Alone Again

After a month of staying in Foosha Village, Garp's vacation was over. His destination was Marineford, which was the island of the base of operations for Marine Headquarters.

Luffy was dashing towards the dock at full speed. Makino was chasing after him. He arrived at the edge of the dock as he looked at Garp's ship that had just started sailing away.

"GRAMPS!!!!" Luffy shouted the loudest he ever shouted. Garp hummed and looked at him.

"THANK YOU FOR TRAINING ME!!!! I PROMISE, ONE DAY, I'LL BECOME THE KING OF THE PIRATES WITH YOUR TRAINING!!!!! I'M GONNA MISS YOU!!!" Luffy declared. Garp laughed loudly at his declaration.

" Luffy, you brat!! Don't say that! You're gonna make me cry!!" Garp shouted back while grinning at him. Luffy grinned back.

"SEE YOU SOON GRAMPS!!!" Luffy shouted and waved at him. Garp laughed and waved back at him.

Luffy stared and stared as the ship slowly disappeared as it got far far away. He then sat down on the dock. Makino who was standing behind him for all that time, knelt beside him.

"Hey Luffy, are you okay?" She whispered as she put her hand on his back. Luffy sniffed and looked at her.

He had tears flowing down his eyes. "This.... is the first time gramps has ever supported my dream. I'm so happy..... " Luffy sniffed as he started sobbing.

" Aww Luffy.....Come here...." Makino whispered. She started hugging him and whispered soothing words while caressing his back.

"And now, you have two people who support your dream. Me!" Makino pointed at herself and giggled at him. Luffy grinned at her. He hugged her tightly, surprising her.

"Thank you so much Makino! You really are the best!" Luffy declared. Makino gasped and smiled warmly at him. She hugged him back.

"No. I should be thanking you, Luffy. You brought so much joy to my life. I'm lucky to have you here with me."

"Shishishishishi!!!!"

.

.

A few hours later.....

[Weightlifting:

The activity of lifting barbells or other heavy weights. Current weights: 5kg(10% mastered)]

[Sword Proficiency: D(15% complete)

This shows your proficiency in wielding your cutlass. There are a bunch of classes, D-,D, D+, C-, C, C+..... A+, S-, S, S+. S+ class is the highest level and you will be the world's strongest swordsman if you reach it. The current World's Strongest Swordsman is also at this level.]

Luffy started whispering as he dismissed the floating screen. He then started running through the forest, heading towards his intended destination.

He saw Gyatsu standing in the distance smiling at him. Luffy grinned. "Old man!!!" Luffy shouted before crashing into him. Gyatsu chuckled merrily as he hugged Luffy to which Luffy hugged back.

"How was training with your grandfather?" He asked. Luffy gave him a thumbs up and flashed him a big grin. Gyatsu smiled.

"Fantastic! Shall we continue where we left off?"

"Yeah! Let's gooo!!!!"

.

.

"That was fun!" Luffy grinned as he was helping Gyatsu prepare a campfire. It was lunch, and Luffy told Makino that he will not be coming back to the bar for lunch today.

"Your grandfather taught you a lot. You even know how to wield a cutlass now." Gyatsu commented. Luffy looked at the cutlass on the left side of his waist.

"Yeah, he did. But I'm not that good at wielding it though." Luffy replied. Gyatsu shook his head.

"Do not worry. You will get plenty of sword training with me. I am a pretty proficient katana wielder after all. " Gyatsu pointed at his katana that was lying against a log.

"Awesome! Now I can spar with you!" Luffy grinned while having some stars shining in his eyes.

"Hey, Luffy."

Luffy looked at Gyatsu who called him. Gyatsu stretched out his hand, holding a bow.

"Do you want me to teach you how to hunt?" He asked. Luffy grinned and nodded.

" Hell yeah! Teach me, old man!!"

.

.

"Luffy." Makino called Luffy as he just finished his third serving of dinner. Luffy hummed as he looked at her.

"Do you want to go out shopping for supplies with me?" She asked him. Luffy nodded repeatedly while wiping his mouth with a napkin.

"Sure! Where are we going?" He asked. Makino giggled as she grabbed his napkin and cleaned the right side of his cheek which he forgot to clean.

" The night market."

"Alright! Let's go now!" Luffy jumped out of his seat.

" Wait! I'm not ready yet! I'm still in my work attire. Let me go change first. Please wait for me. " Makino requested before going to her room. Luffy sighed and sat back down on the barstool.

He waited and waited. A few minutes had gone by and Luffy still waited. He was never this patient before, but Gyatsu taught him how to be patient when they were out hunting a few hours ago.

Gyatsu told Luffy he just had to think about the things he liked. Time will pass by quickly if he does. And so Luffy did, he thought about meat and how strong he was now.

A few more minutes later, Makino finally stepped out of her room. She was dressed in a white dress that had a beautiful flower pattern on it while having her usual yellow kerchief that covered around her head. She was also holding a big basket made out of bamboo with her right hand.

She giggled at Luffy and twirled around once. "How do I look?" She asked him. Luffy grinned and gave her a thumbs up.

"You look pretty, Makino!" Luffy complimented her. He knew what the word 'pretty' and the word 'beautiful' meant now due to Garp's teachings.

Makino smiled at him. She walked towards him and Luffy got down. She held out her hand. "Grab my hand so you don't get lost in the crowd." She explained. Luffy nodded and did what he was told to do.

They set off to the night market. Luffy still carried that cutlass of his while weaving through the crowd with Makino.

Garp had ordered him that he should keep his weapon close to him at all times, he also told him that he should expect the unexpected. Luffy listened because why shouldn't he?

He noticed that some of the villagers were staring at him and his cutlass. Luffy didn't know why they were staring, but Makino did.

Him saving Makino from being assaulted by that fat drunkard was still the talk of the town even after a month after it happened.

Luffy didn't care that they were staring at him. But if they approached him or Makino with malicious intentions, he'll show them why he's the grandson of Garp the Fist.

"There he is!!"

Luffy narrowed his eyes as seven people surrounded him and Makino. Each of them were holding blunt objects.

Makino squealed in fear. Luffy stepped up.

"What do you want?" He asked them with a serious expression. One of them laughed.

"You don't remember? You beat up our boss a month ago! We've been waiting for the perfect time to get revenge! And now God has graced us with this perfect opportunity!" He explained.

'That guy I kicked in the head is a gang leader? ' Luffy thought and shrugged.

"And after we're done with you! We're gonna have some fun with that hot stuff over there!" He grinned lustfully at Makino who gulped in fear. Luffy gritted his teeth and clenched his fists tightly.

"You'll never touch her! You'll have to defeat me first!" Luffy declared. The crowd who were witnessing this scene gasped in horror. They thought he would give up, not play the hero.

"Then it'll be easy then!! Get him!!"

Another man holding a wooden plank charged towards Luffy and swung down his weapon at him. Luffy reacted fast enough and unsheathed his cutlass. He swung his cutlass at the plank.

*SHING!!!*

He cut the plank in half. Luffy pulled his cutlass back and stabbed it into the man's leg. The man screamed in pain and knelt down on one knee.

Luffy grinned as he punched him straight in the jaw, knocking him out. He pulled out his cutlass and looked at the rest of the gang members.

One gang member with a bat swung it at him. Luffy reacted quickly and dodged his strike. He stabbed his cutlass into the man's stomach, making him shout in pain.

Luffy kicked him in the side of his head, knocking him out. He pulled out his cutlass and quickly dodged another man's attempt to hurt him.

He kicked the man in the balls, making him scream loudly. Luffy then jumped up and kicked him in the jaw, effectively knocking him out.

Three out of the seven gang members were knocked out now. Two of them decided to double team him.

They swung their blunt objects downwards, intending to crush his skull from the top. Luffy grunted as he blocked their strikes with the side of his cutlass. With a shout, he pushed back, making the two men stagger back.

He stabbed his cutlass into one man's shoulder and leaped towards another one. He pulled back his left hand and clenched it into a fist.

*BAM!!!*

He punched him straight in solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him. The man stepped back a few steps before falling down, unconscious.

Luffy pulled out his cutlass from the other man's shoulders, the action splashed blood onto his face.

Luffy then uppercut the man, making him fly up before landing back down on the ground, knocked out.

"M-monster!! Run away!!!" The leader of the group of gang members shouted before he and the other remaining gang members ran away. Luffy whose face was full of blood, pointed his cutlass at the retreating men.

"Don't ever touch Makino again!! You hear me!!! I'll kill you if you do!!!

To be continued.....