Capítulo 38: Chapter 22: A Little Slice of Life
"Isn't it funny? The moment the Celestial Dragon leaves, the trash has come right back to refill the place."
Rosan glanced down at Gray Terminal. It didn't look any different then before the fire because all the junk had piled back up and given the dirty place its original appearance.
People had even repopulated the area once more.
It was disgusting.
"To go to such extents for a group of people…" Mod frowned in disappointment. She never understood just why the World Nobles were worshiped to the degree that they were and she wasn't sure she'd ever understand.
She loved Rosan unconditionally but she would never let him get away with the things that the World Nobles did. The way they operated and the things they did... Nobody should be allowed to do that, no matter their accolades.
The redhead looked from his vantage point and merely shook his head, before vanishing from his spot.
If a World Noble ever chose to visit this place again, Gray Terminal would be reduced to ashes once again and the moment they left, it would be filled to the brim with junk. It would be an endless cycle, doomed to be repeated over and over again until something broke.
Whatever. He didn't care what they did to this place. As long as his brothers remained safe, they could burn this place as often as they wanted.
He wasn't going to be the one to break the cycle. Leave that to someone like Dragon.
"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"
Ace's eyes widened, as he was actually forced to dodge the rubbery punch from Luffy. If he hadn't moved, he would definitely have gotten hit by the attack and that was a vast improvement from how proficient Luffy used to be.
He was almost impressed… until the recoil from the extended attack sent Luffy flying and the seven year old promptly knocked himself out of the fight.
Ace threw his head back and roared in laughter at the sight.
"The idea is solid... but you need to actually hit your target, Luffy," Rosan informed him from his seat, watching the two brothers fight their last battle of the day. He'd need to work on Luffy's accuracy a bit more tomorrow... The move had a lot of potential but he needed to be able to aim it at moving targets.
The brothers were currently sparring in the arena he had erected when he fought Maro a while ago.
"He can't help it!" Ace cackled, pointing at the defenseless rubber boy. "It's like I said, rubber is useless in a fight!"
"Shut up!" Luffy roared childishly and Ace gained a tick mark on his head.
"What?! I'm telling you the truth! All you can do is bounce back attacks and sink like a rock!" The freckled boy yelled and the two collided heads with each other.
"Stop making fun of the Gomu Gomu no mi! I'll make you cry someday! I've been creating new attacks stronger than the pistol!"
But Luffy couldn't even properly connect attacks with his original attack... Why was he already moving on to new ones? Rosan was an enjoyer of new techniques, but he at least wanted his previous one to be usable before making another one. It didn't have to be perfect, it just couldn't blow up in your face.
"Luffy, that was great!" Sabo's voice called out cheerfully. "Your arm stretched further than yesterday!"
Rosan paused at the sound of his blonde brothers voice, reverberating through his ears. Arguments like this happened so often between the three, that he had automatically slotted Sabo into the conversation.
His brothers had clearly done the same.
"Sabo! You're too easy on Luffy!" Ace exclaimed and Luffy smiled brightly.
"I knew I was stronger than yesterday!" The seven year old cheered.
"Don't you think so Sabo?!" They both asked before realization hit them.
"It's going to take some getting used to," Rosan sighed quietly.
Luffy sighed as well and stepped away from Ace with a forlorn expression. "Sabo was a good brother…"
Ace immediately turned defensive in outrage. "What?! You mean it'd be better if me or Rosan had died?!"
"I didn't say that!"
"SO YOU JUST WANT ME TO DIE?!"
"I DIDN'T SAY THAT EITHER!"
Rosan hummed in contemplation. Sabo probably was the best brother for Luffy. He was nicer than both the redhead and Ace. Rosan was also largely hands off as well, so it was natural for the seven year old to favor the blonde.
"I think you're a pretty good brother," Mod beamed and Ram nodded immediately.
"Yeah! You can kick ass, steal, and you have me!"
"That… I don't think that's what qualifies him as a good brother."
"Of course it does!"
"How exactly does it?!"
Rosan sighed again and raked a hand through his hair not trapped by its bun. Two arguments were about to start right now and it was up to him to stop them both.
It was far too troubling.
He had only been successful in stopping one argument and that was the one in his head. Mod and Ram were still sulking after his intervention and he decided to treat them tonight, spoiled little kids that they were.
After their argument had escalated to blows, that Rosan had also intervened in and stopped, Luffy and Ace had come to the very intelligent decision to establish their own kingdoms.
Luffy was the ruler of Luffy's Kingdom and Ace was the ruler of Ace's Kingdom...
Rosan stared at the pitiful little huts that they called their kingdoms and hummed.
"You two are being dumb," the redhead said and they humph'd in indignation, as a response.
"We need to be strong enough to live on our own," Luffy declared. "That means you too, Rosan!"
"I'm already strong enough to live on my own," Rosan said slowly but they were clearly not listening to him.
He let out a tiny sigh. He had been sighing a lot lately. This must have been what it felt like to deal with unruly little siblings. Angel and Demon were so much nicer to him.
"Beat their childishness with your own!" Ram beamed and Mod snorted at that.
"Honestly Ram, you are such a bad influence."
"Okay," Rosan replied and he took out the White Rose. The oldest brother moved a little away from them and placed his silver ship on the floor.
His brothers watched in curiosity (and jealousy) as it grew to its full size and Rosan jumped up on the deck.
"This will be Rosan's Kingdom," Rosan said simply. "Feel free to enter if you want baths or food… or better shelter or actual living conditions. Though, I do need to restock."
Dadan looked between the three with a bead of sweat. She expected this out of Ace and Luffy, but Rosan joining really threw her for a loop. She guess she couldn't really blame him since it looked like he was trying to prove a point and the two younger brothers were being quite stupid.
"I don't need your help!" Ace roared childishly at the teen.
"Yeah! I don't need either of you to help me!" Luffy scowled.
"DON'T AGREE WITH ME!" Ace barked with razor sharp teeth and the two immediately got into another argument.
"I think you two should make it more secure, in case of rain," Rosan called out helpfully. "Maybe you should combine forces. I think separately, it will be hard."
"SHUT UP!" They roared.
Ram cackled. "Yes, just like that!"
Mod put a palm to her head and groaned in exasperation.
Everyone was completely hopeless.
Rosan hummed a quiet tune, that had Makino bobbing her head, as he washed his own dish.
"You have a nice voice," Makino complimented with a small smile on her face. "Even with your voice cracking so often!" She teased.
"That's the life of someone going through puberty," Rosan said blandly. Puberty was actually pretty terrible once he ignored the benefit of added height.
"So even your getting affected by it?" The bartender asked in amusement. Seems even someone as infallible as Rosan, was subjected to the torment of growing up. That made her feel better, considering puberty had been hell for her too.
"Yes. Despite not having emotions, my hormones are seemingly not exempt from that. Luckily I don't have the urges to act out on them but that could possibly change with time so you should be careful," Rosan told the 19 year old.
She blinked at his bluntness and flushed at the warning. "You know, some boys would keep that information to themselves."
"I see no reason to."
Makino laughed at the tall teen. "I'll have to keep that in mind in case one of these woman manage to successfully seduce you!" She teased.
"I can't until I'm an adult so I won't," Rosan told her. Angel and Mod-chan had both threatened him with action and he didn't want to earn their ire so he acquiesced.
By the way Makino shuddered, Angel had somehow managed to speak to her too. His little sister could be quite scary when it came to protecting their chastity and nobody was spared... which was funny considering she was the only one dating somebody.
"I love Angel, but she's scarily protective of you," the green haired woman sighed in fear. The female clone of Rosan, had given her a thorough one on one talking to about her older brother and she would not be forgetting it anytime soon.
"We've been through a lot so it's somewhat justified," Rosan told her. "I will still apologize on her behalf though. She is very headstrong and isn't afraid to speak her mind, regardless of the person's feelings."
"She really is your little sister!" Makino teased happily and the redhead hummed.
"That she is."
The two continued to chat about unimportant things and Rosan paused as a sensation washed over him.
"Ah, Makino I have to go," Rosan informed her suddenly, causing the bartender to tilt her head at him.
"What's the matter?" She asked curiously. It was still relatively early in the day and Rosan didn't normally leave until dusk.
"Luffy is calling me; He might be hungry," the redhead answered. The Save Point that he had placed on Luffy's straw hat had been pulled.
They never pulled it.
He had told Makino something that wouldn't cause her to worry, but something was likely wrong.
"Oh alright! Should I fix up a plate for him?" Makino asked and Rosan shook his head.
"That's fine, I have food on my ship that I can give him."
With that, he vanished from his spot and Makino blinked.
"Rosan has a ship?"
The stench of blood wafted through the air and it gave Rosan pause, as it immediately assaulted his senses.
That wasn't good.
Rosan looked at his brothers and was surprised to see that Ace of all people was the one holding the straw hat. It was clear that he had called him and that thought was rather unexpected.
The reasoning soon became clear though because Luffy was bleeding a tremendous amount of blood.
"Rosan!" Ace called with panic stricken eyes. "Please! We have to help Luffy!"
He was quickly connecting the dots about what happened but that could wait for later. For now, he needed to make sure his youngest brother didn't die.
Rosan tore one of the sleeves to his shirt off and modified its size so that it could work as a makeshift bandage. He wrapped it tightly around Luffy's wound to put pressure on the bleeding and hoisted the, too light, boy up.
"Hold on to me and close your eyes," Rosan instructed and Ace did so without hesitation. His freckled brother looked like he was about to burst into tears at any moment now and it reaffirmed what had likely happened.
"Oh dear, that is too much blood," Mod frowned worriedly. It was a good thing Ace had called on them, that wound was deep and Luffy was young but he would be able to survive if given proper medical attention.
Not wanting to waste any time, Rosan activated Save Point and the three vanished from Dawn Island.
"Master! How are — WHAT HAPPENED TO LUFFY?!" Maro asked in terror at the sight of the seven year old. There was a large wound being covered up with, what was probably (based on the tear), Master's shirt. The rubber boy was sleeping in the redhead's grasp and seeing how small he was, invoked a protective feeling out of the Dokkaebi.
Ace flinched harshly and the princess didn't miss it.
"Maro, is Demon here?" Rosan asked calmly. "We need his assistance at the moment."
"H-He's here. Hold on, just follow me!" she instructed and the Dokkaebi was off with Rosan and Ace directly behind her.
They reached Demon's room in record time and the purple haired teen's door was already open. He regarded them with a surprised expression, lazing about with Rin, before nodding respectfully with a small smile.
"H-Hello, Rosan-sama," Rin said quietly, surprise clear on his features. Rosan simply nodded as a greeting and focused back on Demon.
"I wasn't expecting to see you guys so randomly! What's the occasion?" Demon began, before noticing the package that Rosan was carrying and the scent of blood that came with it.
"Ah, Luffy's hurt," he said in a measured tone, head already running through what to do. "Come in, I'll tend to his wounds right away. Rin, go get the supplies ready."
Demon's assistant saluted and dashed off without hesitation.
The younger twin's tone managed to instinctively make the two panicking people calm down. To hear how undisturbed he was, did wonders for them.
"It's very convenient to have an infirmary connected to my room. I had Master add one some time ago in case a spar went bad between him and Maro," Demon said conversationally, before carefully extracting Luffy from Rosan's grasp and bringing him into the room.
"Please stay out here while I work on him."
With that, he softly shut the door and Ace collapsed onto the floor. Tears immediately began flowing from the boys eyes and Maro stared at him in sympathy, rubbing his shoulder soothingly.
"Ace, what happened?" Rosan asked softly, taking a seat next to his brother. Maro had instructed Kanna to make them snacks and her assistant saluted, before dashing off.
"It's my fault," Ace gasped out and the tears fell to the floor harshly. "It's always my fault…!"
Rosan didn't say anything, content to let Ace vent.
"Luffy he… he asked me for help while fighting a bear and I ignored him even though he really did need it! Then the bear… the bear caught him off guard and hit him and then there was so much blood!"
Their childish spat had gone too far and Luffy had paid the price because Ace wanted to prove a point. Why did he always want to prove a point?! Rosan had warned him of this and still he didn't change! Why couldn't he change?!
"I'm not good enough!" The freckled boy sobbed. Sabo was the better brother. Hell, even Rosan was a better brother! He wasn't cut out to be one and he had learned that the harsh way. He just hoped Luffy didn't pay the price because of it —
"So become good enough."
Ace froze at those words and he hesitantly glanced at Rosan.
"I don't think I'm good enough either," Rosan admitted softly. "That's why I'm trying to get better. You can do the same until you are good enough."
"That's impossible," Ace whispered softly. "Twice. It's been my fault twice now. I can't change."
Rosan flicked him on the head and he winced at the pain.
"Don't be stupid. You're already changing," the redhead commented bluntly. "Just you acknowledging it, means that you are actively trying to change it."
"Don't you realize Ace? You actually called me," Rosan told the ten year old and his little brother's eyes widened at that truthful statement.
"You made it a point to never call on me and yet, when Luffy got hurt, you didn't hesitate. Last time it happened, you still didn't call me but now you did. It's not impossible for you to change because you already have. Everyone makes mistakes, you just have to be conscious of that fact and try to not make the same one again."
Maro clapped as Rosan finished and she smiled brightly at him. "I love hearing your speeches, Master! Do you like, practice them? Can you give me more tips please?! I totally steal your techniques when I give my own speeches and they work really well. The people love me!"
"I just speak the truth, Maro and I don't think they love you for your speeches," Rosan said softly.
Ace wiped his eyes and looked at his older brother in awe because he was right. Ace was capable of changing!
In his panic, he didn't even think twice about calling onto Rosan. He just wanted to save Luffy as badly as possible. Now that his brother had extended his hand, he only felt relief, not annoyance like he thought he would.
Maybe… maybe getting a helping hand from the teen wasn't so bad after all. Maybe... maybe he had been making a big deal out of nothing...
Rosan smiled at the look in Ace's eyes and left him to muse.
His ears were alerted to the sound of footsteps and Angel stomped into the room with a scowl on her face. Kanna was right behind her with a plate full of snacks and the child looked fearful for their lives.
"Why didn't you tell me you were visiting?!" Angel growled in fury. She patted the black haired assistant on her head at a job well done, before rounding on Rosan with a glare.
Rosan stood up and immediately grabbed the angry girl into a hug before she could get violent.
"Such a dirty trick," Mod smiled faintly.
"It's the best way to get out of trouble with all of you."
"I'm sorry Angel, I was in a rush. Luffy was injured badly and we needed Demon's help," he explained.
The clone, predictably, melted in his grasp before her eyes went wide at the news. "Luffy was hurt?! What happened?"
They explained what happened to the seven year old and her eyes narrowed in worry. She joined the sitting trio and soon, they were all munching on snacks and exchanging tales while Demon worked on Luffy.
"You actually fought a man with a bear Devil Fruit?" Maro asked in awe. Ace looked just as interested and Rosan nodded his head.
"His name was Maverick, he wasn't too strong but at the time, I didn't have experience fighting Zoan Devil fruits and it gave him some key hits. The injury was rather gruesome and Meiko scolded me harshly."
"It was so funny watching her baby Master despite him being so much stronger than her!" Angel cackled. "He wasn't allowed to do anything and there was nothing he could say about it because he was whipped!"
They laughed at the lack of refusal coming out of Rosan and began teasing the redhead who simply ignored them.
"You two invaded an army?" Ace asked in bewilderment, looking rapidly between the princess and his older brother.
"It was so fun!" Maro giggled in glee. "We stole so much stuff and probably set them back by years! We're definitely on their shit list and I guarantee Judge wants our head on a platter! Ah Grim and Reaper was such fun times!"
"One day we can adventure as Maro and Rosan," the redhead informed her and she tackled him in glee.
"That's a promise and not even my princess duties will hold me back. I just have to be careful not to get caught!"
Ace watched the two interact with amusement. Though they were complete opposites in personality, Maro and Rosan had quite similar thought processes which probably stemmed from the fact that they were a master and student duo.
Observing them served as a very good distraction from the fact that Luffy was in the other room.
Speaking of which…
Conversations stopped, as the door opened to reveal Demon and Rin. The clone patted his assistant on the head and the boy smiled brightly at the action.
"...Luffy would have very close to dying if you didn't bring him to me so quickly," the purple haired clone admitted. "If the wound had been any deeper, he would be gone but it wasn't so he'll be fine."
They let out a collective sigh of reliefs and the Doctor smiled. "Let him rest for a few days and he'll be good as new. We'll monitor him in the meantime but there's nothing to worry about."
"Thank you, Demon and Rin," Rosan said and the youngest triplet smiled brighter. Rin hadn't expected to be addressed directly and he stammered out a, "Y-You're welcome!" while straightening up.
"Oh! While he rests, we can show Ace around the island!" Maro exclaimed excitedly. "You get to see how much better my island is compared to Goa!" The princess preened. They weren't as rude as the nobles and didn't go out of their way to separate themselves like the snobby kingdom did! This place would be one big family with no one left alone if she had anything to say about it!
Angel snorted loudly at her girlfriend's antics. "We can all go together. It'll be fun... Why are you guys looking at me like that?"
Every single person in the room stared at her with blatant warriness on their features and she scratched her head in confusion as well as outrage.
"You only leave the castle to go to our garden," Maro said slowly.
"Every citizen is terrified of you," Demon joined.
"For good reason, you went to Gray Terminal once and someone ended up with their head in a wall because you demanded it," Ace pointed out.
"You're just as bad as me," Ram giggled.
"Don't worry Angel! It's apart of your charm!" Mod soothed.
"We can spend time here? Just the two of us while they explore?" Rosan suggested in a placating manner.
"Fuck all of you," Angel growled. "And I'm taking you up on that offer, Master. Just not right now!"
"That wasn't really an offer that extended to multiple day —"
"Don't care! You offered and I'm taking it!"
"...Okay."
Honestly, everyone was so demanding.
"So this island looks like this because of you and Rosan?" Ace asked in wonder. They had been touring it with Maro at the lead and he had to admit, he was really impressed.
"Yeah! He worked on the buildings and I worked on the nature!" Maro beamed, waving at everyone she walked past. They had been stopped multiple times to accept free gifts from the citizens of Celadon (surprisingly because of Demon of all people) and both the doctor and princess cheerfully regarded them with a familiarity.
Maro and Demon were incredibly popular with the people of Celadon due to how hands on and kind they were with everything and they loved the two's friendly disposition.
"Princess Maro! You and your friends should come try our new recipe out and tell us what you think!" A middle aged chef said, waving them all over with a grin on his face.
"Oh sure! I won't turn down free food!" Maro beamed, dragging the group there.
"Demon~! The recent shipment sent us too much supplies so I figured you would appreciate the extra!" A mature beauty called, offering up a supply of goods to the group.
"I'm flattered. I won't turn down a free gift," Demon smiled, preventing the woman from seeing Angel by standing directly in front of his glaring sister.
The island was bustling with an energy that wasn't there when they first landed on it and it was all thanks to the efforts of the Goblin Princess and the twin clones. Even Angel had been helping out in a plethora of things (though she didn't let the people know) and Maro had never been prouder.
That didn't stop them from being utterly terrified of the haughty redhead, though.
"So many people have been visiting us and we're reaping all the benefits! We've already traded tons of resources with Fregate and with how much crops we can grow, we're shooting up in value!" Maro gushed to Rosan and he hummed.
"You're doing much better than I anticipated. I thought I'd have to interfere much more," the redhead praised. It was good that she was taking everything he and Angel had taught her and applying it to her queenly duties.
"I was thinking of building a hotel and construction has already started! So many wealthy people are visiting so I figure we milk them for their money while giving them a place to stay!"
"Ever the opportunist huh, Maro?" Demon sweatdropped. The Dokkaebi girl was rather greedy in nature and she especially loved getting money from annoying rich people.
"Good," Rosan nodded. "Whatever you need me to do, I'll do it."
"Ah, I love your Devil Fruit so much," Maro sighed in bliss. The Mod Mod no Mi was awesome.
"Please don't flirt with me in front of Angel," Mod suddenly admonished and the princess froze. The bluenette's face turned red and she began to stammer uncontrollably.
"T-that's not… I didn't mean it like that," Maro squeaked. Sure she had a crush on Mod-chan before but she couldn't help that! The woman was like a supermodel and she was one of the first to show her kindness. Could you blame her?! Anyone would be head over heels in love with the Devil Fruit based on just looks alone!
"Aw, I'm just teasing," Mod giggled. She liked to mess with the others from time to time! Teasing was a habit she had picked up from Rosan and she could admit that it was quite fun to do on others besides him.
Angel laughed at the embarrassment on her face. "Don't worry I'm not upset! Master Mod and Ram would never give you the time of day so I'm not stressed about an old crush."
"You are so mean!" Maro whined and she pathetically flung herself in Rosan's arms so that he could comfort her. "Maybe I should just go for Master instead. He's much nicer to me than you are and his female form is way more blessed! I'm sure he would have said yes too!"
"Please don't drag me into this... and you mentioned my female form like I'll just randomly enter it for your pleasure," Rosan said bluntly, causing Ace to laugh at his older brother's misfortune.
Angel growled at her. "You think you have a chance in hell with Master?! Dream on little shorty! I have a better chance and I look exactly like him!"
"I'm glad you think I'm so valuable but please keep me out of this," Rosan tried once again. Getting in between a lover's spat was a bad idea. Demon had told him all the time it was suicide to interfere between him and Meiko's little spats and he had taken that to heart.
Maro gawked at her audacity. "I-I'm only two inches shorter than you, you tall, cocky… Ugh I can't with you sometimes!"
"Deal with it!" Angel taunted, sticking out her tongue childishly.
Maro was about to retort until she made a disturbing realization, lying in the arms of her teacher. "MASTER, DID YOU GET TALLER AGAIN?!"
"Ah, Yes. I grew another inch."
The bluenette made a dramatic show of collapsing on the floor, completely forgetting about the argument she was in, and she whined pitifully. "There's no way I'm done growing, right? Surely everyone else won't eclipse me... right?!"
"I think you are," Rosan said, not realizing that his words would only drive her further into despair.
The onlookers sweatdropped at their Princess' antics. Even in public she still acted the same.
Maro was truly… unique. Most could say that.
"At least you're the tallest in your full zoan?" Rosan offered, realizing he made her even more upset.
"S-Shut up for a second, Master! I'm trying to be miserable here."
"Happy birthday, Ace!" The crowd called to the eleven year old and Rosan brought out an absolutely massive cake for the boy.
The freckled boy stammered in shock before his face turned an interesting shade of red at the chorus. Remembering his lessons of kindness from Makino, the birthday boy slowly bowed his head and said, "T-thank you."
It was the first time they had ever celebrated his birthday and it left the boy feeling overwhelmed.
"Ah, I remember when I was eleven," Maro sighed wistfully, stroking her chin like she were some type of grandma. "Master used to call that torture training." Good times. Torture it may have been, he sure was effective and did well on his goal to make her stronger.
"You didn't die," Rosan hummed and he began slicing the white and red cake into multiple pieces. He had made it himself and it had turned out pretty well after taste testing a small part. Hopefully they all liked it.
"I didn't know you could cook, Rosan," Makino said, looking at the size of the cake in awe. It was massive! He had managed to make something that large by himself?!
Luffy wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he was salivating.
"Master did all the cooking on the ship," Demon said proudly. "He used to be very terrible! There was one time he actually nearly burned the entire ship down and he didn't even try to take blame for it! Luckily, he's a genius so he learned quickly and spared the White Rose from anymore damage."
They listened to the story with varied expressions and burst out laughing at the detail of him refusing to take blame.
"He also doesn't talk about how well he can cook because Master doesn't want anyone to know that he has a sweet tooth," Angel smiled mischievously.
"That's so cute!" Makino gushed.
Rosan stopped cutting into the cake for a moment, to walk over and pinch Angel's cheek for revealing that. She whined apologetically and unsuccessfully tried to slap his hand away, much to the amusement of everyone there. Finally, he released her and went back to the pastry.
"Asshole," Angel mumbled, rubbing her cheek. How did it even hurt? He was such a jerk sometimes.
The redhead distributed a plate to everyone there, before standing in front of Ace himself.
Ace watched in confusion as Rosan reached into his pocket for something and he pulled out a paper. The redhead placed it in his hands and the freckled boy felt his throat lock at the contents.
It was a picture of his mother and she was flashing him a gentle smile.
"I made a copy of the one in my possession and took myself out of it," Rosan informed his brother. "I was always planning on giving you a picture of Mom but, I wanted to wait until the right time and figured it would be a good present for your birthday."
Ace held the photograph almost fervently and glanced at his older brother in appreciation. He didn't have any type of connection to his mother so to finally get one, meant the world to him.
"Thank you, Rosan. This... this means a lot to me," Ace said and his brother patted him on the head.
"Think nothing of it. You deserve to have something that reminds you of Mama," he said simply and the others smiled at the heartfelt scene.
Something that reminds him of Mama huh?
"How does Portgas D. Ace sound?" The freckled boy asked with a grin on his face. "I think that's the name I'll take."
Rosan smiled.
"I think it's perfect."
"I don't see why this is such a big deal."
16 year old Rosan looked at everyone there, with a blank expression on his face. There was entirely too much people watching him at the moment with varying looks of anticipation.
Luffy, Ace, Angel, Demon, Maro, Aiko, Akemi and Makino were looking at the tall teen eagerly. This day had been a long time coming and they had missed it last year because no one mentioned it!
"You guys are never this excited to see my Dragon," Rosan almost sounded like he was annoyed but his face remained as stony as ever.
"You can turn into a Dragon?!" Aiko asked in surprise.
"Yes I can. It's called Ragnarok and I've been trying to do so since I was four. I achieved it when I was nine —," Rosan tried but Angel stamped her feet in annoyance.
"Nope! Nuh uh, no stalling!" The haughty teen scowled and Rosan sighed.
"I agree with Angel," Maro sighed dreamily, locking eyes onto Rosan the whole time.
"You have no shame, Maro. I'm right here," Angel said flatly, glaring at the 15 year old princess who just shrugged helplessly.
"I barely get to see Master's female form, gotta enjoy it whenever you can!" The teen grinned shamelessly. She had not changed much over the 2 years besides having her body fill out more and her face was maturing too!
Her dreamy stare turned into a glare as she stared at the 6'2 frame of Rosan. His face was sharpening as well with age and he was well on his way to adulthood.
Asshole and his good genes. Maro had resigned herself to the fate of staying 5'9.
"I've waited way too long to see your female form," Akemi beamed and Makino nodded eagerly. The green haired woman had heard from Maro what was going to happen and she just had to be here to see it! This had the added benefit of having her meet Aiko and Akemi and the three had gotten along amazingly.
"This feels like a form of harassment," Rosan muttered quietly. He hadn't expected so much people to want to see this. He had only done this to help Angel and now he was being treated like some type of attraction.
Was he really that attractive as the opposite gender?
"Yep! Total hottie," Ram beamed teasingly.
"You already know you are. You always used to abuse your good looks as a child and Raisa is... not hideous," Mod scowled.
"Should I call you Mother when you transform?" His weapon asked curiously.
"You all are so lucky I have no emotions, else none of you but Angel would be seeing this," Rosan drawled, eyes glowing in preparation to activate the technique.
Ace just wanted to see his older brother get embarrassed. Luffy wasn't even paying attention to what was happening.
"Modification: Swap," the teen muttered and they watched with fascination, as his body began changing before their very eyes.
The figure lost a few inches to their height and the onlookers eyes bugged as their proportions flared. Hips widened, breasts expanded and their spiky hair unraveled from it's bun due to the added length, reaching to just above their butt. Eyelashes lengthened and features softened as their face became rounder and more feminine in nature, causing all who hadn't seen the transformation yet, jaws to drop.
"Dear Kami," Aiko choked on her spit at the sight. She began coughing in spades due to the surprise and the leader of Fregate, gripped her shirt in disbelief.
"Wha — wow," Akemi gasped in surprise. She looked at the figure and then she looked down at herself and she repeated the process multiple times before giving up on understanding.
Makino couldn't even say anything as she regarded the person with a shell shocked expression on her face. Her mouth was left open in her surprise and Demon helpfully closed it for her.
Maro whistled in glee and Angel smacked her on the head immediately after.
The shock and awe was broken up by the most unexpected person.
"ROSAN'S A GIRL?!" Luffy screamed in shock and the nine year old shot up to his oldest brother in surprise. "Wow! Why didn't you tell me?!" He demanded.
They sweatdropped at the idiot and Ace held his head in fond exasperation.
"No, Luffy. I told you already that I'm a boy and that I do this to help Angel," Rosan explained patiently. Unlike Angel, whose voice was higher pitched, Rosan's was a much deeper octave, despite how soft it was. It would no doubt entice anyone that had the pleasure of listening to it.
"Holy shit," Aiko said with wide eyes. "This is how you look?!"
"That's right," her smooth voice came out like butter. "I try to keep Angel's appearance faithful to this one while giving her differences that make her distinct. With her input of course."
"Like not wanting those things on my chest!" Angel chirped cheerfully. "Though, I didn't expect your voice to get so husky! It's a good thing you don't always look like this, I'd have committed murder a long time ago!"
"Is it really that deep?" Rosan asked curiously. As a male, his voice had become quite a bit deeper over the years and this one had already been reaching the deeper territory when he first did the transformation. Guess it made sense that it sounded so different from Angel's.
"Wow you look amazing!" Akemi gushed in awe, quickly closing the distance between the two. The short woman had to look up at the towering teen and she realized that Angel's height had not been amplified.
Angel hadn't been kidding, Rosan managed to make wild look good. That much was apparent as a male but it even translated to this form!
Makino wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but it was definitely not this. The differences between Rosan and Angel were very apparent.
Angel, despite her personality and height, was rather dainty in appearance. Her red hair lacked the same amount of spikes that her older brother had and her features were delicate and soft.
Rosan's appearance matched Angel's personality and vice versa. Her hair was more untamed then her sister's and it had much more spikes, reminiscent of her male form. The transformation's features were also slightly sharper than the redhead clone.
"There's not much for me to change this time around," Rosan hummed as he moved over to Angel. They were still the same height and that probably would not be changing with age.
All Rosan really had to change, were features that were changing with age.
"Thank you, Master!" Angel beamed and she hugged the teen gratefully.
Maro watched without an ounce of shame in her body as the two hugged and Demon had to whisper a warning into her ear about what Angel would do to her.
Rosan watched with a neutral gaze as they all hounded his new form and sighed at the seething woman inside of him.
It appeared Mod was not happy with all the attention he was receiving.
"Honestly, is it that big of a deal? Angel is right there," Rosan said softly. He really didn't understand the big idea.
"Yes it is! Angel looks more like your twin sister than a clone of you!" Makino gushed in awe. The teen was absolutely stunning! It seems both genders of Rosan had been blessed in the genetic department!
"You look... better than I expected," Aiko agreed. She had honestly been expecting a mostly carbon copy of Angel not… this. Seriously, there was no way she could have predicted this.
"I need to see you like this more often!" Akemi beamed.
"No. I only take this form to help Angel," Rosan said, actually refusing someone. "Now, please back away from me, all of you. Maro is looking at me in ways that would probably strike discomfort in another person."
"Can you blame me?!" Maro protested but she froze as the recently changed Angel glared at her. It seemed her girlfriend had finally run out of patience with her and the bluenette took that as her cue to flee from the scene.
"Gotta go bye!" She said, sprinting off at amazing speeds.
"Please transform back," Mod said through grit teeth and Rosan obeyed her wishes. Soon, his male form stood before them all again and he tied the back of his hair back into a bun.
"I hope you're all satisfied. You will not be seeing that form often unless you are somehow attached to the hip with Angel."
They all nodded eagerly and Rosan nearly sighed.
Something told him, they would be at every one of these now.
"Angel, I want a tattoo," Rosan said calmly and the clone looked over at her former leader in surprise.
The 16 year old clone blinked. "Y-You do?"
He nodded. "Ram wanted me to get one and she finally thought of something," the teen explained and Angel nodded.
"Why are you telling me this then?" She asked the oldest triplet and he blinked at her.
"Isn't it obvious? I want you to be the one to give it to me. You're the only person I know and trust who can design it and I won't let anyone else touch me."
That made Angel happier then she would like to admit. Her face turned rosy at his blunt admittance and she began swooning at how adorable her older brother acted sometimes.
"Alright, Master! I'll do it but let me practice before I work on you. My designs aren't normally for things like tattoos so I want to be the best I can."
Rosan nodded at her. "Of course and thank you in advance. Here, I've already written and drawn a rough idea of it."
He handed her the reference sheet and the teen glanced at it with appraising eyes. It only took her a moment to rove over the paper and she nodded at it. Master's artistic abilities were surprisingly great!
"It's due to Modification," Rosan said softly. He wasn't good at drawing because of talent but because he could abuse Modification. It's why his penmanship was so neat now. Perks of being a computer man, he was practically copy and pasting things from his head.
"This shouldn't be difficult! I'll call you when I'm done practicing," Angel beamed and the redhead patted her thankfully.
Rosan received a call 1 week later from the middle clone and, along with his two other brothers, they made their way to Celadon.
The redhead was glad that they enjoyed the place (though they claimed it was far too tame compared to Mt. Colubo, which Maro agreed with) because his former traveling companions were quite fond of the boys.
"You're getting a tattoo?" Demon asked in surprise. That seemed more in line with Maro or Ram then Master.
"Yeah, Ram wanted me to get one and Mod-chan didn't have a problem with it so I'm getting one," Rosan replied curtly.
The doctor snorted. Yep, he knew it.
"You never struck me as a tattoo person so I'm surprised you agreed," Maro pointed out. Her Master was almost always covered up and it was rare to see any skin that wasn't his face.
"I used to want one as a kid because I thought they were cool," Rosan admitted. "But it's not been a priority of mine and now that I have free time and Ram wants me to have one, I may as well."
Maro's mouth opened in an o at that. It was a small conversation between her and Ram they had a while ago and the bluenette had ultimately decided not to get one due to not having any ideas.
Clearly, Ram thought otherwise.
Angel walked into the room with all the necessary equipment in hand. "Alright Master, I'm ready to do this! I've been practicing a lot and it's gonna be perfect!"
Rosan sat in a comfy chair and said, "I'm in your care."
She shot him a confident grin and immediately set to work. Skin was a lot different then paper but it wasn't all that difficult and Rosan was a fantastic client.
The boy didn't move a muscle as she worked on him and she marveled at the fact that it had been a few hours and he was still frozen in spot.
It was seriously impressive. He was like a robot!
Maro had gone out with Ace and Luffy after about 30 minutes after the nine year old got bored and they were currently sparring 2 on 1 with the Dokkaebi.
That meant it was just the twins and their creator. The silence was comfortable but Angel wanted to talk to her Master.
"How have you been, Master? Are you doing well?" She asked like a concerned mother.
"...I haven't been well for a long time," Rosan admitted quietly and she frowned. "But, I've been getting better and it's thanks to all of you."
She smiled brightly at that and nearly hugged him, before remembering she was working on him.
Demon grinned fondly at what he said. He was currently reading a book but he had bookmarked and shut it after hearing the two begin conversing.
"How about you Master Mod and Ram?" The purple haired clone jumped in.
"I must admit, it's nice being able to relax but I'm so used to being on the move with Rosan that I'm a bit restless," the Devil Fruit said sheepishly.
"Yup! I'm the same as Auntie! I haven't killed anyone in way too long!"
"That is not the same as me at all! What are you even talking about?!"
"Eh? Maybe I misheard you since you're so short!" The silver haired teen said smugly. Angel wasn't even surprised to hear a cry of fear moments later.
"You exist to annoy me, child."
"F-Father help! Auntie is trying to hurt me because she's not tall!"
"How many times do we have to do this, you spoiled brat?!"
Rosan expertly ignored her call for help and Angel couldn't resist laughing.
"Ram, maybe you should stop provoking Master Mod so much! We don't see it very often, but she can be quite terrifying," Angel tried and Demon nodded sagely, hiding his chuckles.
"I see it everyday Auntie Angel and Uncle Demon!" Ram yelped and the teens sweatdropped.
She would never get used to being called Auntie.
They listened in amusement as Ram kept trying to flee but she never got far. The silver haired ring's cries of fear only got progressively more desperate and it was clear Mod was enjoying this a little too much. The woman must have clearly gained a sadistic streak from being around someone like Rosan for so long.
"Oh wait! I can just do this!" Ram cackled in victory.
Rosan let out a sigh and made Angel pause what she was doing. The girl obeyed in slight confusion but her jaw dropped at what happened next.
Ram (the ring) began violently shuddering until it morphed into a tall, silver haired girl. The twins jaws dropped in confusion at the surprise appearance and their eyes went wide.
"Ta-da!" Ram cheered excitedly.
"We just recently figured this out and already you're abusing it," Rosan hummed, gazing at his weapon with an unimpressed gaze.
"It's the only way I could survive! I don't wanna die young!" Ram beamed.
"That won't save you!" Mod said in a warning tone and she patiently sat back down to wait for Ram. She could take over Rosan's body but luckily for her, he was in the middle of getting a tattoo.
Angel and Demon had never actually seen Ram before. They could not enter Rosan's mindscape so they only had a general appearance of the weapon and the unhinged teen absolutely refused to possess Rosan's body.
All they really knew was that Ram bore a striking resemblance to Meiko with silver and purple hair instead of blonde, while having Rosan's complexion.
That was a very accurate assessment.
The first thing the twins noted was that Ram was tall. It wasn't often that the redhead clone found another girl taller than her but Ram barely inched her out at a solid 6'0, standing at the same height as Demon.
Secondly, she sounded like an older version of Meiko and that took their breath away. Her calling Meiko mother, was a very accurate assessment.
Those were the only similarities she shared with the blonde however. Ram clearly inherited everything else from Rosan, including her body. She looked every bit as unhinged as she acted and the girl had a wild grin on her bronze face.
Ram had on her signature double breasted black and purple coat, that was doing a bad job at hiding her figure, and her long silver hair was tied into its usual twintails.
"R-Ram?!" Angel called in disbelief and her fellow 16 year old rushed up to her to grab her. "How are you and Master out at the same time?!"
The ring cackled loudly. "It's my job as a weapon to be able to transform into any weapon and that includes the most obvious one! A human!"
"It was rather difficult and she can't stay out for too long but just the fact that we were able to do it was a huge success," Rosan said. He managed this for Ram, now he just needed to find a way to get Mod-chan out too. There had to be a way...
"I can't go too far from Father and I much prefer being with Auntie Mod in the mindscape but this is nice too!" The teen gushed and Angel's mouth just opened in surprise at her sheer energy.
"You sure are a fiery ball of energy," Demon pointed out, getting an excited nod out of the ring.
"C'mon Angel! I wanna watch you finish the tattoo! It's a great distraction from what's going to happen to me when I go back in the mindscape," Ram cackled and Angel realized that she did need to finish Master's tattoo.
She sweatdropped at how accepting Ram was of her punishment. No one managed to irritate Master Mod like she did but it was all in good faith and the two still loved each other.
The clone got back to working on a patient Rosan's tattoo and Ram watched her all the while. The four teens talked about a lot of things and Angel really liked how expressive the ring was!
Maro quietly entered the room and her jaw dropped at the sight of Ram resting her head in Rosan's lap with a content smile on her face. Angel was finishing up the tattoo and had a look of deep concentration, not noticing their arrival.
"R-R-Ram?!" The princess gaped and Ace and Luffy peaked their heads in after hearing that.
"Shhhh!" Ram shushed, holding a finger to her lips as Angel focused on Rosan's tattoo. She glared at them and made it very clear that if they messed up the redhead, there would be hell to pay.
Maro saluted instinctively and went to go sit. Luffy was about to launch himself at the silver haired girl in glee but the princess instantly caught the boy and dragged him with her.
Ace snorted and followed, though he eyed Rosan's tattoo with interest.
"Done!" Angel exclaimed with an excited gaze as she stepped back to admire her handiwork. "Tell me what you think, Master! If you want me to change anything I'm sure we could use Modification to remove it and I can get right on it."
"No, it's perfect," Rosan smiled softly and Ram shot up to look at it as well.
On his left arm, right on his bicep and ending at his shoulder, in all black, the name ROSAN was sprawled neatly.
Cutting through his name, was a long rose whose thorny stem repeatedly wrapped around his muscular arm. A part of the stem cut neatly through the S of the tattoo, crossing it out (it had been Ace's idea), and the red petals of the rose bloomed in front of the letter R in a magnificent display.
"It's beautiful," Mod smiled softly at the sight of the tattoo. It had been approved by all three of the inhabitants of Rosan's body so she had no complaints.
"Yes! It turned out perfect!" Ram grinned excitedly. This was exactly how she envisioned it and Angel had done an incredible job at capturing it.
"That's a cool tattoo!" Ace grinned. "Angel, wanna give me one too? I planned on getting one in the future but since you're an expert, I can trust you to do it," the freckled boy questioned.
"O-Oh! Sure! I can give you one, just show me a picture and I'll be able to replicate it on your skin," the redhead blushed bashfully, scratching her cheek in embarrassment at being trusted with another tattoo.
It was kind of a nice feeling...
"Awesome!" Luffy beamed, rocketing himself forward to inspect Rosan's tattoo. "That's so cool! I want a tattoo too! Of meat!"
"No," everyone said in unison, shutting down the rubber boy instantly.
"I gotta say, this looks incredible! It's hard to believe that this is your first job, Angel," Maro praised and her girlfriend blushed in appreciation.
"I couldn't fail Master so I had to do it as if I had years of experience!" Angel muttered, staring a hole into the floor. She felt like she was about to overheat with all the praise right now.
"You did good," Rosan said simply and he hugged the beet red teen. "Thank you. I knew I could rely on you."
"O-Oh you!" She gushed.
"Okay now that we've got that out the way," Maro began cheerfully, expression immediately shifting into outrage. "HOW IS RAM OUT HERE?!"
Ram gave a peace sign to the shorter girl and remained silent, smirking in that familiar infuriating manner that Maro had seen many times from her best friend.
"Do you remember that time we were dragging the former king of Celadon to his execution?" Rosan asked suddenly, causing the princess to nod her head at the memory.
"Before he interrupted my thoughts, I was going to mention how I could just use RAM to turn Ram into a human," Rosan explained and her mouth opened in surprise at that. "In theory, it should work because humans are considered weapons too but it was a lot harder to do in practice since our buildup is so much more complicated. We were only able to achieve it because Ram is so gifted."
"I prefer being a ring," Ram shrugged truthfully. She wasn't human and she wasn't going to pretend like she was. She much preferred being wrapped around her Father's finger.
"That's amazing, Master!" Maro exclaimed in awe. She didn't know she'd ever be able to meet Ram in person! Now there was so much she'd be able to do with her best friend and the terror they would cause would be awesome!
"You never cease to amaze me," Demon laughed.
"Now I just need to find a way to get Mod-chan a body," the redhead mused. He wasn't sure how he was going to do that but he'd figure out a way.
"You really don't have to. I like being here and I can just take over your body when I do want to be out," Mod said in amusement.
"No. I owe you a hug," Rosan said and that was that.
She blushed in happiness and rolled her eyes at that.
Rosan would always be Rosan.
"Greetings, Outlook," 17 year old Rosan waved and his target screeched in surprise, falling on his ass at the random appearance.
The redhead had decided to pay the noble a visit since he was 17 now. Sabo had wanted to leave the island at that age but that was out of the window now because of this man right here.
"W-who are… It's you. I don't know what you want but you can't have it! G-GUARDS! QUICKLY, THERE'S AN INTRUDER IN THE HOUSE THAT YOU MUST DISPOSE OF!" The man screamed and the redhead stared at him.
"They won't be coming. It's just you and I," Rosan hummed and the man steadily paled as, true to his words, no one came. He stared at the stone faced redhead and began looking left and right for anything to defend himself with.
There was nothing.
"Tell me, do you regret what you pushed Sabo to do?"
Outlook blinked in confusion at the abrupt question before a look of annoyance crossed his features, fear forgotten for disappointment in his biological child.
"If Sabo had just listened to his parents, he wouldn't have met that fate. It's a child's job to follow the will of the ones who birthed them," he said cruelly. His son had to just heed his words, then he'd have married a higher class noble woman while guaranteeing their status but look at where not listening had gotten him.
"Is that so? Even at the risk of their happiness?"
"Listening to me would have made him happy, eventually. I only wanted what was best for that useless boy!"
"Alright. That makes sense," Rosan nodded at his words, before vanishing from his spot and slamming the man into a wall by his neck.
The noble let out a choked gasp of fear at the strength behind the 17 year old's blow and he tried to reach for the strong arm. He desperately tried to claw the hand away but Rosan's grip was unforgiving.
"You shouldn't talk so badly about your son. After all, he's the only reason you're still breathing right now," Rosan told him gently and his tone completely contrasted how violent his action was. "Did you know I offered Sabo the chance to be free by killing you so that you couldn't interfere anymore?"
Outlook's eyes widened in fear, as Rosan subtly tightened his grip, constricting his air flow completely. His face began turning blue at the lack of oxygen and tears began falling as he felt his life flash before his eyes.
"But your kind son, the one who you abused so cruelly, actually refused the offer. Can you believe that? Sabo hated every single moment in this town and you are the main reason but he didn't think you deserved to die because of his good heart that you wished to twist. I respected his wishes, even to this day and that's why you can cling on to your miserable existence, blinded by stupid things such as social status."
The teen dropped him and gently dusted off the nobles shoulder, ignoring the erratic coughing Outlook did at being unable to breathe for so long. "I just wanted you to know that at any moment, if I wanted to, you'd be dead and there's nothing anyone here can do about it but me. So instead of cursing your son, you should be thanking him for allowing you to keep on living."
Tears of fear welled up in his eyes as he stared at the tall redhead before him and he collapsed on the floor. He held his neck as if that was going to protect him if the teen decided to attack him again.
"Oh and if you know what's good for you, you won't tell anyone I visited you. If I can get in this easily, no one can protect you so don't give me a reason to come see you again. I better not hear about any sort of group looking for me or I'm automatically going to pin it on you," Rosan whispered before he waltzed right through Outlook's door.
Sabo's father gaped at the audacity of the redhead exiting through his front door but stamped that away in favor of relief at still being alive.
The noble contemplated calling the officers and reporting this, but that monster's words remained fresh in his mind.
How had he gotten in here without anyone noticing? Could he do that whenever he wanted? H-how long had he been watching Outlook?! Was he safe anywhere he went?
What would happen if he fell asleep...?!
"Good job Father! Let him know who's in charge!"
"Hm. I'm going to just randomly appear in his line of sight whenever I feel like it. Until he's afraid to even sleep."
"You are a sadistic person, Rosan."
"It's been like this since I was four. This is nothing new."
"...Please don't say that like it's supposed to be normal."
"Being normal is boring, isn't it?"
"I agree!"
Mod sighed at the two.
"Ace, I'm going to visit Mom's grave. Would you like to come with me?"
The 14 year old blinked in surprise at the question before nodding without hesitation. His mother was located all the way in the South Blue and it was unlikely he would ever be visiting it, no matter how bad he wanted too until much later in his piracy.
But his brother was giving him the chance to do so with no issue. It was a no brainer what his answer was going to be.
"What?! I wanna come too!" Maro and Luffy demanded at the same time.
"I wanna go too," Angel interjected and Demon nodded along.
The 18 year old looked at everyone and hummed in contemplation. "Okay. We'll be flying there on my Dragon, so get everything you need."
"Let's have a picnic on his back!" Maro beamed and the 17 year old shook in excitement at the thought of journeying with her Master. "I can have our chefs cook us a lot for the trip! Oh, but we can't eat all of it without giving Master some! That would be really rude!"
Luffy began salivating at the prospect of food and he soon joined Maro in her jumping.
"KANNA!" The princess screamed and her assistant soon entered the room. The 12 year old smiled at the bluenette's antics but she was used to it by now.
Maro left the island quite frequently and that meant Kanna dealt with her stuff a lot. It had the added benefit of making her incredibly reliable and the Dokkaebi could trust her with practically anything.
Honestly, what an irresponsible princess!
"Going out, Princess?"
"Yep! Tell our chefs to prepare a lot of snacks for an extended picnic involving the usual group. You and Rin are in charge and I'll leave my tiara here in case of emergency!" She beamed and the 12 year old nodded immediately.
"Right away!" She bowed and exited, making her way to Rin first to inform him of what was happening.
"It's a good thing you have someone as loyal as Kanna doing your bidding," Angel remarked with a roll of her eyes. "I know for a fact I would have had enough of your shit if I was working for you."
"I wouldn't make her do anything she doesn't want to do," Maro beamed excitedly. Age had done nothing to dampen her nature and at 17, the only thing that changed was the maturity of her body and her mind at being princess for so long.
Well, barely for the mind part.
"What made you want to visit Rouge's grave, Rosan? You haven't been there since you were 10."
They watched Rosan curiously at that information and he sighed.
"I didn't feel like I deserved to visit her these past few years because of how spectacularly I failed at all aspects," he admitted. "It would have been a dishonor in my eyes to go visit her."
They flinched at his honesty but they knew Rosan was beginning to have a more positive outlook on himself. They had made sure of it, rather forcefully sometimes.
"But I'm 18 now and that means I'm an adult. I want mom to at least know how much I've grown since I last saw her and that I'm… doing better."
"Besides, Ace probably won't have a chance to ever visit her and I can easily make that happen."
Mod smiled gently at her little boy (man now) and nodded her head. "I'm so proud of you Rosan. You have nothing to be ashamed of."
"Yeah!" They all chorused in agreement and Rosan paused at their unhesitant unison.
It was 7 vs 1. If he refused to believe their words here, then he was just being stupid. Even if he was unnaturally stubborn, he wasn't that stubborn.
Rosan flashed a small, true, smile and said, "I appreciate that. Thank you, all of you."
"Now, let's go visit her," he said and they all cheered in agreement.
They all got prepared (Ace and Angel had the liberty of manhandling Luffy into not eating all the food already) and followed Rosan to a largely empty area.
"Don't stand too close and throw up an illusion," Rosan instructed.
Maro beamed and summoned her club. She waved it around Rosan and the surrounding area, before giving the redhead a thumbs up when he vanished from everyone's view.
"Modification: Ragnarok."
They couldn't see it but they could feel Rosan transforming into a dragon and they watched with bated breaths as the ground shook beneath them. They were rather surprised to not hear his signature roar and Maro snorted.
"I knew he did that just to show off," she muttered.
Something scaly snaked around all of them and they yelled in shock as they were lifted up and deposited onto, what had to be, his scaly back.
They heard the flap of a gigantic pair of wings and they were suddenly in the sky. Luffy whooped in joy as his head reached the clouds and Demon had to make sure the 11 year old didn't throw himself off the dragon.
After they were safely out of vision, Maro waved off the illusion and Rosan's dragon was revealed in all of its glory.
The obsidian reptile with red streaks soared through the air at amazing speeds and Ace couldn't keep the wild grin off his face. He had secretly wanted to go flying with Ragnarok for a while now and it was as fun as he imagined.
Maro loved riding on Ragnarok. She had asked him many times to transform into one while they traveled just so she could fly on his back, despite having the ability to do so herself.
"Remember you all, be on your best behavior," Mod informed them and they nodded at her words.
"Luffy. Maro. I'm talking mostly to you two."
"P-please don't imply that I'm as bad as Luffy," Maro whined, as the youngest boy there grinned cheerfully.
They talked about random things as they snacked on food and enjoyed each other's presence (Angel was sure that Demon was seeing someone).
"Just tell me the truth Demon!" She demanded, glaring at her exasperated brother. "Who is she? Why haven't you introduced me? Is she good enough for you?!"
"Even if I did have a girlfriend, you are the last person I'd have her meet! I'd even let Reaper meet her before you!" Demon said. Because of the fact that he was becoming more independent from his sister, she was absolutely certain that another person had stolen him away and was hellbent on figuring out who.
She gaped in disbelief at his words. The nerve of this little rebellious piece of —
"He has a point, Angel," Maro said slowly, hoping not to incite her wrath. "It's… very hard to warm up to you and you are very… passionate," she finished lamely.
"If she can't handle me, then she doesn't deserve you!" Angel retorted after silencing Maro with a heavy glare. "We're twins! She's gonna be seeing me often and I'm not going to change the way I act for anyone so she has to get used to it!"
"I told you, I don't have a girlfriend!" Demon groaned.
"...Boyfriend? Is it Rin" Angel asked instead and he grabbed his head in both hands.
"Rin is strictly my assistant, Angel. I would rather not get into a relationship with someone I'm working with," Demon stressed. It could end up being disastrous in the long run and besides, Rin still didn't know about the true fate of his father.
"And?! I see the way he stares at my adorable twin brother's face!" she barked but the purple haired adult stopped responding.
Angel scoffed angrily and crossed her arms. "I'm just trying to do my duties as sister and somehow I'm the bad guy… What about you, Ace?" The redhead suddenly shifted, interrogating her freckled brother instead.
She didn't even bother asking Luffy.
"You're at the age where puberty starts really kicking in right?" The 18 year old clone asked the freckled boy. "Any girls catching your eyes? Your turning pretty good looking, don't you think?"
Ace blushed at the sudden attention and began protesting. "N-No! What are you even asking?!"
Maro and Angel's eyes gleamed.
"It was definitely that one brown haired girl in Foosha Village the time we visited," Mod told them shamelessly. She was a pretty little thing and she had also been eyeing Ace so it wasn't a surprise that he noticed her.
"I knew you were eyeing her a little too hard!" Ram cackled and Ace swore he was going to get his revenge on them the next time he entered the mindscape.
For now though, he needed to avoid getting embarrassed in front of Luffy and Rosan. Those two were very annoying when it came to the middle brother. Rosan would start and Luffy would join and then there'd be a brawl between the three that always ended up with the redhead patting his head while sitting on his back.
Annoying asshole...
Wait a minute…
"What about Rosan?!" Ace demanded and it worked just as intended. He managed to throw suspicion onto his older brother by not going into detail (not that he had any detail to go into).
"Master?!" Maro gaped. "Have you been fooling around?! You've hit that age now and everytime we watch you work at the bar, someone has put their hands on you!"
Rosan, who had been content to listen to their talk, blinked at suddenly being the center of attention.
Clever Ace… he was proud that the blunt boy used such a sly tactic but he'd have to get his revenge later.
"Yes," Rosan replied bluntly and everyone (barring Luffy and the two inside of him) froze.
"WHAT?!"
"N-no way," Angel gaped in despair, holding her heart in pain. She fucking knew Master was too popular with the woman on that island and one of them would get their grabby hands on him eventually. The moment he turned 18, she should have kidnapped him and forced him to live on Celadon until it was time for them to set sail...
"Master Mod, why didn't you stop him?!" She demanded. Angel and Mod were the founders of the "Protect Rosan's Chastity!" committee and the Devil Fruit was even more protective of him then she was! They were both aware of the man's general compliance so it was up to them to ward off threats!
"It was Auntie Mod's idea," Ram chimed with a wide grin. She didn't care that Rosan was fooling around, as long as he still paid attention to them! Since it was clear he was, she supported all his endeavors because he was the best!
Their eyes bugged at the revelation.
"...The stress of Rosan potentially doing the deed was affecting me more than I'd like to admit so I just had him be the initiator," Mod admitted miserably, sulking in a corner.
It was true. The moment Rosan hit 18, the Devil Fruit had practically been gnawing her nails at the idea that someone would successfully seduce the redhead.
She desperately needed to rid herself of this feeling, in order to focus, so she made the tough decision to just have Rosan get it over with. It was better this way and since she told him to do it, she could mentally prepare herself!
Besides, she couldn't just take advantage of his emotional state and tell him to say no to everyone! These things were natural and she wouldn't stop natural things from happening... no matter how much she hated it.
"W-who was it?" Maro asked, voice a near whisper. The princess was in open mouthed disbelief. She never expected Rosan of all people to have sex! Seriously, he was like a robot and she was pretty sure that was the last thing on his mind!
"Ah, it was Makino. I just asked her and she agreed since we spent so much time together and I figured she was a better choice then one of the random patrons."
"I'm gonna kill her," Angel said calmly, only to yelp as Luffy jumped on her. "L-Luffy! Get off of me you little shit! She's not even here for me to kill yet!"
"No! You can't kill Makino!" The child said stubbornly and Maro cackled at the sight of the two struggling. She scooted over to make sure they didn't fall off and watched the exchange in amusement.
"I have too! She corrupted my dear Master so she has to pay," Angel argued childishly, throttling the little boy without hesitation.
"I agree with Angel," Mod said in complete monotone and Ram gaped at her.
"Auntie, both of you, you're being ridiculous! You can't just kill her because Father asked her and she agreed! She was the most natural choice, no?!"
"Who says I can't?"
"You can't be mad because Father is having sex! It's natural and he's a hot looking dude! You should just be glad that we have a choice on whether or not we want to see it because I really don't! Can't you already tell how popular he is! I know I can!"
Rosan sighed. There goes Ram.
The weapon squealed in fear, as predicted, and bolted from the angry Devil Fruit.
"Is it really that big of a deal?" the dragon asked. "You told me to get it over with and I did."
"B-but it still hurts my soul," she whined, while tugging Ram's cheeks.
"You'll get used to it! There's no way this is going to be the only time!" the silver haired girl chimed, despite the pain and she let out another squeal as Mod pinched her harder.
Ace hadn't expected it to turn out like this but he wasn't complaining. As long as they didn't have fuel to tease him, he'd take it and he even made Rosan a target in the process.
Heh.
Maro wanted to congratulate her Master at managing to do it with a hottie like Makino but Angel would no doubt attack her for doing so (it wasn't worth it), so she settled for breaking up the two tangling people before Luffy's recklessness threw them overboard.
Demon was just glad that the attention was off of him. He knew it was a good idea to not reveal anything to Angel. She was crazy.
They were all crazy.
Rosan placed a pure white rose next to another, perfectly healthy, one and stared with his ever blank gaze at the grave.
"It's been a long time, Mom. As you can see, I'm 18 now and things have been... hard but I'm not here to talk about me today besides telling you that I'm doing fine now. I brought someone you might recognize."
Ace stared at the grave and felt his throat lock up. On the grave was the name Portgas D. Rouge and he had no more illusions to who this belonged to.
He felt a rush of emotions and it was making his head spin. Finally, it calmed down and Ace knew what he needed to say.
"Mom… Thank you for doing everything you could to let me live. I won't let you down and I'll live a life with no regrets," Ace promised.
"Rosan and I had a rocky start to our relationship but... he's my actual brother now along with Luffy and I wouldn't want it to be any other way. I'm sure you'd be happy to hear that we found a family who loves us both," the freckled boy smiled softly.
Rosan's lips curled upwards at that and he mussed up his brother's hair. "That makes me happier then I'd imagine," he replied, going out of his way to ruin the teen's hair.
Ace slapped his hand off with an embarrassed expression. "Asshole," he muttered good naturedly.
The two remained there for a moment (his other companions were exploring his home and the forest around it) and basked in the comfort of the silence.
"Rosan?" A soft, alluring, voice called and the two brothers glanced back at the source.
"Ah, Shizuka. You look well," Rosan greeted and her jaw dropped at the sight of the 18 year old.
Even sitting down, she could see how much taller he was then her busty, 5'3 frame.
"It's been so long! You look so different and so…" She trailed off embarrassingly, blushing red as she checked him out. Last time she had seen him, the boy was as short and adorable as ever. Right now, short and adorable were not what she'd classify him as.
To distract herself, she focused on the new presence. "Who is this?"
"It's nice to meet you, I'm Ace," the freckled teen greeted politely and he bowed his head. "I'm Rosan's brother."
"Wow! You're so much more polite then Rosan!" She gushed, shaking the taller teens hand.
Ace raised a brow in incredulity at that. Him? More polite then Rosan? He nearly snorted at that but accepted the compliment. In a way, it was kind of right, considering Rosan said the rudest of things in a polite tone. She also probably knew him as a kid and he was even more of a menace then his brothers!
"It's been 8 years," Rosan said and he stood up from his position to regard his former friend. He wasn't really interested in having a conversation with her but she probably wanted to have one with him so he'd indulge the woman.
She hadn't gotten much taller and he towered over her now. Her body had filled out plenty with age and she grew her brown hair to mid back levels.
His fellow 18 year old was wearing a sleeveless black blouse with white shorts on and it gave him an eyeful of cleavage due to the height difference and the fact that he had to look down at her.
"When you said you wouldn't visit often...," Shizuka began with narrowed eyes. "...I didn't think you meant 8 entire years."
"Things happened and I don't like this island enough to constantly visit it," Rosan said dismissively, not willing to tell her. She wasn't privy to his life.
The woman didn't seem to mind his secretive streak and she began glancing around curiously. "Where's Meiko? Did you two break up? I hope you two are at least still friends! She's a real sweetheart, you know? Wait, does that mean you're available?! Let's go on a date right now!"
Ace held his breath as the temperature subtly dropped. He didn't blame the woman, but mentioning Rosan's previous lover like this was never a great idea.
"Meiko is dead," he said bluntly and Shizuka froze up, as those words washed over her.
"S-she is?" The gray eyed woman asked and she finally made eye contact with Rosan's lifeless gaze. Those dual eyes of his lacked the glow that she had always been mesmerized with and the glacial orbs, felt as if they were trapping her in a deep and endless abyss. It was highly unsettling and she forced herself to avert her own gaze, lest she get sucked in.
Guilt welled up inside her and the woman said, "I-I'm so sorry… I was being thoughtless…" Shizuka hadn't meant to bring up any unwanted memories, she was just joking around. There was no way those two would have ever broken up because even through her jealousy, she could tell that they were made for each other.
"You didn't know. You were just trying to make a joke," Rosan dismissed and his other companions chose that time to show up.
"Maaaaaaster, your house was so quaint and comfy! I saw your room and it was the most adorable thing ever! I keeled over at the cuteness of it all! Your handwriting used to be so awful!" Maro gushed and Angel nodded happily.
"It really was so cute imagining 4 year old you running around the whole house! Rouge must have had such a hard... time… Who is this?" Angel asked with a narrowed gaze as she noticed Shizuka. The girl was already on edge after hearing about what happened with Rosan and the last thing she needed, was for some other broad to seduce him right in front of her.
Shizuka's eyes widened at seeing the twins. Did Rosan have siblings?! Since when was that a thing?! As far as she knew, the boy had lived alone with his mother but these two looked the exact same age as him!
Maro immediately grabbed Angel with a strained smile. "Rosan, do you know this person?" She asked in a friendly manner, keeping her girlfriend away from the short beauty. She opted to call him Rosan in case the person got the wrong ideas and he was trying to score.
"Yes, her name is Shizuka," Rosan said calmly. "We were friends when I was 4 and due to a misunderstanding… I thought she didn't like me so we stopped talking but that was my fault."
"Misunderstanding?" Demon asked.
"Like?" Angel growled.
Maro glanced pleadingly at him and Rosan immediately understood what she was asking him. For everyone's sake, he would not elaborate on their relationship (it didn't matter if he didn't like her, Angel would still retaliate).
"We've done what we needed. Do you guys want to buy snacks before we head back?" Rosan said calmly and Luffy nodded ecstatically.
"Right, let's buy a lot for the trip back. We can also get some exclusives, like the Elephant Trunk Tuna. It's really good."
"That sounds amazing right now," Demon sighed happily.
"You've gotten quite the group of friends, Rosan! They're all really impressive and very attractive too!" Shizuka smiled at the sight of the group. It was a far cry from the little 4 year old who spent most of his time alone in the forest or with his mother.
"Yes they are," Rosan agreed readily. "I'm more proud of each and every one of them then they realize."
Angel squealed in joy and immediately slammed into Rosan. He easily caught the tall girl in his arms but stumbled a bit as Luffy and Maro followed suit.
Ace snorted in amusement at the sight of his older brother getting surrounded and Demon chuckled softly next to him.
"They're all idiots," the freckled boy sighed fondly.
"I couldn't agree more," Demon nodded sagely.
"You make me so happy," Angel gushed, nuzzling Rosan's left cheek.
"Your words of approval mean so much!" Maro agreed, nuzzling his right cheek.
Shizuka watched the two rather attractive woman surrounding Rosan and came to the realization that she'd probably never be able to gain his affections.
It hurt but deep down, after seeing his interactions with Meiko, she knew it was never going to be and it honestly didn't hurt that much considering she hadn't seen him for so long.
"Ah, I know what you're thinking," Rosan said suddenly. "Angel and Maro are dating each other, not me. Angel is my little sister and Maro is practically my daughter."
Shizuka blinked at his words before a beaming smile made its way onto her face. "So I still have a chance?"
"No, you should move on."
She should have felt depressed but instead, she laughed. "I figured you'd say that and honestly, I think your right."
"Good, you deserve someone who will appreciate you. You're a beautiful woman and any guy would be lucky to have you," Rosan said kindly, getting a rosy blush out of the woman.
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