Chapter 43

"...I climbed and climbed, though my hands were sprained and bloodied. The air was freezing cold, such that the blood froze and served as the clot; I wished to stop, but I couldn't, for a huge creature that lives on that cliff was chasing after me."

March 1st. The storm settled down, and the momentary peace arrived. As another day began, here I was, sitting next to Zephyr with a smirk, as I spectated the training session of my fellow colleagues.

"...Continue." Zephyr, who was wearing glasses, said seriously as he jotted down the notes.

"I could've used my fruit ability to escape, of course. However, Garp-sensei was watching me from the sky, and if I were to use my power even once, there would've been a fist of love more terrifying than the assault by my pursuer."

"Fist of love... noted."

"And most importantly, there wasn't a single word of encouragement. Back then, Garp-sensei laughed at my misery—something that fuelled me to see the end of that hellish training." I chuckled while closing my eyes, reminiscing over my past, "And when I finally reached the top, guess what happened."

"What."

"Guess, Zephyr-san."

Zephyr, raising his head up to meet my eyes, said, "...Just say it, kiddo."

Sighing, I stated cockily, "Garp-sensei punched me back to the bottom, and I had to climb up again."

"How are you alive?" Zephyr, gazing at me in disbelief, muttered. Looking back down at his note, he angrily ripped all pages apart, "If I were to do that to my own disciples, they'd die."

Opening my eyes back up, I then saw that my colleagues except for Dalmatian and Cancer, those who were supposed to be undergoing the training, were staring at the two of us. Two among them, Shu and Akehende, kowtowed at Zephyr with tears of joy, ""Thank you for being a generous instructor, Zephyr-sensei!""

"Climb up the cliff twice..." Maynard, on the other hand, grinned with fiery eyes, "I will do it thrice then!"

"What a dramatic means of committing suicide. Hina amaz—"

"Bastille amazed-dara."

Hina looked at Bastille, who was picking his nose under his metal mask, with a blank expression.

"Zephyr-sensei~!" Then, a voice was heard from the back. Turning around, I saw Doll, walking casually with three new faces behind her, "New recruits have arrived!"

I found myself in amusement upon sighting those three. Of course, joining Zephyr's training program was a proof of one's exceptional status, but still, how is it possible that I recognize all of them?

One was a young girl with dark-blue hair and brown-coloured eyes, who immediately bowed in a strict manner, "Pleased to meet all of you, instructor Zephyr and seniors! My name is Ain, and I hope not to disappoint!"

Another one was a very tall guy, even taller than Bastille, with a wild pink hair, slanted eyes, and very long arms. He then performed an odd dance along with a laugh-evoking facial expression all of a sudden, before stating seriously, "My name is Binz. Pleased to meet you."

'...His words and body gestures are so unmatching,' I thought with a sweatdrop.

And the final one with a thick moustache under his nose, said as stood in absolute seriousness, "I'm Daddy Masterson."

Doll, stopping next to me, looked at the three of them with a satisfied smile, "This year's recruits don't seem as troubling as the last year's."

"Last year?" I raised my eyebrow, before draping my arm around Doll's shoulder with a grin, "Aw, come on, 'Ensign' Doll. You know that you love us."

Doll simply huffed while crossing her arms and turning her head away, much to my amusement.

"Welcome to the training camp, the three of you." Zephyr, taking off his glasses and putting on the sunglasses instead, then asked, "...Can any of you climb up a cliff, barehanded?"

"""...Sorry?"""

__________

"As a Marine Captain, there are three options in which you can choose from."

After the training session was over for my friends, I was walking down the street along with Hina. Hina explained to me knowingly,

"First option is to continue what you are doing, which is to be under the command of a Marine Officer with a superior rank. This option is probably the easiest and safest option to choose from, for you are burdened with the least possible amount of responsibility."

"What else is there?"

"Second option is to become the commander of a marine branch in one of the Four Blues," Hina said in a monotone, "If you wish to fight with paper works more than you do with the actual criminals, then go ahead."

I frowned in disgust, "...That surely does sound fun."

"And the third option, Captain Smoker," Hina then looked at me knowingly, "is to lead your own division and sail around the area you are tasked with."

Stopping my track, I turned to Hina with a smile, "Well, there's my choice."

Hina shook her head with a chuckle, "Just as Hina thought, you haven't changed at all."

"...Is that meant to be a praise or an insult?"

"Oh? So you are, to some extent, aware of how troubling you are. Hina shocked."

"...I'll take that as a praise."

__________

"Leading your own division, I see." Robin, placing her hand on her chin, mumbled thoughtfully, "And you get to choose who's going to be on your ship?"

"Unless higher-ups get themselves involved, that seems to be the case." Tapping my fingers on the table, I hummed, "But judging by how World Government tends to implement eyes here and there, I have no doubt that they will do something with me as well, especially since I'm quite a well-known figure by now."

Moving my eyes to meet her's, I then asked, "How's your adjustment going?"

"...Not too bad, I suppose."

Recently, Robin was placed within the huge training camp of average marine recruits. Having begun her own set of training routine, she was slowly gaining strength and confidence. However, especially since I heard the option of leading my own division—

"Smoker." My thought came to a halt as Robin spoke to me, "I think it may be better if I were to remain here for now, and gain appropriate foundation."

Adjusting her fashion glasses, she stated, "There were no eyes of suspicion whatsoever. And after giving some thoughts, I disclosed my fruit ability to others—"

My eyes widened in surprise. However, knowing that Robin is a rational individual, I remained silent and continued listening,

"—though not in a precise manner. I explained my devil fruit as Arm Arm fruit, being able to grow arms on my own body. Though devil fruit encyclopedia exists, there still are many unidentified fruits in this world; no one was able to see through my lie."

"Hm..."

Perhaps I wasn't thinking thoroughly, but I found no glaring fault in her actions. Thanks to Robin showing her status as the devil fruit user, she will be excluded from the set of trainings that involve swimming. Furthermore, a mere trainee with a fruit that seems as weak as Arm Arm fruit—I doubted that any superior will even bother to pay an attention to her.

"Alright. If you're confident in what you're doing then go ahead. It's your life and your freedom, after all." Smiling in approval, I then said, "And if possible, make some friends too, okay?"

Robin squinted her eyes at me, "What are you, my father?"

"Oh yeah, I'm your sugar daddy."

Robin, acting as if creeped out, jokingly stood up and moved away from me. Then,

"Hehehe!"

she laughed all of a sudden, as if finding her own act funny. I was left dumbfounded, unable to comprehend this strange girl.

"...What's with your humour code?" I couldn't help but mutter.

__________

March 2nd. Feeling itchy, I ran around the entire Marineford for 12 hours straight. I don't know how many laps I completed, but I definitely felt refreshed after.

March 3rd. Out of curiosity, I touched a new batch of seastones that were imported from who-knows-where. Flopped to the ground immediately, with no strength to do anything whatsoever; this is definitely something to watch out for.

March 4th. Tried using Shusui. Tried slicing the wood trunk, but smashed it into pieces instead. Gion told me that I am hopeless in this department, and that the sword is crying. Not gonna lie, I had to suppress my urge to laugh after she said that; I mean, weapon's a weapon, and nothing more, right?

March 5th. Had a spar with Gion using the wooden swords. She cut through mine upon the first clash, but my broken sword then smashed hers into shreds. It's decided; I'm going to use Shusui like a baseball bat.

6th, 7th, 8th... it was quite a long rest in the Marineford. And today, the date was March 13th.

"Hold on." Sitting in my room, I realized as I looked at the calendar, "Isn't tomorrow my birthday?"

Tomorrow, on March 14th, I will turn 14 in terms of age.

'...It's already been quite a while since I arrived at this world, huh.'

Initially, I was confused. Then, I was filled with fear of the unknown, not knowing what to do. Since the beginning, I surely have come a long way, and managed reach the rank of Captain—the rank that the canon Smoker had at the year 1522, which is 20 years from now.

There was still a long way to go, but still, I couldn't help but be filled with the sense of accomplishment—

BOOM! The door of my room broke open all of a sudden, waking me up from my thought. Then, a familiar man revealed himself with the wide grin that he always has.

"G-Garp-sensei?!" I exclaimed in a pleasant surprise, not having expected my teacher to return so soon, "Didn't you say that you'll be away for 2 years—huh?"

"Missed me, brat?" Grabbing me by the back of my shirt, Garp placed me on his shoulder and opened the window, before jumping out of my room.

Boom. He casually landed on the street, causing the surprised people to take a step back.

"Vice Admiral Garp...! He's finally back, huh?"

"Where have he gone off to anyway?"

"Marine Hero, at last! So many things happened to us in these few months, and with his presence, everything will get better!"

Ignoring the people's comments, Garp then pushed his feet against the ground, propelling the two of us to one small boat that lied on the dock.

"...Wait." I looked at Garp in realization, "Are we leaving Marineford?"

"Bwahahaha!!! What do you mean leave? I didn't even tell Sengoku that I'm coming!!" Garp laughed loudly.

Everything was so sudden. This teacher of mine, coming here in an abrupt manner, was now abducting me exactly a day before my birthday,

"Bwahahaha!!!" And I found myself laughing along with him, "Now that's my sensei—"

BONK!

"—Ow! What the hell, old man?!!"

"Don't steal my unique laugh, you snotty brat!!"

From afar, a scream was heard, "GARP!!!!!"

Landing on the small boat, Garp quickly handed me the rows and said, "Now row, Smoker! We gotta get out of here before Sengoku comes, bwahaha!!"

Rolling my shoulders, I asked, "To where?"

Garp stopped his laugh. Then, picking his nose, he shrugged.

"I don't know. Wanna go to the Fish-Man Island?"

"Oh," I grinned, "Sounds like a good idea."

And there began, yet another round of training for me.