Return to His Body

"Hina!"

Just then, a somewhat stern voice suddenly came from outside the door.

The two inside jumped in fright. Looking up, they found that Shizi had appeared in the doorway at some point. She glanced at the photo frame, then at Hina, her brows tightly furrowed.

Hina looked at her blankly, her eyes full of confusion.

Shizi sighed softly at the sight, her voice gentling. "It's getting late. Go take a bath and get some rest. Your Sister Gion and I have something to discuss."

"Huh? But Hina wants to..."

"When adults are talking, children aren't allowed to eavesdrop."

"Okay..."

Hina could only leave the bedroom obediently. Once her back disappeared down the second-floor hallway, Shizi shook her head, casually shut the door, and sat on the bed in front of Noah.

"Big Sister Shizi..." Noah could more or less guess Major General Shizi's state of mind. After hesitating for a moment, he took the initiative to break the silence. "This Portgas Rouge..."

"That's right. It's who you think it is." Shizi's voice was faint and distant. "The wife of Pirate King Gol D. Roger. Three years ago, she was carrying Roger's posthumous child when she died while being hunted by the Marines."

Died while being hunted by the Marines?

Noah froze, unable to hide his astonishment.

What kind of statement was that?

If he remembered correctly, hadn't Rouge escaped the Marines' pursuit through immense hardship, given birth to Ace on Baterilla Island in the South Blue, and only then died of exhaustion and blood loss?

"Surprised?"

She took the photo frame from Noah's hands. Looking at the brightly smiling little girl in the picture, she gently brushed away the dust on its surface, her gaze tender and tinged with nostalgia.

"Rouge may not have been related to me by blood, but I always treated her as my own daughter."

"Unfortunately, after her uncle passed away, the girl began to grow rebellious. Not long after coming of age, she left home to travel, and there was rarely any news from her afterward."

"Several years later, she finally contacted me again. She apologized for her willfulness back then and told me she had found the love of her life in the South Blue—and that she was already pregnant."

"I was so happy then. I wished her a happy marriage over the Den Den Mushi, and afterward, I kept looking forward to the day she would come home with her husband and child so we could reunite."

At that, Shizi set down the photograph and said with a self-mocking smile, "But a few months later, Marine Headquarters began ordering the pursuit and execution of Roger's family and surviving descendants. Only then did I learn that the lover Rouge had mentioned was none other than Pirate King Gol D. Roger."

"What an ironic story, little Gion."

Noah pressed his lips together and said nothing.

He was not actually surprised. Before Shizi entered the room, after hearing Rouge's name from Hina, Noah had already roughly guessed the story behind these relationships.

The deputy chief of staff at Marine Headquarters, an old Marine from the same era as Garp and Zephyr—her foster daughter had encountered Pirate King Roger and somehow become his wife.

It was absurdly melodramatic, but also a common enough trope.

Still, when he thought about it, the age gap between them seemed a little outrageous.

Rouge had spent several years traveling through the South Blue. How old could she have been when she met Roger? At most, just over twenty?

But Roger had already disbanded his pirate crew by then and was fifty-three years old—a half-old man, practically.

For two people so vastly different in age, experience, status, and strength to get together after knowing each other for only a few short months was truly remarkable.

Perhaps... that was the power of love.

Noah did not want to comment too much on this romance between an old man and a young woman, but something about it still felt strange.

—Since Roger had known before disbanding his crew that he was terminally ill and did not have long to live, why had he started a relationship at all, leaving behind a widow and orphan to suffer alone in this world?

Without Garp's secret help, Rouge and Ace might not even have been allowed to live.

Maybe... that was just how pirates thought?

He could not understand it, anyway. Right now, he only wanted to find out whether Major General Shizi's departure from Marineford after Roger's execution three years ago had anything to do with the Marines sending people to hunt Rouge down.

Such a policy of exterminating entire families and harming innocents must have been deeply despised by many at Marine Headquarters, right?

Especially for Major General Shizi, since the person being hunted was practically her foster daughter.

If that was why she had developed a rift with Marine Headquarters and resigned to return home, it would make sense.

But what... did that have to do with Garp?

Since everything was already out in the open, Noah no longer cared about Garp being a taboo subject around Shizi. He was about to speak frankly and ask directly about what had happened three years ago.

But at that moment, a muffled thump suddenly came from outside, accompanied by a little girl's pained cry.

"It's Hina!"

Shizi and Noah's expressions changed. They burst through the door together and rushed downstairs.

When they reached the hall, they looked around and saw the bathroom light was on. The sound from earlier had come from inside.

"Hina, what happened?"

Noah knocked on the bathroom door. When there was no response for a long while, his heart skipped a beat.

Shizi beside him was already full of anxious worry. She tried twisting the doorknob twice, and when she found it locked from within, she did not hesitate. She swung out and kicked it hard.

With a boom, the wooden door exploded into splinters.

"..."

Noah stared dumbfoundedly at the pulverized door. It was not until the skinny old woman had stormed into the bathroom like a war goddess that he snapped out of it.

He was about to follow her in, but suddenly remembered something. After hesitating briefly, he stopped and waited silently outside the bathroom.

A moment later, Shizi emerged from the bathroom carrying Hina's small body in her arms. She came to the sofa and carefully laid her down.

Hina was wrapped in a bath towel, her face pale and weak, but she seemed mentally alert. She did not look seriously hurt.

"What happened, Big Sister Shizi?" Noah asked, relieved.

"She slipped while bathing and fell into the tub. Luckily, she didn't pass out."

Shizi stroked Hina's cheek and chided her, "You child, couldn't you have been more careful? You gave your Sister Gion and me quite a scare."

"Sorry, Grandma Shizi."

Hina still sounded weak, her gaze dazed. "I don't know what happened either. While I was bathing, I suddenly felt like I had no strength at all. My foot slipped, and I fell..."

"Are you feeling unwell?" Shizi frowned. "I remember it's your period these days. Did you lose control again and secretly eat the cold desserts in the refrigerator?"

"No."

Hina quickly shook her head and pointed to the dining table nearby. "I haven't eaten much these past few days. After coming downstairs just now, I only washed and ate a few of the strawberries Sister Gion brought."

"Oh, right."

She suddenly remembered something, her little face scrunching up. "The strawberries were all pretty good, but one seemed spoiled. It smelled especially bad. I took one bite and threw it away. Could I have upset my stomach because of that?"

Spoiled?

Noah instinctively glanced at the trash can beside the coffee table. There really was a strawberry inside with only one bite taken out of it. But... why did that strawberry look different from ordinary ones? Its surface even had spiral patterns.

Patterns?

He exchanged a look with Major General Shizi. Both their expressions changed at the same time, and they blurted out almost simultaneously:

"Devil Fruit!"

Noah bent down, picked up the bitten strawberry from the trash can, and inspected it closely. His headache immediately worsened—dense patterns, rough texture. There was no mistake. It really was a Devil Fruit.

He recalled buying the strawberries yesterday. He had just completed a system mission at the time, and his mind had been entirely occupied with matters related to points. He had let the vendor pick the strawberries for him and had not paid any attention at all to whether there was anything unusual among them.

And so, he had muddleheadedly brought it to Major General Shizi's house, where little Hina had muddleheadedly eaten it...

How could something this coincidental happen? Could it really be the Ori Ori no Mi?

Noah was muttering to himself as he prepared to toss the Devil Fruit remains back into the trash can. Then he suddenly noticed that Major General Shizi and Hina on the sofa were both looking him up and down with strange expressions.

What was it now?

Puzzled, he thought something might have gotten on his clothes. He instinctively looked down—and immediately froze.

In his field of view were no longer those astonishing rolling peaks, nor that slender waist. Instead, there was a tall, muscular male body—a body he knew better than anything.

Noah finally understood why Shizi and Hina were looking at him like that.

The spacious living room was so silent one could hear a pin drop. Only the faint ticking of the clock could be heard.

"..."

In that bizarre atmosphere, Noah's eye twitched.

After a long while, he finally raised his head with difficulty. Looking at the expressionless Major General Shizi on the sofa, he forced out an awkward, sheepish laugh.

"Ahem, well... how about I take a trip right now and find that fruit vendor to demand a refund and compensation for the strawberries?"