volume_2 : Broken Promises and Rice Ball Dreams
The rice balls hit the dusty ground with a soft, pathetic sound. Rika's small hands, still curled from the act of giving, trembled as she watched.
Helmeppo's polished boot came down, not with a stomp, but with a slow, deliberate grind. The white rice and nori smeared into the dirt under his heel. A cruel, personal destruction.
"No!" Rika's cry was a raw, wounded thing. "I… I worked all morning! I kneaded the rice until my fingers hurt!"
Koby's breath hitched. "H-Helmeppo-san! She's just a child, she was only—"
"Only breaking the law," Helmeppo finished, his voice a silken threat. He didn't even look at Koby, his sneer fixed on the weeping girl. "My father's law. Article Seven. Anyone who aids or comforts a condemned prisoner… suffers the death penalty."
A deathly chill swept through the sun-baked courtyard. The two marines flanking Helmeppo shifted uncomfortably.
"But," Helmeppo sighed, as if granting a royal pardon, "I am merciful. You're a child. I won't have you executed." He flicked a finger toward the high stone wall bordering the marine base. "Throw her over it. Let the fall teach her the lesson."
One of the marines, a man with tired eyes, stepped forward. "Sir, that wall is twenty feet high. She could—"
"Could what?" Helmeppo's voice dropped to a venomous whisper. "Could learn a valuable lesson about respecting authority? Or could remind you who signs your paychecks? My father. *Captain* Morgan. The Marine Hero. Now. Throw. Her."
The marine's jaw tightened. For a heartbeat, defiance flashed in his eyes. Then, with a look of profound shame, he scooped up the sobbing Rika.
"I'm sorry," he muttered, so low only she could hear.
"No! Please!"
He heaved. Rika's small form sailed over the jagged top of the wall, her scream trailing behind her.
Below, a straw hat moved.
Luffy's arms shot out, catching her against his chest with a *whumpf*. He staggered back a step, then set the trembling girl down. His usual grin was gone, replaced by a flat, dangerous calm. He looked up at the wall, but said nothing.
Back in the yard, Helmeppo sauntered over to the crucified Zoro. He leaned in, his breath fogging the steel of the crossed swords. "Hear that, Pirate Hunter? Your little friend took a flight. Maybe the pirates will find her. They do love little girls, don't they?"
Zoro didn't flinch. Blood crusted at the corners of his mouth, but his eyes were sharp, focused on a point far beyond Helmeppo's smirking face. He said nothing.
"Nothing to say? Still playing the stoic hero?" Helmeppo laughed, a high, brittle sound. "Enjoy the view. It's your last."
With a final, contemptuous flick of his perfect hair, Helmeppo and his entourage left.
The silence they left behind was heavy. Luffy vaulted the wall back into the yard, landing softly beside the post.
"Join my crew," Luffy said, no preamble, his eyes locked on Zoro's.
Zoro's head lolled slightly. "Not a chance. I'm not becoming a pirate. I have a promise to keep. A dream to reach."
"My dream is to be King of the Pirates. I need the strongest fighters."
"Then find someone else. I'm staying right here." Zoro's gaze drifted to the grimy, stomped-on mess in the dirt. A long moment passed. "…Give them to me."
Luffy blinked. "The rice balls? They're ruined."
"Give them to me."
Shrugging, Luffy scooped up the handful of dirt, crushed rice, and torn seaweed. He held it up to Zoro's mouth.
Without hesitation, Zoro ate it. He chewed slowly, deliberately, swallowing the gritty mess. He met Luffy's astonished look. "Tell the girl… I ate them all. Tell her they were the best thing I ever tasted."
***
Later, by the well in the shabby town square, Rika wept into her mother's apron. Luffy stood before her, his hat shadowing his eyes.
"He ate them," Luffy said, his voice uncharacteristically gentle. "Every last bit. Said they were the best he ever had."
Rika's sobs quieted to hiccups. "R-really?"
Koby, wringing his hands, stared in disbelief. "He… he ate them? Like that? But he's the Demon of the East Blue! They say he's a monster!"
"He's not a monster!" Rika burst out, wiping her face. "He's not! He was protecting me!" The story tumbled out—Helmeppo's pet wolf, Soro, set loose to terrorize the town, chasing her into an alley. Zoro's sudden, terrifying intervention. The single, clean stroke that saved her life and ended the beast's. Captain Morgan's arrival, and the immediate arrest of the 'murderous pirate hunter' for killing the 'hero's beloved pet.'
"He's been up there for three weeks," Rika whispered, "because of me."
The air grew thick with shared anger and helplessness. Then it shattered.
"Well, well! Sharing sob stories?"
Helmeppo strutted into the square, freshly groomed, a smug triumph plastered on his face. The townsfolk recoiled as if from a poison.
"I've just come from my dear father," he announced, loud enough for all to hear. "We've decided that the Pirate Hunter's little vacation has gone on long enough. The execution is set. Tomorrow noon." He chuckled, savoring the horror on Rika's face. "A promise is a promise, after all… though I never said *what* I promised, did I? Maybe I promised him a swift death. Maybe I promised him a lifetime in prison. Turns out, I promised him a spectacle!"
The injustice of it was a physical blow. Koby felt sick.
Luffy took a single step forward. "You're a liar."
Helmeppo's smile didn't waver. "I'm the son of a Marine Hero. My word is law. And my word is that tomorrow, that green-haired thug dies, and this stinking town learns what happens when you cross the Morg—"
***THWACK.***
The sound was like a wet sack of flour hitting a wall. Luffy's fist, moving faster than anyone could follow, connected squarely with Helmeppo's jaw. The arrogant man's eyes rolled back in his head before he even left his feet. He crashed to the ground in a heap of fine clothes, out cold.
A collective gasp sucked the air from the square. A hundred pairs of eyes widened in terror.
Koby shrieked, latching onto Luffy's arm. "Luffy! NO! You struck him! That's the Captain's son!"
Luffy shook him off, his gaze fixed on the unconscious noble. "That guy's the worst." He turned, his eyes lifting to the marine base looming over the town. His voice, when he spoke, was final, absolute. "Zoro's joining my crew."
He began to walk. Not toward the town gates, but straight toward the main entrance of Marine Base 153.
"Luffy, wait! Where are you going?!" Koby scrambled after him, panic clawing at his throat.
The townsfolk watched, frozen between hope and dread. The marine guards at the distant gate had seen. Alarms began to clang, a harsh, metallic shriek splitting the afternoon sky.
Luffy didn't slow. He just adjusted his straw hat, a fierce grin finally spreading across his face.
From the dirt, Helmeppo groaned, one eye fluttering open. He touched his swelling jaw, his fingers coming away bloody. A rage, pure and psychotic, contorted his features. He pointed a trembling finger at Luffy's retreating back, his voice a guttural scream that echoed off the stone walls.
"KILL HIM! MARINES! **KILL THAT PIRATE SCUM NOW!**"
At the main gate, the heavy cannons swiveled. Dozens of marines poured from the barracks, muskets levelled. The air crackled with the sound of dozens of hammers being cocked.
And Luffy, alone, just kept walking, a single boy against an army, with a promise to keep to a man still crucified on a hill.
The first cannon roared.