Kaya is a very rich girl from Syrop and a friend of Usopp. From her parents she inherited besides money and her mansion also the The Going Merry.
Contents
Appearance
Kaya is a normal sized young woman with shoulder length blonde hair and brown eyes. She is relatively thin and appears weak and sickly. She spends most of her time in bed, wearing only a nightgown. When she sets out to find Kuro, she also wears a light brown coat with dark brown trim over her nightgown. When she gets to see Sogeking’s profile, she is wearing a green dress with a red collar, a yellow jacket, and tan boots. She also looks stronger and more vital than before.
Personality
Kaya is a very reserved and quiet person who very rarely comes out of her shell. Only when Usopp visits her does her reticence change to open joy and exhilaration at his stories. What they both have in common is that their parents have passed away or abandoned them, which has built a deep friendship between them. She also dislikes it when people close to her are wronged, as she can become quite quick-tempered and angry when this happens. In fact, she yelled at both Usopp and her butler Beauregard when they were fighting with each other in the garden. While she seems more skeptical and closed off towards Beauregard anyway, she has a much friendlier relationship with her other butler, Lamb; she is seen smiling much more often in his presence.
Past
Beauregard’s arrival at Syrop
Three years before the Straw Hat Pirates arrived, Beauregard arrived at Miss Kaya’s mansion in Syrop nearly starving. Her father had taken him in and cared for. He worked as a butler on the estate ever since. Two years after that, Kaya’s father passed away and since then Beauregard looked after Miss Kaya’s well-being. He gained her confidence and became her friend.
Present
Kaya meets the Straw Hats
When the Straw Hat Pirates arrived on Syrop, they revealed to Usopp that they needed a real ship. Usopp explained that Kaya was the only person in the village who owned one. Afterwards, Usopp visited Kaya against Beauregard’s orders, as only Usopp could cheer her up with his tall tales. When he told Kaya a funny story about a giant goldfish and made her laugh, the Straw Hat Pirates unceremoniously joined them and inquired about Kaya’s ship. Shortly thereafter, Beauregard also joined in to drive the intruders away. A confrontation ensued, during which Kaya screamed in rage at her butler Beauregard. However, Kaya prevented further violence, after which Usopp left in a huff. Back at Kaya’s mansion, Beauregard tried to explain his behavior to the grief-stricken Kaya by saying that, according to the promise he made to her late father, he could not allow anything to happen to Kaya.
After Usopp found out that Beauregard is the infamous Kuro and is after Kaya’s inheritance, he wanted to warn Kaya about him, but she suspected Usopp’s revenge behind the warning. With tears in her eyes, she slapped him hard across the face, causing Usopp to flee from the rushing guards and the angry Merry. While Usopp, Luffy, Zoro, and Nami fought the Black Cat pirate gang, Kaya woke up in a cold sweat. She searched for Kuro, but found only Lamb, who had been badly injured by him, confirming Usopp’s warning. Finally, she set out herself to stop Kuro.
Kaya confronts Kuro
When Kaya arrived in the melee, she confronted Kuro and demanded that he take her money and just leave. She punctuated her demand with a pistol, which she pointed at Kuro. But when he explained how he had spent all those years in Kaya’s service merely living for the day she died, the last of her strength left her. At that moment Usopp attacked, but this made little impression on Kuro. It took an attack by Luffy to save Usopp. As a result, Peppers, Carrot, and Onion decided to help Kaya hide in the forest. While Kaya was getting weaker anyway due to fever, she found Jango to make matters worse.
Jango was supposed to hypnotize Kaya so that she would give up her will and then kill herself. However, Kaya refused by closing her eyes. When Piiman, Carrot, and Onion rushed to her aid, she stipulated as a condition that Jango should not kill the three boys. In exchange, she would willingly sacrifice herself. Just before Jango could slit Kaya’s throat with his Razor Blade disc, Carrot, Onion, and Peppers attacked him from behind. This distraction gave Usopp, who had rushed in on Zoro, the chance to fire a Fireball at him, defeating him. Meanwhile, Luffy also defeated Kuro, foiling his plan.
After defeating Kuro.
Later, Kaya visited Luffy, Nami and Zoro at an inn and explained that her parents’ deaths were to blame for her illness and that only Usopp had cured her. Furthermore, she was willing to give up her ship, the Going Merry. At the handover, Usopp also joined them, wanting to travel with the Straw Hat Pirates. Before doing so, however, he promised Kaya that he would return at some point with new stories. After the Straw Hat Pirates’s departure, Lamb revealed to Kaya that Usopp had gone through a similar fate as her, as he had also lost both of his parents. Knowing how this felt, he tried to help Kaya with his stories. The latter took it upon herself to make the best of her life from now on, even for Usopp.
After the incidents of the Straw Hat Pirates on Enie’s lobby, Kaya was already studying medicine, which was her long-held dream.
Two years later, she was still busy with her studies, while the suitors of Kaya, who had matured into a beauty by then, could only be kept away from her by force. A short time later, Usopp’s new wanted poster reached her.
Miscellaneous
- Kaya’s favorite food is seafood.
- Kaya (榧) is the Japanese name for the Torreya nucifera. Since Oda drew inspiration from plants for many female characters, Kaya’s name may also have come from this.
