Kairos' eyes narrowed slightly.
The man before him was tall, broad-chested, and powerfully built. A scar ran over his left eye, his irises were blue, and his sideburns had already turned white.
But the most eye-catching thing about him was the oddly cute dog-head hat on his head and the Marine coat draped over his shoulders with the word Justice emblazoned across it.
This was Vice Admiral Garp—
the legendary Hero of the Marines.
And right now, Garp was looking at Kairos with an easy grin.
He had clearly come here for him.
"Looks like we meet again."
Kairos smiled and raised a hand in greeting.
"Kairos, you've gotten a lot sturdier than before."
Garp grinned and strode forward until he was standing right in front of him.
There was no need for roundabout pleasantries between them.
Kairos had heard plenty of stories about "that terrifying old geezer" Garp from Luffy over the years, and Luffy had likewise mentioned Kairos—the training maniac—to Garp more than once.
In a way, they were already acquainted.
"You've grown fast," Garp said, a sharp light flashing in his eyes as he patted Kairos on the shoulder. "I never thought that after just a year, you'd already be able to beat Onigumo."
A year ago, when Garp returned to Foosha Village to see Luffy, he had crossed paths with Kairos once. Back then, it had only been a distant exchange of looks—not a real conversation like this.
"Vice Admiral Onigumo was being modest," Kairos replied calmly, meeting Garp's gaze without the slightest trace of timidity.
"Cut the modesty. I know what kind of man he is." Garp laughed. Someone like Onigumo would never hold back in a spar. If he fought, he fought seriously. There was no exaggeration in the fact that Kairos had defeated him.
After saying that, Garp pointed at the Sandai Kitetsu at Kairos' waist.
"You just bought that?"
"Yeah."
"That sword has quite a few ominous rumors attached to it," Garp said as a friendly warning.
"It's fine." A faint smile appeared on Kairos' face. His finger brushed lightly against the hilt. "I trust it won't bring me bad luck."
Garp paused, then shook his head with a knowing look.
"Fair enough. If your swordsmanship can suppress even Onigumo, a cursed blade like that probably doesn't stand a chance against you anyway."
Then, with the same casual familiarity as before, Garp draped an arm over Kairos' shoulder and turned slightly toward him.
This time, his expression grew serious.
"By the way… thank you for keeping the pirates away from Foosha Village these past two and a half years."
"You don't need to thank me. I was mainly doing it to train myself," Kairos said, shaking his head.
At that point, he already understood why Garp had come.
He was here to thank him for killing the pirates around Foosha Village over the last two and a half years.
But just as Kairos said, his main reason for hunting those pirates had been self-improvement, not some deliberate act of protection. As far as he was concerned, he hadn't done enough to deserve gratitude for that.
"I really do owe you thanks."
Garp spoke again.
His tone was utterly sincere.
And beneath that sincerity was a faint trace of guilt.
The guilt was for Luffy.
As a Marine Vice Admiral, Garp was always busy. He had never been able to fulfill the role of a proper grandfather, so the best he could do was leave Luffy in Foosha Village.
That had always weighed on him.
And over the past two and a half years, Kairos had practically wiped out every pirate operating in the waters around the village.
Whether those pirates would ever have targeted Foosha Village or not, Kairos had undeniably removed a huge number of threats that could have endangered Luffy.
In that sense, Garp owed him.
Kairos thought quickly and pieced all of that together.
After a brief silence, something occurred to him.
He looked at Garp and spoke seriously.
"If you really want to thank me… then teach me how to use Armament Haki and Observation Haki."
The moment the words left his mouth, Kairos felt no burden whatsoever.
Garp already felt that he owed him.
This way, both sides would come away satisfied.
"You don't know how to use Haki?"
Garp froze.
His expression instantly turned strange.
How could someone who couldn't use Haki possibly beat Onigumo?
"If I already knew how, I wouldn't need to learn it," Kairos said after a short pause, giving Garp a rather speechless look as he delivered a statement so obvious it was almost profound.
A flicker of real surprise crossed Garp's face.
Kairos actually didn't know Haki.
But Onigumo had once said that during their battle, Kairos had summoned seven swords from the sky. Could it be that he had eaten a Devil Fruit?
Garp glanced at the Sandai Kitetsu at Kairos' waist, then at the wooden sword strapped to his back.
Only two swords.
Right.
So Kairos had to be a Devil Fruit user.
And if his swordsmanship was already above Onigumo's, then with a Devil Fruit on top of that, beating him did make sense.
By the time Garp finished thinking it through, he had constructed an explanation that satisfied him.
"No problem. I can teach you Haki."
He agreed on the spot without hesitation.
He already had a good impression of Kairos to begin with, and on top of that, Kairos had looked after Luffy in his own way. There was no reason to refuse.
The moment Garp agreed, the weight that had been hanging over Kairos' heart finally eased.
Haki was something he had long since decided he had to master.
As for why he asked Garp instead of Onigumo—
besides not wanting to owe Onigumo a favor, there was another reason.
Onigumo just looked too vicious.
Every time Kairos saw him, he was reminded of those savage-looking driving instructors from his previous life.
It was impossible not to feel uncomfortable.
"Still," Garp said, scratching his head and putting on a troubled expression, "I've got less than a month left before my leave ends. That might not be enough time. If you joined the Marines, though, I'd have a lot more time to teach you."
"We'll start with what we can learn first."
Kairos met Garp's eyes and answered firmly.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.