Anchor Or Rock

It had been 12 days since the battle at the plaza in Water 7 and Ori was still unconscious due to the injuries and fatigue sustained from his fight with Katakuri.

Other than Ori, the other 5 remaining Heavenly Demons had pretty much fully recovered. Despite their speedy recovery, their mood was sombre. It wasn't because they were worried about their Captain's recovery, but because of the departure of their First Mate.

After Shaya woke up and found out about what happened, she coughed a mouthful of blood and collapsed due to the shock. Ever since, she'd barely said a word or even eaten. She'd ended up blaming herself for not being strong enough to protect her little brother.

[I'm supposed to be the eldest of the three of us, yet I'm the weakest. It was I who needed to be protected in the end!]

For the past 12 days she'd been wallowing in self-pity knowing that if she had been stronger, things would've ended up differently.

On the morning of the 13th day the Heavenly Demons were sat round a table in the inn's dining hall in silence when Sabo asked.

"Tomorrow's the day when we were supposed to pick up the ship. Who's going to go if Ori's hasn't regained consciousness?"

Everyone turned to Shaya since she was the highest ranking member after the departure of Roman. As if she didn't hear the question, she looked down at her food just playing with it, not even attempting to eat it.

Seeing she was in no condition to do anything in her current state, Silk volunteered to go pick the ship up.

Shaya didn't bother with their discussion and got up to head back to Ori's room, where she'd been staying the past 12 days. Since the disappearance of Roman, she only managed to find any sort of peace when in Ori's presence.

As she stood, Malia's indifferent voice rang in her ears.

"How long do you plan to wallow in self pity like that? It's pathetic!"

Suddenly a cold aura spread out from Shaya's body as she turned to face the newest member of the crew with bloodshot eyes. Sabo and Silk shuddered in fear feeling her killing intent.

"What did you just say?"

On the inside Malia felt terrified by Shaya's aura, but she didn't show it. She held her indifferent expression as she looked at the Silver haired archer.

"I said it's pathetic…

You're path…"

Before she could finish her word, Shaya appeared directly in front of the former assassin. She wasn't even able to react before the archer's fist connected with her face sending her flying through a wall.

"Who do you think you are? You've only just joined us…

Know your place!"

Malia acted as if she hadn't heard the archer's words, her indifferent voice carried on.

"You're supposed to be the older sister of Ori and Roman. Yet one lays unconscious in a bed upstairs after fighting to protect his crew, and the other was forced to give himself up to protect the lives of his crew. Yet you…"

As she said that, Shaya once more appeared directly in front of her. She grabbed the assassin by the neck and started letting out all her pent up frustrations one fist at a time.

Sabo and Silk wanted to stop the fight but were stopped by Benjiro.

Silk annoyed by Benjiro's action yanked his arm free and glared at the musician.

"What do you think you're doing, now's not the time to fight amongst ourselves!"

Benjiro who could feel the martial artists anger shook his head with a sigh.

"Trust in Malia, she knows what she's doing!"

He could feel that there was no negative intentions on Malia's part, in fact he could feel an overwhelming amount of guilt. He understood that the assassin still believed herself responsible for Roman's disappearance and felt that helping Shaya recover was the only way she could repent.

Silk didn't know what Benji meant but he knew that Benji could 'feel' things he couldn't and chose to silently observe.

Malia ignored the downpour of fists that came her way as she spoke with the same indifference.

"You stand here without so much as a scratch, having not accomplished a thing…

Cough, cough!

Yet you still have the nerve to wallow in self-pity?! Pathetic!"

When she heard that, Shaya officially snapped. She drew the bow and created an arrow of pure Archery Intent. She took aim at the head of the bloodied assassin.

"If you say another word…

I will kill you!"

"Shaya!"

Feeling her sincerity Sabo, Silk and even Benjiro all tensed up. The only person who was able to stay calm was Malia.

"I owe my life to both Ori and Roman. As their elder sister, if you choose to kill me then so be it."

As she said that, she calmly turned to face the icy gaze of the archer and continued.

"But then what? It won't bring Roman back. It won't help Ori to recover any faster.

You're wallowing is the epitome of selfishness. You're angry with yourself for not being able to change matters? you're upset after the loss of your brother? What about Ori?! He as the Captain was unconscious when his brother and First Mate sacrificed himself for the greater good of HIS crew!

Ori won't need an anchor of an older sister who only knows how to feel sorry for herself, he'll need a rock to lean on at this trying time in his life!

You just need to ask yourself:

can you be his rock, or will you be his anchor?"

As she heard Malia's words, Shaya slowly lowered her bow with tears streaming down her face.

Seeing that her words seemed to have gotten through to her, Malia let out a smile ignoring the pain she was feeling after the beating she took.

"You can't change the past. All you can do is focus on growing stronger to make sure that the same thing never happens again.

But for now. Now you need to be strong, not only for yourself but for Ori too!"

Shaya looked down at the battered Malia, with tears still falling.

"Thank you!"

As she said that, she raised her hands which glowed red over the severely injured body of Malia. Malia who had previously been in too much pain to even stand felt her condition improve at a speed visible to the naked eyes.

The open wounds sustained under Shaya's fists had all closed only leaving bruising.

After Shaya awakened her Blood Fruit she had become able to perform something she called Blood Healing where she was able to heal any open wounds. Although she wasn't capable of curing internal injuries, just her ability to heal open wounds was a giant asset for the crew.

When finished, Although she was still in copious amounts of pain, it was nowhere near as bad. She was now capable of moving on her own.

Suddenly Shaya and Benji seemed to sense something as they both looked up in the direction of Ori's room. With a sigh Shaya got up and moved towards the stairs. After sensing him awaken Benji faced Shaya and asked softly.

"Do you want a hand?"

Shaya didn't turn around as she replied.

"No. This is something I should do alone!"

Up in Ori's room, the young Heavenly Demon was feeling the changes in his body after his battle with the Sweet Commander; Katakuri.

[This is incredible…

I actually managed to breakthrough to the A+ boundary because of that one fight? My current physical strength should be no weaker than Rome after he broke through to the S- Rank!

Ooh, my dantian actually seems to be absorbing energy a lot faster after comprehending the true mysteries of the Heavenly Demon Sacred Art. As it is now, I should be able to break through to the S- Rank in about 7-8 months training normally and the more I force myself to my limits the more time I'll be able to knock off.

Wait, what's this? My swordsmanship has improved tremendously, I somehow managed to reach the middle stages of the Grandmaster boundary. And after my enlightenment I seem to have seen the light, I should be able to improve rapidly without worrying about meeting a bottleneck until the Sword Lord Boundary. Although my current boundary can't compare to Katakuri and Kurogane who are at the Peak of the Grandmaster boundary, it's no weaker than that Daifuku.

Even though I lost in the end, that battle was well worth it!]

As he was lost in thought, Ori heard the door open as Shaya stepped inside.

"Shay, I actually managed to break through after that last battle. I feel incredible!

How's everyone else now? And where's Rome? his is the only presence I can't feel…

Shay… What's wrong? What happened?!"

As he looked at Shaya's sombre face he could tell that something was wrong, and a sudden sense of foreboding washed over him calming him from his previous high.

Shaya sat down on the side of his bed said slowly.

"There's something I need to tell you. It's about what happened after you fell asleep…"