Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction and as such, these characters are not representative of minority groups nor are they meant to enforce any stereotypes or opinions prevalent in real society. If anyone finds anything offensive about what I'm writing, please contact me and I will edit it. Thank you.
"Hey there Luffy," Shanks says as he walks into Makino's bar, "How'ya doing kid?"
"Shanks!" Luffy shouts as he runs up to him excitedly, "Are you going let me on your crew yet?"
"Ha! What would I do with a kid who can't even swim?" Shanks replies to him somewhat jokingly.
"Just watch me, soon I'll be the best swimmer in all of East Blue," Luffy shouts back to him.
Shanks snorts, "Best in all of East Blue? You can't even doggy paddle. How are you going to become a pirate like that?"
"I'll become the pirate king even if I can't swim, and I'll beat up anyone who says otherwise," Luffy argues.
"Now you won't be beating up anybody young mister," Makino scolds him softly.
"But Makino, I'll need to beat up the people who threaten my nakama," Luffy whines, staring up at her with his wide eyed innocent expression.
"This little squirt wouldn't be able to beat up anybody anyways," Shanks states while ruffling Luffy's hair.
Luffy starts tearing up, "No way! I'll be strong enough to protect my nakama from anyone," After making his declaration he takes one of the steak knives lying on the counter and stabs under his left eye. "See?" He says with his eyes screwed up in pain, "I'm tough!"
"Luffy!" Shanks and Makino immediately react. Shanks gets the bloodied knife away from him and Makino's using a napkin to cover the wound.
Makino then goes into mothering mode, "Luffy, you don't need to hurt yourself to prove you're tough, you can't do reckless things like this. What would your future nakama say if their captain keeps getting hurt all the time? You don't have to prove that you're a-" She glances at Shanks as if remembering that he's still there, "You don't have to prove anything."
Luffy sniffs, "But I thought that if I showed Shanks that I was tough that he would let me join his crew."
Makino glares at Shanks and he quickly tries to appease the mad woman, "Luffy, stabbing yourself isn't tough, it's stupid. It's one thing to get wounds from protecting nakama, it's another to hurt yourself. Understand?"
Luffy nods at him and Makino seems to have calmed down some. "Good," Shanks says relieved, "Now go to Lucky Roo on the ship and see if he can patch you up. Can you get there yourself?"
Luffy nods again and runs out of the bar to go find Lucky Roo.
Shanks sighs and turns to Makino, "A bottle of rum, please."
"I might have a sip myself. I can't believe how much Luffy gets into trouble," She says as she gets the requested bottle of rum and pours herself a glass before handing the rest to Shanks. "On the house," She adds, "Since your crewmate is taking care of Luffy's injury."
Shanks grins as he downs the rum, "Then it shouldn't be me you're giving the free rum, but I'm not complaining."
An tense silence falls between them as they process what had just happened. It is broken a minute later by Makino in a soft, quiet voice, "I'm worried about Luffy. I don't really think that he should become a pirate."
It is Shanks turn to glare at Makino now. "Being the Pirate King is that kid's dream, and he's the kind of kid that doesn't let anything get in the way of his dream. I'm not saying that the pirate's life isn't dangerous, because it is. I mean, I've lost crew members to marines, bounty hunters, other pirate, and sometimes even to the sea. Maybe he'll die out there as a pirate, or maybe he'll accomplish his dream, but if you take his dream away from him, you will destroy him."
"I know. I know that I can't take his dream away from him, but I can't help but worry that his dream will take him away from me." Mikoto says resignedly. There is another silence, not as tense as before. It doesn't last very long before a huge commotion comes from outside.
"SHAAAAAAAANKS!" Yassop's voice comes shouting from through the door right before he bursts through it. He's panting harshly and staring at Shanks in a panicked way.
Yassop starts blubbering intelegably, "LuffycametotheshipandIdidn'tknowwhatwasgoingonandIthoughtthatsomeoneattackedhimsoIcametogetyouassoonasIcouldandohmygoshhewaystabbedsoclosetohiseyewhoknowswhat-"
"Yassop," Shanks says rubbing his head, "Shut up."
"But Luffy just came to the ship injured with a stab wound from a knife right under his eye!" Yassop yells much more clearly.
"I know, Luffy was being a stupid kid and stabbed himself under the eye to prove that he was 'tough'" Shanks replies.
Yassop just stares at him for a minute before anger takes over his face and he runs right back out of the bar, this time shouting in anger, "LUUUUFFYYYY!"
Shanks chuckles, "He and the rest of the crew will probably lecture Luffy's ear off. Luffy will be trying to escape the med bay within the hour."
He finishes the bottle of rum and deposits it on the counter next to Makino. Smiling, he says, "Thanks for the rum. Me and the crew will watch over Luffy until we next set out."
With that Makino sees Shanks exit the bar with a mock flirtatious wave over his shoulder. A sigh escapes her. Luffy would have to be very careful if he chooses to become a pirate, and even then she worries.
It seems that Luffy just goes from one trouble to another, as only a couple days after stabbing himself in the face, he eats the devils fruit that Shanks brought with him. Who knows why the Gomu Gomu no Mi was sitting on the counter of Makino's bar, because every member of Shank's crew has denied any involvement with putting the fruit there.
Now they are setting sail again, and Shanks wants to make sure that Luffy stays safe with his new devils fruit powers. Devils fruits can act up in unexpected ways sometimes that can cause problems for people who can't control their fruit powers.
"Luffy, remember, don't go in the water. The water will drain your strength and make you unable to swim. If something weird happens because of your rubber body, just concentrate on going back to normal, okay?" Shanks tells Luffy with all seriousness. It wouldn't be good for him to think it was a challenge and end up getting himself in trouble.
"Got it Shanks." Luffy says with a smile. All that he has to do is not fall into the ocean. That's not too hard.
"Next time you leave you'll be bringing me with you!" Luffy declares as the Red Haired Pirates begin to leave port.
"Ha," Shanks shouts back, sticking his tongue out, "Like I'd let a little anchor like you on board. See ya squirt."
Shanks waves a bit before disappearing further out on deck. Luffy, at the shore, returns back to Makino's bar to let her know that Shanks left.
"Makino!" Luffy shouts as he spots her unloading some cases of alcohol into the bar.
"Hello Luffy, would you like to help me unpack these? Remember, you can't drink these." Makino greets, putting a case of beer on the counter.
"Sure. Shanks and his crew just left. Shanks said that they'll be back in a few days." Luffy comments while he rolls a barrel of sake down towards the back of the bar.
Luffy's head snaps up like a rubber band, "I just remembered. Makino, look at what I can do!"
Luffy shows Makino the way that he can stretch his cheeks way farther than a normal person's cheeks could stretch. "See, gnow I phave ag verdy baig sminle."
"You shouldn't talk like that Luffy, speak normally." Makino reminds him.
Luffy lets his cheeks snap back into place and repeats his statement, "Now I have a very big smile. I can even stretch my teeth." Luffy demonstrates by pulling on his canine teeth to make them stretch.
"Bleh bleh bleh, I'm a vampire! Shishishishishishi." Luffy laughs as he walks around pretending to suck peoples blood and burn in the sunlight.
Mikoto laughs at his antics, and decides to tell him later that you're not supposed to put fingers in your mouth. Afterall, what's the harm in a little fun once in a while?
"What's your problem kid? I'm a bandit and I've killed tons of people. I could easily kill a weakling like you." Higuma snarls at the annoying kid who has been a pain ever since he first came to this town.
"You made fun of Shanks. I'll beat you up for that!" Luffy screams at them.
"Listen boys, the little boy thinks that he can beat us up," Higuma says to his underlings who all laugh at the small child's misfortune. He makes his point to Luffy by poking him hard on the forehead, "You're weak, and I'm strong. There's nothing that you could ever do to change that."
Luffy's response at that moment was to bite the bandit's finger hard enough to make it bleed.
"Ow!" Higuma shouts to the chuckles of his subordinates, "Now you've pissed me off kid."
He takes his fists and starts beating the kid's innocent looking face up. The damn kid just stares up at him and smiles like he's unaffected.
"That won't hurt me, I'm a rubberman." Luffy states, grinning. He feels the blows, but they don't really hurt.
"A rubberman, eh?" Higuma mutters as he stretches one of the kid's cheeks, then lets go as if it's diseased, "The kid really is a freak. We could sell him to a circus for big money."
The mention of money gathers some cheers among the bandit group, and Luffy begins to fear for what's going to happen to him. He doesn't want to be part of a circus. He wants to be a pirate; he wants to be free!
So he kicks Higuma in the balls.
Everything freezes for a moment as the bandits are in shock and Higuma is in pain, before Higuma stands up and growls, "You little bastard." He is interrupted before he could raise his sword to the brat by the mayor of the town, Woop Slap.
"Please, we'll give you anything. Money, jewels, sake, just don't hurt the kid!" Woop Slap begs to the bandit leader on his knees with Makino by his side.
"Too late," Higuma replies with a smirk, "This kid has pissed me off, and I don't let those who piss me off get away with their life."
"I was wondering why nobody came to greet us at the port." A voice interjects before any other actions can be taken. Everyone at the scene turns to identify the new arrival and sees Red Haired Shanks and his crew walking towards them.
A bandit from the group takes initiative, and cocks their gun against the captain's head. "Nobody move or your captain gets it!" they say.
Shanks doesn't seem very perturbed by this as he just smiles and points at the pistol at his head, "Are you prepared to use this?"
"Wha-"
"A weapon isn't to make threats with," Shanks interjects, "A weapon is for action, and if you're prepared to use it, you also must be prepared to put your life on the line."
Immediately after he finishes, Lucky Roo shoots the bandit in the head. Shanks simply glances down at the corpse, clearly stating, "I don't care if you spill sake on me, or make a mess in Makino's bar, but I will not let you get away with threatening my nakama."
"Captain," Benn says as he moves to stand beside Shanks, "Let me take care of them."
"Sure, they're all yours." Shanks allows, and what follows is the decimation of the bandit group. In less than 10 seconds every bandit except for Higuma is either dead or unconscious.
Higuma, being outnumbered and overpowered, flees with the dropping of a smoke bomb and shouts, "Damn pirates!"
"Good to see that that's over." Shanks sighs, but once the smoke clears they are once again sent into a panic. Empty ropes and no sign of Luffy.
"Hehehe, they would never expect a bandit to flee to the water," Higuma laughs as he rows his small boat through the waters of the cove where Foosha Village is, "I was hoping to use you as a hostage but now you have no use to me."
Luffy struggles against the bandit who is trying to throw him out of the boat. Shanks said that he wouldn't be able to swim at all, so he can't go into the water. "Don't throw me into the water," he yells.
Higuma yells right back, "If you tell me not to, then that's what I'm gonna do!" He flings the kid over the edge of the boat a sizable distance away and laughs as he sees the kid struggling against the water.
Luffy notices two bright red eyes behind the bandit leader and struggles harding to try and swim even though he can already feel his strength sapping. It seems like the bandit leader didn't notice the same as the Lord of the Coast rose up and ate him as he was still laughing.
Luffy also notices when the red eyes turn to him, and he cries as loud as he could, "Shanks, help!"
It's as if it is a summoning call, as Shanks seems to suddenly appear just as the sea monster is about to eat them. The barely avoid the snapping jaws.
Although the Lord of the Coast didn't seem done with them yet, because it rose up out of the water for a final strike.
Shanks is having none of it. He glares at the sea monster with a force that Luffy could tangibly feel in the air, and says so quietly that it could've been a whisper, "Get lost."
With that, the Lord of the Coast flees from the two previous prey floating in the water, and Luffy cries into Shank's chest.
"It's okay Luffy, now you're safe," Shanks says soothingly to him.
Luffy isn't sure how he could handle what Shanks had done for him, "But Shanks…" he dares a look up to the bloodied left side of Shanks body, "Your arm!"
"It's okay Luffy, it's just an arm. My arm is nothing compared to your life." Shanks comforts the crying boy at his chest. Luffy apparently chooses this moment to fall unconscious from the effect of the sea. Of course Shanks is worried.
The view that the Red Haired Pirates have of Shanks swimming back with Luffy looks more like a torpedo flying through the water than anything else. As soon as Shanks reaches the shore he calls for the ship's doctor. The doctor takes a quick look at Luffy in the med bay before emerging to check in with Shanks.
"Shit Captain," the doctor says, "What the hell did you do to your arm? You know I can't fix that, right?"
"I don't care about my arm right now, how's Luffy?" Shanks pushes the doctor away from his arm as soon as it's bandaged enough to stop gushing blood, "Is he okay?"
"What does this have to do with the boy you and the others keep talking about? If you're talking about the girl you rescued, she just has some mild shock, which is to be expected after nearly being eaten."
"Girl?" Shanks, Lucky Roo, Benn, and Yassop all say. They clearly saw that Shanks dragged Luffy out of the water.
Yassop asks, "Why do you think that they're a girl?"
"W-well," The doctor stammers slightly, slightly daunted by the clear confusion on the faces of his superiors, "I had to change her out of the wet clothes that she was wearing and into the medical garments and, I mean, um, she's a girl all right."
Yassop and Shanks have to be held back by Lucky Roo and Benn after that piece of information is divulged, something about 'protecting Luffy's innocence'.
Once they've calmed down, they're bursting into the medical bay. "Luffy!" they all shout and search for the kid that they've gotten to know over the past year.
Luffy is just sitting on the bed looking bored, but when they enter he jumps to his feet. "Shanks," he says running up to the red-haired pirate, "How's your arm?"
"Stop talking about my arm, Luffy. First, are you okay? You're not hurt right?" Shanks demands to Luffy before he can say anything else about his arm.
Luffy shakes his head and affirms that he's perfectly fine, apparently taking to heart Shanks' command to stop talking.
"Now Luffy," Shanks begins, even though he really doesn't know how to ask this, "Why didn't you tell us you were a girl?"
Maybe that was the wrong way to phrase it as Luffy suddenly stiffens, and levels a harsh glare at Shanks. Luffy growls, although not very intimidatingly with his higher childish voice, "I'm not a girl. I don't care if you're stronger than me, I'll beat you up if you call me a girl."
Shanks seems very confused. "So you don't have a penis?" he asks.
"I don't need one to beat you up or to become the pirate king!"
"But if you don't have a penis doesn't that make you a girl?" Shanks continues.
"Nuh-uh. I'm a boy who doesn't have a penis." Luffy denies.
"Hmm. Are you an onabe then?" Shanks questions, only getting more confused as the conversation progresses.
"Baka Captain!" Yassop says as he knocks him over the head with his fist, "Luffy is something called transgender. It means that he's a boy in mind and spirit even though he doesn't have the right body."
"How do you know this, Yassop?" Shanks interrogates him, wondering if there was some sort of crash course that he missed at some point.
"There was a girl in my village who was around my age who was the same way but in reverse. She was a girl who was born with a penis, but she was just a normal girl otherwise. She wore dresses and played with dolls and just wasn't interested in being a boy. We were friends." Yassop explains.
"Why didn't we meet her when we went to your village then?" Shanks wonders aloud and Yassop winces.
"She was killed when she was 15," Yassop sadly informs, "Some bastards in the village thought that she was a freak after her voice and body started going through puberty. They… they said that if she wanted to be a girl so much that they would cut off all of the parts that made her male. They went too far… and the doctors weren't able to save her."
Everyone is silent for a few moments at the depressing tale before Luffy chimes in with a question, "Nee, nee. What does onabe mean?" Luffy asks curiously.
"Onabe means a woman who likes other women and dresses up as a man." Shanks enlightens him only to earn another hit from Yassop.
"Onabe is like okama. It's a slur that shouldn't be used to describe other people. Especially people who are generally targeted by such slurs." Yassop says the last part while glaring extra hard at his captain.
Shanks seems to at least realise his mistake, so he corrects himself to Luffy, "Sorry about that, that must have been my mistake. Afterall, you're going to grow up to be a strong man right?"
"Un," Luffy says with happy tears flowing out of his eyes. It means so much to him for Shanks to accept who he is regardless of his lack of a male body.
"That's a good boy," Shanks responds affectionately as he ruffles Luffy's hair. Luffy is a good kid, and Shanks doesn't want his own ignorance to get in the way of his happiness. "Now how about you run along to Makino and tell her all about the big adventure you had today."
Luffy nods and exits the med bay with Lucky Roo and Benn, leaving the two other pirates alone.
Shanks looks at Yassop, "Tell me everything I need to know."
Shanks talked with Luffy after that conversation, mentioning that he should keep his female body hidden, as he wouldn't be able to know who would accept him or who would hurt him. That talk ended up pretty redundant as he had apparently had similar discussions with Makino.
Although at this point in time, the Red Haired Pirates are preparing to set sail for the Grand Line once again, and most of Foosha village has come to see them off.
Luffy stands before Shanks at their departure, mostly quiet before he says, "One day I'll become stronger, and get my own pirate crew that will be able to beat yours. Then I'll become the King of the Pirates!" The last part is shouted out for the whole crew and village to hear.
Shanks walks up to Luffy and takes off his straw hat. "Become stronger then us, yeah? You can keep my hat safe until then and return it once you've beaten us, okay?"
Luffy sniffs as if holding back tears, "Get ready for when I kick your asses then, and I won't ask you to take me with you anymore."
"Heh." Shanks guffas, "I wouldn't have taken you even if you did ask."
After that, the Red Haired Pirates set sail, leaving behind a boy. A boy who would become strong. A boy who would become the Pirate King.