Adult-FanFiction.org : Anime

Homecoming Hill	By : TreeStar Category: +M to R > One Piece Views: 2656 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 7
- 8
- 9
Homecoming Hill

8

This Place Messes With Us

Luffy knocked before walking into Ace�s room and getting hit on the chest by a ping pong ball.

�BLAST!� a long-nosed boy agonized from the table the ball had flown from. He�d missed it again! But that was okay, because next time he would win! He was marching over to get his ball back from where it had rolled away after bouncing off Luffy when something distracted him and he let out a cry of happiness. �Kaya!� He rushed around Luffy to give her a hug. Usopp was always happy to see Kaya; she adored the stories he made up just as much as he loved telling them.

Usopp�s opponent, a tall woman with a dark complexion, never stopped reading her book. As standing ping pong champion, Robin was good at essentially playing the game with her eyes closed. Her power was enough to let her handle light weight objects such as a ping pong paddle from across a room.

Luffy glanced around quickly and noted without surprise that Ace�s room was being treated like a fairground. This happened whenever any Outsiders came to stay. Outsiders made some of them nervous, and when people got nervous they became unpredictable. Because of this, and because of some unofficial open invitation, when Outsiders were staying in their wing, everyone was welcome to come in and out of Ace�s room as they pleased (provided they knocked) instead of going about their normal business.

Luffy could tell with a glance that those in here were not nervous at all, but excited, and because Ace was usually the first to know about anything that happened, everyone wanted to be where Ace was.

Usually everyone who was currently in here was downstairs in the studio-turned-recreational-room with the others at this time of day. It had originally been Luffy�s idea to create the rec room. He and Ace had figured out many decades ago that it was easier to keep an eye on how everyone was getting along together when everyone was actually together. Also, the games were satisfying when everyone could play, and these entertainments were what kept everyone from getting too frustrated and taking it out physically in each other. Morale and emotional support was stronger in numbers for most of them.

This was something Luffy had always known by watching others interact, but had never personally believed in. He liked one-on-one interaction, and hadn�t been to the rec room since Kaya had joined them. In fact he hadn�t been near any of those not in this room right now since Usopp had joined them, and even then he only really interacted with Ace. Like in everyplace, the East Wingers had drawn into different groups that all got along for the most part, but still preferred to share secrets with their closest friends.

Perhaps �fairgrounds� was a bit of an exaggeration, but the thing was that there were around thirty Everlastings with rooms in the East Wing, and almost half of them were now in here, lounging around.

�What�s up, Luffy?� Ace brought his brother�s attention away from the way Usopp and Kaya were hugging each other so happily.

Luffy approached him casually. �Ace, about Zoro� Did you bring him to my room? Specifically, I mean.�

Ace lost control of the card deck he was shuffling and cards would have flown everywhere had Luffy not been ready for the slip and frozen them all in the air before reversing their course and putting them all back in Ace�s hand.

Ace watched the cards reposition themselves and knew that Luffy wanted answers. �Luffy,� he started, �I understand if you�re upset, but it�s been a while and I was hoping that you would be willing to let him stay with you. I know you�ve been bored, and this will be something that will keep you busy.�

�I�ve been fine, Ace.� It was a lie and the other knew it. �I just� Why me?�

Ace sighed, but not in exasperation. �Is he bothering you? Has he said anything to hurt you?�

�No, but that�s not the iss-�

�After setting off a channel with him as a greeting, I should think you would be amazed at how gracefully he�s accepting us so far.�

Luffy but his lip now. ��I wasn�t trying to mess things up for us.�

�I know, Luffy,� Ace explained patiently, �I�m just saying that, rather than ignore him completely and watch him walk into trouble like he almost did earlier, we could give him a hand to help him stay out of more trouble than necessary for a while. He might not be the only one who benefits, either.�

�But why me? After-- We all know it doesn�t end well when I get involved in things.�

Ace shook his head, �You�re perfect, Luffy.� He raised his hands to stop the arguments before they came, saying, �I know you don�t see it, but this time there�s no one better suited. You�ve learned better than anyone here what the limits are, and how to use doublespeak to give hints to hints. This is the best opportunity we�ve gotten so far, if it really is what it might be.�

�What do you mean?�

Luffy turned sharply. He hadn�t even realized Nami was in the room until she had spoken just now. He had just brushed past her. He hadn�t meant to do that. The last thing he wanted to do was ignore Nami. Though she had little time for him because she helped Ace so much, Luffy liked her very much. Aside from his almost-equally busy brother, there was no one else in the manor with whom he would speak to for more than a minute. He smiled at her now and got a smile in return before Nami looked back at Ace.

Ace was looking at Luffy. �Let Luffy explain,� he smirked. �I�m sure he has an idea of what I�m talking about.�

Luffy looked down again and was quiet. Everyone looked at him expectantly and that just made him nervous. He hated being in a room with so many people, and to have all their attention focused his way was enough to make him want to bolt, but he actually had something to say.

After several moments he looked up at the ceiling where he would not have to meet anyone�s eyes and said, �What�s the difference between ourselves and the Outsiders?�

�WE�RE SEE-THROUGH!� Tilestone shouted much louder than he needed to.

Everyone either looked at him in surprise at his outburst, rolled their eyes, or sighed. Paulie threw a piece of chalk at him.

��Something important,� Luffy elaborated. He turned his eyes to Kaya for a little salvation.

�We all have a complete awareness of each other that Outsiders don�t have when they get here. This awareness gradually develops in those the Hill chooses the longer they are here,� Kaya answered patiently. �It takes a different amount of time for each of those selected.�

�Exactly,� Ace input. �But�?�

�But,� Luffy pushed forward, �this individual, Zoro, showed up with awareness already intact. No one has ever done that before.�

�So?� Nami pressed.

�It�s just a theory Luffy and I considered this morning, so don�t get too excited,� Ace said, �but whatever it is on the Hill that�s keeping us here cannot visually distinguish us. This we know.�

Everyone nodded.

�With the Shifting suddenly started, theoretically the sense that it uses to feel the difference in our auras could be receiving interference. �Could be� being the operative phrase there. But IF it is, then there may not be enough there for Zoro to be associated with his family.�

��Why not?� Usopp asked.

�Because as far as his presence is concerned, he has more in common with us than his family,� Luffy murmured softly. �What does a man do when he doesn�t stand out from the majority?�

For the first time that day on the other side of the room, Robin smiled. �He blends in.�

------------------

As much as Zoro wanted to go back to his room and tell Luffy what had happened, he had to go look at more rooms after they ate.

Zoro had mixed feelings about this. He wanted to see more. He was incredibly curious. But he had been expressly told not to wander around without an escort, which sounded ridiculous, but he wasn�t exactly in the real world anymore. He didn�t want to run across anything bad while he was with Kuina and Sanji. If Ace and Luffy were good representations of East Wing hospitality, then Zoro knew it could be a lot worse. But what if they weren�t?

If nothing else he wanted to fetch Luffy or Ace to come with them so it would be safe, but he was sure that they had better things to do than hang around in their rooms all day and were probably elsewhere, so he would have to find them, which would lead to him wandering around anyway. What�s more, Sanji would not let him escape, accusing him of being a bookworm that needed to see the manor to give a second adult opinion.

There was nothing to be done for it, and soon they were on the bottom floor of the East Wing to observe damage and assess conditions.

�Woah!� Kuina said, just to hear it echo back to her in the big ballroom.

Their flashlights bounced off the walls and shined against the flooring of the enormous, cold room.

They�d already been in the theatre, which had been strangely hot for being built half underground, and had twenty six seats. It was an impressive private theatre, with mostly silent pictures and old musicals on reels that any movie house would kill for.

It was in awesome shape much like the library, where the books dated this place like they did Luffy�s room. Zoro had felt many dispersed presences going about their business by the bookshelves. None of them would gather themselves together so he could see them, and none felt threatening. They just seemed to be watching and waiting for something. Probably for he and his family to leave the room they�d just barged into. Zoro had moved cautiously, and everything had been fine until Kuina had gone racing across the room to read some of the covers out loud and the temperature dropped sharply.

That had unnerved Sanji a lot and he was the one who had nominated it time to go, which Zoro had seconded.

The ballroom was the first room in the wing that Zoro had stepped into without getting any sort of vibe at all. It was as hollow of presence as it was of natural light. It was beautiful, though. The ceiling had a grand mural of a the night sky with clouds and stars looking down at them. The wall brackets held candles that had been lit at some point in history, and a grand diamond chandelier that was worth more than an small vineyard�s entire season hung from the ceiling and would have been alight, had the electricity actually been running everywhere in Everlasting Manor.

Sanji had decided that there had to be a few different power boxes in different places that ran different parts of the house, because in most of the rooms they�d visited, the power was fritzy, but there were some rooms where nothing happened at all.

Zoro had his own suspicions on the matter.

It was a beautiful ballroom, clean and in wonderful shape. Even the floor was unscuffed.

�This is great!� Sanji said.

�I don�t know�� Zoro tried. �Seems like kind of a shame to open it up and let everyone ruin it.�

�You�re right. Let�s let it rot here instead.� Sanji looked at him disbelievingly.

His cousin half-frowned.

�Zoro, are you okay?� Sanji looked almost concerned. �You�ve been zoning out since we got here yesterday. Do want to go lay down?�

�I�m fine! I�ve just been thinking about this place and how we�ll open it up is all.�

�Okay,� Sanji nodded. �I get that. I don�t think we�ll be able to do it for a while, though. The townsfolk aren�t privy to us at all. But with the stories about this place, maybe we shouldn�t actually change too much? I mean, think about it. We advertise an authentic haunted house as being open to the public and people will eat it up.�

�How do we make it authentic?� Kuina asked as they left the ballroom and started down the hall. The next door was a good distance off.

�I suppose we�ll have to find out the truth about these so called disappearances.�

�How will we do that?�

�We won�t,� Sanji shrugged. �History is Zoro�s bag. He can figure it out. Right, Zoro?�

Zoro nodded. �Oh yeah. I want to know what happened here. Graveyards that size don�t appear for no reason, and neither do rumors.�

�You always say you can�t put stock in rumors.� Kuina said dismissively.

�You can�t,� Zoro confirmed. �Rumors slander the truth. But they don�t start for no reason, either.�

�They didn�t,� Sanji said. �A ton of people keep dying on this Hill. There�s got to be some kind of trap somewhere that people keep falling into. Or maybe it was just bad harvesting equipment that kept hacking people up.�

�Ugh�� Kuina made a face.

Sanji put his hands up defensively. �I�m just saying we don�t know anything about any of the people that died. They could have all been farm hands.�

�But the store guy said that little kids have disappeared here, too,� Kuina reminded.

�Sweetheart, when kids wander away from a town like this one, they get lost. There�re woods and snakes and probably bears and wolves out there just waiting for a child to go exploring.�

�You were the one who brought all this up talking about ghosts,� Zoro admonished. �Don�t start lecturing us now.�

�I did start it, and I think it�s a decent idea,� Sanji said again. �What I�m saying now is that before we can try to sell this place off as haunted, we need a story to go with it. One that�s good enough to convince the ghost hunters.�

�It�s true,� Zoro nodded. Though he wasn�t going to let the Hill be opened at all if he could help it, Sanji had a point. � �A whole bunch of people died or vanished here� doesn�t explain any of those graves.�

�I�d say it explains them pretty well,� Kuina smirked.

Zoro bopped her, and she laughed.

�Anyway,� she continued, �why would anyone want to stay in a haunted house?�

�It�s exciting?� Sanji shrugged.

�But if it really is haunted by ghosts, isn�t it dangerous?�

Sanji scoffed. �Yeah right. Ghosts can�t hurt you; all they do is scare you. They aren�t really dangerous.�

She looked at Zoro for confirmation, and Zoro nodded at her. Sanji was right. �Ghosts aren�t dangerous.�

�But�?� Kuina prompted.

�Poltergeists are dangerous. You see, ghosts usually haunt an object or a place. They don�t care about people. But poltergeists haunt a person, so they care a whole lot about people, and they�re mean.�

�Like on TV?�

�Sprite, that�s Hollywood.�

�But I saw one movie where a little girl got taken away by a poltergeist. No one could see the poltergeist but her, and then no one could see her, either. Do poltergeists do that?�

Zoro stopped walking.

�Kuina, poltergeists aren�t real,� Sanji frowned, worried that she might give herself nightmares. �I promise.�

Kuina nodded, �Okay,� and they continued walking.

�Hey Zoro?� she asked again after a moment. �What makes a poltergeist decide to haunt a person in the stories?�

Zoro shrugged, eyes oddly distant. �I have no idea.�

-------------------

Zoro heard the baby crying before they even opened the nursery door. The walls were yellow and covered in alphabet and duck stickers.

Kuina picked up a teddy bear and hugged it while Sanji nodded his head in approval at the room itself.

Zoro looked at the crib. There was no other presence nearby except for that of the infant inside. This setup was so bad that he couldn�t get them to leave fast enough. What�s more, upon hearing their voices in the room the baby began to scream harder. It was like a siren going off to alert everyone around of where they were, and Zoro didn�t know what to do.

He almost wished that something would just show up so the anticipation would go away, but nothing did.

Sanji decided that since the room was in good shape they didn�t need to stay in it, and had soon moved down the hall.

It was only moments later that Zoro felt the arrival of someone that relieved him greatly, and without arousing suspicion he glanced behind him to see Luffy walking with a beautiful redheaded girl and a curly headed boy with olive skin and a nose not unlike Pinocchio�s. His coveralls were covered in dark stains and he favored his left arm. Both were about the same age as Luffy, and Zoro was surprised to see that yet again these two were distinctly more defined than Luffy was. Was it normal for Luffy to be so transparent by comparison?

�You gonna follow them?� the long-nosed boy asked with amusement, and Zoro realized that he was staring yet again and turned quickly around to catch up with his family as the redhead told him, �We can do introductions later. For now, pretend we aren�t here.�

Luffy chewed his lip in the back and said nothing.

There were around forty rooms on the second floor, and they conveniently didn�t have to use their flashlights again for any of them.

When they entered one studio full of furniture and sculptures and paintings similar to those in Sanji�s room, the long-nosed boy ran out in front of them all and announced, �This is my workshop! I made everything in here including most of the tools!�

�Nice,� Sanji said in awe even though he hadn�t heard the declaration. There were thousands of pieces hanging from walls or just set up strategically around the room to create a walkway, and there was a current painting in the works standing in the middle of it all.

So this boy must be Usopp, Zoro thought. Imaginative kid. He�s got me trapped in Fairytale Town with an elf and a sprite.

Sanji had to look at almost half of the art in the room, which took forever, and all the while Usopp was bobbing around him to see his expression as he marveled over every little thing. It was amusing for Zoro at first, but it got old fast.

After twenty minutes it was getting dark outside, and Zoro decided enough was enough. Luffy had laid down in midair in the hallway outside, and the redhead was sitting in one of Usopp�s chairs. �Sanji, let�s go.�

�Sanji, I�m hungry,� Kuina finally said, sounding extremely bored. �And Syd�s been all alone for hours.�

�Yeah, we�re done here,� Zoro seconded. �It�s time to leave Fantasia, Cheesehead, let�s go.�

�In a minute,� Sanji said vaguely as Usopp demanded �Fantasia?!�

Zoro frowned. �Okay, we�re leaving you here,� he informed and turned to head out the door with Kuina running out in front of him.

The girl got out of the chair and stretched as Luffy levitated himself higher to avoid getting slammed into by Zoro�s all-too-eager-to-leave sister. Zoro found the latter a bit odd. Couldn�t she just run through him? Or did it not work that way?

The redhead nodded to Luffy, who left without ever having spoken a word, and disappeared down the hall.

Sanji followed quickly enough after that, and soon they were at the main stairway where Kuina ran down to Syd�s own personal bedroom in the servant�s quarters to get her poor dog, and Sanji wandered off to do something before dinner. Like sit down for fifteen minutes after being on his feet for five hours.

Zoro went back to his room, and was surprised when both of the Everlastings followed him. �What about the others?� he asked once they were around the corner.

�They�re fine,� the girl answered him. �They�re in the front of the manor. No one really goes there because there�s nothing to do. The only time you find any of us in there is if we specifically need something, or someone�s trying to spy on the other wing. I�m Nami, by the way. Atlay Nami.�

So this was the woman with Kuina. Zoro offered his hand. �Roronoa Zoro, but everyone seems to know that already.�

She smiled and nodded, �You�re the big news right now.�

�I�m Marksen Usopp,� the boy whose name Zoro had already figured out announced proudly, and reached out to eagerly shake Zoro�s hand. Zoro was able to touch both without incident just as if they were both flesh and blood, and it wasn�t until he felt how icy-cold Usopp�s hands were that it occurred to him that both Nami�s and Luffy�s were very warm.

Zoro turned back to Nami. �You guys are sort of like in a war or something, aren�t you?�

Nami laughed and shook her head. �Nothing so extreme. We just don�t have much in common with each other, but the same wing can get boring sometimes, so some try to come over and stir things up.�

�They would love to have the whole house to fight in,� Usopp spoke up, �but we�ve got a lot of strong people on our side. We�ve got Ace.�

�And Luffy,� Zoro added, unsure why they were leaving him out.

The other two looked at each other.

�Luffy�� Nami started.

�He doesn�t really�� Usopp added.

Then they looked at each other again and shrugged. Nami nodded as if finding her words and said, �Luffy doesn�t like the people in the West Wing, and they hate him. I mean, more than what�s normal. They really HATE him, so he keeps away.�

�Wow. Why? What did he ever do to them?� Zoro asked, remembering something Luffy had said to him when he�d first met him.

--�The house is waking up. Some are angry.�

�Angry?�

�Not angry I guess, but bitter. Violent sometimes.�

�But not you�?�

�Not on purpose. Not anymore.�--

Zoro looked at Nami and Usopp. �Did he hurt one of them?�

�No! No, it�s nothing like that,� Nami said quickly while Usopp started looking distinctly uncomfortable. �They hurt each other all the time. They have their reasons for Luffy, but really it�s nothing. It�s not important. Anyway,� she spun on her heel and pointed down the hall, �now that he�s gone, we actually came to ask a favor of you.�

Zoro perked in interest.

�Can you� I mean� can you take care of him? Of Luffy?�

Usopp nodded, back in the game.

Zoro was confused. �Take care of� What do you-?�

�What you just saw a few minutes ago? That was Luffy social. He doesn�t talk with us anymore, he doesn�t hang out with us.�

�Why not?� Zoro asked again.

Nami sighed, obviously upset that they weren�t saying this right. �I can�t tell you that, and I know how lame and unreasonable that sounds, but trust me, if I could tell you what he�s been through without making him my enemy for life, I would.�

Usopp stepped in again, but was very hesitant at choosing his words. �This place� messes with us. It has done things that are downright brutal, actually, but please never mention it out loud. The point is that I don�t think it�s been harder on anyone than Luffy, and now we�re worried because the Shifting started��

�Shifting? What�s that?�

Nami shot Usopp a look, and he cringed while she answered, �Basically it means that we�re in trouble, and time is actually starting to matter up here,� she answered vaguely, waving it off.

None of this was making sense. �So things are starting to age�?� He was so confused.

Nami shook her head. �Not like that. It only means that we used to be positively made of time, and now we�re not.�

�What on earth did that mean? Zoro was dying with curiosity, but she didn�t seem to think this was something he should be curious about. That just made him more curious.

�Look, we�re not the people to ask about the Hill. We don�t know everything, and we really can�t talk about it directly. The only thing we can really talk about freely is ourselves and each other. Besides, there isn�t much we could tell you, because there isn�t much we know.�

�Luffy could tell me some things,� Zoro commented.

�Luffy�s been here for a long time. He�s seen more and knows more and has a lot of theories about this place. The D brothers were some of the first Everlastings. They�ve been here since there was almost no one on the Hill. I mean, no one like us. He can tell you a lot more than we can.�

�If you can get anything out of him�� Usopp muttered.

�He�s talked to me plenty,� Zoro informed.

The other two looked surprised at him, and then at each other, and then smiled.

�I think he likes you,� Nami whispered.

�Yeah but he likes all of us, too,� Usopp reminded practically, though his smile didn�t fade. �It doesn�t make him come around any more. He has a clean slate with you. I think that�s it.�

�It�s hardly a big deal,� Zoro mumbled. �He talks, but he�s pretty secretive. I don�t know if he really wants to talk to me��

Usopp laughed a little. �Of course. You wouldn�t know, but Luffy barely talks to anyone but his brother. Earlier he came into Ace�s room when a bunch of us were there and started a conversation. He hasn�t done that in a long time. I think it must have something to do with you.�

�Well, was he talking about me? Because if so, then I�d say it had a lot to do with me.�

Usopp opened his mouth to speak, then stopped. �Oh yeah��

Nami rolled her eyes. �Just do us this one favor. I know you don�t know us, but please. Be patient with him. He carries a heavy burden, and in addition to that he takes very serious responsibility for things that he cannot help.�

�Look,� Zoro�s voice dropped to a whisper. �I know he�s been hurt badly. I don�t know how so, but I can feel it when I�m in his room. Sometimes it feels like a hiding place.�

�It is. It belongs to him, but now you�re in it,� Nami said seriously. �You�d better take responsibility. He�ll protect you. Protect him.�

They dispersed after that leaving Zoro alone a few doors from his room.

Zoro had no idea what to think of that. What exactly did Luffy need to be protected from?

----------------

�Are you sure there�s no other way?�

�Luffy, I know that you�re afraid, but you can�t let that fear conquer you. Just let him share your room. Let him know what he needs to know in order for him to stay safe. Nami�s doing the same for the sister, and Usopp agreed to watch the cousin. That�s all I�m asking of you with your roommate. Beyond that all we can do is hope.�

Luffy frowned. ��Ace, I�m so tired of hoping� We hope and hope, but��

Ace put his hand on his brother�s head. �But nothing happens.�

�No,� Luffy pulled away, �something ALWAYS happens. That�s the problem! Something happens, but nothing changes. Ace, I can�t do it again.�

�What makes you think you�ll have to? You can�t just keep assuming that every time will be the same. You only have the one experience.�

�I only needed one! It�s hardly something one just gets over.�

It was quiet for a moment.

�Luffy, when you want something, you have to meet it halfway. Nothing will happen without the effort on our parts. I�m not asking for much of you, Luffy. What you do in the end is your choice. Just let him share your room and let the pieces fall where they may.�

Luffy was still for several moments before nodding. �Alright, Ace,� he agreed before getting up to head for his room.

He would let the pieces fall, but he would watch them fall carefully from an emotional distance. What had happened that day would stay with him forever. It had been a punishment. A lesson with an important message. How Ace had managed to miss the point was completely beyond Luffy.
- 7
- 8
- 9
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Homecoming Hill