346 Poison Woman

*Explain your presence here, Straw Hat crew.* the Germa ship commanded.

Cherry noted the fellow on the higher deck overlooking their ship. He had curly eyebrows like Sanji did and his facial structure was also similar, but his vital energy signature indicated that he was very much NOT Sanji even though they were quite similar as well.

"Who's that edge lord brooding up there, Pekoms?" Cherry asked, pointing at the cloaked man.

"What do you mean, Cherry? That's Sanji, isn't he? Sanjiiii!" Chopper called out.

"That dude is definitely not Sanji." Cherry instantly denied.

"Who else could it be with eyebrows like that?" Luffy gestured at the man like it was obvious.

"Duval? It was a whole thing, remember?" Cherry pointed out.

"I have no idea who that is." Luffy declared confidently.

…

Duval sneezed. "Oh, I bet those Straw Hats are talking about how much they appreciate us protecting their ship for two years!"

…

"Nevermind. I bet that guy is related to Sanji or something. He was supposed to be getting married, after all. It only makes sense that relatives would be invited." Cherry said.

"You've hit it right on the money, flat-chest! My name is Yonji, but my connection to Sanji is a secret!" Yonji confirmed.

'He just told her that she's right though…' the straw hats thought. They looked at Cherry and her darkened expression made them flinch away from her.

"Who are you calling 'flat-chest', jerk!" Nami immediately jumped to defend Cherry before Sanji's brother(?) became a modern art piece on the wall of his ship, using only red 'paint'.

"Definitely not you, baby!" Yonji's eyes bulged in heart shapes from his eye sockets, tongue lolling like a dog on a hot day.

"What?" Nami had met perverts before, but this guy took the cake. Even Sanji knew there was a line that shouldn't be crossed, even for perverts, but Yonji was keen on dancing all over that line.

*SPLAT*

Purple goop dripped from Yonji's face. He was too distracted by lust to notice the ball of gunk flying directly at him.

Everyone looked at Cherry who wore a toothy smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"I hope you like that Armored Stonefish slime, freshly harvested right from the source~" Cherry chuckled darkly.

Yonji only took a second to consider Cherry's unhealthy appearance and the words she just spoke before hastily swiping the purple substance off of his face, no small amount of desperation in his actions. He clearly knew exactly what he'd just been hit in the face with.

"Was that…?" Nami asked, a bit dazed that Cherry would do such a thing.

"Hehehehehehe~!" Cherry was too busy laughing at him to answer.

"REIJU, GET THIS SHIT OFF OF ME!" Yonji shouted.

"Oh, calm down, foolish little brother." A woman with curly eyebrows in a pink costume strutted into view. "If that were really Armored Stonefish poison, you'd have been dead in seconds."

She beckoned to someone who quickly approached with a mop and bucket of dirty water. Reiju took the bucket and dumped it over Yonji's head, washing the majority of the remaining purple off of him.

"If it isn't poison why does it sting?!" Yonji complained.

Reiju grabbed one of his hands and sniffed it. "Oh, so it IS the Armored Stonefish poison, just diluted to such a degree to be nearly harmless. Interesting."

Reiju gazed down at them, then to Cherry specifically. "Oh dear, but it seems you weren't spared of its effects."

"Oh no!!! I forgot to give Cherry the antidote!!!" Chopper panicked.

Reiju leapt off of the Germa ship with a *sproing* and landed on the deck of the Thousand Sunny in front of Cherry, her odd boots absorbing the impact.

"You're awfully calm about this." Reiju considered her. "You're in the late stages of the poisoning already, aren't you worried? Anyone else would be writhing on the ground right about now."

"I'm building my tolerance. It's not everyday I come across such a potent poison." Cherry dismissed her 'concerns'.

"Really? You don't want me to take care of it? I can… draw it out for you?" Reiju licked her lips.

"No can do. My special lady friend isn't even here to watch." Cherry snickered.

Reiju opened her mouth to speak again, but paused when something flickered across Cherry's form. The purple markings on her skin started to shift and crawl until they reached her hand, where they started to congeal into a liquid form.

"All better, see?" Cherry smirked, holding her hand aloft.

Reiju took her hand gently and slurped the poison up like the last dregs of soup from a bowl.

Cherry tugged her hand away and looked at her with faux disgust. "What the hell, you weirdo."

"No point in wasting perfectly good poison." Reiju winked at her. "It's nice to meet my little brother's friends."

"We're not friends with that guy." Luffy pointed at Yonji.

"No, not him. Sanji." Reiju corrected. "Thanks for taking such good care of him."

"I see!" Luffy nodded in understanding.

"It took a while for Father to find him. His first bounty poster turned out to be someone else entirely. I believe your cute friend there mentioned his name; Duval." Reiju said. "After his real photograph was revealed, Father personally raised his bounty with the condition that he was to be taken alive only."

"Yohoho~ Sanji won't be happy when he finds out his bounty was artificially inflated~" Brook chuckled, already imagining Zoro teasing the chef over it.

"Do you know where Sanji is?" Nami took the opportunity to ask.

"We actually came out here to meet him, but I assume from your question that he's likely already passed us by." Reiju said.

"Give us Sanji back!" Luffy insisted, having worked out that these Germa folks were on the side of those who took him.

"..." Reiju had a difficult to read expression hidden behind her smile.

"I knew it! They're enemies, Reiju! You, you're Pekoms, right?! Why are you with THEM?!" Yonji demanded.

"That's my business; keep your nose out of it! I don't have anything to do with you, just yet!" Pekoms confronted him.

*SPROING*

Reiju whizzed through the air, back up to the Germa ship's deck. "That's true. Let's just say we never met out here, okay~?"

Yonji seemed to agree. "Yeah, let's just let it go. I don't want to get in trouble."

The giant den den mushi ship turned around with remarkable dexterity and started sailing away as they watched them.

Yonji and Reiju stood silently on the deck of their ship as it left the Straw Hat ship behind.

"So THAT is your type?" Yonji asked incredulously.

"S-shut up!" Reiju stumbled over her words.

"Maybe we can arrange another wedding. I should bring it up with Father." Yonji snickered childishly. "He did express some interest in her. You know how rare that is."

"Don't be ridiculous. She already said she was spoken for, in any case." Reiju said, turning away to hide a faint blush on her cheeks.

"So? Why should we care if she's 'spoken for'? We're Germa, we can take whatever we want." Yonji spoke as if that were only natural.

Yonji didn't see the grimace form then disappear just as quickly on Reiju's face.