Chapter 18: Talking to Nami

Kai started flying towards the merry as he let the wind pick up. Halfway to the boat he switched to geppo and ran towards the boat landing on it making Nami jump. "Where are we going?" he asked her as she almost fell overboard from the shock. "Did you just run on air?!!!"

"mhm."

"Why are you acting like that's normal!???"

"It is."

Kai looked at her without hesitation when he answered the question, making Nami think that it actually was normal for people to practically fly. "True it is… LIKE HELL IT IS! What kind of bullshit is that!" Nami had her demon teeth showing as she was trying to punch Kai as he ran away laughing. "Wahaha! You believed it! I thought you were the smart one, Tangerine!"

Nami kept chasing him for a minute before she gave up and went back to navigating the ship. "You know it actually is pretty normal in the marines. I'm not even messing with you this time." Nami had a tick on her forehead and started shaking in anger as she was about to try to kill him again before she took a deep breath and started thinking about money. She had a smile on her face as she imagined swimming in gold. "Well, you'll see eventually." Kai said.

"You never answered me. Where are we going?"

"I'M going home. I don't know where you think YOU'RE going. Why don't you just fly away and leave me alone."

"Meh. Don't wanna." He took out a cigarette and offered her one which she actually took. This wasn't a happy time for her. She didn't want to go back to Arlong park.

Kai sat down on the railing next to her and lit her cigarette for her. He was about to stand back up and walk away, but she lightly tugged on his sleeve. He sat back down next to her and patted her head. They sat in silence for a while and Nami rested her head on his shoulder. Kai took a long drag and patted her head again. "You're a strong girl Nami." She teared up a bit "Thanks Fujin." she said before she shoved her face into his chest as she cried into it.

Kai took another long drag of his cigarette and tried to take one more only for there to be nothing left to smoke. He tossed the butt into the water as his eyes portrayed a myriad of different thoughts. But none of them would ever reach his lips as he stayed silent and patted the crying Nami's back.

After Nami finished crying she sat up and had a bunch of blood on her face. Kai was confused and then looked down at his own chest. "Holy fuck, how did I forget about that." He still had an open wound on his chest and he hadn't changed into new clothes yet.

"What happened?" Nami asked in a mildly panicked voice. "Some dude with a sword and some cool facial hair. Really nice guy actually. I'd love to meet him again sometime." Nami scoffed, what kind of nice guy cuts you that deep, and what kind of idiot wants to meet someone who cuts them again? Nami sighed then giggled a bit. "You're an idiot." Kai frowned and said "No I'm not. You all just can't understand my genius. I'm like a thousand steps ahead." Nami shook her head. She had grown to quite enjoy the entire crew including Kai. She wished that she could stay with them forever but she knew it wasn't possible.

Kai saw her eyes start to turn sad and he guessed what she was thinking about. He treated her like a sibling to him and he thought that she and Reiju would be great friends. He quickly tried to cheer her up. "If you think this is bad you should see what he did to Zoro." Nami froze and her teeth turned sharp. "Are you all trying to die!? What is wrong with you all?!"

"Wahaha. Who knows?" Kai said as he relaxed, noticing that she forgot about what she was just thinking. Nami sighed "Alright let's go." as she started walking away. "Hm? Go where?" Nami stared at him and said "To get you stitched up. Were you just gonna leave your wound open?"

"Yea. It's not that bad. It'll be fine in like two days." Kai said it like it was normal to leave a 10 inch long wound to fester. "What's wrong with you?" Nami asked as she dragged him to the makeshift medical room they had. "A lot. Wahaha." Kai replied while following her. Honestly the wound didn't bother him much and once you get strong enough in the one piece world you don't get sick anymore, including infections so he wasn't too concerned. Just like how smoking doesn't affect you.

Nami made him sit down and told Kai to take his shirt off so she could treat his wound. She walked away to find the supply's. She walked back towards Kai and dropped the supplies she was carrying as she gasped. Her mouth was stuck open wide as she looked at Kai's scar riddled body. There wasn't a place on his body other than his hands, neck and face that didn't have scars on them.

"Never seen a handsome man without a shirt on Tangerine?" Kai snickered at himself. Nami shook her head as she was still dumbfounded. "Are you alright?" she asked him. Kai had a genuine smile on his face hearing this. "You're a nice person Nami, and don't worry about me."

Nami nodded but she was clearly still worried. She didn't know what Kai's past was but she was sure it wasn't happy. She felt a connection to him as she also had a bad childhood. She started tending to his wounds in a daze as she was lost in thought. Kai saw this and laughed "Wahaha." He didn't say anything else as he let her stitch up his chest. When she finished and started walking away she looked back and hesitated like she wanted to ask something but she didn't. Kai answered her anyway.

"I can't tell you right now. Maybe in the future." She nodded and walked away thinking things over. Kai smiled as she was a truly nice girl. He remembered the last time someone stitched him up like that was when he was just kids with Reiju. He reminisced over the past and thought that Nami really was a lot like a younger sister to him. "She's just like Rei. Wahaha." He said out loud. Nami heard from outside as she was still listening in. She smiled to herself. She didn't know who Rei was but she felt happy to be compared to her. Kai obviously knew that Nami was still listening but he didn't care. Nami didn't know anything and he knew she wouldn't tell anyone no matter what.

Kai and Nami arrived at the island and they walked to Nami's house together. Nami put her new treasures in her secret stash. When they finally got to her house they walked inside. They could see Nojiko and one more person causing Kai to smile under his mask, it was Belle-mare. Much better than canon. Kai thought as Nami said hello and went to introduce Nojiko and Belle-mare to Kai but before she could he said. "Wow. This place hasn't changed a bit." Nami looked at him confused. What did that mean? "Hello Nojiko, Belle-mare, long time no see." All three of them looked at him confused for a second before it clicked.

"It's you!!???" Nami screamed in shock. The other two just smiled and Nojiko said "Welcome back. It's been too long." Kai nodded and started talking to everyone. They all ate dinner together and were having a good time. Nami suddenly thought about something and asked. "Is that why you always call me Tangerine? Because we have a tangerine farm?"

Kai looked are her like she was stupid. "No." Nami was shocked! She thought she figured it out! "Then why!?" Kai looked at her again like she just said 9 + 10 = 21. "Cause you look like a Tangerine. Duh." He shook his head thinking she was joking and continued on with the conversation. A full two minutes later Nami's teeth turned sharp. "I don't look like a fucking Tangerine! You Idiot!"

Kai almost spat out his food. "I'm not an idiot!" The two started fighting about meaningless things and Nojiko started giggling. She found him funny and she was also happy that Nami was enjoying herself for the first time in a while. She thought he was a good influence on her life.