Chapter Sixteen
Hanako was the big sister I never wanted. She was annoying and bratty as hell. I'm glad Toshiro agreed with me. Meanwhile Adam flirted with her, all damn day long. To my frustration, she flirted back. All this lovely dovely made me wanna gag. But damn her for being such an amazing chef. Not only that, she also taught me some sword fighting. I blame Adam for exposing my secrets to her. I also loved her sarcastic side. Sigh. I love sarcastic people. They make the world go round.
"Hey, what do you want for breakfast?" Hana tied an apron around her waist and turned towards me. I scratched my hair and yawned tiredly.
"Isn't it a bit too early?" I asked her.
"It's 10 o'clock. The guys are already up and brushing their teeth's." She replied. "How about some eggs and bacon."
I nodded my head. She then placed a cup of coffee in front of me. I grabbed it eagerly. "Thanks, Hana. You're the best."
She turned on the stove. "I know." Slowly burnt bacon and eggs filled the room. After a while, the table was set for people.
"Why don't you call the others?" she asked. I nodded and screamed. "BREAKFAST IS READY!"
She winced and glared at me. "I could have done that myself." Toshiro and Adam stepped into the kitchen. I smirked at her, smugly. She exasperated in frustration.
"Guess what, Cap?" I didn't like the smirk on Adam's face. He passed me some bounties. I made a confused look and asked. "What?"
"Look through it." I turned the pages. Toshiro, Adam and Hana had higher bounties on their head. "What? You think you got higher bounties, now you're some hot shot." I said, glumly. Dammit, I still don't have a bounty of my own.
"Looks like Toshiro is the Captain of Buggy Pirates." What? He pointed under Toshiro's picture. Captain of Buggy Pirates. Fishman. Deal with precaution.
I pointed my finger towards him. "So what? I'm still the Captain."
He laughed. "Sure, Sure." He waved me off.
"Toshiro, Defend me." I whined. Interested, Hana looked over him. He chugged some juice and sighted, satisfied.
"He's right." He said. I smirked, smug. He continued. "You still don't have a bounty, Buggy." My smirk dropped. They laughed their asses off.
"You guys suck." I groaned.
"See you in week, Captain." I waved them goodbye in return. We have been following the same routine every month. I promised Makino that I would visit her whenever I could. Amazingly, the crew didn't ask me about the island even Hana. It made the respect I have for them grow more. I smiled. I'm glad I have them as my Nakama.
"Makino! Bro is back!" I shouted as I opened the door. The familiar homey feeling hit me.
Makiko smiled at me. "Hey, Buggy. How has the adventures been?" She passed me a bottle of beer. I took a big gulp and told her about it.
"Why don't you bring your crewmembers too?" She questioned.
"Maybe someday." I said. It would be funny to see Makiko being overprotective and scolding Toshiro and Adam. Yeah, someday. I looked around.
"Looking for Makino." I nodded my head. "I think she went to Dadan. Nowadays she frequently visit them more. I wonder why?" She wondered. I grabbed my cap and put it on my head. I stood up.
"I'm going to visit the brat." I told her. She nodded and told me to bring her back before dinner.
When I got near the shack, there was chaos going in there. A child's scream echoed loudly. I quickly went into the shack and opened Dadan's door. Everything was out of place. Dogra and Magra were crying in a corner. While Dadan had a baby in her arms and Makino was waving toys in front the baby, trying to calm him. Or her.
"What the hell does he need?" Dadan asked Makino. I winced at the dark circles on her eyes. At the babys shrill cry, I quickly went towards Dadan and grabbed the baby.
"What are doing, Buggy?" I ignored her and carefully cradled the baby's head on my shoulder. I grabbed the bottle and went towards the kitchen. I grabbed some milk and put it to stove to warm it. Thankfully, the baby shrill cry softened to hiccups. I patted his back. I put the milk into the bottle and measured the temperature. I put the nipple toward the hungry mouth. He opened immediately and sucked it. I cradled his head in correct position.
"H-how did you do that?" Dadan and Makino gaped, surprise and disbelief in their voice. "We had him for nearly a months and we didn't had a clue what he wanted but you just meet him."
"I surprised how he didn't die at this rate." I snapped. They flinched. "God dammit, Makino. Why didn't you tell your mother about this?"
She bowed her head in shame. "Well mom was busy. I didn't want to disturb her."
I glared at her and looked down at the baby. He was wearing a light grey jumpsuit. I stared at him in shock. He had a cute little button nose. Familiar freckles and ruffled black hair. When he opened his eyes, I immediately knew.
"Where did you found him?" I spluttered to Dadan. She raised her eyebrow. "This bra-" I glared. "I mean he was dumped on us."
"By who?" I narrowed my eyes. Where was Rouge?
"A marine vice admiral, Garp-san." Makino answered. I clenched my teeth. Dammit. What the hell happened to Rouge!? I swear to god if he raised his hand on her, I'll fucking kill him.
"Any reason?" I asked her. Dadan shook her head. "He came here alone. Blackmailing us to take care of him or jail time for us."
I looked back at the baby. He cooed back at me. "What's his name?" I quietly asked.
"Portagaz D. Ace." I choked at the name. It's him. His dead Captain's kid. I gotta find Rouge.
"Do you know when he is coming back?" Makino and Dadan looked at each other. Finally Dadan said. "Today."
Ace grabbed my finger with his tiny hands. He's so tiny. I choked back my tears. I'll be patient. I swear Ace, I'll find your mom.
It was getting to get dark. Makino already left. Dadan and her family were resting in their shacks. I chuckled at Ace's sleepy face. No doubt, he caused trouble for them. I think some rest would be good for them. I hummed a tune and rocked Ace. He slowly went to sleep. I noticed the shack was getting warmer and warmer by the second. Guess summer is working its wonder.
I cradled Ace and went outside for cool air. I stopped at a cliff and sat down. I felt bad for Roger. He never even got the chance to meet his son. I let out a sigh as a cool breeze hit us. I sensed someone heading towards us. Finally.
I stood up and faced him. He calmly came from the bushes and stood five feet away from us. He scanned me and held his gaze on Ace. I gripped him unconsciously. He looked the same as the pictures of him in the newspaper.
"Give him to me. Buggy." He demanded. I gave him a furious glare. How dare he use my name.
"Where is Portagaz D. Rouge?" I narrowed my eyes. He widened his eyebrow in surprise. After a while, he answered.
"She's dead."
I snarled and released a powerful haki towards him. The ground and trees cracked under the pressure while Garp impressively stood tall.
"What the hell did you do to her?" I hissed at him. He looked at me, interested.
"That's some impressive control, kid."
I clenched my teeth in frustration. I have to fight him. But I can't let Ace get hurt. Fine. I took a stance with one arm curled around Ace and the other in a fist. I'll beat him black and blue. He watched me carefully. I took a step forward when he surprised me.
"I didn't do anything to Rogue." I stopped immediately. I glared at him to continue. He sighted and went towards the edge of the cliff.
"Sit." He told me. I stared at him suspicious. He seemed like an honest man. I knew he wouldn't hurt Ace nor will he attack my back as a coward. I only wanted answers from him. I followed my instinct and sat next to him.
"How did you find her and Ace?" I quietly asked him. Strangely, Ace slept through the whole fiasco. He snuggled into his blankets for warmth.
"Roger told me." I gaped. What the hell? What in the world was Roger thinking, trusting a marine. "He told me to take care of him."
Now to think about, Captain and Garp had never attempted tried to kill each other. Well not at first. But after years, the killing intent loosened and slowly formed into friendly spar. That still didn't explain why Roger trusted him more than his crewmembers?
"Then I waited fifteen months for the marines to stop searching." No doubt, trying to erase any heritage of Roger. I never felt so disgusted with the World Government and Marines. "Finally when I came to Baterilla, I was surprised to see Rouge going to labor."
I paled in realization. "W-what? That's impossible. You're saying that she was pregnant for twenty months."
He didn't show any emotion.
"Then that means she-" I closed my eyes in grief. I looked at Ace, heartbroken. He didn't even had the chance to know his strong mother. My eyes burned as I tried to keep my tears at bay.
"A-ace, I'm so sorry." I trembled. Silent tears dropped on his face. His innocent eyes opened and he happily gurgled at me. I felt somebody was clenching my heart. "Y-you didn't even get to meet your parents."
Slowly Ace's lip started to tremble. I immediately rocked and shushed him. "Don't worry, I'll protect you. I promise. It's the least I could do for your parents."
Garp watched the teen crying. He patted his back for comfort but only resulted him crying even more as if he was the cause of his misery. He has seen Buggy many times on Roger's ship. But now looking at him, he can't help but to sympathize with him. He couldn't help but curse the marines. He was proud of the justice on his back but he was starting to doubt the World Government.
I rubbed my tears from my face and looked towards Garp. "So what are going to do to him?"
He smiled at me. "I'm gonna adopt him as my grandson and help him to become a great marine."
I chuckled. "Keep dreaming, old man. He's gonna become a great pirate like his father."
He glared at me. "He will be impressed by his powerful and strong Ji-chan and become a marine."
I ticked. "You strong? Ha. Don't make me laugh, old fart. He's soo gonna be impressed by me, his Oji-san."
He growled and I pulled my sleeves back. Ace's giggling made us look at him. I softened.
"Maybe he will decide for himself." I told him. He humped in denial. "No way, he will become a marine."
"A PIRATE!" Stupid delusional old fart.