The rest of the Spade Pirates watched in fascination as the duo packed away plate after plate of the ungodly spicy pasta. Banshee had been ordered back into the kitchen to make more for them to continue eating. They were used to Ace's seemingly bottomless stomach, but they had never seen a girl packing away food like Rina was. The girl either had no shame or this was just normal to her, and if this behaviour was her normal eating habits what the hell would happen if she ever missed a meal?

Deuce, a tall, slender man with blue hair and a masquerade mask over his face was scrawling away in his diary, occasionally taking in the sight of the two locked in a battle of appetites. Skull was staring slack jawed and speechless at the sight before him. What was shocking him the most was that he could have easily wrapped his hands around Rina's waist, she was that tiny! Where was all of this food going?

Mihar who was usually deep in a book within his cabin was currently engrossed in the scene before him. If the two weren't eating they were chugging back beer in between their plates. The group of men screamed when Ace's eyes closed and his face headed on a collision course with a plate full of spicy pasta. They were surprised however when he didn't face plant into the ghost pepper saturated noodles, but instead on the table itself, the plate safely out of range of his head. Rina sat next to him, observing his respiration and moved to grab his wrist to check for a pulse when she heard it. Soft snoring, coming from the young man who had nearly face planted a plateful of food. He'd fallen asleep. She'd heard of this before but she'd never witnessed an episode.

the crew erupted in unison, "HE'S ASLEEP?!"

"It would seem so," Rina agreed as she shifted behind him. Skull and moved to help her but was stunned when the petite girl slung one of Ace's arms over her shoulders and stood up with him, carrying his weight at her side. She headed towards the Captain's Cabin and requested, "Someone get the door?"

Mihar readily opened the door for her and slung Ace's other arm up over his neck, taking some of the weight on himself. Rina shot him an annoyed look but it was brief as she quickly realized that this man was as concerned about this episode as she was. She reached up and removed the hat from Ace's head.

The taller brunet man helped her get Ace into bed and she sat by the side of the bed to wait for him to wake up. Mihar hesitated for a moment before leaving her in the Captain's quarters. She sat back looking at the bare walls of the cabin, and observing it. Didn't notice anything that seemed like a personal item of any kind, beyond the hat he always wore. After a few more minutes Ace sat up in bed, his eyes seemingly still heavy as he glanced around, then spotted the silvery blonde sitting next to his bed. She turned to face him and asked, "You're awake, huh? Hmm. I've heard of Narcolepsy but I've never seen it before."

She was met with this by him nearly falling out of bed, head first. She instantly grasped his shoulders, and pushed him back into bed. Rina placed two fingers at the side of his neck, midway between his shoulder and his earlobe. She counted the pulsations for a few seconds before placing her hand over his chest and counting how many times his chest rose and fell. His vitals were normal, this was another Narcoleptic episode. It certainly didn't seem to be related to any tachycardia or anything else. This spell seemed to be shorter than the last as he soon stirred and sat up, holding his head. He looked to her and gave a small sigh as he stated, "you saw that."

Rina nodded her head and inquired, "how long have they been happening?"

"About two years, I guess," he admitted.

"That fits the criteria," she mused. Ace looked at her with a slightly shocked expression on his face. She gave a small smile as she revealed, "it's called Narcolepsy. Basically, your brain doesn't produce enough hypocretin, which regulates sleep. All I can really suggest is keep coffee and water on hand for when you start feeling sleepy in public, and if you do need to sleep while you're on the ship, lay down for a bit. I'll do a bit of searching see if I can find a better treatment plan but for now, that's my recommendation."

"Drink water and coffee huh? Damn it, coffee's gross," he complained.

"It isn't so bad with milk and sugar. Takes the bitter edge off," Rina hinted. Ace gave a sigh and ran his hands through his hair before posing, "I don't suppose you have any embarrassing conditions you'd share with me?"

"That would be unprofessional," Rina pointed out. He nodded at this statement. He'd been a fool to ask anyway. Why on earth would she? They'd only met less than a week ago. Unbeknownst to him the young woman was observing his body language and took in the obvious signs of embarrassment and distress before disclosing, "every month I'm in so much pain that I contemplate performing surgery to remove the offending organ myself. I'm almost certain that doing so would actually hurt less than the pain I experience. Willow bark tea is the only thing that helps if I drink it as soon as the pain starts—and if I don't , well the pain enough to make me vomit—and it'll just keep happening until the root cause is over."

Ace's eyebrow was twitching, "what the hell? Do all women go through that? How do any of us even exist?"

He was surprised to hear her giggling at his questions. Her hand brought up to cover her mouth while her shoulders lightly trembled from laughter. When she had calmed down Rina looked to him and answered, "No. Not all women. I'm just one of the unlucky few who do."

He rubbed the back of his neck and asked, "but you have some willow bark right?"

"Oh I never travel without it," she agreed. Silence fell over them for a while the two just being in the same room as someone else. For Rina it was a huge change. She hadn't been in the presence of another person for quite some time, almost a year if she was counting properly. She then looked to Ace and asked, "So where are we heading anyway?"

"We're going to the Grand Line," was his absent minded response. He felt her gaze on him and looked to her. Seeing her perplexed expression he chuckled and observed, "you really are more of a nerd than an adventurer, huh?"

"Actually I'm pretty far from home," she admitted. Ace glanced out of the window and laid back on the bed, his arms behind his head. He wouldn't have guessed she was from some far off land.

'Not that he'd ever believe how far away I am from home—or even what I really am. It's best to keep my cover as long as possible. I can't let any of this crew see me using Kaido—not without replacing their memory,' Rina thought to herself.