Protectors [One Piece Fanfiction]

Izou the Therapist: His Thoughts

Izou the Therapist: His Thoughts

On the night where Irin had not shown up for dinner, a certain man in a kimono entered her room, well, his room. He had knocked a few times but there were no answers which was strange so he slowly and gently twisted the knob of the door. "Irin-sama? Is everything okay?" he asked, but there was no reply. With his soundless entrance, he crept deeper into the room. The candles in the room were lit but Irin was fast asleep, rolled up into a ball with her knees tucked to her chest and her head craned downwards. Much like a foetus in a womb.

'She's asleep' Izou concluded with a sigh as he made his way towards the exit as he put out the candles that were lit. However, Irin's soft mutters had caught his attention.

"I'm sorry, Ace... Please don't hate me..." she mumbled in her sleep, bringing her knees closer towards her.

Izou frowned a little at her words, 'What happened between the two?' he thought as he remembered how Ace refused to eat during dinner and seemed unusually glum. He pursed his lips together as he walked towards Irin's sleeping figure and gently tucked her under the warm covers of the bed. Noticing the tear stains on her gentle face, he knew something had happened between the fiery boy and her.

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As he silently closed the door and exited the room, Izou was met with a certain freckled ravenette pacing around a few metres away from the entrance to the room. Ace had his thumb in between his lips as he bit onto the nail of his finger, walking around in circles impatiently. His head hung low and his brows knitted together, as if in deep thought. The freckled boy was unaware of Izou's presence as he continued to pace around speedily, whisked away by his own thoughts.

"Ace?" Izou called out.

There was no reply, Ace continued to walk around in circles with the occasional inaudible mumble to himself.

"Ace!" Izou called out once more, this time actually capturing the attention of the fiery young man, "Are you okay?" he asked.

The freckled boy only looked at Izou with wide eyes as he formulated his reply in his head, "I-- Er... Is Irin awake?"

Izou shook his head gently, "Sadly, no. Irin-sama is fast asleep," he replied, "But is there anything I can help you with?"

Ace frowned, wondering to himself if he should seek guidance from Izou since he was quite close to his pink haired friend. Deciding that he should ask for the opinion of the man in the kimono, he looked at him and voiced his concerns, "I... I think I've hurt Irin's feelings and... I don't know what I should do now..." he said, quietly but audible to Izou's ears.

Izou raised his brow, "Isn't it common knowledge to apologise after you've done something wrong?"

"Yeah but..."

"But?"

Ace let out a grunt of frustration. He knew he should apologise but something stops him. His pride and the slight fear that his apology wouldn't be accepted. "Will an apology even make the cut?" he asked rhetorically.

Izou crossed his arms together, the sleeves of his kimono neatly tucked beneath one and another, "Of course an apology would make the cut, why wouldn't it?"

"It's just... I fucked up pretty bad," Ace said as he stared at the ground in deep thought.

"Okay and...? Are you sorry about what you did? Do you want her to know that you're sorry?" Izou asked.

The freckled ravenette snapped upwards, "Of course I feel sorry about what I did! In fact, I feel terrible, like I've just done the worst thing in my whole entire life!" he exclaimed, unable to contain his worry and his guiltiness.