Author's Note: Well, the next arc is the end of the Last Samurai Arc. The Playdate Arc is next, and if you like the idea of really tiny Capricorns fighting off the arc boss with objects such as sewing needles and coins, then you'll love the next arc.
Disclaimer: Eichiiro Oda still owns One Piece. I own the Capricorn Pirates.
Ch. 77: "The Samurai Attacks."
Even though almost all of the Capricorns knew Mikuri and Sayuki for a few hours, every single Capricorn came with Mikuri and Sayuki to bury their stillborn child at sea. As the Capricorns, Mikuri, and Sayuki stood at the edge of the shore, rain began to fall lightly on the pirates, the samurai, and his wife.
"Ten years… We've tried for ten years, and it ends in ruin…" Mikuri commented to himself. For the most part, none of the Capricorns spoke, except for the occasional shiver.
"Has… Has this happened before?" Aria – the first of the Capricorns to speak up in a long time – asked Mikuri, who shook his head.
"It hasn't. I had trouble getting pregnant for ten years. Mikuri and I were overjoyed when we found out I was pregnant, but… I guess we got our hopes up…" Sayuki commented. The Capricorns grew silent. After a few moments later, one of the male Capricorns sneezed. Sayuki looked toward Mikuri.
"Should we… Head on back? It's getting too cold for us to be out here…" Sayuki asked Mikuri.
"I think we should. Plus, I have the feeling that there will be some heavy fog soon," Mikuri said.
"How do you know?" Kazuma asked, his voice seemingly devoid of all emotion. Mikuri looked to Kazuma.
"I can feel it," Mikuri told Kazuma.
A few minutes later, the Capricorns, Mikuri, and Sayuki arrived at the Matsumoto residence.
"That's odd. Rubio's not here," Mikuri commented.
"He probably went down to the bar to get a drink to warm up," Sayuki said to her husband before she turned to the Capricorns. "Let me get you all some extra blankets, since I assume you'll all be staying the night here."
"Thank you, Sayuki," Yuki-Rin said quietly before Mikuri and Sayuki left the room. When the Capricorns quieted down, Kazuma sniffled.
"What's wrong, Kazuma? Are you catching a cold?" Yuki-Rin asked Kazuma.
"No…" Kazuma said sadly. "I'm… I'm just saddened over what happened with Mikuri and Sayuki, that's all."
Kazuma then burst into tears. All the Capricorns did was look to Yuki-Rin in silence.
"Go," Heathcliffe whispered as he pushed Yuki-Rin toward Kazuma. Without a word, Yuki-Rin hugged Kazuma.
"I'm sorry too, Kazuma. Please… Don't cry," Yuki-Rin said, almost on the verge of tears. Kazuma snivled as he put his arms around Yuki-Rin.
"Don't cry… I'm here for you…" Kazuma sobbed. A tear fell from Yuki-Rin's eye.
"Yuki-Rin, please be strong. For your crew. For Kazuma," Yuki-Rin thought to herself as she took a deep breath. "Guys, I would like for you to leave us alone and give us some privacy. Kazuma's in a lot of emotional pain right now."
"Alright, then, captain. We respect your wishes," Mina said before Yuki-Rin led Kazuma away into a bedroom, where they both sat down.
"Kazuma, please stop crying. I know, it hurts," Yuki-Rin whispered to Kazuma as she wiped away his tears.
"Oh, Yuki-Rin…" Kazuma sobbed. Yuki-Rin shushed him.
"Shh… It'll be okay. It'll be okay," Yuki-Rin whispered tenderly before kissing Kazuma again. Kazuma, in turn, held Yuki-Rin in his arms. The two grew silent.
"Yuki-Rin… Stay with me tonight. Don't leave me," Kazuma whispered.
"I won't," Yuki-Rin said.
In the living room, the other Capricorns were warming up, when Rubio entered the house. As he walked down the hall, something fell out of his pocket and rolled over to Wolfgang's feet.
"Huh?" Wolfgang asked as he picked up the item, which was a vial of green liquid. As he pushed his glasses up, Wolfgang read the label. "Oh, shit…"
"What is it?" Gareth asked Wolfgang.
"This is poison! It says here that it can cause stillborn births in pregnant women!" Wolfgang cried.
"Let me see that," Ageha demanded. Wolfgang handed the vial to Ageha, who scanned the label. "Wolfgang, do you know where this came from?"
"I found it at my feet. I don't know where it came from," Wolfgang said. "But… I did see that Rubio guy walk in, so –"
"I made hot chocolate, tea, and coffee for all of you," Mikuri said as he brought in a tray with hot beverages for the Capricorns, who all looked to him.
"We need to talk," Wolfgang said urgently. "We found this on the ground, and we think that it came from Rubio."
Wolfgang handed the vial of poison to Mikuri, who looked at it. After a few seconds, he grew pale.
"Oh, dear… He… He… Rubio killed my son! I bet he's going to kill myself or Sayuki next!" Mikuri cried.
"Mikuri, calm down! You don't know what Rubio will do!" Hana cried as Mikuri grabbed his katana.
"I don't know what Rubio will do, but I'm prepared! All of you, do not leave this room unless it's to check on Sayuki or Yuki-Rin and Kazuma!" Mikuri instructed.
"We won't!" Hana yelled as Mikuri ran down the hall.
"Gotta find Rubio… Gotta find Rubio…" Mikuri thought to himself as he ran. He soon found himself outside, where Rubio was sitting and watching the fog roll in.
"My condolences. I am terribly sorry for your loss," Rubio said after a moment of silence. Mikuri unsheated his katana and put the blade to Rubio's neck.
"You should be. You were the one who murdered my son," Mikuri explained.
"Oh, you're going to kill me then? Well, be prepared for a challenge," Rubio said as he stood up.
"I'm not going to kill you. I am going to set you straight," Mikuri explained.
"What do you –" Rubio asked before Mikuri kicked him backwards into a mud puddle. Smirking, Rubio got up.
"You've got guts, for a samurai," Rubio observed as he pulled out two oversized tuning forks.
"And, I see you've got quite the weapon," Mikuri observed before Rubio stabbed him in the shoulder with one of the tuning forks.
"Do you like them? I had them custom-made from some of Dr. Vegapunk's old blueprints," Rubio asked.
"No, I do not care for those… Blades you have. I prefer simple, yet elegant, weapons forged from the blacksmiths who have served the samurai of Wano Country for thousands of years," Mikuri explained before readying his katana.
"Wano Country? Didn't that island close itself off?" Rubio asked as he backed up. Mikuri jabbed at Rubio, who dodged all of his sword blows.
"For your information, I left that island with my wife before the island closed itself off," Mikuri explained before he grazed Rubio's leg. Rubio glared at him.
"Is that all you've got?" Rubio asked before he jabbed his turning forks into Mikuri. Then, Mikuri felt a jolt and was sent flying back.
"Okay, what the hell was that?!" Mikuri asked as he got up.
"An electrifying taste of my own medicine. I can make my own static electricity with my tuning forks, allowing for the enemy to be incapacitated or killed," Rubio explained. Mikuri then charged at Rubio with his sword. But, Rubio knocked Mikuri down to the ground with his tuning fork. "Hmm… You're weak and pitiful. You call yourself a samurai?"
"Please! Spare my wife! Spare Yuki-Rin and her friends!" Mikuri pleaded.
"That depends," Rubio said before he was knocked to the ground by something.
"Mikuri! Mikuri!"
Sayuki ran up to Mikuri, a Japanese-styled spear in her hands.
"Please… Do something with Rubio," Mikuri pleaded as Sayuki picked him up.
"We will. But, for right now, rest up. You need it," Sayuki told Mikuri as she carried him inside.
Omake: The Magical Realm of Gareth Archer, Episode Two
It was a beautiful day in the Goa Kingdom of East Blue, as Gareth Archer took a walk. While on his walk, he bumped into his talking pigeon friend, Ajax.
"Oh, hey, Ajax," Gareth greeted the pigeon.
"Oh, hey, Robo-Gareth," Ajax greeted back.
"Robo-Gareth?"
"Yeah, that's what everyone's calling you now. It's Wolfgang's idea."
"Whatever, Wolfgang's a flippin' uncool nerd," Gareth said with a wave of his hand. "But, anyway, are you going to be at my pool party later?"
"Sorry, Hana's book club is meeting today. Everybody's going to be there, and it's going to be wonderful," Ajax explained.
"But, Ajax, you're my nakama! You have to be at my pool party!" Gareth cried.
"You have far too many parties and you're not my best friend," Ajax retorted.
"For serious?!" Gareth cried.
"I have never been more serious in my life."
"Well, you're a for serious jackass."
"You don't even have a pool, Robo-Gareth."
"Yes, I do! It's called the beach, and it's nature's pool!" Gareth cried.
"I'm sure it'll be great, even though nobody will come," Ajax deadpanned.
"Why do you have to be a for serious downer, Ajax?"
"Perspective, Robo-Gareth. Now, have fun with the Sea Kings and possibly nobody else," Ajax said as he flew off.
"More like Sea Haters, which is what you are!" Gareth yelled.
"Hana, why did you make your fucking book club at the same time as my pool party?!" Gareth asked as Hana let him into her house.
"I didn't know you were having a pool party," Hana said.
"That's because you weren't invited, Hana!" Gareth answered.
"I'm sorry," Hana apologized.
"It's okay. I don't blame you for ruining everything like you did."
"I guess I could move the book club back to tomorrow," Hana said sadly.
"Don't you have an appointment tomorrow?" Gareth asked Hana.
"What appointment?"
"For your face doctor. To fix your messed-up face," Gareth answered. Hana began to cry.
"Why are you so mean?" Hana snivled.
"Alright, I'm sorry. I'm just under a lot of stress right now," Gareth apologized.
A few hours later, Wolfgang, Daisuke, Hana, and Gareth were standing in the water at the beach. Several yaoi doujinshis were scattered around them in the water.
"Nice pool party, jerk," Wolfgang told Gareth.
"Shut up, Wolfgang! This party is awesome!" Gareth yelled to the technology nerd.
"I really like standing in the ocean doing nothing like an asshole," Daisuke said.
"Heathcliffe, Holden, and Soren were supposed to be the band for this party, but they flaked out on us," Gareth added.
"I wanna go home," Hana said sadly.
"Wha? What's wrong, Hana?" Gareth asked Hana.
"You didn't have to throw all my yaoi into the ocean," Hana said with a sniff.
"Well, I'm sorry that I care about justice like Admiral Akainu!" Gareth retorted.
"Knock-knock," Daisuke randomly said.
"Who's there?" Wolfgang said after a moment of awkward silence.
"Boobies," Daisuke whispered. Hana, Wolfgang, and Gareth sweatdropped.
"Uhh... Boobies who?" Wolfgang asked.
"BOOBIES!" Daisuke whispered, his voice growing louder. The four grew silent, again.
"Well, Daisuke, thanks for Whitebeard War-ing the mood," Gareth said.
Ending Note: Hell hath no fury like an angry Mikuri.
Review if you want to see the Capricorns shrink in the next arc.