Apparently, I was still alive.
My vision had faded, and I couldn't hear anything, so I honestly thought, "Ah, I guess I'm finally dead." But when I woke up, I found myself in a bed, even though I'd collapsed outside.
So, I had woken up. I wasn't dead after all.
"...I don't recognize this ceiling."
"Oh, you're awake, Missy?"
A voice ca from beside .
I tried to sit up abruptly, but my body felt like lead and wouldn't move properly. With great effort, I managed to turn my head to look.
Sitting beside the bed was a woman I didn't recognize.
She was dressed in strangely revealing clothes, yet sohow didn't seem vulgar. Clad in wild, rugged attire, she reached out and gently pressed her hand to my forehead.
"No fever, and your color's returning a bit. But your strength... still hasn't co back, huh? How many fingers do you see?"
"Um... three?"
"Correct! Your eyesight's fine. Are you hungry?"
"...Yes."
I hadn't realized it until she asked, but now that I thought about it, my stomach felt completely empty. I was starving.
"Good appetite too... You'll be back on your feet in no ti. It wouldn't feel good if I saved you only for you to die right after, you know? Good, good. Oh, I'll have so food brought over right away. Just wait here a bit."
As she spoke, the woman scribbled notes on a clipboard, looking pleased.
It seed I'd been rescued by a kind person and given a second chance at life, when I thought I was done for. And this woman... was she a doctor?
I didn't know if she was the one who saved , or if soone else had entrusted to her care, but either way, I needed to thank her.
"Um... th-thank you for saving ."
"No need for thanks. I've already been paid. I was just following the Captain's orders."
(...Huh?)
The Captain?
Wait a minute... Calling soone that implies she's a Ship's Doctor or sothing. Co to think of it, I feel a slight rocking motion... Could we actually be on a ship?
And now I notice sothing else... This wild-looking doctor (I'm guessing she is one) is wearing a bandana. On her temple is a familiar mark: a skull in the center, surrounded by nine snakes' heads.
Wait, isn't that...?
"Oh, you noticed? You're surprisingly sharp."
I must have looked too surprised. She saw staring at the mark.
"Relax, I'm not going to eat you. Like I said, helping you was just a whim. You probably don't believe a pirate saying that, but there's no point in being scared, so just believe it."
"A... pirate... I knew it..."
"Yep. Ever heard of the Kuja Pirates?"
Ah, so it was the Kuja after all.
In the world of One Piece, the Kuja are an all-female group similar to the Amazons, and their captain, the Pirate Empress Boa Hancock, is one of the Shichibukai.
Though, judging by the tiline, it's probably long before the original story, so Hancock wouldn't be captain yet... or even born, for all I know.
Later, while eating the food they brought, I learned that I had been found collapsed on the road and rescued by a Kuja Pirate reconnaissance team that happened to pass by.
They carried onto the ship, and the ship's doctor examined and treated . That's how I ended up here.
While I was explaining all this, the captain of the Kuja Pirates ca to check on .
"Hmm... you seem more resilient than I expected, Missy. Quite impressive for soone your age," she said, puffing on her cigarette and giving a gentle smile. At first glance, she didn't look like a pirate at all—so calm and kind. Her clothes, though, had a ruggedness similar to the ship's doctor's.
But that aside... I recognized her face instantly from the One Piece manga.
Wasn't she Shakky? Or rather, Ms. Shakuyaku?
I asked her na, and sure enough, my hunch was confird. Wait a minute... you're that Shakuyaku? The one who runs the rip-off bar in the Sabaody Archipelago and is basically Rayleigh's common-law wife?
Wait, the Captain of the Kuja Pirates is also the Empress of Amazon Lily? I had no idea she was such a high-ranking figure!
I'd only read part of the One Piece manga, and my mory was hazy, so suddenly running into an original character and having this incredible fact revealed out of nowhere almost sent into a panic.
When exactly did this backstory co up in the manga...?
"Oh? Is sothing wrong? Do I have sothing on my face?"
"N-no, it's nothing! Sorry, I was just spacing out..."
"Maybe you were just srized by the Captain's beauty?"
"Now, now, flattery won't get you anywhere, you two. And Missy, you might be surprised to hear you're on a pirate ship, but rest assured, we don't intend to do anything to frighten you."
After that, they briefly explained the situation to .
Ms. Shakuyaku said she helped on a whim.
She figured I was probably a survivor from a village destroyed by pirates, but she was impressed by my resilience and stamina—how I'd managed to walk so far on my own despite being so young. She thought I had guts, which piqued her interest.
Then she added—sothing the ship's doctor had hinted at earlier—that my village was completely gone.
There were no survivors. Everything of value had been looted, and so houses had even been set on fire, including our bookstore, most likely. It was a total disaster.
She'd stopped by just in case, but there was hardly anything left worth taking.
Naturally, it wasn't fit for anyone to live there anymore.
So houses were still standing, but they were mostly wrecked and barely habitable. It would have been impossible for a young girl to live there alone.
"I thought leaving you there would be a death sentence," she said. "I know it was presumptuous, but I had you brought aboard and set sail. We're already out at sea."
"I see..."
I must have been unconscious for nearly two full days.
They couldn't have stayed anchored in that ruined village, waiting for to wake up.
If I could, I would have liked to at least build graves for my parents and hold proper funerals. But I can't afford such luxuries now. I fled the village knowing I could never return. I have to accept that.
"What's your na, Missy?"
"Sue... Venerdi Toto Sue. Um, what's going to happen to now?"
"As I said before, we didn't save you just to throw you to the wolves. You can stay on this ship until we reach an island where you can survive. You can disembark there. After that... well, it'll be tough, but you'll have to find a way to make it on your own."
"Yes... thank you."
"Just so you know, you'll be expected to help with chores when you can. And we'll be taking the money and jewels you had as paynt for your dical treatnt. It's important to set an example for the crew, and besides, we're pirates—we can't afford to carry dead weight."
She had a point.
Well, it couldn't be helped. I owed them my life, and they were letting stay on their ship for a while, even though they were pirates. In fact, I should be grateful that was all they wanted.
They could have just taken my money and tossed overboard, and I wouldn't have had any right to complain.
"I'll do my best. Thank you for having ."
"Good answer. I like honest girls."
Then, Ms. Shakuyaku paused, as if suddenly rembering sothing. "Oh, but," she said, reaching into her pocket and pulling sothing out. She placed it on the futon where I was lying.
"Here, I'm returning these. I think they're important to you, right?"
"...Ah...!"
It was... the ntos I'd brought with : my parents' wedding rings and my mother's earrings. Apparently, I hadn't packed them in my bag; I'd been clutching them tightly when I lost consciousness.
After that, Ms. Shakuyaku and the others, including the Ship's Doctor, said they had work to do and left the room. I think they were being considerate, noticing I was about to burst into tears and wanting to give so space.
And so, for the ti being, I found myself aboard a pirate ship... and not just any ship, but the infamous Kuja Pirates' ship, working as a deckhand.
To be continued...
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