The mansion's grand doors felt colder than the sea at midnight. Usopp's heart hammered against his ribs as he stood before Kaya, the girl whose laughter once filled his childhood with color, now pale and fragile in her silk nightgown.
"Klahadore is a pirate," Usopp blurted, the words tumbling out in a desperate rush. "His real name is Kuro—Captain Kuro of the Black Cat Pirates. He's been planning this for years. He's going to kill you and take everything!"
Kaya's delicate hands flew to her mouth. Her eyes, usually warm like honey, turned to ice. "Usopp… not this again. Your stories—"
"This isn't a story!" he pleaded, stepping forward. "He has a crew. They're coming tomorrow. Please, you have to believe me!"
The door creaked open. Merry, the head servant, entered with a tray of tea, his eyes narrowing at the scene. Before Usopp could say another word, the two hulking bodyguards from the entrance hall burst in, their shadows swallowing the lamplight.
"Intruder!" one growled.
Usopp's world became a whirl of hands and pain. They seized him, their grip like iron bands. He thrashed, his slingshot digging into his thigh—his only weapon.
"Let him go!" Kaya cried, but her voice was drowned by their grunts.
With a twist born of a thousand escapes from angry villagers, Usopp broke one arm free. His fingers found the familiar grip of his slingshot. *Crack-crack!* Two lead pellets sang through the air. The bodyguards crumpled, clutching their foreheads.
"Stop it, Usopp!" Kaya screamed, backing away. "Look at you—fighting, hurting people! You're not the boy I used to watch the ships with. You're a stranger!"
The words cut deeper than any blade. Usopp reached for her, his voice breaking. "Kaya, I'm trying to save you—"
A commotion erupted outside—villagers' voices, drawn by the noise. As the front doors burst open, Usopp made a split-second decision. He grabbed Kaya's wrist, gentle but firm. "Come with me. Just until morning. Please."
Her hand flew up, a sharp *crack* echoing through the hall.
The slap stung, but the look in her eyes burned worse.
"You're the worst person I know," she whispered, tears streaking her cheeks. "Let go."
Merry's voice cut through the tension, cold and final. "Step away from Miss Kaya."
Usopp turned. The servant held a polished dueling pistol, steady and aimed at his heart.
"Merry, no!" Kaya cried.
The gunshot was deafening.
Fire erupted in Usopp's left arm. He stumbled back, clutching the wound, warm blood seeping through his fingers. The villagers gasped. Kaya's scream was the last thing he heard as he fled into the night, pain and betrayal chasing him like shadows.
***
He didn't make it far before collapsing against the old sycamore tree at the village outskirts. The moon painted the world in shades of silver and blue.
"Usopp!"
Luffy's straw hat appeared first, then Nami's concerned frown, Zoro's steady gaze. The Usopp Pirates—three wide-eyed kids—clung to each other.
"What happened?" Nami asked, her eyes already scanning for danger.
Usopp forced a laugh, hiding his bleeding arm behind his back. "Nothing! Just, uh, told Klahadore he had a face like a stepped-on sea slug. He didn't take it well!" His voice shook. "All a big joke!"
The kids bought it, cheering his boldness before wandering home. But the three older pirates exchanged a look that said they knew the taste of a lie when they heard one.
***
That night, in the abandoned shack Usopp called home, the truth came out in ragged pieces.
"They didn't believe me," he said, staring at the bandage Nami had insisted on applying. "Because I've cried 'pirate' too many times. Because every day was another wild story."
Luffy tilted his head. "So?"
"So," Usopp took a shaky breath, "tomorrow, when Kuro's pirates come… I'll be there. I'll fight them. And when the villagers see nothing happens—because I'll stop them—they'll think it was just another lie. They'll never have to be scared."
Silence hung in the air, broken only by the chirping crickets.
Then Luffy grinned. "We'll help."
"Obviously," Zoro said, leaning against the wall, his swords already at his side.
Nami sighed, rubbing her temples. "Fighting professional pirates for free. My generosity astounds even me."
Usopp's eyes welled up. "You'd really…?"
"We're crew," Luffy said, as if it were the simplest truth in the world.
But as they began to plan, Usopp's knees knocked together. His hands trembled so badly he could barely hold his slingshot.
"I'm not scared!" he insisted, voice squeaking.
"Sure," Nami said dryly. "So what's the plan, Captain?"
Usopp straightened. "Right. Abilities. Zoro?"
"Slicing."
"Luffy?"
"Stretching!"
"Nami?"
"Stealing. And navigation. And weather sense. And—"
"Okay! And I," Usopp declared, "am a master of… hiding."
Zoro raised an eyebrow. "Hiding."
"Tactical retreats! Strategic repositioning! It's a skill!"
Luffy laughed, loud and bright. "Then let's hide those pirates right into the sea!"
***
In Kaya's mansion, two shadows moved through the sleeping halls.
Klahadore—no, *Kuro*—adjusted his glasses, the lenses catching the moonlight like cat's eyes. Beside him, Merry stood rigid, the pistol still smelling of gunpowder.
"The boy knows too much," Merry whispered.
"A minor inconvenience," Kuro said, his voice a soft, dangerous purr. He opened a small velvet box on Kaya's dresser. Inside rested a pair of silver-framed glasses, elegant and expensive. "Our anniversary gift. How touching."
He lifted them, watching the moonlight glide along the frames. Then, with deliberate calm, he snapped the bridge in two.
"Let him try to stop tomorrow's tide," Kuro murmured, dropping the broken pieces onto Kaya's bedside table. "Let them all try."
Below, in the village, Usopp stared at the first hint of dawn bleeding across the horizon. The Black Cat Pirates were coming.
And somewhere in the mansion, Kaya stirred in her sleep, her fingers brushing against the shattered glasses beside her bed, as outside her window, the distant sound of a ship's bell tolled across the dark water.