Cain held Kaido's attack firmly in place, then calmly turned around to face him.
"So, can we stop here?"
His expression remained relaxed.
"If you still want to fight, I don't mind continuing. But with that injury of yours…"
Kaido narrowed his eyes and studied the pink-haired brat in front of him again.
Blocking his attack with Conqueror's Haki alone required a level of control that couldn't possibly have been achieved through a few months of rushed training.
"Your Haki's gotten pretty good, brat."
Kaido grinned, battle lust rising in his eyes.
"I'm looking forward to fighting you more and more."
"This little wound doesn't mean shit, but you're the opponent I personally chose. Fighting you at anything less than full strength would be pathetic."
The moment he finished speaking, Kaido's Conqueror's Haki erupted like a tidal wave.
Cain didn't take a single step back.
The two overwhelming wills smashed together in midair, red-black lightning tearing violently through the space between them.
After a brief test of strength, Kaido rested Hassaikai against his shoulder.
"That's enough for tonight."
"The decisive battle is tomorrow."
His gaze shifted toward Ace.
"As for that annoying brat… consider himself lucky."
Kaido turned away, abandoning his hybrid form as he prepared to leave.
"Kaido! Wait!"
Supported by Yamato, Ace struggled upright and called after him.
"About me and Yamato… we…"
Kaido stopped.
He glanced back over his shoulder, his expression still stern.
"Don't make me laugh, brat!"
"You managed to leave this wound on me. That means your life belongs to me sooner or later!"
"So stay alive."
His voice became a roar.
"DON'T YOU DARE DIE TO SOME RANDOM NOBODY BEFORE I GET TO KILL YOU MYSELF!!"
Kaido rolled his wounded shoulder.
It hurt like hell, but fortunately, the attack hadn't damaged the bone or anything vital. It wouldn't seriously affect his fighting ability.
Still—
he should probably find Queen and get the wound properly treated before tomorrow's battle.
Ace's expression visibly collapsed at Kaido's completely unrelated answer.
Yamato's shoulders drooped as well.
They had fought him all night.
They had gotten injured.
They had even managed to cut him.
And the bastard still refused to say what they wanted to hear.
Cain folded his arms beside them.
"Don't overthink it, Ace."
"That guy's been one of the Four Emperors for years. Do you really expect him to know how to say something sentimental like, 'I entrust my daughter to you'?"
Cain nodded toward Kaido's injured shoulder.
"You left a scar on him."
"He'll remember you for the rest of his life."
"Doesn't that tell you enough?"
"…Huh?"
Ace looked up uncertainly.
"That's what it means?"
"Pretty much."
Cain pointed toward the departing Kaido.
"Look. He didn't exactly reject you either."
Kaido abruptly turned his head away again, presenting them with the back of his skull.
His ears had turned red all the way down his neck.
Cain's words had exposed exactly what little sentiment Kaido had been trying to bury.
Without looking back, Kaido stammered,
"I-It's nothing like Cain said!"
"I never acknowledged—"
Before he could finish, Hassaikai slipped off his shoulder.
The kanabo dropped straight toward the sea below.
Kaido looked down.
"Damn it!"
He hurriedly jumped over the edge of Onigashima after it.
Silence settled over the cliff for two seconds.
Then all three of them burst out laughing.
Ace laughed hard enough to pull at his injuries, sucking in sharp breaths through his teeth, but he couldn't stop.
By then, the first light of dawn had pierced through the smoke hanging over Onigashima.
Warm sunlight fell across him and Yamato.
Yamato supported Ace by one arm as they stood battered and bruised on the crater-riddled battlefield.
The cool morning wind swept in from the sea, carrying a faintly salty chill, yet it couldn't dispel the warmth resting across their shoulders.
They looked at one another.
Neither said anything.
But both understood.
The newly formed couple had finally taken their second step forward.
As for the first step—
they had skipped ahead and taken that one in the shogun's residence already.
"Congratulations!"
Uta rose from below Onigashima on Bella's back and immediately began congratulating Ace and Yamato the moment she landed.
"I'm glad you two are okay."
"We had a few things to take care of first. Cain didn't arrive too late, did he?"
"No. His timing was perfect."
Yamato shook her head, then looked curious.
"But what were you doing?"
"Cleaning up a few problems that might've interfered with your fight."
Uta patted Bella and had her expand so Yamato could sit down and rest.
Cain stepped over as well, taking Ace from Yamato and slinging his arm around his own shoulders.
Both of them had fought all night.
They needed a break.
"There are always a few idiots among the Beasts Pirates who love sticking their noses into someone else's duel."
Cain thought back to the battles involving Kaido that he remembered.
Almost every single one had somehow been interrupted by somebody.
Since Ace had come here specifically to challenge his future father-in-law, Cain wasn't about to let history repeat itself.
"I see…"
Ace's eyes were already half closed.
His voice drifted weakly.
"Then I'll leave the rest to you…"
Cain looked down at him.
Ace seemed ready to fall asleep while standing.
"Wait a second."
"You and Yamato fought together, so why are you the one barely conscious?"
"Don't tell me your stamina's actually worse than hers."
Ace instantly reacted.
His eyes snapped wide open for half a second before exhaustion dragged them halfway shut again.
"Bullshit!"
"Kaido missed maybe ten percent of his attacks!"
"Sixty percent of everything else landed on me!"
"The fact that I'm still alive should be considered an accomplishment!"
Then Ace suddenly remembered something.
He patted himself down.
Looked toward Yamato.
Then toward Bella.
His face changed.
"Wait."
"Bell?"
"Bell!"
"Where did Bell go?!"
"Don't tell me you died!"
"The hell you mean I died, you shitty old man?!"
A burst of flame suddenly shot from behind Ace's backside, crackling twice in irritation.
Bell's sleepy voice emerged from it.
"You dragged me through that fight all night! I'm exhausted!"
"I'm going to sleep!"
The flame immediately shrank back inside Ace and disappeared.
Cain stared at the lingering wisp of smoke behind him.
His mouth twitched.
"All right."
"Let's get you back so you can sleep."
"You two can argue again after you wake up."
…
The Flower Capital.
Inside the shogun's residence—
"Ace: severe external bleeding, multiple fractures, internal injuries, a concussion, and extreme physical exhaustion."
"He won't be getting out of bed for at least a week."
"Yamato: extensive abrasions, a fractured arm, minor internal injuries, and physical exhaustion."
Uta looked down at the two medical reports.
"She should be capable of fighting again by tomorrow, and most of the injuries should recover within about three days."
She stopped.
Then looked at the two patients lying side by side.
Ace was wrapped in so many bandages that only half his face remained visible.
His breathing was steady, though the dark circles beneath his eyes were impossible to miss.
Yamato had one arm suspended against her chest and was snoring peacefully.
Even while unconscious, however, she kept rolling toward Ace.
Every time she did, Izo quietly reached over and rolled her back, putting a little distance between the two again.
Uta compared the medical reports twice.
Then looked at the bandaged couple once more.
"…That difference is ridiculous."
Cain leaned back in his chair with a cup of tea.
"That's probably a pretty accurate representation of how Kaido divided his anger last night."
He took a sip.
"As the future son-in-law of another Emperor, I understand exactly what Ace went through."
"Huh?"
Izo looked over.
"Uta is connected to one of the Four Emperors too?"
Kaido and Big Mom clearly had nothing to do with her.
Which only left—
Shanks.
Cain immediately realized his mistake.
He had let something slip.
After Shanks got married, he had revealed some information to Ace, but Cain had forgotten that Izo and most of the Whitebeard Pirates still knew absolutely nothing.
Less than a day ago, Sengoku had nearly uncovered Uta's identity.
Now Cain himself had almost done the job for him.
"Well, one more person knowing probably won't change much."
Uta laughed and smoothly covered for Cain.
"But please keep it secret for us."
"Not from the fans or anything like that."
"We just still don't know what Shanks himself thinks about making it public."
"…I see."
Izo nodded.
"Fine. I won't say anything."
Cain quietly relaxed.
Then his hand unconsciously moved toward his chest.
Ever since his Conqueror's Haki had collided with Kaido's earlier, something strange had been stirring inside him.
His emotions felt as though something had ignited them.
It wasn't anger.
It wasn't nervousness.
It was a burning exhilaration.
A desire to fight.
Cain had never felt that urge this strongly before.
It was so intense that even he found it unfamiliar.
'What was that feeling?'
'When I met Kaido in Totto Land before, I didn't feel anything like this…'
…
Deep inside Onigashima—
Kaido sat upon his throne while Queen treated his wound.
Layer after layer of stitches pulled the deep cut across his shoulder closed as Queen's mechanical hands worked with practiced efficiency, a cigar still clenched between his teeth.
Given Kaido's natural recovery, an open wound like this wouldn't take long to close on its own.
Queen's only real job was to make sure it healed as thoroughly as possible before tomorrow.
Kaido, however, wasn't paying attention to the treatment at all.
His free hand tightened unconsciously around his sake gourd.
Crack.
The container shattered in his grip.
Sake and broken fragments leaked through his fingers, ran down the arm of his throne, and dripped onto the floor.
Kaido didn't even notice.
Just as Cain was trying to suppress that inexplicable excitement—
Kaido felt exactly the same thing.
The restlessness inside his chest had ignited the instant their Conqueror's Haki collided.
It had been burning ever since.
If Kaido hadn't wanted tomorrow's battle to be a proper fight between them at full strength, he might have attacked Cain right then and there.
Just thinking about it made the heat inside him surge again.
His eyes shifted toward Queen.
Kaido punched him.
"HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU NOT TO SMOKE WHILE YOU'RE STITCHING ME UP?!"
Queen and his chair went flying together.
He traced a neat arc through the room.
"Sorry, Kaido-san!"
Queen hit the ground, climbed back up, straightened his crooked sunglasses, and returned to Kaido's side.
This time, he put away his usual clowning and became unusually serious.
"It's just…"
"The last time you were wounded like this was decades ago."
"I'd almost forgotten what it looked like."
Queen resumed working.
"And this time…"
"That brat Ace actually managed to leave a wound on you."
"It's hard not to think of Kozuki Oden."
"The rumors going around about the Kozuki family taking revenge might sound ridiculous, but they do prove one thing."
Queen's expression hardened.
"We really can't afford to be careless this time."
"Heh."
"Queen, you're overthinking it."
Kaido accepted another sake gourd from one of his subordinates and drank deeply.
"Cain delivered the Kozuki people straight into our hands himself."
"Those rumors are already dead."
"Besides, the brat said it plainly."
"This battle is about helping Yamato."
"It has nothing to do with the Kozuki family."
Kaido leaned back against his throne.
"If it did, you think I'd be sitting here honoring some agreement about a decisive battle?"
"I would've taken the entire Beasts Pirates and crushed them a year ago."
The only reason Kaido had patiently honored the agreement Yamato and Cain had made all this time was because he acknowledged Yamato's growth.
His own…
Kaido paused internally.
His daughter had found the courage to stand openly before him and declare war.
That alone was worthy of Kaido answering her with everything he had.
But if this battle had been launched in Kozuki Oden's name—
under the Kozuki family's banner—
then Kaido would have cared nothing for honor.
Agreements.
Promises.
Duels.
None of it would matter.
He would simply take the entire Beasts Pirates fleet and crush everyone still dreaming of a Kozuki restoration beneath his feet.
Not one of them would be left standing.