Part nine - Once, a liar, a cheater and a deciver met 8/??

- And what was that? - Nami asked first, when Luffy walk back to the fire and Usopp walked away from them.

- What "that"? - said the guy, sitting down on a chair.

- You know very well yourself.

- If you're talking about how I refused to help Usopp… hmm… let's say I'm in a bad mood today. Perhaps I got up on the wrong foot, or there is too little fried meat in my body. Still, one meal, no matter how dense it was, does not compensate me for several days without meat.

- This is not an answer!

- Hmm ... you are not satisfied with my answer?

- You know perfectly well that if you order me to shut up, then I will shut up, - Nami folded her arms, gloomy. - But I don't understand why you did everything that you did. Why would talk to Usopp if wasn't going to help him. Why gave advice, if he will die tomorrow anyway. He's not strong enough to handle an entire pirate crew, no matter how successful he ambushes them. He simply cannot have anything that would help him cope with several dozen, or even more, armed people. And I don't understand why you put Zoro to choose between yourself and Usopp. And don't even try to claim that you didn't do it on purpose! You know perfectly well how we treat you and your orders, so there was no need for all this. So why? Why did you arrange all this? It wasn't like your usual entertainment.

- Is it about Yasopp? - Zoro asked, also interested in Luffy's motives. - When Usopp asked you about him, you were obviously silent about something. Are you enemies with him?

- I won't say that he has nothing to do with it, but it's not at all about him…. And no, we are more friends than enemies.

- How so? - did not understand Yosaku.

- Don't bother, - Luffy advised him back.

- So what's the matter then? - did not lag behind Nami. - You didn't like Usopp himself?

- Why's that? - the guy looked at her, puzzled. - Quite the contrary, I really liked it! A coward is a coward, but he has a backbone, so in the future he can become really strong. In addition, Usopp clearly admires his father, and his dad is, I'll tell you right away, cool. And very, very talented. And I have a strong hope that, potentially, Usopp is at least as talented as his father. In addition, our unrealistically long-nosed friend clearly dreams of the time when he can become a pirate himself. In my opinion, perfect.

It was then that Zoro finally understood why Luffy was acting the way he was. Having made savory facepalm, the swordsman groaned loudly, which instantly attracted attention.

- You want to invite him to the family, - did not ask, but stated the fact Zoro, when he crossed the views of all those present.

Three dumbfounded gazes instantly moved to Luffy.

- I thought it was obvious, - the guy pouted resentfully.

Three more savory facepalms were his answer.

- I just don't understand one thing, - Johnny said a little later, when all their honest company had time to return to cooking. Someone peeled potatoes, someone onions, someone was engaged in salad, someone did something else. They had been together long enough that each of them, without any clarification, knew what he was supposed to do. - If you're going to invite Usopp to our family, why did you act so hard on him? After that, he may refuse to go to sea with us.

- How else? - Luffy shrugged slightly. - I have to be absolutely sure that when the critical moment comes, Usopp will be able to put his own life on the line. We all know that each of us, without any hesitation, will give his life for any other member of our family. And one of my main responsibilities as your captain is that any new member of our family is potentially able to do the same. I'm not going to lose any of you, just because I was not biased enough in the selection of candidates for our family. I liked Usopp, and I know you do too. However, only tomorrow will show whether he is able to become a member of our family or not.

- You weren't that meticulous before, - commented Yosaku.

- Yeah, you dragged us into the family as soon as you saw us, - supported his friend Johnny. Luffy stopped cutting onions in response and looked up from the board to silently stare at the guys. - What? - Johnny didn't understand. - And so it was! Or have you already forgotten yourself? You dragged us along just two minutes after we met. We didn't even want to be pirates then!

Luffy kept watching silently, causing Johnny and Yosaku to look at each other uncertainly: are they missing something? By this time, Nami and Zoro had become interested in the conversation. Moreover, the green-haired swordsman perfectly remembered the day the guys joined their family, and he could say for sure that everything was exactly as Johnny had said. Only Luffy's patronizing gaze was downright screaming that things happened a little differently that day, as they always thought. Or so, but something else happened then?

- You… you found us earlier, huh? - it is not at all surprising that it was Zoro who first figured out. Firstly, Zoro stayed with his captain the longest, and, secondly, practically from the first days of their acquaintance, they were with him, if not on the "same wavelength", then close enough that "signals sometimes crossed." - How much earlier did you find us?

- Back when you gave them the bounty for the first idiot, the one you killed in the bar, - Luffy smiled broadly. - On the condition that they pay for your next meal.

- So you watched us from the very beginning that day ?! - Johnny exclaimed in surprise.

- Have you watched us from the beginning? - in contrast to his friend, asked Yosaku in a shrunken voice, instantly covered with noticeable sweat.

Nami, Zoro and Johnny looked at him in bewilderment, and then it dawned on them, because of which the latter immediately became covered in sweat, whether he has overgrown lizard fruit or not. It's just that Johnny at this moment realized with painful clarity that, if he and Yosaku had accepted, on that memorable day, at least one wrong decision, and that day could well have been the last in their life.

- Exactly, I watched you from the very beginning, - Luffy almost sang in satisfaction as he enjoyed the expressions on Johnny and Yosaku's faces. - First I wanted to rob you and then see what you'll do next, because the money isn't yours, - Luffy showed everyone his snow-white teeth. - But then I thought a little and decided to check if you would like to do your last stupidity in your life yourself? However, imagine my surprise when you not only did not do a single stupid thing, but without hesitation even risked your lives when you decided to fight the bandits together in order to save a complete stranger to you. The test is passed, as they say. There remained, of course, the question of your belonging to the hunters, but here you yourself have hammered the last nail into the lid of your common coffin. Nobody pulled you by the tongue then, and did not force you to cram into the company of Zoro. Naturally, even after this, I could not immediately take and invite you to the family. So I then decided to take you on probation.

- In terms of? - Johnny asked, on whose face, as well as on those of Zoro and Yosaku, a sincere misunderstanding appeared. - You immediately invited us to the family!

- Then there was no question of any family. I just invited you aboard the "Thing", albeit without opportunities to refuse. I accepted you into my family only on the day when you ate your fruit. If you remember, I said that this is my gift to you, in honor of being accepted into the family.

Johnny and Yosaku's faces were first reflected with intense thought work, and only then with a slight pensiveness. The guys clearly matched Luffy's story with their memories, and judging by their reverie, they found confirmation of his words.