New Recruit

Marineford was the Marine's headquarters, their main base of operations. Situated on the Red Line where the only entrance is through the Gates of Justice. This was the place where the top dogs of the Marine reside, where the current Fleet Admiral Kong resides. And right now, his office was having a punishment session for two idiots.

"You did what!?"

*bonk* *bonk*

"Tsss..."

"..."

Two men knelt in front of a towering man whose gigantic stature made it hard to believe the man was purely human. The towering muscles that rippled with power was trembling in anger at the idiots before him. The man's mohawk and trident-like beard were quite menacing when seen from below, at least that's what the two men kneeling on the ground thought.

"That fruit was supposed to be for the new Vice Admiral! What do I say to the boy now that he can't get a fruit for who knows how long?"

The mission given to the two rear admirals was simple. Retrieve the fruit from the newly subjugated Loki Pirates who was reported to have been raiding the island of Pound. They had reported a successful extraction of the fruit just three days ago and were supposed to complete the delivery yesterday. But now they didn't just bring him no fruit, they brought him a street kid with a damn devil fruit.

"What about the boy? What do you think we should do with him?"

"Kong! The boy's a good kid! I'll take car-"

*bonk*

"You shut up Garp, you can't even handle your own son. You think having another kid with you's a good idea?"

Garp caressed his aching head while looking down on the floor. His son had turned cold ever since his mother died, though he still lives in the same house, their interactions with each other had turned from infrequent to extremely rare.

"Sengoku! You take care of the kid."

"What! No way! I can't tak-"

*bonk*

"I don't care! It's your problem now. Or do you want that idiot beside you to take care of him?"

Sengoku looked at the depressed Garp whose long face had caused even him to feel sad. Though that went away when he saw the idiot grab a piece of fried rice cracker from who knows where.

*crunch*

"My life is so hard."

*slap*

"Why are you eating here! I'm confiscating this."

*gasp*

Garp watched as Kong took the pack of fried rice crackers he had on his person. The man had even taken the one he was eating and ate it all in one bite. Tears were threatening to drop from Garp's eyes as the man's hand gripped tightly.

A formidable force coagulating at his fists.

"You!!"

*sigh*

Sengoku watched Garp back down after seeing that Kong raised one fist up.

"Fine, I'll take care of the kid."

Sengoku rubbed his temples in defeat.

"Yeah, yeah, not like you had a choice."

Kong went back to his desk and sat on his chair. He placed his feet on the desk while munching on the snack 'provided' by Garp. The chewing sounds were the only thing audible in the room as the man even had a surprised look on his face as he ate.

"These are good! No wonder you boys eat this like damn peanuts."

Kong watched as the two boys kneel silently on the floor. Sengoku had a look of contemplation while Garp was looking at him weirdly. But the whole thing ended when a report came in from outside.

"Fleet Admiral Kong! The new recruit had another incident!"

"Damn it, another trouble maker."

"It seems to be Dragon again!"

"Damn son! I don't know where he gets that troublesome personality from."

"..."

Sengoku just watched the three men leave while thinking about what to do with the boy. If there's anything he should do first, it would probably to introduce himself to the kid. He didn't even know his name.

'Yeah, that's a good start'

And so Sengoku walked out of the room, heading towards the reception office where the kid was left behind for interrogation.

-------------------------

"You're saying you don't have a name?"

"No, sir."

"And you don't know where you came from?"

"No, sir."

Sengoku sat on a chair directly facing the chair the kid was sitting on. He seemed to be having trouble about the situation as the kid was giving him nothing to work on regarding this whole taking care of a child thing.

"Then who taught you to speak? Even your manners are good for a kid your age."

"Oh, I don't remember. I just recall waking up on the streets three months ago."

"Three months ago?"

Sengoku thought of any events occurring three months ago that might be related to this kid's situation. Though he didn't receive any reports about the Chocolate village anyway so he really had nothing. He watched as the kid stare intently at the bowl of grapes that's placed on the table.

'Is he starving?'

"You can just take them you know."

Sengoku pushed the bowl closer to the boy who was startled at the gesture. The boy didn't move even after he said so which prompted Sengoku to take one piece of the grape and eat one himself.

"Oh! So good!"

Sengoku made an obviously exaggerated expression of satisfaction that he thought would make the boy want to eat one too. Though the only response he received was a rumbling stomach sound.

*growl*

*growl*

"???"

Two sounds came from both in front and behind Sengoku, making him turn around to see who else was inside the room.

"Oh, are the grapes that good?"

A smiling Garp walked in while carrying a boy on his shoulders. The boy was kicking his feet in frustration while Garp just smiled. Though the boy had kicked Garp's shin which made Garp a little annoyed so he slapped the boy's butt.

*slap*

"Ow!"

"I told you to behave! Look, there's another kid here. You want to be embarrassed again?"

"..."

Garp let the boy down from his shoulders while picking up the bowl of grapes. Though a little hand had taken the bowl farther away, causing his hands to miss.

"?"

Garp looked at the devil fruit kid quizzically while the kid had a 'I don't even know why I did that' expression on his face.

"You looking for a fight kid?"

"No, sir."

A bowl of grapes went to Garp's open palm while the man grinned. Though the smile didn't last long.

*bonk*

"Get your own damn grapes, that's my kid's bowl."

Sengoku then took the grapes back and gave it to the boy. The kid was staring at Sengoku with a look of confusion which made Sengoku scratch the side of his face.

"Look kid, I'm Sengoku. I'll take care of you from now on. Is that fine with you?"

"... Ok, but I have to tell Chief about it first. He might get worried."

"That's alright, I'll handle it."

Sengoku gave the boy a gentle smile and placed his hand on the top of the boy's head.

"Alright, from now on your name is Sanboi."

"Sanboi?"

"Sanboi! A man of the marines!"

"Marines?"

"That's right, a marine is a man who serves the people."

"Serves the people?"

"Sigh, yes, serves the people."

Sengoku sat back down on his chair, still wondering what exactly he was to do with the kid. But then another person came into the room while he was deep in thought.

"Sengoku! Kong said you have a kid now!"

A feminine voice prematurely concluded Sengoku's line of thought. An arm had already reached for his neck, locking him in place as a beautiful but furious face leaned in close to his.

"Who was it?"

"???"

Sengoku didn't understand what Tsuru was talking about so he just pointed at Sanboi who was busy eating grapes. Tsuru had always been a kind woman who only gently smiled at him. Her current appearance had made him see her in a very different light.

"I said who was the woman you got pregnant?"