and if an angel loses her way [Complete]

[angelicorigami]

Character(s): Konan, Luffy
Content: Konan arrives in Paixao. She meets Luffy, who mistakes her for a member of Organization XIII. Konan decides to see what she can learn from the odd pirate.
Setting: Joutenheim gate
Time: evening
Warnings: none

Comments

[stretchmeout]

With a faithful, steady rhythm to his softly marching steps, a sole heartbeat strides quietly down the smooth and sloping sidewalk. His is a presence distant and detached from the others, and strangely so; it isn't his clothing that sets him apart, nor the soft appearance of his face or even the oddly fluid way he walked. Instead, there was a strange and untouchable sense of strength to him.

Luffy had been walking around the city for a good long while then, having set determinedly out, quite early in the morning, on a mission to find members of the black cloak-clad 'Organization'. The young man in the straw hat had nearly circled half of Paixao come the fall of the evening, when his burly appetite began to growl from within hi stomach. Deciding to head back to his place of residence, the Haja o Que Houver, he'd grab a bite, and decide on his next plan of action from there.

As he walked, his eyes remained practically invisible, hidden away by a soft shadow veil underneath the brim of his hat. His arms swayed at his sides smoothly with each step, and his sandals padded faintly against the ground. These gentle sounds stopped immediately the moment Konan fell into his view.

Black cloak. There it was, sitting plainly in front of him, the object of his search. Sadly, just this was the extent of his lead, just the fact that Organization members wore such a colored garb. This one, strangely, had a touch of red to it, but Luffy had no information to suggest otherwise.

"Excuse me..." he began, standing behind the bench, his head bowed lightly to give greater effect to the grim look of his shielded eyes. "...can I ask you something?"

[angelicorigami]

Konan took note of footsteps, but did not grow too worried until they seemed to be approaching her. Still, she did not move. An angel was graceful at all times. She closed the journal and slid it into a pocket of her cloak. Still the footsteps approached, until they fell behind her. She did not much like that someone would approach like that, but still she remained still. When she was spoken to, she turned, regarding the man carefully. He looked young, but that did not mean he was, and he appeared very serious. Was he a threat? She was not sure. Best to be careful, then--she took the paper brochures in her hands; drawing out the normal paper she used would have been suspicious.

"Yes?" she said in her usual all-but-toneless voice; polite, but distant.

[stretchmeout]

"Sorry to bother you..." he continued, taking hold of the worn and weary brim of his hat. Luffy pulled it up, revealing more of his face from behind the intangible, shadowy wall. "...but you're wearing something suspicious."

Luffy was normally a light-hearted soul, more inclined to find a sense of laughter and enjoyment in nearly any situation. Even when threatened, his first instinct was a calm one, not prone to a hasty reply. This, however, was a moment among many where he felt the dire need to be serious, to take a decisive step forward. As a captain, such moments were necessary to preserve the good of his ship and his crew; in this case, to preserve the safety of those yet to be harmed by the Organization.

"There's a weird group of people around here who like to pick on others. Thye kidnap and hurt good people who don't deserve it," he stated plainly. His hands were not clentched, and he showed no signs of aggression; instead, a strange stare that seemed to be perfectly empty, even eerily so. "...and they wear black cloaks. So tell me, are you part of the 'Organization'?"

[angelicorigami]

Ahh, the cloak. Always a bit peculiar, it did set Akatsuki apart from the rest. But for a stranger to come up in a new place and know immediately about them? Konan had her doubts. And he was an unknown--in power, abilities, everything. If he did know about Akatsuki he had an advantage in information. She would have to confer with the others who were here at some point, and discern what had been made public knowledge, if anything.

She ran the tip of a finger along the edge of a brochure, testing its pliability to her commands. It would do if she needed it.

"I have just arrived here," Konan said calmly. "Perhaps there is another group with a similar outfit?"

Which could prove interesting--she had heard mention of an organization with black cloaks on the journals as well. Did Pein know of this? She would have to bring it up.

[stretchmeout]

Luffy was by no means a suspicious person by nature, but he when focused, he knew a convenient answer when he heard one. His lips curled off to one side, a rather unconvinced little frown that was quickly followed up by another cautious step closer to the bench Konan sat so comfortably on.

Glancing briefly off to the side, Luffy took a moment to draw in the towering adjacent gate nearby. Just like new entries, as he had learned by example, she might have just come through this entrance feeling as lost and confused as anyone else. But she could've been sitting there for any other reason, just looking to start trouble with a real new arrival! There was no evidence to press an attack, but no reason that this rather striking woman, however calm and cold she felt, was truly an innocent bystander.

"Maybe there is...and maybe there isn't." Luffy finally replied, grinning rather devilishly. "This is a hard problem for me. Maybe if you could give me some kind of proof?"

[angelicorigami]

Konan considered. There was not much she could do to prove herself--she had just arrived, and did not know much more about this organization than what Zetsu and now this man had told her. She stood and faced him. He was not about to back down, clearly, and she could not assume he did not have the ability to back up his words with actions. Perhaps she would need to escape. But not yet. She still held the brochures.

"What sort of proof do you suggest?" Konan asked in an almost-monotone. "I do not know enough of this organization to provide some myself."

She was not being openly threatening, or at least she was trying not to be. Still, she did not break her gaze, and did not show even a flicker of emotion on her face, as was her custom.

[stretchmeout]

"Che, I don't know!" Luffy pouted crossly in response, his blunt impatience rearing its thick and rather unreasonable head. Tilting his head off at an angle and frowning in a childishly dour way, Luffy folded his lean, powerful arms across his chest and began to consider as well. The matter was entirely too confusing to begin with, with such an awful disparate choice to sort out, and this was hardly the manner in which he preferred to get to know someone.

"Mmmgh..." he grumbled, regarding the ground with a vinegar stare. Yet suddenly, he perked up, his eyes regaining their glowing sense of hope. "...oh! What's your name?"

[angelicorigami]

"Hana," Konan said without hesitation, putting on a bit of a smile. Hana had been the name she always went by when she felt it was not in her best interests to use her real name, and by now she had decided it was not. "And you are?"

If she was going to be mistaken for a member of this other organization, she would certainly have to see what could be learned about them. Would Pein find them useful? She ran a finger along the edge of the brochures and they grew sharp, although there was no visible change. She was still trying to avoid a fight, but there was no harm in caution.

[stretchmeout]

Luffy blinked. Then he blinked again.

Then he scrunched up his face with a look of such confusion, one might think Ms. 'Hana' was lecturing on philosophy. In an entirely different language. While standing on her head. Clearly, she wasn't, but something had obviously sent the young man in the straw hat into a mental spiral.

"Your name is 'Nose'?"

It wasn't a name befitting one so striking. Luffy shrugged, then actually began to smile as well. "Nobody in such a shitty group would have a name like that. So, you must be okay."

Calmly, Luffy sat down on the bench beside her, then let out a pure sigh of relief as he lifted his feet off the ground, as if he were dousing a fire on his poor, aching soles. "Ahhh...I was walking for too long..." he huffed, sticking his tongue out. Glancing back at Konan, Luffy flashed a rather charming little grin. "I'm Luffy."