67 Fishmen Island VII

Boarding the Moby Dick under many watchful eyes, only Akane, Ban and Shinobu were stepping forward. On the side, Akane saw Marco wave at her casually with a lazy smile on his face, as if she wasn't walking towards the strongest man alive.

Stopping a few feet in front of Whitebeard, both sides kept quiet.

both sides were looking at the other.

Well, Akane and Whitebeard were.

Ban had left to chat with Jozu, while Shinobu was looking at Marco with intrigue and a hint of... Glee? What the hell?

Akane shuddered once she saw that emotion in Shinobu's eyes.

Shinobu was up to something. Ah, there it is. That hint of sadism mixed in with that glee. Marco, good luck surviving her.

Her thoughts going in all kinds of directions, Akane spoke up.

"Hmmm... how to start. Let's see... Two former companions of mine live in the fishmen district. Apparently they are planning a revolt? Uprising? Rebellion? Whatever it is... As you are a friend of Neptune, you wouldn't mind passing it on, right? If you mind, do you have a way to pass on the message?"

Akane said, still wondering if she said the right words. Maybe a massacre was a better word. Racial extermination maybe? Ah, suicide would be a good one as well.

Nodding to herself, Akane glanced at Ban, who was loudly laughing at something Jozu had said, both of them having clasped the others arm as they started an armwrestling match. Ban wasn't any help either.

"What do you get out of this, brat. Telling me this."

"I wonder? It would be bad if my friends were homeless. It would be bad if they lost their family. It would be bad if all those living in the upper levels were going to die through the stupidity of a few. Pick one. They are all reasons I have considered."

Akane plopped down on the ground as she ran her fingers in annoyance through her hair. Feeling her foxy ears peak through again, she knew that the usual glamour she put up was gone again. How annoying.

Whitebeard looked at the uncomfortable Akane with humor, finding her actions rather funny.

"Gurarara! I have nothing to lose telling Neptune about this. Marco! Go give Neptune a word about this. That district has been festering too long."

Marco stepped forward, his movement closely followed by Shinobu who gently licked her lips.

Feeling a slight shudder running down his back, Marco glanced at Shinobu, who had masterly hidden the emotions in her eyes.

Rubbing his head, Marco left the ship in a flash, no doubt heading towards the Ryugyu palace.

"With that done, I will take my leave."

Akane said, standing up as she was planning to leave.

"You can stay a bit longer, kid. I believe Vista wanted to spar with you."

Whitebeard said, the humor this time more than seeing it, she could hear it in his voice. The hint was clear. She wasn't leaving the ship anytime soon.

"Oh my~ This is the perfect chance for you to train your swordmanship. Remember to breathe, Akane-chan~"

Shinobu said as she stepped towards Ban who was now in a armwrestling competition with the rest of Whitebeards crew, who were all placing bets on who would win.

Glowering at Shinobu, Akane sighed in defeat as she summoned her swords, earning an interested look from more than half of the crew once they saw the swords appear from out of her own body.

"What are those swords?"

"Kantana?"

"Do it again! I want to see where it is going!"

"A devil fruit? But she already has a devil fruit..."

The Whitebeard crew immediately got boisterous, stopping their betting and taking a seat on the side to watch the match.

Akane and Vista had taken a empty spot near the ship, far enough to avoid damaging it, while close enough for the crews to watch what was going in.

"So~ Who's going to bet on who? Any takers?"

Ban said, placing a bag in front of him to take any bets.

While Ban was busy filling his pockets, Akane and Vista had prepared themselves for the battle. From the get go, Akane had released her Shikai, the wakizashi and katana both taking on released forms. Tsukyomi's haze again covered the white blade, while from Amaterasu's edge ripples like fire could be seen.

"Tone it down you two. It's a spar."

They swords softly hummed, the black haze subsiding till only a small sliver was left on the edge, while the heat from Amaterasu vanished.

Nodding at her obedient Zanpakuto, Akane kept her eyes focussed of Vista, who had drawn his own swords as well. Both of them were dual wielders, so the battle would teach them both a lot, though more to Akane than the experienced Vista. The edges of both of their swords became black, as they cloaked it in haki.

There wasn't any signal the battle started, but both sides began to move. Akane, as ordered by Shinobu, only used the water breathing technique to boost herself.

Taking deep but well controlled breaths, Akane's muscles tightened, as her temperature rose. Then their swords collided. Sparks were created as they continued to clash.

"First form: Water surface slash"

Creating a a powerful horizontal slash. Water was created from the blades, as they increased the speed exponentialy. Vista was pleasantly surprised at the sight, his grin widening as he too met the strike with one of his own.

Rose petals formed around Vista's swords. They seemed soft at first glance, but they moved at an incredible speed.

Feeling a dangerous feeling from them, Akane switched her tactics. Turning the blades around her, as she ran forward to meet it head on, bending and winding it all around her in a flowing pace and cutting down all the rose petals.

"Third form: Flowing Dance"

Seeing his attack being stopped, Vista began to enjoy himself in this battle. He had at first thought it would be one sided, a thing only to pass the time. Now he was sure he had met a slight challenge. It was clear Akane had good technique. The only thing she lacked was experience and a better mastery of her moves.

Both were things he could give her in this spar.

"Keep up with me. I want to see how far you can go."

Vista said as he created all kinds of different flower petals around him.

Seeing him increase the difficultly, Akane smiled fearlessly, feeling the same excitement she had felt when she had battle against Aokiji and his marine group.

"With pleasure!"

Akane met the attacks from Vista head on, switching between attacks when necessary, dodging to the sides, directing attacks back or just parrying them. The battle lasted for a while and Akane didn't escape unscathed. She had multiple cuts on her body that were healing at the same pace as new cuts were created.

Akane just laughed through it all, as she could feel her mastery of her swordmanship and breathing technique improve exponentially.

"This is the best! Let's go faster!"

Not waiting for Vista to react, Akane increased her pace, finally matching up to Vista's sword prowess. Vista met that excitement head on, experiencing the joy of this battle as well.

Alas, all good things must come to an end.

Just when Akane wanted to pull out the tenth form: Constant flux, Vista put away his swords. Panting from exertion, Akane looked around in confusion, only to see Marco has returned, though he was looking in horror at her figure.

Not surprisingly really, even her black clothes were red. Showing the fact that she had bled a lot.

Not bothered in the slightest by the looks, Akane let her katana return back to their normal forms and sink back into her body.

When all that was done, she let herself fall backwards on the ground, looking up at the bubbly sky.

"Aaaah, so tired! Hungry! I want to eat Inari sushi! Ban, make it for me!"

Hearing her completely fine, Ban just chuckled as he collected money. A lot had bet she wouldn't last more than an hour, but she had lasted more than six. Ban had clearly won a lot.

"You went at it a lot-yoi."

Marco commented, as he nodded at Whitebeard to let him know he had shared his information with Neptune.

"She's a fierce fighter Marco. I want to see how long she can hold out against you."

Vista replied, still grinning widely from the workout he had gotten.

"Maybe another time-yoi. Neptune wants us to meet him, along with the guests-yoi."

The crew wasn't surprised.

Whitebeard was even grinning widely. He had expected it.

"Ban, you take your captain. I don't think she is planning to move for the time being."

Vista said, pointing at Akane, who was still staring at the sky.

"I don't even expected her to~"

Ban answered as he moved to get Akane.

Akane stretched out her sore arms, clearly bringing over her intent of wanting to be carried.

"You really are a piece of work, little fox."

Ban complained jokingly as he placed Akane on his back. No princess carry for her. That was only reserved for Elaine.

Joining the Whitebeard pirates, Akane, Ban and Shinobu soon found themselves in the Ryugyu palace.