13 A Voyage
"A new age? Dahahahaha!!!! You must be kidding! Who are you, Gold Roger?!" Shanks made fun of Luffy that night when Luffy told him about his new and improved dream.
"No! I'm Monkey D Luffy and I'm my own person! Gold Roger can rest in hell while I become stronger than him and be the second one to find the One Piece!! " Luffy replied angrily, making Shanks laugh harder. Makino sighed, now used to their banter.
"Grr!! You don't take me seriously at all, Shanks!!" Luffy shouted before he stood on the barstool he was previously sitting on.
Everyone looked at him curiously, waiting for what he was about to do next. Even Uta who was busy composing a song dropped what she was doing and looked at him.
"I'm gonna make a statement! This will show how serious I am about all about this!" Luffy shouted seriously before unsheathing his cutlass and pointing it under his left eye.
Shanks widened his eyes in horror. "Wait! Luffy don't—
" Ahh!!!! "
*SHIK!!!*
Blood splashed everywhere as Luffy stabbed himself under his left eye. Luffy pulled out the cutlass and blood splashed out a little. He grinned at everyone's face of pure horror.
"You idiot!!!"
*Bam!!!*
Luffy grunted a little as he was punched in the face by Uta. He fell down the barstool he was standing on and crashed onto the ground.
She sat on his stomach while punching his face repeatedly. She had tears falling down from her eyes while doing so.
"You stupid idiot! What was that for huh?! It's fine if they don't take your dreams seriously! But why would you hurt yourself?! " Uta sobbed as she kept punching him. Luffy grabbed her fists to stop her from hurting him.
" Because, Uta, if pirates don't take my dream seriously, no one will!"
" What kind of stupid reason is that! " Uta shouted back at him angrily. Luffy laughed.
" I said what I said Uta! Shishishishishi!!!" Luffy laughed. Shanks knelt down beside them.
"Alright Uta, you can scold Luffy later. But for now, we have to bandage him or else he'll lose too much blood and fall unconscious." Shanks advised her. Uta huffed and got off his stomach.
Luffy chuckled as Makino started fussing over him while cleaning his stab wound.
"We need to stitch it, Luffy." Makino muttered. Luffy nodded. Makino started stitching his wound.
Some time has passed, Luffy now has two stitches on the wound underneath his left eye. Finally, Makino put a bandaid on it.
"There, it's done. Now, what were you thinking, scaring us and little Uta like that huh??" Makino smiled menacingly at him. Luffy gulped.
.
.
.
A few days later, the Red Hair Pirates prepared to set sail on a voyage. Luffy although sad, couldn't stop them as Shanks' command was of top priority.
So here he was at the dock, saying his last goodbyes to Uta. "I'm really gonna miss you, ya know." Luffy smiled at her. Uta huffed and smirked at him.
"Well I won't!" Uta replied mischievously, making Luffy frown. Uta giggled.
"I'm just kidding, Luffy. I'm gonna miss you a lot too. Wanna hug? " Uta asked him while stretching out her hands. Luffy grinned and hugged her tightly. Uta laughed and squealed as Luffy picked her up and spun her around a few times.
She still giggled as he set her down. She looked at him and grinned. "Yeah, I'm definitely gonna miss you a lot." She muttered.
" Uta! We have to go now! " Uta heard Shanks call her.
" Got it! " She shouted back before looking at Luffy who smiled at her. She leaned into him and kissed him on the cheek.
" This is my goodbye gift, you better return it when we meet again. See ya soon Luffy!" Uta waved at him while Luffy was in a daze.
"She did the thing Makino does to meet when I go to sleep. " He whispered and snapped out of it. He ran to the edge of the dock and started waving at them while they began sailing.
"BYE UTA!!!! I'M GONNA GET STRONGER HERE AND WAIT FOR YOU!!! " Luffy shouted at them. Uta waved back at him.
" BYE LUFFY!!! I'M GONNA MISS YOU!!!! " She shouted back while grinning at him. Luffy grinned back as they kept waving goodbye at each other.
Luffy's grinned got smaller and smaller as the Red Hair Pirates' ship slowly disappeared from his view.
"They're not gonna come back, are they, Makino?" Luffy looked at Makino who was standing behind him. The only friend he made that was almost the same age as him was now gone in a flash.
"Luffy. I think it's time for a lesson in life." Makino muttered as she knelt beside him.
"You need to cherish the time you share with your loved ones or friends. Who knows what will happen tomorrow, so you need to put in an effort to enjoy the time you have with them. When they're away, you can think about the memories you made with them and be happy." Makino explained.
" You said you and Uta-chan would meet again right? "
" Mhm. "
" So think about that. Get stronger and prepare for the time you're going to reunite with her. Got it? " Makino smiled at him. Luffy grinned as he stared at the floating screen in front of him.
[Singing:D+(20% completed)
Make musical sounds with the voice, especially words with a set tune. When skill is maxed out, you will be as good as Uta will be.]
He then looked at her while grinning.
" Got it Makino! Yosh! I'm so excited now!!!"
.
.
Luffy met Gyatsu and they shared a greeting. Today, Gyatsu was going to teach him a new sword technique.
"Your grandfather and I taught you to expect the unexpected. This attack is similar to that. Imagine that you are having a sword duel with your opponent. Both of you have your swords sheathed." Gyatsu set the scene.
" Your opponent gets impatient. He unsheathed his sword and charged towards you. You put your hand on the grip of your cutlass. " Gyatsu walked in front of a bamboo stand.
"And then you strike as he swings at you." Gyatsu whispered and unsheathed his katana.
*SHING!!!*
In a flash, the bamboo on the bamboo stand were all cut cleanly in half and dropped down onto the ground at the same time.
"Woah!! Awesome!!!" Luffy shouted with stars in his eyes. He looked at Gyatsu who was smiling down at him.
"Teach me how to do that!!" Luffy pleaded. Gyatsu laughed.
"I was going to do that anyway. Now do as I say, got it?"
"Got it, old man!!"
To be continued.....
