Alexander was a little stunned when he heard Crocus thinking that Nojiko was his wife, but he soon got back and had a silly grin on his face looking towards Nojiko's blushing face.
She noticed him staring at her and saw his silly grin and blushed heavily and looked down while hiding a happy smile that Alexander didn't notice.
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Crocus: "So, here are the things I owe you and something little extra."
Hearing that, Alexander stopped and turned towards Crocus while Nojiko was still blushing.
Crocus gives Alexander everything before sitting down.
When Alexander got the things, he was immediately attracted to the notes he got from Crocus.
After looking through the notes, Alexander was delighted, seeing that it was notes for Observation Haki, and it even had a few pointers from Crocus's own experiences and tips.
Alex: "Thank you so much, Crocus, for the notes, it's just what I needed."
'With these notes, I can help Nojiko get a lot stronger.'
Crocus turns serious for a moment before.
Crocus: "There's no need for any thanks. It's more of an investment in your future."
Alex: "Well, then, I won't disappoint you."
With that, Alexander and Nojiko spent the rest of the day talking with Crocus.
When it began to turn dark, Alexander and Nojiko began to walk back to the ship so they could get some sleep before continuing there journey.
Alexander woke up, hearing a loud noise coming from outside the ship, so he hastily put on his pants, leaving him shirtless.
When he got out, he saw Laboon.
Alex: 'What's Laboon doing here.'
Alexander was standing there and then hear a door open and saw a newly awake Nojiko coming out in a sexy black nightgown that perfectly showed her curves.
He couldn't resist looking at her figure with that nightgown on her.
Nojiko hadn't yet fully woken up, so she did notice his stares.
Nojiko: "What's going on?"
Alexander reluctantly stopped looking at her and turned towards Laboon.
Alex: "I don't know. It might be Crocus that just wants to say goodbye."
When he said that, they heard Crocus shout towards them from Laboon.
Crocus: "Haha, I didn't know when you were going to leave, so I woke you guys up."
Alexander sighed
Alex: 'That old man sure is something.'
So he turned around to go back into his room to get changed.
As he turned around, he took another quick look at Nojiko in her sexy nightgown, but this it wasn't unnoticed.
Nojiko playfully smiled at him.
Nojiko: "Do you like what you see?"
Alexander smiled at her with a playful smile of his own because he noticed that she had a small blush on her face.
Alex: "Well, it's hard to resist looking at you in that sexy black nightgown you wear."
When she heard that, her blush on her face got more noticeable, and she quickly walked into her room again.
He laughed a little
'She can act all sexy and mature when she flirts, but when I flirt back, her act crumbles away, and she comes to a little deer, but that's something I like with her.'
With that, Alexander got back into his room and changed.
When he got out of his room, Nojiko still hasn't come out of her room, so he went to talk with Crocus for a little bit before they continued.
After talking for a while with Crocus, Nojiko comes out of her room.
Alex: "Are we ready to get going?"
She nods her head.
"Well then, Crocus, it's been a pleasure meeting you, and I hope we someday meet again and don't worry next time we meet I'm the one that will send you a surprise attack."
Crocus stared at Alexander seriously before saying.
"I'll be waiting for Alex even though I'm not as strong as in my prime. I can still pack a punch, but if you want to meet someone strong, I can say that my old friend Rayleigh is just the man for you."
Alexander and Nojiko started to set sail towards there next destination.
Both of them waved their goodbyes towards Crocus and Laboon.
Nojiko: "Where are we going?"
Alexander looked towards Nojiko with a serious look on his face.
"We are going to a dangerous place, so don't hate me, but I will have to increase our training to the extreme."
Nojiko didn't know what to say, so she just nodded her head in agreement.
With that, Alexander went towards his room to get the notes for the observation haki to start practicing with Nojiko.
---2 weeks later---
With that, two whole weeks went by in a flash.
Alexander and Nojiko have been training and practicing observation haki with everything they got.
Alexander has reached the beginner stage while surprisingly, Nojiko is halfway to the beginner stage.
There was seldom a moment where they weren't together, and under these two weeks, they have grown a lot closer, but there seems to be this barrier between them that didn't let them take the next step yet.
But under these two weeks, Alexander has also noticed that Nojiko is changing. She seems to have begun growing her hair.
Before she always had it short, but it seems now, she lets it grow, and Alexander couldn't stop himself from thinking that she is getting more and more beautiful as time passes.
Even though Alexander liked her short hair, he liked the look she had with long hair; he remembered he had seen a lot more.
He remembers that he had this conversation with Nojiko a few days after they had left Crocus and Laboon.
That day she had nervously asked him if he liked short hair or long hair. He, of course, understood what she wanted to know, so he answered that he liked short hair playfully said that she would look even more beautiful with long hair.
Since then, Nojiko has been growing out her hair.
Alexander began to feel that she started to grow true feelings for him.
Right now, He and Nojiko were standing on the deck of the ship, staring towards the city that resembles a giant fountain in a volcano shape that was Water 7.
'Seems like it's finally going to happen.'
Alexander looked towards Water 7