The Future "Momousagi" and "Chaton"

His sword was Kompira, and she was connected to Vice Admiral Tsuru. There was little doubt that this person was the famous "Momousagi."

As everyone knew, no Marine officer with a color-and-animal nickname was someone to take lightly.

Momousagi was no exception. Among all those color-and-animal nicknames, she was the lone woman—a woman among the Admirals and Admiral Candidates.

After learning that the person he'd managed to make an enemy of was Momousagi, Wood realized he was in serious trouble.

Setting Momousagi herself aside, given her competitive nature, she'd only try to defeat Wood at the place where he'd beaten her. She wouldn't go looking for trouble with him elsewhere.

But aside from "Momousagi," Wood's real headache was the young man in front of him, Kaji.

Because this seemingly unremarkable fellow would also become one of the color-and-animal nicknames in the future.

In other words, he'd eventually become an Admiral Candidate, with the nickname "Chaton"!

There were very few women in the Marines, and beautiful women like Gion, who had both a pretty face and great legs, were rarer still.

So when Gion first arrived at the Marine Academy, she naturally attracted a crowd of admirers.

And Kaji—the future "Chaton"—was one of Gion's many suitors. In fact, he was one of the most ardent.

"Senior Kaji, I'm pretty sure I made this clear a few days ago. Gion and I have absolutely nothing going on.

Those rumors are completely baseless. It's not just that Gion couldn't possibly have a crush on me—right now, she'd be thrilled to knock me flat!"

With a bamboo skewer in his mouth, Kaji sat down across from Wood with an air of easy confidence, a flattering smile spreading across his face.

That's right. The private duel Wood had imagined never happened, and it couldn't have happened here anyway.

Aside from the fact that Wood and Kaji were both still training at the Marine Academy, anyone who fought without permission would face severe punishment.

And even if they did fight, Wood was no match for Kaji at the moment.

Kaji might have looked utterly ordinary, but he'd already mastered the Six Styles and would be finishing his training and leaving the Marine Academy soon.

Outstanding graduates like Kuzan and Kaji still had to start out as ordinary soldiers after graduation. But given their abilities and performance, Marine Headquarters would soon assign them missions.

Once they completed those missions, they'd rise through the ranks at lightning speed, even skipping the lower noncommissioned officer ranks.

"Of course I know those rumors are false. Do you think I don't know how hard it is to win Gion over?

"Still, I have to say, little brother Wood: even if Gion hates you, at least she remembers you.

"So I came to ask your advice. If my gun hit Gion too, would that make her pine for me as well? I'm pretty good at shooting, after all.

"As long as Gion remembers me, I don't care if she hates me."

Hearing Kaji, Wood could only stare at him in disbelief. Few people could be this devoted a simp...

"I need to clarify that my gun hit Gion's... target! Her target!

"Please say 'target' when you explain it, or it'll sound like I did something unforgivable!"

"Right, that's what I said—the target. Where else could your gun possibly hit Gion?"

That innuendo had already run Wood over like a steamroller, but when he saw Kaji's sincere expression, he decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he hadn't meant to make it sound dirty.

His face might have looked old, but inside he was still an innocent young man.

"Gion isn't stupid. If you do it on purpose, she'll only hate you more.

"And Senior Kaji, you're about to be officially assigned to the Marines, right? I heard Gion really admires Vice Admiral Tsuru. Maybe if you earn some merit and become an outstanding Marine officer, Gion will start paying attention to you?"

Wood's words made Kaji's eyes light up. He felt there was real potential—but he hadn't noticed that Wood had phrased it as a question, not a statement.

In fact, the future Kaji and Gion would both become Admiral Candidates. Kaji would confess his feelings to Gion a hundred times, only to be rejected outright every time.

There were probably plenty of reasons, but Wood figured Kaji's looks were one major obstacle he couldn't overcome.

People who only cared about appearances were shallow. A person's worth came from the beauty of their soul.

Unfortunately, shallow people were plentiful in the world—and if you could have both, who would turn that down?

You could work hard to change other things, but when it came to his looks, Kaji was probably out of luck for life.

After all, in the world of One Piece, people as handsome as Wood were basically born that way.

"Good brother, I think you're absolutely right. But you know I'm about to leave the Marine Academy and be officially assigned to the Marines. Before that, though, there's something I can't stop worrying about.

"You know the Marine Academy has far more men than women, and Gion is such an outstanding woman, so..."

"So you're worried someone else will get to Gion first, and you want me to keep an eye on her?"

Seeing that Wood had immediately understood what he meant, Kaji looked even more pleased. He sighed, thinking that Wood really was someone worth believing in. He hadn't even finished asking, and the kid had already figured him out.

Wood had no reason to turn down Kaji's request, either. He knew that someone like Gion was simply a training fanatic. There was no way she'd fall into a sweet romance with someone at the Marine Academy.

Even if Kaji hadn't asked him, Gion would probably stay single for more than a decade. Now that a favor had landed right in his lap, he might as well take it.

Kaji had also considered whether Gion might fall for Wood. After all, the kid had a handsome face and was especially good with a gun. Even compared to Kaji, he was only a tiny bit better.

But Kaji had looked into it, too. During the test, Wood really had offended Gion badly.

Gion now practiced her Gun Skill every day, all so she could turn the tables at the next test, crush Wood completely, and get even for what happened before.

Since Gion hated Wood so much, she couldn't possibly have feelings for him. At least, that was what Kaji believed.

So Kaji felt Wood was the most reliable person to entrust with the task.

With a bunch of promises and a set of Six Styles training notes in hand, Wood left the cafeteria feeling like he'd made out very well.

Keeping an eye on Gion for Kaji and warding off potential rivals—whether Wood did it or not, the others didn't stand a chance anyway. So the reward was basically free.

At the same time, Wood couldn't help wondering what was so great about Gion. She was so stubborn and not at all gentle. Sure, she was beautiful, and her legs were long enough...