Control Gravity

"Wow, you're amazing!" Seeing Shirakawa defeat Akda, Kaiser Lynn hurried over, thrilled. She playfully punched Shirakawa in the chest. It didn't hurt, anyway.

"Of course. Look who you're talking to." Shirakawa tossed his hair and struck a pose he clearly thought was incredibly cool.

"But you sure made a bloody mess of things." One look at Akda's mangled corpse made Kaiser Lynn's stomach churn. It took a long time for it to settle.

Akda had been sliced in half. It was a gruesome sight, blurred over with a thick layer of mosaic censorship.

"But it's pretty strange that your clothes don't have a single speck of blood on them. What are they made of? You'll have to tell me where I can get some."

"Heh, that's a talent. You can't buy it."

"Shirakawa, that move you just used was so cool! What's it called?" Shanks came over, still replaying the image of Shirakawa's strike descending from the sky.

"How about Buddha Divine Sword?"

"I can't agree with that name." Hearing Shirakawa say that, Shanks found it so ridiculous that the impression left by the sword strike crumbled in an instant.

"Haha, I'm just messing with you. I named it Falling Goose. What do you think? Pretty good, right?" Shanks' constipated expression made Shirakawa laugh. Maybe he had some kind of unusual fetish.

"Falling Goose is an acceptable name, I suppose. But you didn't come down that fast, so why couldn't Akda dodge? And from the way he looked just now, it was like something heavy had crushed him."

"Want to try it yourself?" Shirakawa raised an eyebrow at Shanks, looking eager to give it a go.

"Sure. I want to see what's so special about your swordsmanship." Shanks drew his sword halfway, his eyes full of fighting spirit.

Seeing Shanks so fired up, Shirakawa smiled mysteriously. Suddenly, Shanks felt his body grow incredibly heavy.

"What's going on?" Shanks looked bewildered as the force of gravity hit him. He nearly fell flat, but managed to hold on, his face contorting with effort.

"Hey, Shanks, what's wrong?" Seeing his frightening expression, Buggy grew worried.

"He's fine. Can't you see he's enjoying himself?"

Shirakawa signaled Buggy not to worry. Shanks looked terrible, but Shirakawa could sense that he was actually excited.

"Shirakawa, what's happening to Shanks?"

"It's nothing, Buggy. Why don't you give it a try too?"

"No way." At once, Buggy shook his head and put a wide distance between himself and Shirakawa.

"Don't worry, I won't charge you."

Shirakawa gave him a mischievous grin. Seeing it, Buggy knew he was in trouble. Before he could refuse, the gravity had already taken hold.

The sudden force of gravity sent Buggy straight to the ground. He couldn't even lift his head.

Seeing how miserable Buggy looked, Shirakawa quickly released the gravity and shook his head. "Looks like the gap between Buggy and Shanks really is getting wider."

"Hey, what was that just now?" Buggy demanded as soon as he'd recovered.

"Secret." Shirakawa didn't bother to explain.

Shanks was reaching his limit, too. He was drenched in sweat from head to toe. Seeing this, Shirakawa released the gravity weighing him down.

As soon as the gravity vanished, Shanks found it much easier to breathe. Exhausted, he dropped to his knees, though he still looked like he'd enjoyed it.

Shanks rolled onto his back, then sat up. After resting for a while, he said, "You were controlling gravity just now, weren't you?"

"Impressive, Shanks. You know quite a lot. Unlike Buggy, who's still completely baffled."

Hearing Shirakawa say that, Buggy blushed, feeling a little embarrassed. But Shirakawa was telling the truth, so he had nothing to say in his defense.

"Buggy tried it too? How long did he last?"

Seeing how eager Shanks was to learn, Shirakawa didn't want to discourage Buggy.

"He lasted just a little less time than you." Shirakawa scratched his cheek and looked away.

Hearing that, Buggy—who'd already braced himself for Shanks to mock him—felt as if he'd found his savior. He gave Shirakawa a grateful look.

"Shirakawa, you really are a good friend. I'll never forget your kindness for as long as I live."

Buggy's look gave Shirakawa goosebumps. He felt uncomfortable all over.

"Is that so, Buggy? You're really impressive."

Shanks praised Buggy, too. He'd thought Buggy wouldn't last long, but he hadn't realized Shirakawa was lying to him.

"Hehehe." Kaiser Lynn covered her mouth and giggled. She'd seen the whole thing.

"Crap, I forgot about that little girl." At the sound of her laughter, Buggy realized there was another witness.

He turned his gaze toward Kaiser Lynn. She winked and cheekily gave him an OK sign.

Seeing the gesture, Buggy relaxed.

"What were you laughing about?" Shanks asked Kaiser Lynn, confused.

"I think my mother's going to give me a little brother today, so I'm really happy." She burst out laughing again.

"Oh, well, congratulations!" Somehow, Shanks actually believed her.

Hearing the lie, Shirakawa couldn't help laughing, too. It was an absurd thing to come up with. She was seventeen or eighteen, and her mother had to be in her forties by now. It reminded Shirakawa of a scene from a movie in his past life.

Still, Shirakawa managed to hold it in.

"All right. Once we've rested, let's get going. We've still got a long way to go."

It was the first time Shirakawa had ever had to travel such a long way, and he was looking forward to it. He wondered what bizarre things they'd encounter along the way and what strange experiences awaited them.

"Then let's go." Shanks knew the others were waiting on him, so he quickly gathered his strength, recovered a little, and spoke to them.

"Let's go, then."

After walking for several days, Shirakawa was getting thoroughly fed up. Shanks kept asking him to increase the gravity on him.

"I finally understand why you got so strong so fast. Turns out you have a cheat like this."

After trying it for several days, Shanks had noticed his strength had grown a little. Only then did he suddenly understand, and he told Shirakawa as much.

"You only just figured that out? I thought you'd realized the first time I used gravity on you." Shirakawa was getting a little annoyed and didn't want to talk to Shanks any more than he had to.

He was starting to regret bringing Shanks along on impulse.

Buggy, on the other hand, behaved himself the whole way. Maybe he didn't want to attract too much attention—or go through that experience again.