Insecurities

"Are we there yet?" Zack asked.

"It is already the sixth time. We are not there. If you were so worried about her, why didn't you let Luffy carry you to the top?" Usopp smacked his head and shouted.

"Are we there yet?" Another person asked. This time, it was Dalton.

"Didn't I just say?" Usopp shouted at Dalton

"We are here." A voice rang from the front.

"Can't you say that ten seconds ago?" Usopp looked at the front and shouted.

They walked out of the ropeway car and came out of the door. Usopp, Zoro, Vivi, and Dalton looked at the boy lying on the snow full of injuries and saw a strange reindeer next to him.

Then, there was a man with blonde hair. He was none other than Sanji. Next to him, there was a girl and a boy, but the girl was getting lectured by an old man.

When Zack saw Nami, he instantly rushed toward her. Before she could see him, his arms were around her.

"Thank god, you are fine."

Nami felt like her heart beating out louder than the speaker when she heard those words. She was surprised to find that his right hand was trembling, but she didn't think that he was injured; instead felt extremely happy that he was so excited to the point he was trembling after hugging her.

But, suddenly, the old witch held his hand-rolled his jacket's sleeve. Her eyes fell on his hand, and she slapped his hand.

"Argh!"

Zack screamed in pain, which terrified Nami. His hand loosened, and Nami saw his painful expression. Luffy and Sanji froze for a moment.

"Boy, no matter how much you are worried, you need to understand your own situation. Don't always swallow the pain!"

"Doctor, what is going on? Why did he scream?" Nami got scared as she looked at Kureha and asked.

"Hush! Let's go inside the castle." Kureha sighed and walked toward the castle. Chopper curiously looked at his arm.

"Wait!" Dalton's voice halted her movement as she turned around and saw Dalton covered in bandages.

Dalton looked at Luffy and others, asking, "What happened to him?"

"Oh! I send him flying." Luffy showed his fist and answered. He pointed at Chopper and said, "And, this guy defeated that guy."

"TALKING RACOON!" Usopp, who seemed brave a second ago, screamed like his previous self. Vivi looked at him with surprise because she didn't expect him to get scared after what he did.

"Uhh! Usopp-san, after what you did, are you still afraid of anything?" Vivi couldn't help but walk near him and ask.

"That's a talking racoon. Of course, I am afraid of monsters."

Bang!

"That's our newest crew member." Luffy smashed his head when Chopper ran away.

"Oi Reindeer, don't run! Let's be pirates together!" Luffy started chasing him, and Usopp's stopped fearing him.

As Luffy started recruiting reindeer, Kureha took them inside. Zack and Nami were holding each other's hands. She didn't think Zack's situation had turned so bad.

She knew it wasn't a disease like hers, but if they hadn't come here, they wouldn't have known, and maybe there would be no doctor to cure such a disease.

For the first time, she felt grateful that she had gotten sick. Although it slowed their speed, now they would at least know what was going on with Zack.

After they reached a particular room, they sat down. Kureha looked at Zack and asked, "Did you recently train so hard that your strength has increased by several folds?"

This question alone brought pin drop silent in the room. Usopp, Zoro, Nami, Vivi, Sanji, Valentine, all had shocked expressions. On the other hand, Zack's expression turned complicated.

He didn't expect training hard would make him suffer. And, it wasn't the suffering during training but rather the aftermath of training.

"It seems like you trained hard. First, tell me, how did you train?" Kureha asked.

Zack clenched his fist and answered, "My devil fruit is known as Kake-Kake No Mi. It allows me to bet on several things. For now, I can bet on my training and strength."

"A few days ago, I found the former ability and trained with Valentine. She had eaten a devil fruit that increased the weight of her body. So, I had done intense training with her, and after that training, my strength did increase astoundingly."

"The part of the reason was also because of my devil fruit. It amplified my training."

Hearing his words, Kureha sighed, "So, you basically cheated to gain strength. Although you did nothing wrong, you didn't understand the concept of strength. It is not something you can gain overnight."

"You can't become the strongest person overnight, no matter how much you train. Did you eat enough during training?"

Zack nodded his head.

"I understand what's going on. I will explain this once, so listen carefully and don't interrupt me. You trained quite well but didn't understand the meaning behind the training."

"Whenever you train, you burn calories and tear up your muscles. Doing so, you slowly increase the density of your muscles. It also slowly affects your bones and skin."

"That's how you normally increase your strength, but you also need to recover. For that, you need food and rest. I can assume that you didn't rest properly."

"You might have slept and eaten enough, but you don't understand human biology. Eating something takes time to absorb the nutrient completely, and the same goes for rest. It takes time to rest."

"You neither rest enough nor give your body enough time to absorb nutrients. So, when you trained harder, you didn't give your body enough time to regenerate."

"Although you managed to increase the density of your bones and muscles, you also forced the pores in your body to grow bigger. Our body has a lot of pores, but they are tiny."

"When they grow bigger, everything can enter inside your body. You will get heavy after getting wet. You will dry very fast. And, when snow enters your body, you will release steam upon heating your body."

"From your expression, I assume I am right. This is a very dangerous situation. You could get toxins inside your body and die faster. You can even break bones after getting frozen or heat your interior to melt your blood."

"These are only minor case scenarios. Your body is not recovering quickly, but you are still training. If you train even more, your cells will literally get torn apart, and you will die."

"There is no direct way to recover from this. But, it has one successful way to recover. You need to stop training for five months. You can't train no matter how hard the situation gets."

"Since you are a pirate, I won't stop you from fighting, but remember not to fight against those with elemental powers since they could easily affect your interior."

"Normally, people do get stronger by fighting, so you shouldn't fight more than once a week."

Saying so, Kureha looked at Nami and sternly spoke, "If you let him fight more than once a week, he will die. His situation is like poison. It will slowly consume him until there is nothing left to consume and dispose of him."

Hearing her words, Nami's eyes shrunk. Her arms started trembling as she bit her lips. She understood why Kureha said that. Only she had a real chance to force Zack into listening to her, but for that, she must do something else.

"Zack, can you come outside?"

Nami stood up and walked out. Everyone was confused by her. Zack was also confused, but he still followed her out. When they reached outside, they walked toward the cliff.

Zack was basically following Nami. She stopped in front of the cliff. Her heartbeat was getting louder, and her face was turning red. Zack didn't speak. He was already in shock because of what Kureha had told him.

Nami took a deep breath and turned around.

"Zack, I love you."

The shock on his face deepened. For a moment, Zack couldn't believe Nami had actually confessed to him.

"I know you like me as well, but I wanted you to confess. Originally, I wanted to give us a little more time to figure out our true relationship. I didn't want to be in a relationship and break up."

"And, I also wanted you to confess, but when Kureha said that, I realized something. I must take a step forward. If I hesitate even now, I might never get a chance."

"That's why I want to say this to you again. I love you, Zack."

Zack just stood there with his mouth wide open. He couldn't believe it. But, the next moment, it became even more ridiculous. Nami took a step forward and pressed her lips against his.

When he felt her lips, his body was electrocuted. After kissing him, Nami stepped back and said, "No matter what you say now, I am your girlfriend. And, I won't let you die. NO MATTER WHAT!"

Nami was actually scared. She was terrified that she was assuming that Zack loved her. She wanted it to be accurate, but she wasn't sure. She was trembling because of that.

But, suddenly, Zack put his arms around her and his head on her shoulder. At this moment, all of the frustration and insecurity he was holding after finding his strange problem came out in tears.

His tears wet her shoulder for the first time after coming to this world, and even in his previous life, he cried because.....

"I am scared, Nami."