Stuck In Ice (ONE PIECE FANFIC)

Chapter 5: Deserving.

None of the clouds could shield Kaito's eyes from the overbearing Sun. Aokiji had broken the news of what they needed to do and like expected, Kaito hadn't taken it well.

'I can still stay here and fight. Maybe Sengoku lied.' Kaito argued; his eyes were like unshakeable soot, but all his desperate pleading fell on deaf ears. 'Why can't he understand?' he wanted to scream, but he had to remain composed.

'Sengoku isn't the kind to lie. Besides, you heard the transponder snail. You heard the Five Elders talking about you, saying your name, and you heard your father. I know it hurts, kid but this is reality.' Kuzan replied wistfully, tired of hearing the same old words coming from Kaito but trying to maintain his patience

"There's so many devil fruits in the sea. There's probably one for voice manipulation. What if this is all Sengoku's plan—to get me gone? You've told me so yourself: 'There are all kinds of devil fruits in the sea'. You hypocrite." he pointed an accusatory finger to Kuzan, but his finger shook But for once, the admiral had chosen to ignore it

"I thought you'd help me. I thought you would protect me, keep me safe- but instead, you throw me off to some random island. You lie, lie, and don't tell me the truth. You don't tell me that I wore you down, and you're just getting rid of me." Kaito spoke, his voice growing weaker with every heart-wrenching word until it became nothing but a grain of sand

"You just want to get rid of me, so you don't have to look after someone else. You're good at looking after yourself, and you're the lone wolf, and I'm the helpless sheep." Kaito explained, shaking his head with an unmistakable expression of anger

"I'm only telling you the truth. If I left you here, you would be vulnerable. This is Marine HQ- on what world do you think we could? Sure, I can hold off." Kuzan stopped, almost saying 'Your father' before recovering and saying, "Sure, I can hold off Akainu, but what about all the other admirals and vice admirals? If the Five Elders were indeed to pronounce your death, there would be absolutely nothing I could do. I can ignore my marine duty but most marine personnel wouldn't and would still deliver you to the Elders. That's why you should go now while you still can." Kuzan explained, frustrated with his weakness. He wished Kaito could stay here, and he did. His heart felt heavy with unspoken words and broken promises.

"Then why don't we take that risk? The death that I would face here would be far better than having you trample on my honour. It would be so much better for me to die here—in my home, around my mother—than it would be for me to lead a useless life on some random island with Garp looking after me. Besides, who says he would look after me?" Kaito refuted, growing angrier and angrier

"Who says he wouldn't poison me while I'm asleep? Who says he wouldn't starve me or let me bleed while I did everything? Who says he wouldn't sell me off?" Kaito started shouting and Aokiji suddenly started to feel a rising anger—how dare he insult Garp like that?

"Garp wouldn't do that, Kaito. He's easily the most righteous marine—righteous even more than me. You know that too—he offered to look after you. And believe it or not, he could easily turn you in because he's stronger than me." Kuzan explained, barely holding in his anger as he looked at Kaito's anger. He realised there was a genuine fear

"Kaito. This is going to be the light at the end of the tunnel. This is going to be the fresh start you wanted. No one else is going to hurt you, not while Garp is around. This will be the new life you wanted but don't expect it to be perfect. You're still going to have to be strong. You still need to work hard, because as much as Garp can protect you, you can't rely on him forever; he is an old man after all, but I'm sure you'll do fine." Kuzan explained, looking at Kaito. It was as if Kaito was an Indigo child. He knew that Kaito was meant for greater things than dying by Akainu's hand but he also knew Kaito could never be an Indigo Child because he was too strong