Since setting out to sea, he has abided by a single rule as a pirate doctor - to not abandon any one of his patients. This time will be no different.
No matter the odds, Trafalgar Law will not let Murasaki Arisa die.
« Trafalgar D. Water L...
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Having been raised on the same island, Arisa had known of Hachinobe - no, then-Takagishi Koga for most of her life. Yet their degree of familiarity had waned in recent years. They were on amicable terms, certainly, though it was more on the level of mere acquaintanceship than friends. It was only natural given the age gap; after all, Koga had been finishing up her introductory yōgari training at sixteen when Arisa had first been brought to the shrine. It would only be a little over two years later that she would be sent to the Amatsuki clan remnant to marry the then-seventeen year old Hachinobe Mototatsu. Beyond that point, the only means by which Arisa had kept up to date with Koga's doings had been via Kurowashi-sensei, who mentioned his daughter occasionally whenever he received a letter from her overseas.
Still, Arisa had many pleasant memories of Koga. Back during her earliest days at the shrine, Koga had been the one who'd introduced her to Shiori and Suzume in an attempt to cheer her up from her homesickness. The girls struck up a fast friendship and made a habit of going over to Kurowashi-sensei's place to play, where Koga-nee would let them dress up in her hand-me-downs and - if they were lucky - even fool around with makeup if the older girl was in the mood to clean up after the mess they often ended up making.
Watching Koga now as she sat across from her on the ferry ride back to Takanotsume, Arisa couldn't help but feel a small wave of sadness as those memories flickered across her mind's eye. The wordless, apathetic courtesy conveyed through the older woman's smile and posture betrayed just how wide the rift had grown between them over the years. She found herself wondering fleetingly if Koga remembered those visits as fondly as she and Shiori did. If she even remembered Suzume - the real, living Suzume who'd smiled and laughed and cried, not the slogan, the rallying cry, the faceless talking point turned warning conveyed throughout the clan remnants in the aftermath of her death.
Outside, the sun hung low over the ocean waves, its rays slanting past the windows and illuminating a long amber stripe across Koga's countenance. As she brought one hand up to shield her face, Arisa was suddenly struck by how much paler and thinner the young mother had grown since her last visit. She recounted Tatsusada's words from before with a sinking feeling. Perhaps the journey here had been more taxing than everyone had let on...
"I'm really sorry about this," Koga was saying to Shiori, her apologetic voice tearing Arisa out of her thoughts. "You guys really didn't need to tag along..."
"Didn't need to?" Shiori let out a dismissive snort and shook her head. "Please. This is Tatsusada-kun we're talking about!"
"But weren't you in the middle of something?" Ito spoke up anxiously from her mistress' side.
"Nah. Don't worry about it, Miss," Clione said. Along with the other three Hearts, he was sitting nearby with his portion of shopping bags resting between his legs. "We were just about finished anyway."
"Yeah." Shachi leaned back and interlaced his fingers behind his back. "Hopefully Tatsusada-kun will be waiting for you at Takanotsume."
"If he isn't there, I wouldn't know what to do with myself," Koga fretted, her face scrunching up with worry. "But really, it's the only other place I can think of outside of town..."
