Ch-17

Usopp was currently digging in on the meal that Nojiko had prepared for him with full vigour to satiate his hunger. Looking at the untidy way in which Usopp was eating his meal Nojiko couldn't help but chuckle inwardly as she said "You know the food won't disappear if you eat slowly right?"

"It won't but I can't help it..I'm hungry." Usopp said with food still in his mouth making Nojiko work her brain out a little to decipher what exactly was he saying. Realizing that having a conversation with him while he was eating was a bad idea she just decided to wait for him.

Having nothing to her eyes just observed Usopp. It was not every day that she had guests and today she had two, one was Nam who after burying her treasures went to meet Arlong and now there was this man. She couldn't help but grow curious about the reason for his appearance.

Usopp was currently wearing a white full sleeves shirt with its sleeves folded that Kaya had gifted him. She told him that he looked much better in a shirt rather than his regular attire and he too agreed to it after looking at himself in the mirror. Nojiko who had been observing him also agreed with Kaya because of how the folded sleeves emphasized his massive forearms.

Starting from his forearms Nojiko started checking Usopp out as a whole and was impressed with his physique. The number of men in her village that had a physique like him would number to zero so it was no surprise that her innate feminine desire that she had been restraining for so many years wanted to take over.

Fortunately for her, she still had a little bit of control left over herself as the thirst that had appeared in her eyes slowly disappeared by the time Usopp had finished eating. "That was a good meal, Thanks a lot…" Usopp said.

"Nojiko, you can call me Nojiko. I'm flattered that you liked my cooking as it's quite rare for me to have a guest in my house," Nojiko replied.

"Well, then I should thank my lucky stars for getting an opportunity to be your guest." Usopp said with a grin making Nojiko chuckle as he continued, "I'm Usopp, Nice to meet you Nojiko,"

"So Usopp, tell me, what brought you to this island? As far as I know, no sane man would want to enter an island which has been captured by pirates without a very solid reason," Nojiko asked.

"I'm just looking for a crew member who ran away to this place," Usopp said.

"Crew member? Are you a pirate or what?" Nojiko joked and Usopp just smiled at it not bothering to reply.

Realizing that Usopp had no intention to reply to her Nojiko continued "So from where do you plan to start the search for your crew mate?"

"I have no idea but I'm not in a hurry because I have some things to take care of on my ship before that," Usopp said.

"Ship?" Nojiko asked in confusion.

"Yeah the one that's behind," Usopp said as he point towards the window behind Nojiko from where the Going Merry was visible.

Nojiko turned around to look at the ship Usopp mentioned. She could see a ship at a distance the flag symbol of the ship was a bit vague from this distance which led her to focus her eyes further as the pirate symbol entered her eyes.

She turned her head back towards Usopp as she asked "You're a pirate?"

"Yes, I am. You're scared?" Usopp asked in a teasing voice.

"I would be if it was many years ago but now, after barely living under the Arlong Pirates' rule for all these years…something like this can't scare me. Besides, you don't seem to have the intention to kill me, so why should I be scared." Nojiko replied.

"Well, you do have a logical side to yourself, I should be going now Nojiko, I still have some things to take care of on the ship," Usopp said as he stood up to take a leave.

"Mhmm, Hope you find your crew mate soon," Nojiko said as she saw the fading back of Usopp walking towards the Going Merry.

On the ship, the first thing Usopp did was to go to the storehouse and take out a box full of small metallic cubes he had asked Kaya to prepare for him before setting out for sail from his village. He planned to make ammos out of them for his use but had been procrastinating on them for a while now.

He had thought of making them again earlier when he was on the ship with Nami but the sound of filing the metal balls into his desired shape would create a lot of noise which would have alarmed Nami. Now that he was all alone on the ship, he decided to start the process.

It was around ten in the morning when he had started and by noon he had finished making forty ball-shaped bullets. He still had the energy to make more and wanted to create at least fifty before taking a break but just then Nojiko called him from below.

"Usopp! I've made some orange juice for you," Nojiko shouted wanting to be heard by Usopp.

Hearing her voice Usopp stood up from the deck and looked at her who was standing below with a tray containing two glasses of orange juice. His parched mouth made him quickly change his mind about creating fifty bullets before taking a rest as he quickly went down the ship.

"AH! That was fantastic!" Usopp said as he wiped his lips with his hands after drinking the whole juice in a single gulp.

"Glad you like it, what have you been doing all these hours? You're all covered in sweat." Nojiko said as she saw how sweaty Usopp was currently.

"Just some preparations before setting out to the village," Usopp said.

"Well, you gotta be careful not to encounter the fishmen in the village as if they see a new face they'll ask for money from you or take you to their base," Nojiko warned him.

"Is that so? I'll keep that in mind" Usopp said and just when he finished a hungry roar came from his stomach making Nojiko chuckle.

"Looks like the orange juice increased my appetite," Usopp said in embarrassment.

"No worries, I've prepared lunch for you aswell, let's go," Nojiko said.

"Let me take a bath first," Usopp replied as he was too sweaty at the moment and he would be too uncomfortable while eating because of it.

"Why don't you take one at my house instead? I'll arrange the food for you till then. It would be more convenient for you," Nojiko suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Usopp said with a smile as he accompanied Nojiko back to her house.

A/N: Why the late update? Exams.

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