00031. Watch your words.

Marcus awoke to the sound of singing, laughter and most importantly, the smell of food. He was in Makino's bar and was placed off to one side, while the rest of the place was packed with people. As Marcus stood up from his resting place someone said, "Hey captain, the kid's finally awake!"

Marcus turned to the voice and found a large round man eating a big piece of meat. Before Marcus could completely comprehend what was going on, a hand landed on his shoulder as Shanks said, "Took you long enough. I was starting to think I needed to toss a bucket of water on you to wake you up."

Marcus glanced at Shanks as he asked, "How long was I out?"

"About five hours."

Marcus let out a frustrated sigh, he basically wasted his day sleeping. Shanks smiled at him as he said, "Don't worry about it, you put up a good fight. Are you hungry?"

"Yeah." Marcus said as he nodded his head.

As Shanks led Marcus to a table laden with food, Marcus thought back on the fight and realized he didn't really waste his day. He learned more sparring against Shanks then he normally did just training for a week or two. After he sat down and started to eat, Marcus asked, "Where did my brothers go?"

Shanks poured sake into his cup as he said, "They woke up hours ago and took off after they ate something. But they didn't mention where they were going."

Marcus clicked his tongue before he shoved a big piece of meat into his mouth. As he ate Shanks asked, "So how long have you practiced swordsmanship?"

"Four or five years… I think." Marcus said after he swallowed his food.

Shanks nodded before he asked, "Who taught you?"

As Marcus picked up a steamed bun he said, "Mostly myself. I've been given some pointers from time to time. But I don't have a master or anything like that."

Shanks smiled as he said, "I want you."

It was like a switch was flipped as the whole place stopped as everyone looked at Shanks in shock. In the quietness of the bar the only thing that could be heard was Marcus as he chewed on his steamed bun. After Marcus swallowed his first bite he said, "I'm not into creepy old men."

The entire room erupted into laughter before Shanks said, "I'm not old… Or creepy!"

"Then you should take better care of yourself and stop telling young boys that you want them." Marcus said as he tossed the rest of the steamed bun into his mouth.

"But I want you to join my crew." Shanks said.

"See, now that doesn't sound as creepy."

Shanks nodded before he asked, "So? What do you think?"

"No." Marcus said before he shoved a piece of meat into his mouth.

"What? Why not? I can properly teach you swordsmanship, you could see the world. Plus it will be a lot of fun."

Marcus shook his head before he raised one finger as he said, "First off, we just met."

Marcus raised another finger as he said, "Second, I have no idea what type of person you are. Who knows if we will even get along."

"Third, what makes you think I want to be a pirate in the first place?" Marcus said as he raised a third finger.

As Marcus raised another finger Shanks said, "Alright, alright, I'll take that as a no for now."

Benn laughed as he patted Shanks shoulder and said, "Looks like people in East Blue don't like you captain. I remember Yasopp turned you down when you originally tried to recruit him and now this kid is doing the same thing."

"Yeah captain, it looks like you lost your charm." Another man said before everyone laughed.

"Just because he said no the first time, doesn't mean he will say no the second or third time. Even Yasopp agreed after a while. " Shanks said with a determined voice.

"No means no, old man." Marcus said before he shoved more food in his mouth.

"I'm not old! I'm only twenty seven you brat!" Shanks said before he downed a full glass of sake.

Marcus shrugged as he said, "Could have fooled me."

A few minutes later Marcus finished eating and stood up to leave as Shanks asked, "Where are you going?"

"I slept all day, I need to practice."

Shanks grabbed a bottle of sake and stood up as he said, "I'll join you."

As Marcus moved towards the kitchen door that led to the back of the bar before he stopped Shanks and said, "Sorry but customers aren't allowed back here. You should stay with your friends and party."

The bar erupted into more laughter as Shanks frowned as he said, "Aren't you going to train? I can help you out."

"Oh, do you want to spar again?" Marcus asked with interest.

Shanks shook his head as he said, "I've been drinking, I wouldn't want to accidentally hurt you if we sparred."

"Then how do you plan to help me out if you're drunk, old man?"

Shanks turned around as he said, "Fine, go practice on your own. See if I care."

"I was planning on it." Marcus said as he walked into the back room.

Marcus quickly collected his sword, put on his training harness and went out back to train. Since he had a few hours till sunset, he did a quick warm up before he started sword practice. Since he learned so much from his spar with Shanks, Marcus focused on that fight and practiced what he learned from it. Once Marcus started training, he completely lost himself in his training and didn't notice when Shanks and Benn came out to watch him half an hour later.

Shanks and Benn sat on one of the benches behind Makino's and watched Marcus practice for a while before Benn asked, "Are you sure you want him to join our crew?"

Shanks smiled as he watched Marcus train before he said, "I think he would be a good fit. Plus look at him right now. He is already incorporating what he learned from our spar into his fighting style. The kid is a genius."

Benn studied Marcus for a while before he said, "But he doesn't seem to like you."

"Maybe… But like he said, he just doesn't know me yet."

Shanks stood up as he said, "Lets head back in and let him practice."

Marcus practiced till Makino called him inside to eat dinner. When he walked into the back of the bar he found Ace, Sabo, Luffy and a worn out Uta at the table as they waited for Makino to bring food. Marcus took a seat as he said, "You should have woken me up to train."

"We tried, but after a couple of times we gave up." Ace said with a shrug.

Marcus nodded before he turned to look at Uta and asked, "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be out with your dad and his friends?"

Uta crossed her arms over her chest as she said, "I was invited."

Marcus glanced at the others before he followed their gaze to Luffy. Luffy smiled as he said, "She trained with us today since you were asleep."

"Really? Did you give her a harness?" As the boys shook their heads Uta said, "Harness? That ugly thing all of you wear? There's no way I would ever wear something like that. It's gross."

As Makino brought in food and started to place it on the table Marcus said, "It's not meant to be pretty. It was designed to make you stronger."

"How can something like that make you stronger?" Uta asked as he glanced at the harness Marcus wore.

"It makes you feel like your whole body is moving through thick mud. And if you use it long enough you get stronger." Marcus said with a shrug.

"That doesn't make any sense."

As Marcus reached over to load food onto his plate he said, "You're right, it doesn't. But it doesn't need to, as long as it works. We can let you try one for yourself tomorrow if you want."

"No way, they're too ugly to wear." Uta said as she frowned in disgust.

Marcus chuckled before he said, "It's fine, you wouldn't even be able to last a day if you wore one anyway."

"I can too!"

"Really? You wanna bet on that?" Marcus asked with a smile.

"Yeah, what do I get when I win?" Uta asked excitedly.

Marcus smirked as he said, "I like your confidence, so I'll let you choose."

"I want a pretty necklace and it better have a ruby in it." Uta said.

"And what do we get if we win?"

"I can give you some of the treasure I have on the ship." Uta said after a few moments.

"We don't need treasure. How about you make your dad spar with us a couple more times?" Marcus said as he shared a glance with Ace and Sabo.

Uta nodded before she smiled and said, "I can do that, no problem."

Marcus reached over to shake Uta's hand as he said, "Let's shake on it then."

After they shook hands everyone started to eat dinner except for Luffy, who started as soon as food was on the table. Once they finished dinner, Marcus went back outside to train while Uta and the other boys stayed in the bar. A couple hours later Ace and the others came out of the bar to go to the bathhouse. But it wasn't just them, it turned out Shanks and his crew planned to join them along with Makino.

After Marcus put away his stuff, he joined the others as they went to the bathhouse. Once there they split into two groups, since Makino and Uta went to the woman's side of the bathhouse. As they soaked in the slightly over crowded main tub after getting cleaned off. Shanks, who had a bottle of sake in his hand said, "This place is great, it would be great if we had something like this on the ship."

Benn, who had his head laid back on the side of the tub with a towel that covered his eyes said, "We should talk to the shipwrights in water seven when we get there. I am pretty sure they could make something similar for the next ship."

Shanks took a drink from his bottle before he said, "Sounds good to me."

"Hey, don't drink in here! What if you spill it?" Marcus said.

"Sake in the bath is a time honored tradition. You'll understand when you're older." Shanks said before he passed the bottle to another crew mate who nodded in agreement before he took a drink himself.

The large round guy from the crew, Lucky Roux swung a big piece of meat around as he said, "Exactly!"

"What the hell! Don't bring food into the bath!" Marcus said in annoyance.

"Uh? If I don't bring in food, how am I going to eat?" Lucky asked before he took a bite.

"YOU DON'T EAT FOOD IN THE BATH HOUSE!" Everyone else yelled at the same time. Before they kicked him out of the bath.

With Lucky gone, it actually freed up a good bit of space, so everyone was able to relax properly. After they finished at the bathhouse everyone decided to head back to the bar. As they walked back Marcus glanced at Uta as he said, "If you plan to win that bet, you better get up early tomorrow."

Uta nodded seriously as she said, "Don't worry about me, I always get up early."

Makino patted Uta's shoulder as she said, "You can stay in the spare room tonight if you want."

Uta nodded happily as she said, "Thanks big sis!"

Once they made it back to the bar, Marcus and the other boys headed to bed while Shanks and his crew moved back into the bar to drink more. Marcus wasn't sure if Uta herself went to bed or not, but it didn't matter to him. He planned to wake her up in the morning Garp style, if she wasn't up by the time he went to find her.