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In Luffy’s defense, this island seemed like it would have been a lot of fun. The log pose was going wild, and that always meant a fun adventure…
Well, usually.
Getting stuck in a cave with an Admiral was not Luffy’s definition of fun, they can’t even fight! The cave would crumble if they actually fought, and they’d get rained on…Nami said something about the super salty seawater rain that’s unique to this island, how it was also some kind of poison? He wasn’t really listening to her past the “run for cover if it rains or you’ll die” part.
He listens! Sometimes. To the important parts at least, the whys and the hows didn’t sound important, so he stopped paying attention. There was a whole island waiting for him to explore!
And exploring somehow led to the torrential rain that Nami said was super poisoned, especially to devil fruit users. He was so focused on finding a place to get out of the rain that he didn’t realize the cave was already occupied, even though this old man isn’t that bad.
Still a marine though.
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This wasn’t what Issho expected when his ship docked at this island to resupply. Although, should he have really been surprised given that the Straw Hats were docked here too?
When Issho hid in this cave when it started raining, the last person he thought he’d encounter was Strawhat Luffy popping into his temporary lodging. He didn’t know what compelled him to calm the pirate when he went on the defensive, but he didn’t feel like turning the young man out into the deadly rain.
Which led them to their current situation. Huddling in a cave with mere inches in between them.
The loud pitter patter of the rain would have been calming, if the accompanying sizzling from the rain eating through the rocks had been absent.
He is honestly surprised how long the pirate captain stayed still and silent. From his experience with him in Dressrosa, he thought that Strawhat would have said something already.
Remembering Dressrosa led him to remember Stawhat's grand escape with the other pirates, and the thought that I wish I hadn’t blinded myself, I want to see your face…
“Eh, old man, you blinded yourself?” Issho is shocked out of his thoughts. Did he say that out loud? How embarrassing.
“...Yes, I had enough of seeing the atrocities in the world, so I blinded myself.” In the ensuing silence, Issho wonders what Strawhat’s expression is.
This is the second time now that he yearned to see someone’s face since he took his own sight. Both times it was the same person as well…
Strawhat still has not said anything, but he can feel the young man’s eyes on him…Did he say the second sentence of his thoughts out loud? Hopefully he did not, but alas, he was not that lucky.
“Why do you wanna see my face?” The air shifts, Issho can feel the heat emanating from the young man, so close now that he imagines he would feel skin if he shifted even a little.
He stills instead.
“Oi! Don’t ignore me!” The pirate’s tone colors with annoyance. He wonders if the young man’s brows are furrowed, if his cheeks are colored with frustration. Does he pout when he’s annoyed?
He doesn’t need observation haki to know that Strawhat has moved so that he’s right in his face. He can feel the other’s breath on his face with every exhale. How did they get so close? Issho supposes that the cave wasn’t that big to begin with.
He decides to answer before Strawhat could get more annoyed from his silence. “I did not think there was anything worth seeing in the world anymore when I damaged my eyes. Everywhere I looked, there was evil. Greed, pain, hypocrisies...I had enough of it.”
He pauses, gathering his thoughts. Strawhat surprisingly doesn’t rush him.
“After the events of Dressrosa, knowing how the people of that country were freed from their despair, how you gave them freedom and hope…and their gratitude so visceral I could almost taste it…I had thought that the man who gave them that, that you would have a kind face.”
Issho does not owe this pirate an explanation. He wonders why they’re having what seems to be a heart to heart, even if it’s only his own that is being exposed.
“...Huh.”
If anything, the brief time in this little cave has allowed Issho to make peace with the fact that he will never not be curious to know what expressions Strawhat makes and what his reactions are.
What he doesn’t expect, and really, he should be used to expecting the unexpected around this young man, is a pair of calloused hands firmly grabbing his and lifting them to the other’s face.
“If you’re curious, you can touch! Back in my village, someone had a blind relative visit once. They said they sometimes ‘see’ with their hands, it’s so cool!” Issho barely registers what Strawhat is saying, stunned that the pirate casually initiated this level of intimacy with an enemy.
“Hey hey, can you see with your hands? That way you can see what kind of face I have, it’s the face of the man who’s gonna be pirate king!”
Well, Issho isn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. This is either a fever dream, or the fumes of the rain are muddling their thoughts. In what world would this be happening?
“Yes, I…can map out your features with my hands. This is very generous of you.” He doesn’t bother to ask if Strawhat is worried that he would harm him. He has learned that Strawhat is deceptively insightful, and the pirate knows that Issho would not do him the dishonor of hurting him in this situation.
Strawhat lets the grip on his hands loosen, leaving Issho to gently cup his cheeks.
He lets his hands stay there for a moment, feeling the shape and the size of the face he has wondered about more than once. It’s warm, the odd smoothness and vague rubber texture must be attributed to his devil fruit.
He lifts his right hand, fingers finding Strawhats hairline and delicately dragging them down until he finds the arch of an eyebrow. He feels lashes flutter as the young man beneath his hands blinks, and Issho gently traces the round shape of an eye, feels a thin, curved scar right beneath it, and cups his cheek again as he smooths a thumb over Strawhats cheekbone.
Issho tilts the face in his palms up slightly, and with his left hand, he traces the arch of Strawhat’s nose, feeling puffs of hot breath as the young man scrunches up his nose and giggles from the ticklish feeling.
And finally, he places his index and middle finger on the edge of a wide smiling mouth and traces the curve of Strawhats lips.
He removes one of his hands and immediately wishes he didn’t, the cold empty feeling a stark contrast against the hand that is still cupping the side of the cheek with the scar.
Issho knows he should let go. Strawhat has already shown him more consideration than called for given their positions, but instead, he slides his hand down until it’s loosely encircling the young man’s throat.
A slight press and he can feel the steady thump of Strawhats pulse, unafraid even with his life in Issho’s hands. It could be easy to coat this hand with armament and crush Stawhat’s windpipe. Would he be caught off guard? Or is his observation skilled enough to move before it happens?
It is a question that won’t be answered, as Issho has no intention of killing Strawhat today.
He is content with feeling the warm, steady pulse beneath the palm of his hands.
And he was right, Strawhat does look kind.
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