Chapter 25: The Art of Deception 3

"WAH!"

Or, that was the plan, until he saw Onion get clipped by an attack.

Usopp froze at the sound of the child screaming and without even thinking, he turned around and aimed his slingshot at the pirate.

"Lead Star!"

Jango was about to pick up the fallen kid, but was caught off guard by the lead star connecting solidly with his gut. The pirate let out a tiny "oomph" at that and he glared at the long nosed liar who had been the source of the attack.

"Why you…" he growled, grabbing two of his chakrams and spinning them. Without wasting any time, he launched one at the boy, who leapt out of the way and shot the second one at his vulnerable body that just landed, giving him no time to dodge again.

"AGHHHH!" Usopp yelled as the chakram dug into his belly. He spat out a glob of blood and clutched the spot to desperately stave off the bleeding.

"I was hoping you'd lead me to the Miss, but I'm just gonna kill you and find out myself," Jango decided.

Rosan watched Kaya collapse with an uncaring gaze, heedless of her struggles. They were walking through the forest in the direction that led to her mansion and despite how tired the sick girl was getting, the redhead refused to help.

"Tired?" He snarked blandly. "I doubt you'd be struggling this much if you stayed on the ship."

The exhausted girl shamefully refused to make eye contact, as she tried to defend herself. "I-I know! I'm sorry but I thought I could do something—"

"AGHHHH!" A loud scream interrupted the two and Rosan closed his eyes as Kaya's own eyes widened in recognition and then horror.

"That was Usopp-san!" She gasped, forcing herself to stand so that she could head over to him. The strain of all the movement she did today, was too much for the owner of the mansion and she fell back down, panting heavily and gripping her shirt in exhaustion.

Rosan contemplated kicking her while she was down but just hummed instead as he came to a decision. "Wait here. Usopp will come to you soon."

He was going to do this after the fighting was over but now was as good as time as any.

"W-Will you be fine?" Kaya asked hesitantly. The redhead was harsh but he was still the one helping her this much when he didn't have to. Especially considering she had been nothing but a nuisance to him when he was just trying to keep her safe.

"That's a stupid question."

Rosan took off in the direction of where he had heard the scream and it didn't take him long to see Usopp desperately trying to defend an injured kid while fighting off the hypnotist.

He had a long cut on his back and his stomach was bleeding too. He was clutching a wound and the fear in his eyes were very noticeable but he resolutely stood in front of the panicked child.

Despite being so cowardly, perhaps even he had things he wanted to protect that allowed him to bypass his weaknesses.

Rosan guessed he could lend him a hand then. He'd have let him die if the coward had completely given up.

Jango's eyes bugged as he was suddenly kicked in the stomach and his body crashed into a tree with brutal force, snapping the wood from its spot and sending it collapsing with the pirate.

"Usopp, Kaya is in that direction and she's out of energy. Take those kids and go help her."

The teen in question, looked at Rosan in disbelief. When had he gotten here? Wasn't he tired from his display earlier...?

Then, he registered the redhead's words and his gaze followed the direction that the finger was pointed in.

Kaya was there? Really?! Did Rosan manage to find her? When did he do that?!

Usopp didn't know but he wasn't going to wait to find out.

"T-Thanks, Rosan! Usopp Pirates, let's go!" He yelled out and the three children saluted before all of them disappeared.

Jango heard this all and was about to follow them but the redhead's presence, completely froze him in his spot, giving him a stark reminder of just what happened to more than half of his men.

"Finally, we're alone," Rosan hummed, glancing at the terrified hypnotist with a tilted head. "Jango was it? Can I call you that?"

Memories of what Rosan did were embedded firmly in his mind and Jango felt himself shaking at the fact that they were alone.

"W-What do you want?" The hypnotist asked fearfully.

Wasn't... Wasn't Kuro fighting him? Did he manage to escape his captain? But how?! Kuro had him on the defensive the entire time! What was he doing here?!

Rosan stared at him and he felt himself fidgeting nervously.

"Your hypnotism is very interesting," the 24 year old admitted truthfully. "You've managed to temporarily do something that was not possible for twelve years and that has caught my attention."

The hypnotist didn't think catching a demon's attention was a good thing at all. In fact, being on one's radar sounded like a terrible omen.

"I want you to join my side," Rosan offered bluntly. "I think your abilities are being wasted and despite how weak you are, what you can do is impressive enough to leave you alive."

Jango blinked at his words. "Y-You want me to just betray my allies? I could never do that!"

"Soon, you will have no allies. I will make sure of it," Rosan promised ominously. "You can either join me or suffer the consequences of not doing so. You won't be staying with me, I'll bring you to a place where you can live peacefully as long as you do what I ask you to do."

That place was of course Maro's island.

Jango blinked behind his shades in confusion. He would have no allies soon…? What did he mea —

Oh.

"You'll kill me if I say no? You think that scares me!" Jango frowned. He wouldn't just throw his loyalty away. He may have been a pirate, but he had standards you know!

"I've discovered that there are things in life far worse than dying," Rosan whispered coolly, face not shifting at all. "I'll gladly show you that death can sometimes be a more desired alternative. How do you think being trapped inside of a body that you can't control feels? Watching as they do everything opposite of your real intentions? Would you like to find out before I force you to submit?"

This redhead terrified him more than he'd ever admit and he was already visibly afraid of him. How could he say such things without the slightest change in expression?

Jango felt a chill crawl down his spine at his words and realized that it was in his best interest to not find out what the redhead was going to do to him.

"W-What do you want me to do?" He finally asked. There was no getting out of this.

"Not much. I simply want you on my side," Rosan told him quietly. "You're being put to waste by a person that plans on killing you when this is over anyways. I personally think you're much more interesting than Kuro and he doesn't seem to know or care. Killing you would be unwise."

"W-What?" Kuro was going to kill him? Jango wanted to be surprised but honestly, he really wasn't. He didn't want anyone to know that he was Captain Kuro so it checked out.

"Have you made up your mind?" Rosan asked and Jango hesitantly nodded. "Good, I don't tolerate people who lie to me. Let's get along, Jango."

If the man was lying to him, Rosan would torture him near death and then use Overhaul to take over. The hypnotist's technique was too interesting for him to merely get rid of.

"Hey! I may not look it but I'm an honest man," Jango protested, causing Rosan to simply nod.

Reaching out his hand, Rosan grasped the pirate without warning and thought, "Modify Target: Rest Mode," successfully putting Jango to sleep. With a wave of his hand and a slight glow of his earrings, he stored him in his pocket dimension.

"I agree with this decision. Having him strengthen up our allies, could be quite the boon," Mod hummed. He also did mention that he wanted to give Maro allies a long time ago and it was clear he didn't forget. Honestly, her son was such a menace.

"Maybe even weaklings have value… I never thought I'd see Father with emotions so soon! It was so fucking awesome!" Ram gushed. It was so surreal to witness! She wanted that to be the way he acted permanently!

"Language," Mod admonished, despite agreeing with her sentiment. It had filled her heart with so much joy to hear Rosan's laughter again and for his voice to be anything besides blank.

She yearned for the day where that was the norm. Where they could bring Rosan home

"There's only Kuro and Luffy left. That shouldn't be too hard for him," Rosan said, making his way back to the shore.

He was tired of babysitting that idiot. Let Usopp deal with his stupid girlfriend.

Just… what… were… these BRATS?

"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"

A fist connected solidly with his cheek, despite the speed he was running at and he crashed to the floor.

"You're pretty fast," Luffy remarked, looking wholly unbothered by the entire ordeal, if the carefree. There were some large cuts that he received from the start of the battle but that had been the only time he had caught the rubber boy off guard.

Kuro couldn't believe it. The straw hat boy was able to perfectly react to him… Almost as if he could see him while the butler was using his stealth foot.

Case in point, Kuro again tried to use his technique and it seemed to throw Luffy off for just a moment but never long.

Luffy watched Kuro run around the entire field. "You waste a lot of movement!" He called out before swinging his foot in the area that he was going to appear in.

"Gomu Gomu no Whip!" He called slamming his foot into Kuro's abdomen and sending the speedy man tumbling.

"I don't like you," Luffy said bluntly to the struggling man. "Running away from a life of piracy? If you didn't want the reputation, then you shouldn't have become a pirate!"

The few remaining pirates (the ones that fought Luffy and not Rosan) watched in awe as the rubber boy manhandled their captain like it was nothing.

Zoro, who was observing the battle from a distance, found himself wondering for the second time since joining this crew just how strong someone else was. Besides the anger at Kuro's words, Luffy looked mostly unbothered by the fight before him and he was easily repelling all of his opponent's attacks with moves of his own.

Kuro, realizing that there was a very real chance that he could lose here (the redhead hadn't even been dealt with yet!), decided to use his ultimate technique.

"H-Hey, don't tell me…"

The Black Cat Pirates began panicking at the sight of Kuro swaying back and forth.

"O-Oh no! That's…"

"That's the Captain's ultimate attack!"

"D-Doesn't that mean we're in danger too?! He can't control who he attacks when he's like this!"

Luffy and Zoro regarded them in confusion. What were they talking abou—

"AGH!" A pirate screamed as five long gashes appeared on his torso. Soon, the same screams of agony began to ring through the group of pirates.

"W-What's happening?!" Nami asked in disbelief, soaking in the sight with a look of horror. She had just finished robbing the pirates for their meager treasure, only to see said pirates getting cut into mercilessly by some unseen force.

"He's attacking his crew more than his opponent," Zoro muttered in disgust. What was wrong with the pirates they were running into? Did none of them care about the men who chose to follow them? Maybe Zoro had gotten lucky choosing to follow Luffy.

Luffy grit his teeth in rage at how carelessly Kuro was treating his crew, his friends. The rubber boy didn't even care that he was also getting marred by the random targeting, glaring harshly at the darting figure with an intense look.

This was utterly sickening.

"DON'T YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR OWN CREW?!" The rubber boy roared, voice laced in unrestrained fury.

"Luffy?" Nami gasped in shock. He was getting mad on the other pirates behalf...? Just who was this boy?

The captain of the Straw Hats glared at the battlefield and extended his hand, catching Kuro in the middle of his attack. He gripped the man's suit from behind and ruthlessly slammed him into the pavement so that he couldn't move anymore.

Kuro heaved at the impact, spitting out a glob of saliva, and shakily pulled himself up. Did he actually manage to catch him out of his Out of the Bag Attack?! Just who were these no name pirates?! First a redhead who could consistently dodge his speed, that managed to identify him almost immediately when everyone else had been fooled by his death for years and that had ruined all those careful years of planning for the hell of it!

Now this idiotic rubber boy was effortlessly keeping up with him? He was infuriatingly carefree and seemed to almost be mocking Kuro with how easily he dealt with his speed. Was this some sort of fluke? Was it because he was out of shape?! First the redhead who dodged him and now the rubber nuisance?!

WHY WOULDN'T THEY JUST DIE?!

First the redhead, now this rubber boy. The pirate wasn't even going to be able to get his revenge on the one who had foiled him in the first place.

"Oh? You don't look too good," a familiar voice mocked and Kuro went red in the face.

"Y-You," he snarled at the sight of Rosan staring blankly at him. Not once had the redhead ever regarded him differently and combined with the fact that the rubber boy wasn't taking him serious, it nearly made him pop a blood vessel.

"Kaya is safe, Jango has been dealt with and my adorable little brother is crushing you. You've failed quite spectacularly, Kuro… You're quite the unlucky one to run into us the moment you decided to spring your plan. Too much patience can cloud your judgment of good opportunities," Rosan informed him kindly.

He just needed to take one with him. That's all he needed. If he managed to kill the redhead, he'd be fine. Kuro began swaying back and forth again and the redhead just watched with that infuriatingly neutral expression.

"Oh no you don't!" Luffy called out, wrapping his arm and legs around the taller man's body. "Try doing that move now!" The rubber boy grinned cheekily.

"I-If the rubber boy wins, does that mean we don't die?" One of the pirates asked in a sliver of hope.

"I think so…"

They glanced at each other for a moment before quickly coming to a decision.

"GO RUBBER BOY! GET EM! KILL CAP'N KURO!" They cheered.

Luffy's face instantly morphed into one of annoyance at their chants. He flung his head all the way down the shore in order to face the cheering pirates directly and their eyes bugged at the sudden proximity of them and the rubbery pirate.

"Who said you could root for me?!" Luffy barked at the idiots. "I'm gonna get you guys, too! Just wait till I'm done with him!"

They fell on their asses and crawled backwards while screaming, "GAHHHHHH!"

With that declaration, Luffy said, "Gomu Gomu no…"

Kuro watched with horror on his face as everything crashed and burned around him at the hands of people he had deemed irrelevant.

No, this couldn't be happening. After all his careful planning, three years worth of it, you were telling him some random group of wannabe pirates were going to be the one to put an end to it?!

It wasn't only the redhead that was a problem?! This… THIS COULDN'T BE?! HOW COULD THIS BE HAPPENING?!

"IT'S IMPOSSIBLE! MY PLAN CAN'T FAIL! THEY NEVER FAIL!" He roared as he finally reached his limit. The pirate struggled intensely in Luffy's grasp to no avail and only increased in intensity at the sight of the rubbery head careening towards him with what was sure to be concussive damage.

"Ah yes, I was wondering when that last dose of sanity was going to taper out," Rosan mused. It was almost a staple in some people when they were about to lose. Always raving about how they were better then this and how they couldn't lose here. He had learned a lot out of the second hand pirate classes that his victims so helpfully taught him.

"BELL!"

Luffy's head snapped back to his body and the momentum of the headbutt connecting to Kuro, knocked him cleanly unconscious. A spray of blood left his mouth and his eyes rolled to the back of his head, as the rubber boy nearly shattered his skull into pieces. His body fell like a puppet with its strings cut and he did not move again.

"It's our victory."

Of course it was, someone as pathetic as Kuro would never be able to handle Luffy's tenacity and strength. He lacked the resolve to put his life on the line against his brother and once you failed to do that, you would lose against him. The moment he had given up the pirate life, he had given up his own because he lacked the resolve.

Rosan watched Luffy tell the pirates who he was and what his goals were and nodded in approval. He would never have followed the rubber boy if he ever wavered in his goal.

After all, he said with the utmost confidence that he'd save the redhead but if he wavered in his dream to be Pirate King, how could Rosan ever expect to trust him with such an important mission?

The redhead watched Luffy, Nami and Zoro interact with a tilted head, then he looked at the fleeing pirates carrying Kuro with admirable haste. It didn't take long for the defeated group to hoist him on the beaten ship and eventually, the Black Cat pirates set sail.

His dead eyes never left the ship.

Nami pulled him to the side while Usopp conversed with Luffy and Zoro about becoming a pirate and setting out to sea by himself.

Yeah right. Luffy already slotted him into the crew and the liar would absolutely die by himself.

"Nami," Rosan nodded in greeting. "You wanted to talk about something?"

The navigator nodded in return hesitantly, not sure if she'd get the answers she wanted. "This whole thing with Kuro… did you already know and play a hand in it?" She asked him curiously.

"Yes."

She half expected him to give her some infuriating answer so to outright confirm it, left her rather surprised.

"You did?!"

Rosan nodded. "Yes, from the moment I saw Kuro posing as a butler I figured out his identity. It was a little confusing, considering he was supposed to be dead but I gathered a couple of other clues that helped me confirm it."

"You knew all this beforehand but you didn't say anything until they attacked… Why?" Nami wondered. If what he was saying was true… he could have stopped this long before it started!

Rosan figured it wouldn't be ideal to tell her he wanted to secure Kaya's gratitude and a ship so he told her the other reason.

"No one would have believed outsiders who just landed on this island a day ago," he replied and she nodded along with his explanation, remembering that they absolutely refused to believe Usopp himself despite his status as a liar.

"I figured they would have believed Usopp which is why I was surprised that he was being chased by them."

That made... a lot of sense.

"Kuro called you a liar too," Nami pointed out. He called him a lot of stuff actually but the liar part was the most interesting.

The redhead glanced at her for a moment.

"You're smarter then I thought you were," he complimented and she felt a tick mark forming on her head.

"I could say the same to you!" their navigator countered, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"I told Kuro that I wouldn't ruin his plans as long as he didn't drag me into it," Rosan began. "Unfortunately for him, Luffy is my captain and he already took a shine to Usopp so I was never not going to get dragged into it. Once Luffy said he would help, I went to go move Kaya to the ship and derailed everything."

What a conniving plan… He had set up Kuro from the start and the pirate was none the wiser until it was too late. That explained why the pirate had shown up in such a foul mood.

"I feel like there was an ulterior motive here…" Nami mused. Rosan wasn't the type to do something out of the goodness of his heart, her short time with him had made that clear to her.

Rosan hummed. "You're right, I did this so we could get money. Kaya is indebted to me and I'm sure we'll get rewarded for it."

Nami's eyes turned into stars and she crashed into Rosan. "You're the best big bro!" She cheered. Honestly, he was so smart and talented and she'd never doubt him again!

"One day, I'm going to get you the help you need, Nami," Rosan told their navigator, patting her shoulder in reassurance.

"We should get going now," Zoro said. They were in the restaurant that they first came to when docking on the island and they just finished eating the rest of their meal.

"Yeah!" Luffy agreed, patting his belly in satisfaction.

"Ah, there you guys are!" Kaya called, opening the door to the pub and entering after seeing her targets there.

"Hey, Miss," Luffy waved casually.

"Are you alright, being out of bed?" Nami questioned in concern.

Kaya nodded happily and explained to them that her sickness was due to her dismay at losing both parents and that due to Usopp, she was feeling better.

Then, the blonde girl nervously looked over at Rosan, who had opted to just observe the conversation, and bowed to him.

"Rosan-san, thank you very much for helping Merry and I… I know I caused you a lot of problems and I truly am sorry for that so to make it up to you… I've prepared some presents for you guys!"

Ah, she was still guilty about causing him to get struck... should he milk it?

"It all worked out in the end anyways so you don't have to be guilty anymore," Rosan shrugged.

No, he didn't care, he already won.

"A present?" Luffy asked in clear interest.

"Yes, please accept it!" Kaya smiled at the four and beckoned for them to follow her.

All four stared at their gift with various reactions.

"A caravel!" Nami gasped in awe at the sight before her. Luffy grinned in excitement at it and cheered at finally having a ship to call his own.

"Can we really have it?!" He asked.

"Yes, please use it!" Kaya nodded happily.

It was a caravel designed personally by Merry (who had not stopped thanking Rosan profusely for his work) which explained why it had a goat's head.

"A caravel, with lateen sails and a central stern rudder, I present to you, The Going Merry!"

Merry hopelessly tried to explain how to operate the ship to Luffy (Mod-chan had force fed him information ships when he was younger so he already knew) and Nami just told him to explain it to her.

As they did that, Kaya decided to speak to Rosan again.

"Your personal ship is really incredible… I was in awe just looking at it!" Kaya complimented with a fascinated look in her eyes. "I hope the Going Merry can live up to your expectations."

Rosan hummed and nodded in approval. "Thank you, this saves us a lot of trouble."

"I also left some essentials!" Kaya added hastily. "And some bonus funds too, as thanks for everything you did."

"I appreciate that, Kaya. Despite all the troubles you caused me, it all turned out fine in the end."

Kaya pouted at his snide words. "I said I was sorry about that! It was a stupid mistake, I know, but please stop bringing it up!"

The redhead snorted and pat her head. "I'm just teasing," Rosan replied calmly, ruining her hair on purpose.

She scowled and batted his hand away petulantly. "Has anyone ever told you how annoying you are?"

"I could give you three off the top of my head. Six on a good day."

Kaya groaned. Did he have a snarky reply for everything? He was just the worst!

Their conversation halted at the sight of a figure, with an insanely huge bag, rolling down the hill at worrying speeds.

"It's your boyfriend," Rosan pointed out, recognizing the idiotic figure of Usopp.

"P-PLEASE STOP TEASING ME!" Kaya stammered in embarrassment, face turning a similar shade of red as his hair. She always felt some type of embarrassment when speaking to the redhead and she hated how used to it she was getting.

"Teasing...? You two aren't dating? Color me surprised." The redhead tilted his head to the side at the revelation.

The girl just moaned in misery and hid her face behind her hands, not opting to answer.

He was just the worst. Was this her punishment for messing up? She didn't deserve this!

"Let's stop him before he crashes into the ship," Zoro said.

Luffy nodded in agreement.

The captain and swordsman both lifted up one foot to stop the approaching ball and Usopp ran into them face first with a loud smack.

"T-Thanks," Usopp groaned through their sandal and boot respectively.

Afterwards, the Straw Hats quickly got situated on their ship and Rosan made sure to give everyone their belongings from the White Rose, pocketing his silver ship afterwards (much to the open mouthed disbelief of everyone watching and his refusal to divulge any information).

The redhead watched Usopp and Kaya, from atop the new ship, talk about the boys desire to finally go out to sea. How the long nose didn't notice the rich girls resolve quickly fading, he didn't know but she looked like she desperately wanted him to stay.

"Did you get what you wanted from this?" Mod asked curiously.

"More or less. There's just one more thing to do but the bonus money should help us out for when Luffy eats all the food."

"You have absolutely no faith in him," she giggled.

"Where does he even put it away? Is it cause he's made of rubber?" Ram wondered in confusion. Father ate a lot too but he just burned that off or turned it into muscle!

Luffy, despite the hellish training Rosan put him through, was still pretty scrawny for his age! Sure he had a good amount of muscles because of the physical labor Rosan put him through but it seemed like the boy was just destined to be naturally slim.

It was one of the world's mysteries.

"When I come to visit this village again, I'll tell you about all my adventures and they'll sound like even bigger lies than the ones I already mentioned!" Usopp grinned.

Kaya grinned happily in return. "I look forward to it!"

The liar then looked towards the crew and said "You guys take care too! Let's meet again sometime!"

Luffy blinked in confusion. "How come?"

Usopp frowned at that response. He thought they had became friends over their adventure together... Was that only on his part?. "We're both gonna be pirates so we'll meet again on sea!"

"What're you talking about?" Zoro raised a brow like Usopp was stupid. "Get on already."

"Eh?" Usopp balked in confusion.

"We're friends now, aren't we?" Luffy asked as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Usopp looked at all of them in confusion before a look of joy came across his face and he jumped excitedly.

"I GET TO BE CAPTAIN, RIGHT?!"

"DON'T BE DUMB, I'M THE CAPTAIN!"

Their laughter rang through the skies as the ship set sail.

"MASTER!" A voice called, tackling Rosan, who didn't move an inch. He was far too used to this to be moved over, even with her monstrous strength.

"Maro, how have you been?" Rosan asked, patting the clingy queen on the head and squeezing her, much to the Dokkaebi's joy.

"I just got out of a meeting with Government officials and it was superrrr boring and I was like "Oh you just wait till I betray you guys" but they didn't know I was thinking that because I'm super good at infiltration missions. And and I left my tiara in my room just in case you visited me so that they couldn't see you!" The Queen of Celadon gushed.

The redhead nodded, understanding everything she said despite the fact that she barely took a breath and just continued to hug her, absentmindedly stroking her blue and white hair and getting her to purr in bliss. She buried herself deeper in his strong frame and grinned happily at that warmth she loved so much.

Maro had been making her way to her room to dress in something less professional and more movement free, when she saw Rosan laying half his body on her bed, eyes closed as he, probably, conversed with Mod and Ram. He hadn't visited since the day he and Luffy set sail so she was understandably excited to see him.

"So… how have you been?! You guys don't have bounties yet! What's the big idea?! Crew? Ship?! Tell me! Wait, lemme call Angel and Demon, they'll be super happy to see you!"

Rosan let Maro talk and call his twin siblings, content to let her run the conversation however long she wanted. She could go for days if she wanted too and it balanced out his mostly silent demeanor well.

She urged him to sit down and dashed off to go retrieve the two other rulers of Celadon. The queen came back in record time and Rosan quickly got back up, expecting to be tackled again.

"MASTER! I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" Angel beamed, tackling Rosan the exact same way Maro did and failing to move him just like her. He easily grabbed his younger sister and squeezed gently, practically repeating the same thing he had done to Maro, getting a happy coo out of her and achieving the same results. The female redhead snuggled him deeply and he nearly rolled his eyes at their antics.

"How are you?" Demon followed up, joining the group hug and gracefully accepting the head pat from his older brother with a pleased smile. "We're happy to see you!"

"How's the pirate life so far! I still can't believe we can call you a pirate now!" Angel asked curiously.

"Before I tell you guys about my journey so far, I need a favor from you, Maro," Rosan said calmly.

"You need a favor from me?!" Maro gaped at his statement, surprise clear on the beautiful queen's features. "Hell yeah! What is it?!"

"We recently got out of a fight with the Black Cat Pirates," Rosan told her. "One of their members had a very interesting ability and I want you to hide and house him on this island. I can modify his appearance if you'd like me to so that he's harder to recognize."

Her excitement dimmed a bit at that and Maro's eyes narrowed at that. "What ability could he have that would make you want to potentially jeopardize Celadon? He probably has a bounty, right? We'd have to disguise him and we might still be in danger."

Master or no, she wouldn't just accept a pirate on her island. Celadon were allies with the World Government right now so they couldn't do anything risky. Rosan knew that but still asked her so the pirate (he was from the East Blue after all) had to be good for something.

"It's best if I show you," the redhead replied. He was proud that Maro didn't just agree immediately. His student would normally do anything to please him but instead she showed her wariness and questioned him like a queen should.

Good. He didn't want her to say yes to everything solely because he was her master.

Rosan's eyes glowed and he reached into his Pocket Dimension (without going inside of it!), pulling out Jango and depositing the, still sleeping, man on the floor.

With a simple nudge, the hypnotist began to slowly wake up. The leaders watched the rather odd man wake up with curious eyes, wondering just what he had done to gain Rosan's attention (the poor soul).

"Warn a guy before you knock him out," Jango grumbled tiredly. He didn't expect to get kidnapped by the guy he had just agreed to join but then again, the redhead operated on his own time it seemed.

Any other words he was about to say, were cut off as he laid eyes on Angel. The redhead clone was looking at him with thinly veiled disgust but Jango didn't see that. He saw probably the most beautiful woman in his life and his heart thumped harshly against his chest.

Jango no longer had any doubts about joining Rosan if he got to look at such a beautiful woman like this.

Maro's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Master…" She warned in a low snarl. The queen was about to turn him into paste if he kept ogling Angel like that.

Demon laughed at her obvious annoyance and Angel looked at Maro in confusion, wondering what made her wife so upset all of a sudden.

The queen possessively grabbed Angel and dragged the woman closer to her frame, glaring at Jango warningly and getting a surprised yelp out of her wife, who eventually rolled her eyes and blushed.

"Jango, I'd like you to hypnotize me. Use the same words as last time," Rosan called out, snapping the dazed man out of his daydream. "You three, look away. Especially Maro."

He did not feel like dealing with an enraged Dokkaebi in her own castle. They'd have to spend the rest of the day repairing it and he didn't fancy doing that.

"R-Right!" He saluted, noticing the striking resemblance between him and the middle triplet.

"On "one, two, Jango," you'll grow stronger," Jango said, pulling out his pendulum and swinging it back and forth.

"Hypnotism?" Angel muttered curiously, looking away from the swinging chakram despite her burning curiosity.

"How interesting," Demon said. If it was enough to get Master's attention, then surely it actually worked and if it did... There was a lot they could do with that.

"Why did he warn me explicitly?" Maro grumbled in annoyance, crossing her arms under her bust with her eyes closed.

"One, two, Jango!"

The three residents of the castle opened their eyes and stared in curiosity, as a silence befell them all. Rosan's head was currently ducked and they had to wonder if it actually worke —

"Kahahahaha, two times in one day? Aren't I just the luckiest!" A deep laughter rang out, making them freeze.

No, it couldn't be… could it...?

Rosan's grinning visage greeted the stupefied leaders, tilting his head in amusement at their expressions. His eyes were glowing brilliantly and the madness behind them were plain as day, as he basked in their shocked gazes. He stepped closer to them all and bent over slightly, allowing them to take in all his handsome features.

"See that look on your faces?! I told you he had an interesting ability but you didn't trust your never wrong master!" The redhead cackled, sharp fangs on display. "When he hypnotizes me, my emotions are temporarily freed because apparently they're tied to my strength!"

Angel's jaw dropped as tears formed in her eyes. The redhead couldn't believe what she was seeing and she couldn't hold back a strangled sob, slamming into her older brother with such fervor that his eyes went a little wide, not expecting the strong physical affection.

That laughter, that grin, that glow! This was her Master! He was here right now looking at them and he was so beautiful and amazing and she was getting overwhelmed right now!

"Someone's happy to see me," Rosan hummed, recovering admirably and lifting his little sister with his hug. She squealed in surprise and fixed a teary glare at him for carrying her so suddenly. He smiled unapologetically and began to spin her, getting another squeal out of her and rapid slaps to his chest that didn't phase him at all.

Demon looked like he had seen a ghost, which was a fair assessment, considering that it had been 12 years since they saw Rosan act like this. The last time had been before... before everything went —

"Hey, you don't gotta cry, Demon," Rosan's voice came out tenderly, losing all the madness in it at seeing tears spring up in the youngest triplets eyes. Placing Angel down, he walked up to his younger brother and wrapped strong arms around him.

"I-I know, I'm just happy to see you like this," he choked, burying his face in the taller redhead's chest and soaking it all in.

"...I'll try to get back to this without any help, okay?" The scout assured, running a hand through Demon's smooth purple hair.

Angel let out a choked sob again and immediately joined the group hug. The oldest of the triplets hugged them both, soothing them with a fond grin on his face and bright eyes that shone with a love that they hadn't seen in a long time.

"W-Wow!" The queen gasped. "You're so expressive and so alive and so handsome when you're grinning! And you look completely insane and did I mention that you're so handsome right now?!"

Maro's eyes were bugged and the queen was completely floored. She had never seen the redhead act like this at all outside of his memories so this was a complete first for her that she greedily soaked in.

"So handsome? Are you stupid?! I'm always handsome my foolish little goblin!" Rosan mock gasped, freeing up a hand and pinching her cheek, getting an indignant whine out of her.

This was the Rosan that everyone had been so desperate to get back?! She could see why! He had done a complete 180 in personality and it was so... AWESOME! HE WAS SO COOL RIGHT NOW WITH HIS BRIGHT EYES AND HIS GRINNING FACE! It was so much better than his lifeless expression combined with that neutral face of his.

She... She wanted to see him like this permanently. Maro had only ever known no emotion Rosan but she'd love to get to know the one who did have emotion because he seemed like he was really fun to hang around.

She watched Angel and Demon cry on his chest and looked at the tenderness in his eyes and realized that they had been afraid for nothing. One night, Angel had confided in her one night about how the only reason they were alive was because Rosan had lost his emotions when he was about to dish out punishment on them and they never did know what exactly he planned on doing.

Because of his loss in anger, he never did punish them and they were sure that if he ever gained his emotions back, he'd fully hate them because at the end of the day, they were the ones left in charge with Meiko and Rosan had been put into an unfavorable position because of it.

It was her wife's biggest fear (one that Demon shared) and she had sobbed in the Dokkaebi's chest after revealing it.

"I... I don't want him to hate meee. I don't know what I'll do if he does, Maro! We look to him and he's done everything for us without asking for a single thing in return. He's our brother but he's also our creator and if he hates us, what's the point in even being alive?!" Angel sobbed and it caused Maro's own eyes to go wet because there was nothing she could do that could change her mind besides assuring her that there was more to live for. She didn't know how Rosan was with his emotions, she didn't know how he thought... she didn't know anything about him.

So all she could do was offer her presence to her emotional wife and her words.

She was so glad that there was no sign of animosity in the redhead's eyes. Just an insane glint that spoke of untold chaos when his emotions were fully unlocked.

He accepted all their affections with an easygoing grin on his face, laughing at the tears in their eyes and getting glares when he mocked it. "I'll tell you about my adventures while I'm like this! Then I gotta go back to the crew!"

The three nodded eagerly and Rosan told his former traveling companions about all the trips he had so far with the Straw Hats.

None of them could keep the smile or resolve off their face at seeing how much emotion he was displaying.

They swore that this would become permanent.

"You know, you disappear a lot," Nami pointed out to the redhead. He just appeared on the ship and they jumped in fright at the unexpected arrival, fixing the redhead with a hard glare that he seemingly didn't notice.

"Indeed I do. I can't help it. I've always been rather restless," Rosan agreed. It was a habit that had been around since he was four and when he had gained the ability to fly, things had only gotten worse.

Not even a lack of emotions inhibited his free spirit.

"You were missing last night too… What were you doing?" Zoro asked curiously.

"Last night…?" Rosan mused.

Last Night

"Greetings, Captain Kuro."

Kuro jumped at that voice and felt his vision go red at the familiarity of it.

"How did you get here? Why are you here?! Just stopping me wasn't enough so you wanted to rub salt into the wound as well?" The reinstated captain snarled. Because of this redhead right here, everything he had ever planned, had gone to waste and now he was back to being a miserable pirate.

"I'm not petty enough to do something like that," Rosan said blandly, knowing that he was petty enough to do that. "No, I'm here on much more serious business."

That's when Kuro smelt it and it caused him to tense up.

Blood.

"Ah, so you finally noticed."

Kuro got up and immediately reached for his claws. The redhead allowed him with just a tilted head and that dim gaze of his.

"I've killed your entire crew but you were planning on doing that anyways, right? It's just you and I and that's the way I prefer it." Rosan's voice was a near whisper as he spoke but Kuro heard him loud and clear.

"You see, I'm not quite like my crew members. I'm much more... hardened if you would," the redhead offered him. "I don't think just beating someone is enough. I think being more thorough is necessary for certain enemies and I decided that the moment we met, that I'd be killing you and that's what I'm here to do."

"But first, I wanted to reveal something to you."

Kuro glared at the man in hatred. No longer listening to the redhead, he activated his stealth foot and blurred —

Only to find a scythe embedded firmly in his belly. He gagged in disbelief and shakily looked down at the weapon, blood pouring from the wound and his mouth.

He didn't even see him move...? A scythe? Who would use such an odd weapon of choice—

"You're not as fast as you think you are, I thought Luffy made that clear."

A hooded figure in a black and white cloak stared at the man and a horrifying realization seeped into Kuro's bone, as two black feathery wings burst free from his back.

He took a step back in fear, not quite believing his eyes and his rage momentarily vanished, replaced by a cold feeling of doom. "Y-You… B-But that's IMPOSSIBLE!" Kuro bellowed, refusing to believe it for even a second. This couldn't be happening... this couldn't be happening!

They had gone missing for over 10 years! No one had seen or heard tale of them so what were they doing on some unassuming pirate crew, sabotaging his fucking plans?!

"Things are only seen as impossible to people who refuse to open their eyes," Reaper admonished quietly, floating upwards and causing the scythe to begin angling awkwardly inside of him.

The pirate was unable to hold back his groan of pain at getting the blade shifted inside of him and he desperately tried to remove the source of agony.

"You wanted to know why I was able to identify you so easily, right? Well that's because bounty hunting was a bit of a hobby of mine in the past."

Kuro stared at the Angel of Death with disbelief. You were telling him… that his plan had gotten foiled by the Shinigami who was worth 500 million beri? That… That was BULLSHIT! HOW COULD ANYONE HAVE EXPECTED THIS TO HAPPEN? REAPER SHOULDN'T EVEN BE IN THE EAST BLUE?! WHAT WAS HE DOING HERE?!

"Do you still think you're stronger than me? I wasn't dodging your attacks as defense, I was dodging them because my Captain had dibs," the Shinigami intoned coldly.

"Now, you get to see what it's like when I'm on the offensive."

Kuro staggered, as the scythe was ripped from his belly and he quickly activated his stealth foot to try and get to a place with some more space.

His personal quarters were far too cramped for him to run freely.

The moment his feet landed on the deck, a kick planted itself on his back and he was rocketed into a wall, embedding his body into it.

Reaper floated high above him, gazing down at him with his head tilted. It was impossible to see underneath that black hoodie and despite watching his wings flap, they made no noise.

"You realize that this benefits me more than you, right?" The black clad figure asked and as if to prove his point, he vanished from his spot, cut into Kuro's belly and flew out of sight into the night sky.

Kuro was a sitting duck like this. He looked around and saw the corpses of his crew lying around and realized that this was the only reason they had been allowed to escape that wretched island.

So that no one could see what was going to happen to them.

Rosan didn't need his crew to see just how operated yet after all.

He mercifully landed on the deck and curled his wings back up, spinning his black and purple scythe in an impressive display. "Come. Dance for me. You seemed to relish in ruining my shirt earlier, so I will give you a performance worth remembering, not that you'll like it very much."

Kuro's confidence had practically vanished at the knowledge that he was dealing with the Angel of Death of all people. This was someone with the highest starting bounty ever (and he had gotten it in the blue seas!). A person who cleaned up bounties in all corners of the seas with an ease. Kuro would have done everything in his power to avoid him 10 years ago and now they were likely even more experienced with age?

To know that the Shinigami had likely been a child this entire time and was now an adult? Did he... Could he do anything to this demon?

Rosan fully capitalized on that doubt.

The Black Cat Captain was forced to dodge a swing of the massive black and purple scythe and tried to retaliate with a kick, but quickly withdrew it due to the speed that Reaper recalled their weapon, threatening to skewer them in the process.

He leapt to the left to dodge another swipe and grunted as a hand gripped his suit and threw him into a wall with brutal strength. It shuddered and cracked at the force of the blow and his back was almost certainly purple from all the bruising he was currently receiving.

Kuro only had a moment to duck as the scythe crumbled the wall behind him with a slash and he groaned at the exertion he was putting on his own injured body.

If that connected... what condition would he be in?! He wasn't keen on finding out.

This was impossible. Not only did he have a giant cut on his belly, Reaper wasn't even giving him an option to attack right now. It was almost permanently the Shinigami's turn and it was getting increasingly more difficult to maneuver.

He was completely on the defensive and it was eerily reminiscent of their first fight, only the tables had turned completely.

Rosan was relentlessly attacking Kuro, he tried to dodge everything, but it wasn't working out too well. His body was littered in wounds due to his unending aggression and the man was getting more and more desperate, doing anything to avoid getting hit by that deadly scythe.

The retired Shinigami blocked a wild and desperate swing of his claws and Kuro used that momentary reprieve to leap far away from him. Reaper allowed it to happen and began idly spinning Ram as the Black Cat pirate began swaying back and forth.

"Out of the Bag Attack," he snarled, vanishing from sight and marking everything around him randomly, excluding Rosan.

So this was the technique he was about to do before Luffy stopped him...

"You waste a lot of movement," Rosan advised idly, spinning his scythe even faster.

...How disappointing.

The scout stopped spinning his weapon, gripped the scythe, twisted his entire body to a seemingly random direction, dashed in said direction and slammed his weapon of choice down with ruthless force at what appeared to be nothing —

Kuro let out a howl of agony due to the fact that he had just gotten his leg severed cleanly from his body. The former butler collapsed on the floor and began tumbling from the momentum he had built up, before crashing unceremoniously into the railing of his ship.

The Angel of Death began floating idly, moving closer to the disable pirate at a measured, slow, pace. It was as if he was taking a leisure walk through the park with how lax he was taking the situation and it let Kuro know that from the very beginning, since he was recognized, his death had been signed.

"Do you know why I showed you that I was Reaper?" Rosan asked him suddenly, not even remotely bothered by the screeching. "So that even if you did manage to show me something interesting, I'd still kill you."

"Nobody can know I'm Reaper after all. I'm sure you understand, right? Nobody could know you were Captain Kuro, right?"

Kuro groaned in anguish, clutching the stump in terror and trying to gather what little bearings he had left. This wasn't supposed to be like this. It wasn't possible to account for a monster spontaneously appearing, a wolf in sheep's clothing, surrounding himself with actual sheeps who were carefree and naive while he was merciless and cruel.

The Straw Hats were more dangerous then they realized. They had a demon lurking in their midst, doing all the dirty work that they wouldn't do and ensuring that all threats were thoroughly dealt with while they continued to sail through their journey.

Rosan hummed and landed directly in front of the bleeding man. "I never understood sparing enemies. What's stopping you from just attacking Usopp's island again? It's not like we're permanent residents there. If you attacked them again, no one would be able to stop you this time and Kaya-san would almost certainly die. I'm honestly surprised you haven't thought of doing it yet. So, I'll deal with you here and now before you can," he whispered.

"That, and you did damage my shirt. I quite like that shirt and you got blood all over it. Repairing it was easy but cleaning it? That's a whole different story."

He was completely insane. Kuro was dealing with an actual sociopath in the flesh. One with no morals and no qualms of doing such evil acts. No matter what Kuro did, this redhead would have made sure he failed.

He never stood a chance and his death was assured the moment this redhead had landed on their island.

Lady luck decided to have the two meet and lady luck decided to have him killed.

Rosan brandished Ram and aimed it towards the mortally wounded butler, propping his chin up with the blade of the scythe before aiming it high.

"Goodbye, Captain Kuro. It was a pleasure meeting you."

Kuro stared at him in a moment of true terror and screamed, as Reaper swung down his scythe.

Flashback End

"…" Rosan hummed at the two watching him curiously and shrugged.

"I was just dealing with something unimportant. It was nothing serious."

Bonus

"Alright, so where should I start?" Rosan asked curiously, eyes gleaming at the looks of anticipation in the trio's eyes.

"Everything!" Angel demanded, while Demon and Maro nodded eagerly.

They had long sent Jango off to his living quarters with advice to change up how he looked and now the rulers of Celadon were surrounding their former leader, getting as close to him as possible and claiming a part of his body as their own to touch.

"Sure sure," he said, holding out his hand and allowing the ring to transform into Ram's human form. She beamed in happiness and crashed into her emotional father with gusto, nuzzling his cheek in the process and getting an amused snort out of him.

"Are my emotions really such a novelty?" Rosan mused, allowing the ring to plop herself in his lap in content.

Ram looked back and raised a disbelieving brow. "Of course, Father! I've never seen you like this before and so, I'm gonna soak it all in," she declared, drinking in his smirking visage with greedy eyes.

Rosan for his part, peacefully allowed them all to stare at him. He had been missing his emotions for a pretty long time, so even a glimpse would be accepted greedily by them. Everyone liked to stare at him anyways so he was used to all the eyes.

But damn, Ram seriously looked way too much like Meiko. It was actually getting kinda hard to look at her right now but he wouldn't say that out loud.

"I missed this so much and I'm sad that it's temporary but we'll make it permanent," Mod said softly. It was still so surreal to see and even if she was over the moon, she had to remind herself that this was only temporary and it was only a glimpse. This was not the full scope of his emotions. They had no idea what the full scope of his emotions would be like so they needed to be prepared.

"We'll do it because we love seeing him like this!" Maro beamed and the others nodded rapidly.

"What? You hate me otherwise?" Rosan asked, expression shifting into one of hurt. "Have you guys really hated me for 12 years...? That... That kinda sucks..."

Watching those shining eyes shift into one of pure hurt and his voice get low, affected them more than they'd like to admit and they frantically sought to reassure him otherwise.

"Of course not, Father!" Ram said, eyes wide and guilty. "I-I'll love you no matter what! Always! Forever! Even if you threw me away, I'd still love you!"

Maro nodded hastily in agreement. "I say I love you all the time and no emotion you, is the only one I know so I can't be lying! I just was really happy to see this version of you so I said that without thinking!"

Angel and Demon said nothing, nervously averting their gaze from the redhead.

Their gaze snapped up however, at the amused snort that came out of their former leader.

"Pfft, I was just kidding," Rosan cackled. "You guys were sweating super hard just now, huh?"

He was just kidding? W-What was wrong with him! He was such a good actor for someone who had their emotions locked for 12 goddamn years!

Maro's mouth opened and closed helplessly, before the queen crossed her arms. "You're a dick," she grumbled.

"You had me scared for nothing," Angel scowled, glaring at the smirking visage of her older brother. He looked so infuriatingly smug right now that she wanted to wipe it off his face. Preferably with her fist.

Demon let out a sigh of relief before lightheartedly glaring at his brother as well.

Ram began complaining and shaking him, fear gone in favor of a indignant pout.

"My bad, my bad," Rosan apologized insincerely, getting tick marks out of all of them. "Alright, I'll tell you guys about my journey so far."

They perked up at that and all sat on Maro and Angel's bed. Ram wasn't planning on really listening but she wanted to look at Rosan's face more which was why she sat directly on him.

The redhead idly stroked the silver hair of his weapon as he contemplated where to start. Silver was actually a pretty good color... he should consider adding some to his wardrobe. His weapon would surely appreciate that.

"Right now, we have 3 members in our crew," Rosan began. "There's Roronoa Zoro, our swordsman, Nami, our navigator and Usopp, our... liar?"

He shrugged. "Our journey started off pretty fun! Luffy and I immediately ran into a whirlpool and after I made him get into a barrel, I punted it into the sea."

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Angel roared in disbelief, interrupting him immediately.

What the hell did he just say?! He did what exactly to the youngest in their family?!

"Threw him into the whirlpool," Rosan replied, nonplussed by her reaction. "He was asking for it for putting the both of us on that shitty raft. Seriously, what was he thinking?!"

Maro spluttered at his look of annoyance. There was no way Master was the one offended right now. "But we have Devil Fruits! You can't just toss him into the ocean like that, much less a whirlpool!"

The redhead laughed. "Eh, I modified his barrel and he survived so it all worked out. Oh! We landed on an island full of pirates right and we found one named Alvida," he began.

Ram immediately gagged and even Mod let out a noise of displeasure, making the three raise their brows in confusion.

"Wait... you mean Iron Mace Alvida?" Maro gaped. "That massive lady in the East Blue?! D-Don't tell me she —"

"Yep," Rosan said, nodding his head with regret. "She tried to make a move on me! C'mon I get that I'm hot and pretty compliant so if you ask me somethin I'll likely say yes but even I have my limits!"

"What does she look like?" Angel asked with narrowed eyes, sisterly urges already acting up and a snarl making its way onto her lips.

The scout of the Straw Hats held out his hand and they let out noises of awe as a hologram began emitting from it (Could he always do this?!). The figure began morphing and eventually, that noise of awe, turned into one of rage from Angel.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!" She roared, looking at the hologram of Alvida in rage. "HER? SHE THOUGHT SHE HAD A CHANCE WITH YOU?! NEVER IN A MILLION FUCKING YEARS WOULD I LET ANYONE OF MY BROTHERS EVEN CONSIDER IT!"

"I thought the exact same thing!" Mod joined, fury on the woman's face as she crossed her arms and nodded rapidly. She knew Angel would react just the same way!

"THANK KAMI FOR MASTER MOD, WHAT IF SHE TOOK ADVANTAGE OF YOU! AGHH CAN'T YOU JUST MODIFY YOURSELF TO BE A TAD BIT UGLIER?!"

"I ASKED HIM THE SAME THING BUT HE WAS ALL "No Mod-chan, I don't like to permanently alter my physical appearance." AND I NEARLY DID IT MYSELF!"

"That was good," Rosan praised, clapping at her perfect imitation of him. She even had the voice crack added from when he was younger.

"Thank you, Rosan," Mod smiled brightly, before it immediately shifted back into rage. "THE AUDACITY OF SOME PEOPLE! ROSAN IS SO LUCKY HE HAS ME TO WATCH OVER HIM!"

Angel nodded furiously. "If I ever get my hands on that sack of shit, she's dead."

"I knew you were the one who taught Ram to say that!" Rosan cackled.

"Ram's my little tall gumdrop and it's my job to make sure she's a proper woman," Angel said dismissively, getting a beaming grin out of her nice. "PLEASE TELL ME YOU GOT TO PUNISH THAT DAMN PIRATE!"

Mod confirmed it with a noise and the two began ranting again.

Demon and Maro watched with a sweatdrop as the two founders of "Protect Rosan's Chastity", raged to each other, while Rosan added commentary that they only briefly acknowledged.

Rosan's eyes shone with mirth as they talked about her idiocy and he said, "Now now, as much as I love hearing compliments about myself. I should probably continue!"

Angel and Mod reluctantly stopped ranting to each other so that they could listen to the amused man. They'd get back to it another time and the redhead would need to add some more rules to their already long list of Rosan's protection.

"Mod-chan had me knock her out and I punted her across the island so you don't gotta be so upset," Rosan assured. "Afterwards, we went to go recruit Roronoa Zoro. He's a bounty hunter who's nowhere near as cool as Reaper but pretty good. He was making a bet with the corrupt Marines there that they never planned on upholding."

"Corrupt Marines?" Demon asked with a raised brow.

"What a surprise," Maro said sarcastically, rolling her eyes at that.

"Mhm. Their Captain, Morgan was slinging his authority around with a vengeance. You had to practically worship him and he didn't tolerate any sort of slander," Rosan sighed. "I don't get how he could act like that. He was so fucking weak it was hilarious. I ended up crushing his spine after Luffy beat his ass and he got arrested soon after."

They snorted at hearing about how he jumped out of the top of the building to do so and shook their head at his antics.

Robbing a Marine Base for all they had? That sounded just like him.

"Then one day, Luffy ended up getting snatched away by a bird while I was cleaning up his mess in the kitchen and it brought us to this island taken over by Buggy the Clown."

"A clown?" Angel shuddered. She hated clowns with a passion. They looked so dumb and stupid.

"I always wanted to meet a clown!" Maro beamed. She loved clowns! They were so goofy and funny!

Rosan snorted. "Buggy was a dumbass. He was insecure about his nose, but dressed up like a clown and he ate a Devil Fruit in the stupidest way too! I thought the way I ate mine was bad but nope, his was way worse!"

Listening to him explain that the clown had accidentally swallowed it in fear after trying to hide it of all things... The three had to agree.

"We met our navigator there too..." Rosan gripped his chin and hummed. "She hates pirates, which makes me think she's gonna jump ship. She's warming up to us super quick but there's something holding her back and I don't know what is it. I'll be keeping an eye on her just in case but Luffy is already set on having her be our navigator and her skills are some of the best I've seen," he admitted.

"Someone who's skills you are impressed with? She sounds like a keeper," Demon pointed out, getting a short nod out of the redhead.

"After our fight with Buggy, we went to the island where I got Jango from," Rosan continued, grinning in a cunning manner. "There was a supposedly dead pirate there posing as a butler named Kuro and I confronted him."

"Oh?" Maro leaned forward in anticipation.

"Yeah, he was taken really off guard by the fact that I could tell who he was! I told him that I wouldn't interfere in his plans as long as he didn't drag me into them but I tricked him," Rosan cackled, eyes shining in amusement. "Genius my ass. I foiled his plans instantly and sent him into a rage that you could frame!"

Maro joined his cackling with clear amusement in her eyes. It was always so fun to mess with targets! Watching them reach their limits, never failed to fill her with a sadistic glee that she shamelessly picked up from her Master.

Rosan explained what the man's plan was, to use Jango to hypnotize Kaya and give her inheritance over to Kuro, and how they had to stop that from happening.

"That little dumbass nearly ruined my perfect plan," Rosan complained with an annoyed sigh. "Who the fuck just decides to deliver themselves into the enemy's' arms? I never contemplated killing a civilian more than I did her but it worked out."

"What happened to Kuro?" Maro asked curiously. "Was Jango really the only interesting one in the crew?"

"Yeah. His abilities had nothing to do with combat strength unlike the others and the others were weak including Kuro himself," Rosan sighed. "I wanted to send more minions to my cute little student but alas, I had to kill them all."

"You're scary," Angel said flatly, shuddering a bit at his casualness.

"You're planning on sending more people my way?!" Maro gaped, flushing happily at being called cute. "Don't you think you should discuss this with me a bit?!"

"Nah, I'd rather not," Rosan replied cheekily, idly tugging one of Ram's twintails and getting a whine of annoyance out of her. She smacked his hand away and glared at his unapologetic glance, before shuffling away so that the more awesome Demon could attend to her better.

The purple haired doctor simply smiled and accepted her hug kindly, getting her to purr as he pat her head.

Maro gained a tick mark at that and immediately crashed into Rosan in annoyance, knocking him over slightly and putting her right over him. "Stupid Master and your stupid tendencies! Don't be such an ass!"

She tried hard to throttle the redhead and this close to him, she saw Rosan's amused gaze turn downright sinister a smirk making its way on his face that no one but her saw.

The queen let out a tiny "oomph" at the fact that Rosan just nudged her arm out of place and ruined her balance, crashing her body fully into his own and getting a noise of protest out of the redhead when his arms "unintentionally" wrapped around her waist.

What the hell was he doing—

"Maro what the hell are you doing?!" Rosan barked, much to her surprise. "I told you when you were drunk that we can't do this! What would Angel think?! She's right there you know!" He chided.

Maro went white and realized just how they looked right now.

Oh that son of a bitch (that worked because she did hate Raisa!).

By pushing her out of balance, Rosan and Maro ended up in quite the compromising position and combined with his words, it painted a very, very bad image for her. A very bad image to her possessive wife that almost always listened to what her older brother had to say.

Angel's amused gaze shifted into something much more dangerous and Maro sent up a prayer to any actual Angel listening to her.

"Prayer not accepted," Rosan, the Angel of Death, whispered cheekily.

"Maro," Angel said calmly. "I can understand your attraction to Master. Everyone's attracted to Master and he looks just like me. But what exactly do you think you're doing?" She hissed.

The queen hastily pushed herself off of an embarrassed Rosan (he was such a fucking dick), turning towards her wife with wide, nervous eyes and said, "It's not what you think! Master set me up!"

Shit... did she actually try that when she was drunk? Maro was a super lightweight so she couldn't tell you but maybe she got Master and Angel confused? They were both super hot and she didn't discriminate so maybe...?

Angel pursed her lips. "Come with me, we need to talk about your drunk behavior."

With that, the middle triplet turned on a heel and marched out of the room.

Rosan and Ram could no longer hold it in and began laughing in unison.

"Kahahahaha! You're just way too easy, Maro!" Rosan cackled. There was no remorse whatsoever in his gaze for setting the queen up so ruthlessly and never in her life did she contemplate murdering her teacher until now.

"Serves you right for being a shameless pervert! Maybe now you'll stop ogling me and Auntie's boobs and ass !" Ram joined, high fiving her Father with a large grin.

Maro closed her mouth and turned towards the duo with fury in her eyes. "Y-You two... Kami I hate you both so much. Mod-chan please get rid of the hypnosis!"

"I'll apologize for the both of them," Mod sighed in sympathy. "Rosan you shouldn't set Maro up like that!"

"She made it too easy, jumping on me like that. I had to take the opportunity," Rosan shrugged. "You should go quick before you get kicked out of the room tonight. You were rubbing your huge boobs all on me and Angel is super possessive so she definitely noticed," he advised, smirking insufferably.

"Don't call my boobs huge, you asshole! I'm seriously pissed at you, Master!" Maro barked, stomping off to go explain that Rosan was a menace and that Angel was the only one who she had eyes for and praying that she didn't get to sleep on the couch tonight after such a boring meeting with government officials.

Demon watched it all with a sweatdrop. Poor Maro, she was probably in trouble for something that Master set up.

"When you get a girlfriend Demon, I'm gonna embarrass you too. I hope you know that," Rosan warned him, smirking psychotically.

"First Angel, now you? There's a reason I choose to stay single," Demon sighed sadly. He couldn't put his significant other through the trial of visiting his family. She'd lose her mind in the process and it would be his fault.

His entire family was just too crazy.