"There's a difference between being brave and being stupid," for anon on Tumblr.
Twitch.
"Let me check if I heard you correctly."
Twitch.
"You insulted a bandit, an eight million beri bandit, and tried to fight him."
"Yup!" Luffy grinned.
Twitch. Noir inhaled deeply, throttling the urge to shake the boy by his shoulders. She tried that once already. Noir didn't fancy another accidental headbutt from the Rubbernecking Wonder.
She almost regretted asking Luffy the story behind Shanks gifting him Roger's hat. Luffy had been held hostage by a bandit, had been kidnapped and taken out to sea and nearly eaten by a Sea King. And the only reason he was still alive was due to Shanks sacrificing his arm to save Luffy.
Noir knew Shanks. Shanks could have beaten the Lord of the Coast without batting an eye. He certainly could have done it without losing an arm.
But Luffy's presence changed everything. Shanks' first priority would have been the little boy's safety, above all else. Scaring the Sea King off before Shanks was close enough to help if Luffy drowned or was injured? Unacceptable. Not when the red haired scoundrel blamed himself for not killing Higuma before the bandit could hurt Luffy.
Shanks' guilt would be dealt with later. Likely whenever the two of them met up for drinks again. Right now, Noir needed to deal with this end of the problem.
Namely, beating a sense of survival into Garp's idiot grandson.
"There is a difference," she said, keeping her voice calm only through sheer willpower, "between being brave and being stupid."
Noir gave Luffy a look. Luffy gulped.
"We'll see how long it takes for you to learn it."
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