Marineford, Officers.
Soft jazz was playing inside the grand banquet hall.
Warm yellow lights shone over the uniforms and rank insignia of the Marine officers.
Tonight was a celebration banquet for Gion's promotion.
It was also the most talked-about event at Headquarters lately.
At the center of the hall stood Gion, who had just been promoted to Marine Headquarters Rear Admiral.
As a very popular female officer in the Marines, Gion was not only strong, but also well liked for her capable and professional style.
Both serious seniors and younger officers had come to support her. Because of that, more than half of Headquarters' mid- and high-ranking officers were in the hall.
The place was lively.
Tonight, she was not wearing her usual Justice coat.
Instead, she wore a dark blue evening dress that suited her well. A line of pearls rested around her neck.
She still looked like a Marine, but tonight she also looked more mature and made people notice her.
Many young officers, and even some Rear Admirals and Vice Admirals, surrounded her.
They raised their glasses to congratulate her, all trying to leave a good impression on this Rear Admiral with a bright future.
But even though Gion kept a polite smile on her face, her eyes looked a little distracted.
She turned down every invitation to dance. Holding a glass of champagne, she kept looking through the crowd until she found someone in the corner.
"Sorry. Excuse me for a moment."
She stepped through the crowd and walked straight toward the quiet corner of the hall.
There, Aiden was leaning back on a leather sofa.
He slowly swirled half a glass of whiskey in his hand.
Smoker sat across from him. His tie was loose and crooked. He was staring at a plate of dried meat with an unhappy face, as if it owed him money.
Even though Aiden was the hidden main figure of tonight's banquet, deep down he felt a quiet loneliness.
Because he had returned three months late, he had completely missed the graduation season of the Elite Training Camp.
Hina had already left for her branch assignment, and he had not even gotten the chance to say goodbye.
That blond guy, Rosinante, had reportedly been sent on a top-secret mission. Even his file had been sealed for the time being.
Aiden had specially picked out a pile of souvenirs on Gold Crown Island.
But in the end, he had not given away a single one. They were still sitting in his Storage Ring, gathering dust.
That feeling, wanting to share his joy only to find that his old friends were already gone, made him lose interest in talking with all these strangers.
"Why are you hiding here?"
A nice scent drifted over.
Gion sat down on the armrest beside Aiden. That slightly close move made several young officers nearby feel their hearts sink on the spot.
"I don't like places that are too noisy."
Aiden raised his glass with a smile. "Congratulations on the promotion, Rear Admiral Gion."
"Cut it out."
Gion rolled her eyes at him.
She leaned forward a little and lowered her voice behind her glass. "Don't you know exactly how I became a Rear Admiral? It's all thanks to you, Captain Aiden."
As she spoke, she stuck out her tongue playfully.
But she hid it just as quickly. She reached out and straightened Aiden's slightly crooked tie.
"When you get there, be careful. Don't go making big trouble again."
Even though she was the star of the banquet tonight, enjoying the flowers and applause, she knew the truth better than anyone.
Most of the credit for the bright Rear Admiral rank on her shoulder really belonged to the man sitting in front of her.
It was only because Aiden's achievements were being deliberately kept out of the spotlight that she, who was a better fit to stand for the Marines, was standing in the center tonight.
To some people, this warm scene was hard to watch.
"Gion, my dear!!!"
An exaggerated, oily shout instantly broke the peace in the corner.
The banquet hall doors were thrown open.
A man in a tan-yellow striped suit and a brown hat came in quickly. He looked a little greasy.
In his hands was a giant bouquet of red roses so big it could bury a person. A strange, excited smile was spread across his face.
Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral Tokikake, code-named Chaton.
"Congratulations on your promotion! These are flowers of love prepared especially for you! Please, you must accept my love!"
Tokikake ignored all the strange looks around him.
He moved forward and dropped to one knee in front of Gion, holding the huge bouquet high over his head.
The smile on Gion's face vanished at once.
She frowned in disgust and instinctively leaned back, almost pressing herself against Aiden.
"Vice Admiral Tokikake, please control yourself. This is a public place."
"Hey? Don't be so cold!"
Tokikake was not discouraged at all.
He was about to get back up and keep bothering her, but then his eyes passed over Gion and landed on the young man sitting calmly on the sofa.
Especially after seeing Gion lean toward Aiden without thinking, the narrow eyes under Tokikake's hat instantly filled with real jealousy and hostility.
Of course he knew who this young man was.
He was the rising star everyone at Headquarters had been talking about these past two days, Captain Aiden, the man who had wiped out five hundred pirates at Mock Town and made huge contributions at G-17.
But in the eyes of an old Vice Admiral like Tokikake, a guy who had risen through luck and had a good-looking face only knew how to please women.
He did not believe Aiden had any real ability.
"Oh? So this is that newcomer everyone's talking about?"
Tokikake stood up and brushed the dust off his knees.
His tone was openly mocking. "Captain Aiden, right? I heard you did well at Mock Town and G-17. However..."
He bent down and brought his face close to Aiden's.
A terrifying killing intent, forged through blood and battle, pressed straight toward Aiden without any restraint.
This was not Conqueror's Haki.
It was pure pressure, exactly like the method Instructor Zephyr had used during the pressure test back in training camp.
The air around them seemed to grow heavy at once.
Smoker's face changed. He was about to stand up, but the pressure made him pause.
A cruel smile appeared on Tokikake's face.
He was doing it on purpose. He wanted to use this killing intent to crush the kid who had risen through luck.
As long as Aiden showed even the slightest weakness under this pressure, a trembling hand, spilled wine, a pale face, Tokikake could laugh at him and make him lose face in front of Gion.
"Young man, you should understand rank. When you see a superior officer, don't you know how to stand up and salute?"
Tokikake's voice was full of killing intent. The glasses on the nearby table began to hum.
But Aiden did not move.
He did not even raise his eyes.
He simply swirled the whiskey in his hand and watched the ice ball turn slowly inside the glass.
Then he spoke in a light voice. "This killing intent is a little too weak, isn't it? Compared to Instructor Zephyr's pressure test in training camp, it's far behind."
"Vice Admiral Tokikake."
Aiden's voice was calm.
At the exact moment he spoke, bzzzt.
A tiny spark slid from his fingertip and vanished soundlessly into the air.
At a level the naked eye could not see, the electrical charges in the air started moving wildly. An invisible field of heat quietly spread over that huge bouquet of red roses.
Pop. Pop.
Tokikake was waiting happily for Aiden to embarrass himself when he suddenly felt his hand growing hot.
He looked down, and his face changed.
On his expensive tan suit, every fiber had stood up from static electricity, making him look like a puffed-up porcupine.
And in his hand, the petals of the beautiful 999 red roses were quickly turning black, curling up, and giving off smoke.
"What... what's going on?!"
Tokikake panicked.
He tried to throw the flowers away, but the static made them stick to his hand like glue.
Only then did Aiden look up.
A trace of mockery flashed through his dark eyes for just a moment.
"Vice Admiral Tokikake, your passion..."
Aiden raised his glass and took a small sip. Then he pointed at the flowers with an innocent expression.
"...is it a little too hot? Even the flowers can't handle it."
Whoosh!
The moment Aiden finished speaking, the giant bouquet of roses, already heated past its limit, burst into flames.
It instantly turned into a huge fireball.
"Waah! Hot, hot, hot!!"
Tokikake's eyebrows were singed by the sudden flames.
He let out a strange cry and jumped back in a panic, only to fall hard onto the floor on his backside.
His brown hat rolled away and revealed the funny bald patch on the top of his head.
The whole hall fell silent.
Everyone stared at the scene in shock.
No one understood what had happened. All they had seen was Vice Admiral Chaton's bouquet suddenly catching fire.
"Sorry, Vice Admiral Tokikake."
Aiden put down his glass.
A harmless, innocent smile appeared on his face, as if he were really just watching an accident happen. "It looks like next time, you should cool the flowers down before giving them away."
"Pfft."
Gion finally could not hold it in anymore and laughed into her hand.
She looked at the miserable Tokikake on the floor, then at Aiden, who had clearly done something but still looked innocent. The laughter in her eyes was almost overflowing.
Tokikake's face turned dark red.
In Gion's laughter, he felt a humiliation he had never experienced before.
He glared at Aiden, but he could not find a single trace of proof that Aiden had done anything.
In the end, he could only scramble up in a mess. Without even picking up his hat, he slipped into the crowd and fled.
Late at night, the banquet ended.
At the harbor in Marineford, the sea breeze was cool.
The noise had faded. Only the sound of waves hitting the shore remained.
Aiden and Gion walked side by side under the moonlight. Their shadows stretched long under the streetlights and overlapped.
"Are you leaving tomorrow morning?"
Gion looked at the dark sea. Her voice was a little low.
"Yeah."
Aiden put his hands in his pockets. "Even with that puppet Moore holding things together, G-17 is still a mess. It's better for me to take over as early as possible."
Gion said nothing for a moment.
Then she stopped walking, turned around, and leaned back against the railing. The sea breeze moved her hair.
"To be honest, Aiden."
She suddenly spoke, and there was a rare trace of weakness in her tone. "Ever since I met you in the training camp... I've been very happy."
"Even though we were apart for three months, that feeling didn't change after we met again. I got used to someone making me a late-night snack every night. I got used to being with you..."
"When I think about going back to a cold cafeteria and an empty office tomorrow..."
She raised her head.
Her eyes looked soft in the moonlight as she looked straight at Aiden. "I really am a little... reluctant to let you go."
Aiden's heart skipped a beat.
He looked at the woman standing in front of him.
Under the moonlight, the sharp edge she carried as a Rear Admiral seemed to fade away. Right then, she looked so beautiful that it caught him off guard.
Something he could not explain quietly stirred in his usually calm heart.
"Gion."
Aiden took a step forward.
The distance between them closed until they could hear each other's breathing.
He looked into her eyes and spoke in a half-joking, but very serious voice. "G-17 isn't that far from here. If one day you miss me..."
Aiden raised his hand and tucked a strand of hair that had been blown loose by the wind behind her ear.
His fingertip lightly brushed against her warm ear. "Come find me anytime. I'll always welcome you."
Gion felt the touch at her ear, and her body trembled slightly.
She did not pull away. Instead, she looked deeply at Aiden.
A small smile rose at the corners of her lips. "You said it."
The next morning.
The rising sun cleared away the thin mist over the sea.
A brand-new large warship was docked at the harbor.
To reward Aiden for his achievements, Headquarters had specially assigned this new command ship to him for G-17. It had been prepared using standards usually reserved for a Rear Admiral's ship.
To make sure the new Base Commander could smoothly take over the defense of the golden route, Vice Admiral Tsuru had moved quickly over the past few days.
She had already prepared a full crew and enough supplies. They only needed the order to set sail.
Aiden stood on the dock, looking over this steel beast that represented Marine authority.
Even though he did not show it on his face, after seeing the absurd luxury of the Diamond Queen, this standard warship looked a little plain in his eyes.
"I'll make do with it for now," he thought to himself.
"When I have some free time later, I'll find a chance to order a custom ship. That would suit my status better."
On the deck, sailors were busily raising the anchor.
Aiden stood at the bow, wearing the white coat that came with his new posting. The sea breeze lifted the corners of it.
Aiden turned back and looked toward the Marineford fortress.
His gaze stayed on the direction of Gion's dormitory building for a long time. A trace of sadness rose in his heart.
"Well, I'm leaving."
Aiden sighed inwardly. It would have been a lie to say he felt no attachment at all.
"What are you staring at? You're so focused."
A mocking voice came from beside him.
Smoker leaned against the mast with two cigars in his mouth. His face wore an expression like he was barely holding back laughter.
As the adjutant going to G-17 this time, Smoker had actually asked Headquarters to transfer him there.
He knew his own limits.
Even though he had grown stronger after training camp, his current strength and experience were still nowhere near enough for him to guard a branch on his own.
Since he was going to spend time as an assistant at a branch anyway, it was better to go with his roommate Aiden than work under some stiff old officer.
Having two Logia users at one branch was a little excessive, but G-17 guarded the golden route, and its strategic importance was special enough that Vice Admiral Tsuru had signed off on the transfer.
"Nothing."
Aiden turned his head and shot him an annoyed look. "And you, why are you smiling like that? Did you find some money?"
"Hmph, find money?"
Smoker blew out a ring of smoke.
He looked at Aiden like he was looking at an idiot. The corners of his mouth kept rising as he spoke with clear meaning behind his words. "I'm laughing at someone who's still standing there sighing at the air."
"What do you mean?"
Aiden frowned. Smoker was acting strange today. There was clearly something else hidden in his words.
Just then, "Reporting, Base Commander!"
Aiden's other adjutant, Major Collins, hurried over.
His expression was a little awkward. "About setting sail... there's one more problem."
"What problem? Aren't all the supplies already here?"
Aiden turned around and looked at him.
"The supplies are here, yes. But..."
Major Collins pointed toward the closed door of the main cabin behind him with an embarrassed look. "There's an extra Special Inspector on the ship. She hasn't given the order, so we don't dare set sail."
"An inspector?"
Aiden froze for a moment. "Vice Admiral Tsuru never told me there would be any inspector. Who's putting on airs like that?"
He frowned and strode toward the main cabin.
"I want to see who's acting so important on my ship."
Aiden pushed open the cabin door.
"Who is the inspec..."
His voice stopped on the spot.
His whole body froze in the doorway, as if someone had cast a freezing spell on him.
Morning light came in through the window.
The air was filled with a familiar scent.
Gion had already changed out of the dress she wore last night.
Now she was wearing simple casual clothes, sitting in his chair with a cup of hot coffee in her hand.
When she saw the stunned, foolish look on Aiden's face, her lips curved into a bright smile.
"Morning, Captain Aiden."
Gion lightly blew on the steam rising from her coffee. Her eyes narrowed a little. "What's for breakfast? I'm hungry."
Aiden: (°A°)
"You... why are you here?!"
"What? Not happy to see me?"
Gion set down her coffee and picked up a document from the desk.
It was an order personally signed by Vice Admiral Tsuru.
She waved it in front of him and read it with a smile. "In view of the extremely important strategic position of G-17 Branch, and the new Base Commander's lack of experience, Marine Headquarters Rear Admiral Gion is specially appointed as the Special Inspector. She will remain aboard for three months to help rebuild the defense system and assess the Base Commander's ability."
Gion stood up and walked over to Aiden, who still had not fully processed what was happening.
She leaned close to his ear and whispered in a voice that only the two of them could hear. "Vice Admiral Tsuru said you're a slick guy. She's afraid you'll go lawless if you're left alone over there, so she told me to keep an eye on you."
Her warm breath brushed against Aiden's ear, carrying a teasing laugh with it.
Aiden stared at the smiling face right in front of him and stood there blankly for a full three seconds.
Then he suddenly turned around and looked toward the door.
Smoker was leaning against it.
He could not hold it in anymore and burst out laughing. His shoulders shook hard. He had known from the very start. That weird expression earlier had clearly been because he was waiting to watch this happen.
"Smoker!! You bastard, why didn't you tell me sooner?!"
"You didn't ask me, so how was I supposed to tell you?"
Smoker shrugged, completely delighted by Aiden's suffering.
Aiden shook his head helplessly.
Then he turned back and looked at Gion's victorious smile. The empty feeling from earlier vanished at once.
He let out a long breath, but the corners of his mouth still lifted on their own.
"Yes, Inspector."
"All units, listen to my order!"
Aiden turned and shouted, full of spirit. His voice was bright with joy he could not hide. "Set sail! Destination, G-17 Branch!"
The warship blew its horn.
Under the morning sun, it sailed out toward the sea.