Two days before Don Krieg arrived at Baratie and the first day when the Straw hat pirates reached the restaurant.
'A kid like that is also a pirate?'
Nami thought so, as she watched the young boy listen to Usopp's stories. Looking at Zoro who had long fallen asleep, Nami sighed and went to the two who were still awake.
"Jerry-chan, it's getting late, you know. Don't you think your crew would be worried?"
"Oh, it's fine. I think they're all sleeping by now. So, what happened next?"
Seeing Jerry turn back to Usopp to hear more, Nami thought of what the boy said and decided to go and scout.
When she got the whisker pirates' ship she noticed Tom, their captain, was sleeping on the deck. Sneaking around him so she doesn't get caught, Nami entered the ship and went looking for their treasure.
Slowly making past each room she finally reached the room where they had seemingly hid their treasure. Looking at the vault, Nami grinned and tried to go over when suddenly alarms started ringing,
Startled at what happened, she quickly ran away to a nearby empty room which she had passed by before and hid there. Watching as two members of the crew, Tyke and Yuuki came to inspect, Nami looked towards the window in the room and decided to escape.
**********
"What happened?"
Looking at Tom who asked that while yawning and scratching his belly, Tyke answered,
"Someone triggered the alarm."
"Is that so? Are you sure it's 'someone' and not 'something'?"
"..You're taking it too easy."
"Well, it's not like anyone can open it even if they reach it."
"...."
As Tyke thought about what could've triggered the alarm he heard Yuuki call for him. He soon reached the next room where Yuuki was along with Tom and looked at the open window.
"They might've escaped through here."
Tyke looked at his captain who was busy picking his nose at the moment and frowned. Tom looked at Tyke and said,
"Oi oi, no need to be so serious. They haven't gotten anything, so it's still fine."
"Yeah but maybe we should have someone on the lookout."
Looking at Yuuki who proposed the idea, Tom thought for a few moments and said,
"You know what, let's just all stay on the ship for a couple of days. Nyahaha, it'll be a good excuse to not visit the restaurant and save money."
Tyek and Yuuki decided to forget the last line their stingy captain had said.
"Who the hell are calling stingy!?"
"...."
They looked at each other with baffled expressions and thought,
'But we didn't say anything.'
When the next day arrived and Jerry said he wanted to go to the restaurant again, Tom with a righteous expression, explained why they couldn't.
Hearing the reason, the young vice captain was not happy but decided to agree as he believed no one should be able to steal from him. Only he can steal from others.
**********
Nami decided to take another look at the safe that the whisker pirates had on their ship. But unfortunately for her they did not seem to want to leave their ship and were high on guard.
So she decided to do the next best thing which was to try and get information from Jerry, who had come back to their ship again.
"Jerry-chan, you didn't come to the restaurant today?"
"No. Tom-san said that we should stay on the ship for a couple of days."
"Eh, why?"
"Apparently someone tried to steal from us yesterday. So we just want to make sure that we catch them next time, if they try it."
"Young Jerry, do you need any help with that?"
Nami looked at Usopp who had his nose pointed to the sky when he asked that and thought he was getting too into his lies.
"Eh well, not really. Tom-san built the safe himself and there's no way anyone can steal from it. The thief should know it already, they're just stupid if they try again."
Nami's eyebrows twitched when she heard Jerry say that as she indeed wanted to go and try again,
"Well Jerry-chan, why is it not possible?"
"There are sensors in the room which trigger alarms when you walk on them. There are only a few steps which you can take without triggering them and only Tom-san knows them."
"Heeh."
As she made an amazed look on the outside she was frowning inwardly as she thought of how to get past those 'sensors'. The first thought was trying to jump across but it was shot down when she remembered the room had a very low roof.
Maybe stick to the roof somehow and go past? As she thought of ideas she realized she did not even have an estimate of the loot they had in the safe and wondered if it was even worth all the effort.
"Well young Jerry, that is a rather meticulous way to protect your treasure."
"Uh-huh, there is a lot after all. Anyway, tell me more stories."
"..They are not just mere stories, they are my life's experiences."
"Right, sure."
When Nami heard their conversation she finished up her thoughts and looked at the ship which contained the safe, it was rather well built.
Her opportunity came the next day when she saw the whisker pirates go into the restaurant. She decided to take the ship away as then, she could take her time with the safe.
Looking at Jonny and Yosaku who were left on the ship, she decided to knock them out first as it would be hard to explain why she was transferring all the treasure onto the flying mammy.
"You two, could you look to the other side? I want to change."
Knocking them out with her pole after they turned around, she tied them to the Going Merry's mast and got to work. The two soon got up while she was taking the treasure on the Merry and questioned why she was doing this.
"Why? Hehe, I'm someone who steals from pirates. It's unfortunate that I have to leave this ship though."
Nami decided to ignore the two who were shouting something and finished transferring the treasure and took off.
**********
Tom looked at his ship sailing away and took out a spyglass and took a look. He saw an orange head was steering his ship and remembered that the idiot captain had someone like that in his crew.
Looking towards Luffy's ship he noticed Usopp and two more guys, whom he didn't really recognize. Luffy himself seemed to be holding himself back from trying to help his crewmate in the fight that he picked, a fight where he was getting crushed.
When the fight was finished, Jonny and Yosaku jumped into the water to save Zoro from drowning and got back onto the Going Merry.
**********
Luffy rushed at Mihawk as soon as he saw Zoro get defeated, even dropping his treasured straw hat in the process. After he was easily evaded he heard Mihawk say Zoro is not dead yet.
Looking towards his first crewmate who declared that he would never lose again Luffy flashed a big smile. Mihawk seemed to have had his share of entertainment as he soon left.
As Luffy was ordering his crewmates to depart and follow Nami he noticed somebody else had gotten on board.
Jonny and Yosaku who were trying to tend to Zoro felt someone grab their skulls and lift them up.
"W-what!?"
They strained themselves to look at who did it and saw it was the big guy who was a part of the whisker pirates. As they tried to take out their swords, they both got tied up together and were unable to move anymore. Zoro looked at what happened and tried to get up in rage,
"You bastards!"
"Marimo-san, it's better if you don't get up."
Looking at the little brat who was making sure the rope was tied properly, Zoro still got up and tried to unsheathe his sword when he heard Usopp call out to him.
Looking at Usopp who had tears coming out of his eyes because his nose somehow got shoved into the barrel of Yuuku's gun, Zoro faltered.
"You should stand down. It'd be a pity if his nose gets blown up."
"Hiiiik!"
Looking at Usopp who started shaking at Yuuki's threat, Zoro grit his teeth. Seeing all this happen, Luffy shouted towards Tom,
"What the hell are you doing you bastards!?"
Tom, who was leaning on their figurehead and twirling Luffy's straw hat looked at Luffy and said,
"That's what I should be asking. Your crewmate stole my ship and now you're trying to-"
"What the hell are you saying!? I can't hear you!"
"Pfft"
Snapping his head towards the deck where the laughter noise came from he noticed his vice captain hiding behind Tyke and trying to not laugh. Throwing a glare at him he realized his cool momemnt had already passed and raised his voice,
"Choose! Do you wanna fight us?! Or them?!"
Luffy looked at Tom who was pointing at himself and Krieg and said,
"Let go of my crewmates first!"
Tom just threw an evil smile towards Luffy when he heard that and just pointed at himself and Krieg. Understanding the gesture, Luffy understood he had not much of a choice as Krieg had finished rallying up his crew and pointed.
Tom looked at Luffy and his smile grew bigger. Stepping onto the figurehead he leaped all the way to where Luffy was standing. After landing he saw Luffy standing with his arms crossed and a big frown on his face. Putting his straw hat back on his head, Tom patted it and laughed,
"Nyahaha, good decision."
Slapping the hand that was patting his head, Luffy said to Tom,
"I'll beat you up later."
"Nyahaha, we'll see about that."
After their little conversation they both turned to Krieg who was watching if they fought so he would have less to deal with. Seeing them stand together with the chefs Krieg was still confident and just snorted.
Luffy turned towards the head chef Zeff and asked,
"Hey mister, if I chase those guys off, can I stop being a chore boy?"
"Alright, you've got yourself a deal."
Seeing the two come to an agreement Tom had a thought and said,
"Hey old man, do I get anything?"
"I don't have anything to give."
Getting the answer he thought he would get, Tom asked,
"How about this? You just make that guy pay his debt to me instead of you."
Zeff looked at Luffy who had an annoyed expression when he heard that and looked at Tom who had a somewhat weird smile and said,
"Alright, you've got yourself a deal."
"What!? No! I refuse!"
"Nyahaha, try harder if you don't wanna work for me, 'chore boy'."
____________________
Author's note : If you're wondering why Luffy actually went along, no one has been 'attacked' yet. At least that's my reasoning.