Early the next morning, Kirk woke up right on time, guided by habit.
Stepping into the courtyard, he glanced at Pini and the others sprawled around the extinguished bonfire, still fast asleep, before heading straight to the kitchen.
As expected, Saff was already there preparing breakfast.
"Robin and the others said they're skipping breakfast," Saff said casually when she noticed him.
"Alright," Kirk replied. "So I don't need to prepare anything extra?"
Saff nodded, then paused before adding, "Ash was acting strange last night. Robin and Nojiko noticed it too."
"He hid it once the party started, so we thought he was fine. But this morning, he's not on the ship. Go check on him."
Kirk said nothing. He simply patted her shoulder and walked out.
Spreading his Observation Haki, he quickly located Ash.
In the next moment, he appeared beside him.
Ash was leaning against a rock by the shore, one knee raised, a liquor gourd resting loosely in his hand. Not far away stood a simple mound of earth, the shared grave of Shanks and Uta.
The battlefield had been cleared, leaving behind only scattered marks across the sand. The grave blended into the surroundings, unremarkable and quiet.
Kirk sat down beside him.
He pulled out a bottle of strong liquor, glanced at it, then put it away and replaced it with fruit wine.
"Drinking this early," he muttered.
He tapped Ash's gourd lightly with his bottle, then took a long drink before leaning back against the rock.
Ash didn't react.
Kirk frowned slightly, took another sip, then put the bottle away. With a flick of his wrist, a cigarette appeared in his hand, which he offered over.
Ash took it without thinking.
"Give me a light," Kirk said.
Ash glanced at him. "You really are boring."
Still, a small flame flickered at his fingertip.
Kirk lit the cigarette and exhaled slowly.
Ash rolled his eyes at the sound.
"You already know what you did was right. That was her choice."
Kirk's voice was steady.
"I know," Ash replied. "This has little to do with her. She just happened to be the trigger."
He waved away the smoke drifting toward him, then took out a cigarette of his own and lit it.
"Then what's the problem?" Kirk asked.
Ash thought for a moment.
"Well?"
"…I expected us to run into the Whitebeard Pirates first. Instead, we wiped out the Red Hair Pirates. That's not the issue."
He took a slow drag.
"The problem is, after all that, we didn't get a single Devil Fruit."
Kirk stared at him.
"That's your reason?"
"We were ready for war, sure. But preparing for something and actually finishing it feel different."
Ash exhaled a thin stream of smoke.
"It feels… empty."
Kirk's gaze shifted briefly toward the grave.
"You didn't start sympathizing with them, did you?"
Ash shot him a look. "Why would I sympathize with pirates?"
Kirk nodded, taking a deep drag.
"Good. Because no matter the circumstances, what happened still stands."
He spoke firmly.
"Even if Uta was controlled when Elegia was destroyed, she was still responsible. Just like that Kamaitachi Wyper dealt with recently. Being unable to control your power doesn't erase what you've done."
"We don't have the right to forgive on behalf of the victims. The only thing we can do is send them to face those they wronged."
He paused briefly.
"As for Shanks, protecting her doesn't make him noble. That bond between them may look touching, but behind it lies the destruction of an entire kingdom and countless lives."
"From that perspective, both of them deserved their end."
Ash stared at him, then let out a sigh.
"You came here to talk me through this, not work yourself up."
Kirk clicked his tongue but said nothing more.
In truth, Ash wasn't troubled by Uta's fate.
That was only a small part of it.
The feeling had come out of nowhere.
He had expected a confrontation with the Whitebeard Pirates, yet the Red Hair Pirates were the ones who fell.
That alone wasn't enough to bother him.
But just as he had decided to spare Uta, Shanks called out her name, forcing his hand in the end.
Two small moments, insignificant on their own, happened back to back. Together, they reminded him of something he rarely considered.
He wasn't all-knowing.
He wasn't all-powerful.
Originally, gaining six Devil Fruits at Elegia had been a major success.
Yet after defeating an entire Yonko crew, they found nothing.
Not a single fruit.
It was absurd.
A crew of that level should have had reserves, even if they weren't used.
That irritation lingered.
It built quietly until it turned into something heavier.
Depression worked like hunger. When it wasn't there, nothing felt wrong. But once it appeared, it was hard to ignore.
After a night of rest, that feeling had only settled deeper.
Otherwise, Ash would never have spent the morning alone by the sea, drinking instead of eating or sleeping.
What unsettled him most was how sudden it was.
He had always lived freely since arriving in this world. This unfamiliar weight caught him off guard.
It had nothing to do with sympathy for pirates.
He never felt that way before, and he certainly wouldn't now.
As for sitting near the grave, it was nothing more than coincidence.
The battlefield had been cleared, and this was the only noticeable spot left on the shore.
After spending the entire morning there, and now with Kirk beside him, Ash began to piece things together.
The source of that lingering weight was simple.
It came from uncertainty.
Even for someone like him, there were still things beyond control.
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