"Hmph. Say whatever you want. I won't give in. Even if you take my body, you'll never have my heart."
Yuristin spoke with the stubborn pride of a romance drama heroine addressing the second male lead.
"You're a smart man. You know what choice benefits you most. And your life just started getting on track. I doubt you want it snuffed out so soon."
Yuristin didn't look old. Mid twenties, maybe. Older than Shirakawa, younger than Riddle, but his strength already surpassed Riddle's.
Shirakawa suspected Yuristin had only recently set sail himself. Power like that took time to build. No way he'd been that strong since childhood.
Yuristin fell silent for a moment, then looked Shirakawa dead in the eye with total sincerity and asked, "Does it pay?"
All three of them froze at the question. This guy lived for money. He reminded Shirakawa of Buggy. Without even trying, Shirakawa had found Buggy a kindred spirit.
"It pays. Name your price."
"Really? That's fantastic! If that's the case, I'm in."
Yuristin's excitement was palpable. If he weren't tied up, he probably would have leaped into Shirakawa's arms for a bear hug.
"So you became a bounty hunter just for the money?" Shirakawa asked as he unlocked the iron chains.
"What else? Why else would anyone be a bounty hunter?"
Yuristin shot back, as if the answer was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Alright, fair point. I figured you had some vendetta against pirates or something."
"Nope. You read too much into it. Bounty hunting pays fat stacks. Tens of millions per head. Faster money than robbing anyone."
"True enough."
"The Marines actually tried to recruit me once. I turned them down."
"Why? Marines are all about prestige and authority. Real top tier stuff."
"Top tier, sure. But the pay's garbage. Not my style."
Yuristin stated it like plain fact. Shirakawa had to respect the commitment. This man was a slave to the coin.
Shirakawa suddenly wished he could drag Buggy over right this second just so the two could meet. Let them see they weren't alone in the world.
"Why do you want money so badly anyway? Grew up poor?" Riddle asked.
"Isn't that obvious? Only poor people want money." Yuristin snapped at him. This was the guy who had tied him up, after all.
"I was a beggar as a kid. Every day I worried about my next meal. Never knew where food was coming from. I'd stare through shop windows at all those fancy dishes and drool, but I never had a single beri to my name. So I made a vow to myself right then. I was going to get rich. Stupid rich."
"Alright, I get that. But where'd you learn to fight? Don't tell me you're self taught."
Plenty of kids had sad backstories. Every island nation probably had thousands just like him. That's why someday someone like Dragon would decide the World Government had to go.
"Of course I'm not self taught. My teacher trained me."
"Your teacher? He taught you everything you know?" Shirakawa asked.
"Everything. But he left before he could finish my training."
"Left where?"
"Died."
"Oh. I see. But if you're this strong, your teacher must have been incredible."
"Obviously." A proud look settled on Yuristin's face when he spoke of his master.
"I saw it with my own eyes. My teacher blew a Marine battleship to pieces. That fireworks show is still burned into my memory."
"Blew up a battleship? Sounds like your teacher had a serious grudge against the Marines."
"I wouldn't know. He never talked about his past."
From those scattered details, Shirakawa could tell Yuristin's teacher was no ordinary man. Destroying a battleship with a single firearm wasn't something just anyone could pull off.
Punching a hole through a warship? Plenty of top snipers on the seas could manage that. But blowing the whole thing to kingdom come? Shirakawa couldn't think of anyone else who'd done it.
Maybe it was a lucky shot. A stray bullet straight into the ammunition hold.
"Did your teacher ever teach you Armament Haki?"
"He didn't get around to it before he passed."
"I see. Still, pushing your Observation Haki this far is seriously impressive."
"Of course. My teacher said I had a real gift for Observation. Said I might even train it up to see the future someday."
"If you ever reach that level, you'll be the top dog on this crew. But your timing solves a problem for me."
"What problem?"
"I had no one to teach Jora Observation Haki. Now you're here. And Jora can teach you Armament in return."
"Hm. That sounds like a fair deal."
Jora and Yuristin exchanged a glance, then nodded at each other. Acceptance settled between them.
"As for you, Riddle, you'll train with both of them. Learn both types of Haki as fast as you can."
"No problem."
Riddle had already witnessed the power of Observation and Armament Haki firsthand. Especially Observation. Predicting an opponent's moves and location was an insanely useful ability.
Of course, Riddle had never faced a Logia type Devil Fruit user. If he had, he'd understand just how essential Armament Haki truly was. Without it, all your attacks amounted to swinging at air.
But when Riddle caught the unfriendly look in Yuristin's eyes, a wave of regret washed over him. Over the last few days, he'd managed to annoy not just Shirakawa but also the newest crew member.
Looking back, he'd been the troublemaker the whole time. Riddle wasn't stupid. He understood his role on the ship now. The scapegoat.
Still, for the sake of his captain's expectations, Riddle resolved to endure whatever hardship came his way.
He looked again at Jora and Yuristin. In his mind's eye, their faces twisted into something menacing. He looked like a man marching to his own execution.
"Relax. We'll take good care of you."
Neither of them smiled, but in Riddle's vision, they were grinning ear to ear. His eyes, it seemed, could now pierce straight through to their true natures.
/-\
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