The crew sailed for three weeks, and each Island they came to was peaceful. There was nothing to get into battle about. Maybe a politician had an affair or was generally disliked, but overall nothing was worth confrontation. These islands were even friendly to pirates, so long as the pirates were friendly. So every few islands they came to, they would restock on dried and pre-cooked food, and head off again.

"I was expecting, I don't know, more. It's been almost a month with no confrontation." Said Giru.

"Well, what did ya expect? You wanted to hop from battle to battle like Luffy?" Akuma chimed in. Giru scoffed. "Fuck off."

Ayumi gave a coy smirk, "You did, didn't you?"

Giru angrily got up and went back to his cabin.

Over the last weeks, Giru had kept mostly to himself. He knew something was wrong about that, that it wasn't the way to build trust with his crew. But he was just so... angry, all the time. The slightest comments set him off. He didn't want to interact more than giving simple orders.

Giru sat on his bed with his hands on his head. "Is this your doing, Akuma? Are you fucking with my emotions?"

"Calm down, sunshine. I ain't screwin' with your feelings. That's all on you."

Giru stood up with a jerk as if he was arguing with someone else, "BULLSHIT! THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL I'M JUST FUCKING ANGRY LIKE THIS FOR NO DAMN REASON!"

"I call bullshit on your bullshit. I gave you psychology books, figure it out yourself," replied Akuma.

Giru slammed his fist into his door. The adam wood resisted breaking, but it did splinter a bit. "DON'T GIVE ME THAT SHIT! TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!"

There was no response.

"...Akuma?"

Again, silence.

"AKUMA! DON'T YOU FUCKING IGNORE ME!"

There was so much rage swelling in Giru's chest. He couldn't control it. He hated it. He wanted to feel... GOOD. Happy, joyful, cheerful, gleeful. ONE positive emotion. But for now, all there was, was rage. He slung his bed into the wall, then continued to break and throw whatever he could with both his arms and tentacles.

'My crew will hear me.' He thought. 'I should stop. I have to be a leader. They need to know they can depend on me.'

He forced himself to stop, grabbing a tentacle and biting down on it. Tears were falling down his face, the veins in his forehead were prominent. After he had sat still for 5 minutes, he released the appendage. Giru now sat cross-legged in the middle of his tattered room and silently cried.

Outside the cabin, all three crewmembers rubbed their right ears. The hit to the door had interfered with their eavesdropping, as well as caused quite a bit of pain.

Ayumi looked at Arata, "Is this the man you want to go down in history with?" She asked.

Arata gave her an angry look. "He needs help, not abandonment."

Mist glared at Ayumi, hand on his gun. 'If you betray him,' he thought, calling on his Mana, which gave him a smoky purple glow, 'I will kill you before you know it.'

Hearing his thoughts, Ayumi folded her arms and called on her psychic power, which gave her a light pink glow, "You'll be dead before you pull the trigger."

Arata was shaking angrily now, fists balled tightly. He could only manage a whisper, "W-we are a crew... we shouldn't fight, guys!"

The ship stopped moving abruptly and the wind stopped blowing. Everyone fell and looked up in confusion. There was a dark purple orb around the ship, and it was being pulled southeast. Giru felt this abrupt motion and wiped his face, leaving his cabin while making sure nobody could see inside. "What's going on?" He asked, looking up at the orb. Arata looked at Ayumi and Mist, then stood up again. "We don't know. I think something has us."

Giru scowled. "Well, whatever it is, it's cutting off our contact with the wind and water. We'll wait and see.

Ten minutes later, the orb disappeared and the ship was docked at another island. Giru stood in front of the crew, looking towards the starboard side. Two women wearing tattered clothes floated up to the deck, surrounded by blue and green dust. Giru poised his tentacles in case he needed to attack, as well as Mist drawing his guns, Ayumi's pink aura flaring and Arata getting in a runner's stance.

The women spoke in unison, "If you are a prisoner on this ship, we will free you and kill all involved." They said, looking Giru in the eye. Giru raised an eyebrow, then replied "No. I'm captain."

The women looked at each other, then at him. "Very well. Please come ashore."

Ayumi interrupted them, "WAIT! Why did you force us here?!"

The women remained silent, looking at Ayumi. Giru looked at them, then to her and back. "Uh... well?"

The women perked up when he spoke, "Yes?"

Giru looked confused and a bit agitated. The fact that this little incident agitated him was even more agitating. "Answer her."

The women looked at each other, then to him again. "We do not converse with humans."

Giru's expression jumped into shock. "You... you're saying I'm not..."