To the end of the sea [One Piece]

As Shanks' most important partner, his vice-captain, and the person he spends the most time with, Beckman quickly noticed something unusual about the other person recently.

As one of the men of the Poseidon King, Shanks has excellent control over his emotions. It was only from the day Eina asked him to use the overlord color for training that his eyes began to linger on the girl intentionally or unintentionally.

After Eina fainted under the shock of Overlord's color during the initial training and carried her back to the room, she stayed there for a few minutes longer than any other time.

When the girl was fooling around with him, the man who was already extremely indulgent towards her was even more submissive than usual.

The pirates laughed and watched the fun, but Ena was just thinking about how to beat him to relieve her anger. However, Beckman saw how tender his eyes were when he secretly looked at the girl while everyone was laughing.

It was a look that Shanks himself didn't even realize, thinking that no one knew.

Something has veered off course, heading towards a slight but unknown deviation.

True Old Father Beckman treated this matter by analyzing his opponent's thinking intensity and way of thinking, which shows how much he attaches importance to it.

After confirming the enemy's situation, the deputy captain decided that it was necessary to talk to the captain himself.

+ + +

"Beckman? What's the matter?" Shanks opened the door and was somewhat surprised to see the gray-haired captain, turning sideways to let him in.

Beckman sat down at his desk: "I have something I want to talk to you about."

The red-haired man blinked and sat down on the other side: "Okay, what is it?"

"About Ena."

Shanks was startled: "What's wrong with Eina? Is she overtrained recently? I just said that the Overlord color is not suitable for her..."

"No, it's not about training." Beckman interrupted, "Her agreement with Straw Hat Boy is still half a year away, right?"

Shanks' words stopped abruptly. He pursed his lips unconsciously, and after a few seconds said, "Ah, there's still half a year. But Rayleigh seems to have returned to Shampoo early. It seems that Luffy's training is going very well."

Beckman's eyes sharpened. "After she goes back, it will be difficult for her to meet us again."

Shanks didn't know what was wrong with Beckman today. He was always saying things that made him inexplicably uncomfortable. He also frowned: "Probably. After all, she is not our companion, and she cannot always stay with us."

"That's such a pity." Beckman raised his eyebrows and leaned back, "I can't bear to leave her. I will definitely miss her if she leaves."

Shanks rubbed his fingers, held them up and unclenched them: "Yeah... I will too..." Missing her.

He suddenly stopped speaking during the last half of the sentence, but the tenderness in his eyes betrayed the man's intention.

This is the effect Beckman is waiting for. "What do you know?"

His repeated questioning made Shanks a little restless: "Hey Beckman, what do you want to say?"

The sharpness in Beckman's eyes faded in an instant. He leaned back in his chair easily and looked at him intriguingly: "I'm helping you think."

"what?"

"After all, for a guy like you who is so nervous, if I hadn't helped you, everything would have been over by the time you figured it out." Beckman complained mercilessly about his old buddy, "There are some things you can't wait for. Shanks, only half a year left."

Shanks stared at his mate at first, then slowly opened his eyes, and then glared in shame: "Are you kidding-"

He's just a jerk, not an idiot. What's more, no matter how simple he lives, he is still a man in his late forties, how could he not realize the profound meaning of Beckman's words.

Nearly forty – what was Beckman thinking!

"Ena is the child we have taken care of since she was a child——"

"She is also the woman who has been with you day and night for nearly two years." Beckman said, "She is 22 and will be 23 next month."

Shanks rarely gets angry at his companions, especially Beckman, who has been with him from the very beginning. But now that he was listening to him talking about Eina behind his back in such a frivolous tone, he was rarely angry.

"Beckman. She is me, you, and she is the girl that all of us value and love." Shanks lowered his voice and said, "She is not one of those women you just use to joke around and gossip about. If you continue to do this Talk about her, even if it’s you, I won’t ignore her.”

Although his captain was angry with him for the first time because of this, Beckman did not panic at all. He sighed: "You know how much I care about that child. I never thought of making fun of her casually."

"In the final analysis, I'm just here to remind you, Shanks. You can make your own choices, and I am only responsible for protecting the children I care about from harm, but at the same time, as your brother, I don't want to see you look back because of your insensitivity. regret."

"If you have figured it out and still think you won't regret it, just pretend I haven't been here today." He shrugged, waved with his back to Shanks, then closed the door and went out.

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Beckman walked away free and easy, but those who stayed behind suffered from insomnia for the first time in a century.

How could his own closest companions be mistaken? Every word he said just dug out the thoughts buried deep in his heart before he even started thinking about them, and put them in front of him for him to see.

If he had no distracting thoughts, he would directly deny it today instead of getting angry for various other reasons.

If he didn't care, he wouldn't have accumulated irritability since he started mentioning Eina's departure, so that he actually got angry in the end.

If you are not tempted...

He wouldn't lie in bed with his eyes wide open, tossing and turning without sleep.

Such a scene is too abnormal for red-haired Shanks. There's no way a man of his age would still be like a young man and couldn't sleep because of a girl, he thought.

There is no such thing as the four dignified emperors suffering from emotional problems.

He didn't even understand the other person's thoughts, and he was already upset by the suspected possibility.

When did it start…

Did he stay at the bedside until the moment she woke up? The night he put her in his arms and put her to sleep? Was it the moment at the banquet when the firelight and starlight illuminated her face?

It should be when she was knocked down by him again and again but stood up tenaciously. Her beautiful and deep eyes are full of burning faith. That scene is enough to make any man in the world be attracted to her.

Once you are caught in the eye, you will move closer to her involuntarily, and then you will get deeply involved in getting along with her again and again until you realize it is too late.

He was attracted to her later, but his bond with her had already been deep-rooted nine years ago. A girl who had been in his heart from the beginning appeared in front of him with stunning appearance and tough character when she grew up, and it was easy to capture his deeper emotions.

Too bad.

Shanks disliked himself.

You have feelings for the girl you have always loved as a child. She trusts you so much and relies on you so much. Even though he is a pirate who does whatever he wants, Shanks deeply feels that he is doing this badly.

It's not a matter of age, nor is it a matter of whether the other person is attracted to you. As a very charismatic pirate, Shanks has never been a person without confidence.

Just because that girl's name is Ikegawa Ena.

For eight years, he had always held the idea of ​​"must see her find a boy who is worthy of her, and must make her happy."

He had imagined the shadow of the boy next to her, but he never imagined that one day the shadow would gradually become clearer, and what would emerge would be his own appearance.

He always felt that he would be the bystander watching her gain happiness.

Finally, one day his own heart told him: Hey, wake up, do you think I can do it?

I can definitely give her happiness.

Mr. Yonko has never had any doubts about himself on this point.

but…

She is so young, has stunning beauty, and has powerful abilities. The last person who attracted her attention was a handsome young man of the same age as her, who was young and energetic, gentle and affectionate towards her.

If he were still alive, Bao Buqi would already be a great pirate on par with him, with a sound body and a sincere heart.

Will Shanks be timid too? Will you worry about gains and losses?

If you care about someone too much, everything becomes possible.

With chaotic thoughts, the red-haired man fell into a deep sleep.