"Is it just me or is that Takeshi kid really clingy?" asked Usopp.
"It's not you," said Nami dryly.
Luffy snorted.
"That's normal. He'll calm down after a while, but for now he won't want to stray too close from me. I'm one of the few who remembers what he was like before, and he's been really lost without someone to anchor him," said Luffy.
"What do you mean?" asked Nami.
"He's naturally inclined to severe depression when he doesn't have anyone to slap some sense into him and give him a proper outlet. It was lucky the cooks found him when they did, because I dread to think what would have happened otherwise. He also has an annoying habit of hiding behind fake smiles, so it's really hard to tell when he's having a bad day," said Luffy.
"And the fact he's been extra clingy towards you?" asked Nami with a smirk.
Luffy scowled at her.
"Takeshi sees me more as a little sibling to protect, rather than anything romantic," she said annoyed.
Besides, if Takeshi was here, then odds were Hayato was as well. The two were an explosive combination, but that didn't stop them from sleeping together. Most of that was the fact Hayato was such a tsundere though.
Nami didn't seem convinced and Usopp was very weirded out by the idea... Luffy honestly had no idea if it was the fact Takeshi was so tactile or the idea of two guys being together... but Zoro was just happy Luffy wasn't trying to suddenly replace him as First Mate.
Best of all Takeshi had managed to reclaim his skills with his sword style so he could give Zoro a good fight. He still lost, but that was more because Zoro was a lot stronger than Takeshi physically.
It didn't take much for the two of them to bond over swords though, which made it alright in Luffy's book.
Another two days passed, and still no luck getting Sanji to join.
Takeshi merely grinned wickedly, because no one survived a determined Luffy. Especially if she unleashed the dreaded "Bunny Pout" on him.
(He found it hilarious that out of the crew, only the two swordsmen were even aware Luffy was actually a girl. The sniper and navigator had absolutely no clue and it was hilarious to see them miss the obvious.)
One day later...
Luffy had a wicked grin on her face when she waited for Mihawk to finished fighting Zoro.
"Come to avenge your comrade?" he asked calmly.
"Actually I was hoping you could deliver something to Shanks. I know you're one of his favorite sparring partners and that you're more likely to run into him before I will," admitted Luffy.
"What do I get in return for this arrangement?" asked Mihawk.
"I plan on teaching Zoro and Takeshi about Haki and hopefully getting them up to the point they can handle the New World, which means more time to actually train in their sword skills," said Luffy promptly. "Also I was hoping you could slap Shanks on the head for me."
"Why?"
"Because I have the distinct feeling that idiot has been spreading stories about his 'little bunny' across the New World and I want to give him a taste of what I'll do to him if he makes it any harder for me to get any respect once I reach the Grand Line," deadpanned Luffy. "I don't mind him acting like Yasopp when it comes to his son, but I'll be damned if that idiot's ridiculous image of me ruins my chances of earning any respect from the serious players like the Whitebeard pirates."
Something flashed across Mihawk's eyes, and it practically confirmed her suspicion Shanks had done something that would piss her off.
"How hard do you want me to slap him?"
"Enough that he either crashes into the ground or spills his booze. Or you could always get something really loud to play if he has a hangover when you visit before you slap him," said Luffy wickedly.
Mihawk's smirk was not for the faint of heart. He was starting to see why Shanks was so fond of his "little bunny". He couldn't wait to see her reaction to the books.
Who knew Shanks could actually write anything worth reading? Even if he did have Benn edit it before they discreetly sent it off to be published. It still baffled the World Government that a Yonko would write something like that and what he was playing at.
Mihawk was one of the few who knew the answer to that, and the fact that a certain Vice-Admiral got an autographed copy before it was sold to the public.
Garp found it just as amusing as Shanks and didn't mind admitting he read the series. Besides, he couldn't wait to see Luffy's reaction to the books as well.
"So what do you want me to give Shanks?" asked Mihawk.
Luffy handed him a few letters and a pair of scrapbooks. The letters were from Usopp, but the scrapbooks were copies of the one Luffy had herself. She had a habit of taking multiple pictures, so she saw no reason not to part with the duplicates she had.
Mihawk took them with good humor, mostly because Shanks' precious little bunny had openly asked him to slap the man hard enough to drop his liquor or to make him suffer through a hangover. It was good to know Shanks' adopted daughter was nothing like him, even if the idiot did tend to gloss over her actual personality in favor of what he remembered and what little he was able to glean from their frequent conversations over the snail.
He would not admit to cackling in private when he heard of the prank the girl played on Shanks involving his old crew mate Buggy. The fact she timed it perfectly to the point Shanks had a roaring hangover when she used him as a distraction to get out of a sticky situation was highly amusing, because he had a headache for days after.
Benn and most of the crew found it amusing, once they found out the whole story behind that particular call. Shanks did not, at least until he got roaring drunk again.
Which took about a week.
Gin stared at Luffy in disbelief.
"You want me to join your crew?" he asked.
"Let's face it, Krieg was an idiot. And from what I've seen you're a decent fighter with a rare sense of honor. I don't see why you should let one bad experience keep you from enjoying the Grand Line properly," said Luffy.
Gin blinked.
"What do you mean he was an idiot?"
"You said Mihawk attacked you because you woke him from his nap, right?" said Luffy.
"Yes...?"
"Were you aware that Krieg was stupid enough to head through the Calm Belt, rather than take the sane option of Reverse Mountain simply because he was too lazy to properly navigate through the mist or wait for it to clear?" asked Luffy.
"What's the Calm Belt?" asked Usopp.
"It's basically a nursery for Sea Kings. It's another way into the Grand Line, but it's ridiculously hellish to get through unless you take specific preparations for it. There's no wind or waves, so you practically have to row through the entire thing without getting eaten," said Luffy bluntly. "It looks nice and passive, but the second you hit it you're screwed. Especially if you're a rookie crew who's never been on the Grand Line before."
Gin stared at her.
"How do you know Krieg tried to go through that way?"
"Because Mihawk mentioned that part of the reason he attacked you was because he was coming through the Calm Belt and noticed your ship was heading straight for it. Since he didn't recognize the flag, he figured out pretty quick that your crew likely didn't know the danger and decided to give you another reason to turn around. Mostly because he didn't want to deal with the corpses and debris in the water getting in his way," said Luffy shrugging.
"Hold on a minute, didn't you say you were hit by storms?" asked Usopp.
Gin looked sheepish.
"Actually we don't know what it was we hit. All I remember was the waves thrashing about like crazy, then someone shouting about a man on a small boat and seeing parts of the ship come off. Next thing I know I see Mihawk glaring at us and commenting on how we woke him from his nap," admitted Gin.
"Which means odds were you were attacked by a sea king and had no idea where you actually were because your captain was an idiot," deadpanned Luffy. "Because otherwise you would have mentioned the whale at the other end of Reverse Mountain."
"What whale?" asked Zoro, staring at her.
"I only heard bits and pieces about it, but according to Gramps there's this huge whale at the other end of Reverse Mountain with some serious scarring on it's nose. Apparently it came from the East Blue and has been trying to attack the mountain for years, though he never got the full story why. Something about a pirate crew accidentally bringing the whale with them and promising to return, only to never come back," shrugged Luffy. "Shanks even confirmed it when I asked about it, though he has no idea why the whale keeps attacking the mountain either."
Luffy wasn't about to explain about the story behind Laboon. Too much knowledge would ruin all her fun. Better to make it sound like she got most of it from second-hand sources that were generally considered trustworthy.
Besides she always found it odd that the 'story' behind Gin's traumatic experience on the Grand Line never mentioned Laboon, and she highly doubted Mihawk would have bothered with Reverse Mountain when he was more likely to come through the Calm Belt since he would have been told about the trick to sail through it unharmed without having to deal with any rookies trying to enter the Grand Line for the first time.
It was far more likely Krieg had run afoul of sea kings only to run into a less than amused Mihawk who was annoyed at being woken up.
Gin looked dubious, but there was something about Luffy that drew him in. Besides, the teen seemed to have a lot of common sense and knowledge of the place than Krieg had when he attempted to go there.
Perhaps this time he wouldn't have such a disastrous experience of it.
"You sure you want me on your crew? I did try to kill your chef," said Gin.
"You turned against that idiot who was all too happy to kill innocent bystanders over a ship and proved you have far more courage than he does. Besides, anyone who honors a life debt like you did is okay in my book," said Luffy.
And honestly, it wouldn't be the first time she turned an 'enemy' into one of her most trusted allies. Most of her close friends were like that, including her big brother Ace.
"How do you know all this stuff?"
Luffy smirked.
"Master of emotional blackmail and people tend to tell you things when they think you're too scatterbrained to remember it later. Though in Gramps case it was more of a case of him trying to subtly pressure me into the Marines, because he gave up on the direct approach after Ace left."
Which was around the time Luffy hit puberty properly...and made Ace heartily glad he was not in the direct line of fire to a hormonal and emotional Luffy. He heard horror stories from a grudgingly amused Dadan about how Luffy behaved until her body settled into it's new normal. Either way, her periods left terror-filled people in it's wake if she had a target to aim her crabbiness at.
No one wanted to deal with Luffy suffering through her thankfully short periods. If the 'sweet and innocent' version was difficult to say no to, then the positively demonic one was near impossible to stand up against.
(Something that got absolutely terrifying to the point she had grown men pissing themselves in fear of her wrath if Luffy was out of chocolate. Ace swore after hearing the horror stories to keep the treat on hand if Luffy was on her period to pacify the beast.)
Still, they needed to deal with the situation Nami was in before they could head to the Grand Line, as she was the only one on the crew who could navigate worth a damn at all on the sea.
Which meant dealing with Arlong. She just hoped this wouldn't end too badly.
Ace POV
The second commander of the Whitebeard pirates stared at the little shit who tried to beat him with no little degree of shock.
He knew those flames.
"Shishishishi... so the peasant thinks he can order a prince around?" sneered the brat.
He was the second son of a Celestial Dragon and a prince besides, but because he wasn't born first he wasn't allowed to become king. They barely tolerated his little 'pet' as it was, because the brat the boy took an interest in had a bad habit of stating facts no one wanted to say out loud.
The boy seemed to delight in pissing people off, while acting oblivious to the effect his words had on others.
Ace slowly smirked as he allowed his flames to come to the forefront. Not the physical manifestation but the 'aura' of them.
The prince's arrogance slowly started to shift into shock and no little amount of hope.
"Prince-trash, what have I told you about trying to dominate me?" said Ace in perfect Italian. His voice was slightly different but there was no mistaking his tone or the way he said "trash".
The prince stared at him, a single blood red eye peaking out from behind his overly long bangs.
"Boss?" he asked, not daring to hope.
The rough, yet protective and possessive feel of Ace's Wrath wrapped around the teen in a familiar way.
The slightly younger boy practically tackled Ace with relief as his sleeping Storm Flames eagerly lapped up the Storm-laced Sky Ace provided. The familiar feeling of warmth and possessiveness made the teen rather giddy with glee.
"You do realize if I take you and the brat I can only assume is Fran with me that it'll be considered kidnapping," said Ace dryly.
"Shishishi. That never would have stopped you before."
"Considering who my father is in this lifetime, it wouldn't stop me anyway. No skewering anyone without permission, unless it's that bastard Teach," said Ace firmly.
He almost thought Izo was Lussuria, until he realized the man simply preferred to wear "nice" clothing and wasn't really an okama. He had earned some major brownie points the first day he accepted being part of the Whitebeard pirates by asking the man point blank whether he wanted to be referred to as a man or a woman.
Ace had dealt with Lussuria for over a decade. He honestly did not give a crap about someone who preferred women's clothing and wore more make-up than a dockside whore.
(Ace did put his foot down when it came to acting as Izo's new dress-up doll. He had his standards dammit!)
If Whitebeard and his 'family' were shocked when Ace calmly lead the son of a Celestial Dragon and his 'friend' on to the ship, they said nothing. Belphegor refused to take the mark, stating he would only follow Ace, but Fran quickly became Thatch's new best friend when the cook discovered what the teal haired boy could do. The fact his blunt and far too observant comments pissed off anyone who was on the wrong end of them was a very amusing bonus, in his opinion.