The crew was on board, it was time to get to the streams.
"Usopp, why do you have so many bandages?" Luffy would question.
Usopp would promptly lie and say,
"I got this while wrestling some bears."
Luffy didn't believe that shit but didn't press further, while in reality his wounds were because he pushed himself too hard. He was trying, but the sticking-to-the-tree part was hard—like, he could stick for 2 seconds before he fell.
So progress was incredibly slow, but he was ready, dammit. His hands and feet were bandaged; he looked like Rock Lee like this, all he was missing was the green training clothing.
Zoro would notice the callouses on Usopp's hands, and could tell that the coward was training.
"Everyone brace yourself," Nami would say as they got close to where the Knock Up Stream would be at.
"Stupid bird, can only face south," Luffy would tease the bird, who looked annoyed, trying to look away only to fail miserably.
"Hahaha." Luffy seemed to be having fun. Kairo would stand there with no care in the world.
"Is it too late to turn back and run away?" Usopp would question when he felt the wave about to erupt.
"It's too late for that, a certain someone is already excited," Sanji would say, taking a smoke. Luffy was already next to the ship's head, smiling. Oh yeah, he was ready.
Usopp regretted his life choices.
Then immediately after, they were blasted into the sky with such force that if they didn't hold on for dear life they would have fallen off the ship. Kairo stood there with no care in the world.
He would reach out his hand and grab Chopper, who was in the middle of flying back and about to fall off the boat.
"You okay?" he would ask, but the reindeer only screamed, still scared.
Nami would begin telling them to deploy their flag and so on, making the ship fly along with other adjustments.
"Ahhh!" Wow, Usopp was really holding on for dear life.
Kairo, meanwhile, was standing still as if the boat wasn't being violently propelled into the air. He was pondering to himself if he should eat soup later. Oh well, it was no biggie.
After a minute... the boat would come down, landing on some white clouds.
"Is this place real?" Nami would question, looking around, and all she saw was cloud as far as the eye could see.
"Are we floating on clouds?" Usopp would add. He was confused; this place didn't seem to be real.
"This place is called the White Sea. It's basically a sea of clouds. The entrance to Skypea will be 9 miles north from here. Though considering there are 9 of us now, that will be 9 billion Extol to enter—or more precisely, 900,000,000 Berries."
"That's a scam, there's no way I would pay that much." Okay, Nami was defensive about her cash. Cool, he understood that. He would also be defensive about his cash if he could.
"I can hide some of us, though from what Wyper told me, before we get there, someone will take our pictures. So to better hide, the people hidden must be sneaky."
"Sooo... not Luffy," Nami would say, looking at their excited captain.
Chopper would jump out of Kairo's arms.
"Chopper, Luffy, Usopp, Nami, Sanji, Zoro, and Cricket are off the list."
"Why am I being dragged in with this swirling brow bastard?" Kairo would shrug his shoulder.
"From what I have learned from everyone in the crew, your sense of direction is terrible, and that's a risk I am not willing to take. I, along with Robin, will be on the deck."
"You think you're slick, putting the group like this so you can be alone with Robin. I see you, pal." Sanji seemed pissed.
Kairo would simply open his mouth and say,
"Chopper wants to explore. Luffy cannot keep quiet even if his life depended on it. Usopp is injured. Nami is there to keep Luffy in check. You simp over any woman with a pulse, so taking you in is a risk. Zoro's sense of direction is horrible, and Cricket wants to clear his family name—it would be unfair for me to drag him along in the investigation." Kairo would explain logically.
"I am a trained ninja. You yourself should know how good my investigation skills are. And Robin used to be second in command of a criminal empire. I simply made a logical decision," Kairo would say calmly.
"He got you there, swirly brow. Not everyone thinks with their lower head like you," Zoro would mock. Sanji would be pissed.
"Shut up, you moss head!"
"On the good note, while in the open, you can flirt with any woman you want, you don't have to hide those emotions anymore... unless you want to join us."
And suddenly Sanji didn't want to join their squad anymore.
"Even spread out like this, we still need 700,000 Berries," Nami would say.
"We don't have that kind of money."
Luffy would be confused.
"How are we so broke?"
"Your gluttonous ass eats for 10 people, so we spend a lot. We barely have enough for 3 people," Nami would elaborate.
"Listen here crew, as captain, I order that you all get better at managing money."
"Like you're one to talk," Sanji would mock.
Kairo would sigh, opening up a seal and pulling out, like, 2 million.
Nami's eyes would turn into money signs.
"Where did you get that money?" Sanji would question.
"After defeating Crocodile, I appropriated his assets and claimed the bounty of the Baroque Works agents after us."
"You mean, you robbed him," Zoro would say.
"I suppose that is another way to look at it..."
A/N finally got off work, dam I feel tired...welp let see what kind of freaky question I come up with.
Could Big mom turn your nut into a homie.