This scene felt strangely familiar.
Vivi vaguely remembered back at Alabasta's palace, when they were alone together—it had been a similar atmosphere.
Only this time, it felt more... delicate.
She had just bathed. The blue palace attire, with its ethnic style, was neatly folded beside the bed.
Now she wore a slightly oversized white silk shirt and simple shorts. Her damp blue hair was loose over her shoulders, giving off a faint, clean scent.
"Why are you here?"
Vivi took a deep breath, trying to sound natural, but the end of her words trembled almost imperceptibly.
"You suddenly came back alone. I was worried," Luffy said.
"Me? Worry about me?" Vivi was silent for a moment, then forced a smile.
It was a strained smile.
Luffy stepped forward and gently pinched her cheek.
"Is it about the bounty poster?" he asked.
Vivi hadn't expected him to be so perceptive—guessing her thoughts right away.
Her expression flickered with conflict. Her lips parted, as if to deny it, not wanting to worry him.
"You barely ate at the banquet. That's not nothing."
Luffy cut off the denial before she could voice it, his tone slightly forceful. "Don't lie to me."
So insistent.
His words seemed to carry a strange power. Vivi tensed up immediately, her whole body feeling strange. Her mouth grew dry; she swallowed nervously.
The warmth that had faded after her bath surged back. She quickly looked away, unable to meet his eyes.
In this state, she couldn't lie at all.
In the end, Vivi surrendered and meekly nodded.
She looked like a small animal caught doing wrong, waiting for its punishment.
Seeing Vivi like that—head bowed, looking like a chastised wife—Luffy's expression grew a little strange.
He had a vague sense that this was exactly what she responded to.
That expression and posture—so submissive, so unlike the strong, decisive princess she usually was. They were like two different people.
Luffy remembered back in Alabasta.
"Tell me," he said, softening his tone slightly, but still with an air of command.
Vivi looked up quickly like a startled rabbit, meeting his gaze for a moment before lowering her eyes again. Her hands twisted nervously in her shirt hem. She murmured quietly:
"It's what you thought. The words on the poster."
She pulled out her brand-new bounty poster—a staggering five hundred million Berry—from the folded clothes beside the bed. Her fingers trembled as she unfolded it.
Luffy almost wanted to laugh.
She was showing it to him from that far away? How was he supposed to read the small print?
Vivi seemed to sense his exasperation. She looked up at him again, her eyes flickering, questioning, compliant.
Then, as if receiving silent permission, she shuffled closer and held the fully unfolded poster up to his eyes.
Luffy paused.
Why was Vivi acting like this?
She was back in the same state as at Alabasta—wanting him to be firm with her.
He thought back. The root of this... tendency might have been planted the first time they met.
To make his enemy submit back then, Luffy had spanked her without mercy. Then came the threats and promises—carrot and stick.
From that perspective, if Vivi was acting this way now, he had no one to blame but himself.
Vivi looked up at him, her eyes complex.
She looked like she was waiting for her master's praise after completing a task.
Luffy: "..."
So he reached out, tentatively.
Vivi was already half-crouching, holding up the poster. When she saw his hand, her body instinctively lowered further—settling into a proper duck sit. She tilted her head up, eyes urgent, hoping his hand would land on her head.
The posture exposed her long neck, her pale skin shimmering faintly in the moonlight.
The wide collar of her shirt gaped slightly, revealing her collarbones and the soft curves beneath. A breeze stirred her damp hair, lifting the hem of her shirt to show more pale skin.
Luffy's hand rested on her head. He gently tousled her damp, soft hair.
Vivi seemed instantly soothed. She let out a breath, her eyes half-lidding with pleasure like a cat being petted. Her tense shoulders relaxed. The anxious, heavy feeling in her chest seemed to fade with each touch of Luffy's hand.
But Luffy felt something strange stirring.
Seeing her like this—so trusting, so dependent, so obviously enjoying it—something itched inside him. A desire to touch other places.
It came suddenly, catching him off guard.
Vivi had no idea what was going through his mind. She was completely absorbed in the strange sense of safety that came from being commanded and soothed.
Her body was warming. Her heart was racing. She didn't understand why herself.
Luffy's commanding words seemed to have some great power, breaking through her defenses. She couldn't resist them—found herself hoping for more.
When he didn't pay her attention, she felt hollow, restless, like tiny claws scratching at her heart.
So a strange thought surfaced in her mind:
If she did what he said, would she get more rewards?
The thought spread through her, impossible to extinguish. By the time she came to her senses, she was already like this—looking up like a pet waiting for its master's affection.
Luffy's hand stopped. He noticed her pleased expression pause, then her eyes opened—meeting his curious, strange gaze.
Vivi looked away, embarrassed, the tips of her ears red.
"Vivi, you..." Luffy looked at her, his expression complicated.
Vivi seemed to snap back to awareness, suddenly, as if emerging from a dream. She made a small sound, then buried herself in the soft bedding, her voice muffled:
"I don't mean to be like this. Sometimes my head just goes blank. The rest of the time I'm fine..."
That much was true.
***
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