Playing Around

The seas brightly lit by the shining sun, with the salty breeze running freely passing through. A beautiful sight to behold. But the heat had grown much more... unmerciful. That was because a raging fire had spread from within the Marineford Barracks. One that started from a new recruit's quarters.

"Sunny kid! Take it back quickly! Dad will kill us!"

"I'm trying!"

Two boys were currently trying to stop the fire from growing any larger, one older than the other who looked close to a ten year old child. But while one of them was dousing the fire with buckets of water he keeps on getting from the bathroom, the other didn't know that he was feeding it with more fire.

"Stop! You're making it worse!"

"No, I'm not!"

Sanboi focused his head, thinking about the feeling he had when he first released the fire. The energy flowing through his body as if it fueled him, giving him a powerful feeling. It grew more intense, seemingly wanting to get out. Sanboi held it in, he trembled from the pain but he was keeping it inside. Until he had no more strength and let it go.

*prrrt*

"Did you just fart?"

"..."

"Oh, man! It stinks!"

Dragon took off his shirt, using it to mask his face from the dreadful smell that Sanboi had released to the world. Sanboi himself was unperturbed about the smell, but was very ashamed of having others smell it.

"Huh? Look!"

Sanboi was about to run away in shame when he saw Dragon pointing at the direction of the fire.

'Wait, where's the fire?'

"You did it! We saved the base!"

"Yeah!"

Dragon lifted up Sanboi from the ground in celebration as the situation had spiraled out of his control just now. But because the two boys cheered on their victory, they were late in realizing that a figure had appeared on the door frame.

His large body was currently rippling through his shirt as anger was evident on his face. He watched the two idiots enjoying their accomplishment so much that they weren't even aware of his presence. So he had to get it himself.

"Ahem."

"..."

Dragon caught a glimpse of the figure, and he hurriedly turned to the other side of the room. Right where a burnt grill was in. Sanboi himself didn't understand why Dragon did that but followed him because he thought there was something interesting there.

"Is there something on the wall?"

"... *sigh*"

Dragon placed his hands on his head, closing his eyes in resignation. Sanboi didn't understand, but just before he was about to follow suit, a fist had already hit him in the head.

*bonk* *bonk*

"Ow!"

"Ow!"

The two boys felt a hammer of a fist weight down on their tiny heads and it hurt like hell. Dragon was able to just rub it off, having built an immunity to it. On the other hand, Sanboi had turned quiet. Too quiet.

"You two idiots! What did you think you were doing?"

Garp was about to give the scolding of the century when a small sniffling was heard. He turned to look at Sanboi who had already squatted down, hiding his face between his knees as the two left in the room only saw his trembling back.

*sniff* *sniff*

"..."

"..."

The two were speechless, not knowing what to do. That was until Dragon realized he had nothing to do with why Sanboi was crying, it was all the old man's fault. He pointed at Sanboi while looking at Garp.

"Uh-oh, you made him cry!"

"N-no, I didn't!"

Garp had a scared look on his face, afraid of the retribution this would bring him. Sengoku would be pissed! Not to mention Tsuru seemed to have also taken a liking to the kid.

"Yes, you did! Uncle Sengoku's gonna kill you!"

"Shut it kid! Hey, Sunboy, look what I got? It's a pack of fried rice crackers! Aren't these your favorite?"

Garp had taken out his reserves. The second to the last packet of fried rice crackers he had on person. It would take a few more days before the next shipment would arrive so he would have to portion the only one he had left to last him until then.

*sniff* *sniff*

'Shit!'

Garp felt his hand tremble as he reached for it, his final bargaining chip. He held on a weak smile, as if he had a gun pressed against his head while extending the last packet of fried rice crackers.

"He-here..."

Dragon watched the scene with glee, having never seen his father act this way. It seems that the boy will be a god tool to get his father on his knees. He was about to laugh out loud when another fist hit his head.

*bonk*

"Ow!"

"What did you do to the kid?! Garp!"

"..."

Two pairs of glaring eyes were forcing Garp to the ground in fear. He never felt more scared in his life, even more than when he was fighting the Rocks Pirates. He was about to try and coax Sengoku and Tsuru, until a shaky voice came from his side. Accompanied by the sounds of something being scooped off the floor.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I burned the grill. I promise I'll clean it!"

The rest of the people in the room watched as the young Sanboi went on his knees and tried to use his hands to sweep the ashes on the floor. His young face was covered in snot and tears, but that wasn't due to being hurt by Garp.

"I'm sorry, please don't throw me out. I'm sorry."

A scene of a young boy scrubbing the floors with his not just his hands, but also his arms, carrying the ashes on his shirt that he had removed to use as a makeshift pail. His little body had been the only one moving, as the rest couldn't help but be shocked at the sight in front of them.

"He-hey! That's alright Sanboi! I'll clean it up."

Dragon was the first to react as he tried to pull the young boy away from the floor, only to be pushed back when the boy's body turned hot. He wasn't hurt, but he couldn't get close due to the heat.

"Please, I didn't mean it! Please don't *sniff*"

Tsuru and Sengoku watched with red eyes, having just learned of the boy's history. They knew that the event must have been a trigger, perhaps of his stay in that place. Their bodies were stiff, having felt the shame of not having stopped the event that led the boy into this.

"Stop."

Sengoku was watching this play out with a glare, his eyes had already formed tears. Something he hadn't shown in years. But the scene playing out in front of him, of how it was replaying on his head that he could have stopped this. He should have been the one who helped him.

"No, p-please! I can make it be-"

Sanboi was surprised to feel his surrounding getting farther, as if he was floating. Only when he felt a strange wet substance fall on his shoulders, and a pair of warm arms holding him tightly, did the young boy finally come back to himself.

"It's safe here child, you're safe here with me."

Sengoku held the young boy, with the ash on the child's body even dirtying his usually pristine uniform. But he didn't care, the boy needed him. He needed a savior. He needed a father.

"*sniff* *sniff* Waaah!"

"It's alright now, there, there."

Tsuru held a bundle of papers, ones that had class 3 level sensitivity. But right now the bunch had crumpled up from the fists that formed from her hands, as she felt regret and anger from the information she had gathered just a while ago.

Turns out this boy had been missing for six years, starting from when his homeland was attacked when he was seven. Which meant he was thirteen years old. Yet he looked barely ten from the state of his body, how could that be?

'Those bastards!'

This document was something that she and Sengoku had used their positions to get, needing to use it in the first place showed its secrecy. But what was important was that the front page depicted a title, one that had everything to do with the boy.

'Tiger Shore Incident'