Chapter Text
“I’m so bored, Mihawk! Nothing exciting is happening these days!” Red-Haired Shanks whined as he flopped down next to his lover of five years on the inn’s bed.
“And what would you have me do? We’ve only just sparred this afternoon,” the World’s Strongest Swordsman replied, sparing the man-child squirming beside him a glance before resuming his book.
“I can think of doing something exciting right now. In fact, we even seem to be in the right place for it,” Shanks purred, fingers trailing up his partner’s inner thigh. Just as he was about to reach his prize, his hand was arrested by a firm grip.
“No.”
“No? No? ” The redhead gasped dramatically, placing a hand on his chest and rearranging his expression into one of pretence outrage. “So you’re just gonna let me die of boredom? How mean! And here I thought you love me.” Shanks stuck his bottom lip out and peered through his lashes at his lover.
Mihawk let out a soft huff, features cracking into a grin. He released Shanks’ hand to flick his nose. “If you want excitement you could always start some yourself, like leaving the Grand Line for instance,” he suggested. “You could travel to the East Blue and pay the Star Clown a visit.”
“Huh.” Shanks hadn’t thought about visiting East Blue again after getting his sniper there. “The Marines are sure to panic if they don’t see me in the Grand Line, won’t they?”
“Obviously. You could also give that sniper of yours some time with his family.”
“Huh, you’re right. Well then, East Blue it is!”
East Blue was...interesting in a mind-numbing way. The weather is always calm and predictable, there were little fights to be had, and Shanks had honestly forgotten how convenient it is to travel from island to island without relying on a log pose. He was also grateful that his name was relatively unknown in this sea, it allowed him to explore places more freely.
Buggy hadn’t been too pleased to see him. In fact, his exact words were: ‘go back to the Grand Line, you flashy bastard! If the Marines catch wind that you’re in East Blue, there won't be peace in here again! And tell that boyfriend of yours that I got a bone to pick with him for sending you here!’
“Captain! Dawn Island’s up ahead!” A shout from one of his crewmates broke through his musings. Shanks got up from where he was lounging beneath a palm tree and walked towards the bow of the ship.
Another peaceful island yet again. Shanks sighed. Two months in East Blue and he was already missing Grand Line’s chaos. If things kept going this way though, he was going to be cutting his trip a lot shorter than he thought.
After docking in a quaint little village called Foosha, Shanks disembarked and set off to explore the area. The locals were nice, if a little wary of him and his crew. He supposed they must not have seen a lot of pirates in the area. The redhead’s plan of visiting the famed Capital of Goa Kingdom was derailed when he spotted a store called Partys Bar. Unable to say no to the prospect of alcohol, he went in.
“Welcome! Please take a seat, I’ll be right with you in a moment.” Behind the bar counter, a young woman wearing a yellow kerchief greeted him with a smile. Shanks thought she looked awfully young to be working in such a place.
As the pirate captain settled down onto one of the many empty tables in the bar, he gave the area a quick scan with his Observation Haki. It was revealed to him that she was the only worker here. How odd.
“Here’s the menu. Please let me know once you’re ready to order,” the young lady said when she passed him a sheet of paper. Shanks thanked her and was pleased to see her flush and return his smile.
Must be dull manning a bar all alone in this town, especially since there doesn’t seem to be many customers, Shanks thought to himself as he perused the menu, reading the neatly handwritten words on them.
Just as he was about to place his first order, a boy with messy raven hair burst through the batwing doors.
“Makino, I’m hungry! Is it lunch yet?” the kid yelled. He turned around and locked eyes with Shanks. The redhead stared back at him unblinkingly, surprised.
The spell broke when the child beamed and scrambled over to his side. “Hey, mister! I haven’t seen you around before, are you new here?”
Shanks relaxed his guard and laughed. “Sure am! I just arrived on my ship today.”
“Are you a fisherman?”
“A fisherman? Dahaha! I’m a pirate, kid!” Shanks detected a spike of alarm from the barmaid before it morphed into wariness.
“Cool!” the boy exclaimed with stars in his eyes. The redhead rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, unused to being praised by a child. Most of them would skitter away and avoid him when they found out he was a pirate.
“That’s enough now, Luffy. Let’s leave the man to his meal ok? I’m terribly sorry about him, sir.” The barmaid tried to usher the child away but he was as firmly rooted to the spot as barnacles are on a ship’s hull.
Shanks waved away her apology. “Oh don’t worry about it! It’s refreshing to see a kid who’s unafraid of me for once.” He was also curious about him.
“Still...”
“Hey, mister, have you been to the Grand Line? Is it true that there are sea kings there?” Luffy butted in.
“Luffy! It’s not polite to interrupt someone’s conversation!” Makino scolded.
“That’s okay, I don’t mind. Tell you what, you serve me some of your best food and alcohol and in exchange, I’ll entertain this kid of yours for a moment. What do you say about that?” Shanks flashed Makino a winning smile. Luffy’s eyes begged for her approval.
The barmaid sighed, shaking her head. “Oh alright then. Luffy doesn’t get to see a lot of people around so I apologise in advance if he’s being too exuberant towards you.”
“It’s nothing I can’t handle. Now, Luffy, wanna hear about that time my crew and I fought a sea king?”
“Yeah!”
Their conversation soon dragged on to the evening. Two more customers came after Shanks but they didn’t stay as long as he did. It was fun entertaining the boy with his stories, though he had to restrict himself to telling the more child-friendly ones. As the man waved goodbye to Makino and Luffy, he was already planning to go back to the bar the next morning. Perhaps he could bring his men along to give the barmaid some business. God knows that just like him, his crew would never turn down the opportunity to drink.
Dawn Island was quickly turning out to be Shanks’ favourite location in East Blue, and it had everything to do with the boy and the barmaid in Partys Bar. However many times he and his crew left to seek out more adventures, the compass in his heart would always point towards Dawn and guide them back. Speaking of his crew, they had come to adore Luffy as much as he did from the moment they met him. How could they not? The kid was adorable with his chubby cheeks and a personality full of vim and vigour. He also had no fear of who they are—though that was concerning—which made interacting with him much easier.
One of his Officers, Lucky Roux, had bonded with Luffy over their shared love of food, especially meat. He had even snuck a few pieces from his plate over to the boy when Makino wasn’t looking, something that Shanks had never seen him do throughout the years of sailing with him. For a chef, he can be rather possessive of his food. The redhead had also witnessed Lucky Roux trading recipes with Makino as well.
Another one of his Officers, Yasopp, was the quickest among his men to warm up to Luffy seeing as he has a son of the same age. The sniper wasted no time bragging to his two new audiences about how Usopp ‘is gonna become the best sniper the world’s ever seen!’.
The crew, all too used to Yasopp’s boasts by now, had mostly tuned him out. Although they were exasperated to hear the same things repeated over and over again, they were happy to know that his family was doing well when they stopped by Syrup Village of Gecko Islands first in East Blue. Shanks had to give it to Luffy though, the kid had listened to a total of fifteen different renditions of Yasopp’s stories about his son until he finally got tired of them. It was much longer than any Red-Hair Pirates had lasted.
What was more surprising was that Luffy had even gotten Benn to warm up to him, and his first mate is the type to shy away from children—so is his lover but Shanks digress. On some days in a quiet corner of the bar, Benn could be seen teaching Luffy how to read and write, which the kid was very behind with. He barely even knew how to write his own name! That was also how they found out that Luffy is dyslexic.
Shanks sighed fondly into his drink, observing the scene of his men teaching Luffy some sea shanties. By the seas, what scary pirates they are going all soft for a boy. If only the Marines could see them now.
Seven-year-old Luffy was having the time of his life. Before Shanks and his crew arrived, his days were absolutely boring. None of the adults or the older village kids had time for him between their chores, and all the younger ones refused to play with him because he was ‘too rough and weird’.
How was Luffy supposed to know that if he was caught by the chaser in the game of Catch, he wasn’t supposed to fight to escape? That was how he and Gramps played the game! Luffy also didn’t understand why hiding on the rooftops was considered cheating in Hide and Seek if climbing trees was allowed.
Makino tried to be there for Luffy, she really did! But she had other jobs to do to supplement her income at the bar, which meant spending lesser time with him. Luffy had only looked forward to the days when his Gramps would visit. He didn’t like the training sessions much but at least there’s someone to hang out with him. Luffy had also observed that on some days, Gramps would disappear up Mount Colubo and come back during the evenings. He assumed that he was there to hunt because he would usually return with the carcass of some animal to roast for dinner.
With Shanks and his men around, Luffy was never bored. There would always be stories of their adventures to listen to, songs to sing, and laughter to be had. Luffy liked the happiness he got being around the Red-Hair Pirates so much that he wanted to experience it forever. So he told Shanks this: “Let me join your crew!”
The entire bar fell silent. As one, the Red-Hair Pirates looked at their captain. Shanks was just as astonished as they were by Luffy’s proclamation. Hadn’t he done the same thing with Roger when he was nine?
The redhead took some time to gather his thoughts before saying, “You’re far too young to be on a pirate ship, Luffy. It’s dangerous and not a place where children should be. Besides, I have no use for weaklings.” Shanks reached over and poked the kid on the chest, unable to resist teasing him.
Luffy reacted exactly as he had expected: puffing up his cheeks and scowling in indignation. “Stupid Shanks! I’m not a kid and I’m not weak! I’ve been training with Gramps so I’m strong!”
“Training?” What the hell is the kid’s grandfather training him for when he should be playing with him? Where is he anyway? Shanks had never seen hair nor hide of the old man.
“Yeah! Gramps showed me how to fight and made me practice it on the monkeys! He also taught me how to survive in the forest and then threw me into a ravine as a test. I took three weeks to get out of there—but Gramps said that I was a lot faster than most of his men!” Luffy happily boasted. Surely Shanks would let him join after hearing how strong he was now?
Said Red-Hair Pirate was struggling to keep the easy-going grin on his face as he listened to Luffy’s description of his ‘training’. He was certain that his crew could pick up on his darkening mood for their hands started drifting towards their weapons and the merriment in the bar slowly died down. Shanks is going to have a talk with the kid’s grandfather about why throwing your child into a ravine is a major no-no. But first, he needed a name.
“Say, Luffy, who’s your grandfather?”
“Oh...” Luffy’s eyes turned downcast. He tucked his bottom lip between his teeth and fiddled with the hem of his shirt. “Monkey D. Garp.”
Stunned silence enveloped the bar. Luffy’s body folded inwards.
Monkey D. Garp? As in Garp the Fist, Garp the Hero of the Marines?! That explains a lot of things, Shanks thought in horror. Oh God, I’ve been putting thoughts of piracy into his grandson’s mind. He’s going to kill me for corrupting Luffy after what happened with his son, Dragon.
See, Monkey D. Dragon was once a Marine before he abandoned his post and went on to establish the Revolutionary Army. The reason behind his betrayal wasn’t clear but Shanks overheard Garp telling Roger that it had something to do with the Celestial Dragons. The knowledge of Dragon’s history with the Marines was only known to a few because all of his records were erased in a bid for the Marines to save face. They had been the ones to brag about how the son was going to become like his father after all.
As the Revolutionary Army grew in notoriety, Dragon the Revolutionary was branded as the ‘World’s Worst Criminal’ and had a bounty to reflect that. Should the public realise that Luffy was his son, Shanks could foresee the horrific events that occurred on Baterilla happening again on Dawn Island. Speaking of which, where the fuck is Dragon if Luffy is here? Why isn’t he the one taking care of his son? Is Luffy even aware of who his father is?
“I shouldn’t have said that. Now you’re going to leave too.” Luffy’s shoulders hunched further. His hands came to grip his arms.
“Leave? Why would I be leaving?” Shanks asked, taken aback.
Luffy pointed to his face. “Everyone looks like that before they stop playing with me. People always run away from me after knowing who my Gramps is. I wish I know why they don’t like Gramps.”
Oh. No wonder why the boy had no fear of strangers. He was so starved for attention that he would seek out anyone to befriend. It wasn’t because people didn’t like Garp that they avoided Luffy; they feared incurring the man’s wrath should anything bad happen to his grandson while he was under their watch. Even Shanks could admit that however powerful he became as a pirate, deep down inside him lives a fear of the man who could go toe to toe with his old captain.
Shanks gave the boy a determined smile. “Well, you’re wrong, Luffy.” When the boy looked up at him in surprise, the pirate continued, “I ain’t gonna run away just because your grandpa is Garp.”
Luffy squinted at him. “Really?”
“Really.”
“...pinky promise?”
Shanks hooked his last finger onto the smaller one held up to him. “I promise.”
The smile that bloomed on Luffy’s face could outshine the sun.
“You’re still too weak to join my crew though.”
“Meanie Shanks!”
After that incident, the Red-Hair Pirates increased their visits to Dawn Island. Shanks got more actively involved with Luffy: helping Benn teach him how to read and write, playing card games with him—kid has the Devil’s luck but not the face for Poker—all in a bid to lessen his loneliness. Makino wasn’t impressed to learn that he had taught the boy how to gamble though. Shanks had even tried teaching the kid how to swim, though their first session ended in failure with how often Luffy tended to sink in the water. He was newly christened with the nickname ‘Anchor’ as a result of that.
In this particular visit, upon hearing that the Red-Hair Pirates were back, Luffy stole one of Makino’s fruit knives and headed to their ship. Staunchly ignoring the greetings he received, the boy climbed up onto the dragon figurehead and loudly proclaimed that he was going to show Shanks just how brave he is. Luffy was tired of being called a weak little kid.
Curious to see what he was up to, the redhead goaded the boy into continuing. Shanks was horrified when Luffy proceeded to stab himself underneath his left eye.
“Hongo!” The pirate captain shouted for his doctor as he jumped up to grab the child who was flailing around in panic at the pain and blood.
It turned out that the wound was deep enough to require two stitches and medical tape to hold it shut. Hongo remarked that had the knife gone any deeper, Luffy would have lost his vision in that eye.
In an effort to console the crying child, Shanks brought him to Partys Bar and offered to pay for everything he wanted instead of adding the bill to his ‘treasure tab’. Upon arriving at the bar, the redhead was greeted by the sight of a frantic Makino pacing by the entrance. She rushed forward upon seeing the duo.
Makino had been checking the stocks at the back of the store when the pirates arrived. When she came back to the front and found Luffy as well as one of her knives missing, she thought of the worst and panicked. Seeing the boy mostly unharmed had brought her relief. She had also berated Shanks for not removing the knife from Luffy and for encouraging his reckless action after hearing how the child had gotten the wound underneath his eye.
After taking advantage of Shanks’ offer to buy him food, Luffy stopped crying—although his eyes were still watery—and smiled broadly, claiming that the cut didn’t hurt at all. Amused at the kid’s attempt at keeping a brave face, Shanks laughed and declared for a party to be had in honour of his bravery.
“Does this mean I get to join your crew now?” Luffy aimed his expectant gaze up at the man who was seated on the bar beside him.
“Sorry kid, but my ship has no use for another anchor!” the pirate captain teased and took a gulp of his beer.
“No fair! I wanna join your crew and go on adventures with you guys!” Luffy crossed his arms and huffed angrily. He twisted away from the redhead, intent on ignoring him.
“C’mon, Captain, why can’t we take Luffy with us? We can just stay in the East Blue; it’s the least dangerous of all the seas!” Lucky Roux came forward to cajole Shanks.
“Yeah, Boss! There aren’t any pirate crews stronger than us here, we can protect him!” Yasopp added, slinging an arm around the other Officer and grinning widely at Luffy.
“Hear! Hear!” several other Red-Hair Pirates chimed in.
“Fine then.” Luffy perked up. “If you guys want Luffy to come on board then one of you switch places with him.”
“Well, would you look at the time—”
“Yes, yes, it’s time for us to leave—”
“We have yet to finish our drinks!”
Luffy watched in dismay as all of the Red-Hair Pirates went back to their activities. “I thought you guys were on my side!”
“Now, now, Luffy, don’t get mad. How about we get some juice for you?” Shanks looked at Makino. The barmaid got his signal and poured a glass of orange juice for the boy.
“Yay! Thank you!” Luffy eagerly gulped down the proffered drink. It was only when he heard Shanks’ attempt to stifle his laughter that he knew he had been played.
“Pft, what kind of pirate drinks juice? Dahahaha!” the redhead chortled whilst holding his stomach.
“Stupid Shanks! I don’t wanna be your friend anymore!” Luffy shouted, cheeks red and frowning furiously.
The boy slipped off his barstool and just as he was about to storm off, he spied the funny-looking fruit Shanks had brought at a corner of the bar counter. Luffy glanced around the room. No one was looking in his direction. He quietly picked up the fruit and took a bite.
Instant repugnance.
Luffy's expression twisted. His body shuddered and heaved. But however much his tongue rebelled at the revolting taste, the boy couldn’t bring himself to spit out the fruit. He felt compelled to swallow it. The mouthful entered his stomach with difficulty. Luffy stared at the remainder of the fruit in hesitation, reluctant. But a mixture of spite and being raised to not waste food by his Gramps steeled his resolve and drove him to take a second bite. Then another, and another.
A loud bang resounded through the bar. One of the batwing doors clattered on the floor, kicked off its hinges. The sudden noise silenced all activities inside the store.
“Excuse me.” A group of men swaggered in. Shanks cast a cursory glance at them before going back to his meal. His crew, however, were on high alert. Luffy had turned to watch the new arrivals as well.
“So these are the pirates, huh? They look like idiots to me,” one of them sneered.
The owner of the voice stalked forward and placed a hand on the counter. Shanks was forced to lean to the side when his personal space was invaded lest he gets knocked over by the newcomer.
“Welcome,” Makino greeted, putting down the glasses she had been cleaning and walking towards her new customers.
“We are bandits,” the leader of the group said. He had a cross-shaped scar on a corner of his forehead. “We’re not here to cause trouble. We just want ten barrels of sake.”
“I’m very sorry, sir, we’re out of sake at the moment.” Makino gave the man an apologetic smile. Underneath the bar and out of the sight, she squeezed the fabric of her skirt in her hands.
“Oh? What is it that the pirates are drinking then? Water?”
“It’s all of the alcohol in the shop, sir.”
Sensing troubled waters ahead, Shanks interrupted their conversation. “Well, that’s not good. Sorry about that, my men and I have finished everything. I do have one unopened bottle with me here if you’d like?” The redhead smiled genially and held up the aforementioned bottle.
The head of the bandits stared at him for a moment. Then quick as lightning, he swung his fist out and smashed the bottle in Shanks’ grip, dousing the pirate in its alcoholic contents as well as broken glass. It was only through Observation Haki that the redhead managed to shield his face from the flying glass with his hat. The sake, however, soaked the front of his shirt.
Makino gasped and covered her mouth in horror. Luffy stared gobsmacked. The Red-Hair Pirates looked on without a change in their expressions while the bandits smirked.
“Don’t insult me—do you know who I am?” Seeing no forthcoming response from the redhead, the bandit reached into his coat and took out a bounty poster. It unfolded to reveal a picture of his face as well as his name and a string of numbers below it.
“I’m Higuma, Chief of the Higuma Bandits and I’m worth eight million Beri. I’ve killed fifty-six people before so don’t try to mess with me.”
Instead of replying to the bandit, Shanks squatted down on the floor and started picking up the pieces of broken glass. “Sorry about the mess, Makino-san. Do you have a mop I can use?”
“Ah! It’s alright, I can clean it up!” Makino rushed to the end of the counter with a tablecloth in hand.
Unsatisfied that he wasn’t getting his desired reaction, Higuma unsheathed his sword and swept everything off of the bar top. This time, Shanks was showered by the rice of his meal, the sake he had been drinking and more pieces of broken glass.
“Since you enjoy cleaning so much, I thought I’d help you with it,” Higuma sneered down at the pirate. “Let’s go, boys. There’s no point staying here when there’s no alcohol.”
The bandit chief stalked out of the bar. “See you later, cowards.” The men following behind him sniggered and jeered.
Once the bandits had left, Makino hurried over to assess if Shanks was hurt. The redhead assured her that he was fine and cracked a grin. His crew burst into raucous laughter upon seeing it and ragged at him for getting struck by Higuma.
“Why are you laughing?!” Luffy exclaimed, stomping up to Shanks. “That wasn’t cool at all! No matter how many there are or how strong they look, you’re a coward if you don’t fight back!”
Shanks blinked at the intensity of the child’s anger.
“Look, I know how you feel”—the redhead removed his hat and dusted off the debris before replacing it on his head—“but it’s just a bottle of sake. There’s no need to be so worked up about it.”
“Stupid Shanks! I don’t wanna see you anymore!”
“Aw c’mon now, don’t go.” Shanks grabbed onto Luffy’s arm as he stormed off. He had expected the kid to either shrug off his touch or to stop walking when he couldn’t go any further. What he hadn’t anticipated was for¹ Luffy’s arm to stretch as he stubbornly continued walking. His men spat out their drinks in surprise at the sight.
Luffy turned around upon sensing that something was amiss and noticed his extremely long arm.
Pandemonium ensued.
“What in the seas?!”
“His arm! It’s stretching!”
“What’s happening to me?!” Luffy shouted in terror.
“Captain! The fruit we stole is gone!” Lucky Roux waved the empty chest at Shanks.
“Luffy!” Shanks clutched at the boy’s shoulders. “Did you eat the purple fruit in the box?!”
“Huh? Y-yeah, it tastes bad though.”
“Of course it does—it’s a devil fruit! Anyone who eats them can never swim again!” the redhead explained hysterically.
Luffy’s jaw hit the floor. “Whaaat?! You’re kidding right?”
“You idiot!”
Though he was devastated at losing his ability to swim, Luffy had come to accept his newfound power at the end of the day. Shanks watched in amusement as the kid roped his men into playing a game of how far they could stretch his body. During the entirety of his stay, the redhead had been fervently hoping that Garp wouldn’t be making one of his unannounced visits to Dawn Island. The Marine Hero is going to have his head for turning his grandson into a hammer.
The Red-Hair Pirates departed after spending a few days on Dawn Island, promising to drop by again some other time.
“Hey, Captain, isn’t this the second time you’ve indirectly caused someone to eat a devil fruit?”
“No one tells Buggy about this!”