"You'd do anything for me?"
"Including… you know, the kind of stuff that makes people blush?"
Arton's lips curved in a faint smile as he spoke in a teasing tone. Hearing that, Tashigi lowered her head even more. Nonetheless, she still managed a small nod.
"Heh, you're quite concerned about Hina, aren't you?" Arton stood up and walked closer, looking Tashigi up and down with interest. Indeed, he understood why Tashigi was worried: Hina had been under sedation at Kaya's hand for days, forced to stay asleep. Drugs kept her basic life functions stable.
But now the crew was about to reach Loguetown, and Arton still hadn't said how he planned to deal with Hina. Tashigi couldn't stand it anymore and came to find Arton to plead on her behalf.
In a subtle glance, Tashigi peeked at Arton, bit her lip, and began unbuttoning her shirt. Arton felt a twinge of surprise but made no move to stop her. He'd seen Tashigi naked once before—back when he first captured her. It wasn't exactly shocking to him now. He was even curious to see whether Tashigi, in fact, preferred not wearing anything underneath.
Before long, Arton had his answer.
[Photo: Tashigi does wear underwear after all!]
[So it's confirmed—when Tashigi's body got swapped with Smoker by the Warlord Trafalgar Law's powers in the future, Smoker must've torn off Tashigi's underclothes himself.]
[I figured as much; a woman like Tashigi wouldn't just skip wearing underwear…]
[And wow, Smoker sure is something—throwing away his subordinate's underwear like that… Not very gentlemanly, is it?]
Sugar: "Wh-what?! Trafalgar Law becomes a Warlord?"
Baby 5: "Is Arton mistaken? That brat who used to bully me as a kid… he ends up as a Warlord, same as the Young Master?"
Monet: "That man becomes a Warlord? Then what about the Young Master? Is Doflamingo still a Warlord then?"
Boa Hancock: "Trafalgar Law…? I've never heard of him at sea. Must be a rookie who hasn't yet ventured out?"
Domino: "Yet another future Warlord. Does that mean an older Warlord must be replaced before the system is abolished?"
Sadi: "Whoever gets replaced probably ends up in Impel Down…"
Doll: "Who cares about some future Warlord? The real question is Arton's current position! Ugh, those women around Arton are doing this on purpose!"
Black Maria: "Arton's companions sure are cunning. Using their bodies to distract him so that whenever he's about to mention his next destination in his Diary, he forgets."
Smoothie: "Up to now, that works in our favor and against the Navy. But if Arton's companions keep this up, it'll be harder for me to track him down. Also, is Tashigi trying to seduce Arton now? Does she plan to get the Tier Harribel template?"
Gion: "Tashigi, what are you thinking?"
Ain: "She already removed all the female Marines from her contacts, so the Navy can't track Arton through her anyway."
Hibari: "What about Captain Hina? We haven't heard from her in days."
Kujaku: "Her contact is still in the friend list, at least. Hina must be alive. Probably Arton's crew is just keeping too close an eye on her."
Tashigi's cheeks were aflame as she glanced at the new photo and text in the Diary. Sure, it confirmed that she normally wore underwear—a relief in itself—but Arton recording all these details in front of so many other female Diary holders was embarrassing. Still, thinking of Hina, Tashigi bit her lip again and began unfastening her pants.
In no time, she stood there stripped of everything but her plain white undergarments.
"Looks like you and Hina are really tight," Arton remarked. "By the way, white suits you."
He took a moment to look Tashigi over, then glanced toward Kaya. Kaya had been around Arton long enough to read his intentions from a single look. She got up and fetched a plain white outfit from a nearby cabinet.
"All right, that's enough," Arton said, stopping Tashigi as she reached for the waistband of her underwear. "I've already seen you naked before. If you can genuinely make me want you, then sure, I might be down to… get closer. Otherwise, taking off everything is just giving me a nice view for a moment, nothing more."
Tashigi froze, looking at Arton with sorrow. The plan she'd come up with—offering her body to ensure Hina's safety—seemed like the only way to save her friend. If he turned her down now, she had no clue how else to keep Hina safe in the Flameblade Pirates' custody.
"Don't look so dejected," Arton said. "If I really meant to kill Hina, she'd already be dead. The reason she's still with us is that we haven't reached our destination yet."
He took Tashigi by the hand and led her to Hina's bedside. She lay in deep slumber, hooked up to medicine that kept her unconscious. Arton then pointed to the empty bed beside Hina, motioning for Tashigi to lie down.
"Arton… does that mean you'll let Captain Hina go when we reach Loguetown?" Tashigi asked, settling onto the bed.
"Mhm. Only because it's you, Tashigi," Arton said with a grin.
"Thank… thank you, Arton!" Overcome with relief, Tashigi teared up on the spot. Arton had originally planned to toy with Hina a bit more before letting her go, but seeing Tashigi in tears made him hesitate. After all, she was no longer a Marine but a member of the Sylvan.
"All right, enough about Hina," he continued. "Earlier, you said you wouldn't mind me doing anything to you. So just lie there like a good girl. I need to give you a tattoo under that lump of flab on your right side."
He held up the small tattoo pen.
"I—I understand," Tashigi said quietly, still brimming with gratitude. In her excitement over Hina's safety, she hardly cared about getting some random tattoo. Nami and the others had gotten them, so she figured this was just another whim of Arton's. She turned her head toward the unconscious Hina and smiled softly, not noticing that Arton had discreetly activated the video-recording function in his Diary.
[Video Recording (In Progress): Tattooing Tashigi!]
Whitey Bay: "He's recording again—this time the subject is that female Marine… well, ex-Marine now."
Gion: "Tashigi… what's Arton planning to do?"
Hibari: "Look, Captain Hina's right beside her. Thank goodness she's alive."
Doll: "Looks like she's just sedated. So that's how they're preventing her from sending messages to us?"
Kujaku: "So, Arton, Tashigi, and Hina—where exactly are you all now?"
Smoothie: "He's giving Tashigi a tattoo… why do I get a bad feeling about this?"
Galette: "He's tattooing her in that place… hold on, is he about to give her the same design as Tier's?"
Stussy: "Seems Tashigi's earned Arton's trust in the end. So the Tier Harribel template might soon become hers after all."
"Kaya, help me steady this squishy piece of meat Tashigi has here," Arton said, "or I can't work properly."
"Seriously though, Tashigi, can't you hurry up and grow? This is smaller than I imagined—makes the tattoo more difficult. Plus I gotta consider whether it'll still look good when that chunk of yours gets bigger. Anyway, how old are you now?"
As Arton rattled off jibes, applying the pen with Kaya's assistance, Tashigi couldn't focus on Hina anymore. She glared at him in wounded silence. Sure, she'd grow in the future—Arton had told her so—but how could she actually voice that aloud? All she could do was stare at him, flustered.
Fortunately, the tattoo design was simple: just a single digit. So Tashigi didn't have to endure the teasing for long. Still, when she finally looked down to see the completed tattoo, she froze in shock.
"3…?" Tashigi murmured. The number instantly brought to mind Tier Harribel from the Arrancar template.
...
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