章 44: Chapter 25: The Art of Deception
"Rosan, what's your Devil Fruit? You do have one, right?" Nami asked out of the blue one day.
Luffy was off in the redhead's training room of the ship to stave off his own boredom and Zoro was taking a nap somewhere so that left the two of them on the deck of the ship to make sure no crazy incidents happened.
Nami was hesitant to be left alone with the redhead but he had not spared her even a single glance, content to just read his book while sipping on a cup of lemonade.
He didn't bother her at all and she found herself relaxing in his aloof presence. His dead eyed gaze was unnerving but you got used to it… though she wondered what the story behind that was. Rosan wasn't very expressive either… She had never seen him smile or laugh or even get upset at the various antics of his captain.
The redhead looked up from the book he was reading, something about the elements, to regard her with a lazy gaze, head tilting to the side as he let out a disinterested hum. "Yes, I do."
"I know Luffy has the Gomu Gomu no mi but I don't know what you have…" She mused. It was difficult to place a name onto it because he seemed capable of doing two completely different things.
He had managed to completely repair Chouchou's treasure and free Luffy from his cage with just a grasp… To her eyes that looked like repairing and destruction, which were polar opposites! What type of fruit did that? Was that all he was capable of? Nami was beginning to think he was the one who raised the wall as well that protected Zoro!
Did his fruit have something to do with matter? That could have been it!
"I'd tell you, but we both don't trust each other currently, right?" Rosan replied calmly, gazing at her coolly. "I'd rather not tell you what my Devil Fruit is at the moment. It's important that information on it doesn't spread needlessly and I don't exactly think you like me enough to keep it secret."
Nami flinched at his bluntness, not really expecting him to outright reject her and wilted at his assessment that she didn't like him. To just outright say something like that... was he trying to make the conversation awkward for them both?
That was another thing about the redhead... He wasn't anything like Luffy, who could trust anyone at a glance, or Zoro, who went along with what the rubber boy did, with only slight suspicion.
No... Rosan was someone who seemed to thoroughly judge a person's character for himself before making decisions based off of that. It was completely logical of him but being around Luffy had put her guard down, leading her to not expect someone in his crew to be like that.
It was likely that he was aware she wasn't interested in being a pirate and surrounded himself in the necessary walls to prepare for that outcome.
"Let's get to know each other a bit more," Rosan said softly, gaze back on his book as he continued to read it. "We're practically strangers right now."
"R-Right," she nodded. That was fair but she hadn't expected him to be so blunt about it. Then again, everyone on the ship seemed rather honest and spoke their minds with no regards of how it might affect the person they were speaking to.
Luffy and Rosan were just like this. That was probably why they were in a crew together.
"My name is Portgas D. Rosan. I'm the scout of this ship. I like my family and don't really dislike anything," the redhead suddenly said.
Nami blinked in surprise.
That name... Portgas...? Had she heard that somewhere before? It sounded familiar but he might have just had one of those names, y'know? It was best not to dwell on it since she couldn't immediately identify it.
The navigator got rid of her current thought process and couldn't resist smiling. "My name's Nami! I like tangerines and money and I hate pirates!"
He was making an effort to get to know her even though he didn't need to! How polite of him! Maybe she had gotten it all wrong about him —
"Wow, you like something besides money? I'm genuinely surprised, based on what I've seen so far," Rosan's bland voice cut in to her musing. "Maybe you aren't as insane as I thought you were."
"I DON'T WANNA HEAR THAT FROM YOU!" Nami roared in fury, glaring at him all the while.
She took it back. He was still as insufferable as ever. He had the audacity to call her insane? He was definitely so much worse, no matter how cool and collected he appeared to be!
The nerve of some people!
"We're gonna need a new ship, the White Rose was damaged long ago and won't be able to handle the Grand Line," Rosan informed the crew.
"Damaged?" Nami asked curiously. The ship had been sailing perfectly since they had gotten it so to hear that it was damaged, was quite the surprise. Would... would it sink on them in the middle of the ocean?! How reckless were these guys to sail with a damaged ship and only just now mention it?!
"Around 10 years ago, I was unexpectedly attacked and my ship was caught in the crossfire," the redhead grunted quietly, recalling the memory with a blank gaze.
Saint Jeremiah had managed to deal lasting damage on his treasured ship with his attack. He managed to get a lucky hit on the hull, severely damaging it and Rosan had tried to modify it but it was to little success. All he had done was prolong the inevitable, something Angel had confirmed with a sad look.
It wasn't like he'd let his crew die, he could carry them all in the event the ship unexpectedly sank but the White Rose could still sail due to him not using it even once over the 10 years. It's just that if the sea decided to turn… wild, his ship would needlessly suffer and they could potentially be put in danger.
Rosan sighed, he liked his ship. She had been his sole ship for 20 years and it was the subject of his most amount of modifications. She'd have probably sunk long ago if he hadn't made her so durable and sturdy but perhaps the years were catching up on her if a measly Celestial Dragon could do this to her.
If not for her, he'd be much worse with his ability to quickly modify objects to the degree he could.
"She has served us perfectly. I'm going to miss the White Rose…" Mod sighed wistfully. She was a fantastic ship and to think that she had been so average when they first got the caravel... Rosan had managed to mold the ship in his image and the result was the only ship they over owned and needed.
"10 years ago? How old are you?" Nami asked. The redhead looked pretty young! She wouldn't think he's any older than 20 so 10 years ago would have made him really young... Just what reasons did he have to be sailing the sea at such a young age?
Nami's circumstances were a little... irregular so maybe he was the same?
"24."
"You were sailing and attacked at sea when you were 14?!"
That was insane! How did he get out of an attack that left his ship so damaged?!
He nodded his head but didn't deign to go into detail. "Regardless, getting a new ship should be priority. A musician can wait for later, Luffy," the redhead said softly.
"Fine," Luffy sulked, causing Zoro and Nami to sweatdrop.
"There should be an island a little to the south," Nami informed them, looking at the map in her hand. "It would be great if we could get a ship there in that case."
The crew nodded in unison at that, plan set and they adjusted their course accordingly.
Rosan would offer to pay for it but Luffy would immediately shut it down so he remained silent.
"Alright! We need more food!" The captain cheered.
"My only complaint about this ship is how little booze there is," the swordsman sighed.
"I don't drink alcohol often. I can't get drunk so I don't see the point and would rather drink something tastier," Rosan apologized, much to the surprise of Zoro and Nami, who weren't aware he couldn't get drunk. He had actually gotten drunk before on Makino's (and Angel's… and Maro's…) insistence.
The redhead felt his impulses going out of control mostly and his inhibitions were lowered but besides that… he was mostly the same if not... more aggressive (according to Makino at least)? It was hard to act different when it affected your emotional state.
The others though... Angel was incapable of getting drunk without his interference but when she did, the woman turned into a protective terror. He was sure even Demon was at his wits with her, if the tired expression on his face was anything to go by, assuring the woman that he was in fact single.
The youngest triplet himself, had built quite the tolerance and was the most normal, besides Rosan, when he got drunk. He did become a lot more flirty though (surprisingly), if the group of women and men Angel threatened to slaughter viciously meant anything. He was normally hounded by a lot of people but instead of being polite, he seemed to actively participate in it.
Makino seemed to be normal when drunk. The woman mostly made sure Luffy didn't sneak any alcohol and conversed with Rosan, Aiko or Akemi. Sometime during the night though, she managed to completely prove him wrong after drinking a bit too much and the bartender dragged the redhead away in the middle of the party, much to a snarling Angel's rage, who needed to be held down by Demon lest she actually commit murder.
Maro was a complete lightweight and got drunk almost immediately. Everytime Rosan saw her, she was transformed into a different form and she was also incredibly grabby, randomly crashing into anyone of them with gusto. Poor Luffy had been a living stuffed animal due to his rubbery body not being affected by her steely grip, up until she dropped him and dragged away Angel.
Rosan was idly curious about how he'd act drunk with emotions. His family was rather unique with how they behaved and he could readily admit that with emotions, he was as chaotic as Luffy. Getting drunk may turn him even worse...
"You'd become a terror to the world. It would make your days as a child pale in comparison," Mod said without hesitation, smiling just thinking about it.
"Way worse than me. I think with emotions you're already going to be worse but add alcohol to that? You'll make me proud," Ram agreed with a huge grin.
Rosan disagreed.
"Wow there really is an island here!"
Nami looked at Luffy in exasperation and glanced in sympathy at a sighing Rosan.
"Of course there is! It's right here on the map," she said slowly, pointing at it and letting out her own sigh at the look of confusion on Luffy's face. Nami had no clue how they managed to survive this long but she would attribute it to the mysterious redhead and not these two idiots.
The group began walking up the hill but the moment they took a step, Rosan slowed his gait and glanced up at a tree, letting Ram subtly seep into his gloves.
Zoro suddenly tensed up and put a hand on his blade. "Careful guys, I sense people," he called and right on cue, something began shooting at them.
Ram rolled her eyes at Luffy jumping left and right wildly to avoid the pellets. At the same time, various pirates flags raised up, surrounding them from 3 angles. Rosan calmly stepped to the side of a shot and took aim at where he was sure someone was —
Only to stop at seeing a long nose obviously pointing out of the bush they were trying to hide in.
The faint red glow vanished as he lowered his hand and Rosan immediately dismissed his target as a threat once he saw his weapon of choice.
A slingshot? Was he suicidal?
The long nosed male crossed his arms triumphantly and said, "I am Usopp, leader of the terrifying pirates who run this island! State your business! Just know that if I find your answer lacking, my 80 million subordinates will deal with you!"
"80 million? Wow, that's quite a lot," Rosan praised, expression not shifting. How would they ever be able to deal with that much people? It didn't seem very possible… Maybe he'd have to bring out Ragnarok early to stand a chance against such a formidable foe?
"AWESOME!" Luffy gaped in total awe, stars in his eyes, and all three of his crewmates looked at him with sweat drops. Unlike the redhead, they were very sure the rubber boy's praise was genuine.
Nami sighed at their antics. "You're lying, aren't you?" She asked the seemingly confident boy.
Usopp's eyes bugged at being found out so easily. "She saw through it!" He said aloud, panicking in surprise and holding his head. What was he going to do now? Should he fight them head on? No... A tactical retreat sounded better to his ears o-or he could keep lying!
Nami rolled her eyes with a smile. This guy was a total idiot.
"See? You admitted it."
"I-I admitted it to her…" Usopp began swaying at being tricked so easily. Wasn't he supposed to be the one tricking them?!
"WHAT?! HE WAS LYING?!" Luffy shouted in disbelief, jaw dropping to the floor at being fooled. "Rosan can you believe that?! He was lying to us!"
"I can't believe it either, Luffy. I was thoroughly tricked," the redhead replied with a shake of his head. "I didn't know how we were gonna deal with 80 million people, I thought we'd have to turn back for sure."
Nami sweatdropped at all 3 of them. Rosan's voice didn't even suggest he fell for it.
"Crafty tactician! 80 million may have been an exaggeration, but I do have great men under my command!" The long nosed boy said confidently. This one was full proof! If they saw through this... then they were utterly invincible and he'd have no choice but to tactically retreat!
"You mean about three people, right?" Nami teased and right on cue, a childish chorus of screams rang through the air and three boys jumped out so that they could run away from the pirates.
"Wow Nami, nothing gets through you at all… Are you a mind reader? What number am I thinking of right now, 1-10?" Rosan asked curiously
Nami sighed. She may as well try and guess.
"7?"
"No, it was 4,444. I guess you aren't a mind reader," the redhead replied, shrugging helplessly.
He held his hand out to effortlessly catch the punch she immediately threw at him.
"You are so annoying!" Nami growled.
"You would get along well with one of my friends. She thinks the exact same thing," Rosan said, thinking of Aiko. "You both even have a temper. Nice swing by the way, have you been working on that? I could give you a tip or two."
Old habits die hard. The redhead had always enjoyed riling up the more emotional people. Ace had attacked him many times while going through puberty because of his antics and there wasn't a day that went by where Aiko didn't want to strangle him.
"You're just annoying in general," Mod smiled mischievously. "The more emotional people are prone to react but you get on everyone's nerves. I can't tell you how much times you gave me a headache growing up."
"Why are you bullying me? You know I can come in there right? What will you do if Ram and I decide to double team you, Mod-chan?"
"...You wouldn't do that. Two taller people jumping this poor woman who raised them?" Mod tried to appease him but the redhead would not be swayed.
"I'll see you tonight and you can decide for yourself," Rosan hummed.
Mod let out a noise of protest while Ram cheered excitedly, ignoring the glare the woman shot her way.
While he had been conversing with Mod, the long nosed boy had drawn his slingshot again. Rosan had interrogated quite a few people so he was pretty decent at identifying lies.
Every sentence that came out of this boys mouth, sent off a blaring bell in his head that would have irritated him were he younger. That's how much he lied. It was honestly quite impressive and Rosan saluted him for being able to maintain such confidence with what he spouted.
Still though, he had to hand it to him… aiming a slingshot of all things in front of his enemies… Rosan wasn't sure if he was stupidly brave or just stupid.
"You're putting your life on the line pointing that at me," Luffy smirked, straw hat shadowing his eyes.
Rosan almost snorted out loud.
Was he serious right now?
"H-Huh?!" Usopp said nervously. What was this sudden tension?! Were they actually pirates?!
"I'm saying those aren't for threatening people," the straw hat wearing boy warned.
"I nearly took your head off. You shouldn't mess around like that," Rosan added, seeing no harm in joining.
Zoro smirked at their antics and slightly drew his sword. "What you're looking at now are real pirates, you know?"
Usopp flinched at the words of the three intimidating people and the long nosed boy began sweating nervously. The pressure was getting to him and his knees were shaking. H-He didn't know they were actually pirates!
Eventually, he collapsed on his butt and dropped his slingshot. "Real pirates definitely have more punch behind their words…" he sighed sadly.
Zoro and Luffy exchanged a glance and immediately burst into laughter.
"We stole those lines!" The rubber boy exclaimed. "From Shanks! A pirate I respect!"
"Respect? You practically worship that idiot," Rosan pointed out. He hadn't stolen his lines. If Usopp had wielded a gun and was a bit less nervous, the redhead really would have sniped him where he stood.
"You guys know Red-Haired Shanks?!" Usopp gaped. That legendary pirate?! Really?!
"Unfortunately I do. He's really annoying," Rosan sighed. His fellow redhead was quite the topic of interest these days.
"Yeah!" Luffy nodded with a smile. "Your dad's Yassop, right?"
The scream of excitement Usopp let out made him too eager and he tumbled down the cliff he was on due to leaning forward too much.
"Idiot," Ram said.
"Yeah, Yassop is my old man… But how do you know that?" Usopp asked, after rubbing his head from the impact.
"He's apart of Shank's crew," Rosan replied bluntly. "I didn't talk to him often but since I hung around Luffy I got to hear him talk about you nonstop."
Usopp blinked at that.
"REALLY?!"
They had all relocated to a restaurant and Rosan was calmly eating a plate of food, as Luffy told Usopp about his father.
The man was a fantastic shot. Rosan would never deny that but man was he annoying. Actually, the redhead could confidently say the only one apart of that crew who wasn't annoying, was Ben Beckman.
For someone who so readily abandoned his own son to live alone, Yassop sure did talk about him too much (Rosan hadn't even been around them for long) and the way he casually mentioned abandoning him, had firmly put him on Rosan's "would probably really hate with emotions" list.
Alas, Usopp wasn't an angry person like he was and he didn't blame his father at all for going out to sea. Maybe Rosan's life would have been easier if he had been as supportive as some people but unfortunately, he wasn't an idiot.
Robin had this problem too, not resenting her mother at all despite what Olvia had done to her. The redhead had made it no secret that he hated her late mother and he informed her that he'd do it in the Devil Child's stead, since she was too forgiving for her own good, much to her exasperation.
He hoped she didn't forgive him that easily.
Currently, they were asking Usopp if he knew anyone that could give them a big ship and the boy was very clearly playing dumb.
"There's a big mansion over on the top of the hill over there," Zoro pointed out and Usopp's eyes bugged.
"Oh do you know them, Usopp?!" Nami asked excitedly.
Based on his reaction, he did know them and he didn't want the crew to know them. After telling the pirates that they couldn't go there, he made up some excuse and immediately vanished.
They watched him make a hasty departure and Nami wondered what that was about.
"He is probably close to the person in the mansion," Rosan responded. "If I had to guess, something is wrong with them. I doubt he thinks we're gonna kill the owner of that mansion so they could be facing another issue that makes him reluctant to introduce us."
Nami's mouth opened a bit at his assessment. It was rather… intelligent of him and made a lot of sense. She didn't think anyone of them were capable of that.
"You'll catch flies," Rosan said, ignoring her gaze. He had never once indicated he was stupid. Where did she get the idea that he was, from?
The door to the restaurant they were in opened and in walked the three children that had been hiding when they first docked.
"The Usopp pirates have arrived!" They yelled in unison before looks of confusion appeared on their face. Their eyes began darting and it was then that they realized, their captain was nowhere to be seen.
"Hey, Pirates! What did you do with Captain Usopp?!" They demanded.
"Ah that meat was good!" Luffy sighed in relief.
The children froze as they heard that declaration. D-Did he just say…
"Meat?!"
"Don't tell me the captain..."
Where exactly was their mind taking them? Rosan had a pretty active imagination but wasn't this too active?
"I think your mind might be even more active then theirs," Mod interjected.
"You really are not doing yourself any favors for tonight."
"?! I-I thought you were joking! You aren't seriously going to double team me, right?!"
"..."
"You two are just totally unbelievable!"
"If you're lookin' for your captain…" Zoro began, with a savage grin on his face that had the children quivering.
"...We ate him."
"GYAHHHHHHH OGRESS!" They screeched, looking directly at the giggling Nami, who stopped smiling immediately.
"WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME?!" She roared and immediately rounded on the laughing Zoro.
"I know an Ogress… Sort of," Rosan hummed. Did Maro count as one? Maybe not… She'd probably take offense if he called her an ogre.
"She definitely would," Mod giggled. You could call her goblin just fine but if you tried to call her something like Ogre or Orc, she'd lose it and throw a massive tantrum.
"I'm gonna start calling her Ogre from now on whenever I get the chance," Ram decided with a large smile on her face.
"Don't tell her I'm the reason," Rosan requested. He'd rather not deal with the Queen's temper tantrum and whining.
Maro could be such a brat sometimes.
"If our captain ran off at this hour, this is where he'd be."
"Wow! It's HUGE," Luffy gaped.
They were currently standing at the gates of the mansion along with the three children who brought them here.
When questioned on why Usopp would bother coming here, the children explained about his friendship with the owner of the mansion, Kaya, and how she was weak. Her parents had died years ago from an illness and she had suffered greatly as a result, falling into a depression.
To make the rich girl feel better, Usopp told her made up stories. It seemed largely successful because around him, she felt much better in general.
It was enough to convince Luffy to ask her for a ship after all. His brother was currently poised to rocket his way over the wall and his crewmates were showing to him how stupid they were.
"Wait, don't tell me you're about to…" Nami gaped.
At one the group (sans Rosan) grabbed onto Luffy and the redhead shook his head at them.
Idiots.
"Pardon the intrusion!" The rubber boy beamed and he rocketed off with all 5 of them in tow, leaving the redhead alone.
"You're all idiots," he said, watching them all fly over the wall. You never grabbed Luffy when he was using this technique. Even when he first invented it, Rosan had the foresight to avoid being near him.
Ace had not been as lucky.
"10 years with Luffy has done you wonders," Mod smiled softly.
"I don't even think Father would have grabbed onto him 10 years ago!" Ram shook her head in disbelief.
Rosan nodded in agreement and jumped over the tall gate. He began walking in the direction that they flew in while humming a quiet tune to himself.
Honestly, they always had to make things so difficult. He could have just modified a hole into the gate but if they wanted to be quirky, who was he to judge?
When Rosan arrived to the scene, it was to the sight of some butler reprimanding the, very loud, group of people.
Seriously, he was sure everyone heard Luffy and the group crashing on the floor. They had no hint of subtlety whatsoever.
"Quite the lively group," Rosan called.
"Oh, Rosan!" Luffy called happily, waving at the scout.
The redhead waved back before looking towards Zoro and Nami.
"Did you two have fun? I don't know what possessed you to grab onto Luffy," Rosan said softly and the annoyed look on their faces told him everything he needed to know.
The redhead glanced at the butler again and hummed in contemplation. He was currently spouting out quite the vicious words (that Rosan agreed with) about Usopp's father.
He really was worthless for abandoning his family without a second thought. A person like that shouldn't have gone around and had a kid in the first place. It's why Rosan didn't want to marry and have children with Meiko until he did become the strongest because there might have been a moment where he just couldn't take either with him and that would be horrible for the both of them.
He refused to leave them behind. He wouldn't be anything like Roger or Olvia or even his own birth mother.
Usopp clearly didn't agree with that sentiment, if the look of hot rage on his face meant anything and Rosan simply shook his head at the long nosed boy defending his father, writing him off as a lost cause.
Something was odd here though, Rosan had never met this man before but he was positive he had seen this butler's face before. Seeing as he didn't come to the East Blue often before settling down here… it meant his memory had seen it elsewhere.
He continued to stare at the man as Usopp got fed up with him.
"Why not just make up another lie about your father? Talk about how he was a traveling merchant? Perhaps you'd rather say that he wasn't your real dad?" Klahadore clearly goaded him.
"SHUT UP!" Usopp roared, punching him right on the cheek and knocking the butler's glasses off his face.
Kaya gasped in horror at his action while the children screamed, "CAPTAIN!"
The group of pirates just watched the exchange with neutral gazes. Rosan's eyes had never left Klahadore's face and he began sifting through his many memories with the assistance of Mod-chan.
"I'M PROUD THAT MY FATHER IS A PIRATE! I'M PROUD THAT HE'S A BRAVE WARRIOR OF THE SEA! I MAY MAKE UP STORIES BUT I'LL NEVER LIE ABOUT MY PIRATE HERITAGE!"
"The poor child's been brainwashed by the romance of being a pirate," Rosan thought blandly. To be so proud of someone that abandoned him… maybe his abandonment issues were flaring right now because the redhead just couldn't see why you'd be happy.
It's not like being a pirate was as good as Usopp imagined it to be. 90% of them were scum of the world and deserved anything and everything they got. Yasopp luckily, was apart of Shanks crew and Rosan could admit that he was much better than other pirate choices.
"Father, what about if your actual father was a pirate?" Ram asked curiously, watching the exchange with uncaring eyes. They were really going back and forth right now and oh — Usopp was leaving the estate now.
Lame, she wanted him to keep fighting.
"It would support the theory that Raisa was raped if he were. Seeing as I can't stand rapists, I'd have to kill him."
"You already have enough on your plate as is… Now we have reason to believe you're a rape child on top of it," Mod sighed. Why couldn't her little Rosan just have a simple life? They really just couldn't catch a break could they?
"The less I think about my birth parents, the better. One a queen, the other likely a pirate… Perhaps Raisa had good reason to abandon me with the stain I'd have no doubt placed on her legacy," the redhead shrugged.
He was thinking about all this objectively. No emotion ever went into thoughts about the two who birthed him. Raisa was in the South Blue and he was soon headed to the Grand Line.
He knew nothing about his father but if he really were a pirate, there was a chance Rosan would run into him one day. If that happened, the redhead would kill him, plain and simple.
He had no ties to either of them. If Raisa proved to be an enemy, he'd kill her too.
"Rosan, we're leaving!" Nami called, snapping the redhead out of his musings. He glanced at their navigator, before nodding.
"I'm not sure you were listening, but never show your face around here again," Klahadore said to the redhead, pushing his glasses up with the palm of his hand.
Rosan tilted his head at the man. What an odd way to adjust your glasses. He had never seen anyone do it like that...
The butler flinched at the empty eyes piercing him and had a guarded expression as that gaze landed on his mistress.
Kaya looked a little nervous at the sight of being stared at by the scary redhead but he simply hummed and left the area.
"I'm on the way, Nami," he replied.
Klahadore released the breath he didn't know he had been holding as the redhead vanished from their sights.
What an odd man.
Kaya coughed harshly as Klahadore entered the room with a small knock.
"It's time for your lunch, my lady," he called, rolling in a tray of food.
"No thanks. I don't want it," she mumbled.
The butler let out a sigh. "The cook would be sad to hear that. He worked hard to make you a healthy dish."
"Why did you talk to Usopp like that?" Kaya asked sadly. "I know I wasn't supposed to speak to him behind your back but you didn't have to drive him away like he were a dog!"
Klahadore remained silent and simply walked to the depressed woman's side. "May I sit?" He asked.
"Go ahead," she replied, not looking at him.
The two reminisced about his arrival to this island 3 years ago. He had made a single mistake and was left to rot by the ship he was sailing with. With nothing but his name and his clothes he had dragged himself through the village and Kaya's father had taken pity on him.
He owed his life to those two and taking care of their legacy was how he would repay his debt.
"I shouldn't decide who your friends are… I know you hate me," the butler sighed.
"I don't hate you Klahadore but you went too far! Usopp is a very good person and you refuse to understand that," she admonished him.
"Quite the sob story. My black heart is weeping," a deep voice called out, making them freeze to their spot.
"Hey where's Luffy?" Nami asked.
"Probably went after that "Captain" boy," Zoro replied.
"Rosan's missing as well… Do you think he went after Usopp too?" the navigator asked curiously.
Zoro thought about it for a moment.
"No chance," he replied with a short laugh.
Rosan stared at the frightened owner of the mansion and her butler with a tilted head.
"So that's how you ended up here, Butler-san?" The redhead asked softly.
"Y-You?! Didn't I tell you not to come back?!" Klahadore recovered admirably quick. "Where are our guards? How did you get in here so easily?"
"It's rude to answer a question with another question, don't you think?" Rosan shot back calmly, only serving to infuriate the butler more at asking yet another question.
"W-what do you want?" Kaya asked fearfully, before she delved into a fit of coughs.
The redhead glanced at the mistress and she flinched as that gaze bore into her.
"So you are the sick owner of this house… It's nice to meet you. I'm Rosan," the redhead greeted her with a small wave that she confusedly returned before the butler stepped in front of her.
"Not going to introduce yourself? You really are quite rude but that's okay. The owner's name is Kaya right?" He didn't seem bothered by the fact that he had just broken into their estate.
"That would make you Klahadore? Quite the name you have," Rosan said softly. "You don't look like a Klahadore to me… Did your parents give you that name?"
The butler went stiff at the way he phrased that but Kaya didn't notice.
"P-Please tell us what you want?! W-Was it about the big ship?!" The blonde asked fearfully. She didn't like that look in his eyes… It reminded her of her depression, of her sickness and she wanted nothing more than to shut her eyes tight and escape from the beautiful glaciers that was his heterochromatic gaze.
He scared her. Eyes that gorgeous, shouldn't look so daunting.
The redhead shook his head. "No, I don't have business with you, Kaya-san. I actually wanted to talk to Klahadore here. I'm sure you don't have any plans at the moment so would you mind entertaining me? I don't bite."
"Don't listen to what he's saying Miss Kaya!" Klahadore said warily, trying to figure out why he asked such an odd question and not liking where the answers were leading him.
"Oh? That's fine then, we can just talk here," Rosan replied coldly, staring at the slightly sweating man. "I don't care if she hears this or not. There's just a few things I'd like to verify with you Kur —."
"Just a moment please," the butler interrupted hastily. "You wish to talk to me…? Fine, we can speak but I'd rather Miss Kaya not hear your crass pirate language. She's already had to deal with the fear of being in the same room as you so this is enough."
"Smart man," Rosan praised with a small nod. "Lead the way. It was nice meeting you, Kaya-san. You could do to have a little more confidence in yourself, you're a pretty child."
Kaya flushed at his words. "I-I'm 17! I am not a child!" She frowned.
"Yes you are but that had a lot more bite then anything else you've said. Keep it up," the redhead replied, following after the butler and quietly closing the door behind him.
She stared at their retreating backs in slight confusion, forgetting that he had broken into their house in favor of feeling outrage.
Who was he to call her a child?! He barely even knew her! The nerve of some people.
Rosan stared at the glaring butler with an impassive expression on his face.
"Just what were you about to say back there in front of Miss Kaya?!" He hissed at the redhead that had almost ruined everything with just a few words.
"I did give you the chance to make it a one on one conversation. You chose to ignore that chance and that was the only one I was going to give you, Kuro-san.," Rosan pointed out calmly.
So he did know who he was. That had not been a fluke. But…
"How?! We've never met! I'd have remembered an appearance like yours."
"Your bounty poster," was all he replied. "It was odd, considering that you were listed as dead, but then you told that sweet story about how you were working here for three years, the same amount of years your bounty has been inactive."
"I figured you just had one of those faces but then, I saw the way you adjusted your glasses and decided to observe you further. If you had not confirmed my suspicions, I wouldn't have revealed myself but you did and that makes everything much more fun."
His years of being a bounty hunter were doing him well. He frequently checked bounties out of habit (Maro told him she had this habit too) and Kuro's was just one in a long list of those he had checked. His near eidetic memory, with help from Mod-chan, was the only reason he had recognized the man.
Kuro stared at the redhead before him with a dangerous expression that Rosan seemingly didn't notice.
"I was thinking about why a pirate would allow himself to be a butler for 3 years," he began softly, cupping his chin slightly with one hand. "But your epithet is Kuro of a Hundred Plans so I figure getting in the good graces of that sickly and rich girl is just one of them?"
"How can you be so sure? I could just be tired of the pirate life," Kuro countered cautiously.
"That's true, but what was it that you said...? Oh. Right. You're just a filthy pirate, I wouldn't put anything past you," Rosan replied.
Kuro saw red and bit back a snarl at the cocky redhead before him.
"Wow, aren't you projecting a bit much with those words? Maybe that should have been my first clue but I was too busy admiring that verbal teardown of Usopp's father. Nice job on that by the way. I agree wholeheartedly."
The butler forced himself to take a deep breath. This redhead's neutral tone, combined with his snide words, gave off the impression that he wasn't taking this serious and that annoyed him more then he liked to admit.
"Well since your so confident that I've got something planned, what will you do?" There was no point playing dumb but he wouldn't outright reveal himself. This strange man had managed to unravel nearly all his planning on their very first meeting when he had fooled people for three years, but they would certainly believe his words over the pirate who just docked here.
Even if he knew the truth, no one would take his word for it. So what exactly was he planning —
"Nothing."
Kuro blinked at that. "Huh? What do you mean?"
"Are you really as smart as they say you are? I feel like you've been one step behind this whole conversation," Rosan chastised him, shaking his head at the flash of irritation on the butler's face. "I won't do anything. This has nothing to do with me and I won't involve myself in others business."
Well, not until Luffy got himself involved, but Kuro didn't need to know that.
"Don't you think it would be boring if I just solved every single issue before it could arise?" Rosan questioned him rhetorically. "I could just kill you right here and right now but what would that solve? No one would believe me anyways and I don't like doing thankless work."
There was no point in killing Captain Kuro. They wanted a ship from the sick girl and he was the last person seen with him. It would reduce their odds greatly if he killed the butler. Only Luffy and Zoro would believe him if he told them the butler's true identity.
So let him go wild until he did get involved. He doubted anyone could handle Kuro and Luffy liked Usopp so he'd inevitably help him out. Then, the village would be in their debt. He just needed to have his captain find out about the attack and then Rosan would begin working in the background.
He didn't need anyone to figure out his hand in this after all.
"Quite manipulative of you," Mod hummed to her charge, not bothered by his scheming. It was funny how someone honest like Rosan, could stoop to such tactics like manipulating everyone in the background. He had shown how proficient he was at tactics like this on Daybreak and quickly incorporated it into his arsenal.
He was so polarizing but whereas before it bothered her, she had grown used to it and even saw the benefits.
"The opportunity arose and so I figured I could take advantage of it. I haven't done such large scale manipulation since Daybreak and it's good to control the outcome so that it's in your favor," the scout responded. Luffy didn't want him to buy them a ship so Rosan would do the next best thing and find a way to interest himself in the process.
"Subtle stuff like this isn't my cup of tea," Ram complained with a forlorn sigh. She wasn't into these type of things. The weapon wanted Rosan to slaughter everything with her in his hand and that's all she wanted... Well, besides a mother but Auntie and Father didn't need to know that just yet.
Kuro looked at the insane redhead in disbelief. "Why did you even approach me?! What do you have to gain from this?"
"So that you were aware that you aren't nearly as smart as you thought you were. I heard your plans never fail… How does it feel to know that I can end it right now if I wanted to?"
He wanted to kill this brat so badly.
"You really think you're stronger than me?" Kuro challenged threateningly. He had enough of this boy dictating everything.
It was time to take back some control.
"I don't know. Do you think you're stronger than me?" The redhead countered. "If you do, feel free to come after me when you put your plan into motion. I'll let you join my performance."
Rosan nearly scoffed. Take back control? As if he had any to take back. They both knew who had all the cards right now and if Rosan so pleased, he could send it all crashing right now.
But he wouldn't because that was no fun and he truly didn't care about the owner of this mansion enough to save her...
Right now at least.
Kuro considered it deeply but decided trying to attack the redhead would lead to more problems then solutions, especially if he was not sure how the battle would go. "You really won't interfere then? You'll let me do as I please just like that?"
"So long as you don't drag me into it, I will not interfere. You don't have to worry, I am not a liar," Rosan assured him, already planning on how he would eventually kill the man despite what he just said.
Wording was important. No matter what happened, Luffy would help and that meant Rosan would be dragged into it. Kuro's funeral was already signed off by the redhead, he just didn't know it yet and he wouldn't know it until he was dying.
He didn't lie. Rosan really wasn't going to touch him until he was dragged into the situation. Kuro just didn't know that the redhead was going to work in a way to get himself actively drawn into it.
"You scare me, Father," Ram said in awe. This glasses wearing dumbass had no idea what her dad had in store for him!
"If that's all, I believe you have a meeting with someone?" Rosan told him. His little bird had been following the strange man for a while now, after it noticed a ship in the distance, and he was sure that the hippie was waiting for Kuro to approach him.
It was another pirate in his crew after all. Jango, the captain of the Black Cat pirates after Kuro "died".
Kuro stamped down his shock at the redhead even knowing that and hastily left the scene with a scoff. He couldn't be too sure if the man was being serious but he had no choice but to believe he really wouldn't interfere.
Besides, he was a pirate. He had no reason to help any of the people on this island and that gave the former captain some confidence.
At the end of the day, pirates only cared about themselves and no matter how cocky he was, a no name like that redhead, who didn't even have any weapons on his person, would serve no problems to his plans.
Rosan watched him go with a tilted head. Now, he needed to go meet up with his crew before they got too suspicious.
It would be no good if they knew what he were up to. They were much too nice for that and would never think twice about manipulating the sickly and depressed girl.
How lucky that they had him to do the dirty work. He didn't care at all about her status, just what she could offer to them all and they would be leaving this island with a new ship.
"Oh! Rosan, where have you been? We ran into the weirdest hypnotist today," Nami greeted the redhead approaching them.
"You're greeting me? Did the weirdo manage to hypnotize you into being a nice person? Maybe now you won't be mistaken for an Ogress," Rosan replied, not answering her question and deftly ducking under the punch aimed his way.
"I CAN'T JUST BE A FRIENDLY PERSON?! YOU'RE SERIOUSLY THE WORST!" She roared in fury, causing Zoro to laugh at her.
Ugh, stupid redhead and his stupid rudeness. Why did he have to harass her so much?!
A tiny little blue jay fluttered into view and landed on Rosan's outstretched hand, nuzzling his cheek after swiftly hopping up his arm. "Where's Luffy?" The redhead asked, petting it gently on its head and getting a trill of delight out of it.
Nami cooed at the adorable sight and Rosan allowed the bird to fly over to her side, much to her delight. The navigator quickly forgot her anger with the redhead and began gently patting the bird on its head, getting delighted noises out of the avian and rubbing its cheek on the orange haired girl's own in return.
"With that long nose," Zoro replied. Where did Rosan get all these birds from? He gave one to that small girl, Rika, back at Shell Town and now he just had another one? Was he an animal tamer? He wouldn't really ever apply that to the redhead but he was just full of surprises.
Must have had something to do with his Devil Fruit… He did mention that they weren't real.
"You mean that long nose right there?" Rosan pointed and the other 5 (the children were still there), glanced to see a serious Usopp running down the road with a grave expression on his face.
They tried to greet Usopp, but he completely ignored them and kept running down the road like he had a mission to complete.
"Is he still mad about his dad being insulted?" Nami asked in confusion.
"Who knows?" Zoro shrugged.
"No, that look was different!" Carrot exclaimed.
"Yeah! Something must have happened!" Pepper nodded in agreement.
"Why did he look so desperate?" Onion wondered.
Zoro's eyes turned sharp at their words and Rosan hummed.
"How do we get to the shore?" The green haired man asked the kids seriously.
"I'll be going ahead," the redhead told them and their eyes bugged, as he vanished from their sight.
"W-WHAT WAS THAT?" The children screamed in disbelief, looking like they had just seen a ghost.
Nami watched with equally wide eyes. She did not know Rosan could do that. To be fair, she wasn't sure what he could actually do! He rarely showed more than the bare minimum so something like this, understandably left her jaw on the floor and she struggled to pick it back up.
"C'mon," Zoro urged, looking completely unfazed. "The shore, take us there," he demanded.
The navigator looked at his unbothered expression. Did he already know Rosan could do that?! How in the dark was she?!
She sighed in resignation.
Well, he did say they should get to know each other better.
"Luffy's sleeping position is always a sight to see," Rosan hummed at the sight of his brother.
"How can he just fall asleep anywhere? It's really quite impressive," Mod praised the rubber boy.
If Rosan had to guess, his brother fell off the top of the cliff and Usopp hadn't bothered to check if he was alive or not. It was logical, anyone who fell from such a height would surely die...
Rosan kicked Luffy's sleeping body and jolted him awake.
...Anyone that wasn't his captain of course. Honestly, the Gomu Gomu no mi was the perfect fruit for his little brother. He'd probably die with even a Logia somehow just because of how clumsy and carefree he was.
"Mornin!" Luffy exclaimed with a yawn, grabbing his brother's outstretched hand and easily pulling himself up like they had done this many times.
They did. Rosan trained Luffy and Ace rather harshly and there were times when his brothers couldn't even move on their own, resorting to his help, and sometimes Maro's, help.
"Did you enjoy your nap?" Rosan asked, looking up at hearing the five he had left behind talk on the cliff. The redhead had Ram transform into a gun and shot a rock to alert them of their location, satisfied when the chatter stopped and movement picked up again.
"The others should be here soon, then you can tell us why you were sleeping down here and why Usopp was in such a hurry."
Luffy nodded and they waited for the others to show up.
"Luffy! What are you doing down here?" Zoro called out and the rubber boy waved cheerfully.
"That's the thing! I thought I was on the cliff up there but I was sleeping down here! Oh but you wouldn't believe it!"
Luffy explained that Klahadore was actually a pirate and he was planning on assassinating Kaya so that he could inherit her money and let him live in peace in her mansion, all alone.
They all listened in shock but Rosan was slightly confused.
"Why did he just let Usopp run off like that?" The redhead asked aloud. He was missing something here… If the long nose told the villagers about his plans, that would make the redhead's own plans much easier. He wouldn't have to play a stronger hand and could let things unfold more naturally.
But Kuro was a smart man (he should be at least), he wouldn't let Usopp escape like that. Not unless he was assured that the long nosed boy was harmless to his plans like how Rosan claimed he himself was.
"I don't know but he's pretty stupid for that!" Nami shrugged. "Now they can all escape before the pirates come!"
Rosan wasn't satisfied with that. There was a key detail he was missing and he refused to continue until finding it out.
He ordered the bug that was tracking Usopp to transmit its information to him and when he received it, the 24 year old let out a sigh.
"You three," Rosan called to the children getting ready to flee. "Does Usopp lie often to the villagers? To the point where they'd attack him?"
The kids froze as they heard that and they nodded hesitantly. "Y-Yeah! Almost every day the captain screams about how pirates are attacking and the villagers chase him for it."
"Right, thank you. You can go now."
The children were too young to catch on and Luffy was too dumb, but Zoro and Nami picked up on it immediately.
As the children vanished, Nami said, "If what they just said is true, the villagers aren't going to believe him… That's why Kuro didn't care that he escaped…"
She was right. Usopp had already tried to inform the villagers and they were clearly fed up with his antics. Then, he tried to tell Kaya and even she didn't believe him, harshly rebuffing him in the process. Karma was catching up to the boy and he was reaping its punishment with gusto.
That put a minor dent in his plans. That meant he'd still need to find a way to have the villagers know about Kuro…
Actually, the villagers didn't need to know. It would actually be better if they were attacked and some died. The sick girl was the only one that really needed to survive but perhaps leaving some villagers alive to vouch for the pirate crew would be good...
No, he'd just tell Kaya herself. The villagers were an unnecessary part to this entire thing and he could discard them. As long as he played bodyguard for the girl, she'd have no choice but to repay them.
She didn't believe Usopp at all but Rosan always did have a way with words and he'd begin to sew doubt into her. Coupled with how the long nosed boy acted, she'd begin to slowly realize that he was telling the truth.
Seems he had work to do. And here he thought it was all just gonna pan out without him interfering.
This was why he didn't lie. Too much trouble.
Usopp had not been expecting to see Luffy up and standing with zero apparent issues but here he was and the liar's jaw was safely on the floor at the surprising sight.
He also wasn't sure how he was going to deal with the issue of the Black Cat pirates. No one believed him except for the group currently looking at him and as he looked at Onion, Pepper and Carrot asking him how to deal with actual pirates…
It was obvious that he wasn't going to get them involved. They were just kids and little kids like them, would stand no chance against real pirates. Hell, Usopp himself stood no chance against pirates!
So he lied to them. He told them that he was lying about the butler's identity because he pissed him off with all the things said about Yassop.
"I think less of you now."
"I never thought you'd lie to hurt someone else!"
"We really respected you too!"
Their words hurt him more than he'd like to admit but if that's what he had to do to make sure they were uninvolved, then he would do it.
No one believed him now. Everyone thought he was no good, he had lost his friends and pirates were about to ravage the town that he loved, killing who knows how much in the process…
Usopp held back the tears forming in his eyes.
This sucked.
They were currently back out on shore, glancing at the ocean, as Nami wrapped up Long Nose's bleeding arm (he had been shot by one of Kaya's butlers).
"Why did you tell them that?" Luffy asked curiously, referring to the lie he had told the children.
"Because I'm a liar," Usopp explained. "They were never going to believe me from the start. I was being too optimistic."
"Even so, the truth is the truth," Zoro frowned. If they didn't believe him, they would just have to deal with the consequences of not trusting his word.
"Those pirates are really going to come, aren't they?" Nami asked.
Usopp nodded in affirmation. "Yeah, they definitely are. Everyone thinks I'm lying though…"
They thought tomorrow would be a normal, peaceful day but the pirates would show up, kill them and Kuro would win…
He couldn't let that happen. That's why…
"I'm gonna stop them tomorrow at the beach! That way, this can stay a lie. Even if I'm shot in the arm or beat with brooms… this is still my village and I love this village!"
Rosan tilted his head and his expression was unreadable at the words of the liar.
It was admirable of him but that wouldn't do. This remaining secret, would ruin his plan so he'd ensure that at the very least, Kaya-san figured out about it. This was the only outcome that benefited his crew in some way.
He just needed Luffy to…
"You're one hell of a nice guy for pushing your henchman away and going into battle alone." Zoro smirked at the words of the liar.
"Just so you know, I have dibs on all the pirates treasure!" Nami said greedily before shooting Rosan a warning glance when he looked over at her. He put his hands up in surrender and closed his mouth.
"Alright, we'll help you out!" Luffy decided with a scowl.
There. Now Rosan could act.
He was a man of his word after all.
"What can you guys do?" Usopp asked the four pirates.
"Slice," Zoro said.
"Stretch," Luffy said.
"Steal," Nami said.
"Scout," Rosan said.
Nodding at their synergy, the liar decided to join them. "I can stealth!" Usopp declared.
"YOU'RE GONNA FIGHT!" They roared.
"I have something I want to do," Rosan told the planning group. He basically understood what their plan was so he didn't need to be here anymore.
Luffy nodded and waved him off.
"You don't plan on participating this time either?" Nami asked curiously. She didn't realize before, but Rosan seemed to operate on his own time. He didn't really team up with them or anything like that, content to do things alone and out of sight. Half the time, she wasn't sure what he was doing but neither Luffy or Zoro seemed to care.
Rosan hummed at that. "It depends," he replied truthfully. "I'll let Luffy deal with Kuro and maybe I'll help out with the fodder. If there's someone you can't deal with, perhaps I'll get rid of them... or I'll just let you die. It really depends on my mood."
"You talk like you're strong," Usopp shuddered. Let them die? W-Wasn't that a bit messed up?!
Rosan shrugged.
"I've been fighting pirates since I was four years old, I know a thing or two," the redhead replied.
Zoro and Nami stared at him with wide eyes at the revelation. Fighting since he was four?! Seriously? Didn't he also mention sailing the seas at 14...? Surely he wasn't... surely he hadn't been sailing the seas as early as four years old, right?
The redhead didn't reveal much about himself but if he was sailing since he was four... there might have been a very good (or terrible) reason for that.
Usopp meanwhile, was just glad that there was someone else who told lies like him. If someone as scary looking as this guy lied like that, it made him feel more at ease.
"F-Four?!" Nami gasped.
"Yeah, it's how I got my ship," was all he said, walking off. "Don't wait on me. I don't know how long I'll be out."
The redhead kept walking at a leisurely pace until he vanished from their sights.
"He's weird," Usopp told them. The cool redhead didn't have much input and he didn't seem to display anything obvious besides a general apathy to everything.
"You get used to him…" Nami sighed. "Luffy, how did you even manage to meet a guy like that?"
"Rosan's my brother!" Luffy said bluntly, smiling good naturedly.
There was a pregnant pause.
"W-WHAT?!" Nami's eyes bugged at the revelation. "He's your BROTHER?!"
"Yeah," Luffy replied, picking his ear with a finger due to the loud volume of Nami.
Why did they never mention this?! The two looked nothing alike! They were polar opposites?! Nami had so much questions and she just knew Rosan would make her work for them.
She thought about asking Luffy instead but one look at the idiot, made her realize he'd give her a headache in another way.
Zoro laughed at her shock. "If it makes you feel better, they just don't really talk about it. Luffy is Luffy and Rosan is Rosan. It was also a surprise for me when I found out."
She hated how much sense that sentence made. Did that mean they were infecting her with their insanity?
"Infecting? As if you weren't already poisoned long ago," Rosan's empty voice rang through her head.
Nami moaned in misery at the fact that she was automatically slotting him into their conversations when he wasn't even there!
She should have never agreed to join them. Damn it all.
Rosan quietly made his way to his destination, making sure to stay out of sight of any few people that were lingering outside.
"You really are quite scary sometimes, Rosan," Mod's warm voice came out in amusement.
"I like it!" Ram cackled.
The redhead finally made it to where he was supposed to be and immediately leapt over the fence. He didn't make a single noise as he landed on the grassy terrain and walked straight up to a random part of the mansion.
"Manipulation is not beneath me and my dear little brother needs a new ship. This seems like a rather easy way to get one without me just buying it so I'll do all the dirty work."
He was just doing this to see if it were interesting enough for him. Perhaps manipulating people would spark something with his emotions? He doubted it but it never hurt to try considering the dark joy he felt at manipulating all the inhabitants of Daybreak.
If he ruined a couple of lives along the way, well that didn't really matter to him. He ruined more than enough lives and he never cared even with his emotions.
As long as it wasn't his family, he couldn't care less.
"Modify," he muttered, walking through the newly created hole in the wall he forcefully made. Rosan shut it behind him and continued to walk until his nose picked up a scent.
Blood.
"Seems he's made his move…" Rosan mused, walking towards where the scent got stronger. He entered a room and looked to see that it had been destroyed with long slash marks.
Lying on the floor was an unconscious butler, with the appearance of a lamb, bleeding. The redhead bent down and checked his pulse, only to see it pulsing rather strongly.
"He didn't even kill him? Kuro surely is an arrogant man. First he let Usopp escape and now he lets this man live? Perhaps we overestimated him."
Rosan nodded in agreement. He picked up the bloodied butler and began walking towards the medical room. The redhead had scouted this place out already while waiting for Kuro so it didn't take him long to find it.
He found some gauze and gingerly wrapped them around the man's injury before waking him up.
"Hopefully he knows who attacked him."
"And if he doesn't?"
"I'm going to turn his injury fatal, Overhaul him and have him frame Kuro in front of Kaya before he succumbs to his wounds. She won't doubt a dying person's words."
"That's psychotic, Father," Ram grinned at his ruthless statement.
"I blame you, Ram. You always spout the most unhinged things and have Rosan practice such brutal moves in battle," Mod teased with a shake of her head. Her purple hair bobbed in time with her movements and she desperately tried to hold back her laughter.
The weapon spluttered at Mod's words and was about to defend herself, until she saw the teasing grin on her face.
"Father, I can't wait until we double team Auntie."
"Y-You two are still planning on doing that?!" Mod gaped at their audacity, red orbs widening in disbelief. "This is no way to treat the woman who raised you both! I can't believe you'd gang up on me!"
"I hope you're still not as ticklish," Rosan hummed.
"She's TICKLISH?!" Ram asked in shock, before she shot the woman a truly unhinged grin.
"Why would you tell her that?! Ram, I swear if you tickle me, you'll regret it."
"Oh Auntie, when has that ever stopped me?!"
Rosan heard a scuffle ensue that somehow ended in Ram whining in defeat and Mod-chan not letting out a single laugh.
He snorted quietly.
Those two were so childish.
"I never want to hear that come out of your mouth again," Mod said in a deadpan.
"I didn't say it out loud."
"I don't care."
"...Noted."
The redhead began shaking the bandaged butler awake and was satisfied to see him groggily waking up.
"W-where…?" The injured man asked.
"Are you alright?" Rosan asked gently, narrowing his eyes slightly and pursing his lips to give off a worried expression. "I have a sensitive nose and the stench of blood was overwhelming so I came to check in case something was wrong. Thank goodness I did, you were unconscious on the floor bleeding out. Who did this to you?"
The man's gaze slowly shifted into focus as Rosan spoke until his eyes widened. He tried to sit up but let out an agonized gasp, making the redhead gently lie him back down.
"T-Thank you so much! You saved my life!" The man groaned thankfully. "I-It was our butler, Klahadore! H-He really is a pirate and Miss Kaya is in grave danger!"
"Shh, don't overexert yourself," Rosan muttered gently. Good, so he did know.
That made things easier. Now he just needed to finish this up and let his crew handle the rest.
"I can keep you and Kaya-san safe. I just need you to explain the situation to her. I'd do it but you are much more trustworthy then I am," the redhead informed him.
Merry nodded rapidly at the man who saved his life. "S-She should be sleeping in her room! Do be gentle when you wake her up, she wasn't feeling too well and went to sleep early."
The butler trusted this man because if he wanted to kill Kaya, he wouldn't have bothered to heal his injuries and would have just done that.
"I'll bring her to you, then I can escort you two out of here," he assured, standing up and making his way out of the room.
"I can't imagine why someone so arrogant was given such an epithet. Perhaps his past success inflated his ego."
"I even told him beforehand that I had completely figured his plan out in hopes that he would alter it slightly. How disappointing. Perhaps he just didn't have any clue how to change it this deep in."
He entered Kaya's room and glanced blankly at the sleeping girl. He wasted no time and gently tapped the girl until she stirred.
"Kaya-san, we need to talk," Rosan whispered to the sickly blonde. Her eyes snapped open at the unfamiliar voice and she shot up, only to let out a fitful of coughs.
"Don't overexert yourself," he advised, staring into her fearful eyes with a neutral expression.
"I-It's you! You're the one who broke in last time…" Kaya said, looking for the nearest thing to grab before choosing a pillow and holding it in front of her.
Ram snorted.
"Do you remember why I broke in? You can relax, I'm not here to attack you," The redhead replied.
Kaya looked at him in confusion before wracking her hazy memories. "I… You came here to talk to Klahadore, right?" She said hesitantly and he nodded.
"I'm sure you were curious about what we talked about, so I'll tell you."
He was right, she was curious but that didn't change the fact that this redhead broke into their home again.
"J-Just who do you think you are —"
"Klahadore is Captain Kuro," Rosan interrupted bluntly, heterochromatic gaze piercing her. He saw her flinch back in surprise and decided not to give her a chance to doubt him. "You seem like a smart girl. If you take that information and replay our conversation with the new knowledge, you will see the truth without me having to explain it."
Kaya felt dizzy hearing Rosan utter the exact same words Usopp did just earlier today. "Why… Why are all of you telling me such lies? What did Klahadore ever do to you to deserve such treatment?"
"Nothing, that's why I'm not lying," Rosan said coldly, shutting her up and causing the sickly girl to shudder. "You think I'd break into your home just to tell you a lie about your measly butler? What purpose do I have doing that? Replay the conversation in your head. Now."
Kaya began shaking at his demand and did just that.
Rosan patiently waited for the realization to dawn on her features and he was satisfied that it was sooner rather than later.
"Y-You asked him about his name on purpose… t-then you almost called him Kuro but he interrupted you b-because he didn't want me to hear it. That's why you said you don't care if I hear it but he did…"
Seems she actually was smart. "I knew you could do it," Rosan praised quietly. "Yes, that's right. I wanted to question him on his real identity but I wasn't sure what exactly he was planning so I left you out of it."
The girl began tearing up as the reality of the situation made itself known to her.
"If you still don't believe me, I can show you proof," the 24 year old told her. "Can you move? Do you need me to carry you?"
Despite her tears, she shook her head stubbornly and stood up on her own. "L-Lead the way," she stammered slightly and Rosan inclined his head, somewhat impressed by the brave front she was putting up.
"Okay."
Kaya let out a loud gasp as they made it to the room Merry was in. "Merry! Are you alright?! W-What happened to you?! Was it this man right here?!"
She rounded on him with a glare, only to flinch at the icy gaze staring a hole into her. He opted not to say anything and she reluctantly focused on her butler again.
"Miss Kaya! Thank goodness you're alright," he sighed in relief. "T-Thank you…"
"Rosan," the redhead introduced himself softly. "Can you tell Kaya-san what happened? I think it's important we find her a safe location in case Kuro comes back."
"You're absolutely right! Miss Kaya, I couldn't believe it but Klahadore was actually a pirate and he attacked me! If not for this gentleman right here, who managed to smell the blood, I could have died!"
"I win."
"Everything really fell into place so easily."
It was disappointingly easy, to be honest. Then again, Rosan wasn't sure why he ever expected to be impressed by the East Blue.
"S-So it really is true…" Kaya tapered off and the despair on her face was clear as day.
"W-What are we going to do? Shouldn't we just give Klahadore what he wants? We don't stand a chance against the pirates and it's too late to do anything about it!"
Merry was nodding in agreement. Maybe it was possible to bargain with him and he'd decide to spare them? He was an incredibly dangerous pirate and they would die trying to resist. It was best to just give him what he wanted.
Rosan calmly interrupted their panicking and said, "That won't be necessary. My crew, along with Usopp, will handle it. You just need to not be here for when Kuro comes back and that's where I come in."
Kaya flinched at the mention of Usopp and it finally hit her that he had been telling the truth this whole time, if the tears flowing meant anything.
"Merry-san, will you be coming with us?" Rosan asked calmly and the butler shook his head.
"I'd rather you take Kaya. I will further tend to my wounds and head into the village before Kuro arrives."
What a good butler.
Rosan nodded in affirmation and glanced at the teary eyed blonde. "You can apologize to Usopp after this so stop crying so much. You made a mistake. That's fine. Everyone makes mistakes. Just don't make the same one again."
She nodded shakily and wiped her eyes at his words. "R-Right."
Rosan sighed. Children.
"Get on my back. We're going fairly far and you won't be able to walk the distance in your condition," the redhead ordered, not giving her a chance to say no.
She still tried to protest but the scout just hoisted her up, causing the girl to squeal, and planted her on his back. Kaya instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, for fear of falling and the redhead kept her legs up.
The sickly girl flushed at the physical contact, noting that she was only in her dress and that his strong arms were on her bare legs and the wealthy girl glared embarrassingly at the back of the handsome man's red bun.
"We'll see you tomorrow, Merry-san. You don't need to tell the villagers about this, Usopp would prefer it be kept a secret. We'll handle the rest," Rosan assured.
"T-Thank you again, Rosan-san!" Merry bowed deeply at the man who saved them both. "We are in your debt."
"Of course you are."
Rosan nodded and trotted off with the lady of the house until they made it outside.
"We're going to my ship."
"I thought you guys needed a ship…?" Kaya muttered, trying to ignore the warmness that he exuded or the ease at which he carried her o-or his very noticeable muscles that she could feel while this close... that shifted with the slightest movement...
S-She wasn't used to being touched by the opposite gender, okay?!
"We do. Mine is irreversibly damaged due to an attack. It hasn't shown sign of sinking yet but it's only a matter of time and I don't want my allies to die."
She nodded at his explanation and Rosan hummed.
"I need to meet up with my crew soon so I'm going to run fast. I hope you're fine with that, Kaya-san."
"Oh… okay!" She agreed and the squeal of terror she let out, made Ram cackle.
The ground dented beneath them as the redhead took off from the mansion at tremendous speeds. Kaya had no clue he was going to run this fast but she was holding on for dear life, fear on her face at going faster than she ever did.
Rosan blurred through the village, making sure no one saw him and it took them no time at all to reach the White Rose.
"P-please give me a better warning next time!" Kaya requested with a strained voice. The panting girl had a death grip on Rosan at the moment that the redhead barely registered.
"I thought my warning was good enough… I'll consider it," he replied, boarding his ship and heading to his room.
Despite being wealthy, the blonde had never seen a ship like this before and she glanced around in awe at it.
"You can sleep in here," Rosan told her, placing her on his bed. "You're still exhausted from the events of today so you can get some rest."
The redhead didn't give her the chance to respond and he quickly left the room, quietly shutting the door behind him and vanishing from her sight.
Kaya watched him go with a perplexed expression. She couldn't tell what he was thinking at all! He was such an oddity and it was driving her insane. What type of pirate did the things that he did? What was his plan...?
Her eye's became heavy as the comfort of the bed lulled her to sleep and though she tried to resist it, she eventually went into dreamland.
Rosan appeared at the slope where his crew was located, with a calculating gaze.
"Seems you guys have already prepared everything," he greeted, making them jump in surprise.
"Yo," Zoro waved lazily.
"Rosan!" Luffy beamed.
"You were gone pretty long," Usopp mused.
"Yeah we did prepare everything, no thanks to you!" Nami scowled.
"Oh, did you miss me?" Rosan replied, raising a brow. "I'm sorry for disappearing for so long, Princess Nami. How can I ever make it up to you?"
Her vein throbbed in annoyance before a smile made its way on her face. "I didn't know you and Luffy were brothers," she said. "You can tell me some information about that!"
"...That was sarcasm." The idiot went unsaid but they all heard it.
"I KNOW IT WAS SARCASM! JUST TELL ME ABOUT IT, YOU DICK!"
"We're not blood related," Rosan said, interrupting her raging. "I met Luffy when I was 14 and he forced me to be his friend despite everyone warning him otherwise… That also somehow meant that I was apart of his crew and we became brothers over the 10 years together."
Luffy nodded cheerfully at the explanation. "Yep!" He chirped.
"So that's how it is," Nami muttered with a sweatdrop. It… made sense. Luffy hadn't given her much of a choice either.
To be stuck with this guy for 10 years... the navigator suddenly pitied Rosan while thinking he deserved it at the same time for being so insufferable.
"The pirates should be arriving soon," Zoro said, glancing out at the sea.
"Shouldn't we have seen them by now?" Luffy moaned in boredom. "Where are they?"
"Are they even coming?" Nami asked in confusion.
"They definitely are," Usopp nodded.
The redhead, who was lying on the floor with his eyes closed, simply hummed.
They all looked at Rosan in confusion. Did he know something that they didn't? Why was he humming so suspiciously?
He got up from his resting position to regard them and with the most infuriatingly neutral expression ever, he said, "My bird saw their ship a while ago and it was at the other shore, not this one."
The look of horror on their face at the realization, made Ram choke on her on spit.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SOMETHING EARLIER?!" Usopp gaped in disbelief. They had been here for like 20 minutes before he deigned to open his mouth! What was wrong with him?!
"I figured that you guys were just being extra prepared, but I guess it's my fault that the long nose who has lived here for how many years, doesn't know things like this," Rosan shrugged in a "what can you do" motion.
What? He had done his part and now it was time for them to do theirs. They couldn't expect him to do everything now and telling them about things in advance, was no fun.
"OH NO! WHAT ABOUT OUR TREASURE?!" Nami screeched in utter horror.
"I already moved the ship out of sight."
Kaya was sleeping on it after all and it would be counterproductive to put her closer to the pirates.
"We should hurry, they will probably reach the village if we keep talking here," Rosan advised, not that he cared. Luffy had already ran off after getting some instructions and Usopp was hot on his heel.
"You two, what are you doing?! Let's go!" Zoro barked, already running off.
The redhead meanwhile, was glancing at the orange haired girl who refused to let him go. "T-Thank you for saving my treasure," she sobbed ridiculously, holding him like they were the best of friends because of one action.
"There is something deeply wrong with you, Nami," Rosan muttered to the leech attached to him.
"Where are Luffy and Zoro?" Rosan asked the terrified Usopp, he had hoisted Nami up, threw her over his shoulder (much to her fury) and dragged her here at a rather leisurely pace so they were surprised to see that only the liar was fending off the pirates.
The redhead grunted as Usopp jumped on him with tears of relief. "Thank goodness you're here! I don't know where they are, I was the first one here!"
So they both got lost.
Great.
Fed up with their antics, the redhead tossed the two away and watched them collapse on top of each other with twin "Oofs!"
"Jerk," they muttered
Rosan sighed. "I'll deal with these pirates until they show up. I'm sure you guys don't have a problem with that."
"Nope!" They chirped in relief, injustice forgotten in their minds.
Did he have to do everything here?
How bothersome.
"You need to stretch your old bones anyways," Mod grinned. "Keep the blood active!"
"...Mod-chan, you never did tell me how old you are. Would you mind reminding me?"
"I will hurt you."
"I love you too."
"Go get em, Rosan!" Nami cheered him on.
Cowards.
He looked at the gathering of pirates and tilted his head before humming. "I guess I can show you a little something new."
Ram transformed into a set of combat gloves, as the pirates roared a challenge and he decided to meet them halfway.
The redhead vanished, only to appear in front of a random pirate and he punched him in the throat. The gagging man couldn't react in time, to stop Rosan from effortlessly lifting him up and crashing his skull into one of the walls repeatedly, causing a spurt of blood to begin pouring.
But Rosan wasn't done.
He took his limp body, tensed and, in an impressive display of strength, threw the unconscious man far into the ocean until his body vanished with an inaudible splash.
Everyone watched in awed terror as the broken body soared through the air until it disappeared and looked at the relaxed monster who had done it.
"I'll give you guys a couple more seconds to reconsider your decision," Rosan offered the shocked pirates. "I usually fight to kill."
Their response was to let out battle cries and rush him.
He contemplated rolling his eyes at their foolish actions. Of course they ignored him. The fodder always ignored him. Then people wanted to call him merciless when he showed them why fighting him was a bad idea.
The scout of the Straw Hats sidestepped a wild swing and chopped the outstretched arm of his offender, effortlessly breaking it, before grabbing the appendage and body slamming the screaming man over and over again until he went silent.
Rosan discarded the body and idly kicked another person in the stomach. Their body caved under the strength of his blow and the redhead launched him upwards with a simple lift of his leg.
Before he could get too high, Rosan reached up and grabbed the back of his shirt, crashing the flailing pirate into the unforgiving ground and crushing his bones with a casual stomp that engraved him in dust and blood. The man tried to scream but all that came out, was a wet rasp that only prompted the redhead to stomp him again.
He did not make another sound.
Without even looking behind him, Rosan outstretched his right hand and a red beam pierced the heart of the pirate sneaking up on him, killing him on the spot and getting a gasp of horror out of his allies.
He aimed his left hand at a larger group and a much larger beam crashed into them after a slight delay, sending the unfortunate group soaring in a smoky husk.
He had been practicing more with combining Modification and Germa's technology so he could better mold the strange energy into his image. Good to know that it was paying off.
Nami and Usopp looked at the redhead with blatant terror on their face, utterly shaken by the brutal display from the redhead.
"He's a monster too," the orange haired woman whispered in disbelief. Was this why he was so disinterested in fighting anyone?! S-She was kinda glad that he wasn't a battle junkie because there was no way her stomach would be able to constantly handle seeing this. It couldn't even handle it now and both her and Usopp glanced away, turning green and — oh ew, the liar was definitely throwing up.
The redhead was mowing through their overwhelming numbers with utter ease, toying with them the whole while with the most bored expression on his face ever (it was the same face he always had on... did he even have a different expression?). Eventually, it seemed like he got bored and just started using one poor pirate as a living weapon, repeatedly slamming the unconscious body into any unlucky soul in his path and breaking more than one bone in the process.
"Remind me never to piss him off," A nauseated Usopp said.
"I'm way ahead of you," Nami agreed, popping an eye open and immediately shutting it again.
"Oh! You guys got Rosan to fight! I was worried I didn't make it in time!" Luffy exclaimed, sweating from running all over the town.
Zoro was much the same and he had an impressed expression on his face at the destruction Rosan was casually causing.
Ram could even shoot out beams of energy?! He wanted to test his blades against the mysterious weapon one day. He was interested in seeing the full scope of just what she was capable of.
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