One Piece: It's always been you

Chapter 45 Shanks and Yu (2)

During Roger's imprisonment, Shiki the Golden Lion learned that Roger had been captured by the Marines. He single-handedly stormed Marineford, demanding to see Roger. From Sengoku and Garp, who came to stop him, he learned that Roger had become the Pirate King and had surrendered himself, and was to be executed in Loguetown in the East Blue. Enraged by this, Shiki fought Sengoku and Garp. He was ultimately defeated and imprisoned in Impel Down.

Yu didn't have much of an impression of Shiki, but it was because of his rampage in Marineford that he realized Shiki was also powerful. Unfortunately, he ran into Sengoku and Garp.

The Golden Lion's rampage left Marineford half-destroyed. Soon after, Roger was to be executed in Loguetown in the East Blue, and since Marineford needed rebuilding, Yu asked Rosinante to take her to the execution ground.

On that day, a large crowd gathered at the execution ground. Among them were Roger's crew, the supernova of that era, and some ordinary people. Roger stood on the high platform, his bangs obscuring his eyes, facing death without a trace of fear.

"Want my treasure? You can have it all. Go find it! I've left all my treasure there."

This simple sentence drove everyone in the audience wild.

The Great Pirate Era has begun.

"Hey? Why are you, a grown man, crying so bitterly? What's Roger's relationship with you guys?"

Yu, driven by curiosity, wandered around the execution ground, but Rosinante couldn't find him for a moment. Yu saw a blue-haired man with a clown-like red nose crying his heart out, and then looked at the red-haired man next to him, who, though silent, had his head down and tears in his eyes.

"Who are you, kid! He's our captain!"

"You are members of the Roger Pirates."

"The pirate crew is gone. We are pirates without a pirate crew now," Shanks said.

"You must be Shanks, I've seen your bounty poster."

Yu had seen their bounty posters, so he naturally knew they were pirates and who they were.

"Then what did you ask just now? Do you know he doesn't know me? This great man is... never mind, I don't want to talk about it."

Bucky, feeling humiliated, was furious. But the thought of the captain's impending execution made him unwilling to say anything more to the little brat. He continued to sob uncontrollably.

"Your straw hat is really nice, can I take a look?"

"No."

"Alright then. You guys were hiding in the crowd probably to see the captain one last time, right? I'll let you in on a secret: my grandpa's in the navy, you know." Yu stuck out her tongue playfully. She just wanted to scare the two of them; she didn't intend to do anything more.

"What! Stay away from me! If you dare expose me, I might... I might use a knife!" Bucky cried, his face filled with panic and disbelief.

Seeing the expected reaction, Yu burst into laughter, clutching her stomach. Shanks, on the other hand, showed absolutely no reaction.

Aren't you scared?

"Why be afraid? There are plenty of pirates here. Even if your grandpa wanted to catch me, he might not be the one. You're only saying this for fun now." Shanks patted Buggy on the shoulder. "As a crew member, have some backbone, Buggy."

"Do not touch me!"

"Hmph! Playing with you is no fun at all. My grandpa doesn't care about catching a few little pirates like you!" Yu pouted, hands on her hips, "My grandpa catches great pirates, and you don't even look at him!"

"Yu, it's time to go!" Rosinante's voice rang out from behind, not very loud in the crowd, but loud enough for Yu to hear.

"I'm not talking to you guys anymore, I'm going to find my brother!"

Yu turned and ran away, returning to Rosinandi's side.

On a street corner stood Doflamingo, accompanied by several others. Because of the distance, they didn't see each other. This near miss might mean another chance encounter.

The Great Pirate Era has begun, and many are rushing into the Grand Line to obtain the One Piece, causing considerable trouble for the Navy. Sengoku and Rosinante have become increasingly busy, spending less time with Yu than before.

Yu, unaware of what the outside world was like, secretly ran away from the naval base.

Yu had brought money with her when she left home, but after changing ships and passing through town after town, she couldn't return the way she came. She had spent all her money, but Yu was clever enough to earn some extra cash, though it would only last a few days.

The best long-term solution is to return to Marineford Naval Base as soon as possible. Every small town has a naval base, and Yu plans to go find them and have them send her back.

While asking for directions, Yu saw someone—Shanks. Last time she met the red-haired Shanks in Loguetown, Yu's encounter with him ended badly, and this time she was determined not to repeat that mistake.

But why is he all alone? Why isn't he with that blue-haired guy named Bucky?

Yu secretly followed Shanks, wanting to see what he was doing in this small town.

Shanks walked along, stopping and looking around, with Yu keeping a distance from him. When he stopped, she stopped too, following Shanks all the way to the port. Yu was still naively thinking that Shanks didn't know.

"Captain, you have a little girl following you, you didn't know, did you? Hahaha." The obese pirate Lucky, wearing a green and white striped shirt, teased while biting into a piece of meat.

"She wants to come with me, and there's nothing I can do about it," Shanks said helplessly. He'd only met this little girl once; what could he do?

"She's just a little girl, the captain can't just leave her there, can he?" With a cigarette dangling from his lips and his long black hair tied in a ponytail, Beckman leaned against the ship's edge, watching the place where Yu was hiding.

“Hey, Beckman, she’s still a little girl.” Yasopp, with his long, curly hair, was startled when he heard Beckman’s words. He couldn’t just let a little girl go too.

"I'm just saying what I'm thinking."

"Captain, let her come aboard. Maybe she wants to join our pirate crew." Lucky took another bite of meat.

"Join a pirate crew? Hahaha, don't be ridiculous. She's practically half a Marine." Shanks seemed to be listening to the funniest joke in the world, but still yelled at Yu, "Hey, want to come up and sit down?"

Yu hid in the harbor, watching Shanks board the ship, and one by one people leaned out from the ship's railing, looking in his direction, wanting to know what they were talking about, but he couldn't hear them and didn't dare to get closer.

So, they were discovered long ago, and now they're being invited aboard?

Yu wouldn't refuse such a good thing, and he ran out excitedly. Halfway there, he suddenly slowed down and began to "examine" Shanks' pirate ship as he walked.

The ship wasn't very big, and it seemed that besides the four of them, there were only one or two other crew members on board. It appeared that he had started to form his own pirate crew after that, and it was just beginning to take shape.

"Hey, little girl, what are you doing following our captain? Do you want to join our pirate crew? But you look too young, we don't accept children. Hahaha." Luckyru ate heartily, while Yu looked on with disgust.

"I don't want to join you pirates. It's all because of what you said, Captain. Now Grandpa and my brother are too busy to spend time with me. Otherwise, I wouldn't have run here alone."

"Are you saying it's my fault? Hey, hey, hey, I don't admit to that."

"No, but since you've come to my doorstep, you'll have to keep me company for the next few days, replacing my grandfather and brother!"

"Haha, Captain, you have another child to take care of."

Yu's words made the other three burst into laughter. They were surprised to find that the captain had inexplicably gained a child, for no reason, but they had no choice but to bring him along.

"Also, my name is You! Remember that." After saying that, You turned around and ran off the boat. "Don't run away, I'll come back to find you tomorrow."

"What a troublesome child."

However, well, they were planning to stay in the town anyway, so they might as well keep her company for a while.

As expected, Shanks hadn't run away. When Yu arrived at the port early, the people on the ship were still asleep. The air was thick with the smell of alcohol, and several people had even drunk too much and were sleeping soundly outside the cabin.

"How much did they drink?! It stinks!"

Yu covered her nose and made her way through six checkpoints to their kitchen, where she began to show off her culinary skills.

In his sleep, Shanks was awakened by the aroma of food. He twitched his nose and slowly woke up. "Luckiy, did you cook? It smells so good!"

I wandered into the kitchen in a daze and saw a small figure carrying the source of the aroma.

"Oh! It's you! You look just like me. Let me get you a pot of wine."

"No way! You guys drank a lot last night, and you're still drinking now?! You must be an alcoholic."

"What do kids know? Drinking is what makes us happy. Such delicious food deserves to be paired with wine!"

This was just the beginning. In the following days, all the food on the ship was prepared by Youlai, while Lachiru, the real chef, enjoyed it.

Yu was practically dying of regret. Why did she follow him? Why did she make him suffer with her? Shanks really couldn't see any difference between him and Yu—no, it should be that Yu's age was probably Shanks's.

Fortunately, Yu joined them on a brief adventure at sea. During the voyage, she witnessed the formidable strength of this fledgling pirate crew.

Sigh, yet another pirate crew that will cause Grandpa some trouble in the future.