~2 Years Ago~
Luffy looked through the window on the right side of her room, eyeing the birds that flew by, before looking down at her hands and smiling when she could finally use one of her devil fruit properly and much better than she did months before the experimentation. She then looked at the corner of the room and snapped her fingers slightly, smiling at what she saw before pausing and glancing at the door, immediately halting everything that hinted that she was using her fruit.
Just in time as well, for the door opened and then entered four people, the Fleet Admiral, her Sensei, Tsuru, and… her grandfather, whom she avoided at all cause the moment she woke up, yet it didn't seem to deter the Vice-Admiral at all as he always tried to gain her attention the moment she woke up. When the door closed, Tsuru immediately approached the chair beside Luffy, knowing the young girl was much more comfortable with her than her Grandfather and Sengoku. Aotori followed after the female Vice-Admiral, the other person the young girl was comfortable with aside from her.
Sengoku eyed the young girl, dull brown eyes meeting his own eyes, before looking at her body, her forehead, and arms wrapped in bandages, and while her hands didn't have any wounds, band-aids, or scars, her nails were all broken. Her face was gaunt, skin so pale as if she didn't spend time under the sun, despite seeing her being escorted in and out of the base. Her lips are cracked despite getting hydrated and eating hospital foods when she woke up two days ago.
Aside from that, the other noticeable appearance that changed was her hair; where she used to have pure black hair with a few silver-white strands, she now has many more of those highlights though it's not to the point where you can say she dyed her hair white. It also didn't go all the way to the roots of her hair, merely starting at the middle and then ending at the tip. Internally shaking his head, the Fleet Admiral went closer to the bed, though when Luffy began to tense up, he stopped, especially when Tsuru went and glared at him, nearly growling.
It's been like that with the bearer of Clean Justice; ever since she found out that Sengoku allowed Luffy to be taken to the cabin, she became like some sort of a mama bear towards the young girl, glaring and/or growling at him, no matter how many time he explained how he didn't know what was done to the young teenager, only that it was supposed to be training for her. Garp also received the same treatment as him, though for different reasons.
"Luffy…" Garp started, a step behind his Superior as that was the distance his granddaughter and Tsuru had allowed. But she wouldn't look at him no matter how often he tried to get her attention. And they don't blame her; after all, he demanded Luffy be a Marine for the past months, not knowing what his Granddaughter was experiencing under the hand of the organization he insisted on her joining. Tsuru glared at her fellow Vice-Admiral before looking gently at the young girl who was looking at them without any emotion, something that pained her and Aokiji as they were so used to her laughing and playing pranks on the recruits whenever Akainu or her Grandfather wasn't around. The Great Staff Officer reached out her hand and tried to touch the slightly bony hands of the young girl, but before she could touch the hand, Luffy flinched away from her.
Tsuru and Aokiji's hearts broke, watching how the young girl gingerly moved her hand away from the older woman and hunched her back, not minding the wounds her body had, eyeing them somewhat warily. Tsuru sighed internally, knowing that the trust she made with the young Monkey was all flushed down the toilet, and they were back to zero. It goes the same with Aokiji as he can also see how his student was looking at him, making him want to kill the people who hurt his student… speaking of...
"Luffy…" Aokiji called out softly, making her look at him from the corner of her eyes, but she did nothing more to acknowledge him. The Admiral wasn't bothered by this; instead, he tried to smile, only to fall from his face when the young raven-haired girl's eyes narrowed, but the Hie Hie no Mi continued. "What was that place?"
"..." Luffy eyed him before looking at Tsuru, then glanced at the Fleet Admiral and her Grandfather before looking back at the bed she was lying at, muttering. "... A Nightmare…"
"How did you escape?" Sengoku asked, ignoring the glare Tsuru gave him. "We couldn't find anybody inside the building, and everything was burned to ashes."
Luffy didn't bother to look at him, merely shaking her head gently. "I didn't even know how I'm here…" She said softly, lifting her head, and looked at the window over Aokiji's shoulder. "Normally, when I left the place… I'm being dragged away from it."
"Luffy…" Tsuru whispered and tried to gain her attention, but she didn't look at her. "...We know they were experimenting on you… but we want to know if they were experimenting with other people and what they plan to gain with their experimentations."
Luffy shakes her head at that. "It was only me… they only focus on me…everything was for me… " The young girl began to mutter words that worried everyone, excluding Sengoku. Slowly, Luffy began to sway, and then she tilted to the side, nearly falling over from the bed, but was saved by Aokiji, who grabbed her shoulder. However, the reaction they received wasn't what they expected because the moment Aokiji touched her, the young girl screamed, making them flinch back.
They all covered their ears as Luffy screamed, and the machines monitoring her health began to run and make loud beeping noises. The door was immediately slammed open, and multiple nurses and doctors began to run toward the hysterical girl, who paused after hearing the door open but went back to screaming when she saw them running toward her.
"Stop!" Aokiji shouted when he realized that Luffy was having a panic attack and that having doctors heading toward her was making it worse. But his warning was too late as Luffy's fruit activated itself, unknowingly releasing a hint of haki, knocking out the doctors and nurse. At the same time, the Marine Officers staggered, watching as Luffy enclosed herself in a ball of flames, and they could only assume that they staggered because of her fruit as they slowly felt their breath running out as the flame grew.
"Luffy!" Garp shouted as he struggled to remain standing, but suddenly everything went silent. Luffy stopped screaming, unconscious, while the flames dispersed. They waited with bated breath wondering what just happened, but when the patient did nothing but sleep, they slowly relaxed and tried to get closer to Luffy, only to stop when something sparked in the ground. The Marine Hero ignored the spark and tried to get closer to his grandfather, only to get electrocuted, which made him grunt in pain and stumble back.
Aokiji, Sengoku, and Tsuru watched with wide eyes as the floor on Luffy's bed got covered with lightning, and spread out into a huge circle, stopping a few steps away from the marines and the bodies of fallen doctors and nurses. When it did nothing but stay, only attacking or electrocuting them whenever they tried to get closer to Luffy, they could only assume it was protecting her.
"That's weird," Aokiji muttered, eyes narrowing. "Luffy's fruit doesn't have any lightning attributes to them."
"..." Tsuru glanced at him before looking back at Luffy with narrowed eyes, dread filling all of them as they assumed the experimentation to Luffy. "They added a lightning attribute to her devil fruit."
~Two days later~
Luffy eyed the Fleet Admiral standing a couple of meters away from her, loving how her devil fruits protected her and keeping them at a distance, then at the den-den mushi lying on his palm. It had taken the appearance of the first Elder, and seeing that face made Luffy growl inwardly, though she was merely looking at them emotionlessly.
"Well? Have you decided whether to be a marine or not?" The snail asked, but the young girl kept quiet, thinking about the question… well… she didn't have to think about her decision. If she said no, they would kill or imprison her because she was a threat. Aside from her and the dead doctors, the Gorosei knew what was done to her; after all, they were the ones who gave the orders, and then there's Sengoku, who would report everything to them, especially with her having a lightning attribute.
And with that knowledge, they wouldn't let her go; she was the first person in history to have consumed two devil fruit, despite one of them being an artificial fruit, the rarest gem in their eyes. Even if she manages to escape, it'll be pointless as they will hunt her and kill everyone who will help her without mercy. Then there's the fact that they would go after her brothers, imprisoning them instead so that she'll do their bidding, and that is something that she doesn't want her brothers to experience. But if she stayed… then her dream… her promise… her freedom…
Sengoku watched the warm brown eyes turn dull and couldn't help but feel terrible, glancing at the snail and then at the girl, who looked at the snail rather blankly and then slowly opened her mouth.
~An hour later~
Sengoku eyed the girl, who was staring at the sea through her window, before looking over his shoulder when he heard the door open and saw that it was Aokiji who entered, which made him sigh when said Admiral glared at him, despite being lazy about it before going further inside the room, stoop beside him and an arm away from him.
"... What did they do to my student?" Aokiji asked, especially when said the student didn't move her gaze from the window.
"... The information I'm going to share is sensitive… only those who ranked Admirals and above are to know about it." Aokiji's eyes narrowed in slight anger but stayed quiet. "Monkey D. Luffy is a test subject for an ongoing experimentation project that is now deemed successful… and now… we have the very first person in history to ever have consumed two devil fruits and survived."
Kuzan froze and it was not because of his devil fruit but because of the fear that he felt for his student. If Luffy now had two devil fruits, then there's a possibility that she'd die any moment (the fact that she's still alive even though an unknown number of hours had passed, hasn't fully registered in his mind) if she didn't die due to the law of the devil fruit then she might die once seastone cuff is slapped in her wrist. And not only that… if words got out, if people heard about this… then they wouldn't hesitate to take her away.
"Who…" He started before stopping, realizing that the people who ordered this were none other than the Gorosei and it made him clench his fist in anger. Sengoku glanced at him but the Admiral managed to calm himself down and go back to his laidback self, though he was still fuming in anger. "What are the plans we have for her?"
"We're just waiting for Garp and Tsuru to arrive and then I'll tell all of you what's going to happen next." Sengoku sighed, rubbing his face rather aggressively, the Admiral could see how stressed he was and it made him wonder just what other information was told to him, but then he decided to ignore him and focus on his student. Aokiji's heart felt lighter when Luffy was no longer wrapped in bandages, her bruises and scars were all gone, and thus he could only deduce that her devil fruit was helping her heal.
However… a glance at the floor told him the reason why she was healing great and it was all because her fruit had been activated ever since her panic attack. His heart, however, didn't like how dull her eyes were and how defeated she looked. After a few minutes of silence, the door opened again, and came in Garp, followed by Tsuru, who both paused upon seeing them inside. The female Vice-Admiral frowned before stepping closer toward Luffy, stopping when she was a couple of steps away from the young girl.
"Luffy…" Tsuru called out softly, but the young girl didn't look at her, and it made the old woman frown in slight concern especially when it looked like she was lost in thought. She immediately rounded to look at Sengoku with a glare. "What did you do?"
"..." Sengoku looked at her, then at the girl in question, and then at Garp, before looking back at the Female Vice-Admiral. "Due to the changes that Monkey D. Luffy was forced to experience… she's deemed to be dangerous to leave the premises."
Garp and Tsuru froze, hating how the Fleet Admiral worded that Luffy was nothing more than a ticking time bomb because of what was done to her, what's more, if the World Government deemed someone dangerous, they would be hunted, imprisoned, or killed, and seeing that Luffy's here, they might imprison her. Tsuru doesn't like it, she bonded with Luffy before this whole issue with the doctors and she knew that the child deserves the freedom and is not inside a cell. While Garp thought that if his granddaughter is deemed dangerous, the World Government shouldn't imprison her, instead, she should be with his crew.
"You better not be telling me what I had thought in mind, Sengoku," Tsuru growled, while Aokiji merely looked at Luffy, his hand clenching back into a tight fist. Luffy could hear all of them talking, but the voices tried to console her ever since she had made up her mind, the Voice itself even tried to talk to her, however, she could only think about what was going to happen next. Her devil fruits had tried to ease the pain in her heart, but it did nothing at all. A single tear fell from her eyes but in the next blink, it was gone, like she didn't cry at all. That was then when she decided to tune back into the adults that were speaking in her room.
"Enough…" The Fleet Admiral sighed in defeat, rubbing his face once more when he received a glare from his subordinates. "If you could let me finish… it has been decided that Monkey D. Luffy will become a Marine Ensign the moment she leaves the hospital."
Garp sighed in slight happiness and with Luffy's keen hearing, she definitely heard it and this made her hate Garp even more. Tsuru and Aokiji however, couldn't stop gaping at the news before their eyes snapped towards the young girl, who didn't look at them despite knowing their eyes were on her.
"Buwahahahahaha!" Garp laughed, looking at his granddaughter proudly, ignoring the disappointed look and glare that Sengoku, Aokiji, and Tsuru were giving him, respectively. "I'm so proud of you Luffy! You finally decided to be a Marine like me!"
Luffy twitched at that statement but didn't bother to do anything. "I can't wait for you to be a part of my crew!" Garp ended with a beam, this made Luffy smirk inwardly because there was no way she'd be a part of his crew. Sengoku shakes his head before calling his attention, which also makes all of them look at him.
"No Garp, Monkey D. Luffy, will not be under your command."
"What?!" Garp shouted, looking at the Fleet Admiral, while Tsuru turned smug and Aokiji sighed in slight relief. "She'll be under the command of Tsuru and Aokiji, both of them will share responsibilities until she can lead her fleet."
"But Senny!" Garp protested but Tsuru scoffed and decided to ignore her two friends and decided to head closer to the bed, smiling slightly when the lightning circle made a pathway for her, followed by the young girl turning around to look at her. However, she didn't get too close to Luffy, merely an arm's length away but that was okay, it was enough for her to talk softly to Luffy.
"Luffy… is this your decision? To be a marine?" She asked softly, the young girl glanced at her then at the people behind the female Vice-Admiral, before looking back at her.
"I don't have a choice," Luffy said softly, making the gray-haired woman frown. "But… I'll be here… for my brothers…"
"Luffy…" Tsuru said but Luffy ignored the world once again, looking outside, then prayed and hoped for the happiness and safety of her loved ones. She didn't know if she would see her family ever again, or what would happen if they saw one another, but what she did know for certain, was that her time as a marine wouldn't be smooth sailing and in fact, would be harder for her. After all, her time as a test subject isn't over yet, for it has just begun.
~A month later~
Luffy sighed, rubbing her shoulder which was aching in pain before sitting down on of the one benches found near her. She just finished her training with Tsuru and she decided to enjoy the peace that's being given to her. She patted the pleated blue skirt of her marine uniform before knocking the girly strawhat that her grandfather gave her (a poor replacement of Shanks's strawhat) from her head to her back and then sighed once more. She smiled gently letting the wind caress her hair, snickering in amusement when the sea and sky began to bicker about random things again.
Inhaling deeply the young girl looked at the clouds that slowly passed by, it had been a long time since she'd been brought to the Marineford, and she couldn't believe that in the next couple of weeks would be her birthday again, she'd be 15 years old, with no one to celebrate with. Well… there are her teachers but they don't count at all, especially when they'll have a mission for the next few weeks.
The young D sighed again before blinking and looked to the side where she saw an orange tabby cat heading towards her, once the cat reached her, it began to rub its body on her leg. This made the young Monkey smile before she bent over and picked it up, she then put the cat on her lap and began to pat its body.
"Aren't you a sweet boy…" She muttered, especially when said cat began to purr, she giggled when it began to rub at her hand affectionately. The wind gently caressed her hair, which made her relax further and hum. Unknown to her, the gentle noise she created had attracted the wrong attention, Saint Rokudo, the grandson of the Third Elder had visited the Marineford for some reason, and in doing so… he found Luffy in her relaxed state just as he was about to turn the corner.
"She really is here…" The Tenryuubito stated, eyeing the young girl, who is at least 4 years younger than him. "I really want her… but grandfather said not yet…" He then gestured for one of his guards to take a picture of Luffy, quietly and sneakily.
"I got it, my Lord." The guard stated and Rokudo nodded, but he stayed put and continued eyeing Luffy, who blinked and then looked up with a frown and a growl forming at the back of her throat but then there was no one around her. The young girl gulped in slight fear because she was sure, that for a single moment, someone was there.
~A few hours later, Mariejois~
"Grandfather!" Rokudo shouted, barging into his Grandfather's office without even knocking and immediately went to his table. The Third Elder glanced at him and frowned in annoyance when his Grandson slammed the picture he had taken earlier that day. "Give this girl to me!"
"..." The Third Elder glanced at it, before looking back at his Grandson. "I told you to wait, why did you go to Marineford just for her?"
"But I don't want to wait! I want her! And I want her now!" Rokudo nearly snarled and this made the Third Elder to sighed in defeat.
"You need to wait…" He said, looking at his grandson. "She's the perfect candidate for the project 'Perfect Angel', I can't let you have it because of that. People like her are hard to come by."
Rokudo scowled, knowing how important that project was to his Grandfather but he needed to have her, no matter the cost, even if it meant destroying himself. "Can I have her if I became the Project King Oberon?"
"...Why are you so obsessed with her?" The blond-haired elder asked, eyeing his grandson. "You told me you wanted her when she first visited here, and you never stopped asking for her."
"Because she's beautiful…" Rokudo answered. "You know I like beautiful things Grandfather… and even though she's not fully grown, I know deep inside she's beautiful and perfect for me…" A dark grin appeared on his face. "There's something about her that makes me want and break her apart and be the only thing she'll cling to."
His grandfather kept quiet, after all, he knew his grandson wasn't lying about his reason for liking the young daughter of Dragon, but there was something else. A different reason why he likes her too much is that he's obsessed with her and… The Third Elder has no plan on stopping it, at all.
"If you're so determined to have her…" He muttered. "Then we will begin the project tomorrow."
Rokudo grinned before leaving his grandfather alone, Luffy's picture clenched tightly in his hand as he began to think of ways he could do to her once he had her. Just thinking about it made him lick his lips in excitement.
'Soon, that angel will be mine.'
~Six Months Later, Marineford~
Luffy walked in the hallway of the base, ignoring the whispers the Marines were mumbling about, ignoring the way they were looking at her back, no doubt upset and jealous with her as she managed to achieve something despite being new to the ranks and young. She continued to ignore them even when someone began to walk beside her and match her step.
"Are you just going to ignore them?" The person asked and Luffy merely glanced at them.
"There's no point in giving them attention, because if I did then it would do nothing but encourage them," she stated and the person nodded in agreement before they turned and stopped in front of the door. Luffy stayed put while the person knocked twice before opening the door and letting her through first, then followed after her and stayed beside the door while the young girl went closer to the Fleet Admiral who was sitting behind the table.
Senguko looked up and blinked when upon seeing her before putting the papers he was working on, stating. "You're early."
"I had to… otherwise Vice-Admiral Garp would bother me had I left any later," Luffy said, before sitting down at one of the couches in front of the table, while her Superior sat across her. "Why did you call me here before my mission anyway?"
Sengoku eyed the young girl in front of him and couldn't help but marvel at the changes that had to happen to her as well as how she stood strong despite the torture and pain she'd been through, even going beyond it. But then… she did have a reason why she was doing it, despite acting indifferent when hearing reports about them.
"...It's quite funny." He started as Luffy began to pour a tea that was placed there, heating it with her fruit. "Your brothers have officially joined the Whitebeard Pirates nearly at the same time, you got promoted as a Marine Captain."
The young maiden paused at that before drinking her tea, emptying it in one gulp and then putting down her cup back on the table. Sengoku knew that if manners weren't instilled in her brain then she would have slammed down the cup and broken it but with the lessons Tsuru gave her as well as those 'special' ones given by the Gorosei, she turned into a beautiful and graceful lady, a few more and she'll be someone people will think to be a noble if she's not wearing her Marine uniform.
"I have no idea why you're telling me this," Luffy said, her eyes flashing ice blue for a couple of seconds before turning back to dull brown. "What those two did, doesn't matter to me as long as you keep your part of the deal."
"..." Sengoku kept quiet, eyeing the man who was guarding the door and wasn't even looking at them, and was determinedly staring out the window instead before looking back at Luffy, who was staring at him rather intensely. "Alright then, I won't beat around the bush any longer."
"Since you're already a Marine Captain, you need someone to be your right-hand man and slowly form your crew." Luffy raised an eyebrow at that, and without even looking at the Marine standing at the door, she knew that he was shocked as well.
"That's something." Luffy started. "I thought you wouldn't be able to create your crew until you've got a lot of experience in leading a crew"
"...A few exceptions can be made," Sengoku stated, looking down at the table.
"...I see," Luffy stated, before standing up and heading towards the door. She knew the exact reason why Sengoku gave her the option to create her crew and it was not because it was the order of the Gorosei, but because of guilt that he felt for letting her suffer and get experimented on, and she had no plans to lessen that guilt. If it will help her in the long run then she would take advantage of that guilt as much as she can, no matter how selfish it seems.
The Marine opened the door and let Luffy pass before following after her, not bothering to wait for dismissal from the Fleet Admiral, as they would come back in just a few minutes. The moment Luffy and him were outside and the door shut behind them, the young Marine Captain snapped her fingers and suddenly they were surrounded with a red flame-like mist.
"That was unexpected." The Marine said, eyeing Luffy, who was looking at the floor. "Luffy…"
"I have no one to choose from." She stated, and this quite the Marine as he looked closer at the expression the young Marine Captain was wearing on her face. "He expects me to choose my right-hand man from the people who feel nothing but jealousy towards me."
"...You can choose me you know." The Marine stated, eyeing his colleague passing by them, not even lowering his voice. "I'm not against being under your leadership."
Luffy snapped her head to look at him, eyes widening at what he just said before her eyes closed, followed by her moving her head to face the floor. The Marine eyed her defeated posture, before looking away and listening to her instead. "You'll be a laughing stock… a Chūii who listened to a 15-year-old Captain."
The Marine snorted and smirked at her. "Well, screw them, because during the time I'm with you… your just the perfect captain I'm more than willing to follow."
"..." Luffy looked back at him again, before smiling and looking away. "Thanks… Yu…"
"No problem… Captain…"
~Two Months ago~
A 20-year-old long black-haired, which is tied in a high ponytail, marine walks around the streets, eyeing the ruined and fallen structures of the town, where a battle between Pirates and Marines had occurred. It was a tight battle, especially when the pirates were holding people as hostages and the only reason they won was due to the arrival of backup… though the marine knew that a few of his colleagues were more than willing to risk the life of the people if it means killing or capturing the pirates for the sake of Absolute Justice.
Luckily, as stated, they didn't have to sacrifice the lives of the townspeople, and aside from a few injuries everyone was alive, the pirates were as well but they were unconscious and were already being shipped to Impel Down. And now, the Marines who were capable of standing up are commanded to search for pirates who may have escaped their clutches or other survivors hiding for their safety. And despite being a Chūii himself, Yu felt better doing something rather than standing and doing nothing.
"You can come out now…" A young girl's voice rang out, and this made him look up from the ground (He didn't know when he started to look but he did… oh well…), then to the direction where the voice was coming from, blinking at the sight of a young Marine girl kneeling right in front a house that was completely beyond repair.
Wondering what was going on, Yu stepped closer and closer, pausing upon seeing that the debris made some sort of a cave (a shelter), and cowering underneath it were three children, crying in fear. The Chūii felt his tugged in slight pain when he realized that the youngest was no older than four years while the oldest was merely eight.
"It's not safe to stay inside." The girl stated again, and this made Yu look back at her and blink upon seeing that it was no other than Monkey D. Luffy, the only survivor of the exploding incident that had happened months back. While Yu didn't know the whole story, he heard that it was quite a scene, no bodies were found aside from hers, and then upon further investigation, they found out why the girl was there and how the explosion happened.
Human Experimentation.
A group had been experimenting with people right beneath their noses, and the young girl managed to run away before collapsing due to exhaustion. Yu clenched his hand into a tight fist and here he thought that humans couldn't get any worst.
*Creak*
The Marine blinked before looking up and nearly froze in slight fear when the tiny cave the children were slowly breaking up and only the youngest child manage to get out. He run towards them in haste just as the cave crumbled, surrounding everyone near the vicinity with a puff of dust, this made the long-haired marine gulp in slight fear and worry, thinking that the children were crushed, however, what he saw made him gape in awe.
All three children were safely secure in Luffy's arms, among other things, watching with wide eyes as Luffy's appearance changed, ignoring the white and yellow flame that surrounded them. Said girl was frowning in the direction of where the children were previously, before looking down and smiling at the kids.
"Are you okay?" She asked and the kids nodded as they all gently patted the limbs that were wrapped around them. The young girl smiled before her appearance changed back to normal and stood up, removing her arms from the children though she did then let them hold her hands soon after. Yu blinked at the sight and knew that what he saw was the young girl using her devil fruit, he blinked once and then he saw the girl looking at him.
"Do you need something, Chūii?"
"...Not at all Sōchō, searching for survivors is all." He answered, Luffy nodded at him before turning and leading the children away. Yu watched they're retreating backs before shaking his head and deciding to forget what he just saw as it was not his place to ask, no matter how curious he was. After all, he joined the Marines for a reason and one reason only, and he won't let his own curiosity destroy that for him.
At least that's what he swore to himself five days ago, and yet, here he is, letting his curiosity win against him, heading towards the defeated back of the young marine girl, wearing a white summer dress, seated on the shore of their base, knees drawn up to her chest, long raven-hair flowing gently with the wind, watching the sea. Despite the waves touching her bare feet she wasn't weak at all despite being a devil fruit user, she didn't even bother to move further up the dry sand.
Tiny crabs kept going back and forth to her legs and then the seagulls were hopping around her, not even eating their usual prey, and the last thing he noticed around the young girl was the fluttering of papers seated on her side. Seeing that appearance hit something in Yu's heart, and a smiling face, with silver hair, flashed before his eyes which made him sigh.
"Is there something you want, Chūii?" Luffy asked, not looking away from the ocean. Said Marine Officer kept quiet as he stood beside her, eyeing the sea as well. After a few seconds of silence, Yu glanced down at the young marine, and what he saw made him frown upon seeing her wrist bleeding, though it seemed to slowly heal, her stained tear face, and… the Symbol of the Tenryuubito branded between her shin and ankle.
"What happened?!" Yu asked, kneeling to further looked at the injury and trying to touch it but Luffy suddenly growled which made him stop and look at her with wide eyes in slight worry. The young girl was glaring at him with cold blue eyes, fangs elongated underneath her lips.
"Don't touch me." She snarled out, before reaching her hand towards the mark and covering it with her hand. This made the Chūii frown in concern, thinking that she'd have it infected but then white flames appeared, soon enough it was gone, followed by the young girl removing her hand and showing her unblemished skin.
"What?" Yu muttered, before looking at Luffy, who went back to look at the sea. "What was that about Sōchō?"
Luffy looked directly into his eyes, the very first eye contact they made ever since meeting each other, and it made Yu's breath hitched, having a peculiar feeling that her eyes were looking deep into his soul, judging his very soul. What felt like hours for him, was only for a few seconds and the young girl was looking away at him with a small smile on her face. As the Marine Officer tried to gather his breath, the young D spoke.
"Have you known the truth about our world?" She asked, and this made Yu look at her in slight confusion. "The World Government has been making sure that people will stay loyal toward them, telling lies after lies, while doing their version of darkness."
"What has that to do with my question on why you have the Tenryuubito Mark?" Yu asked.
"... Nothing yet everything at the same time…" Luffy muttered, making him confused. "But… why I have that mark is because a Tenryuubito wanted to have me and marked me before the Fleet Admiral could stop it."
Yu blinked in slight shock, not knowing that his Superior could stop a Celestial Dragon from claiming someone, and thus this made him more determined to be a High-Ranking Officer. Luffy then stood up, patting away the sand that decided to cling to her dress, before picking up the papers that were beside her. That was when Yu found out that it was not mere papers but bounties, and before he could take a closer look, it was engulfed by the very flames he saw appearing on Luffy's hand.
He then decided to ignore it and look at the girl, who was looking at him blankly. "...I'm not sure what kind of truth you're talking about…" He started, answering Luffy's question. "What I do know, is that not everything is black and white… I know that most horrors are done by humankind… I know that people are willing to do everything to get something they want… even though it doesn't belong to them…"
Luffy blinked and took a closer look at the Marine officer in front of her, eyeing the black spots underneath his eyes, his slightly thin body, and the anger, despair, and sadness that was showing in his black eyes. She took a glance at the sea when they began to make sad noises, but when they didn't say anything, the young D looked back at him and stated.
"Someone was taken away from you." Yu blinked before looking at Luffy and smiled sadly.
"Is it obvious?" He asked before frowning in confusion when she shook her head. "Then, how can you say so?"
"You nearly looked like me… I was taken from mine just as they were taken from me…." She muttered, making him frown but then the young girl moved away from her spot and headed back to the base. "It was nice talking to you, Chūii… I hope to talk to you more next time."
Yu wanted to talk more to the young girl, wanting to know what she meant, but for some reason, he couldn't move, at least for a few seconds, but despite it being only a few seconds, he could no longer see Luffy's retreating back the moment he turned around as if she was wasn't even there. The Marine officer bit his lip and then looked at the sea for a few minutes, before pulling out a circle-shaped locket hiding underneath his shirt and opening it.
It wasn't much, just a picture of him and his childhood sweetheart and fiancee. They were standing at the shore, their back facing the sea and blue sky, with his arms wrapped around her waist, and her own hands holding said arm, smiling widely at the camera while Yu was smiling and looking softly at her. Yu's sweetheart had pure silver hair tied into a braid, pure and warm silver eyes, a voluptuous body, and slightly pale skin, and despite the scar above her left eye, no one could deny that she was beautiful.
The most notable thing however is the ring that's on the ring finger of her left hand. Yu smiled, gently touching her face before closing his eyes and opening them after a few seconds, filled with more determination than ever, and then swore.
"I swear… I'll rescue… no save … you, just wait for me." After that day, Yu thought that he wouldn't see the young girl anymore but not even an hour or two later, he was called into the office of Vice-Admiral Tsuru where the young girl is playing chess with the older female marine, which made him blink at in confusion, especially when it looked like the young girl is winning.
"Vice-Admiral Tsuru." Yu saluted, said Marine hummed for a bit, but focused on Luffy instead, this made him wait for them to finish which was not long as Luffy immediately checkmated the older female. Tsuru signed in disappointment, while the young girl showed a rare smile that made the Chūii blink before shaking his head and watching when the bearer of Clean Justice stood up and headed to her table.
"Apologies for the delay, Yu-Chūii," Tsuru stated. "I had to finish playing chess with my opponent."
"It's alright, Vice-Admiral," Yu said and watched as the young girl arranged the chess pieces as if she was expecting another match with Tsuru despite the older woman not saying anything. Yu eyed the way her hand moved before snapping back to look at the Vice-Admiral upon hearing her clearing her throat. Said Vice-Admiral was looking at him with a raised eyebrow, making him straighten up and head closer to the desk and grab the folder that was reached out to him. "May I know what this is about ma'am?"
"Your mission." Tsuru started. "For the next couple of weeks, might be a month, you will be under my command and help me finish my mission in West Blue."
"Mission?" Yu asked as he read the folder before freezing at what he was reading. "This is…" He muttered as Tsuru slowly nodded, looking at the file.
"Your home island, that's where our mission is." She then began to walk towards the window that was found on the other side of her office, staring at the ships that are leaving the port. "We received a distress signal from your island two days ago, and that was when we found out that it's not the first time we received it."
Yu froze before looking at the back of the Vice-Admiral in shock but then snapped his attention towards Luffy when she spoke.
"For the past two years, distress signals have been sent from the island for at least thrice a month." Luffy then turned to look at him straight in the eyes. "It was purposely ignored by the Marines that are tasked to handle the communications of your island, both those who are assigned there and here."
Yu gritted his teeth, clenching his hands in tight fists, trembling in anger. "How did you find out?"
"Luffy," Tsuru answered, turning around to look at her subordinates. "Due to her devil fruit and keen hearing, she managed to overhear a few of your now ex-colleagues bragging about gaining a lot of money."
"They were quite detailed on that conversation of theirs," Luffy stated, drinking the tea that was on the table. "I just need to gather enough pieces of evidence, present them to either Vice-Admiral Tsuru or my Sensei, and then from there, it'll be nothing but smooth sailing in catching them, and requesting a rescue mission."
"...Who?" The long black-haired male asked, and the two females in the room knew what he was asking about, but they didn't answer. Yu glared at them slightly, and yer Tsuru was merely staring at him, while Luffy was humming as she began to sway in her seat. "Vice-Admiral…"
"...Prepare yourself for the mission; we will leave at dawn tomorrow… I will explain more details on your mission when we sail away." She then waved him away and Yu planned to insist further on getting his answers but a glare from Tsuru made him back away and saluted, though half-heartedly before turning around and walking away.
When the Chūii arrived at his room, he couldn't help but curse the marines and hate the people who betrayed him and his home island for ignoring the distress calls that they sent out. However, he couldn't help but blame himself for the situation his island was in, after all, if he hadn't left then his fiancee and his home island wouldn't be in too much danger (which is ridiculous, after all, he is nothing but a son of their island's sword master, so even if he stayed there's he can do nothing at all) but now, he could do something about it. He could save them.
When the day of their departure arrived, the Chūii blinked at the sight of Luffy, who was looking at him rather calmly, before looking at Tsuru, silently asking for an explanation.
"Luffy will be your partner for this mission," Tsuru said, before turning around and heading towards her ship with Luffy not a step behind her and Yu following after. "Once we're at West Blue, the two of you will head straight to the island while I handle the marine base that betrayed our justice."
"Why head to the Marine base?" Yu asked; Tsuru glanced at him.
"If we went directly to your island, whoever is controlling that place will ask for backup or worse request for them to capture your people back and then rescue them."
"If they did request that, the marines could easily slip between our people and lead your people away from our ship," Luffy added, Yu gritted his teeth.
"...I see…" He grumbled, before looking at Luffy from the corner of his eyes. "Why are you here?" He asked the young girl, who hummed.
"I'm under the command of Vice-Admiral Tsuru… as well as the best spy that is available for this mission." The young raven-haired girl bluntly stated and Yu didn't doubt her, after all, he knew what she was capable of… or at least heard about it. After that, everything went fast for Yu; before he knew it, a week had passed and he was already on a tiny ship with Luffy, leaving in the middle of the night, with only Tsuru watching them, heading towards his home island that was merely two hours away.
"Aren't you happy?" Luffy suddenly asked an hour and a half after leaving the main ship. Yu paused on cleaning his blade and looked at the young girl that he managed to know more, after spending nearly half of his time with her, yet not at the same time. "You're about to rescue your people from the nightmare they're living on."
"..." Yu eyed her back as the young girl was looking at the island that was getting bigger the closer they got. "You know more than you let on, don't you?"
Luffy looked over her shoulder and smiled at him "That's right… I know that you blame yourself for leaving your island two years ago. You blame yourself for not protecting your people, your loved one because you left at the wrong time, and when you heard what happened, you began to search for something that you can't immediately find. ."
"...What was I searching for then?" Yu asked straightening from his spot.
"Help, you were searching for help, even went as far as searching for a safe haven for your people when you found out what happened. And when you realized that no one is willing to help you, you decide to take matters into your own hands… of course, you couldn't just kill the people that are torturing your people as that would backfire." Luffy stated, before looking back at the island, slightly tilting her head as she heard something that only she could hear and that is only because of her fruit. "So you decided to become someone who can provide what you're searching for… believing that it won't take too long to achieve it."
"How do you know that?" Yu asked, standing up and immediately heading towards Luffy, who was eyeing an overhanging cliff, then at the cave that was just ahead of them, while the black-haired male didn't notice how they were slowly moving underneath it. "I never talked to anyone about my life, not even during the time I was with you… how do you know those things?!"
A dark thought appears in Yu's mind, perhaps the reason why they won't tell him who the traitor is… is because it's the young girl in front of him? And she's doing it either out of guilt or… she's going to sell him as well. "Don't tell me you're the one–"
"Yu?" A soft, gentle voice called out, making the Marine freeze while still keeping his eyes on the young girl. "I-is that you?"
Slowly, the Marine turned around, fearing for the worst yet hoping at the same time, and what he saw made his breath hitched because standing in front of him was his sweetheart, his fiancee, his Ellen. She's still as beautiful as she was in his picture; the only difference is how thin she became, the bruises on her face and arms, the number of scars that he could see on her skin, and… Yu swallowed heavily at the sight of her leg wrapped in bandages.
"Yu…" The girl called out, stepping forward, nearly stumbling due and that snapped the Marine into action, and in a blink of an eye, Yu was already kneeling beside the white-haired girl with her leaning heavily in his arms, sobbing. "Yu…"
"...Ellen…" Yu muttered before closing his eyes and wrapping his arms tightly around his woman, nuzzling his cheek against her soft silver hair, tears slowly flowing out from his eyes, completely forgetting Luffy, who ignored them as she focused on docking their two-man ship… though… she can't help but wonder if she can have this reunion with her family as well.