#(decided I'd give Izo the chance to be all protective and badass if he so chooses)

[ikkaku-of-heart]

@whitebeards-16th-commander continued from here

Ikkaku was always happy to run into Izo; the beautiful gunslinger always had such a calming presence and was wonderful to talk to. She'd been more than pleased with the chance to catch up and thus had eagerly accepted his invitation for lunch. After all, they had much to talk about, from adventures to fashion, and hardly enough hours in the day to cover it all.

However, there was one little thing that kept her from fully enjoying herself, and the reason was sitting at a table not to far from theirs.

She rested her chin in her palm with an irritated sigh. "Rude and annoying. I don't know the guy, but I recognize him; he's a flunky of one of Law's buyers. Saw him this afternoon when Captain was negotiating prices, and that guy was staring at me then, too. Was hoping I was imagining it." She’d especially been hoping she’d imagined spotted the guy in various places around town, but now it was clear he’d definitely been following her.

Pretending to not be bothered by this, she took another bite of her meal, though there was definite tension in her shoulders. The island seemed peaceful but actually had a thriving black market, and whatever reason this man was following her, she knew it wasn’t good. Normally she wouldn’t be worried; it was clear whose crew she belonged to, so why take the risk of coming after her?

But if this guy wasn’t deterred by the jolly roger on her back, perhaps some caution was necessary.

Swallowing her bite of food, she gave Izo an apologetic smile. “Hey, I hate to be a bother, but when we’re done, do you think you could walk me back to my ship? I can typically take care of myself but...well, only a moron would mess with a lady on the arm of Whitebeard’s 16th division commander, right?”