Loguetown
Loguetown - the city that was also known as "The town of the beginning and the end", because the former Pirate King Gol D. Roger was born and executed here.
Imai and the two other members of her crew had arrived at the city within a couple of days. The moment they got off the ship, undivided attention was brought upon them causing them to buy cloaks.
She had taken measures to cover the body of Shiki before they got off in order to avoid the marines. Though their appearance has probably been alerted already.
"Imai, I saw a few marines passing through the area. Are you sure we'll be okay? We have over a billion berries on our heads." Uta said.
"As long as we're not doing anything illegal, they'll only watch us from a distance. So make sure you don't cause any trouble, especially you, Rei." Imai said.
"Eh?! What did I do? I haven't done anything since we got here!" Rei said, pouting.
Imai sighed, recalling the event that happened in the clothing store earlier. Rei had nearly frozen all of the clothing and almost knocked down several rackets.
"Just don't wander off and stay close by my side. You too, Uta." Imai said.
"Hai, hai. Where are we going now? We've been walking straight for a while now, people are staring at us suspiciously." Uta said.
"We're going to the execution platform, the place where the Pirate King had been executed, and began an era of pirates." Imai said.
"Oh! I'm getting excited! I've always wanted to see it at least once." Rei said.
The three walked through the town gaining attention towards them. But who wouldn't when three cloaked figures along with a big bag that seemed to suspiciously contain a corpse.
"I'm going to have to stop you from proceeding any further."
Imai glanced up from her hood to see a man with white hair and a cigarette in his mouth. She noticed the badges that were on the man's marine clothing.
"A marine Vice Admiral, what can I do for you?" Imai asked.
"Nothing serious, just unravel whatever is in that bag you're dragging. I need to confirm you aren't bringing a dead body." He said.
Imai smiled, "You're surprisingly straightforward, aren't you? But I don't have the obligation to listen to you. If that's all, we're leaving."
"I know who you are." the vice admiral said, causing Imai to stop in her tracks. "Imai Ryujin, the Empress of the Blade. Also known as the Fifth Emperor."
"So what if you know of me? What can you do about it?" Imai asked in a taunting tone.
"Let me introduce myself to you." he said as he pulled out the cigarette. "I am Smoker the White Hunter, I'll bring you to jail today."
Imai quickly unsheathed her blade and repelled the surprise attack from Smoker. She was amused at his speed granted by the devil fruit he possessed.
"A smoke human, how interesting." Imai muttered, nonchalantly blocking his blade once again. "You should make your decisions more wisely, a vice admiral like you won't stand a chance against me."
"I don't need to defeat you, I can just stall until the admirals get here." Smoker replied.
Imai laughed, "And what good will that do you? You'll be dead by then."
Imai grabbed scabbard and covered it in haki before slamming it against Smoker's ribs. A few cracks could be heard, but the vice admiral remained standing.
"Hmm…" Imai counted on her fingers. "There were six opportunities to cut your head off, but I decided to spare you. Or I could've told these two to attack you and you'd already be dead before the first opportunity."
'There were six opportunities where I could've killed you', this sentence rang through Smoker's head like a bell. He knew he didn't stand a chance against the woman in front of him, nonetheless, he couldn't just give up.
"Vice Admiral!"
A new voice had appeared, but it was familiar to Smoker.
"Captain Tashigi?!" Smoker exclaimed, he couldn't hide his surprise.
Imai leaned against her sheathed blade in amusement as another marine had appeared. But who would've thought it was going to be a pretty lady this time.
"Imai, what are we going to do now?" Uta asked.
"Are we fighting?" Rei questioned.
"No, we're not going to fight. Calm yourself down." Imai replied, easily seeing Rei's excitement. "As to what we're going to do, we're going to talk it out."
"Talk…it out?" Uta questioned which Imai replied with a nod.
Imai pulled down her hood and revealed herself to the two marines in front of her. They were in a secluded valley now so there was barely an audience to witness the fight.
"Let's see, Vice Admiral Smoker, and Captain Tashigi." Imai said. "I'm not here to fight, I'm just here to sightsee. Bringing my crew for a vacation, you know?"
"That doesn't matter! The sins you've caused cannot be overlooked!" Tashigi said, her tone was firm.
"Tashigi, wait." Smoker said.
"But vice admiral!"
"Wait."
Tashigi couldn't refute the commands of her superior and took a step back. This action caused Imai to become even more amused.
"Imai Ryujin, do I have your word that you won't get yourself in any trouble while you're here?" Smoker asked, though it sounded more like a sentence.
"Yeah, yeah. We're not looking for fights anyway, just looking for some fun." Imai as she made eye contact with Tashigi when she said fun.
This action caused Tashigi to grow red in anger causing Imai to giggle. She couldn't help but to think that the captain was a little bit cute due to her attitude.
"Don't even think about it." Smoker said.
Imai smiled, "Don't worry, I have no plans to do anything explicit. There is already someone in my heart. I'd rather die than betray them."
The two marines were surprised at such words, who knew the ruthless killer was capable of such words?
"But if you don't believe me, you can follow us around." Imai added.
The two marines glanced at each other before nodding and trailed behind the three cloaked figures that were heading towards a certain direction.
"Wow, Imai, I didn't know you were able to actually talk it out."
"That's the part you wanted to talk about? Not the part where I said I was dedicated to you?"
"Captain! I just saw a candy store and I suddenly have a craving for sweets. Can we go?"
"No."