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A few minutes later, Dan and Nami arrived back at the house.
As soon as they stepped inside, they found Bell-mère by the kitchen, stirring what appeared to be their lunch. Hearing them enter, she turned and smiled at them.
"You found him, Nami? Good. Now go sit at the table, you two—I'll start serving right away!"
They nodded and did as told.
When they got there, Nojiko was already seated, looking bored out of her mind.
"Why did you take so long, Nami? I had nothing to do while Bell-mère cooked, and she wouldn't serve me until you two got back!"
Nami pointed at Dan. "Don't blame me. He wasn't even at his boat when I got there. I had to wait for him to show up."
Nojiko turned her gaze to Dan next, as if shifting the blame to him now.
He noticed—and responded by sticking out his tongue and pulling down his eyelid. Not a hint of shame on his face.
Once that successfully sent a vein popping on her forehead, his expression returned to normal, and his eyes drifted elsewhere as if nothing had happened.
"You—!"
But before she could get a fight started—
"Alright, food is served."
-Tap-
Bell-mère appeared from behind her, setting down the dishes and beginning to serve.
Nojiko had no choice but to swallow her complaints and act as if nothing had happened.
Before long all four of them were served, and they began eating in relative peace.
Meanwhile, Bell-mère glanced at Dan mid-bite.
"So, kid—Nami said you weren't at your boat? I've invited you to join us a few other times and you said you were busy. What exactly could be keeping a kid like you so occupied?"
Dan barely lifted his gaze from his plate.
"Uhhh... training."
Bell-mère raised an eyebrow.
She had expected him to have some other source of income on the side—hunting, fishing, something—since she clearly wasn't paying him enough to be comfortable on his own. She didn't pay him poorly by any means, not anymore after business started picking up because of him, but it still seemed a little short for a kid with no home of his own.
Kids his age weren't usually careful with money, spending it on anything but what mattered.
But if he was living off what she gave him alone...
She eyed his clothes, then remembered she was also feeding him and letting him sleep on the couch.
He had almost no expenditures compared to what he'd have living fully independently.
And yet he didn't seem to be buying much at all, judging by the state of his wardrobe.
'He appears to be living quite frugally.' She thought with an amused look.
The kid really was a strange one.
Still—training? He was spending his free time training?
"What kind of training?" she asked. "You mentioned before that someone taught you swordsmanship. Still keeping at that?"
Dan shrugged. "I do whatever makes me stronger. Sometimes swordsmanship, sometimes just physical work."
"You're quite diligent, kid. Is there a reason, or is it just routine?"
Dan's gaze wandered, clearly dodging the question. "...Not really? Just, you know, to get stronger and stuff."
Bell-mère didn't look convinced.
"You're just a kid like us. What's the point of training?" Nojiko asked, idly playing with her food. "When a real threat shows up, the adults take care of it anyway."
Dan said nothing, just looked at her with a faintly pitying expression.
By now he had a good feel for how people in this part of the sea saw the world. It was grounded, maybe too much, like things had been back on Earth. Devil Fruits were something most people half-believed in like myths. Even among pirates, there were plenty who still thought they were already near the top of what the world had to offer. Ordinary citizens had no real concept of what the Grand Line held, and assumed the strongest figures out there were only slightly beyond the human norm.
Maybe, being in the weakest sea of all, they couldn't believe the stories of what was happening outside of here—hell, even he wouldn't if he was in their situation.
Which was also why they had been so terrified Arlong. The guy was an actual monster—by the standard of normal people at least. He was the first superhuman they came across, and thus, a fearsome existence beyond logic or reason.
So of course, a kid training this relentlessly made no sense to them. Around here, kids would always be weaker than adults—that was the common logic, and it wasn't unreasonable.
But it just wasn't the case anymore, given that he was already felling trees with sword slashes and fairly confident he could outrun or overpower any adult on this island, regardless of profession.
'Well, they say ignorance is a blessing for a reason. I wouldn't be sleeping soundly at night either if I knew there were people out there who could level a city bare-handed.' He thought with a quiet snort.
But then he paused, remembering something.
'Bell-mère is a former marine, though. She's been places. I wonder if she knows...'
His gaze shifted to her briefly.
After a moment, she noticed—and responded with a small, helpless shrug and a smile.
Dan snorted again. 'Yeah. She does.'
"Well, he travels around, doesn't he?" Nami offered suddenly. "Maybe he's preparing to deal with pirates. They're everywhere."
"Oh." Nojiko seemed to consider it, then nodded like that made enough sense.
Dan glanced at Nami, mildly surprised by the assist—and by how quickly Nojiko dropped it.
But on second thought, it made a bit of sense.
The two of them had chilled out considerably after the first week of him having practically moved in. Replacing them in the farm had stung at first, but the days that followed had brought a noticeably happier Bell-mère, and some extra spending their way.
Nami had gotten a few books and a new dress. Nojiko new clothes and some toys. Bell-mère's cooking had started including more nutritious things alongside the usual tangerines.
The two hadn't been oblivious enough to miss where those changes came from.
So they antagonized him less—Just less, not zero.
A kid's stubborn pride didn't evaporate overnight, especially when they'd started on bad terms. They weren't about to abandon that position just because their reasons for it had faded.
'At least they don't pick fights with me anymore.'
Dan thought, relieved that the most tiresome part was gone.
They weren't getting along exactly. But they weren't enemies either.
So long as he could carry on with his plans here in peace, that was enough.
...
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| Minutes later... |
...
Dan walked out of the house, patting his belly and letting out a satisfied sigh.
He had to admit, this lifestyle wasn't bad at all. No worrying about food or a place to sleep, and the job left him most of his time free for training.
It was also far less all-consuming than the fishing work had been. Some days on old Shun's boat had stretched the whole day.
'And on that note, time to get back to it.'
He smirked and reached into his pocket, materializing his gravity cuffs from the system.
After all, the price for this comfortable life was a steep one: beating Arlong.
He might as well use every available hour to prepare for when the billing arrived.
He was fitting the cuffs on as he walked when—
"What are those?"
"...?"
He turned with a flat expression. Nami was standing at the entrance.
He glanced between her and the cuffs, taking a moment to come up with something.
"Uh, you know... accessories."
"Hmm." Nami nodded, looking surprisingly uninterested despite having been the one to ask.
Silence followed.
'Awkward.'
A wry smile found its way onto his face.
After enough time passed without either of them saying anything, he turned back around, ready to leave.
But once again—
"Hey."
"...What now?"
Turning, he found Nami fidgeting in her spot, like someone working up the nerve to say something embarrassing.
'What's this about?'
Dan could only stare at the unfamiliar display.
Fortunately, she got it out on the next breath.
"Can you... let me sail your boat for a bit?"
His confused look flattened.
"So that was it?"
For a moment he'd almost thought she was working up to an apology or something.
'Guess I expected too much.'
He shook his head faintly.
"So?" Nami pressed, looking hopeful.
Dan scratched the back of his head, thinking it over. He'd been about to start training so this was mildly inconvenient—
But after a moment on which he seemed to realize something, he shrugged it off.
"Yeah, sure, why not."
Nami's face lit up.
"Rea—"
He held up a finger, cutting her off. "Just give me one second."
He turned the cuffs' knob to ×3.
The next instant, he buckled at the knees, barely catching himself. A few seconds passed before he had his balance back, straightening slowly and rolling his neck left and right with a mildly pained expression.
He looked at Nami with a bead of sweat rolling down his temple.
"Alright. Let's go."
"Okay!"
Nami glanced at him with a trace of confusion, but she was too pleased about the boat to dwell on it, so they set off toward the coast—Nami practically skipping, while Dan's steps somewhat heavier than usual, his back quietly fighting not to hunch.
'I was planning to do my usual routine at ×2 first, but this works too. Getting used to ×3 through everyday movement before pushing it in training seems fitting.'
The faster he could get to using five times gravity, the better his chances when Arlong finally appeared.
'How long is that going to take? Two more months? Four?' He mused.
It was hard to say. Hopefully the fish-man would take his time.
A few minutes later, their feet crunched onto the sand. Nami's eyes lit up the moment the boat came into view, tied to the trees at the edge of the beach, and she ran toward it immediately.
Dan followed at his own pace, doing his best to move naturally under the extra gravity, watching as she climbed aboard and started murmuring to herself—rehearsing, by the sound of it, running through the theory she'd spent months reading before finally getting to apply it.
Once she seemed to have gotten her bearings, he walked to the mooring line, untied it, and began pushing the boat out.
"What the—?!"
She grabbed the mast to keep from falling, watching in disbelief as a kid her age shoved a boat of at least a ton across the sand without much more than a moderate amount of effort.
Before long it hit the water. Dan took a short run-up and jumped aboard.
-Thonk-
As he hit the planks, he patted the sand off his clothes, then gestured at the boat around them with a lazy sweep of one arm.
"Well then. All yours, Nami."
He settled himself down directly on top of the storage compartment where his stash was.
Couldn't exactly have her stumbling into that.
"Ah, right."
She blinked, then turned to face the open water, took a breath—
"Uhm, what should I do first?" She asked, turning to him again.
She had apparently gone completely blank.
Dan's mouth twitched. "First, decide where we're going."
"Right!... Uhm, where should we go?"
"...You're the captain right now. That's your call."
"I—I've barely left Cocoyashi, so I don't really know what's worth going to."
"..."
Dan exhaled through his nose, then lifted a finger and pointed. "There's a town over that way. It has a decent library. That work?"
She brightened instantly. "Yes, that!"
With a destination set, she got to work.
She took the rudder first, gripping it firmly. The sail caught the breeze well enough, but the moment she tried to steer them straight, she overdid it and the sail went slack, flapping uselessly overhead.
"Do it carefully," Dan said from behind her. "It's more sensitive than it looks."
She adjusted, a little too far the other way, then found it and the boat steadied. She blinked at how little it had taken.
From there, the basics started coming together, though turning was more trouble. The first attempt she didn't commit to it, and the boat ended up pointed directly into the wind and stopped dead—going nowhere, sail slapping the air helplessly.
"Do it all the way," Dan said. "And remember to duck, unless you want a bump on your head."
She got it on the second try, just barely remembering the boom in time.
As the task turned more monotonous, she focused back on the sea breeze, staring at the endless sea ahead with a vibrant look.
Though, once the landscape got old after a minute or two, she focused on something else.
With Dan sitting across from her, she kept stealing glances at him when he wasn't looking, and looking away when he shifted.
Whatever she thought, known only to her.
After that, the trip smoothed out considerably. Her hands found the right spots without thinking, her decisions came faster. The gap between theory and practice was closing faster.
'She truly is the most talented navigator in the world,'
Dan thought with a quiet snort.
Even with doubled training gains, he hadn't caught on this fast. Though she probably had years of book reading behind her that he didn't.
He settled back, only standing up when something needed more strength than she had.
Then she tried to turn the other way—the harder way—without warning him. The boom swung across suddenly.
"Watch the—" Dan shouted as he tried to catch her.
Sadly, the only thing that caught her was the boom.
"AAAH!"
The hit sent her off the boat's railing, making go take a dive.
"Aw, crap—!" Dan was after her before the splash settled.
...
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| An hour later... |
...
-Tsssssk-
As the sun began to dip, the boat's hull grazed the sand of the beach.
-Crunch-
Dan jumped down and began pushing it back toward the tree line, then set about tying the mooring line back again at the same tree.
Nami jumped down behind him, a new navigation book tucked under her arm—sourced from the library they'd visited on the other island.
The two of them were slightly damp. The sun had dried them somewhat on the way back, but the evidence of a watery incident was still there for anyone who looked.
None of which seemed to affect Nami's mood at all. If anything she looked like she'd just had the best afternoon of her life, eyes moving happily between the road ahead and the book in her arms, which she hugged tightly.
Dan, for his part, looked thoroughly wrung out. Not discouraged—just tired of what was a lot of physical demand for a relatively normal afternoon.
Which was good in his view.
'Gravity training plus an unexpected swim. Actually not a bad combination for training in the future. Just have to be careful not to drown.'
While he had such thoughts, Nami glanced at him, catching his expression.
After a moment of hesitation, she looked forward again, head tilting slightly down. "...Uhm, thanks."
"Huh? Oh, no prob." He gave her a short nod.
All in all, this had been genuinely punishing training.
Just as he prefered.
"So..."
"Huh?"
"Could I... try again next time?" Nami asked, shooting him a hopeful look.
Dan turned it over briefly, looking for a reason to say no.
He couldn't find one. So he shrugged.
"Sure."
She beamed, her mood climbing somehow even higher than it had already been.
Dan, on the other hand—
'Man, I am sleeping early tonight for sure.' He thought, massaging his temple as the fatigue began pressing in despite the ×3 still being active and pushing his body to stay in high energies in order not to collapse.
'And I'll have to keep this up all the way until Arlong arrives… It's going to be rough.'
He exhaled, rolling his shoulder.
But as he did, and caught Nami's content expression from the side, his thoughts drifted.
More specifically, over the time he'd spent here.
Bell-mère, with her annoying generosity.
The villagers he'd bothered relentlessly with his nighttime activities.
The people he'd met across the archipelago.
None of those connections were especially deep. Maybe not even more than acquaintances in plenty, and somewhat friendly at some.
But maybe he was a sentimental person by nature, with just putting a face to their names, or a name to their faces was enough to make him genuinely not want any of them going through what Arlong was going to put them through.
Especially not the family of three he was currently living with.
'This is exactly why I was worried about taking the job here.' He grumbled, scratching his head.
Still, what was done was done. There was no time-reversing hack.
'Or is there?'
Scoffing at his joke, his seriousness returned as his eyes went to the cuffs on his wrists.
Regardless of how he felt, there was one simple answer to the approaching problem.
He just had to give it everything. As simple—and as complicated—as that.
Arlong was strong. But he was still cannon fodder by the standards of the world's true peaks. He could be beaten.
All he needed was to keep training.
'Although, maybe I should focus on training swordsmanship,' Dan mused, staring at the knuckles of his fist this time.
A cut was going to be better than his fists against something that durable, at least when considering his current level. Who knew just how much punishment Arlong could take?
Instead, cutting him off seemed a lot more straightforward.
Still, that part of the training was going to be on pause for a while.
'Five days more.' Dan thought, sighing at the long time he had ahead of him without his sword.
Hopefully the fish-man wouldn't arrive before that.
'Nah.'
He allowed himself the small optimism.
While he had such thoughts, eventually, the two arrived home. Bell-mère was waiting at the entrance.
Nami ran to meet her, getting pulled into an embrace.
"Look who came back. Nojiko told me you two went out sailing, is that right, Nami?"
"Yes! It was amazing, Bell-mère!"
She smiled sweetly, before blinking as she caught sight of something.
"And I see you brought a souvenir. You didn't sneak it under your clothes or anything, did you?" She eyed the book in Nami's arms.
Nami stuck out her tongue. "Dan bought it for me."
Bell-mère looked at him, a trace of surprise in her expression.
Dan gave a tired nod. "She kept giving me the look at the library. So I gave in."
Bell-mère smiled slyly. "Ah, my daughter. So young, yet already such an enchantress."
Nami smirked, clearly proud of herself.
Dan just looked at them both with a thoroughly done expression.
Like mother, like daughter.
...
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-To Be Continued...-
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(A/N: Unluckily to Dan, his hopes for more time won't be kindly answered. Nor will his hope that his sword will be ready by then.
At last, I think I'm satisfied with the build up. Time to get onto the bloody part of this.)