"In a doctor's eyes, there is no distinction between men and women. Don't you get it?" Luffy said this with a slight lack of confidence.
That's what the saying was, but he wasn't a professional doctor!
"A doctor... you?" Uta stared at Luffy with deep suspicion.
"What, are you shy? It's not like you haven't seen me before when you used to squeeze into my futon or drag me to the hot springs when we were kids."
Who's shy!
Uta was momentarily speechless.
Besides, how could childhood compare to now?
Just looking down, things were noticeably bigger.
Luffy was about to speak when the warning sound arrived right on cue.
"I'm busy. You should rest."
Busy with what?
Uta leaned her head over. Seeing the book Luffy was flipping through, her expression instantly turned weird.
"Luffy, can an idiot like you even understand this stuff?" Uta looked skeptical.
"What's with that preconceived notion? We haven't seen each other for so many years; there's no way I'm still an idiot." Luffy puffed out his chest, quite confident. How did this feel? Not bad at all.
Back then, he could never retort when she said things like that.
"...I don't believe you."
Uta gave a light humph.
She simply couldn't imagine it. When they were kids, she had been victorious over Luffy in every aspect. And now he was claiming he was the one who cured her illness?
And he was studying music theory by himself while she was resting? Can you even understand what you're looking at?
Uta was more inclined to believe Luffy was deliberately trying to get her attention.
Just like how little boys always mess around with a mess of things to show off to little girls to get their attention. Thinking of it that way perfectly matched Luffy's personality.
The corner of her mouth lifted slightly. For some reason, she felt a bit secretly pleased.
So Luffy's reached that age, too.
"What are you thinking about? Your fever's down. During the defervescence stage, you need to dress properly and take your medicine."
Luffy stretched his arm and handed the water and medicine to Uta. "By the way, Uta, are you a Devil Fruit user too?"
"How did you know?"
Uta was taken aback. She accepted the water and drank it. She had eaten the Devil Fruit after parting ways with Luffy. Seeming to think of something, she frowned and asked, "Did Shanks tell you?"
"No. Shanks only left me this hat."
Luffy noticed Uta's gaze lingering on his hat. He took it off, stretched his arm, and placed it on her head. "When Shanks and the others came back, they said you left the ship to pursue your dreams. We promised to go together, you guy who lost his credibility."
"That's what he told you?"
"What?"
"Nothing. Let's just say that's how it was. Here's your hat back." Luffy felt quite puzzled.
Uta seemed full of things on my mind. When she talked about Shanks, it wasn't with the smiling, proud expression he remembered.
The estrangement of years apart dissipated unconsciously. In just a few words, they regained their previous rapport.
Especially after hearing Luffy describe the specific treatment details—how he had taken off her clothes and wiped her body with ice towels... Uta fell silent. Then, she took off her clothes and changed right behind Luffy, comforting herself internally: With Luffy's clueless, carefree personality, he'll probably forget all about it in a couple of days!
She let down her tied-up hair, her red and white bangs swaying gently. She put on a red and white jacket over her white shirt and leaned close to Luffy.
"You're really reading it? Since when did you like music? Do you want to sing with me?"
Uta radiated youthful energy. The blush hadn't yet faded from her face, giving her a sickly, delicate quality that easily stirred a protective instinct.
A faint, clear fragrance wafted towards him.
Luffy sniffed.
"Hey, doing that in front of a lady is very rude." Uta pulled on Luffy's cheek, drawing him closer.
"Since when is breathing a crime?"
"Do you like your beauties to smell like sweat?" Uta said, exasperated.
"...But it smells nice."
"...Are you really Luffy?" Uta looked horrified. Was this something Luffy could actually say?
Pressing a hand over her rapidly beating heart, she wondered why this compliment made her mouth feel sweet, as if she'd eaten honey. Damn it, it's just Luffy! Feeling a bit annoyed, she pulled on his face. A rubber man's face did have a nice texture; it felt very comfortable to touch.
"You're just like Nami," Luffy couldn't help but comment.
"Nami?"
A chill ran down Luffy's spine. Honestly, he didn't know why he felt that; it was probably because there were too many ice packs in the room, and the temperature wasn't high.
"Sounds like a girl's name. Are you close to her? The sea is full of tricksters. Someone like you needs to be careful not to get scammed out of even your underwear. Don't trust women too much..." The words spilled out of Uta's mouth uncontrollably.
She felt unexplained unease. She only had Luffy as a friend, but Luffy had more friends than just her.
But... surely she was the only one Luffy would share this straw hat with, right?
Secretly pleased.
"Nami is my navigator."
Luffy's eyes were still glued to the book. He couldn't help adding, "And if we're talking about deception, haven't you tricked me plenty of times?"
Luffy pursed his lips, thinking about all the underhanded tricks Uta used in their various childhood competitions. He had naively believed her, and once he believed her once, there was a second, third, fourth time...
"And lastly, someone promised to come back next time but left without even leaving a letter, making me..."
Uta didn't really want to talk about that.
After all, Luffy was Luffy, and Shanks and the others were them. Her originally somewhat dull mood lifted when she heard what Luffy said next, and she asked with keen interest.
"What? Don't tell me you cried because you didn't see me."
"Heh." Luffy rolled his eyes. "Don't flatter yourself. I just felt it was a bit of a loss not to have beaten you even once."
He was just unwilling to accept.
But Luffy's ability to self-adjust was quite good. Later, he consoled himself by thinking he'd just pin Uta down hard next time he saw her.
Just like when Uta, after learning a few measly skills, managed to pin him down before he figured out how to use his Gomu Gomu no Mi.
He really wanted to turn the tables and be the one on top.
Taking advantage of a gap between warnings, he turned to look at Uta. After sizing her up and down, he couldn't help but say:
"And what's up with your body now? Why does it look so weak?"
"Look who's talking about being strong," Uta retorted stubbornly, then reached out to feel Luffy's arm.
So, so firm and strong.
It wasn't obvious. Luffy didn't look like someone with that kind of bulky build.
Speaking of which, Uta remembered the Marines and pirates outside. Could Luffy have dealt with all of them? Those weren't the kind of people you could just reason with and have a peaceful chat.
"Let's just say I've been neglecting my training."
More than that, Uta was more curious about what exactly had happened to Luffy.
This wasn't the Luffy she remembered.
Leaning over, she suddenly realized that Luffy seemed to have grown taller than her.
***
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