Xie Wen had not been all that embarrassed to begin with, and a little conversation would have put it out of his mind. Sai, however, simply could not get past his own hang-ups, leaving Xie Wen to experience the discomfort and agitation of an awkward conversation for the first time in ages...
After so many years since crossing over from Earth, Xie Wen had almost forgotten what it felt like.
The last time he had struggled through an awkward conversation seemed to have been at a high school reunion, facing old classmates whose names he could not even remember.
Just as Xie Wen, Sai, and Abu were floundering in awkwardness, a voice from nearby saved them.
"Mr. Jinbe! Mr. Aladdin!"
A rather slender figure rushed up to the members of the Sun Pirates.
The bubble elevator was so enormous that this trip naturally carried more than just the delegations from the Ryugu Kingdom and the Flower Country. But considering how long it had been since the Ryugu Kingdom last attended the Reverie, and how most humans had never welcomed the Fish-Man race, Jinbe and the others had not expected to encounter anyone they knew here...
Especially not an acquaintance they had not seen in years, whose appearance had changed completely.
The Sun Pirates stared blankly for a moment at the girl who had rushed up to them with delighted surprise on her face, then burst into a clamor.
"Koala? Is that Koala?!"
"That little girl Boss Fisher Tiger saved back then?"
"I remember she was only about ten when she boarded our ship. She was only this big!"
"Then isn't she the one who got Boss Fisher Tiger..."
"Shut up! That had nothing to do with Koala!"
"How did it have nothing to do with her? If we hadn't been