9 Disciple

[Read Authors Note]

Nami frowned when Piku said she would defeat Arlong, " Y-your insane even if I trained all day for the next three weeks there's no way I would be able to kill Arlong. You do know fish-men have five times the strength of a person. " Turning around Piku started to walk away, " Just trust me, right now I can kill Arlong without moving " Nami was seriously starting to doubt the sanity of the man in front of her.

But Nami found herself backed into a corner, what could she do if she confronted Arlong she would probably be kept prisoner forced to make maps again, " Fine I'll let you train me but If I die fighting Arlong I'll haunt you forever. "

Nodding Piku held out his hand, " I expect nothing less, I'm Piku lets start your training. " Nami sighed, " I'm Nami a thief who steals from pirates. " In a few seconds, Piku had cleared the deck of the ship before dusting his hands off and handing a thin blue book to Nami, " What's this why do I need a book to train. "

Brushing off her complaint Piku gestured towards the three sticks holstered on her hip, " The book your holding is a fighting art for the staff, it was pretty expensive so make good use of it. "

Not questioning why Piku had it in the first place Nami started to flip through the pages, Piku watched as Nami face turned bright red.

Closing the book she glared at Piku, " Is this some kind of joke, you want me to dance when fighting " Piku shrugged, " The form it's called Dance of the Cherry Blossom, the objective is to move like a petal in the wind weaving in between enemy attacks. It never said you had to dance. " Gritting her teeth Nami couldn't find fault in Piku's words, " Fine I'll learn it but if I catch you staring I will gouge your eyes out. " Pitu grinned, " I wouldn't mind going if I got to see you dance. "

Nami's face blushed as she shook her head trying to clear the images that came to mind, " I-idiot don't say stuff like that aren't we suppose to be training. "

Still grinning Piku chuckled at Nami's expense, " Fine since your so eager let's start, start to read through your book until you can't understand the techniques then read over the ones you can understand, repeat until I say stop. " Nami looked at him weirdly but did as he said, for the next two hours Nami flipped through the book often going back and forth as Piku watched her, ' In the canon before the time skip Nami barely fought I always wondered why she never used her staff before the time skip.'

" Hey you still didn't answer my question, how do you know about my deal with Arlong. And are you a fish-man you have gills like one. "

Frowning Piku stared at Nami, " I told you I was going to kill Arlong myself so I did some research, I found one his pirates and interrogated him before killing him. And don't compare me to a fish-man I am above them all. "

Nami didn't ask any more questions and went back to reading, after the fourth hour Piku finally stopped Nami from reading the same pages over and over again. Honestly, he was surprised that she didn't complain once, " Now that you have a grasp of the art let's see how much you learned, attack me. "

Hesitating Nami put her staff together before attacking Piku. Piku dodged each of Nami's strikes as he watched her form, he could see that each of her strikes flowed perfectly with each other. Sometimes the strikes would seem to be off course only to strike at an unpredicted angle. Ten minutes later Piku held up his hand stopping Nami who was panting and sweating from their brief spar, " You did well much better than I expected, but I can tell you're not use to long strenuous activities. You also have signs of malnutrition I guess you had a hard childhood. Don't worry I have some methods to get you in much better shape in no time. "

Panting Nami still had the energy to glare at Piku, " Why are you so hard to hit. " Not responding Piku picked Nami up in a princess carry, " W-what are you doing put me down. " Nami face was bright red as she struggled against Piku's grip, " Both you and I know that your too tired to even walk, so just shut up and let me take care of you. " Nami stilled in Piku's arms as her mind blanked, walking into the captain's room Piku set her down on the bed before walking out the door.

Nami was still stunned by what just happened, she recalled the feeling of his arms around her and the powerful muscles under his shirt. Shaking her head Nami denied that she felt anything for a man she just met even though her body was betraying her. Hearing the door open Nami adjusted her clothing just as Piku entered, " Here try this it should help increase your stamina. "

" T-thank you " Nami took the bowl of warm soup and started to eat with gusto when the smell reached her nose. Grinning Piku started to eat the soup that he had bought from the system, the soup actually did increase the stamina of those that drink it. It would be useful for the training he was about to put Nami under, " Well you should get some rest, tomorrow we'll start your training we also have to make some stops along the way. "

Standing up Nami was about to leave the room when Piku stopped her, " You can sleep in here, I'm used to sleeping on the deck. " Nami watched as Piku closed the door behind him and she couldn't help but feel that things were finally going her way.