Yukino also noticed Rebecca standing beside Makoto. She was clearly younger, but her figure was impossibly voluptuous.
The neckline of her pale pink dress was cut very low, revealing large expanses of snowy white skin below her collarbone, which Makoto promptly pulled up. Rebecca was plastered against Makoto, yawning like a cat sunning itself.
Yukino rolled her eyes hard.
Makoto saw her too. He patted Rebecca's shoulder, indicating for her to wait there, and walked over to Yukino.
"Long time no see."
With that, Makoto reached into his item slot and, under Yukino's confused gaze, pulled out an ice-blue Devil Fruit shaped like a mango from the void.
Yukino's eyes widened in that instant.
"This... for... for me?" Yukino's voice stuttered a little.
"To be honest, I used to really dislike you."
Hearing this, Yukino was stunned.
"The old you, to use a saying from my hometown, was someone who was out of touch with reality and self-righteous. Although many men were infatuated with you, I never understood what those simps were thinking."
Makoto calmly listed her faults.
"But—" The corner of his mouth curved slightly. "I have to say, the current you has a certain charm."
Yukino looked at Makoto's smile. Her heartbeat uncontrollably even more.
Finally, she asked the dumbest question. "D... don't you want to give it to one of your women?"
The moment the words left her mouth, Yukino herself wanted to slap herself. This was such a mood killer!
Makoto was stunned for a moment, then laughed. "They don't need it."
Except for girls like Marin and Momoi who hadn't yet had that kind of relationship with Makoto, the other women basically already had their own special abilities.
Even girls like Nijika and Mai, who hadn't had physical relations with him, had found their own paths of growth.
The former was going all in on the path of a Pokémon trainer, the latter continued to study Medical Ninjutsu and the Strength of a Hundred Technique under Tsunade.
The Ice-Ice Fruit was meaningless to them as well. And among the women Makoto currently knew, there truly was no one more suited for this fruit than Yukino.
After all, anyone who had played Pokémon knew that ice and water share the same affinity, similar to the relationship between rock and ground types. The name suited her too. (T/N: Yuki from Yukino means snow.)
He looked at her and said four words, one by one.
"You have grown up."
Yukino's eyes reddened slightly at that moment. She lowered her head and looked at the ice-blue fruit in her palm, saying nothing, but felt an unprecedented sense of satisfaction.
After the inauguration ceremony…
The officers of the New Revolutionary Army rushed up from both sides of the platform, stopped before Makoto, and bowed.
Makoto waved his hand. "Don't pull that kind of shit with me."
The Revolutionary Army members looked awkward.
"Is the Commander going back?" King Riku walked down the steps.
Makoto nodded.
Yukino also announced that the position of leader of the Revolutionary Army would be handed over to Koala, and that she herself would be leaving.
"Yukino-nee..."
Koala's eyes reddened.
Yukino looked at this girl who had grown up by her side, practically half her daughter. A surge of maternal affection welled up inside her. She reached out and tucked the stray hair from Koala's forehead behind her ear. "I've done everything I can do. The rest is up to you."
Koala rushed forward and hugged her, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably.
"Stay one more day," Koala's voice was muffled in Yukino's shoulder. "Just one day."
Yukino's hand paused for two seconds on Koala's back, then she looked up at Makoto.
"Whatever you want. Why ask me?"
Yukino was stunned for a moment. A few seconds later, she tried to cover it up: "I can't get back by myself. I have to rely on you."
"Oh, sorry, forgot." Makoto waved his hand and turned to leave.
Yukino looked down in silence. She didn't know why herself, but her first reaction was to ask his opinion.
Just then, Makoto noticed Rebecca wasn't there, but he didn't pay it any mind. There was no danger in Dressrosa anymore. The girl had probably run off somewhere to play.
…
Night fell. All of Dressrosa was celebrating.
Around the bonfires, the citizens of Dressrosa held hands, dancing joyful dances. The members of the New Revolutionary Army gathered around Yukino, raising glass after glass to toast her.
Tashigi passed out on the table after two drinks, unable to hold her liquor.
Koala, who hadn't stopped crying, ended up hanging onto Yukino's arm. "Yukino-nee... you have to come back and visit us..."
"Mm."
The party lasted late. The crowds gradually dispersed.
Makoto and Yukino walked back along the stone-paved road to Royal Castle.
"It seems you're doing well here." Makoto smiled and asked, glancing sideways. "Maybe you should just stay."
Yukino's step faltered for a moment. The faces of Koala, Tashigi, Smoker, Issho, and others flashed through her mind. Finally, she turned her face to look at Makoto's profile.
"No."
Yukino withdrew her gaze and shook her head.
"Whatever you like."
Makoto didn't say any more and turned into the corridor leading to the guest rooms.
"Um, Makoto—"
Yukino's voice came chasing after him.
Makoto looked back, somewhat surprised. As far as he could remember, this was the first time she had called him by this name.
"What's up?"
Yukino stood in the middle of the corridor, looking down at her own toes. The words were stuck in her throat... she just couldn't force out the remaining two.
"Darling."
Another voice drifted from the end of the corridor. Both of them turned to look.
Rebecca emerged from the corner of the guest room. The moonlight caught her golden shoulder guards first, revealing large expanses of skin. The metal plates of her bikini armor barely covered the vital triangle area... the rest was completely exposed.
Rebecca, clad in her armor, sidled up and plastered herself against Makoto. Her vermilion lips parted slightly. "I remember you really like me in this outfit."
Makoto really didn't want to admit it, but when Rebecca pressed against him, a certain part of him had already thrust up honestly against her.
He immediately scooped her up in a princess carry and turned towards the guest room. Rebecca's body trembled slightly, because she could feel it: 'The hardness even more exaggerated than yesterday! Would I die in bed tonight?'
Makoto didn't even look back at Yukino. And the moment he turned, Rebecca, in the princess carry, poked her head out from over his shoulder, pulled down her lower eyelid with her right hand, and stuck out a small tongue.
The door slammed shut.
Yukino stood alone in the corridor. Before long, she heard that same creaking sound from the morning. Suddenly, the ice-blue Ice-Ice Fruit in her item slot didn't seem so appealing anymore.