Capítulo 3: Childhood Crush
(Kid's Pov)
…
…
"…*Yawn*…"
I opened my eyes to the sound of my stomach growling. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, yawning as I looked around. My weird brother was already awake and looking just as hungry as I felt.
As I slowly stirred from my sleep, Kai and I made our way out of the orphanage, hunger gnawing at our stomachs. We began wandering the town in search of a source of sustenance.
"I'm starving," I groaned, rubbing my belly.
"I know," Kai replied, his eyes scanning the streets. We are almost out of money, so we have to resort to stealing this time, instead of wasting it just in case we need it for something else later…Or at least that's what Kai said, I don't really understand him at all. If we have money, we should just use it instead of keeping it around.
We are both just five years old, but we are already experts at fending for ourselves. Our parents had died when we were babies, and we've been living on the orphanage ever since. We had to rely on each other to survive.
While we were roaming the street we stumbled across Killer, Heat and Wire by chance.
"Hey, guys!" Kai greeted them with a smile.
"Yoo Killer!" I also did the same.
"Kid, Kai we were just coming to pick you up" Killer said as he walked towards us at a steady pace.
"We're kind of hungry right now, let's go find something to eat first"
Kai said, as we kept roaming the streets until suddenly, Kai pointed to a market stall a few blocks away "Look," he whispered excitedly. "There's some fruit over there."
I followed his gaze and saw a stall filled with all kinds of delicious-looking fruits. My mouth watered at the sight of them. It wasn't unusual for us to go to bed hungry, so when we stumbled upon an unguarded food stall at the marketplace, our eyes lit up with hunger. We huddled together, whispering our plans to each other.
"Kid, you and Heat distract the vendor while Killer, Wire, and I grab as much food as we can" Kai whispered, his eyes shining with excitement.
Heat and I nodded, and we made our way towards the vendor, acting as if we were browsing his wares. Killer and Wire slinked behind the cart, grabbing food as quickly as they could. But before we could make our escape, the vendor spotted us.
"What are you kids doing?!" the vendor bellowed, grabbing Wire by the arm. "Trying to steal my food, huh?"
Wire yelped in pain, and I could see the fear in his eyes. Heat and I tried to intervene, but the vendor pushed us away.
"Let go of him!" I yelled, ready to jump at him, but the vendor only tightened his grip on Wire's arm.
Suddenly, a familiar voice spoke up.
"Hey, let him go" Kai said, stepping forward. The vendor sneered at him, not backing down.
"You mind your own business, kid. This is between me and these little thieves," the vendor said, as he didn't think Kai was also a culprit, his grip on Wire's arm tightening even more.
But Kai didn't back down. He stepped next to me, and after exchanging a few glances, I knew exactly what he was planning. After giving the signal, we both lunged forward at the same time and punched the vendor in the face, sending him stumbling back.
"Run!!" I screamed, as we took that as our cue to escape, and we all ran away as fast as we could.
…
"Huff…Huff…That was amazing, Kai!" I said, my heart pounding with adrenaline "I'll give this one to you little brother!"
"I knew well, to let you join us…You two are really helpful!" Killer said while panting heavily
"Yeah, you're the best!" Heat added, grinning.
Kai only smiled at us, a look of satisfaction on his face.
"Let's get out of here before anyone else comes after us" Wire said, his voice still shaky from the ordeal.
We all nodded in agreement and ran off, our stomachs filled with stolen food and our hearts pounding with the thrill of the escape. It wasn't the first time we had run into trouble, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.
…
A few Hours later,
(Kai's POV),
As we continued to wander the town for several hours, my mind was consumed with thoughts about the recent incident. Too many thoughts surged into my mind as I tried to come up with the best course of action for our future.
'The strong survive and the weak perish…This is the way of this world' I thought to myself, reflecting on the earlier situation. If the five of us had not been together at that moment, we likely would have been caught and turned over to the authorities.
If we want to thrive in this world, we need to become stronger... and the only way to achieve that is through rigorous training and battles. That's precisely what I intend to do from this moment forward, even if it may seem premature. However, in this world of One Piece, the sooner we start, the better our chances of success.
I will make sure that both myself and those little rascals undergo rigorous training, no matter what it takes. We cannot afford to be weak, or else we will be crushed…If we don't stand up for ourselves, then nobody will.
"We stumbled upon the food stall where we ate noodles a few days ago!" Kid exclaimed excitedly, interrupting my thoughts.
As we roamed the town, we stumbled upon a quaint food stall selling delicious udon noodles. Memories flooded back to a few days prior when we first discovered this hidden gem. It was at this very stall that we met a captivating girl named Victoria. To my surprise, both Kid and Killer were smitten with her from the moment they laid eyes on her.
"Hm?..." As I turned my attention back to them again, I noticed that the pair had already made their way to the stall and were peering curiously inside. Their attention was focused on the little girl with freckles adorning her cheeks, full lips, and a short bob cut. She wore a light sleeveless shirt that accentuated her youthful innocence. I immediately recognized her as Victoria, the namesake of Kid's ship. 'Who would have thought that they would be so smitten with her' I mused to myself, letting out a quiet sigh.
As I observed the two from a distance, Heat and Wire standing next to me, it struck me that the death of this girl had left a profound impact on Kid and Killer, perhaps even inspiring them to set sail.
After a while, Kid began rummaging through his pockets in search of coins. When he came up empty, he turned to me and hurriedly ran in my direction. "Hey," he said, his hand outstretched. "Do you have any money on you? Give it to me."
"No"
"I said give it to me" he said with a scowl.
"Not a chance! Why did we even go through all that trouble earlier?!"
"I want to eat something good" He said.
"You don't even like udon noodles that much, you just want to be with you little crush!"
"You don't have to say that loudly!" Kid shouted with blush.
"Faffaffa!...Thankfully I got some money left with me to buy some noodles!" Killer exclaimed, pulling a handful of coins from his pocket with excitement.
"Hey wait killer!...Don't you dare!" Kid quickly turned back to me and grabbed my shirt collar in anger "Give it to me or I'll beat you up! why are you even the one who gets to keep the money anyway!"
"What? You wanna fight?" Kai glared at his brother as Kid balled his fists, ready to strike. The tension in the air was palpable. But after a few moments of staring, Kai's shoulders sagged and he let out a loud sigh. "Fine, take it…This is the last time" he muttered, pulling out a few coins from his pocket and reluctantly handing them over to Kid "I'm going to make you pay for it later, just prepare yourself"
"Thanks!" Kid said as he run excitedly into the food stall along with Killer.
"Should we wait for them out here?" Heat inquired, his arms crossed as he peered at them.
"I was planning on saving this money, but since we're already here, let's just go ahead and eat" I muttered to myself with a sigh "I guess, it doesn't hurt to enjoy yourself from time to time"
When we made our way into the stall, we were all drooling at the delicious aroma. The vendor was an old woman with a warm smile. Her name was Mrs. Sato, and she had been selling udon noodles for as long as anyone could remember.
Kid and Killer sat beside Victoria, or as they called her, Doruyanaika, chatting away while we, Heat, Wire, and I, sat a little further away from them.
"I honestly don't understand what they see in her," Wire commented as he observed the others for a while, before he began eating his food as soon as it was served.
"Each person has their own preferences," Kai replied before following suit and starting to eat.
Doruyanaika, the girl that made their hearts race. She had grown more beautiful since the last time they saw her, with her bob cut hair and freckled cheeks, and the light summer shirt that she wore only accentuated her beauty. They couldn't help but stare at her while she ate her own bowl of noodles, hoping to catch her eye.
But as she went to take a sip of her broth, she suddenly spilled it on her shirt, causing her to jump up in surprise. Kid and Killer couldn't help but giggle at the sight, their eyes wide and grinning. However, their laughter was short-lived as Doruyanaika turned to them, her eyes ablaze with anger.
"What's so funny, huh?" she demanded, her fists clenched at her side.
Kid and Killer stuttered, their laughter dying on their lips as they realized their mistake. "We're sorry," Kid said, his voice small and sheepish.
But Doruyanaika was not one to be placated easily. With a swift movement, she grabbed Kid by the collar of his shirt and pulled him down to her level. "You think it's funny to laugh at someone else's misfortune?" she spat, her eyes flashing with anger.
Kid tried to protest, but Doruyanaika wasn't having it. She punched him square in the nose, causing him to yelp in pain and fall back onto the ground. Killer tried to intervene, but Doruyanaika was too quick for him. She grabbed him by the arm and twisted it behind his back, causing him to cry out in pain.
"Next time, think before you laugh," Doruyanaika said, releasing them both and turning back to her noodles as if nothing had happened.
Kid and Killer sat there in stunned silence, nursing their bruises and their wounded pride. They had never been beaten up by a girl before, and they certainly never expected their childhood crush to be the one to do it. But even as they nursed their wounds, they couldn't help but feel a newfound respect for Doruyanaika, and a burning desire to impress her once again.
After she finished eating, Doruyanaika proceeded to leave immediately after that.
"Man, I'm never eating udon again!" Kid said in annoyance.
"Curry udon just fell out of favor for me," Killer added, before they were interrupted by the sound of laughter from behind. Turning around, they saw Kai, Heat, and Wire all erupting in laughter at their misfortune.
"Hahahaha! This is the first time I've seen someone get beaten up by their crush!" Kai laughed uncontrollably at Kid and Killer, but they didn't find it funny. Kid shouted at him in anger, telling him to stop laughing.
Kid rose from his seat and approached them, his tone harsh. "You think this is funny, you bastards?" he seethed.
"No, I actually I find it veeery funny" Kai said with a mischievous smirk, causing Heat and Wire to burst into laughter so hard that they accidentally spilled some of their udon onto the table.
"Alright, I'm going to beat you up!" Kid declared, lunging forward with a quick punch. But Kai was too nimble, easily dodging it by tilting his head to the side. With a smirk, Kai then taunted his brother by poking his forehead with his finger, causing Kid to yelp in pain. Clutching his forehead, Kid glared at his mischievous twin in anger.
"Your temper is becoming a problem. But let's put that aside for a moment. Kid, Killer, can you come over here and sit with me? There's something I want to talk to you about," Kai said in a firm but gentle tone.
"What's up?" Killer asked, settling into a seat beside them.
"Hey, don't try to shift the focus!" Kid yelled, his fists still clenched and ready for a fight.
"Before you get all worked up," Kai began in a serious tone, "let me explain. I think we should start training. Hear me out first." Kid glared at his twin brother for a moment before reluctantly sitting down next to him, arms crossed. "It's just a thought, but if we're going to fend for ourselves out here, we need to be able to defend ourselves too. And who knows what else we might encounter in the future."
"Training?..."
…
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