A/N: Welcome!
The big secret has come out, so where does this leave Luffy and Dogtooth? And what will become of their confrontation? Find out now!
I do not own One Piece, It belongs to Eiichiro Oda
Dogtooth is shocked, and makes no attempt to respond at first, so Luffy speaks up instead,
"Are you ashamed of your mouth?" Luffy asks.
"N-no…" Dogtooth says, feeling rather exposed all of a sudden.
"Well good! It's nothing to be ashamed about! I think it makes you look cool, mostly the fangs! You're like a vampire or something!" Luffy says, much less serious and stern and more light-hearted than before. Dogtooth is totally unsure how to react to that statement, but given what Luffy has been saying, he assumes it is meant a compliment. Luffy tries to put a reassuring hand on Dogtooth's back, but it is difficult with how much taller Dogtooth is than him. Luffy has one more thing he would like to say on the subject, so he get serious again,
"I don't know why you're hiding your mouth, or what you might be hiding along with it, but I don't care! If you want, I won't breathe a word of it to anyone, but if you ask me, it's better to be who you are instead of who the world wants you to be." He says. Dogtooth's eyes get wide at this, and he looks right into Luffy's own to see how serious he is. Clearly, it is a philosophy Luffy follows closely, but after how many times he had said he wanted to be King of the Pirates in front of Big Mom, Dogtooth really should not have been so surprised, in retrospect. All of a sudden, Dogtooth begins to laugh, hysterically, doubling over, even. It is an unburdened laugh, one that sounds like he was finally free and uninhibited. Luffy does not really pick up on that, but he is glad to see Dogtooth lightening up. When his laughing fit is done, Dogtooth finds himself sitting on the ground with his legs spread out on the ground, feeling like a kid again in those short, golden years of freedom before the other kids started to call him "Pelican-Eel Boy" or before being ostracized by even his own mother. His sides hurt from the laughter, and his face did too from Luffy's punch earlier, but he did not feel it. He felt great, better than he had in years.
"Straw Hat…" Dogtooth starts, but then changes his mind,
"…no, Monkey, thank you." He finishes. Luffy has a satisfied smile on his face as he sits down next to him, and Dogtooth mirrors it.
"It is nice to have someone else to share my secret with. No one ever accepted me because of my appearance, I was shunned by my peers, and even Mama did not want to look at my mouth. I know she cares for me, deep down at least, but that hurt so much. When I started covering my face, people saw me for who I really am, they saw me as a dependable man who cares a great deal for his family and would do anything for them, even if they think of me a little too highly. But, I have a reputation now, I'm afraid it is not simple for me as it is for you. I cannot, and will not show my face to the world, I simply can't do it. Even so, I know I can trust you with it, and you have no idea how glad I am to be accepted for who I truly am. Not the stoic second son of Charlotte Linlin, but as Charlotte Dogtooth, a man who quite likes donuts, as a matter of fact." Dogtooth says, looking up at the blue sky and passing white clouds floating above them. Luffy smiles as he slides his straw hat up to the top of his head.
"Then I'll respect your decision. But I hope one day you'll be able to be who you really are, and that everyone will accept you for that!" Luffy says and giving Dogtooth his famous reassuring grin. A comfortable silence fills the atmosphere for a single moment before Dogtooth speaks up again.
"You know, my snack time is still about fifteen minutes away, you wanna finish our fight?" Dogtooth asks, and Luffy responds, "Yup!" He says with his usual exuberance. The two jump up to their feet and get to fighting once more. Luffy suddenly becomes engulfed in poison, and even seems to grow into a monstrous form, a massive devil-like entity with a straw hat made entirely of crimson colored poison between the horns atop it's head.
"Venom Demon: Chernobyl!" He says, his voice deep and echoing in this form. Dogtooth smirks, drawing a trident he calls "Mogura" and preparing a fighting stance.
When the fighting resumes, they do not pull a single punch, both grinning like mad men the whole time.
Soon, both are roughed up and barely standing, panting heavily, but still smiling. Dogtooth removed his coat at some point to be further unrestricted, showing off his pink tattoos as well.
"You're a hell of a fighter, Monkey!" Dogtooth says in between heavy breathes.
"You too, Doggy! I can barely keep up!" Luffy replies in no better condition. They both make a move to stand back up, but both end up collapsing onto the ground. After some more panting, Luffy starts to laugh and laugh, and Dogtooth follows suit, laughing hardily with him, and they keep laughing until they need to stop and refocus on their breathing.
When they finally do get up, Dogtooth realizes what time it is and puts his jacket and scarf back on.
"It's my snack time, so I will be going." Dogtooth says, but thinks to himself for a moment.
"Actually, perhaps you'd like to join me? My chefs make the most wonderful donuts, as I'm sure you now know. Have some with me.!" Dogtooth says.
"Okay, that sounds fun! Plus, it's about lunchtime for me anyway! Shishishishi!" Luffy responds. Dogtooth leads the way and they arrive at the Minister's building in Hakuriki Town in only a few minutes. They go to the "Snack Room," where Dogtooth's chefs are waiting for him.
"Ah! Master Dogtooth! Your snack is ready for you to eat, right on time as usual!" Dogtooth's head chef tells him while another chef walks up to Luffy and speaks with him,
"I am afraid Master Dogtooth eats alone, you can wait here if you like." The chef says. Dogtooth puts his hand up and speaks to him.
"Straw Hat will be joining me today, as a one time exception." He explains in his deep, stoic voice. The chefs are surprised, but they comply with Dogtooth's wishes without hesitation.
"Very well, Master Dogtooth." The head chef says, opening the door to the Snack Room and lets the two in before shutting the door behind them.
"Woah! Look at all those donuts!" Luffy shouts with drool leaking out of his mouth at the massive pile of huge donuts gathered in the middle of the room. Dogtooth tosses his scarf to the wayside as the two run to the pile of donuts and leap into them like they would a pool (if they even could swim). They both come back up to the "surface" with giant donuts in hand, each with a big bite taken out of them and said bite completely filling their cheeks as they laugh with mouths wide open.
"(WOAH! SO DELICIOUS! THESE DONUTS ARE THE BEST!)" Luffy shouts out while muffled by all the donut packed in his mouth, chomping down on more of it while Dogtooth does the same.
"(Right? This sugar is my fuel! And it's so very wonderful!)" Dogtooth explains, also with a mouth overstuffed before swallowing.
"Yummy yummy! Donuts in my tummy!" Dogtooth sings.
"Yummy yummy! Donuts in my tummy!" Luffy mimics.
They both continue to laugh and stuff their faces for a good hour, Dogtooth singing little tunes about eating off the cuff and Luffy singing with him all the while.
"You know Monkey, it feels great to be who I really am with someone else, it is so very rare. Thank you for this." Dogtooth says as they both are on their last donut some time later.
"(Mmhmm! Thanks for lettin' me eat donuts with you, Doggy!)" Luffy says, biting into the the last donut. Dogtooth puts his arm on Luffy's shoulder, and causes Luffy to stop eating for a moment.
"I probably won't be able to say something like this around my family or the rest of the crew, but I want to say that I'm really glad you're gonna be my brother-in-law. I'm sure I'm no competition for Fire Fist, but still." Dogtooth says. Luffy swallows the rest of the donut in his mouth before replying,
"Well, I don't know about this whole 'brother-in-law' thing, but you're my friend now, and that's enough! You don't have to compete or something, so don't, okay?" He says with a smile. Dogtooth laughs and smiles back.
When their snack time is over and after a quick trip to the Komugi Island's infirmary to get some of their injuries checked out, the two board Dogtooth's ship and sail for Whole Cake Island.
It is another relatively quick trip, but it is already nightfall when they arrive on Whole Cake Island, and waiting for them on the shore is Cracker, Brûlée, and all of the self-proclaimed "Dogtooth Fan Club." A lanky girl with dark hair in a very long ponytail and a polka-dotted outfit, the "captain" of the fan club, is the first to greet the two, or really just greet Dogtooth.
"Brother Dogtooth! How was it? Did you kick his ass?!" She asks.
"Flampé! Don't be rude." Dogtooth scolds in a stern voice.
"Forgive my little sister." Dogtooth adds, directing it toward Luffy.
"That's fine! He did get me pretty good after all! Shishishishi!" Luffy tells Flampé.
"Monkey put up a good fight, we are truly on equal ground as warriors. It only makes me wonder how it would have gone if we had been on opposite sides of a greater conflict." Dogtooth adds.
The group is surprised to hear that,
"Wow! Brother Dogtooth said Straw Hat's on his level.!"
"That's high praise.!"
"Yeah, but it still sounds like Brother Dogtooth came out on top, as expected.!" Are among the murmurs that can be heard from them.
"Well, I'm gonna go get dinner, see ya later, Doggy!" Luffy calls out as he makes his way through the crowd and heads toward the castle.
"Yes, I shall look forward to it, Monkey." Dogtooth responds quietly as he goes to board his boat again.
A/N: With the fight over and a new bond formed, the two warriors part, for now. Now we see the more abstract reason Katakuri is called "Dogtooth." The significance of Luffy referring to him as "Doggy" and now Dogtooth referring to Luffy as "Monkey" after the battle is a reference to the battle of the Monkey (the East) and the Dog (the West). You could interpret that anyway you like, such as the fact that, like this fight, the two parties are on good terms but are still fighting and undercutting each other at every turn. Or you could interpret that I really really like the game Killer7, and I am just referencing the Mahjong scene. Either works. Additionally, I chose "Chernobyl" for Luffy's Venom Demon's subtitle even though that was not exactly a poison based event because of the existence of "radiation poisoning" (and because it sounded cooler than anything else I had come up with). Anyway, now that this little "mini-arc" is over, we will return to the main romance plot soon. Until then, don't forget to Follow, Favorite, and Review!