Yay! I've completed chapter three!

In this chapter, Kyosuke's and Luffy's relationship will be developed.

Read and Review.


Chapter 3

Rival Reunion!

Luffy dreamed to a distant memory that dates back at least 10 years ago...

At Foosha Village, in the Party's Bar, a small Luffy, who didn't have his signature scar under his eye or trademark strawhat, was, for the thirtieth time today, pestering Shanks to let him go on an adventure with him and his crew.

"Hell no!" Shanks rejected for the thirtieth time today.

"Why not?" Luffy whined for the thirtieth time today.

"Because you're a kid," Shanks answered in a teasing voice.

"No I'm not!" Luffy cried out in a childish tantrum.

"Because you're weak."

"No I'm not! My punch is like a pistol!" Luffy declared holding up a small fist.

"That so, huh?" Shanks said in a dry disbelieving voice.

"It's the truth!" Luffy declared.

"If you actually had a punch that strong, then why haven't you been able to beat Kyosuke, eh?" Shanks questioned with an evil smile. He glanced at the young dark haired boy, who was, quietly, eating his meal.

"So you'd take someone as strong as Kyosuke?" Luffy asked.

"Well… maybe not someone as strong as him," Shanks said with an evil smile. "But maybe if you were able to beat him, then I might rethink things."

"Really?!" Luffy immediately jumped at Kyousuke, but the former was blocked by the latter's finished plate, which was hit by Luffy's face, then Luffy comically fell face first on the floor. "Oww…"

"HAHAHA!" Shanks and the rest of his crew laughed hysterically. "How many losses does that make now? 50?"

"No a hundred."

"No two hundred.

"Id say five hundred!"

"It isn't over yet!" Luffy declared passionately. He shook Kyousuke's stool back and forth, but the dark haired boy remained indifferent. "Get down here, you jerk!"

"You're the jerk here," Kyosuke retorted. He jumped from his stool and landed a well placed kick at the center of Luffy's face. Luffy's head hit the wooden floor hard and even broke a bit of the wood. Shank's crew laughed even harder, but it was cut short by the angry glare of the normally sweet Makino.

"Shanks. Stop making the boys fight just for your own amusement," Makino said sternly. "Or do you want me to remind you the only reason Lilia hasn't kicked you out of the island is because Luffy likes you."

"Oh come on, Makino," Shanks said fearfully. He had no desire to have to face that monster of a woman. "It was only a bit of fun, right, Luffy?"

No response

"Luffy?" Red hair looked down to see his young friend had not gotten up, but was in actuality in an unconscious state and even foaming at the mouth. "...Maybe it would be better for Luffy's health if he gave up on beating Kyousuke?"


Luffy's eyes jerked open. He was half-way surprised to see that his orange haired navigator was only inches away from his face. They both were in the guy's cabin. "N-Nami?"

The navigator smiled. "You're awake now, huh? You've been asleep all morning. It's past noon and you missed breakfast and lunch."

"I did?!" Luffy jumped up, feeling hysteric. "Why the hell didn't anyone wake me up?!"

"The guys said you weren't waking up, so I decided to wake you up," Nami explain.

"Oh. Well, thanks, Nami."

"No problem," Nami smiled. "Had a bad dream?"

"What?" Luffy looked confused.

"You had this angry look on your face and you kept talking in your sleep. So, who's Kyosuke?"

Luffy was silent. "No one."

"Didn't sound like "no one"," Nami scoffed.

"He's someone I knew," Luffy elaborated. "I really hate him."

"He a bad guy or something?" Nami asked, feeling Luffy wasn't telling the whole story.

"No, he's not bad guy, but I still hate him," Luffy said.

Nami sighed. "Sounds like some of that strange love-hate relationships that are common among boys."

"I don't like him," Luffy defended hotly.

"But you say he's not a bad guy," Nami said. "How can you hate someone, who you don't think is a bad guy?"

"I just do, okay!" Luffy snapped, feeling, uncharacteristically, annoyed. Jeez! Even thinking about that overconfident, pretty boy made his blood boil.

"Whatever," Nami shrugged before walking to the exit of the boys room. "We saved you some food, so hurry up and eat it. Oh, and we're about to reach another island soon."

"Meat!" Luffy screamed as he ran past Nami, who muttered, "He's such a kid."

But as Luffy ran to the dining hall, he couldn't help but think that dreaming about Kyosuke was a little weird. He hadn't thought about him in quite a while, to suddenly dream about him was…. weird.


Kyosuke took Kachu's ship to get to the island with the marine base. When he got there, it was completely empty. Even after Kyosuke did a thorough check of the ships perimeter, no one was there. He guessed every crew member left for the raid, or maybe whoever was left to guard the ship saw that his crew was beaten and ran away. It didn't really matter.

Kyosuke gracelessly dropped Kachu on the far edge of the ship and began to steer.

"This is boring," Kyosuke said after a while. He didn't really enjoy people's company all too much, but even he got bored with nothing to do. He glanced at Kachu's unconscious body, remembering how he said the old guy arrested his former captain. He didn't sympathize with the pirate, but he could understand the pain born from a lost loved one. "How long until I get to the next island?"


"Bad news," a man said. "More pirates are approaching!"

"What?! Again?!"

"We just got rid of the last group of pirates."

"Maybe that young man will help us?"

"He's already left the island."

"His friends is still here. Maybe they'll help us, plus we have Shingo. He was a vice-admiral, right?"

"It's more complicated than that. It's the Straw Hat pirates. They attacked Enies Lobby and have an overall bounty of over 600 million! Their captain has a three hundred million berri bounty!"

The villagers paled. They sounded more dangerous than the ones who attacked them earlier.

"More pirates," Shin growled as heard the villagers speak.

"300 million? That's more than 10 times that other captain's bounty was," Rine said anxiously.

"Plus, Mr. Kyousuke's already left the island," Honda whimpered.

"His friends seem strong, maybe they'll beat them," Nagi said hopefully. "Where are they?"

"They've been out gathering the other pirates for awhile now," Rine said. "They should be done soon, unless something went wrong."

"Don't be such a pessimist," Shin scolded.

"You kids don't have to worry," Shingo promised. "I'll protect you."

"But you've gotten so old," they said in unison.

"Who's old?!"

"I'm worried you're too rusty, grandpa," Rine said worriedly.

Shingo calmed down when his granddaughter looked at him "Well… I have a feeling it won't be a big problem."

"What do you mean?" Rine asked.

"We'll see," Shingo said as he went to the docks.

"That was foreshadowy," Shin said.

"Hey, kids, what's up," said the young curly blonde haired boy-Glen- as he approached them with his friends close behind.

"It's Mr. Kyosuke's friends," Honda said excitedly. "Hey look at the big guy!"

The big guy-Giro- was holding up the pirates, who were unconscious and tied up in one big bunch, in the side of his one arm like the were as light as an empty box.

"He's carrying fifty guys like it's nothing," Nagi said in awe.

"Hello, you guys," Rine said to them. "Thank you for helping our village."

"Oh it was nothing," Glen said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Well yeah it was nothing. Kyosuke is the one who beat all the pirates. We had hardly anything to do with it," Kaeno said with an empty tone. Glen shot her a look.

"Still, you really did help us by gathering up all the defeated pirates for us," Rine continued, then bowed. "It would have been very bad if they started raiding us…" Her voiced trailed off and her smile turned to a frown.

"Seriously, what's wrong?" Glen pressed. "It looks like everyone here's still scared. You'd think they'd be happy since their pirate problem was solved before there were any casualties."

"For once I agree with Glen," Kaeno said. "Did something happen?"

"It's bad," Shin said gloomily. "It sounds like more dangerous pirates are coming."

"What makes them any more dangerous than these light weights?" Giro asked as held up the unconscious pirates under his arm.

"They have an overall bounty of over 600 million and they're called the Straw Hats," Shin explained. "Their captain has a 300 million beri bounty."

"Straw Hats?" Glen repeated with a quizzical look. "Doesn't Kyosuke sometimes talk about a guy wearing a straw hat?"

"He does," Theos nodded. "I doubt that it is a coincidence."

"So there's a chance it's the same guy," Kaeno said.

"So he's a good guy?" Glen guessed.

"We'll see," Kaeno said.


"Hey, I think things are gonna get complicated at the next island," Zoro called as he looked to the direction of said island.

"What do you mean?" Nami asked as she approached the swordsman.

"I can see the shadows of a clutter of people over there," Zoro explained. "Call me crazy, but I don't think they're there just for the hell of it. Should we skip this island?"

"We can't," Nami answered at once. "There isn't another island for over a week and our supplies are drastically low. Actually, there is one other, but it's one with a marine base so…"

"This can only be expected," Robin spoke up, as she got up from a lawn chair after reading. "Even back when the captain only had a 100-million berri bounty, we were still, more or less, an unknown pirate crew, but after the Ennies Lobby incident and the whole crew getting bounties…"

"Having bounties sck," Nami muttered bitterly.

"But the whole crew doesn't have a bounty," Chopper said. "Usopp doesn't have one."

"Usopp? Oh yeah…." Nami narrowed her eyes at the long nosed sniper, who started sweating at the mention of bounties. Truth is, Usopp did have a wanted poster, but not as himself, but as Sniperking, a masked man. Nami thoght it might not be a bad idea to send Usopp to get supplies, but decded against it, since anyone with half a brain could tell that it was Usopp on the poster. "Well, people might recognize him from Luffy's poster, so it might not not be a good idea to send him."

"Well, I could go, since no one knows that I'm apart of the crew yet, no one will care if I'm there," Brook offered.

"You'd be chased out of there faster than any of us!" Nami screamed.

"Oh I guess you're right," Brook said kind of dissapointedly. "Oh well, may I see your panties."

"No!" Nami shouted as she smacked the perverted skeleton on the head.

"What's going on guys," Luffy said with food in his mouth as he came from the dining room.

"We can't go to the next island," Nami explained. "But we need to get supplies."

"Why can't we go?"

"Because of our bounties."

"We could send Usopp and Brook?"

"It wouldn't work!" Nami was beginning to lose her patience.

"Hm…" Luffy seemed to be deep in thought. "Sanji, how much food do we have left?"

"Barely enough for a light lunch," Sanji answered.

"Then it's settled," Luffy said, the he wailed, "CAPTAIN'S ORDERS! Let's go to the next island and get so MEAT!"

"Figures that would be your main concern," Nami sighed. "It is unavoidable, since we need supplies, but you do realize that it'll be hard to shop if the people start to chase us out, right?"

"If we say we won't hurt them, they won't attack us, right?"

"Like it would be that easy!" Nami shouted, then she sighed. "But yeah, whatever, I guess nothing too awful will happen if we go."

With that said, the ship sailed forward for the island, and the moment they reached the docks, a huge bodied man jumped onto the ship's deck with an incredible thud, shocking the Straw Hats.

"Hello, I'm Shingo," Shingo introduced himself casually. "Not that it matters, but I used to be a marine vice-admiral.

"A marine vice-admiral?!" Chopper and Usopp cried out hysterically.

"I knew something like this would happen!" Nami declared frightfully.

"And what exactly is it that you want," Zoro said darkly as he and the other fighters of the crew got into fighting positions.

"Pirate crews these days sure are high strung," Shingo sighed as he casually rubbed his ears. "Look, I'm not here for a fight, and as for why I'm here well… which one of you is Straw Hat Monkey D. Luffy?"

"Ooh! That's me!" Luffy said cheerfully as he raised his hand.

"Idiot! Don't just reveal yourself like that!" Nami scolded.

"You introduced yourself to someone who could very well be your enemy without so much as a second thought," Shingo noted then grinned. "With that attitude your Garp's grandson or your no one's grandson."

"You know my grandpa," Luffy said surprised.

"Yeah, we were comrades in the old days," Shingo explained. "Incidentally, Axel and Carsa were also in our unit."

"Wait? You know Kyosuke's grandpa and Sona's grandma too," Luffy asked, feeling shocked.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Shingo said. "More importantly, the townspeople think you're here to attack us, but I'm willing to to bet that, since you're Garp's Grandkid and all, you'll be decent enough not to pillage our small town, am I right?"

"Yeah, sure," Luffy said grinning. "We just want meat."

"And supplies," Nami spoke up.

"Alright then, just give me a moment to explain to everyone the situation and you're good to go," Shingo said before jumping off the ship.

"Well, he seemed nice," Chopper said.

"I have to agree, things would have hairy if he wasn't here," Nami nodded. "Our luck is almost never this good!"

"Um, excuse me, but who exactly is Luffy-san's grandfather, exactly," Brook asked.

"Right, you weren't there before," Nami remembered. "He's a marine vice-admiral."

"He's a marine?!" Brook exclaimed.

"Not only that, but he's famous for cornering Gold Roger several times," Nami continued.

"Roger? That name sounds familiar," Brook said.

"You don't know who Gold Roger is?" Nami said, feeling surprised, then she remembered that Brook spent the last 50 years in florian triangle. "Right, I guess you wouldn't know him. He was the first pirate king."

"He was? So he is Luffy-san's would-be predecessor," Brook said.

"Not how I'd put it, but yeah, I guess that's one way of saying it," Nami said.

"That's interesting and all, but what I want to know is who are Axel and Carsa," Usopp asked. "Luffy, you seemed to know them."

"When he said Axel and Carsa," Robin said with a thumb and finger on her chin. "Was he talking about the vice-admirals Axel and Carsa?"

"I guess so," Luffy said, flashing his trademark grin.

"That's something…."

"You Know, I think I've heard of those guys before," Zoro said as thought it over. "Yeah… this Axel man is famous for being one of the few marines to take on Whitebeard and live. Actually, I've heard he's come even closer to killing Whitebeard than even Gold Roger himself."

"Wow, Grandpa Axel fought with Ace's captain," Luffy said while picking his nose.

"At least don't pick your nose while talking about something so important!" Some of the Straw Hats shouted.

"And as for Vice-Admiral Carsa," Robin continued. "She was know as "The Strongest Female Marine" and she's wiped out as many pirate crews as there are fish in the sea. Some called her a "Pirates Disaster" for her monstrous strength."

"They sound really strong…." Chopper said in awe.

"They are," Luffy said with a laugh. "Grandpa Axel is always fighting with my grandpa, but Grandma Carsa always stops them in the middle. Oh, and Grandma Carsa makes the best cakes and cookies." Luffy added while his mouth began to water.

"But before, you called them "Kyosuke's grandpa and Sona's grandma," are those two friends of yours," Sanji asked curiously, then went into his love mode. "Sona sounds like the name of a beautiful girl!"

"Come to think of it, you mentioned this Kyosuke guy before," Nami mentioned.

"They're my best friends," Luffy said finally.


"So, everything is fine?" Glen watched as Shingo explained to everyone that the pirates meant no harm and only wanted supplies. The townspeople more than seemed reluctant to let such high profile criminal onto their docks, especially considering that they had just narrowly escaped a tragedy from the previous pirate raid, but Shingo seemed have a lot of influence and respect from the people, so they agreed.

"Seems like it," Kaeno said. "But we should keep our guard up, they could be lying."

"Hey, guys, look," Giro said, pointing at the people exiting the ship. "That kid has a strawhat."

"Then he's likely the one known as "Straw Hat Luffy", correct," Theos surmised.

"Probably," Glen said, as he began to walk towards them. "I'm going to go ask if he knows Kyosuke."

"You know, they don't look very pirate like," Giro said as he looked at the pirates exiting the ship. The first to exit the ship was the kid with the strawhat, who looked a bit too innocent for a pirate captain, the second one was a pretty orange haired girl, then came a muscly green haired man. After he came, Giro barely noticed the long nosed young man and blond haired man in a black suit. "Never mind, that guy seems pretty pirate like."

"We should go make sure Glen doesn't do anything dumb-er, dumber than usual- in case those pirates are short tempered," Kaeno ordered.

"Agreed," Theos said as he began to walk. "Master isn't here so it would be better not to cause any sort of trouble.

"Noted, but can the both of you take these guys off of me, my arms are kind of getting to tired," Giro asked, but his two companions had already walked on. "Cold."

"Excuse me, excuse me, can I talk to to you, Straw Hat Luffy?"

"Hey, Luffy, that guy is calling out to you," Zoro said as he elbowed his captain.

"Really? Who?" The pirate captain looked to see a curly blond haired boy was approaching him and his crew. "You want to talk to me?"

"Yeah, I do. I'm Pelica Glen," Glen said. "And your Straw Hat Luffy, right?"

"That's my name," Luffy said smiling. "Nice to meet you, Glen."

"What is it that you want," Zoro said suspiciously, with his guard up. In a town where the people were untrusting of you, you could never be too careful of strangers, especially of a guy who so easily approached a three hundred million berri pirate without the slightest bit of hesitation. A normal civilian wouldn't typically do that.

"I just wanted to ask Straw Hat Luffy something," Glen explained.

"You can just call me Luffy, and what is it?"

"Do you by any chance know a guy named Kyosuke," Glen asked.

Luffy's mouth went dry and it felt his whole world just stopped for a moment. "W-what did you s-say?"

"Kyousuke. Do you know Wolf D. Kyosuke?" Glen seemed oblivious to Luffy's reaction. The Straw Hats raised their eyebrows at Luffy. When was the last time their young captain ever looked so... tense?

"Is Kyosuke here," Luffy asked almost in a whisper.

"Well, he was, but then he went to the nearest Island with a marine base," Glen explained. "So can I assume that you are the "straw hat wearing idiot" Kyosuke sometimes talks about?"

"You're kidding," Luffy whined. "He calls me that even after all this time?"

"I guess," Glen shrugged.

"Now that I think about it, are you Kyosuke's… friend?"

"Well… it's more like," Glen paused as he thought to himself. "We're tagalongs."

"We?"

"He means us," a girl's voice said. A group of three, consisting of a dark haired girl in a ninja outfit, a huge man as big as Franky carry dozens of unconscious men in his arms, and a light haired man in a butler suit, suddenly appeared beside Glen. "Hello, I'm Kaeno."

"Giro," Giro said.

"A pleasure, Theos is my name," Theos introduced.

"You guys are Kyosuke's friends," Luffy said, surprised.

"I am my master's loyal butler," Theos corrected.

"Butler…?"

"Ignore him," Giro said. "Kyosuke would probably never admit it, but, yeah, we are his friends."

"More importantly, who are you to Kyosuke," Kaeno asked.

"He's my best friend," Luffy answered. This seemed to shock the new group.

"Kyosuke has a best friend," Glen and Giro said in unison, shocked.

"That doesn't really fit his personality," Kaeon said.

"I find it hard to believe that there is anyone worthy of being the Master's "best friend"," Theos said, putting his finger on his chin.

"You have to be lying," the four of them said in unison.

"I am not!" Luffy said angrily.

'What kind of guy is he…?' Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji thought together.

"Well, then, prove it," Glen demanded. "Tell us something about Kyosuke."

"Like what? That he's an overconfident, pretty boy, who's a huge jerk," Luffy said with an angry face.

"Overconfident? Pretty boy? You do know Kyosuke," Glen realized.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you," Luffy said.

"I guess you're telling the truth," Kaeno nodded, giving Luffy a once over. "But it's pretty bizarre to picture Kyosuke having a "best friend", you know?"

"You think?I think it's weird for Kyosuke to have friends other than me and Sona," Luffy said, glancing at the four in front of him. "You guy's are Team Kyosuke."

"Don't call us that!" Glen shouted.

"It's fitting, don't you think," Giro said.

"It makes sense," Kaeno nodded.

"It's a truly glorious name," Theo said passionately. "We are Team Kyosuke."

"Show some individuality, you guys," Glen screamed at his friends.

"Um, Luffy, I'm sure you have quite a few things you'd like to ask these guys, but we came here to get supplies, remember," Nami reminded.

"Right, but let me ask one more thing," Luffy asked, then looked at Giro. "Why are you carrying 50 guys like that, big guy?"

"Eh? The old guy didn't tell you?" Giro said as he shook the unconscious pirates a bit. "Pirates attacked this place right before you guys arrived. They would've wrecked this whole island if Kyosuke hadn't stopped them."

"We helped," Glen added.

"Not by much," Kaeno added.

"I can't believe that pirates attacked here right before we got here. Talk about unlucky," Nami sighed.

"This Kyosuke guy must be pretty strong if he fought off a whole pirate crew by himself," Zoro said.

"He is, but these guys aren't worth bragging about," Giro explained. "I'm actually surprised guys as weak as this still exist this far into the Grand Line."

"Pft, he isn't that strong anyway," Glen said, looking away. "I could beat him anytime I want."

"Yeah, I'm sure you'll one day land your first hit against him," Kaeno said dryly. "Then, after another 20 years or so, you'll finally end that 1000+ losing streak."

"Kaeno! Don't just go saying stuff that people don't need to know!" Glen yelled.

"I know how you feel," Luffy said sympathetically. "Kyosuke used to beat me every time we fought."

"Wait what?" Usopp said, shocked, while Zoro and Sanji went wide eyed.

"This Kyosuke guy is that strong," Nami said, equally shocked.

"I'd certainly say so, madame," Theos huffed. "His strength has saved all of our lives on numerous occasions."

"He left the island six months before I did, so I haven't seen him in almost a year," Luffy explained, smirking. "But I bet now I could kick his butt any day of the week!"

"It's fine for you to think that," Kaeno said, her voice on an edge.

"But, like you said, you haven't seen the guy in a year, so you don't what he's gone through in that time," Giro said seriously.

"In other words, you have no idea how much stronger the Master has gotten since you two went your separate ways," Theos added with a growl.

There was an awkward silence before anyone said anything. The Straw Hats were becoming more and more curious at what kind of guy this Kyosuke person is. Then there was the fact that Luffy had called him his 'best' friend, which he had never used even with them. What made him different from everyone else? Was it merely because he knew Luffy longer than the rest of them? Or maybe more?

"U-um, guys," Glen stuttered, stepping in front . "Why don't you drop the bloodlust, kay? I mean, this guy has known Kyosuke even longer than us, so he knows what he's talking about better than some random joe."

There was collective deep breath among the three.

"Yeah, you got a point," Giro said. "Sorry, kid."

"It was dumb to get so worked up," Kaeno said, while Theos nodded.

"It's cool," Luffy said, keeping his goofy smile all the while. "But you know, Kyosuke doesn't know what I've gone through this past year, either."

"Also," Luffy's expression suddenly turned serious. "You guys don't know what we've been through together before that year even began."

This made the group of four wide eyed.

"Luffy…?" Nami looked at her captain with a confused expression. It was very rare for Luffy to look so serious. Was this Kyosuke guy that important to him? Come to think of it, Luffy had made many friends on this journey of theirs, but he never once, not even to his own crew, call them his best friend.

The group of four were a bit speechless. Luffy's words held weight. "That said, you guys are right, I don't know what he's been through since the last time I saw him, but I'm about to." As soon as he said that, Luffy he lunged in the direction of the Thousand Sunny, startling the already edgy townsmen he passed. The moment he got onto the docks, he leaped onto the ship.

"Franky! I need the Mini-Merry! Robin! I need you to navigate me!" Not more than a minute later, the dock door to the Mini-Merry opened with both Luffy and Robin on the small contraption, riding at extreme speed, instantly disappearing into the distance.

There was an awkward silence before all eight of them asked what everyone was thinking. "What the hell just happened?!"


"So how long will it take before we get there, Robin?" Luffy asked, continuing to pedal the Mini-Merry.

"If we keep moving at this pace, about ten more minutes," Robin answered as she looked at the map. "Although, I must warn you that this trip might be a little reckless."

"It's fine as long as we don't get caught, right," Luffy said nonchalantly.

"Well, if you're not worried, I won't worry either," Robin said with a smile. She knew that if any of the other members of the the crew were here, they would advise Luffy to turn back. "Luffy, you said that your old friend Kyosuke is at the marine port, correct?"

"Yeah."

"So, I'm curious, what is this Kyosuke person like? Also, what is your friend Sona like?"

"What are they like? Well, they're Kyosuke and Sona, what else is there to know?" It didn't surprise Robin to hear such an overly generic answer from her captain.

"Maybe you could be more specific?" Robin pressed. "Perhaps what their personalities are like or maybe how long you've known each other?"

"Kyosuke and Sona were my very first friends," Luffy said in a solemn voice. "If I tried to go back to the very beginning of my memories, they're always there at the end. You know, when I first met them, our grandparents made us us jump in a ravine, although I was thrown by my grandpa."

"Sounds like you three had a rough childhood," Robin laughed.

"It wasn't funny," Luffy pouted. "There were scary animals and monsters down there! We nearly died!"

"Honestly, Luffy, I never really thought that death mattered to you," Robin said. "At least not when it came to your own life."

Luffy ignored what she had said. "Well, after that, the three of us always hung out. We spent lots of time together, then Shanks came to the island."

"Red Hair Shanks is the one who gave you your strawhat, correct?" Robin pointed at Luffy's hat. "It's quite interesting that such a famous pirate would go to the East Blue, do you know why he was there?"

"I think he was just on vacation."

"I suppose that makes sense," Robin nodded. "I know better than most how dangerous the Grand Line is. I'm sure that even a pirate of Shanks's quality wouldn't mind a break every now and then."

"Hey, Robin, have you ever been to East Blue," Luffy asked curiously.

"Only for a short time, and I never stopped to look around," Robin answered.

"Then I'll take you there someday. I'll show you around my home island, I'll introduce you to Makino, mayor, Dadan and the guys and to my little sisters."

"You have little sisters?" Robin asked surprised. "Do the others know?"

"Nope, they never asked," Luffy shook his head. "Their names are Riruka and Layla."

"I see, so what are they like," Robin asked. 'Luffy's little sisters, eh? If they're anything like their brother, then they're probably not normal.'

"They're n-nice," Luffy said hesitantly.

"Are you… afraid," Robin asked uncertainly. "Of your little sisters."

"W-what? No," Luffy said as he began to sweat profusely and looked the other way. Luffy truly was a terrible liar. "Sure they're quite stern and don't let me get away with anything and if I annoy them even a little I get the worst punishments… they're still… nice."

"I see," Robin said with a smile. "And this Makino and Dadan, what are they to you? You also mentioned a mayor and some others."

"Makino owns the bar that Shanks and his crew always hung out at, but before that she used to watch over me, my sisters, Kyosuke, his sister, and Sona whenever my mom, Kyosuke's mom, and the old guys were gone."

"You said your mom?" Robin realized. "Now she's someone I'd be curious about. What is she like?"

"Scary, for one thing," Luffy laughed. "And she was also really nice, plus she was super strong. Not even grandpa could take her. I still miss her…"

"You miss…" When Robin saw the somewhat somber expression that was on her captain's face, she understood. "I see, my apologies for making you relive a sad memory."

"Why are you apologizing? I love remembering mom," Luffy smiled joyfully. "Back home, my sisters and I always talk about her."

"I see, well, that's good," Robin said. "So, before you said you'd take me with you to East Blue… to see your family there…"

"Yup, you and the rest of the crew I mean," Luffy confirmed.

"That's sweet, but are you sure it's okay for me to go?"

"Actually, it wouldn't be good," Luffy said in an unusually dark voice.

"O-oh… I see," Robin said in a disappointed tone.

"If I did take you guys to meet my family in the East Blue, I just know Riruka and Layla will do something to humiliate me and enjoy every second of it," Luffy said in a dejected tone.

Robin blinked a few times before laughing. "Really, you sure do throw me for a loop sometimes."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh nothing," Robin sighed. She was truly enjoying having this conversation with her captain. This might've been the first time she and him had ever just sat down and chatted like this. "But weren't we originally talking about your childhood friends? Do you mind continuing that story?"

"Okay," Luffy said as he rested his head on the figure head of Mini-Merry. "I remember how Shanks used to trick us into fighting each other. Kyosuke always won, although Sona didn't like to fight back then… wonder when that changed…?

"This Kyosuke person is strong enough to defeat you multiple times?" Robin was surprised to hear this.

"He was, yeah, but I bet I could beat him now. Of course, Sona was also strong enough to beat me as well, but I don't think I want to fight her again," Luffy said confidently. "Anyway, Kyosuke is six months older than I am so he left the island six months before I did. Sona's 2 months older, so she she left the island two months before I did."

"Luffy you're seventeen now, right? So how long has it been since you left on your journey?" Robin asked. "What made you all leave at that age?"

"Dunno. It was just something we all decided on." Luffy shrugged. "It hasn't been a year since I left."

"Huh, you sure have accomplished a lot in under a year," Robin said before the Mini-Merry stopped. "Seems that we've arrived.

"Yeah!" Luffy cheered. They had docked onto a port of the town, which didn't look much different from the town they were in before. Luffy jumped onto the harbor. "Time to hunt you down, Kyosuke."

"Luffy, I forgot to ask before, but what do you plan to do when you've met with your friend," Robin asked.

"I'm going to fight him, duh," Luffy said like that was obvious. "That's what you do with best friends, you fight them."

Robin might not be the biggest expert on friendship, but she figured what Luffy thought a best friend was might've been a bit… twisted. "Well, Luffy, try to be careful. This is a marine town after all." She knew it was a wasted warning, but she figured she'd just say it.

"Okay," Luffy nodded before running off. Robin decided to stay with the Mini-Merry, since they would probably need to be ready to escape at a moment's notice.


"Okay, here you go. That's 21 million berries for the body of Giant Axe Kachu." The marine at the collection office gave Kyosuke a bag of twenty one million berries. Kyosuke thanked the man and was about to leave, but then he saw a bounty poster with a boy with a strawhat on him…

"Excuse me, but who is this guy," Kyosuke asked, pointing to the poster.

"You haven't heard of him? That's Straw Hat Luffy, Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. He's known for doing a lot of crazy things, including his most recent crime. Attacking Enies Lobby."

"Enies Lobby? That's one of the biggest government institutions, right? Why'd he attack that," Kyosuke asked. Whatever else that strawhat wearing idiot was, he wouldn't attack a place like that without reason.

"Who knows, but I hear it was to save one of his crew mates that was sent there," the marine explained. "Nico Robin."

"Oh." Saving a friend was the kind of reason he'd expect from that moron. He looked at the cluster of other wanted posters and confirmed that they were apart of his crew. There was Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro (that name sounded vaguely familiar), Catburglar Nami (didn't think he was into that type of thing), Sniper King (there's a guy out there with a nose that long), Black Leg Sanji (what a stupid looking poster), Cotton Candy Eating Tony Tony Chopper (is that a reindeer?), Devil Child Nico Robin, and finally, Cyborg Franky (a cyborg, eh...). "What a mismatched looking crew," Kyosuke muttered as he walked out.

'Enies Lobby isn't that far away from here. If he's moving in the direction I think he's moving in, then it's likely that I might run into him soon,' Kyosuke thought. "That might prove annoying, but what are the odds that he and I will meet anyway?"

"Kyosuke!" A loud and familiar voice could be heard yelling in the distance. Kyosuke didn't even bother to look. Only one guy had a voice that loud. 'I shouldn't be surprised. No matter how far away we are, we always seem to stick to each other. Bonded together by some gross, sticky substance.'

"I've finally found you!" Luffy screamed. "Let's fight, Kyo. I've gotten ten times stronger since you left. You're not going to beat me ever again!"

"I am not this Kyosuke guy you speak of," Kyosuke lied, his back towards his best friend. 'Luffy probably hasn't gotten any smarter, so a lie like this should fool him.'

"Eh? You aren't?" Luffy said, confounded. He tried to to get a good look at Kyosuke's face, but the handsome boy kept shifting his body, so Luffy couldn't get a decent view. "You look like him though."

"Sorry, but I'm not him."

"Oh, I see," Luffy said as he was about to leave, but after a few steps he jerked himself around around and punched a stretched out punch. "Like I buy that!"

'Did he get smarter…?' Kyosuke wonder after leaping into the air to avoid Luffy's first strike and landed on the roof of some random building.

"I maybe so dumb that I'll mistake a wax apple for a real apple and eat every last bit of it-"

That actually happened a few times.

"But I'm not going to mistake my best friends aura!" Luffy declared.

'So… basically, Sona and I are the only ones in the entire world who the idiot won't mistake for some horrible disguise? Perfect…' Kyosuke inwardly groaned.

"So fight me, Kyosuke," Luffy demanded.

"Fine," Kyosuke groaned. "But I have to wonder, is it really okay for a pirate to be making a scene right in front of a marine office?"

"Marine office?" Luffy looked confused.

"That's Straw Hat Luffy! Get him!" More than a dozen marines came swarming out of said office. The soldiers surrounded Luffy leaving no room for escape. Kyosuke immediately left, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. 'Fodder like them will no doubt be easy for Luffy to handle, but they should give me enough time to get to that ship before he can catch up, but, man, to reunite with him after all this time…"

Kyosuke continued to jump rooftops, before finally reaching the docks. Leap onto the ground, Kyosuke was going to go straight for his ship, but something caught his eye. "Is that a sheep boat?" It was a strange looking boat with a sheep figure head, but what Kyosuke noticed was that there was a woman sitting alone in the boat, staring at him. He immediately recognized her as Nico Robin, one of the members of Luffy's crew.

"Well, wasn't that an impressive entrance," Nico Robin said calmly. "You literally dropped in on me."

Kyosuke didn't respond. He had no interest in her, regardless of whether or not she was a member of his best friends crew. He would've headed for the ship he had stolen from Kachu, but then…

"Kyosuke!" Luffy's loud voice could be heard as ran at a breakneck speed towards him.

"Just my luck. Of course he'd dock right next to where I docked," Kyosuke sighed, not even bothering to try to escape. He accepted the only way to get rid of Luffy was to beat him in a fight. Such a bother.

"Kyosuke let's fight- oh, hey, you met Robin," Luffy suddenly calmed down.

"Hello, captain, so this is yourfriendI assumed as much," Robin said. "But he seems quite quiet, but he's certainly handsome."

"Ugh! Not you too, Robin," Luffy groaned. "Why does every girl think Kyosuke's so great? He's only a tall, good looking guy with great hair, but that's it… at least that's what Hiyori said."

"When did that brat say that?" Kyosuke asked annoyedly.

"Whenever I'd go to her house," Luffy answered, making kyosuke show a slight vein pop in his head.

"You were in my house," Kyosuke inquired, showing the slightest edge in his voice.

"Yeah, Hiyori was alone in your guy's house, Dadan and Riruka and Layla kicked me out, and Sona hurled me out of her house after I broke five of her plates," Luffy explained. "You know, you're lucky, Kyosuke. Your sister is nice, but my sisters are…" Luffy shivered and hugged his arms. "Evil."

"You wouldn't get punished so often if you stopped doing all those stupid stunts," Kyosuke said unsympathetically. "But back to the topic at hand. You were in my house?"

"Yup."

"Was that the only time since I was gone?"

"Nope. I went there a lot, especially after Sona left. Things got boring when Sona was gone, but Hiyori was fun to talk to, plus she fed me good food." Luffy remembered fondly. "Now that I think about it, it might've been even better than Sanji's cooking."

"That's a rather high evaluation, Luffy," Robin said. "It might make Sanji jealous."

"You think?"

"Did you break anything in my house?" Kyosuke asked, the edge in his voice more visible.

"No, Hiyori made me sit in this red circle and never let me leave it until I'd say I was leaving," Luffy answered, oblivious to Kyosuke's annoyance.

"I see, well, the girl isn't stupid, I can say that much," Kyosuke muttered to himself.

"She told me to tell you something when I left the island," Luffy remembered.

"Did she?" Kyosuke said with the faintest sign of curiosity. "What'd she say?"

"She said, 'Big brother, please don't travel alone'," Luffy said in a high pitched imitation of a girl. "But I guess she didn't need me to say that, huh?"

"I take it you met Glen and the others," Kyosuke guessed. 'Stupid girl, mind your own business.'

"Yeah," Luffy nodded. "Honestly, I was on the same page as Hiyori. I could easily picture you getting this far by yourself and I think Sona and Makino did too. But I guess we were wrong."

"Well, can't say I blame you guys for thinking that," Kyosuke smirked. "But let me clarify something. I didn't ask them to come with me. They invited themselves and I didn't stop them, so that makes them tagalongs."

"Really, that's kind of cool," Luffy said lightheartedly. "Hey, I met four of them, are there more?"

"There's a few more. Abou 6 more," Kyosuke said. "What about you? I saw about seven other pirates on the wanted posters in the collection office. Anymore than that?"

"Yeah one more," Luffy answered, then he eyed the huge bag of money Kyosuke hand in his hand. "Wait, collection office? You're a bounty hunter now?"

"When I need money," Kyosuke shrugged. "I'm a part time bounty hunter, but is it really okay for you to stay here? Weren't you being chased before?"

"Oh, Luffy, you were spotted already? We haven't even been here an hour," Robin said. She didn't sound remotely displeased or annoyed, in fact, she sounded rather amused with the young captain's moronic behavior.

"So, you're the woman Luffy attacked the government for," Kyosuke asked, inspecting Robin with a single glance.

"Why yes, I am," Robin said politely. "And you're Kyosuke, Luffy's best friend and grandson of the famous marine vice-admiral, Axel."

"You told your crew about me?" Kyosuke side eyed Luffy. "How unexpected."

"I didn't really plan to, it's just when that Shingo guy came on my ship he started talking about yours, mine, Sona's grandparents, then you just popped into the conversation. Like popcorn. I'm hungry."

"Then eat the meat in your pocket," Kyosuke said unsympathetically.

"Oh, right, I forgot." Like Kyosuke said, there was meat in Luffy's pocket, which the rubber man happily. This made Robin raise an eyebrow. How did he know Luffy had meat in his pockets?

"So, leb's figbht," Luffy said with a mouth full of meat.

"No."

"Whyb noffed?"

"I'm leaving." Kyosuke began walking. Luffy would've followed, but then a herd of marine came flooding onto the docks.

"Uh-oh, seems like the marines have found us, Luffy," Robin said in amusement.

"They're getting in the way of my fight with Kyosuke," Luffy whined after swallowing his food.

"Straw Hat Luffy and Devil Child Nico Robin, you two are under arrest for crimes against the world government!" One of the marines announced.

"Perhaps we should make our leave, Luffy," Robin whispered, though she didn't look worried.

"Nah, I can take these guys," Luffy said confidently.

"Of course, but for some reason their commanding officer seems to be away today," Robin said. "Whatever the reason, it is fortunate for us. It is better not to cause too much trouble while we're so close to the Red Line. This deep into the Grand Line, I don't think the one in charge of this base will be weak."

"But if we just leave on the Mini-Merry, won't they just shoot at us?" Luffy asked reasonably.

"Well, I can at least promise that these marines won't be firing at us," Robin promised as she crossed her arms and caused her arms to grow out of every single marine soldier and clutched them.

"You sure are reliable, Robin," Luffy said, impressed.

"Not at all."

"Okay, Kyosuke, let's go- WHERE'D HE GO?!" Kyosuke and the big ship were now gone.

"Remember, he left before these marines came," Robin said.

"OOOHH!" Luffy's face went red and jumped up and down childishly. "What a jerk! How can he just go and avoid my challenge?"

"You're both going to the same place, so I think you can wait until after we've gotten off this island, captain."

"Okay…" Luffy moaned as he jumped onto the Mini-Merry and started to pedal. As they got further and further away from the island, Kyosuke, with his stronger than normal eyes, observed the short fight between them and the marines.

"Weird power," Kyosuke muttered when he saw Robin's power. "But it looks useful. She seemed pretty normal, but I wonder how the other members of his crew act."


"Ah… I'm so bored," a voluptuous young woman wear a low cut red top and a matching skirt groaned.. She was tall and had shoulder length brown hair, chocolate brown eyes, and tanned skin. She was on the deck of a considerably large ship. "When are Kyosuke-kun and the rest going to get back here?"

"It is peculiar that they have been gone for so long," a man in crimson samurai armor and a crimson ape mask said. He was somewhat big and had a deep voice. There was a sword strapped to his waist. "Could something have happened?"

"I'm not sure about the others, but I saw Kyosuke-kun leave the island on a ship an hour ago."

"What?! You harlet!" The crimson ape masked man roared. "Why didn't you say anything?!"

"It's, Shyra, not harlet, Haozu-san," Shyra warned. "And it's perfectly normal for Kyosuke-kun to just leave for a bit."

"You still should've said something," Haozu said.

"You know, you act kind of bossy for a guy who hasn't even been apart of the group for a month yet," Shyra raised an eyebrow.

"BWAAHAHAHA!" A loud, maniacal laugh could be heard below deck.

"Why must he laugh like that?" Haozu groaned.

"I don't know," Shyra sighed. "But you get used to it… eventually."

"Rouga! Stop laughing like that!" A girl's voice yelled from below deck.

"Sounds like Stella is out of the water," Shyra muttered.

"Ms. Shyra, Mr. Haozu, have Mr. Kyosuke and the guys returned yet?" A young boy around 15 walked towards them. He was shorter than them, but muscular. His grown out dark brown hair was in a pony tail. He was in a sleeveless blue gi.

"Not yet, Kira-kun," Shyra said.

"Listen to this, Kira-dono," Haozu said. "This harlot saw Kyosuke-dono leave the island and didn't say a word."

"Oh," Kira said, unbothered.

"Why doesn't that bother you?!"

"You tattle tale, we're all used to those disappearing acts Kyosuke-kun does," Shyra explained. "No matter how far he goes, he'll always come back."

"Still, Kyosuke-dono doesn't have to be so aloof with us," Haozu said in a hushed tone.

"If he wasn't, he wouldn't be Kyosuke," Shyra said sagely.

"Mr. Kyosuke is because he's stand offish," Kira agreed.

"Hm…" Haozu was deep in thought.

"Moving along, seems to be making another danger machine again," Kira said with a hint annoyance.

"We heard," Shyra groaned. "Sounded like Stella-chan was chewing him out. That fish is kind of something. Most of us have given up on trying to get Rouga-kun to cool it with his crazy inventions, but she's still at it. Albeit, she's only been with us for over a month-"

BOOM!

A big ball of fire burst from below deck and shocked the three above deck. Automatically, the auto-fire extinguisher valves, which were installed in the railings of the ship, activated and immediately put out the fire before it had a chance to spread.

"...Well, guess I can put that in the failures category," Rouga's gruff voice said calmly.

"Rouga!" Stella's voice shouted angrily. "You can't keep causing fires in the ship. You'll burn it down!"

"No problem, Stella," he said dismissively. "There's more than a 50 fire extinguishing valves installed in every corner of the ship. This beauty won't be burning down anytime soon."

"We're the only people who need something like that," Stella sighed.

"You know, maybe there's more than one reason Kyosuke-kun doesn't open up to us," Shyra muttered and Kira and Haozu nodded.


Turn back the clock to just a few minutes after Luffy left to find Kyosuke while dragging along Robin. The four Straw Hats stared open mouthed at the direction Luffy left in. Luffy had gone off on his own more than a few times, but this was his worst stunt yet. He left to another island with marines by himself with only Robin. At least he was on the same island whenever he ran off on his own before. The four members of Team Kyosuke looked on feeling more than a little confused.

"Is he really going to willingly go to an island with Marines on it just to see Kyosuke," Glen wondered aloud.

"Yes…" the four pirates groaned.

"That's really foolish," Kaeno said indifferently. "We just said Kyosuke was coming back here."

"Uh huh," they sighed.

"That's some impatience," Giro muttered. "That said, can anyone take these guys off my hands."

"Impatience is what Luffy specializes in," Nami said, ignoring Giro's request.

"Enough about unnecessary things," Theos exclaimed. "That brute is going to hurt Master!"

"Luffy isn't a brute," Nami said roughly. Although, as soon she said it, she questioned her own words. "Well…"

"It doesn't matter if he tries, because he won't beat Kyosuke," Glen said confidently, much annoyance to the Straw Hats.

"Whatever you want to believe, but I'm warning you now," Zoro said threateningly. "Anyone and everyone who's underestimated Luffy has always regretted it."

"H-Hey, I wasn't trying to insult your friend or anything," Glen said nervously. "It's just that Kyosuke really tough and- GYAAAHHH!"

"What my stupid blonde friend here is trying to say is," Kaeno interrupted by stabbing Glen in his thigh with a kunai knife, making him fall over in pain. "That Kyosuke won't lose to anyone no matter what."

"Well, Luffy's the same way," Nami retorted. She glanced down at Glen, who was grasping his leg in pain. "Um… is he okay?"

"It's fine. I do this all the time."

"It is not fine!" Glen shouted.

"Anyway, the fact is, Kyosuke is strong," Giro assured. "He always comes comes out on top."

"Well, so does Luffy!" Usopp countered.

"Hey!" Giro growled, making Usopp jump. "Can someone take some of these guys off my hands? Even just one or two would be much appreciated."

"You all might be forgetting that your captain himself said that Master has defeated him multiple times," Theos reminded.

"Yeah, but Luffy's much stronger now," Sanji retorted, lighting a cigarette.

As the four (technically three, since Glen was on the ground curled in pain and Usopp was hiding behind Zoro because he was scared of Giro) sailors glared each other down in name of their respective leaders, none of them noticed a large ship with white bird on the sails anchoring at the docks. Standing on the top of the bird head figure head was a young blonde haired girl with blue eyes.

"Sona-san, be careful or you'll fall," a young girl with purple hair in a ponytail said.

"Not likely," Sona smirked. "On an unrelated note, do those guys down below look familiar to you?"

"Hm?" The purple haired girl poked her head over the railings of the ship and looked below. "Well, maybe I'm wrong, but I think that group over there were a part of the pirate crew that attacked Ennies Lobby."

'Then that means Lu-chan is here!' Sona thought excitedly. Without a word, Sona jumped of the figure head-ignoring the screams of fear from her shipmates- and landed loudly on the dock, creating a cloud of smoke.

"The hell!" Glen cursed.

"What was that?!" Nami exclaimed.

"Hello there," Sona said as the dust cleared. "I'm Sparrow D. Sona."


What'd you think of that? Do you like the characters? Was Luffy and Kyosuke's interaction entertaining? Was the rivalry loyalty of both men's crews/teams teams fun to read?

Please review.