Everyone, thank you all for supporting me with your reviews, favorites and follows! You'll be happy to know that the essay came out great! It will still need some minor modifications before it is passed, but I don't need to do a total rewrite of it like last time!

Here comes the answers to the reviews, as usual:

MO-5431: Oh, I have a lot of plans for Buggy... *evil cackle*

Neea: I know, right! I don't understand why there isn't more love for Buggy. But at least WE love him, right? ^_^

Lilli: Awesome! I want my readers to have a good time while reading my stories! Hope you enjoy all the following chapters!

Enjoy the chapter, everyone!

/ Daeli

7) Teacher

Age: 11

Rayleigh opened the door to the dining room and looked inside. Bingo. There he was.

It was in the middle of the afternoon so there should have been no one in there, but at one of the tables sat Buggy all by himself. Finally finding the one he had been searching for Rayleigh surged forward to confront him, but after seeing what the boy was up to, he stopped somewhat behind him and just... observed.

The boy had a book opened up in front of him. His face was turned away from him so Rayleigh couldn't see his expression, but given the tense back, the low mutterings and the finger following the lines, it was obvious that Buggy was concentrating hard on the book before him.

"Where did you learn how to read?"

Having been so engrossed with the book, Buggy yelled in surprise and fell off the chair and on his back with a wince. He quickly got up on his feet and faced the vice-captain.

"Would it kill you to knock?! What do you want?!"

Rayleigh ignored the questions. "You didn't answer me. Where did you learn how to read?"

Buggy's expression became dark.

"Why do you ask? Do I look like someone who can't read? Is that it?!"

The vice-captain put up his hands, showing he meant no harm.

"No, no, nothing like that. It's just that... unless you're planning to become a navigator or a doctor, being able to read isn't really a requirement for becoming a pirate. Especially when one is as young as you."

He gave a small scoff.

"Besides, I can't imagine that Fabioli fellow sitting down and having reading lessons with you all."

Buggy still looked like he wanted to take a bite out of Rayleigh, but after a few seconds he answered tersely, "My mother taught me."

That... was surprising. Buggy had never made any mention on his life before Fabioli, and he definitely hadn't mentioned anything about his parents. Rayleigh knew that during the months Buggy had been traveling with the Roger Pirates he had begun to slowly open up to Shanks, mostly due to sheer stubbornness on Shanks' part. But he had yet to open up to the rest of the crew, and Rayleigh had started to worry that the boy would keep his shields up forever. But hearing him mentioning his mother in front of Rayleigh instead of avoiding the question or snarling that it was none of his business made him hopeful that maybe the boy was relaxing around him as well.

"Oh?"

Buggy nodded and sat himself down on his seat. "Yeah, she always said that I had to be able to read so that no one could take advantage of me."

"Take advantage of you?" Rayleigh asked incredulously.

Buggy nodded again, following the lines in the book with his fingers while trying to find where he had stopped reading. "Mother told me stories of men who had lost everything they owned just because they couldn't read. She didn't want that to happen to me, so she was very strict during her lessons."

It was a bleak reason for wanting your child to be able to read, but considering where they lived Rayleigh couldn't blame the woman's reasoning. "Smart woman, your mother."

Surprisingly enough, his compliment was meet with a scoff from Buggy.

"Didn't help her much in the end, did it?"

Rayleigh rose an eyebrow in inquiry, but when Buggy didn't elaborate further what he meant by that statement he sighed and sat down beside the boy. He was a little curious about what had happened to Buggy's mother, but didn't push the boy for details. There were more important issues to discuss.

Given what he had seen, Buggy was still very much in the learning phase of reading and would still need a lot of practice reading. Living in precarious circumstances probably hadn't given the boy a lot of opportunities to practice, since he seemed to need absolute concentration when he was trying to read.

As Rayleigh watched Buggy struggle with the text in front of him, he made a decision.

"Do you want me to teach you how to read properly?"

Buggy's head snapped up at that and he stared incredulously at the vice-captain seated beside him before his eyes again narrowed and he rose from seat, fuming with anger.

"What do you mean properly?! You saying my mother was a bad teacher?! I will take you on right now, old man!"

Rayleigh stayed silent, simply observing him during his outburst. As Buggy started to calm down he became more and more uncomfortable with how the vice-captain was simply watching him silently. If Buggy had spoken to Fabioli the same way he had just spoken to Rayleigh, the mob boss would have whipped him bloody before cutting off a finger, yet the pirate before him seemed to be totally calm.

"OK, so we didn't get to have many lessons before she...!"

Buggy cut himself off and slowly resumed his seat. It hurt to admit, but he knew what Rayleigh meant by reading properly. He had seen Fabioli go through a whole paper in only ten minutes, which is how long it took for Buggy to even understand the front page.

So yes, he understood that if he wanted to actually become good at reading, he would need a teacher. What he didn't understand was why the vice-captain, the second most authoritative person on the ship, would want to waste any time teaching him, a mere cabin boy, well... anything.

"Why would you do something like that for me?"

Rayleigh smirked at the boy.

"Don't think that you're special, kid. I've been in charge of Shanks' education since the brat came on board, and he could barely read when we brought him with us." Rayleigh looked to the side and muttered under his breath. "The little monkey has been a pain to teach, too. Too much energy and too little patience makes for a very annoying student."

Buggy snorted in laughter before slapping his hands over his mouth, looking up at Rayleigh with wide eyes.

Rayleigh's smirk softened into a smile and then a grin. Then, before Buggy could react, he affectionately ruffled the boy's blue hair. "I won't bite you! Relax, Buggy!"

"Hey!"

Buggy flailed his hands to try to dislodge the man's hand from his hair, and when he finally succeeded he began straightening it out with a small pout on his face.

Rayleigh chuckled before he rose from his seat, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Seriously though, Buggy. You're welcome to join me and Shanks at our lessons. I think having you there will be the spur Shanks needs to actually want to learn something."

Buggy was still fiddling with his hair, half in an attempt to fix the mess, half in an attempt not to show his embarrassed face to Rayleigh.

"...I'll think about it."

A sudden thought hit him. "Not that I care or anything, but why did you come in here in the first place? Were you looking for me?"

Rayleigh froze abruptly before looking on the side and laughing to himself. "Oh, that's right. I totally forgot." Suddenly the smile was replaced by a frown.

The next thing Buggy knew, he was knocked on the head with Rayleigh's closed fist.

"Ow!" Buggy clutched his head in his hands and glared up at Rayleigh with smoldering eyes. "What the hell was that for, you flashy old man?!"

Rayleigh was unmoved by the kid's glare. "Didn't I tell you last night that you and Shanks were gonna swab the deck as punishment for yesterday's incident?"

Buggy blinked. And blinked again.

"Ah."

He remembered now. He and Shanks had been arguing about which season was the best one, with Shanks liking the spring best while Buggy argued that autumn was the best. It had quickly escalated and they had started fighting physically during dinner. Thus the punishment.

"I might have... forgotten about it."

Rayleigh's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

"But it's not my fault that the redhead has stupid opinions! Who would chose spring over autumn anyway?! He should be the only one punished for being such a flashy idiot!"

Rayleigh simply pointed to the door.

"Fine!" Buggy hastily got up from his seat and stomped over towards the door.

"Three days from now."

Buggy's hand froze over the handle.

"If nothing unexpected happens, our lesson will be three days from now, here in the dining room at noon. Come if you feel like it."

"I won't! I wouldn't go to your lessons even if you dragged me, old man!"

Buggy threw one last haughty comment and blew a raspberry before swiftly running out to the deck. There was a sound of two bodies colliding and suddenly a cacophony of sounds rose from outside, the most prominent being Buggy's swearing, Shanks' yell of surprise and Roger's loud laughter.

Rayleigh sighed to himself and moved towards the door, resigned to his fate to make everyone do their damn jobs, their captain included.

Before he went out, he cast one last glance on the book on the table. He could still see the title written in large letters across the front page.

Traveling Through Hell on Earth: A Sailor's Tales of the Grand Line.

Rayleigh smiled to himself. Maybe he would find something easier for Buggy to read when they next made port.

Because Rayleigh knew that despite Buggy's harsh attitude, he wouldn't pass up the opportunity to learn something new. Maybe he wouldn't show up to the first lesson, maybe not even to the second, but eventually he would come around.

Rayleigh would just have to be patient. And having traveled so long with a captain like Roger, being patient with Buggy wouldn't be a problem.

He stepped out from the calm and entered the chaos. Time to get to work.