The Golden Trio
Chapter 2
Marineford - Coby's Office
The door opened and in came Helmeppo, with Coby trailing behind and slowly closing it. Locking it for extra safety, he faced his best friend with his head down. Helmeppo was sitting in Coby's chair, prepping his feet onto the desk and smoking an imaginary cigar.
"So, dear friend," Helmeppo began, leaning back on the chair. "Care to explain why you never told me all of this?"
"There was never a reason to," answered Coby, shuffling his feet in place. His head rose only to meet Helmeppo at eye level, and the lieutenant commander's eyes told him that he didn't believe a single word. His eyes immediately dropped to the floor.
"Sure, and I'm the fleet admiral." Helmeppo stood up and walked slowly towards Coby until he was standing right in front of the captain. "Come on, bud. I have a good idea why, but I wanna hear it from you."
Coby sighed, sensing that there was no escape. "Okay...I had a crush on her. Yes she's a lot younger but I still like her in that way." He slumped down on the ground, his hands on his head. "It's wrong, yet for some reason, I like how wrong it is."
"Do young girls turn you on?"
"NO! Hell no," disagreed Coby, shaking his head from side to side violently. "It's just that I liked how kind she was and how mature she seemed to be, since almost every woman I met back with Alvida were either violent or tricky. She was neither, and the only one who talked to me back at Shell Town."
Helmeppo just looked at his bestfriend's sad posture. He had crappy luck with women himself so he wasn't in any way qualified to cheer him up. But he tried, since that was what bestfriends did.
"Chin up Coby. What do you think Luffy would have done if he was in your position?"
Coby mulled over the question for a minute. "I have no idea."
"You're right," laughed Helmeppo, relieved that Coby was returning to his former self. "We have no idea what kind of woman he likes."
"As long as that person can cook, I don't think he'd mind it being a man," answered Coby. After thinking about the implications over what he just said, they both decided to call it a day and return to their dormitories. They hadn't drunk any alcohol that day, but with the last part of their conversation, they might as well have sloshed gallons.
Marineford - Rika's room
Rika finished arranging her things in her small room. She stared at her family picture hanging on the wall opposite her bed, and thought about how she met Coby after a long time. Helmeppo was quite the guy, shooing the fan girls so that they could talk. Her favors kept piling up, she needed to stop relying on the man.
She remembered back to when they saw each other again.
"Rika-san," Coby began breathlessly. He had a grin on his face, sunny just like she remembered it.
"Hey there, Coby sir," Rika returned, chiding him about his rank. Coby punched her shoulder lightly.
"Lay off. We're off-duty." Helmeppo came along after shooing everyone out. He'd just put on a mad face and the ladies would scamper. Never fails to work every time.
The three of them stood around for a moment before coming to their senses. Rika took Coby and Helmeppo up on their offer and started carrying her bags up the stairs, but the lady in the counter stopped them. "Hey hey, where are you going?" she demanded in an imperious tone. The three of them looked at her nameplate and saw the words 'landlady' engraved on it.
"Helping her settle down by carrying her bags, madam," answered Coby gracefully, laying on the charm with a smile. The landlady wasn't impressed.
"Boy, you might be one handsome bugger, but them's the rules," said the landlady, pointing at a sign behind her. It read, 'Only men with dormitory passes can go upstairs. Present it to the landlady before proceeding,'
"This is a special case then," said Coby, doing his best to ease in the rules. "Can you issue two passes right now for me and my friend here?"
"No, she must have stayed here for at least 3 months," replied the landlady without blinking. The three of them looked downcast after that.
"Aww guys, don't be like that," said Rika, picking up her own bags. "I'll carry them myself. Thanks for offering the help though."
Someone came down, and both guys saluted. Black Cage Hina returned Helmeppo's salute, but just looked deadpan at Coby. Rika's impression of her was that she was a fierce beauty. Whoever is her partner must be someone strong as well.
"It doesn't make sense to salute me when we're of the same rank," sniffed Hina, looking at Rika. "Also we're off duty. What are you doing here? As far as I know you don't have a girlfriend." She looked at Rika again and put two and two together. "She the girlfriend?"
"I am a new recruit ma'am," saluted Rika, which Hina returned. "It just so happens that I personally know both Captain Coby and Lieutenant Commander Helmeppo, because we all came from Shell Town base."
Hina stared at both Coby and Rika back and forth. She then nodded and went over at Coby, muttering the words, "Good luck." Helmeppo snorted while Coby had the reaction of someone whose deepest secrets had been outed. "Now move along. I'll help the poor girl with her things here."
Rika waved goodbye to her two seniors as Hina carried her bags along with her to her room.
"What's your name?" asked Hina, attempting to make small talk. Being the good girl that she was, Rika obliged.
"It's Rika ma'am. How do you know Coby-san and Helmeppo-san?"
"I'm Hina, call me Hina," said the captain, regretting that she didn't light a cigarette now that her hands were full. "They were Garp's trainees here in HQ, and I watched them do all sorts of things. I'm quite proud of them since they've raced through the ranks in just two years."
"Hina-san, this might be rude of me," tested Rika, afraid to get on the newly-introduced superior's bad side, "but are you Coby's fangirl too?"
Hina stopped abruptly, and cranked her head slowly to look at Rika like a rusty robot would. Her face was wrought with incredulity.
"No."
Marineford - Training Grounds
Coby woke up early the next day and cooked himself breakfast as was his habit. Today it was soy beans with cabbage and chicken gravy. A side of bagels accompanied the heavy breakfast along with the usual delivery of cappuccino. He had sent an order to Rika to show up early at the grounds, so he figured he would do some exercising himself.
After eating, he headed to the grounds in his tracksuit. The dawn air was chilly, and the dew was still visible. When he got there, he saw Rika doing the basic exercises by herself. Coby marveled at his subordinate's, nay- friend's punctuality.
"You're earlier than me," said Coby, cupping his hands as he called out to her. "That's amazing."
"I wouldn't want to disappoint my captain," Rika replied, a faint sheen of sweat forming on her person.
"I'm your captain, huh," mumbled Coby before he jogged towards her.
The captain made Rika do 500-meter sprints, 100-meter duckwalks, among other things. As light came, it became clear that Rika just was not New World level physically. In essence, her physical abilities were below the minimum required for missions in the New World. As a result, while the average recruit would just be panting lightly, Rika was dead on her feet. She collapsed onto the grass, her muscles aching for air, water, and rest.
Coby looked at her with worry. True it was his intention to bring her to HQ, but even HQ had rules. One of them was that all the Marines in HQ had to fulfill a certain physical criteria, even the old ones. Rika's results out of this impromptu session was way below the requirement. Coby's duty at this point was to tell her that she wasn't ready, but as a friend, he was loathe to disappoint her and make her pack her bags back to Shell Town after an overnight stay.
"We'll do this again tomorrow, okay?" said Coby, not looking back as he feared his honesty would get the best of him. He was determined to do whatever it took to get Rika up to speed, even if it required him to make her to all-nighters. The physicals for the recruits was coming tomorrow after all.
Marineford - Mess Hall
Helmeppo stood in line as the cooks filled his tray with food. He had heard that HQ had to deal with subpar glop some years before, when the Marley Brothers were the Head Chef and Sous Chef of the HQ kitchen, respectively. He looked down at his tray when it was filled and he still saw the same food. He sighed and walked towards where his and Coby's usual table was.
"Would it kill them to create a different menu?" complained Helmeppo, setting down his tray. "I've had enough of the same damn carrots for the last two years!"
Normally, Coby would reply with, "It's for our dream, Helmeppo-san," or "Be patient, change will come." But today, no retort arrived. Instead, Helmeppo was greeted with the sight of his captain putting his head between his hands.
"Something wrong, Coby?" he asked, eating his food mechanically. His tongue had long given up on taste. It was essential if you've been eating the same food almost three times a day for two years.
"It's Rika-san," said the distraught pinkette. "Her physical is not up to par compared to what the records say."
"You mean to say she cheated?"
"I don't know. I don't think she did. It's just hard to believe that she's at this level yet she's already a Warrant Officer."
"Maybe they promoted her because of other reasons."
Coby stared at Helmeppo hard. "And those reasons are...?" Helmeppo was confused for a moment, and suddenly he amended his statement.
"Not what you think! What I meant was, maybe she has excellent commanding skills or something along those lines. Those cannot be seen in a physicals sheet, we know that."
Coby resolved to contact Shell Town after his meal.
Marineford - Communications Department Building
"Operator, connect me to a private line in Shell Town base," requested Coby, taking out his wallet.
"That will be 20 Beli sir," said the operator, and Coby handed over the payment. In return, he was given a den den mushi which will be his for a limited time period of 30 minutes.
"Hello?"
"This is Captain Coby," he stated. "I wish to talk to Lieutenant Ripper."
"One moment please."
Various sounds could be heard until someone picked up the reciever at the other end.
"Lieutentant Ripper at your service," joked a voice that Coby hadn't heard for a long time.
"Ripper-san!" he exclaimed.
"Woah son, don't wet yourself!" said a surprised Ripper, happy to hear his former subordinate's voice again.
The two Marines spent some time to catch up with each other and talk about the past. It wasn't until Coby looked at the clock that he realized he'd consumed too much time being happy that he forgot the real reason he was calling for.
"Ripper-san, there's something I need to ask you about," said Coby. Ripper stiffened up at the change of tone in his voice. "Are Rika-san's physical results falsified?"
"No, it's not."
"Please be honest with me."
"I am telling you the truth, sir."
Coby didn't want to destroy his friendship with Ripper, but his natural honesty was clawing at him. He had been hearing bad rumors about Rika, and he wanted to put them all to rest.
"Another thing," Coby began, breathing in. "Rika was promoted in record time. If it wasn't for her physical abilities, then could it be that she...used some special favors to get-"
"ARE YOU A FUCKING IDIOT!?"
Coby's ear smarted from Ripper's loud voice and jerked the receiver away from him.
"SHE'S YOUR FRIEND, COBY. YOU KNOW HER MORE THAN ANYONE. YOU OF ALL PEOPLE SHOULDN'T DOUBT HER!"
The pinkette braved his former superior's scolding since seniority did not matter in this situation.
"She was very happy after every letter you sent back here! She was so inspired by your deeds and actions that she became the pride of Shell Town!" Deep inside, Ripper knew he was in danger of being court-martialed, but he didn't care. If it was to protect Rika, then he'd do anything.
"She worked hard to get where she is now! Don't negate that effort by listening to rumors that people who don't know her say! Trust in your bond as friends!"
Coby listened in silence as Ripper caught his breath.
"She was like a daughter to me, Coby. As her presumed father, I beg you to protect her in HQ."
"I'm sorry for doubting you and Rika-san," apologized the captain, choking up. "It was wrong of me to listen to the things other people said about her and letting it bother me."
"Don't be," replied Ripper. "You just thought of her well-being. Thank you for consulting me about it. It's better to let these things out in the open than keep it inside."
"So Ripper-san...what is the real reason then?" tried Coby tentatively. "I was just worried to the bone since there's only one day left before HQ calls all recruits for the exams."
"Oh, you'll see," teased Ripper, laughing. "By the way, you said that you ran your own personal physical on her, and that the results didn't match the ones on paper. Did you both go see a doctor?"
"What for? She didn't tell me she was sick, and she didn't look it," said Coby, thinking back to earlier in the day when Rika was sprawled out on the ground.
"Coby, have you ever had a girlfriend before?"
"What's with the out-of-this-world question, Ripper-san?"
"So never?"
"Never."
Ripper considered it for a minute, and finally gave in. "Coby, you go get Rika and tell her you're going to see the doctor. If she refuses, just pull rank. Tell the doc that you don't know what happened, since you said she seemed lousy at the early physical you did today."
"Will do. Thanks, Ripper-san," said Coby, almost bowing on the phone. "You've been a great help."
"One more tip, Coby. We use her extensively in scouting missions."
Marineford - Female Dormitories
Having learned his lesson, Coby waited a safe distance from the buildings. He wore civilian clothing for added precaution. He just hoped there wouldn't be a summons from the higher-ups, because of the hassle that was called changing attire.
As soon as Rika exited the dorm, she immediately spotted Coby hiding behind a lamp post.
"How did you know it was me right away?"
"Only you have that horrible fashion sense."
The time spent walking to the clinic was dominated by profuse apologies by Coby and numerous "It's alright" replies from Rika. The contagious bowing would have lasted for a long time had Rika not asked where they were going.
"We're going to a clinic for a check up," replied Coby nonchalantly. Rika's eyes bugged out and started walking back to the dormitory but one strong arm from Coby dissuaded her from leaving. "I order you to follow me to the clinic." The girl had no choice but to follow; Marineford was still a military base at its core.
The pinkette waited for the result of the check up, his right knee going up and down nervously. The doctor's secretary looked at him funny. Time seemed to pass by slowly for Coby, until the door to the doctor's office opened and the patient was nowhere to be seen.
"What's the matter, doc?" asked a hopeful Coby.
"Yup, you've never had a girlfriend in your life," replied the doctor with a deadpan expression. "Your subordinate here is undergoing her period. The reason why she didn't tell you is because it was her first time."
"At 14?"
"Believe it or not, some women don't get it as late as 16. Conversely, some start at 9 years old." With that statement, Rika exited the office with her face as red as a tomato. "Dearie, it's okay. Captain here won't be teasing you about it, right?" The doctor's eyes seemed to bore a hole right through Coby's psyche when she said that.
"I would not dream of it," replied Coby, saluting. "I swear it on my honor as a Marine."
"You don't need to go that far," laughed the doctor, and pretty soon the secretary, Rika, and even Coby himself joined in.
As they walked back to the dormitories, Rika found her voice and started apologizing. "Coby-san, I'm sorry for not telling you about what was happening to me. I was just so embarrassed about it and it was all very new to me."
"No need to worry, Rika-san," Coby replied, ruffling her hair. "I'll do all the worrying for you so you don't have to do it yourself, okay?"
"If you say so," she acquiesced while pulling a smile worth a million Beli.
"Hey, Coby, Rika," called Helmeppo from a distance. "Let's eat somewhere out today. I got an advance from our next mission."
"You took out some money from before we did it?" complained Coby. "Helmeppo-san, why are you such an idiot?"
"You don't have taste buds. I do," retorted Helmeppo. "I would love some real food once in a while. You in, Rika?"
"Sure, but I still haven't gotten my pay," Rika said while checking her wallet.
"It's on the house."
"Helmeppo-san!"
A/N: I know that it's really supposed to be Shells Town, and I made Rika older than she really is. But this is my fic and you can't do anything about it, la la la~. I did try to set up an explanation as to why she looks so young in her time skip appearance. Yes, you want adventure and action, and you'll get it next chapter! Please review! I love reviews. Criticism is what drives me, grrr!