A young boy sat in Makino's tavern next to a man with red hair. "Hey, Shanks! Can you take me with you? I wanna join your crew! I wanna be a pirate!" Luffy's hyperactive cries were loud enough to stand out against the cheering of said crew.

"You really think you could be a pirate? You?" Shanks laughed, to Luffy's frustration.

"Well why couldn't I?" Luffy yelled out.

A man named Yassop chimed up from a table nearby. "Listen Luffy, just because you're a good swimmer doesn't mean you'd be a good pirate. It takes a lot more and you don't have what it takes."

"Want some juice to drink, Luffy?" Shanks interrupted before Luffy shot back, probably with words he shouldn't even know. Luffy nodded and took the drink from Shanks, causing him and his crew to laugh. "See, Luffy? I haven't heard of a single pirate who drinks juice!" 'Of course, this kid does carry the Will of D. He might have promise.'

Luffy growled and put the juice down angrily. He was once again about to shoot back and once again interrupted, this time by a group of men breaking the door and walking in.

Makino spoke up, still kind despite the casual vandalism. "What can I do for you men?"

The leader was the first to respond. "We're bandits, but don't worry. We aren't here to wreck the place, we just want some sake. 8 barrels should do." He gave a threatening grin.

"I'm sorry, sir." Makino began. "But we're actually out, these gentlemen had the last of it. We have some other dri-"

"No, it's fine Makino." Shanks turned to the leader of the bandits. "Sorry my men and I drank this place dry, but if you want there's still this. Unopened and all." He held up a bottle of sake, the last one.

For a second, it looked like the man was going to accept the offer. As soon as his hand reached the bottle, however, he smacked it down to the ground. "One bottle, seriously!? You've got to be joking. Men, let's go. This place doesn't have anything for us." He and his group filed out slowly.

Luffy, no longer paralyzed, turned to Shanks in rage. "What was that!? You just let him walk all over you!"

Shanks sighed and got down to his knees where the sake had spilled. "Hey, Makino, do you have anything to clean this up?"

Makino shook her head. "Don't worry, I can handle it, it's just a little spill."

Shanks shook his own head in response. "No really, it's my fault." He took out a chest-like box from his pocket and set it on the bar. Makino begrudgingly handed him a towel before returning to her own seat.

'I'm hangry, I need snacks to calm down.' Luffy looked around before opening the box that Shanks had set down. Inside was a fruit that, to anyone who wasn't Luffy, would be the least appealing thing in the world. It was beige with what looked like shards of glass sticking out. Unfortunately, Luffy didn't care in the least.

"bleh, that fruit was disgusting! Why did you have that with you, Shanks?"

Shanks shot up, hitting his head on the underside of his stool. He whipped around to look at the box, seeing it empty. "Luffy, no! Please tell me you didn't eat the fruit I had in that box!"

Luffy shrugged. "Yeah, I don't see why you put into its own chest, it was really yucky."

Shanks grabbed him by the legs and shook him around. Unfortunately, not a single piece came out, much less the whole fruit. Instead, Luffy's legs turned into little pieces of glass, cutting Shanks' hand before he let go.

"What just happened?"

"Luffy, that wasn't just a normal fruit, that was the Shard-Shard Devil Fruit! You won't ever be able to swim again! You idiot!"

Luffy seemingly remembered something, and his face screwed up into an angry expression.

"I thought that you were a pirate, shanks."

"Whaddaya mean anchor, I am a pira-

"You let that bastard walk all over you! I thought you were a cool pirate that fought his own battles, but you're acting like some common civilian"

With that Luffy stormed out of the room, shards of glass circling him tempestuously, leaving nicks and gouges in everything that dared to get close to him

Higuma threw Luffy against the water tap. "What's all this? We were just drinking and enjoying ourselves, and then you attacked me."

"Say you're sorry! No one just insults Shanks and his crew like that!"

"I never said anything to or about you, wimp. Now shut up, before I make your death more painful."

A voice yelled out from nearby. "No, stop! Please, just let him go!" The mayor looked ready to run at any second. "I don't know what he did that offended you and I'm not going to fight you, but please, I'll even pay you if you just let him go."

"Sorry, old man. You older folk may be wiser about this world, but this kid pissed me off."

Another voice showed up, accompanied by a commanding presence. "Well, what's going on here? Oh the bandits again."

"You pirates again. Have you been cleaning all day?"

Shanks just smiled back.

"I don't know what you're doing, but I'd suggest getting out of here. Before something happens."

A gun appeared next to Shanks' head. The bandits, including Higuma, all began to laugh.

"Are you really willing to do that? Drawing your gun means putting your own life on the line, you know."

The man holding the gun suddenly slumped to the ground in a spurt of blood as one of Shanks' men shot him.

Higuma scowled at the pirates. "You fight dirty."

Shanks chuckled darkly. "And you expected what exactly? We're pirates, not saints. I don't care if you make a fool of me or spill sake all over my lap, but anyone who hurts a friend of mine is a dead man."

Before Luffy or any of the bandits could even blink, only Higuma was left standing. "W-what the hell? Wait, please!" Shanks was about to deliver a final blow, but Higuma threw down a smokescreen.

"Damn it, he got away with Luffy!"

Higuma laughed uncontrollably, insanity edging into his voice. "A clean escape, they'd ever expect a mountain bandit to hide out in the middle of the ocean!"

"Dammit, let go of me, asshole! Just wait until Shanks finds you!"

"This is what you get for making me angry, kid." Higuma laughed maniacally until a heavy presence appeared behind him.

A massive sea monster rose up out of the ocean, water sloughing off of it to eddy back into the ocean, swallowing the bandit leader in one bite before he could even speak. It turned and was about to do the same to Luffy, but narrowly missed as Shanks grabbed Luffy and moved him to safety. Shanks turned to the Sea King and stared it down, releasing an intense and focused power that scared it off.

"Shanks!"

"Makino told me about how you defended us and fought for our honor. Don't cry, Luffy. You're a man, remember?"

"Th- thank you, Shanks!"

A few days later, Luffy and Shanks faced each other at the docks. "So you're leaving today, Shanks?"

"Yep. I've been staying here a while, but I have to go now. Are you gonna miss me?"

"Yeah, but I don't need to go with you. I'll become a great pirate on my own!"

Shanks laughed and took his straw hat off, placing it on Luffy's head. "Here, give me this back once you can fight me on even ground. You're wearing the hat of the future Pirate King right now."

Luffy nodded excitedly. "Yes yes, of course! I promise!"

Shanks turned on his heel and began walking off dramatically. "Good luck, Luffy!"

It was ten months after the whole bandit incident. Luffy was still the crazy kid that would run around the forests with Ace and Sabo, but he was also constantly experimenting with his new shard abilities, shooting them from his fingers and rolling them around, turning them into marbles that he would make float around his fingers in mesmerizing patterns, seemingly lost in the beauty of the shimmering pearlescent marble, each clear as glass and yet a clear reflection of him appeared in them no matter how far they were. He quickly learned he could hear and see through each piece no matter how small, and yet, he never seemed to be overwhelmed with the information. He was significantly calmer as well, something that Makino and Dadan could not be more thankful for. He was still as bouncy as a normal six year old, but at least he could fix the things he broke without effort. They couldn't imagine having to deal with a Luffy that was even more energetic and bouncy than he already was. even the feared bandit curly Dadan couldn't deal with a Luffy that was worse than now. She didn't enjoy dealing with him now, but Garp would kill her if she didn't, so she soldiered on. Little did she know that Luffy would be taken off her hands in scarcely more than a week, and she would miss him and his monstrous eating habits more than she thought possible.