Chapter 28: Is This Fate?

When Rosan was just 9 years old, he had participated as a slave in a tournament called Ash and Dust on Daybreak Island and steamrolled his way to the finals, fighting disappointing foe after disappointing foe.

Just as he gave up on finding anyone worth his time, he met and fought an actual fishman by the name of Kenzo.

Before the fight began, he had assured the fishman that he would send his family his regards, due to the fact that Rosan would be winning this fight.

For his sake, He'd tell Kenzo's family that he died with honor instead of the death Rosan gave him because Rosan humiliated him. The then 9 year old, overwhelmed his fellow slave with relentless aggression, only paying for it once the whole fight.

As he came flying down to deliver the final blow, he heard Kenzo utter the names of his wife and child, Masumi and Kaori, so he stored those two names in the back of his mind on the off chance he saw either of them.

Rosan wasn't expecting to ever run into even one of them but if he did, he'd tell them of his fate out of his respect for the only good fight he had that night.

You could imagine his surprise, when he actually ran into the man's daughter.

The world was a huge place. Rosan didn't think he'd ever run into the man's wife or kid but apparently someone saw it fit to do so.

Maybe he should start believing in fate in that case...

...No, it would never happen. He didn't think life was decided by such things. They forged their own path, free of the confines of this so called destiny because if destiny saw it fit to take Rosan's love away, then destiny would see it fit to watch him destroy the entire world.

He stared neutrally at Kaori, the daughter of Kenzo, with Usopp slung over his shoulder.

Rosan could see some slight resemblances between her and Kenzo but it wasn't very much. She had light blue skin and was clearly a type of pufferfish but her features must have been inherited from her mother.

The fishman was currently staring at him like she had just seen a ghost. She was sweating heavily, her mouth was open in shock and her eyes were wide and shaky. No doubt, thoughts of who he was were running through her mind and she was finding it hard to process his words properly.

Kaori couldn't hear the words of concern from her pirate crew. No, all she could hear were the words of this random redhead. This random redhead who knew the name of her mother and father.

To say that she wasn't curious about the fate of her father, would be a bold faced lie. After all, she was only in the Blue Seas to find information on him. She'd much rather prefer to be traveling with Jinbe but she needed answers.

She had spent many a sleepless night wondering just what happened to her dad and their former slave master.

Now, there was seemingly a source of information right here in front of her.

The only problem? The redhead was claiming to have allegedly killed her father.

She had to have misheard him. There was no way.

Before she could further question him, the redhead suddenly began sprinting right towards the large group of fishman blocking the exit, ignoring Usopp's squeal of distress.

A suicidal charge?! Was he completely insane? No! He couldn't be killed before she got to question him... Kaori needed answers first! She spent years looking for a clue and the one with them was about to die!

Before Kaori could get in the way to intercept him, the redhead jumped over all of them, landing on the stone gate and leaping off of that one too, cracking the wall and disappearing from their sight without looking back even once.

Everyone balked at the show of athleticism, too dazed to give chase due to the fact that he escaped right in their face.

Kaori made to immediately pursue him, but Arlong intervened with a, "Wait, Kaori."

"What do you mean wait, Arlong?!" She snarled, rounding on Arlong in barely restrained fury. "What if he tries and leaves the island?! How did he even get here without any of us detecting him?! He might have a means to escape and I'm not risking losing such a big lead on such a cold case!"

Arlong looked just as pissed at her. His eyes were rooted on the spot the man just vanished from and there were so much veins littered across his head, it was a surprise the captain with anger issues didn't break anything into pieces.

"He's lying to you. There's no way a human would be capable of killing a fishman," Arlong snarled, cracking his seat slightly. "He's trying to goad you into chasing him right now and it's working. Don't worry, we won't be letting him escape the island."

He ordered some of his crew to begin lurking the waters surrounding the island and some others to search for that redheaded nuisance.

"THAT DOESN'T CHANGE THE FACT THAT HE KNOWS ABOUT MY FATHER! WHY ARE YOU STOPPING ME FROM CHASING HIM?" Kaori barked in clear annoyance. She had no real loyalty to this man. All the woman wanted was answers and she could only get that in the North Blue.

Jinbe was in the Grand Line and showed no interest in coming to the weaker seas so she settled for Arlong because the man actually was planning on coming here and he hired her in the process, continuously giving her money...

Not like she got much out of traveling with them anyways (the money was good. She was not cheap). She was no closer to finding out just what happened to her father and it was driving her insane.

Now, there was a lead right in front of her and he was telling her to wait? She would pulverize him if he kept saying such stupid things.

"We'll bring him to you and you'll get all the answer you need," Kuroobi assured. "You aren't thinking straight right now and whoever that human is, might be looking to catch you off guard. Wait here until we bring him back. He won't be getting off this island."

Kaori growled lowly but nodded, stomping off to an area to gather her thoughts and warning them not to bother her unless it was for something good.

She needed to think of what she was going to ask that redhead… Arlong was right about one thing, there was no way that human killed her father. He was much too young to have done that but she had no reason why he was opting on keeping the real reason from her.

Hopefully he'd be reasonable, lest she had to crush the answers out of him.

Kuroobi turned towards the petrified Nami and said, "We're sorry for doubting you Nami. You're our friend and we won't let that human get away with putting his hands on you."

The navigator scoffed and pushed herself back up. "I have no friends, you're just my business partners. I'm only here to buy Cocoyashi Village so keep up your end of the bargain."

She snatched the map out of his hand and walked away with a neutral expression. On the inside though, she was broiling with turmoil.

"Rosan, you idiot! When you said you were gonna help I didn't think you'd make the situation so much worse!"

Her only respite, was that Rosan knew how to fly and so even if they lurked the waters, the redhead would still be able to escape the island if things went from bad to worse.

Not that they weren't already at worse...

At least he got their suspicion off of her like he said he would. He took full blame for releasing Zoro and managed to escape with Usopp too so now the fishman didn't suspect her at all.

Ugh, this was getting too complicated. She couldn't buy her village back yet either. Nami needed two million more beri and would need to go on another voyage, but she wasn't sure Rosan or the other Straw Hats would be leaving yet.

As Nami entered the room that Arlong had dubbed hers, her musing was cut short due to the entire area shaking.

She stumbled around a bit but managed to catch herself and the shaking soon stopped.

"Now what?" The thief thought in annoyance.

"Y-You saved me!" Usopp sobbed over Rosan's shoulder. He hadn't expected the redhead to be able to get him out of that situation so easily but he was alive!

"Stop crying," Rosan muttered, landing on a branch and leaping off of it with crushing force, sending the piece flying. "Do not get snot on my shirt. I can't stand boogers."

"R-right!" The liar saluted. "But man! How did you manage to guess that girl's dad name correct? Did she have like a tattoo of his name that you saw? I don't even think I could pull off a lie like that!"

He was genuinely impressed with his fellow liar! He thought of something quick in such a short amount of time!

"I don't lie," the redhead retorted calmly, eyes forward as he leapt from tree to tree. "The only thing I lied about, was the honorable death I gave him because I promised him that's what I'd say when I ever saw them. I actually humiliated him in his last moments but I didn't want him to lose face."

Usopp laughed at that. "Of course you lie! You don't gotta worry, believe it or not, the great Captain Usopp lies too!"

There was nothing to be ashamed of. Sure, Rosan lied more then him but that wasn't a bad thing! He just needed to sound a bit more believable!

"Are you just going to label everything I say as a lie?" Rosan hummed curiously. "I'm not you. Lies are for people too weak to deal with the consequences of facing the truth. There is no point in me exaggerating my life because it's not worth exaggerating."

Why would he ever want to exaggerate all the things that happened to him? Did Usopp think he was lying to make himself look better? Rosan wasn't proud of the life he had been forced into so why would the liar assume that he was?

"Hey that's not why I lie!" Usopp said, voice tinged with a bit of anger at being called out like that.

"Your reasoning for lying means very little to me. If you find comfort in deluding yourself to reality, be my guest. Just don't apply the same thing to me. I'm not such a coward that I'd run away from the truth of my life," the redhead retorted.

"You're acting a bit out of hand right now, Rosan."

"You wanted us to talk. This is how I talk."

"...Just... just try not to cause any rifts."

Usopp's frown deepened. What was his deal?

"I told you that's not why I lie. Just because you're this cool and strong guy doesn't mean you get to act like an ass," the sniper scowled.

"Act? You think I'm acting?" Rosan actually stopped moving and placed the sniper down to regard him. "To be completely honest with you, I'm not your biggest fan," the redhead said honestly, staring neutrally into the coward's eyes.

Usopp flinched at his bluntness and inched away from the dead look in the redhead's eyes.

Rosan ignored all of that. "You represent a lot of things that I would normally hate in a person. You lie nonstop about even the simplest of things, you're a complete coward and it makes you a liability and most of all, you adore a man who abandoned you and your mother to your fate."

The sniper's eyes darkened at that and he stopped moving.

"You see?" The redhead said quietly. "The only time that cowardice flies out of the window, is when someone mentions your father. Why is that? Are you that in love with being a pirate that you'd ignore the fact that Yasopp left you and your mother behind?"

"Shut up," Usopp warned.

"I change my mind, you two do not have to talk," Mod pleaded but once Rosan got like this, it was impossible to stop him.

"I'm sure I'd envy you Usopp," Rosan admitted, ignoring Mod's request.

The sniper paused. "Envy? Why?" He asked, dumbfounded. He was just gearing up to punch Rosan but now he was left stumped by that admittance.

"My father also happened to be a pirate and he left my mom for dead too," the redhead replied, much to Usopp's surprise. "He's dead now but if he wasn't, I'd have done everything in my power to make him suffer."

The sniper froze at that declaration. Rosan... he would have tried to kill his own father?!

Those dead eyes continued to bore into the liar without a hint of feeling. "I envy you because you're so naive. If I knew my dad was partying while my mother was dying, well I wouldn't try so hard to defend him because I'd be too busy hunting him down. That's the difference between you and I. You're an idiot and I'm not."

"Rosan! That's enough!" Mod barked. She understood that Usopp's traits were practically his antithesis but this was too much!

"Is it though?"

"Yes! You don't have to dig at his wounds like that!"

"Why shouldn't I?" He asked calmly.

"This is you're crewmate!"

"And?" Rosan said darkly.

Mod went quiet, shuddering at that simple, heartless, question and regarded Rosan with wide red eyes.

"SHUT UP!" Usopp roared, throwing out a punch that the redhead effortlessly caught.

"You're misdirecting your anger," Rosan chided. "You aren't mad at me. You're mad that someone is telling you the truth."

He was willing to act neutral with the sniper, he really was, but this was what Mod-chan wanted and since Usopp thought he was a liar, he'd tell him the truth.

The coward began swinging repeatedly at his crewmate, growling at failing completely and he felt his anger mounting at that expression regarding him like he wasn't even remotely a threat.

Damnit... DAMNIT!

Rosan understood now. He just needed to push a few buttons to understand Usopp's core issue.

"You're insecure," he said softly, grabbing Usopp's fist and forcing him to the ground effortlessly. "Insecure because you're weak. That's why you lie. That's why you're a coward. You don't believe in yourself," the redhead pointed out.

Usopp struggled before lying there in defeat. "And so what if I am? It's true isn't it? I'm not a monster like you, or Luffy, or Zoro. Hell, even Nami was about to beat me..."

Rosan's words stabbed into him and it only hurt more now that he was lying here in defeat. The redhead, for all his cruelty, was right.

He was insecure and why wouldn't he be? He didn't have any lofty dreams like Luffy or Zoro. He wasn't immensely useful like Nami or Rosan... He wasn't as strong as any of them...

What could he do besides care for Merry?

"If you hate your current self, why don't you try and change?" Rosan asked simply.

"How can I change?" Usopp asked bitterly. "Nothing I do will let me catch up to you guys."

The redhead tilted his head at that. "How can you be so sure about that? You are so insecure about what you can't do, that you don't even realize what you can do."

Usopp perked up at that. "What I can do...?"

What could he do...?

"You are a fantastic shot and one of the most resourceful in the crew. Instead of trying to compete with us, find your own strengths and focus on them," Rosan instructed him, hoisting the sniper up.

"Work on your body so that it can keep up with your mind. You have a good head on your shoulders but you don't see that because you only focus on the negatives. With just scraps, you've shown that you can invent workable gadgets. You are not as useless as you make yourself out to be," the redhead finished.

Usopp was a genius in his own right. He inherited his father's shot and had his own creativity added to the mix. If he put his mind to use, he'd be a force to be reckoned with but he just needed to see that.

The liar was stunned at Rosan's deduction of him, not expecting anyone to ever compliment the things he was good at. He thought the negatives far outweighed the positives but in Rosan's eyes, that couldn't be any farther then the truth.

How did it turn into this? One second Usopp was trying to punch Rosan's eye black, the next, he was getting dissected like he were an open book.

"You really think I'm not useless? You think I can be something more?" Usopp asked quietly.

Rosan shook his head. "It doesn't matter what I think, Usopp. You have to think that. My words mean nothing if you yourself don't believe what you're capable of."

The redhead began walking away before pausing suddenly, turning to face his sniper. "You want to be a brave warrior of the sea right? How about you lie to yourself until you genuinely begin to believe it? If you do that, you'll see how impressive you can be."

Rummaging in his shirt, Usopp watched Rosan pull out a blank white mask. "Here. Every liar hides behind a mask, physical or mental, because it helps them better convince themselves. When you put that mask on, envision yourself as a brave warrior of the sea. When you truly believe what you are, you won't need it anymore. You have potential."

"You have potential."

Usopp's eyes widened at that and he stared at his enigmatic crewmate with shock and... admiration, accepting the mask gently. This whole time... was Rosan trying to anger him on purpose so that he could properly dissect the liar?

If someone as cruel and harsh as Rosan could see it... Maybe Usopp was being too negative. "I... I was wrong about you, Rosan. You're a good guy!"

Sure he talked bad about his father but... Usopp could admit that hearing about his dad partying of all things did fill him up with a large amount of bitterness. He understood that the pirate life was for him but... Yasopp really did just leave him behind without any hesitation while his mother got sick...

"I'm not a good guy or anything like that," the scout disagreed calmly. "I just speak my mind."

"Satisfied?" Rosan asked.

Mod was silent in shock. She had no idea this was Rosan's plan but he had executed it flawlessly. "You are one of the most charismatic people I know."

"You're super awesome, Father!" Ram crowed, grinning brightly at him.

"I simply want useful crewmates. If he had no potential I wouldn't have bothered and I have no interest in training him if he doesn't want me to. But, I'll point him in the right direction."

Usopp looked at the blank white mask with contemplation and nodded resolutely, storing it in his bag.

Maybe there was some merit in his words... If he could lie to himself enough, maybe he'd begin to truly believe it.

There was a short silence as the sniper digested his words before he suddenly went pale. "So you really don't lie…?"

"Not unless I feel like it's necessary and I rarely feel that way anymore."

"You've actually been fighting since you were four?"

"Yes. I fought a pirate crew and stole their ship"

"And your sister is really married to a queen?"

"She's also a blacksmith, I'll have you two meet one day and maybe she can help you with your trinkets."

"And… you really did kill that fishman's dad?!"

"That was when I was nine. He got some good hits on me but he wasn't able to handle my onslaught."

Usopp's eyes bugged. So… this whole time… Rosan had been telling the truth?! J-Just who was this guy?! Where did Luffy find a monster like this to call him brother?!

He knew a queen?! He killed one of those dangerous fishman at just nine?! He fought an entire pirate crew at FOUR?!

Holy shit… Maybe Usopp could learn a thing or two from him... If Rosan really was traveling the sea for so long, he was definitely a step in the right direction to being a brave warrior of the sea!

Rosan stealthily snuck the hammer back in the man's satchel and nodded in satisfaction, continuing to trek through the forest.

They walked in silence for a couple more minutes, Rosan letting Usopp stew in his thoughts, before the redhead suddenly stopped moving and said, "Oh? Nice to see that you're finally here, Luffy. And it looks like you found Zoro too."

Usopp's head shot up as he heard that and he had to stifle a laugh at the sight of Zoro under the ship that their captain brought here.

"Oh, Rosan!" Luffy beamed, launching himself at his older brother excitedly.

The redhead caught his little brother easily and they exchanged a hug.

"I missed you!"

"We've been together for 10 years and you miss me after a few days?" Rosan questioned with a raised brow.

Luffy beamed and the two stared at each other for a moment until Rosan sighed.

"...I missed you too, Luffy."

"Whipped," Ram muttered. Father should only be spoiling her but nooo, everyone wants to be spoiled! Ugh, how greedy were some people? Maro, Angel and Luffy sure were trips!

"You're heavier then normal," Rosan mused.

Glancing fully at his brother, he took note of the weapon attached to his back and tilted his head. "Oh? You found a weapon you like?"

He doubted it. Luffy had 0 affinity with weapons.

"Nope! It's for you," the rubber boy said, removing the bindings and handing it to his brother. "I got it from that stupid captain! It explodes when you hit something!"

For him?

"Thank you, Luffy," Rosan hummed, taking the weapon out of his hand with ease and inspecting it.

The battle spear itself wasn't really useful to him or Ram so he'd just tinker on it and make it more impressive, before handing it to someone else to use.

Everyone watched with dropped jaws, as Rosan's eyes began glowing brightly and the weapon vanished from their sight, going who knows where.

W-What the fuck was that?!

"I will never turn down a free gift. I'll have to give you a reward later," Rosan promised, getting a starry look from his captain.

He then noticed that Luffy had brought a familiar face and nodded in satisfaction. "Ah, you managed to recruit Sanji. Good job."

Sanji scoffed a bit but nodded in respect to the redhead. "We both have foolish dreams so I figured I'd go with him. Besides, I still owe you that best meal and we'd probably never meet again."

"How thoughtful of you," Rosan hummed. This was a good addition to their crew, the redhead had no complaints. "We can talk later after this whole situation is sorted, if you want."

Sanji nodded coolly (or what he thought was cool...) and said, "Yeah. Later. Right."

Ram snorted. He was such a fan.

"So, where's Nami?" Luffy asked curiously. "She's here right? Did you guys get her back?"

"About that..." Rosan began.

"I'm right here."

All eyes turned towards the source and they found Nami herself, eyeing the group with a look of disdain.

Johnny, who had just shown up, was the first to speak. "You've got a lot of nerve showing your face around here when you're apart of Arlong's crew! Rosan you should finish what you started!"

"Where did you come from?" Rosan asked curiously. "Were you watching that exchange the entire time?"

Johnny's words quickly caught up with the crew and they turned towards the neutral faced redhead with varying expressions.

"ROSAN, DID YOU TRY TO KILL NAMI?!" Luffy roared, anger clear on his face. "YOU CAN'T DO THAT! SHE'S OUR NAKAMA!"

"YOU SHITTY REDHEAD!" Sanji roared in agreement, hero worship forgotten at the moment due to this injustice. "HOW DARE YOU LAY A HAND ON NAMI? WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!"

Rosan sighed at the sight of the two getting ready to attack him. "I wasn't actually trying to kill her. I was doing her a favor."

There was a pause at that, only Zoro seemed to be unsurprised that Rosan wasn't actually trying to kill her.

"Huh?" The rubber boy asked dumbly.

Sanji calmed down slightly at hearing that.

Reaper hunted both genders without a shred of mercy in his stance. It did not matter to him what you were, he'd end your life without hesitation so the chef wasn't even slightly surprised to hear that the redhead tried to kill the beautiful navigator.

Rosan regarded Nami with a tilted head. "How's your throat? Did I squeeze too hard?" The redhead asked.

Everyone began blinking owlishly at that question. Usopp and Johnny especially, were confused that Rosan was asking such a question because just moments earlier, he had been about to choke her to death.

"It's fine. But when you said you'd take suspicion off of me…" Nami began and everyone's eyes went wide in confusion.

Didn't Nami betray them? What was going on? Why was Rosan asking such a question?

"...I didn't think you'd MAKE. IT. WORSE!" She barked in fury, walking up and pressing a finger on Rosan's chest with each punctuated word.

"I got the suspicion off of you, right?" Rosan asked, nonplussed by her reaction. "Now you don't have to worry about the Fishman thinking you betrayed them."

She nearly yanked her hair out at the unbothered words of the redhead. He was totally missing the point!

"I knew you were as bad as Luffy!" She growled. This is why she told him to stay with Nojiko! The redhead's perception of how chaotic he was, was clouded by how strong he was and how well he could handle a situation.

Since he was so confident in his ability to deal with problems, he didn't perceive his actions as chaotic but that wasn't how it worked. He didn't see it like that because he was insane and stubborn and nothing you said to him would change his mind!

Rosan was just as chaotic as his brother and right now he was proving it! It was no wonder they were crewmates, those two psychos were made for each other!

"You're exaggerating, I'm not as bad as Luffy," Rosan dismissed her and she held her head while gritting her teeth as he proved her right.

It was even worse because he genuinely believed he wasn't.

"Arlong wants your head now because of what you did and he has fishman all around the island. This is what I wanted to avoid… You guys need to find a way to leave now," Nami stressed.

Everyone else, barring Luffy and Zoro, were surprised to see that Nami was worried for them. Usopp had been totally convinced that she actually betrayed them and Johnny was right there with him.

The two were going to tell Luffy to just get the Merry and leave but apparently they were wrong!

Just what was going on right now? What did Rosan know?

"Nami! We came to get you," Luffy smiled cheerfully, happy to see that his navigator was doing fine. "I'm glad Rosan didn't kill you!"

Nami sweatdropped at that. To avoid any unnecessary trouble, she wouldn't tell them what happened on the ship.

It was mostly her fault anyways...

"I'm not coming back with you guys… I still have some business I need to do," Nami told everyone there. "Once I'm done… I'll seek you guys out. Hopefully you haven't gone to the Grand Line by then but you guys need to go before they find you."

"Eh?" Luffy tilted his head in confusion. "No way! We came to get you and we're not leaving without you!" He declared bluntly, falling on his back and closing his eyes.

"Tired?" Rosan asked knowingly.

"Yeah, I'm not leaving this island and I don't care what's going on, so I'm going to sleep," the rubber boy decided, falling asleep immediately.

Nami grit her teeth in annoyance, anger mounting at the antics of her insufferable crew.

First, Rosan had made direct contact and utterly pissed off the fishman. Now, Luffy was being completely impossible like he always was. He wouldn't even pretend to listen to her demands like the redhead had.

She was so close, she didn't need them interfering right now!

"UGH! FINE! Just stay here and don't do anything then! SEE IF I CARE!" Nami growled, turning on her heels and stomping off.

They were so arrogant! She just wanted to keep them safe but they were hellbent on pulling her teeth the entire time. Fine, let them do whatever they wanted! She didn't give a damn anymore. All she wanted to do right now, was throw a tantrum and take a nap.

Almost as soon as she disappeared from their sight, Rosan got up and began walking away.

"Where are you going?" Zoro asked with a raised brow.

"The Fishman might come this way, I want Luffy to enjoy his sleep so I'll go deal with the ones looking for me," Rosan hummed.

They sweatdropped and watched the redhead vanish, heedless of what Nami had just said to them.

Rosan spoiled Luffy too much... And he really didn't listen to anyone.

Kaori paced back and forth in her room, impatience clear on her face as a multitude of thoughts went through her head.

Kenzo, her father, disappeared more than 15 years ago. He and their former owner went to a place called Daybreak Island, so that they could participate in some type of tournament on an island that she didn't know about.

But neither of them ever returned… Kaori and her mother waited for weeks, unwilling to go far. The two didn't have the bomb collar that Kenzo had, but only one was necessary to keep all three in check and if Kenzo died, the mother and daughter, who were not fighters, would stand no chance against the slew of their owners guards, even if they were Fishman.

Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months before the mother and daughter realized something had gone horribly wrong.

Where was Kenzo? Where was their owner? They had no idea but it wasn't looking hopeful that they survived whatever it was they ran into.

Her mother had tearfully come to the decision that Kenzo wasn't coming back after the guards began abandoning their post, no longer willing to stay there after not getting paid in so long and all the slaves without collars, managed to escape (the ones with them couldn't leave... they were most likely dead now), including Kaori and Masumi.

They regretfully fled to Fishman Island and, after seeing the look of despair on her mother's face... After waking up in the middle of the night to hear her crying on so much occasions, Kaori came to the decision to find out what happened to her father at all costs.

She would find closure. Even if her mother disapproved of her goal. Even if they got into a huge fight about it... Even if she didn't speak to her in years because of it, Kaori would still find the answers to a question that prevented her from moving on with her life.

So she tried training… to very little success. She wanted to find out quickly what happened but there wasn't much she could accomplish alone.

The royal guards refused her for her age and no one wanted to train her due to her perceived fragility at being a former slave.

That pissed Kaori off to no end. So what? She was a slave to humans but if she wanted to avoid that, she needed to get as strong as possible. Why did no one see that?

When Fisher Tiger announced the creation of the Sun Pirates, Kaori saw it as her chance to finally become strong enough to get answers and so, she jumped at the chance.

Namely, by begging them to let her aboard.

It was only thanks to Jinbe, who seemed to sympathize with her plight as a slave, that allowed her to be accepted and he had taken it upon himself to train the little girl up.

Kaori missed Jinbe… she hoped the Warlord was doing fine wherever he was in the Grand Line. She never agreed with Arlong's violent philosophy, much preferring to follow Fisher and her teacher, but the Shark Fishman was the only one traversing the Blue Seas and her goal never changed even once.

"Your one track obsession with finding answers will drive you to ruin, Kaori," Jinbe advised wisely. "You can't allow this to lead you for the rest of your life. What will you do if you never find answers?"

She snorted to herself. He didn't understand what she went through. All those nights... No one could understand how desperate she was to just know what went wrong. Why was she free? Where was her father? What happened to him that night?

Now, she could finally find answers about what happened to her father… if only she wasn't being kept in this fucking base!

"Kaori-sama!" One of the lower ranked fishman called, opening her door without knocking.

Her head snapped up and she immediately closed the distance between the two, glowering at her cowering ally. "What? What is it?! Did you find the human? Where is he?!"

He began shaking nervously and her scowl deepened at the head shaking no.

"A-Arlong wants you and the other officers to deal with a Marine ship…" he squeaked out and she snarled.

"They don't need my help to sink one ship. Tell him to stop calling me until the redhead is here," Kaori barked out.

Despite her clear dismissal, her "crewmate" didn't leave. No, he stood there to insist that she join because Arlong wanted her to blow off some steam.

The woman didn't answer, shoving the poor guy aside (and into a wall) while stomping out of the room with a ferocious scowl.

The female fishman began bee lining towards the ship.

"Waste of my fucking time when I could be looking for the damn human right now!" She growled to herself.

Blow off some steam? Fine. She would go blow off some damn steam.

Kaori ignored the calls of her fellow officers and dove straight into the water, swimming at amazing speeds towards the Marine ship in her sight.

"After her," Arlong commanded with a sigh. He had never seen Kaori so worked up before but it was to be expected. "She can handle it on her own but make sure she doesn't waste too much energy."

His officers saluted and dove in the water, pursuing the female fishman.

When Kaori reached the surface of the ocean again, she saw that the Marines were getting ready to fire another cannon and sought to stop that immediately.

She burst out of the water and landed right on the cannon, crushing the weapon beneath her with with minimal effort and garnering the attention of everyone there.

The officer ignored the panicking fodder and instead focused on, what appeared to be, the most important Marine there.

He was about to introduce himself as commodore Purinpurin, but the fishman didn't even let him open his mouth and delivered a brutal elbow to his gut.

"No hard feelings," Kaori muttered, spinning on her heel and crushing the ribs of another unlucky Marine who charged her. "I didn't really want to do this so I wanna be done as soon as possible."

The ship began shuddering. No doubt, it was because Kuroobi probably just removed its rudder.

Why did they even need her here? This was such a waste.

Kaori let out an annoyed sigh and cocked back her fist, gathering the water vapor from around her, before casually saying, "Thousand Tile True Punch."

The fishman punched downward, connecting with the deck of the ship.

The effects were immediate.

The entire ship began crumbling from the force of her blow and the screams of the Marines, reached increasingly high volumes. They tried to grasp onto anything, losing their footing but it seems their life was only getting worse because a whirlpool began forming, dragging the ship into the depths without a hint of mercy.

"What a waste of my time," Kaori scoffed, diving back into the water and swimming to Arlong Park. It hadn't even "cooled" her down. The only thing that would cool her down, would be finding the redhead with answers.

It seems that her patience was paying off because one of her crewmates who had been sent to look for the humans was currently back and he looked terrified.

The poor guy was shaking like a leaf, jumping at the slightest of sounds and looking like he just got finished throwing up.

"Arlong… we can't catch that thing!" The fishman exclaimed, eyes wide in genuine horror. They were not chasing an inferior human. That thing may have had the appearance of one, but he was not human.

"H-He's just toying with us! We jumped him with 6 people and it wasn't even close! He... He made some disappear t-to their deaths a-and he slaughtered the others. T-The only reason I'm not dead like the others, is because he told me to relay a message to you!"

"Dead like the others?!" Arlong thought in hot rage. He crushed the armrest beneath him at the thought that one human was causing them this much trouble and began audibly snarling.

Forget all of this, he was about to go hunt that man down himself.

"What did he say?" Kaori interrupted, schooling her features into something neutral.

She knew it was a bad idea to send the lower ranked crew members after that man but Arlong was too full of himself. The woman wasn't so arrogant to think that all fishman were superior to all humans and that redhead in particular, stared every one of them down without a hint of fear on his face before rocketing away at speeds they couldn't react to.

The terrified fishman flinched. "H-He said, "Unless you plan on sending everyone of your officers after me, sit tight. I will come to you soon enough. For once, exercise some patience you racist idiot." a-and then he shooed me off."

"Arrogant son of a bitch," Arlong snarled, head throbbing in rage. He was getting fed up with those humans. First Roronoa Zoro, then the long nose, now the redhead?

How dare that human kill his BROTHERS?! That was his family and he would dare?!

"Fine. The cocky human wants to die? We'll wait here for him then," the captain replied, expression stony despite the boiling hot rage inside of him. "Once he gets here, I'll make sure death is a pleasant experience and he'll regret ever messing with a superior species."

"Don't do anything to him until I get my answers," Kaori warned sharply to her fellow Sun Pirate with a hard glare. "He's probably the only person who knows anything and I won't let him die yet."

"Kaori," Kuroobi said, placing a hand on the younger woman's shoulder. "You need to relax. You've been steadily getting out of control since you've seen that redhead. Arlong is our captain, don't disrespect him."

"Why do you think I stayed in my room!" She snarled, rounding on the ray fishman and slapping his hand off her shoulder. "Besides, I'm just a hired gun. Jinbe is my captain; Arlong is my boss. You gave me the money so I joined you all because it was convenient for me. My father's fate is top priority to me and I will find those answers."

"She's right," Chew jumped in, leering at Kaori. "You guys shouldn't be surprised that she's so on edge. This is her father after all."

Kaori glared at the man and successfully shut him up, biting back a snarl of annoyance in the process.

She never did like Arlong. He was cruel and full of himself without even having all the strength to show for it. Jinbe was light years stronger then him and the shark even got captured by the Vice Admiral turned Admiral, Kizaru, yet he found solace in bullying people in the East Blue of all places?

Besides, he was one of the main people who protested her desire to join the Sun Pirates, calling her a "weak little girl" in the process and now look at him. He didn't even train anymore! He was wasting himself away right about now and he'd regret it soon enough.

Her and Kuroobi glared deeply at each other but Arlong broke it up.

"Enough you two. Kaori is right, she's just a hired gun," the shark fishman said, glaring into the distance at the thought of the redhead. "We had a business transaction and I'd rather die, then break money related promises. She's free to do whatever she wants as long as it doesn't interfere with us negatively."

Kaori nodded stiffly at that. It was why she hadn't gone after the redhead yet. Chasing after him could potentially qualify as interfering negatively when Arlong clearly wanted otherwise and she was a woman of integrity.

"That reminds me," Chew said. "Do you actually plan on letting Nami go after she gives you the 100 million?"

That would be extremely stupid of him. Nami's skills were invaluable to the crew and she was a genius that you wouldn't meet anywhere else without an obscene amount of luck.

"But of course. I'm a man of my word." Arlong shrugged in a "what can you do" motion. "If Nami can give me the money, she's free to go. Those were the terms we agreed to."

"Such a shame, she's very valuable to the Arlong Empire."

Kaori's eyes narrowed minutely at that. She didn't miss the smug undertone of Arlong and wondered idly what he was planning.

She sympathized with Nami. Being a slave at such a young age to such a cruel person, was an experience she was familiar with and she secretly loathed Arlong for stooping to the levels of the humans that he loudly proclaimed to be superior to.

They were supposed to be better than them weren't they? Why replicate their actions? Arlong was no better than the humans he despised and it made him a supreme hypocrite.

He had something planned and try as she might, there was nothing she could do about it. She was stronger than them but not all at once.

Jinbe could deal with them all at once… she wished she had stayed and trained with him more. There was still more he could have taught her and the Grand Line was the perfect place to get stronger but her father took priority.

As long as Arlong payed her and as long as she was still searching for clues on her father, she'd stay here and be a neutral bystander.

It was a good thing she hadn't taken one of her many trips to the North Blue, that answer was right here today.

Once Kaori dealt with the redhead, she'd be free to go back to the Grand Line but for now, she couldn't jeopardize not getting the answers she desperately longed for.

"Sorry Nami… my hands are tied," the puffer fishman apologized, genuinely meaning it.

Something told her, Arlong would not be letting her go.

Rosan hummed and tossed the broken body of another one of the Fishman who tried to attack him. It landed on top of the large pile of his fellow crewmates and the redhead didn't even hesitate to obliterate the group of fallen enemies with a red energy blast.

Nothing remained after the smoke cleared.

Job done, he decided to go find his crew again. That one fishman he had sent off should have relayed the message by now and if Arlong was smart, he'd stop sending his crew (he might have run out honestly) to their deaths.

He made sure to capture some Fishman alive so that Hiroshi could potentially clone them and take whatever he wanted from them. After defeating the pirates, he'd go after the officers and Arlong next (in secret of course).

They would be good cloning subjects... He heard the scientist mentioning something about speeding up the process too so the fodder Fishman should help him figure that out.

"Nami shouldn't be so afraid of them to the point where she won't even risk asking us for help," Mod sighed sadly. Watching your mother get killed in front of you and 8 years of torture would do that but she needed to have some faith in them.

Rosan nodded in agreement. Based on what he had seen, Arlong's crew was nothing serious. They may have been terrifying to the standard East Blue inhabitants, but the redhead had seen stronger.

Like that monster Garp. An old man should not be able to move like that. Over the 10 years, he didn't feel the Vice Admiral's strength diminish at all. The man actually began displaying even more skills due to that one day where the brother's had shown interest in one of his techniques that he used to catch Rosan often, Geppo.

He must have been extremely pleased that the three boys who generally showed little to no interest in learning from him, did for once. Shameless old man.

But he digressed. Their navigator should believe in their strengths more but unfortunately, Nami's scars ran deep and she was clinging to that one last thread, chasing it oh so desperately.

She was in for a rude surprise; He'd seen too much to have any hopes that a pirate would keep his word.

"Oh, Rosan you're back!" Usopp waved in relief. The redhead disappeared for quite a while and, after their talk, he naturally began to assume the worst and worry for the guy he had pegged all wrong.

Rosan waved back and tilted his head at the sight of Nojiko but said nothing. He glanced around and noticed that Luffy was missing while Zoro woke up from his nap.

"Where have you been?" Nojiko asked, strangely relieved that the redhead was doing fine. Last time she saw him, he said he went off to actively make an enemy of the fishman.

Seems like he had thought better of that —

"I was off disposing some fishman who were pursuing me in particular," Rosan replied bluntly. It wasn't even remotely difficult. Arlong was beginning to disappoint him which was funny because he had no expectations in the first place.

Nojiko's eyes bugged at that statement and she gawked at the insane redhead.

He was what?! What was wrong with him?! His plans sounded logical on paper but his execution was utterly psychotic and left no room or regard of how others might be affected!

"Don't you realize that Arlong might take his anger out on us?!" Nojiko gasped in disbelief.

"Arlong attacked my crew first and he's made it clear that we aren't making it off this island until we encounter him. Whether you like it or not, when a pirate attacks another pirate, that's war," Rosan countered calmly, patting the glowering woman on her head.

Zoro grinned challengingly at his words. "Exactly. Who are we to take an attack lying down? This isn't about Nami anymore. Arlong caused a problem with us and nearly killed one of our own. We can't let that slide."

Nojiko looked at the two speaking and it dawned on her just what Nami had to deal with. 3 stubbornly insane idiots who didn't know when to quit. It was no wonder she didn't want them here, they were fully intending on getting in a fight with Arlong whether she wanted them to or not.

"Since when have you started being so concerned about me?" Rosan whispered softly in her ears.

Nojiko didn't even realize he had gotten this close to him and shuddered at the deep and soft voice.

"I'm not weak enough to need a weakling to worry about me. Worry more about yourself and the Marine's converging on your home. They are looking for Nami, by the way."

Nojiko's eyes widened in dread as she heard that and without wasting a moment, she took off in the direction of her home.

"What's the rush?" Usopp asked in confusion.

"Did you scare her off?!" Sanji barked.

"She has more things to worry about than us. I just made that clear to her," Rosan offered vaguely. "Things are about to get interesting. I hope you guys are ready for a fight."

"Of course!" Zoro grinned in a feral manner, heedless of the injury he still had from Mihawk.

"Anything to save Nami!" Sanji swooned but inside, he was utterly furious. Those damn fishman had the audacity to kill Nami's mother in front of her? They were in for it when he got his hands on them and he'd make sure they fell today.

"T-The great captain Usopp never backs down, not even against fishman!" Usopp said nervously, legs shaking despite his words. With herculean effort, he managed to stop one and shot Rosan a thumbs up.

Mod sweatdropped at the other leg shaking nonstop. At least he was trying...

Rosan simply hummed and nodded. "Now let's go find Luffy."

When she was alive, Bellemere used to always tell her that as long as she lived, fun things would happen.

But right now, Nami wanted nothing more then to die.

Eight years of hell… Eight years of living with the people who killed her mother, watching as they dared to treat her like an ally. The only thing driving her, was the knowledge that at the end of this road, lie freedom.

But that was a lie. There was no road to freedom. It was a never ending road of misery.

Because Arlong tricked her.

He was never intending to free her. He was always intending to find a way around their deal and he had done it.

She was trapped. So completely trapped and there was nothing she could do about it.

Worst of all, the villagers knew.

This entire time... This entire fucking time, they knew about the pain she was enduring for them and now they were marching to their deaths, heedless of her cries for them to stop.

Gen, Nojiko, the doctor… all of them were about to die and there was not a damn thing she could do about it.

It was all Arlong's fault...

Arlong. Arlong. Arlong. Arlong. Arlong. ARLONG! ARLONG! ARLONG!

Without even thinking, Nami gripped the knife she had been holding and began viciously stabbing the Arlong Pirates tattoo on her arm, heedless of the pain it was causing her. Heedless of the amount of blood pouring from it, due to the rage and sadness and hatred and tears.

She just stabbed and stabbed and stabbed and stabbed and—

A hand suddenly stopped her from continuing the self harm.

Nami slowly looked up and was forced to meet the eyes of Monkey D. Luffy himself.

"All those villagers of yours are about to die," the familiar voice of Rosan called out neutrally. He was staring at her with a tilted head and those dual eyes of his bore knowingly into her own.

He knew Arlong was never going to keep his word. That's why he kept offering to kill him for her. Nojiko had admitted that the redhead already spoke to her about the fishman not keeping his promise but she was desperately hoping that he was wrong.

He was not.

"You guys don't know anything!" Nami scowled through tears. "Just leave! This is for me to deal with!"

The two just stared at her, content to let her rant.

"JUST LEAVE!" She screamed.

She hated this. Hated how stubborn they were. Hated how they wanted to throw themself into the jaws of danger for her.

Hated how they were so willing to sacrifice their lives, just like Bellemere.

"Just… just leave…"

Hated how her only real chance at freedom, could die, just like Bellemere.

"Luffy..." Nami sobbed in defeat, all the hope sucked out of her body as she slumped over. "Help me…"

Luffy simply took his straw hat off, placed it on Nami's head, took a deep breath and screamed, "OF COURSE I WILL!"

"He's a good captain," Rosan thought idly, walking up to the fallen Nami. "Since you finally want help, here."

Nami watched through teary eyes, as the redhead summoned a black briefcase and placed it in front of her.

"That's 100 million. Now you're free," he said simply.

Her eyes widened in teary confusion.

He had the money the whole time? If that were the case… why did he never offer to give it to her? W-What were his motives?!

"That man has enslaved you for 8 years after killing your mother in front of you. He was never making it out of this in one piece. I just gave you the money so that all your hard work didn't go down the drain. Besides, Arlong attacked us so we'll deal with him."

Her tears began falling in earnest and she sobbed quietly.

They... They were so... Nami didn't think she'd ever be able to love a group of people like them but she was wrong.

"Please don't die..." she whimpered, clutching the straw hat and briefcase tightly.

"Don't be so dumb. Of course we won't die," Rosan said quietly.

The pirates left her there, all with varying expressions but the same motive.

"Let's go," Luffy said resolutely.

"Yeah!" They said in unison.

Rosan stared ahead, head already stewing with plans of the aftermath.

"Do you plan on fighting with only one sword, Zoro?" Rosan asked quietly, remembering how that worked for him against those two dead cat brothers.

"My other swords got smashed by Mihawk so there's not much I can do about it…" Zoro muttered. Only the sword Kuina gave him managed to survive the clash against Mihawk. His other swords were in pieces now.

With only one sword and that hellish injury, Zoro could very likely lose in his battle...

That wouldn't do. He found the man's resolve admirable so he wanted to see where that took him.

"Ram."

"Absolutely. Fucking. Not."

"Ram."

"I said NO."

"Ram."

"No, Father! I don't wanna!"

"...Ram."

"...But I'm your weapon! No one should be allowed to touch me except for you!"

"I know and normally I'd agree but Zoro is too interesting to let die here."

Ram was about to protest more but this was an order from her father and she grumbled in defeat. "You're letting me do whatever I want for a week. And you're not letting Auntie bully me for that entire time either."

"Deal."

"I don't think that deal is very fair. Don't you realize how much problems she's going to cause because of this?!"

"Don't you realize how much problems I have being held by someone who isn't Father?!"

It would be fine. He would just shower his weapon in a lot more attention then normal and she'd melt. It would work about 50% of the time until she decided to drag Luffy into her antics.

"Do you really think that it will only work 50% of the time?!"

"Here," Rosan said, taking off Ram and having her transform into dual katanas, before handing it off to Zoro. "You can use her for this fight only. Treat her even better than you treat your own sword or I'm going to break every bone in your body one at a time."

Zoro could only watch with wide eyes, as Rosan handed his most precious accessory to him and grabbed the blades. The one the redhead was holding with his left hand had a purple hilt while the other had a black hilt. Both the silver blades gleamed sharply, despite them being in the shade and it gave off an unnatural air.

It was clear these weapons were not normal.

They were impossibly light to the touch and Zoro couldn't help but awe at that fact. He had seen how much damage the redhead was capable of doing with Ram so to know they were this light…

"I'll treat her like she's one of my own," the swordsman promised, experimentally swinging with one of the silver blades and grinning wildly. Maybe her claims of being the ultimate weren't far off.

"You better treat me right," Ram's voice suddenly spoke through his mind, making him jump in surprise. "You are the only person besides Father to ever touch me in my weapon form. Be honored and don't let me down!"

He was never going to get used to hearing another voice inside of his head.

"And don't even think about putting me in your mouth! I'm not that type of woman!"

Maybe this wasn't a great idea.

"What are you gonna use?" Sanji asked in concern. That ring was his main weapon and he might struggle without it.

Rosan tilted his head. "Ram is amazing, but I am not even remotely helpless without her," he replied softly.

Contrary to belief, there was nothing Rosan enjoyed more then punching someone in the face and that was his primary fighting style as a child. Ram frequently took the form of his gloves for a reason but with his young age, a weapon would bolster his offense to deadly levels and he spent a majority of his childhood training with one. It would be foolish to discard that skill.

"Besides, you probably have a lot of questions for me, right? I won't die until then."

Sanji nodded, assuaged by the man's confidence. He had a lot of things to talk to the redhead about so he better not die.

"Luffy," Rosan suddenly called. "You don't know how Arlong looks, right?"

His younger shook his head immediately. "Nope," Luffy replied.

"I'll show you."

The straw hats, minus Luffy, watched in disbelief as Rosan tensed his legs and vanished from their sight. The floor cracked beneath him and that was the only sign that let them know he was running.

Luffy immediately sprinted after the redhead and they gawked at the rubber boy's speed.

"YOU BETTER LEAVE SOME FOR ME, ROSAN!" He roared, vanishing from their sight too.

"Should we follow them?" Usopp asked nervously. Honestly, he was pretty sure those two could handle everything.

"...I think so," Sanji replied with a sweatdrop.

"If we don't… the fight might be over," Zoro sighed.

"AFTER THEM TEMPORARY SLAVE!" Ram barked, forcing Zoro to take off after the two brothers.

"Alright, alright," he groaned.

Maybe he should have just used one sword… was this what Rosan had to deal with all the time?

Johnny and Yosaku were both guarding the gates, waiting for the Straw Hats to show up and preventing the villagers from entering at the same time for their own sake.

All was going well, until a sudden red and black blur almost knocked them into dreamland. Before the figure could crash into them however, it leapt over the duo and effortlessly shattered the gigantic gate separating them from Arlong by ramming into it, momentum not halted whatsoever by the act of strength.

The duo actually did get knocked into dreamland at the appearance of a second blur mowing them over without any regards of their well-being like the first blur did.

Nojiko's jaw dropped in disbelief. Those blurs couldn't have been who she thought they were.

Oh who was she kidding, she knew exactly who they were.

Kaori knew Alrong was a scumbag but this was just too much to ignore.

She thought that maybe he had an ounce of honor but the man was completely unsalvageable. He was truly scum of the world and the depths that he had fallen, were not even levels a fishman could survive.

She didn't care anymore, the money wasn't enough to keep her in this crew because if she ignored this for any longer, she'd be just as bad as them.

Lying to that poor little girl for eight years and shattering her dreams without a hint of remorse…

Did he learn nothing from his time on the Sun Pirates? Did Tiger's death really do this to him? He was bad but never this terrible...

Well, no matter. Arlong had already been proven to be untrustworthy when it came to keeping promises so she couldn't trust that he'd keep the redhead alive.

That just meant she would just have to seek him out firs —

The gate to Arlong Park crumbled under the force of a red and black blur, shocking everyone there and the unknown figure darted right for the captain himself at speeds to fast to react to.

A black blur was hot on their heels and Kaori could only watch in disbelief, as the red one punched Arlong's body through his seat, cracking the floor beneath him from the impact and denting the man's nose brutally.

Arlong's eyes momentarily went white, at the force of the blow before he regained consciousness again.

"That's Arlong," the red blur said, revealing themselves to be the redhead she had just been thinking about. He glanced at Arlong's fallen body with a dispassionate gaze and turned away from him.

"Ugh..." The fishman groaned, holding his head in disbelief. Was... Was that the damned redhead who hit him?

"I appreciate you waiting for me, Arlong. Unfortunately, we won't be spending too much time together. You get to enjoy my little brother instead," Rosan hummed. He should have put more power into that hit but Luffy did have dibs.

One of these days he would call dibs on someone and there would be nothing his brother could do about it.

Over the years, as the brothers and Maro got more and more competitive, they all came to the consensus that whoever called dibs first, got the first crack at it and if they lost, someone else could call dibs.

Ace and Luffy had taken to calling dibs first very quickly, because Maro and Rosan normally defeated things on their first attempt. It got so bad, that there was a period of time where the four actually went to the North Blue and got rid of some bounties.

"Ah, you four are way too competitive. Ace is going to be a monster next time you meet him," Mod giggled.

"He's had all that time in the Grand Line and he's become a Whitebeard Pirate... my days as strongest have long passed," Rosan sighed.

No matter, he'd surpass his little brother again once he entered the Grand Line.

"Are you satisfied?" the black blur asked, revealing themselves to be a somewhat scrawny kid wearing a red vest. He was glaring at the floored fishman with a look of disdain on his face and it was clear he wanted nothing more than to pulverize him.

"Yeah, he's all yours," Rosan said softly, locking eyes with a stunned Kaori. "Don't play around with him like you did with Buggy or Kuro. I have my own things to deal with so I won't be monitoring you for a bit."

"You don't gotta tell me twice," Luffy growled, cracking his knuckles.

The shark fishman grunted in confusion as he began to regain awareness. "Who the hell are —" Arlong tried to speak but another fist, courtesy of Luffy this time, connected to his cheek, sending him crashing into a wall and shattering a layer of it, leaving the man embedded firmly into it.

"You made our navigator cry," The rubber boy snarled in fury. He was going to pulverize this sharp nose and teach him a valuable lesson about messing with Luffy's friends.

The citizens of Cocoyashi froze in disbelief as they gazed down at the wrecked entrance, and then up at the suicidal humans who showed up and punched Arlong of all people.

"Who are these guys?!" A villager asked in shocked.

Both of them just floored Arlong with no effort at all. This was the same man who effortlessly held a stranglehold over them for 8 years now and he was currently lying on the ground not once, but twice!

"Running ahead like that ahead? Leave some for us," Zoro scowled at the duo. They were fast.

"I expected there to be more fishman," Sanji muttered, glancing around and noticing how little there were. Only the officers were actually here...

"I told you that I was dealing with them," Rosan replied calmly, eyes never leaving the female fishman staring him down. He tilted his head and shot a wave at her that she didn't return.

Kaori's eyes narrowed deeper and she nearly took a step forward at his casual attitude but held herself.

"Arlong won't have to worry about you guys!" Hatchan said confidently, before grabbing his mouth and blowing out a tune. "Come on out, Momoo!"

The earth began shaking, much to the horror of the citizens and Rosan took his eyes off the woman, at the sight of the massive sea beast which resembled a cow.

It looked quite beat up and the moment it made eye contact with Sanji and Luffy, it went white in terror and decided that fleeing from the scene was the best course of action. It seems that the two had already encountered it before and it had gone less then stellar for the sea beast.

"Where are you going, Momoo?" Arlong suddenly asked, making it freeze on the spot. "I mean, if you wanna run away, I won't stop you. Do you understand, Momoo?"

The sea beast felt true terror at that underlying threat, before its face morphed into rage and it turned towards the pirates.

With a roar, it charged the pirate group —

And promptly froze at the redhead stepping forward to stare at it.

Everyone (besides Luffy) witnessing, gaped at the sight of the creature suddenly stopping dead in its tracks.

It... stopped?

What was wrong with it? This was the dreaded beast that took out Gosa with little to no effort! This was the monster that turned over every building as a show of dominance! Now it was suddenly looking fearful for its life...?

Why?

Rosan released some of his pressure and stared evenly at the sea monster called Momoo. His eyes were set into familiar slits and he walked up to the frozen beast, before stretching out his left hand.

"Bow, let me pet you," he instructed.

Momoo listened without hesitation and the redhead pat its head gently, much to the open mouthed disbelief of onlookers.

"Who was this guy?!" Everyone thought. T-This redhead... Where exactly did he come from?

Arlong's eyes widened in confusion and he clenched his fists tight. What was this human doing right now? More and more, he just kept adding onto the pile of reasons he needed to be slaughtered and the shark man ached to do it.

"Did my crewmates hurt you?" Rosan asked softly, glancing curiously at the bruises on its body. "I'm sorry for them. They are quite brutal when they want to be..."

"...But can I be honest with you for a second?"

Momoo began shaking terribly as that grip became steely and his right horn began to subtly crack at the strength displayed by the alpha animal.

"I'm much more ruthless then they are. I'm even more of a demon then your owner," he assured loudly. "Now, if you want to avoid annoying me, you'll dive back in that water and act like you don't hear anyone calling you unless it's me."

"Okay?"

Rosan released the creature and stepped back, waving farewell at it. "Run along now, Momoo."

Momoo didn't even think twice this time. He turned around and fled the entire area with all the speed he could muster, heedless of Arlong's underlying threat.

Fighting stronger creature not worth it, he was outta here.

Rosan watched it probably flee the East Blue (he didn't want it anyways) with a neutral expression, ignoring the gaping looks shot his way.