Chapter 10

(I read the chapter after writing and felt that it is a little too dramatic.)

Reiju relaxed on Tanzo's head while he flew above the Red Line. They flew for a whole day before they got to Shabondy Archipelago. Tanzo was completely tired from maintaining his dragon form for so long. Since he still wasn't used to his devil fruit powers, it took a toll on him every time he used it.

Tanzo didn't get close to the island in his dragon form. He didn't want any attention to himself since the Shabondy Archipelago is close to the Navy HQ. He didn't want the Navy coming after him. So, he turned back into a human and used Soru to land on the island. Since it was already dark, no one saw them come from the sky.

After landing on the island, he didn't go straight to Rayleigh. They both went to an inn and since it was already dark they stayed there for the night. Although they both got the same room, nothing happened that night because Tanzo was completely tired and immediately fell asleep when he touched the bed.

The next day, he woke up to the bright light falling on his eyes from the window beside him. He slowly opened his eyes, giving them time to adjust to the brightness. He then tried to move, but his arm was locked in between Reiju's chest. She hugged his arm and was still asleep.

Tanzo didn't want to wake her up. So, he didn't move and just looked at the beautiful woman beside him. Tanzo ran his fingers through her hair that covered her face and looked at her. It ended up waking her up. Reiju slowly opened her eyes and smiled when she saw Tanzo look at her.

"Good morning" Tanzo said and she replied "Good morning. Did you get enough sleep?" She asked because he slept like a log the whole night. Tanzo replied "Yes. Maintaining the dragon form is more tiring than I thought."

It isn't weird that they are now so affectionate towards each other after all that has happened. It was just that, after the three weeks he spent with Reiju, their relationship was already similar to best friends. They both spent time together reading books and sharing their thoughts.

After the fight with the Germa Kingdom, the week Reiju spent resting, they had grown closer. After they both shared their feelings with each other, their relationship became what it is now.

*Flashback 6 days*

It was the day after Reiju was completely healed. Early in the morning, Tanzo was training in the room, because all the three snails were overpopulated with the survivors from the snails Tanzo destroyed. So, there were tents all over the place.

The heavy breathing from his exercises seemed to have managed to wake Reiju. She slowly got up and looked at Tanzo's work out. It took a while for Tanzo to notice Reiju. When he saw her, he walked to her and sat down on the bed near her.

Tanzo didn't even look at her. He looked down and said "I am sorry for treating you the way I did. It's just that, my actions are driven by my emotions and it has led to many problems before. To add to this problem, I also get triggered very quickly. I acted that way because of the anger that grew in me when you told me you lied.

It was only after I cooled down, that I realised that you didn't do anything that could harm me during these three weeks and even when you had the chance to do something, you didn't. I acted like a dick all this time. I am sorry.

It's all because I didn't trust you when I should have. After being betrayed two times, I am scared to trust anyone else. I want to trust you. I think I even love you, but I am scared. Scared that I will be betrayed again. I know that I can trust you after seeing you throw yourself in front of me, but I am scared.

Look at me, being a coward and acting like a character in a soap opera..." Reiju stopped him from continuing.

She lifted his head and looked at Tanzo. She said "I don't know who would even think of betraying you. As you said, I also think I love you and if you are scared of someone stabbing you in the back again, just become so strong that the backstab doesn't even affect you."

Tanzo smiled and said "That is the most brute solution to my problem, but I like it." Reiju also chuckled with Tanzo.

Reiju then said "I love you" and leaned forward for a kiss. Tanzo replied "I love you too" and kissed her.

*Back to the Present*

Reiju got closer to Tanzo and he gave a peck on her lips. Reiju then got up and Tanzo did the same. When they both got out of bed, Reiju looked at Tanzo and was confused. She got closer to him and stood in front of him.

She checked her height and sure enough, she was shorter than him. Now that isn't something to be surprised or confused about, but Reiju was taller than him when they first met. Now, she is shorter than Tanzo. This is a very fast growth.

Reiju then moved back a little and looked at Tanzo's whole body, which was bulkier than when he first came to Germa Kingdom. She said that to Tanzo "Tanzo, is it just me, or did you grow in size in just a month?"

Tanzo looked at himself and said "Although I don't feel any changes in my body size, I noticed my strength increased drastically after my fight with your brothers. I do think it has something to do with my devil fruit, but now that you think I even grew in size, it must be my devil fruit."

Reiju obviously didn't understand how all this happened due to his devil fruit, so Tanzo explained "My devil fruit is different from the usual ones. It is an artificial devil fruit made from Kaido's DNA and it looks like he couldn't eliminate Kaido's DNA from the fruit. So, whenever my control over the devil fruit increases, Kaido's DNA is also being added into my DNA. Ah! DNA is nothing but Lineage factor. I call it DNA."

"Then, will you turn into Kaido when you completely master your Devil fruit?" Reiju asked.

Tanzo replied "No, although there would be some visible traits of Kaido, my DNA won't change completely."

Tanzo then worked out a little and took a bath. Then, they went to a restaurant to have breakfast. While they were eating, Reiju asked "So, how are you going to convince the Dark king Rayleigh to teach you Haki?"

"I don't know. I am actually hoping he is broke enough to agree for some money. If he refuses, I don't know how to convince him." Tanzo said. This was the first time he didn't have a plan. Rayleigh isn't someone who needs anything. He trained Luffy because he saw Roger in him. Tanzo was far from Roger's character.

They finished eating and when they got out of the restaurant, Reiju looked at the amusement park and asked Tanzo while jumping like a little "Can we go meet Rayleigh later. I have always wanted to visit this place."

Tanzo obviously couldn't refuse her request and spent the whole day at the amusement park, going on different rides, eating from various stalls. Reiju had a blast and Tanzo was happy to see her happy.

When it turned dark, they left the amusement park and started searching for Shakky's bar. It took them a while to find the bar. Tanzo and Reiju then entered the bar and a woman with short black hair said "Welcome. What do you want to drink?"

Tanzo and Reiju sat down and said "Sorry, we aren't here for a drink. We would like to meet Rayleigh and I believe he comes here regularly."

The woman with black hair, Shakuyaku, said "Sorry, I don't have any information for people who aren't my customers." hinting that she wouldn't answer unless they ordered.

Tanzo didn't have any other choice, so he said "Then, I will take anything that doesn't get me drunk. I want to stay sober." and Reiju ordered the same.

Shakuyaku mixed a few things and brought them some blue juice. She then said to Tanzo "You are late. Rayleigh stopped coming here two days ago. I think he is doing something to repay his gambling debt."

"Is there any way to contact him?" Tanzo asked.

"No. He comes back whenever he wants to and doesn't even carry a transponder snail." Shakuyaku replied.

Reiju looked at Tanzo and said "Don't be disappointed. I am sure we will find someone who is ready to teach you Haki."

Shakuyaku heard that and said "If you want to learn Haki, I know a place filled with people who know haki. The Amazon Lily."

Tanzo was surprised to hear that. He immediately asked "Why would you want to send me there? Isn't it closed from the outside world and since many human traffickers want to go there, the location is also unknown. Why tell me where it is? I could be some human trafficker. Also, isn't that Boa Hancock's place. If I fight her, I will definitely lose."

Shakuyaku replied "I would say I don't know a lot about you, but I did learn quite a bit from the newspaper. I think a man who has a bounty of 400,000,000 beri in just a month, should be able to at least escape from the island safely. As for why I am sending you there, I believe in my judgement and I don't think you will do something there."

Tanzo was now confused. In his head, he was going through many reasons why she would do that, but none of them made sense 'Is it because I was a marine before? Is it because I wiped out a Navy base? My bounty must have increased because of my fight with the Germa Kingdom, but Judge would have definitely published that I kidnapped Reiju. So, she must also think that I kidnap women. Why would she send me there? In the show, she is shown to be intelligent. What is she thinking?"

Since Tanzo was silent. Reiju replied to Shakuyaku "That's great. Isn't that the island full of women who can use haki? It would definitely help him if you tell us where it is."

Tanzo was still racking his brain for possible reasons as to why she would endanger her own kingdom. Shakuyaku gave Reiju an eternal pose to Amazon Lily for a price of 1 million beri. After that, they didn't stay for long. They paid for their drinks and left the bar. They returned to their inn and Reiju asked Tanzo "What happened to you? Why are you quiet?"

Tanzo said "I just have a lot of questions in my mind. Forget about that. Why did you take the eternal pose? Did you forget that we only had 5 million beri? It isn't even worth 1 million when there is a great risk of dying."

Reiju asked "Are you scared of the Warlord Boa Hancock? You almost destroyed my whole kingdom, which wasn't weak."

Tanzo replied "These are two different situations. While the Germa Kingdom is strong, Boa Hancock is a menace to all men on the sea, except two people. The minute she uses her devil fruit power, I will turn into stone and it's game over."

Tanzo knew he would lose, as he knew he wouldn't be able to control himself in front of Boa. He saw Reiju and the mermaids. They both were top class beauties. Then Boa Hancock, who is the most beautiful woman in the world, should easily make his hormones go wild."

Reiju smiled and said "Tanzo, you are not alone in this fight. I will weaken her with my poison, or we can take the country hostage with my poison and force her to teach you Haki."

"You really are the princess of the Germa Kingdom. I guess growing up there had some permanent effects on you." Tanzo said to Reiju.

Tanzo knew these plans wouldn't work out. 'She would rather die than be controlled by someone. I shouldn't force her in any way.' Tanzo thought.

Tanzo would have thought of a plan to convince Boa Hancock, if Reiju hadn't undressed herself in front of him.