One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda and God of War belongs to Santa Monica Studios
Chapter 1
The sky's orange hue served as a reminder that summer was approaching. As the days wore on, it took longer and longer for the sunny sky to give way to the night's pervasive darkness.
'Good' A young boy, Monkey D Luffy, thought. He sat on the edge of a cliff, not too far away from the village in case Makino would come looking for him but far away enough to give him some semblance of privacy, looking out at the horizon. Longer days meant more time spent trudging in the forest and fighting its inhabitants and less time spent thinking. In his short six years of life, he had found that it was the one thing he hated, much to Makino's chagrin.
She always told him to think, said it helps his mind grow stronger. When he'd give her the blank look that always crossed his face when she said that, she'd chuckle and say, "Your mind is your strongest muscle, so if you have power over your mind, you'll have power over your body."
It always exasperated him when those words left her mouth. His grandpa, for instance, was plenty strong, it would be foolish to even think otherwise, though his opinion on the man's mind is best left unsaid lest he suffer from the man's Fist of Love.
It was moments like these, moments when he had nothing and no one to distract his wandering thoughts that he feared. Moments like these always had his mind going to one place, the absolute last place Luffy wanted it to tread.
He allowed the tranquil waves of the sea far below him to lull him into a delusion of security; to allow him to tenuously hold onto a memory without his chest collapsing with the pressure this memory evokes.
Flashback
The two of them frequently took a hike to the cliff that was the furthest away from the village, where they would spend the remainder of their afternoons admiring the view of the wide ocean. It was somewhat of a tradition between the two to set off directly after Luffy's afternoon snack.
A tradition his grandfather vehemently spoke against, but the man would shut up as soon as his mother's icy glare landed on him. She most likely never forgave the man for leaving a two year old luffy in the clutches of the forest's wrath the one night she asked him to take care of her son.
She had found her son seconds away from being pounced upon by the largest tiger she'd ever layed her eyes upon. Seeing the heaving of his small chest, the scrapes littering his arms and knees and the blood running down the left side of his face froze something inside the woman's heart.
Just as the tiger dug its razor sharp claws into the ground, preparing itself to dispose of the small annoyance that had woken it from its slumber, it suddenly froze. Eyes widening, its muscles slowly, painfully tightened, its throat closed in on itself, unable to draw even the slightest hint of a breath and its heartbeat slowed to a crawl, as if terrified that the sound of its beat will further encur the wrath of the whatever inspired such fear in it.
Years of living in the wild told it that it's predator was on it's right side. It slowly, carefully turned its eyes in that direction.
A fair-skinned woman of slender build stood in the shade of a tree. She had long unruly black hair that reached her lower back and red eyes that almost seemed to gleam in the dark. Red lipstick and purple eye shadow seemed to be her only form of make-up. Her outfit consisted of a red mesh armour blouse that only had its right sleeve visible, with her left arm left sleeveless. Her entire outfit was covered in an extremely broad material that resembled bandages that had a rose-thorn-like pattern on it. Her upper thighs, forearms, and hands were also bandaged, though these were smaller in width.
Chains were wrapped around her forearms.The chains connected to leather wrapped handles that were trapped in a white knuckle grip. The blades, two huge knife-like blades that had three sharp curved protrusions on either side of it's edges, were covered in a steady orange glow.
The tiger was locked into its position by cold crimson eyes engraved with fury.
Suddenly, the orange glow that covered the blades gave way to a burning blaze . The woman threw the blades skyward, still clutching onto the chains they were connected to. Upon bringing them down, two crescent arcs of molten fire were launched towards the tiger in what was the last thing it would ever see.
At present, the two of them were sitting on the edge of their cliff, with his mother, as always, regaling him with stories of the open seas, of the people she's met, the islands she's visited and the amazing things she's witnessed.
She'd always smile at the look of wonder in her son's eyes, and laugh at the way he'd articulate his questions. Luffy loved the sight of her smile, and valued the sound of her laughter even more.
Everytime her eyes would grow misty at certain points in her stories, Luffy would take the hand holding him steady on her lap and give it a comforting squeeze, already knowing that his mother would seek to alleviate his worries and tell him she's alright even when she's not.
When his mother threw her head back and laughed when he asked whether the giants, on an island full of dinosaurs she visited, pooped, Luffy snickered and moved to rest his head under her chin when something on the horizon caught his eye.
Leaning forward, he squinted his eyes to try and make out what the weird shapes were and when he was unsuccessful, he looked back at his mother to ask her.
"Mama, wha'sat?" he asked, pointing in the direction of his inquiry.
Looking in the direction her son was pointing in, his mother frowned and picked him off of her lap, setting him down beside her. Upon standing up, his mother needed only a few seconds to make out the white sails and seagull insignias before the word flashed in her mind.
'Marines?!'
She quickly calmed herself down and looked down at her son, only to find him already staring at her with a slight frown on his face. Bending down on one knee to look him level in his eyes, she took his small face gently between her hands.
"Baby," she started, "Mommy's gonna need you to be strong for her, alright?" she asked.
Luffy nodded with slight trepidation at the alarm he saw in his mother's eyes, quickly deducing that whatever those weird shapes on the horizon were, were not one of the friends his mother had told him about.
"You know the path we usually take when we come here?" she asked, referring to the cliff they stood upon.
Luffy nodded.
"I need you to run down that path towards Makino's shop and tell her this: Seagulls are gonna be docking our shores." she told him.
Luffy closed his eyes and repeated the phrase to himself multiple times, determined to commit it to memory. When he opened his eyes, he found that his mother had moved away from him and was now kneeling next to the satchel she always brought with them on their afternoon walks, her back turned towards him.
Upon noticing her hands moving, he moved closer to her and caught sight of the chains she was wrapping around her forearms. Luffy paused and swallowed hard, remembering the last time he saw the things those chains were connected to.
"Mama, wha are those?" he asked, eyes still focused on the way her hands immaculately wrapped the chains around her forearms.
"Weapons Mommy uses when the world wants to take you away from her." she answered, the tone in her voice not one he recognized.
He opened his mouth to reply but the words instantly died in his throat when his mother turned around and he saw the tears that were gathered up in her eyes.
Walking towards her son, she bent down on both knees to look at him. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. Shuffling forward on her knees, she took her son up into her arms and buried her face in the small crook of his neck, inhaling his scent and squeezing her arms around his small frame.
Luffy reciprocated his mother's actions, wrapping his arms around her neck, dread beginning to settle in his heart. A small part of his mind couldn't banish the thought that sprung up with the wording of his mother's request:
Why did it sound like she wasn't going to be coming with him?
His mother released him from her arms and brought her lips to rest gently on his forehead. Luffy closed his eyes, hating the amount of emotions he couldn't even begin to describe warring around in his small chest.
When he felt his mother remove her lips from his forehead, Luffy opened his eyes again and bore witness to the first time he's ever seen his mother cry.
"Run" she whispered. "Get to Makino as fast as you can and whatever you hear, don't turn back okay?"
Confusion ran amuck in his mind. What was it about those things on the horizon that would cause such a reaction in the indomitable woman he knew as his mother?
He wanted to protest but seeing the pain in her eyes as she stared at him for affirmation, he swallowed whatever questions he wanted to ask and nodded. Turning around and preparing to sprint, he stopped at the last second and looked back at his mother.
"Love you" he said.
She gave him a tearful smile and said, "Love you too"
Giving her one last smile, he turned around and ran.
A lot of what happened thereafter was a blur to Luffy.
He recalls sprinting for what felt like an eternity to get to Makino. After reaching the end of the forest and finally entering the town, he ignored the greetings of the townsfolk, ignored the burning of his lungs and his legs and ignored the persistent stabbing of fear in his heart. He barreled through the doors of Makino's shop and saw the girl in question standing behind the counter. After wheezing out the words he'd committed to memory, he watched, almost as if in slow motion, as Makino's eyes transformed from confused and concerned to shocked and alarmed.
Running around the counter and taking Luffy's hand in hers, she ran outside and called for the townsfolk to alert Mayor Woop Slap. When she found him, the two of them exchanged furious whispers before they seemed to reach to an agreement. Mayor Woop Slap turned around and hurriedly directed the group of men he was standing with to gather all the townspeople.
Luffy was confused. Did Mayor Woop Slap and Makino know what was going on? Now that he thought about it, what did seagulls have to do with the things he saw on the horizon? Was his mother scared of birds? So many questions whirled around in his mind but he only wanted one answered.
'Why was Mama crying?'
In the time it took his vision to focus again, he found himself hoisted on Makino's hip. They were rushing somewhere. Frowning, he craned his neck to see where they were headed, only to realize that they weren't the only ones walking. It seemed as if the entire town was, and all of them were headed in the same direction.
Was he the only one that didn't know what was going on here?
No, he realized. Looking around, he saw other confused faces amongst the congregation of people he found himself in. After enduring 10 more minutes of Makino's hurried walking, they rounded a corner that lead to what Luffy thought was a dead end. But instead of stopping, they all continued walking.
At the end of the 'dead-end' was a set of stairs that lead underground. When he and Makino reached the bottom of the stairs, he saw that they were in an narrow hallway with a lone door on their far left. Upon entering the door, Luffy quickly realized that they were in a large hall. Shoving their way passed the cluster of people loitering the large hall, Makino made her way over to where Mayor Woop Slap was directing the same group of men he was talking with earlier.
Then, right as Makino was about to open her mouth to get the Mayor's attention, explosions rocked the island...
Flashback End
Shaking his head, Luffy blinked furiously to rid himself of the tears that blurred his vision. He ignored the heavy feeling in his heart and stood up.
Upon taking a deep breath, he exhaled shakily and looked out to the ocean, focusing his eyes on the horizon. Clenching his small fists and hardening his eyes, he turned around and started walking back to Makino's shop.
After close to 10 minutes of walking, he stopped abruptly and focused his eyes on a familiar path. He stared, recalling a time when a woman and a little boy's footprints littered this same path.
"Why does that feel like such a long time ago?" he whispered.
Staring a bit longer, his eyes followed the winding direction the path took. Ever since that day, not a single being, both human and animal, ever ventured close to the cliff side.
No being except for him and his grandfather.
Eighteen Months Ago
Luffy wasn't sure what the man's reaction would be to what had happened on that day. But he wanted his grandfather back in the village nonetheless. He wanted more answers as to where his mother was other than Makino's vague, 'She went someplace she can't come back from'.
When the man arrived at the village, he seemed to instinctually know what had happened. Instead of wearing the normal flowery vacation shirt Luffy always saw him in, Garp wore an all black suit with a white collar shirt that somehow managed to make the man look more intimidating than Luffy ever thought possible.
The expression on his face was one Luffy never thought he would see on a man like his grandpa. Somberness, rage and bitterness coloured the man's face. For some reason, Luffy felt like it was his first time really seeing the man. After staring at each for an indeterminate amount of time, the man opened his mouth to say his first word upon his arrival at the island.
"Come" he said before he turned and started walking in a direction Luffy knew all too well.
Makino, who stood beside him with Mayor Woop Slap, let go of his hand and lightly pushed him towards his grandfather. Following his grandpa in silence, they set off at a comfortable pace, though the tense atmosphere was anything but. Right as they were about to enter the forest, his grandfather stopped walking and looked down at him.
"Stay here" the man said, before he continued walking.
Disappointment nestled itself in Luffy's stomach. He had truly thought that whatever answers he had about his mother's whereabouts would be answered. He crushed the rebellious thoughts that warred inside his mind. Regardless, his grandpa wouldn't be in the village forever. He could always sneak away from Makino's care and make to the cliff by himself. Then, he'd have his answers.
'Yes' thought Luffy. Sooner or later he'd find out the answers to what had happened on that day.
He had no idea how long he waited for his grandpa. He tried counting the leaves on the tree he stood beside but that quickly lost its luster, mostly because he couldn't count that high. He tried pacing to pass the time but that only made his thoughts wander to places he didn't want them go.
Before the nervousness and anticipation could get the better of him, he heard footsteps coming in the direction his grandpa took. Looking up, he instantly took note of how much older the man looked upon his return. Before he could say anything, Garp got the first word in.
"Come" he said said, before he once more turned around and walked in the same direction he came from.
Luffy followed.
The closer they got to the cliff, the more signs of battle were evident alongside the path.
Trees unfortunate enough to be in the vicinity were cut clean or snapped off at their trunks. Luffy took note of the deep gorging lines, many varying in length, width and depth, that littered the familiar path. The especially deep gorges had what seemed like scorch marks outlining them. Innumerous patches of what appeared like dark-red, dried-up liquid littered the ground they walked upon. Pieces of meat? were strewn about relatively close to the red patches. Luffy would soon find out that the 'pieces of meat' he saw were tissues of organs.
The destruction appeared to escalate the closer they got to the cliff, and it reached its peak when they arrived at their destination.
Looking around, it seemed as if the entire face of the cliff had been cut clean off. The scorch marks that outlined this cut were especially prominent. Luffy stepped closer to the edge of the now faceless cliff and noticed something that made his blood freeze.
Bodies numbering in the hundreds, possibly thousands, floated on the surface of the ocean. Pieces of wood, large and small, were scattered onto a majority of the floating bodies. Even now, six months after what had happened, the ocean water was still coloured blood red. The current made the bodies move as one, as if they were alive. The thought made him sick, especially when he noticed not all of the bodies were fully intact. A lone arm floating amongst the horde of bodies reminding him of that.
A clinking sound to his right bought him out of his daze. He looked up, welcoming the distraction, and caught sight of his grandfather with something in his hands that made his heart ache. His mother's satchel. Covered in soot and looking slightly beat but it was hers, of that he was certain.
Luffy walked closer to his grandfather, desperate to be reunited with one of his mother's belongings, when his eyes were instantly drawn to the origin of the sound he heard. Right as his grandfather closed the satchel's flap, he caught sight of the blades his mother wielded on the last day he saw her.
Hearing his grandfather releasing a heavy sigh, he snapped his eyes up to the man's face just in time to see the man walking up to him. When Garp arrived at his side, the man's gaze fell to the carnage below before he looked out to the horizon.
"Here" he said, handing Luffy the satchel.
Luffy's small hands shook and his heart beat furiously in his chest. He stretched his arm forward slowly, a small part of him believing that his grandpa was going to snatch the satchel back. When the satchel was within reach, he gripped it and withdrew his arm quickly, the action causing the objects in the satchel to clink together.
Garp, still looking out to the horizon, folded his hand now free it into his pocket. Before long, the man started talking.
"Your mother was someone that was very important, Luffy," Garp stated, "Years before you were born, she took something important from some dangerous people "
Garp sighed and looked down to the strewn bodies in the ocean.
"Those people finally got information about her whereabouts but this information also included the fact that wherever she went, there was always a little boy not far behind. Six months ago she was given an option: to hand herself and the little boy over or this entire island would be destroyed. Your mother chose neither." Garp finished, grudging respect evident in his voice.
Luffy could feel tears running down his cheeks. He bit his lips hard, refusing to let a single sound escape his mouth. His heart hurt.
"W-Where is she?" he asked in a small, hoarse voice.
"She's dead" Garp said "Her body must be one of those floating down there"
"W-What's dead mean ?" he asked, not understanding the concept.
"It means she's never coming back, that you'll never see her again" came Garp's response.
Luffy's walls broke. Bringing his hand up to his mouth, he cried. All the confusion and hurt, only to realize no matter how long he would've waited, she wouldn't be coming back.
When his cries finally subsided into small hiccups, he found himself on his grandpa's back. The man was walking back to town, the satchel gripped loosely in Luffy's right hand.
"Don't go back to that place" he heard his grandpa say "You won't find any answers there."
Luffy said nothing, breaths still shaky.
"You have to be strong Luffy. There are a lot of powerful people out there who are going to see your existence as a crime. If they ever find out who your parents are, they're gonna stop at nothing to see you dead" Garp told him
"I-If I'm strong, w-will I ever see Mommy again?" Luffy asked, still clinging onto hope.
"No" came Garp's instant response, "Your mother fought hard so they wouldn't take you, brat" Garp continued, "because she knew that regardless of your age, they wouldn't show you any mercy. Just because of the blood you carry in your veins"
Luffy stayed silent, feeling tears cloud his vision once more.
"Do you want what happened to your mom to ever happen again?" asked Garp
"N-no" he whispered, his voice cracking.
"Then you'll have to become a strong, brat. You'll have to become a marine. You have to become the strongest marine that's ever lived" came his grandfather's response.
Luffy stayed quiet, digesting the information his grandfather imparted with him.
The last thing that would forever ingrain itself into Luffy's mind was the fact that all the bodies (at least those that were discernable) wore the same coloured clothing: white.
Present
One of the last things his Grandpa told him on that day, was to never touch the blades. When Luffy asked how come, his Grandpa told him he wasn't strong enough, unknowingly lighting an inferno in the pit of Luffy's stomach.
Thus began Luffy's quest to attain strength.
Half of his time was spent doing things no children his age should be doing. Scaling the nearby cliffs with his bare hands, antagonizing the monkey troops living in the forest and fighting -getting pummeled by- all of them, running multiple laps around the town and practicing the strength of his punches and kicks on the thick tree trunks surrounding the village.
It was while running away from a relentless troop of monkeys in the forest that he stumbled upon Gray Terminal.
The things Luffy saw, and continued to see everytime he went to the massive junkyard often gave him sleepless nights.
It was during one of his 'visits' to the area that Luffy saw a group of men, all of them carrying some form of weaponry, approaching a small family of four.
The men didn't bother hiding their intentions as they slunk towards the family, grins plastered on their faces. A terrified woman was cradling her two children in her arms and a trembling man stood protectively in front of them, carrying a metal pipe.
Luffy looked at the woman cradling her kids, a small echo of pain nibbling at his heart. He clenched his fists and drew a deep breath, already knowing what his next plan of action was.
Slinking behind the group, Luffy looked around, trying to find any form of weaponry laying near him. The only things he could identify were metal pipes and broken pieces wood and glass. Cursing silently in his head, Luffy swiveled his eyes across his surrounding area, trying to find anything he could use to his advantage before the scums reached the small family.
His eyes landed on the weapons one of the men carried. Two stainless steel short bladed machete swords, both roughly 50 cm in length.
Luffy grinned, despite the hammering of his heart.
He sprinted towards the man as fast, and silently, as he could, the scum not even registering that someone was approaching them until Luffy already reached their position. Using the momentum his run carried, Luffy jumped, aiming his feet right towards the back of the man's knees.
The man instantly toppled over, shouting in pain and surprise, drawing his accomplices' attention. One of the machete blades fell out of his hand as the man tried to catch himself. Luffy quickly picked himself up and noticed the blade laying near him. Leaping towards the blade, he picked it up and, using both hands, swung it with all his might directly at the still grounded man's neck.
Blood spurted out of where the now decapitated man's neck used to be, spraying Luffy on his face and his upper body. The rest of the men were frozen in shock, minds not comprehending what on earth just happened. Luffy used their pause in his favour and quickly jumped towards the other machete blade laying next to the dead man's body.
Once both blades were in his hands, Luffy swiveled around to face the family who's untimely demise he prevented, "RUN!!!" Luffy shouted at them, his words seeming to unfreeze time itself as everyone in the area was knocked out of their stupor.
The man, who stood protectively in front of his family, turned around took one of the children out of the woman's arms. He quickly took the woman's now free arm and started running as fast as he could, taking her along with him. The woman turned around, her mouth open, as if she was about to say something to Luffy, before her eyes widened, "Watch out!!" she shouted.
Luffy turned around just in time to see that one of the men had gotten behind him, his sword already half way through its swing towards the left side of Luffy's head.
Luffy quickly backed his head up, watching as the blade got closer and closer to his head. Just as it seemed like he was going to successfully evade the swing, the tip of the sword sliced a clean cut right below his left eye.
Luffy blinked furiously to rid his eyes of the tears that sprung up in his vision. He felt something warm run down below his left eye but he quickly willed his attention away from the pain towards the men standing in front of him.
Luffy used the man's close proximity to jump up slash the machete blades across his stomach. The man yelled out in pain and fury, "You little shit!"
Luffy backpedalled, wanting all of the men present in his field of vision.
'Six' he thought, counting the men standing in front of him, 'Okay, I can do this.'
The men all charged, wielding knives, swords, axes and the like. Luffy stood still, tightening his grip on the machete blades in his hands and preparing himself to sprint towards the men.
"Oi!" an elderly voice shouted.
The men and Luffy all froze.
As one, they all looked in direction the voice came from. An elderly man emerged from the shadow of a heap of trash, his long, grey, unruly hair falling to his shoulders. He was sporting a long, brimmed, brown hat with some light fraying. Orange-lensed sunglasses with a black rim sat on top of his hat. He was dressed in what appeared to be a long, dark blue cloak that trailed along the ground. He wielded a staff that had a hammerhead on the end, strongly resembling a maul.
The old man took a moment to survey them all, pausing a bit longer when he examined Luffy. Before long, he directed his attention towards the group of men standing in front of Luffy.
"Leave." he said to them, a stern expression on his face.
The one that came close to lopping Luffy's head off stepped forward, not seeming to pay attention to the bleeding slash marks on his stomach, an enraged look on his face.
"Piss off Old Man!!" he shouted, "this brat cost us our meals for the night and killed one if my m-
"I said leave." reiterated the old man, the volume of his voice neither raising or lowering, though this time, a foreign weight settled over the entire area.
Luffy suddenly found himself on his knees, a cold sweat quickly forming on his brow and he suddenly found it difficult to breathe. Then, as quickly as the feeling came, it went away as if it was never there in the first place.
He stood up awkwardly, letting out a shaky breath and grasping the machete blades firmly. Looking up, he saw that it was only the man with the sword was awake, though he was on his hands and knees, eyes wide and sweat dripping from his face, the slashes on his stomach bleeding anew. The rest of his men all lay in various states of unconsciousness.
The man took a while to compose himself. Luffy was doing the same on his side, keeping one eye on the old man and another on the recuperating man on the ground, all the while trying his best to ignore the stickiness and the throbbing he could feel coming from the cut below his left eye.
"Youngster." the old man called out.
Luffy turned his head to look at him.
"You're gonna want to get that cut checked out before long, it could easily get infected in a place like this if you leave it untreated." the old man said.
Luffy remained silent for a while, before he answered the old man, "I don't know my way back home." he said.
The old man hummed, before he turned around and started walking away, "I'm gonna need to treat that cut of yours first before I can take you anywhere, kid" he said, "C'mon," he beckoned with a hand over his shoulder, "gonna need to work fast if you wanna get home before dark." he finished.
Luffy cautiously followed after the old man. Just before he got out of sight, something inside Luffy told him to turn around.
The -presumable- leader of the thugs and Luffy stared at each other. The man had a fist and his jaw clenched tightly, the other hand used to stem the blood flowing from the slashes Luffy gave him, a look promising great pain in his eyes.
Luffy, with the specks of blood covering his entire face and T-shirt and dried blood covering the entire left cheek of his face, stared at the man with an equal amount of cold fury.
"This isn't over kid." the man said, the underlying tone of rage in his voice making the sentence sound like a snarl.
"You're right," Luffy stated, a cold tone in his voice as he tightened his grip on the bloodstained machete blades, "It isn't." he finished, before turning around to catch up to the old man.
"Do you go to Gray Terminal a lot?" Naguri, as Luffy later found out, asked him.
"One of my first few times." Luffy answered.
Naguri stayed silent for a long while after that. When he spoke again, he asked "Have you done that before?", a solemn tone in his voice.
Luffy swallowed hard, feeling his throat constrict at the question. Instead of answering Old Man Naguri's question, he countered it with one of his own, "Does that happen a lot?" he asked.
"Yes." came the Old Man Naguri's response.
"Then I'm gonna have to do it some more." Luffy answered, hardening his eyes and closing his heart to the blood still covering one of his machete blades.
Old Man Naguri sighed, "The only path this road you want to walk is going to lead is death, young one."
"I need to grow stronger," Luffy answered, "the animals I fight in the forest and the exercises I do are only gonna get me so far," he continued, "You saw what they were gonna do to that family, I'm not gonna stand still and let that happen if I can help it" he declared.
His declaration silenced Naguri, "Whenever you're able to, come find me at my house." he said.
Luffy frowned and looked up to him, "Why?" he asked, confusion thick in his voice.
"Just like you I can't stand still and watch an innocent get hurt. And you're gonna get hurt, brat. All I want to do is ensure you get hurt as little as possible." answered Naguri.
When he heard no response coming from the boy, he sighed, "I'm gonna train you, brat." he said, already knowing without looking that the boy didn't catch the meaning of his previous words.
Luffy looked at Naguri, not saying anything.
When Luffy got back home later that day, before he went inside, he stashed the machete blades deep in the nearby bushes.
After ensuring they were hidden properly, he entered the house, where a furious, teary-eyed Makino told him he was grounded for a week. Luffy, not knowing what 'grounded' means, just nodded, feeling guilty for making Makino cry.
Old Man Naguri's treated his cut relatively quickly. And upon telling him where he lived, the two of them made haste to get to Foosha Village.
Makino, who was the one that constantly had to care of the exhausted and battered form of Luffy, was surprised to see a bandaid covering a cut below Luffy's left eye. But she quickly reverted back to her furious/worried state when Luffy told her that it was a small cut he got while he was scaling a cliff.
Luffy was thankful she didn't comment on his wet hair and T-shirt, having had to run to the coast of the village to quickly wash the blood off of himself.
Makino and Mayor Woop Slap have tried, on multiple occasions, to tell Luffy to ease up on the training he puts himself through. Each time Luffy's only response to their concerns was that he had to get stronger.
The saddened looks in their eyes told Luffy that they knew, or at least suspected, part of the reason why.
When his grandfather caught wind of Luffy's training exploits, the man laughed. Declaring how proud he was of Luffy and that he would 'assist' him making him stronger. All in the quest of turning Luffy into the 'strongest marine'.
Tossing him into a bottomless ravine, tying him to balloons and sending him flying into the sky and leaving him alone in the jungle for nights on end. Luffy lost count of the amount of times his grandpa almost killed him in the past eighteen months.
Luffy sighed, finally feeling the weight all this thinking has inspired.
He gave the path one last look before turning around and heading back home.
"Honestly Luffy. Where do you always run off to during the day? Do you have any idea how worried I am that something might happen to you and I wouldn't know about it?" scolded Makino, her hands on her hips as she stared down at Luffy, who had just entered their home.
Luffy scratched the back of his head while giving Makino a sheepish smile.
"Ah, sorry Makino. I always forget the time when I'm training in the forest. This is the last time, I promise"
Makino looked at him for a few seconds before her stern mask broke. She gave Luffy a fond chuckle.
"That's what you said yesterday" she said.
Luffy snickered.