"You're really doing a great job, Makino," Luffy assured, "Running around the whole island is a lot for anyone."
"T-Thanks… Luffy…" she wheezed, riding on Luffy's back as she tried to regain feeling in her legs, "Heh, s-sorry if I'm t-too t-tired to…"
"Don't worry about that. I want you at your best for that anyway." He walked as fast as he could back to the village without disturbing the newly minted pirate too much. Once she announced her intentions to leave with Luffy, the people of Fuusha mostly took it well. Sure they would need to find a new barkeep but that was worth it when Makino looked so happy whenever she was around Luffy. The only "protest" was from the mayor who never went beyond loud griping.
And now, a few days later, Makino was joining Luffy for as much training as possible before they departed for the big blue. First and foremost was giving Makino some basic fighting tips so she could throw a punch and block in a real fight. Since she had those down after about a day came physical conditioning. Lifting empty beer kegs, long sprints, and light spars with Luffy were all on the agenda.
And as painful as the end of each day was, the results were quickly bearing fruit. In less than a week, Makino could now lift upwards of a hundred pounds, increased her stamina enough to fight for several minutes and managed to break a wooden board without flinching. Luffy proved to be the perfect teacher for her. He seemed to instinctually know when she was reaching her limit, and provided the right mix of encouraging and strict so Makino would honestly know when she needs to try harder and when she succeeded.
Plus, while she couldn't learn any of Luffy's rubbery attacks, she could still develop her own power. With the Burst-Burst Fruit, Makino really was a walking shotgun capable of firing a short range but very damaging spray of shrapnel in any given direction. The issue was that she experienced some serious kickback. She once managed to dislocate her shoulder firing too much out of her hand, much to the displeasure of the village's doctor.
And yet every night, Luffy was there to carry her back to her home and kiss her goodnight with a smile. With each day she grew stronger and gained a deeper appreciation for her loving captain. Further inspiring her was a glimpse at the grueling work Luffy put himself through. Hauling over a dozen timbers slung on his back, after punching them down himself. Practicing his kicks and punches on boulders until they broke apart. Utilizing each of the Six Powers dozens of time in a few minutes. The fact that these activities led to Luffy stripping off his vest was a nice bonus for her.
Makino and Luffy walked back to the village side by side, grateful for the pleasant weather. They had just finished hiking through Mt. Corvo and the lady was blushing at the waves of praise from her captain.
"Makino, you're a natural with Observation Haki! You picked it up way faster than me!"
"Oh, stop… My range is pretty small, not like yours. You can practically see everyone in the village!"
"Yeah, after years of practice. It took me a few months to actually start using it. You found it in, what, two weeks?"
The houses and few businesses of their quaint little village came into view, only for Woop Slap to run up to them.
"Oh, there you two are! Nothing happened to you?"
"No, what's wrong, Mayor?"
"Makino… It's your bar… Those hooligans from the mountains, they-!"
She was off running before he could finish, Luffy right behind. The fact that she just got finished with five hours of exhaustive training meant nothing to her. Makino sees that the front doors have been kicked in and gaped in horror. Tables were upturned, shattered glass scattered across the floor along with all the chairs. She immediately headed back to the storage room and noticed several missing kegs along with the bag with all the bar's proceeds for the month.
