"I am leaving," Usopp said with tears in his eyes, looking at his empty wallet.
"OK! Thanks for the food! Shishishi~"
"Yeah, you're a nice guy, pal," Zoro said while raising his sake.
Usopp looked at them, gritting his teeth, thinking that if it weren't for the green-haired man having three sharp-looking swords on his waist, he would never give away his hard-earned money.
With this grudge in his heart, he ran off to meet Kaya—the owner of the mansion and his friend.
"Hmm, he's gone," Lucen, who was busy eating, looked up and said.
"Well, he must have other things to do," Nami said as she gently held the WindGod Fan in her hands with a smug smile.
"You know, Lucen, I think trading this thing for just some food... ah, are you sure she didn't scam you?" Zoro said, unsure how to explain how absurd that act was.
"What scam are you talking about, Zoro? Haha, this was a completely fair deal." Nami looked at Lucen and asked, "Right, Lucen?"
Lucen paused, looked at his empty plate, then at Nami. "Well, I..."
"Five more plates, Auntie!" Nami loudly shouted.
"Here, sweety." A fat old woman came with five plates stacked up amazingly high.
"WOAH! MORE FOOD!" Luffy excitedly reached for it, but his hands were slapped away by Lucen.
"Haha! Totally fair deal," Lucen said as he started eating like his life depended on it. "Oh! I want some sweets too."
"Sure, why not." Nami rubbed her hands together and said to the old lady, "Sister, we've ordered so much food. You can give us some discount, right?"
"Sister? HOHO, I'm not so young, HOHO."
"What? No, you still look so young and gorgeous."
"Really? You can have 50% off since you're so lovely, HOHO."
Hearing this, Nami smugly smiled. 'No one can negotiate better than me.'
Zoro, sweating, stared at Nami. 'This girl... she's nuts.'
He raised his glass to drink, but nothing came to his mouth. Looking inside, he saw it was empty—without a drop of sake left.
"USOPP! PIRATES ARE HERE! LEAVE OUR CAPTAIN ALONE, PIRATES!" Piiman, Ninjin, and Tamanegi shouted as they slammed the door open, each holding a small wooden sword in their hands.
Their arrival startled the four of them—only four because no one else was in the tavern except for the old lady, who was in the kitchen now.
"Wait, where's the captain?" Ninjin asked when he didn't see Usopp.
"OH NO! HE WAS EATEN BY THEM! WAAHH!" Tamanegi shouted, which caused the other two to start shouting as well.
With a growing doubt that their captain might actually have been eaten, they shakily walked toward Luffy and the others.
"Te-tell u-us w-where is the c-captain, p-pirates," Tamanegi tried his best to speak in a tough tone, but obviously failed miserably.
"The meat was delicious," Luffy said after finishing the piece of meat in his mouth.
This caused the three kids to scream in fear, thinking Luffy was talking about Usopp.
"Hmm, the eyeball isn't bad," Lucen said teasingly as he picked up a meatball.
"WAHHAHA! HE ROASTED THE CAPTAIN'S EYE! WAAHAH!"
"Right, he tasted good," Zoro said with a grin on his face.
"WAAHAHA!!" The three of them turned to look at Nami in fear. Why Nami? Because of the stories they had heard—that witches eat people.
And witches are women.
"DON'T LOOK AT ME!" Nami angrily shouted, feeling offended. She wasn't even part of their foolish joke, yet she was the one getting the hate.
"HAHAHA!" x2
"Shishishi~"
Zoro, Lucen, and Luffy laughed hard at the situation.
---
"So he went there again, huh," Tamanegi said.
After clearing up the misunderstanding, the three of them finally calmed down.
"Again? What do you mean by that?" Nami asked.
"Well, you see, the captain goes to the mansion every day," Ninjin said.
"What does he do there, anyway?" Luffy asked curiously.
"To lie," Piiman said as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
"Isn't that bad?" Luffy asked.
The three of them then proceeded to explain why Usopp did that. He was trying to make Kaya happy because she had been in poor health ever since her parents passed away.
"Then he must be really good at lying?" Lucen asked.
The three of them nodded. "No one beats Captain when it comes to lying."
"Is that something to be proud of?!" Nami said with a weird look.
"Then it's decided." Lucen excitedly stood up from his seat.
This caused the others to look at him in confusion.
"Usopp joins our crew as a professional liar."
"What? Are you even listening to what you're saying?" Nami asked, confused as to when lying had become a profession.
"Well, I always wanted to learn how to lie," Lucen innocently said to Nami.
"Huh?" Nami now had question marks floating in her head.
"What kind of stupid reason is that?" Zoro asked with a stunned look.
"Shishishi~"
"What are you laughing at? You're the captain, say something!" Nami angrily shouted at the laughing Luffy.
"I don't mind at all. I think it would be fun," Luffy said with a wide grin.
Luffy had thought of taking Usopp before, but he wasn't sure until now. Since Lucen already suggested it, he decided it wasn't a bad idea. Not to mention, Usopp looked strangely familiar to him.
"Oh! You said the mansion lady is doing well now?" Luffy asked.
"Ah... yeah," Tamanegi said.
"Hey! You said you gave up on that!" Nami shouted, clearly understanding what Luffy was getting at.
---
Kaya's Mansion
"No way! Hahaha!" A slim, pale-skinned girl with pale blonde hair down to her shoulders laughed. She was Kaya, the owner of the mansion.
She was currently sitting on her bed, leaning against the window. Outside, Usopp was sitting on the ground, telling her about his adventures.
"You know, after cutting that giant goldfish into tiny pieces, I distributed them to the dwarfs, and they still haven't finished eating it till now."
Listening to this nonsense, Kaya laughed happily.
To her—someone who spent her days in the mansion without anyone to truly talk to—this time with Usopp was very special.
To Be Continued...
_________
A/N:
Now it's some action time.
For those who want Kaya to be a love interest sorry not happening. But KayaXUsoop....
That old lady was definitly not in guys.