The Red Force cut steadily through the waves. Music still played, laughter still rose, and the scent of sake drifted across the deck.
But Shanks stayed silent.
He leaned on the railing, one of his arms resting against the wood, eyes following the horizon where sunlight danced on the water.
For once, he didn't laugh with them. He simply watched, the joy, the noise, the life he'd built, as if measuring something unseen within it.
Footsteps approached.
"Shanks," Yasopp said, his voice lower than usual. "…That drifter's still following us"
Shanks blinked once, slowly, before glancing toward the sea.
Far behind the ship, a shadow moved beneath the waves, massive, deliberate.
And on its back… the man.
Still sitting cross-legged. Still calm. Still watching.
"Persistent one, isn't he?" Shanks murmured, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Yasopp frowned. "He's been keeping pace for hours. That Sea King's not even swimming at full speed, and yet it's matching us perfectly"
Shanks tilted his head, eyes glinting with curiosity rather than concern. "No hostility, though. Just watching"
"That makes it worse," Yasopp muttered. "A man like that doesn't follow for no reason"
"Maybe," Shanks said softly, his gaze still fixed on the distant figure. The wind tugged at his coat as he spoke again, tone thoughtful, almost nostalgic. "Or maybe he's just trying to remember what it means to be human"
Yasopp blinked. "…What?"
Shanks chuckled, pushing off the railing. "Call it a hunch." He turned toward the deck, voice rising back to its easy warmth. "Keep the sails steady! Don't let a little shadow ruin the mood!"
The crew erupted again, music resuming as laughter filled the air once more. But Yasopp lingered for a moment longer, watching the sea.
The drifter never moved.
He only stared, not with hunger, not with malice, but with a quiet, unsettling curiosity.
And though Shanks had already turned away, his words lingered like a breeze over still water.
---
The sea stretched endlessly, a mirror of blue and gold.
Grey drifted silently atop the Sea King, the creature's massive back gliding effortlessly through the waves.
Ahead, the ship he had been following for hours danced with laughter and song, faint, but constant.
That sound.
It reached him even across the distance, carried by the wind like a melody he didn't understand.
He listened.
Not because he enjoyed it, but because something within him, something new, something faint... moved.
What makes them that happy?
Why do they laugh like that?
What reason could there be for such joy?
The thoughts lingered, alien yet persistent.
But then, the rhythm changed.
The Red Force began to slow.
The music faded. The laughter died.
Even the wind seemed to pause, waiting.
Grey blinked once, tilting his head.
He didn't stop the Sea King; the creature obeyed no fear, only his will.
It kept moving forward, the water parting around it with silent reverence.
As the distance closed, the scene revealed itself...
The entire crew stood at the railing, their once carefree faces now sharpened by caution.
Hands rested on weapons.
Eyes followed his every movement.
The air that once sang with laughter now tasted of tension.
'…And now they are unhappy?' Grey wondered, his expression unchanged.
The Sea King surfaced higher, its enormous shadow swallowing the ship in its wake.
Waves rose, rocking the Red Force slightly, yet Grey sat unmoving, still, almost regal in his composure.
His grey eyes scanned the faces across from him.
And then, they stopped.
On the one man who didn't flinch.
Red hair.
A smile that wasn't fear, but interest.
A presence that filled the sea like sunlight breaking through a storm.
Grey's gaze met the red-haired man's.
The waves stilled.
Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
And then-
Shanks laughed.
It wasn't loud.
It wasn't mocking.
But it was alive, so alive that the sea itself seemed to tremble beneath its echo.
That laughter carried weight, not in sound, but in spirit.
Haoshoku.
The air rippled. The sky dimmed for a heartbeat. The Sea King beneath Grey rumbled, its massive body lowering instinctively, its head bowing until its eyes nearly met the waves.
Grey didn't flinch.
He simply watched.
The pressure pressed down upon him like a living storm, unseen, untouchable, yet impossible to ignore. It demanded acknowledgment, not through violence, but through presence.
Freedom itself, laughing in his face.
To most men, it would feel suffocating.
To Grey, it felt… familiar.
That invisible weight, pthat undeniable will, stirred something within him.
A faint pulse beneath his ribs.
So this is what it means… to be alive?
The corners of his lips twitched, not a smile, not quite.
Shanks' laughter faded, replaced by a wide grin.
"Now that," he said, his voice rolling across the sea like thunder softened by warmth, "is quite the stare you've got there, drifter"
Grey tilted his head slightly. His voice was calm, quiet, almost curious. "That… was power?"
Shanks chuckled, brushing his hair back. "Power? Hah! No. That was just a laugh"
Silence followed. The kind of silence that carried gravity.
Then Grey spoke again, softly. "…A laugh that could command the sea"
Shanks' grin widened. "Depends on who's laughing"
Behind him, Beckman exhaled smoke slowly.
"Captain," he muttered, "if that didn't scare him, he's either too strong… or too empty to care"
Shanks' eyes glimmered, not with suspicion, but fascination.
"Maybe both," Shanks said, his gaze still fixed on the drifter. The wind tugged at his red hair, but his eyes never left Grey. "So… why are you following us?"
"...Can't I?" Grey replied. His voice was steady, devoid of malice or emotion. "Does my following you make you unhappy?"
For a moment, Shanks simply stared at him.
The words weren't hostile, they were too plain to be. And yet, something about that calmness pressed heavier than anger ever could.
His grin faltered, just a flicker, before his laughter burst again, loud and full of life.
"Hah! No, I'm not unhappy," he said, running a hand through his hair. "But you're making my crew uneasy"
Around him, the Red Force crew remained tense, hands on hilts, eyes sharp, every instinct screaming that the man on the Sea King wasn't normal.
Grey's grey eyes shifted slightly, scanning them one by one.
"Uneasy..." he repeated softly, as if testing the word's meaning. "Then what emotion should I wear to ease them?"
The question wasn't sarcasm. It was genuine... disturbingly so.
Shanks' grin returned, but this time, there was no laughter behind it.
"Maybe start with a smile," he said, tone light but eyes watchful.
Grey tilted his head. "A smile...?"
Then, slowly, awkwardly, his lips curved upward.
Not joy, not amusement.
Just the motion of it.
For a heartbeat, no one spoke.
That smile, if it could be called that... was wrong.
It didn't reach his eyes. It didn't belong to any feeling.
It was as if he had seen people do it before... and decided to imitate it.
A few of the Red-Haired crew instinctively stepped back.
Lucky Roux stopped chewing.
Yasopp's finger hovered just above the trigger of his flintlock.
Ben Beckman exhaled a thin stream of smoke and muttered, "…That's not a smile I'd want to see twice"
Shanks didn't move.
His grin stayed, but his eyes, his Haki, sharpened just slightly, brushing over Grey like a gentle wave.
It was enough to make lesser men faint, but the drifter didn't even blink.
"Not bad," Shanks said finally, with that disarming tone only he could pull off. "But smiles aren't something you wear, they come from the inside"
Grey tilted his head again, his expression fading back to neutrality.
"…From the inside," he repeated. "Then… I can't do that"
That line hung in the air.
Even the waves seemed to grow quieter.
Ben glanced at Shanks, but Shanks' gaze remained fixed on Grey, studying him like a riddle carved into the sea itself.
"Can or not," Shanks said softly, "there's still something in there. No man without a heart asks questions like yours"
Grey blinked once, as if processing the words. Then his tone dropped, quiet but unshaken. "…Then what do you call a heart that can't feel?"
The question hit heavier than any cannon.
For once, even Shanks didn't laugh.