Capítulo 30: Chapter 18: King
Multiple sets of eyes were currently focused on him and each and every one of them were clearly demanding an explanation.
Rosan was sipping a cup of tea at a leisurely pace and he didn't seem bothered by being the focus of everyone's attention. "Some of you have never met before," the redhead pointed out and they all gained tick-marks of annoyance.
He definitely wasn't bothered.
"Introductions can be saved for later," Maro said dryly. "You've got some explaining to do, Master," the princess finished, crossing her arms at the unfazed teen and glowering in childish anger.
Rosan was currently being glared at by quite a bit of people. Maro, Angel, Demon, Akemi and Aiko were all gathered in Maro's new castle impatiently waiting for him to explain himself.
The teen placed his cup of tea down and fixed them all with a blank gaze.
"Okay, what do you want to know?" Rosan asked softly and Angel stepped up.
"What the hell did you do to get a 500 million beri bounty?" She demanded and Rosan tilted his head.
"Ah, I killed a Celestial Dragon; Saint Jeremiah to be exact," he replied bluntly. The World Noble was asking for it. You don't just get away with attacking someone unprovoked.
Everyone there froze in astonishment.
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" They all screeched in unison and Rosan decided he should just tell them the whole story.
The group listened to his story with varying reactions and when Rosan finished, Aiko was the first to speak up.
"So…you ran into the World Noble I told you about and you...killed him?" The woman said, sounding a bit dazed. The horror in her eyes, was clear as day and she was looking at her partner like he were the most insane person on the planet.
"Yes, he attacked me unprovoked and tried to enslave me so he had to pay," the redhead replied blandly.
"Master has always been like this," Demon sighed and Angel nodded in agreement.
"Everyone who attacks us, always faces retaliation and it seems that he really doesn't care who does it," the middle triplet sighed fondly, no longer upset now that he explained his reasoning. In fact, she was glad that the piece of garbage was dead!
How dare he try to enslave her beloved Master?!
"They only gave you 500 million for killing a Celestial Dragon?" Akemi asked in shock and the Shinigami nodded.
"I suspect they wanted to make it higher, but they are trying to cover up what I've done and it's my first bounty. Having one this high as your first is probably unprecedented," Rosan finished with a shrug. He picked his tea up to continue drinking and hummed at the sweetness of the honey in it.
"I'd imagine it's going to be harder to do your business with such a huge bounty on your head," Aiko muttered, cupping her chin in curiosity. Reaper was a bounty hunter but he probably had the highest bounty in the Blue Seas now...
"There's no need to worry about that. I'm retiring Reaper," Rosan said bluntly, making all but Angel and Demon gape at how casually it was stated.
"NO NEED TO WORRY?! LISTEN TO WHAT YOU JUST SAID!" Aiko roared.
"REALLY?! JUST LIKE THAT?" Maro said in disbelief. He had beaten the shit out of her just to get her up to par to be his partner and now he was just retiring the both of them in the span of two days? Master was so cruel!
"Reaper was always intended to be a disguise that allows me the liberty of messing up once," Rosan stated calmly and his clones nodded.
"Master just didn't want to draw eyes to his unique appearance and so, he made Reaper," Demon said softly.
"It was never a big deal for him. I think the world cared more about Reaper then he did," Angel shrugged with a short laugh.
"Reaper was a pastime who got unnecessarily famous," The dual eyed teen said truthfully. "I just wanted a steady source of income with bounties but then I saved Fregate and it spiraled out of control from there."
The other three shuddered at that. Reaper was one of the most famous figures in the Blue Seas and even people from the Grand Line had their attention on them. To think that this wasn't Rosan's intention made the boy all the more terrifying.
What shape would the world be in when he actually wanted the attention to be on him?
"Speaking of which, since Reaper is retired that means you don't have to give me 15% every two weeks now, Aiko," Rosan's deepening voice rang out and her gaze snapped towards him.
"What do you mean?" The woman visibly frowned at his words. What was he getting at right now?
"You made that deal with Reaper, not Rosan," he began, locking those dual eyes onto her. "Fregate is one of the powerhouse islands of the North Blue now and I would rather not jeopardize its position in the world due to you being allies with a wanted criminal."
"So we'll just give the money to Rosan, not Reaper," Aiko retorted, crossing her arms as she glared at him. "You aren't getting rid of me that easy, kid. We've been doing this for five years now and it ain't stopping. Besides, you're not wanted. Reaper is the criminal," the gray haired woman finished with a shrug.
"Awww," Maro's bubbling voice cut in, making Aiko freeze and Akemi coo. "I knew you cared about us! Someone's gotten attached to Master and just doesn't wanna see him go!" The blue haired princess teased.
"We knew your complaints were just a cover up!" Akemi gushed with a large smile on her face. "You care about Rosan more than you'd like to admit and I think you even enjoy when he visits you!"
Aiko growled lowly and put a hand to her head. "That's not what I meant!" She tried defending herself but those two were even more annoying than Rosan was.
Case in point, they immediately dived on top of her with outstretched arms. Aiko tried to fight it but Maro was seriously too fucking strong! Once that girl had you in her grasp, there was no getting out of it.
Unless the one other person who had her on a leash was there.
"Ahem," a cough rang out and Maro froze completely. Aiko raised a brow at the look of fear on her face and the 13 year old slowly put her down.
"I don't think you've formally introduced us, Maro. That's a bit rude, don't you think?" A high sneering voice came out and the blue haired girl paled dramatically.
The princess almost looked like she was gonna turn around to face the source.
But old habits really die hard.
Maro squeaked in fear and immediately ran behind Rosan. She hid her body behind the taller teens muscular frame and remained there in hopes that he would save her.
"T-that's Aiko and Akemi," Maro introduced after peeking her head out from the side. "Their sisters! Aiko is the leader of Fregate and gives Master a lot of money! She acts really gruff but she's really sweet on the inside and Akemi is a natural sweetheart!" The Goblin Princess finished.
"Aiko and Akemi, those two are Angel and Demon! They are clones of Master and are really loyal to him! Demon is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet and he's training to become a doctor!" Maro gushed happily, making the purple haired clone smile in return.
"Angel is my girlfriend! She's really confident and hates a lot of people. You should have seen her when we first met!" Maro explained and it sounded like a cry for help.
"You didn't compliment me," Angel pointed out calmly and Maro thought about vanishing right then and there.
The fear made her sloppy.
Rosan, who finished his tea, decided to save his former student at that moment.
"Oh? You two are together now?" Rosan asked softly and Angel flushed. "Congratulations, you two are a good pair."
Angel forgot all her anger at being complimented by Rosan. "Thank you, Master! Your words really made me think and I decided that I really did want to be with this idiot."
"Hey I'm not an idiot—," whatever Maro was about to say was interrupted by Angel glaring at her and she wisely shut up.
"So you're Angel," Akemi beamed, with sparkling eyes. "Maro talked about you and she didn't do you justice! She said you look like Rosan, but I didn't think Rosan as a female would be this gorgeous," she gushed, closing the distance between the two immediately and eagerly shaking her hand.
Angel blushed a deep shade of red at the compliment and looked away. "I guess you're a pretty tolerable human if you can appreciate me at a glance," was all she said and the gray haired younger sister smiled brightly in response.
"Clones?" Aiko said curiously and Demon heard it.
"That's right, we were made at the same time but Angel is older than me," the youngest triplet informed the woman and she looked at the teen. He looked exactly like Rosan but he had long smooth purple hair, that flowed down his back, and blood red eyes.
Aiko whistled. "Man, Rosan really is just taking advantage of his good genes, huh?"
Demon, after all the attention he received on this island, merely smiled and said, "Thank you, I'm happy that Master used himself as a template for how we look."
Maro was still hiding behind Rosan but she watched the interactions with a fond smile on her face. "I'm happy that they get along well! They're going to be seeing each other a lot more, now that we're allied," she exclaimed and Rosan nodded.
"How have you been holding up?" The redhead asked and she hummed.
"It's been tiring but it feels really rewarding! I've got some ideas for what I want to do but I'm gonna need your help!" The bluenette replied and Rosan readily agreed.
"I can stay here for a bit to help out then," he said and Maro cheered happily. Angel also had a large smile on her face as she heard that.
"Oh! Master, can you turn one of the rooms into a workplace for me like on the ship?" the clone asked. "I really want to see if I can improve on my crafting and I don't want to do it out there!" She finished and Maro sweatdropped.
"That can be arranged, I can start right now," Rosan told his fellow redhead and he got up.
"I'll help!" Maro offered cheerfully, partially because she wanted to help and partially because there was a real chance Angel was still mad at her.
She wanted to avoid her wrath at all costs.
"We can also begin working on getting the buildings outside up to snuff, you can modify them right? I wanna make them as sleek as the White Rose! Oh, we can do it to our ships too! And I want to make greenhouses for our crops! I've already made so much since I've been here, which takes a lot of energy you know, but having a greenhouse where they can look fancy would be great! By the way, do you think I can grow all types of plants instead of just food? I would think yes right?! I want our island to look beautiful with all sorts of greenery!"
Rosan simply nodded at everything she was saying. He had been around Maro long enough to know exactly what she was talking about, so where anyone else would be confused, he was able to comprehend it with ease.
"I think you can only understand her so well, because you were the exact same," Mod said with a smile on her face.
"I disagree," Rosan replied simply and Mod's smile grew even larger.
"Whatever you say, Rosan!"
"Hmph."
"It seems I have a lot of work to do. Seeing as my schedule is suddenly free, we can dedicate the day to advancing Celadon," the Mod Mod no mi user finished and Maro jumped on him in glee.
"You're the best!" The Dokkaebi gushed and everyone there had to wonder just how Rosan managed to catch all of that.
"With Rosan personally helping and Fregate being your allies...this island is going to be terrifying in the upcoming years," Aiko muttered and Demon nodded in agreement.
"With Maro's ability to accelerate the growth of crops, while keeping them healthier than ever, we can probably establish trades with other islands of interest. Seeing as Fregate is such a powerhouse, you can set up connections with us quickly and we can became a rather dominant group," the purple haired clone mused and Aiko looked at him.
"Oh, you're good," she remarked and Demon smiled a little wider.
"I hear your not too fond of the idea of using the clones from Germa?" He asked and she nodded.
"Fregate is not one for combat and we have pretty advanced technology already. Besides...my waning moral compass would rather we not use them. You guys want them instead?"
"Yes, while Maro is a fighter, our citizens are not and that could leave us vulnerable to attacks. Clones will be useful for defending us and the technology will be good too…" the purple hair clone mused.
The two continued talking about the island's future and Aiko was refreshed to see not everyone that Rosan knew was a menace.
Meanwhile, Akemi and Angel were talking about something completely different.
"Is this really how Rosan would look as a girl?!" Akemi whispered in awe and Angel shook her head.
"Not even exactly! You should see the size of her boobs, there was no way I wanted him to put those on me," the haughty clone replied back in a hushed tone. "She looks wilder and makes it work! They're actually a total bombshell! Even though I look just like her, I'm still jealous."
"Really? But you look so amazing! I can see why Maro was so smitten with you," Akemi praised and despite her blush, Angel shot her a confident grin.
"Of course! Who wouldn't be," the teen preened. "You keep talking about me but look at you! You don't have a lucky someone waiting for you?" The clone asked, making the woman blush.
"No and I think it might stay that way," she replied honestly. "I'm not really interested in anyone right now and I think it'll remain that way. Besides, I'm enjoying just supporting Aiko right now," the younger sister replied.
"You are such a great sister! You remind me of me," Angel commented and they both laughed.
"Why do they get along so great?" Maro grumbled, remembering the first time she met Angel. It didn't look like the redhead was planning on assaulting Akemi anytime soon.
"Akemi knows the right words, if you had complimented Angel I'm sure she would have warmed up to you faster," Rosan said simply.
"My circumstances were just a tad bit different, Master," The Dokkaebi whined and the two of them departed from the room.
"That sounds like a you issue, idiot" Ram sneered and Mod laughed.
Maro held her head in defeat.
Everyone was so mean to her! Wasn't she royalty now? Why couldn't they have some respect!
"Because you're an idiot," Ram cackled happily.
"Fuck you," Maro replied.
"Language."
"I'm telling Auntie Angel that you want to do terrible things to me!"
She hated it here.
"So what will you do now? You can always stay here!" Maro beamed hopefully.
"That would defeat the purpose of why I wanted you to remain here in the first place," Rosan commented and she deflated a bit in defeat.
"Yeah, yeah," she mumbled and Rosan pat her head gently, much to her happiness.
"I'm going to look for my brother," Rosan said suddenly, making everyone there snap to attention.
"You mean Ace?" Angel asked curiously.
"You have a brother?" Aiko asked in surprise.
"Can we meet him?!" Maro asked in excitement.
"Yes," Rosan said answering all three of their questions. "I've prolonged this meeting for 10 years," the boy replied, sighing.
"I was hoping to regain some of my emotions before meeting him, but that is unlikely and I don't want to delay any longer. I've just been running from the inevitable meeting anyways, so maybe its better like this. I have no emotions to justify fleeing anymore so I'll find him," Rosan replied calmly.
They nodded at his explanation and felt a well of sadness for the teen.
"Do you know where he is?" Demon asked and Rosan hummed.
"Probably in the East Blue," he replied making them raise a brow.
"Why do you say that?" Maro questioned. The East Blue was the sea they frequented the least so for him to be so confident in that answer, meant he had a reason.
"I avoid that sea because Garp the Hero visits it often," Rosan replied frankly. "He's the one who has my brother and I'm assuming that he is visiting Ace."
They all froze as they heard that information.
"Y-you mean the Hero of the Marines?" Aiko asked in disbelief and the 14 year old nodded.
"T-that's crazy!" Maro exclaimed in surprise. Rosan's little brother was being protected by a monster like that! Even she knew who Garp was!
"Yes, he probably knows how I look too," Rosan commented idly. "I don't have any interest in testing my strength against an unwinnable battle and Garp would likely force me to remain in the East Blue," the redhead finished.
"You're much older now but anyone looking for a childish version of you, would still be able to make the obvious connections," Angel mused. Older he may be, Rosan's appearance was still unique. Anyone looking for him would be able to tell the taller teen was the 4 year old redhead.
"Well, I've done all I've wanted so far," Rosan commented with a slight shrug. "If Garp see's me and forces me to stay, as long as Ace doesn't hate me too much, I wouldn't mind."
"How can you be so sure Ace hates you?" Akemi asked softly. The redhead could be a bit...cold but she wouldn't go so far as to call him hated!
"I abandoned him," he replied bluntly and they all flinched.
They didn't ask, feeling that it was a little too personal. Even if Rosan would answer, they wouldn't do that to the teen.
"What island do you think he's on?" Maro asked curiously.
"I'm very sure that he's on Dawn Island," the 14 year old replied and he cupped his chin. "If not, then I'll have to intercept Garp himself and reveal my identity."
"Whatever it may be, I'm going to leave immediately," Rosan commented and they nodded.
"Alright, we'll stay here for now and continue to hash out details of this alliance," Aiko commented. They had been planning on visiting Celadon but news of Rosan's bounty had accelerated that tremendously and the boy had personally escorted their ship there.
"Thank you for the help, Master!" Maro bowed and Rosan waved her up. "You and I together accelerated the growth of this island by so much! We look so awesome now!" the blue haired princess commented in awe.
Celadon was practically an entirely new island because of the combined efforts of her and Rosan. While Maro handled the crop growth and the greenery, Rosan dealt with the construction.
His mastery of Modification showed because every building (with the permission of the owners, who readily accepted) were sleek and advanced, and Maro marveled at how incredible it all looked.
Celadon looked like a perfect blend of technology and nature and Maro loved it.
She was doing a great job at molding the island in her image and this was just the beginning! Already, everyone who had been homeless or struggling, were currently accounted for and as long as proved their worth, they would not be out on the streets.
What? She had learned from Rosan that you have to be useful in some capacity at 11 years old! The princess expected the same from her citizens and would not tolerate anything less.
"Will you be flying all the way there? I know you can't use Shinigami for obvious reasons but…?" Angel asked worriedly.
"I'm probably going to be changing the color of the White Rose. Not much people even know Reaper owns a ship but it was attacked by a World Noble so I'm under the assumption that the Marines know," Rosan commented, getting a nod out of them.
"I'll sail to the Red Line and then fly into the East Blue. Afterwards, I'll sail to Dawn Island and begin my search...The White Rose was badly damaged and I patched her up to the best of my abilities so it should be able to handle a voyage."
That Celestial Dragon... he had permanently damaged his ship according to a shipwright on Celadon and she wouldn't be able to handle rough waters for very long anymore.
"Sounds good," Demon nodded at the plan. They were all saddened to hear about what happened to Rosan's ship; it was important to all the people who lived on it but as long as it wasn't fully destroyed, they would be fine.
"Be careful," Angel warned softly.
"I hope you and your brother can talk things out," Akemi said warmly.
"They'll be fine, Rosan isn't the type of person to do something without a reason, I'm sure Ace will understand," Aiko commented.
"Master is the best! Nobody can stay mad at you for long cuz you're awesome!" Maro cheered and Rosan offered them a smile.
He could only hope but Rosan would hate someone who abandoned him for 10 years.
Maybe Ace was a better man than he was and would completely understand why he did what he had to do.
Somehow, he doubted that.
Rosan was sure that if he had emotion, he would hate the East Blue. Perhaps hate was too strong of a word, loathe would be a better term.
For the boy who craved action, the weakest sea was too tame for him. For the boy who was already struggling to find worthy opponents in the Blue Seas, the East Blue was the last sea he'd want to be in.
It was such a shame that he was too young to go to the Grand Line. He didn't plan on going there until he was an adult.
The 14 year old was currently on the White Rose looking out at the serene sea.
He had modified the color of his ship and it was now a shade of silver with purple on it. The purple sails were unfurled, to give the appearance that it was using the wind to sail, and his signature white rose on the side of the ship, was replaced by a black one instead.
"I'm going to miss the all black," Mod said wistfully. The purple haired woman liked the color black and Rosan had changed it to that color because of her.
"But now its based on me!" Ram beamed and Mod pat the taller, silver haired girl.
"It does look good in your colors," the woman mused and the ring grinned in response.
Upon her insistence, Rosan had changed the color of his ship to match Ram's color scheme and the silver and purple teen was pleased.
As mentioned before, Ram aged at the same rate as Rosan so she was physically 14 now. The weapon still wore her Spanish-style double breasted coat and it did a great job covering her developing figure (she did not like that she was developing at seemingly the same rate as Rosan's female form).
She opted to keep her silver, purple streaked, hair in its twintails to honor her Mother. More than once, she caught Rosan staring at her due to her startling similarities to the late Meiko.
Rosan wasn't the type of person to see another in someone though. Ram was her own person and he would not try and force the image of Meiko onto her.
Ram appreciated that more than he knew. She didn't choose her appearance and, though she loved her mother, she didn't want to be a constant reminder to her Father.
Her job was to help, not impede.
"Ah, I think we're here," Rosan said softly, staring at the approaching island. He hummed in contemplation before sprouting his Draconic wings. Touching the White Rose (should he change it to Black Rose? No, he liked the current name), the redhead shrunk the ship and pocketed it.
This left him hovering above the ocean and he flew into the clouds, to avoid catching any eyes.
The less people that knew about him, the better.
The boy soared one trip around Dawn Island and spotted a heavily-forested, low hanging mountain. He also spotted what was likely the Capital of the Goa Kingdom and deduced that Ace was probably there.
He would go inspect it later. For now, he would check the smaller village first in case his little brother was being raised there. It would be faster to get that one out the way and gather information at the same time.
The teen descended into the forested area, out of sight, and landed without making a noise. His wings vanished and he looked down at his outfit. He was donned in a long black cloak and that probably wouldn't be very good for avoiding suspicion.
It seamlessly transformed into a long-sleeved, silk red shirt, baggy white pants, and blood red sneakers.
He nodded in satisfaction.
Now he looked like a civilian (albeit with his accessories and the quality of his clothing, perhaps he looked too wealthy? He was sure it would be fine).
The redhead's hair was still in a bun and he contemplated letting it down, but his wild hair would be more noticeable if it weren't wrapped up.
Finally finished with his preparations, Rosan made his way to the small village he had seen. It didn't take him very long to make it there and the first thing he set out to do, was find a tavern or bar.
Loose lipped individuals, who got affected by alcohol, often gave the most valuable information and Rosan was only here for wanted to know about Dawn Island and see if there was anything he needed to avoid.
He wondered why people were so willing to get drunk in a public environment.
Well, it didn't matter to him. He couldn't get drunk and he wasn't particularly fond of alcohol in the first place.
"If you ever want to get drunk one day, I'll lower your bodies resistances," Mod supplied helpfully and Rosan nodded thankfully.
"I will keep that in mind when I'm of age," the redhead replied.
He didn't miss how people were staring. They always stared when he was undisguised and with his growth spurt, the eyes had increased.
Rosan didn't blame them. He towered over plenty of people now with his 5'11 frame and his age was mistaken quite often. His face was still relatively young though so it confused him but people were people.
The stares never lasted long when he actually stared back. His unique eye colors (particularly the red), the dead gaze, and his resting bitch face were all a good way to scare people off.
Finally, the dual eyed boy found a suitable location.
It was called the Partys Bar and the teen decided it would be good enough (he didn't think there was another bar in this quaint village). He stared at the discarded door on the floor and deduced that he came at a wrong time.
Oh well, he was already here and he had nothing else to do.
"Just be careful," Mod warned and the redhead nodded.
The 14 year old entered the bar and paused at the sight of what appeared to be bandits and pirates. It really was a bad time because the lead bandit had just finished swiping everything off a counter with his sword, drenching a straw hat wearing man on the floor in the process.
What an unnecessary mess.
"This place ain't worth our time if they're out of booze. Let's go!" The bandit leader said, turning around to leave.
Rosan expertly ignored it all and made his way to the only unoccupied space, which happened to be the attacked counter (all the other seats were filled with the pirates) and crossed paths with the departing bandit.
The bandit leader didn't seem to appreciate that very much.
"Eh? Don't you see me trying to move?" He paused right in front of Rosan and sized him up. "Do you know who I am? I have an 8 million bounty."
"So low," Rosan thought to himself instinctively, looking up at the man. Who even started off a conversation like that? A typical intimidation method to get people to do what you wanted.
The redhead wondered how the man would react to his own bounty.
He was a tall, tan-skinned man with black hair, a black goatee, and an X-shaped scar above his right eye. He wore a long red coat over a white shirt, black trousers, and a golden necklace.
Rosan recognized him.
Higuma, leader of the Higuma Bandits, a group so weak that he didn't even bother glancing their way past their leader's bounty poster.
If he were Reaper, they'd be dead where they stood.
Unfortunately, he came here as a civilian.
"You stepped in front of me," Rosan replied blandly, looking utterly disinterested in the conversation.
That didn't mean he'd act like some pushover. No one disrespected him. If a Celestial Dragon wasn't exempt from that, some silly Bandit was way out of his league.
"You got a problem, rich guy? Or are you a wimp like all these pirates here?" Higuma barked, letting out a laugh at his own joke.
By now, the two were the center of everyone's attention and Rosan felt that he should sigh. His appearance was unique enough, he didn't really need the added attention from this bandit's actions.
Rosan contemplated killing him but decided he probably shouldn't. It would be bad for his search if he did it without a disguise on. Rumors spread fast and he was sure talks about a tall redhead were already being whispered.
"Don't compare me to anyone, there is nobody like me," the teen responded before making eye contact with Higuma. "If you have a problem, we can always step outside to solve it," he offered politely. With his tone it came off as an actual solution, albeit in a condescending way due to the lack of emotion in it.
The Mountain Bandit, unwittingly, flinched as those heterochromatic eyes pierced into him. He was unnerved at how lifeless his gaze looked and the teen didn't even look remotely afraid of his large group.
"Nah, killing you would ruin the appetite I worked up," Higuma decided, shoving past Rosan, who didn't move from the contact, and making his way out of the establishment.
"Later cowards," the man grunted and he left the bar, followed by his group.
Rosan didn't even look back at him.
"Coward," he remarked and he sat down in a seat, next to, who was probably, the bartender's son and the redhead actually raised a brow at what was very obviously a Devil Fruit being consumed by the kid currently.
How he was able to just eat that horrid tasting fruit casually? Rosan would never know.
"Which fruit is that?" Ram asked curiously and Rosan ran through his memories of the Devil Fruit encyclopedia.
"The Gomu Gomu no mi," he replied quickly and Ram hummed in disinterest. She didn't ask anymore questions about the fruit and instantly deemed it as worse then his own.
He couldn't blame her, Mod was much cooler.
"Oh you little flatterer!" She gushed with a smile on her face.
The redhead ignored the curious gaze of everyone there, used to it by now and patiently waited for the bartender to be done with what she was doing.
Said bartender, a young, green haired woman who wore a yellow kerchief, an orange blouse with black sleeves and a long light blue skirt, was currently attending to the man on the floor.
Rosan didn't care enough to get a good look at him, but he did note the straw hat and the red hair that was a tad darker then his own.
Hm. It wasn't often he met someone with red hair.
"Are you alright, Captain? Are you hurt anywhere?" The woman asked, wiping the Pirate Captain with a rag and he just waved her off.
"Oh, I'm fine. No problem at all," he replied good naturedly.
Then the whole bar erupted into laughter.
They all began making fun of their captain and Rosan idly wondered how anyone could handle being disrespected so easily. Even the captain himself was laughing at the altercation that just took place.
The black haired kid next to him seemed to agree.
"WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING?!" He screamed and Rosan shot him a side glance at the volume of it.
Wow, that kid sure had a set of lungs.
"That was so uncool! Why didn't you fight them?!" The child demanded with a look of pure anger on his features.
"No matter how many there are or how strong they seem, you're not men— or pirates— if you laugh after something like that!"
Was this bartender ever going to get up and speak to him? He was pretty sure he came here as a customer and he was watching her fuss over a grown man. The service here was pretty bad and he wondered why she was the only employee.
Maybe that mountain bandit had a point about this place not being worth his time…
Guess he had no choice but to listen. He was already in too deep to just get up and leave. Besides, he wanted to see their reactions once they realized the child had eaten the Devil Fruit they had carelessly left lying around.
"I can understand how you feel Luffy, but he only spilled some booze on me. It's nothing worth getting mad over," the red haired man assured and Rosan noted that he had a triple set of scars over his left eye.
How did he get a scar like that without inflicting any sort of visible damage on his eye? He seemed to be using it just fine. Actually, he looked kind of familiar...
"He has a point…" Mod added in amusement.
"What if Father was the one who got booze spilled on him?" Ram asked curiously.
"He no longer has a point."
The weapon chortled at that.
"Whatever, this guy is way cooler than you!" The kid said, pointing a finger at Rosan, who ignored him, and prepared to walk away from them all.
"Rosan, you and this kid would get along well," Mod laughed, remembering the circumstances of how Rosan had obtained her Devil Fruit.
"Your Devil Fruit looked much tastier," Rosan said dismissively.
The red haired man grabbed the kid, Luffy was his name, and froze in disbelief as the boy kept walking and stretched. Every pirate, and the bartender, gasped at the bizarre sight and the green haired woman let out a tiny yelp.
Who even leaves an open box with a Devil Fruit in front of a kid? At least Rosan found Mod-chan by complete accident. It's not like Mom dangled the fruit in front of him and said, "Don't eat it, my little Rose!"
That was a great way to get him to eat it. Little Rosan was quite a menace now that he thought about it.
"You have no idea how true that statement is," Mod sighed tiredly and Ram sweatdropped at the look in her eyes. Rosan was going to disagree, but he didn't want to test his Devil Fruits patience right now.
What ensued after the realization that the child had eaten a Devil Fruit, was utter chaos and the captain, Shanks, informed Luffy of his inability to swim.
"He's being dramatic, Father turned out fine after eating a Devil Fruit," Ram said, rolling her eyes at the scarred man.
"Swimming is irrelevant when you can fly," Rosan agreed.
"It also helps that you never knew how to swim to begin with," Mod pointed out. "It's not like you lost a super important skill and I think the payoff was worth it!"
"I can't argue with that," Rosan said, fully agreeing with her statement. Modification was completely worth losing the ability to swim.
The whole bar was in a frenzy; he really wasn't sure what the big deal was. Maybe Mom was just too cool headed because her reaction was nowhere near this bad. She had actually been kind of glad that he had eaten a Devil Fruit and just warned him of the dangers of falling into the sea.
The teen let out a quiet sigh.
This bar really had terrible service.
"I'm so sorry for the wait," the green haired woman bowed and Rosan just stared at her with a blank, unimpressed, gaze.
The pirates had gone back to partying and the Luffy kid had gotten over the fact that he was rubber pretty quickly.
Rosan was honestly surprised they remembered his presence.
"My bad!" The man named Shanks apologized to his fellow redhead. "I got Makino all worried so she couldn't get to you!" He finished sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.
"I don't care so think nothing of it," Rosan said bluntly, taking his eyes off the man. "It was an unnecessary hold up though, considering you're a grown man who doesn't need to be babied, but what's done is done."
Everyone listening flinched at his emotionless tone and Makino bowed again shamefully at completely ignoring him. They all distinctively remembered how the unique stranger stared Higuma in his eye without a hint of fear and made him back down after proposing they settle things outside.
He was a potentially dangerous variable.
"Are you ready to order?" Makino asked kindly and Rosan simply stared at her with a tilted head.
"What do you think?" He replied. He had been ready since he sat down but she wouldn't know that.
"R-Right!" He sure had a way to make her feel guilty without a hint of emotion in his tone!
"Something to drink and fried rice with shrimp, please," the redhead requested and the green haired woman's brows furrowed.
"I'm sorry, but were all out of alcohol," the 19 year old repeated, preparing for a repeat with Higuma. People really did not like being told there was no more booze and threw quite the tantrum.
"Is that all you have to drink, Green?" Rosan asked and he somehow managed to successfully convey how unimpressed he was.
"For someone who doesn't care, you sure do have a lot of bite right now!" Mod said with a giggle. Everything the bartender said, Rosan had a snide response in return.
"They wasted my time and I'm not getting any valuable information out of them. This was a waste of a visit."
Makino blushed and said "We have other drinks like…juice or milk?"
"Juice is fine. If you have lemonade, I'll take that," he said simply and the woman nodded hesitantly.
Rosan's attention was grabbed by the kid with black hair and a scar (how did he get that?) laughing at him.
"Only kids drink juice!" Luffy pointed out, with a cup of juice next to him. "Real men drink alcohol!" He declared and Shanks rubbed his red head at the idiot of a kid. The man was getting ready to apologize for Luffy before Rosan decided to speak up.
"That makes sense, I'm only 14" Rosan commented calmly, making everyone there freeze.
This guy...was 14 years old?!
Shanks observed the new figure with a rather calculating gaze.
Luffy's jaw dropped in surprise. "No way! But you were so cool before! You aren't much older than me?!"
"How old are you?" Rosan asked, deciding to entertain the kid until he got his order.
"Seven!" Luffy replied.
"Thank you for the compliment, but I'm seven years older than you, that's quite a bit," the redhead pointed out.
"I've never seen you before!" The seven year old said in excitement, plopping himself right next to Rosan and invading his personal space without a care in the world. "Are you new here?! Are you a pirate too?! Oh wait, are you a mountain bandit?!"
"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to talk to strangers?" The teen chided. Rosan could tell that at a glance, this kid was too trusting and more than a bit dumb.
Or, he was purposely ignoring all the obvious issues with the 14 year old but Rosan somehow doubted that.
"Nope! I don't know my mom! I only have Gramps and he just throws me in the jungle," the kid rambled on before shuddering in fear at the mention of his grandpa.
Ah, so bartender wasn't his mom. Just a caretaker.
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy!" the boy suddenly introduced himself and Rosan paused as he heard that. "Wanna be my friend?!" He asked excitedly, happy at the chance to finally have someone around his age to talk to.
"Luffy," Makino hissed at the child. "Stop bothering him!" She demanded but the rubber boy was already to enraptured by the idea of making a friend his age.
The dual eyed teen actually took a look at Luffy after he introduced himself. Someone else with the D. initial? How interesting.
Robin hadn't told him much (because she didn't know much herself), but he did know that his middle initial was a topic of interest for her. She wanted to know more about people with the D. initial because two of her best friends had them.
Not to mention Ace, Mom, and Roger were some too. Rosan was also sure one of his biological parents had the initial as well, considering he had it.
And now there was another one sitting in front of him.
Just what did this initial mean?
"I'm Rosan," he introduced eventually, seeing no harm in it. "I am new here, I am not a pirate, and I am not a mountain bandit," he said, answering all the kids first set of questions.
He deliberated the final question and eventually, he truthfully said, "I'm not a person worth being friends with, so I think I'll pass."
"Eh? No way. Be my friend," Luffy demanded completely ignoring his response.
Everyone there sweatdropped at how casually Luffy ignored Rosan's statement.
"...Okay," Rosan eventually replied.
The listeners face planted at how easily Rosan gave up and Luffy beamed cheerfully at his acceptance.
If the kid wanted to be his friend, let him. He was probably going to be here for a while looking for Ace and he'd probably run into the seven year old more than once. Best to just accommodate him.
Besides, he'd eventually see why it was a bad idea to be friends with Rosan. Anyone who knew him for long enough understood in time.
"Awesome!" He cheered, as Makino held her head and Shanks let out a loud laugh.
"Wow Anchor, you actually managed to make a friend!" Shanks teased and Luffy glared at him.
"Yeah! And he's way cooler than you! He was actually going to fight back," the seven year old retorted, turning away from the redheaded man to face the redheaded teen.
"Even his hair is cooler!"
Mod snorted at the childish claim and Shanks held his heart in mock pain. The surrounding pirates laughed at Luffy's anger and began teasing their captain.
Rosan watched it all with a lazy gaze.
If only they knew just what he was capable of. They would be far less willing to let a seven year old be in his company.
Rosan didn't miss the fact that Luffy had many similarities to himself as a kid. It was actually quite startling to see.
All those similarities were just enhanced tenfold by the fact that he lacked any type of common sense.
The boy was a complete moron.
"You two are so similar," Mod gushed, already liking the rubber boy.
"That's an insult to Father! He was never this bad!" Ram argued.
It was true. Luffy was like a version of Rosan who had removed all thought processes.
Rosan was intelligent. Robin learned very early on, much to her annoyance, that the redhead wasn't an idiot that just did whatever he wanted to do.
No, he put a lot of thought into what he did, that was why despite his schemes appearing to be so crazy, they mostly worked out in the end. It was just that Rosan wanted to do fun things and his definition of fun, made it look like he were an idiot in the eyes of his old companion.
Luffy wasn't like that at all. Rosan was positive the boy didn't even think. Like in general.
It was rather fascinating to witness.
If Rosan used to be an agent of chaos, then Luffy was chaos incarnate.
"You two are a great fit then!" Mod beamed, not even trying to hide her intentions.
Shameless woman.
The boy had attached himself to Rosan way too quick, reminiscent of how quickly he attached himself to Robin.
But Rosan had Mod-chan to tell him if that were a good idea or not. He was pretty sure that bartender, Makino, was telling him how bad of an idea it was to hang out with the redhead. He respected her for that. She was smart.
Hm. Rosan suddenly felt bad for Robin if this was her perception of him.
The pirates didn't mind his presence and Rosan would have considered that a mistake, but he wasn't stupid.
The group was far stronger than him.
They were the Red Hair Pirates after all.
"To think a crew like this would be in the East Blue," Mod hummed in contemplation and Rosan nodded. It would be in his best interest to not antagonize them.
He was currently making his way back to Foosha Village after scouting out the Capital and finding nothing interesting about Ace there.
Luffy had demanded to come with him, but Rosan needed subtlety and the boy was anything but so he went without the little troublemaker.
Huh, he really owed Robin an apology. He must have been such a headache when they were together.
"That is an understatement," his Devil Fruit said seriously, not a hint of a smile on her features, and Ram began laughing uncontrollably.
Rosan hummed as he made his way out of the forest. He had been sleeping in his Pocket Dimension the past few days and due to not wanting to be spotted, he opted to enter and exit on the top of a tree (he left one of his earrings on it).
He was wearing a short sleeved white shirt and some white shorts and underneath the outfit, was a black bodysuit. To finish off, the redhead had some black sneakers on and his usual accessories in place.
Truthfully, it was his fault that the rubber boy was so attached. Rosan just went along with everything he wanted to do and the seven year old was probably ecstatic at that fact.
The 14 year old wasn't sure why he entertained him so much, but he chalked it up to some type of sympathy that stemmed from having a similar childhood.
They had both been rather lonely.
"I think this is a good thing for you," Mod said softly. Maybe hanging around someone that was so similar to how he used to be, would be help the boy in unlocking his heart.
"Alright, I'll stay around him longer then," Rosan said, making the woman smile gratefully. If Mod-chan saw potential in the little boy, then he would trust her judgement and follow what she wanted.
The teen was about to make his way to where Luffy was located, which was probably the bar, only to run into the bartender, Makino, herself. She crashed into him and Rosan easily steadied the panicking woman.
"You seem rushed, is something wrong?" The redhead asked and she finally seemed to register just who she crashed into.
"P-please! It's Luffy, h-he got taken by the mountain bandit's a-and—," Makino began but Rosan held a hand up.
"Breathe slowly, you're hyperventilating and it's causing your thoughts to go awry," Rosan explained patiently and the woman forced herself to calm down.
"You said Mountain Bandits had Luffy? Are they the same ones that caused a ruckus in your bar the other day?" The redhead asked softly, and she forced herself to look into his strange, lifeless, dual colored eyes.
She had to remind herself many times that he was only 14; that thought made her feel rather sick though because what happened that caused someone so young to adopt a seemingly permanent look like that?
"Y-yes! They were talking about Captain Shanks and Luffy tried to defend him…" The woman said and Rosan closed his eyes.
Such an idiot. That was another thing about the seven year old. His total lack of fear and self preservation.
He was going to get himself killed like that.
"I understand," the redhead replied. "Lead me to them, I'll deal with it."
The rubber boy was interesting and Mod liked him, so Rosan would not let him die here.
"Y-you will?" Makino asked hopefully, but unsure. He was only 14 after all and it was a group of mountain bandits. One of them even had an 8 million bounty! How was he going to deal with all of them?!
"You don't want me to help?" Rosan asked, tilting his head as he eyed the visibly nervous woman.
She was about to protest but she stopped herself. Like it or not, Luffy needed help and this boy was readily offering it.
Makino didn't approve of their friendship, due to her protectiveness over Luffy, but right now that friendship might be what saved his life.
"This way," the woman said, running off without hesitation.
Rosan followed her easily and just thought to himself,
"How did the search for my little brother turn into this."
True to Makino's words, Luffy was currently being assaulted quite harshly by the leader of the mountain bandits, Higuma.
"No one can save this brat now. I won't spare anyone who's attacked me..." Rosan arrived in time to see a diminutive man pleading for Luffy's life and Higuma denying the request.
Rosan decided now was a good time to announce his presence.
"Bullying children now? Mountain bandits really are pathetic," The redhead intoned quietly, catching everyone's attention there.
"Rosan!" Luffy called in glee, despite being stepped on by a large boot currently.
Higuma raised a brow at the redheaded teen. "He deserves it, he called me names so now I'm gonna kill him," he explained with a smug smile on his face.
"No you aren't," Rosan replied calmly and the whole crowd was watching the exchange with fearful eyes. "He called you names and you got upset? What, are you 12? Grow up you little manchild," the redhead admonished coldly, much to Higuma's fury.
"What did you just say?" The mountain bandit snarled but the 14 year old ignored him. That only served to make Higuma more upset.
Was Luffy's new friend seriously about to face up against all these mountain bandits? That was suicide!
Rosan's thoughts were rather different.
"If I use an energy blast, will Luffy die?"
"It's best if we don't test that."
"Fair."
"You won't ruin my appetite today so I have no qualms killing you brat," Higuma growled.
"Did you actually manage to convince yourself that the reason you didn't fight me that day, was because it would ruin your appetite?" Rosan asked, tilting his head. "Well, no matter. I'll show you reality soon enough."
Unseen to all, Ram seeped into his gloved hands and the teen prepared to take Higuma's head off with one precise energy blast —
Only to be interrupted by the presence of another.
"Nobody came to greet us at the harbor; I was wondering what was going on…" A voice called, making the mountain bandits and Rosan pause.
The teen shifted his head slightly and was greeted to the sight of the entire Red Haired Pirates in their glory. They were watching the exchange with cool and confident gazes and didn't seem bothered in the slightest.
"Looks like we won't have to do anything," Mod remarked calmly and Rosan nodded, draining the energy out of his glove.
"Awww that's lame, I wanted to kill them!" Ram complained with a frown and Mod just patted her soothingly.
"It's better this way; I can hide myself for a bit longer," Rosan said softly. It would benefit him more if he didn't reveal what he was capable of at the moment. If he did, then he'd have eyes on him.
"I thought your punch was as strong as a pistol, Luffy?" Shanks mocked, casually walking up to the bandits. This had the added effect of placing him right Rosan and the man nodded at the teen.
Rosan ignored him.
"S-Shut up!" Luffy stammered with the boot still on his head. This was just a setback! If he could land a punch, Higuma would be dead!
"Taking a break from your cleaning duties?" Higuma mocked with a sneer on his face. He took his attention off the irritating redhead and instead locked it onto an easier, in his eyes, target. "I don't know what you want, but take another step and we'll kill you, cowards."
Rosan tilted his head, as Shanks did just that and the cocking of a gun finally stopped him.
"Didn't ya hear him, dumbass?" A bandit chuckled, holding a gun to his head threateningly. "Don't come any closer or I'll blow your head off!"
"What are you doing, goon?" Rosan thought blandly. "You're far too relaxed for what you're doing right now, just shoot him. I don't understand why everyone does this."
"I wish I could tell you, Rosan. Arrogance is far too prevalent in this world," Mod sighed with a shake of her head.
Unfortunately for the bandit, Rosan didn't say this out loud.
"You're putting your life on the line by pointing that at me," Shanks said. The captain had a carefree grin on his face and his demeanor screamed 'relaxed'.
"Huh? What're you talking about?"
"He's dead."
"I'm saying it's not safe to point guns," the man smiled, pointing directly up at the firearm.
Before he could even blink, a large man with a round body, eating a rack of meat, put his own gun to the bandit's head and shot, killing him instantly.
Everyone watching gasped in shock at the sight.
Rosan didn't even flinch at the sight of the man's death. No, his thoughts were elsewhere.
"Fast," he thought simply, staring right at the big man who had done it. "I was right to be wary of this crew. If I provoked them, I'd be dead in seconds," the teen stated.
Shanks didn't miss the sight of Rosan not even batting an eye and his curiosity piqued.
To not even blink at the sight of someone being killed in front of them?
The 14 year old was a complete oddity.
Truthfully, since meeting Luffy, the captain of the Red Haired Pirates had been keeping a close eye on his fellow redhead to see what his deal was and if he were a threat to the people here.
Except he couldn't tell at all.
There seemed to be no ulterior motive as to why the teenager was hanging out with Luffy. Whatever his favorite kid asked of Rosan, the teen would follow along and it made Shanks suspicious of what he was up to.
But Rosan hadn't done anything.
He was strange.
But what was definitively the strangest thing about him, and the thing that made him so hard to read, was his complete lack of emotions.
That lifeless gaze was not for show. Rosan was filled with ice and never reacted to anything other than tilting his head, or humming. He was unfazed by a majority of things around and Shanks was sure the teen knew who their pirate crew was and the threat they posed.
Yet he never acted differently.
Even now, watching someone getting their brains blown out, was not enough for him to react in the slightest. He just watched it all with those strange eyes of his and was instead focused on the pirate crew of all things. There was no trust in his stance and he was positioned in a way that would defend himself against both parties if needed.
Shanks had to wonder just what happened to turn him into this. The 14 year old seemed more machine than boy.
Rosan didn't miss Shanks sizing him up but he didn't bother acknowledging it. He wasn't interested in the pirate captain at all, beyond being impressed by the strength he and his crew wielded.
"What've you done?! That wasn't fair!" A bandit screamed out and Rosan heard Mod scoff.
"Fair?!" One of the pirates cackled in the background, clearly amused by the bandits shock.
"Cut the crap! Did you think you were dealing with saints here?" Ben Beckman, the first mate of the Red Haired Pirates, drawled.
"We're pirates! We don't play by the rules!" Shanks finished with a confident grin.
"A criminal trying to talk to another criminal about what's fair," Mod said, voice tinged with amusement. "Isn't that funny?"
"The pot calling the kettle black," Ram laughed and the purple haired woman giggled at that.
"You got nothin' to do with this anyways" A bandit growled.
"Listen, Bandits," Shanks said. "Whether I'm splattered with alcohol or food or even spit on, I'll just laugh that stuff off. But! No matter what the reason, anyone who hurts a friend of mine, has to pay!" He finished seriously, glaring at the bandits.
"How noble," Rosan thought, utterly unmoved by the words coming out of the captain's mouth. While he agreed with the second part, the redhead disagreed completely with the first half of the sentence.
Allowing yourself to be disrespected?
Ridiculous.
"Friend?!" Luffy said in shock, looking directly at Shanks.
"Hahahaha!" Higuma began laughing. "Nice speech, very intimidating," the man mocked.
"Lousy pirates! Kill 'em, men, including the rich boy!" Higuma roared.
The bandits roared and began charging and Rosan prepared to jump away, content to let the pirates deal with it. Anyone who came his way, would die but he doubted it would come to that.
"Rosan," Shanks suddenly said, making him pause to regard the man.
"How about you deal with them?" The man requested. His fellow redhead was smiling at him and it was obvious what he wanted.
Rosan was about to deny his request, but the pause caused the bandits to reach the two and the redhead was dragged into the fight.
"You're not as clever as you think you are but I'll play your game, Shanks," the redhead said, grabbing a swinging arm and casually breaking it. He would make him regret dragging the teen into the fight.
Everyone took a step back in surprise at the scream of agony that erupted from the bandit.
"He wants to see what we can do," Rosan said coldly.
"So we'll show him as little as possible," Mod said, with a calculating eye.
"While giving them a show they won't forget," Ram grinned psychotically.
Rosan held onto the very broken arm of the bandit, hoisted him up and used him as a living weapon to slam into the other opponents. One bandit was battered repeatedly by his ally's body and by the time the redhead was done, they were both knocked unconscious.
He discarded the body in the path of a swinging saber and was satisfied to see it used as a successful meat shield. Blood sprayed from the poor bandit and Rosan stared into the fearful eyes of the offender with a cold expression. The shocked bandit tried to withdraw his bloodied blade, but he was far too slow.
Rosan quickly closed the distance between them, grabbed the Bandit's head and kneed him three times in the nose. The first hit broke it instantly, the next two was just the redhead being unnecessarily brutal.
He grabbed the falling man's saber and swung behind him, clashing with steel (he had to actively tell Ram to not devour the weapon in the process).
His opponents eyes widened at watching his own blade crumble from the force of Rosan's blow and the momentum of the swing, meant he was not spared from damage. The saber cleaved into him with unforgiving force and the bandit collapsed on both knees as blood began gushing out of his chest.
The 14 year old jumped back to avoid the spray of blood and, in the process, he flung the saber with pinpoint accuracy to a surprised bandit, impaling him through the heart and killing him instantly.
He eyed the rest of the bandits without a shred of worry on his features and took in their nervous expressions.
Rosan and Reaper, naturally, fought different.
Reaper was immaculate in what he did. He was controlled, precise and their feet rarely touched the floor, content to constantly change the field that wouldn't impede him. The Angel of Death, with their signature scythe, was like a puppet master, high above his subjects, controlling the battlefield and anyone on it.
Rosan was a performer in a different way. He was unrelenting, stylish, and constantly modifying his style so as to overwhelm whoever he fought. A battle with Rosan was like an always changing, never ending performance where he was the leading actor.
Due to his growth spurt, the style he adopted as a child had to be changed. No longer could he use his shorter height to his advantage against larger foes. That wasn't a negative though because now, he had the strength to go toe to toe with them.
He had always been a rather brutal child and it now translated into his older frame.
Case in point, he wrapped his hand around a flailing bandits neck, body slammed him onto his stomach, and stomped harshly on his back, crushing the bones in his body as if they were made of paper and making him squeal in agony. Another stomp on his head, shattered his skull effortlessly and the redhead wiped his sneakers with the man's body.
"I missed your stomps," Mod said, sighing fondly. He rarely fought as Rosan and Reaper didn't use stomps in his style.
When Shanks told Rosan to deal with them, he had been expecting a bit of a struggle and for the pirate crew to intervene. The boy, for all his muscles, was still only 14 and he didn't seem to have a visible weapon.
Clearly, he didn't need one.
If he knew Rosan was going to be this brutal when dealing with the bandits, he would have just let Beckman handle it. The redhead was completely merciless and he didn't spare a single soul! Did he even care that he was doing this in front of civilians?
"I'll play your game," his cold voice sounded in Shanks head.
Ah...so he was doing this to prove a point.
The crowd was rather green in the face at the sight of Luffy's new friend demolishing the bandits and more than a few had to look away from the sight.
Makino and the Mayor had a look of terror in her eyes at the fact that this monstrous boy had been hanging around little Luffy this whole time.
He wasn't at all friendly like Shanks was. No, he was a real monster and he was not afraid to show them. It was no wonder he had said he was not a good person to be friends with! He had been trying to warn them of what he was capable of.
Luffy gasped in awe at the strength of his friend, completely unperturbed by the brutality he displayed. "You're so strong, Rosan!"
"So much for being subtle," Rosan thought, turning to face Shanks. The crowd looked rightly terrified of him but the redhead didn't care about the opinions of others. It had never mattered to him before and that wouldn't change.
"Satisfied?"
Shanks looked at him with an unreadable look and merely nodded. The pirate captain turned towards Higuma.
The leader of the mountain bandits looked terrified. Watching his group get utterly dismantled by some rich kid, was a good way to shatter his confidence at the moment.
"Do you see now? This is reality," Rosan told the man calmly, reminding him of the first part of their conversation.
"But…the brat started it," Higuma stammered, looking left and right.
"He's trying to flee," Rosan said immediately, eyeing the man. His entire body was poised to make a run for it. He knew because this was exactly how a person looked when trying to flee from Reaper.
They never got away.
"Are you going to stop him?" Mod asked curiously.
"No, the pirate captain thinks he's in control so let's see how he handles this," Rosan finished, taking a step back to lean on a building and letting Shanks take charge.
"Doesn't matter," Shanks began, smiling at the man threateningly. "There's a price on your head isn't there?"
Higuma flinched before gritting his teeth.
"Damn it!" He growled and the mountain bandit grabbed a smoke ball —
And dropped it.
"C'mere Kid!" A voice growled.
"HEY! LET GO!" That was Luffy.
"LUFFY?!" Shanks called through the heavy smoke.
The smoke cleared and there was nothing there.
Chaos ensued.
"Oh no! I let him escape! We've gotta save Luffy!" Shanks panicked with wide eyes. He had gotten way too lax!
Mod snorted at the look on his face.
"This is why I trained you to never let your guard down until the battle is over," the Devil Fruit explained.
"A valuable lesson, he's stronger than me by a large margin but far more careless."
Higuma would not have escaped him because Higuma wouldn't have had the chance to think of escaping. The redhead would have killed him right then and there.
Perhaps that was the difference between him and pirates.
Luffy really hated mountain bandits.
They really sucked and the fact he couldn't land a hit on them sucked even more.
That stupid bandit had thrown him in the water and now he was drowning because he couldn't swim because he had eaten that Devil Fruit thing.
To make matters worse, a Sea King was currently looming behind the stupid bandit, with Luffy drowning.
This sucked.
The seven year old flailed about in a frenzy and that only increased as the Sea King ate the petrified Higuma in one bite.
"Somebody help me!" Luffy screamed with a mouthful of water. He frantically tried to stay afloat and the Sea King looked directly at him with those massive red eyes.
The Sea King charged swiftly through the water, opened its mouth wide and prepared to eat Luffy whole.
The seven year old felt his life flash before his eyes as the Sea King chomped down —
But something pulled him out of the way.
Luffy looked up to see a shock of red hair and he felt the tears brimming in his eyes start to overflow.
"Shanks!" The boy said, voice shaky from the near death experience.
The Lord of the Coast reemerged and assessed the new target. It growled lowly and prepared to repeat the process.
"Get lost!" Shanks intoned in a low tone, staring directly into its red eyes.
The Lord of the Coast froze in terror as a pressure washed over him and, after what felt like an eternity, it went back to its home underwater.
"I'm in your debt, Luffy," Shanks said with a kind smile on his face, as he rubbed the child's head. "Makino-san told me everything, you fought for us."
Tears streamed down the seven year old's face, as he clutched Shanks tightly.
"Hey, don't cry! You're a man aren't you?!" The captain joked with a placating grin on his face.
"B-but... Shanks —!"
"WHAT ABOUT YOUR ARM?!" The boy sobbed hysterically.
Shanks smiled softly at the kid and pat him soothingly with his good arm. "It's only an arm. No big deal. I'm just glad you're okay," he replied truthfully.
"WAHHHHHH!" Luffy sobbed as the floodgates fully broke.
Rosan watched Shanks swim back to shore with a tilted head.
That was a lot of blood.
Narrowing his vision a bit, he soon saw the reason why.
"What was out there that caused you to lose an arm?" Rosan asked the soaked captain.
Luffy was currently clutching the man, sound asleep after clearly crying his heart out and Rosan assumed that the missing arm had something to do with him.
"A Sea King," Shanks answered sheepishly and Rosan stared at his fellow redhead.
"A Sea King did this to you?" The 14 year old asked, clearly not believing him.
"Someone as strong as you, would not lose an arm to some Sea King," he said bluntly and Shanks let out a laugh.
"Maybe, but I'm betting it on the new era," the man replied easily enough, inclining a head towards Luffy.
"You allowed yourself to lose an arm for this child?" Rosan asked softly. "Off of a hunch?"
The foolish went unsaid.
The man let loose another chuckle. "If you hang around him long enough, I'm sure you'll see why."
The redhead simply hummed as a response, which caused Shanks to sober up a bit and get serious. "Just who are you, Rosan?"
The teen leveled him with that never changing gaze of his and asked, "Why do you want to know?" in return.
"Closing your heart off at such a young age, is pretty concerning and your lack of emotions is even worse," Shanks commented in a friendly manner. He wasn't trying to push the teen into becoming uncomfortable (if he could even feel that) but he was curious about it.
"A pirate is concerned about me? How amusing," Rosan said blankly, closing his eyes.
"If you lived the life I was forced to live, you'd probably kill yourself," the redhead told him softly.
"Tell me about it," Shanks requested, curiosity piqued.
"No. I don't feel like divulging into my life with a pirate," the teen said bluntly and the captain laughed sheepishly.
"That's fair! How about I introduce myself and we go from there?"
Rosan said nothing, those empty red and purple eyes just gazed at him. He didn't see the point of this. The redhead wasn't going to tell him anything.
Shanks figured the best way to get him to open up a bit, was to reveal something interesting about himself. But what exactly could he tell the redhead... He wasn't at all impressed by his crew or his bounty...
"I'm Shanks! I'm the captain of the Red Hair Pirates and I was an apprentice for the Roger Pirates," the man introduced. Now he'd verify if he was talking about the Pirate King and they could start talking from that!
It was genius!
"Oh no," Mod whispered in dread.
"Roger Pirates?" Rosan repeated, tilting his head. "You mean Gol D. Roger's crew?" The teen asked and Shanks paused in disbelief.
How... How did Rosan know his real name? The newspapers had done a great job at hiding the D. in his name and the redhead was too young to have heard about him before they did.
"If that was a way to get me to open up," the boy began coldly. "It failed. I despise that man and you telling me you were in his crew, doesn't make me warm up to you at all."
So the kid held a vendetta against his former captain.
That made him all the more interesting.
"What did Captain do to you? Kill your family?" Shanks asked, voice full of curiosity and wariness. He didn't want a fight to break out right now, he was losing a lot of blood and there was a sleeping child in his good arm currently.
Something told him Rosan wouldn't care about any of that.
Rosan normally wouldn't divulge this information, but a part of him wanted to see the shock on his face. The dread at learning just who he was.
"As a matter of fact, he did. Roger was the reason my mother died and my mother happened to be his wife," Rosan informed the Red Haired Captain, dual eyes staring into black. "I'm sure you can already guess, but that man is my father."
His expression was exactly what he had been hoping to see.
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