The instant his name was spoken, the blond man sprang into action. First, he uncorked a pair of ornate wine bottles. Then, allowing the wine a little time to breathe, he began placing tall-stemmed glasses with broad bowls in front of every family member. Of everyone present, only Usopp could not fully appreciate what Sanji was doing. Unlike the others, he had never visited all the most famous and expensive restaurants in East Blue, so all Usopp could say was that Sanji intended to pour wine he had tasted before. Everyone else immediately recognized classic Bordeaux glasses intended for red wine. Red wine appeared at their table extremely rarely and only by Luffy's personal order. No one knew exactly why, but Luffy preferred to mark every truly significant event with red wine—and with one particular label at that, obscenely expensive, renowned for flawless quality, and exceptionally rare besides. It had appeared at their table after Johnny and Yosaku received their Fruits, after Nami amassed her hundred million berries, and most recently at the feast in Baratie. That celebration had marked both the end of an important stage in Nami's life—the death of Arlong and the liberation of her home island from fish-man oppression—and Usopp's joining the family. Usopp's celebration had been somewhat delayed because of the unforeseen end of 'The Thing'—a pair of bottles always kept for special occasions had safely come to rest on the seabed—and because Sanji had not yet joined them. Who besides Sanji himself and Zeff could prepare a whole table of divine delicacies? Zoro had also admitted that he and Luffy had once shared a bottle to celebrate their first voyage together. Those were all the known occasions. In more than two years.
"I don't think it's any secret to any of you that I don't particularly enjoy being serious," Luffy said, rising from his throne-like chair after Sanji filled the final glass—exactly one third full and not a drop more—and took his own seat. "At the same time, I really love drama and grandeur, so occasionally, like now, I'm forced to make sacrifices." Everyone at the table rolled their eyes in unison. Only Luffy could call the need to remain serious for a couple of minutes a 'forced sacrifice.' "And since we're heading to the Grand Line, there is simply no way we can do without a healthy dose of grandeur!"
Despite Luffy's latest performance, Zoro was the first to take his glass and rise, which was somewhat symbolic. A first mate was a first mate. Every other member of the family immediately followed his example.
"A toast!" Luffy raised his glass. "May the Grand Line prove even more dangerous and mind-blowing than every rumor about it! May all our future enemies be not only strong, but worthy people as well! May we gain even more strength, even more money, and even more adventures! And finally, may the limits of our freedom be set only by us—not by the Four Emperors, the World Government, the Revolutionaries, or anyone else! To us, the Straw Hats! To the family!"
Luffy truly did love grand speeches. Even so, the instant he spoke his final words, the response came immediate and firm.
"To the family!"
Under the influence of Luffy's dramatic mood, even Usopp was no exception, and his voice sounded no less confident than anyone else's. Truthfully, family was the only subject Luffy treated with absolute seriousness. Not even his beloved money or adored adventures received the same seriousness he devoted to family matters.
After Luffy's toast, the gathering turned into the same kind of ordinary feast they held a couple of times a month, if not more often. Perhaps the main difference was that this particular party took place aboard the Going Merry, so the ship itself received a thorough christening along the way. By the end of the feast—a couple of hours after it began, when it had, as always, degenerated into a common drinking session—the quantity of alcohol consumed had exceeded every reasonable limit. Even Zoro was no longer entirely clear-headed, an unprecedented event. The green-haired young man was firmly convinced that no one who considered himself a true swordsman would ever allow alcohol to overcome him. Strictly speaking, Zoro did not allow the alcohol to overcome him, but his critical judgment was nevertheless impaired. That was a fact. The consequences of the lapse were not long in coming.
"Zoro, I never thought I'd have to discuss something like this with you, but... do I really need to lecture you about the unacceptability of domestic violence?" Luffy's voice overflowed with unconcealed disappointment, and it sounded astonishingly convincing. A truly remarkable achievement! Considering how violently his entire body shook as he tried to suppress the laughter fighting to escape, it was amazing that Luffy could speak at all, much less counterfeit disappointment. "To simply beat up a young, beautiful girl... Of all people, I never expected that from you." A disappointed shake of the head accompanied his disappointed tone.
Johnny and Yosaku, meanwhile, were roaring with laughter and pounding their fists against the kitchen table—the scene was taking place in the ship's kitchen, or galley if one wanted to be precise. Unlike their captain, they made no attempt to restrain themselves. Usopp, leaning against one of the refrigerators, was not certain how much the situation truly deserved laughter and could manage only an uncertain smile. Most of that smile was caused by the embarrassed, guilty expression on Zoro's face as he stood before Luffy with his head bowed. Sanji, exactly as one would expect, played the role of a clucking mother hen, endlessly circling Tashigi as she sat on a stool. Nami, in turn, radiated almost tangible waves of disapproval and displeasure. Though she repeatedly cast Zoro reproachful glances, even she had to admit that the young man was only partly at fault. Objectively speaking, Zoro was not at fault at all—but objectivity had no place in the Straw Hat family. Luffy had always been a true master of double standards, and his next words proved it once again.
"I can't believe you beat a weak and defenseless girl so mercilessly," Luffy continued, shaking his head in disappointment. "I always thought you were above that. I never imagined you could sink so low! And what about our reputation? The famous 'Pirate Slayers' caught red-handed committing domestic violence! What will people think when they hear?" Unlike the surprisingly believable disappointment in Luffy's voice, the young man's words grated on the ears with their falseness, hypocrisy, and sheer idiocy. What kind of 'domestic violence' was this supposed to be? Besides, no hypothetical outsiders could possibly learn about the alleged incident unless somebody in the family opened their mouth around strangers. Yet Luffy spoke as though 'someone' would inevitably tell the whole world at the first opportunity. Nor would news of 'domestic violence' from a man famous for mass murder particularly surprise anyone. As usual, however, such 'minor details' did not concern Luffy.
In reality, everything that had happened was entirely expected and predictable. A little thought would have been enough to foresee the result. Tashigi had been told that Zoro killed her beloved Captain Smoker. Then, despite all her efforts, she had been unable to make the young man so much as draw his sword, so weak was she by comparison. Tashigi had no chance whatsoever of avenging her captain in a direct confrontation. On top of that, all the 'truth' Luffy had told her in Loguetown weighed heavily upon her mind. From Tashigi's perspective, she had been captured by merciless killers whose captain possessed strength she could not overcome. He had murdered someone dear to her and had set his sights on her, which was why she had been kidnapped. In other words, she was completely convinced that she would soon be raped by the murderer of someone close to her—and she would be fortunate if he were the only one. In light of all the 'truth' she knew, the conclusion was perfectly logical. Then her future rapist and the present murderer of her captain had arrived drunk and collapsed asleep only a few meters away. There was also plenty of weaponry within reach, including Tashigi's own sword. In all this she saw her only real chance to defeat Zoro, even though it contradicted virtually every moral principle she possessed. Yet history had proven many times that a person could discard their moral principles when circumstances became sufficiently favorable... or 'favorable.' The result was that Tashigi tried to stab Zoro in his sleep. It was naivety worthy of affection. Zoro still could not maintain Observation Haki while asleep, but his instincts had always been honed to a razor's edge, making the final result almost indistinguishable from that same Haki.
"Good lord, what were you thinking, trying to kill Zoro while he slept?" Nami began educating the Marine as she applied a special ointment to the enormous bruise beneath the girl's eye. "Do you understand that you're alive only by a miracle? Zoro kills first and only afterward looks at whom he killed. Honestly, I'm astonished you're still breathing. You're not the first fool to mistake a sleeping Zoro for an easy target, but you are the only one to survive the stupidity."
Tashigi remained dejectedly silent. The magnificent black eye was far from the only bruise on her body, because before finally giving up she had tried to kill the sleeping Zoro a good twenty times. Though the black eye resulted from her very first attempt, the rest had not passed without consequences. Bruises covered Tashigi from head to toe. Each strike from the sleeping Zoro sent her flying like a rubber ball, allowing her to thoroughly ruin the furnishings in the men's cabin. More than half her bruises came not from Zoro's blows, but from the unfortunate landings afterward. Tashigi was also responsible for waking the entire family so early. Grand Line or not, without her, everyone would have slept until noon after such heavy drinking. Yet Tashigi's grief-stricken crying managed to wake them instantly at dawn. And yes, no one had awakened to the crashes caused by her falls—such noise was long familiar to all of them—but the wailing that followed her realization that revenge was completely impossible and that her own 'grim fate' was rapidly approaching was so out of place that absolutely everyone woke up.
"You... aren't you... aren't you a hostage?" No one knew how much longer Luffy might have tormented Zoro if Tashigi, after Nami returned her glasses, had not decided to change the subject completely.
The previous evening, the girl had hardly been herself, and Luffy had not particularly revealed his position in her presence—everything amused him anyway. But today, and specifically at that moment, Tashigi could not ignore his behavior. It looked as though Luffy was scolding Zoro and, stranger still, the swordsman was patiently listening to everything he said. Luffy did not look much like a hostage.
Tashigi's words sent the family into a brief stupor.
"A hostage?!" everyone asked in chorus.
"What hostage?" Nami asked, pausing in her application of ointment to another of the girl's bruises. "What are you talking about?"
Tashigi suddenly hesitated over whether to tell the truth. What if the truth got this Luffy killed? The girl still had no idea how she had ended up aboard the ship. She had no doubt whatsoever that she had been kidnapped on Roronoa Zoro's orders, but she did not know how the kidnapping had been carried out or who had actually done it. Her last memories were extremely vague.
"We already became friends a little earlier!" Luffy happily 'explained,' sparing Tashigi the need to choose. "Yesterday I told her the whole truth about the 'Pirate Slayers' and even warned her to be careful, but she wouldn't listen."
"...All right." Nami nodded slowly. "I think I'm beginning to understand what happened." Excluding Usopp, every member of the family knew perfectly well about Luffy's ability to tell the 'truth.' "But I still don't understand what this has to do with a hostage. Why does she think you're one?"
"I simply admitted honestly that I know about an incredible treasure hidden on the Grand Line, and that Roronoa Zoro knows where I live and can always find everyone close to me. I also admitted honestly that I had almost no choice except to become one of the 'Pirate Slayers'."
A brief silence followed, after which everyone gathered sighed together. Only Tashigi and Usopp failed to catch the hidden meaning in Luffy's words.
"...You aren't a hostage," Tashigi declared. "You deceived us!"
"Hey, hey, I didn't tell you a single lie!" Luffy immediately hurried to distance himself from the 'unfounded' accusation. "It's not my fault if you misunderstood my words!"
"You said you weren't a member of the family!" In her eagerness to prove herself right, the girl's usual fighting spirit even returned.
"No, I didn't!" Luffy smiled with satisfaction. "I said I didn't join the family, and that really is true. I never said I wasn't one of its members."
"If you didn't join the family, how can you be a member of it?!" Tashigi heatedly objected to the person she now regarded as a traitor. There was little logic in her attitude toward Luffy, but the fact remained: the girl truly felt as though he had betrayed her.
"Because I'm the one who created it," Luffy said, "reassuring" her.
"...What?"
While Tashigi's mind unsuccessfully searched for a 'hidden meaning' in the young man's words, a terrible cold rapidly gripped her chest and the surrounding world began to darken—the effect of a heart that had practically stopped. That could happen when the conscious mind desperately tried to drive a horrifying thought away while the subconscious accepted it completely.
"I. Created. This. Family," Luffy said without the slightest intention of holding back. "The Straw Hat family, to be exact."
For several seconds Tashigi continued blinking stupidly. Then her conscious mind finally became unable to ignore all the available facts. The color rapidly drained from her face. And no, it was not Luffy's words that convinced her. What mattered most were the looks, the positions, and the feeling of presence. Now that she knew the truth, the girl understood what had been wrong all along with the way every 'Pirate Slayers' treated the young man standing before her. The looks cast at Luffy were looks that could be given only to a leader. The family's positions around him made him the center of everyone present. This Luffy, not the famous Roronoa Zoro. And then there was the sense of presence. Every member of the family felt distinct. Everyone except Luffy. It was as though he did not exist.
"But... but that's... that's impossible." Tashigi's mind made one final desperate attempt to find another explanation, one less monstrously terrifying.
Roronoa Zoro was not the person who had created their family? Tashigi had never heard of anyone creating an organization—a family, company, gang, it made no difference—and immediately handing control to somebody else. Or had this Luffy and Roronoa Zoro created the family together, after which Zoro had taken the position of leader? That would have been the most logical explanation, were it not for Luffy's own words and the attitude of everyone around him. Beyond all else, Tashigi was deeply troubled by her inability to sense Luffy's presence. That was impossible! Every person possessed an aura of their own. As an experienced swordswoman, she could sense other people's auras far more keenly than ordinary people.
"Are you saying... you're saying that you're the most important person on this ship?"