"Hey! So you're Akari—nice to meet ya!"
Captain Roger welcomed me with a huge smile, but... was this really okay?
"If Rayleigh recognizes you, I got no complaints. Welcome aboard, Akari!"
Apparently that's how it worked. His trust in Rayleigh was incredible.
"Great timing, Akari! The next few years won't be boring!"
"What are we doing?"
"My dream! Sailing around the world! Conquering the Grand Line!"
Sailing around the world... a feat no one had accomplished yet.
"Though we need to recruit some crew members first."
"Rayleigh."
"Yeah, Rayleigh! How'd the information gathering go?"
"The doctor shouldn't be a problem. But the 'one who can read' is currently with Whitebeard, which is a bit troublesome."
"I see. Well, we'll figure something out!"
Roger was laughing, but that meant poaching from Whitebeard's crew, right?
"Hehe, if you turn pale over something like this, you won't last long, Akari. Roger's unreasonable demands are nothing new."
"How are you any different, going along with everything without a single complaint, Rayleigh?"
"How many years do you think we've been together? I got used to it long ago."
The two of them laughing together looked so natural and cool. This was what pirates were like.
"You guys! Prepare to set sail! Load up plenty of booze!"
"""Yeah!"""
At Captain Roger's command, all the crew members started moving at once. Their movements were as good as trained Marines—no, maybe even better. So these were the Roger Pirates' crew members.
"Well, I don't know what Akari can do yet. For now you're an apprentice under Rayleigh! Take care of her along with Shanks and Buggy!"
"Ah, since I invited her aboard, I'll take responsibility."
"Shishishi! Then let's have a party to welcome Akari! You guys! Once we finish prep, we're drinking!"
"""Party!"""
And so my days as a pirate began. Free, fun, exciting days of adventure! Captain Roger! Rayleigh! Shanks! Everyone in the crew! Please take care of me!
With Dr. Crocus, the skilled anesthesiologist, and Kozuki Oden, the daimyo of Kuri in Wano Country, joining as crew members, the Roger Pirates finally set out to become the first humans in this world to sail around the globe.
During the journey, Shanks, Buggy, and I grew daily under Rayleigh's guidance. Shanks seemed to be a genius like Bellemere.
Despite the difference between right and left-handed fighting, I nearly lost to the younger boy several times in sparring. Incredible talent when he couldn't even use Haki yet.
Buggy—I mean, Red Nose—wasn't very good at fighting, or at least that was Rayleigh's assessment of him as a swordsman.
I was more surprised that Red Nose's nose was actually real. I'd accidentally called him that, but while he got angry, he let me keep calling him that. Was he what they called tsundere?
Of course, I was also receiving sword instruction from Rayleigh. Even using Haki, I was honestly being handled easily. I felt an even bigger gap in strength than with mama. The sea really was vast.
During the journey Red Nose became an ability user, I got depressed losing to Shanks in sparring, and I spent fun, eventful days.
Two years passed, the Roger Pirates' journey had crossed the halfway point, and I turned fifteen, joining the ranks of adults.
To celebrate, everyone in the Roger Pirates threw me a party.
"Once again, congratulations on coming of age, Akari. Now you're an official crew member of the Roger Pirates."
"Thank you, Rayleigh."
"But it's a bit late to ask—is there anything inconvenient about being on an all-male ship?"
"I'm fine, Rayleigh. I'm having fun. Well, sometimes Shanks and Red Nose try to peek when I'm changing."
They were boys at that age, so it couldn't be helped.
"I see. I'll need to have a thorough chat with those two later."
Rayleigh smiled while his glasses glinted. My condolences, you two.
"If there's anything else, don't hesitate to tell me. I have responsibility as your mentor."
Rayleigh, who looked after me in various ways, overlapped with dad back home. Having my first ale with a bit of buzz, I unconsciously let words slip.
"Thank you, Papa Rayleigh."
At my words, everyone who'd been noisy at the party went quiet. Huh? Did I do something wrong?
"Shishishi! So Rayleigh's your old man! This is great!"
"Roger, aren't you drinking too much?"
"Shishishi! Don't be shy, don't be shy!"
Captain Roger laughed loudly, but Rayleigh had a vein throbbing at his temple.
"Is restraining a drunk captain also the vice captain's job?"
"Oh? Want to go, Rayleigh?"
And suddenly Captain Roger and Rayleigh started fighting.
The fight between Captain Roger, who showed no decline despite being afflicted by disease, and Rayleigh, who wielded all three types of Haki freely, was incredible beyond words.
Both were over fifty, but they'd grown even stronger during these two years of adventure. Well, Garp, who was chasing Captain Roger, had somehow gotten stronger too.
Anyway, I had to stop their fight. I used the Conqueror's Haki that Rayleigh had taught me and that had grown over these two years to stop Captain Roger and Rayleigh's fight.
"That's enough!"
"Shishishi! Akari's grown too! Stopping a fight between me and Rayleigh!"
"Though there's no way I could stop you by force."
"Well, being able to use Haki like that is part of Akari's ability too."
Being praised by the two who'd been fighting moments before while they shared ales made me blush. Really, force was impossible.
"Now then, I have a request for Akari."
Captain Roger bowed his head to me. Hey, what's this all of a sudden?!
"Could you call Rayleigh 'dad'?"
"Huh?"
"Hey Roger!"
Unlike when he was enjoying the party, Captain Roger spoke to me with a completely serious expression.
"When I invited Rayleigh, he's supported me as captain ever since. No matter how unreasonable I got, he's covered for me—that's why we're here now."
"I've got a woman I fell for, but Rayleigh hasn't made anyone like that. He's been alone, following my adventures and dreams the whole time."
Captain Roger's words resonated—warm words overflowing with feelings for his crewmate and friend.
"So could you call Rayleigh 'dad'?"
"Roger, stop. I don't regret living by overlaying my dreams with yours."
I could picture dad back home crying in frustration, but...
"Okay."
"What?!"
"Shishishi! Then I'll leave the rest to you, Akari. I'm going to bed first."
Captain Roger waved his hand and walked away, but suddenly covered his mouth and coughed. I could see red seeping through his covered hand, but Dr. Crocus noticed and accompanied him.
"Is the captain... okay?"
"Crocus is a skilled doctor. Besides, Roger will fulfill his dream through sheer stubbornness."
"Right. Well then, nice to meet you again, Papa Rayleigh."
"Good grief... are you really going to call me that?"
Papa Rayleigh started scratching his head in a troubled way, which made me laugh. He looked embarrassed as he tipped up his mug, but it was empty, so he poured more ale for himself.
I followed suit and poured ale, and we toasted together again. The crescent moon floating in the night sky was beautiful that night.
A year after that, three years since the Roger Pirates had set out to sail around the world, the Roger Pirates finally achieved their great feat.
After that, following Captain Roger's order to disband the crew, the Roger Pirates disbanded, and I'd returned to my homeland of Wano Country. A year had passed since then.
"And then and then, what happened next, Akari!"
My sister Hikari had grown a lot while I was away, but she was still a child.
"Captain Roger carved his name into the Poneglyph... Something historically important for archaeology, and he just did it like it was natural."
This past year, I'd been telling Hikari about our journey around the world every day. No matter how much I talked, the stories never ran out—they really had been dreamlike, fun days.
Then Papa Rayleigh, who'd started a coating business on Sabaody Archipelago, came to visit me.
"It's been a while, Akari."
"Yeah, it has, Papa Rayleigh."
We shook hands with smiles. I wondered how Shanks was doing.
"Could you get ready to leave, Akari?"
"What's wrong, Papa Rayleigh?"
Papa Rayleigh's face turned serious. Huh? What really happened?
"In one month, Roger will be executed."
At those words, I froze. What did he just say?
Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King who achieved humanity's first circumnavigation of the globe. News of his execution would race around the world. The world was about to face the transformation of an era.