"Mm."
Kaya set down her medical book and smiled sweetly.
"My name is Kaya, I'm seventeen. I like reading, and my dream is to become a doctor. I want to heal every patient I meet, so that every good person can live in good health."
"Not bad. I believe in you, Kaya." Riku clapped encouragingly, his gaze full of warmth. Nami couldn't help but roll her eyes.
"Your turn, little Nami!"
"Hmph!"
Nami snorted. She said casually, "Nami. Eighteen. My hobby is collect—cough, cough."
Under Kaya's puzzled gaze, she quickly covered it up. "I like growing oranges, and eating them. My dream... is to draw a map of the whole world."
At the end, her head lowered.
Could she really realize her dream while the Arlong Pirates still lived?
Riku noticed her darkened mood and began, "Shiratori Riku. Physically, I should be eighteen now. My—"
"Wait!"
Nami suddenly cut him off, lips curving into a smirk.
"How old are you exactly? What month?"
"August—"
"Haha! July for me. I'm older. Quick, call me onee-san, little Riku!"
She jumped up with strange excitement, face full of pride and triumph.
Kaya giggled. "Nami-onee is so cute."
Riku's forehead darkened. "Sorry. I meant Kaya's birthday is August. Mine's in January."
"Liar! You're August!" Nami puffed her cheeks, refusing to believe him.
Kaya raised her hand gently. "Nami-onee, I really was born in August. Riku never lies."
"You're hopeless."
Nami rubbed her hair in frustration. Could such an innocent, kind girl really survive as a pirate?
Riku ignored the exchange and continued.
"My hobby is a normal man's hobby. My dream: to become stronger than anyone else."
Nami blinked. "...So what exactly is your hobby? Please be specific."
"I know, I know."
Kaya raised her hand adorably. "Riku-nii once said normal men's hobbies are five things: power, wealth, fame, strength, and... women. If you want none of these, then you aren't a normal man."
Seeing Riku nod, Nami muttered, "Who doesn't want those? So which one's yours?"
Riku declared one word at a time:
"I. Want. Them. All."
"..."
Nami was speechless.
Kaya's delicate face turned rosy. She wondered secretly—did she count as one of the beauties Riku wanted?
"This feels so unreliable..."
Nami sighed inside. What kind of people had she been meeting these days?
A silly straw-hat boy, a swordsman who couldn't navigate, a liar who never told the truth—and now this one, who threatened to kill unless she joined, dragging along a frail and adorable girl. Could they really make it out of East Blue alive?
"Forget it..."
She shook her head and asked absently, "You keep saying go west. Where exactly are you headed? I need to plot the course."
"Cocoyasi Village."
"Oh, I know that place, I—"
Her voice froze. Her face went blank.
Staring at Riku's serious expression, her voice trembled.
"W-why are you going there?"
He met her eyes.
"Listen well. In the East Blue, aside from a few exceptions, no pirate crew can rival me. Even if it's..."
"The Arlong Pirates."
BOOM!
The words exploded in Nami's mind.
He knew.
He knew everything.
In his eyes, it felt like her every secret had been laid bare. She panicked.
But even so, she couldn't suppress her terror of Arlong.
"You know nothing! They're fishmen! Born with ten times the strength of humans—and there are dozens of them!"
"Don't go there! You'll die!"
"They... they're invincible."
Her voice broke.
Memories flooded in. Tears blurred her face.
Once, she had foolishly hoped someone might defeat Arlong.
But as the years passed, the fear only deepened. Arlong's "invincible figure" carved itself into her soul.
No one could defeat him. That was the truth she had lived with for eight years.
"Nami-onee..."
Kaya panicked, seeing the strong woman who had just been scolding Riku now crumpled and fragile.
She crouched and hugged Nami. "Don't be afraid. Whatever your troubles, Riku-nii and I will help you. We're family."
"Family... family dies too."
At the word family, Nami thought of her mother. Her tears flowed harder.
Riku stayed silent.
No words could erase eight years of fear.
"System, start the draw."
Ding. Host has seized Nami as crew. All-World Lottery begins!
The wheel spun.
The pointer stopped on Items.
Riku's eyes lit up. What he needed most now was strength. If only he could get something like a Hyperbolic Time Chamber—two years of training inside, and he'd leap in power.
Ding. Congratulations, host has drawn an item!
Random Devil Fruit Card ×2
Ding. Optimization mechanism triggered. Apply optimization?
Devil Fruits? Two of them?
Riku's heart leapt.
Kaya's body had always worried him. Frail since childhood, years of weakness had left her unable to train or recover.
If he could fix that, it would lift a huge burden. His first priority was to free Nami from Arlong. Then, he would find a great doctor to heal Kaya—even just to normal health.
If not in East Blue, then on the Grand Line.
"System... are these fruits from this world, or your own? Will eaten ones appear? Could the Phoenix Fruit exist?"
He asked inwardly for a long time.
As always, no reply.
A dead program.