Kaya

Kaya (カヤ) is a rich girl who gets an inheritance after her parents died. Kaya becomes sickly, and her caretaker Klahadore often tends to her. (Klahadore was found three years earlier by her father, practically dead on their doorstep. Kaya's father took pity and offered the man a job.) Secretly, the town liar--Usopp--climbs a tree outside her window and tells her tall tales that make her laugh and feel better. However, Klahadore is very disapproving of this and eventually kicks Usopp out and makes Kaya believe that he is a bad influence.

One day, Usopp listens in on a conversation between Klahadore and Django, a hypnotist. Klahadore is really Captain Kuro and reveals that he plans to kill Kaya for her money--the last three years he has just been toying with the young woman. Usopp tries to warn Kaya about the plot, but Kaya believes that he is lying; she rebukes him when he insists that he is telling the truth.

Kaya is later informed of the truth by Merry, another servant of hers. Kaya confronts Kuro during a battle between Kuro and his men and Monkey D. Luffy, Usopp, Nami, and Zoro. Kuro reveals that he tried to kill Merry. Kaya aims a gun at Kuro, but she drops it and cries after Kuro talks about how he was publicly at her side and how much he wants to kill her. Usopp tells his "pirate crew" (in reality a group of children who lie along with Usopp) named "Usopp's Pirates" (known as the Veggie Pirates in the English anime) to protect Kaya. The members, Carrot, Onion, and Pepper (Ninjin, Tamanegi, and Piman in the Japanese version), flee with Kaya to the forest. Django chases after them and attacks the group. When the children try to sneak up on Django, he attacks them and threatens to kill them. Kaya threatens to kill herself unless the children are kept alive. As she has not yet signed a will that states that Kuro is to get Kaya's worth when she dies, Django would be in trouble if she kills herself at this point, so he agrees to leave the children alone.

The children pretend to be knocked out when Django forces Kaya to sign the will. Right before Django is able to slice her throat apart, Usopp's pirates ram him with a shovel. After Django knocks them away, Usopp and Zoro appear. Zoro slices off a branch with his sword, while Usopp hits Django with his Secret Technique Shooting Star attack, saving Kaya's life.

After the incident, Kaya gives the Going Merry (Going Merry in the Japanese version) to Luffy and his group of pirates as gratitude for saving her life. Instilled with a new sense of health and determination, Kaya decided then that she would study to become a doctor one day, and hopefully help others in need as Usopp once helped her.

Some fans believe she has romantic feelings for Usopp, since she cares for him, and for the fact that Usopp protects her. As well, when she saw Luffy's first bounty, she was only paying attention to Usopp in the wanted poster. However, this scene only appeared in the anime as filler, not as part of the manga. Their relationship has never been proven to be more than friendly, regardless of the popularity of the pairing in the One Piece fandom.

In a recent Japanese Fan Poll, Kaya is currently ranked the 46th most popular character in One Piece.