1. Chapter 1 (1/2)

i.

requirements

"what?!"

should the booming voice have cried out anywhere else, it would have been met with winces and covered ears. as it is, the marine headquarters were all too used to the antics of the source and their fleet admiral to consider pausing. not a single soul stopped to ponder upon the cause.

garp stood, gawping for all he was worth as he stared wide eyed at his superior (not that he ever treated him as such). sengoku merely heaved a long, heavy sigh.

"g-grade 6 reading skills is required…? you never told me anything about that!"

"you never asked." his friend of over three decades deadpanned. "it is a benchmark implemented eight years ago after the pirate era begun. the headquarters can only tolerate so many idiots before there was a need for smarter marines to stabilize our foundation."

"ehhh?!" garp yelped.

"would you stop that?!"

"g-grade 6 reading skills…" he whispered. his mind lurched into a state of frenzy. as it is, there is simply no way for either ace or luffy to be eligible to join the marines. makino is too busy with her bar. dadan's reading skills are lower than that. none of the bandits have the command over the

ats. not to mention, he'd rather none of his

ats stay with the village kids; their lineage would be sooner revealed than they would absorb knowledge. what to do…think…

his eyes turned determined. garp barked a warning of his absence the next few months before he left the headquarters.

if none of his associates will do, then he'll simply have to find a teacher.

tea

the man was drinking tea by the docks when garp saw him.

from afar, he was a tiny little thing, but the strands of light blue locks caught his attention at first glimpse. garp had peered out from his perch atop his month-old dog headed ship, curiously watching as the man in mocha green kimono poured tea into a cup from a bottle and lifted a teacup to his lips and sipped – elegant and dainty in his every motion. it reminded garp of the nobles back at mariejois.

the sight was not strange in a region with ethnics as diverse as new world, so he had not spared the man a second look.

it was not until his observation haki tingled on his senses that he looked back at the tiny figure.

the blue haired man with the teacup was softly smiling, fingers gracing him the tiniest wave before he rose to his feet and glided – rather than strolled – away from the docks. the fishermen by then had noticed his more-of-a-raft-rather-than-a-ship and were waving wildly, drawing his attention away from the fading blue.

when the kind villagers nodded to his sack, garp checked his food supplies and realized he needed restocking.

by the time he had docked at the island, he had all but pushed the man to the back of his head.

delinquents

even in a peaceful island in the midst of grand line, the society is not spared from the hatred of its dropouts.

garp stared blankly as the ignorant boys looked down upon him with cocked heads and ugly sneers, unable to recognize the marine hero with the lack of his aforementioned marine outfit.

"what're you looking at, old geezer?! huuuuuhh?!"

he deadpanned at their inability to sense danger, though a trickle of amusement leaked out on his features. he hadn't had people challenging him since roger. ah, whitebeard don't count though, since it's usually him challenging him while sengoku tug him harshly back by the leash. to be challenged now and thought of as a simple old geezer…it's an odd feeling.

that said, his men would reproach him if he allows some kids to bully him around.

"you guys…" he lifted his head and smirked. "you sure don't recognize me, do you, you little

ats?"

"huuh?! what're saying, shitty old man?!" marginally, the delinquents' eyes narrowed.

something in the air had spiked then. garp was taken off-guard by the level of bloodlust they emitted, before his grin widened and a full blown chuckle slipped out of him. these guys have the potential. now, imagine if they were to join the marines. they would make fine captains with a little polishing and a lot of whacking.

no sooner had that thought came, a flash of blue overcame his vision and successive loud slaps echoed. a second later, garp was rapidly blinking with wide eyes, trying to process the fact that the boys were down and there was a single, tiny man standing before him, his back facing him and – and the air was suddenly filled with a menacing killing intent so pungent it was suffocating him and-

the man turned to him with a smile.

"please relax, dear sir. i sincerely apologize for my students' actions."

- and garp

eathed, realizing for the first time that sweet oxygen had not been entering his system, that his arms were darkened unknowingly with armament haki, that all his muscles had tensed, and that subconsciously, whether he knew it or not, garp had taken a step back in fear of this sudden stranger.

teacher

the man led him into a large house and handed him tea.

then, garp watch him close the door behind him in search of privacy with the delinquents.

curiously, he tiptoed over to the door, pressing his ears close to the edges and listening to the many voices that floated through.

"…orry…"

"we're really sorry, sensei." garp blinked. the man was a teacher? "we'll accept whatever punishment we're given, so please…stop…stop looking like that."

for a moment, there was only silence. it was short and curt, with tension so thick in the air that even garp bated his

eath. it was a familiar silence – one which sengoku and he would often have whenever the topic of either one of his grandsons was

ought up. there was a clash in ideals, that was that, and neither man was mature enough to give in because to do that would be to give up their justice. but this – this was different. there was simply something different in the words that come from a teacher.

"…what…had you so hasty you'd attack an old man?" …hasty? and garp withheld a laugh at being termed an elderly. "what made you so desperate that you forgot these nine months with me and reverted to your old habits? am i a failure of a teacher?"

there were hitches in

eaths.

"no…no, you're not, sensei. we're just…we're just anxious that you'd leave this village, that's all."

"it's…going to be the one year mark soon." "yeah…"

it's surprising how much their speech changes in the presence of someone they respect.

"i see." there was a pause and then shuffling and surprised gasps. "look at it this way, class. rather than there being three months more to my departure, there are still three months that i'm spending with you. even after that, be it in the form of my teachings, your education, or even your friends, i'll still be there for you, living as a part of you, as someone who nurtured you. it's just a matter of physical distance that may pose as a hindrance, but even then…our bonds are not so weak that they'd be

oken easily by physical separation, are they?"

there were some inhalations, before a chorus of denials went through the delinquents. another few apologies were muttered and grateful words followed them.

garp smiled as he lifted his ear from the door.

it seems like he found one potential candidate to teach his

ats.

deal

as apology, the delinquents had offered to do anything he wants, with only a bit of input from their smiling teacher. garp had thought long and hard (by his standards) with a menacing grin before he smirked and demanded stories of their teacher.

a mildly surprised expression flickered through the blue headed man's pale face. the confused students cocked their heads, questioning his decision, but relented just as they had promised and handed out the information he very much desires to know about his

ats' possible teacher.

"sensei cooks the best in the entire village, though one of his friends are of a caliber even higher than him – ne, sensei, will muramatsu-san come again soon?"

"sensei can do almost everything. he can build a house out of trees, win a fight against an entire fleet of marines in seconds, and even grade all our holiday homework within an hour. but the oddest thing is that he can't start an argument for his life, isn't that right, sensei?"

the man developed a sweat drop on his head.

"sensei's fast. he's able to travel at 243 meters per second and still not

eak a sweat."

"a normal bullet won't kill him though things like these-" the student flicked the rubber knife in his grasp. "-can destroy his body as easily as cutting through hot lava."

"bwahaha! your sensei sounds very strange, indeed!" garp barked his amusement. by now, the man had left to make a few dozen cups of coffee and tea for his guests. he reckoned he won't be back until the embarrassing stories are over. "but i'm curious, why would you know about killing him when you're just his students?"

garp knew he had stepped onto a landmine when the students' expressions turned tense. it was a different sort of tension than before, more…protective in nature, rather than unnecessary ferocity and haughtiness.

"old man, tell us already…what's your real purpose for asking about sensei?" the gang leader spat.

"we won't forgive you if you land a hand on our target." another delinquent raised his fist threateningly.

…target?

"now, now, that wouldn't do when you're in the midst of showing your repentance to him, would it?" the blue haired teacher glided out of the kitchen, easily juggling a dozen cups all at once. a reproaching smile rested on his lips as he handed out the cups to each of them. "and i'm strong enough to deal with him myself, class. you do not need to pamper your target with unnecessary protection."

"but, sensei-"

a hand on the boy's head stopped his protest. he gazed into appreciative blue eyes and silenced himself.

garp blinked said blue eyes turned towards him, a polite smile resting casually on their owner's lips.

"i made a deal with this class."

"wahaha! a deal?" that was what the boys were protecting so fervently?

"yes, a deal." the man's eyes turned piercing while his smile became sharp. "if these students fail to kill me by the end of the school year, this island, this village, and these children's very lives would become mine to own."

it was absurd. this island was under the jurisdiction of the marines. one man could not possibly defeat them and take an island for himself. however, just the simplistic, factual way the man stated the deal somehow convinced garp that he was a man to look out for.

blues

"who are you?" garp asked the second day he was at the island. the man had let him stay the night at his house.

blue eyes – the colour of the ocean, mysterious yet somehow fierce and reassuring in its own right – flickered away from the news to rest upon him. perhaps it was due to the green rimmed glasses, there appears to be a knowing glint in those sapphire blue eyes as a serene smile curved the man's lips.

"my name is shiota nagisa." the man introduced himself with a sip of his tea. "and you are the marine hero, monkey d. garp."

house

the house was a homey, spacey three-floor tall area with too much space for just one man to take up.

whenever garp moved about, he couldn't help but notice how there were two of everything and many other extras stocked up in a little shed next to the red roofed house. tooth

ushes were arranged neatly with at least a few dozen new ones beside it, over three packets of medication for hangover filled the cardboards within just the house, and there were even enough couches available for at least ten people in the living room.

garp, being who he was, blurted his observations aloud without asking for a reason.

"well, considering this is a party house, it isn't too surprising." nagisa smiled softly.

"ho? you host parties?" garp questioned, grinning at the idea of joining one now.

"others would come into my house and host parties for me." the teacher amended. "and leave messes for me to clean up." his face was comically coloured with both irritation and fondness at the same time.

garp stared, deciding that he likes it a lot better than that smile the teacher puts up so often before him, and he tossed his head back with a laugh.

arrangement

nagisa didn't ask any questions when garp stayed beyond the second day. in fact, the marine hero found a list of grocery items under his door on the third morning and figured the man was telling him to start pulling his own weight around here because he knew that garp would be staying for a long time to come.

of course, the extra tooth

ush and toothpaste alongside the plate and bowl and even clothes did help to clue him in – along with the fact that everything had a note that was labeled with his name written in curvy but neat elegant letters.

garp didn't mention it, but his 'thanks' meant a lot more than it usually would when he was handed his fifth bowl of rice at dinner.

garp thinks nagisa notices it when he smiles back.

his smile was tinted with a bit of fondness that was absent before.

summer

the sun over at this island was particularly merciless at times. nagisa told garp he arrived at the hottest time of the year, but he didn't expect it to be so hot.

"haaaaah…!" he tossed himself onto the ground, sweating like a pig. nagisa came through the door twenty minutes later to be greeted by a sweating, dying garp.

"…as much as this would make an artistic scene, i'd really prefer my hallway to not stink of sweat, garp-san." he deadpanned.

off with the shoes and then the bag, subsequently followed by a stack of papers withdrawn out of the black case – just as always. garp was still bathing in the soothing coolness when he felt nagisa toeing the bottom of his foot and giggled, kicking the other's foot away.

"how are you not even black with this heat?!" he questioned incredulously.

there was a pause. he looked over to see nagisa with his finger to his chin, eyes narrowed half thoughtfully and half in puzzlement.

"…genetics? or is it due to his influence…the cells are structured quite differently due to the substance…perhaps…" garp didn't understand the rest of the science bullshit, so he only dropped his head back to the ground and proceeded to announce his hunger very, very loudly.

"nagisa! i want food! i want donuts!"

students (teacher ii)

the students soon grew used to his presence hovering somewhere in their school life and it didn't take very long for them to open up to him.

well, making him the gym class teacher may have something to do with it – afterall, lots of his students back at the marines headquarters somehow often become attached after a year of fist of love. naturally, garp would whine about them applying to his ship – men shouldn't be so attached to other men, damn it! – but sengoku merely sighed, muttered his grievances, and accepted all applications. something about them being their strongest by his side and something about natural leaders…

anyways, it didn't take him long to understand the workings of the class. there were groups that would attempt to assassinate together, loners specialize in some areas, and they all had one thing in common:

"oi, old geezer, come out to the hallway for a moment, will ya?"

he hadn't formally introduced his name, but it seems like 'old geezer', 'old man', and 'shitty geezer' were his official nicknames now. it was rude, blunt, and summarized their impression of him in one simple phrase, but garp found that he didn't like it any other way and thus, he never gave them his name.

garp rose to his feet, patiently waiting for the line that was echoed by his peers to come anytime now-

"i heard that you're living with shiota-sensei, so i thought i'd warn you before you do anything…" dark eyes examined the rubbery knife in his grasp before flashing up to him warily. "if you ever lay a hand on our target, you'll pay."

garp couldn't help it. he burst out laughing because, really, he just couldn't figure out if the teacher was bad or good, with his students so fiercely protective of him.

small

nagisa is small from head to toe, that was a fact both garp and the students (he noticed) pay particular attention to.

his shoulders are short like a girl's, his limbs thin as twigs, and the fullest height he could stand to was 160cm – shorter than the average marine and very short, by this world's standards. garp figured it might have something to do with his up

inging – something to do with the fact that he often ate only one meal a day, is sensitive to his hair being tugged or being labeled as a female, in general, and the

ief, longing pauses whenever family is mentioned.

unsurprisingly, the delinquents with their good sense of intuition carefully manoeuvred around those certain subjects, treating the small teacher as gently and as gentlemanly as they would a lady while still leaping at the first chance of assassination they could get.

in contrast, garp ignores those issues and bluntly states the first things that come to his mind, lacking the considerate filter that most people have. and even though nagisa flinches and winces, something about his smiles thereafter told garp he appreciated the lack of needless concern.

thus, garp continues to demand for more donuts than he could eat, always pushing one sugar filled treat in his friend's direction as a silent request for him to eat.

while nagisa was not filling out as much as garp wanted him to, he always eats with a grateful, soft smile.

monster

one day, a pirate came to the island and foolishly wandered into their school, capturing one of the students as hostage.

"you will get your village to give us all the things we need! and fast!" waving a gun around the classroom, the thin, starved pirate yelled desperately.

the students were tense. garp was relaxed. and nagisa? he was…garp's eyes widened mildly when they came to rest on the blue haired man.

with a gentle, serene smile that he had saw just earlier that morning when they were drinking tea, the man walked forward with limbs as relaxed as can be – as if he was strolling to the school every morning, as if his student wasn't held hostage before him. the smile seems so real it chilled garp to the bones, and the simple action of walking was so casual it reminded him of the blatant display of strength the teacher had shown him on their very first day of meeting.

"d-don't come! you-!" bang.

"nagisa!" garp took a step forward, wide-eyed in his concern. why didn't the man dodge? why did he take the bullet? why-

his

eath hitched when yellow poured out of the wound on the teacher's shoulder before floating back into his body, regenerating into fleshy smooth skin and leaving no remnants of a wound other than torn clothing. nagisa was still smiling, though a hint of irritation showed through his eyes as he examined his faded wound.

"y-you…monster!" the pirate yelled,

inging the gun up to the student's head. garp didn't want to agree, but he agreed.

"thank you for the compliment." before the pirate could shoot again, nagisa beamed as he lifted his hands to the man's face and clapped.

it was a simple everyday action, a simple everyday sound that resounded through the deafeningly silent class.

yet, garp felt as if he had been rudely awakened when the pirate simply fell to the ground, the white of his eyes showing his unconsciousness. the delinquent student held hostage was promptly released and fell shakily towards his teacher. nagisa grasped the tall teen with firm but elegant motions as always, stabilizing him easily with a few quick pats on the shoulder and a soft pat on the head that had the student stuttering, flustered.

garp looked around then. none of the students have the same expression as he was having; they had more time to adjust than he did. but regardless, all occupants of this classroom now know one thing for certain:

the real shiota nagisa is a monster when he wants to be, but a teacher when he's in hiding.

purpose

"if i may ask…what is your purpose here, garp-san?"

there was a sip of fine rice sake. then, a gentle swirl of the sake cup in small smooth hands, and subsequently…a smile. the both of them would be drunk of their asses tonight. that was for certain. garp

iefly wondered where nagisa got such a fine specimen as he answered the question absent-mindedly; there was no reason to hide it anyway.

"to find a teacher for my

ats." he stated gruffly.

"…

ats?" nagisa gazed questioningly at him from under his glass.

"they're three little boys with the worst lineage possible in the world. joining the marines may not be what they're cut out to be, but at the very least, i want them to be safe in this world from absolute justice." it felt nice to admit it aloud. even to sengoku, garp has never done that.

the teacher didn't point out how defeated he probably looked. for just that motion, garp was grateful. he knew, as well as sengoku (and nagisa, now) does, that his actions were only futile. the moment his boys were born, there were only ever two paths for them: to join the marines and experience the ultimate betrayal when their lineage is revealed, or to follow in the footsteps of their fathers. but which grandpa in this world doesn't wish the best for his grandsons? garp doesn't know if the desire arises from the marine hero or the garp in him, but if denial is the one faade required for the

ats to be safe, then he'll just have to keep it up, no matter how useless or hard it may be.

nagisa gazed at the moon and quietly commented.

"i cannot make them marines, garp-san."

and he wanted to deny that the time spent here on this island was useless, but-

"i know." the days spent in the classroom had opened his eyes to that.

"but…i can make them finer men."

garp looked up in surprise.

nagisa took a sip of the sake, just as he took a sip of tea on the first day they met – elegantly, daintily, every bit refined and regal in the way he smiled at garp.

"bwahaha!" garp tosses his head back and laughed, because it just felt so nostalgic. "you…what's your true purpose here, nagisa shiota?"

"who knows," nagisa laughs softly. "i guess…i just wanted to be the fuel to my precious students."

"a simple goal," garp commented in turn, lifting his sake cup to the air. "but nevertheless, it's still a grand goal."

nagisa smiled.

with the moon silently overlooking them, the sake cups met.

simplicity

the walk to school is always comfortingly quiet.

it was the one time period in their day where they would simply soak up the simplicity of it all and remain quiet. words are irrelevant in the midst of falling orange and

own leaves. nagisa's steps always are larger on the journey to school and smaller on the way back. they both know that garp intentionally takes smaller steps to fall in step with the short blue haired teacher.

"you know, this is pretty nice." garp commented once amidst falling leaves.

nagisa tilted his head and smiled up at him.

"it is, isn't it?"

marine hero