AN: Sorry that this chapter took a long time to publish. There was going to be some action (involving the navy) in this chapter, but I've decided to rewrite it (about 4 or 5 times until I thought it's good enough) because I felt that there was going to be some issues with it. So, I took this opportunity to have a chapter where the Straw Hats, Ryuko, and Mako bond a little more than the chapter before. Hope you like this chapter and please tell me what you think of it.


"Usopp... I'm bored." Luffy groaned as he, Usopp, and Chopper fish from the side of the Thousand Sunny.

They knew that they didn't really need to fish for any sea life since they're still on the island, but it's better than doing absolutely nothing until the log pose is able to register magnetic waves of the islands by tomorrow morning.

"It's not going to be any better if you keep on saying that." Usopp said, frowning at his rubber friend.

Chopper's eyes widen when he notice someone walking around the docks, and shouted, waving at the person down below, "Hi, Mako!"

The brown-haired girl look up to see the three sitting on the Thousand Sunny's edge, and shouted with a wave, "Hello!"

"Maybe she have something fun." Luffy said.

Usopp and Chopper watch in shock as Luffy reeled in his fishing pole and threw in the line, which cause the hook to get caught onto the back of Mako's shirt. As Luffy reeled in Mako, Chopper said, "You could have just asked her to come here instead of that."

"But it wouldn't be exciting if I did." Luffy said, which just cause the snipper and the doctor to sweatdrop at his answer.

Once Mako was up to their level, the brown-haired girl said with a smile, "Do you need anything, Luffy?"

...Why isn't she shocked by this? Usopp thought.

"Do you have any stories?" Luffy ask.

"Hm..." Mako said, thinking of something, not faze with the fact that she's danging over the ocean by a fishing hook because of a rubber man. "Oh! How about I tell you guys about my home call Honno City?"

"Honno City?" Usopp said, not recognizing the name at all. "Is it an island somewhere around here, Mako?"

"I think so. I'm not exactly sure where it is now." Mako said as Luffy settle her down onto the ship's grassy lawn.

"...But you said Honno City is your home." Chopper said, confused.

"Yeah, but I don't know where it is right now."

Usopp and Chopper sweatdropped. Luffy soon notice the cloth covered box in Mako's hands and said, "What's that?"

"It's Ryuko''s lunch." Mako proudly said. "I made it and sometimes, she would forget to bring it to work, but I would always bring it to her."

Hearing that the box have food in it, a hungry look appears on Luffy's face as he reach for the pink bento box, saying, "Give me some!"

"No! This is Ryuko's food and I made it myself." Mako exclaimed, swatting away Luffy's stretching hands. "Besides, you have Sanji and he's a chef!"

"But Sanji would always kick me out of the kitchen whenever I try to get some food." Luffy complained.

"That's because you would to eat everything that's edible... and possibly anything not edible." Usopp said.

"What's Honno City like?" Chopper ask the brown-haired girl, hoping that they would get off the topic of food for now.

"Oh yeah." Mako said, hitting her fist into her palm as she sat down on the ground. "Well, imagine a huge island with a large mountain."

The three members of the Straw Hat Pirates nodded, imagining Mako's blunt description. Raising her hand up, Mako said, "Instead of a bunch of trees on the mountain, replace them with luxury houses, or at least the ones pretty close to the top."

The rubber man, the snipper, and the doctor awed, as they imagine those fancy houses at the top. Mako lowered her hand and said, "Around the bottom of the mountain is where the poor people are. That's where Ryuko, my family, and I live."

"Wait, you have a family? How come we didn't get to meet them at the dinner yesterday?" Usopp ask, confused.

"Well, they're probably some other island right now." Mako said. "Not exactly sure where they are, but I'm sure they're still out there."

Usopp and Chopper looked a bit confused as Luffy let this hand sneak towards the cloth covered bento box. Mako suddenly snapped her fingers and said, "Oh yeah. Right on top of the mountain is Honnoji Academy."

"Academy?" Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper said at the same time, tilting their heads to the side in confusion.

"Yes. In Honnoji Academy, the students' ranking would tell where their family lives on the island," Mako said. "And their ranking shows on their uniforms called the Goku Uniforms."

The brown haired girl tugged on her blue and white shirt and said, "This is the girls' No Star Goku Uniform."

"Weren't you wearing that yesterday?" Usopp said, just realizing the outfit Mako was wearing.

"Yup. Ryuko and I tend to wear the same piece of clothing every few days to save on soap and water since we sort of have a limited budget." Mako said with a smile, which the three nodded in agreement since they do the same thing too. "There's a One Star uniform, a Two Stars uniform, and a Three Stars uniform for the students to wear."

Mako take in a deep breath and said, "The One Star uniforms who have really good grades and are very loyal to Lady Satsuki Kiryuin. They can make you a little tougher, but not as powerful as the two Stars or the Three Stars."

"Who's that?" Luffy ask.

"The uniforms can make you stronger?" Usopp said, amazed by that fact.

"Lady Satsuki is the student council president of Honnoji Academy, and no one would ever go against her. Not even the teachers or the principle could do anything about her!" Mako exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air, but she quickly added, "Except for Ryuko."

Is this Lady Satsuki like a Celestial Dragon? Usopp thought with a small shiver running down his back.

"The Two Stars uniforms are usually for the club presidents. They're stronger than the One Stars, and they have weird powers, like the Boxing Club Captain had super strong boxing abilities, like shooting out punches."

"Are they like Devil Fruits?!" Chopper ask, very shock to hear clothing could do that.

A look of confusion appears on Mako's face as she ask, "What are Devil Fruits?"

"Well, to make it short, Devil Fruits can give you a special power, but it also takes away your ability to swim if you eat." Usopp explain. "Like Luffy over here. He ate the Gum Gum Fruit, and now he's made out of rubber, but he's useless in water."

"Hm... I guess the Goku Uniforms are kind of like Devil Fruits, but you can wear them and you can still swim while wearing them." Mako said, crossing her arms.

Mako's eyes widen as she said, "Oh yeah. The Three Stars Goku Uniforms belongs only to the Elite Four, who are extremely loyalty to Lady Satsuki. There's Ira Gamagori the Disciplinary Committee Chair, Hoka Inumuta the Straegy Committee Chair, Nonon Jakuzune the Non-Athletic Committee Chair, and Uzu Sanageyama the Athletic Committee Chair."

Even though the three members of the Straw Hat Pirates doesn't know most, or at least practically all, of this school stuff since they never actually went to school, they still nodded along with Mako's explanation of her school.

"You can't believe what Ira's ability could do with his Goku Uniform." Mako said, remembering the event before the Sudden Death Runoff Election. "There was this one time- Hey!"

Mako angrily pouted, glaring at Luffy, who was eating Ryuko's croquettes.

I'm surprise it took that long for Luffy to take the food. Usopp thought, not very shocked by this.

"Those aren't your's!" Mako shouted at the rubber man as she try to reach for the pink bento box, but Luffy was using his Gum-Gum ability to push the brown-haired girl right into the Thousand Sunny's mast.

"Luffy!" Sanji angrily shouted, holding a silver platter as kick his captain to the ground.

"Sanji?!" Chopper and Usopp shouted, shocked that the cook seem to come out of nowhere.

"No! He ate Ryuko's lunch!" Mako shouted once she retrieve the bento box.

"They tasted a little weird, but they're still good." Luffy said, standing up and dusting himself off.

Sanji glared at the Straw Hats's captain as he picked up the bento box, but there was a small part of him that's glad his captain did. He kind of expected that Ryuko's lunch might be those croquettes made out of garbage from what Luffy said about the lunch.

Patting Mako's shoulder, Sanji said, "Let me make you some lunch, Mako."

"Okay..." Mako said, frowning since her hard work was eaten by the rubber man.

As Sanji and Mako walk to the kitchen, Usopp said, "Maybe Zoro was right about Sanji liking younger girls.", which just earned him a kick to the ground by the chef himself.


"I must apologize for my captain. He's always hungry no matter how much I try to feed him." Sanji said once the two reached the kitchen.

"I guess it's okay, but he doesn't understand how hard I try to find good garbage in the morning so I could make croquettes for Ryuko's lunch." Mako said, which caused Sanji to slightly frown at the word 'garbage'.

"Why didn't you eat the croquettes I made yesterday?" Sanji ask.

"Well, Ryuko and I have to eat something for breakfast."

"...Fair enough."

The brown-haired girl notice Sanji putting the platter into the sink, and ask, "What were you using that platter for anyway?"

She saw a sudden change in Sanji, seeing his visible eye turned into a heart as a weird, wide grin appears on his face.

"To serve Nami-swan's and Robin-cwan's drinks, of course!" Sanji proudly exclaim as he practically spin around the kitchen.

Sitting on one for the stools, Mako thought, How come Sanji's always act like that with Nami and Robin? Does he act like that with other girls? If he does, then why not act like that with Ryuko and I? Then again, he's kind of old so maybe it's not a good idea.

"What would you like?" Sanji ask.

"Rice omelet!" Mako happily shouted.

"Coming right up."

Watching Sanji gather the ingredients for the rice omelet, Mako thought of an idea. The brown-haired girl said in a low whisper, "Sanji..."

"Hm?" Sanji said, taking a brief moment to stop what he's doing. "What is it?"

"Can I tell you a secret?" Mako whispered, shifting her amber eyes around to see if anyone is in the room.

Sanji nodded and leaned a little closer to hear this secret. In a quiet voice, Mako said, "Ryuko can get cool powers from Senkentsu."

Sanji leaned back, showing the look of confusion to the young girl as the chef ask her, "Who's Senkentsu?"

"The sailor uniform Ryuko was wearing yesterday." Mako explained, making the chef remember the clothes Ryuko was wearing at the dinner.

"Oh..." Sanji said, wondering why that would be a secret.

"Yeah, I remember she used to talk to Senkentsu, but she doesn't anymore." Mako said, which Sanji thought was strange.

Then again, look at our crew. Sanji thought.

"Ryuko have to give her blood to Senkentsu to get these powers," There was a big grin on Mako's face as she said, "Which makes Senkentsu turn really small, like barely covers any part of her body, and really tight."

Sanji's visible eye widen, his body grew stiff, and Mako could see the chef trying to fight off a blush. The chef quickly started to get ready for the rice omelet.

Almost got him. Mako thought with a pout.

Mako watch as Sani prepare and cook the rice omelet. She was quite fascinated with Sanji's cooking skills, seeing that the cook seem more professional than anyone else. Then again, the only cook she've seen cook is her mom.

A smile appears on Mako's face once she thought of another idea come to her head as Sanji place the dish into Mako's pink bento box, along with two rice balls.

"Ryuko isn't the only one who have a sailor uniform with awesome powers." Mako said as Sanji stiffened again. "Back home, there's this girl name Satsuki Kiryuin have an white and blue, military-looking uniform name Junketsu."

"That's... nice, Mako. Don't continue, please." Sanji said, hoping he doesn't sound too rude as he quickly wrap the bento box with the yellow cloth.

"She's 18 years old, Sanji." Mako quickly added, which cause Sanji's nose to bleed almost like a garden hose.

"...Your nose is bleeding." Mako pointed out.

Sanji turn away from the young girl to wipe the blood off of his nose with a towel, and said, "I'm sorry you have to see that."

"Don't worry. My dad, my brother, and my dog can be pretty perverted towards Ryuko." Mako said like it was nothing.

...A dog can be perverted towards a human girl? Oh, wait a minute. Sanji thought as he remembers his adventures in Alabasta with his crew. That stupid camel.

"Mako, tomorrow morning is when the Straw Hats have to leave," Sanji said, giving her the box. "If we have enough time, you could say good bye to us."

Mako slowly nodded and left the kitchen. Sanji let out a sign, and thought, I'm going to stare at a wall and forget everything Mako said about their clothing. ...Mostly Ryuko.


Once Mako came out of the kitchen, the brown-haired girl heard, "HEY! Don't you ever do that again, Luffy!"

"Luffy, you should really stop bringing people up here with your fishing pole." Usopp said, staring at this captain in disbelief.

"But it's so much faster this way." Luffy said, which cause Usopp and Chopper to sweatdrop at his answer.

Mako grinned widely when she saw Ryuko hanging from Luffy's fishing pole's hook with an annoyed look on her face.

"RYUKO!" Mako shouted, running towards them, then leap onto Ryuko's body.

Clinging onto Ryuko's body very tightly, Mako said quickly, "Sorry that it took me a long time to find you, but Luffy ate the lunch I made for you, so Sanji made you some new lunch, which took about a half hour."

Mako quickly slap away Luffy's hand before he could grab the bento box. With a big smile on her face, Mako said, "We should eat now before the rice omelet could get cold... or get eaten by a certain someone."

Mako glared at Luffy, but the rubber man wasn't bothered by it.

"...Great idea, but we should really get down before we could eat." Ryuko said. "...Or else we fall down to our deaths."

"Come on, Ryuko. We've survived many obstacles back home, like using giant skulls to cross over a huge pool of lava!" Mako said.

She's right about that, but lava can still kill me! Ryuko thought.

"You did!?" Chopper shouted, sounding shocked.

"Yeah, it was for this thing in school where we have to wake up really early and have to go through these tough obstacles, like jumping through bridges with huge gaps in them!"

"You can do that in school?!" Luffy exclaim, sounding excited.

"Only at our school."

"That's not really something to be proud of." Ryuko said, sweatdropping.

"How strong do you think Luffy would be with one of those Goku Uniforms?" Usopp suddenly ask, staring at the two girls.

"You told them about the Goku Uniforms?" Ryuko said to Mako.

"It's not really that important if I told them or not." Mako said, shrugging her shoulders while still clinging onto Ryuko.

"I don't need to wear an uniform to be strong! I'll only wear it if it's cool-looking. Are they cool-looking?" Luffy ask Mako.

"The One Star and No Star uniforms aren't that cool. But some of the Two Stars and the Three Stars uniforms are pretty cool looking."

Luffy stayed silent for a moment to think and said, "I might wear them if I get my hands on one."

"Don't wear one. It'll make you hungry for power and money! I know, it happened to me and my family."

"Then we'll make sure Nami doesn't wear one." Usopp said. "She's already hungry for money, but we don't need her to be power hungry too."

"What was that?!" Nami, who was wearing a jacket over her bikini cladded body, angrily shouted, giving Usopp a hit so hard that the snipper crash into the ground.

"Why do I keep getting hit?" Usopp groaned, trying to pick himself up.

"What were you guys talking about anyway?" Nami ask, trying to keep herself calm as she notice Ryuko and Mako hanging by the end of a fishing hook.

"Just about ourself." Mako said with a smile.

Nami could see the annoyed look on Ryuko's face, and the navigator said, "Luffy, put them down right now."

"Okay." Luffy said, setting the duo down on the ship.

Well, at least he didn't literally put them down, like dropping them. Nami thought, thankful that the captain isn't that stupid.

"Thank you for the food!" Mako shouted, opening the bento box.

Luffy try to reach for the rice omelet, but Mako quickly slap his hand away as Ryuko started to eat the lunch.

This is amazing! Ryuko thought when she got a bite of the rice omelet as she watch Mako keep slapping Luffy's hand whenever the rubber man gets close to the food.

"I'll tell Sanji that you keep trying to steal Ryuko's food!" Mako exclaimed, pointing at the straw hat wearing man. "I'm sure he'll beat you up for it!"

Luffy still stretched his hand towards the food, but he immediately stopped before it could bump into a small, red scissor blade held by Ryuko as the seventeen year old girl still continue to eat the rice omelet.

"Cool! It's a tiny sword!" Luffy exclaimed with his eyes sparkling.

"Scissor blade." Usopp and Chopper corrected him once they notice the weapon's shape.

"Even if it was a tiny sword, it would technically be called a knife." Nami said.

Ryuko let her Scissor Blade grow until it was big enough to be called a sword, causing the three male members of the Straw Hats to shout with their eyes sparkling, "So cool!"

"Ryuko, what is that?" Nami ask, sounding a bit impress by the black-haired girl's odd-looking weapon.

"This is the Scissor Blade!" Mako exclaim, taking the weapon into her hand and raising it above her head.

"I'm not explaining where I got it." Ryuko quickly added, sounding rather blunt.

"It looks cool, but how well does it cut?" Usopp said with a rather mischievous smile on his face.

"Is there anything we can slice like a giant rock?!" Luffy exclaim, looking at the island to see if there's anything to cut.

Mako rubbed her chin, staring at the island as she and Chopper stood next to the captain. Nami and Ryuko sighed at the group's idea. Luffy slowly turn his head towards the crow's nest and a wide grin soon appears on his face.

Ryuko's eyes widen when she suddenly felt an arm around her hip and she was suddenly slam against Luffy's side. As Luffy throw back his rubber arm, Ryuko shouted, "What?! Wait, what are you doing, Luf-!?"

Ryuko was cut off when Luffy's arm fling onto the crow's nest's railings and the two were shot towards the crow's nest, as Ryuko scream in horror while Luffy scream out, "ZORO!"

"...I'm going to back to sunbathing with Robin." Nami said, walking towards where Robin is as she felt like this isn't going to be a good time.