Mihawk felt his eyes glaze over. It had been 3 hours, 3 long ass hours and the three of them were still going on and on. How could they possibly have anything else to say!?
"And then he stood up and turned and smiled!"
"Ahh did his eyes do the thing?"
"Yes! They were all big and wide and sparkly. But it was even worse cause he had just lost his middle tooth so there was this big gap."
"Oh MY GOD!"
"Right? I didn't have a chance." Ace yelled.
Mihawk drummed his head into the table in front of him several times but the group just kept going.
"I bet he was SOOO CUTE! asaijhdfshai. Ugh its not fair that you both got to see him with chubby little baby cheeks." Perona moaned.
"You should have seen him when he'd get all offended and stomp his little feet. I'm telling you the kid was a weapon. Honestly I don't know how I was able to resist giving in and bringing him on the ship. Hell I saw Lucky, actually give him food off his plate. He didn't even need to steal it!" Shanks exclaimed.
"Alright enough! How much have you idiots drank?" Mihawk yelled, glaring at his friend and the two brats he was unwillingly sheltering.
The trio looked at each other before back at him. "It's just tea. Would you like a cup?" Perona gestured to the tea pot she's scavenged from the back of his cupboard.
"You're sober?" Mihawk said baffled, eyeing the man known for his drunk, partying ways.
"Shocking isn't it?" Shanks said with a grin. "Hard to drink when you don't know when you're going to have to chase after a trouble magnet ball of energy."
"Ooh when he bounces around and ends up tangling his arms and he just looks so confused and adorable!" Ace cooed.
"Ugh I used my power on him and he was so sad and pathetic and pouty… I just wanted to squish his little face!" Perona shrieked.
"And I'm out." Said Mihawk, fleeing the room and looking for someone who was still sane to talk to.
"And then this little brat walked right up to the celestial and BAM, punched him right in the face!" Rayleigh was laughing as he chatted withs several of the Red Hair Pirates. "Then his crew stepped up and took out everyone in the slave house. I asked why they risked it and he simply said they hurt his friend. Well between that and Shanks asking me to watch for him, I couldn't stay in hiding anymore. Then he got in an argument with the other kids from the worst generation about who got to fight the marines."
Lucky snorted. "Yeah that sounds like Anchor."
Mihawk groaned. "Is there anyone on my god damn island who isn't talking about that brat?" He turned around and stalked back into the castle, determined to see what exactly captivated everyone who talked to the kid. He knocked and strode into the boys room noting how Luffy was using Zoro as a pillow and Benn was smoking by the window. "Your crew is being obnoxious and your captain is insane." He said dryly and Benn smirked.
"Well if you are up for baby sitting" squawks of outrage from the lounging boys, "the men were promised some haki drills."
"Absolutely not-"
"We don't need a baby sit-"
Benn ignored the two complaining and started making his way from the room. "Wait! I'm not staying here." Mihawk rushed as he moved to intercept the other man but Benn casually dodged him and disappeared leaving Mihawk alone with two menaces. He glowered at the door and debated just leaving and letting the chaos happen but damn it this was his home and he didn't trust it to remain standing with the two brats running wild. He turned and stared at the boys gazing at him.
"Hey sword guy, want to fight?" Luffy said, hanging upside down off the bed, stretching his neck in a disturbing way to reach the floor.
"Oy if anyone gets to fight Mihawk it's me." Said Zoro grinning, eyeing the older man.
"I do not intend to fight either of you. It would hardly be worth my sit up before you fall off and hurt yourself."
"Aw come on. This room is boring!" Luffy whined but willingly sat up in the bed.
"You've been here for 24 hours and you are still recovering." Mihawk said annoyed.
"24 long hours… and before that I was stuck in a different bed."
"No."
"But sword guy!"
"Enough. Complaining will not get you anywhere with me. I've had to deal with Red hair's incessant whining for years, I'm immune."
Luffy pouted up at him and Mihawk was horrified to realize that at some point he'd not only moved closer to the bed, but he'd started to brush his fingers through the brat's messy hair. Oh god, he really was a weapon.
"Rayleigh said I could talk to Robin." Luffy said changing tact and grinning. Mihawk blinked at the sudden mood change. "Lets do it now! Cause I've gotta tell her about my adventures and the cool monkeys and how we gotta train for 2 years."
"You were told that you had to wait until they contact us. Your friend is with the Revolutionaries and they aren't always able to talk on a secure line." Mihawk reminded him, turning away from the weirdly hypnotic kid and looking out the window where he could make out the disgruntled forms of the red hair pirates gathering.
"Oh yeah! She's with my dad's group." Luffy nodded.
Mihawk froze…well no wonder the marines wanted this brat found. If his dad really was part of the revolutionaries, he would be either killed to send a message or imprisoned to keep his father in line. Add in his ties to Shanks and it was a miracle the kid had lived as long as he had.
"Your dad's part of the revolutionaries?" He asked turning around and meeting the mocking gaze of Roronoa.
"Yeah he's gone." Zoro said grinning and Mihawk swore. Red Hair would never let him live this down. He cast a glare at the boy as he rushed from the room, his haki sweeping the hallway and coming up empty.
How the hell did the brat disappear? He didn't even know what haki was.
Mihawk carefully slowed his pace as he approached the powerful presence of Rayleigh. No need for the man to know he'd misplaced the brat. Or there wouldn't have been a need if it wasn't for the squirming boy, he was holding. "Shit."
"I'm starting to think everybody should work on their training by babysitting. Is anyone capable of keeping this brat in one place?" Rayleigh asked.
"Hey, I heard that you lost the kid too." Mihawk protested and Rayleigh glowered back at him.
"I wasn't in a small room with him."
"You guys are funny." Luffy said twisting in Rayleigh's grasp. "Do you want to fight?"
Rayleigh grinned at the perky boy. "Not right now kid. Now why don't we go watch the men do some drills."
"Really! Not back to bed?"
"Only if you promise to sit still and watch." Rayleigh said raising a brow as he put the kid down.
Luffy nodded eagerly and Mihawk sighed in relief. "Great, your turn." He said as he quickly disappeared.
Rayleigh laughed as the kid climbed up and draped himself over his shoulder. "Right, let's watch your Pa whip his crew into shape."
They ventured out to the clearing and he settled them on a bench off to the side. Benn looked at them exasperated but turned back to the men in acceptance. They watched as the Red Hair Pirates were all blindfolded while Benn smirked at the crew. Luffy laughed as he started whipping stones at the yelping men.
"What are they doing?" Luffy giggled as Yasopp dove to the ground, just to get nailed with a rock.
"They're practicing their haki. Theres 3 different types. Armament, observation and conquerors. Right now they are practicing both armament and observation. Observation allows them to sense other peoples strengths, emotions and lets them predict their actions before they happen. So they should be able to see the rocks coming their way and move out of the way. Armament is used as armour to help protect themselves or increase their attacks strength. It can be used to coat certain parts of their body and even extend to their weapons with practice. It also enables their attacks against logia devil fruit users. So the crew could be using it to protect themselves from the stones." Rayleigh explained as they watched the crew swearing.
"What's the third?"
"Conquerors haki. That one is different as you have to be born with the power, it's not something you can just learn. When you took out the humandrills, you used it. Your willpower overpowered theirs and as with weaker willed foes, knocked them unconscious. Your father is particularly strong in it… as well as the other forms."
Luffy continued to watch the men doing different drills. They'd been paired up for blindfolded brawls and now Yasopp and Snake were being sent into the woods as prey for the others to hunt. "The hard part for this drill is that the prey is going to have to suppress their presence so that they can't be tracked easily."
"Ooh, like I do when I'm hunting!" Luffy nodded wisely.
"No-" Rayleigh started answering before pausing. He thought back to Shanks' panicked retelling of hunting Luffy down with the manticores and of Mihawk's frenzied search for the kid. He studied the kid who was now picking his nose and swinging his legs. "Er maybe. Why don't you show me what you normally do."
Luffy bit his lip and focused on his hunting mode. He took a couple deep breaths and slowed his pulse, listening to the quiet of the jungle.
"Well I'll be damned." Rayleigh said shocked. Even though he was sitting right next to the kid, it took a fair amount of effort to lock onto his presence. Somehow the kid had managed to learn to damper his aura almost completely. "Yeah kid, just like that."
"Cool! I wanna play too!" Luffy said excitedly.
Rayleigh snorted. "Not this time. Just wait til we start our training kid. You'll be begging for a break."
"Nuh uh." Luffy said sticking out his tongue. "I'm going to be King of the pirates! So I need to be stronger than everyone else."
Rayleigh looked at the boy wearing his captain's old hat and for the first time in a long time, felt excited about the future.