The sterile white of the infirmary was painted gold by the fading afternoon sun. A warm beam fell across Luffy's face, stirring him from his drugged slumber. His eyelids fluttered open, and a groan escaped his lips as a dull, pervasive ache registered through his entire body. He tried to sit up, but his limbs felt heavy and uncooperative.
Confusion clouded his mind as he looked down at himself. He was swaddled in crisp white bandages from his chest down to his fingers, which were individually wrapped into two clumsy, mitten-like bundles. He looked like a poorly made mummy.
Where…?
His gaze swept the unfamiliar room, landing on Reiju. She was seated gracefully on a plush sofa, a delicate teacup in one hand and a leather-bound book in the other. A small plate of untouched pastries sat on the table beside her. As if sensing his wakefulness, she closed her book with a soft thud, her sharp eyes turning to him.
"Awake, are you?" she asked, her voice a calm, level tone that held an undercurrent of something sterner. "How do you feel?"
"Rei…?" Luffy's voice was raspy. "Where are we? And why am I all wrapped up?"
"You're in the infirmary," she stated, placing her teacup down with deliberate care. The gentle clink of porcelain sounded unnaturally loud in the quiet room. "You pushed your body far beyond its limits during your… training. I brought you here so the doctors could assess the damage."
The memories flooded back—the iron block, the searing pain, the relentless, desperate pounding. "Oh, right… I remember now." A spark of urgency ignited in his eyes. "I need to go. I have to get back to training. I have to save Ace."
Ignoring the screaming protest of his muscles, he swung his legs off the bed, his bandaged feet hitting the cold floor. He took a few wobbly steps toward the door.
In a flash, Reiju was there, a silent, immovable barrier between him and his goal. "And just where do you think you're going?" Her voice was dangerously soft.
Luffy stopped, blinking up at her. "Move, Rei. I need to train."
"No," she said, the single word final and absolute. "The doctor was clear. You need a full month of rest before you can even think about training again."
"I'm fine!" Luffy insisted, his brow furrowed in frustration. He held up his heavily bandaged hands as proof, seemingly unaware of the irony. "I'll be all better after I eat some meat and get some sleep! You've seen it happen before!"
"This time is different, you idiot!" Reiju's composure finally cracked, a flash of genuine anger and concern in her eyes. Her voice, while still controlled, gained a sharp, cutting edge. "Do you think this is just about your hands? Your entire system is on the verge of collapse! For weeks, I've watched you tear yourself apart, and each time I've had to sedate you just to force your body to recover! This isn't training anymore—it's a slow suicide! If you keep this up, your body will break, and you'll be dead long before you can save anyone!"
Her words, laced with a frustration born from helplessness, hung heavily in the sun-drenched room.
A visible vein throbbed on Luffy's temple. "BUT IF I DON'T PUSH MYSELF, I WON'T BE STRONG ENOUGH TO SAVE ACE!" he roared back, his voice raw and cracking. Tears, hot and unbidden, began to trace paths through the grime on his cheeks. "Do you have any idea what it feels like?! To fight with everything you have and still be powerless to save anyone?!"
He clenched his bandaged fists, his entire body trembling with the force of his emotion. "Kevin... he showed me what happens if I'm weak. At Sabaody, I was helpless... I could only watch as my friends vanished one by one before my eyes! Poof! Just gone! Even though they were saved in the end, it doesn't change the fact that I was too weak to protect them! And then... when I found out Ace was going to be executed..."
His voice dropped to a shattered whisper. "I pushed and pushed, forcing my body past its limit again and again... and it still wasn't enough!" He looked at her, his eyes wide with a pain that seemed too vast for his usually carefree face. "This feels like a second chance... I can't waste it! So please, Rei... move!" He tried to shove past her, his body swaying dangerously with the effort.
Reiju was stunned into silence. The cheerful, gluttonous boy who seemed to live without a care in the world was carrying a burden of such profound grief and desperation. As he stumbled forward, her body moved on instinct. She caught him, her grip firm yet careful, and forcefully guided his weakened form back to the bed, pressing him down onto the mattress.
"Let me go! Let me go, Rei!" Luffy thrashed weakly, his struggles pathetic against her enhanced strength.
'He's... seen his own future... a future of failure...' The realization hit her with the force of a physical blow. Reiju increased the pressure, pinning him down. "Listen to me, Luffy," she said, her voice low and intense, cutting through his panic. "I may not fully understand your situation, but I know this: if you truly see this as your second chance, then what you're doing now is wasting it! If you continue down this path, you'll die before you even see Dawn Island again!"
Luffy stilled, his breath coming in ragged gasps. "But..."
Reiju brought a finger to his lips, silencing him. "Shhh..." Her expression softened into something weary yet resolute. "It's alright. This time... I'll help you train. So for now... just rest."
...
When Luffy agreed to stay until South Blue, a flicker of genuine pleasure had ignited within me. The journey promised to be far more entertaining than my usual solitary travels. And it was. Luffy was a supernova of endless, fearless energy, his ridiculous antics spreading a peculiar, infectious joy.
But I never anticipated the secret hidden behind that ever-present grin. The boy who laughed so freely was concealing a crushing weight. I found it strange, the way he trained until his body gave out, as if pursued by demons. I'd assumed that by intervening each time, I could keep him from going too far.
That illusion shattered the day I saw him punching the iron block. His eyes had been empty, distant, focused on a nightmare only he could see. In that moment, I understood—this wasn't just determination; it was a frantic, desperate flight from a future he had already witnessed. My body moved on its own to stop him.
I didn't understand why, but seeing Luffy like that made my heart clench with a strange, protective ache. And I knew, with chilling certainty, that if I didn't uncover the reason for his self-destruction, he would grind himself to dust and die.
Learning the truth—that he had seen a future where he failed to save his friends and watched his brother die—left me reeling. The weight of such a vision explained everything.
During his recovery, I kept a vigilant watch. He tried to sneak away to train multiple times, always insisting he was "all better," but I never relented. Eventually, he resigned himself to staying in the lab. Since he couldn't train his body, he made a new, equally reckless request: for me to test all my various poisons on him, to build up his immunity.
I refused at first, citing the obvious danger. But he argued it was a way to repay me. Reluctantly, I agreed. The process was harrowing; I administered toxins, watched him nearly die multiple times, and each time, I had to frantically absorb the poison back. Through this brutal regimen, his resistance grew astonishingly strong.
There were days I had no new poisons, and Luffy's boredom would manifest as him pestering me incessantly, leading me to snap and tell him to go read a book.
...
"Rei, I'm so boooored. Isn't there anything fun to do here?" I lay upside down on the sofa, my legs dangling over the backrest.
Reiju didn't look up from her bubbling beakers. "No. But if you're bored, you can read one of the books over there to pass the time."
"Ehhh... But that's not fun at all! And I can't even use my hands properly!" I wiggled my heavily bandaged fingers for emphasis.
A vein pulsed on Reiju's forehead. "Just. Go. Read. A. Book."
"Fiiine."
I wandered over to the massive bookcase. My eyes landed on books about chess and Go. An idea sparked. Arden's memories contained formidable skills in these games; he'd been virtually unbeaten. A mischievous grin spread across my face as I imagined defeating Reiju.
I placed the strategy books on the floor and kept browsing. My curiosity was snagged by a thick, weathered tome tucked away in a corner. I pulled it out, dust flying, and opened it. My eyes widened. No way. It was a training manual for Rokushiki!
I devoured the contents. Mastering these techniques could elevate my fighting style to a whole new level! I could teach Soru to Zoro and Sanji for speed, Shigan to power up Chopper's Arm Point... The urge to train was almost unbearable, but I resisted. Rei would be furious. I had to settle for my second choice: the chess and Go books.
I spent the next hour cross-referencing the rules with Arden's memories. They were identical. My chance of victory against Reiju shot up to 90%! I could barely contain my excitement, already picturing the look on her face when she was defeated by the "idiot" she constantly mocked.
An hour later, Reiju finished her experiment. She seemed mildly shocked to find me still reading. Curious, she walked over.
I noticed her shadow and looked up. "Oh, hey, Rei. Done?"
"For now," she said, pointing at the book in my lap. "So, what's so captivating? Don't tell me it's an... erotic book?" She clearly expected me to get all flustered.
Instead, I met her teasing with a deadpan expression. "No, it's a book on chess. But... do you have books like that?" I then smiled, shaking my head and clicking my tongue. "I never would have guessed the princess of Germa kept that kind of literature. How unexpected."
Reiju's cheeks flushed bright red. "I do not have books like that, you idiot!"
"Ehh? But you're the one who brought it up," I retorted, shaking my head again. "I always call you a pervert as a joke, but I didn't think you were actually—"
Zzt!
My body seized up, and I collapsed to the floor, convulsing from a new poison she'd injected in her embarrassment.
Seeing me writhe, Reiju snapped out of it and quickly knelt, absorbing the toxin back.
When I came to, I was met with the familiar, cloying taste of cherries. "Oi, Rei. Is poisoning me your go-to move when you're losing an argument?"
"Who said I was losing?!" she huffed. "I was merely testing my new toxin. Weren't you the one who wanted to be my poison guinea pig?"
"Dammit, my own words come back to bite me," I grumbled, then broke into a grin. "Shishishi!"
Reiju's face reddened again, and she made to inject me once more.
"Okay, okay! I'll stop!" I conceded, raising my bandaged hands.
"Hmph." She sniffed. "So, you know how to play chess?"
"Yeah, a little. Wanna play a game? I'm bored."
"Why would I? I have more experiments."
I morphed my face into an exaggerated pout. "Ehhh? What's wrong? Are you... scared of losing to an idiot like me?"
That direct hit to her pride was effective. A tick mark appeared on her forehead. "Fine. I'll play you. I'll defeat you easily."
Luffy's grin returned. "Hehe. Let's make it interesting. Loser has to grant the winner one wish. Deal?"
"Deal." Reiju agreed. I quickly added, "Ah, but you can't ask for anything perverted!"
Whack! "That's my line!" she snapped, smacking my head.
"Ow! Why are you abusing an injured person?!"
"It's your own fault! Now, let's begin."
Thirty minutes later, Reiju was slumped over the chessboard, staring in disbelief at her checkmated king. I threw my bandaged hands in the air with a triumphant, D-shaped grin. "Yosh! I win! Hahaha!"
"This... this is impossible!" she stammered.
"Say whatever you want, but you lost. That makes you dumber than me! Hahahaha!"
"Dumber" stung. "A rematch! I wasn't ready!"
Luffy's smile widened. "Alright! I'll beat you again! Shishishi!"
Forty minutes later, history repeated itself. "Yosh! I win again! That means I get two wishes you can't refuse!"
"Two? You only get one for this bet!"
"Huh? We also made a bet about Sky Island! So that makes two."
"What?! You haven't proven Sky Island exists yet!"
Luffy answered with utter, unshakable seriousness. "No. It exists. So I won."
Reiju could only sigh in defeat, too weary to argue. "Fine. So what is your wish?"
"Hmmm." I pondered, then a memory struck me. "Rei, has this ship stopped at any islands yet?"
"Hmm? Of course. We passed the first supply island. We're heading to the second one now."
"EHHHH?! We already passed one?!" I leaped to my feet. "Why didn't you tell me?!"
Reiju was baffled. "Why would I? Did you want to go sightseeing? Wouldn't that be a waste of time?"
I looked at her with an expression of profound pity. Seeing my face, Reiju felt a twinge of irritation. "What is that look for?"
I sighed dramatically. "When there's an island... you're supposed to have an adventure! Why would we just stay on the ship?!"
Reiju looked genuinely perplexed. "What's the benefit of 'adventuring'? Wouldn't my time be better spent on my experiments?"
Hearing her response, a realization dawned on me. She was missing a fundamental piece—the capacity for simple, unproductive joy.
"Yosh!" I declared, my face breaking into my signature, sun-bright grin. "I've decided on my wish!" I pointed straight at her. "We're going on an adventure on the next island we stop at!"