Mission Dressrosa [Captive tie-in]

4

A few days ago.

You sat at the desk of the small room, the light of the day filtering between the shutters.

You didn't know how long you had been in the same position, eyes glued to the newspaper on your lap, thumb gently rolling over the printing.

It was distributed that morning, in the cafeteria.

There was a great commotion, at first, when someone read out loud that Doflamingo gave up his Shichibukai position. But after a few minutes of chaos, people started to go through the news.

The moment the silence fell on the tables around you and the men started elbowing each other and whispering, sending side glances at you, you knew what you would found on that newspaper.

You grabbed your copy in silence and left.

You wanted to be alone for that.

And there you were, in the penumbra of your room, high in one of the many buildings of Neo Marineford, unable to pull your eyes off his image.

You had avoided looking at it since you came back. That was why you insisted to be sent to Vegapunk's base, so isolated from everything.

"Eustass "Captain" Kid, captain of the Kid Pirates, met Stretchmen Apoo and Basil Hawkins, respectively captains of the On Air Pirates and the Hawkins Pirates, to form a new formidable alliance. The three captains are all part of the infamous worst generation that roams around the New World nowadays..."

So this is what you were doing. This is why you guys were in a hurry.

Once again, your finger caressed the picture, the same they used for the bounty poster.

And you're still out there, fighting to become the King of the Pirates.

A mixture of pride and pain invaded your chest.

Someone knocked to the door, startling you.

«[Y/n]! Are you in there?»

Koby.

You took a deep breath.

«Yes.»

You stood from your chair and left the newspaper on the desk, closing it.

You didn't want your eyes to slide on his face with someone else around. The newspaper was in greyscale, so there was no risk your sight might get captured by the red of his hair or the gold of his gaze. Still, they caught him with that mad open-mouth grin... every time you looked at it, you could almost hear his cruel laugh.

You shook your head and moved to open the door.

«Oh, [Y/n].»

Relief relaxed Koby's face when you finally showed up.

He studied you for a second, then his observant eyes fell on the paper, folded on the table.

«So you've already read the news...»

«Have you come to check on me?»

A half smile bent your lips as you shifted to let him in.

«N-No, I was around.» he murmured, rubbing his nape «But yeah, I wanted to see how you're doing, since you just got back.»

He walked in the room and turned to sheepishly smile at you.