Of Smiles and Secrets

One

"Wanna hear a secret?" Red Haired Shanks slurred.

It was an ordinary night in Foosha's one and only Party Bar. Most of Makino's patrons had left to sleep off the alcohol, while only two stayed.

"Oh?" Makino turned around to face the one of two patrons.

Shanks, with his straw hat that she never saw off of him, stared at her. His face was flushed red, his eyes unfocused, and a drunken smile was plastered on his face. Honestly this was probably the most drunk Makino had ever seen the man.

But perhaps that's to be expected. Today Makino had gotten some higher grade alcohol from the Goa Kingdom on the other side of the island. Not only that, but some alcohol made from citrus from another island within East Blue. She was only able to do so due to the patronage from the Red Haired Pirates.

"It's a very important secret." The man in the straw hat bobbed his head. "So secret that even the Marines don't know!" Loud laughter came from the man, but quickly went down when the kid next to him stirred a little.

Her second patron was knocked out cold, too tired to leave his chair. His cup had only a third of his milk left. As he grumbled in his sleep, the adults could've sworn they heard Luffy say the word meat.

A worried expression wore itself on the young woman's face as she turned back to Shanks. "Is that something you should be telling me?" She asked, voice soft.

"Don't worry Makino, you won't get hurt." He reassured her, grin as easy as could be.

It was quiet for a moment. Makino was thinking. The man took a swig of his drink.

While Shanks was a pirate, he had been at their little village for nearly a whole year. And so far he's been nothing but trustworthy. Surely this would be fine?

"Okay. Tell me." She finally said, coming to her conclusion.

Grinning wide Shanks took a breath in. "The secret is..." he paused for dramatic effect. "Gol D. Roger was sick when he died."

A pin could be heard despite the child's snoring.

"Gold Roger...?" Makino's voice sounded faint.

Anger was swift to overtake the redhead's features.

"Bah!" A slam of glass on wood. "It's Gol D. Roger! Gol D.! The old man always hated that the government got his name wrong."

For a moment Makino had forgotten she was with a drunk man. As the owner of the bar, Makino had seen her fair share of drunkards. Some who had their whole emotions turn at the spin of a hat. Be it negative or positive.

So far she had only seen Shanks as a happy drunk.

This was new.

She had grown comfortable with what she thought she knew.

Another moment of silence. Another sip of alcohol. The anger had simmered down. And then, "he had been sick for a long time." The man's voice was quieter this time. Somber.

Sad.

"He caught something during his travels. Would've died rather quickly if he hadn't found a doctor that knew the right medicine. Unfortunately there was just no cure for it. He just ended up prolonging his life, not knowing if the next moment might end up being his last."

It sounded like Shanks knew the man. Not many did. Not many in East Blue. Unless they were from Loguetown. Unfortunately there were many who claimed to know Roger but really didn't.

Or at least that's what Makino had heard from Garp.

He always had a darker aura around him in those moments.