Chapter 16

I stood with my right fist outstretched, shocked by my own strength.

'Is it that I've become stronger, or that Maynard is simply too weak?'

The last time I utilized my strength, the result wasn't as destructive as it currently was.

'I clearly restricted the use of my fruit ability. I didn't awaken Haki either. Is this truly the result produced by nothing but my physical capability alone?'

I felt a grin forming on my face.

"...He's the child version of Vice Admiral Garp," Bastille, whose back was touching the wall out of fright, muttered with a pale face, "Vice Admiral Garp created a monster just like him-dara!"

I chuckled, "Since when did you grow a sense of humour?"

Bastille's frightened demeanour immediately disappeared upon my words, with his expression loosening and him chuckling in a similar manner, "Daradara, you liked it-dara?"

"I find that dara-thing of yours more amusing."

Watching as the two of us joked with one another, not concerned with the unconscious Maynard at all, Doll groaned from the back.

"I can already tell that they are going to be troublesome."

Hina nodded solemnly, "Back in Logue Town, Smoker was called the '47th Chaos of Logue Town.' Now that Hina thinks about it, it may be a good thing that he's under Vice Admiral Garp's care."

Then, the loud noises of footsteps were heard from the floor above. It seemed that the ruckus that I caused has reached the ears of the others; four guys stormed down the stairs with alert written on their faces.

"Hey! What's going on?!" One brawny dude in the front, whose eyes were widened upon sighting the fallen figure of Maynard, shouted, "Maynard?!!"

Doll exclaimed from the back, "That's Akehende."

"M-Maynard?!" One dude with the bottom half of his face covered by a white veil, cried in shock, "Holy hell... I never saw him like this before, like ever!"

"That's Shu," said Doll.

"...Serves you right. I knew this was going to happen one day or another." Another man, who was as huge as Akehende, bickered while looking at the fallen Maynard with disdain. He had a jagged blonde beard, and was wearing a standard marine cap.

"That's Dalmatian."

Just when Doll explained, Hina, Bastille, and I saw one boy with slicked-back blonde hair and sunglasses that covered his eyes, approaching us.

'Sunglasses indoor, huh.' I thought as the boy stood in front of us with a stoic expression.

Doll was about to explain, "That's—"

but was forced to stop as the boy raised his right hand up, motioning Doll to stop.

"Hold on. I'll introduce myself, mademoiselle Doll," The boy stated before taking out a rose from who-knows-where. Subsequently, he, all of a sudden, genuflected with his gaze headed at Hina.

"Hello there, sweetheart..."

Hina, whose face was pale, immediately took a step back while rubbing her arms, "Hina confused. Hina creeped out."

Ignoring Hina's remark, the boy took a snuff out of the rose in his hand, "I knew from the very start when I sighted you, that we were meant together... even now, I feel the thick string of fate tangling as I speak to you...! Oh, my destined one, by what name shall I call you?"

Bastille sweatdropped, "Dude, she literally just said it-dara."

The boy turned his head at Bastille, glared at him for a millisecond, before turning back at Hina, who was slowly backing away from him, "Ahh, I see. Hina! Oh, Hina! What a beautiful name! I can't help but think about how well mademoiselle Hina and my name fit together so well!"

Leaning down at Doll, I whispered, "What is wrong with him?"

"He's been like that ever since Zephyr-sensei gave him the 'talk,'" Doll said with nothing but annoyance in her tone, "Tch, he thinks he's a playboy, simply by putting loads of wax on his hair everyday."

"Mademoiselleee~!" The boy held the rose out at Hina, "Please accept my token of love—"

But all of a sudden, Akehende, who appeared between the boy and Hina, munched on the rose that the boy was holding. Why? I had no idea; perhaps he found it funny.

"AKEHENDE!!!" The boy exploded in fury, thrashing his arms wildly at much bigger Akehende, "You wanna have a go, huh?!!"

Akehende, on the other hand, was holding his neck in pain, paying for his stupidity, "Owowow, t-this hurts!"

"Because rose has thorns," Hina said impassively, not bothered by the state that the two were within.

"So," Watching as the scene has fallen into greater chaos, I asked Doll, "What's that blonde boy's name?"

Doll replied with a snort, "Cancer."

Bastille and I stiffened up.

"...What?" I asked again, thinking that I heard it wrong, "Who in the right mind would name their own child 'cancer,' of all possible choices?"

"Says the one whose parents named him 'smoker'-dara," Bastille deadpanned at me.

"...S***, man," I crackled, unable to conceal the laughter, "Smoker. Cancer. Doll. What's wrong with our names?"

"Hey!" Doll glared at me, "Don't include me in your weird-name club!"

"But think about it. Your name is 'Doll.' If your surname is something like 'Cursed,' your full name becomes 'Cursed Doll.'"

Listening to my words seriously, Bastille then widened his eyes in realization. He grabbed me by the shoulder, and said with a shaky voice, "W-which means, if her surname is S.E.X..."

"F*** OFF!!!" Doll barked at Bastille, with her face now red. She then grabbed me by the collar, and shook me wildly, "Why did you have to mention that!!!"

I laughed without a control as I was flopping up and down due to Doll, "Oh, hi there, Seggs Doll—pffhahahahaha!!!!"

"Oh, princess Hina~!! Please accept my confession!!"

"Hina declines."

"Someone pluck out the thorns for me!!! They are stuck in my neck!!!"

"Here lies Maynard, 15 years old... he lived a worthless life, and died a worthless death. Now, we will..."

The situation surely has gotten out of control—not that I, who was occupied with the angry Doll, cared,

Creak—

until...

"...What is going on here?"

One huge man with spiky purple hair, even taller than Garp, entered the building, causing all of us to fall silent instantly—except for Akehende, who was still coughing from the pain.

The atmosphere within the room suddenly shifted. Gone was the chaotic madness, and with everyone having calmed down, we couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

'Zephyr, the main antagonist of "One Piece Film: Z."' While the goofiness in me diminished, I gazed the purple-headed figure, 'He already lost his family, but hasn't reached the point of losing his entire division.'

I knew that he was inherently a good man. Perhaps I was going too far to think this way, but I couldn't help but wonder, 'If I will be able to prevent such a future.'

Walking past all of us, the Zephyr looked at the still-unconscious Maynard, and crouched down in front of him.

"...I expected something like this to happen one day. Take this humbling experience as a grain of salt, Maynard." He commented before standing back up, and shifting his eyes to the destroyed wall next to Maynard. Massaging his temple with an evident exhaustion written on his face, he turned at Akehende and ordered, "Go take Maynard to the clinic, and get your neck treated as well."

Akehende, who was sweating profusely from fear, nodded and moved hurriedly, lifting Maynard up and running out of the building.

Then, Zephyr turned and walked at us.

"So," Zephyr spoke in a gruff voice, "who among you injured Maynard?"

Zephyr really was an interesting person. If Garp were to be in his place right now, he would've punched every single one of us here while laughing at the pitiful state that Maynard was in; the fact that Zephyr maintained his calm and thoroughly assessed the situation, seemed to suggest me that he was intellectual and mature.

Without any hesitation, I stepped up, "I did."

'If he's the same Zephyr that I've seen in the movie, he would probably think that harming your own colleague is not excusable by any means.'

Therefore, I directly looked him in the eye while standing strictly, and said, "And I am well aware that I've gone against the Marine code at this moment. Sir, I will personally take my time later on to apologize to Maynard, as well as take any reasonable punishment that you issue."

"...What's your name, kid?" Zephyr finally asked, without expressing any emotion in particular.

"Smoker, sir."

Zephyr's eyes narrowed upon hearing my name. Eventually, he sighed while turning around, "I am not sure what exactly happened here, but children's feuds are meant to be resolved among themselves. I'll let it go this time around, but treat your colleagues with respect... and don't destroy anything next time around."

'What a generosity,' I couldn't help but remark.

Walking to a nearby chair and sitting down, Zephyr faced us once again. Leaning forward, he looked at all of us and stated, "If you aren't aware of, I am Zephyr, the head instructor of this training facility. You may call me 'Instructor Zephyr' or 'Zephyr-sensei.' Starting from today, 'Chore Boys' Hina and Bastille are to return to the unregistered rank of 'Trainee,' while Chore Boy Smoker will temporarily be placed under my charge for three days, until the Grand Ceremony is over."

Pausing momentarily to check the facial expressions of the Hina, Bastille, and me, Zephyr continued, "Although there is no particular schedule for the next three days, and you are free to roam around outside, know that I am responsible for any trouble you make. Behave well and don't cause any trouble."

The three of us said at loud voice, """Yes, sir!"""

Standing back up, Zephyr said while walking away, "The rest of you, help these three to clean up this room and show them where to sleep."

""""Yes, Zephyr-sensei!"""" Doll, Shu, Dalmatian, and Cancer answered at once, as Zephyr exited the room, closing the door behind him.

__________

After cleaning up the mess, we were introduced two simplistic dormitories, one for guys and another for girls. Subsequently, we were shown the public restaurant and the health centers—which were all accessible for free to the marines and their family members. Surprisingly enough, only six of them, eight including Hina and Bastille, were currently under Zephyr's guidance; it seemed that the normal marine soldiers, as well as the other potential Marine-Officer-wannabes like me, were to be trained apart from these eight.

And just like that, the day was over. Currently lying on one of the beds that sat in the male dormitory, with rest of the boys snoring loudly, I gazed at the window outside, which displayed the Marineford that was illuminated by the bright moon.

'Even at night, there are high number of marines patrolling around. I suppose that being in proximity to their own families, too serve as a great motivation for their duties.'

Then, I sighted one Marine Officer with black afro hair, walking with one blonde teen on his side.

'Sengoku, and...' My eyes widened, 'Rosinante.'

Yet another individual who's got a sad end awaiting for him in the future. The man who didn't fall into darkness even after going through all sorts of traumatic events, and sacrificed his life for one young boy's future—

'Am I a nosy person? Am I naïve?' Leaning away from the window, I smiled with a snort, 'Why is it that every time I come across people like them, I think of a way to save them?'

...But you know what? I don't care if I'm being idiotic right now. Even if it may seem childish to think of saving the 'anime' characters who don't even know me, now, they are breathing in front of me, alive. 'Anime' is no longer a mere entertainment, but a future knowledge that I can, and will actively use to gain the advantages. Therefore, I can, and will save them. Period.

'Besides, what's wrong with saving the good people who are in need of help?'

I was a marine, after all.