"Rosan!" Akemi beamed in joy, flying into his strong arms with a happy sigh.

She had missed the redhead dearly and was glad that he was visiting!

"We saw him two weeks ago," Aiko rolled her eyes but she was happy to see him too. "How's the pirate life, Rosan? Why don't you have a crazy high bounty yet?"

The younger sister nodded vigorously in agreement. He needed to have one upped Reaper by now! 1 billion was a great starting point!

"I'm trying to avoid attracting attention right now, you two. I already have one absurd bounty, I don't need a second one at the moment," the redhead replied calmly, pulling the other sister into a hug and squeezing the two gently.

Akemi melted into it and Aiko tried to protest, despite relishing in the hug, so she could keep up appearances.

She wasn't fooling anyone.

"Here, your money," Aiko grumbled, accepting his reasoning and handing him his stipend. "How's that little squirt Luffy anyways? I would have expected him to have a bounty by now. That kid has no ounce of subtlety."

"We haven't really had much altercations with the Marines and Luffy isn't one to cause harm to innocents so we don't have a real reason to gain bounties," he explained calmly, accepting the money and having it vanish into his pocket dimension with a simple wave of his hand.

His little brother was still slaving away at the Baratie while his crew patiently waited for him to get out of the situation. If he took too long, Rosan would just have a talk with Zeff.

It's not like the head chef had a real reason to keep Luffy there, the Mod Mod no mi user had immediately repaired the roof of the restaurant. They both knew that but Rosan only allowed it to continue because the rubber boy had been asking for it and they had still been unable to sway Sanji to join the crew.

Once he succeeded, then Rosan would allow his dumb captain to be free. There was no way he would allow Luffy to stay there for a month.

"I have some free time since Luffy is occupied, is there anything you guys want to do?" Rosan asked the sisters and Akemi beamed in excitement.

"Have you and Angel updated your wardrobe recently?!" The younger sister asked, causing him to shake his head no. "Great, we can all go shopping and grab a meal! It's on me!"

"Alright. I've been meaning to add a bit of silver to my collection," he nodded. There was no point in offering to pay, it literally never worked.

"Silver? I know just the place! I'll try not to get you too much this time," she grinned.

Rosan nearly snorted. That was absolutely a lie. Angel and Akemi bought him far too much clothes to last a lifetime. He was sure if he put his entire wardrobe on the Going Merry, she wouldn't even make it out of the East Blue before sinking. It was incredibly handy to have a Pocket Dimension to store all that stuff.

"I still have stuff to do but I guess I'll go," Aiko complained. She wasn't even remotely as psychotic as Angel and Akemi when it came to clothing the others but she would never turn down a chance to see the redhead shirtless.

What? She deserved to spoil herself a little!

"Do you honestly still think you're fooling anyone?" Rosan asked with a tilted head, pinching her cheek and getting a growl of aggravation out of her. "Honestly, this tough act of yours has not worked for about 13 years. You're like a little gumball on the inside."

Akemi giggled at the look of outrage on Aiko's face and the older sister launched herself at the redhead.

"I'll show you gumball you little annoying fucking —," The leader of Fregate snarled and Rosan deftly caught the shorter woman, patting her on the head and carrying her bridal style, knowing that it would piss her off all the more being held like this.

"You would like one of my crewmates, she thinks I'm just as annoying," Rosan chimed, effortlessly holding the struggling, suit wearing, woman and walking out of the room with her, Akemi in tow.

The younger sister giggled the entire time at their antics. This was like clockwork between the two and it was great to see Aiko let her guard down when the redhead was here. She was normally calm and strict when on the job and cooled down significantly when it was just the two of them but Rosan made sure it was impossible for her to remain coolheaded.

"I hate you," Aiko growled. He sure did love to lord around that height of his. She tried punching him on the chest but the first one ended up with her fist hurting and she immediately gave up.

Strong, annoying, muscular brat.

"I haven't heard you say you hate me in a while, I kinda missed it," Rosan hummed, patting her mockingly on the head. "It's refreshing to know that some things don't change, like your temper."

Aiko snarled.

Akemi laughed loudly.

----------------------------------------

"You're lucky that you can just go in and out whenever you want while we're stuck here waiting for Luffy," Usopp complained to the redhead that suddenly appeared on the ship.

They had no clue how he did it (and Usopp had screamed the first time) but Rosan had a tendency to vanish for who knows what and just suddenly show up again near Luffy. He didn't deign to explain what it was but apparently Zoro knew about it.

"It's difficult for me to stay in one place for long due to the fact that I've been traveling since I was four," Rosan informed him. "Being on the sea brings that feeling of restlessness back so I move around a lot."

It was hard for him to stay still. As a child, it made him a nightmare for Rouge and then Mod... and then Robin... and then Meiko...

You get the point. He was a free spirit.

The sniper nodded at his lying crewmate (he needed to work on them a bit, maybe Usopp would give him pointers in the future) and said, "I know what you mean, I've been sailing the seas since I was two and settling down was really difficult for me but I managed!"

Rosan stared at him for a long moment. "Are you mocking me?" He asked lowly, tilting his head to the side.

Did their sniper think him sailing the sea at just four was something worth making fun of? There was hardly a good situation where a near toddler should be on the ocean alone.

Usopp froze at the question and immediately hid behind Zoro at those piercing eyes boring into him. "O-Of course not! The great captain Usopp doesn't mock anyone!"

"Hm." Rosan eyed him for a moment longer before gazing away from the sniper. Whatever, some lying coward who knew nothing about him, wasn't worth his attention. Let him continue to lie to himself in peace.

Zoro snorted at their interaction. Did Usopp really think everything that came out of their scouts mouth was a lie? Well, he'd find out eventually that the redhead was an honest person and it was clear he also wasn't a fan of liars.

"Rosan, can't you do something to get Luffy out of this?" The swordsman asked.

"I already did," Rosan interjected. "It's his fault that he's working here currently and like I said, I'll bail him out after a week. It's been two days so we have five more to go."

"I don't see what the big idea is," Nami grinned happily, unfazed by their stay here. "We get free food and drinks and it tastes amazing!"

"That's only you," Usopp replied in annoyance. At least Rosan didn't let them die of starvation... mostly. The redhead was so rude sometimes honestly.

Sanji was firmly in Nami's palm. It was rather amusing because he was doing everything in his power to avoid Rosan in the process despite convincing himself that there was no way he was Reaper.

He had yet to give the redhead his promised meal and Rosan had waved Zeff off when the head chef asked if he wanted intervention.

"I can't have the best meal if it's not readily cooked, I don't mind waiting," he replied calmly, causing the old man to nod in respect.

Luffy had still been unsuccessful in recruiting the blonde chef, which was also apart of the reason he hadn't freed his younger brother. They would have stayed here until the rubber boy managed to convince him regardless.

Speaking of which, his captain was currently walking a huge trash bag when he caught sight of his crew lazing about on the Going Merry.

"Luffyyyy," Usopp whined in exasperation. "Let's hurry up and get outta here!"

"I'll try talking to the owner again today," the rubber boy frowned. Zeff was completely unwilling to change his mind no matter what Luffy asked of him. He was steadfast in his decision to keep the pirate here and when he asked Rosan, the redhead told him to deal with his own stupidity for once.

"No, I won't help you again," Rosan replied out of nowhere, shutting Luffy down before he could even open his mouth.

Bah, Rosan was so mean. He was about to replace Ace as the meanest brother!

Conversation between the crew halted, as a massive shadow loomed over them and Rosan angled his head up slightly to see what the cause was.

It was a very large galleon ship with a saber tooth tiger as a figure head. It was nearly triple the size of the Baratie (which was not small at all) and positively eclipsed the Going Merry. It had a standard jolly roger with two hour glasses on either side.

"Oh?" Rosan hummed.

Screaming and panicking began to ensue inside of the restaurant as the ship's jolly roger was instantly recognized.

The Krieg Pirates. This was no coincidence.

"I find it a bit odd, don't you think?" Mod questioned. "It's a miracle that their ship is even able to move."

Mod's observation was spot on. The ship was a complete wreck and it looked more akin to a ghost ship. How it was able to still sail, was a complete mystery to the redhead.

"Looks like they had quite the fun trip," Rosan commented idly. Whatever natural disaster they had run into, sure did it's job in utterly wrecking them.

The man of the hour, Krieg himself, descended from the ship and everyone watched with bated breaths, as he slowly made his way to the entrance of the Baratie.

He was a large, muscular man, with purple-gray hair and distinct sideburns. There was a thick layer of gauze wrapped around his head and he wore a fur-lined coat over a yellow vest with black spots-like motifs.

Gin was carrying him currently and the two entered the restaurant with haste.

Rosan sent his bird to follow after the duo and his crewmates regarded him with curiosity.

"Don't you all want to listen in?" He asked, extending his palm upwards as it began to glow. "Modification: Stream," Rosan thought and his little birds perspective was suddenly being shown to the straw hats and bounty hunters.

Everyone on the ship gasped at the sight of sudden footage and they clambered around to get a better sight, until Rosan made it larger for them.

"You're all too close to me, I'm not a fan of that."

He didn't trust them (barring Zoro) enough to be comfortable with their proximity. His family had made him far more tolerable but he was just that. Tolerable. He wouldn't go out of his way to be crowded.

They backed a bit away from him and he nodded his head in thanks for the lack of questions, ignoring the curious gazes and focusing on the stream.

The group watched with varying degrees of confusion, as Don Krieg began begging the restaurant for food, even choosing to prostrate himself in the process. It was a far cry from what they had heard about him and his personality.

It was clear that he was in the same boat as Gin had been in before. The captain had not eaten in many days and out of desperation, they had come to the Baratie to fulfill their hunger.

Unfortunately, their reputation was well known and it was said that the Krieg Pirates were a cruel bunch who relied on trickery and deceit.

Gin tried to beg them when Krieg collapsed, but they were not spared a single sympathetic glance.

"Would you have fed them?" Mod asked curiously. She always liked to ask what her charge would do in these situations just to make him think! It was fun imagining what he'd do in certain scenarios and she liked to make poke his brain.

"If I had something to gain out of it," Rosan began, watching the chefs refuse to give Krieg food. "I am not one to trust rumors, but those about pirates hold at least some merit. If Don Krieg had something valuable, I'd feed him in exchange for it but otherwise I'd turn in his bounty. That's probably the most valuable thing about him," he finished.

His armada was weak, he was weak and he doubted the man had something Rosan would want. His 17 million bounty was very likely the best thing about him so the redhead would have just killed him and turned in the body.

"And if he promised to repay you after you fed him and lied about it?" Mod prodded.

"He'd find out what it means to lie to me of course."

She nodded, satisfied at his response. It was what she expected him to say and the purple haired Devil Fruit had no problem with his response. She had almost certainly become much more compassionate over the years but she was still Rosan's mother and they shared many traits. That compassion only extended to people she cared about much like her son and Mod wouldn't bat an eye if a person she cared little for were to die.

She may have acted more human then Rosan these days, but that would never change what she truly was.

They continued to watch the scene unfold in a comfortable silence, interested in seeing what they would do with Krieg. It didn't look like the chefs were planning on feeding the Don and for good reason too. The pirate was a terror in the East Blue and a chance like this, where he was completely vulnerable to capture, didn't appear often.

"This is the best chance they've got to turn in his bounty," Johnny nodded, agreeing with the sentiment of all in the restaurant.

"He's kinda stupid for just showing up in such a weakened condition," Usopp muttered, no longer afraid of the giant galleon after fully taking in its appearance.

The crowd had begun to regain their bravado at the sorry sight of Krieg and they began jeering at the duo, threatening to throw anything near them at the two.

"Once we feed him, he'll pillage us immediately!" A chef growled with his arms crossed. "We shouldn't even give him a drop of water!"

"I won't do anything…" Krieg interrupted, causing them all to pause. He prostrated himself lowly to the ground and weakly said, "Once I eat, I promise I'll leave quietly. So... please... help me."

Gin looked petrified at the sight of his esteemed captain begging and urged him to stop but Krieg remained rooted to his spot.

The group on the Going Merry watched in surprise, as Sanji kicked Patty unconscious, holding a plate of food and a drink in his hand. The blonde chef placed both in front of Don Krieg and urged Gin to have him eat it.

"That wasn't very smart of him," Rosan said softly, much to the confusion of the crew.

"Why? Because he's a pirate?" Nami asked and the redhead shook his head.

"No, because he lied about leaving quietly."

They froze at his blunt declaration.

"W-What do you mean?" Usopp asked in slight fear. If what Rosan was saying was true, then they were all going to be in danger soon!

"I'm good at detecting when a person is lying," the redhead told them. "When Krieg said he was going to leave quietly, that was a lie. I could tell from his tone, but he's probably going to attack the moment he regains his energy."

They, barring Zoro, somewhat doubted his claims (why did everyone doubt his words? Was he that good at being incognito?) but almost like being spoiled to a movie, they watched Krieg devour his meal, slam his bottle on the deck and clothesline the unsuspecting Sanji across the room.

"Still doubting me?" Rosan hummed to the petrified crew.

They glanced at the redhead who correctly predicted it and wondered how he was so easily able to tell, shakily denying his question in the process.

They didn't miss how unbothered he was at the fact that Krieg seemed to be at full strength but the screaming of the fleeing patrons, grabbed their attention.

Rosan's bird chirped at the mass of people and flew out of their way, cutting off the connection to the inside and disappearing from their sight.

"What do we do?!" Usopp asked, tempted to join the fleeing patrons.

"Isn't it obvious? We're going in there," Zoro remarked and the sniper's jaw dropped in disbelief at that.

"Yeah, Luffy's still in there," Rosan agreed. "We can't leave without our captain, idiot."

"Are you scared?" The swordsman asked with a smirk on his face.

"Afraid you might die?" The scout tilted his head curiously.

"D-Don't be silly!" Usopp barked in embarrassment. Who wouldn't be afraid of dying?! These two just had no sense of self preservation!

"Don't worry, I won't protect you," Rosan assured and Usopp relaxed.

Then he registered his words.

"DON'T YOU MEAN YOU WILL?!"

Nami and Zoro couldn't help but laugh at Rosan's silence.

----------------------------------------

When the crew entered the restaurant (sans Johnny, Yosaku and Nami), they were surprised to see every single chef surrounding Sanji with guns.

"Are you a spy for Krieg, Sanji?" One of the chefs asked with fury on his face. "We ain't letting you in the kitchen! We've had enough of your behavior."

Sanji stared at them for a moment and then spread his arms out. "If you want to stop me, then fire," he demanded without a hint of care on his face.

"I know they're irredeemable villains, but my job is to feed people, not to judge them. It gets too complicated otherwise," the chef smirked.

"If a man is hungry, I feed him! That's a cook's job."

Rosan appraised his words with a hum. It seems the boy had been incredibly serious about becoming a chef all those years ago. He had taken his duty as a cook to heart and that resolve he had seen when Sanji was just a prisoner, was still there, looking even stronger than before.

He wondered what happened to the child to strengthen his conviction to this level.

"I think Luffy might see the same thing you saw all those years ago," Mod remarked. It was really quite amusing (and a little suspicious) that the child they had saved 11 years ago, was about to be recruited onto their ship but the world worked in mysterious ways so she wouldn't question it too much.

Rosan hummed curiously. He had figured that Sanji was a kind person, seeing as he was a prince but only wanted to become a chef, but this went past his expectations. He wondered if something happened to the blonde to make him like this.

Clearly it went past his fellow chefs too because Patty sucker punched the back of his head and ordered the remaining cooks to restrain him so that he couldn't do anything else.

The large chef bent over and seemed to be rummaging for something, only to reveal a ridiculous lobster themed bazooka.

"Should we have Ram absorb that?" Mod asked in amusement. It was a weapon and the silver haired woman was the ultimate weapon. It made sense for her to absorb all manner of weapons

"S-Stop messing around, Auntie! I can already transform into a bazooka! W-Who the hell did they even commission to make a lobster themed weapon?!" The ring balked in confusion. It was so, so ugly!

What a complete insult to all weapons out there! She was tempted to eat it just so that it didn't exist anymore!

Patty laughed and taunted Krieg in victory, before firing the bazooka at the pirate captain.

Rosan idly pulled Usopp out of the way of the flying debris that was the broken door and hummed at the lack of blood… and body parts.

"T-Thanks, Rosan," Usopp stammered at the save. Maybe he wasn't as rude as he acted! Yeah, Rosan was just a tsundere! Saying one thing and actually meaning the other!

The redhead nodded at his thanks, before dropping him unceremoniously on the ground with a thud.

"That's my one save for the day, good luck surviving anything else," he said ruthlessly.

"You're the worst," Usopp grumbled in annoyance. Nevermind. Definitely not a tsundere. He was just a genuine asshole.

Seriously, the least he could do was extend a helping hand when they needed it but nooo. He was content to be as annoying as possible!

Once the dust settled, they were surprised to see that the shot had only infuriated a, now revealed, armor wearing Krieg.

The chefs let out gasps of horror, as Krieg revealed his built in weapons and sprayed them all down with bullets... that didn't kill them?

Usopp screeched in fear.

"He's probably over reliant on that armor," Rosan commented, unfazed by what had just happened due to the fact that every single chef was still alive. If Krieg really was as reliant on that armor as the redhead thought, then the Mod Mod no mi user was a terrible matchup for him.

After all, he could just modify the man's armor. Whether it be transforming it into a different material or making it too tight to wear. People who relied on fighting with material items, would find that facing Rosan was never a good time.

"You're not fair, Auntie Mod," Ram tsked at the crimson eyed woman, who only regarded her with a shocked expression.

"A-A lot of Devil Fruits are absurd! I'm just one of many!" Mod tried to defend herself with a look of protest on her. "I actually used to be much more fair before I was combined with the blank zoan but even then, I think I'm much easier to deal with than being completely intangible!"

"Whatever you say, hack," The mix eyed girl scoffed. She remembered her Auntie mentioning how her modifications were temporary before combining with the Zoan but that mattered little to her because she didn't know that version of Auntie.

"You're just trying to irritate me right now!"

Rosan was only half focused on the two children's arguments ("I will seriously end you, Rosan") and watched with a tilted head as Zeff brought a large sack of what could only be food so that Krieg could feed his men.

"There, that should be enough to feed all 100 of them," the gruff owner said.

"Owner?!"

"Chef Zeff?!"

"What are you doing?!"

The chefs were understandably shocked by the owner's display. First Sanji, now him?! What was going on right now?! Were they really that afraid of Don Krieg? Why would they do something so incredibly stupid?!

Krieg's eyes went wide at something the other chef's said.

"Did you say Zeff?!"

"Is that owner famous?" Zoro asked curiously.

"You could say that," Rosan replied. "He used to be a pirate by the name of Red-Leg Zeff. He was quite strong too, they say he never used his hands in battle, only his legs. I'm surprised though... Last I heard, he had been sailing the Grand Line and it's not easy to reenter the Blue Seas once you've left them."

Age had changed his appearance a bit from his bounty poster but it was still unmistakable. Rosan just didn't care enough because unlike Kuro, this man had clearly given up a life of piracy to do something that he loved.

"You know a lot," Usopp pointed out incredulously. Whenever the redhead actually said something that wasn't an insult, it was surprisingly useful and insightful! Perhaps in his quest for knowledge, he had become such a formidable liar like him!

"…" Rosan didn't deign to answer the long nose, idly preparing for the possibility of getting attacked despite how weak everyone here was.

Something told him the Straw Hats weren't leaving here quietly.

"The only thing I lacked in my journey through the Grand Line, was information but with your logbook, I'll be able to conquer that sea easily!" Krieg declared excitedly.

After learning of Zeff's identity, the Don had demanded the owner's logbook of his journey through the Grand Line but the former pirate had refused, claiming that it was a testament to his crew's adventure.

Krieg didn't appreciate that reply.

"Then I'll take it by force! I didn't succeed the first time, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm Don Krieg!" He roared arrogantly.

"I'M THE STRONGEST OF THEM ALL! I HAVE THE AMBITION, THE STRENGTH, THE SHIPS, THE MEN, I JUST LACKED THE KNOWLEDGE!" He roared proudly. "I'll take that log, assemble another armada, conquer the Grand Line, and capture the One Piece!"

"You? Capture the One Piece? Don't be ridiculous, someone as stupid and weak as you could never be King of the Pirates."

Everyone paused in disbelief at the insulting words and Krieg mechanically turned around to see that the unknown speaker was a bronze redhead with heterochromia. He was currently staring at the Don without a hint of fear on his expression, head tilted to the side as they made eye contact.

Usopp's jaw dropped at the redhead's stupidity and he hastily tried to pull him out of the way, to very little success. What the hell was he thinking?! Bringing the attention onto them?! Was he insane?! Why was he so hard to pull?!

"Yeah! I'm the one who's gonna be King of the Pirates!" Luffy declared bluntly, smiling at his brother who nodded in approval.

"Hey, you two should stay out of this! You're no match for him!" Patty exclaimed, taking a step forward to try and dissuade the maniacs from dying so early.

They effortlessly ignored the chef, much to his outrage.

"Gold armor, 50 ships, a massive ego and yet you couldn't even last a week in the Grand Line. Do you really think a log of someone else's book will help with your severe lack of skill? You're as embarrassing as you are stupid, Don Krieg," Rosan said, tilting his head at the Don.

Come on now, surely his arrogance wasn't this prominent. Mod-chan told him that a journey through the Grand Line would be different for everyone because of how random the sea was so what did Krieg think was going to happen?

Everyone looked at Rosan like he had personally signed a death wish while Luffy and Zoro chuckled at his insult.

Krieg felt a vein throb at his words and turned fully towards Rosan, food forgotten at the moment as he took a step forward. "What the fuck did you just say?" He asked threateningly. Who did this no named idiot think he was messing with?

"I said it's impressive how you're still alive despite such a difficult journey," the redhead hummed.

"That's not what you said," The leader of the pirate armada growled.

"So you did hear me. I feared that the Grand Line took more than your dignity away. You shouldn't act dumb, its dangerously similar to your normal personality," the redhead advised wisely.

"Rosan, stop!" Usopp hissed. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?!" He whispered, urging the redhead to move and scowling at not seeing him budge at all.

He shrieked at the sight of Krieg revealing his weaponry again and hastily moved out of the way of his line of sight, leaving the redhead alone to stare down the man neutrally.

The captain had enough of this dumbasses smartass attitude. "WATCH YOUR MOUTH, WORM!" The man roared and began firing at the lone redhead who made no effort to move out the way.

Rosan stared at the man with a tilted head and instantly turned Ram into a floating shield, blocking every single bullet effortlessly while his hands lay lazily at his side.

Everyone who chose to watch the, presumable, carnage, blinked and then opened their mouths in surprise.

Where… Where did that shield come from?!

Luffy laughed cheerfully at their dumbfounded looks. Did they really think this guy was gonna be able to beat Rosan?! They were all really stupid!

"Shields are lame," Ram pouted. Why didn't he just turn her into his gloves and incinerate every single bullet! Sure the people behind them would have died but who cared about the small details!

"The ultimate weapon shouldn't be complaining about what she turns into," Mod teased.

"I-I'm not complaining! I'm just stating my genuine opinion! Unless Father wants to bludgeon people to death with the shield, I don't see how its useful! The best defense is a good offense!"

"That's not the…" Mod immediately gave up on trying to teach the silver haired woman and just let it be.

Ram was impossible sometimes.

"Quite the temper you have," Rosan commented over the stationary shield, not a scratch on the weapon. "I don't know why your so upset. You're not the one who's going to conquer the Grand Line."

"I am!" Luffy grinned challengingly.

Krieg's eyes bugged in rage at the audacity of these two. "I don't think these jokes are very funny, so how about I crush you both right here and now?"

They thought that they could just sail the seas after Don Krieg himself had managed to fail?! Utterly preposterous! He'd get rid of them then he'd take this ship and its logbook.

Two on one was overkill but apparently Krieg didn't know that.

"I don't need Rosan for this," Luffy agreed confidently. He cocked his fist back in preparation for battle and eyed the tall pirate without a hint of fear on his face.

Krieg looked back and forth at the two crewmates and growled at the sight of the redhead being unarmed again (they weren't taking him serious) but he took another look at Zeff and calmed his temper.

"I'll deal with you two later," he declared, picking up the large sack of food. "I'm going to feed my underlings, anyone who doesn't wanna die can escape the restaurant. The only things I want are the logbook and this ship."

"Anyone who stays… It'll be a bother but I'll bury you into the sea, remember that."

With that, Krieg departed from the restaurant and paused for a long moment to look Rosan in the eye.

The redhead tilted his head and glanced up at the near 8ft man, unfazed by such a silly intimidation tactic. "You shouldn't stare at me for so long. People will get the wrong idea and I for one, would rather die then take you on a date."

Krieg felt his veins throb but scoffed and promised himself that he wouldn't let the redhead escape, before making his way to the beaten Dreadnaught Sabre.

"You seem to relish in antagonizing every single foe we meet."

"It's their fault for making it so easy. I just have to point out a couple of things and they start frothing at the mouth."

"D-Do you have a death wish?!" Usopp gaped at the crazy redhead. Didn't he hear all those things about Krieg?! What was he doing? Was he trying to get their crew annihilated?!

Oh no… W-What if their close proximity made him a target now! He had been right next to Rosan before the bronze man had gotten fired on so it wouldn't be illogical to think that they were allies.

"You worry too much about the stupidest things," Rosan countered, causing Usopp to splutter. "Luffy will you handle this or should I teach that silly pirate a lesson?"

"Leave it to me!" the rubber boy grinned.

They noticed Gin apologizing to Sanji and Luffy recalled something.

"I'm sorry Sanji, I never imagined it would come to this…" A defeated Gin bowed his head.

Surprisingly, Zeff was the one who spoke to him.

"That's not something you should apologize for, underling. Each cook acted as if they were right, that's all."

The chefs, sans Sanji, began protesting loudly at what the owner had to say.

"Don't tell me you're taking Sanji's side?!" Patty roared.

"That's right! He's responsible for this whole thing!" Another exclaimed in anger.

"He's going to put your precious restaurant out of business!"

"That's right isn't it, Sanji?! You'd do anything to be the head chef!"

"SHUT UP, YOU IDIOTS!" Zeff roared in fury.

All the protesting died down at the anger in his voice and the chefs went ramrod straight.

"Have any of you ever felt what it's like to be on the brink of starvation?! Losing food and water on the high seas… Do you know how scary it is?! Do you know how hard it is?!" The owner of the Baratie asked, tone barating them due to their ignorance.

"W-What do you mean, Owner?" Patty asked dumbly.

"The difference between Sanji and you all, is whether you know it or not," Zeff said.

Sanji said nothing, only taking a long drag of his cigarette.

"It seems like just being free from his family didn't end the hardships Sanji had to face," Mod frowned sympathetically. His life was full of difficulties that seemed to never end and it reminded her of Rosan's own struggles.

"He's survived his trials and has become stronger as a result. It's even given him an even stronger resolve that will benefit him," Rosan replied.

When given a trial, there were two choices you could make. Crumble underneath the challenge, or rise and overcome it, becoming a new person in the process and discarding the previous version of you.

Rosan had overcome one challenge when he was nine and he had almost completely crumbled underneath another one when he was twelve. Even now, he was trying to recover from that soul crushing defeat but when you crumbled, it was difficult to piece yourself back together alone.

"You're doing good, Rosan," Mod assured quietly, regal voice soothing as she was filled with a desire to hug her charge. "One step at a time, we're in no rush."

He nodded gently at her words. Mod-chan was the only reason he hadn't fallen into an irreversible despair. She was his foundation and kept him focused, constantly being the voice of reason that did its best to drown out his self loathing nature. If not for her, he'd have died long ago.

He owed the woman more than she knew...

Even despite his doubts about her true intentions.

Mod grinned fondly at her charge, sending him overwhelming amounts of love. They would always have each others back. Nothing could change that and despite the few hiccups that were her fault, the love they had for each other would never falter.

"You two have the most adorable bond ever!" Ram gushed. She hoped that one day she could have a proper father and daughter relationship with her creator like the mother and son relationship these two had!

"Shut up, Ram."

"Y-Yes Ma'am!"

"If you all have time to grumble, leave the restaurant from the back door already!" Zeff declared with a wave of his hand.

The chefs looked conflicted at his order and stared hesitantly at the man. He was just telling them to leave?

"I'll stay and fight," Patty decided. "I couldn't bear it if I was just beaten and didn't fight back."

That seemed to strengthen the resolve of his fellow chefs because they joined him.

"I'll stay too! This is the restaurant where I work!"

"We don't have anywhere else to go anyway!"

"ARE YOU ALL STUPID?!" Gin yelled in disbelief. "YOU SAW HOW POWERFUL THE DON IS, RIGHT?!"

Were they actually planning on fighting the Don?! That was suicidal! They stood no chance against the leader of the Krieg Pirates and he really would bury them in the Sea!

"Hey, Gin," Sanji interrupted his raging.

The man looked up in surprise at the chef who had saved him.

"Let me tell you something. As a cook, it's my duty to feed someone who's hungry. But…"

Sanji effortlessly kicked up a fallen table and sat on it's edges.

"...soon, we'll be facing plunderers with full bellies. If I have to beat your crewmates to death, don't complain. If someone's going to take over this restaurant, I'll slaughter them without hesitation, and that goes for you too!"

Gin remained silent, stunned by his words and resolve.

"Wow, your change is like night and day. I'm impressed to see how much you've grown," Rosan commented and Sanji's gaze snapped to him in surprise.

"What do you mean by that?" The chef asked warily.

"Still playing stubborn? I can respect that, I'm rather stubborn myself," the redhead nodded, dropping the conversation. It wasn't his job to forcefully make someone see something. He much preferred seeing the shock on their face as they came to their own realizations.

Honestly, he wasn't even sure why he revealed his identity to Sanji so boldly in the first place. Perhaps it was a form of curiosity, perhaps he was tired of keeping it secret, perhaps he trusted the blonde who owed him his life to a degree. He didn't know and he didn't care but the fact that Luffy had practically already cemented the chefs role into the crew, probably played a part.

Besides, no one would ever believe someone's claim that Rosan was Reaper unless they had overwhelming evidence. His skillset had so much variety that he fought nothing like the Angel of Death currently.

His controlling the field style was handy but it was wholly unnecessary currently and deep down, he was a showoff and his current style reflected that. Reaper's fighting style was incredibly effective at winning decisively however so if he was ever pushed into a corner, bringing it out would be a bad sign for his opponent.

Sanji clenched his cigarette a bit harder at the redhead and let the conversation drop. He had more things to worry about than the identity of someone, who he admittedly looked up to (practically worshipped) as a kid, who had gone missing for 10 years. Once this battle was over, he could fully dwell on the overwhelming evidence of Rosan being Reaper but until then, he would push it out his mind...

Well, that's what he was telling himself at least.

"Gin, you said you didn't know anything about the Grand Line, but you've been there!" Luffy pointed out in confusion.

Gin gulped and clutched his head. "I… I know nothing. It's all a crazy fog. Something happened on our seventh day out. But was it a dream or reality? It's all mixed up in my head… Just one man, one man wiped out 50 ships!"

Everyone let out noises of disbelief at the revelation.

"WHAT?!"

"JUST ONE PERSON?!"

Gin revealed to them that the only reason the main ship hadn't been completely destroyed, was due to the arrival of a freak storm.

"I don't even want to remember that man! That man's piercing hawk eyes, eyes that could kill with just a glance!"

"What?!"

That was Zoro who said that and at the same time, Rosan paused.

"They had a run in with Hawk-Eye Mihawk?" The redhead mused. It was no wonder they had been nearly wiped out. Few would be capable of escaping from the Worlds Strongest Swordsman and even fewer would make it out alive.

Even a freak storm was seen as more favorable then a run in with that man. Perhaps the Krieg Pirates truly did get unlucky and would have made a much better run if they didn't run into one of the literal worst options on the planet...

"Nah, they suck. They'd have died in 2 weeks instead," Ram shrugged.

He agreed.

As they discussed the identity of the man, Luffy spoke up.

"Who's Hawk-eye, Rosan?"

"The world's strongest swordsman," the redhead replied. "If Zoro wants to be the strongest swordsman, he needs to fight and defeat him."

Which would be impossible right now. Zoro overestimated his abilities currently and wasn't aware of just how strong some people really were.

The green haired man nodded at that. "He's the reason I went out to see. I'm searching for him."

"The Grand Line… what an interesting place," Rosan hummed.

"That's where we have to go to find him then…" Zoro grinned challengingly.

"I'm getting excited just thinking about it!" Luffy laughed happily.

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"W-We can still not go there," Usopp cried comically.

"Are you guys stupid or what?" Sanji suddenly asked the group. "Guys like you die before anyone else."

"Yeah, but you didn't have to call us stupid," Zoro replied, making the blonde chef raise a brow. "When I decided to become the world's strongest swordsman, I decided to devote my life to it. Nobody can call me stupid but me."

"Me too, me too!" Luffy agreed, laughing all the while.

"As a man, I must agree," Usopp lied and Zoro hit him with the butt of his sword.

"If I die before achieving my goal, that just means I wasn't good enough to be alive," Rosan stated simply. "I'm not afraid of death. That's all there is to it."

Zoro and Luffy nodded in unison at his words. They were both the exact same way.

"What nonsense," Sanji scoffed.

Unseen to everyone, Zeff smiled a small smile at the interactions going on.

"DO YOU GUYS EVEN UNDERSTAND THE SITUATION?!" Patty screamed at them in disbelief. "Out there is the huge Galleon that belongs to Don Krieg, Commodore of the pirate fleet! If you wanna dream, do it after surviving this life-or-death crisis!"

"How scary," Rosan hummed, utterly unmoved by Patty's words. The burly chef glared at him due to his neutral tone and he waved back, much to the amusement of Luffy and Sanji and the further irritation of Patty.

Honestly, if he were as weak as the chef, he'd be scared too. Rosan was sure even his four year old version would give this guy a run for him money.

"Rosan gets it!" Usopp nodded in agreement.

"That was sarcasm, Usopp. There's no human alive that scares me."

"R-Right! I knew that!" Man, his redheaded crewmate seriously needed to layoff the lying sometimes. Even Usopp had periods of downtime but Rosan had to have been a compulsive liar or something!

"It's a good thing you said human, how is your fear of giant lizards?"

"...Mod-chan, did you know that you're one of the most gorgeous people on the planet but that's only when you aren't talking?"

Mod's jaw dropped at Rosan's sheer audacity, and her sharp red gaze narrowed in disbelief. "T-That is no way to talk to me, you rude —,"

"Language!" Ram chimed in eagerly.

Mod gaped at the two. She wasn't even planning on cursing! "I'll see you both tonight and you can see how gorgeous I am when I'm angry! I wonder how confident you'll be then!" She harrumphed.

Rosan wisely remained silent.

Ram was not as smart. Before the silver haired woman could even utter a syllable, the Devil Fruit ruthlessly gripped her cheek and reduced the ring to just whining.

Honestly, his weapon was such an idiot.

----------------------------------------

It didn't take long for them to hear the battle cries of the, now rejuvenated, pirate crew and the chefs prepared themselves for battle.

"Try not to die, Sanji," Rosan called quietly. "You still owe me that best meal so show me how strong you've gotten."

"Worry about yourself," the blonde muttered in annoyance. He could whip up his best meal for the redhead but he just knew he could get better so he didn't want to do it yet.

"Do you still cry a lot?" The redhead asked softly, tilting his head at the irritated chef.

Sanji bit his cigarette even harder then before. "...No I don't cry. I don't know who told you about that," he bit out. Another piece of evidence in a case that should have long been shut.

Rosan hummed. "Good. I wouldn't want tears on my meal. You certainly did cry a lot when you were a child."

"S-SHUT UP!" Sanji barked, not liking how much this redhead knew about him. "STOP PRETENDING LIKE YOU KNOW ME AND AFTER THIS IS OVER I'LL HAVE YOUR MEAL READY!"

Rosan nearly snorted. What was that one saying? Right. Never meet your heroes. Sanji was learning that first hand because he wasn't a hero in the first place. "Don't worry, I'll accept it sometime during our journey together. There's no rush."

Sanji felt himself gain a tick mark. "I never said I was going with you guys!" He barked in annoyance.

"Right."

Sanji felt his annoyance grow. The more he talked to him, the less he believed that this was Reaper. They were just too different! He didn't even kill Don Krieg for sizing him up like that!

After this was over, he'd just skip all pretenses and ask the man outright because this was ridiculous.

Was he a spy for Judge?! How did he know so much about him? Only Germa knew he cried alot as a kid and after encountering Reaper, he trained himself hard and stopped crying as much.

"GET READY! WE CAN HEAR THEIR WAR CRIES!" Someone called out.

"They're all so worried! I guess this is the despair of being weak," Ram cackled.

Before Rosan could respond, he watched with a blank gaze, as the massive galleon outside was promptly cut into three pieces.

"WHAT?!"

"WHATS GOING ON?!"

"RAISE THE ANCHOR BEFORE WE SINK WITH IT!"

Zoro's eyes widened. "Our ship is still out there!" He barked, already moving to go check on it.

An open mouthed Luffy, quickly followed after him and so did the chefs, curious to see what was happening outside.

Rosan sighed.

"Rest in peace, Zoro."

If that was who he thought it was, things just got a lot more difficult for them. Even if those rumors about him being here had turned out to be false (it was a red eyed man not a hawk eyed man. Johnny was a moron), it seems the real Mihawk had decided to show his presence for some reason.

The World's Strongest Swordsman… A small part of Rosan, the one who had once desired to be the strongest in the world, was curious about just how powerful the man was.

A tinier part, one hidden to even him, wanted to test his own might against that strength.

With that, he followed after them all.

The redhead stared at the sunken ship with a tilted head before two familiar voices screamed for Zoro.

"BIG BRO!" They both screamed in unison, struggling to stay surfaced. The capsized waves were threatening to overwhelm them and they desperately reached out to get grabbed out of it.

"Johnny! Yosaku! You two okay?!" Zoro asked in concern, pulling them both up over the railing. "Where's our ship?! Where's Nami?!"

"T-THEY'RE GONE!" They cried.

"SISTER NAMI, SHE SAILED OFF WITH ALL THE TREASURE AFTER SAYING THIS!"

"Tell them that if we're linked by fate, we'll meet again!"

Usopp, Zoro and Luffy all went pale at the revelation.

"W-WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" They roared.

Rosan hummed at the revelation.

"I guess you were right to not trust her," Mod frowned. She had been hoping that Rosan was overreacting and that the girl was just taking time to warm up to them, but it seems like he was correct in his assumption that she was going to jump ship.

Or well, take their ship in this case.

"Hm." Was all the redhead said, closing his eyes momentarily before snapping them open again, slight glow vanishing. He listened to the two bounty hunters tell the tale about what happened with a neutral expression, not reacting whatsoever at what he was hearing.

They had been fooled by the orange haired woman when she requested they turn around so she could change her clothes. After doing so, Nami had subsequently thrown them overboard before taking off with the ship, the Straw Hats treasure and Johnny and Yosaku's as well.

She betrayed them.

Rosan didn't like traitors.

Mod frowned nervously at that.

"We should've known her behavior was just an act," Zoro scowled.

"Kaya gave that ship to us!" Usopp growled.

"Wait, I can still see the ship!" Luffy called out and true to his words, it was visible in the distance. "Zoro, Usopp, Rosan, go after her!" Their captain said.

"…" Rosan stared at Luffy then nodded his head. "Fine. You'll be staying here?"

"Yeah, I've got it handled and I still gotta finish my business at the restaurant!"

"Alright," the redhead nodded.

"Fine, what a high maintenance captain," Zoro complained.

As Johnny and Yosaku got the boat ready, Rosan actually thought that Zoro was going to make it out of this situation alive.

He was silly to even entertain the notion. This was why he stopped tempting fate so long ago.

Zeff let out a startled gasp, the most emotion he'd shown yet, as a small black boat that resembled a coffin appeared into view and on that small boat, lie one lone individual.

"…" Mod frowned worriedly. This could end up being really, really bad for them if things went out like how Rosan predicted. If Zoro died, Luffy would stop at nothing to beat Mihawk and that might end up jeopardizing all of them because this was the strongest swordsman alive and he could probably kill them in his sleep.

"…!" Ram grinned excitedly. If things went like how Father predicted, they'd be able to test themselves against the world's strongest swordsman! Her goal was the same as what Rosan's had been as a child and that was to make her Father the strongest with her by his side! This would be a great way to test how far they needed to go in the future and this was the person wielding the strongest sword! As the ultimate weapon, she wanted to see how she faced up against him!

"…" Rosan stared blankly. He was hoping things didn't go exactly like how he predicted because if so, they were all dead. Zoro was going to challenge Mihawk and he was going to lose. This was a guarantee.

What was not a guarantee though, was whether or not he'd make it out of it alive. If he did, it would be good for them, if not… the redhead didn't fancy explaining to Ace that Luffy died to the world's strongest swordsman because Rosan was not going to die here, whether he could save Luffy or not.

"THAT SON OF A BITCH!" They heard Don Krieg roar in fury.

"HE'S FOLLOWED US HERE TO KILL US!" One of his pirates screeched.

"WE'RE DONE FOR!" Another sobbed.

Mihawk was a tall, lean, and muscular man with black hair, a short beard, mustache and sideburns that pointed upwards. His attire consisted of a wide-brimmed black hat decorated with a large plume, and a long, open black coat with a red velvet inside with no shirt underneath, with red, flower-patterned sleeves and collar and He wore light purple pants that were held up by a decorated belt. They were tucked neatly in his large boots.

On Mihawk's back, resided his, at the moment, hidden sword and he had the most piercing yellow gaze Rosan had seen yet.

"So that's the world's strongest swordsman…" Zoro whispered. "I didn't think I'd run into him so early!"

"Y-YOU MONSTER!" One of Krieg's members called out, mustering the courage to speak. "WHY DO YOU KEEP PICKING ON US?!"

Mihawk didn't even spare him a glance. "For fun," was all he said.

"...FOR FUN?!" He roared in disbelief, pulling out two flintlocks and firing without hesitation at the pirate.

Mihawk unsheathed the weapon on his back and effortlessly changed the trajectory of the two bullets flying towards him.

"That's an awesome sword," Ram gushed, gleefully soaking in the appearance of it. It was a curved, single-edged black blade in the shape of a latin cross, with a golden crossguard decorated by blue and green cabochons and a hilt wrapped in bandages, with a particularly big cabochon at its extremity.

She knew her father wasn't a fan of using swords very much but that didn't really pertain to things like greatswords, claymores and generally bigger swords! Maybe she'd get him to start using a sword like Mihawk's more...

"B-But I aimed straight for him... did I miss?!"

"No. Shooting at him is useless. He deflected the bullets with his sword," Zoro said, smiling challengingly at the hawk eyed man.

"What the?!"

"Hey, who are you?!"

"Those three swords… could it be?!"

Rosan and Luffy watched Zoro approach Mihawk with stone faced expressions.

"You know he might die, right Luffy?" The redhead told his captain with a tilted head. "What will you do if that happens?"

"..." the rubber boy didn't say anything but he didn't have to. The only one who knew the youngest as much as Rosan, was Ace.

Rosan hummed and continued to watch the exchange. He wanted to see just how capable Mihawk was and Zoro was clearly hellbent on challenging him.

"There's no time for this!" Usopp growled in fury. "The ship's almost out of sight!"

"Shut up, Usopp," Rosan said softly. "Zoro's goal is right in front of him, do you think he'd really let this chance slip by?"

The long nosed boy gulped and wisely remained silent, deciding to watch the situation unfold with a curious glance.

"Hey wait, three sword style?! That's Roronoa Zoro!"

"WHAT?!"

"The pirate hunter?" Krieg frowned.

"That guy?" Sanji called out in surprise.

"Pathetic weakling," Mihawk droned, vanishing and appearing on the remains of the broken Galleon. The world's strongest swordsman stared at Zoro and said, "If you're a competent swordsman, you don't need to cross swords to know the disparity in our skills…"

"...Does the courage to point your blade at me come from confidence or ignorance?" He asked curiously.

"It comes from ambition!" Zoro replied with a savage grin before placing Wado Ichimonji in his mouth. "And from a promise to a dear friend of mine."

"There's no way Big Bro Zoro can lose!" Yosaku said.

"He's the strongest already!" Johnny agreed.

"Idiots," Rosan chided softly, much to their surprise. "If that's what you really think, then you're in for the surprise of a lifetime. I hope you guys aren't ugly criers."

The bounty hunters fought for Zoro's sake, questioning how he could have no faith in his crewmate but Rosan ignored them, staring at the most dangerous person there and trying to think of ways to keep his crew alive.

The redhead could tell at a glance, years of battle experience kicking in, that if Mihawk wanted too, he could kill every single person here with zero effort and be gone before the hour was over. Nobody here could defeat him. It was a suicide mission to even put yourself on this man's radar.

True to his thoughts, the hawk-eyed man pulled out the cross necklace he had and revealed the knife inside of it.

"What's that for?" Zoro asked with a glare set on his features. He couldn't be thinking of...

"I'm not the kind of fool who hunts rabbits with a cannon," Mihawk replied laxly. "You may have a reputation, but you're still just a bunny in the tamest of the four seas."

The swordsman shrugged apologetically and his expression became incredibly patronizing. "Unfortunately, I don't carry a knife smaller then this one," he apologized.

"Damn he's good," Ram whistled. She loved some trash talk and this guy was making it look easy.

"He's already upset," Rosan thought. That was not good. This battle was already over.

"THAT'S ENOUGH MAKING FUN OF ME," Zoro roared, clenching his swords harder before breaking out into a full sprint. "DON'T FEEL STUPID WHEN I KILL YOU!"

"You're just a little frog, croaking in your puddle. It's about time you learned how big the world is," Mihawk sighed with a small shake of his head.

"ONI GIRI!"

Zoro swung using all three of his blades and everyone watched in utter disbelief at the sight of Mihawk effortlessly stopping the attack…

With just his knife.

"B-Big Bro's Oni Giri was stopped?!" Johnny croaked in disbelief.

"I-It's never been stopped by anyone before!" Yosaku gaped.

"I can't say I'm surprised at this outcome," Mod sighed, already writing the battle off as finished. It was clear from previous battles that Zoro was overconfident in his abilities. He had never been truly challenged and it was clear based on the fact that one ability being stopped, had driven him into a frenzy.

Zoro began swinging without any thought or strategy. Right now, he just wanted to hit Mihawk and the more he desired it, the less likely he'd be able to do it.

Hawk-eyes parried every single blow with barely a flinch and knocked the offending attacker back with an almost bored expression on his face.

"This can't be true. The gap between us can't be this large!" Zoro gasped out in despair. He was doing all of this with just a toy?! Was that all he was worthy of in the eyes of the greatest swordsman?! Was this truly the limit of his strength... all those years, all the sweat and blood... this is what that amounted to?

He didn't come all this way to lose! Him and Kuina had shared a dream to become the greatest swordsman and the ticket to that dream was right in front of him.

So why?

Why was he being effortlessly tossed around?! Did all his training mean nothing?!

Absolutely. NOT. HE REFUSED TO ACCEPT THAT.

So Zoro kept swinging with a renewed frenzy and that frenzy only increased as every single attack failed.

"What drives you? Why do you fight so hard when you cannot win, weakling?" Mihawk asked the panting Zoro.

"WEAK? DON'T CALL OUR BROTHER WEAK!" Yosaku roared.

"I'LL TEACH YOU A LESSON!" Johnny roared.

They both leapt over the railing to go confront Mihawk and let out equal yelps as long rubbery arms reached out and forced them to sit down.

"STAY OUT OF IT JOHNNY, YOSAKU! CONTROL YOURSELVES!" Luffy managed to say through grit teeth. It looked more like the rubber boy was trying to restrain himself, not the two bounty hunters.

"I wonder who you're saying that too," Rosan hummed, content to watch it all unfold. He knew this would be one-sided but Mihawk was making this fight look like a chore currently. With such a small weapon too…

What a monster of a man. He could practically hear Ram salivating at the idea of fighting him.

Zoro let out heavy pants as he was repelled again and he rolled across the broken deck before catching himself. "I...can't lose here!" the green haired man gasped out.

"The world's strongest swordsman! The pirate king expects nothing less!"

"TIGER TRAP!" Zoro roared, slashing downwards at the unfazed Mihawk.

Everything went silent for a moment. The only thing they could hear, was Zoro's wet gasp at being stabbed right on the chest, dangerously near his heart.

Luffy grit his teeth even harder and his breathing became palpable.

Rosan side eyed his captain and let out a sigh, eyes beginning to glow slightly in preparation.

Mihawk looked at Zoro in interest. "Do you want me to pierce your heart? Why don't you retreat?" He asked curiously.

Zoro, with blood leaking from his mouth, slowly said, "I can't… If I retreat even one step…my vow, my ambition… Everything I care about...will be shattered. All my dreams will be lost forever."

"Yes, that's defeat," Mihawk retorted bluntly.

"Then I can't retreat."

"Even if it means death?"

"I prefer death to defeat," Zoro said with finality, grinning all the while.

Mihawk's bored expression sparked with interest at that and he mercifully withdrew the knife from Zoro's chest.

"Boy... Speak your name."

Zoro placed two of his swords at an angle, heedless of the blood pouring from his body. "Roronoa Zoro."

"I'll remember it. I haven't met someone so brave in a while so I'll honor the swordsman's code and send you to your death with the strongest black sword."

That was the closest thing to praise Zoro would get from the man.

"Rest in peace, Zoro. Unable to even make it out of the East Blue," Rosan sent off his prayers, Ram already glowing.

"BROTHER PLEASE GIVE UP!" The bounty hunters begged.

It was do or die. Zoro would either win, or he would face death. It was his last chance to achieve victory.

"Three Sword Style Secret Technique:…" Zoro began, spinning his two blades rapidly.

"Fall," Mihawk uttered, soaring over to Zoro, poised to cut him in half.

"...THREE THOUSAND WORLDS!"

The two collided and there was a tense silence until the two swords Zoro was holding in his hands, shattered into dozens of pieces and clanged loudly onto the deck.

There was not a scratch on Mihawk as he assessed the green haired man calmly, Yoru resting lazily by his side.

Zoro spat out a glob of blood and withdrew Wado Ichimonji from his mouth before calmly sheathing it. Contrary to belief, he had never felt more at peace with himself.

He had lost completely. Never in his life, did he think he would lose a fight but he was proven wrong by the world's strongest swordsman.

The green haired swordsman stood up and turned to face a confused Mihawk with his arms outstretched.

"What are you…" the hawk-eyed man trailed off.

Zoro grinned and said, "Wounds on the back are a swordsman's shame."

Mihawk actually grinned at that declaration.

"Magnificent."

With that, he grabbed Yoru and swung diagonally across his chest, letting loose a massive spray of blood and sending Zoro crashing into the sea.

"ZORO!" Luffy screamed in disbelief, tears welling up in his eyes at the sight of the swordsman falling back in the ocean and glaring heatedly at the one who had done it. "DAMN YOU!"

Without any hesitation, Luffy cocked his fist back and launched it at Mihawk. He grabbed onto the railing and soared over to his location to avenge Zoro.

Sanji gaped at the sight of Luffy's arm stretching.

"So he has a Devil Fruit…" Krieg mused. That explained his arrogance but Devil Fruits were not the end all be all. He'd show that idiot Straw Hat what happened when you messed with Krieg.

Rosan sighed at the sight of Mihawk effortlessly sidestepping Luffy's attack and before he could even turn towards his captain, the redhead vanished from his spot and swung Ram (she had taken the form of a silver and purple claymore that looked a lot like Mihawk's own, cocky little shit that she was) at the man who had crushed Zoro.

He was not surprised in the slightest to see his attack get blocked.

"Whatever you do, make sure you make it out of this alive. No matter what," Mod advised worriedly.

The onlookers gawked at the sight of Rosan vanishing in one spot only to appear in another.

What was that?! How was he able to move so fast?! Didn't he have a shield before? Where did that sword come from!

Sanji let out a sigh of relief at seeing his weapon of choice.

"Oh?" Mihawk called out curiously, casually parrying the attack and making Rosan disengage to Luffy's side. "Are you two that young swordsman's crewmates? You did well to let him fight his own battle."

"There's no need to worry, I left him alive."

"Is that so?" Rosan replied, glancing back just in time to see Zoro cough out blood and be escorted to the ship. "How fortunate, Luffy."

"Boooo," Ram whined, stamping her feet petulantly. At least she had seen some of what he was capable of.

"Zoro!" Luffy let out a sigh of relief.

"My name is Dracule Mihawk! It's too soon for you to die. Learn about yourself! Learn about the world! Grow strong, Roronoa Zoro! However long it may take, I shall await you at the top. Strive with your whole heart and mind to best this blade! STRIVE TO SURPASS ME, RORONOA ZORO!" The world's strongest swordsman said.

"Thank Kami. Zoro is still alive," Mod sighed happily. Now Luffy didn't have to die trying to avenge him and Rosan didn't have to die trying to keep Luffy alive!

"Usopp! Is Zoro okay?!" Luffy called.

"No he's not! But he's alive and unconscious!" the sniper replied, panic stricken.

"Say something big bro," Johnny sobbed.

Rosan watched with an almost impressed expression, as Zoro raised his remaining sword into the sky.

"Zoro?" Luffy gasped in shock.

"L-Luffy…? Can you...hear me?"

"Yeah!"

Zoro panted harshly as the injuries took its toll on his body but powered through regardless. "Did I worry you?" He gasped out.

"If I fail… to become the world's greatest swordsman, you'd be disappointed... right?" The green haired man asked.

Luffy watched Zoro with a surprised expression on his face.

The swordsman spat out more blood and Johnny urged him to stop speaking but he wouldn't.

No, he couldn't.

"NEVER AGAIN!" Zoro yelled and everyone was shocked to see the tears running down his eyes. "I WILL NEVER LOSE AGAIN! FROM NOW TO THE DAY I BEAT HIM TO BECOME THE GREATEST SWORDSMAN… I WILL NEVER… LOSE AGAIN! YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT, KING OF THE PIRATES?"

Luffy grinned widely and laughed. "Not at all!"

Rosan felt something stir slightly at the declaration and he gazed at Zoro with a curious look in his eye.

That ambition… it was... admirable.

He would like Zoro just fine.

"Luffy really hit the jackpot with that one," Mod smiled softly, watching the ship sail off in pursuit of Nami. He was able to fully pique Rosan's interest now and that meant her son could see the value in him.

Luffy wasn't the only one he'd bother keeping alive now.

"So you wish to be the King of the Pirates?" Mihawk asked in amusement. "That's even more difficult to achieve then my title."

They made a good duo, him and that Roronoa Zoro.

"Don't care, that's what I'm gonna be!" Luffy declared without any hesitation.

"And you?" Mihawk asked, turning towards the redhead. "You have a sword that looks similar to mine, but you don't seem to desire a fight with me."

"I'm not a swordsman," Rosan replied instantly, much to the slight surprise of Mihawk. "I'm just the humble scout of my little brother… Though, I do have a question for you."

The hawk-eyed man raised a brow at him and inclined his head.

"How is it that you can recognize the two of us?" The redhead tilted his head. "Is it because of Shanks? I don't remember giving that man permission to talk about me."

Mihawk knew the both of them. Maybe for Rosan it would have been easy to recognize him, but to recognize both him and the more unknown Luffy? It was far too suspicious.

Luffy blinked before his jaw dropped. "YOU KNOW SHANKS?!"

Mihawk looked at him in surprise at the fact that he had managed to notice that, before he let loose a low chuckle. "That's correct. You two are as interesting as he said you were but you are much more difficult to get a read on."

Without any warning, Rosan threw up his blade to block a slash from Mihawk, sighing slightly at the power behind it.

"I'd like to see one last thing before I leave," the world's greatest swordsman declared.

Everyone watching, gasped at the sight of Rosan being attacked. What were they talking about over there for the redhead to suddenly be a target? What was going on?!

The redhead himself leapt a safe distance away and gazed neutrally at the man.

"What are you doing?" Rosan asked calmly, unfazed by Mihawk's actions. "I assure you I'm not nearly as interesting as Shanks made me out to be."

That annoying redhead. Why on earth would he tell Mihawk, the world's strongest swordsman, anything about him? This was not someone who's radar he wanted to be on yet.

"You're even more interesting then what he said is all. Red-Haired never mentioned that you used a weapon, I'd simply like to see how adept you are with it… call it curiosity," The hawk-eyed man replied calmly.

With that, he vanished again and Rosan had no choice but to play along with his game. The two appeared in the middle and once again clashed blades. Black met silver in a spray of sparks before Mihawk tossed Rosan back.

"YES! WOOHOO!" Ram cheered. She was actually getting to fight the strongest sword in the world! She was so happy right now that she wouldn't cause Auntie a problem for 2 hours!

"I'm so flattered," Mod said dryly, gazing unimpressed at the excited weapon.

"Alright, I'll spar with you until you're satisfied," Rosan muttered and Ram began glowing, much to everyone's confusion. "But like I said, I'm no swordsman."

His claymore transformed into a set of gloves and Rosan let loose a massive beam of red energy towards the slightly surprised Mihawk.

Sanji went pale at the sight of the redhead's weapon rapidly shifting into the gloves. R-Reaper's scythe wasn't always visible a-and he fought his brothers with his...

With his...

Oh.

Rosan was already on the move before his attack finished (Ram was in the form of a katana now for more speed) and he appeared behind a Mihawk who had just cut through his wave of energy with little to no effort.

He could see how Zoro got annoyed so quickly. Mihawk was making it look easy but Rosan was well aware of the gap between the two unlike his crewmate which was why he was able to keep a cool head.

"So you are not a swordsman because you use all types of weapons?" Mihawk mused, deflecting a swift slash to his stomach. He had never seen a weapon that could so seamlessly transform… It was clear this boy had a Devil Fruit but he didn't know what it could possibly be.

"Limiting myself to such a boring weapon would be no fun," Rosan retorted. "Everyone's a swordsman these days, why would I want to be something so common?"

"Such ego." The amusement in Mihawk's voice was noticeable. To make that claim in front of the world's strongest swordsman… What an interesting person.

Shanks was right to be so interested in these two.

"He's only fighting slightly above my perceived skill level…" Rosan mused. It was similar to what he had done with Ace and Luffy when they were kids. He would steadily increase the level until they reached it, then increased it again.

He did not like that it was being used against him.

"Boost x2," he thought to himself, body pulsing with newfound power and the redhead vanished even faster then before, cracking the wood beneath him, only to appear behind Mihawk. He transformed his katana into a pair of gauntlets and swung with a staggering amount of force, intending to shatter Yoru if he chose to block it.

Mihawk raised a brow at the massive increase in Rosan's speed but he simply deflected the attack with a wave of his sword and finally went on the offensive.

The redhead couldn't leap back in time to avoid the perfectly timed slash to his belly and he frowned at the tear in his silver silk shirt. There was blood pooling down his stomach and it was seeping into his clothing.

"Why does someone of your level still reside in the East Blue?" Mihawk asked curiously, watching his opponent not even flinch at the somewhat deep injury. He was not aiming to kill the redhead but that was still impressive of him.

Based on what the World's Strongest Swordsman could see so far, both the captain and the scout were well out of the league of the East Blue and were probably more then strong enough to sail comfortably in the Grand Line.

Even Roronoa Zoro was strong enough to enter the Grand Line, he just wouldn't have as comfortable as a time as the first two.

"Lack of ambition," Rosan replied softly.

Everyone watched in disbelief as the injury steamed up, before closing as if he had never been cut. "Like I said, I'm just the humble scout of my captain. Where he goes, I go."

"W-Who is he?" Someone whispered.

"W-What is he?" Someone else gawked.

"He just healed that cut like it was nothing!"

"He's keeping up with that hawk-eyed monster!"

"Keeping up?" Rosan commented with a tilted head, shutting up the ones who said it and making them glance nervously at the other monster. "What exactly are you watching? Are you truly that untalented?"

Mihawk had barely put any effort into this fight and he was testing Rosan for some reason. This was all just a game to the world's greatest swordsman and the redhead was its participant today.

He hadn't felt this out of his league since fighting Garp.

"The people out there really are monstrous!" Ram cackled in joy. "If this is what we can expect from the Grand Line, we need to go there now!"

"I've never seen someone toy with Rosan so effortlessly," Mod commented idly. Garp tended to end things quickly when it came to fighting the redhead.

"Shall we continue?" Rosan asked softly.

Mihawk's reply was to shoot a crescent wave of wind towards him that collided with his own wave of wind, giving him enough time to move out of the way of the attack that quickly overpowered his own. He then transformed his katana into a long double bladed curved sword (one side was silver, the other black) with a purple grip in the middle, just in time to collide with the equally beautiful black blade known as Yoru.

A furious dance took place between the two and it was only Rosan's strange choice of weapon (and Mihawk holding back tremendously) that kept him in the battle. They repeatedly clashed over and over again, Rosan using his natural dexterity and speed to make the odd blade work wonders for him. He never remained in one place, moving all over at a pace that would leave anyone dizzy.

Well, almost anyone.

He was like a whirlwind of destruction compared to Mihawk's tranquil swings but nothing he did worked. A slash to his abdomen with one side of his blade, followed by a spin and a swipe to his back were both effortlessly blocked and he was slashed across his chest as a result, injury healing up as he moved to continue his assault.

Against most foes, his sheer flexibility would have been more then enough to overwhelm them but right now, it was giving him nothing but more and more cuts across his body that were swiftly healing up.

Rosan used his double sword as both an offensive and defensive option to avoid being injured too greatly. It was one of the strongest weapons in his arsenal for not just close combat, but far as well due to just how diversely he used it but its full potential was unlocked when he was flying around for different angles.

As if proving his point on how diverse it was, Rosan leapt back, held his weapon in an archer stance and swiftly began forming an arrow of energy, firing off a salvo at the swordsman.

Mihawk held his stance and diverted one of the arrows to the broken down ship that was Kriegs and everyone's eyes bugged at the massive explosion that took place right afterwards.

"M-Monster," they gaped at the terrifying redhead. Just who was this guy?!

It almost looked like a game that Mihawk himself started. With perfect precision, he cut every single destructive arrow that flew his way, not allowing a single one to fly past, or hit him.

Once he grew bored, he dashed forward again and slashed downward, forcing Rosan to hold the attack back with his weapon. The sheer strength Mihawk possessed meant that he wouldn't be able to do this for much longer and Rosan utilized Germa's energy to shoot out a long beam of energy from both sides of his blade that honed in on the swordsman.

Mihawk glanced in interest at the homing beams but like everything else, he simply leapt back a safe distance and swiftly banished them with a swipe of his sword.

He didn't let the redhead rest for long because he quickly dashed back into his guard. Grabbing Ram, Rosan seamlessly transformed her into dual blades, seemingly disconnecting the middle, and their dance began again. Using the advantage of having two weapons now instead of one long one, the redhead was able to go even faster and sparks began flying as they ruthlessly crashed into each other again and again.

Yoru, despite its size, flew so swiftly through the air that it was taking Rosan everything just to keep up, just barely managing to block each heavy, but fast, swing. Rosan transformed Ram into dual blades for more speed but it was almost like he were still using his previous weapon with how he still couldn't land a clean hit.

"You have quite an impressive weapon," Mihawk praised as the two clashed once again. "Most would break clashing with the world's strongest sword for this long."

"What a flatterer!" Ram gushed.

"He's a complete monster," Mod complimented, eyeing Ram warily. She was pretty sure the psychotic silver haired girl had a crush on Mihawk's sword and that was somehow the strangest thing about the sentient ring.

"I personally made Ram to be this impressive," Rosan hummed. "Never once has she been broken."

Maybe he should not have said that.

"Is that so?" Mihawk prodded.

Without any warning, Mihawk increased his strength past what Rosan was expecting and shattered Ram with a diagonal slash that placed a deep cut on his body, drawing out a spurt of blood that began spilling onto the floor and getting gasps of horror out of everyone there, convinced he was going to die.

"?! I ACTUALLY BROKE?!" Ram gaped in disbelief. That had never happened before. S-She was unbreakable! The amount of force needed to break her... Mihawk was seriously super impressive!

Agh! She was fangirling so hard right now! She should be furious that she was actually broken, not gushing!

"That did require a sufficient bit of force," Mihawk complimented. "Against anyone else, I doubt your Ram would be easily broken. You have a praiseworthy weapon."

"Hmph," Rosan grunted, focusing a bit and watching as both he and Ram began regenerating until they were both in perfect condition again.

He just got this shirt and it was already getting shredded. How unfortunate, it would take some time to repair all the cut marks.

"S-Seriously?! HE MANAGED TO HEAL FROM THAT?!" Everyone gawked. Not only could he heal, his weapon could heal too? W-Was this guy even supposed to be human? The Pirate Hunter Zoro was in near death condition and this guy looked perfectly fine right now!

This was the craziest fight they had ever seen! They weren't even able to keep up most of the time and watching the two monsters in action, solidified just how out of their depth they were...

Rosan ignored them, gazing at Mihawk with a tilted head as he prepared to don his Raid Suit.

Ram was not normal. Ram was the most unique weapon that existed on the planet and that extended to what she was made of. She wasn't impossible to break, but she was close and this man had done so effortlessly.

He was strong. Very much so.

Unbeknownst to them all, his body began idly shuddering at the prospect of fighting such a strong opponent in earnest.

If the fight had continued anymore, something would have happened to Rosan but unfortunately, all would remain unaware of that because Mihawk exited his stance and sheathed his blade behind him.

"Both you and your weapon have some of the most impressive healing I've ever witnessed," the man pointed out curiously.

Zoans healed slower then the enigmatic redhead and he wasn't aware that there was a weapon that could regenerate like this Ram could. He was rather interested in her but that was for another time.

"I'm a healthy person. Ram inherited that aspect from me as well," Rosan commented and everyone watched as his weapon transformed into the expensive ring that normally lay on his finger. "Have you seen what you wanted to see? I don't appreciate being toyed with."

Ah, so his weapon normally took the form of a ring.

Shanks undersold how interesting this duo was. Mihawk would be keeping an eye on them.

"Yes, I've had my fun for today," Mihawk decided, already walking back to his single passenger ship. "You have plenty of potential. Despite how much I held back, you kept pace with me admirably and I could sense that you have even more in your arsenal but, your lack of ambition is holding you back greatly."

"No one knows that more than I do," the redhead retorted, glancing down at his positively blood stained shirt. "Thanks for sparring with me, I learned much from this."

This shirt was going to be hard to clean... He hoped Akemi didn't get too upset when he brought it to her, he didn't feel like cleaning it himself.

"I hope when we encounter each other again, you'll have regained all that ambition of yours. I'd like to know more about that Ram of yours and see just how strong you can become," the swordsman replied.

The redhead was much stronger then Shanks made him out to be but then again, it had been 10 years since they saw each other. Before losing it all, Mihawk was very sure the Rosan's own ambition was something to behold because only losing something great, could affect a person so greatly.

Even the so called "Anchor" was much stronger then the weakling in the story. From what little Mihawk had seen of Luffy, he was much stronger then what he initially expected.

Those two would be perfectly fine after entering the Grand Line and Mihawk was curious to see what the Straw Hat pirates could do in the future.

Luffy, Rosan and Zoro... Yes, Mihawk would be keeping an eye on all of them.

"Next time you see Shanks, tell him to stop talking about me," Rosan retorted calmly. He didn't need to be put on anyone else's radar yet. He was pretty sure Mihawk wasn't the only incredibly powerful person who knew about him.

Ace was apart of the Whitebeard Pirates after all. Honestly, if he was going to end up following another captain, he should have just joined their crew. It would have been much more fun and now the strongest man alive knew about him too.

"Tell Shanks I said hi!" Luffy beamed. He was content to watch those two duke it out since he knew Rosan was made of tough stuff and could take quite the beating if he needed to.

"HE WANTS TO KNOW MORE ABOUT ME?!" Ram squealed, jumping on her Auntie with the most excited expression to date. YES! THE WORLD'S STRONGEST SWORDSMAN TOTALLY THOUGHT SHE WAS WORTHY! THAT WAS SO AWESOME!

"You are the ultimate weapon after all," Mod praised, accepting her excitement with a proud smile. Ram being acknowledged by Mihawk was no small thing. She deserved to be happy right now.

"FUCK YEAH I AM!"

"Language."

"YEAH I AM!"

"Where do you think you're going?" Krieg called out to the uninterested Mihawk. "Didn't you come to take the head of the King of East Blue, Don Krieg?"

"That was my intention. But I've had enough fun for now, so I shall take a nap."

Krieg scowled at being disregarded and said, "You may be done, but I'm not. I've had enough of being defeated."

With that, Krieg revealed his entire arsenal of guns and fired at Mihawk, heedless of his crew telling him how bad of an idea it was.

"NOW IT'S MY TURN TO HAVE FUN... DIE!"

"As expected, he never learns a lesson," Mihawk muttered, unsheathing his sword for one last attack.

A massive wave rocked everything and had the benefit of hiding Mihawk's body and ship. The Krieg pirates went flying as even more of their ship was destroyed and Luffy launched himself over to the Baratie.

The retreating ship holding Usopp, Zoro and the bounty hunter duo, rocked back and forth but managed to remain upright.

When the wave settled, Mihawk had vanished.

Krieg scoffed at Mihawk's cowardice and set his sights back on the Baratie. Then he realized something.

"Hey pops, can I stop doing chores if I chase those guys away?" Luffy asked excitedly.

"That's a deal," Zeff said, still reeling a bit at the display from the redhead. It was true that Mihawk had been toying with him, but he had still shown skills far above the East Blue standard. Just like Mihawk (and apparently Straw Hat too!), if he so pleased, all of them would be dead before the day ended.

"You said you were going to be King of the Pirates? Are you serious?" Zeff asked the grinning rubber boy.

"Yeah, of course! I'll definitely be the Pirate King!" Luffy said confidently.

"What about your red haired crewmate? That one doesn't seem to want to attract attention but he managed to interest Mihawk of all people for good reason and he's traveling with you. His expertise with all weapons is a rare sight," the owner of the Baratie praised.

"Rosan? I'm gonna give him a reason to live!" Luffy exclaimed excitedly, jumping up and down in preparation for the upcoming battle. "I want him to become the strongest because that was his dream so we'll go on the best adventure ever until he has it again!"

They listened to his declaration with surprised expressions. That boy didn't want to live? It fit well with his character and his personality but they never expected his emotionless disposition to go that far.

Sanji was no longer fooling himself. That man was without a doubt, Reaper, the Angel of Death, and the one who had freed him from his prison all those years ago. Watching him transform his weapon into a similar set of gloves that he used to beat down his brothers, solidified it.

He wasn't sure what to think about the one who saved him from his own personal hell. He never believed in the rumors spread about the Shinigami but the man did have a bounty of 500 million. No, the Reaper he knew would have a good reason for having such a high price on his head. The Angel of Death wouldn't go out of his way to free one random boy if he was a monster like the world made him out to be.

He would just ask the redhead. After all, he did subtly reveal his identity to him and the curiosity was killing—

"WHERE'S THAT DAMN REDHEAD?!" Krieg roared in fury, grabbing all their attention. The leader of the pirate armada had at least wanted to get his revenge on one of the targets of his ire, but the redhead was nowhere to be seen and it left him frothing at the mouth.

"Huh, where is he?" Zeff asked Luffy curiously.

"I told him to go on!" Luffy replied bluntly. Rosan wasn't needed here, the rubber boy could handle them by himself.

"Wait, so he's not coming back?!" Sanji asked in disbelief. There was no way he found Reaper after all these years and he was gone, just like that.

"Nope!"

But… he had yet to cook for the one who had saved him… DAMN IT! WHY HAD HE BEEN IN DENIAL FOR SO LONG?! IF HE JUST ACCEPTED THE OBVIOUS SIGNS IMMEDIATELY HE WOULDN'T BE IN SUCH A DILEMMA!

"Don't worry, I'll accept it sometime during our journey together. There's no rush."

How bothersome. How was he going to cook him the best meal now?

----------------------------------------

Usopp screamed in realization as their little boat sailed in the direction of the Going Merry.

"WHERE'S ROSAN?!" The sniper asked in disbelief. With Zoro injured, it was up to the redhead to keep them all safe but he was nowhere to be seen!

"We saw him get attacked by that Mihawk guy before we sailed out of sight," Johnny replied.

"What?!" Zoro groaned out in agony. Mihawk attacked Rosan? Why? Rosan claimed that he wasn't a swordsman and knowing him, he would go out of his way to avoid unnecessary battles like going up against the World's Strongest Swordsman.

Just what did he miss?

----------------------------------------

Nami looked off to the horizon with a forlorn expression on her features, tears welling up in her eyes.

"What a bunch of swell guys," the navigator sighed gently at her former crewmates. "If we meet again, I hope they'll let me sail with them…"

She had betrayed them. Taken their ship and ran off with it. It wouldn't surprise her if they were absolutely furious with her and sought to get their revenge. She would definitely deserve it for double crossing them when they had been nothing but pleasant to her.

But, she would still miss them dearly. She desperately hoped that when this was all over, they'd all let her back on board.

Luffy, Zoro, Usopp… even Rosan! They bickered often but it was all in good faith and there wasn't actually any animosity between the two. In fact, she found herself looking forward to the battle of words between them! The redhead forced her to think which the other members severely lacked and everything they did distracted her from her inevitable fate.

Tears began pouring from her eyes at the memories of them all. "I hope we meet again!" she sobbed out.

Once she was free, it would all be over and she could finally make her own decisions. Once that happened, she dearly hoped she'd find the crew again. If by some miracle she did then well...

Nami wiped her tears and smiled softly at the tiny blue bird that just landed on her shoulder. It trilled quietly and she softly stroked its feathers. It seemed to have sensed her distress and was now offering itself up.

What a nice bird. It was rather pretty too.

After fulfilling her mission with Arlong, Nami would find the straw hats and apologize for what she did. Luffy would forgive her, Zoro would be wary of her, she wasn't sure how Usopp would react and Rosan would —

Rosan would…

Rosan would...

Rosan would...

...

...

Nami froze as she looked at little blue jay staring directly at her. This close, the navigator could see the glimmer of intelligence in the animal's eyes and it filled her with a strong sense of foreboding that made her heart squeeze until she felt like she couldn't breathe.

"If we're linked by fate, we'll meet again."

Nami went white as a sheet at that deep voice that normally annoyed her. Right now, it did nothing but fill her with a newfound terror that made her begin to panic internally.

"Didn't I tell you when we met at Orange Town? I don't believe in fate, Nami."

Portgas D. Rosan stared down at Nami with a tilted head on the upper railing of the ship. A pair of black reptilian wings (that had red streaks), lay dormant on his back and gave her no illusion of what allowed him to somehow catch up to her.

He vanished from his spot and appeared right in front of the terrified navigator. The redhead towered over her and bent over slightly to look her directly in her face, showing off those dual eyes of his that were so fascinating to look at.

That handsome face did nothing for her nerves and she began to shake terribly at that lifeless expression of his that didn't even regard her as human right now.

He tutted softly. "If I did believe in fate, I'd be a lot more angry…"

His near invisible pupils were set into slits right now and combined with the red and purple of his eyes, it was one of the scariest things she had seen to date. Nami had never seen his pupils look like that and she didn't even know he could grow wings.

She remembered how brutal he was to his opponents, how merciless he had been, crushing them like they were nothing but trash, and how he had said he'd only ever do that to them, if they gave him a reason to with the most unhinged smile on his face ever.

Looking into those dimly glowing eyes, the navigator realized she might have just given him one.

"...And you'd be a lot more dead."

----------------------------------------

Bonus!

----------------------------------------

The triplets are 20

Maro is 19

Ace is 16

Luffy is 13

----------------------------------------

"Hey, Master, who was your first kiss?" Maro asked curiously, propping her head up to ask that question.

"Hm?" Rosan popped one eye open at that to regard her.

It was currently the three brothers and the rulers of Celadon lounging about in the boys base after a day of sparring and eating a meal.

"Why do you want to know?" The computer man asked, closing his eyes again as Luffy slept haphazardly on his body.

Maro hummed, stroking a curious Angel's hair idly. "Well, I just realized that you were my first kiss and it got me curious on who managed to convince you to kiss them first!"

Her wife blinked in confusion, shooting up at that. "WAIT. YOU AND MASTER KISSED? WHY AM I JUST NOW LEARNING THIS?!"

Ace blinked at that as well. As far as he knew, Angel and Maro had been dating for as long as he knew them.

Rosan nodded in confirmation. "Yes, I gave Maro her first kiss."

The beautiful Queen laughed nervously. "I guess I never did mention that huh?"

They were all rather interested in hearing about it.

Rosan and Maro huh? They could see it.

Demon actually thought Maro and Master would have gotten together at one point, up until he realized that she was more into girls and stared at Angel alot.

Angel could see it too judging by how hard she was holding her wife and glaring at her older brother. "What's the story behind this? I demand answers!" She barked.

Rosan hummed, unbothered by her hostility. "You can relax. This was when Maro was 12 and she wanted to see something that's all."

Demon perked a brow. "See something?"

The Dokkaebi nodded rapidly. "Yeah it went something like this!"

----------------------------------------

Flashback

"You want me to kiss you? Why? Don't you like Angel?" 13 year old Rosan asked calmly, looking at his student (she was a little taller then him currently).

Maro nodded at his question. "Yeah... at least I think I do! But I know for sure that I like you but it's a different way then Angel's and I can't tell which is which so I wanted to kiss you to see if I like-like you or if I like-like Angel."

Ah, right. Maro had no clue about anything remotely romantic. She was attracted to people solely because she was a natural pervert.

"H-Hey!" The bluenette protested with a look of indignation. He was right but still! She just appreciated beauty and all the residents of the White Rose, were beauty!

"Okay that's fine, I'll help you then," Rosan nodded.

"You will?!" Maro gaped. Was it really that easy? Wow, if she knew this then she would have done this ages ago before it was for a serious reason!

"Shameless fucking perv," Ram growled.

"Language," Mod admonished, smiling in amusement at what was going on.

"You asked me so I see no reason why I should say no," Rosan shrugged, closing the distance between the two and promptly locking his lips onto the shellshocked Dokkaebi.

D-Did he really just do that? Seriously?! What was wrong with this guy! At least give her some time to prepare... This was her hot as hell Master after all!

Maro gaped and blushed scarlet at how forward her Master was, blinking in a daze as she kissed her for a moment and then broke it.

"Well?" Rosan asked softly, pulling back and taking in her expression.

Despite the blush, Maro looked much the same and seemed even confused.

"You know, normally I'd be over the moon that you actually kissed me but I'm only really happy. Besides the fact that you're insane forwardness caught me off guard... I dunno I just sorta expected to feel more," Maro mused, cupping her chin in contemplation.

Her attraction to Rosan was probably the most obvious thing on the planet because Maro made no attempt to hide it. She also knew that she loved him dearly but perhaps it wasn't the way she thought it was?

"Now that I've kissed you, can you imagine Angel in my position?" Rosan questioned and the moment he asked, Maro's face turned crimson.

"D-Don't put such thoughts in my head!" She swooned. Oh man, if Angel kissed her like that... Maro might just do everything the redhead wanted without a single complaint.

Ah, Angel~ She seriously needed to confess to her one of these days before someone else managed to steal her attention... She thanked the stars that the girl was so hostile to everyone.

"Well then now we know that you definitely like Angel," her teacher hummed.

"Honestly, I feel like you only did this to get a free kiss from Father," Ram scowled.

Maro spluttered at that. "H-Hey! I'm not that big of a pervert! I've never felt these things before so I just wanted to be sure."

"Rosan was much the same though... He didn't ask me to kiss him to be sure though," Mod laughed.

Maro thought Rosan missed out by not doing that. She would gladly take up the chance to kiss Mod-chan but maybe that was just her.

Yeah, no way. She was sure 99% of the human population would want a piece of the Devil Fruit.

"Sooooo, wanna keep practicing?" Maro asked with an unsavory gleam in her eyes.

Hey, he was compliant! Might as well cash in!

Rosan tilted his head. "Very well, I don't mind—"

"No," Ram denied with a scowl.

The bluenette shrugged, not bothered by it.

Couldn't hurt to try.

----------------------------------------

Flashback End

"Oh so you kissed because you couldn't tell who you were romantically interested in?" Demon questioned.

"And even after kissing Master you chose me?" Angel gaped, blushing rosily with an unsavory gleam in her eye.

She didn't think anyone would ever pick her over Master! She was merely a clone of him after all! But her awesome, gorgeous wife actually kissed him and still chose her!

Oh she was going to so get rewarded for that!

Maro beamed at that.

"Now what about you, Master? Who was your first kiss?!" The Queen prodded.

"Isn't it Meiko?" Angel raised a brow. That was the most obvious choice considering they were lovers and Rosan had been super embarrassed when she first kissed him on the lips.

Demon nodded in agreement. Master getting kissed by Meiko was one of the funniest days ever (right next to when he transformed into a girl) because of how embarrassed he had been.

Rosan surprisingly shook his head no. "My first kiss was Mod-chan but she doesn't count so it was Robin."

"Oh you mean that day..." Mod blushed in embarrassment, remembering that time.

They blinked dumbly at that.

"Huh?" Everyone said dumbly.

----------------------------------------

Flashback

"Robin-neeeeeeeeee!" 7 year old Rosan yelled excitedly. "There's something I just learned that I need to do with you!"

11 year old Robin glanced up from the book she was reading and regarded the charging redhead warily. At the speed he was running at, he was surely going to crash into her but these days he was careful enough not to make it painful.

Aka, they now had carpet in the interior of the ship.

"What is it, Rosan—"

The redhead promptly tackled her out of her comfy seat with an excited squeal and Robin let out a tiny oomph as the much smaller boy crashed into her with a hug.

But that was not all.

Robin's eyes widened in pure confusion as Rosan excitedly locked lips with her without an ounce of prompting. He hummed in excitement and as the kiss dragged on, Robin's face turned progressively more and more red, the implications of what he was doing catching up very quickly with her.

It was then that she realized that Rosan could talk for years if he wanted to. He had an incredibly strong set of lungs and could keep this going for a long time.

Unfortunately, she was too shocked to do anything about it.

"R-Rosan! Just because I accepted it without complaint doesn't mean you can do it to anyone," a flustered Mod said.

The redhead blinked at that and reluctantly broke the kiss, hoisting a stunned, crimson faced, Robin to her feet.

"Really?" Rosan asked in confusion, scratching his head. "But when I asked what a kiss was you said, I do it when I really love someone! Then I kissed you for a realllllly long time, Mod-chan and now I kissed Robin-nee for a really long time because I love you both a lot!"

Robin flushed even deeper, refusing to make eye contact with the confused boy and making the redhead grow worried.

"I-I... you have to ask them first Rosan and when I meant someone you really love... I-I meant someone you want to like, marry and have kids with!" Mod panicked.

The Devil Child sweatdropped at Mod, embarrassment momentarily forgotten due to her words.

Wasn't that a bit of an extreme response to tell someone like Rosan? The logical Devil Fruit was panicking very hard right now from also being smooched by Rosan and it made Robin feel much better that she wasn't the only one floored by the little menace's actions.

Rosan's eyes bugged as his jaw dropped. "W-W-W-WHAAAAATTTT?!" He screeched, sweating nervously as tears formed in his eyes. He looked towards Robin and immediately crashed into her, beginning to sob loudly.

"Y-YOU DIDN'T TELL ME YOU TWO WOULD GET PREGNANT?! P-PLEASE DON'T DIE! I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU TWO IF YOU DIE!" The boy cried, soaking Robin's shirt with his genuine tears, looking up at her so helplessly, she forgot that she was about to reprimand him.

"O-Oh dear," Mod said, holding her red face in exasperation. She was so embarrassed at being kissed so abruptly on the lips that she didn't think of what she said to Rosan in the moment. Of course the eccentric redhead was going to jump to the worst conclusion off of her words.

Robin never expected her first kiss to be taken like that but at least it was by Rosan... and he was remorseful?

It could have been worse...?

"It's okay Rosan," she assured, face still burning. "I won't get pregnant off of a kiss! Mod-chan didn't explain everything in detail but I'm fine," she finished, grabbing the panicking boy and steadying him.

Rosan blinked. "Really?" He asked, voice full of relief. "So you guys won't get pregnant if I kiss you?"

"No, we won't," Mod replied, sighing at her mistake. She thought Rosan would stop at complimenting her appearance but the moment she told him about the specifics of a kiss, he had happily jumped on her and proceeded to practice what he learned.

The shock and embarrassment had stopped her from telling him that he couldn't just do that whenever he wanted and he summarily charged Robin next and now they were here with her little boy thinking you could get pregnant off of a kiss.

Looking at her genius idiot, Mod realized she was not looking forward to the day she had to explain the birds and the bees.

"You should probably not kiss a person without their permission though... Mod-chan and I are just accepting of everything you do," Robin sighed in defeat.

"So it's not good if a person kisses me without my permission... but if I have permission I can kiss them?" Rosan asked, getting a nod out of the two.

"That means I can kiss you guys whenever I want! Yes!" He cheered, jumping around ecstatically and tackling Robin to the floor again.

"W-Wait! Rosan I didn't—" Robin's brain quickly shut off as Rosan resumed where he left off with a pleased hum.

"I-I don't even know where he got the curiosity to learn about kisses from," Mod moaned in misery, watching him pepper his best friend. Wasn't he mortified to learn about Shizuka all those years ago? Why did he suddenly want to kiss them so badly!

Robin had gone nearly comatose by now, not used whatsoever by such physical affection and Mod wanted to save her, but Rosan would just go after her next and she was in the same boat as the Devil Child.

At least she had a crush on him? Yes, it wasn't even Mod sacrificing her! She was giving her daughter what she wanted!

"This is fun!" Rosan beamed obliviously.

----------------------------------------

Flashback End

They looked at the redhead with dropped jaws, not believing his tale until remembering how much of a menace he was when he was younger.

"You sounded like the most adorable terror ever, Master," Maro finished. He really got to kiss Mod-chan for free?! The world just wasn't fair!

"The more I hear about your journey with Robin, the more bad I feel for her," Ace snorted. That girl was too intelligent to be stuck with his carefree older brother.

"Y-You thought she was gonna get pregnant off of a kiss?" Angel cackled, holding her stomach and rolling on the floor at that.

"I can't believe your first official kiss was Master Mod," Demon said with a shake of his head.

"...It was unexpected," an embarrassed Mod replied, holding her head at the memory. She really wasn't expecting Rosan to just start throwing out kisses so casually but he had been a menace all the way up until he turned 8 and neither her or Robin were safe.

"I was told to kiss people that I love without any extra details," Rosan replied calmly, closing both his eyes again. "I love Mod-chan so I kissed her. I love Robin so I kissed her. If you were all there too, I'd have kissed each one of you as well."

They blinked at his bluntness before every single person, barring a dozing Luffy, blushed for various reasons.

Ugh, Rosan was so embarrassing sometimes but it was super endearing.

"Don't worry, Father!" Ram chirped happily. "I will accept any and all kisses from you as your amazing daughter!"

"Ditto," Maro said, yelping as Angel punched her on the skull.

"Don't give him any ideas," Ace groaned in annoyance. "He's already super annoying with his possessive streak, we don't need him to start marking us now."

They all nodded sagely. Their oldest brother was one of the most selfish people around and would do whatever it took for them to understand that they were his.

"That's not a bad idea," Rosan remarked idly. He didn't mind kissing them all so that they understood.

"I accept it!" Ram beamed.

"L-Let's not," Mod stammered. She did not think she could handle such physical affection again.

"Rejected," everyone else said (Maro reluctantly joined after getting glared at).

The second oldest there simply shrugged his shoulders. "Fine. Not like it will change anything. You all already know your mine."

"NO WE'RE NOT!" Ace roared, tackling his older brother and beginning a tussle that Luffy immediately joined, waking up at hearing being collateral of the two brothers fighting.

"BRAWL!" Maro cheered, jumping into the pile to get her fair share of action.

"At least take it outside! I don't wanna have to repair this base because of your stupidity!" Angel scowled, urging them to leave.

"GET EM FATHER!"

"They're all so stupid," Mod sighed forlornly. "At least you're normal, Demon. Please never allow them to shatter your sanity."

Demon smiled at the Devil Fruit's words. "I try my best every day, Master Mod. But, I'm curious... Why was Master so embarrassed when Meiko kissed him?"

The Devil Fruit held her head. "Besides the fact that Rosan is terrible at receiving a taste of his own medicine and was unused to being on the receiving end of such physical affection, I told him that if a girl kisses him without his permission, he'll die."

The doctor had a massive sweatdrop at that reveal. "W-Why would you tell him that?"

"T-To protect his chastity! After a firm glare from Robin, I quickly took it back b-but he fully believed me when I said it at first and I think a part of him never forgot the slight possibility," Mod said, visibly embarrassed.

"Master Mod... you're just as messed up as them," Demon sighed, holding his head at her actions.

"I-I don't wanna hear it! You'd never understand a mother's plight!" She whined.

Demon wasn't sure he wanted to but he wouldn't say that out loud because of his undying respect for Mod.