Chapter 26

It didn't take long for the siblings to reach the end of the short corridor they had entered through the roots of the giant tree. What awaited them there was an… elevator door with a button next to it, probably meant as a doorbell, judging by the small holes above it, which basically screamed 'There is monitoring equipment, at the very least a Den-den mushi in here'

The contrast between the surroundings outside, the cave-like inside and the elevator was… off-putting to say the least.

Raiju still pressed the button regardless, neither of them showing their confusion on their faces.

For around a minute, nothing happened.

Just as Raiju was about to ring for a second time, a grunt and a babble of annoyed-sounding words greeted them from the holes they had already known were likely hiding a Den-den mushi.

"Excuse me", Raiju finally said as the tirade paused, "Jason from Karate Island referred us here. I apologize if we caused any trouble."

There was silence from the other side for a moment, likely their conversation partner had to mentally switch to English and translate what they'd just said in their heads. From the language they were spouting earlier, they had likely thought one of the villagers outside was at the door, so their confusion was understandable.

"…he did, did he?", was all he finally said in a grumble, "Give me a moment, I was in the middle of something."

"Of course. Take your time."

They actually didn't have to wait for long before the elevator doors slid open to reveal who they assumed had spoken to them earlier.

He was a taller man, only just below 2m in height, and had pale skin covered in freckles and soot. The first signs of age were apparent in the lines of his face and the beginnings of wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. His hair was black and roughly chin-length feathering out wildly and held back by a sooty brown headband that was tied on one side.

Safety goggles were resting on top of it, but from the slight indents around his black eyes, one could tell he'd just been wearing them.

He was wearing a long leather coat over a well-used smith's apron, as well as sturdy black pants and steel-toed boots underneath.

From the getup and the sweaty appearance, he'd apparently been in the middle of smithwork when they'd arrived.

"I'm very sorry we disturbed you during work.", Raiju sheepishly apologized.

He waved her off lazily.

"Couldn't have known, could you? Though I'll have to have a word with the others outside. They at least did know."

He then got a proper look at them and raised a brow in surprise.

"So, you must be Raiju and Itachi, though I didn't expect you for quite a while yet."

"Yes, I'm Uchiha Raiju and this is my brother, Uchiha Itachi. It's nice to meet you."

"Kumadori Coco, likewise. Come on in, no reason to stay standing around in this dreary cave, yea?"

"Sure, thank you!"

They stepped into the elevator with the middle-aged man and soon moved down a floor before getting out.

Their current surroundings were more along the lines of what they'd expected of the island. A sleek modern-looking white corridor with imitated sunlight streaming in from fake windows along the sides greeted them as they stepped out and followed Coco into a small kitchenette/meeting place where he wordlessly gestured them to sit down on any of the office chairs around the long wooden table as he poured himself a cup of tea.

"Anything to drink?"

"Oh, just some water please."

"Sure."

He poured them both a glass and then sat down across from them.

"You were expecting us then?", Raiju asked curiously into the ensuing silence.

"Ah, my wife called around 2 days ago to tell me to expect you.", he said casually.

"She's Jason's daughter", he went on to explain at their questioning looks.

"Oh! So Jason is your father-in-law then. No wonder."

"Yea. Though I'm honestly curious. You could've only left the place that day, right? How come you're here so quickly?", the smith decided to ask outright, a curious glint in his eyes.

They hadn't anticipated this, though they should have, really. The silence stretched for a few minutes before a knowing glint suddenly entered Itachi's eyes. His clone had just found something very fascinating.

"We flew.", Itachi said, tone of voice bland. It was the only real explanation for their swiftness, really. Raiju blinked at him in shock at the admission. She had expected him not to reveal that at all. In fact, he was really kicking himself for not anticipating Jason would contact the guy about them. It seemed like Kuromu wasn't the only one who was getting complacent. This wasn't like him at all.

But, he was lucky. Because…

"Like you people do."

That's right.

One of his clones had just popped, sending him memories containing this information. It had found an interesting place hidden on one of the tree's branches. It almost looked like a stable but with landing platforms instead.

That could only mean the people here had tamed or otherwise made a deal with the giant birds living on this tree to act as transport for them.

The fact that this wasn't known far and wide implied that they kept it a secret. He was thus asking Coco to keep their secret in exchange for them also staying quiet, without saying it outright.

Coco merely stared at him, the slight widening of his eyes the only indication of his shock at the admission before something in his expression, and comprehension dawned.

Suddenly, he groaned, both in realization and exasperation.

"Of course you did. You saw the open platform, didn't you? We were wondering why the announced arrival never appeared. Fucking hell."

He didn't even realize how much information he revealed at that moment. Or perhaps he did and just didn't care.

Itachi's eyes narrowed in suspicion and understanding as something clicked in his mind. If the man revealed this much, they must not be planning on letting the siblings leave again. They couldn't be sure the two would keep their mouths shut after all.

If they weren't careful, they may well make an annoying enemy here today, instead of the ally they had wanted.

"I see, by telling us this, it's become clear you aren't actually planning on letting us leave again.", Itachi finally said, "From what I've seen, I can't help but conclude that… Are you… part of the revolutionaries?"

The whole secrecy around the place could only mean they were associated with some of the elements standing against the world government, or at least not affiliated with them. The front they put on outside, the concealable entrances and landing platforms…

From his words, Itachi also deduced that the mystery person who'd taken a picture of Kuromu and promptly vanished was likely one of their lookouts. He'd have to make sure of this later. It seemed they had mistaken them for one of their own people returning from somewhere and had opened the landing platform/stable area for them to land.

Itachi could only facepalm at their weird luck.

"So, you figured it out, huh.", Coco said, defeated, "Honestly, when we heard about you, we had wanted to recruit you. That's why we showed you some good faith from the start by letting you inside. But… we never imagined you'd arrive this early, or this way, really. You even uncovered our mode of transportation and our identities. Sadly, you're right. I can't allow you to leave now, not until our commander is back."

He took a deep breath and regretfully sighed.

"I'm very sorry."

"Hn."

Itachi leaned back in his seat and supported his head with his arm casually. He had made a decision. This… could be a good opportunity, if he played this right.

"Then, since you've decided to show us some goodwill, we shall reply in kind. We agree to wait. We won't try to escape, though it wouldn't be that challenging."

The relieved expression on Coco's face at the first half of that statement changed to one of affront at the latter part and he was already opening his mouth to interject.

"Hn. If you want me to prove it, I can do that. In exchange for pointing out and demonstrating all that I find wrong with your security, I want you to provide Raiju with the best teachers and environment you have to study medicine while we stay here."

Coco stared at him with a calculating look on his face. He acted like there were countless of them.

"Pointing them out only, huh.", he said leadingly.

"Hn, if you agree to make the rest of the instruments Raiju requires to practice and provide medical assistance throughout her pregnancy, I agree to advise you on how to fix two of your choosing."

Coco's surprised gaze flickered to the stunned Raiju for a moment, more specifically, her stomach, before he continued the negotiation. What Itachi offered really wasn't something he could turn down. This was their biggest and most important base in South Blue. If there were indeed as many flaws in their security as Itachi implied, they needed to know. Sharing medical expertise and some items wasn't that big of a deal in exchange

"Five."

"…Three."

"Deal!"

Raiju was still stunned and slightly lost. So, the people here were part of the revolutionaries? Really? What were the chances?

"Huh…?", was all she managed to say at the swift conclusion of the negotiations. That was it? They'd teach her? Just like that?

A happy smile spread on her face as she hugged Itachi happily.

He had basically only negotiated things for her benefit, the stupid guy. Then again, it wasn't like he could just outright ask them about the Elemental Nations. Before he dug for information for himself, he would first need to find out more about them. Since they had wanted to recruit them anyhow, he thought it wouldn't be that hard to get a feel for the place soon and stretch out his feelers.

"Then, for now, let me lead you to your new rooms. Since you agreed to stay of your own will, we won't put you in a cell. Please don't wander around without supervision or permission though or we will be forced to change that."

That meant there'd likely be surveillance on them. That was fine though. Even Raiju was fine with it, she had gotten over the discomfort of being under watch while on the Marine vessel for those weeks.

They nodded, unperturbed.

Coco led them outside and back to the elevator, giving them a basic overview of the base as he went. They rose several floors before stepping into a more warm and homey seeming area. He waved to a few people passing them by, who nodded back curiously.

"Here we are", he finally said, gesturing to two doors exactly opposite of each other, "You can settle in if you want. I need to report and finalize the deal on our end, then we can write out a proper contract. Since the day is still young, we may even be able to start right away, depending on who is free today."

"Thank you!", Raiju chirped cheerfully, excited to get started and learn more about the revolutionaries. Roger hadn't talked about them as much as the pirates and marines, only as an afterthought, really. So, she was doubly curious about what they stood for.

They each entered their rooms and, with one last nod at Coco, closed the door behind them, ready to get familiar with their rooms and rest a little before the man returned.

Coco himself swiftly turned around and signaled for two of the others that were still loitering around in curiosity to follow him.

"Go to the monitoring room and activate surveillance on their rooms. They agreed not to run but we should make sure. I'll explain in detail after I report", he instructed.

"Yes, sir.", they nodded, not really bothered about their breaks being cut short.

So, while the two got off the elevator moments later, Coco himself still stayed, slowly rising to the topmost floor, which was located close to the top of the hollowed-out tree.

He stepped out into a single room that looked like an orderly post office. A square table was placed in the middle, which contained several different kinds of Den-den mushi, amongst which the most important and valuable was the white one connected to several normal ones.

On two of the dozen or so stools surrounding the table, two others were currently speaking. They nodded at him in greeting.

A third revolutionary was quietly sorting documents into the carefully labeled compartments of the shelves lining 90% of the wall space. Another few stacks were already placed on a small counter, waiting to be sorted shortly.

Coco swiftly headed for one particular Den-den mushy with a unique orange color scheme. This was the only non-emergency one of them able to reach headquarters, where the man was currently located. He was one of the vice-commanders of the base and more than qualified to make the decision regarding the situation, but he'd feel better about it if he officially got the green light from his superior. After all, this had the potential to affect the very existence of the base.

After only a few moments, a voice greeted him from the other side. He quickly identified himself.

"Is Lindbergh available?", he asked, not bothering with further pleasantries.

"Not currently."

"I see. Then never mind. Good day."

Since he wasn't around, he'd have to be happy with only a report. Instead, Coco would confer with the other 2 vices of the base and draw up the contract himself.

He nodded his goodbye to the three still in the room and went to gather them up.

30 minutes later, they were gathered in a random meeting room, sitting in a triangle, his two colleagues looking at him questioningly.

"For now, I'll give you a short summary of what I've interrupted your schedules about", Coco started without preamble.

"As you know, Jason recommended two potentials the other day. They arrived today, by air. Our scout mistook them for one of our own, causing us to reveal the landing platform, which they discovered. Basically, I didn't have time to feel them out before they figured out who we are. They agreed to stay willingly, though I don't believe they will join, they seem amicable enough and not adverse to an alliance. This is just conjecture though. One of them revealed that he had discovered several problems in our security, which he offered to point out in exchange for us sharing our medical expertise with the other of them. Since this concerns the whole of the base, I tried to contact the commander, but he wasn't available. Thus why I saw it necessary to gather you two instead. We need to make a decision as soon as possible or they could simply leave, if what they said of the security is true, which, given Jason's and my wife's evaluation of them, I do not doubt."

The other two silently processed the rapid flood of information for a few moments, then shared a knowing look and fixed their gaze back onto Coco.

"What were the conditions exactly?", one of them asked, already pulling out a sheet of paper to write out a rough draft.

They didn't always see eye to eye, but this had the potential to be too serious a matter if even Jason was wary about their two… guests. They couldn't afford to squabble.

This was why Coco never could hate them, regardless of their many differences.

"So, the sister is a doctor looking to further hone her knowledge. It's good she's not a newbie, less of a headache that way. And you say she's pregnant? Providing care for her shouldn't be an issue at all. We'd have done it even without anything in return. But it's good they don't seem to want to rely on kindness. Equal exchange is it?"

"Hmm, ge'n da botha 'em ta join'd be bes', bu' an alli'nce's also 'kay ah guess… Jus' hafta m'ke sure we ain' ge'in' scammed."

"You're right. Need to make sure those security issues are actual issues, not just technicalities. Also, if the woman is an idiot, I'll just stick her into the library and be done with it. If she's good and they aren't with the world government, I don't mind another assistant, temporary as this arrangement apparently is going to me."

"I was hoping you'd say that, doc."

They discussed and slaved over the contract for another hour before they were satisfied. All this really did mean nothing if the siblings were friendly with those disgusting nobles. It thus fell on Coco to make sure of their beliefs.

Geez how he hated this. This was why he'd rather spend all day in his forge. Stupid Lind and forcing him into this if he wanted to continue having free reign of his beloved smithy.

Grumbling, the man casually stuck the file with the contract under his arm and lumbered back towards the siblings' rooms, suppressing a yawn.

The day had barely started, and he was already ready to get back to bed. He hadn't even had breakfast yet, for Kami's sake.

He gently knocked on Itachi's door first.

The door opened a few moments later, and the smaller man, no, teen stepped outside to follow him wordlessly as he saw who it was. They went across the hall to Raiju's room next. She took a few moments longer to get to the door but smiled at them cheerfully as she saw them and hurried to close the door behind herself.

They went back to the same meeting room they'd used earlier, not at all because that one was on the same floor as the cafeteria… Ok, fine, but not just cause of that. It was also one of the ones least likely to be in use.

As predicted, it was still empty. Thus, they sat down in their previous seats.

Coco pointedly placed the contract file in front of him but did not yet slide it over toward them.

"Before we finalize our deal, I just need to know one thing for sure. What is your stance towards the world government?"

Subtlety had never been his strength, so he simply asked bluntly. That's why he wasn't a diplomat but a forger, dammit.

Itachi raised an eyebrow at the blunt question. That was actually a very effective tactic in extracting information. The only way for them to answer this believably was by revealing a piece of information that would set them at odds with the world government. Empty platitudes or statements of neutrality wouldn't do for it.

He then turned towards Raiju, making use of the good old illusion trick to communicate with her once again.

She didn't even blink as the now familiar voice sounded right beside her from nowhere, having recognized the subtle gesture he made to her benefit when performing the technique.

He told her his thoughts, asking her to answer through simple gestures. To Coco, it looked like they were communicating wordlessly, trying to decide how to best reply to his question.

He was impressed. It was a useful skill to have, after all. He waited patiently.

It didn't take long for them to turn back towards him. The first one to open his mouth was Itachi.

"I consider myself neutral, personally. The only goal I have is to find a certain place. I could care less about anything else. However, I am loyal to Raiju, since she is now my sister, so I stand where she stands.", he simply said.

Which… honestly didn't help Coco much at all, though the 'now' in the last sentence implied they had, in fact, not always been siblings. Though if Itachi had decided to simply say he'd stick with family, that implied that Raiju likely had a reason to stand against the world government, or so he hoped.

The woman took a deep breath before she said her own piece, mentally stealing herself for what she was about to say.

"My name hasn't always been Uchiha Raiju", she started, causing him to raise a brow in surprise. With the kind of closeness they shared, he'd honestly half expected Itachi's statement to be a slip of the tongue.

"Itachi has only adopted me into his family recently, as a result of an… unpleasant experience I had with the Marines. My name used to be Portgas D Rouge. You have contacts with the Marines, so you can find out the full story through them. That makes it much more believable in any case. Just know I've changed my appearance somewhat as a disguise but there's still ways to prove my identity."

The other brow now joined the first one on his forehead, nearly vanishing behind his headband as he stared at her in surprise.

He knew about that report already. They were keeping close tabs on the happenings in that area, the nature of the search being what it was and the government being as heavy-handed as they were. They had assumed Rouge to be one of the unfortunate victims of that particular witch hunt they had no way of preventing.

Yet, here she was, apparently.

He studied her face carefully and indeed, apart from some small changes on her nose, cheekbones, and chin, as well as the colours, she seemed to be the same person. In particular, her eyes and figure matched perfectly with what he recalled from the picture in the report. If her blood type matched and they did an ultrasound and the foetus also looked to be in the appropriate stadium of growth, then that would be enough for him for now. They'd still arrange for a DNA match though.

He had to say though, that really wasn't what he was expecting.

He smiled.

"That's great news actually. When we saw that particular report, the mood here was pretty grim. What about Coma though?"

"Coma… is gone", she said regretfully.

"I see, so that evidence was real after all, huh"

She merely nodded.

"Well then, we'll have to confirm that, of course, but for now, that's enough for me. Welcome aboard."