The sea shimmered under the setting sun, its waves sparkling with golden light. The boy and girl exchanged smiles.
"Let's create a new era together!"
"Yeah!"
The last rays of the sun froze the moment their fists bumped, immortalizing their shared dream.
Beautiful, right?
But Orochimaru, his collar clutched by both of them, was hunched over, straining to move forward, yet remained rooted to the spot.
"So!! Does anyone even care about my feelings?! Stop dragging me into your stupid flashbacks against my will!"
Time flew by, and soon the Red Hair Pirates were preparing to set sail. On that sunny day, Luffy decided to sneak onto their ship for an adventure.
He cautiously slipped aboard and hid in a corner, his heart pounding with excitement and nervousness.
If only he hadn't been tightly gripping Orochimaru's hem, who was desperately trying to crawl away, muttering, "Don't take me with you!"
Luffy quickly covered Orochimaru's mouth. "Shhh! Shanks and the others will be back soon, we'll get caught!"
Defeated, Orochimaru could only squat obediently beside Luffy, his muffled protests fading into resignation.
'It's like that time some pervert dragged me along to peep into the girls' bathhouse... Why does everyone always drag me into these things? And why do I even go along with it?'
Snake stared blankly, completely stunned.
By the time Orochimaru snapped out of his daze, Red Hair was already carrying him, with Luffy wriggling in his other arm, his face a mask of reluctance.
But parting was inevitable.
The Red Hair Pirates' ship slowly sailed out of the harbor, heading towards the unknown sea. Orochimaru watched silently, lost in thought, then turned and left. 'I'm leaving...(ò?ó||)'
"Luffy... please let go of my collar! You're choking my destiny!"
"No! We're waiting for Shanks to come back together! And call me 'Brother'!"
"Alright, Luffy, alright. Hey, you know, maybe they just left. We can check back in a few days."
Some time later, as dusk approached, the Red Hair Pirates' ship returned to Windmill Village. Everyone's face was grim.
Only Luffy was clamoring, shouting for Uta.
"Uta! Where's Uta? Shanks... where's Uta? Did something happen to her?" Luffy's voice cracked with emotion, tears welling up in his eyes.
Shanks forced a smile and patted Luffy's head. "Don't worry, Luffy. Uta just left to become a singer. That's all."
Luffy slapped Shanks' hand away. "You're lying! That's impossible! She loves you more than anything! Why would she leave? Something must have happened!"
"Tell me, Shanks!" Luffy cried, tugging at Shanks' coat. "What really happened to Uta?"
Orochimaru stepped forward and smacked Luffy on the head. He hoisted the boy onto his shoulder and wiped Luffy's snotty, tear-streaked face with Shanks' cloak.
"Let's go, Luffy. It's getting dark. Makino will be worried."
"But Uta... Uta..." Luffy sobbed.
Orochimaru didn't reply. He gave Red Hair Shanks a long, thoughtful look before speaking to him for the first time.
"My foolish brother has caused you trouble," Orochimaru said. "Are you certain everyone else truly agrees with your decision? If you truly don't care, why are your crewmates so distraught? To protect love, you must embrace hatred. Your self-righteous kindness will only bring her pain."
With that, Orochimaru carried Luffy away to clean him up and towel-dry his hair.
"Don't cry, Luffy," Shanks said. "Things don't always go the way we want. Everyone has secrets they can't talk about, just like you never ask me about mine, right? You like Red Hair a lot, don't you? Then you have to trust his choices. As long as we're alive, we'll meet again someday."
Luffy stopped asking questions after that. He kept bugging Shanks to take him to sea, and to prove how tough he was, he even cut himself under his eye with a knife, giving himself a scar.
"I'm not scared of getting hurt!" Luffy declared. "I'm super strong! My punches are as powerful as a pistol!"
"Oh, really?" Shanks mumbled through a mouthful of fried rice.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Luffy roared, his face contorted into a shark-like snarl.
Shanks, still chewing, suddenly turned bright red. "Water... water!" He held out a pale hand for a glass of clear water, gulped it down, and promptly spat it out.
"So salty!" He whirled around, glaring at Orochimaru, who was wiping dishes behind the bar. "Orochimaru! Stop spoiling Luffy like this!"
"Oh, really?" Orochimaru replied, unfazed.
To be continued...