Chapter 118: An introversion party is three people sprawled on couches and pillows, reading and occasionally talking

Chapter 118: An introversion party is three people sprawled on couches and pillows, reading and occasionally talkingChapter 118: An introversion party is three people sprawled on couches and pillows, reading and occasionally talking

The heavy, uncomfortable and dreadful silence was broken by Rick.

“Robin?”

He only said her name but the way he said it broke her heart. He wanted an explanation but that didn’t matter to her. The tone of his voice, unsured, afraid, sorrowful. Even if she hadn’t heard him she saw all of it in his eyes. She didn’t know how to say it. She didn’t know if she had the strength to say it. She knew however that she needed to. She couldn’t brush this off as if nothing happened. Not after everything he had shared about his other children which depressed him greatly. He needed her, now more than ever, just like she had needed him at the time. She had been lucky to have Reiju with her and it was how they became so close to each other. Brook had helped when he had found them too so she managed and it took a lot of work to overcome her loss, to overcome the reality of things. With the discovery of the system and the ability to use it, she didn’t think twice when she could change her defective body to a healthy one. She wouldn’t have to give up on one of her dreams anymore and the only thing left to do was keep what happened to her a secret from the one person she loved more than anything and that was more than involved.

Taking a big breath she pulled him down to sit on the pillow. His hands firmly in hers.

“During our wedding night... I got pregnant.” she said curtly, letting out the air she had taken in. “I found out when we arrived here. Reiju was the one that discovered it. I was overjoyed of course! Scared but so happy.”

She was expecting him to interject, to ask her to go straight to the point but he did nothing but listen and she was grateful for it.

“Reiju pampered me like no tomorrow but in the fifth month... I lost it.”

“I... Robin.. I...” he tried to speak but Robin put a finger on his lips to quiet him down.

“I know what you’re thinking but it wasn't your fault. It was nobody’s fault. Reiju ran some tests. It turned out that my womb was defective. I couldn’t ever bring a child to term. So don’t blame yourself, please.” she pleaded, tears beginning to all along her cheeks. Not for the baby she had lost. She had made her peace with it and while it still hurt sometimes when her mind drifted to it she didn’t cry about it anymore. No, she was crying for him. For her husband. Not because she felt like she had failed him but because she knew he would unreasonably blame himself for it. Because she was piling on top of his problems with this new one.

Rick freed one of his hands from her grip and cupped her face before bringing her down towards him in his embrace. They hugged tightly and shed tears as they supported each other. They stayed like that for hours and were only brought out of it by Nami opening the door to the room.

“Hey! It’s time for...”

Her playful and happy tone disappeared on the spot at the sight of her fiancés hugging each other for dear life and crying their souls out.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” she asked in worry. It was Robin who answered her as she separated herself from Rick.

“I’m just stupidly happy to have my husband back.” was what the brunette said, mustering everything she could to put a convincing smile on her face.

Nami didn’t believe it for a second but held her tongue. Instead she entered the room and went to hug Rick as if nothing ever happened.

“I missed you!” she said, trying to bury her head into the side of his neck.

“I... I missed you too, kitten.”

“What time is it?” asked Robin from the side.

“Hmm? Oh, Lunch.” replied the redhead.

“Give us a minute to wipe my tears and be presentable and we’ll be there.”

“Alright.”

Nami gave a meaningful kiss to Rick then one to Robin before leaving the room. Not without giving them a quick meaningful glance.

“I’m...”

“It’s not your fault!” Robin immediately interjected but it was a miss.

“Not hungry.”

“...”

“You said Reiju’s body type didn’t have any defect...”

“That’s why I bought it, despite costing almost everything I had. Enhanced strength? Defense? Healing rate? I didn’t care one bit. I just wanted for us the possibility to have children one day.”

“And you were never going to tell me.”

“... No.” she confessed guiltily.

Rick simply sighed and took her in his embrace again, giving her a kiss on her temple.

“I’m really married to the best woman in the world.” he whispered loud enough for Robin to hear. “Thank you for trying but please don’t do it anymore. For the better and the worst, remember? We share everything.”

“I promise.”

“Come on, we need to join the other. I’m pretty sure our kitten is going to come back and drag us there if we take too long.” he said with a small smile as he wiped away her tears with the sleeve of his kimono.

Robin gave him a small smile back and nodded. Hand in hand they stood up and left for the dining room. Since she knew where they were going, she led the way. It didn’t take more than a few minutes to join the whole crew that was already eating as fast as they could, Luffy grabbing everything he could within his range. Robin and Rick sat quietly at the end of the table and simply watched their friends' antics. Taking a moment for himself, Rick closed his eyes and let his head rest on Robin’s shoulder. A rest that didn’t last more than fifteen seconds because it was interrupted by a piece of carrot landing right on his face. His eye lids immediately went up and his eyes scanned every corner of the table. Everyone had stopped moving and were looking at him warily.

“Who did it?” he asked in a cold tone.

All at once, every member of the crew pointed to someone else.

“...”

““““““...”””””””

Suddenly in front of everyone an arm sprouted and began tossing the food of each one’s plates right into their owner’s face. Luffy didn’t miss the opportunity to try to catch everything coming his way, starting a chain reaction by pushing Zoro too hard and spilling on himself the alcohol he was drinking. In a flash a food fight was happening and Rick shamelessly hid behind Robin.

“Really?” she said unamused.

“I got hit, Ro! It hurts so much! Will you leave your poor wounded and defenseless husband...” A bowl full of tofu meeting his face, courtesy of his wife, put a stop to his idiocy. As the bowl fell down and the food slid slowly down his face, he looked with narrowed eyes at Robin. “You know this means...” A second bowl, full of rice, was introduced to his face. This time, Robin was sporting an amused and a bit smug grin. Unfortunate mistake from her as Rick grabbed her kimono and dove head first against her chest and stained it beyond repair leaving her scandalized.

And thus began the battle between spouses.

“It’s me. Though it was her.” the man replied as the horns rescinded. “We kind of made peace and made a deal. I let her out from time to time to enjoy herself and she doesn’t take over for good.”

“She?” Zoro asked, a brow raised in question.

“She identifies as female. And apparently she’s not a devil but a Goddess. Whether it’s true or not, I don’t care. What matters to me, is that I’m not falling to insanity anymore with her constant whispers.”

“... I’m still keeping an eye on you.”

“Which is fine with us.” said Diana as Rick gave her control again and began to finish her Oden.

Eyeing her for a moment, Zoro pulled back his sword and sheathed it. Giving her one last look he left the stall to find a store selling good alcohol. Done with her meal Diana decided that she had enjoyed herself enough and gave back control of the body to its owner who made his way back to the castle. He stopped midway when he felt the tremors of a battle away from the capital. Curious, he forwent his plan and changed direction towards the fight happening. In less than two minutes he arrived at something he didn’t expect. Momonosuke in his dragon form was fighting a giant living tree with the help of most of his retainer and Oden. The fight wasn’t in their favor as the tree kept generating itself. Pulling everyone away from arm with his abilities he never let the tree out of its sight.

“Rick! You shouldn’t be here!” exclaimed Oden.

“Oh, Good! One of my targets is here! This day is getting better and better.” the tree spoke.

“Who are you and what do you want with me?”

“Admiral Ryokugyu of the marines and I’m here for your head!”

“An Admiral breaking into a land not part of the World Government? You’re a special kind of mad, aren’t you? That could mean War.”

“What does it matter? It’s a lawless land since it’s not part of the World Government. I can do what I want, nobody would care and it's not like the people here have any rights. This country was left alone because of Kaido but now that he’s dead, it can’t stand against the might of the world.”

“That’s not how that works. Now leave this land before you get hurt.”

“Leave?! When your head would please the Fleet Admiral, so much? I don’t think so!”

From the ground dozens of very sharp branches raised in Rick’s direction. The intent was clearly impalement of the straw hat vice-captain. They were dodged effortlessly and as Rick was about to counter attack a shout from Momonosuke stopped him.

“You can’t!”

“Why not?” Rick replied, dodging another attack.

“We need to do it ourselves, otherwise what will we do when...”

“You’ll fight, that’s what you’ll do. Normally I wouldn’t have involved myself further and let you, people, deal with that guy. But he’s here in the first place for me...”

“I’m here for your captain too!”

“It’s my fault he came here in the first place, so it’s my responsibility to deal with him. Furthermore I... owe you for not participating properly in the war. You can see this as me clearing my debt.”

“...”

That quieted Momonosuke who began to think about the words Rick had spoken. Both were right in a way and after a moment, the young lord called out his retainers to retreat farther away.

“Could one of you spare me a sword, please?” was all Rick asked.

He received one from a guy that looked like a Yakuza and after giving his thanks went immediately on the offensive, imbuing the weapon with armament haki. He cut branches after branches with no result. The more he cut them the more they sprouted. There became so many that one of them hit him in the arm.

~~~~~

“That’s not good!” Oden exclaimed watching Rick get hit. Before he could move however, he had severed his injured arm and a new one replaced it. “What the...”

“He’s a seed man, Yamato. He can regrow most of his body.” Inuarashi explained.

“A seed man?” asked the oni prince. “I thought...”

“He’s also a gravity man. Don’t worry about him so much.”

“He survived a hit from Zhou after all.” Nekomamushi reminisced.

“True. He regrew his legs.”

Calming down, Yamato closed his open mouth and watched the fight in front of his eyes. She wondered what Rick did when he raised his arm to the sky and a purple ring of light shot through it. Nothing happened at first and Rick kept dodging and cutting down the branches attacking him. It was Danjiro, the man that had loaned his sword, that noticed a huge shadow growing more and more at the center of the battlefield. Looking up, his eyes nearly popped out of his orbit.

“Dear Kami!”

“Wha...Oh hell!” shouted Yamato looking at a huge burning meteor making its descent, right onto the two fighters.

“Did Mister Rick summoned that?!” asked a bewildered Momonosuke.

No one could give him an answer. As the meteor got closer and closer. Rick pulled away from the point of impact. Ryokugyu immediately tried to protect himself and Rick didn’t miss the opening to swing his sword creating a black hole slash. It hit its mark and bisected horizontally the Admiral. Distracted by the painful wound at the worst moment, the green bull of the marine took the meteor with almost no defense. A burst of flame, smoke and dust hid the result of the attack and the group watching from the side couldn’t help but hold their breaths.

~~~~~

Rick stayed alert, hoping but not expecting that he had won that fight. He was proven correct when a small sprout bursted from the ground and began to grow until it transformed into a human.

“I admit... That was dangerous. Not bad.” the Admiral said with narrowed eyes.

“And you’ve seen nothing yet. I’m just warming up.”

“Good. That would be disapp... What the...”

Ryokugyu stopped his tirade as he felt a strong conqueror haki sent toward their direction from far away. Rick didn’t recognize the haki. He was sure it wasn’t Luffy or Zoro nor Oden but it seemed helpful. That didn’t sit well with him. The man in front of him was even worse than Akainu. Despite how much he despised the man he had principles and would never have invaded Wano like that on his own without order from his superior. Ryokugyu on the other hand... was, to Rick’s point of view an entitled one at that and in his opinion that was way worse. While Akainu had a sense of justice, no matter how twisted it was, Ryokugyo had none. That was far more dangerous and that was why he decided that he couldn’t let his opponent go. He threw his sword at the neck of the Admiral who dodged it easily.

“Oy! Don’t you feel that guy?!”

“I do and I don’t care. He’ll be next if he doesn’t fuck off.”

“You crazy bastard, that’s red...”

He stopped talking. His head severed from his body thanks to a well placed slash of a mix of black hole and armament haki.

“H..ow..”

Rick had expected Ryokugyu to dodge the sword, that’s why he sprouted an arm to catch it behind him. Thinking the threat was over and letting his back wide open, Rick struck without hesitation. The blade coated with armament Haki proved the hit was fatal to the logia. To be sure he launched himself forward, grabbed the sword and stuck it right into the admiral forehead. Picking up the head he didn’t waste time idling around and flew straight from the point of origin of the conqueror Haki.

There on the boat displaying a Jolly roger he was familiar with, stood Red hair Shanks. The last yonko of the previous era.

“Could you kindly mind your business?” Rick said, a few meters up in the air, looking down at the emperor.

“My apologies. After dealing with Kaido and Big Mom, I thought I could let your crew rest and not deal with the navy.”

“Appreciated but not needed.”

“...”

“...”

“Why are you here?”

“I was simply curious.” Shanks replied with a nonchalance that reminded Rick of himself.

“...Curious my ass but fine. I’m letting you go this one time in consideration to Luffy.”

“You.. are letting me go?” replied the emperor, shocked. “You heard that guys?” he shouted towards his crew who began to laugh. “Cocky much aren’t you?”

“Wanna see if I’m cocky or not? I’m still itching for a real fight. Big Mom died in one hit and this guy wasn’t even good enough for a warm up.”

To show what he meant, Rick pulled up the severed head of Ryokugyu for everyone to see. The laughter stopped on the spot, replaced by a very heavy tension.

“I think I’ll pass, thank you. As I said I’m just here out of curiosity. Now that it’s satiated we’ll be taking our leave.”

“...”

“...”

“Good.” Rick said as he began to slowly float higher. “A bit of advice.”

“Yeah?”

“You should make a good stock of band aids. Luffy will find the one piece and be the Pirate King. He’ll kick the ass of anyone in his way, including yours.”

“Noted.” Shanks replied with a smile as Rick left. Once the ex-marine was out of sight the emperor let out a long sigh.

“We’re going. Some of our territories have been taken by one of Luffy’s subordinates. We can’t ignore it and do nothing.”

At his order, the crew began to move. Shanks sat down at the table where his first mate served him a drink.

“Your reputation took a hit.”

“Better than starting a fight that not many in the crew could survive.”

“You think he was telling the truth about Big Mom?”

“I don’t know. I do know that I didn’t want to find out today. I’m pretty sure I could defeat him though.”

“If it is, it spells trouble.”

“Yes. I wonder how Luffy met him. A man known for being the bane of pirates becoming a pirate himself and under someone else. Younger than him at that... Curious.”

“Speaking of Luffy, are you sure you don’t want to see him?”

“Yeah. It’s tempting really but no. Our reunion is not for now.”

“For when then? He’s an emperor now.”

“For when we fight for the One Piece.”

“We’re going then?”

“Yes. It’s time to pick the chase where we left it.”