Chapter 4: Meeting Women And Learning To Communicate With Them!!
"Well, basically, you know, guys are simple creatures.They get the wrong idea just from getting talked to."
-Hikigaya Hachiman (My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU)
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Max slowly opened his bright golden eyes, a mixed look of both exhaustion and confusion written on his expression. His head was throbbing ruthlessly and he felt rather weak, but other then that, he was able to move just fine.
Pushing himself up into a sitting position, Max took a quick survey of his surroundings, and for a second he thought he was back in his own home. However after noticing the lack of anime posters and his limited edition character figurines, he quickly dropped that idea. In fact, besides a dresser, a mirror, and a door the probably lead to a closet, the room was completely bare.
Max reached up and touched the top of his head, searching and hoping that he was still dreaming. "Shit, I can't believe you really went through with it." Max said as his hand touched his brand new ears. "Why? It makes literally no sense for me to have these things on my head."
"Its not like they serve no purpose you dimwit so of course they make sense." A voice rang out through his head, one that Max identified as Yggdrasill.
Max, unprepared to hear a voice in his head, literally fell off the bed in surprise, failing to catch himself. He landed on the carpeted floor with a thud that seemed louder then it should've been. His already aching head protested as it was the first to hit the ground.
"Yggdrasill? When the hell did you.....Oh, now I remember." Max rubbed the back of his head. "You said you'd be coming along with me."
"Oh so I guess your not as stupid as I thought," Yggdrasill said in a slightly less condescending tone. "You do have some sense after it seems. I'll try and remmeber that. As for me coming along, I'm only here to help you understand things that you dont already know. Everything else is on you."
"Well actually there isn't a single thing that I dont know about One Piece," Max said as he rose up from the floor, dusting himself off as he did so. "At least I was currently up to the newest issue of the manga and the latest episode of the english subbed. I think the newest arc was goin to be Wano?"
Their conversation was interrupted after Max had finished speaking by the door suddenly flying open and a rather gorgeous woman holding a frying pan entered into the room. Max wasn't an expert on beauty, but even he could tell that the woman standing before him was at least at the supermodel level.
"Don't move young man," the woman said as she lowered the frying pan. "I got a ton of questions to ask you." She turned around and walked out of the room. Max followed her instructions and decided to simply stand where he was.
Not even half a minute later, the woman returned with a younger looking female and two chairs. The younger female was nowhere near the level of the older woman but she did possess charm and practically oozed with self-confidence. Max also got the sense that the younger one could kick his ass if he tried anything, but that was simply a gut feeling.
Placing the seats down in front of the bed, the older woman, who introduced herself as Nalla, gestured for him and the younger one, who introduced herself as Emily, to have a seat. Max sat back down on the bed while the two ladies sat on the chairs, neither party saying anything to one another.
It was Emily who eventually broke the silence. "Why are you wearing a wolf costume? Doesn't that get in the way?" She pointed at Max's tail and then at his ears.
"Told you that it would be a good conversation starter." Yggdrasill said, his voice echoing inside of Max's mind.
Max ignored him and smiled. "Actually these things are real, I was born with them. They do tend to get in the way from time to time, but other then that they're great to have."
"Those are real?!!" The two females exclaimed in unison, disbelief coloring their faces. "No way!!"
They each rose from their seats and stepped up to him, invading his personal space and now fiddling with his new ears. Though Max originally wanted to stop them from doing so, he realized that their hands actually felt good as they were very gentle while they examined his ears and tail. This combined with the fruity aroma of their body wash caused Max to think he had died and gone to heaven.
In his entire life, not a single female had given him a second glance, let alone the time of day. Any interaction with the opposite sex usualy involved him getting the crap beaten put of him. This one experience felt so far removed from reality that Max was sure he was dreaming while lying in a bed in a deep comatose state. It just didnt seem real to him, and his brain had a hard time accepting it.
"Awwwwwww, thats so cute," Nalla said, pointing at Max's tail which had started wiggling back and forth, occasionally thumping against the bed. "It just started wagging!! Does that mean your enjoying this?"
"Okay, thats enough," Max exclaimed, pushing the two of them back, away from his ears. "Yes I was born with wolf ears and a tail, its super OP, I get it. Just please stop touching as their very sensitive!!"
The two of them giggled but conceded, sitting back down in their chairs. Though it was clear that they wanted to keep touching his ears, they had enough willpower to restrain themselves for the time being.
"Okay now its my turn to ask a question." Max said as he readjusted his white hoodie. "Where exactly am I? I have recollection of anything past waking up in this room. Apart from my name and my wolf-like appearance, I don't really know anything."
Max didn't really want to play the amnesia card as he wasn't really one to lie, however it was the best thing he could do to protect his secret. As far as he was concerned, other people finding out he was from another world was something he would like to steer clear of.
Of course though he didn't want to use amnesia as an excuse, it was very appropriate to use in this scenario. It not only provided him with an alibi where he only had to play dumb, but it also gave him an excuse to ask where he was and what was going on.
"Amnesia? Well then this is going to be a bit tricky," Nalla murmured. She had wanted to ask her own questions about where he had come from and who he was. Mor importantly she was dying to know where he had obtained his clothes. "Emily, why don't you explain where we are."
"We're currently at the edge of Cocoyasi village, a small town in the region of the Conomi Islands in the East Blue." Emily said, her eyes focusing intently on Max's golden ones. It was as if she were trying to detect any hint of deceit in his gaze. "This entire island is under the control of the Arlong Pirates, a group of fishmen lead by their despicable and bastard pirate captain Arlong."
"A little wordy, but at least it covered summarized most of the information I had planned to tell him." Nalla leaned forward and placed her head in her hands. "We wouldn't want to damage you with too much information so soon after waking up. Wehave to protect your cuteness...I mean health."
Max, who wasn't used to being in such close proximity to a sweet female such as Nalla let alone being complimented, blushed furiously. He hurriedly looked away from her gaze, his wolf ears fluttering slightly as he struggled to change the subject.
"So, were the pirates always in control of this island or did they recently take over?" Max asked, meeting Emily's gaze. For some reason he was unaffected by the intense look of the younger woman, probably because she was still giving him a suspicious glare
"They will have been here for a one full decade in exactly five days." Emily responded, her eyes still focused on Max. It was painfully obvious that she didn't trust him, though why she didnt just come out and say it confused him greatly.
"A decade? Thats quite a long time." Max muttered, but in his head, gears were turning and thoughts began to come together.
If he had appeared when it was nearing a full decade since the islands subjugation, then that would mean he was around 2 years behind the original timeline. This was of course assuming that Nami was 6 years old when Arlong first landed on the island, which was a reasonable assumption as she looked around that age in both the anime and in the manga.
"Putting Arlong aside, how would you like to stay with us for the time being?" Nalla asked with a small smile, once again drawing Max's attention. "We'll provide for you until either you regain your memories or you decide to set off on your own."
"Sis, we don't have enough money to pay for his tribute," Emily said in a rather rude tone. "We can't afford to have another person in this house. We'll have to kick him out."
"Its not a problem as we can easily hide him from fishmen when the time comes," Nalla easily countered, waving aside her little sisters complaints. "And if he gets spotted then he can just say that he's from Gosa village and already paid his tribute money. Its not like their gonna notice a measly child out of the millions of people in the Conomi Islands."
Emily looked as if she wanted to complain further but Nalla offered up a counter that actually made her stop and think. "How about the two of you spar with each other? You can teach him your moves and train him! He looks like he could use it considering how frail he looks."
Max, who had stayed quiet during the back and forth conversation, spoke up. "I think that would be great. If its no trouble then I would be happy to live here while I try and regain my memories. If there's anything I can do for you then please let me know."
"Thats Okay, the training you'll be doing with Emily will be more then enough payment." Nalla smirked as she reached over and poked him in his arm. "Trust me, you'll ve begging to leave after she begins sparring with you."
"Okay, I'll accept having you live in this house, but I swear if you do anything indecent to us then I'll hurt you so bad, it'll make that lump on your forehead loom natural." Emily raised her fist and slammed it into her other palm
"Okay, by the way, I never caught your name." Nalla tilted her head, obviously slightly embarassed about forgetting such an obvious thing. "Would you mind telling us it?"
"Oh my name?" Max said with a small laugh, also having completely forgotten to mention it earlier. "My names Max Dwayne, its a pleasure to meet you."
Weekly Power Status
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