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The frame held on Shakky's private smile at Rayleigh and the barrage surged like a tide:
"Uh… did Shakky just flirt with Rayleigh?"
"Take out 'just' and 'maybe.' She absolutely did."
"C'mon, we all know how this ends. Those two are endgame."
"Rayleigh's playing it cool, but he's clearly rattled."
"Level-100 beauty throws you a look—any man twitches."
"So it's mutual: Shakky ⇄ Rayleigh."
"Meaning Roger… is the clown."
"Worse: Gloriosa loves Roger, but Roger loves Shakky, who loves Rayleigh."
"Two clowns, one crown."
"Who put a soap opera in my shōnen?"
"Roger's 'Pirate King mystique' is in shards."
"Rayleigh's cool factor just skyrocketed."
[Silvers Rayleigh]: "Haha—these comments keep calling me handsome. Painful truth."
[Shakky]: "Ho-ho. They're right, Ray. You are better looking than Roger."
[Gol D. Roger]: "…"
[Shiki]: "Sour! Rayleigh lucked out big-time."
[John]: "Who knew the winner would be the quiet one?"
[Silver Axe]: "The straight-laced guy was the true endgame."..
[Edward Newgate]: "Gurarara~ Roger lost face and maybe life's lottery."
[Gol D. Roger]: "Spare me. You lot were drooling over Shakky too—and got nowhere!"
[Rocks D. Xebec]: "Sure, but the man who won her heart was your first mate. That sting is personal, Roger."
[Kaido]: "Worororo~ Even I feel bad… for one second."
[Gloriosa]: "It's all right, Roger. Even if Shakky won't have you, I will."
[Gol D. Roger]: "Gloriosa, I told you—my heart's with Shakky. Stop chasing me."
[Gloriosa]: "…"
[Portgas D. Rouge]: "Who was that again, Roger? Say it louder."
[Portgas D. Ace]: "Don't waste breath on him, Mother. He isn't worth it."
[Gol D. Roger]: "…"
Onscreen, the story rolled forward.
The Kuja and Roger Pirates broke apart when a Marine fleet crested the horizon Vice Admiral Garp at its head. Cannon thunder filled the sky as Roger and Garp renewed their favorite argument at high velocity.
The Kuja vanished into glittering blue.
After that, the chase became a lifestyle. Roger steered by rumor always angling toward the Perfume Yuda, always failing to fight properly the moment Shakky stepped into view. Each clash ended the same: Roger floored, supplies seized, the crew a little lighter and a lot more lovestruck.
Call it charity. Call it… a tax for having feelings.
Then came a bad day.
In one encounter, Shakky looked wrong—dimmer, strained, like pain had emptied the color from her eyes. Not long after, news rippled across every sea:
Shakky abdicated as Amazon Lily's empress.
She left the Kuja and opened "Shakky's Rip-Off Bar" on Hachinosu Rocks territory. With that name on the door, every pirate worth his Jolly Roger made a pilgrimage. No fighting inside, she declared. Break the rule, and you're banned forever.
No one tested it twice.
The bar became legendary overnight.
Roger wanted to storm Hachinosu and carry her off that very day until Rayleigh knocked on his cabin door, a folded slip of paper in hand.
The projection shifted to lamplight and wood grain. Rayleigh passed Roger the note, eyes complicated.
"I was going to keep it from everyone…" Rayleigh said quietly. "But you should know."
Roger read. His breath caught. "This was from our last clash? When she looked sick—like something was wrong?"
"After that, she abdicated…"
"I was worried sick, Ray."
"And you—you received this?"
He lifted the paper to the light. Four words, neat and devastating:
"Come pick me up."
—Shakky
Rayleigh looked away.
"Yeah."
"I… couldn't say it out loud."
Roger slammed a fist onto the desk.
"If this isn't a love letter, what is?!"
"Don't you want her at all?!"
Rayleigh's composure faltered at the rarest sight on the sea.
"It's not that I don't," he admitted.
"I just… don't want to be bound."
Silence divided the room like a sword. The conversation ended there, brittle and unfinished.
Days passed with Roger a shadow at the rail, staring at the water as if it might answer back.
Then one morning, he turned on the deck with fire in his eyes.
"Listen up!"
The crew blinked.
"I'm not giving up."
"We're pirates—plunder is our nature."
"If you want something…"
"…you take it."
Laughter broke out, understanding dawning.
"You mean Shakky, right, Captain?"
"We're taking Shakky, then?"
Roger nodded without a flicker of doubt.
"Of course we are."
Freeze-frame.
The barrage lit the sky:
"Uh—hold up."
"He knows Shakky and Rayleigh like each other… and he's still going to 'take' her?"
"He said that to Rayleigh's face."
"So he's openly challenging his best friend… over a woman."
The projection dimmed on an image of two men who would one day be legends
and a woman walking away under her own power.
Somewhere in the chat, jokes stumbled into silence.
Because for all the bravado and banter, the truth was simple and sharp:
Even kings can be foolish when it comes to love.
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Thank you so much for your support and for reading!