Consciousness returned to Luffy gradually. The last thing he remembered was talking to Reiju before a wave of weakness had washed over him and his vision had darkened. As he opened his eyes, he saw Reiju standing over him, now wearing different clothes and holding a large sack of food. He had many questions—like how long he had been out—but the sight of the food made him discard all other thoughts, and he immediately began devouring the meal placed before him.
Reiju watched as the food disappeared piece by piece before sitting down in a chair and crossing her legs.
"Are you okay?" Luffy asked between mouthfuls, his question startling her. She composed herself almost instantly.
"What do you mean?" Reiju countered.
"You look tired," he said simply, still eating.
She was a little tired, having been unable to sleep after hearing Luffy's information about Sanji. However, she had made sure to appear as she always did; even her family wouldn't have noticed anything amiss. So how could Luffy, whom she had only known for a day, tell? Feeling perplexed, she asked, "Why would you think that?"
"Just a feeling," Luffy said, still focused on his food.
Reiju was slightly taken aback by his answer, but upon reflection, it was impossible that this fool could read the subtle body language she had trained so hard to control.
"Thanks for the food!" Luffy finished and clapped his hands happily. He then looked at Reiju. "So, how long was I out?"
"One day," Reiju answered in a nonchalant tone, then asked him, "What's with the hat?"
She watched with satisfaction as he slightly jolted, finally giving her the reaction she had been hoping for. A pleased smile appeared on her face. "Don't think I haven't noticed. The first thing you do every time you wake up is glance furtively at that hat."
She had been observing him since yesterday. Every time he regained consciousness, he would secretly look towards the hat. She had also inspected it herself and found nothing strange or special about it—it was just an ordinary, worn-out straw hat.
Luffy sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Well yeah, should've expected you to catch me, huh... The slavers never did, so I thought I could fool you too..."
"What do you mean?"
"This hat is my greatest treasure," Luffy explained, his tone becoming more serious. "When I was initially caught, I realized they were trying to see if I had any weaknesses... and I knew that if they ever found out how much I cared about my hat, they would definitely use it against me. So, I acted very casual about it and never once let it slip that it was anything important. I just let it be in my cage if they ever dragged me out and kept it out of sight as much as I could... and thus, it's here with me now."
"I see. So it's a sentimental treasure," Reiju nodded as if understanding something. She handed the straw hat back to Luffy.
Upon getting his hat back, he immediately placed it on his head and gave Reiju a wide smile. "Thank you."
"Alright, let's get back to the main topic," Reiju said, steering the conversation back. "You said you saw someone who looked like Sanji, and I said Sanji is dead..."
"Yeah."
"So, what can you offer me?"
"What do you mean?"
"What I mean is, what can you give me so that I don't consider saving you a waste of time?"
Luffy fell silent upon hearing Reiju's words, as if thinking something over. He then said, "I don't mind helping you with something. What do you want me to do?"
Reiju narrowed her eyes. Thinking that most of the problems making her feel weary lately stemmed from Luffy himself, she decided to use this chance to tease him and fluster him.
"Then, lick my foot," she said in a long, teasing tone, stretching one of her legs toward him. It was completely bare as she was wearing a very short shirt. Luffy sat on the floor with his back to the table he was chained to, while the woman sat on the sofa chair directly in front of him, so her outstretched leg almost touched him, and Luffy could see everything very clearly.
She could imagine how Luffy should have reacted: his face would redden, he would stammer, swallow hard, look away (but also steal glances), and become altogether very flustered. Then she would say it was a joke and ask if he had wished it were real, and she could tease him about it relentlessly. He was still a boy, after all, and boys his age were very interested in the opposite sex. And not to seem egotistical, but she knew she was insanely and sensually attractive, so of course she expected him to get flustered. But reality had other plans.
"Sorry, I don't have a fetish like that, and I'm not interested in you..." Luffy answered with a sincerely apologetic expression.
Upon hearing Luffy's reply, Reiju awkwardly held her leg in the air for a few seconds as the two stared at each other, before she slowly pulled it back without another word. A faint pink hue colored her cheeks from the embarrassment of her plan backfiring.
She had never done anything like this before and had only acted on impulse to see the boy flustered and to tease him. But his big, honest eyes, without a hint of red, and his sincere, apologetic expression made her feel like the pervert, and she decided to forget this incident ever happened.
"I was just joking," she muttered softly, realizing it sounded like a weak excuse now.
"Sure," Luffy answered casually. "But if you really want something erotic, I could kiss you. I'm a great kisser. But that's as far as I'll go. I don't mind kissing anyone. For anything more, we'll have to see in the future."
Reiju coughed several times to break the awkward atmosphere and change the subject. "So, how did you get captured?"
Hearing that, Luffy sighed inwardly. "I dozed off while fishing near my island, and when I woke up, I couldn't see my island anywhere. After two days of random rowing, I finally found a ship and rocketed myself there. I ate some food they gave me, and the next time I woke up, I was in a seastone cage and cuffs—"
"Wait, you rocketed yourself?"
"That's what I call it when I slingshot myself over distances."
"Right. Rubber fruit."
"Yep!"
"Okay, continue."
"That's all, I guess. I was enslaved for a few months, and a few days ago, they got tired of me and finally threw me out after poisoning me."
"Tired of you? Who got tired of you?"
"The slavers."
"You weren't sold to anyone?"
"Nope."
"...Why?"
"I was stubborn, I guess. I didn't obey them whenever they asked me to do something. And after a couple of escape attempts, they got fed up with me, poisoned me, and threw me away."
"....You're saying you basically irritated them so much that they threw you out?"
"Yah... I guess you could see it that way, shihihi," Luffy laughed while holding onto his hat.
"Somehow, I can understand how those slavers felt," Reiju said with a genuinely shocked expression.
"Why would you say that?"
"Because you managed to annoy me in just one day. I can understand the feelings of those slavers who had to deal with you for a month," Reiju said, massaging her temples.
"You're mean..." Luffy pouted.
Seeing Luffy pout made Reiju think he looked incredibly cute, but she quickly calmed herself. Although she knew he wasn't telling her everything—his wounds clearly indicated he was downplaying the actual events—it wasn't her business. "So, where are you from, more specifically? You said East Blue yesterday, but on which island do you live?"
"I live on Dawn Island in the East Blue."
"Hmm... If I recall, that's the Goa Kingdom, isn't it? The kingdom known as the cleanest in the East Blue?"
Luffy made a disgusted expression. "That kingdom is called the cleanest because they dump all their trash outside in the Grey Terminal..."
"I see. So that's how it is," Reiju nodded as if she understood. This was a common occurrence in other kingdoms, so it wasn't anything new.
Reiju then asked Luffy several more questions, which he answered honestly, before the topic of Shanks came up. Reiju asked why he wanted to become the Pirate King, and Luffy happily launched into the story of how he met Shanks and his crew, how he accidentally ate the Devil Fruit, and the silly things he did as a kid with Shanks and his crew, which made Reiju laugh out loud. He finished with how Shanks saved his life by sacrificing his own arm and the promise they made involving the hat.
"Wait... are you saying this Shanks is the Red-Haired Shanks, one of the Four Emperors?" Reiju asked after Luffy finished his story.
"Uh-huh," Luffy answered casually. "So they're really famous, huh..." Although Luffy knew from Kevin's memories that Shanks was a Yonko, he hadn't realized they were that well-known.
Reiju was shocked by Luffy's casual reply, which could prove he had a connection with one of the Emperors. Even more astounding was that he had made a promise with a Pirate Emperor to surpass him and become the Pirate King, and he didn't seem like a liar.
But as Reiju thought back on Luffy's story, she couldn't reconcile the childish Shanks from Luffy's tale with the man she knew by reputation. She had heard of Shanks, of course, but only in terms of the big incidents he caused and how ruthless and strong he was. The Shanks in Luffy's story was completely different. She hadn't expected his true personality to be so different from the rumors.
"The sea is a strange place..." Reiju said with a sigh.
"Right? The sea is an amazing place!" Luffy said with a smile. "That's why I want to go out to sea. I also promised Shanks I'd gather a crew better than his, shishishi!"
"I see. So that's your reason for wanting to be a pirate."
"A pirate?... That's wrong. What I want is to be the Pirate King, the freest person on the sea!"
'The freest person on the sea, huh? That sounds great,' Reiju couldn't help but smile upon hearing that. 'So this is why Luffy has such a positive view of pirates. For him, pirates are people who seek freedom, not the usual pirates who steal, plunder, and kill.'
"Then, tell me more stories," she urged.
Luffy went on to tell more stories about Shanks and his crew—all the stupid things he did to get Shanks to accept him into his crew, all the crazy stories they used to tell him, and the amazing songs they used to sing at the bar. Reiju couldn't help but ask follow-up questions and have an engaging conversation with him. Without even realizing it, she was smiling or laughing the whole time—something she hadn't done in a very, very long time. They talked well into the night, bouncing questions off each other and having a grand old time.
Without Reiju noticing, it had become midnight. She had forgotten her initial intention to interrogate him, having gotten too caught up in the joy of talking with Luffy about Shanks. She never knew conversations could be this fun, and Luffy knew how to keep one engaging.
Once she realized how late it was, she stopped the conversation. Her weariness had vanished, and she felt much better. She stretched, planning to go to sleep, and went to her cabinet to get the anesthetic.
"Can you not drug me?" Luffy whined. "I can sleep the normal way."
"No."
"Meanie..." Luffy pouted.
'Again with the pouting!' Reiju sighed. "Will you stop with the pouting already?! What are you, a child?!"
"Then stop being so mean!" Luffy shot back.
"Ugh... What do you even need to think about? How to escape and get in contact with whoever you're working for?"
Luffy just rolled his eyes, but then, thinking of something, gave a shit-eating grin that alarmed Reiju. "Welll," he drawled mischievously, "I need to think about how to not become a sex slave to a pervert like you. You already asked me to lick your feet. Who knows? You might start asking me to suck your toes next, then your boobs, then y—"
Reiju quickly injected him with the anesthetic before he could finish his sentence, watching him fall unconscious with a slightly red face.
'Why did I say that earlier?' she groaned in embarrassment. She stared at the grinning face he still had even while unconscious and smacked him once, feeling irritated. She sighed, knowing it was her own fault, and after locking him up, went back to bed, feeling somewhat refreshed.
After talking with Luffy, she was now about 80% sure he wasn't a spy. She felt Luffy was telling the truth; the happiness and excitement he showed when talking about his childhood felt very real. Unless he was a masterful actor—which she deemed impossible, as Luffy was just a lucky fool in her eyes.
She then went to her room, contemplating what she would do with Luffy tomorrow. She had enjoyed tonight and wondered if this was what having a friend felt like. 'It doesn't feel too bad...' Reiju allowed herself a small smile.