Chapter 11 - There Is Another One?

××× 『 Midoriya's POV 』 ×××

As I eat my lunch, which is quite late because it is now past afternoon, I thought back to the things that Adeline and I had talked about.

My talk with the older woman had been fruitful so far, and I can't wait to continue our previous conversation.

From the short talk that we had earlier alone, I've already learned that the ability I've gained was called Conqueror's Haki.

An ability that was considered as the rarest type of Haki out of the three existing ones.

She also revealed that, only one person out of a million can unlock this type of Haki.

And although it is a remarkable achievement to unlock this Haki, she warned me that I should not use it so openly as the World Government is not very fond of people who do.

Because of those words, I decided that I should become more cautious about the World Government.

Because although they should have been the protector of the civilians of this world, so far, the only opinion that I have for them was...

'They are unreliable.'

... Just that.

I won't talk about how their officers are bad or how they are good because I simply gave up such thoughts way before I even arrived in this... place.

Now, after we talked about that, I asked Adeline to explain the reason why they were at this shelter site when I clearly saw a village earlier before I got separated from Luffy.

'Pirates, huh? Ironic that I'm getting angry at their actions when I'm supposed to be one as well.'

And because I got curious, I also asked why the kid would desperately ask a stranger like me for help when someone mysterious and decently strong person like her was living in this place.

"For starters, they don't know that I have eaten a Devil Fruit and then... although it is not hard to do some heavy chores, fighting someone young like this Buggy pirate is too much for my current age."

'That's right... Even if she was once too strong, no one could battle the power of time... And maybe, that will also be Shigaraki's downfall.'

Those were my thoughts when I heard Adeline's response to my question.

Shortly after that, silence was produced from us, and after we finished cleaning the dishes, the time to ask the reason why she wanted to talk to me and how she could know so much when she was supposed to be just an old woman, who had been living in this peaceful place, had finally come.

××× 『 Omniscient POV 』 ×××

Meanwhile, back to the place where Luffy and Zoro previously were.

"Richie! Come back here!!"

Mohji yelled at the huge lion who attacked the straving pirates.

"Stop! I said, stop!! They're on the other way!!"

But despite his words, the lion refused to follow his command as he was now headed towards the store where the dog named Shushu was guarding.

"What's the deal with that dog?! Why is he not moving away? Is he too scared to move because of fear, or does he just want to die?"

When Zoro noticed that the dog was still at the lion's way, he couldn't help but asked some of his questions to the old man who was hiding at the place where he and Luffy were sent to.

"Shushu is not a coward, and he definitely does not want to die!!"

Exclaimed Boodle when he heard Zoro's last question, as he came out of his hiding spot.

"He's guarding that store... the thing that he considered as his own treasure."

"Ah, you guys are here!"

After Boodle spoke, a feminine voice was suddenly heard by them.

"Zoro, our navigator is safe!"

"I'm not your navigator!!"

"I see, Now that I'm looking at it carefully... that building is a store. A pet store."

While ignoring Luffy's excitement at Nami's sudden appearance, Zoro had decided to push forward their conversation.

"That's right, and the owner of this store is my friend. Ten years ago, he opened this store with Shushu. Because of that, this store was full of precious memories for the two of them... even I liked it, to be honest."

"Chief, I don't think this is the right time for some storytelling!!"

Hearing the duo's conversation, the female thief couldn't help but scream in worry as she watched how Shushu was barking at the lion called Richie.

Fortunately, Richie seemed to be merciful enough to not kill Shushu instantly because he only sent Shushu away from his path to the store where he could smell the treats that he wanted to eat.

"I-we can't interfere!"

But despite being worried at Shushu, Boodle refused to face the terrifying lion who once again sent Shushu flying away.

"..."

"This is Shushu's fight, we won't interfere with it."

"You heard the captain."

"Really!?"

Fortunately, or not, Luffy's words supported the words of the old man.

"You pirates are all the same, heartless people!! Doing whatever you guys want without even thinking about the consequences of your actions!!"

Which angered the thieving woman greatly.

Ignoring her clear show of hatred against them, the pirate duo just turned their heads to the old man, who took it apon himself to stop Nami from hitting them.

Feeling their gazes on himself, Boodle couldn't help but continue his story, which made him reveal that three months ago, his friend had passed away because of illness.

"My friend's last request to Shushu was to guard the store while he was away... which is what exactly Shushu is doing."

"But if he continued to attack carelessly, he would die!! And he will die waiting for his owner, who had already done so!!"

"Waiting for his owner? That's what everyone says... but I see it differently."

Despite being yelled at by Nami's mouth, as the wrathful woman was getting angry at each of his spineless actions and unnecessary words, Boodle still continued his storytelling.

"Shushu is an intelligent dog, I'm sure that he knew that his owner already had passed away!!"

"And despite that, he still chose to guard that store?!!"

After hearing the dog's full story from the chief of this town, Nami angrily asked her question.

"He would obviously do that because this store is a treasure to Shushu. He loved his owner so much, and since this is the only property left by the owner, I think he'll continue to guard this store... even if it kills him!"

Answered Boodle, before he said his own opinion... which made him realize how better of a living creature Shushu was compared to himself.

However, as if to ignore that realization, the old man suddenly began complaining about how Shushu would not stay at the shelter site no matter how many times he had brought it there.

*Bam!*

*Whimper~*

But shortly after he finished complaining, Shushu was suddenly sent right in front of his feet; with deep, long wounds bleeding all over on his body.

"Grrr~!"

Then not even a second after he was sent there, Shushu had already begun standing up... determined to fight Richie once again

"..."

Seeing that sight, Boodle's mind was suddenly full of shame as he remembered how cowardly he had been acting.

He was supposed to be the chief of this town... and yet!

'I've done nothing but hide!!'

He thought to himself as he clenched his fists tight enough for them to shake.

"Shushu, you should stop now... I-!"

*Stumped!*

*Stab!*

And just as he was about to make Shushu stop fighting, Luffy's left foot and one of Zoro's swords suddenly appeared before the bleeding dog.

"Although I've let you fight till now... it doesn't mean I will let you get yourself killed!!"

"..."

Luffy screamed in anger as he turned his head to look at Shushu with a very angry expression.

"Woof woof!! Grr~!!"

And as if to protest that he doesn't need permission to do what he wants, Shushu barked rather loudly at Luffy before he started growling.

"I don't care!! Bite me if you dare, but remember that you are the one who interfered in my fight first!!"

But what's shocking was that, it appears that Luffy had somehow understood Shushu's intention behind his barks as he yelled those words with growing anger.

He is angry because, not long after the lion came out of the store that Shushu was guarding... fierry flames had erupted from where he left.

「 "He loved his owner so much, and since this is the only property left by the owner, I think he'll continue to guard this store... even if it kills him!" 」

Then, while Luffy was watching the flames burn the woods of the pet store, veins had begun to make their appearance on his forehead because he remembered the most important part of the story that he had just heard from Boodle.

"Zoro, watch him for me... I will just finish what I've started."

"Make it quick, I'm hungry."

"Of course!!"

Controlling his burning anger, Luffy managed to calmly speak to Zoro as he fixed his hat on top of his head before he started to walk towards the direction where the lion and his owner were.

××× 『 Midoriya's POV 』 ×××

'The time had finally come.'

"Now that I've heard of your words... how can I be sure that they are true? What if you're just lying to me?"

I thought to myself before I began to speak the questions that had been floating in my mind since the beginning of our talk.

"Or what if, you are actually telling the truth... but was twisted in some way? How can I know that I can trust you... and the things you've said to me? No, in fact... why talk to me about those at all?"

It seemed that my questions were something that she had expected because instead of being shocked or awkward at hearing my words... she just released a mysterious smile.

'Okay... not so suspicious at all.'

I thought to myself as I saw that.

"Oh, forgive my odd reaction... your questions just reminded me of an old friend... This is something that you'd experience too when you've grown to my age."

Adeline explained as her smile only grew more... genuine.

"No worries, although I can't say that I fully trust you, yet... I can at least tell you that, I... believe in your genuine smiles."

"For me, that kind of assurance was good enough... and now, to answer your questions. Although yours was quite different from what I remember, I felt that your Conqueror's Haki was mixed with a different... aura. Which I am very familiar with."

Adeline said to me once she heard my words.

But even then, I still don't find the connection of what she said to the reason why she is doing her previous and current actions.

"... An aura that a person from another planet could only have."

That was the case, until I heard her following words.

"What?!"

"The reason why I'm doing this was because I want to prevent you from... making the same mistake that the person I am about to talk about."

Despite my surprised response to her previous words, Adeline just continued to speak her story.

"This person was someone close to me... his name was Iku Hatsume... And the way he entered my life will always be fresh in my memory. It was 26 years from this year, and the pirate crew that I was in during my youth was peacefully sailing the Grand Line... and once the sun of that day reached its peak, he suddenly fell from the sky."

And once again, thanks to the action and words of Adeline, the mysterious old woman before me, got me very curious.

"Although his fall was not that high, his body is still full of wounds... and only after he recovered did he explain to us how he was from an another world and how he have to go back to his original one to finish... some unfinished business."

That was the reason why I sat on the chair that I jumped from, when I was surprised by her words.

"But of course, getting what a person wanted to achieve has never been easy. And that's exactly the case with Hatsume as well... and the reason for that was because, he doesn't have a way to go back home."

And of course, as she told me her story... I didn't forget to record her words with my spy equipment that was always ready to be activated at any moment.

"The only thing he had at that time was the belief that... the way to his home would be found on the last island of this planet... just to clarify, what I'm talking about was not the last island that could be found in the map but the last island, which had yet to be seen by anyone at that time."

Hearing her last sentence, I was eager to ask the question if that was true; because if it is, then I might also be able to return home once I reached that island with Luffy and our crew.

But despite the urgency that I was feeling, I still decided to respect her and remained quiet as I continued to listen to her story.

"Although most of our crew didn't believe his words, our Captain did so. Thus, he was invited to our crew. But of course, although our Captain let him stay on our ship... some people were not happy about that. Thankfully, he managed to win their trust before anything bad could happen."

And even though I know that I'm recording her story right now, I still listen to her words seriously and took note of the important part from it.

I did that because I can't fully depend on my equipment forever as there are always the possibility of them being destroyed or broken.

"And that's how our pirate crew continued our journey with a new member on the ship. And although he only stayed in our ship for a short while, because of the joyful adventures and deadly battles that we all faced together... he still became a person that I, and every crew member of our ship, had long considered as a family."

As Adeline shares her story, I can tell that her eyes were telling some lies within the truth.

Despite that discovery, I just let it be and chose to continue to listen to her words because... I saw that within them, a deep sorrow can also be found.

"That's why, when we heard that he found an another way to return home... we were greatly saddened. But despite our sadness, we still happily sent him home as we all feel the same emotions for him, the feeling of great joy because he finally got home and got the chance to do what he must do. Even more, right before his departure, we managed to make him promise us that he would come back here once he finished what he had to do. But..."

"... He never returned."

When Adeline stopped speaking, I couldn't help myself but whisper my thoughts out loud; which she easily heard because of the short distance that we have from each other.

"..."

Despite her silence, I got the answer that I had expected in the form of a nod from her head.

"So, what? Because he didn't ever return to you all, you think he's already dead? And because it already happened before, you somehow think that it will possibly happen again? And this time, to me?"

After a short moment of silence, I asked the question that first appeared on my mind after fully digesting her story.

"I just don't think that it's possible to happen to you... I know it will."

Where she got the confidence to answer my question with those words were unknown to me, but there's one thing that I'm sure of; it was the fact that...

'She's being honest.'

「 To Be Continued 」