Even with his patchy, half-remembered skim of the original manga, he recognized a main heroine's face. She was one of the few female members of the future Straw Hat Pirates, and judging by the online discussions he vaguely recalled, she'd been a prime source of "material" for readers in the early arcs of the story.
"I-I'm just a little seasick..." Nami stammered.
"Luffy, bring us alongside. This girl looks unwell," Makino urged.
"Yeah."
The future navigator of the protagonist's ship had to possess skills far beyond the average sailor. Having no reason to refuse, Luffy maneuvered the skiff closer, and Makino gracefully hopped across.
"You're drenched in sweat. And your face is so flushed..."
"I said I'm fine!"
Around this time, Luffy knew she was working as a thief. But underneath the prickly exterior, she had a soft heart; she likely wasn't used to this kind of genuine, selfless concern.
Running into a main heroine this early was a stroke of luck, but it presented one problem.
'How the hell did I get her to join me originally?'
Luffy had a vague memory of an anime "top moment" where they fought some pirates who controlled her home island. But the actual sequence of events that led to her joining the crew? He drew a complete blank.
He didn't need to follow the main storyline, but if her home situation was still unresolved, forcing her to join now would just mean she'd inevitably leave later.
In that case…
"So, what's the story? Out here in the middle of the wide open sea?" Luffy asked, his tone laced with a knowing edge.
"L-Like I said, I'm just... seasick..." Nami stammered.
"Hmm... I find that pretty damn suspicious."
Luffy made no effort to hide his skepticism, and while Makino tilted her head in curiosity, Nami's expression stiffened. She knew she'd been caught.
"Looking at this ship, there's no sign of the supplies needed to sail from one island to another. And for a woman traveling alone, your gear is way too light. Anyone with half a brain would at least have a Den Den Mushi on board in case of a pirate attack or getting lost at sea."
"That's... the waves were rough, things got washed overboard…"
"We've been checking the weather patterns for days," Luffy cut her off. "The sea around here is calm. It's supposed to be the perfect time to island-hop. Plus, this boat doesn't show any sign of taking on heavy waves. But what really sticks out... is that treasure chest."
His eyes fixed on the conspicuously placed chest. It was positioned to be as visible as possible, practically screaming that it contained priceless riches.
"That's... that's my precious treasure!" Nami blurted.
"Yes, Luffy! There's something important inside—" Makino started.
"No. That chest is completely out of place on a boat like this," Luffy said, shaking his head. "It's like a giant neon sign saying 'Look at me, I'm carrying valuables!' If you actually had something important to transport, you'd hide it. You'd make it look like nothing special. That chest is a fake. A decoy. It's empty, isn't it?"
"!!"
Nami fell silent, her face confirming his accusation. Makino blinked rapidly, unable to understand why this young girl would pull such a stunt.
Luffy rolled up the sea chart in his hands. "The merchant who sold me this map warned me. Said there's been a young burglar working these waters lately."
"A burglar?" Makino gasped.
"Yeah. Her name's Nami. Apparently, she plays the damsel in distress, gets close to people, and robs them blind. He told me to watch my six if I was heading out to sea."
Of course, that information was a complete fabrication. No such merchant had said a word. It was a half-remembered detail from the original story he'd skimmed, but it was more than enough to rattle her.
"Arghhh!!"
"Kyaa!!"
In a flash, Nami pulled a hidden knife from somewhere on her person and pressed it toward Makino.
"Fine! You caught me! Now just stay quiet and—"
"[Paste]."
"Ha... huh?"
"Ah."
Just as Nami moved to take Makino hostage, Luffy activated his power. Nami's body went limp instantly, crumpling forward. Makino caught her on reflex, the knife clattering uselessly to the deck.
'Wh-What the hell... I can't... move...!'
Nami struggled desperately, but her limbs felt like lead weights. She couldn't even lift her head, let alone resist. While she lay there helpless, Luffy calmly tied the two boats together.
"Luffy, what did you do to her?" Makino asked.
"I pasted information onto her. Specifically, the physical data of a newborn baby."
'P-Paste? Information?' Nami's eyes widened in confusion.
Luffy picked up the fallen knife and held it up before her eyes. "You don't get it, do you? I ate the Tag-Tag Fruit. I'm a Tag Human. I can manipulate any and all information tags attached to an object or person."
"!!"
Right before their eyes, the knife shimmered and morphed, transforming into a crisp red apple. Luffy took a bite, the juicy crunch echoing in the tense silence.
"I can change the shape, form, and inherent information of things. I just slapped a newborn baby's physical specs onto you. A baby's muscles can't exactly put up a fight, can they?"
"A... uh... uuaa..." 'You... bastard... I can't... move...'
She couldn't even form words now, her vocal cords too weak to produce more than a pathetic whimper. Makino, while confident Luffy wouldn't actually kill the girl, still felt a wave of relief. She didn't have the stomach to watch someone die in front of her.
"So, Luffy... what are you going to do with this girl?" She asked.
"Well, first things first..." Luffy mused, his gaze traveling down Nami's helpless form.
'My clothes...!?'
Too lazy to manually undress a limp body, Luffy simply pasted the information of "sand" onto her clothes. In an instant, the fabric crumbled into fine, dry particles, leaving Nami completely and utterly naked on the deck.
"Not bad at all," Luffy observed, his eyes roaming over her exposed flesh with undisguised lust.
"I was starting to think you might've been spreading your legs for anyone who looked your way, since you're in the business of tricking people."
"Uuuuhhhh—!!" 'Fuck you!!'
Nami let out a strangled, furious groan, her face burning with humiliation and rage. But unable to move a single muscle, that anger quickly melted into raw terror as Luffy loomed over her.
"Don't worry. It won't hurt."
"Auuaaahhh!!" 'Bastard! Die! Just die!!'
Trapped in the horrifying reality of being violated by a man she'd just met, Nami could only curse him in her mind. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she braced herself for the worst degradation of her life.
"Wait, Luffy."
"Makino?"
"...Eh?" 'Huh?'
The one to stop him was Makino. She gently propped the limp Nami into a sitting position and looked Luffy straight in the eye.
"No matter what, this is just cruel," Makino said firmly. "This girl might have her reasons for what she did."
"..."
It was true. Nami stole because she needed one hundred million berries to buy back her village from a tyrant. Luffy vaguely knew the backstory, but Makino, who shouldn't have known a thing, had sensed it from Nami's age and demeanor.
"Besides, if you just jump on her out of nowhere, of course she's going to be terrified."
"Uu... ah..." 'Why...'
Nami was stunned. Makino was showing compassion to someone who had just tried to hold a knife to her throat. Why? They were strangers. Nami had tried to rob them.
Though she couldn't voice the question, Makino seemed to understand. She smiled softly at Nami.
"I used to run a bar back in the village," Makino explained. "I saw all sorts come through. Mountain bandits, pirates... a lot of bad people."
Aside from Shanks, other pirates had docked at the harbor, and men like Higuma had come to drink. While they were customers who paid, not all of them were friendly. Some came looking for easy plunder.
"But you... you don't have that same feeling at all," Makino continued.
"I get the sense you're doing this for a bigger reason. For someone else's sake. Not just for yourself."
"!"
Years of dealing with a rough clientele had honed Makino's instincts. She could tell this thief was acting out of necessity, not malice. Nami never expected anyone to see through her so clearly. The maternal warmth radiating from Makino, combined with the baby tag still affecting her body, softened Nami's heart despite herself.
"I won't get mad at someone doing bad things for the sake of others," Makino said gently.
"Ah... uu..."
Nami felt like crying. The only person who knew why she stole was her sister, Nojiko. No one else had ever acknowledged the painful, desperate nature of her actions, let alone shown her sympathy.
"But..." Makino's voice hardened slightly.
"Bad things are still bad."
"Uu?"
Before she even realized what was happening, Nami found herself draped face-down over Makino's lap…
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