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Borsalino winced as the light that emitted from his hand blinded him. When he accepted the glint-glint fruit two weeks ago, he figured that being light itself would cause him to be immune to his own attacks. Kuzan and Sakazuki seemed to be undamaged by their fruit after all.
The pirate he blinded alongside himself swung a fist and Borsalino dodged purely on instinct. He cannot let anyone know of his current predicament. Enhancing his speed with his new abilities, he kicked the man away from him with a satisfying sound that he could get used to if he was being honest. Looking around, they were clearly outnumbered. The information they received was far from being as accurate as their source thought it. He’d hazard a guess that they had a spy in their ranks with how wrong it was.
Kuzan was on the other side of the island and Sakazuki was struggling to attack without injuring their fellow marines. “All marines, cover your eyes!” He cried out, jumping high in the air and emitting the most powerful light he could. Even with his eyes closed, he could feel them burning.
The sounds of cries filled his ears and he doubled down on his attack. He felt pressure on his chest and as he fell from the air, he was swung at by almost everyone in his immediate vicinity. Without even a moment to breathe, he materialized in a random direction, stumbling and falling to his knees as he landed. His speed allowed him to go to any area he wanted, but his brain can’t keep up with his body.
He opened his eyes and winced at the blurriness. He can see that some blur was rushing toward him, so he raised his arms just in time to block a kick headed straight to his face. He jumped away only to be hit by a club on his back, another pirate snuck up to him, using the sound of battle to cover his footsteps. Borsalino didn’t hesitate to shoot a laser in his direction.
Blinking hard, he hoped his vision would return soon. If he shot everyone in his vicinity, there was a huge chance that he would be slaughtering his own men and the fleet admiral wouldn't hesitate to kick him out. He already took a chance earlier, he can’t afford another.
“Don’t bother with that sword, a good old piece of wood is good enough for that marine dog!”
Shit.
Even without his sight, he knows that the pirates are grinning at him like he’s a piece of meat and they haven’t eaten in two weeks. He could hear them coming towards him in a rush. Good. If they came to him, he didn’t have to worry about hitting other marines with his attack.
Borsalino closed his eyes. Reaching out with his senses and waiting for the perfect time to strike. He was out of practice, earning him a few bruises here and there. One lucky bastard even got him in the mouth. However, no matter how many they were, they were no match for a marine vice admiral. When all was quiet and no more people came to attack him, Borsalino opened his eyes and frowned when his vision was still blurry. He was beginning to worry about his eyesight, but held the panic at bay.
“Borsalino.” He turned toward Sakazuki’s voice, an unlit cigarette in his mouth. “Let’s go, the admiral wants a report.”
Placing the cigarette back to his pocket for later, Bosalino began walking only to stumble and fall because of a no-good-pirate’s body. “Damn it.”
“Are you hurt?” Sakazuki’s voice grew closer and Borsalino stood up quickly.
“I’m fine, just…” He was unsure what to say so he let the silence speak for him. Sakazuki reached him and felt a glare being aimed at his face. “There’s something wrong with you.”
“Is it my bleeding lip?”
“I’m taking you to Fishbonen.” Sakazuki grabbed his arm, using haki to make sure he didn’t escape. “I’ll tell the admiral that you were too injured to make a report.”
“You’re overreacting, Saka~.”” He teased, “I just needed to sit down for a little while, I’m okay now.”
Sakazuki kep dragging him and Borsalino kept stumbling on bodies he couldn’t quite see.
“It was that lightshow you did, right? Did your eyes get damaged because of your attack?”
People often forget how perceptive Sakazuki could be, his blunt and aggressive personality often causing them to label him as a blockhead. But not Borsalino. He wasn’t even surprised the other caught him.
“Were you hurt by it?” He asked instead of answering.
“Idiot, I asked first.” Sakazuki muttered, but already knew the answer by Borsalino’s reaction. “No, I ducked and covered my eyes like every marine.”
Borsalino chuckled, “So well trained~.”
The journey to the ship’s medical bay was silent after their exchange. No words needed to be said between them anymore. All Borsalino needed was Sakazuki’s hand grasping his arm, a steady guide and support, providing warmth, albeit a little bit too much. Sakazuki in turn, only needed to know that Borsalino would be fine no matter the damage to his eyes and his bloodied and bruised body.
There was no permanent damage to his eyes, but he was informed that he needs to master his abilities sooner than later. He had a feeling that they didn’t deem him worthy of such a fruit, so he worked to prove them wrong. Sakazuki helped him train, forced him to improve his agility and speed lest he wanted to be burned by magma. In turn, Borsalino helped him improve his accuracy and control. His eyes got used to the constant flashes. Fishbonen said something about his body already adjusting to his new abilities, but not quite realizing it yet. Borsalino had already tuned him out after he said there wouldn’t be permanent damages though.
After a few months of training, Sakazuki approached him during their break. Borsalino was sitting down on a bench and the other stopped just a few steps in front of him.
“You’ve gotten used to your new abilities.”
“I have.” Borsalino smiled. “My vision still gets blurred sometimes and I get headaches if I use it too much, but that'll stop eventually.” He hoped. In honesty, the headaches weren’t getting better and he was worried it would be a chronic thing for him now.
Sakazuki looked away, his features twisting into something…embarrassed? That wasn’t a sight one sees everyday. Before Borsalino could tease him, Sakazuki handed a small rectangular box to him.
“Thank you?” He said, more of a question than a statement. “What is it?”
“Just open it!”
Chuckling, he untied the red ribbon and peeled away the red wrapping paper. He opened the box and was greeted with the sight of a pair of sunglasses with a golden frame and orange lenses. It was hideous and Borsalino loved everything about it.
“I wasn’t sure what you’d like. The one with the yellow glass seemed like your style, but it had a thinner frame. There was another with a silver frame, but—”
“I like it, Sakazuki. Thank you.” He grinned, cutting off the other. As much as he’d like to see the other so flustered, he was also dealing with some…feelings himself if the damn butterflies in his stomach was anything to go buy.
He felt like some idiotic teenager. Blood rose to his face and he tried on the sunglasses in an attempt to hide it. “How do I look?”
Sakazuki’s features changed multiple times. “It suits you.” He said, a bit of shyness entering his voice and letting Borsalino forget his own uncomfortable feelings.
“Oh? That didn’t really answer my~ question.” He teased.
Sakazuki grew redder. “It looks good on you.” Borsalino was quite sure that a few more prodding and Sakazuki would turn into molten lava at his feet.
“This would have been useful a few months ago.” He changed the subject, not wanting Sakazuki to walk away and be his asshole self just yet.
The other scoffed and crossed his arms, “You’d have just used it as an excuse not to train.”
“Can’t say you’re not right about that.” Borsalino chuckled.
Sakazuki stepped closer and Borsalino straightened, leaning back just a little bit. With his cap hiding his features, Sakazuki placed a hand on the corner of Borsalino’s mouth, right where a pirate clocked him months before.
“Stop getting hurt.”
Borsalino blinked, his heart pounding for reasons he wasn’t sure about. Was this what people meant when they said they felt time froze, Borsalino wondered. Heat rose to his face and it flowed to…other places, too.
The moment was shattered by the arrival of Kuzan, popsicle in hand and the other carrying the bottles of water they requested earlier. “Ara ara, are you two about to fight again?”
“Let’s go back to training.” Sakazuki pulled away.
“What was that about anyway?” Kuzan asked, his head cocked to the side.
“Nothing, nothing. Can you make this a little colder for me, Kuzan? I think I’m overheating here.”