68. Camping

Izumi gasped heavily while looking at Luffy who was on his knees. They didn't realize how long they had fought until they were exhausted. But they saw the sun had started to change color so Izumi decided to stop.

"Let's stop here! Any more than this will be no good."

He walked toward Luffy and reached out his hand at him.

"We both have gained something from our battle. So we could try again next time."

Luffy grabbed Izumi's hand to stand up. He said.

"You're strong, Izumi. Had you used your Devil Fruit power, I would have lost completely." Luffy was convinced by Izumi's strength. Even without using his Devil Fruit power, he could still hold toe to toe with Luffy. This motivated Luffy to become much stronger.

Meanwhile, Izumi replied.

"You flatter me. By the way, since when have you been able to use Kenbunshoku Haki?"

"Huh? When did I do that?" Luffy was quite surprised. He didn't feel like he was using Haki at all.

"Seriously? You didn't even notice?"

Luffy shook his head to deny it.

Eventually, Izumi told when Luffy reacted to his attacks previously. Izumi also said that intense fighting can awaken Haki. So Luffy didn't need to rush. Little by little, slowly but surely. He would be able to learn Haki if he did it seriously.

"You guys really are battle maniacs. Look at your surroundings!" Kuroneko approached them with a tired-looking face. Maybe because she was bored, so she put on that kind of face.

Luffy just responded by laughing to his heart's content. While Izumi smiled awkwardly.

Because of their battle, the surrounding place was a mess, so they decided to move away and look for a place to set up tents.

Izumi had brought camping equipment, ranging from tents, mattresses, sleeping bags, etc. He rented some of them while buying a set for himself. He took them out of his storage space and started setting up the tents with Kuroneko helping him.

After setting up two tents, Izumi sprinkled the monster repellent powder he bought from Axel town. Whether it was effective or not, Izumi didn't know.

Izumi and Kuroneko are in charge of setting up tents and preparing food, while Luffy is looking for dry branches that can be burned.

Once the sky was dark, everything was ready, from the tents and equipment, and a fire to warm them from the night breeze.

Incidentally, Luffy not only brought branches, but also the hunted beast. And he asked Izumi to cook it. But, it was already dark. He couldn't cook like before because of the lack of light.

"I think we're going to have a barbecue, shall we?" Izumi suggested it to both of them.

"Sure." Both of them agreed. So Izumi started by skinning the beast's skin with quick hand movements. In an instant and only a few minutes later, all the pieces of meat are ready to be grilled.

While Izumi was grilling the meat, Kuroneko was preparing drinks with boiling water. Kuroneko brought some drink sachets such as coffee, tea, and others. She also did not forget to bring snacks that she had bought from the convenience store.

After the barbecue meat was cooked, Luffy quickly swallowed it all. However…

"Ah… ah… hot…"

"Stupid."

"You dumb! There is still a lot of meat."

Izumi and Kuroneko shook their heads. When it comes to meat, Luffy doesn't seem to want the others to eat it.

Eventually, each of them got their share after Izumi divided it. Of course, he gave more portions to Luffy. Otherwise, he would definitely make a fuss.

"Oh right, Kuroneko. When does the Summer Comiket start? I mean, in your world." Izumi suddenly asked about the event in Kuroneko's world.

"Eh, it's still 3 months later. Why did you ask?" Kuroneko wondered.

"A Cosplay Event of course, hehehe." Izumi said with a grin. Izumi can't wait to take part in a cosplay event in Kuroneko's world while stopping by Akihabara which is different from the Akihabara in his world. What makes a lot of difference is the amount of merchandise from games, novels, manga, and anime. That's why he planned to stop by there.

"Good idea!! Do you want me to take care of the costume?" Kuroneko was excited. The event was certainly suitable for someone like them. Luffy as a pirate, Kakashi as a ninja, Warrod as a wizard, and Rori as a lolita figure. That was perfect.

"Even if you don't take care of their costumes, wouldn't their clothes be quite suitable for that occasion?" Izumi said while pointing at Luffy.

"Ufufufu, true enough." Kuroneko giggled. While Luffy was confused.

"What are you talking about?"

Kuroneko answered Luffy's question.

"He's planning to take us all to my world for the holidays. Do you want to go too?"

"I want. But…" Luffy thought for a moment. He wanted to go with him if he was bored of being on the ship all the time. If there was anything interesting in his adventures at sea, he thought of not going.

However, Izumi tempted him.

"There's a lot of delicious food, you know!"

"Really? I'm going."

Luffy immediately agreed without a second thought. And Kuroneko held her laugh while muttering.

"Pffttt, that's too easy."

They joked and laughed until late at night. Izumi and Kuroneko feel their own joy in camping because they both live in a modern world that makes them rarely sleep in the open. Unlike Luffy who is used to adventure.

— — — —

The next day, Izumi woke up from his sleep with pain all over his body. The effects of yesterday's battle could still be felt. He went outside the tent to make a fire so he could boil water. Izumi made hot coffee and the aroma immediately woke Kuroneko.

"Morning." Izumi greeted her.

"Morning." Kuroneko answered while yawning.

That morning, Izumi only cooked instant food because last night's leftover meat had been used up for barbecue.

Izumi was pleased to be able to camp in the wild for the first time. Neither in his previous life nor the present had ever experienced the excitement of camping until last night.

But in his opinion, camping will be more fun when together with a group of people, such as members of a chat group.

In addition, camping will be incomplete if there is no entertainment. Maybe next time he should bring a guitar or other acoustic instrument.

At that time, Luffy woke up from his sleep because he smelled the aroma of the cooked food.

Luffy saw Izumi holding a strange thin bowl filled with food.

"What is that Izumi?" Luffy asked with his drooling mouth.

"It's called Cupmen, an instant food from our world." Izumi replied.

"Is it delicious?" Luffy asked curiously.

"Yup, but it wouldn't be enough for you."

"Eeeh, I want that too." Luffy complained.

"Your stomach is like a well. Even if you want to eat this, 50 cups won't be enough to fill your stomach." This time, it was Kuroneko who answered Luffy.

"Here! It's for you. But nothing more than this. Eat your pile of meat you saved in your storage space!" Izumi gave his cup of ramen to Luffy. Then he turned and poured hot water into a bowl that had previously been filled with something out of plastic packaging.

The three of them had breakfast together. And as Izumi had expected. There's no way Luffy could be satisfied with just one bowl. In the end, Luffy could only eat the meat he stored in the storage space.

After breakfast, the three of them packed up their stuff and then continued their adventure.