Chapter 89
Currently Heat and Wire were both cuddling, they would never ever ever in 1 billion years call it cuddling, in their bed in their room of the Victoria punk. Looking down at each other‘s wrists as the most elegant looking, prettiest, neatest, most orderly cursive handwriting appeared. It wasn't the usual sloppy scrawl of each other’s hand writing they've seen. The words read: "Remember to get milk and eggs". They both looked up at each other with a mix of confusion and panic in their eyes.
"Did you write that?" Heat asked, his heart racing like a wildfire in his chest.
Wire stared at him, equally perplexed. "What the hell? No, i’ve been laying beside you for the past hour!”
They both looked at each other, then at their wrists again. The words remained, as if etched into their very skin. The air grew thick with tension as they tried to piece together the puzzle. They knew soulmates could communicate through written words on their bodies, hell, everyone in the fucking world did, because everyone could ride on their bodies and communicate to their own soulmate. But this was something new. The handwriting was delicate, precise, and soft looking, not like their own hasty scribbles when they had something to say.
"We've got a third?" Wire murmured, his voice barely above a whisper.
Heat nodded, his dreadlocks swaying slightly with the motion. "Looks like it."
They both bolted upright, the sudden movement sending their hearts into a frenzy. The words on their forearms remained, as if mocking them.
"What the hell is going on?" Wire's voice cracked as he examined the grocery list. The letters were neat and precise, almost calligraphic in their elegance.
Heat's eyes darted around the room, searching for any sign of an intruder. "It's not me," he whispered, his hand trembling as it hovered over the words that had appeared on his skin.
Wire swallowed hard. "And it's not me either." He looked up at Heat, his expression a mix of confusion and concern.
Heat nodded, the gravity of the situation starting to sink in. "But who could it be? We've been together for so long, just the two of us."
Wire took a deep breath, his mind racing. "Could it be...another pirate?"
Heat rub his face roughly with his hand, taking a deep breath and holding it for a couple seconds before letting it out, his hand sliding down to cover his mouth. “I’ve never met any piretas with that type of handwriting, it’s to clean, to...precise, like it’s from a book or somethin’.”
Wire leaned back, his eyes squinting as he studied the words on his skin. “It’s definitely not from around here, maybe from a scholar or somethin’, or a noble.”
“Fuck! We’re screwed if it’s a world Noble.” Heat’s hand fell away from his mouth, his expression mixing with a hint of dread. “The shit we’ve written on ourselves over the years, they’re gonna think we’re madmen!”
Wire chuckled nervously, trying to lighten the mood. “Well, they wouldn’t be entirely wrong, would they?” But the humor didn’t quite land.
The two soulmates exchanged a tense look, the weight of their discovery hanging heavy in the air. They had always known that soulmate connections were unpredictable, but they had never considered the possibility of a third.
“We need to find out who this is, Heat,” Wire spoke in a low tone, his mind racing with the implications. They had been an inseparable duo for as long as they could remember, and the sudden appearance of a third soulmate was more than a mere surprise.
——————
Well, they didn’t have to wait long, it felt like an eternity to them. But they only had to wait three weeks until they stole the handwriting again.
The elegant handwriting on their wrists washed away long ago, but everyone on the kid Pirates had seen it because they freaked the fuck out and showed everyone. And yet, no one knew who it could be.
But here they and the rest of the kid pirates were, on some random ass island with the Strawhat pirates and heart Pirates, as the three captains from each separate crew talks about their alliance and what to do next.
Heat, Wire, and Killer we’re standing around Kid as he, Law and Luffy chatted, more like bickered like an old married couple, to each other.
Law rolled his eyes at whatever Luffy and Kid said, and called over his shoulder to one of his crew. “Shachi, be a dear and come over here for a second before you, Penguin, and Ikkaku ran off to the town. Me and you’ve got the best handwriting out of everyone and my hands are a bit full right now. Could you write down what we need from the market?”
Shachi, who was off to the side quietly talking with Penguin and Ikkaku, looked up at Law with a hint of curiosity. He walked over, taking a notepad and pen from Law’s Jacket pocket, never breaking the conversation with Penguin and Ikkaku as he does so and the wind gets knocked out of both Heat and Wire when Shachi starts to write in the exact same elegant looking, most prettiest, neatest, cleanest, most orderly, precise, cursive calligraphic handwriting that appeared on their wrists all those weeks on a notepad.
Shachi wrote down the grocery list that Law dictated, not noticing the stunned silence that had fallen over Heat and Wire as they watched him write. The same handwriting that had appeared on their bodies once, the handwriting they’ve been trying to track down for the past three weeks was coming from Shachi’s hand.
When Shachi finished, he handed the list to Law with a smile. “Here you go, captain.”
Law took the pad and nodded in thanks before turning back to Kid and Luffy, continuing their conversation about the alliance and their next move.
Heat and Wire stared at each other, the revelation of their third soulmate sinking in. They had been searching for answers for weeks, and it was right under their nose the whole time.
“You Know, Shach, i’ll never know how you learn to write that… fancily.” Penguin said, throwing his arm around Shachi’s shoulders as the two of them and Ikkaku walk towards the town of the Island they were on.
Shachi chuckled, his eyes crinkling behind his sunglasses. “It’s just a knack I picked up. Besides, it’s better than scribbling like a toddler with chalk on a sidewalk, right?” He playfully nudged Penguin with his elbow.