One Piece: Dream of Immortality

Chapter 446: A Succulent Meal



The baboon and the lion-dog-thing carried the group of three to a humble home nestled in the trunk of a large tree. The tree was decorated with a thick rope tied above the entrance of the home, with paper talismans hanging off of it as well as an assortment of large bells.

Overall, it appeared more like a shrine of some sort instead of a house that people lived in. If Tama hadn't talked their ears off about becoming a 'bewitching kunoichi' then Cherry might have assumed that she was a priestess in training.

"Come on inside! Make yourselves at home while I cook the rice!" Tama said as she rushed through the front door of the abode.

Luffy plopped himself down on the floor in the small foyer and looked around curiously whilst Cherry followed Tama into one of the other rooms towards the back of the house.

"This is the kitchen? It's pretty cute," Cherry commented, looking at the various cookware. Some of the things here reminded her of home, back at the dojo.

"Ah, you should go relax! I'll be finished soon, I promise!" Tama insisted, fruitlessly attempting to push Cherry back the way she came.

"You said that I could make myself at home," Cherry stated.

"Yes?" Tama didn't know what she meant.

"So, I'll help you make the meal. Just like when I'm at home," Cherry said.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"No! I-I mean... rice is easy, so there is nothing to... help with..." Tama's voice trailed off and her eyes went as wide as saucers.

Cherry had discretely pulled several whole chickens, a twenty kilo bag of rice, and a host of fresh fruit and vegetables from seemingly nowhere. "Let's get started quickly. Luffy might wander off if he doesn't smell the food cooking soon."

"T-there's no way I can accept this! These must have cost you a fortune!" Tama rejected vehemently, despite the drool pooling in her mouth.

"At home, nobody goes hungry. Unless you're taking back your words?" Cherry leveled a glare at Tama that would put even the sternest of mother's to shame.

Tama gulped. "N-no...?"

Cherry smiled sweetly and chirped, "Good-!"

Cherry purposefully neglected to mention that this amount of food wouldn't fully satisfy Luffy's monstrous appetite, even if he ate it all by himself. Otherwise, Tama might try to turn it down again.

Chery wouldn't claim to be a master chef like Sanji, but her mastery with fire combined with the unique advantages provided to her by her fusion fruit, she was able to whip up quite the feast.

Thanks to an unnatural degree of control over heat distribution, it was all finished cooking in record time as well.

In Tama's eyes, Cherry might as well have been performing a magic show just for her; and in a certain manner of speaking, that's exactly what she had done.

"Is it done yet?!" Luffy called out impatiently.

"Yes, Luffy. Give us a minute," Cherry called back.

That snapped Tama out of her trance and she immediately panicked. "The rice?!"

"Relax, I was keeping an eye on it," Cherry assured her whilst wondering whether using awakening to cook was a bit too extravagant.

Tama was blushing furiously now. She had promised to cook for the two of them as repayment for saving her, but in the end she had gotten distracted watching Cherry do all the work.

Cherry snickered at her predicament. "You can afford to be a little selfish, kid. Take the chance while you can get it."

"I won't eat a single bite..." Tama murmured, head pointed at her feet as she trudged back to the foyer ladened with trays of food that looked and smelled more delicious than she ever imagined food could.

"Did you hear that Luffy?" Cherry asked quite loudly as the two of them stepped into the room he was in.

"What?" Luffy asked.

"Tama says she isn't going to eat a single bite," Cherry relayed. "And after all the hard work I put into cooking it, too!"

"Eh?!" Tama yelped.

Cherry could almost see the gears turning in Luffy's head as it slowly tilted beyond the point that someone not made of rubber could manage.

Suddenly his head snapped back upright and he asked, "Did she poison it?"

Cherry burst out laughing and Tama started waving her hands about in distress, insisting that she would never ever ever ever ever do such a thing!

"You said you're going to be a kunoichi, though," Luffy said.

Tama froze in place, too shocked by the logical leap between her refusing to eat and kunoichi's reputation for killing people with underhanded means.

Cherry started laughing even harder; she hadn't even considered that line of thought. Luffy could really surprise you with that pea brain of his sometimes. When she finally got control over herself she said, "Alright, let's eat before it gets cold. That means you too, Tama-chan." Tama seemed to calm down as she slowly realized that neither Cherry nor Luffy were angry at her, so they probably weren't seriously accusing her of attempted murder.

"I can't eat the food meant for my saviors..." Tama was still being stubborn, then her stomach growled. "B-but I suppose I can taste it... just to prove it isn't poisoned..."

Cherry smirked victoriously as she set the food she was holding down.

Luffy started to dig into the chicken immediately, which was why Cherry chose them. Luffy had to slow down a bit to get all the meat off the tiny bones, leaving more time for others to have their own.

Cherry heaped healthy portions onto Tama's plate, ignoring her feeble protests that she would only have a little nibble of each. When Tama gave up arguing, she used her spoon to take the smallest bit of broth from the vegetable soup that could manage and sipped it.

Tama blinked and belatedly realized that she drank the entire contents of the bowl unconsciously. While the soup itself wasn't fine dining, it was easily the tastiest dish she had ever eaten by far.

"No, I didn't mean to-!" Tama started.

Tama's words were cut off when Cherry shoved a piece of roasted, herb-infused chicken into her mouth. Her face twisted in delight as she savored the bite, before starting to devour all the meat on her plate, even gnawing on the bones. She said nothing when Cherry placed another portion in front of her, simply continuing without thought.

*BLAM*

"Who goes there?!" An old man kicked the front door in with his absurdly tall wooden sandals, brandishing a rather nice sword.

What he found in his home were not the intruders that he anticipated, however. He saw his little student, Tama, with the biggest smile he had ever seen her wearing and tears of joy streaking down her face as she ate a meal whose quality was higher than anything he had seen

for a long while.

Tama quickly broke out of her food induced ecstasy upon seeing him, though. "Ah?! Master!"

She glanced around worriedly, unsure if she should be ashamed of her actions or not. When the thought occurred to her that she was enjoying this wonderful meal without sharing any with her master, she quickly bounded over to him and kowtowed. "Forgive me, master!" The old man felt a shiver down his spine as he caught the eye of the mysterious woman. She was judging him, he could tell; and if he was found wanting, he got the impression that he might just lose his head.