An eerie silence hung over the Going Merry.
The sound of rain outside seemed to have ceased at some point, replaced by a suffocating stillness.
Nami fastened the buttons on her shirt and whispered, "What's going on?"
Luffy didn't turn his head, his voice kept very low. "Not sure. But there's something on the ship."
His Kenbunshoku Haki perception allowed him to sense an omnipresent aura. This uncanny feeling put his entire body on high alert, his rubber instincts primed to activate at any moment.
Just then, the bathroom door suddenly closed on its own without a sound, as if pushed by an invisible hand.
The wind?
All the doors were shut tight. Where would wind come from?
Both of them looked at the door simultaneously. The air in the room seemed to freeze solid.
"Nami, stand behind me," Luffy said.
Nami complied without hesitation, her fingers unconsciously clutching the edge of Luffy's towel.
Luffy abruptly flung the room door open. The ship's corridor was empty, filled only with the scattered sounds of raindrops tapping against the deck.
He was about to step out when Nami suddenly grabbed his wrist, pulling him back and whispering, "Luffy, are you sure it's safe out there?"
This situation was far too bizarre.
There shouldn't be anyone else on the Going Merry at all.
Unless it was an enemy... or a ghost?
An invisible enemy was more likely to cause panic. People only became different when they had a target.
Luffy paused, glancing at Nami. He grasped her hand in return, giving her wrist a light, reassuring squeeze.
"Scared?"
"...A little."
"Then do you remember how we got back?"
Nami's face flushed crimson.
Of course she remembered.
Clutching him like a frightened octopus as he used his rubber abilities to leap and bound across half of Loguetown in the midst of the storm.
She nodded, the tips of her ears burning.
"Then let's do it again."
Before Luffy had even finished speaking, Nami instinctively jumped up, wrapping her arms and legs around him.
Why was this motion so practiced?!
The skin beneath the towel was warm. The scent of rain mixed with the faint citrus fragrance from her recent bath. The two were pressed tightly together, almost able to feel each other's racing heartbeats.
Their eyes met briefly before quickly darting away again.
Nami absolutely could not bring herself to meet Luffy's gaze.
Luffy could clearly feel the warmth of Nami's breath against his neck. He swallowed hard.
Outside, his mind had been elsewhere. But now, back in this private setting, things suddenly felt very different.
For some reason, Nami's bashful expression made him feel an urge to tease her a little...
[Warning...]
The enticing thoughts in Luffy's mind vanished instantly. He hurriedly flooded his brain with vast amounts of nautical knowledge. And then—
"Gear Second!"
Steam erupted. Luffy's figure shot out like a cannonball. Nami shut her eyes tightly, burying her face in his shoulder, feeling only the wind howling past her ears.
Too fast.
His Kenbunshoku Haki followed the trail of the aura, quickly pinpointing its source.
Almost in the next instant, Luffy skidded to a halt in front of the storeroom door. His rubber arm shot into the slightly ajar doorway like lightning.
"Got you!"
A small, startled yelp followed.
Luffy retracted his arm, his expression instantly turning somewhat peculiar.
He was holding a little figure.
It was a little girl who looked to be only seven or eight years old, wrapped in a cloak that seemed to be made from old, repurposed sailcloth. It was far too large for her, revealing only a head of fluffy, light-golden curls.
She looked flustered, a tiny wooden mallet clutched tightly in her hand.
Nami peeked out from behind Luffy, her eyes widening in surprise.
"Luffy, why is there a child on the ship?"
"...Even if you ask me."
"She seems very familiar with you."
"Does she?" Luffy set the girl down. She looked up at him with large, bright eyes, blinking unwaveringly, then stealthily reached out a hand to tug at the edge of his towel.
Luffy fell into deep thought.
Apart from his two brothers, he didn't recall having any sisters.
Could it be that his never-seen parents, thinking their first creation (him) had been ruined by Garp's training, decided to start a new, improved model?
But it made no sense to then drop this new model onto the ship belonging to the old, failed one.
Luffy had never had much confidence in his brain capacity. That was why, despite being clever, he'd preferred not to think too hard before—his brain simply couldn't handle the load.
But now he had no choice; studying was forcing him to expand his mind. And while pondering this question, Luffy also had to keep up a steady stream of nautical knowledge input.
Right now, his single-track mind felt blocked at multiple points.
His brain was experiencing a system freeze.
But...
Nami's mind wasn't frozen. She looked at the girl curiously.
Her attire was too strange.
She looked adorable, like a finely carved doll, making you want to pinch her cheeks. But appearing on a ship in the middle of a storm was utterly bizarre.
Nami instinctively reached out a hand, wanting to pat her head to show friendliness.
The little girl immediately squeezed her eyes shut, like a frightened little animal, and began waving her tiny mallet wildly, making incoherent, protesting noises.
The reaction didn't inspire fear. On the contrary, it made her seem even cuter.
How did the saying go?
When you're weak, even your anger looks adorable in other people's eyes.
Finally emerging from his frozen state, Luffy stared at the little girl, his face lighting up with sudden understanding. "You're Merry, aren't you?!"
A ship spirit!
Luffy had always been bothered by those two special reward phases before. Nika, ship spirits... he hadn't seen a single trace of any of them.
But now Luffy was satisfied. The Going Merry had been their partner since the very beginning of their voyage. To meet the real, genuine Merry now was far better than some vague, intangible Nika.
"Merry?"
Nami was stunned.
That name... the "Merry" from the Going Merry?
You've got to be kidding. Her first, absurd thought was: Could this be yet another childhood friend of Luffy's that he never mentioned, like Uta?
But if it was a ship spirit... that made some sense.
As an excellent navigator, Nami naturally knew the legend.
It was said that only ships truly loved and meticulously cared for by their crew could possibly give birth to a ship spirit.
But that was a legend that existed only in the drunken tales of sailors. Its authenticity was highly debatable.
"Nami, we have a new nakama!" Luffy turned his head excitedly to say, then was pushed away by Nami's hand because he had gotten too close.
His mouth was practically touching hers.
Nami didn't know how Merry came to be, but Luffy had quite a few clues.
Besides the [Pirate King Training Plan], Uta's Uta Uta no Mi was the most crucial factor. And as one of the people who sang with her, Luffy also caused Merry to feel a natural closeness and dependence on him.
It wasn't that she resisted Nami; she was just a bit shy. Towards all the nakama on the ship, Merry felt the same... Luffy was the exception.
***
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