[Veyron's POV]
Did I hear wrong? Marie Geoise, what...?
"S-Say that again…" I asked her, for a moment, I even forgot my manhood was in danger, that's how preposterous what I heard was.
"I said I'll destroy Marie Geoise. Pirates, revolutionaries… but definitely Marie Geoise first. If you help me, we can do it together," She repeated herself, loosening her grip and staring me straight in the eye.
"…"
Even though I use my ears to hear, I cleaned my eyes just in case I saw things wrong because it doesn't make sense! For the last few years, you have been hunting me down, spying on everything I do, and now you even try to infiltrate Rusukaina. And you're telling me now you want to work together to destroy Marie Geoise?!
"You're going to have to explain to me, because I don't believe anything you're saying, Mrs Admiral", I stared suspiciously, 'Since when does Akainu hate the celestial dragons…?'
"You're lying".
"I am not".
"You are!"
"I am not!".
We growled at one another relentlessly. I couldn't believe it... she couldn't believe I didn't believe her. After everything we have been through, I thought it was a bit disgusting to pretend like this, even for a character like her.
"Prove it then... You have done nothing but antagonise me!"
"I am marine, Dracule Veyron... how can I not antagonise you–" she asked, outraged.
"If you want to destroy Marie Geoise, why are you even a Marine?" I asked back, relentless.
"Because destroying the world goverment from the inside is the most effective option I have".
"..."
Leaving nothing but silence, I contemplated... 'I can't argue that...'
But I was in denial... I would believe this from Gion, from Aokiji... heck, even from Kizaru... but her?!
"I don't understand. Why…? Why you of all people– why destroy Marie Geoise? Aren't you their loyal dog?" I blurted, not with the intention to offend her.
My words struck a nerve; she pressed me down harshly onto the small boat, but I was so baffled by her attitude that I didn't even resist.
"L-Loyal dog...? What do you even know about me, Dracule Veyron?! All this time you have acted as if we had met; you know nothing about me!" She screamed in my face.
"B-But..."
I was going to say she had killed Ace, but that's not something that happened in this timeline. It may not even happen at all in the future, considering I am this strong... I have more than likely changed the course of events, and even if it happened again, I would stop it for sure. Sakazuki Akainu is a very mysterious character.
"Who did I kill? Who did I target? It is not me who is biased, IT IS YOU!" Sakazuki pressed me, screamed at my face, outraged, her globes giggling in front of me, leaving me no time to think.
'Maybe... I am biased?'.
Have we had our differences? Of course, but... the same could be said about all of them. I have had encounters, fights and differences with all the Admirals, even Gion.
Besides, Gion and I also weren't fond of each other at the start.
At the start, we were like water and oil.
We worked through this relationship with her realisation... when she realised the world goverment was not what she thought, and that marines were just puppets, our ideals began to merge. Love sprouted sometime in the middle, it started as lust, then evolved... but even if we love each other, we are both clear of what's important... the world nobles need to be eradicated.
Sakazuki didn't need my input and my help to come to this realisation... and that bugged me.
"Forget it", I made some distance from her, dead in silence, staring away, but so deep in thought that Sakazuki noticed the floating boat was barely moving. I was too deep in thought to focus, trying to make up my mind on what to do next.
'She has a backstory...' There was obviously no other explanation.
"When I was a teenager… a lot happened", as if she read my mind. She began telling me her story, reluctantly at first. That husk of confidence faltered little by little, showing me that beneath that ruthless facade, there was a woman.
"I grew up in a tiny kingdom in the Grand Line. Poor, desolate... tyrannical. Beseiged by pirates, threatened by the celestial dragons, coerced by the marines... disregarded by the revolutionaries. In this world, no one was able to do anything for us".
She sat down, curled up, glared at me dead in the eye; those eyes were still defiant, but deep within, there was a mangled soul that seemed to say, 'I am opening myself to you... will you accept me?'.
I sat down next to her in this small boat, landing on the calm sea with barely any clouds. Soon the sun would fall, leaving us in darkness alongside the moon. It looked like the perfect scenery for the tragic story that was due.
"You..."
"Keep talking. Tell me your story... and I will think about what to do after, Sakazuki... but I will give you a chance, explain to me why you hate the world nobles".
I stared into her soul, feeling her very will. Although she lacked the will of a king,
"Tell me who Sakazuki Akainu is".
...
The Admiral went on to tell me her story. It was a long story... and we spent a long time cuddling there, listening to it. I felt as if the narrator of One Piece was talking to me at that moment, going through a flashback, telling me the background of a precious character.
For me, it was entertaining. For her... it was liberating. Before we noticed, we even became comfortable.
Akainu Sakazuki, no, Saki... had joined the Marines originally to take revenge on the captain in charge of her kingdom. After failing to do so for years due to her weakness and his influence, she obtained the Magu Magu no Mi and exacted her revenge.
She was put in prison and then fred by Admiral Zephir, who recognised her potential. But that didn't mean that because a marine helped her, she was all of a sudden on good terms with them.
After some consideration, and acknowledging the opportunity she got, she decided to make the most of it to exact her revenge on... EVERYONE.
"So that's how you got the Magu Magu".
"It was in the treasure chest of some pirates back then. We were tasked to return every devil fruit we encountered, but to murder that bastard… I needed strength," she said, "Back then I didn't even know what devil fruit I was eating... thankfully it ended up being a useful and powerful one".
She used the Magu Magu no Mi to murder the Marine Vice Admiral in charge of the buster call that attacked her Kingdom. It was the moment she stopped being Saki and became Akainu... the bloody hound.
"And then you got to know Zephir, and that's when your affair with him started" I mumbled.
"Yes, at that time he and I… w-wait! I never said anything about any affair!" Sakazuki fumed with a scream as I smirked.
"How did you know!? W-Wait, you didn't know..."
"Of course, I didn't know. You just confirmed it~"
How did I know? I had no clue... but she's already giving me a strong impression compared to what I thought her to be. For one, she openly flirts with me despite our previous animosity, which leads me to believe she's not 'innocent', and she also had a boyfriend in the past, according to her story.
In that story, she also revealed something rather funny and a bit depressing... Kuzan has a crush on her.
But because she's not interested, she never paid attention to him. That left me to think... she may have been involved with someone else. To think it was her own teacher...
"Get off me!" She was outraged and also embarrassed, "H-How could you even think that?!".
"Because you are Zephir's favourite, you are also the one he's recommending to follow Zengoku as a Fleet Admiral... even though you are nowhere near as strong as Kizaru and Aokiji... also, you said you're not interested in Aokiji".
She says she's not interested in Aokiji who I dare say is, I guess... um... handsome? And he's also a marine like her... but now she has no qualms in flirting with me, even grasping me directly.
'Woman, you just want who you want', Either she's into badboys... or she's into married men... I think I know my answer.
"You say I am not stronger than them!?" She perked up.
'Is that what you're worried about...?' I was about to give up, "I have fought the three of you, I would know that much, Sakazuki".
I could tell she felt insulted, but it was the truth... by far, Kizaru was the strongest... but he was not ambitious and hadn't even exploited the full potential of his fruit. In the past, I wanted to get it, but I decided the Goro Goro no Mi was better. Kuzan was also very strong... but he was lazy.
She was a bit weaker, but very determined and disciplined compared to the other two. Compared to Aokiji and Kizaru, her fruit is also a bit simpler. Yes, it is very destructive, but its use cases are not many aside from raw destruction. At most, I believe she should be able to control the temperature of her magma, but that's about it.
I tapped my elbow, looking at her, 'But her fruit could have some uses for me in the lab, a pity I can't keep her around for long since she's an admiral...'
Anyway... considering the options, Zephir should have postulated Kizaru. He may not be ambitious, but he's disciplined and loyal to the marine... if appointed, he'd not refuse. And yet he chose her, a troublemaker.
It gave me a few hints. Even though she's younger than him, she's not that much younger, and she's dead gorgeous... to think that old bastard Zephir was actually that reckless to have an affair with his student.
"We haven't been involved with one another for years, don't misunderstand!"
Somehow, she felt the need to clarify this.
"What would I misunderstand?" I squinted my brows, innocently. But I was not innocent at all; I knew exactly what she was thinking.
"Ah, forget it, kid", she huffed, irritated and took out a cigarette. Just staring at that irritation, I felt like smirking. I can't make it too obvious. Before she lit it up, I used my powers to throw the cigarette in the sea.
!!!
"That was my last one, brat!"
"I am going to be kissing you... and I don't want your breath to stink when I do"
"Confident, are we?" She looked at me with that seductive smirk of ridicule, but didn't reject the idea.
I can't let her know that I want her... because she has acted like a total Karen with me all this time, even if it is true that she hates the world goverment, it wasn't until recently that she considered me an option to assist her in this endeavour.
'You won't get me so easily, Sakazuki~', I am a married man after all, I can't just let any woman have me... otherwise mom is going to execute me when she realises that in my 'small' journey to the new world, I returned with 4 more lovers.
...
"In any case, keep telling me! I want to know! So what if you had an affair? I don't care" I got comfortable next to her, for a moment, I even forgot I am supposed to go back to Shirahoshi!
It's okay, my girl will be alright with her new Mythological Zoan.
I used my powers to move the boat at moderate speeds towards Wano, taking our time, but still going fast for this world's standards.
"Y-You don't?" She mumbled.
"Why should I care? After all you went through…? You deserved a bit of rest... justice is not perfect... do you think I am a saint? I am not".
"You're a perverted kid who gets women as if they're flowers", she didn't miss a chance to throw a jab.
"You know me too well~".
"It is not a compliment"
She gave me the side-eye, then got comfortable around me too… we were very close. So much so that I could smell her slightly salted scent, 'back to flirting, huh?'.
"So… you and Momousagi, what's the deal?" Her voice suddenly turned mellow yet confident. She even placed her arm on my hips very casually.
She went for the offensive, typical Akainu.
When she expected me to back down, I pressed forward. Got closer, put my arm around her hips too, feeling her slender curves. I saw her brows twitch a little
"Gion and me…? Why do you wanna know"
"You're a married man, aren't you...? Do you have the leisure to be fooling around with an Admiral?" Her finger circled around my chest lightly. It was an innuendo, "Aren't you afraid the Pirate Empress is going to have your head?"
"That's what is said publicly, yes... besides, Hancock is a very lovely wife"
"Publicly...? Eh, so you're not married…?" Her brows flicked.
"I am".
"Stop being confusing, brat!"
"Don't you already know…? I am married to more than one. Hancock is not my only sweetheart".
Her finger stopped, pressed my chest harder, "Womaniser... who are the others? Should I take a guess?"
*cough!*
"Devil Child Nico Robin, I think it is more than obvious", she smirked.
"… yes, how do you know?"
"That brat has technically transformed after she met you... Before, she used to be hunted only because of her secret knowledge... now she is hunted because of her strength, she got a devil fruit as well, Peter Hornigold's, the man you defeated".
I got even closer, embracing her sinful body against me, and I felt a bit of a flinch, but nothing else. My arms were coiled around her slim waist, not trying to go further.
"Who else do you think?"
There was a moment of silence as I felt her breath turn a bit erratic.
"And now I know about Princess Shirahoshi... and you also gave her a devil fruit" She mumbled.
I caressed her side, doing as much as moving away her top just so I could caress her flesh directly.
"I try to make all my women strong... I can't always be there for them. Shirahoshi is not a fighter, and I am hoping she can remain as innocent. But being the most beautiful creature in this world, I have to be careful with her".
"And Princess Viola from Dressrosa?"
"She already has a devil fruit, and she's not weak either. Viola is going to join Hancock's crew; they will teach her a lot".
"You really like to change your women's life, don't you...? It would have been good if you were there for me..."
"I wasn't born then, Sakazuki", I laughed apologetically, although I knew I was not at fault.
"Why are you so casually talking as if I were yours?~"
'You said it first, though!?'.
For the first time, I saw so much as a giggle coming out, her feminine side finally showing off.
"Should I guess who is next?~" She giggled, pinching my nose.
"Of course–"
"Dracule Mihawk…"
Her sweet voice transformed into a cold needle; she pinched my nose and glared me dead in the eye as I faltered, 'How does she know?!'
"What do you mean?!"
"..."
"A-Are you saying I have such a relationship with my mom, are you crazy?!"
"..."
It didn't matter what I said, her eyes were still piercing me as if I was the worst evil-doer in the world. There is no way she could know! Sure, my mom and I were very close to the eye of the public, but that was only because I am her disciple. No one out of my inner circle knows of this relationship, heck... no one even knows about mine and Prim's relationship.
"I was a bit suspicious about your relationship with her, but she's your mother, so that's impossible, right?" She finally let go of my nose, sighing in defeat. I didn't fall into her trap!
Little girl... do you think you can use my trick against me?!
"Hahahaha, of course it's impossible, what nonsense are you talking about?" I evaded ever-piercing glare.
"That means Boa Primrose is also impossible, yes?"
Do this woman's instincts go that far?!
"Of course… Hancock would murder me," I refused vehemently. I wouldn't mind telling her, but that would be only after I am sure I can trust her.
Once more, her piercing glare was way too apparent, "Why do I not believe you? You're a naughty perverted bastard who has no qualms in seducing even me, your enemy".
"Who is seducing whom?" I twitched, "Have you forgotten how you grasped my balls a minute ago!?"
"That was not seduction, that was retaliation", she blushed, but her rebellious countenance didn't budge.
I never thought the character Akainu Sakazuki could be so interesting. I guess it is to be expected of Oda, leaving her background until so far into the story... she must have been an endgame character.
After she finished 'recounting' who she thought were my lovers, we settled down for a minute.
"I know the Liberators are different from the revolutionary army. Even if you're an irritating kid, I can't deny that you're doing a good job… I wanted to go to Rusukaina… and see with my own eyes how a happy kingdom looks, if I approved it, then I'd meet with you to work together alongside Momousagi".
"And I caught you before you could do that... why didn't you speak with Gion first?"
"She and I are not the best of friends. For starters, she sees me as her competition to reach the office as a Fleet Admiral".
Although I can't completely confirm her story, so far, everything she has told me makes sense.
"Oh, how to say this...? You should have told me that sooner?~" I scratched my head awkwardly.
"You didn't even let me explain myself and took me as a prisoner immediately!"
"Oops, sorry hehe, that's how we do things around here. I can't afford to have an admiral cause Havoc in my island while I am away".
"Damn brat, you get on my nerves", She put her hand into her pocket, only to perk up and look at me with even more resentment.
"You threw away my last cigarette. How are you going to make this up to me? Who knows when I will be able to get more?"
"I did say I didn't want you to smoke for a reason, didn't I?"
She gasped, and that gasp was all I needed to seal her mouth lest she say any more nonsense.
I heard a muffled moan as she grasped my chest, an opportunity I took to get on top of her, pressing her down completely while keeping a steady pace towards Wano.
I stuck my tongue inside, and she kindly received it, her hands danced off my chest and hooked around my neck, pulling me down further into her clutches. I don't know for how long we kissed, but breathing seemed to become unnecessary.
We separated with a trail of saliva, and I smiled.
"How was it, better than a cigarette, right?"
That's when she decided to keep being Sakazuki Akainu, turned things around and pressed me onto the boat, straddling me.
She licked her lips and smiled, "You do not know who you're messing with, boy".
"What can you even do to me?" I scoffed, feeling how her hands got inside my shirt, they were way warmer than normal, making me gasp in realisation.
"I can do EVERYTHING to you, Dracule Veyron~".