After Koala carefully explained everything they needed to know and handed Cain the supplies required for the trip to Egghead, she finally seemed able to relax.
She waved goodbye to the group and left on her own.
That left only Cain, the projection Uta had created with her ability, Bonney, and the motionless Kuma inside the cabin.
For a moment, the four of them simply stared at one another in an oddly quiet atmosphere.
"Cain! Why do you keep staring at my dad?"
Bonney hugged one of Kuma's enormous arms protectively as she questioned him.
"Exactly, Cain!" Uta added. "Why do you look like Luffy right now?"
The expression on Cain's face reminded her so strongly of the way young Luffy used to stare at Shanks that she burst out laughing.
Cain finally snapped back to reality and scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
He leaned closer to Uta and lowered his voice.
"I was just wondering if there's some way to help you recover faster. It's already been several days and you still can't get out of bed. Maybe because I…"
Unfortunately, Kuma currently possessed almost no independent consciousness. Only Bonney's voice could produce even the slightest reaction from him.
Getting him to use the Paw-Paw Fruit to push all the soreness and exhaustion out of Uta's body was probably impossible.
"All right, all right, I get it!"
Uta quickly pushed Cain's face away, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks.
"Stop worrying so much. I'll definitely be back on my feet in another day or two."
Then she glared at him.
"And whose fault do you think I ended up like this in the first place? Hmph!"
With that, she petulantly dismissed her projection.
Her image vanished from the cabin without another word.
"Uh-oh…"
Cain watched her disappear and immediately took her complaint far more seriously than she had intended.
'This is bad.'
He genuinely began worrying.
'I need to find a way to properly apologize to her.'
For now, however, the first priority was showing Bonney and Kuma around the Going Merry.
They would be living aboard the ship for a while, after all.
Sleeping arrangements weren't much of a problem.
The Going Merry had originally been divided into separate rooms for the men and women. Since there had once been more men aboard, the men's room was considerably larger.
Times had changed, though.
That large room had since become Cain and Uta's bedroom.
Years earlier, when Cain had wanted some privacy inside the shared men's quarters, he had personally built a tiny partitioned room roughly three meters across.
That little space now belonged to Bella.
Not that she used it very often.
Most nights, Bella simply floated beside Cain and Uta's bed and fell asleep there.
The other room—the former women's quarters—had since become a guest room. Kuzan had stayed there during his time aboard the ship, and it was perfect for Kuma and Bonney now.
As for apologizing to Uta…
Cain suspected he might need Bonney's help with that.
…
Once the tour was finished, Cain introduced Bonney to Bella and Merry and left the children together in the guest room.
Then he quietly made his way toward the ladder leading down into the main bedroom.
He had barely descended several steps when his foot caught in his oversized clothing.
"Whoa—"
Slip.
"Guh!"
CLANG!
Cain tumbled awkwardly down the ladder.
Uta, who had been resting against the headboard, jumped at the noise and immediately pushed herself upright.
Then she froze.
Standing in front of her was a tiny child who looked only seven or eight years old, awkwardly tugging at an absurdly oversized collar while rubbing his head.
The clothes hanging from his little body were far too large, slipping loosely enough to expose his neck and small shoulders.
Uta's heart took a direct hit.
That soft little face was adorable—
and painfully familiar.
The longer she stared, the more nostalgic she became.
That was Cain.
The Cain she remembered from childhood.
Her eyes immediately lit up.
'So cute…'
Uta quickly covered her mouth and nose before her excitement became too obvious.
Her cheeks flushed as she stared.
"Cain? What happened to you?"
She blinked.
"Why are you little again?"
"I came to apologize."
Little Cain looked up at her with complete seriousness.
"You said it was my fault you still couldn't get out of bed, so I thought I should properly make it up to you."
Inside, however, his reasoning was much simpler.
'There's no way Uta can stay angry when I look like I did as a kid, right?'
He was correct.
Uta wasn't angry in the slightest.
If anything, her eyes became dangerously bright with interest.
She happily patted the bed beside her.
"Come here, Cain."
Her smile widened.
"Come sit with your big sister."
A delighted thought immediately followed.
'Why did I never think of this before?'
Inside the Uta World she could alter appearances or make people smaller, but she had never gotten to see little Cain like this in reality.
Cain felt a faint sense of danger.
Still, he obediently walked over on his tiny legs.
The instant he got close enough—
Uta opened her arms and scooped him straight into a crushing hug.
Despite the lingering soreness in her legs, she wrapped him up securely and buried her face against his hair, enthusiastically cuddling the childhood version of her fiancé.
"U-Uta…"
Cain's voice came out muffled from inside her embrace.
That familiar little face quickly turned bright red, exactly like it used to years ago whenever Uta got too close.
Uta looked completely delighted.
"You really haven't changed at all."
She pinched his cheeks.
"Still gets embarrassed this easily."
"Hey!"
Cain struggled weakly.
"I came here to apologize, not become a toy!"
Uta's grin only widened.
"Oh? But you said you were here to make it up to me."
She immediately deployed the Music Domain around the bed, sealing the space away from the rest of the ship so their noise wouldn't disturb anyone.
Then she spent the next several hours thoroughly indulging herself in the safest possible way.
She fixed Cain's oversized clothes, tied his hair in ridiculous styles, squeezed his cheeks, made him recreate embarrassing childhood poses, and forced him to sit through an endless stream of nostalgic questions.
"Hold still!"
"Why?!"
"I want another look at your face from this angle."
"Uta!"
…
"Don't resist. You're the one who said you were here to apologize."
"I didn't say I'd become your dress-up doll!"
…
"Not enough. Another pose!"
"…Fine."
…
Eventually Uta's eyes lit up with another idea.
"You know, when you were older I never really asked because it would've looked completely different…"
Cain immediately became suspicious.
"What?"
Uta pointed dramatically.
"Your little dragon form!"
"Huh?"
"I want to see little dragon Cain!"
Cain stared at her.
"You're serious?"
"Completely."
…
By the time the sky outside had gone completely dark, Uta was finally satisfied enough to release him from the Music Domain.
Cain emerged looking emotionally defeated, his hair still carrying evidence of several ridiculous styles Uta had tried on him.
At least his apology had worked.
Uta was in an excellent mood.
Cain looked at her satisfied smile and sighed.
Then, deciding he had suffered enough humiliation for one day, he restored himself to his adult form.
Uta blinked.
Cain leaned closer and kissed her gently.
She was briefly surprised before relaxing into it, amusement returning to her eyes.
When they parted, Uta smiled.
"What's this? No more protesting?"
Cain shook his head, then smiled too.
If making a fool of himself was enough to make her happy again—
then perhaps it wasn't such a bad deal after all.