Chapter Text
The men who'd been at Lougetown since the day that Tashigi arrived on base were the first ones to see the start of it: the development of her and Smoker's relationship.
If you'd have been there on day one as they had you'd have never believed that Smoker would feel anything but absolute disdain for her. Especially if you'd been in the room for their disastrous first meeting.
It started like this: Smoker had been trying to relax with some rock stacking after a particularly stressful day so it was already likely that he wouldn't be too welcoming to the new Master Chief Petty Officer who was being assigned there that day. The two men who'd been tasked with bringing her there knew they'd drawn the short straw because it was guaranteed to be unpleasant due to his mood but they definitely hadn't expected it to play out as bad as it did.
After picking her up at the base entrance, where she had been waiting with her belongings—a single floral carpet bag that told them she likely didn't have too many items she was attached to—and passing that time by talking the ear off to the guard about swords, her likely weapon of choice judging by the one she wore, it was clear to them she definitely seemed more energetic than they believed would mesh well with Smoker, especially at present, but all they could do was cross their fingers that it would end painlessly.
When they arrived at Smoker’s office they expected this to all be over with quickly, a simple introduction from her and then honestly Smoker would probably just shoo them all out. They'd announced their presence, gotten his permission to enter, and then opened the door, motioning for her to go first.
That's when the ball started rolling. As she took a step into the room she seemed to have somehow been clumsy enough to trip over just the air. The words “Captain Smo-” barely out her mouth, hand not even all the way up to her forehead before she was sent falling to the floor at his feet. Silence enveloped them all for a moment—her a bit dazed from the hit, the mens’ mouths dropped in shock, Smoker’s expression unreadable as if still processing what just happened—and then his rock tower crashed to the floor beside her.
The men who'd been there still shudder when thinking about the glare he shot her as he looked at her on the floor. She must have physically felt it boring a hole into her because she suddenly seemed to have regained her senses and quickly started to clamber to her feet, adjusting her glasses back onto her face, while trying to offer an apology. “Sir, I'm so sor-”
Only she was clearly more swift than anyone realized because in her haste she banged her head right into Smoker's face, knocking his cigars from his mouth, before he even had time to register her movement or use his devil fruit powers.
The men had thought surely this mortifying scene was over but then only a moment later realized the universe must have had a special hate for this lady. Seeing a droplet of blood flow out his nose from her smashing her head into it, she started frantically searching for a handkerchief. “Ah! I'm so sorry, sir! Let me get you something to clean up with. Now where did I put that…oh my bag!”
Struck by the realization it was in her bag of belongings that she'd laid down when attempting to salute, she turned to walk back to it and in doing so whacked the still seated Smoker in the side of the head with the sword attached at her hip while he was focused on wiping the blood from his nose.
The third strike seemed to be the last one. The tension in the room was thicker than the smoke floating around as Smoker quietly rose from the couch. He towered over Tashigi, making her look smaller than ever as she shrank into herself a bit from the intensity of his gaze. The men at the door stood frozen, as if even breathing would cause the bomb that was his anger to go off, and any man who worked at Lougetown knew you didn't want to face the full force of Smoker's anger.
Most men would probably have silently backed out the door and warned the other men to not go around until Smoker’d blown off some steam. But of course Tashigi didn't know that at this point.
The men at the door didn’t know if she was nervous, naive, or just plain stupid but nothing could have prepared them for what she did next. Her eyes had been darting around the room to avoid his and happened to land on a book at the edge of his desk.
“Oh is that a book on ceramics?” Her posture relaxed a little as she looked him in the eyes, hers lightly sparkling now. “Are you a fan, sir? I personally enjoy looking at books of kiri-e most but any art is…”
The men’s blood ran cold as she continued rambling and they knew from the way that the vein in Smoker's forehead bulged and how the clench of his jaw tightened with each word coming from her mouth that it was only a matter of time until—
“OUT!! NOW!!”
In that moment, the men felt it was the end before the beginning of any partnership between the two.
***
After that incident, a lot of officers would have demanded a subordinate be shipped out or made their life a living hell until they left. Smoker did neither though. For the most part, he seemed to want to just keep her away from him. The most interaction they had was him barking out orders at the start of the day.
It likely felt like a slap in the face since she was the second highest ranking officer on the base and most people would have asked to be reassigned if they felt they weren't being given the respect of their rank. However, if any of that got Tashigi down, she didn't show it openly. Instead she just went about her orders with a steady determination each day.
No matter what task was given to her she met it head-on, whether it be as simple as paperwork or as intense as dealing with rowdy pirates. She absolutely could still be a klutz but it was evident to everyone around Lougetown that she was serious about doing the best job possible. Even Smoker had to have noticed.
Their relationship still seemed a bit icy, likely because just when it seemed he might finally start to change his mind about her she'd trip up in front of him—quite literally the majority of the time—and it was back to square one. The one step forward, two steps back between them went on until around the start of her fourth month since arriving when a certain event finally caused the last iciness to thaw.
Tashigi had been leading a group of men on a patrol around the downtown of Lougetown. For the most part, it was usually a low crime area likely due to how busy it was but every now and then wannabe pirates without the ability to pay would cause an incident in one of the shops.
Which is exactly what happened on that day. A woman’s scream rang out and immediately grabbed the attention of Tashigi's group. They bolted over to the location of the scream and found the shopkeeper lying at the bottom of the steps to the town’s fancier liquor store and a hulking man walking down the steps toward her. He had a chain whip at his side and two snake tattoos running up both his arms and meeting at his neck. The fact that his pupils resembled a snake’s only made it that much more unnerving as he approached the woman.
“You should know that if pirates want something, they're getting it one way or another! Don't you know it's the great age of pirates?! Weak women like you need to know their place!” A forked tongue emerged from his mouth as he licked his lips, a sadistic grin forming. “Maybe I'll take you back to my ship and teach you.”
The men immediately recognized him from wanted posters they'd seen on base. “Master Chief, that's Ophis ‘The Serpent’! He's worth eight million beri! We have to go get Captain Smoker!”
It was true that protocol said not to engage with criminals notorious enough to have bounties issued without a higher ranked officer around as most of them were equipped with the weapons or powers best capable to take them out. However, Tashigi knew it would take too long to find Smoker at this point and she couldn't just sit back and watch what was about to happen.
“Stop!” she shouted as she started running towards the scene. It was enough for Ophis to take his attention off the woman who was now only feet away from him and turn toward Tashigi who now stood there with Shigure unsheathed and pointed at him. “By the authority of the Marines, you're under arrest!”
“Heh-heh-heh!” He threw his head back in a laugh, clearly unfazed by her sudden appearance. “Is the Navy getting so desperate that they have secretaries parading around as officers?”
“Urgh!” Tashigi’s fist grew white as she clenched her sword tighter, clearly trying to hold back her anger. The Navy men watching knew how much their Master Chief hated being looked down on just for being a woman.
And though you might not expect it by looking at her, she could be a bit hotheaded when it came to fights. She lunged forward, swinging her sword with enough power it should easily give a disabling slice to his right side. However, before she made contact, a clank rang out and stopped her mid swing.
Ophis had been quick enough to draw his chain whip and throw it up in front of himself to block her blow. Only then did it become clear that it wasn't a regular chain whip. Instead of chains it was made of small fanged blades weaved together.
“That all you got?! Let me show you how to really fight!” Slinging the chain whip around he thrust it towards Tashigi who threw Shigure up for a block of her own. The scratch of metal screeched through the air before both pulled back to ready themselves again.
The other men watched as the two of them danced around the street, trading equal hits one after the other. They had to admit they were a bit dumbstruck by how well Tashigi was holding her own against such a physically larger opponent. They could also tell that Ophis too was surprised by how evenly matched they were and it was clearly pissing him off.
“Damn bitch! I'll crack that fucking sword in half! Rahhh!!” Ophis reeled the whip back in so that the blades all connected again. Then rearing back he threw it forward with a shorter range but a more powerful force being carried in each blade.
Tashigi knew she shouldn't take the force head-on—unlikley it would actually break Shigure but it would probably throw her off balance which lead to the potential of her dropping it—and decided to go for a deflection. Ducking as the blades shot towards her she slammed Shigure upward from beneath the blades to throw the whole whip's trajectory into an arch backwards.
The blades crashed into a pile of empty barrels by the storefront and though Tashigi thought this would be a good chance to charge at Ophis while he tried to recover his weapon a small “eek!” caught her attention. Hiding behind the barrels, barely missed by the whip’s blades, was the shopkeeper who had clearly chosen to hide there once Tashigi distracted Ophis with the battle.
The unfortunate thing about Tashigi noticing her was that Ophis definitely had too. He glanced at Tashigi and then went back to the shopkeeper and let his sadistic grin return. “Oh ho! I almost forgot about you. Trying to run off, huh? Can't have that, can we?”
Deciding an easier target was best at the moment, Ophis took aim at the shopkeeper as she desperately looked around for another hiding spot. Realizing what he was planning as he let the whip fly, Tashigi sprinted over to the woman to defend her from the blow but her timing was slightly miscalculated. Before she could turn to ready Shigure, the blades sliced her at the top of her arm, each individual one deepening the cut. “Ahh!” The searing pain shot through her as blood started to pour and she couldn't help but lose her grip.
“Heh-heh-heh! I knew you'd be the kind to try and protect a civilian! You're sure spirited! Maybe I'll take you back to my ship instead. I'd love to see what makes a Navy woman break!” As he spoke he readied his whip for another attack. Tashigi gripped her injured arm best she could to put pressure on the bleeding and weakly held it out to shield the woman behind her. Even when faced with a superior foe, the look in her eyes showed she wouldn't back down so long as she could stand.
“Take this!”
“White Snake!”
The two shouts rang out simultaneously. As Ophis swung the whip right at Tashigi, who squeezed her eyes shut to prepare for the blow, a swirl of white smoke encased his arm and stopped the motion. Then in a split second, Smoker materialized in front of them and slammed Ophis’s head straight into the ground with such force that it knocked him unconscious.
Everyone was silent as Smoker slowly stood up, dusting the dirt from his pants and jacket. As Tashigi eased her eyes open, she locked onto Smoker whose gaze had fallen on her.
They stayed like that for a moment, the crowd wondering what unspoken words were being said between them—was he about to chew her out for breaking protocol or could it be possible he might be about to praise her—before Smoker turned back to the group of men who'd been watching the events unfold from the alleyway. “What are you idiots standing around for?! Cuff him, lock him up, and clean up the mess on this street! ”
“Yes, sir!” they shouted as they jumped into action to follow his orders.
The moment Smoker had broken his eyes from her Tashigi had turned her attention to the shopkeeper. “Are you okay, ma’am?”
Though somewhat shaky still, the woman nodded. “Y-yes, I am. Thank you so much, you-you saved my life. I don't know how I'll repay you. Wait, you're the lady who comes in for cream liqueur, aren't you? I'll give you two bottles of the absolute best, free of charge. It's not much but still…”
“Oh there isn't any need for that!” Tashigi shook her head back and forth, a bit flustered. “I-I was only doing my job. We're here to keep everyone in Lougetown safe and I just—eh?!”
Before Tashigi could continue, she felt herself being lifted off the ground by the scruff of her jacket collar. Peeking over her shoulder, she saw it was Smoker who was holding her up. In his other hand, he held Shigure. “Infirmary, now,” he grumbled as he shot a look towards the still bleeding arm that she remained grasping.
He then looked down at the shopkeeper, an affable expression on his face. “Whatever was damaged by that pirate, send a bill to the base for it. And if you need help getting anything back in order just yell at those men over there. They've got strict orders to do whatever you say.”
It wasn't technically procedure for the Navy to take that extra step to help; normally the aftermath was left to the civilians. But if you knew Smoker long enough you'd know he had a soft spot for the civilians of Lougetown; likely he'd be that way anywhere but it was probably especially so in his hometown.
“Thank you,” said the woman, a soft smile on her face as she gave a bow to both of them. “Thank you both so much.”
With that settled, Smoker drug Tashigi off to the infirmary. No one knew what specifically happened there except for the base’s doctor, who had refused to gossip about it on the basis of “patient confidentiality", but whatever it was must have been the first bloom of the new dynamic between the two of them.
***
The base doctor had definitely not been expecting to see the two of them stumble into the infirmary that day. Especially with Smoker basically carrying Tashigi as one would a feral cat. “What on earth happened?” he asked as he abandoned his crosswords and approached them.
“Pirate causing a ruckus at Figardland Square,” said Smoker as he unceremoniously dropped Tashigi onto one of the examination tables and set Shigure down beside her. She adjusted herself into a formal sitting position, fixing her askew glasses and trying to knock the dirt off herself—anything to make herself look like the professional she was, anything to not show a hint of weakness even in front of these two men—while the doctor came up beside her.
“Not the best explanation of what exactly happened to the Master Chief Petty Officer here, Captain Smoker, but I'll work off the assumption that means she was involved in that ruckus. Hmmm…help her out of that jacket so I can get a proper look at her wound.”
“Oh I've got—” Before Tashigi could say that she'd get it herself, Smoker reached up and gripped the top of it. The glare in his eyes was firmly saying “put your arms down” but she thought she might have seen a gentleness in it too. Surely that was just her imagination though. Smoker could be gentle with civilians but she highly doubted he'd ever be gentle with her.
Tashigi let go of her injured arm, feeling a slight burn as some more blood started to pour out of the wound, and put them down so that Smoker could tug her jacket off and lay it beside her. Thankfully it hadn't ruined her floral button-up underneath.
“Hmm, still bleeding some but I don't think it's too deep,” began the doctor as he pushed his glasses to the top of his head after examining. “Probably was hard for her to apply appropriate pressure with one hand. Just need to get that stopped so I can stitch it. Here hold this against it for her while I gather my things.”
He passed Smoker a cloth and again Tashigi wasn't able to get a word out before Smoker's hands were pressing it against her wound. Much like his expression from a moment ago it was as if there was a firm yet gentleness to his touch as well. Maybe the pain was just tricking her sense of feeling.
A somewhat awkward silence settled between the two of them, the only sound every few seconds being the doctor opening cabinets or drawers. Tashigi couldn't find the courage to look Smoker in the eyes so she just sat there fiddling with the hem of her shirt, wondering what would be best to say if anything at all.
Unexpectedly though it was Smoker who spoke first.
“So…cream liquor, huh? You go there a lot?”
Tashigi's eyes shot up to him, wide and capable of only blinking for a moment as she tried to process the fact that it seemed like Smoker was trying to make small talk with her. Her brain could barely think of a time in the last four months when his voice wasn't coming at her in an angry shout.
Smoker had been staring at his hands on her wound when he asked, seemingly disinterested in this whole thing, but feeling her eyes on him as another silence grew he couldn't help but turn to meet her look with a confused brow raised as if to ask why she was staring at him like he was the crazy one.
Tashigi quickly snapped out of her stupor and decided to capitalize on the normalcy of the conversation. “Um, not all the time but I guess enough the shopkeeper remembers me. I-I love coffee and cream liqueur is a very nice addition to one after a rough day.”
“Like today?” he mused, tilting his head towards her wound.
“Yeah like today…” she agreed with an awkward chuckle.
“Master Chief, you won't be able to drink alcohol while on these pain pills I give you,” interjected the doctor from where he was placing said pills into a little cup on his rolling tray.
Tashigi nodded although the doctor's back was to them. The interruption seemed to cause the conversation to die off a minute and Tashigi was expecting them to remain in silence until Smoker continued.
“That was pretty gutsy of you to take him on. Most men would just come running for me.” His voice was measured as he spoke, his gaze on her steady. It didn't sound to Tashigi like he was reprimanding her but in a way it still felt like something in his words was testing her.
“Well…I know that's protocol but I didn't think we'd reach you before the situation took a turn for the worst. I understand if I'll be disciplined for breaking protocol, though, sir.”
Tashigi wasn't sure if that was the appropriate thing to say to her superior officer but it was the truth of the matter and although she was aware she could be punished she wasn't going to apologize. She held his gaze as she spoke, trying to hide her own nervousness while she wondered if he was actually furious with her and the last few minutes had been a blood loss induced hallucination.
“Screw protocol. Situations like that you gotta follow your gut and do what you think is right.” Though it would appear that his gruff demeanor was unchanged Tashigi could have sworn that just beneath it was a glint in his eyes and a slight tone in his voice that sounded like approval. Okay, now she was almost certain this was a hallucination.
Although when she really thought about it, Smoker would be the kind of person to agree with her about this. A lot of Navy officers were focused only on taking out the enemy, no matter the means. While Smoker definitely put in maximum effort to make sure no pirates escaped him, she felt sure he wouldn't put civilian lives on the line in the process of doing it.
“Of course you'd be the one promoting ignoring protocols, Captain,” sighed the doctor as he returned to them, rolling the tray filled with stitches, rubbing alcohol, cotton balls, and pain pills along with him. “I'm sure you know our Captain’s reputation for skirting orders, Master Chief. Why, he won't even listen to me when he ends up here. It's like herding a cat. Honestly, I'd probably have an easier time getting a pill down a cat's throat than his.”
Tashigi couldn't help the giggle that came out but quickly tried to stifle it, worried again about angering Smoker. He didn't seem to pay her any mind though as he shot an annoyed frown at the old man. “Doc, you know I could have you shipped off, right?”
The doctor just flicked his wrist before putting his glasses back on his face. “Bah, I've been here as long as you've been alive, Captain. Now clearly you're a better assistant than patient so I've got another order for you: keep talking to our Master Chief while I stitch her up. I find distracting the patient helps but I can't keep too many conversations going while I focus on my work. A downside of an older brain.”
Now it wasn't as if the doctor was without ulterior motives with his request. He'd seen the two of them around base and knew of Smoker's seeming dislike for Tashigi as well as how hard Tashigi worked to prove herself around the base. When he'd glanced over at them as they were speaking, it was obvious from the surprised yet happy spark in her eyes that finally having earned some respect from her superior officer was a precious thing to her and so the doctor decided to keep the positive interaction going a bit longer. She'd clearly had a rough day so she deserved to be cut a break. As for cutting Smoker any breaks…nah.
Smoker shot a suspicious glare at the old man, who was all closed eyed and smiling innocently, but then simply sighed when he let go of the cloth around Tashigi's wound and took a step back so the doctor could scoot up to her to do his work.
“So…was that pirate the biggest bounty you've ever fought?” he began, drawing her attention back to him as the doctor began his stitch work. It was clear he wasn't used to having to chat so much, especially with her, so keeping the conversation on the events that just happened was the easiest choice.
“Y-Yes.” Tashigi nodded but then dropped her eyes to the floor, trying to hide the disappointment and frustration welling up in them. “I know I made some mistakes in that fight that I need to learn from. That I need to get stronger. Many of the pirates and bounty hunters I'm chasing down are likely much stronger than him and I'll never catch them at the level I'm at.”
Both Smoker and the doctor’s curiosity was piqued by her statement. It wasn't unusual for people to join the Navy for a chance to chase after pirates who wronged them, but a want for revenge wasn't the vibe Tashigi gave off. “Chasing down? Who exactly are you after?” asked Smoker.
“Anyone using swords for evil,” A determination fired up in her eyes as Tashigi thought about her dream. It wasn't revenge that drove her but rather the want to get justice against those using something so precious to her for evil. It was what drove her to join the Navy in the first place and still drove her now so she couldn't help as the words started pouring from her. “So many of the world famous swords are in the hands of pirates and bounty hunters. The things they do with them…the swords must be crying. So I'm going to retrieve them. I'll hone my skills with Shigure and then collect all the famous swords that have fallen into their hands. It'll be a hard journey but I'm going to collect the forty fine grade, the twenty-one excellent grade, and the twelve supreme grade swords no matter what it takes. Did you know there are different classes to famous swords? I read books about them all the time as a child. Like once I read that…”
Minutes later the doctor finally spoke as he snipped the stitch’s tail. “Alrighty, my work is done.”
Tashigi’s rambling got cut off as the doctor set his supplies back in the tray and gave his stitch work a quick once over. She hadn't even registered how long she went on spouting sword facts out and suddenly a wave of hot embarrassment washed over her. Here she was rambling again like on her first day, though more out of passion than nervousness this time. She was almost afraid to even look at Smoker for fear that she'd ruined the moment and he was gonna be pissed with her jabbering on but she peeked up to meet his eyes.
His stare was rightfully confused, as if he didn't know what to make of her and her crazed knowledge of swords, but it wasn't hostile so Tashigi relaxed a little before glancing over at Shigure. “Tomorrow will be the start of a new training regime. I’ll need to make time for speed training and study up on different swing styles and—”
“Tomorrow will be a day of rest, little lady,” said the doctor, sternly. “You'll rip those stitches out with too much movement so you're on strict desk duty for the next few days.”
“But-” Tashigi was fully ready to argue until Smoker's voice surprisingly hit her ears.
“You heard the doc, little lady.”
Tashigi whipped around to see Smoker just as he was putting a cigar in his mouth and yet she could swear that a teasing smirk was tugging at the corners of his lips.
The lightheaded feeling that washed over her as she took that look in had to be from the blood loss. Blood loss also had to be why her heart was beating a little faster and her face was growing flush. Not wanting him to see her going weak from said blood loss, Tashigi quickly turned away and locked her eyes onto her boots.
Her reaction was unlikely to have passed the doctor’s notice but he didn't mention it. Less fun teasing her than it was Smoker plus he wouldn't want to deal with a passed out patient if all the blood rushed to her face from embarrassment. So, he decided to send them off and let her have some peace. “Oh Captain, the Master Chief might be a little unsteady for a bit so could you please escort her back to her barracks? And be gentlemanly and carry her stuff so I don't have to restitch. Surely even you can be capable of that sometimes.”
“Mmm-hmm,” he mumbled around the cigar in his mouth and started grabbing Tashigi's jacket and sword for her.
The doctor turned back to his work with a satisfied grin that only grew when he heard one last bit of their conversation as they prepared to leave.
“Thank you, sir.” Tashigi said as she slowly rose from the table to stand in front of him and give him a slight bow.
“Just following Doc’s orders,” Smoker said with a shrug. “Speaking of, you'll be doing inventory reports tomorrow.”
“Yes, sir…” She didn't argue but it was clear there was a disappointment in her voice at knowing she was gonna be out of the field for a bit.
Smoker's gaze lingered on her for a moment before he reached for his lighter; he wasn't a super expressive man except when he was angry so Tashigi couldn't imagine what he was about to say. “Once doc clears you, you can spar with me if you want. Doubt you've ever fought a devil fruit user before and they're growing more common so best to be prepared. Especially for days I'm not on base; can't leave you running this place without knowing how to face as many threats as possible.”
He said it so casually, especially when he followed it up by simply lighting his cigar, that she's afraid she misheard somehow but when his eyes meet her again she could tell he was serious. He doesn't speak but it's almost as if he's saying “don't look so surprised or I'll take it back.”
Tashigi could barely fight back the urge to do a little happy dance as she flashed him a smile. “Yes, sir.”
***
After that day, slowly but surely, Tashigi became Smoker's right hand. By the end of their first year together, it was clear to everyone on base that he finally saw her as a capable officer who had earned his trust and respect through her hard work and dedication.
Sure, he still had his spats with her but there was less bite behind his barks. Her clumsiness and one track mind when it came to anything related to swords definitely could fray his last nerves but it had turned from pure anger to more just annoyance—someone who truly hated you would definitely find worse things to call you than a sword nerd.
The men around base knew that if Smoker still harbored any hate he wouldn't ask her opinion in strategies for missions, wouldn't trust her to run the base alone when he went after pirates who were trying to get away after causing chaos in town, wouldn't ask for them to bring her to his side whenever he couldn't find her.
The base doctor had been one of the only ones eagle-eyed enough to notice that one. Smoker usually was frustrated when he had to ask someone to go get her but seemed to relax once she was around. Like a dog that barred its teeth at strangers but nuzzled its owner's hand when being petted.
Of course not even he was brave enough to tease Smoker about that observation.
Smoker's longtime friend Hina was another story though.