Shoutout to MomoTheDreamer, Rizuki Dhan, and ghostperson!
Temperance, upright - Middle path, patience, finding meaning...
Well, this was not what Makino had anticipated when she woke up this morning.
She clutched the broom handle, trying to calm her racing heart. The 'door' to the back room was cloth for a reason - Makino could hear everything that happened in her bar. So she'd easily heard the argument between Noir and Ward, and Noir's explicit threat.
Makino had not expected a Rear Admiral to walk into her bar today.
Neither had the Sea Dog Pirates, and the rush of footsteps and subsequent cheering from her customers told Makino that the pirates were not prepared to deal with the Marine.
"You can come out, Makino-san." Noir's voice cut through the din of revelry. Makino pushed aside the cloth. Not a single Sea Dog in sight, thank the Sea. Noir had already pulled out the barstools around the broken glass - which was irksome but Makino would take a broken glass over dealing with Ward - allowing Makino to sweep up the shards unimpeded.
"Thank you, Noir-san." Makino said. For both the assistance cleaning and for scaring off the pirates. Not that the pirates would be gone forever. Makino had not missed the fact that Noir was on vacation. Once the pirates calmed down, they would remember that as well and come back once they were certain of Noir's absence. And then they would likely take out their frustrations on Makino and her customers.
Noir was writing something on one of her playing cards. After a moment, she handed it to Makino, who looked at the ace of hearts to see a series of numbers scrawled in neat, cramped handwriting.
"Do you have access to a Den Den?" Noir asked. Makino nodded her head. She didn't, but Mayor Woop Slap had one she'd be able to use if necessary. "Right, if those pirates bother you again, call that number. I'll see to it myself."
Makino tucked the card in her pocket, feeling a weight disappear from her shoulders. There wasn't anything as reassuring as the guarantee of overkill. Normally, Makino would tell Shanks about the unwanted attention, trusting her friend would take care of it, but Shanks hadn't been able to visit Fuusha village in years and hadn't mentioned if he would be able to in the near future.
At the thought of the pirate, Makino eyed the blonde Marine. "Are you really hunting Shanks?" Makino's gut clenched. Was Shanks alright? He was a Yonko - he had to be. Noir was only a Rear Admiral after all, not a Vice Admiral like Garp or a full Admiral.
Noir huffed. "I've been hunting Shanks for years now." She said, and Makino blinked at the annoyance in her tone. "Our rivalry is a bit of a legend among the new recruits, almost as legendary as Pirate King Gol D. Roger and Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp."
Makino had stopped paying attention at Noir's confirmation. Her heart pounded in her ears. "You're trying to kill Shanks." She said numbly.
Noir curled her lip, as though she found such a notion personally offensive. "My goal is to arrest Shanks."
She glared at the blonde. Makino wasn't stupid. Even out in East Blue, Impel Down's reputation was well known. As was the reputation of the World Government. Shanks would be executed,publicly, to make a statement. Just like the Pirate King.
"You're going to kill Shanks." Makino repeated, gripping the handle of her broom tightly.
The reality of Shanks' chosen lifestyle had never really occurred to Makino before now. The fact that while Shanks was one of the most powerful pirates on the seas, he was also one of the most wanted men on the seas. How many Marines did he have hunting for his head?
Noir's shoulders slumped. "Yeah," Noir sighed, "I suppose I will."
"But he's a good man - " And what was Makino thinking, defending a pirate to a Marine?
Makino's wary expression drew a knowing smirk from Noir. "I'm not like my fanatic colleagues. If I arrested everyone who knew a pirate, I wouldn't have time to sleep." A pause. "Can Impel Down even hold that many people?"
Unbidden, a mental image of a prison exploding outwards with prisoners came to Makino's mind, and she couldn't help but crack a grin.
Noir grinned at her before sobering. "People forget; justice isn't kind. Absolute Justice less so. Justice doesn't care that Shanks is a good man. Justice only cares for the crimes Shanks has committed."
"But that's not fair." Makino whispered. Shanks wasn't cruel like other pirates. He'd saved Luffy from Higuma, sacrificed an arm to the Lord of the Coast! All for a kid he hadn't known very long.
"I agree." Startled, Makino whipped her head up. There was a small, deprecating smile on Noir's face. Makino recognized that smile. She'd seen it a thousand times on her customers. That was the smile of a painful story. "Fair would be the laws applying to everyone. Equally."
Well, that was grand in theory. "Do you include yourself in that?" Makino asked, meeting Noir's gaze in a challenging stare.
Noir smirked, but Makino thought the expression looked tired. "I'm not a good person, Makino-san. I'm selfish, not particularly merciful or forgiving, and I've got an awful temper. I've done things I'm not proud of, but I'd do some of them again if I had to." The Marine shrugged. "I'll face my judgment in time."
With that, Noir went back to her cards, ending the conversation.
As Makino finished cleaning up, she considered the older woman. Noir was… strange for a Marine. Surprisingly humble - Makino didn't know of any Marines who would admit having done anything warranting justice for - and lenient. The bartender couldn't say if Noir was selfish or forgiving, but Noir's treatment of the Sea Dog pirates didn't strike Makino as merciless.
And her name. Portgas D. Noir.
Was she related to Ace? The boy hadn't ever mentioned a relative, but if Noir's temper was anything like Ace's Makino could see how one might describe it as awful. But if they were related, why hadn't Noir raised him? Or even visited, like Garp had?
Either way, Makino decided, she'd withhold judgment for now. She set a bottle of Shanks' favored sake by the woman and left her to her cards.
Noir had felt the jolt of recognition in Makino's Haki during Noir's introduction. Whether that was recognition of Noir herself or Noir's surname wasn't clear - Garp was known for telling stories and Noir wouldn't be surprised if he'd told a few about her - but Noir figured the best way to find out was by straight out asking.
The plan was to ask Makino when the woman passed by Noir's end of the bar, but an aura rapidly approaching the bar snagged Noir's attention. Because that was a much stronger aura than Noir was expecting to find in an East Blue civilian, and was that a Devil Fruit user? How the hell did a Devil Fruit wind up all the way out here?
The door was kicked open with a bang. Well, that explained the hole in the wall. From Makino's non-reaction that was a common occurrence. The kid standing in the doorway was the spitting image of Garp, and Noir should probably be thankful that Garp's grandson was only putting holes in walls instead of going through walls.
"I brought a boar, Makino!" the kid - Luffy, if Noir remembered correctly - shouted, one hand securing a straw hat on his head.
Noir absently registered Makino's response, because she recognized that hat. That was Roger's hat. Well, it had been Shanks' hat for the past twenty-three years. Noir thought Shanks had hung it up somewhere for safe keeping! What had possessed Shanks to part with it?
Now that she thought about it, Shanks had lost his arm right around the time he stopped wearing Roger's hat.
Did it have to do with Luffy?
How Luffy managed to drag the giant boar through Makino's doorway, Noir wasn't sure, but Luffy easily dragged the animal to Makino's kitchen. He then took the embellished seat next to her. So that's who it was for.
Noir took a moment to scrutinize Garp's grandson. Poor kid, he really did look like his grandfather. They even had similar scars, though how Luffy got his Noir was not certain she wanted to know. But where Garp had always been a muscular man according to stories from Garp's colleagues, Luffy was almost the opposite, with a lean and lanky build.
Then Makino started bringing out food and Noir abruptly felt like she was a Ensign under Garp's command again.
What was it about male Children of D that they could eat so much food? Noir and Rouge had large appetites, but nothing like that! At this rate, Luffy would finish the boar by himself and still have room for more.
"More, Makino!"
Now that was rude. Adding a touch of Haki to her finger, Noir reached over and flicked Luffy on the ear. Luffy yelped and whirled to stare at Noir, aura pinging in shock. So a logia or paramecia fruit, if pain surprised him. Noir gave Luffy a stern look. "Be more polite to Makino-san." Luffy blinked in confusion, and Noir resisted the urge to cover her face in her hands. "Didn't anyone ever teach you manners?" She asked. From the kitchen, Makino's aura twisted in amusement.
Luffy scrunched his nose. "I'm going to be a pirate!" He exclaimed, and Noir very pointedly ingored the fact that Luffy still had food in his mouth. "Pirates don't need manners!"
Noir raised an imperious brow. Oh they didn't, did they? "Shanks has manners." She told him. Shanks didn't always use them, but he had them.
Luffy scowled. Noir decided it was adorable. "Well I'm going to be the Pirate King!" He declared. "So I won't need them!"
Makino arrived with another series of plates, and Luffy returned to gorging himself on the boar meat. Noir gave in and buried her face in her hands. The conviction in Luffy's eyes was the same conviction she'd once seen from Roger, and dammit Luffy was going to get himself into just as much trouble, wasn't he?
Poor Garp. It was a good thing his hair was already grey.
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