บท 82: Growing up

Izan glanced around the room where Jiutian teleported him, Shirahoshi and Perona to. The room wasn't large, but it had three beds placed near the wall. In one bed, Hancock was peacefully sleeping with a beautiful smile on her face. On the second bed, Robin slept with a slight blush on her face and there was also a smile on her face. On the last bed Nojiko was sleeping there silently, she wasn't moving or smiling, just sleeping normally.

Izan's smile didn't leave his face, he opened his mouth and spoke in a soothing voice. "Nojiko, Robin, Hancock, it's time to wake up." It was rare seeing them sleep this long, therefore Izan would have guessed that they slept very late in the night.

"Husband…" Hancock muttered as she slowly raised her head, she was barely able to see through her squinted eyes, yet she was able to see that it was Izan in matters of seconds. Hancock widened her eyes and jumped out of the bed without thinking twice.

Both Perona and Shirahoshi was surprised by how fast Hancock was, but Izan wasn't. He was staring at Hancock's body, she was wearing a pink night-gown which showed off her alluring body. Izan opened his arms open slightly, but it was enough for Hancock to slip in and hug him.

When Hancock was in Izan's embrace, she felt warm and cosy, it was almost like Izan's chest was her spot. Hancock murmured in a soft voice as she kept hugging Izan. "I was a little sad last night, I couldn't sleep well without you in the room…"

While Izan was caressing Hancock's back, Robin and Nojiko stood up from their beds too. Robin was wearing a purple night-gown and Nojiko was wearing a black night-gown. Nojiko was still half-awake as her eyes were barely open and she kept yawning, while Robin managed to awaken herself rather fast.

"Are the three of you hungry? Let us go and eat one last meal with Neptune before we leave." Izan suggested with a smile, he could have left with them without saying anything to Neptune, but Neptune was Shirahoshi's father, or to speak, he was Izan's father-in-law. Izan didn't want to let Shirahoshi leave without telling her father, because if they did, Shirahoshi might think too much of her family who's here.

Both Nojiko and Robin seemed to take the hint and nodded while glancing a peek towards Shirahoshi who was still blushing. Robin walked forward toward Shirahoshi and spoke with a smile on her face. "Little sister Shirahoshi, how are you feeling today?"

"I am fine, big sister Robin." Shirahoshi answered Robin with a blush on her face, she had grown more secure around Izan and her new sisters.

Nojiko and Robin went in another room and changed their clothing. Robin was wearing a red robe with purple engravings on it while Nojiko was wearing a red robe with black engravings on it. These robes were something that they had asked Izan and Jiutian to make for them. They wanted to wear similar clothing as Izan, but also having a hint of their own likings too.

When the two of them had changed their clothing, Jiutian appeared out of nowhere with her usual smile. "I have handled the things I needed to do. What are our plans?"

Nojiko answered Jiutian with a calm voice. "We are going to eat breakfast here and let Shirahoshi meet with her family one more time before we leave to the New World."

Jiutian nodded in approval, she wouldn't mind waiting a little longer. Jiutian was able to sense very far away, and it could even reach to the island above them. Jiutian sensed a tense atmosphere, like a war would sprout forward at any given time.

"I must say, the upcoming Throne War isn't far away. Might be in a couple of days, or weeks. At that time, if anyone feels their lives at danger, fall back to Defying. Because as long as you're onboard of Defying, no one could hurt you." Jiutian would personally act if anyone dared to harm Defying or the ones seeking a safe place on it. But Jiutian knew that even if she didn't act, Defying would do so without being ordered to.

All of them nodded, they knew that they were strong, but they weren't stupid enough to believe that they should fight some certain people during the war. Hancock could most likely fight Doflamingo by herself with her current prowess, but fighting an Admiral would be a far reach for her if she was by herself. Yet an Admiral wouldn't be enough to face Hancock if she had the support of either Nojiko, Robin or Perona.

Hancock gave a short glance at Robin, Perona and Nojiko. After seeing them all glancing at each other, having the same thoughts, they couldn't help but to grin. They knew that if they paired up in twos, they could face two Admirals in total.

"Hehe, sister Hancock, how about we team up and fight an ugly Admiral together?" Perona snickered and laughed, she felt that if she fought with Hancock on her side, they wouldn't lose against an Admiral on par with Aokiji and Kizaru.

Robin and Nojiko glanced at each other and nodded with a smile, both Nojiko and Robin has fought together many times. And their teamwork was rather good, they would be easily able to fight an Admiral if they had to.

"Let's go ahead and meet Neptune for now." Izan smiled as he spoke, he was feeling something similar to joy when he was seeing his wives act and how peaceful their interactions were. 'With my wives as my support, I will face the entire world. No one will hinder my path any longer…!' A crazy looking grin appeared on Izan's face, yet it vanished without anyone noticing it. Izan was feeling ready, it was like his body was boiling in excitement.

It didn't take long before they left the room and walked towards one of the inner rooms. Izan, Jiutian, Robin and Hancock were able to sense throughout the entire castle and find Neptune's location.

Izan walked in the lead with a soft smile on his face, he was walking in a slow pace. That was mainly because he let Shirahoshi and Perona walk by his side and lock their arms around his.

The seven of them walked slowly for around two minutes before they entered a large room where Neptune was sitting on a large chair, grumbling over something.

When Neptune saw that his daughter, son-in-law and his wives came in the room, he couldn't help but to gaze towards Izan. "Was it your doing? The massacre my guards found."

Izan knew exactly what Neptune meant, Izan didn't want to beat around the bush as he nodded. "Yes, I killed them all. They were under a pirate and a fishman named Hody Jones, I believe that they were all pirates or thugs."

Neptune nodded, confirming what Izan just said. "After having searched them all, my guards found out that they were either human pirates or pirates under Hody Jones who has been growing his crew in the past while. Did they try to ambush you, Izan?"

"Yes, they tried in doing so, but none of them came out alive." Izan didn't think much of it, killing his enemies was something Izan would do without thinking twice of it.

"As much as I hate people getting killed, thank you for taking away the threat Fishman Island was facing." Neptune didn't enjoy the feeling of thanking a murderer, but he knew that it was either the pirates under Hody Jones or his entire Kingdom would be in flames in the future.

"Shirahoshi, how are you…?" Neptune asked in a soft voice as he kept his eyes on Shirahoshi, he was able to see how shy she was as she kept fidgeting around and held Izan's arm.

"I am happy…" Shirahoshi answered her father with a blush, she couldn't help but to remember what she and Izan were doing last night. Shirahoshi's face blushed in a deeper red.

As Neptune saw how Shirahoshi was acting, he couldn't help but to sigh that she had finally grown up a little bit.