Chapter Text

1

The sound of gunfire echoed in Koby’s ears as he ducked behind a fallen statue, slamming his back against the rock and catching his breath.

Shit.

Of course it had been an ambush—what had he expected? The pirates to willingly hand over a devil fruit?

Yeah right.

Shit.

Guns were exploding around him, each shot banging against his skull like a timpani. It reminded Koby of how it felt when he first unlocked his observation haki, how loud everything had been, how much it hurt. (Thank the seas he got it under control, but battles like this always strained him.) 

They weren’t supposed to be fighting on land—they were the Marines after all, so that meant, y’know, ON WATER. (He was mistaking the marines and Navy, poor guy.)

But no. This tradeoff was planned on land for both of their benefits. No problem. Easy!

Yeah, as it turns out, not really.

Because pirates always did at least one of three things: show up like they owned the world, lie and backstab, or steal all your treasure.

So far, they were doing the second.

Trust a pirate to do what pirates do best: lie and backstab.

Koby cursed as a body slammed next to him, blond hair flying into his mouth. Spitting it out, the marine stared at Helmeppo. “How’s it going out there?” He asked casually as the pirates’ laughter grew.

“Oh, it’s going great. Captain John is trying to get everyone to retreat, but since you’re here, his order goes to shit.” Helmeppo popped up behind the statue and shot his gun. A muffled grunt gave Koby the notice that Helmeppo hadn’t missed, which Koby considered a rare feat—Helmeppo wasn’t exactly great with a gun, instead being way better with his kukri knives.

Helmeppo ducked back down, trying to hide his proud smile. “Trust a pirate to do what pirates do best,” he grumbled, echoing what Koby had been thinking.

The Rear Admiral gripped his stolen rifle tightly, his mind flickering to that absurd area it always did when pirates were mentioned—a wide smile and rowdy laugh, a small scar underneath warm brown eyes.

Crap. It had been what, two years since he realized he liked Luffy? Four years since he actually interacted with him. One would think he would be over it by now—nope! Not a chance!! Instead he was hopelessly pining after a pirate and attempting to show it like nothing but appreciation for what Luffy had done for him. “I just admire him for his stubbornness and ambition. Besides, he’s the reason i’m here in the first place. I owe him a lot,” he had once told Helmeppo a few years ago. The statement wasn’t totally wrong, as Koby did admire Luffy, so much.

But he had been denying the fact he liked Luffy.

Helmeppo, being the best friend he was, had immediately called bull shit and helped push Koby in the right direction.

But this crush on Luffy? It just decided to constantly screw with his judgment in the moments that mattered most. What could be better? Explosives about to go off? What would Luffy do? People about to be sacrificed? How would Luffy respond?

Which sometimes led to a shitshow, but hey, everything (normally) ended perfectly fine. Besides, Koby tended to listen to his own moral compass and then later wonder what the Straw-Hat captain would do in said situation.

Sure, it’s not like one could really blame Koby—it was almost impossible to hate Straw-Hat Luffy, a man with a heart of gold yet selfish as a child. Many people in the Marines admired Luffy for his uproar of chaos and his skyrocket into fame despite the guy claiming to not wanting to be famous. Many people feared and respected his ambition that lead him to be the Pirate King at such a young age and at such a quick pace.

Still. Koby hated it, hated how he got flustered just thinking about Luffy from time to time. Maybe that was because Koby hadn’t talked to Luffy in years. The last time they had been in the same vicinity, Koby had stood in Luffy’s way while the pirate was simply trying to save his beloved brother. 

Koby certainly had deserved the punch to the face for that. He had taken a step forward and finally tried to face Luffy as his enemy, but he couldn’t have chosen a worse time.

Maybe if I hadn’t done that, Luffy wouldn’t have lost his brother.

Koby could still recall the sensations of absolute grief and agony on that battlefield that had lingered behind, long after Luffy had escaped, but reeking so strong of a soul beyond crushed and a heart beyond broken.

Koby didn’t blame himself for Ace’s death—it wasn’t his fault, not really. Or at all, technically. (Right?)

But sometimes he wondered if he had stood on the wrong side of the battle field that day.

Speaking of battle fields…

Koby reached his senses out, focusing his haki as he listened in for the heartbeats. “Five on the left, double on the right. Which do you want?”

Helmeppo shrugged, tossing his hair over a shoulder. “You’re the War Hero here, you choose.”

“I don’t care about the status, there are marines’ lives at stake here.” Koby readied the gun, his hands trembling ever so slightly. Now’s not the time to be afraid, he chided himself, blowing a strand of pink hair from his eyes. 

“Oh yeah, I forgot you’re not like the other jackass captains and admirals.” Helmeppo mused. “I’ll take the five, you take the ten. Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

The two men nodded at each other before leaping around their hiding spot.

In an instant, Koby’s rifle was aimed at the pirates, finger pressing the trigger. The sound that followed was never his favorite—it reminded him too much of Marineford, too much of all that unnecessary death.

His face throbbed in the phantom pain of a harsh (but well deserved) punch. His brain and ears ached as he remembered those fading heartbeats, those loud tears and fading life that came from his friend.

Koby ducked as a pirate jumped at him, nabbing the blunt edge of the rifle into his enemy's gut. Before the pirate had time to hit the ground, Koby grabbed him by his legs and threw him at the others. Three down. “BASTARD!” Someone yelled as they charged at him, but the marine whirled around and punched them in the face. Make that four.

His eyes glided over to the flag they were proudly waving—a Jolly Roger with six green lines slashing the skull. How the hell a bunch of unknown pirates got a devil fruit, Koby didn’t know, but he needed that fruit. (Right?…)

“ALL MEN, KEEP ATTACKING!” Koby yelled as he shot the rifle again, managing to knock another two down. Six. “WE MUST RETRIEVE THE FRUIT!” He hesitated. “BUT IF YOUR LIFE IS IN INEVITABLE DANGER, RUN!”

A body slammed into him and Koby gave a hiss of pain, turning around to slam the rifle into the pirates head, but he stopped short.

It was a kid. Couldn’t have been older than twelve, staring up at him with blank eyes.

His grip wavered ever so slightly, his stance faltering.

The kid snarled at Koby, whipping out a small knife and slashing at the marines stomach. The Rear Admiral dodged it easily, and after mumbling a soft “I am so so sorry,” knocked the kid out with a single hand chop to the neck. Seven. 

He swiveled back to his decreasing crowd, now a measly three. Koby clenched the rifle in his fists. “LET’S GO!”

“LISTEN TO THE REAR ADMIRAL,” Helmeppo yelled, leaping into the air and twisting like a snake as he drove his knives into a pirates back. Always there to back me up. Who knew Helmeppo would become such a great friend?

Koby charged forward, raising the rifle and shooting, doing his very best to avoid the kill spots. Sure, they were pirates, but he couldn’t just kill them without a second thought…right?

He saw a blur next to him and jumped to the side as a very familiar corpsman ran past him, a single knife in hand as jabbed the blade down on someone’s neck. Koby shuddered, which was understandable. He found corpsmen absolutely terrifying,  considering they could name all the bones in the body and snap said bones with little difficulty. Still, they normally only got into battles like this in order to save their patients and drag them to safety.

However, Koby knew this certain corpsmen pretty well. He was a man around his age, from a small town village in the North Blue, and who ran into good trouble a few years ago…and by good, Koby really meant absolutely suck-tastic. This medic got himself involved with pirates on accident, due to being only a Petty Officer at the time and his commanding officer being a total douchebag. Koby didn’t know the full details—what happened on that small island in the New World was classified information that not even he was allowed to know, but when the guy got promoted and when he became a lieutenant, he was eventually moved to Koby’s boat…and the pink haired boy had no choice but to ask. (Well, he had every choice, he just couldn’t help his piqued curiosity.) He could still remember the emotionless expression and shaking legs yet cold voice as purple eyes stared into his soul. “Straw-Hat Luffy got kidnapped and unfairly tortured. I helped him escape. That’s all that happened.”

Ryan Vivero, age 20, forever sleep deprived and not much shorter than Koby, and a bit less experienced. Yet he had a moral compass that Koby admired—one that had led him to save Koby’s friend despite being a Marine.

“Did he mention me?” Was, unfortunately, the first thing that came from Koby’s mouth, causing Helmeppo to (again, understandably) freak out.

“KOBY, WHAT THE HELL, ARE YOU TRYING TO GET US IN TROUBLE?!”

“He helped Luffy-san!”

“DON’T USE HONORIFICS FOR HIM IN PUBLIC, DO YOU WANT TO GET ARRESTED?!”

But Vivero had only smiled, rubbing a hand through his colored hair. “He did, in fact. Said that you’ll be the one to arrest him. Straw-Hat…he’s good people. I won’t rat you out or anything, I promise.”

Koby would like to say that he’d gotten close to Vivero after that. It wasn’t a false statement, most people considered the two to be friends—but Ryan did have a habit of snapping at Koby more often than anything. Most of their exchanges were little quarrels that always ended smoothly. Plus, while Ryan followed orders from others flawlessly, he seemed to almost never do what Koby asked…which was reasonable. (Helmeppo hated seeing Koby “disrespected” like this, but Koby honestly found it amusing.) Still, despite the two being so similar, sometimes they just couldn’t get along, and Ryan occasionally acted like Koby’s superior instead of the other way around. 

And, 70 percent of the time, the two fought because of a certain always smiling and seriously charming and cute pirate. But whatever, right? Even though they disagreed on whether said pirate should be an ally of the Marines or not, it didn't matter, because Ryan was always there to help out. He was still Koby’s friend.

And he, from time to time, was able to save his superior's neck.

Quite literally as someone tried to slice Koby’s neck, but Ryan ran in and cut their heels. The pirate collapsed to the ground with a rather pitiful cry.

“Thanks!” Koby called out, causing Ryan to glance over. The medic offered a small smile before quickly scooping up a badly injured marine in his arms and scurrying off.

Koby turned back to the field in front of him and simultaneously gagged. He could hear the heartbeats fading in and out, stilling to a stop—could hear the last breaths of people he knew.

The Rear Admiral charged forward and smashed his knuckles into the nearest pirate's face. He didn’t hold anything back this time—he knew better after sensing one of his colleagues’ death, after hearing their last moments from several feet away.

Battles were always a bit hard for Koby. He understood that signing up to be a Marine soldier was also signing your life away. You had a very good chance of dying or being critically injured, and everyone on the field in the uniform signed away willingly.

But that didn’t mean he liked seeing them die. He could hear their hearts stop, hear their last breaths, hear them fade away. They had families, friends, loved ones waiting for them back at home, and some would never return. Maybe some left on bad terms with their partner or family. They could have screamed at their parents… and that would have been the last thing they’d ever say to their family.

Koby didn’t like soldiers dying, not on his watch, not on anyone’s watch. It scared him every time, and confronting loved ones with the news always shattered his heart.

Every time he saw one of his marines' bodies laying down before him (seeing Marineford flash before his eyes, Akainu getting ready to burn Koby to nothing but crisp—) Koby got a bit angry. Not like anyone could blame him. The Rear Admiral always had a big heart, always fought to save as many lives as he could, so anytime he lost even one, he felt guilty. He felt like it was his fault. He was an emotional and compassionate guy—hell, he cried a lot too, though Koby had gotten a lot better at controlling when he teared up.

To be honest, he occasionally questioned his profession as a Marine. Sometimes he wondered if it would have been better to go with Luffy and Zoro and not join the Marines… because from what Koby knew, Luffy had done much more than he could even imagine, saving countless countries from tyranny and oppression.

And what did Koby do? Fought no-named Pirates in order to obtain a single devil fruit, losing lives in the process.

Koby wanted to enact rightful justice. He wanted to help save people and help everyone live a better life. But he worked under a rotten government and was still stuck in the back seat while pirates (PIRATES, of all people) saved those who the Marines were supposed to be helping all along.

Shit. Maybe it really would have been better for Koby to go with—

He ducked quickly as a blade skimmed over the top of his head, cutting a few strands of his hair and slicing a cut into his forehead. Gritting his jaw, Koby whirled around and sucker punched his fist into his attacker, watching them fly away with a small smile. 

“HEY! REAR ADMIRAL KOBY!” A voice shouted. “WE NEED ASSISTANCE OVER HERE!”

“Coming!” Koby called, turning on his heel and avoiding a blow from behind. “Shave!” He swiveled around and gave a nice uppercut punch into his attackers chin, knocking them back before running towards the people who called for him. He could already see the problem: a marine was knocked down, with their friend trying their hardest to keep them alive and safe.

Koby pushed his feet into the ground and sped up, launching forward and slamming his whole body into the attacker. They both slammed into the ground, Koby elbowing the other harshly in the face and scrambling to his feet. “You ok?” He asked the marine in front of him—Petty Officer Little, he remembered.

Little nodded harshly. “Thank you, I just—I couldn’t…”

Koby clasped him in the shoulder quickly. “Don’t worry about it, ok? We all freeze up—” two from the right, three from the left—

He shoved Little to the floor and dropped to his stomach as five shots echoed around him. “HELMEPPO!” He yelled, rolling over as the guns continued firing at him. Pain blew up in his right shoulder, but he could have cared less as the familiar flash of two knives crossed his vision for a second.

Five people dropped to the ground, screaming out in pain.

“Seas…” Koby muttered as he got to his feet. “How much more do we have?”

“Well, I think they were the last ones,” Helmeppo panted as he jogged up to Koby. “Captain Pegerson is nowhere to be found, but the others are waving white flags.”

Koby felt his muscles relax at the very mention of the white flag, his back slouching immediately. “Thank the six seas, we’ve been fighting for twenty minutes.” He looked over at Officer Little and held out his left hand. “Good work, Little.”

Little removed his hands from the back of his head, glancing up nervously. “It—it’s over?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry, we’re safe for now.” Little grasped Koby’s wrist and the Rear Admiral grunted as he hefted him up. “Grab Officer Robin and find a medic.”

“Thank you—again, so sorry—wait, Rear Admiral Koby—”

“I’ve told you all countless times that the formalities of addressing me are not needed in the field,” Koby sighed, but Little continued.

“—you’re bleeding! Did you get shot?”

“I did, but it’s nothing compared to Officer Robin. He’s is in a much more critical condition.”

“Yeah, but you matter too.” Little scowled. “Go to a medic or something!”

Koby nodded, looking away quickly in order to hide the tears threatening to burst through. Crap, I thought I got over this!

So what if he was easily driven to tears? Helmeppo said it was because he was so compassionate (though Ryan sometimes teasingly called him a crybaby.) Crying because someone still thought his tiny wound to be important would make anyone tear up, right?

Still, he had tried the past two years to get over this habit, and he’d gotten definitely better…

But apparently not enough.

“ACK! Rear Admiral Koby, are you ok?!” Officer Little held his hands to his mouth in concern. “You look like you’re cry—”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Koby took a sharp breath. “I appreciate your concern, but just go to a doctor, ok?”

Officer Little saluted vigorously as he turned on his heel, running off and with his friend in tow.

Koby nodded at Helmeppo with a small smile. “Well, let’s go find a doctor.”

Helmeppo scowled a bit, leaning forward and studying Koby’s shoulder. “Doesn’t look too bad…”

“It does hurt quite a bit,” Koby admitted, covering the wound up with a hand. “But it’s nothing a medic won’t be able to fix.”

Helmeppo’s frown flipped into a smile. “Yeah! And then you can lose a bunch of blood while just standing here!”

“Why are you being sarcastic right now?—wait, no, do not call him—”

“RYAN, WE NEED YOU!”

Koby resisted a groan, inching away from Helmeppo as quickly as he could. “I need to find the Devil Fruit—I’ll assume it’s in the abandoned temple.”

“Oi, don’t just walk off! You’re injured, Koby!”

“I’m fine. Really!” Koby started jogging backwards with a polite smile. “I’m going to the temple! Bye!”

“KOBY, I DON’T WANT TO FACE RYAN ALONE, YOU KNOW HOW HE GETS!!!”

Too late, Koby was gone gone away, and he kept going until Helmeppo’s griping could no longer be heard.

He came to a stop several feet from the temple, taking a look around and eavesdropping on doctors conversations far in the distance. 

Koby clenched his jaw as he listened in. Apparently by some miracle, little to none of his subordinates had lost their lives. Some were injured, but nothing a good doctor couldn’t handle. 

The Pirates, on the other hand…

“Serves them right. Pirates deserve the gallows—hell, being killed like this is mercy for them!”

“Yeah, I know. I kind of liked…”

Koby closed his eyes. Can I tell them to be quiet?

He didn’t really condone the killing and execution of most criminals. The worst of the worst, maybe. Kaido, why not? Doflamingo? Sure!… But common pirates who haven’t really committed any war crimes, or those who were just trying to live? Pirates like Portgas D. Ace or Whitebeard or countless others who didn’t deserve the death they got.

Yeah, no.

(Monkey D. Luffy? Definitely not, as much as the higher ups would disagree with him.)

So seeing so many around him killed so mercilessly hurt something in Koby. Hearing his doctors talk about how lucky these guys were to be given such a merciful death angered something in him. He wouldn’t admit it, not out loud. Seeing their bodies, lifeless and broken and bleeding… it just hurt. Maybe Koby was biased with his opinion of pirates. After all, the only reason he even made it to the Marines was Luffy. If it hadn’t been for the Straw-Hat, Koby would probably still be a slave on Alvida’s ship, forced to do chores day and night.

So maaaaaaaybe he was biased. But he didn’t like seeing anyone killed for no reason. Once the goal was accomplished, once the motive was achieved, fighting should stop. (Just like in Marineford…) But it never did, especially in battles between the marines and pirates.

Garp often told him that this was the reason he had scouted Koby out—he was “the future for the Marines and the Navy.” Garp praised him for something Koby had been told was a weakness, called him the perfect candidate for what the Marines truly stood for. That felt like a bit much. All Koby wanted to do was capture the bad guys and bring justice to the world. Be the future? That seemed like something out of his league. That seemed like something someone important would do. (No matter how much Garp and Helmeppo tried to drill it in Koby’s head, he still refused to get even the slightest bit of ego or pride.) Sure, Koby dreamed of leaving an impact on the world. But he was perfectly fine if he didn’t.

But leaving THAT big of an impact? That was Luffy’s thing. Not his. 

He came to a stop by the temple doors that a small pile of bodies blocked off. Assuming how the corpses didn’t look touched, they had probably been shot dead on the spot.

Which meant the Devil Fruit was probably in there.

Koby clicked his tongue and kneeled down, carefully pushing the bodies away and apologizing to the dead people who probably didn’t care if he accidentally stepped on their crotch or anything. They were dead, after all. Still. He felt kind of bad, treading over the bodies like that.

Koby shoved the door open and the corpses tumbled inside after him. “Well,” he mumbled, stepping over and around them. “Here we go.”

“Wait, Koby!”

Koby cursed and turned around as the Terrifying Corpsman ran up to him. 

“Ryan!” He said with a forced smile as the man came to a screeching halt.

“Seas, Koby, I haven’t even gotten to examine your shoulder yet! Let me do my job!” Ryan snapped.

“Sorry, I just couldn’t help it.” Koby laughed, rubbing the back of his head before quickly changing the subject. “…so, what’s the body count?”

“On our side? Ten, that we can find. The pirates, however…” Ryan’s face rippled into a scowl, that emotionless mask he tried so hard to keep up breaking for a mere second. “Serves them right.”

Koby didn’t know the details of what happened between Commodore Douche (Akira), Ryan, and Straw-Hat Luffy, but whatever it was, it sure left an imprint of pirates on the corpsman. Ryan seemed to dislike (hate, really) most pirates they came across, calling them cruel brutes who had little to no humanity. His actions and words suggested that he thought most pirates deserved what they got—sentenced to life in jail or even the gallows, depending on what they did. Koby could remember the news talking about how some guy named Knud something getting arrested and hung made Ryan literally beam from ear to ear. That had been one of the few times Koby had ever seen  Ryan laugh. “Oh, I’ve been waiting for that! I hated the Crows!”

However, Ryan’s hatred didn’t keep him from respecting a select few, like the Straw-Hats.

Which, again, was something Koby and Ryan had in common.

Only problem was…

“They didn’t exactly deserve to die,” Koby protested, earning a heavy and annoyed sigh from Ryan.

“Look, Koby, I get that you’re in love or whatever with Straw-Hat—” Koby’s face burned bright pink and he looked away as Ryan continued, “but that doesn’t mean that these guys are anything like him. They're traffickers, Koby. They sold children.”

And just like that, Koby’s face turned normal as he stared at the medic. Just like that, his whole opinion over the pile of corpses changed. “…they what?”

“I swear, you’re slacking off these days,” Ryan grumbled. “Did you not do the research? The Pegerson Pirates are known for trading, selling, and enslaving kids from the towns they ravage.”

Koby let his jaw go slack, eyes falling to the bodies below him. “…but a kid was part of their ranks—”

“Most likely sold to them,” Ryan interrupted. “Brainwashed into being their mindless soldier. I’d expect psych torture…” Ryan faltered as he looked at Koby.

It made sense—Koby tried his best to see the good in people, and he had tried to not kill any of these pirates. But knowing what they did…

Well, Koby was pissed.

Shit. Why did Straw-Hat Luffy have to make him believe that all pirates were capable of being good?

“What Devil Fruit are we looking for again?” Ryan said instead of continuing the previous conversation. Because that was Ryan—as cold as he tried to be, he was a nice man, naturally kind-hearted. He knew when to stop talking about something, knew when a subject was upsetting Koby.

“I don’t know, they don’t tell me this stuff.” Koby grumbled. “All I was told is that it had some regenerative abilities that would be useful or something.”

“Probably a zoan type,” Helmeppo said as he popped up behind a corpse. “Though I don’t know.”

“When did you?—”

“What, you thought I was just going to let you off the hook?” Helmeppo scowled. “You hurt me, Koby. I’m your best friend!”

Koby almost smiled until he noticed Ryan’s expression. “Ryan? What is it?”

“Nothing, it’s just…” Ryan’s lip was quivering as he kneeled down, and once again, Koby witnessed that mask shatter into nothing as Ryan closed the eyes of a corpse belonging to a kid. “They’re just kids…” he said, so softly that Koby almost didn’t hear it.

“It’s like you said, Ryan.” Koby responded. “He was probably sold to them. He didn’t have a choice.”

“Screw pirates,” Ryan hissed, clenching his fists tightly. “They’re heartless and they’re… they’re cruel.” Ryan was trembling, staring at the child’s body as if he was looking at something else, something worse and absolutely monsterous. “We’re Marines. We’re supposed to stand for Justice—if anything, we should be finding whoever’s behind this and arrest them.”

I agree with you, Ryan. We should find the ring behind this, the monsters who sell children and brainwash them. We should arrest them and tear it down from the very seams that holds it up. 

But we can’t do anything without orders from above.

One would think that Koby’s rank would give him more freedom, make him more powerful. But it didn’t. In fact, it made him feel more contained and trapped. He was under watchful eyes 24/7 and always stressed to do what the other admirals wanted. And he still needed permission to do things.

Even if Koby went to the higher-ups with this and requested to go find the ring, he would most likely be denied and brushed off.

And so he would stand here a bit longer, wondering if the Marines really stood for unbiased justice.

“Koby!” Koby turned around, frowning a bit as a marine ran up to him with a frantic look on their face. “Sir, I’ve been looking for you everywhere. I have a report for you.” The Marine quickly saluted as Helmeppo raised his eyebrows pointedly. Koby could care less about if people saluted to him and referred to him by the proper status… Helmeppo, on the other hand, cared a whole lot that people respected Koby. “Sir, Rear Admiral Koby, Commodore Helmeppo, Lieutenant-Commander Vivero, we found the devil fruit.”

“You did?”

“Yes—at least we think it’s it, because it has a lot of swirly patterns on it and it’s a really weird color… but the thing, sir, is that Captain Pegerson is saying if we don’t let him keep it—”

“Wait, Pegerson is there?”

“Yes sir, but he saying if we don’t let him escape with the devil fruit, then he’ll blow us all up!”

Koby’s heart stuttered in his chest.

“Excuse me, what?” Helmeppo said, voicing Koby’s own silent question. “He has a bomb?!”

“Yessir!”

“Then why didn’t you start with that?!—”

“Helmeppo, it’s alright. I’ll go deal with this.” Koby said stiffly. “Officer, were you able to see the bomb? Do you know if it’s an actual threat?”

The marine nodded furiously. “And he said if you don’t arrive in two minutes then he would also detonate it—”

“AGAIN, WHY DIDN’T YOU START WITH THAT?!”

“Helmeppo, seas, calm down. Officer Laurens was just doing what he was told.” Ryan muttered, rolling his eyes as he looked at the blond. 

“That’s Commodore to you on the field, Ryan!”

Ryan stuck his tongue out.

“I’ll get going,” Koby said, glancing at Helmeppo and Ryan. “Try not to kill each other?”

If Helmeppo was glaring at Koby, well, no one could tell with the weird sun blockers covering the Commodore’s eyes. Ryan, on the other hand…

Well, Ryan might try his best to seem like an emotionless man, but his (albeit small) smile was saying everything.

Koby chuckled. “Officer Laurens, lead the way.”

“Yes, sir!” Koby followed closely behind as the Petty Officer bolted in the direction he came from, eyes locked on the distance.

He could see it, actually. A crowd of Marines shouting “PUT IT DOWN!” and surrounding someone in a circle. From what Koby could see and sense, it had to be at least twenty marines. 

“There, sir!” Officer Lauren’s declared as he came to a stop. “Pegerson was threatening us when I left.”

Koby shoved past the crowd, pushing his way to the middle.

Pegerson looked… oddly normal. No crooked teeth, no missing limbs, no traits that would automatically let someone assume him to be a child trafficker. Just dark blue hair, a clean-shaven face, and a rather skinny build. He didn’t look intimidating, even with the bomb he held in his hands.

One would think that after four years of being with the Marines, Koby would have gotten used to horrible people occasionally looking like regular humans.

Yeah, well, whoever thought that was wrong. Koby was not used to it. Dangerous people often looked normal or even goofy from time to time (Straw-Hat Luffy looked like a normal teenager, but was the literal King of the Pirates) but could also actually look the part.

“Pegerson?” Koby said slowly as he inched forward. “I’m Rear Admiral Koby. You asked for me?”

Pegerson pulled his lips back in a disgusting sneer. “Yeah, I did! I demand you let me go with this damned devil fruit, otherwise I’ll blow everyone here up, including you!”

“Don’t threaten the Rear Admiral!” Someone snapped, but Koby raised his hand for them to be silent.

“Is that all?” Koby asked calmly. I need to think about this. His eyes lasered in on the suitcase sized bomb in the man’s other hand. It looks like a timed bomb. It probably has a couple minute detonation and a powerful explosion. It’s most likely a conventional type, but that doesn’t mean it won’t have a majorly threatening blast. He seems confident in it. Koby glanced at Pegerson, chewing on his cheek. And the Devil Fruit… what kind is it, if this man is so willing to blow himself up for it? Is it a mythical? Or does he just see high value in it if he sells it to the Black Market?

What would a Child Trafficker be thinking in this type of situation?

“Well?” Pegerson hissed. “Make your decision in twenty seconds, otherwise I’m blowing all of you up!”

I can’t put my fellow marines’ lives in danger. Whatever this Devil Fruit is, it isn’t worth their lives. “Fine.” Koby said. “Keep the Devil Fruit—”

“MUAHAHAHA! YOU THOUGHT I WAS JOKING! TOO BAD FOR YOU, THIS BOMB HAS A TWO MINUTE TIMER! MEET YOUR DOOM, REAR ADMIRAL—” Pegerson pressed the timer with a cackle before his face fell flat, as if just realizing what Koby said. “Wait. Did you just—I thought you would—”

“SHOOT HIM!” Someone shouted. A gun fired right as Koby bolted forward, ripping the bomb away from Pegerson and holding it in his arms. He thought I was going to risk their lives, didn’t he? 

I’m not selfish like that. They matter more than me.

Pegerson hit the ground with a scream, rolling around in the ground as Koby stared at the bomb in his hands.

There are at least twenty marines here—one life for theirs means nothing, even if it’s mine.

“T-2 minutes,” the automatic voice said happily.

Shit shit shit, I need to get as far away from them as possible!

“Rear Admiral—”

“Don’t follow me!” Koby warned, backing up. “Stay back!”

“But Rear Admiral—”

“Sir, you can’t! Don’t do anything!!!”

Koby wasn’t listening, even as he heard Helmeppo scream out his name in sheer panic, turning on his heel and bolting as fast as he could.

He was running and not paying attention to anything but the bomb in his hands. Koby ran and he ran and he ran, jumping over roots and rocks, occasionally getting whipped in the face by branches. Time didn’t really exist to him until he skidded to a halt beside the edge of a cliff. All the Marine could hear was his heart pounding in his chest and the ticking of the timer as it counted down.

“T-1 minute!”

Koby peeked out at the waves crashing against the rocky shore at least a couple hundred feet underneath him—it would take a miracle for him to make it out alive.

He didn’t have time to hope. He didn’t have time to pray for a miracle as the bomb cheerily exclaimed “T-30 seconds!”

The only thing that flashed in Koby’s mind as he plummeted down were four faces: Helmeppo, Ryan, Garp…

…and a certain smiling pirate with a certain laugh.

I hope they’re all safe, he thought as his body hit the water, the bomb ticking its last second. 

And everything vanished.

✵✵✵

Pain.

A lot of it, actually, but not as much as he expected. 

He felt like he was surrounded by water and salt, like he was choking.

Wait…

Was he alive?

Everything hurt and sounds roared in his ears despite being surrounded by nothing but purple…

… purple?

Oh. Purple eyes.

Ryan.

“Seas dammit, Koby!” Ryan hissed, harshly tightening the bandages around Koby’s body. “You run off with a goddamn bomb and tell us to stay? Helmeppo had to give them direct orders to stay back because they were all trying to chase after you! I had to hold the moron back from running after you himself!!! And then you jump off a 215 foot cliff?! What are you, suicidal?!”

“I’m…” Koby’s throat felt oddly raw, his lungs burning as he coughed. “…alive?”

“That’s not answering my question! You’ve been passed out for five days, Koby. Five.” Ryan sighed, snipping the bandages and pulling back. “But yes, you’re alive. From the damage you’re suffering, you only broke an arm and a few ribs—it’s an absolute miracle that all of your bones weren’t shattered like glass from the impact, and that you avoided all the rocks. However, you were choking to death on water.” Koby winced as Ryan poked at the bandages around his arm. “If we had gotten there any later, you probably would have drowned.”

Ah. So that’s why I feel like I’m breathing salt.

“You’ll be staying in the Admiral Quarters, aka this room, for the time being so you can heal. We already sent letters days ago to Garp and higher ups about your work and condition here, requesting time for you to heal. It isn’t exactly safe for you to go out to sea quite yet.”

Koby nodded slowly. Each breath he took felt like sand down his throat, and he absolutely hated it. It hurt and everything felt…rotten. Contaminated.

So of course a small little mental image of Luffy grinning helped cheer him up a bit—it’s not like you could BLAME him, Luffy’s smile and laugh was absolutely adorable and just gave instant joy. (He was called Joy Boy for a reason….)

Koby looked back at Ryan and raised his eyebrows. Now that they were no longer under the pressure of the battlefield, (and apparently hadn’t been for the past few days,) he could see the heavy bags under the medics eyes. “Ryan, how much sleep have you gotten?”

“Three hours.”

“Today?”

“No, the past week.” Ryan stared at Koby with a tired and completely blank expression. “Because I’ve been cleaning up your messes.”

“I don’t leave behind any messes!”

“Yeah, because I cleaned them up.” Ryan rubbed his eyes tiredly. “Besides, being by your stupid side and having to fix this mess—” he gestured to Koby wildly, “—left me even less sleep!”

A smile was fighting its way onto Koby’s face. “I don’t deserve you.”

“Yeah, you don’t.” Ryan quipped as he put away all his supplies. “Now stay there, don’t move, and for the love of the sea, don’t get out of bed just to eat the butter again.”

Koby shrugged sheepishly. “I’m sorry? But he think you owe me a stick after you ate my other one.”

Ryan shuddered. “I thought you were going to kill me then…” he shook his head. “Were you?”

“No, I don’t condone killing people over a butter stick. But I was pretty upset.”

“By the way…” Bryan picked up his bag and eyed Koby. “Why did you do that?”

“Do what?” 

“Take the bomb and run. For the year I’ve known you, you’ve never committed such an act. Why did you do it?”

“Your lives were in danger.” Koby stated plainly. 

“But why—”

“It just felt right, okay?” Koby glanced away, feeling his cheeks burn in embarrassment. “I just… had to.”

“Well, don’t do that again. I think I would actually miss your occasional rant over how AmAzInG LuFfY-sAn is.” 

Koby groaned, hiding his face behind his hands. “I rarely talk about him!!”

“Oh, I don’t know, you mention him at least once a week,” Ryan deadpanned (aka teased, the guy tried too hard to be monotone.) “I won’t ever understand why, the guy stinks so much it comes across as Conquerors Haki.”

“He’s a devil fruit user, I highly doubt he’s fond of shower.” Koby muttered. Finally, after many moments of awkward silence, he managed to squeak out a few words. “But I don’t talk about him that much.”

“Yeah, but at least everyone on board knows that raising their voices when talking about Straw-Hat is an easy way to get your attention,” Ryan pointed out. “Even if the fact you’re crushing on him—”

“Well, don’t say it so loudly!”

“—isn’t apparent, the reality of you respecting him is quite clear.” Ryan raised his eyebrows. “And it’s not normal for a marine to salute to a pirate.”

“I’ve never saluted to him—”

“Liar, I’ve heard about Shells.”

Koby’s face continued burning.

“Back on track, just don’t be… so recklessly brave, alright?” Ryan’s voice seemed to soften a bit. “Helmeppo would probably kill me if anything happened to you. But then again, if you think it’s right…well, from what I’ve heard, your moral compunction makes a nice compass.”

Koby didn’t speak, refusing to admit out loud the reason behind running with the bomb. I just thought I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I had let it explode. 

How would he be able to face Garp if his fellow marines lost their lives? How would he be able to call himself a real Marine if he’d valued his life over theirs?

Hell, under the odd and highly unlikely chance it would happen, how would he be able to face Luffy, who time after time risked his own life for those he cared about?

He wouldn’t. Koby wouldn’t be able to live without feeling shame, and he wouldn’t be able to handle the regret and grief.

Because he had known it was wrong to just stand there and let people die when he could help. He had known it had felt right to him.

Sure, he would probably get awarded some sort of award or praise by Garp when they returned to Base, but he didn’t care about that.

The less people die, the better.

“It’s twelve A.M.,” Ryan continued as he opened the door. “You should go back to sleep. Also, there’s a huge storm going on outside, so stay away from the window. We’ve already had several windows on board break.” With that, Ryan shut the door behind him.

Koby sat up with a soft grunt, curling his fingers in the sheets and clenching them tightly. 

He glanced out the window with a small frown. It’s too quiet, he thought, running his good hand through his hair. It’s loud, sure, thanks to the storm, but… but there’s no sounds of any life. I wonder what’s going on?

He shook his head and laid back down, turning on his side and pulling his pillow close. Just go to sleep, Koby. You can worry about it later.

…right?

He shut his eyes tightly. “Seas, me, just go to sleep.”

He couldn’t.

The Rear Admiral laid there for seas knew how long, listening to the sound of twigs slapping against the window, waved crashing into the boat. He could hear snoring from the hallway, which hopefully meant that Ryan had finally fallen asleep. Footsteps, perfectly in sync as Marines made their nightly rounds, and drunken laughter from a few marines off watch. 

Koby could hear the clock ticking as an hour passed, but he still couldn’t go to sleep. 

With a loud groan, he sat back up and adjusted his position. “Why can’t I go to sleep?!” He exclaimed, staring at the opposite wall as if it was the reason. “Because it’s quiet? Sure, it’s only quiet like this when there’s…” his voice trailed off.

It’s only quiet like this when there’s danger. I can hear the waves lulling, but there’s… there’s something in the water in this storm. His brows furrowed a bit as he chewed on his cheek nervously. There’s always something in the water, but this thing is different. Maybe like a boat?

I don’t think it’s too close, otherwise I would have sensed it already. But…

He shook his head yet again. “It’s nothing, you’re just paranoid.” Koby muttered to himself. “That battle did a number on you, that’s all.” He nodded to himself, sure that this was the right conclusion. After all, it was storming horribly outside—who in their right minds would try to sail in the current weather? 

“Someone decided to dock!” A voice shouted, interrupting Koby’s momentary peace and causing him to look up so fast he probably got whiplash.

“IT’S A PIRATE FLAG!” Another shouted.

He could hear footsteps racing outside, slamming into the ground.

Wait…

What?!

What in the seas? It was the middle of the night. On a remote island. In the middle of a horrible storm.

Who in their right mind would dock here?!!!

How hadn’t he sensed it???

Somebody knocked at his door before yanking it open. Officer Little stuck his head inside, his eyes wide open. “Rear Admiral Koby, we’re going to go check out, so stay safe!” Officer Little said. He brought out one of his swords and thrusted it into the ground before shutting the door.

Koby’s heart was slamming frantically against his rib cage. Did the pirates from earlier have allies that were coming to avenge them?

No. No, it can’t be, I can’t only hear…

From what he could hear, there were only 11 souls on the island that didn’t belong to the Marines. That meant 11 pirates. 

Who in their right mind only travels in such a small group???

Wait. Confident people. The stronger you are individually, the less big of a crew you need. So whoever it is, they have to be to be ridiculously strong.

I need to come up with a plan, immediately. The safety of my friends matter the most—I need to make sure that the Marines here have a good escape route.

“The soldiers need to get out of here now.” Koby muttered as he slid off of the bed. “And then I’ll—”

TWACK!

The sound of something hitting his window made Koby jump up in quick fear, raising his uninjured hand and curling his fist.

TWACK!

There it was again.

Koby whirled around and yanked Officer Little’s discarded sword out of the wood. What was that?

Wait. Settle down. Be calm. It’s probably the storm throwing around rubble. He nodded firmly. That sounded reasonable enough, right—

TWACK! TWACK! TWACK!

The glass shattered after the fifth hit— Koby could safely assume someone was outside, throwing rocks at his window, considering the perfect timing between each rock. But why the hell would someone be outside in the middle of this suck-tastic storm???

Koby treaded over lightly and carefully and yanking the damaged window open. Water sprayed violently against his face, blowing his hair back and knocking the glasses off of his forehead. Yes. The person outside is definitely one of the 11 intruders. 

He quickly rushed back to the opposite wall, hefting the sword and glaring at the window as the scar on his forehead throbbed. It always throbbed when someone dangerous was nearby, kind of like a danger radar. It was quite trusty in that department.

And then a body flew into view, landing on the windowsill—the person flailed their arms wildly and yelped out in shock as they tried to catch their balance, before finally steadying themselves and perching there like a curious monkey, coat flying crazily in the wind behind them.

With the full moon being the only light in the sky and behind the figure, most of what Koby could see was only the silhouette of the intruder. 

A hand clutching a hat down on the head, a soaking wet captain's coat resting on the shoulders…

…and a very familiar large grin (he hadn’t seen that grin in person for four years, but like hell did he still remember it, and he still loved it, as it was something Koby always imagined to cheer himself up) practically glowing on the man’s face. A smile that felt like the warm sun breaking through a winter storm, that sent comforting heat rolling down Koby’s spine. This smile was beautiful in every way possible, and so was the euphonic laugh that followed.

“Shishishishi! I heard you were here, long time no see, Koby! Can I kidnap you?”

A lump formed in Koby’s throat, face burning like it had been set on fire, and his lungs shriveling up as he forgot how to perform the simple act of breathing. 

What the HELL?!!!

But hey. Guess you can always trust a pirate to do what pirates do best—act like they own the world.

Especially when it was the Pirate King and captain of the Straw Hats, Monkey D. Luffy.