Grief & Anger

"...Ugh." 

Hancock woke up with a groan and sat up in her bed. 

"When did I get home?" 

She stretched her body and smacked her lips. She rubbed her eyes while looking around. 

"Hm?" 

There was someone lying beside her. It took a few seconds for her brain to process who it was. 

"L-L-L-Luffy?!" 

She flew out of the bed in a panic. Luffy was lying on the bed sleeping without a care. 

"Why is Luffy sleeping beside me?! Ah, It must've been Granny!" 

She nodded her head. 

"That must be it." 

A knock came from the door. 

"Snake Princess, are you okay?" 

She heard Elder Nyon's voice from behind the door. 

"Right on time." 

Hancock went to open the door. 

"Granny, could you give me a heads up before you do something like that?" 

Elder Nyon looked at Hancock with a confused reaction. 

"What are talking about?" 

Hancock gestured at the bed with Luffy in it. 

"Huh? Why is Luffy in your bed?" 

Elder Nyon's eyes widened and a smile appeared on her face. 

"Good going, Snake Princess. I'm proud of you for taking the initiative." 

"Huh? What do you mean by initiative? Weren't you the one who put him here?" 

"What are talking about, woman? I was too exhausted to think about your love life." 

"Then, how did..." 

A look of realization appeared on Hancock and Elder Nyon's faces at the same time. Elder Nyon started grinning while Hancock's face reddened. 

"No, no,no! There's no way Luffy would sneak into my bed!" 

"Really? I think you have a great mood lately." 

Elder Nyon nudged Hancock with her elbow. 

"Ugh..." 

They heard a groan come from the bed. Luffy opened his and sat up. He stretched with a yawn. 

"Morning, Hancock. Is it time for breakfast yet?" 

"N-Not yet. Um, can I ask you a question, Luffy?" 

"What's up?" 

"Um, why are you in my bed?" 

"Oh, when we came back last night I brought you to your room since you were asleep." 

"Oh, you felt tired and were too bothered to go back to your room, so you decided to sleep here!" 

Hancock quickly said. Luffy shook his head. 

"When I saw you sleeping, I felt the urge to sleep with you; so that's what I did." 

"Huh?" 

Hancock and Elder Nyon looked at Luffy with their eyes peeled open. Luffy looked back at them with a confused expression. 

"What? Did you not want me to sleep with you? I mean, we've done it dozens of times already." 

"No,no,no! I have no problem with it! You did nothing wrong! In fact, I'm grateful!" 

Hancock rapidly spat out words with her eyes spinning in her head. 

"I see. I'm glad you're okay with it." 

Luffy got out of the bed. 

"I'm hungry. Let's go eat breakfast." 

"A-Alright. We'll be right there." 

"Okay." 

Luffy left the room and went downstairs. 

"G-G-Granny!" 

Hancock held on to Elder Nyon. 

"C-C-Calm down, Snake Princess! We should be celebrating instead of panicking!" 

"How can I not panic?! Luffy willingly slept with me even though he didn't need to!" 

"That's why we should stay calm and capitalize!" 

"You're right!" 

Hancock released her and stood up straight. 

"So what should I do now?" 

"I have no idea." 

"Huh?" 

Hancock froze. 

"What do you mean?" 

"To be honest, I never thought we would get this far. I'm completely stumped." 

"Then what am I going to do?!" 

"To be honest, it's up to you from here on out. Oh, but I can teach you some tricks for nighttime activities with your partner." 

"Huh? What are you talking about?" 

"Oh, yeah. You never learned about that stuff, huh? Your elders were supposed to teach you when you were a cabin girl on the Kuja Pirates. Of course, circumstances prevented that." 

Elder Nyon thought about it for a bit. 

"Alright, Snake Princess. I'm going to teach you about the birds and bees." 

"Huh? What do birds and bees have to do with anything? We're talking about me and Luffy." 

Elder Nyon looked at Hancock's confused expression and frowned. 

(She's so cute. I can't bring myself to taint this innocent mind.) 

She started feeling conflicted. 

"Hancock! Luffy!" 

A shout came from downstairs. Hancock and Elder Nyon went downstairs to see Caria with a panicked expression. 

"What's wrong, Caria?" 

Hancock noticed her distress instantly. Caria looked at Hancock with teary eyes. 

"It's the Mayor...He's...They say he's dead!" 

"What?!" 

The news of Mayor Tate's death had spread across the island like wildfire. At the break of dawn, a servant who was returning from vacation arrived at the mansion. They immediately noticed the odd atmosphere and rushed inside. Once they entered, they were greeted by the scene of the sheriff holding Tate in his arms as he sat on the ground. The servant realized from the bloodstains around them that something horrible had happened. They asked the sheriff what happened and his response was- 

"I killed the mayor." 

"That sheriff guy really said that?!" 

Luffy asked Caria. He and Hancock were rushing to the mayor's manor. 

"That's what I heard. I don't know what's going on!" 

Hancock placed her hand on Caria's back. 

"Let's go see for ourselves, alright?" 

They quickly arrived at the manor and were met with a huge crowd. Caria leaped over the crowd, and Hancock and Luffy did the same. They landed in front of Connor and Sea Guard who were controlling the crowd. 

"Lady Caria." 

"The others?" 

"Inside." 

"...And the sheriff?" 

"...Also, inside." 

Caria headed inside. Luffy and Hancock followed behind her but Connor blocked them. 

"I'm sorry but I don't know-" 

"Connor, let them in." 

Connor nodded. 

"Yes, Lady Caria." 

They entered the mansion and were greeted by the rest of the Supreme Five surrounding a body covered under a sheet. The sheriff stood in front of the body. The scent of iron was strong in the air. 

"Caria." 

Frantz greeted them when they entered. 

"No, no, no, no..." 

Caria tearfully approached Tate's body. She was stopped by Jessie. 

"Don't get to close. It's dangerous." 

He spoke without taking his eyes off Felix. 

"Sheriff, now that everyone is here, will you finally tell us what happened?" 

"......." 

Felix remained silent and stared at Tate's body. 

"Sheriff!" 

"I already told you. I killed the mayor." 

"BULLSHIT!!" 

A burst of Haki rushed out of Jessie's body with his roar. 

"Control your Haki man...." 

Frantz mumbled in a weak voice. 

"You expect me to believe you killed Tate?! You, of all people?!" 

Jessie gritted his teeth. 

"Tell us who did it, please! We need to avenge our father!" 

Felix remained silent for a while before speaking. 

"I killed the mayor." 

Luka clenched his fists. 

"Cut the crap!" 

He shouted. 

"Who are you protecting?! The World Government?! We know you didn't kill the mayor! Just stop being stubborn and tell us!" 

"I killed the mayor." 

Caria pounced on Felix and grabbed him by the collar. Her tears fell from her eyes as she glared at him. 

"....." 

Felix looked at her in silence. Caria could see her tear-drenched face in his dead eyes. Her body began to tremble. She let go of him and fell to her knees. 

"Ahhh!" 

She screamed at the top of her lungs. 

"Caria." 

Astrid mumbled her name. Tears started gathering in his eyes. 

"Fuck!" 

He kneeled and slammed his fist on the floor and cracked it. Tears and snot ran down his face as he repeatedly punched the ground. His fist became bloody as the skin was ripped off his knuckles. He lifted his fists up again but his arm was grabbed before he slammed it again. He looked up and saw Frantz looking down at him. Frantz silently shook his head. Astrid glared at him before his face softened into a teary mess. He held onto Frantz and cried while Frantz patted his back. 

"Felix, was it because of the deal with the revolutionary army that Tate had to die?" 

Everyone looked at Frantz. 

"Was I the one who pushed him to his death?" 

"Frantz..." 

Jessie softly mumbled his name and looked away. 

"No." 

Felix spoke up. 

"Felix died because of me. It's nobody's fault but my own." 

He looked at them. 

"It's my sin to bear." 

After some time, the bodies of Tate and his servants were taken away. Felix was put in handcuffs and carried to prison. The Supreme Five along with Luffy and Hancock remained in the house. 

"Goddammit!" 

Luka screamed and threw a chair into a wall. 

"This doesn't make sense!" 

"Calm down, Luka." 

Jessie grumbled. 

"How can I calm down?! The man who was like our father was killed in cold blood and the culprit was the other man who was like our father?! This doesn't make sense!" 

"I know but I'm not smart enough to figure out what's going on. So I need your smarts." 

Luka gritted his teeth. 

"Argh!" 

He threw himself to the ground and sat cross-legged. 

"If there's anything we can do to help, let us know." 

Luffy said. Hancock was holding Caria who was crying in her chest. 

"Thanks, your help is much appreciated." 

Jessie spoke with a weak smile. 

"If it means anything, I don't think the sheriff guy killed the old man." 

"How do you know?" 

Frantz asked. 

"Hm, I don't. Instinct, I guess. Also, he looked too sad to be a killer." 

"Instinct huh?" 

He smiled. 

"We feel the same." 

"I don't think the sheriff killed the mayor either." 

Hancock spoke up. 

"That man is clearly the strongest on this island. If he wanted to kill someone and get away, it would be a piece of cake for him. He also allowed himself to be arrested. Everything feels unnatural." 

"We agree." 

"Then, there's only one thing to do." 

Caria lifted her head out of Hancock's chest and looked at her comrades with determination and hatred burning in her eyes. 

"We'll find the real killer and avenge Tate."