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"Are you exaggerating a bit?"
Hina twitched her lips at Kujaku.
'I've only ever done him a few favors, and only for my own reasons,' she thought. 'There's a long way to go before I'd count as one of his people.'
'Wait, is that why she assumed as much? Could it be she's one of his people herself?'
"Kujaku, you didn't become one of Ikki's people before, did you?" Hina asked, suspicious.
"That's going too far, Hina. It's one thing if you think I'm a promiscuous woman, but you can't doubt my abilities," Kujaku said.
"If something had really happened between us, it would've taken more than just a bit of extra training time, wouldn't it?" Ikki cut in, lifting his head from Nami's embrace to look at Hina with a displeased expression.
"That's not necessarily true." Hina glanced at him and calmly took a drag of her cigarette.
"Tsk, still such a cold attitude. Believe me or not, I might just find a time to execute you on the spot."
Ikki straightened, adopting a sterner stance toward her.
"You wouldn't. I know what kind of man you are. You like beautiful women, but you still have some principles."
"Thank you for the compliment. But if I have principles, why do you think I'm having an affair with Kujaku?"
Ikki looked at her, speechless.
"Who knows what happened between you two before? Something between you might not violate your principles at all," Hina said.
"I'm starting to regret not taking more advantage of you back when I was teaching you swordsmanship, Hina," Ikki complained.
"You wanted to take advantage of me? Not necessarily a bad thing. If you're willing to guide me and help me grow stronger, or give me a sword like the one your companion carries." Hina exhaled a slow curl of smoke.
"You wish. That kind of sword isn't something I hand out casually," Ikki said, shaking his head.
"It seems you're quite interested in Ikki's sword yourself, Hina," Kujaku laughed. "After all, it's more powerful than some Devil Fruits."
"Speaking of which, you never actually get a sword, did you?" Hina asked.
Kujaku spread her hands, somewhat helpless. "There's no such thing as a free lunch. He'd never just hand over something he developed for free. Truth be told, he only used me to test what style of swordsmanship I was suited for. During the trip, my clothes got burned in a minor accident, and that's how he saw my body."
'She'll figure it out on her own if I don't just admit it,' Kujaku thought. 'This way she won't ask any more questions, and she'll never know the clothes only burned because of my own carelessness.' Ikki had wanted to leave the whole time; it was Kujaku who kept pestering him for more tests.
"Your clothes got burned?" Nami asked Ikki with a smile. "So, Captain Ikki, you've treated your eyes to quite a feast again."
"It's fine. Compared to Nami, Kujaku is nothing," Ikki said, waving a hand decisively.
"Hey, that's going too far. I'm not that inferior to her in skill," Kujaku snapped, fists clenched.
"Hehe, Captain Ikki does have a sweet tongue," Nami said, her lips curling into a bright smile. Being praised was always pleasant, especially from someone she trusted.
"How are you inferior? I don't see anywhere you fall short," Ikki said, letting his gaze drift from Kujaku's chest to her back.
Not that it mattered whether it was Kujaku or anyone else standing there. He'd already made a careful study of both women's figures. Kujaku was hardly lacking, but next to Nami, one of this world's true heroines, she still fell short.
Granted, by this point in the timeline Nami's figure shouldn't have been quite so striking yet, but there was nothing to be done about that. With a time traveler like Ikki in the picture, it was inevitable that Nami would develop early.
Following his gaze, Kujaku glanced down at her own figure, then over at Nami's. Unwilling as she was to admit defeat, she sighed all the same.
"Sounds like Ikki really put you through it," Hina said. "Of course he did. Someone like him would never pass up a chance to burn your clothes off." She sighed and started toward Marine Headquarters Plaza.
Now that Kujaku and Ikki had rejoined the group, they needed to head to the plaza to await the coming war. If they arrived too late, it might throw off Sengoku's battle arrangements, and that was the last thing Hina wanted to see.
What she wanted to see even less was people gossiping about her and Ikki. Because she'd once trained under him, plenty of her fellow Marines speculated there was something between them. It had thinned the ranks of annoying suitors chasing her, true, but it had brought its own headaches too.
"Ugh, I feel like I've lost out on so much," Kujaku sighed, trailing after Hina. "He exposed me for nothing, and now he's using other people to needle me with it."
"The way you say it, anyone would think I forced you to show yourself to me," Ikki said, walking over and slinging an arm around Kujaku's shoulder. "However you look at what happened, you're the one who forced yourself on my eyes, Kujaku, weren't you?"
Kujaku rolled her eyes at him. Normally, if a man draped his arm over her shoulder so casually, she'd have whipped him without a second thought and let him get a taste of her Devil Fruit power. But right now, facing Ikki, she had absolutely no urge to reach for the whip.
Besides, if she actually used it on him, she suspected she'd be the one who ended up worse for it in the end. Even Gion and Tsuru, who usually looked out for her, might not take her side this time. There was nothing to be done about it; Tsuru had gone and personally begged Ikki on Gion's behalf, and Ikki, in turn, owed Gion a genuine debt for saving his life.
"Hehe, Kujaku's still young yet," Ikki said. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll fill out eventually. And if you ever want someone to give you a proper appraisal when that day comes, I'd be happy to volunteer."
"You rascal, you don't even mind watching now, do you? I really don't know what goes through your head," Kujaku complained.
Ikki's lips curled up, though he had no intention of telling her that he'd only meant to stir up a little trouble for her. He wasn't entirely sure the petite, adorable woman in front of him wouldn't lose her composure entirely and make some kind of scene otherwise.
"Speaking of filling out," Hina said suddenly, "you must have some method for helping people grow quickly, don't you, Ikki?"