'This is a bad idea after all,' Zoro keeps shouting in his mind. The shouts and cheers of people in the arena echo in their ears as soon as the commentator announces the start of the first battle of the night. Luffia shouts alongside the others, so loud that it made Zoro wince.
"WHOOO! Fight!" She shouts, clapping her hands, smiling from ear to ear.
The excitement is getting to her, she fits in almost instantly, looking so natural in this kind of chaotic environment. Maybe because this is her first time here that she's excited.
Still, Zoro can't help but want to hide her from the prying eyes of men. It's the overprotectiveness in him that is making him irritated every time curious eyes landed on her. Why did he agree to this again?
Many of the people here are part of a Mafia Group. Some may have grudges against Zoro, bidding their time to get revenge against the Mafia Hunter. By being with Luffia, he's inviting danger to her doors.
"Luffia, maybe we should - "
"Ssh! Quiet, Zoro. It's about to start!" She points at the arena, clapping her hands. True to her words, the battle is about to start. Zoro does not have a choice but to sigh and direct his eyes on the arena, hoping for the first battle to end right this instant so she can drag her off.
Rules in a battle arena vary depending on the host. Akagami does not allow weapons such as knives, swords, or anything that can instantly kill a fighter. He prefers hand on hand combat. No killing is allowed, but you can maim your opponents into a state of invalidity.
People bid for the winner. The host - in this case, Akagami - will send players from his team to fight the challengers. Rules are simple enough. People want to see a thrilling fight, it makes their blood boil with excitement and the prospect of earning money is hard to pass by.
The fight starts, fists are swinging, every time the main contender hits the challenger, the cheers of the crowd grow louder, so as Luffia. Some fighters fight to stay alive, some want money, some desire glory, and some want to thrill they get from fighting. Zoro has been in these fighting arenas a few times, loving the excitement creeping in his veins every time he wins especially against strong opponents.
As the fight drags longer, the more the fighters sustain wounds and injuries, their faces bloody from the beating they just took. Zoro steals a glance at her, wondering if she's alright after seeing blood flowing from the fighters' faces. He's surprised that she is not flinching from the blood splattered on the arena's white floor, staining it red.
Her eyes look as innocent as before. Nothing changed.
Zoro frowns for a while, puzzled at this reaction. He is not expecting her to act scared, he knows she won't be easily scared by just the amount of blood, but at least he's expecting any kind of reaction aside from this. As if everything she's seeing is normal.
"Did you bet?"
"What?"
"Did you bet in the fight?" she asks.
"No." He swallows the saliva forming in his throat, eyebrows still furrowed. "How did you know that you can bet on a fight?" His voice is low, the tone is a little suspicious.
Luffia blinks for a few moments before turning her head to the side, meeting Zoro's scrutinizing eyes.
Green eyes meet dark ones, under the dimly-lit battle arena, all shouts are forgotten in favor of drinking in the familiar each other's gazes. Luffia almost lost all her reason, swallowed by the depth of Zoro's green eyes.
A smile graced her lips as she answers "I saw people taking out their money."
"Ah, I see."
"Yeah! Lots of it!"
"Hmm." Zoro hums, turning his attention back to the fight. Luffia did the same. There's a silence that passed by, both immersed in their thoughts.
Zoro feels a little stupid for asking such an obvious question. Of course, she would have seen that people are taking out their money to bet. Why did he have to ask that question again?
Luffia, on the other hand, internally sighs in relief. Lying has never been her forte, her sisters often tell her she's the worst liar in the history of Grandline. She didn't lie to Zoro, never. She just concealed a little bit of information. She indeed saw people taking out their money, but not in this arena. It was in a different battle arena. Her words are true yet incomplete.
It's still not considered lying, isn't it?
The fight continues. It's the third round, the victor is evident.
"The challenger is losing." Luffia told Zoro.
"It just means he's not strong enough." The green-haired man answered.
"You know how to fight. Have you been in a battle like that?"
Zoro swears that he's never heard his heart beat so loud before like it did now. The expectant look in Luffia's eyes is nerve-wracking, almost bewitching Zoro to do her bidding. Or maybe he's just too damn of a wimp when it comes to her. Yes, that must be it.
"Yes."
"Did you win? Did you?" It's amazing how the emotions in her eyes are constantly changing according to her mood. From an expectant look to an excited one. Years of knowing her are not enough to decrease the amazement Zoro feels when he sees those dark eyes of his spark. His most favorite expression is when she's laughing.
The laughter that he vows to protect no matter what the cost.
"What do you think?"
"Shishishi! Of course, you won! You're Zoro after all." Zoro huffs in satisfaction from her answer. It's this smile that he badly wants to stay no matter what.
Many may think it's excessive of him, but he doesn't care. For him, she's his lifeline, his strength. Seeing her smile is enough to uplift his mood.
'You lost?'
'Shut up. Get lost, brat!'
'You're just two years older than me! Don't call me a brat or I will call you an old man! Shishishi!'
They say a teenager is filled with unreleased anger and sensitivity. Zoro's not an exemption. He's about to lash out at the woman who's been pestering him since day one but he stops as soon as he saw her eyes, her smile.
'It's okay that you lost a fight against those thugs today. You're going to win tomorrow, so it's fine! Don't mind! Shishishi!'
He's baffled at the encouraging words coming from her. Surveying her from head to toe, she's skinny, doesn't look like she's a fighter at all, but she approaches Zoro without qualms despite the rumors surrounding him.
Surprisingly, her words calmed his nerves.
'You're gutsy to tell me that.' he said
'But it is the truth! I know you will win against them in the future. Giving up is never an option for you, isn't it? Because you're Roronoa Zoro.'
The green-haired man shakes his head upon remembering a certain memory from the past.
"Oh! Oh! Oh! That guy won! Amazing!"
"Time to go now." He stands up, ready to leave.
"Eeeh?!" Her reaction made Zoro roll his eyes.
"The fight is over. Let's go now. It's getting late anyway."
"But there are more fights after this one!" She reasons out, pointing in the direction where the next fighters are getting ready to enter the arena.
"I promised I will bring you here but that does not include watching ALL fights." Zoro insists, grabbing her arm to drag her to the exit.
"Zoro, stingy! Stingy!" Even if Zoro's back is on her, he can imagine what expression she has right now, pouting, no doubt sticking her tongue at him. Avoiding eye contact is the best in this situation, he can't falter his decision.
It's getting late and it would be best that they leave now because more people are walking inside the arena, people that Zoro thinks are bad news. He has a bad feeling that there might be scuffles once the fights are over.
A few steps before the exit, Zoro catches a glimpse of a familiar mark not too far away. Mark of Straw Hat on someone's coat. The man is as tall as he is, wearing a hat and a mask to hide his face. There's no need to remove the mask for Zoro knows who he is.
Prince, one of the members of Straw Hats. For a second, Zoro is tempted to go after him but remembering where they are and who he's with, he hesitates. He cannot let Luffia get involved in this business.
Luffia, on the other hand, looks at the man standing near the exit. She knows him, had been friends with this person for years now. A small smile forms on her face directed at the man before Zoro dragged her to the exit.
They walk in silence towards the parking lot where Zoro notices a familiar car beside his motorcycle. Two figures are standing there, casually discussing something that Zoro might have an idea about.
"Roronoa Zoro. I didn't think you will be frequenting this place." A tall well-muscled man greets, huffing as he releases clouds of smoke from his mouth, painting the air above them white. It slowly fades, but the smell lingers in their noses.
"Bleh! Smells bad!" Luffia commented, scrunching her nose from the smell of the smoke.
"I didn't think you will be here as well given the place we are at, Smoker." A World Government Officer hanging around the neighborhood of an Emperor's territory is too dangerous, but here's one of the infamous officers out there, willing to risk it to look out for any kind of disruption in the place that he can use as evidence to capture Mafia members.
"Eeeh?! His name is Smokey?" Luffia's rude attitude does not escape the man's ears. His eyes darted to the woman standing next to Zoro.
"It's Smoker." It's obvious he's trying not to lose his composure in front of Luffia who's looking at him with her round eyes.
"Smokey~"
"It's Smoker!"
"Nope. Smokey. Shishishi!"
Zoro snorts, hiding his laughter that's about to come out any minute. No one can argue with Luffia and win at all. He's about to bid goodbye when his eyes landed on the familiar woman standing in front of him. Her eyes are curiously looking at Zoro then at Luffia.
For some reason, Zoro feels a little awkward. Leaving now would be nice. He'd rather not want his fuck buddy and best friend to interact at all.
"Oh, hi! I'm Luffia!" She greets, stepping in front of Zoro to introduce herself. "Are you friends with Zoro too, like Smokey?"
"Oi, we're not friends!" Smoker's indignant response echoes from the side, ignored as if Luffia did not hear it at all.
"Ah, you can say that. I'm Tashigi."
"Nice to meet you! You're nice compared to Smokey!"
"And I told you not to call me that, you brat!" Again, ignored.
"Yes, nice to meet you as well, Luffia." Luffia smiles at her, but Tashigi feels as if there's something more to her smile than she lets on. "Are you going to watch the battle too? It's great!"
"No. We won't." A simple answer.
"Aww! We watched earlier, then Zoro wants to leave. Stingy!"
"Oi, brat. It's dangerous inside. Unless..." Smoker drags his sentence as he gives Luffia a quick lookover, discerning if she's a mafia member or not.
"She's not." Zoro immediately answers. "Come on, we're leaving now. Get your helmet." He told Luffia, slightly pushing her towards the motorcycle. He nods to Smoker and Tashigi before walking away to leave.
"So, that's Luffia, huh?" Tashigi whispers that made Zoro stop for a moment. Instead of answering, he just continues to walk away, mounting his bike with Luffia, and left.
Luffia doesn't know about his arrangement with Tashigi and he'd like to keep it that way. He's not blind for him not to see Tashigi's feelings. He gave her a straightforward answer that dating and committing to someone never crossed his mind.
Maybe he did, but with a different woman, that is.
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
"What were you thinking?" Koala's unamused voice echoes in Sab's living room. Her hands are on her hips as she stands in front of the blonde-haired woman, expecting an answer.
"I saved their lives, okay?"
"You did, but you inevitably let Orochi go. What did you do there? I thought you want to disrupt their transaction. You could have done that by being subtle like a ninja, just like you always do - steal the keys, call for backup or call the officers from the nearby branch. What happened?"
Sab sighs. She wants to come up with a satisfying answer to justify her actions. Had she not been distracted, she would have pinned Orochi and captured him.
"There's another group that wanted to kill Kaido's men and interrupt his slavery business."
"Who?" Her close friend and a colleague from Revolutionary Army asked.
"Kidd." A few minutes of silence went by before Koala can finally speak.
"Huh, that explains it. Did he discover your identity?"
"No. He didn't. His group started shooting at Kaido's men, it alarmed Ororchi to run away and he did." Because I chose to assist him.
"And the slaves?"
"I freed them but World Government Officials and some of Kaido's men arrived on the scene before I can call for backup to transport them to safety." While the mission is not a total failure, Sab thinks that she could have done better than this.
"Well, nothing you can do about that. I'm going to find out who covered the news about that incident." Koala prepares to leave, grabbing her bag.
"If the officials who arrived last night are accomplices, I doubt they will report it to the public. They will come up with a story to cover their blunder."
"But at least we found out about Orochi's dealings. It should be easy enough to get more evidence against that bastard."
"I guess," Sab answers, nodding at her friend who is about to leave.
"You know," Koala starts. "His presence affects you till now, huh?"
Sab doesn't need to ask who she's referring to. It's Kidd. After all, Koala knows what happened between them two years ago.
"I won't let it affect our goals." Sab is not sure if that assurance is for Koala or herself.
"Alright. I'll leave it to you." Koala walks to the door but abruptly stops to look back at Sab as she says, "You're too hard on yourself, you know that right? Sometimes, you can be selfish." Then she left.
Left alone in her apartment, she looks back at what happened last night. Now, she owes him for the key he gave her. Contacting him again will be dangerous. Should he find out who Blue is, he will definitely kill her.
It's not the thought of being killed that matters to her, it's the concept of facing him again where all of her secrets might be exposed. What will he say when he finds out who she is? He might hate her even more and that's far scarier than dying.
The guilt in her heart never disappeared. Every day, for the past two years, it grows heavier in her heart that she sent the man she loves to prison. He's not a saint, he's done a lot of illegal activities as well that are punishable by law set in their country, even so, she thinks he does not deserve it.
She can still remember the look in his eyes.
Last night had been a mix of happiness and sadness in her. She's relieved to see him doing so well, but at the same time, she feels sad. She can't be with him anymore, not after her choice.
Sighing, she tries to shake off the ideas in her head. Her mission against Kaido is still far from over. To get to her goal, she must do everything necessary even if it means deceiving her ex-lover again.
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
Ann is walking on the dimly-lit sidewalk along with a four-year-old girl who's singing happily while eating a cotton candy she bought for her.
The little girl is Deuce's child. He and his wife are out on a rare coffee date and Ann presented to look after their child for two hours since she doesn't have anything to do that afternoon.
Now, it's half past 6 PM and they're walking towards the bus station so Ann can drop Alice at their house. It's fun to spend a relaxing day like this, away from the stress and the chaotic life she has.
Sometimes, she looks back to when they were children, carefree, doing nothing but get into their mother's nerves when they play too much that led to a few accidents. Sometimes, they hide their scratches, afraid that their mother will scold them again. She found out anyway. Luffia can't keep her mouth shut after all and as punishment, she will take their desserts.
Those are the days that she misses the most. If she can turn back time, she will so they can go back to their peaceful lives. Sadly, it won't happen anymore.
"Annie, will you play with me again?" The little girl asks, eyes sparkling that reminds Ann of Luffia when she was a child.
"Of course. I will drop by when I don't have work so we can play, okay?" They smile at each other but that smile soon disappears when six men are walking towards them.
Ann is alarmed because their eyes are focused on her. She doubts they're approaching her because of her identity, so they might be approaching her with ill intentions.
Their eyes can tell her that much. It's filled with lust. They must be thinking of bringing her somewhere to rape her and have fun with her body. That won't happen, she won't hesitate to crush their dicks if need be. It will be simple to just run away or defend herself, but she's with a child and they are out in an open area where anyone can see them. Revealing her fighting prowess is not allowed.
"Hey, pretty girl~" The man who looks like the leader of this small group approaches her, eyes surveying her body, and he whistles in appreciation that made Ann frown with disgust. "Why don't you come with me? I'll make sure you have a good time, eh?" He whispers to her ear and she steps back, glaring at the man.
"No, we're leaving." She takes her arm back but the man is quick to grab it again.
"Feisty! I like that in my women. Now, let's ditch this brat here. Is this your child? Ah, you're experienced. Maybe not tight enough for me, but your face is enough as compensation for that. Hahaha!" All of them are laughing as if their leader just blurted out a joke.
"Ann..." Alice is behind Ann, clutching onto her shirt.
"Yes, we're leaving now." She told the girl, grabbing her arm so they can walk away, but the men blocked their escape route, encircling Ann and Alice.
Looking around, Ann can see a few passersby looking in their direction.
"What the fuck are you looking at?!" One of the men slides his jacket to show off the gun strapped on his side. The people are wide-eyed when they noticed that the six men are carrying firearms and knives. They're intentionally showing it off so no one will help Ann and Alice.
And the mark. The mark on their shirts is enough to dissuade the people to help because that mark belongs to one of the groups under Big Mom.
How they're in this city when this belongs to Whitebeard is beyond Ann.
"Come on, pretty girl. If you don't want that brat hurt, ditch her and come with us, 'kay?" The leader of the group grabbed Ann forcefully, gripping her harm with brute force. The pain is nothing to her, it only serves to fuel her desire to kick the hell out of him. But she can't do it, not out here in the open.
"Let me go or you will regret it." She warns.
"Nah, don't want to. Hmm~ you smell so good." This man disgusts her to a point that she wants to puke. She badly wants to throw a punch but she doesn't want Alice to be involved in a bloody fight. She's too young to witness violence.
Ann is about to follow them in somewhere secluded when a blue sports car stopped next to them. It draws their attention especially when the driver steps out to face them.
It's a man in a white button-up shirt with two buttons left open and its sleeves are folded up to his elbows. Just one look at him and anyone can conclude that this man came from an elite family. He walks so confidently, standing straight. While his eyes may look bored at first glance, Ann does not doubt the brains behind it, observing the situation, calculating.
Their eyes meet, then he looks at the child hiding behind Ann before he nods.
"Oi, don't just park that car in front of us, pretty boy." One of the armed men waves his hands, signaling the tall blonde-haired man to ignore the situation.
"What do you think you're doing, yoi?" He stands in front of them, folding his arms as he looks at each of their faces as if he's memorizing what they all look like.
"Fuck this! I told you to go away. This is none of your business!"
"I make it my business, yoi. And from the looks of it, you're forcing her to go with you." His tone changes, it turns ice-cold that even Ann shivers from it.
"You fucker, why don't you just mind your fucking business? We do what we want and if you don't want to get that pretty face scarred for life, walk away now." Two men are now in front of the blonde man, waving their knives and showing off their guns.
Ann sees him scoff in disbelief and she is too because none of these men recognized who this man is. If they knew that he's Marco Newgate, they won't be standing up to him now.
"Don't say I didn't warn you, you fucker!"
"Cover the girl's eyes, yoi. Stand back a little." He said to Ann and she's quick to follow his instructions, stepping back for a few meters.
The two men in front of Marco swing their hands with knives but he's so quick to catch their forearms before giving them a kick in the stomach. They groaned in unison but Marco didn't stop. Without letting go of their arms, he kicked the right guy's arm, instantly breaking it before letting him go so he can do the same to the guy on the left.
The remaining four men are alarmed now, they took their guns and point it at Marco.
Ann gasped, and no, she's not worried about him. She just didn't want to have such a bloody murder in front of Alice. She could care less if he dies. On contrary, it will be beneficial for her - with fewer enemies to kill.
But he's not fazed at all. He smiles while looking at the guns.
"Are you sure you want to pull that trigger, yoi? Don't you remember which territory you're in?"
"Who the fuck cares? This territory will belong to Mama, anyway!" One of the lackeys speaks boastfully, spitting on the ground. The leader of the six men starts blinking while looking at Marco with wary eyes. His brain must have been functioning properly now that he took a closer look at Marco.
"Y-You... Y-You're..."
"Ah, seems you realized who I am. Good for you, yoi, but too late. You're pointing your weapons at the wrong person." He sounds so pissed now. With swift movements, he kicked the men with guns. It happened in an instant. One moment they're holding it, the second, they find themselves on the ground, groaning in pain with no weapons to save them.
"F-Forgive us. We d-didn't mean it. We didn't k-know she's your woman." The leader is kneeling, but Marco didn't stop his attack. He punched him with ease, busting his lips and nose.
"Be thankful there's a child here or else you all would have been gone, yoi. Remember where you are. And I will remember this. Prepare to be hunted." He warns them in a low tone. "I'll be taking these. Now, scram!" Marco took all of their guns before they run off to the opposite side to escape as soon as possible.
Ann thinks he will just leave, but he didn't. He just walks to the trunk of his car, opening it to put the guns he confiscated before going back to where Ann and Alice are.
"Is... Uhm, are they gone?" Ann blinks, woken up from her musings. She crouches to look at Alice.
"Yes. They're gone now. We can go home."
The girl nods then she turns her attention to Marco.
"Thank you, Mister."
Ann stands up to do the same. He saved her the effort of beating those bastards and risking her exposure.
"Thank you for helping us." She bows a little and when she looks up, she finds him staring at her. For whatever reason, his electric blue eyes make her wary, they make her shiver as if they can see through her soul. It's not because she's scared, far from it. It's different.
"Don't worry about it, yoi. Are you going home now?"
"Yes. Sorry for the trouble. We will be on our way now." She wants to escape now. Every minute that passes by in his presence is uncomfortable. She's nervous for some reason and she does not like it.
"It's no trouble. I'll drop you by in your house, yoi."
"No need! We will just take a bus and - "
"Are you refusing your savior, yoi?" He smiles so calmly, his eyes are no longer cold, it's warm, friendly. It's alarming that he changes so quickly in a blink of an eye. No wonder he's one of the toughest Mafia heirs out there.
"No, I mean. We don't want to trouble you - "
"Can we ride that? His car looks amazing!" Alice claps, looking at Ann with the familiar eyes that she can't say no to.
"Of course, you can. By the way, I'm Marco. And your name, yoi?"
"Alice!"
"Nice to meet you, Alice. You can ride in my car as long as Ann says yes." Ann locks eyes with Marco who's still smiling at her. She badly wants to say no, but that will be rude of her. He saved them after all.
"Can we? Can we?"
"Sure. I mean, yes, thanks for the offer." Left with no choice, she agreed.
As much as possible, she doesn't want to be in any contact with the likes of him at all. It might expose her secrets.
"Where to, yoi?" Ann gives him the address which is about 20 minutes drive from where they are. She's silent while listening to Marco answer Alice's questions. He's nice to the little girl, chuckling from time to time. Sometimes he will steal glances at Ann but she pays no mind to it. He might be just curious.
"Papa Deuce will sometimes bring me to parks. Then I will ride on his shoulders!" Alice beams at Marco while sitting in the backseat of the car.
"Papa Deuce, yoi?"
"Yes, my father! Hehe!"
Marco glances at Ann for a moment. His eyes lost a little bit of radiance in them, replaced by a tinge of disappointment in them that had Ann wondering why so.
The rest of the ride is fairly quiet till they arrived at Alice's house.
"Thanks for giving us a ride and for the help as well." Ann bows again and so as Alice.
"Yes, no problem, yoi. Just be careful next time."
"We will, thank - "
"Ah, Mama! Papa! We're here!" Alice runs off to where her parents are. Her sudden shout startles Ann for a moment so she wasn't able to finish her sentence.
"Baby girl! You're here!" Deuce picks up his daughter with ease. He and his wife approached Ann and Marco. "Thanks for watching over her. We were about to call you so we can pick her up, but I guess there's no need for that."
"No problem! I enjoy watching over her."
"Still, thank you for watching over her." Deuce's wife smiles, then her eyes darted to Marco then back to Ann. "I didn't know you had your boyfriend over."
"Huh?" She asks, baffled. Realizing her mistake, Deuce's wife covers her mouth almost instantly as soon as she saw Ann's expression.
"Oh, I thought, Uhm, sorry. Haha! I just thought, haha!"
Ann forces a burst of laughter as well, matching the awkwardness of the assumption.
"Mr. Marco saved us from those bad guys! Then he gave us a ride! His car is awesome!"
"A few thugs were harassing them on their way home, yoi." Marco quickly explains that made Alice's parents nod, understanding what thugs meant.
"Thank you for helping them," Deuce said.
"No problem. It's a small matter. Don't worry about it."
"We're about to have dinner. Would you two want to go inside and join us?"
"No, I'm good. Besides, I have to go now. Maybe next time." Ann quickly declines politely.
"I'm good as well. Next time, yoi."
"Alright, next time it is." Deuce smiles, nodding to them.
"I have to go now. So yeah - "
"I'll give you a ride. You're going home, aren't' you?" Marco is quick to hold Ann's arms, preventing her from leaving.
The touch is foreign to her and it just makes her shiver even more while looking at his electric blue eyes that seem to have regained their earlier radiance. He looks like he's in a good mood for whatever reason.
"No need. I've been disturbing you. And don't you have somewhere else to be?"
"I do, but your safety comes first, yoi."
"No, you don't have to. You have more important matters to attend to. I'll be fine." She takes her arm back, smiling awkwardly from the touch of his hand earlier.
"I insist. Those matters can wait, yoi."
"But - "
"Oh my god! Ann, just go!" Deuce, fed up from the non-stop insistence from both sides intervened, pushing Ann towards Marco. "You can't even sense it, can you?"
"Sense what?" She doesn't know what he's talking about.
"He's flirting with you, or at least trying to get closer to you, so get a clue, damn it!" Deuce sounds so done with Ann. "Sorry, she's clueless about stuff like that so I have to spell it out for her."
"Hey!" Ann pouts, offended at what Deuce just said. She looks at Marco wondering if this is a joke or not. "Are you..." she trails off, not sure if she should ask about it.
"Well, at least I was trying to make a conversation, yoi. But I guess, it's true. I'm interested in you." It's a straightforward answer that had Ann blushing.
"Now, you know. So, go ahead. We're going inside now. Take care of her. Send her home, okay? No funny business!"
"You sound like an old man." Ann retorts.
"Nah, wouldn't dream of it, yoi."
They watch the family of three as they walk to their house. Ann contemplates for a moment if she should accept the offer.
"Shall we?"
Looking at him suspiciously, Ann is still wary of him. What if he's just faking it? What if he has an idea of who she is? What if he's trying to gain her trust and stab her on her back?
"Okay, look, I know you don't trust me, yoi. That's given. I'm just going to take you to your house, and that's it." He raises his hand to ease her suspicions.
"I still don't get why you would do that."
"Because I want to flirt with you. Well, flirt is such a flimsy word that I don't want to use, yoi. Let's just say I am attracted to you and want to get to know you."
For the first time in her life, Ann received a confession from someone. Well, technically, during her years in University, she received many of these confessions but, it's the first time that the idea sinks in her mind.
Marco Newgate is attracted to her. For a second there, an idea crosses her mind. Maybe meeting Marco is an opportunity for her to successfully kill Whitebeard once and for all.
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
AN: Yes, finally managed to write another chapter. Let me know what you think!