Although it was only Cain's suspicion, he had a feeling this whole situation would eventually end up involving Uta somehow.
So he cautiously asked,
"Uta… have you ever wanted a little brother or sister? Either before or, you know, now?"
"Huh? Cain, I'm talking about Big Sis Makino. Why are you suddenly asking about—"
Uta froze.
Then her eyes widened.
"Wait."
"Are you saying Shanks and Big Sis Makino got together without us knowing, and they already…?"
She hesitantly brought two fingers together in front of herself, subtly conveying what she meant.
"WHAT?! She got together with who?!"
Just as the two fell silent, a startled shout suddenly exploded through the room.
Cain looked up.
Sparks crackled violently around the light bulb overhead.
Then, to his complete disbelief, Sabo literally began crawling out of it.
"Whoa, whoa, Sabo! What the hell is this?!"
Cain hurriedly moved in front of Uta.
He knew Sabo meant no harm, but having someone suddenly crawl out of the wiring was still terrifying.
"Did you seriously travel here through the electrical cables?"
"And how long have you been listening to us?"
"Wait, have you been here the whole time?!"
"This is so embarrassing…"
Uta had clearly been startled too, but embarrassment overwhelmed her fear almost immediately. She hurriedly buried herself against Cain and refused to lift her head.
Sabo scratched his cheek apologetically, then immediately bent forward in a sincere bow.
"Sorry, sorry. That was far too sudden."
"I got a little carried away just now, but I absolutely wasn't trying to eavesdrop on you. I only happened to overhear a little."
He straightened and explained calmly,
"It's actually an additional application of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit."
"I discovered that if I combine my Observation Haki with the Devil Fruit, I can hear sounds from several kilometers around me."
"I was originally using the intermission to listen for anyone plotting trouble nearby."
"I didn't expect to overhear your conversation instead."
Sabo gave an awkward smile.
"The ability has been incredibly useful. It's perfect for battlefield surveillance and gathering intelligence."
"Unfortunately, situations like this are unavoidable too."
"Lately, everyone in the Revolutionary Army has started taking detours whenever they see me because they're terrified I'll accidentally hear their private conversations."
"I've told them repeatedly that I'm not the kind of person who deliberately listens in, but apparently my presence still puts a lot of pressure on everyone."
He paused before continuing in a gentler tone.
"Eventually, Commander Dragon gave me some time off and told me to return to Windmill Village for a visit."
"That way, everyone in the Revolutionary Army could relax a little and get back to working normally."
"You get what I mean, right?"
"So that's why everyone was busy when we visited the sky island while you were somehow on vacation!"
Cain finally understood.
It was the same technique Enel had once used.
He had completely forgotten about it.
Still, in Sabo's hands, a power like that would be unbelievably valuable for Revolutionary Army intelligence operations.
Then Cain suddenly realized something else.
"Wait."
"You're obviously changing the subject."
"You said you only overheard 'a little.'"
"How much is a little?"
Sabo smiled sheepishly.
"About… from the part where Big Sis Makino told you two to 'show some restraint and know where you are.'"
Cain's expression immediately changed.
Before he could say anything, Sabo gave another slight bow.
His voice remained gentle, but there was unmistakable meaning behind his words.
"I don't know exactly what the two of you were planning to do."
"But as your older brother, I feel obligated to remind you that whatever you're doing, you should remember to rest properly."
"Don't overwork yourselves…"
The instant he said that, Uta remembered what had happened earlier.
The blush that had only just faded immediately returned in full force.
Cain was not much better.
He rushed forward in panic and clamped a hand over Sabo's mouth.
"All right, all right! That's enough! We are not talking about this anymore!"
This was definitely not the sort of thing that needed to spread around.
At that moment, the door suddenly flew open.
"Sabo! You disappeared out of nowhere! What happened?!"
Koala hurried inside with Bella beside her.
Then she immediately saw—
Uta standing off to the side with a bright red face.
Cain with his hand clamped firmly over Sabo's mouth, looking suspiciously like he was forcing the man into something against his will.
And thanks to the earlier chaos with Makino walking in and Cain clutching his head in despair…
Cain had also completely forgotten to fasten his belt.
Koala's imagination instantly went in the worst possible direction.
The strange atmosphere inside the room sent her face blazing red.
She immediately covered Bella's eyes and slammed the door shut.
"Sorry for interrupting…"
One second later—
BANG!
The door was kicked open again.
"No, wait! What exactly are you two doing?!"
Koala stood there bright red and breathing heavily.
"Uta, why aren't you stopping them?! How can you just stand there and let this happen?! This is… this is way too—!"
Cain and Sabo shouted at the same time,
"IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK! LET US EXPLAIN!!!"
…
"Phew…"
"So that's what happened."
"You scared me to death! I thought I'd walked into something completely inappropriate!"
After Cain exhausted himself explaining everything, Koala finally understood the situation.
Then she mentioned something she had noticed earlier.
"Now that you bring it up, I actually saw Big Sis Makino heading toward the Red Hair Pirates a little while ago."
Sabo had now also figured out what Cain and Uta meant regarding Makino.
"So you're saying…"
"There's a chance Big Sis Makino really has gotten together with Shanks."
Uta cautiously added even more detail.
"And there's also a chance she might already be pregnant with a bab—mmph!"
"Cain! What are you doing?! Let me finish!"
"Maybe don't say something like that out loud when we have absolutely no proof."
Cain covered Uta's mouth and glanced toward Sabo and Koala.
The two of them were staring right back.
At that moment, Bella tilted her head curiously.
"Why did everyone stop talking?"
"That's weird."
The innocent question from a child made all four adults who had immediately let their imaginations run wild turn bright red.
Clearly, none of them wanted to openly discuss this.
After an awkward silence, Cain finally spoke.
"Sabo."
"To be fair, Uta and I really did try to push Shanks and Big Sis Makino together before."
"So if they've actually become a couple, that part isn't exactly surprising."
"But right now, I also kind of want to find Shanks immediately and beat the hell out of him."
Cain crossed his arms.
"I mean, she's basically our older sister."
"Watching her suddenly get married off feels… weird."
"And the guy happens to be an Emperor who spends most of his time roaming around the New World."
"I can't exactly say I'm completely comfortable with that."
"So I want to know what you think."
"Me?"
Sabo smiled.
He nodded once, then shook his head.
"If the two of them genuinely love each other, then of course I'd sincerely congratulate them."
Cain stared at him.
"You accepted that way too quickly!"
"What happened to the guy who forgot everything else and crawled straight out of a light bulb the second he heard about it?"
Sabo spread his hands with an embarrassed smile.
"I was surprised!"
"I never expected the two of them to get together either."
"Who would've seen that coming?"
Uta raised a hand.
"Stop, stop."
"There's no point arguing about that yet."
"Everything we're talking about is still just speculation."
"If we want to know the truth, then obviously we need evidence."
"Evidence?"
Cain, Sabo, and Koala all tilted their heads at the same time.
Uta raised one finger with absolute conviction.
"Exactly."
"We're in the middle of the intermission, and we still have two whole hours."
"That's plenty of time."
"Koala just said Big Sis Makino went toward the Red Hair Pirates, right?"
"So why don't we quietly follow her?"
Sabo immediately looked uncomfortable.
"Following someone in secret… doesn't seem very appropriate."
His old noble upbringing had left some basic manners deeply ingrained in him.
Sneaking around and spying on someone like this genuinely made him uncomfortable.
His hesitation was obvious.
Uta immediately countered,
"You're a Revolutionary Army officer who uses his Devil Fruit to secretly listen for intelligence, and this is where you suddenly draw the line?"
"Uh…"
Sabo had no answer.
Cain immediately piled on.
"And what if Shanks actually has some serious problem?"
"Then wouldn't that mean Big Sis Makino could get hurt?"
"Wouldn't that weigh on your conscience?"
"That…"
Sabo was still hesitating.
"Come on, Sabo. I'm curious too!"
Koala leaned closer, her eyes practically sparkling.
"This is gossip about one of the Four Emperors!"
"Koala! You too?!"