# POTENTIAL

M/n hissed, quickly retracting his arm from Rayleigh who was currently tending to his wounds.

"It stings!" The brunette exclaimed, still in a bad mood after his fight with Teach-- which left a foul taste in his mouth. He can't believe that Rayleigh intervened before he could return Teach's attacks.

"That's because you were careless and didn't find a weapon beforehand."

"I didn't know it was a brawl." M/n admitted, mouth forming into a stubborn pout. "And I was this close to defeating him." He held out his fingers to show just how close he was.

Rayleigh only shook his head. "You were also that close to getting beaten up."

M/n ignored that. He was sure he could feel his blood pumping in his veins, the sense of adrenaline rushing to him-- he was almost sure that he could handle Teach with a single swing of a sword. But that feeling had to disperse the moment Rayleigh stepped in.

"You were really brave out there, M/n!" Shanks had swung an arm around his friend's shoulder, cheering him on. "You were totally gonna kick his ass!" He exclaimed with absolute certainty.

"You really were!" Buggy chimed in.

M/n blinked at their words.

With the two apprentices hyping him on, M/n can't help but be influenced by their vibe and immediately stood up, nodding as he flexed his nonexistent muscles. "For sure! Where's Teach? I'm gonna beat up him this time!"

Rayleigh sighed before bumping the three on the head.

"No one's beating no one." The firstmate stated. "Now go along, you three. It's time to trade."

"Redhead, who's your friend?" Marco, an apprentice of the Whitebeard pirates, approached both Shanks and Buggy who were talking to M/n.

The brunette looked up and saw the shifting bird from earlier, he got excited for no reason at all as soon as he remembered that Marco was with Teach. Shanks arched a brow, curious on why the pineapple suddenly wanted to talk to them.

"His name is M/n." Buggy stated.

Marco narrowed his eyes before settling by a wooden pillar.

"A new apprentice? I didn't know Roger was gonna take any more." Marco pointed out, remembering just how the 2 apprentices alone were a handful.

"I just got lucky." M/n mumbled.

Marco casted a glance at the brunette, his brows furrowed. It seemed like the total opposite of what he said. "If you say so." The pineapple shrugged.

"Hey, isn't he a new one of your crew as well?" Shanks nudged his head towards the direction of the curly head who M/n went against earlier. Marco followed his gaze and saw Teach, he pursed his lips into a thin line before nodding.

"Yeah. He's new, yoi, but he displayed some impressive skills."

"I heard he hasn't slept since birth." Buggy brought up, making Shanks frown at distaste.

"Wait, really? That's scary." M/n's eyes widened, joining the conversation as they huddled into a small circle.

"Hey! Stop gossiping behind my back!" Teach yelled from a distance.

Of course, they did not mind the boy and instead chose to just enjoy the time where they weren't fighting or in battle. M/n greatly enjoyed their company.

"But where did you get the samurai? Doesn't he come from a closed country? Can you introduce me to him--?" M/n suddenly asked, his own interest getting the best of him. Samurai's were myths in this vast world with the population of water. Especially if the whole country of Samurai's are confined.

"You mean Oden?" Marco glanced at his back to see the man with an unusual hairstyle. "Oh, he just begged pops to bring him with him, yoi. And he did extreme measures to convince him."

"Really?"

"Yes. And if you really want to meet him, you can just approach him, yoi." Marco gestured.

"No. . . He's always around Whitebeard, it's quite intimidating."

"Do you really feel intimidated to approach them? Don't worry, then! I'll accompany you." Shanks stood up, reaching to grab M/n's hand and lead the way.

"Na-uh, Shanks, Captain told you to get the barrels from the ship." Buggy crossed his arms against his chest.

"Oh, come on-- I can do that later."

M/n quickly retracted his hand before sheepishly scratching the back of his neck, not wanting to be a hindrance to Shanks' duties.

"It doesn't have to be now, Shanks." The brunette assured. "I'm sure I'll get the chance later!"

"But aren't you a big fan of Samurai's and all that?" The redhead arched a brow. "Don't you want to meet that Samurai as soon as possible?"

"I didn't say that." M/n immediately shook his head in embarrassment.

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"If you say so. . ."

The brunette was only glad that it was settled. He's sure that he wasn't looking forward to receiving an earful from Rayleigh.

"Shoot, I forgot." Buggy pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "I have to get the gold from the enemy ship." He told, soon waving at M/n before sprinting towards where the horde of chests were.

Of course, Buggy had been foolish to announce this in front of Marco-- who belonged in that so-called enemy ship.

"Oi!" The pineapple ran after the red nose, muttering curses under his breath.

M/n stood dumbfounded by their previous spot, having been left to fend for his own as he noticed Teach's furious gaze on him. He still have been bitter about how he had hit him unfairly, and he was never given a chance to clap back since Rayleigh had come in time to save the brunette.

Turning around so that his back was facing the furious boy, M/n went to shut his eyes close before walking off, anywhere but from the suffocating glare.

He didn't notice just how far he had wander off until he bumped into something as solid as a brick, if not, possibly even more solid. He was forced back, stumbling slightly from the impact.

Opening his eyes, he soon saw a very tall person, a person made out of brick and everything solid of the world.

M/n was standing before Oden, the samurai he had been dying to meet.

But the momentary joy he felt soon dissipated as soon as he saw who stood beside the man. Whitebeard. And the man didn't look generous, at all. In fact, he was staring him down, it made M/n feel even more smaller than he already was.

"I'm sorry!" He immediately ducked his head, daring not to look at them in the eyes.

"Ah, it's okay, little boy." Oden waved off, ready to continue walking before Whitebeard placed him into a halt.

"Wait, Oden, you've been too kind."

Alright, that was enough to intimidate M/n even further. He always had this view of Whitebeard as a terrifying man, much in contrast of his kind Captain who only loved to fool around despite his monstrous strength.

"I'm really, really sorry!" M/n repeated, knowing fully well that if Whitebeard ever swings his weapon at him, all of his existence would now only remain as a memory.

"That's enough fooling around, Whitebeard." Roger came, looking at his apprentice who was intimidated to the bone. He was slightly amused but he couldn't blame the boy, after all, Whitebeard had a terrifying presence.

"Ah, this is your kid, Roger?" Oden questioned, watching as the man gave a boisterous laugh before shaking his head.

"No, no-- that's a misunderstanding, Oden. This is M/n, he's the newest addition to the crew as an apprentice." Roger corrected.

"Oh. . ." Oden felt sheepish after making such assumption.

"This is the new apprentice, Roger?" Whitebeard squinted an eye to get a proper look as M/n finally raised his head, the nervous look evident in his eyes.

"Yeah!" Roger exclaimed, as enthusiastic as ever.

Whitebeard viewed the brunette as. . . Plain. No feature of his stood out that much, maybe except for those round eyes that glinted an odd color. Other than that, he was surprisingly not as flashy as those previous two apprentices.

But even so, even from how plain he appeared to be. What was with that consuming aura behind him?

"Run along now, M/n-- I'm sure Rayleigh's searching for you now." Knowing fully well just how his first mate acted like a guardian for the brunette.

M/n nodded firmly in relief before going on his way, turning his back.

Whitebeard saw the aura again, it was dark and loomed over the boy mysteriously, it gave a hint that although the boy was pitiful at his current state, he sure had an enormous potential.

What else did he expect though? It was Roger's crew, after all. The man was known to collect freaks from all over the world.

Whitebeard found himself grinning.

Now, he was looking forward to see just what kind of future these kids may lead.