had around a dozen men on it, enough to keep a constant lookout aboard the ship. Her only choice was to wait for an opening to steal everything they had, and that chance came sooner then expected.

About 5 days after she had joined the pirates, they engaged in a battle between another crew calling themselves the "Porkscrew Pirates". Aside from the dumb name, the group of pirates were actually quite well known and were pretty decent in combat, more then sufficient enough to keep the Ethereal Pirates busy for a little while.

While thr fight was raging on between the two groups of pirates, Nami took the opening and stole every last bury from their ship, loading it into a small fishing boat. After making sure everything was in place, she cut the line and dropped into the water, preparing to set a course for Arlong Park.

It was here that she lost her money. Right when she started to paddle in the direction of she needed to go, a huge cannonball landed next to the small boat. The force of the cannonball rocked the small boat hard, causing it to capsize.

Luckily, Nami managed to escape by grabbing another fishing boat, but she was still furious about the loss of money that had sunk to the bottom of the sea.

After that massive failure, she spent a couple of days on a nearby island, trying to cheer herself up while simultaneously looking for suckers that she could rob. In that week she stayed on the island, she had managed to steal over thirty wallets filled with cash, however, it did nothing to replace all the money she had lost due to her carelessness.

After Nami finished telling her sister that story, she then transitioned into her story involving the flaming haired young man. It wasn't much if a story, but she did her best to recall the events that had transpired, even including her own thoughts and feeling on various parts.

At the end of the story, Nojiko simply nodded, folding her hands in front of her. She and Nami had sat down on the living room sofa before talking and she had half a mind to just lay down, but she decided against it.

"Okay, let me just say that losing the money wasn't your fault," Nojiko said, comforting her sister in the best way she could. "It was a accident and you should just be happy that the cannonball had missed your little boat."

Seeing that her sister hadn't said anything, she continued. "As for the young man.....hes pretty hot, although he's probably a pirate judging from all those scars. Or maybe he's an assassin for the world goverment sent to rid us of Arlong once and for all."

Nami let out a small sarcastic laugh. "Yeah, as if....I hate pirates, so if he is one, then we'll simply kick him out. No quesitons as...did you hear that or was it just me?"

The two of them turned their attention to the closed door of the guest bedroom. For a few seconds, not a single sound could be heard, but it was soon broken by a loud thump that could easily be heard through the door.

The two of them glabced at each other before standing up and rushing to the door.