The next day

Yesterday's chore really brought the haki training into a whole new level, when Leo got back home he was so tired he couldn't even practice his haki and with the doctor out of town he didn't know how best to recover. So he slept all night long not bothering with the house chores the doctor has assigned him while he was away. Now on his way to the forest Leo has managed to somehow bring all his haki to his arm for a few seconds. Danny was right. It needs a whole new level of focusing to keep it all in his arm because in normal circumstances he only need to focus on Ten, heck in a normal circumstances he wouldn't need to use his haki at all. But that was in the past, to think that he'd be able to do all these things a year ago was really unimaginable for Leo. He thought he'd mastered it all, but as it turns out the doctor was only preparing him for this.

As he walked he realized why Danny said Gyo was the advanced form of Ten it was because in Gyo not only does he have to keep his haki from vaporizing away he also needs to keep it from spreading back to other parts of his body. Leo still noticed his haki flowing escaping here and there due to him keeping all of his haki trapped in one body part. The flow isn't that smooth yet. It needs a while to get used to...he figured.

When he arrived at the tree he was supposed to fell yesterday he didn't see Danny around and decided that he'd start anyway. After less than an hour he at last managed to fell one tree with his own effort…and a bit of Danny's even though still he hasn't managed to do the Gyo effectively, just one or two times until he realized that it only helped in wasting his haki. It's still far away from Danny's but it's a good start…he figured. As he was looking proudly at the first Blackwood tree he'd ever cut he heard rustles of leaves from up a hill several meters behind him. As he looked up, his fear had come true, there was somebody there, a boy to be exact. Shit…!

"Hey!" Leo shouted as he rushed toward the hill and the boy just stood there looking down at him silently. He was a bit relieved when he realized that the boy could not be more than 10 years old so he probably doesn't understand what illegal logging is but then it made him think, what kind of boy walked all alone in this part of the forest? Could he be lost? After several seconds considering whether to risk it or not, he decided to help the boy anyway, so he went around the steep slope facing the place where he cut down the tree earlier but by the time he got there the boy was nowhere to be seen. He walked around, looking around the shrubs and thick woods and trying to hear the sound of steps but it was quiet save for some random chirping of the inhabitants of the forest. He noticed an easel with a painting on it near the edge of the slope leading to his logging site. As he looked at the painting he realized the boy must have been painting the Mount 'Or, located across the Wolves Mountain. Wait, painting this good it can't be his, must be his parents', which means I'm screwed. Leo rushed toward the edge of the hill wondering whether he could see the kid and his parents anywhere from up there, whether they've managed to notice the authority or not but as he neared to the edge of the hill he realized how amazing the view from up there was, the spot offered a rare and brilliant sight of the rolling and snowy bluish 'Or Mountain far ahead, it's a great contrast between the tree covered ground, bluish snow covered mountain on the horizon and the cloudless light blue summer sky, all thanks to the fact that the nearby trees that should have obstructed the view has been cut down by both Danny and Leo. Taking in the view he couldn't really blame the boy, with a view like this it must be really difficult to be bothered with anything else. Suddenly remembering the boy, Leo looked around and before he could do so much as turn his head he was already sent flying by a kick to his side. He only stopped when his body hit a tree.

He quickly released some of his haki and kept it around him with Ten for protection, he knew a person who could sneak up behind him like that must be quite strong….and a coward. He realized that the kick hit him right on the spot where the bald guy hit him months ago. Shit…that was nearly healed! With a grunt he forced himself up only to be taken aback by the sight of the attacker, he was that guy, the very same guy who kicked him months ago. It's that bald guy!

"You learned haki huh? Give it up…whatever mission you have, tell your boss to back off so you don't have to taste my haki anymore than you have to, alright kid?" It was the same darned man that beat him up months ago. This guy still has the guts to taunt him, Leo thought in the midst of his anguish.

"JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Leo lunged toward him, and threw his haki enhanced punches. The bald man in a fraction of second swiftly tilted his head to the right, down and left and back again to avoid the punches, when he was tired with it all he raised his right palm so that it touched Leo's forehead and then released his haki which stunned his opponent, knowing its effect the guy took the opportunity to punch Leo in the gut. As a result Leo lost his balance and fell to the ground. Wanting to finish it quick the bald guy proceeded to stomp the fallen Leo on the ground. Leo back to his senses felt his opponent's haki and shielded himself by positioning his forearms to a 'X' form from which the bald guy's kicking force will be absorbed. While the bald man was busy and distracted by stomping his shield, thinking he was still the same weakling he faced months ago, Leo launched his shielding forearms outward with great force at the same time the bald guy stomped the center of his shield. It managed to push the bald guy away while giving Leo enough time to get up.

Leo stood up, back in their fighting stances both men kept their distance as they moved around seeking for an opening. Leo started the attack as he rapidly advanced toward the guy and did a flawless jumping side kick but the bald guy ducked with little effort. The bald guy seeing an opening kicked Leo with a high reverse roundhouse kick to his opponent's side, not even giving Leo chance to land from the previous flying kick.

The bald man this time did the offensive but Leo with his haki can still sense him moving around him, then he abruptly moved to the left of Leo, looking to hit Leo's chest but Leo with his trained reflex moved his left forearm to protect his chest and his reflex was right as he felt bone crushing palm punches on the back of his protective left forearm. The bald guy thought the multiple punches were enough to distract him, so the bald guy moved in quickly for a kick but Leo jumped in time. Leo threw several punches at the bald guy to gain some ground and it managed to make the bald guy retreat to a safe distance.

"Geppo" the guy suddenly yelled, with that the the bald man was gone from Leo's line of sight, that was until his haki felt something hovering above him, he looked up and he saw the soles of his shoe coming toward him, very fast, it was apparent that he was planning to let the full force of the gravity to stomp on Leo. Leo immediately jumped back as the bald guy landed at the spot where he stood no less than a second ago. Without giving the bald man time to move Leo delivered a powerful snap kick to his chin, sending the bald man flying.

The bald guy wiped the blood on his mouth as he resumed his stance, right fist in front of his lower face, his side facing Leo with his right elbow covering his ribs "HEEEEAAAAAAAHHHH!" Both men yelled as both of them ran toward each other, each with their own technique. But the bald guy with his elbow swing was faster, forcing Leo to abort his punch and duck, while ducking Leo saw an opening, he then quickly proceeded to throw his right palm toward the bald man's exposed left knee and released his haki but not before the bald man managed to knee Leo square in the chest in an attempt to stop Leo's attack. Leo clutched his chest as he fell to the ground face first while the bald guy stood a few seconds more before his hurt knee gave and he too fell.

This time Leo managed to regain his balance just in time to see the bald man's elbow coming toward him, he blocked it with his left arm saving his side from getting hit while immediately with the right fist he sent yet another powerful blow. Leo could feel his haki penetrating the bald guy's. Now he knew what if felt like when a haki touch another haki. It felt like he was punching a magnet-like force that tries to repel everything that touches it. The bald guy coughed blood, but Leo knew the man was still more than capable. It was true, as soon as he recovered he already swung his punch toward Leo's head, but Leo did a side step spin and then elbowed the back of the baldy's head man in return. With his opponent disoriented Leo saw this as an opportunity to disable him once and for all. But before he could realize it, another man swung a roundhouse kick at him. It landed right on his belly sending Leo to the ground. The man prevented Leo from standing up by holding his left leg and then he kicked Leo without much resistance. Leo then lost the man's arm by spinning both of his legs, he quickly stood up only to be greeted by the man's swinging kick which made him fly even further. Leo got back on his feet and dodged the man's attack by abruptly moving back out of his punch's reach. But the man with his haki palm punches still kept coming at him, then in a perfect timing he caught the man's punching arm with both of his hands, pulled it to the space between his legs and then swiftly sent a karate chop down his back and then kneed him in the groin, then he threw the disoriented man to the ground with his right hand still grasping the man's arm and kicked his spine. Leo made sure the man was unconscious before releasing the poor man's arm.

Then he remembered about the bald man, he saw his swinging kick in the corner of his eye coming from behind and with perfect timing he pit the opponent's leg between his side and his left arm while he swung his right elbow backward to the bald man's face this time with full haki, Leo wanting to make sure that the bald man doesn't have enough strength to stand up quickly grabbed his pitted leg with both of his hands and slammed him into a nearby tree, his large body smashed into the tree and he fell into the ground where he gave a finishing kick to the spine. The bald man however was still quite strong he still managed to maintain his consciousness. Leo knew no matter how strong he was, he'd not be able to stand up, at least for an hour or so, that's one helpful killer technique the doctor had taught him, he figured it's a perfect way to finish a fight.

But then to his surprise the bald man stood up, but instead of attacking the surprised Leo he went toward one of the tree and then ripped the strong Blackwood's branch like it was only a mere twig. "You're not going to get rid of me that easily boy" The bald man said while wiping his bloody mouth and nose. Because of the damage the bald guy has sustained Leo could sense that his speed has been reduced. Now he could read most of his moves, making it easier to dodge or counter his attacks. Then unexpectedly Leo slipped and in a blink of an eye he saw the stick coming toward him, with his reflex he reached up with both of his hands, palms touching each other in the bottom to greet the oncoming stick. Successful, the stick landed between the two adjoining palms and Leo closed his palms together in order to grab hold of the stick. Then he pulled the stick over his head, pulling the bald man who refused to let go of the stick on top of him. With the bald man on top of him Leo curled his leg and with his foot on the bald man's stomach he pushed his opponent over his head and onto the ground across the top of his head, Leo spun backward and now he was straddling the bald man. With the stick Leo attempted to choke the bald man with the stick, the bald man tried unsuccessfully to halt the stick as it continues to move down onto his vulnerable neck.

"Hahaha feels great isn't it?" the bald man smiled as if he wasn't the one losing, as if he wasn't the one who's throat about to get smashed.

"Can't accept your loss baldy?" Leo looked up at his taller opponent, with an outraged look, he never had his opponent laughing at him seconds before they lose, this guy's got to have something up his sleeves.

"You think this is all I got?" Leo saw his opponent's hand moving toward his stomach, no he can't punch me at this distance, my haki will just… "Shigan"

Before Leo knew it he was already on the ground, the stick lying on the ground beside him and a searing hot pain on his stomach. He didn't even care about his opponent anymore. The pain, or rather burn was nothing like he'd ever felt before, no punch or haki ever felt like this. It felt like he was being penetrated by a freshly shot bullet and at that moment he could feel the phantom bullet making its way inside of him, burning everything on its way. He'd never been shot by one before but he just knew it, it felt like it was ten times hotter than boiling water. How could he…He saw the bald man's smug face on top of him blocking the clear light blue sky, laughing at him. Leo with all the strength he had left took the stick beside him, amassed all of the haki that he'd left in his left arm and with Gyo he swung it hitting the unsuspecting guy's knee again and again until he fell. With a groan Leo got back to his feet. He stood with the stick supporting his weights while his left hand still soothing the place where it still burns. "I don't know what you did earlier, but you're gonna pay for it!"

"HEY THAT'S ENOUGH!" Leo cursed as he heard somebody yelled something from behind him, interrupting his outburst. Give me a break! feeling tired, he knew he can't possibly fight another thug. All his energy was spent on these guys' haki. But he was relieved when the man turned out to be Danny, good ole Danny with his lunch, Leo thought. "Ah hey Danny…good timing…remember my story about the town's bald thug? here he is…not so tough anymore is he? Now come here…help me teach him some lesson" said Leo in between his panting.

"Swing that stick again and you'd be wanted for manslaughter you know that?" he said as he paced toward the two guys on the ground. "Alright just so you know he started it first, I was just looking for a little boy I saw around here, I thought he might be lost then these dumbasses from out of nowhere attacked me! He and his accomplice must have kidnapped him! I'm telling you these thugs have really crossed the line here!" he then tilted his head backward while pinching his nose to stop the bleeding.

"I am not a little boy! I am 13 you know!?" a boy with a white t-shirt and casual blue jeans appeared from behind Danny. Naah, He can't be 13…he's just a little bit over Danny's waist and that girly voice, he's definitely not a 13 years old! 10 or 11 maybe but not 13! But this boy is the definitely the one I saw earlier. Aside from that the boy has a golden blonde hair, as seen poking out from his cap and a pair of dreamy blue eyes, it kind of reminded Leo of the innocent-him a few years ago.

"Well…in their defense, it's their duty to protect the Your Highness here from getting hurt" Danny said introducing the 'boy' to the surprised Leo "As if I was going to hurt him!" Leo yelled.

But wait…what did he say?

"He's a girl!? And on top of that he's a Princess too? I knew that bald thug hit me a little bit too hard on the head".

Danny shot him a serious look, his face showed some kind of uneasiness. "Yeah right like I'll buy that, a Princess from a kingdom of transvestite maybe" Leo continued laughing while the 'boy' raised his eyebrow

"SHE is in fact the Princess of the kingdom" Leo looked up to see the bald guy has gotten up as well.

"Was that up to Your expectation Princess?" the bald guy 'Berther' asked in the most polite manner that Leo's ever seen him with.

"Hey you're in on this too?" Berther sighed and responded by pulling Leo by the back of his shirt to a nearby tree. When they were out of everyone's sight he produced his ID from his suit pocket and it said that this 'thug' was with the 'Royal Guard', unfortunately for Leo it looked legit enough. "Now I'd be more than happy to see your foolish face on the gallows but I'm afraid she'd do more than just that to all of us if you keep on being an idiot!" Leo just nodded, still a bit confused but he think he got the gist of it. "Hey! You haven't said sorry for…"

"You handled yourself pretty well there" the little 'girl' suddenly appeared beside him. Leo hadn't noticed the little 'girl' moving beside him, maybe because 'she' was quite short compared to his 7' figure or maybe he just didn't care anymore "maybe I haven't made it quite clear to you…" 'she' said as she moved his hand between the peak of the cap and lifted it to reveal a messy tangle of blonde hairs beneath. She straightened the mess with her hands, brushed some off her face and let her hair fall into place over her shoulders. Leo simply replied with the silent opening and closing of his mouth "Ah yes Your Highness this gentleman is Leo, from Iron Home…Leo this is Her Royal Highness Princess Hero of Barthélémy…." Danny introduced Leo to the 'Princess' and Leo decided to play along "Oh It's nice to meet you Your Highness" he said while kissing the palm of 'her' hand. It was the only thing he could think of. He was not aware of Danny's uneasy look in the opposite of him, he shouldn't have kissed the little girl's hand, he shouldn't have touched it at all.

"Likewise" The Princess smiled, apparently not even slightly bothered by it.

"I beg your forgiveness for interrupting your activity Your Highness" said Leo remembering about the painting.

"Oh it's quite alright, please just call me Nessa" Leo just nodded uneasily, he just still couldn't believe that the boy, was a girl!

"So…Nessa, you like to paint huh? It's quite good you know, it looks just like the real one…though honestly I can't understand why people paint when they can snap a photograph anytime, anywhere they want with cameras…" Leo said trying to sound as casual as he can, while giving side glances to the Princess, looking for any kind of bad expression. "It's called as the Romantic painting, if you've been to the Capital's Museum of Fine Arts you'll recognize the influence of Ducy, Samoal and Vinetto in my painting…they're after all my inspirations…" she looked up at Leo, who understood nothing about art, smiling.

"…and about your comment about painters, I can also say the same thing about fighters like you, why fistfight when you can quickly take down opponents faster by shooting them?" Leo just nodded, she made a good point, funny that he never thought about that before though it made him wonder whether shooting a haki practitioner with guns will harm the haki user…I guess this is what's called hobby, though he would not exactly call kicking peoples' backsides or getting his own backside kicked for that matter, his hobby. "Yes! It's because I love to, I love art…do we need excuse to love something? It is a way of expressing myself through colour, form and light. It gives satisfaction and much joy, and I want to pass this on to the viewer who appreciates art as much as I do!" she said standing on the edge of the hill showering in the summer sunlight, arms wide open and her sandy blonde hair flowing with the warm summer breeze "There are just so many colours out there to see…I want to capture their mystery". Though he barely understood what she was saying or even her hobbies, for a moment there he felt something divine and even angelic about her, something out of this world, yes that's the word, she's like a little fairy, a fairy with jeans. He felt a weird warm feeling in his loins, he reckoned it wasn't his ribs breaking or spleen bleeding, it's something entirely new to him and it made his heart beating fast he doesn't know what that feeling is but he likes it.

"I guess that makes sense…" he commented while taking a thorough look at the canvas, hoping to make sense of what she was saying by looking at her painting. Quite easily, he found the bright choice of colouring she used. It's almost abnormal as this side of the sea rarely gets that much of sunlight even during summer. Her ability to blend her feelings so well with the 'realist-theme' painting amazed him. She used an unusually bright shade for the forest and still it looks realistic. Now that he thought about it, it's the first time he was really engrossed in something other than fishing and learning new fighting techniques. So does the bright colour mean she's in bright mood?

"Is it done?" Leo asked Nessa about the painting. Nessa who was still savouring the view from the edge of the hill turned her head to see what Leo was talking about "Yes, I just need to add my name on it then I can show it to Papa, he's going to be so proud of me" she said with that trademark Cheshire cat smile of her.

"Hey Leo, you done flirting with the Princess? We got works to do remember?" Danny interrupted. Apparently he's managed to persuade the bodyguards to let Leo go but how he managed to make them forget about their illegal logging activity Leo doesn't know and doesn't want to know, he was just glad that he's off their hooks knowing now that they're actually not thugs but actual Royal Guards. At least for now they are…they could still be just thugs

"See you Leo…" the Princess bid him farewell after Leo had bid his by bowing to the little Princess.

"Well…anyway Berther, this boy here is with me so you don't need to attack him the next time you feel the need to" Berther, the name of the bald man, just grumbled behind them while straightening his disheveled shirt and black tie.

After they'd moved Leo and Danny's trees to Danny's cabin, Danny invited him for lunch though the orange sky suggested it was already way too late for lunch. Danny prepared him some extra scrambled eggs and sandwich and also some meat, a compliment for putting up a good fight against the smug Berther earlier, apparently Danny hates him too.

"You know Leo, if somebody asked me whether you're a match to that bald bastard or not, I'd laugh and tell him that you're years too early to even challenge him…" said Danny, the guys are now seated in the front porch of Danny's cabin. "But the energy you released in that fight…I know it's no beginner's" Danny said.

"I don't know about that Danny, I can't even crush a boulder with my haki, I think it's because I was angry…you know that was the second time that he beat me up like that" Leo said, unbeknownst to Danny, Leo was quite flattered by the man's appraisal of him.

Danny chuckled "No it doesn't work like that Leo…I was thinking it's probably because you're not wearing your sea stone bracelet?" he said as he picked Leo's bracelet, which must have fallen during the fight, from his breast pocket and put it on the table directly in front of him then he lowered his head, chin resting on his thumbs on the table surface, the piercing amber eyes of his stared at him. In a second Leo was overwhelmed by a sense of dread he couldn't think of an explanation for Danny without implying that he's an ability user. This was the first time that he was found out like this, Damn how come I didn't realize that!

"Don't you worry Leo, your secret's safe with me…I just want to warn you…some people recognize sea stone when they see one, it'll look very suspicious around here where it's rare if you're caught wearing one especially here, it's too obvious you know what I mean? You're just lucky you didn't show those guys your fruit power otherwise you'd be on your way to jail right now" Danny explained. Leo just sighed with relief.

"And what's your deal with those government guys anyway? How come they're okay with our activities?" he asked, interested at the fact that Danny seemingly knows everybody in the town.

"Let's just say they owe me a favor" Danny said while playing with his coin as usual, rolling it back and forth over his fingers, it seems to be his favorite pastime.

After some times spent chatting with Danny, revealing that the 'shigan' was the secret weapon used by the top echelon of the World Government agents and Marine and that he could forget about learning it Leo finally called it a day. As he opened the front door Danny called him.

"Leo, before you go I just want you to understand that there's a lot of things you don't know about those guys, you're safe because I was with you, one thing you must never do is to get close to the Princess, she's no ordinary girl, her family is no ordinary…trust me you don't want to be near them especially with your condition"

"Who are they?"

"They're a member of the World Noble"