Grand Line — Marineford, Vice Admiral Gion's Office
Vice Admiral Gion's office was annoyingly neat.
That was Tenjin's first thought as he stood in front of her desk, arms folded, expression already carrying the shape of a complaint that had not yet fully formed. Papers were stacked in perfect order. The inkstone sat exactly where it should. The shelves behind her were lined with reports, manuals, and records arranged with the kind of discipline that made Tenjin instinctively want to disturb something just to prove the room wasn't sacred.
Gion herself sat behind the desk like the embodiment of that same order.
Composed. Elegant. Completely in control.
And, unfortunately for Tenjin, holding a single sheet of paper in her hand.
She glanced down at it once more before looking up at him.
"There's a citizen in the eastern quarter of Marineford," she said. "Her cat is stuck on a rooftop. You are to go retrieve it."
Silence followed.
Tenjin blinked.
Then blinked again.
He did not answer immediately, perhaps out of the foolish hope that if he stood still enough, the words would somehow rearrange themselves into something reasonable.
They did not.
"…A cat?" he said at last.
"Yes."
Tenjin stared at her.
Gion stared back.
"I became a Marine," Tenjin said carefully, "to fight pirates."
Gion did not so much as twitch.
"Congratulations."
Tenjin's eye twitched.
"Not," he continued, voice tightening, "to rescue cats."
Gion lowered the paper onto the desk with maddening calm.
"And yet," she said, "this is the mission you've been given."
Tenjin frowned deeply.
Gion's gaze sharpened just a fraction.
"You are a trainee under my supervision," she said. "You do not question my orders. You carry them out."
Tenjin gritted his teeth.
There were many things he wished to say in that moment.
That he was a Marine Captain.
That he had fought pirates with bounties high enough to buy entire towns.
That he had faced CP0 agents. Admirals. Vice Admiral Garp.
And now—
Now he was being sent to rescue a cat.
The insult of it settled into his bones.
But Gion remained unmoved.
Tenjin could tell from the look in her eyes that this was one of those moments where arguing would only create fresh forms of suffering he did not currently have the energy to explore.
So instead, he turned sharply on his heel and started toward the door.
Gion folded her hands on top of her desk.
"When," she asked, "do you plan on doing it?"
Tenjin held her stare for a second longer than was probably wise.
Then he said, flatly, "Soon."
And left.
---
Marineford — Headquarters Corridor
The door shut behind him with a sharp click.
Tenjin walked down the corridor with quick, irritated steps, his hands buried in his pockets, his jaw tight.
"A cat," he muttered under his breath. "A cat."
His pace quickened.
"What am I now? Some kind of neighborhood pet retrieval squad?"
A passing Marine glanced at him nervously and wisely chose not to make eye contact.
Tenjin continued walking.
"I'm a Marine," he said to himself, voice low but heated. "I did not come all the way to Marineford to be reduced to a mere cat saver."
The words echoed faintly down the corridor.
A few more Marines looked away.
Tenjin clicked his tongue.
He was still grumbling to himself when he rounded a corner—
And nearly ran straight into Koby and Helmeppo.
Koby lit up instantly.
"Tenjin-san!"
Tenjin stopped.
The brightness in Koby's face was almost offensive compared to his own current mood. The pink-haired trainee looked so openly excited that Tenjin had to take half a second to adjust his expectations for whatever conversation was about to happen.
Helmeppo stood beside him, dressed and ready, carrying himself with noticeably more confidence than before, though still with that familiar edge of self-consciousness that made every attempt at dignity look a little strained.
Tenjin looked between them.
"…Why do you look like that?" he asked Koby.
Koby blinked. "Like what?"
"Like someone just handed you the secret to happiness."
Koby smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Ah, well…"
Helmeppo folded his arms. "He's been like this for the past ten minutes."
Koby straightened immediately.
"Vice Admiral Garp is taking us somewhere."
Tenjin raised a brow.
"Somewhere?"
Koby nodded quickly. "We're going to meet Luffy-san and his crew."
That got Tenjin's attention.
"The rookie who attacked Enies Lobby?"
"Yes!" Koby said, and the excitement in his voice rose immediately. "Luffy-san is amazing. He's reckless, and loud, and completely impossible, but he's also the kind of person who changes everything around him just by being there. He—"
Tenjin stared at him.
Koby stopped.
Tenjin's eyes narrowed just slightly.
"Are you really a Marine," he asked, "talking this happily about a pirate?"
Koby stiffened.
Then, a little more quietly, he said, "Luffy-san helped me once."
The answer came with no hesitation.
Just sincerity.
Tenjin looked at him for a long second.
Then gave the smallest shrug.
"…I see."
Koby smiled again, relieved that the topic had not immediately turned into an argument.
"Do you want to come with us?" he asked. "Vice Admiral Garp probably wouldn't mind."
Tenjin considered it for exactly one second.
"No."
Koby blinked. "No?"
"I've got other things to deal with."
This, technically, was true.
A cat was one of those things.
Unfortunately.
Helmeppo glanced at his expression and seemed to understand that asking further questions would only lead somewhere dangerous.
Koby, however, still looked mildly disappointed.
"Ah. Alright."
Tenjin gave a lazy wave and walked past them.
"Tell your Luffy-san to not make himself more of an enemy of the Government than he already did."
Koby turned around immediately. "I don't think that's a promise anyone can make."
Tenjin snorted once and kept going.
---
Marineford — Information Center Access Hall
The Information Center of Marineford was not a place trainees were meant to wander into.
Or junior officers.
Or most officers below a certain level, really.
It handled pirate movement reports, intelligence distribution, bounty traffic, coded communication routing, and all manner of things that Marineford generally preferred not to have touched by curious hands.
That was exactly why Tenjin kept trying to get in.
Which was also exactly why, over the past week, the guards stationed outside had become increasingly wary whenever they heard footsteps approaching with too much confidence.
So when Tenjin turned into the access hall, several Marines already standing guard stiffened at once.
One of them stepped forward immediately.
"Captain Tenjin," he said. "You are not authorized to enter."
Tenjin kept walking.
Another Marine moved into his path.
"Sir, I'm serious. You cannot go in there."
Tenjin stopped.
Looked at the man.
Then at the door behind him.
Then back at the man.
And with complete sincerity asked, "Are you trying to ruin my day further?"
The Marine opened his mouth—
And Tenjin moved.
A short burst of bark and roots exploded from the floor at his feet, wrapping around one guard's legs and flinging him harmlessly to the side. Another lunged forward and Tenjin caught him by the shoulder, then sent him stumbling backward with a hardened sweep of his forearm.
Two more Marines rushed him at once.
Tenjin twisted, and thick slabs of wood burst outward from his arm like shields, slamming into them and tossing them across the hallway in a mess of boots and indignation.
"Stop him!"
"Don't let him through!"
"He's doing it again!"
Tenjin clicked his tongue and kept moving.
The remaining guards tried to block him, but he made short work of them. Bark-like tendrils snapped from the walls and floor, wrapping around arms, waists, and ankles, throwing them aside just enough for him to continue.
Within seconds, the entire hall was a disaster.
All of them had failed to stop him.
Tenjin reached the door, pushed it open, and stepped inside.
---
Marineford — Information Center
The room inside was large, cool, and unnervingly quiet.
Rows of desks were covered in maps, report slips, coded files, and carefully organized stacks of intelligence. Several specialists in Marine uniforms sat frozen at their stations as Tenjin walked in, every eye in the room widening with the same expression.
Fear.
At the center desk, the lead information specialist went pale.
He half rose from his seat.
"C-Captain Tenjin," he stammered. "What are you doing here?"
Tenjin walked straight up to him.
Placed one hand on the man's shoulder.
And gripped.
"Information-san," Tenjin said.
The man blinked.
"That's not my name."
Tenjin ignored him completely.
"I want information on the closest pirates in proximity with me."
The specialist swallowed.
"I'm not authorized to reveal that to—"
Tenjin tightened his grip slightly.
The man let out a tiny squeak.
"I'm sorry," Tenjin said, though his face suggested otherwise. "What was that?"
The specialist broke.
"C-Closes, closest pirates," he babbled, instantly turning back toward his desk. "Y-yes. Of course. Just, just a moment."
He began rifling through recent tracking reports with frantic speed while Tenjin stood over him like a very irritated tree.
Around the room, no one else dared interfere.
The specialist finally found the correct file and flipped it open.
"The nearest notable pirate targets currently on record are…" He scanned the list quickly. "Marshall D. Teach, Blackbeard."
Tenjin frowned.
"Who?"
The specialist blinked. "B-Blackbeard. A relatively new pirate the Navy is keeping an eye on. One of his crewmates once invaded Marineford and declared that Blackbeard would become a serious menace in the future."
Tenjin looked unimpressed.
"A no-name pirate does not interest me."
The specialist decided not to challenge that.
He kept reading.
Then paused.
His voice shifted ever so slightly as he read the next name.
"Portgas D. Ace. Also known as Fire Fist Ace."
That got Tenjin.
A slow smile spread across his face.
"Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates," he said.
The specialist nodded nervously. "Y-Yes."
"Five hundred million berry bounty."
"Yes."
Tenjin's smile deepened.
Now this—
This felt right.
This felt like something worthy of a Marine.
He released the specialist's shoulder and straightened.
"Now," Tenjin said softly, almost to himself, "this is what I became a Marine for."
---
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