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“Tashigi!”
The bark of Smoker’s voice causes her to jump. Her glasses fall askew and she trips over her own words in an attempt to apologize. Instead, they come out as a jumbled mess of syllables rather than a coherent thought, to which Smoker frowns.
“You have to stay awake,” he mutters, mouth full of cigars. She can feel his glare from behind his sunglasses.
Her head throbs; they’d been in a fight with some New World pirates before everything went fuzzy. She still needed to work on her Haki - god knows Smoker tells her enough times that she’s not strong enough yet. But Haki wouldn’t help a hard knock to the back of her head.
Tashigi blinks as the room spins slightly.
Maybe if she’d paid more attention, if she’d practiced more, trained more —
“Tashigi…” Smoker’s voice is softer now, and she finally pieces together the fact that they’re in his office. He crosses the small room, made smaller by his stature, to kneel in front of her. “Stay awake for me. You have a concussion and we have too many inj—“
A low pitch rings in her ears as Smoker’s voice fades out. Tashigi narrows her eyes as she tries to read his lips, but there’s so much happening. The ringing in her ear peaks for a moment and she winces, hand pressing at the cartilage in the hopes that something would cause it to stop.
Smoker’s thumb rests at Tashigi’s chin, turning her head left and right to assess her. Her pupils were dilated, and when the sun came through the window of the dimmed office, she winces. Smoker huffs, sliding her glasses to the top of her head. Tashigi makes a noise of protest before the light softens - Smoker had removed his sunglasses and slipped them onto her face. They sat crooked on the bridge of her nose, far too large for her slim face, but it’s an act that is appreciated.
The contact on her chin is gone as he stands, gazing down at the young captain. Smoker bites down a little too hard on the two cigars hanging out of his mouth as he turns. He’s responsible for her well-being, and yet she still managed to get hurt. He needed to do better. Smoker clenches his fist and grabs his den-den mushi, barking orders for the medical team to visit his office stat.
“Vice Admiral?” Tashigi speaks softly, her words slurred. The ringing in her ears pitches again and she closes her eyes.
Smoker turns back to her, exhaling plumes of thick smoke as he slammed the receiver down. He had to keep her awake until she could be examined, and he knew exactly how to do it.
“Tell me about the 12 Supreme Grade Blades, Captain.”
At the request, she perks up. “Y-Yes sir!”