The talk: Birds and the bees.

The travel time between Thriller Bark and Saboady Archipelago was more than a few days and in between that time something horrible happened.

Akane woke up early in the morning. Unlike usual, she felt like crap, her body aching and her head was all dizzy.

When she got up, her eyes became wide, as a silent scream broke out. She was bleeding. A lot. Her thighs and bed was covered with it. She wasn't perturbed when she got injured, but this was unexpected. It happened without her knowing about it. So when she woke up covered in blood, of course she would be startled and firghtened.

When she dove into the shower of her room, she washed herself of and began to look where she was injured. The shock only became worse when she spotted where it came from.

This time she didn't scream. Her hands trembled as she reached out to her personal baby den den mushi and called Shinobu.

"S-shinobu. Can you come to my room? I'm bleeding, a lot and its in a odd place."

"I'll come right now, Akane-chan."

Hanging up, Akane quickly dried herself of as she stuffed her underwear full of toilet paper to stiffle the bleeding.

Shinobu arrived fairly quickly, while Lafitte and Ban stood outside near the door. They had heard about it over the den den mushi and were curious as to how she could've gotten hurt. Even more so, when she didn't recover from the injuries.

Shinobu, who had already guessed what it might be, slammed the door in their face and locked the door tightly. As she knew Ban was an adept lock picker, Shinobu shoved the wardrobe closet in front of the door.

"Akane-chan, I'm here~"

Shinobu called out as she looked around where Akane was. Akane peeked outside the door and waved at Shinobu. She was still dressed in a towel. Shinobu chuckled slightly as she sat down on a chair and patted the chair opposite of her.

"Come sit down, Akane-chan. I'll explain what is wrong."

Akane obediently sat down as she rubbed her legs together in discomfort.

"Now can you explain how you discovered it and how you currently feel?"

Akane nodded, as she talked about her shock in the morning. Shinobu listened attentively and once again ascertained that her guess was correct.

"Akane-chan, what you are experiencing now is completely normal. If I am correct, you should currently be around eighteen years old, right?"

Akane nodded. It had been a while since she set out and she took her time traveling. Ace should have departed as well, considering she was only a few months older than him.

"You are all grown up. Even with how small you truly are. Akane-chan, your body is telling you, that it is ready to make babies."

Shinobu gazed warmly at the flabbergasted face of Akane, who was still not completely recovered from what Shinobu was saying.

"The flower has budded and you can now contribute to mankind. How wonderful it is . Mankinds number has already dropped so low in my world, people get killed daily. It truly is the wonder of the womans body. Now let me explain how one starts with interacting with the opposite sex and creating life."

What followed was a detailed picture of the male and female genitals. How part A connected with part B and how the whole experience went in its work. How after nine months a healthy baby would be birthed from the same place she was currently bleeding from.

"As I myself have yet to experience such a thing, why don't we ask the boys for some words of advice and their own experiences."

The wardrobe was quickly pushed away and the door opened, as both Lafitte and Ban were looking at Shinobu with pale faces. They had more or less heard most of it. Under a lot of force, Ban sat on the bed, opposite of both ladies.

"Ban-san, what is your experience with this certain subject? Do you have words of advice for the captain?"

Ban looked equally uncomfortable as Akane, as she was as white as a sheet. Regardeless, Ban said filled with confidence the words he had kept close in his heart.

"I am true to Elaine and will have no woman other than her. I will wait for her no matter how long it takes."

"Ara, then Ban-san isn't experienced. How surprising! Then what about Lafitte?"

As Shinobu looked around, she didn't see Lafitte anywhere.

"He fled as soon as he had an inkling as to what was being discussed here."

Ban added very helpfully.

"That is unfortunate. I will discuss this later with Lafitte, to share our opinions on the matter. If there isn't any worthy advice, then I will have to seek some women compatriots on the island we are going to."

With that said, Ban quickly left and Shinobu shared some extra details about menstruation and its monthly visit. Akane was aghast when she was notified this would take five to seven days to stop.

Having been given a few menstrual pads, Akane quickly refreshed herself while Shinobu went to find Lafitte and tort- interrogate him about his own experiences and how it might be helpfull in the future.

The journey towards Saboady Archipelago was only a few days underway and there was already disharmony amongst the crew. The perpetrator: The Bloody Aunt that would arrive on her own schedule.

***

By the time the week had passed, harmony was returned to the crew as Saboady Archipelago was finally in sight. It's tall mangrove trees were a sense of liberation for the menfolk among the crew as both of them couldn't wait to have some respite from Shinobu and her 'helpful' curiosity.