Descent Chapter 25: The Art of Deception, an one piece fanfic

Descent

Chapter 25: The Art of Deception

"Rosan, what's your Devil Fruit? You do have one, right?" Nami asked out of the blue one day.

Luffy was off in the redhead's training room of the ship to stave off his own boredom and Zoro was taking a nap somewhere so that left the two of them on the deck of the ship to make sure no crazy incidents happened.

Nami was hesitant to be left alone with the redhead but he had not spared her even a single glance, content to just read his book while sipping on a cup of lemonade.

He didn't bother her at all and she found herself relaxing in his aloof presence. His dead eyed gaze was unnerving but you got used to it… though she wondered what the story behind that was. Rosan wasn't very expressive either… She had never seen him smile or laugh or even get upset at the various antics of his captain.

The redhead looked up from the book he was reading, something about the elements, to regard her with a lazy gaze, head tilting to the side as he let out a disinterested hum. "Yes, I do."

"I know Luffy has the Gomu Gomu no mi but I don't know what you have…" She mused. It was difficult to place a name onto it because he seemed capable of doing two completely different things.

He had managed to completely repair Chouchou's treasure and free Luffy from his cage with just a grasp… To her eyes that looked like repairing and destruction, which were polar opposites! What type of fruit did that? Was that all he was capable of? Nami was beginning to think he was the one who raised the wall as well that protected Zoro!

Did his fruit have something to do with matter? That could have been it!

"I'd tell you, but we both don't trust each other currently, right?" Rosan replied calmly, gazing at her coolly. "I'd rather not tell you what my Devil Fruit is at the moment. It's important that information on it doesn't spread needlessly and I don't exactly think you like me enough to keep it secret."

Nami flinched at his bluntness, not really expecting him to outright reject her and wilted at his assessment that she didn't like him. To just outright say something like that... was he trying to make the conversation awkward for them both?

That was another thing about the redhead... He wasn't anything like Luffy, who could trust anyone at a glance, or Zoro, who went along with what the rubber boy did, with only slight suspicion.

No... Rosan was someone who seemed to thoroughly judge a person's character for himself before making decisions based off of that. It was completely logical of him but being around Luffy had put her guard down, leading her to not expect someone in his crew to be like that.

It was likely that he was aware she wasn't interested in being a pirate and surrounded himself in the necessary walls to prepare for that outcome.

"Let's get to know each other a bit more," Rosan said softly, gaze back on his book as he continued to read it. "We're practically strangers right now."

"R-Right," she nodded. That was fair but she hadn't expected him to be so blunt about it. Then again, everyone on the ship seemed rather honest and spoke their minds with no regards of how it might affect the person they were speaking to.

Luffy and Rosan were just like this. That was probably why they were in a crew together.

"My name is Portgas D. Rosan. I'm the scout of this ship. I like my family and don't really dislike anything," the redhead suddenly said.

Nami blinked in surprise.

That name... Portgas...? Had she heard that somewhere before? It sounded familiar but he might have just had one of those names, y'know? It was best not to dwell on it since she couldn't immediately identify it.

The navigator got rid of her current thought process and couldn't resist smiling. "My name's Nami! I like tangerines and money and I hate pirates!"

He was making an effort to get to know her even though he didn't need to! How polite of him! Maybe she had gotten it all wrong about him —

"Wow, you like something besides money? I'm genuinely surprised, based on what I've seen so far," Rosan's bland voice cut in to her musing. "Maybe you aren't as insane as I thought you were."

"I DON'T WANNA HEAR THAT FROM YOU!" Nami roared in fury, glaring at him all the while.

She took it back. He was still as insufferable as ever. He had the audacity to call her insane? He was definitely so much worse, no matter how cool and collected he appeared to be!

The nerve of some people!

"We're gonna need a new ship, the White Rose was damaged long ago and won't be able to handle the Grand Line," Rosan informed the crew.

"Damaged?" Nami asked curiously. The ship had been sailing perfectly since they had gotten it so to hear that it was damaged, was quite the surprise. Would... would it sink on them in the middle of the ocean?! How reckless were these guys to sail with a damaged ship and only just now mention it?!

"Around 10 years ago, I was unexpectedly attacked and my ship was caught in the crossfire," the redhead grunted quietly, recalling the memory with a blank gaze.

Saint Jeremiah had managed to deal lasting damage on his treasured ship with his attack. He managed to get a lucky hit on the hull, severely damaging it and Rosan had tried to modify it but it was to little success. All he had done was prolong the inevitable, something Angel had confirmed with a sad look.

It wasn't like he'd let his crew die, he could carry them all in the event the ship unexpectedly sank but the White Rose could still sail due to him not using it even once over the 10 years. It's just that if the sea decided to turn… wild, his ship would needlessly suffer and they could potentially be put in danger.

Rosan sighed, he liked his ship. She had been his sole ship for 20 years and it was the subject of his most amount of modifications. She'd have probably sunk long ago if he hadn't made her so durable and sturdy but perhaps the years were catching up on her if a measly Celestial Dragon could do this to her.

If not for her, he'd be much worse with his ability to quickly modify objects to the degree he could.

"She has served us perfectly. I'm going to miss the White Rose…" Mod sighed wistfully. She was a fantastic ship and to think that she had been so average when they first got the caravel... Rosan had managed to mold the ship in his image and the result was the only ship they over owned and needed.

"10 years ago? How old are you?" Nami asked. The redhead looked pretty young! She wouldn't think he's any older than 20 so 10 years ago would have made him really young... Just what reasons did he have to be sailing the sea at such a young age?

Nami's circumstances were a little... irregular so maybe he was the same?

"24."

"You were sailing and attacked at sea when you were 14?!"

That was insane! How did he get out of an attack that left his ship so damaged?!

He nodded his head but didn't deign to go into detail. "Regardless, getting a new ship should be priority. A musician can wait for later, Luffy," the redhead said softly.

"Fine," Luffy sulked, causing Zoro and Nami to sweatdrop.

"There should be an island a little to the south," Nami informed them, looking at the map in her hand. "It would be great if we could get a ship there in that case."

The crew nodded in unison at that, plan set and they adjusted their course accordingly.

Rosan would offer to pay for it but Luffy would immediately shut it down so he remained silent.

"Alright! We need more food!" The captain cheered.

"My only complaint about this ship is how little booze there is," the swordsman sighed.

"I don't drink alcohol often. I can't get drunk so I don't see the point and would rather drink something tastier," Rosan apologized, much to the surprise of Zoro and Nami, who weren't aware he couldn't get drunk. He had actually gotten drunk before on Makino's (and Angel's… and Maro's…) insistence.

The redhead felt his impulses going out of control mostly and his inhibitions were lowered but besides that… he was mostly the same if not... more aggressive (according to Makino at least)? It was hard to act different when it affected your emotional state.

The others though... Angel was incapable of getting drunk without his interference but when she did, the woman turned into a protective terror. He was sure even Demon was at his wits with her, if the tired expression on his face was anything to go by, assuring the woman that he was in fact single.

The youngest triplet himself, had built quite the tolerance and was the most normal, besides Rosan, when he got drunk. He did become a lot more flirty though (surprisingly), if the group of women and men Angel threatened to slaughter viciously meant anything. He was normally hounded by a lot of people but instead of being polite, he seemed to actively participate in it.

Makino seemed to be normal when drunk. The woman mostly made sure Luffy didn't sneak any alcohol and conversed with Rosan, Aiko or Akemi. Sometime during the night though, she managed to completely prove him wrong after drinking a bit too much and the bartender dragged the redhead away in the middle of the party, much to a snarling Angel's rage, who needed to be held down by Demon lest she actually commit murder.

Maro was a complete lightweight and got drunk almost immediately. Everytime Rosan saw her, she was transformed into a different form and she was also incredibly grabby, randomly crashing into anyone of them with gusto. Poor Luffy had been a living stuffed animal due to his rubbery body not being affected by her steely grip, up until she dropped him and dragged away Angel.

Rosan was idly curious about how he'd act drunk with emotions. His family was rather unique with how they behaved and he could readily admit that with emotions, he was as chaotic as Luffy. Getting drunk may turn him even worse...

"You'd become a terror to the world. It would make your days as a child pale in comparison," Mod said without hesitation, smiling just thinking about it.

"Way worse than me. I think with emotions you're already going to be worse but add alcohol to that? You'll make me proud," Ram agreed with a huge grin.

Rosan disagreed.

"Wow there really is an island here!"

Nami looked at Luffy in exasperation and glanced in sympathy at a sighing Rosan.

"Of course there is! It's right here on the map," she said slowly, pointing at it and letting out her own sigh at the look of confusion on Luffy's face. Nami had no clue how they managed to survive this long but she would attribute it to the mysterious redhead and not these two idiots.

The group began walking up the hill but the moment they took a step, Rosan slowed his gait and glanced up at a tree, letting Ram subtly seep into his gloves.

Zoro suddenly tensed up and put a hand on his blade. "Careful guys, I sense people," he called and right on cue, something began shooting at them.

Ram rolled her eyes at Luffy jumping left and right wildly to avoid the pellets. At the same time, various pirates flags raised up, surrounding them from 3 angles. Rosan calmly stepped to the side of a shot and took aim at where he was sure someone was —

Only to stop at seeing a long nose obviously pointing out of the bush they were trying to hide in.

The faint red glow vanished as he lowered his hand and Rosan immediately dismissed his target as a threat once he saw his weapon of choice.

A slingshot? Was he suicidal?

The long nosed male crossed his arms triumphantly and said, "I am Usopp, leader of the terrifying pirates who run this island! State your business! Just know that if I find your answer lacking, my 80 million subordinates will deal with you!"

"80 million? Wow, that's quite a lot," Rosan praised, expression not shifting. How would they ever be able to deal with that much people? It didn't seem very possible… Maybe he'd have to bring out Ragnarok early to stand a chance against such a formidable foe?

"AWESOME!" Luffy gaped in total awe, stars in his eyes, and all three of his crewmates looked at him with sweat drops. Unlike the redhead, they were very sure the rubber boy's praise was genuine.

Nami sighed at their antics. "You're lying, aren't you?" She asked the seemingly confident boy.

Usopp's eyes bugged at being found out so easily. "She saw through it!" He said aloud, panicking in surprise and holding his head. What was he going to do now? Should he fight them head on? No... A tactical retreat sounded better to his ears o-or he could keep lying!

Nami rolled her eyes with a smile. This guy was a total idiot.

"See? You admitted it."

"I-I admitted it to her…" Usopp began swaying at being tricked so easily. Wasn't he supposed to be the one tricking them?!

"WHAT?! HE WAS LYING?!" Luffy shouted in disbelief, jaw dropping to the floor at being fooled. "Rosan can you believe that?! He was lying to us!"

"I can't believe it either, Luffy. I was thoroughly tricked," the redhead replied with a shake of his head. "I didn't know how we were gonna deal with 80 million people, I thought we'd have to turn back for sure."

Nami sweatdropped at all 3 of them. Rosan's voice didn't even suggest he fell for it.

"Crafty tactician! 80 million may have been an exaggeration, but I do have great men under my command!" The long nosed boy said confidently. This one was full proof! If they saw through this... then they were utterly invincible and he'd have no choice but to tactically retreat!

"You mean about three people, right?" Nami teased and right on cue, a childish chorus of screams rang through the air and three boys jumped out so that they could run away from the pirates.

"Wow Nami, nothing gets through you at all… Are you a mind reader? What number am I thinking of right now, 1-10?" Rosan asked curiously

Nami sighed. She may as well try and guess.

"7?"

"No, it was 4,444. I guess you aren't a mind reader," the redhead replied, shrugging helplessly.

He held his hand out to effortlessly catch the punch she immediately threw at him.

"You are so annoying!" Nami growled.

"You would get along well with one of my friends. She thinks the exact same thing," Rosan said, thinking of Aiko. "You both even have a temper. Nice swing by the way, have you been working on that? I could give you a tip or two."

Old habits die hard. The redhead had always enjoyed riling up the more emotional people. Ace had attacked him many times while going through puberty because of his antics and there wasn't a day that went by where Aiko didn't want to strangle him.

"You're just annoying in general," Mod smiled mischievously. "The more emotional people are prone to react but you get on everyone's nerves. I can't tell you how much times you gave me a headache growing up."

"Why are you bullying me? You know I can come in there right? What will you do if Ram and I decide to double team you, Mod-chan?"

"...You wouldn't do that. Two taller people jumping this poor woman who raised them?" Mod tried to appease him but the redhead would not be swayed.

"I'll see you tonight and you can decide for yourself," Rosan hummed.

Mod let out a noise of protest while Ram cheered excitedly, ignoring the glare the woman shot her way.

While he had been conversing with Mod, the long nosed boy had drawn his slingshot again. Rosan had interrogated quite a few people so he was pretty decent at identifying lies.

Every sentence that came out of this boys mouth, sent off a blaring bell in his head that would have irritated him were he younger. That's how much he lied. It was honestly quite impressive and Rosan saluted him for being able to maintain such confidence with what he spouted.

Still though, he had to hand it to him… aiming a slingshot of all things in front of his enemies… Rosan wasn't sure if he was stupidly brave or just stupid.

"You're putting your life on the line pointing that at me," Luffy smirked, straw hat shadowing his eyes.

Rosan almost snorted out loud.

Was he serious right now?

"H-Huh?!" Usopp said nervously. What was this sudden tension?! Were they actually pirates?!

"I'm saying those aren't for threatening people," the straw hat wearing boy warned.

"I nearly took your head off. You shouldn't mess around like that," Rosan added, seeing no harm in joining.

Zoro smirked at their antics and slightly drew his sword. "What you're looking at now are real pirates, you know?"

Usopp flinched at the words of the three intimidating people and the long nosed boy began sweating nervously. The pressure was getting to him and his knees were shaking. H-He didn't know they were actually pirates!

Eventually, he collapsed on his butt and dropped his slingshot. "Real pirates definitely have more punch behind their words…" he sighed sadly.

Zoro and Luffy exchanged a glance and immediately burst into laughter.

"We stole those lines!" The rubber boy exclaimed. "From Shanks! A pirate I respect!"

"Respect? You practically worship that idiot," Rosan pointed out. He hadn't stolen his lines. If Usopp had wielded a gun and was a bit less nervous, the redhead really would have sniped him where he stood.

"You guys know Red-Haired Shanks?!" Usopp gaped. That legendary pirate?! Really?!

"Unfortunately I do. He's really annoying," Rosan sighed. His fellow redhead was quite the topic of interest these days.

"Yeah!" Luffy nodded with a smile. "Your dad's Yassop, right?"

The scream of excitement Usopp let out made him too eager and he tumbled down the cliff he was on due to leaning forward too much.

"Idiot," Ram said.

"Yeah, Yassop is my old man… But how do you know that?" Usopp asked, after rubbing his head from the impact.

"He's apart of Shank's crew," Rosan replied bluntly. "I didn't talk to him often but since I hung around Luffy I got to hear him talk about you nonstop."

Usopp blinked at that.

"REALLY?!"

They had all relocated to a restaurant and Rosan was calmly eating a plate of food, as Luffy told Usopp about his father.

The man was a fantastic shot. Rosan would never deny that but man was he annoying. Actually, the redhead could confidently say the only one apart of that crew who wasn't annoying, was Ben Beckman.

For someone who so readily abandoned his own son to live alone, Yassop sure did talk about him too much (Rosan hadn't even been around them for long) and the way he casually mentioned abandoning him, had firmly put him on Rosan's "would probably really hate with emotions" list.

Alas, Usopp wasn't an angry person like he was and he didn't blame his father at all for going out to sea. Maybe Rosan's life would have been easier if he had been as supportive as some people but unfortunately, he wasn't an idiot.

Robin had this problem too, not resenting her mother at all despite what Olvia had done to her. The redhead had made it no secret that he hated her late mother and he informed her that he'd do it in the Devil Child's stead, since she was too forgiving for her own good, much to her exasperation.

He hoped she didn't forgive him that easily.

Currently, they were asking Usopp if he knew anyone that could give them a big ship and the boy was very clearly playing dumb.

"There's a big mansion over on the top of the hill over there," Zoro pointed out and Usopp's eyes bugged.

"Oh do you know them, Usopp?!" Nami asked excitedly.

Based on his reaction, he did know them and he didn't want the crew to know them. After telling the pirates that they couldn't go there, he made up some excuse and immediately vanished.

They watched him make a hasty departure and Nami wondered what that was about.

"He is probably close to the person in the mansion," Rosan responded. "If I had to guess, something is wrong with them. I doubt he thinks we're gonna kill the owner of that mansion so they could be facing another issue that makes him reluctant to introduce us."

Nami's mouth opened a bit at his assessment. It was rather… intelligent of him and made a lot of sense. She didn't think anyone of them were capable of that.

"You'll catch flies," Rosan said, ignoring her gaze. He had never once indicated he was stupid. Where did she get the idea that he was, from?

The door to the restaurant they were in opened and in walked the three children that had been hiding when they first docked.

"The Usopp pirates have arrived!" They yelled in unison before looks of confusion appeared on their face. Their eyes began darting and it was then that they realized, their captain was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, Pirates! What did you do with Captain Usopp?!" They demanded.

"Ah that meat was good!" Luffy sighed in relief.

The children froze as they heard that declaration. D-Did he just say…

"Meat?!"

"Don't tell me the captain..."

Where exactly was their mind taking them? Rosan had a pretty active imagination but wasn't this too active?

"I think your mind might be even more active then theirs," Mod interjected.

"You really are not doing yourself any favors for tonight."

"?! I-I thought you were joking! You aren't seriously going to double team me, right?!"

"..."

"You two are just totally unbelievable!"

"If you're lookin' for your captain…" Zoro began, with a savage grin on his face that had the children quivering.

"...We ate him."

"GYAHHHHHHH OGRESS!" They screeched, looking directly at the giggling Nami, who stopped smiling immediately.

"WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME?!" She roared and immediately rounded on the laughing Zoro.

"I know an Ogress… Sort of," Rosan hummed. Did Maro count as one? Maybe not… She'd probably take offense if he called her an ogre.

"She definitely would," Mod giggled. You could call her goblin just fine but if you tried to call her something like Ogre or Orc, she'd lose it and throw a massive tantrum.

"I'm gonna start calling her Ogre from now on whenever I get the chance," Ram decided with a large smile on her face.

"Don't tell her I'm the reason," Rosan requested. He'd rather not deal with the Queen's temper tantrum and whining.

Maro could be such a brat sometimes.

"If our captain ran off at this hour, this is where he'd be."

"Wow! It's HUGE," Luffy gaped.

They were currently standing at the gates of the mansion along with the three children who brought them here.

When questioned on why Usopp would bother coming here, the children explained about his friendship with the owner of the mansion, Kaya, and how she was weak. Her parents had died years ago from an illness and she had suffered greatly as a result, falling into a depression.

To make the rich girl feel better, Usopp told her made up stories. It seemed largely successful because around him, she felt much better in general.

It was enough to convince Luffy to ask her for a ship after all. His brother was currently poised to rocket his way over the wall and his crewmates were showing to him how stupid they were.

"Wait, don't tell me you're about to…" Nami gaped.

At one the group (sans Rosan) grabbed onto Luffy and the redhead shook his head at them.

Idiots.

"Pardon the intrusion!" The rubber boy beamed and he rocketed off with all 5 of them in tow, leaving the redhead alone.

"You're all idiots," he said, watching them all fly over the wall. You never grabbed Luffy when he was using this technique. Even when he first invented it, Rosan had the foresight to avoid being near him.

Ace had not been as lucky.

"10 years with Luffy has done you wonders," Mod smiled softly.

"I don't even think Father would have grabbed onto him 10 years ago!" Ram shook her head in disbelief.

Rosan nodded in agreement and jumped over the tall gate. He began walking in the direction that they flew in while humming a quiet tune to himself.

Honestly, they always had to make things so difficult. He could have just modified a hole into the gate but if they wanted to be quirky, who was he to judge?

When Rosan arrived to the scene, it was to the sight of some butler reprimanding the, very loud, group of people.

Seriously, he was sure everyone heard Luffy and the group crashing on the floor. They had no hint of subtlety whatsoever.

"Quite the lively group," Rosan called.

"Oh, Rosan!" Luffy called happily, waving at the scout.

The redhead waved back before looking towards Zoro and Nami.

"Did you two have fun? I don't know what possessed you to grab onto Luffy," Rosan said softly and the annoyed look on their faces told him everything he needed to know.

The redhead glanced at the butler again and hummed in contemplation. He was currently spouting out quite the vicious words (that Rosan agreed with) about Usopp's father.

He really was worthless for abandoning his family without a second thought. A person like that shouldn't have gone around and had a kid in the first place. It's why Rosan didn't want to marry and have children with Meiko until he did become the strongest because there might have been a moment where he just couldn't take either with him and that would be horrible for the both of them.

He refused to leave them behind. He wouldn't be anything like Roger or Olvia or even his own birth mother.

Usopp clearly didn't agree with that sentiment, if the look of hot rage on his face meant anything and Rosan simply shook his head at the long nosed boy defending his father, writing him off as a lost cause.

Something was odd here though, Rosan had never met this man before but he was positive he had seen this butler's face before. Seeing as he didn't come to the East Blue often before settling down here… it meant his memory had seen it elsewhere.

He continued to stare at the man as Usopp got fed up with him.

"Why not just make up another lie about your father? Talk about how he was a traveling merchant? Perhaps you'd rather say that he wasn't your real dad?" Klahadore clearly goaded him.

"SHUT UP!" Usopp roared, punching him right on the cheek and knocking the butler's glasses off his face.

Kaya gasped in horror at his action while the children screamed, "CAPTAIN!"

The group of pirates just watched the exchange with neutral gazes. Rosan's eyes had never left Klahadore's face and he began sifting through his many memories with the assistance of Mod-chan.

"I'M PROUD THAT MY FATHER IS A PIRATE! I'M PROUD THAT HE'S A BRAVE WARRIOR OF THE SEA! I MAY MAKE UP STORIES BUT I'LL NEVER LIE ABOUT MY PIRATE HERITAGE!"

"The poor child's been brainwashed by the romance of being a pirate," Rosan thought blandly. To be so proud of someone that abandoned him… maybe his abandonment issues were flaring right now because the redhead just couldn't see why you'd be happy.

It's not like being a pirate was as good as Usopp imagined it to be. 90% of them were scum of the world and deserved anything and everything they got. Yasopp luckily, was apart of Shanks crew and Rosan could admit that he was much better than other pirate choices.

"Father, what about if your actual father was a pirate?" Ram asked curiously, watching the exchange with uncaring eyes. They were really going back and forth right now and oh — Usopp was leaving the estate now.

Lame, she wanted him to keep fighting.

"It would support the theory that Raisa was raped if he were. Seeing as I can't stand rapists, I'd have to kill him."

"You already have enough on your plate as is… Now we have reason to believe you're a rape child on top of it," Mod sighed. Why couldn't her little Rosan just have a simple life? They really just couldn't catch a break could they?

"The less I think about my birth parents, the better. One a queen, the other likely a pirate… Perhaps Raisa had good reason to abandon me with the stain I'd have no doubt placed on her legacy," the redhead shrugged.

He was thinking about all this objectively. No emotion ever went into thoughts about the two who birthed him. Raisa was in the South Blue and he was soon headed to the Grand Line.

He knew nothing about his father but if he really were a pirate, there was a chance Rosan would run into him one day. If that happened, the redhead would kill him, plain and simple.

He had no ties to either of them. If Raisa proved to be an enemy, he'd kill her too.

"Rosan, we're leaving!" Nami called, snapping the redhead out of his musings. He glanced at their navigator, before nodding.

"I'm not sure you were listening, but never show your face around here again," Klahadore said to the redhead, pushing his glasses up with the palm of his hand.

Rosan tilted his head at the man. What an odd way to adjust your glasses. He had never seen anyone do it like that...

The butler flinched at the empty eyes piercing him and had a guarded expression as that gaze landed on his mistress.

Kaya looked a little nervous at the sight of being stared at by the scary redhead but he simply hummed and left the area.

"I'm on the way, Nami," he replied.

Klahadore released the breath he didn't know he had been holding as the redhead vanished from their sights.

What an odd man.

Kaya coughed harshly as Klahadore entered the room with a small knock.

"It's time for your lunch, my lady," he called, rolling in a tray of food.

"No thanks. I don't want it," she mumbled.

The butler let out a sigh. "The cook would be sad to hear that. He worked hard to make you a healthy dish."

"Why did you talk to Usopp like that?" Kaya asked sadly. "I know I wasn't supposed to speak to him behind your back but you didn't have to drive him away like he were a dog!"

Klahadore remained silent and simply walked to the depressed woman's side. "May I sit?" He asked.

"Go ahead," she replied, not looking at him.

The two reminisced about his arrival to this island 3 years ago. He had made a single mistake and was left to rot by the ship he was sailing with. With nothing but his name and his clothes he had dragged himself through the village and Kaya's father had taken pity on him.

He owed his life to those two and taking care of their legacy was how he would repay his debt.

"I shouldn't decide who your friends are… I know you hate me," the butler sighed.

"I don't hate you Klahadore but you went too far! Usopp is a very good person and you refuse to understand that," she admonished him.

"Quite the sob story. My black heart is weeping," a deep voice called out, making them freeze to their spot.

"Hey where's Luffy?" Nami asked.

"Probably went after that "Captain" boy," Zoro replied.

"Rosan's missing as well… Do you think he went after Usopp too?" the navigator asked curiously.

Zoro thought about it for a moment.

"No chance," he replied with a short laugh.

Rosan stared at the frightened owner of the mansion and her butler with a tilted head.

"So that's how you ended up here, Butler-san?" The redhead asked softly.

"Y-You?! Didn't I tell you not to come back?!" Klahadore recovered admirably quick. "Where are our guards? How did you get in here so easily?"

"It's rude to answer a question with another question, don't you think?" Rosan shot back calmly, only serving to infuriate the butler more at asking yet another question.

"W-what do you want?" Kaya asked fearfully, before she delved into a fit of coughs.

The redhead glanced at the mistress and she flinched as that gaze bore into her.

"So you are the sick owner of this house… It's nice to meet you. I'm Rosan," the redhead greeted her with a small wave that she confusedly returned before the butler stepped in front of her.

"Not going to introduce yourself? You really are quite rude but that's okay. The owner's name is Kaya right?" He didn't seem bothered by the fact that he had just broken into their estate.

"That would make you Klahadore? Quite the name you have," Rosan said softly. "You don't look like a Klahadore to me… Did your parents give you that name?"

The butler went stiff at the way he phrased that but Kaya didn't notice.

"P-Please tell us what you want?! W-Was it about the big ship?!" The blonde asked fearfully. She didn't like that look in his eyes… It reminded her of her depression, of her sickness and she wanted nothing more than to shut her eyes tight and escape from the beautiful glaciers that was his heterochromatic gaze.

He scared her. Eyes that gorgeous, shouldn't look so daunting.

The redhead shook his head. "No, I don't have business with you, Kaya-san. I actually wanted to talk to Klahadore here. I'm sure you don't have any plans at the moment so would you mind entertaining me? I don't bite."

"Don't listen to what he's saying Miss Kaya!" Klahadore said warily, trying to figure out why he asked such an odd question and not liking where the answers were leading him.

"Oh? That's fine then, we can just talk here," Rosan replied coldly, staring at the slightly sweating man. "I don't care if she hears this or not. There's just a few things I'd like to verify with you Kur —."

"Just a moment please," the butler interrupted hastily. "You wish to talk to me…? Fine, we can speak but I'd rather Miss Kaya not hear your crass pirate language. She's already had to deal with the fear of being in the same room as you so this is enough."

"Smart man," Rosan praised with a small nod. "Lead the way. It was nice meeting you, Kaya-san. You could do to have a little more confidence in yourself, you're a pretty child."

Kaya flushed at his words. "I-I'm 17! I am not a child!" She frowned.

"Yes you are but that had a lot more bite then anything else you've said. Keep it up," the redhead replied, following after the butler and quietly closing the door behind him.

She stared at their retreating backs in slight confusion, forgetting that he had broken into their house in favor of feeling outrage.

Who was he to call her a child?! He barely even knew her! The nerve of some people.

Rosan stared at the glaring butler with an impassive expression on his face.

"Just what were you about to say back there in front of Miss Kaya?!" He hissed at the redhead that had almost ruined everything with just a few words.

"I did give you the chance to make it a one on one conversation. You chose to ignore that chance and that was the only one I was going to give you, Kuro-san.," Rosan pointed out calmly.

So he did know who he was. That had not been a fluke. But…

"How?! We've never met! I'd have remembered an appearance like yours."

"Your bounty poster," was all he replied. "It was odd, considering that you were listed as dead, but then you told that sweet story about how you were working here for three years, the same amount of years your bounty has been inactive."

"I figured you just had one of those faces but then, I saw the way you adjusted your glasses and decided to observe you further. If you had not confirmed my suspicions, I wouldn't have revealed myself but you did and that makes everything much more fun."

His years of being a bounty hunter were doing him well. He frequently checked bounties out of habit (Maro told him she had this habit too) and Kuro's was just one in a long list of those he had checked. His near eidetic memory, with help from Mod-chan, was the only reason he had recognized the man.

Kuro stared at the redhead before him with a dangerous expression that Rosan seemingly didn't notice.

"I was thinking about why a pirate would allow himself to be a butler for 3 years," he began softly, cupping his chin slightly with one hand. "But your epithet is Kuro of a Hundred Plans so I figure getting in the good graces of that sickly and rich girl is just one of them?"

"How can you be so sure? I could just be tired of the pirate life," Kuro countered cautiously.

"That's true, but what was it that you said...? Oh. Right. You're just a filthy pirate, I wouldn't put anything past you," Rosan replied.

Kuro saw red and bit back a snarl at the cocky redhead before him.

"Wow, aren't you projecting a bit much with those words? Maybe that should have been my first clue but I was too busy admiring that verbal teardown of Usopp's father. Nice job on that by the way. I agree wholeheartedly."

The butler forced himself to take a deep breath. This redhead's neutral tone, combined with his snide words, gave off the impression that he wasn't taking this serious and that annoyed him more then he liked to admit.

"Well since your so confident that I've got something planned, what will you do?" There was no point playing dumb but he wouldn't outright reveal himself. This strange man had managed to unravel nearly all his planning on their very first meeting when he had fooled people for three years, but they would certainly believe his words over the pirate who just docked here.

Even if he knew the truth, no one would take his word for it. So what exactly was he planning —

"Nothing."

Kuro blinked at that. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Are you really as smart as they say you are? I feel like you've been one step behind this whole conversation," Rosan chastised him, shaking his head at the flash of irritation on the butler's face. "I won't do anything. This has nothing to do with me and I won't involve myself in others business."

Well, not until Luffy got himself involved, but Kuro didn't need to know that.

"Don't you think it would be boring if I just solved every single issue before it could arise?" Rosan questioned him rhetorically. "I could just kill you right here and right now but what would that solve? No one would believe me anyways and I don't like doing thankless work."

There was no point in killing Captain Kuro. They wanted a ship from the sick girl and he was the last person seen with him. It would reduce their odds greatly if he killed the butler. Only Luffy and Zoro would believe him if he told them the butler's true identity.

So let him go wild until he did get involved. He doubted anyone could handle Kuro and Luffy liked Usopp so he'd inevitably help him out. Then, the village would be in their debt. He just needed to have his captain find out about the attack and then Rosan would begin working in the background.

He didn't need anyone to figure out his hand in this after all.

"Quite manipulative of you," Mod hummed to her charge, not bothered by his scheming. It was funny how someone honest like Rosan, could stoop to such tactics like manipulating everyone in the background. He had shown how proficient he was at tactics like this on Daybreak and quickly incorporated it into his arsenal.

He was so polarizing but whereas before it bothered her, she had grown used to it and even saw the benefits.

"The opportunity arose and so I figured I could take advantage of it. I haven't done such large scale manipulation since Daybreak and it's good to control the outcome so that it's in your favor," the scout responded. Luffy didn't want him to buy them a ship so Rosan would do the next best thing and find a way to interest himself in the process.

"Subtle stuff like this isn't my cup of tea," Ram complained with a forlorn sigh. She wasn't into these type of things. The weapon wanted Rosan to slaughter everything with her in his hand and that's all she wanted... Well, besides a mother but Auntie and Father didn't need to know that just yet.

Kuro looked at the insane redhead in disbelief. "Why did you even approach me?! What do you have to gain from this?"

"So that you were aware that you aren't nearly as smart as you thought you were. I heard your plans never fail… How does it feel to know that I can end it right now if I wanted to?"

He wanted to kill this brat so badly.

"You really think you're stronger than me?" Kuro challenged threateningly. He had enough of this boy dictating everything.

It was time to take back some control.

"I don't know. Do you think you're stronger than me?" The redhead countered. "If you do, feel free to come after me when you put your plan into motion. I'll let you join my performance."

Rosan nearly scoffed. Take back control? As if he had any to take back. They both knew who had all the cards right now and if Rosan so pleased, he could send it all crashing right now.

But he wouldn't because that was no fun and he truly didn't care about the owner of this mansion enough to save her...

Right now at least.

Kuro considered it deeply but decided trying to attack the redhead would lead to more problems then solutions, especially if he was not sure how the battle would go. "You really won't interfere then? You'll let me do as I please just like that?"

"So long as you don't drag me into it, I will not interfere. You don't have to worry, I am not a liar," Rosan assured him, already planning on how he would eventually kill the man despite what he just said.

Wording was important. No matter what happened, Luffy would help and that meant Rosan would be dragged into it. Kuro's funeral was already signed off by the redhead, he just didn't know it yet and he wouldn't know it until he was dying.

He didn't lie. Rosan really wasn't going to touch him until he was dragged into the situation. Kuro just didn't know that the redhead was going to work in a way to get himself actively drawn into it.

"You scare me, Father," Ram said in awe. This glasses wearing dumbass had no idea what her dad had in store for him!

"If that's all, I believe you have a meeting with someone?" Rosan told him. His little bird had been following the strange man for a while now, after it noticed a ship in the distance, and he was sure that the hippie was waiting for Kuro to approach him.

It was another pirate in his crew after all. Jango, the captain of the Black Cat pirates after Kuro "died".

Kuro stamped down his shock at the redhead even knowing that and hastily left the scene with a scoff. He couldn't be too sure if the man was being serious but he had no choice but to believe he really wouldn't interfere.

Besides, he was a pirate. He had no reason to help any of the people on this island and that gave the former captain some confidence.

At the end of the day, pirates only cared about themselves and no matter how cocky he was, a no name like that redhead, who didn't even have any weapons on his person, would serve no problems to his plans.

Rosan watched him go with a tilted head. Now, he needed to go meet up with his crew before they got too suspicious.

It would be no good if they knew what he were up to. They were much too nice for that and would never think twice about manipulating the sickly and depressed girl.

How lucky that they had him to do the dirty work. He didn't care at all about her status, just what she could offer to them all and they would be leaving this island with a new ship.

"Oh! Rosan, where have you been? We ran into the weirdest hypnotist today," Nami greeted the redhead approaching them.

"You're greeting me? Did the weirdo manage to hypnotize you into being a nice person? Maybe now you won't be mistaken for an Ogress," Rosan replied, not answering her question and deftly ducking under the punch aimed his way.

"I CAN'T JUST BE A FRIENDLY PERSON?! YOU'RE SERIOUSLY THE WORST!" She roared in fury, causing Zoro to laugh at her.

Ugh, stupid redhead and his stupid rudeness. Why did he have to harass her so much?!

A tiny little blue jay fluttered into view and landed on Rosan's outstretched hand, nuzzling his cheek after swiftly hopping up his arm. "Where's Luffy?" The redhead asked, petting it gently on its head and getting a trill of delight out of it.

Nami cooed at the adorable sight and Rosan allowed the bird to fly over to her side, much to her delight. The navigator quickly forgot her anger with the redhead and began gently patting the bird on its head, getting delighted noises out of the avian and rubbing its cheek on the orange haired girl's own in return.

"With that long nose," Zoro replied. Where did Rosan get all these birds from? He gave one to that small girl, Rika, back at Shell Town and now he just had another one? Was he an animal tamer? He wouldn't really ever apply that to the redhead but he was just full of surprises.

Must have had something to do with his Devil Fruit… He did mention that they weren't real.

"You mean that long nose right there?" Rosan pointed and the other 5 (the children were still there), glanced to see a serious Usopp running down the road with a grave expression on his face.

They tried to greet Usopp, but he completely ignored them and kept running down the road like he had a mission to complete.

"Is he still mad about his dad being insulted?" Nami asked in confusion.

"Who knows?" Zoro shrugged.

"No, that look was different!" Carrot exclaimed.

"Yeah! Something must have happened!" Pepper nodded in agreement.

"Why did he look so desperate?" Onion wondered.

Zoro's eyes turned sharp at their words and Rosan hummed.

"How do we get to the shore?" The green haired man asked the kids seriously.

"I'll be going ahead," the redhead told them and their eyes bugged, as he vanished from their sight.

"W-WHAT WAS THAT?" The children screamed in disbelief, looking like they had just seen a ghost.

Nami watched with equally wide eyes. She did not know Rosan could do that. To be fair, she wasn't sure what he could actually do! He rarely showed more than the bare minimum so something like this, understandably left her jaw on the floor and she struggled to pick it back up.

"C'mon," Zoro urged, looking completely unfazed. "The shore, take us there," he demanded.

The navigator looked at his unbothered expression. Did he already know Rosan could do that?! How in the dark was she?!

She sighed in resignation.

Well, he did say they should get to know each other better.

"Luffy's sleeping position is always a sight to see," Rosan hummed at the sight of his brother.

"How can he just fall asleep anywhere? It's really quite impressive," Mod praised the rubber boy.

If Rosan had to guess, his brother fell off the top of the cliff and Usopp hadn't bothered to check if he was alive or not. It was logical, anyone who fell from such a height would surely die...

Rosan kicked Luffy's sleeping body and jolted him awake.

...Anyone that wasn't his captain of course. Honestly, the Gomu Gomu no mi was the perfect fruit for his little brother. He'd probably die with even a Logia somehow just because of how clumsy and carefree he was.

"Mornin!" Luffy exclaimed with a yawn, grabbing his brother's outstretched hand and easily pulling himself up like they had done this many times.

They did. Rosan trained Luffy and Ace rather harshly and there were times when his brothers couldn't even move on their own, resorting to his help, and sometimes Maro's, help.

"Did you enjoy your nap?" Rosan asked, looking up at hearing the five he had left behind talk on the cliff. The redhead had Ram transform into a gun and shot a rock to alert them of their location, satisfied when the chatter stopped and movement picked up again.

"The others should be here soon, then you can tell us why you were sleeping down here and why Usopp was in such a hurry."

Luffy nodded and they waited for the others to show up.

"Luffy! What are you doing down here?" Zoro called out and the rubber boy waved cheerfully.

"That's the thing! I thought I was on the cliff up there but I was sleeping down here! Oh but you wouldn't believe it!"

Luffy explained that Klahadore was actually a pirate and he was planning on assassinating Kaya so that he could inherit her money and let him live in peace in her mansion, all alone.

They all listened in shock but Rosan was slightly confused.

"Why did he just let Usopp run off like that?" The redhead asked aloud. He was missing something here… If the long nose told the villagers about his plans, that would make the redhead's own plans much easier. He wouldn't have to play a stronger hand and could let things unfold more naturally.

But Kuro was a smart man (he should be at least), he wouldn't let Usopp escape like that. Not unless he was assured that the long nosed boy was harmless to his plans like how Rosan claimed he himself was.

"I don't know but he's pretty stupid for that!" Nami shrugged. "Now they can all escape before the pirates come!"

Rosan wasn't satisfied with that. There was a key detail he was missing and he refused to continue until finding it out.

He ordered the bug that was tracking Usopp to transmit its information to him and when he received it, the 24 year old let out a sigh.

"You three," Rosan called to the children getting ready to flee. "Does Usopp lie often to the villagers? To the point where they'd attack him?"

The kids froze as they heard that and they nodded hesitantly. "Y-Yeah! Almost every day the captain screams about how pirates are attacking and the villagers chase him for it."

"Right, thank you. You can go now."

The children were too young to catch on and Luffy was too dumb, but Zoro and Nami picked up on it immediately.

As the children vanished, Nami said, "If what they just said is true, the villagers aren't going to believe him… That's why Kuro didn't care that he escaped…"

She was right. Usopp had already tried to inform the villagers and they were clearly fed up with his antics. Then, he tried to tell Kaya and even she didn't believe him, harshly rebuffing him in the process. Karma was catching up to the boy and he was reaping its punishment with gusto.

That put a minor dent in his plans. That meant he'd still need to find a way to have the villagers know about Kuro…

Actually, the villagers didn't need to know. It would actually be better if they were attacked and some died. The sick girl was the only one that really needed to survive but perhaps leaving some villagers alive to vouch for the pirate crew would be good...

No, he'd just tell Kaya herself. The villagers were an unnecessary part to this entire thing and he could discard them. As long as he played bodyguard for the girl, she'd have no choice but to repay them.

She didn't believe Usopp at all but Rosan always did have a way with words and he'd begin to sew doubt into her. Coupled with how the long nosed boy acted, she'd begin to slowly realize that he was telling the truth.

Seems he had work to do. And here he thought it was all just gonna pan out without him interfering.

This was why he didn't lie. Too much trouble.

Usopp had not been expecting to see Luffy up and standing with zero apparent issues but here he was and the liar's jaw was safely on the floor at the surprising sight.

He also wasn't sure how he was going to deal with the issue of the Black Cat pirates. No one believed him except for the group currently looking at him and as he looked at Onion, Pepper and Carrot asking him how to deal with actual pirates…

It was obvious that he wasn't going to get them involved. They were just kids and little kids like them, would stand no chance against real pirates. Hell, Usopp himself stood no chance against pirates!

So he lied to them. He told them that he was lying about the butler's identity because he pissed him off with all the things said about Yassop.

"I think less of you now."

"I never thought you'd lie to hurt someone else!"

"We really respected you too!"

Their words hurt him more than he'd like to admit but if that's what he had to do to make sure they were uninvolved, then he would do it.

No one believed him now. Everyone thought he was no good, he had lost his friends and pirates were about to ravage the town that he loved, killing who knows how much in the process…

Usopp held back the tears forming in his eyes.

This sucked.

They were currently back out on shore, glancing at the ocean, as Nami wrapped up Long Nose's bleeding arm (he had been shot by one of Kaya's butlers).

"Why did you tell them that?" Luffy asked curiously, referring to the lie he had told the children.

"Because I'm a liar," Usopp explained. "They were never going to believe me from the start. I was being too optimistic."

"Even so, the truth is the truth," Zoro frowned. If they didn't believe him, they would just have to deal with the consequences of not trusting his word.

"Those pirates are really going to come, aren't they?" Nami asked.

Usopp nodded in affirmation. "Yeah, they definitely are. Everyone thinks I'm lying though…"

They thought tomorrow would be a normal, peaceful day but the pirates would show up, kill them and Kuro would win…

He couldn't let that happen. That's why…

"I'm gonna stop them tomorrow at the beach! That way, this can stay a lie. Even if I'm shot in the arm or beat with brooms… this is still my village and I love this village!"

Rosan tilted his head and his expression was unreadable at the words of the liar.

It was admirable of him but that wouldn't do. This remaining secret, would ruin his plan so he'd ensure that at the very least, Kaya-san figured out about it. This was the only outcome that benefited his crew in some way.

He just needed Luffy to…

"You're one hell of a nice guy for pushing your henchman away and going into battle alone." Zoro smirked at the words of the liar.

"Just so you know, I have dibs on all the pirates treasure!" Nami said greedily before shooting Rosan a warning glance when he looked over at her. He put his hands up in surrender and closed his mouth.

"Alright, we'll help you out!" Luffy decided with a scowl.

There. Now Rosan could act.

He was a man of his word after all.

"What can you guys do?" Usopp asked the four pirates.

"Slice," Zoro said.

"Stretch," Luffy said.

"Steal," Nami said.

"Scout," Rosan said.

Nodding at their synergy, the liar decided to join them. "I can stealth!" Usopp declared.

"YOU'RE GONNA FIGHT!" They roared.

"I have something I want to do," Rosan told the planning group. He basically understood what their plan was so he didn't need to be here anymore.

Luffy nodded and waved him off.

"You don't plan on participating this time either?" Nami asked curiously. She didn't realize before, but Rosan seemed to operate on his own time. He didn't really team up with them or anything like that, content to do things alone and out of sight. Half the time, she wasn't sure what he was doing but neither Luffy or Zoro seemed to care.

Rosan hummed at that. "It depends," he replied truthfully. "I'll let Luffy deal with Kuro and maybe I'll help out with the fodder. If there's someone you can't deal with, perhaps I'll get rid of them... or I'll just let you die. It really depends on my mood."

"You talk like you're strong," Usopp shuddered. Let them die? W-Wasn't that a bit messed up?!

Rosan shrugged.

"I've been fighting pirates since I was four years old, I know a thing or two," the redhead replied.

Zoro and Nami stared at him with wide eyes at the revelation. Fighting since he was four?! Seriously? Didn't he also mention sailing the seas at 14...? Surely he wasn't... surely he hadn't been sailing the seas as early as four years old, right?

The redhead didn't reveal much about himself but if he was sailing since he was four... there might have been a very good (or terrible) reason for that.

Usopp meanwhile, was just glad that there was someone else who told lies like him. If someone as scary looking as this guy lied like that, it made him feel more at ease.

"F-Four?!" Nami gasped.

"Yeah, it's how I got my ship," was all he said, walking off. "Don't wait on me. I don't know how long I'll be out."

The redhead kept walking at a leisurely pace until he vanished from their sights.

"He's weird," Usopp told them. The cool redhead didn't have much input and he didn't seem to display anything obvious besides a general apathy to everything.

"You get used to him…" Nami sighed. "Luffy, how did you even manage to meet a guy like that?"

"Rosan's my brother!" Luffy said bluntly, smiling good naturedly.

There was a pregnant pause.

"W-WHAT?!" Nami's eyes bugged at the revelation. "He's your BROTHER?!"

"Yeah," Luffy replied, picking his ear with a finger due to the loud volume of Nami.

Why did they never mention this?! The two looked nothing alike! They were polar opposites?! Nami had so much questions and she just knew Rosan would make her work for them.

She thought about asking Luffy instead but one look at the idiot, made her realize he'd give her a headache in another way.

Zoro laughed at her shock. "If it makes you feel better, they just don't really talk about it. Luffy is Luffy and Rosan is Rosan. It was also a surprise for me when I found out."

She hated how much sense that sentence made. Did that mean they were infecting her with their insanity?

"Infecting? As if you weren't already poisoned long ago," Rosan's empty voice rang through her head.

Nami moaned in misery at the fact that she was automatically slotting him into their conversations when he wasn't even there!

She should have never agreed to join them. Damn it all.

Rosan quietly made his way to his destination, making sure to stay out of sight of any few people that were lingering outside.

"You really are quite scary sometimes, Rosan," Mod's warm voice came out in amusement.

"I like it!" Ram cackled.

The redhead finally made it to where he was supposed to be and immediately leapt over the fence. He didn't make a single noise as he landed on the grassy terrain and walked straight up to a random part of the mansion.

"Manipulation is not beneath me and my dear little brother needs a new ship. This seems like a rather easy way to get one without me just buying it so I'll do all the dirty work."

He was just doing this to see if it were interesting enough for him. Perhaps manipulating people would spark something with his emotions? He doubted it but it never hurt to try considering the dark joy he felt at manipulating all the inhabitants of Daybreak.

If he ruined a couple of lives along the way, well that didn't really matter to him. He ruined more than enough lives and he never cared even with his emotions.

As long as it wasn't his family, he couldn't care less.

"Modify," he muttered, walking through the newly created hole in the wall he forcefully made. Rosan shut it behind him and continued to walk until his nose picked up a scent.

Blood.

"Seems he's made his move…" Rosan mused, walking towards where the scent got stronger. He entered a room and looked to see that it had been destroyed with long slash marks.

Lying on the floor was an unconscious butler, with the appearance of a lamb, bleeding. The redhead bent down and checked his pulse, only to see it pulsing rather strongly.

"He didn't even kill him? Kuro surely is an arrogant man. First he let Usopp escape and now he lets this man live? Perhaps we overestimated him."

Rosan nodded in agreement. He picked up the bloodied butler and began walking towards the medical room. The redhead had scouted this place out already while waiting for Kuro so it didn't take him long to find it.

He found some gauze and gingerly wrapped them around the man's injury before waking him up.

"Hopefully he knows who attacked him."

"And if he doesn't?"

"I'm going to turn his injury fatal, Overhaul him and have him frame Kuro in front of Kaya before he succumbs to his wounds. She won't doubt a dying person's words."

"That's psychotic, Father," Ram grinned at his ruthless statement.

"I blame you, Ram. You always spout the most unhinged things and have Rosan practice such brutal moves in battle," Mod teased with a shake of her head. Her purple hair bobbed in time with her movements and she desperately tried to hold back her laughter.

The weapon spluttered at Mod's words and was about to defend herself, until she saw the teasing grin on her face.

"Father, I can't wait until we double team Auntie."

"Y-You two are still planning on doing that?!" Mod gaped at their audacity, red orbs widening in disbelief. "This is no way to treat the woman who raised you both! I can't believe you'd gang up on me!"

"I hope you're still not as ticklish," Rosan hummed.

"She's TICKLISH?!" Ram asked in shock, before she shot the woman a truly unhinged grin.

"Why would you tell her that?! Ram, I swear if you tickle me, you'll regret it."

"Oh Auntie, when has that ever stopped me?!"

Rosan heard a scuffle ensue that somehow ended in Ram whining in defeat and Mod-chan not letting out a single laugh.

He snorted quietly.

Those two were so childish.

"I never want to hear that come out of your mouth again," Mod said in a deadpan.

"I didn't say it out loud."

"I don't care."

"...Noted."

The redhead began shaking the bandaged butler awake and was satisfied to see him groggily waking up.

"W-where…?" The injured man asked.

"Are you alright?" Rosan asked gently, narrowing his eyes slightly and pursing his lips to give off a worried expression. "I have a sensitive nose and the stench of blood was overwhelming so I came to check in case something was wrong. Thank goodness I did, you were unconscious on the floor bleeding out. Who did this to you?"

The man's gaze slowly shifted into focus as Rosan spoke until his eyes widened. He tried to sit up but let out an agonized gasp, making the redhead gently lie him back down.

"T-Thank you so much! You saved my life!" The man groaned thankfully. "I-It was our butler, Klahadore! H-He really is a pirate and Miss Kaya is in grave danger!"

"Shh, don't overexert yourself," Rosan muttered gently. Good, so he did know.

That made things easier. Now he just needed to finish this up and let his crew handle the rest.

"I can keep you and Kaya-san safe. I just need you to explain the situation to her. I'd do it but you are much more trustworthy then I am," the redhead informed him.

Merry nodded rapidly at the man who saved his life. "S-She should be sleeping in her room! Do be gentle when you wake her up, she wasn't feeling too well and went to sleep early."

The butler trusted this man because if he wanted to kill Kaya, he wouldn't have bothered to heal his injuries and would have just done that.

"I'll bring her to you, then I can escort you two out of here," he assured, standing up and making his way out of the room.

"I can't imagine why someone so arrogant was given such an epithet. Perhaps his past success inflated his ego."

"I even told him beforehand that I had completely figured his plan out in hopes that he would alter it slightly. How disappointing. Perhaps he just didn't have any clue how to change it this deep in."

He entered Kaya's room and glanced blankly at the sleeping girl. He wasted no time and gently tapped the girl until she stirred.

"Kaya-san, we need to talk," Rosan whispered to the sickly blonde. Her eyes snapped open at the unfamiliar voice and she shot up, only to let out a fitful of coughs.

"Don't overexert yourself," he advised, staring into her fearful eyes with a neutral expression.

"I-It's you! You're the one who broke in last time…" Kaya said, looking for the nearest thing to grab before choosing a pillow and holding it in front of her.

Ram snorted.

"Do you remember why I broke in? You can relax, I'm not here to attack you," The redhead replied.

Kaya looked at him in confusion before wracking her hazy memories. "I… You came here to talk to Klahadore, right?" She said hesitantly and he nodded.

"I'm sure you were curious about what we talked about, so I'll tell you."

He was right, she was curious but that didn't change the fact that this redhead broke into their home again.

"J-Just who do you think you are —"

"Klahadore is Captain Kuro," Rosan interrupted bluntly, heterochromatic gaze piercing her. He saw her flinch back in surprise and decided not to give her a chance to doubt him. "You seem like a smart girl. If you take that information and replay our conversation with the new knowledge, you will see the truth without me having to explain it."

Kaya felt dizzy hearing Rosan utter the exact same words Usopp did just earlier today. "Why… Why are all of you telling me such lies? What did Klahadore ever do to you to deserve such treatment?"

"Nothing, that's why I'm not lying," Rosan said coldly, shutting her up and causing the sickly girl to shudder. "You think I'd break into your home just to tell you a lie about your measly butler? What purpose do I have doing that? Replay the conversation in your head. Now."

Kaya began shaking at his demand and did just that.

Rosan patiently waited for the realization to dawn on her features and he was satisfied that it was sooner rather than later.

"Y-You asked him about his name on purpose… t-then you almost called him Kuro but he interrupted you b-because he didn't want me to hear it. That's why you said you don't care if I hear it but he did…"

Seems she actually was smart. "I knew you could do it," Rosan praised quietly. "Yes, that's right. I wanted to question him on his real identity but I wasn't sure what exactly he was planning so I left you out of it."

The girl began tearing up as the reality of the situation made itself known to her.

"If you still don't believe me, I can show you proof," the 24 year old told her. "Can you move? Do you need me to carry you?"

Despite her tears, she shook her head stubbornly and stood up on her own. "L-Lead the way," she stammered slightly and Rosan inclined his head, somewhat impressed by the brave front she was putting up.

"Okay."

Kaya let out a loud gasp as they made it to the room Merry was in. "Merry! Are you alright?! W-What happened to you?! Was it this man right here?!"

She rounded on him with a glare, only to flinch at the icy gaze staring a hole into her. He opted not to say anything and she reluctantly focused on her butler again.

"Miss Kaya! Thank goodness you're alright," he sighed in relief. "T-Thank you…"

"Rosan," the redhead introduced himself softly. "Can you tell Kaya-san what happened? I think it's important we find her a safe location in case Kuro comes back."

"You're absolutely right! Miss Kaya, I couldn't believe it but Klahadore was actually a pirate and he attacked me! If not for this gentleman right here, who managed to smell the blood, I could have died!"

"I win."

"Everything really fell into place so easily."

It was disappointingly easy, to be honest. Then again, Rosan wasn't sure why he ever expected to be impressed by the East Blue.

"S-So it really is true…" Kaya tapered off and the despair on her face was clear as day.

"W-What are we going to do? Shouldn't we just give Klahadore what he wants? We don't stand a chance against the pirates and it's too late to do anything about it!"

Merry was nodding in agreement. Maybe it was possible to bargain with him and he'd decide to spare them? He was an incredibly dangerous pirate and they would die trying to resist. It was best to just give him what he wanted.

Rosan calmly interrupted their panicking and said, "That won't be necessary. My crew, along with Usopp, will handle it. You just need to not be here for when Kuro comes back and that's where I come in."

Kaya flinched at the mention of Usopp and it finally hit her that he had been telling the truth this whole time, if the tears flowing meant anything.

"Merry-san, will you be coming with us?" Rosan asked calmly and the butler shook his head.

"I'd rather you take Kaya. I will further tend to my wounds and head into the village before Kuro arrives."

What a good butler.

Rosan nodded in affirmation and glanced at the teary eyed blonde. "You can apologize to Usopp after this so stop crying so much. You made a mistake. That's fine. Everyone makes mistakes. Just don't make the same one again."

She nodded shakily and wiped her eyes at his words. "R-Right."

Rosan sighed. Children.

"Get on my back. We're going fairly far and you won't be able to walk the distance in your condition," the redhead ordered, not giving her a chance to say no.

She still tried to protest but the scout just hoisted her up, causing the girl to squeal, and planted her on his back. Kaya instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, for fear of falling and the redhead kept her legs up.

The sickly girl flushed at the physical contact, noting that she was only in her dress and that his strong arms were on her bare legs and the wealthy girl glared embarrassingly at the back of the handsome man's red bun.

"We'll see you tomorrow, Merry-san. You don't need to tell the villagers about this, Usopp would prefer it be kept a secret. We'll handle the rest," Rosan assured.

"T-Thank you again, Rosan-san!" Merry bowed deeply at the man who saved them both. "We are in your debt."

"Of course you are."

Rosan nodded and trotted off with the lady of the house until they made it outside.

"We're going to my ship."

"I thought you guys needed a ship…?" Kaya muttered, trying to ignore the warmness that he exuded or the ease at which he carried her o-or his very noticeable muscles that she could feel while this close... that shifted with the slightest movement...

S-She wasn't used to being touched by the opposite gender, okay?!

"We do. Mine is irreversibly damaged due to an attack. It hasn't shown sign of sinking yet but it's only a matter of time and I don't want my allies to die."

She nodded at his explanation and Rosan hummed.

"I need to meet up with my crew soon so I'm going to run fast. I hope you're fine with that, Kaya-san."

"Oh… okay!" She agreed and the squeal of terror she let out, made Ram cackle.

The ground dented beneath them as the redhead took off from the mansion at tremendous speeds. Kaya had no clue he was going to run this fast but she was holding on for dear life, fear on her face at going faster than she ever did.

Rosan blurred through the village, making sure no one saw him and it took them no time at all to reach the White Rose.

"P-please give me a better warning next time!" Kaya requested with a strained voice. The panting girl had a death grip on Rosan at the moment that the redhead barely registered.

"I thought my warning was good enough… I'll consider it," he replied, boarding his ship and heading to his room.

Despite being wealthy, the blonde had never seen a ship like this before and she glanced around in awe at it.

"You can sleep in here," Rosan told her, placing her on his bed. "You're still exhausted from the events of today so you can get some rest."

The redhead didn't give her the chance to respond and he quickly left the room, quietly shutting the door behind him and vanishing from her sight.

Kaya watched him go with a perplexed expression. She couldn't tell what he was thinking at all! He was such an oddity and it was driving her insane. What type of pirate did the things that he did? What was his plan...?

Her eye's became heavy as the comfort of the bed lulled her to sleep and though she tried to resist it, she eventually went into dreamland.

Rosan appeared at the slope where his crew was located, with a calculating gaze.

"Seems you guys have already prepared everything," he greeted, making them jump in surprise.

"Yo," Zoro waved lazily.

"Rosan!" Luffy beamed.

"You were gone pretty long," Usopp mused.

"Yeah we did prepare everything, no thanks to you!" Nami scowled.

"Oh, did you miss me?" Rosan replied, raising a brow. "I'm sorry for disappearing for so long, Princess Nami. How can I ever make it up to you?"

Her vein throbbed in annoyance before a smile made its way on her face. "I didn't know you and Luffy were brothers," she said. "You can tell me some information about that!"

"...That was sarcasm." The idiot went unsaid but they all heard it.

"I KNOW IT WAS SARCASM! JUST TELL ME ABOUT IT, YOU DICK!"

"We're not blood related," Rosan said, interrupting her raging. "I met Luffy when I was 14 and he forced me to be his friend despite everyone warning him otherwise… That also somehow meant that I was apart of his crew and we became brothers over the 10 years together."

Luffy nodded cheerfully at the explanation. "Yep!" He chirped.

"So that's how it is," Nami muttered with a sweatdrop. It… made sense. Luffy hadn't given her much of a choice either.

To be stuck with this guy for 10 years... the navigator suddenly pitied Rosan while thinking he deserved it at the same time for being so insufferable.

"The pirates should be arriving soon," Zoro said, glancing out at the sea.

"Shouldn't we have seen them by now?" Luffy moaned in boredom. "Where are they?"

"Are they even coming?" Nami asked in confusion.

"They definitely are," Usopp nodded.

The redhead, who was lying on the floor with his eyes closed, simply hummed.

They all looked at Rosan in confusion. Did he know something that they didn't? Why was he humming so suspiciously?

He got up from his resting position to regard them and with the most infuriatingly neutral expression ever, he said, "My bird saw their ship a while ago and it was at the other shore, not this one."

The look of horror on their face at the realization, made Ram choke on her on spit.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SOMETHING EARLIER?!" Usopp gaped in disbelief. They had been here for like 20 minutes before he deigned to open his mouth! What was wrong with him?!

"I figured that you guys were just being extra prepared, but I guess it's my fault that the long nose who has lived here for how many years, doesn't know things like this," Rosan shrugged in a "what can you do" motion.

What? He had done his part and now it was time for them to do theirs. They couldn't expect him to do everything now and telling them about things in advance, was no fun.

"OH NO! WHAT ABOUT OUR TREASURE?!" Nami screeched in utter horror.

"I already moved the ship out of sight."

Kaya was sleeping on it after all and it would be counterproductive to put her closer to the pirates.

"We should hurry, they will probably reach the village if we keep talking here," Rosan advised, not that he cared. Luffy had already ran off after getting some instructions and Usopp was hot on his heel.

"You two, what are you doing?! Let's go!" Zoro barked, already running off.

The redhead meanwhile, was glancing at the orange haired girl who refused to let him go. "T-Thank you for saving my treasure," she sobbed ridiculously, holding him like they were the best of friends because of one action.

"There is something deeply wrong with you, Nami," Rosan muttered to the leech attached to him.

"Where are Luffy and Zoro?" Rosan asked the terrified Usopp, he had hoisted Nami up, threw her over his shoulder (much to her fury) and dragged her here at a rather leisurely pace so they were surprised to see that only the liar was fending off the pirates.

The redhead grunted as Usopp jumped on him with tears of relief. "Thank goodness you're here! I don't know where they are, I was the first one here!"

So they both got lost.

Great.

Fed up with their antics, the redhead tossed the two away and watched them collapse on top of each other with twin "Oofs!"

"Jerk," they muttered

Rosan sighed. "I'll deal with these pirates until they show up. I'm sure you guys don't have a problem with that."

"Nope!" They chirped in relief, injustice forgotten in their minds.

Did he have to do everything here?

How bothersome.

"You need to stretch your old bones anyways," Mod grinned. "Keep the blood active!"

"...Mod-chan, you never did tell me how old you are. Would you mind reminding me?"

"I will hurt you."

"I love you too."

"Go get em, Rosan!" Nami cheered him on.

Cowards.

He looked at the gathering of pirates and tilted his head before humming. "I guess I can show you a little something new."

Ram transformed into a set of combat gloves, as the pirates roared a challenge and he decided to meet them halfway.

The redhead vanished, only to appear in front of a random pirate and he punched him in the throat. The gagging man couldn't react in time, to stop Rosan from effortlessly lifting him up and crashing his skull into one of the walls repeatedly, causing a spurt of blood to begin pouring.

But Rosan wasn't done.

He took his limp body, tensed and, in an impressive display of strength, threw the unconscious man far into the ocean until his body vanished with an inaudible splash.

Everyone watched in awed terror as the broken body soared through the air until it disappeared and looked at the relaxed monster who had done it.

"I'll give you guys a couple more seconds to reconsider your decision," Rosan offered the shocked pirates. "I usually fight to kill."

Their response was to let out battle cries and rush him.

He contemplated rolling his eyes at their foolish actions. Of course they ignored him. The fodder always ignored him. Then people wanted to call him merciless when he showed them why fighting him was a bad idea.

The scout of the Straw Hats sidestepped a wild swing and chopped the outstretched arm of his offender, effortlessly breaking it, before grabbing the appendage and body slamming the screaming man over and over again until he went silent.

Rosan discarded the body and idly kicked another person in the stomach. Their body caved under the strength of his blow and the redhead launched him upwards with a simple lift of his leg.

Before he could get too high, Rosan reached up and grabbed the back of his shirt, crashing the flailing pirate into the unforgiving ground and crushing his bones with a casual stomp that engraved him in dust and blood. The man tried to scream but all that came out, was a wet rasp that only prompted the redhead to stomp him again.

He did not make another sound.

Without even looking behind him, Rosan outstretched his right hand and a red beam pierced the heart of the pirate sneaking up on him, killing him on the spot and getting a gasp of horror out of his allies.

He aimed his left hand at a larger group and a much larger beam crashed into them after a slight delay, sending the unfortunate group soaring in a smoky husk.

He had been practicing more with combining Modification and Germa's technology so he could better mold the strange energy into his image. Good to know that it was paying off.

Nami and Usopp looked at the redhead with blatant terror on their face, utterly shaken by the brutal display from the redhead.

"He's a monster too," the orange haired woman whispered in disbelief. Was this why he was so disinterested in fighting anyone?! S-She was kinda glad that he wasn't a battle junkie because there was no way her stomach would be able to constantly handle seeing this. It couldn't even handle it now and both her and Usopp glanced away, turning green and — oh ew, the liar was definitely throwing up.

The redhead was mowing through their overwhelming numbers with utter ease, toying with them the whole while with the most bored expression on his face ever (it was the same face he always had on... did he even have a different expression?). Eventually, it seemed like he got bored and just started using one poor pirate as a living weapon, repeatedly slamming the unconscious body into any unlucky soul in his path and breaking more than one bone in the process.

"Remind me never to piss him off," A nauseated Usopp said.

"I'm way ahead of you," Nami agreed, popping an eye open and immediately shutting it again.

"Oh! You guys got Rosan to fight! I was worried I didn't make it in time!" Luffy exclaimed, sweating from running all over the town.

Zoro was much the same and he had an impressed expression on his face at the destruction Rosan was casually causing.

Ram could even shoot out beams of energy?! He wanted to test his blades against the mysterious weapon one day. He was interested in seeing the full scope of just what she was capable of.

"Where were you two?!" Nami asked in disbelief.

"You ran ahead of me?!" Usopp accused.

"I got lost," they said in unison and Rosan tossed his temporary weapon to the side to regard the new appearances.

"We are never trusting Zoro with anything involving directions," the redhead informed them.

The swordsman spluttered at that blunt statement. "W-what about Luffy?" Zoro asked in disbelief.

"That's a stupid question. I never trusted him in the first place," Rosan replied calmly, stomping on the hand of a fallen pirate. "I didn't tell you to twitch, minion. Do that again and I'm ripping your arm off and feeding it to you."

The pirate beneath him whimpered and wisely went limp.

"Scary…" Usopp and Nami whispered.

Kuro was annoyed.

No, scratch that. Kuro was absolutely livid.

His pirates being late was the least of his worry because there was no sickly girl in this estate.

Both Merry and Kaya were nowhere to be seen. How the lamb butler had managed to survive his attack? Kuro didn't know but evidently he should have checked his injuries and ended his miserable existence because the butler clearly managed to convince her to get out of there.

It didn't make sense. Even if he didn't die, he should have been unconscious for quite a while. His wounds should have kept him out of commission until the pirates raided and did finish the job off. That's why he didn't bother checking.

But he was somehow healthy enough to flee? How was that possibl —

Kuro felt his rage reach levels he didn't think were possible.

Why?

Because of that fucking interfering, smug, pirate redhead. That was the only explanation. The redhead chose to interfere with his plans, despite saying he wasn't going to and managed to warn both Merry and Kaya.

He lied.

"You're just a filthy pirate, I wouldn't put anything past you."

The veins on his head became visible for all to see but luckily there was no one watching him.

He stood up and made his way to the shore.

Kuro would find and slaughter that redhead, plan be damned.

"C-Captain! Please! W-We need help!" The pirates begged in fear. The ones who had not yet been attended to by Rosan, were slowly inching away from the demon in human flash who was mowing through them.

"I-It's just one person!" Jango said, despite the slight fear he felt at watching him dismantle his men. Nodding to himself, he pulled out his chakram in hopes of turning the tides. "Fine, we've wasted too much time anyways and the boss will be most displeased... Look at this ring closely. On "one, two, Jango," you guys'll grow stronger and all your wounds will heal."

"What's he doing?" Luffy asked in curiosity, watching the hippies actions intently.

"Hypnosis. He's trying to convince them that they're stronger. How ridiculous!" Nami explained with an annoyed look. There's no way that would work! Hypnosis was just a party trick that worked on children and idiots!

"Hypnosis? Does it really work?" Rosan hummed. That sounded rather interesting... if he was using it on his allies, he didn't see the harm in testing it.

"Only one way to find out!" Ram beamed.

"We shouldn't be allowing ourselves to get hit with an enemy attack! It could have some unforeseen drawbacks that could affect— and you guys aren't even listening to me," Mod sighed tiredly. They were honestly ridiculous but at least it wasn't a physical attack. She taught Rosan better then to allow himself to get hit with an unknown attack but for this one, they at least knew had an idea on what it would do.

The Devil Fruit would never admit that she was a little curious too. Ram would use that as fuel if she did.

The wounded pirates all stared at the rings and unbeknownst to them, Rosan and Luffy were too.

"One, two, Jango!" The hypnotist said.

Almost immediately, the pirates surged back to life with a renewed strength. They roared at the power-up and the Straw Hats watched in disbelief, as one of them punched the side of a cliff, causing part of it to collapse.

"No way," Nami gaped. "They really did get hypnotized and it actually worked?!"

"He managed to gouge out the cliff? What insane power!" Zoro muttered in surprise.

"With that many people getting power-ups… How will we be able to stop them?" Usopp asked nervously.

The pirates roared like wild animals and began climbing up the cliff, rapidly approaching the still Rosan.

"W-Why's Rosan just standing there?" Nami asked in confusion. The redhead had not moved even once and it was beginning to worry her. Was he out of energy? Was that the real reason why he didn't fight often? Did he have a low amount of stamina...?

"L-Luffy, Zoro, quick! Go help him!"

"Right! C'mon, Luffy," Zoro urged but he paused as he noticed that Luffy wasn't moving either.

Then they heard it.

A low, deep laughter rang through the air and they froze at the source.

"Pft Kahahahaha!" Rosan laughed maliciously, grinning madly at the approaching pirates with two positively glowing orbs in his eyes. "Well shit, who woulda thought! A backwater island, a group of shitty pirates and this is where I see the first display of my emotions?! It's so funny I can't help but laugh!"

His Devil Fruit let out an audible noise of surprise, completely floored by this display and Rosan's grin widened even further at her obvious torrent of emotions.

"R-Rosan!? I-Is that really you?" Mod gasped, voice cracking in sheer disbelief at the sight of Rosan temporarily displaying his emotions. Tears welled up in her eyes at catching a glimpse of him with his feelings out in full force, caught horribly off guard by the entire thing. She could not even say anything else, unable to properly catch her thoughts.

"Of course it is! You think someone else could even come close to looking as hot as me?!" He retorted with a cocky grin, getting an awed look out of the Devil Fruit.

Looking at his wide, psychotic grin, listening to his excited, unhinged, voice and glancing into his heterochromatic, shining, gaze floored the Devil Fruit who had not been expecting this whatsoever.

It was her little boy. It was a glimpse of her precious little psycho who craved violence like no other. The one who at only the tender age of four, discovered the joy of being an adrenaline junkie. Her little agent of chaos that managed to turn even the simplest of missions into something so much more wild...

She wanted — needed this to be permanent. Mod would do anything to get him back without the need of hypnotism.

"W-What a terrifying laugh! Y-You laugh just like me and Auntie! I love it!" Ram had never been seen with a bigger grin, tears glistening in her eyes at the sheer excitement she was currently feeling. She knew it wasn't permanent but her Father was showing emotion outside of the memories she saw! It was so surreal to witness and she realized that she was no one else but his daughter.

I-If he was like this permanently, would he finally be able to call her his daughter?

"Aww is my cute little weapon about to cry?" Rosan mocked, eyeing the remaining pirates with wild eyes. Those glowing red and purple orbs were rapidly shifting between each one like a predator who couldn't decide which meal to start with.

"I-I'm not crying! I'm just excited to see you like this!"

"I-I agree! It's been 12 years since your emotions showed so strongly a-and I have to admit, I'm overwhelmed," Mod admitted happily, flushing with joy at the reminder of how infectious Rosan's emotions were.

"Best to soak it all in then! We might not see this for a loooong time!" Rosan cackled, eagerly cracking his knuckles in preparation for what he was about to do to these unfortunate souls.

Ram nodded eagerly, propping herself up and doing her best to mimic a statue.

"W-wha!" Nami gaped in fear at the menacingly unhinged laughter. She never heard that noise come out of Rosan's mouth before. She had never even seen him smile and you were telling her he could laugh like that?!

"Did he get hypnotized too?!" Zoro gaped in disbelief. There was no way Rosan would have gotten caught off guard by that, especially after hearing about it from Nami. He had to have done it willingly then.

Was he testing to see if it actually worked?! He didn't seem like the curious type but maybe he was!

"RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Luffy roared in fury, clearly hypnotized himself.

"DON'T TELL ME YOU FELL FOR IT TOO, IDIOT!" Zoro roared. He fully believed Luffy got caught by accident.

"Look at all these people running for lil ol me," Rosan grinned, abnormally sharp fangs gleaming at the charging pirates. "I know I'm hot but I'm only easy for Mei! Seems I'll have to teach you all some manners!"

The redhead tensed and the floor cracked beneath him as he vanished from his spot, causing everyone's eyes to go wide in fear.

One pirate spat out a glob of blood, at the fist indenting itself firmly in his gut, holding him up with the force of the blow. He felt all his organs get pulverized from the blow and it sent him flying until his body vanished into the ocean.

"You've gotta at least offer me some roses so I can consider it! It's literally in the name!"

Everyone watched the soaring body with blatant fear on their faces, all confidence drained away by that one display. They began to back away from hell incarnate, until the redhead stopped them all with pointed look.

"If you make me chase you, just the color red is gonna trigger a PTSD attack that'll have you shrieking for years!" he chimed, pointing and pulling at a free strand of his own hair to emphasize his point.

The pirates whimpered in fear at that cheerful warning. No one had ever told them they'd be facing a living, breathing demon but here they were.

"I think I prefer when he's emotionless," Nami muttered in terror, listening to him with a white face. W-Was this the reason he acted like a robot? With his emotions, h-he was utterly terrifying to behold, saying the scariest things with the largest smile instead of that emotionless visage of his.

The redhead's eyes gleamed at causing them all to submit and he heard a roar behind him. Turning his head to the side slightly, Rosan let out a snort of amusement and turned fully.

"Oh? You managed to get hypnotized too, Luffy?" Rosan turned back to greet his captain and they were treated to the sight of the handsome man grinning widely. They never noticed, but he had really sharp fangs and his eyes were glowing so bright, that it looked unnatural.

It was like looking at an entirely different person! He was so full of life! Was this really the Rosan that they knew?

"Ah look at my dumbass adorable brother, so eager for action! Fine, you get to have the special sibling privilege and we can share!"

Luffy roared in response.

Every could only watch (Nami knew he was the one who had saved Zoro!) in terrored awe, as the slope shifted and they watched as the ground erupted, forming a wall and splitting it in two, separating the pirates.

A... A-A Devil fruit...? This whole time, they had been up against a Devil Fruit user?!

"That's your side..." Rosan began and he blurred until he was in front of a terrified pirate. Gripping the man's head, the demon began brutally slamming him onto the erupted ground repeatedly until he was leaking enough blood to cover his entire face. The redhead smiled all the while, utterly unbothered by his act of violence and continued bashing the poor man's skull against the wall.

"...And this is mine!"

"I think I prefer when he's emotionless too," Usopp agreed. His knees were definitely not shaking and he was definitely not feeling the after effects of throwing up.

The hypnotized rubber boy sprinted down the cliff and began punching the air rapidly. "Gomu Gomu no Gatling!" Luffy roared, pulverizing the group of pirates under his rapid punch assault. Screams rang out through the pirates as they were all punched repeatedly with no chance of retaliation. In only a matter of moments they were all beaten into submission and the rubber boy was left growling in dissatisfaction at the easy and quick fight.

From his point above them all, Rosan grinned down at the cowering pirates. Holding out his hand, the redhead cackled and said, "Vindication!"

A massive beam of red energy shot out and split off into little smaller beams, piercing nearly all the poor pirates on his side and incinerating their insides. They couldn't even scream as the attack ruthlessly ravaged their numbers and ran through their bodies.

"They're both monsters," Zoro muttered. This couldn't even be called a fight right now. Just how strong were his captain and scout? He thought they were only a little stronger than him but maybe he had misjudged them...

He especially misjudged Rosan. Appearances were deceiving, the redhead was capable of far more than Zoro's first impression of him had presumed.

"P-Please, mercy!" One lone pirate begged the red headed devil grinning down at them all.

"Mercy? I can count on one hand how many times I've showed someone mercy! But you know what random pirate, whose life I don't care about? You've tugged at my black heart so I think you can be another!" Rosan smiled gently, patting him on the shoulder.

The pirate shuddered in fear. W-When did he get so close? Their predator had not been this close, standing quite the distance away before suddenly appearing in front of him, but this near, he could see his bright heterochromatic gaze burning a hole into him.

It was the gaze of an apex predator toying with his food. The utter amusement in the psychopath's eyes, made him shudder uncontrollably. Red and purple glinted at him and stared kindly at the pirate near tears, contrasting his murderous tendencies just minutes ago.

"Kay! Run along now minion, consider this my act of mercy," The Mod Mod no mi user said with a tiny wave.

"R-Really?!"

"Of course! I'm not a liar," he assured.

They watched the pirate smile in relief and the terrified grunt turned around to sprint away, only to let out an agonizing scream of pain at the beam of energy piercing his stomach not even a second later.

"How unfortunate, you didn't run fast enough," Rosan shrugged uncaringly. "What can you do. I did show you mercy… you just didn't capitalize on it fast enough and I got bored watching you fail to escape me. I've never let anyone escape me after all."

"Father is utterly terrifying," Ram gaped, watching the poor pirate grasp at the hole in his belly helplessly. Now, the ring could freely admit that she was a demon but she paled in comparison to what her Father was currently displaying. H-He really just up and killed that dude for no reason!

H-He was so damn COOL!

"He acted like this as a child too… he's just even more unhinged with age," Mod smiled fondly at the memories. This only reinforced her desire to get his emotions back because the redhead was just so full of life that it never failed to make her mood better, even when she was in a bad one.

"You guys are too kind!" Rosan replied.

Mod and Ram blinked owlishly at his response. T-That wasn't a compliment. How did he possibly take that as a compliment?

"I wonder why I didn't turn into a raging beast like the others?" the redhead mused. "Maybe my emotions are tied to my strength? Since he made me "stronger" it forcefully drew out my feelings."

His family bloodline was so weird. Glowings eyes that were tied to emotion and power? Bah, he probably inherited that from his useless birth mother too. He seemed to have gotten everything from her. Made him wonder just what he inherited from his father besides the man's apparent boldness.

"That was really boring though... I need to fight someone that'll get my blood flowing… that'll really make me think I might die. That sounds like it could be real fun."

Mod's eyes narrowed in contemplation. Perhaps that was what he needed to activate the castle... If his emotions really were tied to his power, Modification would find it fit to stop caging them if he needed to go all out.

It was food for thought.

With a burst of modification, the wall he erected vanished and Rosan watched in amusement, as his rampaging brother tried to destroy the ship, only to be put to sleep by the visibly terrified hypnotist.

Lame, he was about to challenge his rubbery brother to a quick fight.

"Maybe it's cuz I have Mod-chan and Ram protecting me from its full effects. Especially beautiful woman might be the true counter to this hypnotism, ya know?"

"D-Don't call me beautiful! You'll make me embarrassed, jerk! Stupid, idiot, asshole Father!" Ram squeaked with a flushed expression, blushing deeply at his praise. It was funny when Maro or anyone else appreciated her beauty but not Father! His praise would make her die of happiness a-and she couldn't die just yet! Who did he think he was?!

"I'm g-going to undo the effects of the hypnotism soon," Mod stuttered, blushing at the unexpected praise. Damn it, she forgot that Rosan with emotions was a complete tease.

"Alright!" Rosan agreed easily enough. "Experiencing my emotions again was pretty fun but how does such a strange and weak hippie have such a fascinating technique?"

"I agree, he's unnaturally weak but his ability is unlike anything I've seen before…"

Never did they expect, that some random man was capable of forcing out Rosan's emotions, when neither of them could do it. He had also given them a strong hint on how to possibly unlock his emotions, that being a desire to use all his strength.

"Yo," Rosan waved to his gawking allies, appearing in front of them and making them jump in surprise. "Enjoy the show? You probably won't see something like that for a long time so I hope you memorized me smiling... Not that it'll be hard, people seem to really like staring at my face."

"W-what?" Nami stuttered. She immediately made a note to not get on Rosan's bad side because if she went out like those pirates she'd probably be squirming in death.

Zoro looked at the amused redhead with a calculating gaze. So that was how he acted with emotions? He was quite demonic in nature and his style was especially brutal to watch, showing not a single hint of mercy despite how often he smiled.

Usopp had backed far away from the redhead and his knees were shaking rapidly.

"Aww, you don't gotta be afraid, you pussy! I don't treat my allies like that. Just don't give me a reason to and you'll be golden," Rosan cackled with an amused expression, as if he didn't mind that they were rightfully afraid of him. No, he seemed to relish in it if the way he was eyeing them meant anything.

"W-what happened to you?! You're so expressive and not robotic!" Nami pointed out. The man was like a stone wall 99% of the time and right now he was the complete opposite. His handsome visage was permanently set in a neutral expression and now that same face was laced with so much emotion, it was like he had an alter ego!

"That, would be my emotions," Rosan's blank voice came out. His smile had vanished and the glow in his eyes were no longer there, giving them that standard dead look they were accustomed to and making them realize just how out of sorts it was that he never displayed outward emotions.

"Y-Your emotions?" The navigator questioned and he nodded.

"My emotions are locked away and they are rather difficult to get back. That man's hypnotism somehow managed to temporarily release them," he explained calmly, contrasting his previous self so strongly, they got dizzy trying to comprehend it.

"I… was quite chaotic when I had them but I wasn't aware I had become even more of a problem. I lost my emotions about 12 years ago when I was still a child and I've clearly grown since then."

With emotions, he was nothing short of demonic. It was a bit of a surprise but he somewhat expected it. He had always been pretty unhinged and the years clearly made it worse.

It was a good thing his other emotions like sadness and rage didn't seem to come into play. Everyone on this island would have been in danger because he was sure his years of suppressing those emotions in particular were going to bite him if he ever did free them.

They listened with wide eyes at his explanation, not quite expecting to hear that. How did someone just lock away their emotions?! Why was it so difficult to get back? Was he permanently scarred and needed therapy?

But the way he was saying it... it didn't sound like a coping mechanism (maybe it was), it sounded like they were literally locked away with no way to get them back currently.

The redhead hummed and sat down a ways away from the pirates he had just massacred. There were still some left but that had been the ones on Luffy side. Not a single one who went against Rosan survived.

As usual. He rarely left survivors.

"I'm done for now so you guys can have fun," he said simply. He didn't even intend to fight the pirates but that was fine and he'd even say he benefited greatly from it.

His random emotion gain was interesting and the fact that some weak hypnotist had showed him it really was possible to get them all back, made him nearly snort aloud.

How fortunate for him, now he just needed to find the trigger. Although... he needed to prepare for the day that did happen because even with just that small glimpse he could point out important details that were worrying.

His emotions were overwhelming. To an incredible degree. It seems like the virus hadn't been inactive because his emotions had developed even more over the years and did not stagnate like he expected them too.

Except he himself had stagnated. If he ever did get them back, who knows how much work he'd have to put in to not let them take complete control of his every action. He needed to combine his two current personalities, not have one dominate the other.

"I... I've never had so much faith before but it's still possible. Trust me Rosan, we'll get them back or we'll die trying and when we do, I'll help you every step of the way. I also had to deal with gaining emotions so I think I can help!" Mod smiled in determination.

Trust her eh? He wondered if he could really do that.

Rosan's eyes closed and he let out a short nod of approval. Palming the area underneath him, he idly made the floor more comfortable to lie on and got situated.

Mod beamed at his approval and cupped her chin in contemplation, unaware of his slight doubts. A difficult battle that would force Rosan to draw out the strength that the castle stole... They needed to go to the Grand Line to find a fight like that and when they did, the world would not be ready for them.

Jango let out a sigh of relief, at watching the redhead lie down and close his eyes. He must have exhausted himself and couldn't participate anymore so that meant they could clean up the others. If he was out of the fight, the hypnotist could call forth his trump cards.

"Buchi, Sham, come on out!" He called and two figured darted out of the ship. The Meowban Brothers could clean up this mess with ease.

"You two, we absolutely must get past this hill but there's an obstacle blocking the way, get rid of it," Jango instructed. "And when your done, go after the redhead quickly, he should be replenishing his energy so we can't let him get it all back!"

The two brothers looked up at Zoro's steely glare and nervously stepped back. "W-We can't possibly do that! Just the green one looks scary enough and you want us to go after that devil too?!" Sham stammered.

"Y-Yeah, they both look strong…" Buchi agreed. They were both sweating at the swordsman and it caused Zoro to gain a confused expression on his face.

"Huh?" He muttered. Was this seriously what he was up against? No wonder Rosan and Luffy had such an easy time... if these were the trump cards, this crew was going to sink today.

Rosan watched the pitiful exchange with one eye. If it were him, he'd have just blasted them and be done with it but plenty of people had pity and Zoro appeared to be one of them.

It cost him though. Their swordsman had let his guard down and the two ace in the holes quickly took advantage of that, darting forward and attacking the caught unaware swordsman. Their cowardly nature was all an act and the man had lost two of his swords as a result with a strangled gasp of shock.

"When do you think he'll learn to stop underestimating his foes?" Mod asked curiously. This was the third battle now where Zoro had treated the battle a bit too lax. He had no choice against Cabaji due to his injuries, but those same injuries had come from one of the battles he made the mistake at.

If it were Rosan doing the same thing, Mod, as his teacher, would have harshly punished him with training. The ocean was far too unforgiving to make such mistakes multiple times in a row and the Devil Fruit would have found it utterly unacceptable if her charge did it.

"When he suffers a crushing defeat," Rosan replied easily. Zoro was strong by East Blue standards but he wasn't that strong. He only wrote off the fight against Buggy due to the clown having a Devil Fruit that directly countered his skills but that just wouldn't do. It was good to be confident in one's skill but he just struggled against a circus act and still chose to act like this?

If you thought they were weak, give them a swift death. It was that simple. Mercy was only reserved for someone who you had thoroughly crushed and had no intention of fighting anymore. That's why the redhead hardly ever handed it out.

Because the ones he thoroughly crushed, died.

Zoro was now currently on the defensive, after nearly getting crushed under Buchi. It was clear that one-sword style was not his strong suit (perhaps he'd have to teach him a bit) but it was enough to keep him in the battle.

Well... it was, until Usopp tried to interfere to help the man out. The liar tried to help Zoro out, by picking out one of the brothers with his slingshot, but the green haired man took the snipers attack instead of letting it hit the cat brothers, shooting Usopp a warning glare in the process.

That resulted in him being left open, though and he suffered vicious twin scratch marks as a result, getting out a groan of pain from him.

"Don't interfere or else they'll focus their attention onto you," Rosan advised the confused sniper, idly watching Zoro get pushed back further and further. "There's a 50/50 chance that I protect you if they decide to target you and you shouldn't like those odds."

The sniper gaped in disbelief at his words. He was just going to let him die?!

"He's right," Nami agreed, despite not liking that he wasn't helping at all... But he had done enough so maybe they could do something now... "There has to be something we can do… If we manage to get his swords, Zoro can win easily."

Rosan was content to remain in his spot and Luffy was sleeping way down the shore so that left Nami and Usopp to think of a plan.

"I'll do it," Nami said eventually, knowing the redhead was not going to interfere. "I'm better at this type of stuff," she reasoned.

Usopp nodded reluctantly, shooting another glance at a Rosan who didn't even seem to be paying attention to their planning.

"You sure can be cruel."

"If I do everything for them, they will become over reliant on me. You should know how I feel about people overly relying on me. Luffy didn't do it when he was seven, I expect these two to be able to do something."

"That's... fair. You have a point."

The thief began sprinting down the hill so she could grab Zoro's swords, but right before she could pick up one that she grabbed onto, a looming figure put their foot on top of it and prevented her from moving it.

Nami couldn't even look up in time and let out a gasp of pain, that turned into a short scream, as a chakram pierced her shoulder, drawing blood and causing tears to prick her eyes. The navigator collapsed on the floor and began clutching the area that was cut, biting her lip at the red marring her hand.

"NAMI!" Usopp yelled nervously. "ROSAN, NAMI'S HURT! D-DO SOMETHING!"

W-Was Rosan going to help her ou—

The redhead wasn't even looking at his injured crewmate. He was actually looking behind him at something else currently with a tilted head, expression not shifting whatsoever.

Usopp was not the same. What the liar saw, made him go white.

"What do you need swords for?" Jango asked, glancing up and freezing at what he saw. The hypnotist went pale and he let out a strangled gasp, backing up slightly and looking for cover.

Sham, Buchi and Zoro stopped their battle for a moment and the two cat brothers let out twin screams of fear.

Captain Kuro looked down at them all with such palpable fury on his face, his own pirates were sure that they were going to die.

"I'd reprimand you all accordingly due to night being long gone…" Kuro began, before he turned on Rosan with nothing but raw hatred in his eyes.

"...But it seems like all was for naught, considering OUR TARGET ISN'T THERE!" He roared in rage, vanishing from his spot.

Rosan calmly leapt away from the oncoming attack. The redhead looked at the slash marks carving the ground with a half lidded gaze and appraised the man who did it.

Ah, so that was why he adjusted his glasses like that. His choice of weapon was strange and one Rosan would never use but if it worked, it worked.

"You should at least greet me first," Rosan hummed, unbothered by the man's ire. "You're honestly so rude, Kuro-san."

Kuro howled and charged.

Usopp froze in disbelief as he heard something. Target wasn't there…? Were they… Were they talking about Kaya?! No, they had to have been talking about Kaya!

She wasn't there?! THEN WHERE WAS SHE?!

The long nosed boy turned and sprinted in the direction of her mansion without any hesitation.

Kuro, assuming that Rosan had included them in his plans to ruin him, ordered Jango to chase down that long nosed nuisance.

"AFTER HIM, JANGO! HE MIGHT LEAD US TO HER!" The pirate captain snarled, swiping at the nonchalant redhead and failing to land a single hit.

The hypnotist yelped with a salute and immediately rushed off.

Jango's distraction, was all the opening Nami needed.

"Z-Zoro!" She gasped out, picking up his discarded swords and launching them to the pirate.

The savage grin Zoro let out after catching his two blades, promised pain.

"IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU HAVE THREE BLADES!" Sham screeched, fighting vigor renewed after seeing his former captain retain his skills. The underlying promise of death was not lost to him and any disrespect he considered throwing Kuro's way, was focused on his aggression towards the moss head.

"YOUR SKILLS HAVEN'T IMPROVED!" Buchi roared.

"You just don't get it, do you?" Zoro grinned, getting into position. The swordsman put his hand swords over his mouth blade and said,"Tiger Trap!"

He swung down at the approaching pirates and they spat out blood as the attack connected, eyes rolling to the back of their skulls and quickly falling unconscious from the swift and precise slash.

"Just having three swords, is different from knowing Santoryu," Zoro informed them.

"They're all monsters…" Jango said in terror, paling at the sight of Zoro defeating the Meowban Brothers in one hit. To make matters worse, the redhead was still dodging his captain's attacks and for someone who knew of his speed, that thought made him nervous.

A-At least he was being put on the defensive! He hadn't managed to get a single attack in so captain had the advantage!

Kuro would deal with them all. Jango just needed to focus on following the long nose and getting the man his money.

"YOU DAMN FILTHY LIAR!"

Rosan hummed as he dodged another attack from the pirate, raising a brow in curiosity despite knowing exactly what he was talking about.

He was pretty fast.

"That's quite offensive to someone like me. When did I lie?"

"You said you wouldn't interfere," Kuro hissed hatefully. Because of this damned pirate, everything was going to hell and the thought that he wasn't going to get his inheritance, sent him into a frenzy.

Rosan nodded.

"I told you not to drag me into it, but you did," the redhead corrected the seething pirate, ducking under a wild swing of those long swords on his gloves. "No one told you to attack my captain. You sent him falling down a cliff and tried to kill him. Of course I'd involve myself afterwards."

Kuro paused as he heard that, not believing his ears. "T-That straw hat boy is your captain?!"

That couldn't be right. There had to have been a mistake. If he had known that... he'd never have told Jango to deal with him but he didn't...

"Oh, did you think I was a captain who didn't care about his crew like you? I guess I never did mention that," Rosan shrugged unapologetically, stepping to the side to avoid a furious lunge.

"Your plan was doomed to fail the moment you let Usopp escape and tell Luffy what happened. Because I'm apart of his crew, anything he does, inevitably drags me into it."

The former captain of the Black Cats froze at that, disbelief making its way onto his face. "You... You tricked me," Kuro said in realization, not believing that he of all people had gotten tricked. Him. Kuro of 100 plans.

Him. The smartest person in the East Blue.

Rosan nodded in approval, even choosing to clap for him. "That I did. I'm a little disappointed that you didn't think to alter your plans but then again, you're only considered the smartest person in the East Blue of all seas and I don't even believe that."

But Kuro wasn't listening to him anymore, too shocked by the revelation. He had been tricked. Tricked by this fucking redheaded nuisance. He snarled hatefully and began his renewed assault on this man that ruined everything.

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

Rosan audibly sighed, shaking his head at Kuro's words. "Here we go again. Another pirate making the same claim and failing completely. Could you tell me where you took your lessons from? I want to find this person and tell them how bad of a job they are doing."

The howl of fury the man let out, made Ram drop to the floor in amusement.

The two blurred around the field and try as he might, Kuro could not touch him and that only served to make him more outraged.

Nami listened to their interaction in confusion. Kuro was implying that Rosan already knew something and ruined it… Had the mysterious redhead already approached him? When did he do that? How long did Rosan know the butler was Kuro...?

Kaya was missing too… did Rosan move her? Did he scout out Kuro's plan already? It seemed like he did, considering the pirate was literally frothing at the mouth due to her scout.

She gazed at the redhead with fascination. He was far smarter than she first thought. Nami had underestimated him because he was in Zoro and Luffy's company but Rosan was showing that he was much more willing to use his head to get things done.

She needed to question him after all this was over so that she could get a glimpse of what was going on in his mind but first… She had a certain idiot to wake up. The orange haired girl idly clutched her shoulder from the pain but ran over to Luffy.

"I don't understand why you're so upset with me," Rosan mused, tilting his head. "I didn't lie to you even once but you're still throwing a tantrum despite that. Have a bit of dignity. Don't you know what pride is?"

Kuro didn't know how this boy was keeping up with him but he didn't care at the moment. "You can't dodge forever," he warned.

"I happen to have a bit of stamina," the redhead countered.

"Where did you hide the girl? TELL ME NOW!"

"Why would I do that? You're the only one here who wants her dead and if you couldn't tell already, I kind of want you to fail."

"Kahahahaha! Look at the look on his face! It's so rich!" Ram cackled in joy.

"He's going to permanently stay red if he keeps this up," Mod giggled. "To completely unravel his plan has driven him to a point that is funnier then I expected. I have to admit, I can see why Ram enjoys angering people so much."

Rosan agreed. Soon, Luffy would wake up and deal with this man and he'd never even get close to finishing his —

"KLAHADORE! PLEASE STOP THIS!" A familiar voice that wasn't supposed to be here called.

Both Rosan and Kuro paused in their exchange and the black cat pirate felt a well of satisfaction, at seeing the redhead close his eyes and sigh.

"Sometimes, I wish my family did not tame me because I'd have just killed every single person on this island and be done with it," Rosan muttered, staring down a panting Kaya.

She flinched at the redhead's lifeless gaze and took a step back at seeing her butler with a vicious set of claws.

"Kaya," Rosan greeted, watching as she took another nervous step back like a child who understood they did something wrong. "I thought I told you to stay put so would you mind telling me…"

"...Just what do you think you're doing here?" The redhead asked gently.

There was a reason Rosan didn't include other people in his plans unless he trusted them unconditionally.

Robin herself learned rather quickly that the redhead rarely ever followed through with a plan to a t, always modifying it on the go if he thought of a better idea and she swiftly adapted to that part of him, genius that she was.

That's why he didn't include other people. He was incredibly aware of their ability to alter their plans because Rosan himself used to do that all the time. If someone like him could do it, others stood no chance.

"It doesn't matter whether you have emotion or not, your ego will always be one of the highest on the planet."

Ignoring her completely ("Don't ignore me young man!"), the man continued his thoughts unimpeded.

Humans were far too unpredictable to be reliable, especially if you didn't know them well. You could never tell what was fully going through their mind.

For instance, why the hell would a sick, depressed girl, who was being targeted by a group of pirates, put herself in sight of the ones targeting her when she was completely safe?

Some might call it bravery at wanting to make things right.

Rosan called it complete stupidity for interfering when you weren't supposed to. He had not been kidding, if he were as on edge as he'd been so long ago, he'd have killed Kaya himself for being the one to mess up his plans and then he'd burn this stupid island down.

They could thank his family for still being alive. They had mellowed him out considerably over the years and without the constant threat of action, it had worked out well for everyone around him that wasn't an enemy.

The redhead stared at the idiot with a blank expression on his face. He was normally very good at reading people and Kaya had struck him as intelligent. Clearly that did not apply to her emotions because he made sure to stress that Kuro wanted her inheritance and he wanted to kill her.

But she still showed up.

"I-I couldn't just stay there while you all were fighting for me! T-There must be something I can do to stop Klahadore from doing this," the girl protested before bravely facing her butler of 3 years.

"Klahadore, stop this! I… I'll give you what you want so please stop fighting!" The blonde begged.

Give him what he wants? Didn't he already tell her that he had this handled? What was wrong with her? Were people really this stupid? Was Rosan perhaps the only person in the four seas who used their brain and thought logically?

Was he the only one with common sense?

"Kill her," Ram demanded. Stupid little idiot ruining her Father's planning didn't deserve to breathe the same air as him.

"I can understand why you'd want to do that, but that's not necessary," Mod assured her charge, shooting a glare that successfully cowed the ring. If she didn't speak up, Rosan may very well kill that girl.

Ram was spoiled and when she made demands the redhead normally listened to her. Sometimes he didn't, but you could never tell and Mod wouldn't take that risk.

Rosan would normally not be too bothered by his plan being somewhat ruined (Luffy was his captain after all) but he had kinda been pushing Kuro to his limit since figuring out his identity and it looked like the man was willing to do anything in order to get a win over him.

"Miss Kaya, I was looking for you," Kuro said, forcing his voice to be calm.

Rosan tensed.

"I don't think you understand," the pirate began. "I don't want just your fortune, I want the peace that comes with it. You see, being chased nonstop by the Marines, is not a lifestyle I desire and I've spent 3 years earning the trust of the villagers here."

"All the time we spent together over the 3 years… Do you remember?" Kuro reminisced. "We went sailing together, took trips into town, I took care of you when you were sick. We suffered and laughed together, Miss Kaya."

Kaya began tearing up at the memories and she felt her resolve waver. M-Maybe he was still here —

"All those years, I've endured just so that I could kill you this day," Kuro hissed in suppressed fury.

Kaya froze in shock at his words and tears began welling up in her eyes. She covered her mouth and barely suppressed a strangled cry that the pirate relished in.

The former captain vanished, only to appear in front of the sobbing Kaya.

"The plan was to have you accidentally die and leave me your fortune, but things have changed because of a certain someone," Kuro whispered dangerously. This redhead thought he had him all figured out huh?

"We wouldn't want you moving away from me so soon, now would we? How about I make it so you can't move at all?"

The pirate slashed down with one of his cat claws only for someone to move in the way.

he redhead...? How had he been able to react to his movement...? Kuro had moved long before him but he had caught up? Just how fast was he really?

That surprise didn't last long though because his attack still connected with something and Kuro was filled with so much satisfaction, he couldn't keep the smile off his face.

"I think I like this outcome much more then the attack connecting on Kaya," the pirate decided maliciously.

"Oh? Aren't you a bit too eager to see my skin? Just like everyone else I happen to meet," Rosan retorted softly, expression neutral despite the gruesome injury. The back of his purple shirt was completely shredded and there were 5 vicious slash marks on his back that all leaked a steady amount of blood.

He liked this shirt. It was a good thing he had Modification but the fact that it had gotten shredded in the first place…

Unforgivable.

Nami gasped while looking away from the injury and Kaya couldn't hold back her scream at the fact that she caused it.

Rosan stared the rich girl down, face not shifting whatsoever, as if he wasn't injured. "This is why I told you to stay put. The battlefield is no place for people like you. You're weak and the strong prey on the weak," he explained.

Kaya could only stare at his unbothered expression with tears in her eyes, holding her head shamefully. Because of her… she caused him to...! Was he going to die because of her stupid mistake?

Kuro was about to swipe down again, wide smile on his face due to the redhead seeming to pay him no mind. The reason was soon revealed however, as a flying fist connected clean with the man's face and sent him crashing to the floor.

"Took you long enough, Luffy," Rosan said idly. "He ruined my shirt. I was about to kill him."

"My bad!" Luffy grinned, pulling his fist back with a snap. "I'll deal with this evil butler!"

"Better you than me," the redhead nodded.

"Y-Your back," Kaya stammered in worry. "Are you okay? Do you need to be wrapped up?"

Rosan glanced at her. "I was fine until you showed up. Thanks for the assistance," he replied.

Kaya flinched harshly at his words and held her head in guilt. He heard her sniff and saw a few more tears hit the floor but the redhead felt no sympathy for the idiot.

"Stop crying, I'm already healing," Rosan told her calmly.

Kaya's eyes snapped up in confusion. Already healing? What was he talking —

Before their very eyes, they watched the terrible wound on Rosan's back begin to steam and close up. It looked like it was forcefully stitching itself back together and soon, the only sign that he had been struck, was the remaining blood and the fact that his shirt was still shredded.

"W-What are you…?" Nami whispered in disbelief. No one was able to heal that fast naturally, it was just not possible! T-That injury should have taken weeks to close up and it should have left a scar!

"A humble scout," Rosan replied, removing his shirt so that he could repair it.

Kaya turned beet red at his shameless act and immediately closed her eyes after catching a glimpse at all those muscles.

D-Didn't he see that she was right in front of him! What was wrong with him?!

He paid her no mind and focused on his outfit. "Modification: Repair," he thought to himself and watched in satisfaction, as his silky purple shirt stitched itself back together until it was in perfect condition.

This one had a red rose on it, no way was he letting it stay destroyed.

"You have a tattoo?" Nami asked curiously, glancing at his muscular build with a curious gaze. She thought he was lazy but with his build, it was clear that he was very physically active. Never did she expect him to be so fit and she wondered what he put himself through to get so strong.

Nami or Zoro weren't even aware Rosan had a tattoo! The rose design cut across his neatly written name and bloomed out right next to the R in a beautiful display. It looked incredible and they weren't sure why he opted to keep the amazing tattoo hidden.

Every new detail they learned, made it clear that they knew startlingly little about the redhead.

"Yes, I got it when I was 16. My sister did it for me," he told them.

Sister?! Did he just casually drop information on having a sister?! How many family members did these two have!?

Before they could even question them on who his sister was, the redhead turned towards Kaya.

"Since you revealed yourself, there's no point in bringing you back to my ship. I'll escort you back to the mansion and you're going to stay there until the fight is over? Okay?" Rosan ordered the teen. It sounded like a question but it clearly wasn't and the owner of the mansion was well aware of that.

Kaya nodded meekly. "W-Where's Usopp?" She asked hesitantly. She needed to at least apologize to him for what she had done.

"Probably fighting a hypnotist."

She opened her mouth and immediately closed it as Rosan fixed his gaze on her, dead gaze beginning to glow slightly.

"Don't make me knock you out. I'll do it with great joy because of how much you've derailed things."

Kaya nodded again, faster this time with a look of fear on her face. Like a properly scolded child, she allowed Rosan to escort her back to her home.

What was with this girl? She just loved throwing herself in the middle of danger.

Idiot.

Usopp didn't exactly know where he was running too but he just needed to find Kaya.

Missing? How was that possible?! Maybe she had actually taken his advice and gone hiding? If she did, that was fantastic but he wouldn't be able to sleep if she somehow didn't...

Usopp wasn't sure but he had to make sure she was safe.

"Captain!"

His face shot up in surprise at hearing the three familiar voices. That surprise turned into horror at realizing who was here.

Why the hell were the kids here?!

"GET OUTTA HERE YOU THREE!"

"WATCH OUT!" They screamed but it was far too late a warning.

A flying object landed square on Usopp's back and the sniper gasped as the pain caused him to collapse and tumble on the grassy floor.

"GAH!" The teen cried out at the burst of pain. He glanced back in confusion and saw that he had been struck by a chakram.

"You really run fast," Jango said in annoyance. He was nervous due to the fact that Captain Kuro was already clearly angry and he didn't want to further anger the terrifying man by failing this mission.

"C-Captain! Are you alright?!" Pepper asked in a mixture of concern and fear. Usopp shot them a shaky, brave smile that belied his own terror.

He was absolutely not alright but he didn't want to needlessly scare the kids. "T-This is nothing to the great Captain Usopp!" He told them, with false bravado. Inwardly though, he was wondering how the hell he was going to deal with this pirate. That chakram hurt and his back was bleeding copiously at the moment.

"Where is the lady?" Jango asked Usopp in a low tone. He couldn't waste time with this wannabe pirate right now.

"That's what I'm trying to find out!" The sniper bit out, dabbing his wound and wincing at the pain. "I don't have time for this! Usopp pirates, search for Kaya!"

Aka, run for your lives.

"Aye, Aye, Cap'n!" They saluted and the four ran without any hesitation.

"Hey, WAIT!" Jango yelled at the retreating kids. He grabbed his chakram and launched it at the scattered group.

Carrot let out a squeal of fear as no less than five trees were cut by the disc like weapon and it spurred him, and his best friends, to run even faster.

Usopp's eyes bugged at how strong those chakram were and was glad that he was apparently not hit with full force.

It seemed like the pirates really didn't know where Kaya was so that meant looking for her could wait, for now he needed to get awa — strategically retreat from this hypnotist.

"WAH!"

Or, that was the plan, until he saw Onion get clipped by an attack.

Usopp froze at the sound of the child screaming and without even thinking, he turned around and aimed his slingshot at the pirate.

"Lead Star!"

Jango was about to pick up the fallen kid, but was caught off guard by the lead star connecting solidly with his gut. The pirate let out a tiny "oomph" at that and he glared at the long nosed liar who had been the source of the attack.

"Why you…" he growled, grabbing two of his chakrams and spinning them. Without wasting any time, he launched one at the boy, who leapt out of the way and shot the second one at his vulnerable body that just landed, giving him no time to dodge again.

"AGHHHH!" Usopp yelled as the chakram dug into his belly. He spat out a glob of blood and clutched the spot to desperately stave off the bleeding.

"I was hoping you'd lead me to the Miss, but I'm just gonna kill you and find out myself," Jango decided.

Rosan watched Kaya collapse with an uncaring gaze, heedless of her struggles. They were walking through the forest in the direction that led to her mansion and despite how tired the sick girl was getting, the redhead refused to help.

"Tired?" He snarked blandly. "I doubt you'd be struggling this much if you stayed on the ship."

The exhausted girl shamefully refused to make eye contact, as she tried to defend herself. "I-I know! I'm sorry but I thought I could do something—"

"AGHHHH!" A loud scream interrupted the two and Rosan closed his eyes as Kaya's own eyes widened in recognition and then horror.

"That was Usopp-san!" She gasped, forcing herself to stand so that she could head over to him. The strain of all the movement she did today, was too much for the owner of the mansion and she fell back down, panting heavily and gripping her shirt in exhaustion.

Rosan contemplated kicking her while she was down but just hummed instead as he came to a decision. "Wait here. Usopp will come to you soon."

He was going to do this after the fighting was over but now was as good as time as any.

"W-Will you be fine?" Kaya asked hesitantly. The redhead was harsh but he was still the one helping her this much when he didn't have to. Especially considering she had been nothing but a nuisance to him when he was just trying to keep her safe.

"That's a stupid question."

Rosan took off in the direction of where he had heard the scream and it didn't take him long to see Usopp desperately trying to defend an injured kid while fighting off the hypnotist.

He had a long cut on his back and his stomach was bleeding too. He was clutching a wound and the fear in his eyes were very noticeable but he resolutely stood in front of the panicked child.

Despite being so cowardly, perhaps even he had things he wanted to protect that allowed him to bypass his weaknesses.

Rosan guessed he could lend him a hand then. He'd have let him die if the coward had completely given up.

Jango's eyes bugged as he was suddenly kicked in the stomach and his body crashed into a tree with brutal force, snapping the wood from its spot and sending it collapsing with the pirate.

"Usopp, Kaya is in that direction and she's out of energy. Take those kids and go help her."

The teen in question, looked at Rosan in disbelief. When had he gotten here? Wasn't he tired from his display earlier...?

Then, he registered the redhead's words and his gaze followed the direction that the finger was pointed in.

Kaya was there? Really?! Did Rosan manage to find her? When did he do that?!

Usopp didn't know but he wasn't going to wait to find out.

"T-Thanks, Rosan! Usopp Pirates, let's go!" He yelled out and the three children saluted before all of them disappeared.

Jango heard this all and was about to follow them but the redhead's presence, completely froze him in his spot, giving him a stark reminder of just what happened to more than half of his men.

"Finally, we're alone," Rosan hummed, glancing at the terrified hypnotist with a tilted head. "Jango was it? Can I call you that?"

Memories of what Rosan did were embedded firmly in his mind and Jango felt himself shaking at the fact that they were alone.

"W-What do you want?" The hypnotist asked fearfully.

Wasn't... Wasn't Kuro fighting him? Did he manage to escape his captain? But how?! Kuro had him on the defensive the entire time! What was he doing here?!

Rosan stared at him and he felt himself fidgeting nervously.

"Your hypnotism is very interesting," the 24 year old admitted truthfully. "You've managed to temporarily do something that was not possible for twelve years and that has caught my attention."

The hypnotist didn't think catching a demon's attention was a good thing at all. In fact, being on one's radar sounded like a terrible omen.

"I want you to join my side," Rosan offered bluntly. "I think your abilities are being wasted and despite how weak you are, what you can do is impressive enough to leave you alive."

Jango blinked at his words. "Y-You want me to just betray my allies? I could never do that!"

"Soon, you will have no allies. I will make sure of it," Rosan promised ominously. "You can either join me or suffer the consequences of not doing so. You won't be staying with me, I'll bring you to a place where you can live peacefully as long as you do what I ask you to do."

That place was of course Maro's island.

Jango blinked behind his shades in confusion. He would have no allies soon…? What did he mea —

Oh.

"You'll kill me if I say no? You think that scares me!" Jango frowned. He wouldn't just throw his loyalty away. He may have been a pirate, but he had standards you know!

"I've discovered that there are things in life far worse than dying," Rosan whispered coolly, face not shifting at all. "I'll gladly show you that death can sometimes be a more desired alternative. How do you think being trapped inside of a body that you can't control feels? Watching as they do everything opposite of your real intentions? Would you like to find out before I force you to submit?"

This redhead terrified him more than he'd ever admit and he was already visibly afraid of him. How could he say such things without the slightest change in expression?

Jango felt a chill crawl down his spine at his words and realized that it was in his best interest to not find out what the redhead was going to do to him.

"W-What do you want me to do?" He finally asked. There was no getting out of this.

"Not much. I simply want you on my side," Rosan told him quietly. "You're being put to waste by a person that plans on killing you when this is over anyways. I personally think you're much more interesting than Kuro and he doesn't seem to know or care. Killing you would be unwise."

"W-What?" Kuro was going to kill him? Jango wanted to be surprised but honestly, he really wasn't. He didn't want anyone to know that he was Captain Kuro so it checked out.

"Have you made up your mind?" Rosan asked and Jango hesitantly nodded. "Good, I don't tolerate people who lie to me. Let's get along, Jango."

If the man was lying to him, Rosan would torture him near death and then use Overhaul to take over. The hypnotist's technique was too interesting for him to merely get rid of.

"Hey! I may not look it but I'm an honest man," Jango protested, causing Rosan to simply nod.

Reaching out his hand, Rosan grasped the pirate without warning and thought, "Modify Target: Rest Mode," successfully putting Jango to sleep. With a wave of his hand and a slight glow of his earrings, he stored him in his pocket dimension.

"I agree with this decision. Having him strengthen up our allies, could be quite the boon," Mod hummed. He also did mention that he wanted to give Maro allies a long time ago and it was clear he didn't forget. Honestly, her son was such a menace.

"Maybe even weaklings have value… I never thought I'd see Father with emotions so soon! It was so fucking awesome!" Ram gushed. It was so surreal to witness! She wanted that to be the way he acted permanently!

"Language," Mod admonished, despite agreeing with her sentiment. It had filled her heart with so much joy to hear Rosan's laughter again and for his voice to be anything besides blank.

She yearned for the day where that was the norm. Where they could bring Rosan home

"There's only Kuro and Luffy left. That shouldn't be too hard for him," Rosan said, making his way back to the shore.

He was tired of babysitting that idiot. Let Usopp deal with his stupid girlfriend.

Just… what… were… these BRATS?

"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"

A fist connected solidly with his cheek, despite the speed he was running at and he crashed to the floor.

"You're pretty fast," Luffy remarked, looking wholly unbothered by the entire ordeal, if the carefree. There were some large cuts that he received from the start of the battle but that had been the only time he had caught the rubber boy off guard.

Kuro couldn't believe it. The straw hat boy was able to perfectly react to him… Almost as if he could see him while the butler was using his stealth foot.

Case in point, Kuro again tried to use his technique and it seemed to throw Luffy off for just a moment but never long.

Luffy watched Kuro run around the entire field. "You waste a lot of movement!" He called out before swinging his foot in the area that he was going to appear in.

"Gomu Gomu no Whip!" He called slamming his foot into Kuro's abdomen and sending the speedy man tumbling.

"I don't like you," Luffy said bluntly to the struggling man. "Running away from a life of piracy? If you didn't want the reputation, then you shouldn't have become a pirate!"

The few remaining pirates (the ones that fought Luffy and not Rosan) watched in awe as the rubber boy manhandled their captain like it was nothing.

Zoro, who was observing the battle from a distance, found himself wondering for the second time since joining this crew just how strong someone else was. Besides the anger at Kuro's words, Luffy looked mostly unbothered by the fight before him and he was easily repelling all of his opponent's attacks with moves of his own.

Kuro, realizing that there was a very real chance that he could lose here (the redhead hadn't even been dealt with yet!), decided to use his ultimate technique.

"H-Hey, don't tell me…"

The Black Cat Pirates began panicking at the sight of Kuro swaying back and forth.

"O-Oh no! That's…"

"That's the Captain's ultimate attack!"

"D-Doesn't that mean we're in danger too?! He can't control who he attacks when he's like this!"

Luffy and Zoro regarded them in confusion. What were they talking abou—

"AGH!" A pirate screamed as five long gashes appeared on his torso. Soon, the same screams of agony began to ring through the group of pirates.

"W-What's happening?!" Nami asked in disbelief, soaking in the sight with a look of horror. She had just finished robbing the pirates for their meager treasure, only to see said pirates getting cut into mercilessly by some unseen force.

"He's attacking his crew more than his opponent," Zoro muttered in disgust. What was wrong with the pirates they were running into? Did none of them care about the men who chose to follow them? Maybe Zoro had gotten lucky choosing to follow Luffy.

Luffy grit his teeth in rage at how carelessly Kuro was treating his crew, his friends. The rubber boy didn't even care that he was also getting marred by the random targeting, glaring harshly at the darting figure with an intense look.

This was utterly sickening.

"DON'T YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR OWN CREW?!" The rubber boy roared, voice laced in unrestrained fury.

"Luffy?" Nami gasped in shock. He was getting mad on the other pirates behalf...? Just who was this boy?

The captain of the Straw Hats glared at the battlefield and extended his hand, catching Kuro in the middle of his attack. He gripped the man's suit from behind and ruthlessly slammed him into the pavement so that he couldn't move anymore.

Kuro heaved at the impact, spitting out a glob of saliva, and shakily pulled himself up. Did he actually manage to catch him out of his Out of the Bag Attack?! Just who were these no name pirates?! First a redhead who could consistently dodge his speed, that managed to identify him almost immediately when everyone else had been fooled by his death for years and that had ruined all those careful years of planning for the hell of it!

Now this idiotic rubber boy was effortlessly keeping up with him? He was infuriatingly carefree and seemed to almost be mocking Kuro with how easily he dealt with his speed. Was this some sort of fluke? Was it because he was out of shape?! First the redhead who dodged him and now the rubber nuisance?!

WHY WOULDN'T THEY JUST DIE?!

First the redhead, now this rubber boy. The pirate wasn't even going to be able to get his revenge on the one who had foiled him in the first place.

"Oh? You don't look too good," a familiar voice mocked and Kuro went red in the face.

"Y-You," he snarled at the sight of Rosan staring blankly at him. Not once had the redhead ever regarded him differently and combined with the fact that the rubber boy wasn't taking him serious, it nearly made him pop a blood vessel.

"Kaya is safe, Jango has been dealt with and my adorable little brother is crushing you. You've failed quite spectacularly, Kuro… You're quite the unlucky one to run into us the moment you decided to spring your plan. Too much patience can cloud your judgment of good opportunities," Rosan informed him kindly.

He just needed to take one with him. That's all he needed. If he managed to kill the redhead, he'd be fine. Kuro began swaying back and forth again and the redhead just watched with that infuriatingly neutral expression.

"Oh no you don't!" Luffy called out, wrapping his arm and legs around the taller man's body. "Try doing that move now!" The rubber boy grinned cheekily.

"I-If the rubber boy wins, does that mean we don't die?" One of the pirates asked in a sliver of hope.

"I think so…"

They glanced at each other for a moment before quickly coming to a decision.

"GO RUBBER BOY! GET EM! KILL CAP'N KURO!" They cheered.

Luffy's face instantly morphed into one of annoyance at their chants. He flung his head all the way down the shore in order to face the cheering pirates directly and their eyes bugged at the sudden proximity of them and the rubbery pirate.

"Who said you could root for me?!" Luffy barked at the idiots. "I'm gonna get you guys, too! Just wait till I'm done with him!"

They fell on their asses and crawled backwards while screaming, "GAHHHHHH!"

With that declaration, Luffy said, "Gomu Gomu no…"

Kuro watched with horror on his face as everything crashed and burned around him at the hands of people he had deemed irrelevant.

No, this couldn't be happening. After all his careful planning, three years worth of it, you were telling him some random group of wannabe pirates were going to be the one to put an end to it?!

It wasn't only the redhead that was a problem?! This… THIS COULDN'T BE?! HOW COULD THIS BE HAPPENING?!

"IT'S IMPOSSIBLE! MY PLAN CAN'T FAIL! THEY NEVER FAIL!" He roared as he finally reached his limit. The pirate struggled intensely in Luffy's grasp to no avail and only increased in intensity at the sight of the rubbery head careening towards him with what was sure to be concussive damage.

"Ah yes, I was wondering when that last dose of sanity was going to taper out," Rosan mused. It was almost a staple in some people when they were about to lose. Always raving about how they were better then this and how they couldn't lose here. He had learned a lot out of the second hand pirate classes that his victims so helpfully taught him.

"BELL!"

Luffy's head snapped back to his body and the momentum of the headbutt connecting to Kuro, knocked him cleanly unconscious. A spray of blood left his mouth and his eyes rolled to the back of his head, as the rubber boy nearly shattered his skull into pieces. His body fell like a puppet with its strings cut and he did not move again.

"It's our victory."

Of course it was, someone as pathetic as Kuro would never be able to handle Luffy's tenacity and strength. He lacked the resolve to put his life on the line against his brother and once you failed to do that, you would lose against him. The moment he had given up the pirate life, he had given up his own because he lacked the resolve.

Rosan watched Luffy tell the pirates who he was and what his goals were and nodded in approval. He would never have followed the rubber boy if he ever wavered in his goal.

After all, he said with the utmost confidence that he'd save the redhead but if he wavered in his dream to be Pirate King, how could Rosan ever expect to trust him with such an important mission?

The redhead watched Luffy, Nami and Zoro interact with a tilted head, then he looked at the fleeing pirates carrying Kuro with admirable haste. It didn't take long for the defeated group to hoist him on the beaten ship and eventually, the Black Cat pirates set sail.

His dead eyes never left the ship.

Nami pulled him to the side while Usopp conversed with Luffy and Zoro about becoming a pirate and setting out to sea by himself.

Yeah right. Luffy already slotted him into the crew and the liar would absolutely die by himself.

"Nami," Rosan nodded in greeting. "You wanted to talk about something?"

The navigator nodded in return hesitantly, not sure if she'd get the answers she wanted. "This whole thing with Kuro… did you already know and play a hand in it?" She asked him curiously.

"Yes."

She half expected him to give her some infuriating answer so to outright confirm it, left her rather surprised.

"You did?!"

Rosan nodded. "Yes, from the moment I saw Kuro posing as a butler I figured out his identity. It was a little confusing, considering he was supposed to be dead but I gathered a couple of other clues that helped me confirm it."

"You knew all this beforehand but you didn't say anything until they attacked… Why?" Nami wondered. If what he was saying was true… he could have stopped this long before it started!

Rosan figured it wouldn't be ideal to tell her he wanted to secure Kaya's gratitude and a ship so he told her the other reason.

"No one would have believed outsiders who just landed on this island a day ago," he replied and she nodded along with his explanation, remembering that they absolutely refused to believe Usopp himself despite his status as a liar.

"I figured they would have believed Usopp which is why I was surprised that he was being chased by them."

That made... a lot of sense.

"Kuro called you a liar too," Nami pointed out. He called him a lot of stuff actually but the liar part was the most interesting.

The redhead glanced at her for a moment.

"You're smarter then I thought you were," he complimented and she felt a tick mark forming on her head.

"I could say the same to you!" their navigator countered, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"I told Kuro that I wouldn't ruin his plans as long as he didn't drag me into it," Rosan began. "Unfortunately for him, Luffy is my captain and he already took a shine to Usopp so I was never not going to get dragged into it. Once Luffy said he would help, I went to go move Kaya to the ship and derailed everything."

What a conniving plan… He had set up Kuro from the start and the pirate was none the wiser until it was too late. That explained why the pirate had shown up in such a foul mood.

"I feel like there was an ulterior motive here…" Nami mused. Rosan wasn't the type to do something out of the goodness of his heart, her short time with him had made that clear to her.

Rosan hummed. "You're right, I did this so we could get money. Kaya is indebted to me and I'm sure we'll get rewarded for it."

Nami's eyes turned into stars and she crashed into Rosan. "You're the best big bro!" She cheered. Honestly, he was so smart and talented and she'd never doubt him again!

"One day, I'm going to get you the help you need, Nami," Rosan told their navigator, patting her shoulder in reassurance.

"We should get going now," Zoro said. They were in the restaurant that they first came to when docking on the island and they just finished eating the rest of their meal.

"Yeah!" Luffy agreed, patting his belly in satisfaction.

"Ah, there you guys are!" Kaya called, opening the door to the pub and entering after seeing her targets there.

"Hey, Miss," Luffy waved casually.

"Are you alright, being out of bed?" Nami questioned in concern.

Kaya nodded happily and explained to them that her sickness was due to her dismay at losing both parents and that due to Usopp, she was feeling better.

Then, the blonde girl nervously looked over at Rosan, who had opted to just observe the conversation, and bowed to him.

"Rosan-san, thank you very much for helping Merry and I… I know I caused you a lot of problems and I truly am sorry for that so to make it up to you… I've prepared some presents for you guys!"

Ah, she was still guilty about causing him to get struck... should he milk it?

"It all worked out in the end anyways so you don't have to be guilty anymore," Rosan shrugged.

No, he didn't care, he already won.

"A present?" Luffy asked in clear interest.

"Yes, please accept it!" Kaya smiled at the four and beckoned for them to follow her.

All four stared at their gift with various reactions.

"A caravel!" Nami gasped in awe at the sight before her. Luffy grinned in excitement at it and cheered at finally having a ship to call his own.

"Can we really have it?!" He asked.

"Yes, please use it!" Kaya nodded happily.

It was a caravel designed personally by Merry (who had not stopped thanking Rosan profusely for his work) which explained why it had a goat's head.

"A caravel, with lateen sails and a central stern rudder, I present to you, The Going Merry!"

Merry hopelessly tried to explain how to operate the ship to Luffy (Mod-chan had force fed him information ships when he was younger so he already knew) and Nami just told him to explain it to her.

As they did that, Kaya decided to speak to Rosan again.

"Your personal ship is really incredible… I was in awe just looking at it!" Kaya complimented with a fascinated look in her eyes. "I hope the Going Merry can live up to your expectations."

Rosan hummed and nodded in approval. "Thank you, this saves us a lot of trouble."

"I also left some essentials!" Kaya added hastily. "And some bonus funds too, as thanks for everything you did."

"I appreciate that, Kaya. Despite all the troubles you caused me, it all turned out fine in the end."

Kaya pouted at his snide words. "I said I was sorry about that! It was a stupid mistake, I know, but please stop bringing it up!"

The redhead snorted and pat her head. "I'm just teasing," Rosan replied calmly, ruining her hair on purpose.

She scowled and batted his hand away petulantly. "Has anyone ever told you how annoying you are?"

"I could give you three off the top of my head. Six on a good day."

Kaya groaned. Did he have a snarky reply for everything? He was just the worst!

Their conversation halted at the sight of a figure, with an insanely huge bag, rolling down the hill at worrying speeds.

"It's your boyfriend," Rosan pointed out, recognizing the idiotic figure of Usopp.

"P-PLEASE STOP TEASING ME!" Kaya stammered in embarrassment, face turning a similar shade of red as his hair. She always felt some type of embarrassment when speaking to the redhead and she hated how used to it she was getting.

"Teasing...? You two aren't dating? Color me surprised." The redhead tilted his head to the side at the revelation.

The girl just moaned in misery and hid her face behind her hands, not opting to answer.

He was just the worst. Was this her punishment for messing up? She didn't deserve this!

"Let's stop him before he crashes into the ship," Zoro said.

Luffy nodded in agreement.

The captain and swordsman both lifted up one foot to stop the approaching ball and Usopp ran into them face first with a loud smack.

"T-Thanks," Usopp groaned through their sandal and boot respectively.

Afterwards, the Straw Hats quickly got situated on their ship and Rosan made sure to give everyone their belongings from the White Rose, pocketing his silver ship afterwards (much to the open mouthed disbelief of everyone watching and his refusal to divulge any information).

The redhead watched Usopp and Kaya, from atop the new ship, talk about the boys desire to finally go out to sea. How the long nose didn't notice the rich girls resolve quickly fading, he didn't know but she looked like she desperately wanted him to stay.

"Did you get what you wanted from this?" Mod asked curiously.

"More or less. There's just one more thing to do but the bonus money should help us out for when Luffy eats all the food."

"You have absolutely no faith in him," she giggled.

"Where does he even put it away? Is it cause he's made of rubber?" Ram wondered in confusion. Father ate a lot too but he just burned that off or turned it into muscle!

Luffy, despite the hellish training Rosan put him through, was still pretty scrawny for his age! Sure he had a good amount of muscles because of the physical labor Rosan put him through but it seemed like the boy was just destined to be naturally slim.

It was one of the world's mysteries.

"When I come to visit this village again, I'll tell you about all my adventures and they'll sound like even bigger lies than the ones I already mentioned!" Usopp grinned.

Kaya grinned happily in return. "I look forward to it!"

The liar then looked towards the crew and said "You guys take care too! Let's meet again sometime!"

Luffy blinked in confusion. "How come?"

Usopp frowned at that response. He thought they had became friends over their adventure together... Was that only on his part?. "We're both gonna be pirates so we'll meet again on sea!"

"What're you talking about?" Zoro raised a brow like Usopp was stupid. "Get on already."

"Eh?" Usopp balked in confusion.

"We're friends now, aren't we?" Luffy asked as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Usopp looked at all of them in confusion before a look of joy came across his face and he jumped excitedly.

"I GET TO BE CAPTAIN, RIGHT?!"

"DON'T BE DUMB, I'M THE CAPTAIN!"

Their laughter rang through the skies as the ship set sail.

"MASTER!" A voice called, tackling Rosan, who didn't move an inch. He was far too used to this to be moved over, even with her monstrous strength.

"Maro, how have you been?" Rosan asked, patting the clingy queen on the head and squeezing her, much to the Dokkaebi's joy.

"I just got out of a meeting with Government officials and it was superrrr boring and I was like "Oh you just wait till I betray you guys" but they didn't know I was thinking that because I'm super good at infiltration missions. And and I left my tiara in my room just in case you visited me so that they couldn't see you!" The Queen of Celadon gushed.

The redhead nodded, understanding everything she said despite the fact that she barely took a breath and just continued to hug her, absentmindedly stroking her blue and white hair and getting her to purr in bliss. She buried herself deeper in his strong frame and grinned happily at that warmth she loved so much.

Maro had been making her way to her room to dress in something less professional and more movement free, when she saw Rosan laying half his body on her bed, eyes closed as he, probably, conversed with Mod and Ram. He hadn't visited since the day he and Luffy set sail so she was understandably excited to see him.

"So… how have you been?! You guys don't have bounties yet! What's the big idea?! Crew? Ship?! Tell me! Wait, lemme call Angel and Demon, they'll be super happy to see you!"

Rosan let Maro talk and call his twin siblings, content to let her run the conversation however long she wanted. She could go for days if she wanted too and it balanced out his mostly silent demeanor well.

She urged him to sit down and dashed off to go retrieve the two other rulers of Celadon. The queen came back in record time and Rosan quickly got back up, expecting to be tackled again.

"MASTER! I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" Angel beamed, tackling Rosan the exact same way Maro did and failing to move him just like her. He easily grabbed his younger sister and squeezed gently, practically repeating the same thing he had done to Maro, getting a happy coo out of her and achieving the same results. The female redhead snuggled him deeply and he nearly rolled his eyes at their antics.

"How are you?" Demon followed up, joining the group hug and gracefully accepting the head pat from his older brother with a pleased smile. "We're happy to see you!"

"How's the pirate life so far! I still can't believe we can call you a pirate now!" Angel asked curiously.

"Before I tell you guys about my journey so far, I need a favor from you, Maro," Rosan said calmly.

"You need a favor from me?!" Maro gaped at his statement, surprise clear on the beautiful queen's features. "Hell yeah! What is it?!"

"We recently got out of a fight with the Black Cat Pirates," Rosan told her. "One of their members had a very interesting ability and I want you to hide and house him on this island. I can modify his appearance if you'd like me to so that he's harder to recognize."

Her excitement dimmed a bit at that and Maro's eyes narrowed at that. "What ability could he have that would make you want to potentially jeopardize Celadon? He probably has a bounty, right? We'd have to disguise him and we might still be in danger."

Master or no, she wouldn't just accept a pirate on her island. Celadon were allies with the World Government right now so they couldn't do anything risky. Rosan knew that but still asked her so the pirate (he was from the East Blue after all) had to be good for something.

"It's best if I show you," the redhead replied. He was proud that Maro didn't just agree immediately. His student would normally do anything to please him but instead she showed her wariness and questioned him like a queen should.

Good. He didn't want her to say yes to everything solely because he was her master.

Rosan's eyes glowed and he reached into his Pocket Dimension (without going inside of it!), pulling out Jango and depositing the, still sleeping, man on the floor.

With a simple nudge, the hypnotist began to slowly wake up. The leaders watched the rather odd man wake up with curious eyes, wondering just what he had done to gain Rosan's attention (the poor soul).

"Warn a guy before you knock him out," Jango grumbled tiredly. He didn't expect to get kidnapped by the guy he had just agreed to join but then again, the redhead operated on his own time it seemed.

Any other words he was about to say, were cut off as he laid eyes on Angel. The redhead clone was looking at him with thinly veiled disgust but Jango didn't see that. He saw probably the most beautiful woman in his life and his heart thumped harshly against his chest.

Jango no longer had any doubts about joining Rosan if he got to look at such a beautiful woman like this.

Maro's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Master…" She warned in a low snarl. The queen was about to turn him into paste if he kept ogling Angel like that.

Demon laughed at her obvious annoyance and Angel looked at Maro in confusion, wondering what made her wife so upset all of a sudden.

The queen possessively grabbed Angel and dragged the woman closer to her frame, glaring at Jango warningly and getting a surprised yelp out of her wife, who eventually rolled her eyes and blushed.

"Jango, I'd like you to hypnotize me. Use the same words as last time," Rosan called out, snapping the dazed man out of his daydream. "You three, look away. Especially Maro."

He did not feel like dealing with an enraged Dokkaebi in her own castle. They'd have to spend the rest of the day repairing it and he didn't fancy doing that.

"R-Right!" He saluted, noticing the striking resemblance between him and the middle triplet.

"On "one, two, Jango," you'll grow stronger," Jango said, pulling out his pendulum and swinging it back and forth.

"Hypnotism?" Angel muttered curiously, looking away from the swinging chakram despite her burning curiosity.

"How interesting," Demon said. If it was enough to get Master's attention, then surely it actually worked and if it did... There was a lot they could do with that.

"Why did he warn me explicitly?" Maro grumbled in annoyance, crossing her arms under her bust with her eyes closed.

"One, two, Jango!"

The three residents of the castle opened their eyes and stared in curiosity, as a silence befell them all. Rosan's head was currently ducked and they had to wonder if it actually worke —

"Kahahahaha, two times in one day? Aren't I just the luckiest!" A deep laughter rang out, making them freeze.

No, it couldn't be… could it...?

Rosan's grinning visage greeted the stupefied leaders, tilting his head in amusement at their expressions. His eyes were glowing brilliantly and the madness behind them were plain as day, as he basked in their shocked gazes. He stepped closer to them all and bent over slightly, allowing them to take in all his handsome features.

"See that look on your faces?! I told you he had an interesting ability but you didn't trust your never wrong master!" The redhead cackled, sharp fangs on display. "When he hypnotizes me, my emotions are temporarily freed because apparently they're tied to my strength!"

Angel's jaw dropped as tears formed in her eyes. The redhead couldn't believe what she was seeing and she couldn't hold back a strangled sob, slamming into her older brother with such fervor that his eyes went a little wide, not expecting the strong physical affection.

That laughter, that grin, that glow! This was her Master! He was here right now looking at them and he was so beautiful and amazing and she was getting overwhelmed right now!

"Someone's happy to see me," Rosan hummed, recovering admirably and lifting his little sister with his hug. She squealed in surprise and fixed a teary glare at him for carrying her so suddenly. He smiled unapologetically and began to spin her, getting another squeal out of her and rapid slaps to his chest that didn't phase him at all.

Demon looked like he had seen a ghost, which was a fair assessment, considering that it had been 12 years since they saw Rosan act like this. The last time had been before... before everything went —

"Hey, you don't gotta cry, Demon," Rosan's voice came out tenderly, losing all the madness in it at seeing tears spring up in the youngest triplets eyes. Placing Angel down, he walked up to his younger brother and wrapped strong arms around him.

"I-I know, I'm just happy to see you like this," he choked, burying his face in the taller redhead's chest and soaking it all in.

"...I'll try to get back to this without any help, okay?" The scout assured, running a hand through Demon's smooth purple hair.

Angel let out a choked sob again and immediately joined the group hug. The oldest of the triplets hugged them both, soothing them with a fond grin on his face and bright eyes that shone with a love that they hadn't seen in a long time.

"W-Wow!" The queen gasped. "You're so expressive and so alive and so handsome when you're grinning! And you look completely insane and did I mention that you're so handsome right now?!"

Maro's eyes were bugged and the queen was completely floored. She had never seen the redhead act like this at all outside of his memories so this was a complete first for her that she greedily soaked in.

"So handsome? Are you stupid?! I'm always handsome my foolish little goblin!" Rosan mock gasped, freeing up a hand and pinching her cheek, getting an indignant whine out of her.

This was the Rosan that everyone had been so desperate to get back?! She could see why! He had done a complete 180 in personality and it was so... AWESOME! HE WAS SO COOL RIGHT NOW WITH HIS BRIGHT EYES AND HIS GRINNING FACE! It was so much better than his lifeless expression combined with that neutral face of his.

She... She wanted to see him like this permanently. Maro had only ever known no emotion Rosan but she'd love to get to know the one who did have emotion because he seemed like he was really fun to hang around.

She watched Angel and Demon cry on his chest and looked at the tenderness in his eyes and realized that they had been afraid for nothing. One night, Angel had confided in her one night about how the only reason they were alive was because Rosan had lost his emotions when he was about to dish out punishment on them and they never did know what exactly he planned on doing.

Because of his loss in anger, he never did punish them and they were sure that if he ever gained his emotions back, he'd fully hate them because at the end of the day, they were the ones left in charge with Meiko and Rosan had been put into an unfavorable position because of it.

It was her wife's biggest fear (one that Demon shared) and she had sobbed in the Dokkaebi's chest after revealing it.

"I... I don't want him to hate meee. I don't know what I'll do if he does, Maro! We look to him and he's done everything for us without asking for a single thing in return. He's our brother but he's also our creator and if he hates us, what's the point in even being alive?!" Angel sobbed and it caused Maro's own eyes to go wet because there was nothing she could do that could change her mind besides assuring her that there was more to live for. She didn't know how Rosan was with his emotions, she didn't know how he thought... she didn't know anything about him.

So all she could do was offer her presence to her emotional wife and her words.

She was so glad that there was no sign of animosity in the redhead's eyes. Just an insane glint that spoke of untold chaos when his emotions were fully unlocked.

He accepted all their affections with an easygoing grin on his face, laughing at the tears in their eyes and getting glares when he mocked it. "I'll tell you about my adventures while I'm like this! Then I gotta go back to the crew!"

The three nodded eagerly and Rosan told his former traveling companions about all the trips he had so far with the Straw Hats.

None of them could keep the smile or resolve off their face at seeing how much emotion he was displaying.

They swore that this would become permanent.

"You know, you disappear a lot," Nami pointed out to the redhead. He just appeared on the ship and they jumped in fright at the unexpected arrival, fixing the redhead with a hard glare that he seemingly didn't notice.

"Indeed I do. I can't help it. I've always been rather restless," Rosan agreed. It was a habit that had been around since he was four and when he had gained the ability to fly, things had only gotten worse.

Not even a lack of emotions inhibited his free spirit.

"You were missing last night too… What were you doing?" Zoro asked curiously.

"Last night…?" Rosan mused.

Last Night

"Greetings, Captain Kuro."

Kuro jumped at that voice and felt his vision go red at the familiarity of it.

"How did you get here? Why are you here?! Just stopping me wasn't enough so you wanted to rub salt into the wound as well?" The reinstated captain snarled. Because of this redhead right here, everything he had ever planned, had gone to waste and now he was back to being a miserable pirate.

"I'm not petty enough to do something like that," Rosan said blandly, knowing that he was petty enough to do that. "No, I'm here on much more serious business."

That's when Kuro smelt it and it caused him to tense up.

Blood.

"Ah, so you finally noticed."

Kuro got up and immediately reached for his claws. The redhead allowed him with just a tilted head and that dim gaze of his.

"I've killed your entire crew but you were planning on doing that anyways, right? It's just you and I and that's the way I prefer it." Rosan's voice was a near whisper as he spoke but Kuro heard him loud and clear.

"You see, I'm not quite like my crew members. I'm much more... hardened if you would," the redhead offered him. "I don't think just beating someone is enough. I think being more thorough is necessary for certain enemies and I decided that the moment we met, that I'd be killing you and that's what I'm here to do."

"But first, I wanted to reveal something to you."

Kuro glared at the man in hatred. No longer listening to the redhead, he activated his stealth foot and blurred —

Only to find a scythe embedded firmly in his belly. He gagged in disbelief and shakily looked down at the weapon, blood pouring from the wound and his mouth.

He didn't even see him move...? A scythe? Who would use such an odd weapon of choice—

"You're not as fast as you think you are, I thought Luffy made that clear."

A hooded figure in a black and white cloak stared at the man and a horrifying realization seeped into Kuro's bone, as two black feathery wings burst free from his back.

He took a step back in fear, not quite believing his eyes and his rage momentarily vanished, replaced by a cold feeling of doom. "Y-You… B-But that's IMPOSSIBLE!" Kuro bellowed, refusing to believe it for even a second. This couldn't be happening... this couldn't be happening!

They had gone missing for over 10 years! No one had seen or heard tale of them so what were they doing on some unassuming pirate crew, sabotaging his fucking plans?!

"Things are only seen as impossible to people who refuse to open their eyes," Reaper admonished quietly, floating upwards and causing the scythe to begin angling awkwardly inside of him.

The pirate was unable to hold back his groan of pain at getting the blade shifted inside of him and he desperately tried to remove the source of agony.

"You wanted to know why I was able to identify you so easily, right? Well that's because bounty hunting was a bit of a hobby of mine in the past."

Kuro stared at the Angel of Death with disbelief. You were telling him… that his plan had gotten foiled by the Shinigami who was worth 500 million beri? That… That was BULLSHIT! HOW COULD ANYONE HAVE EXPECTED THIS TO HAPPEN? REAPER SHOULDN'T EVEN BE IN THE EAST BLUE?! WHAT WAS HE DOING HERE?!

"Do you still think you're stronger than me? I wasn't dodging your attacks as defense, I was dodging them because my Captain had dibs," the Shinigami intoned coldly.

"Now, you get to see what it's like when I'm on the offensive."

Kuro staggered, as the scythe was ripped from his belly and he quickly activated his stealth foot to try and get to a place with some more space.

His personal quarters were far too cramped for him to run freely.

The moment his feet landed on the deck, a kick planted itself on his back and he was rocketed into a wall, embedding his body into it.

Reaper floated high above him, gazing down at him with his head tilted. It was impossible to see underneath that black hoodie and despite watching his wings flap, they made no noise.

"You realize that this benefits me more than you, right?" The black clad figure asked and as if to prove his point, he vanished from his spot, cut into Kuro's belly and flew out of sight into the night sky.

Kuro was a sitting duck like this. He looked around and saw the corpses of his crew lying around and realized that this was the only reason they had been allowed to escape that wretched island.

So that no one could see what was going to happen to them.

Rosan didn't need his crew to see just how operated yet after all.

He mercifully landed on the deck and curled his wings back up, spinning his black and purple scythe in an impressive display. "Come. Dance for me. You seemed to relish in ruining my shirt earlier, so I will give you a performance worth remembering, not that you'll like it very much."

Kuro's confidence had practically vanished at the knowledge that he was dealing with the Angel of Death of all people. This was someone with the highest starting bounty ever (and he had gotten it in the blue seas!). A person who cleaned up bounties in all corners of the seas with an ease. Kuro would have done everything in his power to avoid him 10 years ago and now they were likely even more experienced with age?

To know that the Shinigami had likely been a child this entire time and was now an adult? Did he... Could he do anything to this demon?

Rosan fully capitalized on that doubt.

The Black Cat Captain was forced to dodge a swing of the massive black and purple scythe and tried to retaliate with a kick, but quickly withdrew it due to the speed that Reaper recalled their weapon, threatening to skewer them in the process.

He leapt to the left to dodge another swipe and grunted as a hand gripped his suit and threw him into a wall with brutal strength. It shuddered and cracked at the force of the blow and his back was almost certainly purple from all the bruising he was currently receiving.

Kuro only had a moment to duck as the scythe crumbled the wall behind him with a slash and he groaned at the exertion he was putting on his own injured body.

If that connected... what condition would he be in?! He wasn't keen on finding out.

This was impossible. Not only did he have a giant cut on his belly, Reaper wasn't even giving him an option to attack right now. It was almost permanently the Shinigami's turn and it was getting increasingly more difficult to maneuver.

He was completely on the defensive and it was eerily reminiscent of their first fight, only the tables had turned completely.

Rosan was relentlessly attacking Kuro, he tried to dodge everything, but it wasn't working out too well. His body was littered in wounds due to his unending aggression and the man was getting more and more desperate, doing anything to avoid getting hit by that deadly scythe.

The retired Shinigami blocked a wild and desperate swing of his claws and Kuro used that momentary reprieve to leap far away from him. Reaper allowed it to happen and began idly spinning Ram as the Black Cat pirate began swaying back and forth.

"Out of the Bag Attack," he snarled, vanishing from sight and marking everything around him randomly, excluding Rosan.

So this was the technique he was about to do before Luffy stopped him...

"You waste a lot of movement," Rosan advised idly, spinning his scythe even faster.

...How disappointing.

The scout stopped spinning his weapon, gripped the scythe, twisted his entire body to a seemingly random direction, dashed in said direction and slammed his weapon of choice down with ruthless force at what appeared to be nothing —

Kuro let out a howl of agony due to the fact that he had just gotten his leg severed cleanly from his body. The former butler collapsed on the floor and began tumbling from the momentum he had built up, before crashing unceremoniously into the railing of his ship.

The Angel of Death began floating idly, moving closer to the disable pirate at a measured, slow, pace. It was as if he was taking a leisure walk through the park with how lax he was taking the situation and it let Kuro know that from the very beginning, since he was recognized, his death had been signed.

"Do you know why I showed you that I was Reaper?" Rosan asked him suddenly, not even remotely bothered by the screeching. "So that even if you did manage to show me something interesting, I'd still kill you."

"Nobody can know I'm Reaper after all. I'm sure you understand, right? Nobody could know you were Captain Kuro, right?"

Kuro groaned in anguish, clutching the stump in terror and trying to gather what little bearings he had left. This wasn't supposed to be like this. It wasn't possible to account for a monster spontaneously appearing, a wolf in sheep's clothing, surrounding himself with actual sheeps who were carefree and naive while he was merciless and cruel.

The Straw Hats were more dangerous then they realized. They had a demon lurking in their midst, doing all the dirty work that they wouldn't do and ensuring that all threats were thoroughly dealt with while they continued to sail through their journey.

Rosan hummed and landed directly in front of the bleeding man. "I never understood sparing enemies. What's stopping you from just attacking Usopp's island again? It's not like we're permanent residents there. If you attacked them again, no one would be able to stop you this time and Kaya-san would almost certainly die. I'm honestly surprised you haven't thought of doing it yet. So, I'll deal with you here and now before you can," he whispered.

"That, and you did damage my shirt. I quite like that shirt and you got blood all over it. Repairing it was easy but cleaning it? That's a whole different story."

He was completely insane. Kuro was dealing with an actual sociopath in the flesh. One with no morals and no qualms of doing such evil acts. No matter what Kuro did, this redhead would have made sure he failed.

He never stood a chance and his death was assured the moment this redhead had landed on their island.

Lady luck decided to have the two meet and lady luck decided to have him killed.

Rosan brandished Ram and aimed it towards the mortally wounded butler, propping his chin up with the blade of the scythe before aiming it high.

"Goodbye, Captain Kuro. It was a pleasure meeting you."

Kuro stared at him in a moment of true terror and screamed, as Reaper swung down his scythe.

Flashback End

"…" Rosan hummed at the two watching him curiously and shrugged.

"I was just dealing with something unimportant. It was nothing serious."

Bonus

"Alright, so where should I start?" Rosan asked curiously, eyes gleaming at the looks of anticipation in the trio's eyes.

"Everything!" Angel demanded, while Demon and Maro nodded eagerly.

They had long sent Jango off to his living quarters with advice to change up how he looked and now the rulers of Celadon were surrounding their former leader, getting as close to him as possible and claiming a part of his body as their own to touch.

"Sure sure," he said, holding out his hand and allowing the ring to transform into Ram's human form. She beamed in happiness and crashed into her emotional father with gusto, nuzzling his cheek in the process and getting an amused snort out of him.

"Are my emotions really such a novelty?" Rosan mused, allowing the ring to plop herself in his lap in content.

Ram looked back and raised a disbelieving brow. "Of course, Father! I've never seen you like this before and so, I'm gonna soak it all in," she declared, drinking in his smirking visage with greedy eyes.

Rosan for his part, peacefully allowed them all to stare at him. He had been missing his emotions for a pretty long time, so even a glimpse would be accepted greedily by them. Everyone liked to stare at him anyways so he was used to all the eyes.

But damn, Ram seriously looked way too much like Meiko. It was actually getting kinda hard to look at her right now but he wouldn't say that out loud.

"I missed this so much and I'm sad that it's temporary but we'll make it permanent," Mod said softly. It was still so surreal to see and even if she was over the moon, she had to remind herself that this was only temporary and it was only a glimpse. This was not the full scope of his emotions. They had no idea what the full scope of his emotions would be like so they needed to be prepared.

"We'll do it because we love seeing him like this!" Maro beamed and the others nodded rapidly.

"What? You hate me otherwise?" Rosan asked, expression shifting into one of hurt. "Have you guys really hated me for 12 years...? That... That kinda sucks..."

Watching those shining eyes shift into one of pure hurt and his voice get low, affected them more than they'd like to admit and they frantically sought to reassure him otherwise.

"Of course not, Father!" Ram said, eyes wide and guilty. "I-I'll love you no matter what! Always! Forever! Even if you threw me away, I'd still love you!"

Maro nodded hastily in agreement. "I say I love you all the time and no emotion you, is the only one I know so I can't be lying! I just was really happy to see this version of you so I said that without thinking!"

Angel and Demon said nothing, nervously averting their gaze from the redhead.

Their gaze snapped up however, at the amused snort that came out of their former leader.

"Pfft, I was just kidding," Rosan cackled. "You guys were sweating super hard just now, huh?"

He was just kidding? W-What was wrong with him! He was such a good actor for someone who had their emotions locked for 12 goddamn years!

Maro's mouth opened and closed helplessly, before the queen crossed her arms. "You're a dick," she grumbled.

"You had me scared for nothing," Angel scowled, glaring at the smirking visage of her older brother. He looked so infuriatingly smug right now that she wanted to wipe it off his face. Preferably with her fist.

Demon let out a sigh of relief before lightheartedly glaring at his brother as well.

Ram began complaining and shaking him, fear gone in favor of a indignant pout.

"My bad, my bad," Rosan apologized insincerely, getting tick marks out of all of them. "Alright, I'll tell you guys about my journey so far."

They perked up at that and all sat on Maro and Angel's bed. Ram wasn't planning on really listening but she wanted to look at Rosan's face more which was why she sat directly on him.

The redhead idly stroked the silver hair of his weapon as he contemplated where to start. Silver was actually a pretty good color... he should consider adding some to his wardrobe. His weapon would surely appreciate that.

"Right now, we have 3 members in our crew," Rosan began. "There's Roronoa Zoro, our swordsman, Nami, our navigator and Usopp, our... liar?"

He shrugged. "Our journey started off pretty fun! Luffy and I immediately ran into a whirlpool and after I made him get into a barrel, I punted it into the sea."

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Angel roared in disbelief, interrupting him immediately.

What the hell did he just say?! He did what exactly to the youngest in their family?!

"Threw him into the whirlpool," Rosan replied, nonplussed by her reaction. "He was asking for it for putting the both of us on that shitty raft. Seriously, what was he thinking?!"

Maro spluttered at his look of annoyance. There was no way Master was the one offended right now. "But we have Devil Fruits! You can't just toss him into the ocean like that, much less a whirlpool!"

The redhead laughed. "Eh, I modified his barrel and he survived so it all worked out. Oh! We landed on an island full of pirates right and we found one named Alvida," he began.

Ram immediately gagged and even Mod let out a noise of displeasure, making the three raise their brows in confusion.

"Wait... you mean Iron Mace Alvida?" Maro gaped. "That massive lady in the East Blue?! D-Don't tell me she —"

"Yep," Rosan said, nodding his head with regret. "She tried to make a move on me! C'mon I get that I'm hot and pretty compliant so if you ask me somethin I'll likely say yes but even I have my limits!"

"What does she look like?" Angel asked with narrowed eyes, sisterly urges already acting up and a snarl making its way onto her lips.

The scout of the Straw Hats held out his hand and they let out noises of awe as a hologram began emitting from it (Could he always do this?!). The figure began morphing and eventually, that noise of awe, turned into one of rage from Angel.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!" She roared, looking at the hologram of Alvida in rage. "HER? SHE THOUGHT SHE HAD A CHANCE WITH YOU?! NEVER IN A MILLION FUCKING YEARS WOULD I LET ANYONE OF MY BROTHERS EVEN CONSIDER IT!"

"I thought the exact same thing!" Mod joined, fury on the woman's face as she crossed her arms and nodded rapidly. She knew Angel would react just the same way!

"THANK KAMI FOR MASTER MOD, WHAT IF SHE TOOK ADVANTAGE OF YOU! AGHH CAN'T YOU JUST MODIFY YOURSELF TO BE A TAD BIT UGLIER?!"

"I ASKED HIM THE SAME THING BUT HE WAS ALL "No Mod-chan, I don't like to permanently alter my physical appearance." AND I NEARLY DID IT MYSELF!"

"That was good," Rosan praised, clapping at her perfect imitation of him. She even had the voice crack added from when he was younger.

"Thank you, Rosan," Mod smiled brightly, before it immediately shifted back into rage. "THE AUDACITY OF SOME PEOPLE! ROSAN IS SO LUCKY HE HAS ME TO WATCH OVER HIM!"

Angel nodded furiously. "If I ever get my hands on that sack of shit, she's dead."

"I knew you were the one who taught Ram to say that!" Rosan cackled.

"Ram's my little tall gumdrop and it's my job to make sure she's a proper woman," Angel said dismissively, getting a beaming grin out of her nice. "PLEASE TELL ME YOU GOT TO PUNISH THAT DAMN PIRATE!"

Mod confirmed it with a noise and the two began ranting again.

Demon and Maro watched with a sweatdrop as the two founders of "Protect Rosan's Chastity", raged to each other, while Rosan added commentary that they only briefly acknowledged.

Rosan's eyes shone with mirth as they talked about her idiocy and he said, "Now now, as much as I love hearing compliments about myself. I should probably continue!"

Angel and Mod reluctantly stopped ranting to each other so that they could listen to the amused man. They'd get back to it another time and the redhead would need to add some more rules to their already long list of Rosan's protection.

"Mod-chan had me knock her out and I punted her across the island so you don't gotta be so upset," Rosan assured. "Afterwards, we went to go recruit Roronoa Zoro. He's a bounty hunter who's nowhere near as cool as Reaper but pretty good. He was making a bet with the corrupt Marines there that they never planned on upholding."

"Corrupt Marines?" Demon asked with a raised brow.

"What a surprise," Maro said sarcastically, rolling her eyes at that.

"Mhm. Their Captain, Morgan was slinging his authority around with a vengeance. You had to practically worship him and he didn't tolerate any sort of slander," Rosan sighed. "I don't get how he could act like that. He was so fucking weak it was hilarious. I ended up crushing his spine after Luffy beat his ass and he got arrested soon after."

They snorted at hearing about how he jumped out of the top of the building to do so and shook their head at his antics.

Robbing a Marine Base for all they had? That sounded just like him.

"Then one day, Luffy ended up getting snatched away by a bird while I was cleaning up his mess in the kitchen and it brought us to this island taken over by Buggy the Clown."

"A clown?" Angel shuddered. She hated clowns with a passion. They looked so dumb and stupid.

"I always wanted to meet a clown!" Maro beamed. She loved clowns! They were so goofy and funny!

Rosan snorted. "Buggy was a dumbass. He was insecure about his nose, but dressed up like a clown and he ate a Devil Fruit in the stupidest way too! I thought the way I ate mine was bad but nope, his was way worse!"

Listening to him explain that the clown had accidentally swallowed it in fear after trying to hide it of all things... The three had to agree.

"We met our navigator there too..." Rosan gripped his chin and hummed. "She hates pirates, which makes me think she's gonna jump ship. She's warming up to us super quick but there's something holding her back and I don't know what is it. I'll be keeping an eye on her just in case but Luffy is already set on having her be our navigator and her skills are some of the best I've seen," he admitted.

"Someone who's skills you are impressed with? She sounds like a keeper," Demon pointed out, getting a short nod out of the redhead.

"After our fight with Buggy, we went to the island where I got Jango from," Rosan continued, grinning in a cunning manner. "There was a supposedly dead pirate there posing as a butler named Kuro and I confronted him."

"Oh?" Maro leaned forward in anticipation.

"Yeah, he was taken really off guard by the fact that I could tell who he was! I told him that I wouldn't interfere in his plans as long as he didn't drag me into them but I tricked him," Rosan cackled, eyes shining in amusement. "Genius my ass. I foiled his plans instantly and sent him into a rage that you could frame!"

Maro joined his cackling with clear amusement in her eyes. It was always so fun to mess with targets! Watching them reach their limits, never failed to fill her with a sadistic glee that she shamelessly picked up from her Master.

Rosan explained what the man's plan was, to use Jango to hypnotize Kaya and give her inheritance over to Kuro, and how they had to stop that from happening.

"That little dumbass nearly ruined my perfect plan," Rosan complained with an annoyed sigh. "Who the fuck just decides to deliver themselves into the enemy's' arms? I never contemplated killing a civilian more than I did her but it worked out."

"What happened to Kuro?" Maro asked curiously. "Was Jango really the only interesting one in the crew?"

"Yeah. His abilities had nothing to do with combat strength unlike the others and the others were weak including Kuro himself," Rosan sighed. "I wanted to send more minions to my cute little student but alas, I had to kill them all."

"You're scary," Angel said flatly, shuddering a bit at his casualness.

"You're planning on sending more people my way?!" Maro gaped, flushing happily at being called cute. "Don't you think you should discuss this with me a bit?!"

"Nah, I'd rather not," Rosan replied cheekily, idly tugging one of Ram's twintails and getting a whine of annoyance out of her. She smacked his hand away and glared at his unapologetic glance, before shuffling away so that the more awesome Demon could attend to her better.

The purple haired doctor simply smiled and accepted her hug kindly, getting her to purr as he pat her head.

Maro gained a tick mark at that and immediately crashed into Rosan in annoyance, knocking him over slightly and putting her right over him. "Stupid Master and your stupid tendencies! Don't be such an ass!"

She tried hard to throttle the redhead and this close to him, she saw Rosan's amused gaze turn downright sinister a smirk making its way on his face that no one but her saw.

The queen let out a tiny "oomph" at the fact that Rosan just nudged her arm out of place and ruined her balance, crashing her body fully into his own and getting a noise of protest out of the redhead when his arms "unintentionally" wrapped around her waist.

What the hell was he doing—

"Maro what the hell are you doing?!" Rosan barked, much to her surprise. "I told you when you were drunk that we can't do this! What would Angel think?! She's right there you know!" He chided.

Maro went white and realized just how they looked right now.

Oh that son of a bitch (that worked because she did hate Raisa!).

By pushing her out of balance, Rosan and Maro ended up in quite the compromising position and combined with his words, it painted a very, very bad image for her. A very bad image to her possessive wife that almost always listened to what her older brother had to say.

Angel's amused gaze shifted into something much more dangerous and Maro sent up a prayer to any actual Angel listening to her.

"Prayer not accepted," Rosan, the Angel of Death, whispered cheekily.

"Maro," Angel said calmly. "I can understand your attraction to Master. Everyone's attracted to Master and he looks just like me. But what exactly do you think you're doing?" She hissed.

The queen hastily pushed herself off of an embarrassed Rosan (he was such a fucking dick), turning towards her wife with wide, nervous eyes and said, "It's not what you think! Master set me up!"

Shit... did she actually try that when she was drunk? Maro was a super lightweight so she couldn't tell you but maybe she got Master and Angel confused? They were both super hot and she didn't discriminate so maybe...?

Angel pursed her lips. "Come with me, we need to talk about your drunk behavior."

With that, the middle triplet turned on a heel and marched out of the room.

Rosan and Ram could no longer hold it in and began laughing in unison.

"Kahahahaha! You're just way too easy, Maro!" Rosan cackled. There was no remorse whatsoever in his gaze for setting the queen up so ruthlessly and never in her life did she contemplate murdering her teacher until now.

"Serves you right for being a shameless pervert! Maybe now you'll stop ogling me and Auntie's boobs and ass !" Ram joined, high fiving her Father with a large grin.

Maro closed her mouth and turned towards the duo with fury in her eyes. "Y-You two... Kami I hate you both so much. Mod-chan please get rid of the hypnosis!"

"I'll apologize for the both of them," Mod sighed in sympathy. "Rosan you shouldn't set Maro up like that!"

"She made it too easy, jumping on me like that. I had to take the opportunity," Rosan shrugged. "You should go quick before you get kicked out of the room tonight. You were rubbing your huge boobs all on me and Angel is super possessive so she definitely noticed," he advised, smirking insufferably.

"Don't call my boobs huge, you asshole! I'm seriously pissed at you, Master!" Maro barked, stomping off to go explain that Rosan was a menace and that Angel was the only one who she had eyes for and praying that she didn't get to sleep on the couch tonight after such a boring meeting with government officials.

Demon watched it all with a sweatdrop. Poor Maro, she was probably in trouble for something that Master set up.

"When you get a girlfriend Demon, I'm gonna embarrass you too. I hope you know that," Rosan warned him, smirking psychotically.

"First Angel, now you? There's a reason I choose to stay single," Demon sighed sadly. He couldn't put his significant other through the trial of visiting his family. She'd lose her mind in the process and it would be his fault.

His entire family was just too crazy.

I actually really liked writing this chapter. Having Rosan recognize Kuro set up so many interesting things and allowed me much more freedom to change things around! Hope you all enjoyed the chapter and the glimpse of Rosan's emotions!

Just to be clear, not all of his emotions were released. Rosan has a lot of other emotions and if they do ever come out in full, happiness will be the last thing on his mind. I wasn't too sure if about doing it, but I figured showing some of how he would act would be nice so I did! Hope you enjoyed the bonus showing how he is outside of battle too.

OH! I also made an oops and realized that the Blue Seas refers to the regular ocean, including, the Grand Line. This whole time I was only using it to describe the four directional seas and I called the Grand Line something else so for the sake of consistency, I'll continue to do it like that.

That's all and here's the next title.

Chapter 26: The Best Meal