There were plenty of Rear Admirals in the Marines, both at HQ and across its branches—countless, really.
But the only one Nao would ever refer to simply as "Rear Admiral"—without rank or full name—was one person.
Gion.
Also known as Momousagi—Pink Rabbit.
"You tell me."
The voice came from the adorably fierce "bunny girl" seated on his bed, arms crossed, face expressionless, her whole vibe pure frost.
Nao blinked, confused—until his nose twitched like he'd caught a familiar scent.
He sighed, picked up the washbasin he'd dropped, set it gently aside, then walked over and, without warning, reached out and squished her cheeks hard.
"Alright, stinker. That's enough. One time was funny, but twice? Come on now."
The same trick doesn't work twice on a Saint Shia.
The icy expression on her face quickly melted as her form shimmered—revealing, sitting at the edge of his bed, a certain red-faced, blue-haired girl:
Shia.
"Because Shia was really mad."
She let him squish her face without resistance, her sea-blue eyes fixed on him, full of grievance.
"But when I look at you, I just… can't stay mad. So I had to turn into Rear Admiral Gion to…"
"…To scare me?" Nao scoffed, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Seriously? Maybe that would've worked before, but now? Even if she showed up for real, I'd still…"
He caught himself mid-sentence and abruptly shut up.
Shia tilted her head slightly, giving him a look that said I caught that.
"Alright, alright—let's cut the nonsense."
Nao cleared his throat, sat down beside her, and casually wrapped an arm around her slim waist. His voice softened.
"Now, tell me—why are you mad at me?"
"Because you left without telling me anything," she said, curling up in his arms like a cat that had been left out in the rain. "You took a mission by yourself. Boarded a ship by yourself. Did everything alone…"
"What do you mean by myself?" Nao blinked. "Shuma came with me!"
Okay, not the best response.
Shia's pout deepened—her lips stuck out like the spout of a teapot.
"…"
Nao suddenly felt a bit parched. He leaned in and gently pecked her lips.
"Mm…"
Outside, the night deepened. The world lay in silence, and fireflies flickered past the window.
"Nao…"
Shia gazed up at him, all the anger and frustration she'd felt dissolved in that one kiss.
"Nao… Nao…"
She wrapped her arms tightly around his chest, resting her head against his heartbeat. Her voice dropped to a whisper only the two of them could hear:
"Next time you go out on a mission… please don't leave me behind. Take me with you, okay? I waited here for five days. It was really boring…"
"…Wait, you didn't take any missions this whole time?" He caught the key detail instantly—if from the wrong angle.
"Because I was waiting for you," she murmured. "If I left, and you came back while I was gone… what if we kept missing each other like that? Then the whole three months might pass without us spending any time together…"
"That's five days completely wasted."
"Mm."
"The final evaluation in three months is merit-based."
"Mm."
"So are you here to train, or on your honeymoon?"
"Mm…"
"Stop saying 'mm'. I give up."
Nao sighed, scratching his head. "Alright, I already picked a mission. Portside rendezvous at 6:30 a.m. tomorrow. Target: the Cheese Pirates. Low difficulty."
"Yay~"
Shia finally stopped humming in affirmation and gave him a big, satisfied hug.
She didn't care about difficulty, bounty, or battle merit rankings. As long as she was with Nao, even fighting Kaido or Whitebeard sounded fine.
…Well, maybe not Big Mom.
"I'll try to bring you on future missions too," Nao said, thinking out loud. "But I plan to go nonstop—one after another—for efficiency. You think you can keep up?"
"As long as I'm with you, I can handle anything," she said sweetly, blinking up at him with wide, innocent eyes.
Nao fell silent.
The next morning, 5:30 a.m.—
The alarm clock had just begun to twitch when a hand shot out from the covers and slammed it down with pinpoint accuracy.
Different clock, same fate.
"…Is it time?" Shia mumbled groggily from her side of the narrow single bed.
"Still an hour early, but yeah. We should get moving."
Nao threw off the blanket and hopped out of bed, full of energy.
"We should be early, out of courtesy. Let's wash up and head to the port—should get there right on time."
"Mmm…"
She was still clearly half-asleep.
Man… totally threw off my whole sleep schedule.
Nao headed to the bathroom and looked into the mirror. He checked himself thoroughly.
Lips—normal.
Hickey on neck—faded.
Hair—just a little messy.
Otherwise, not much different from when he'd first returned to base.
Impressive recovery, if I say so myself.
He prepped Shia's toothbrush and rinsing water before brushing his own teeth, scrubbing carefully as he mentally planned how to maximize his battle merit gains in the coming weeks.
He didn't really need sleep. The only reason he'd woken up in a bed this morning was… well, circumstances.
Kind of like logging into a game at full health and mana, only for your team healer to cast Sleep and force you back to base.
Of course—
Even if he'd spent the night grinding solo in the training yard, that would've been a bit inefficient too.
The best case scenario? Training en route aboard a warship—getting stronger while hunting pirates at sea.
Two birds, one stone. Maximum time efficiency.
"…Too bad it's not possible yet."
He sighed at the mirror, where he looked somehow even more handsome than yesterday.
Mission schedules didn't always line up perfectly. Even if he wanted to grind nonstop, there'd be dead time between missions. Like today—he only had to wait overnight. But if G2's pacing slowed even a little, he could be stuck on standby for days, just waiting for a mission worth doing.
"Nao…" A sleepy voice called from behind him. "Where's… my underwear?"
…Why are you asking me that?
Wait—your inner underwear?
Nao stared blankly into the mirror for a long moment… then remembered.
He turned around to see Shia half-sitting up in bed.
"…I think I accidentally ripped it last night and tossed it."
Yeah. That one's on him.
Even though they'd just cuddled and slept—literally just slept—last night, he still felt kind of guilty.
Not out of fear of going too far.
But because… well, if he currently loved exactly three girls, then at the very least, he ought to treat them equally.
Shia got his first kiss. As for his first time...
That, he'd save for a certain bunny girl who loved leafy greens.