RT_Strawhat_Ninja: sorry this took so long guys. Almost immediately after I posted that note I got violently sick for two days and then as soon as I had recovered it was back to work and preparing for school. But here, have another flashback chapter!

Makino's POV

I closed my eyes as I was slammed against the locker. I held my books tight to my chest.

"Uck, what an ugly color." A girl said, grabbing the strands of my hair and pulling.

"Ow!" I yelped, grabbing at the source of pain.

"What an annoying voice. Never speak in my presence again, peasant!" The tall girl before me said. They were obviously upperclassmen. Fighting them is out of the question, not that I'd fight anyways.

"I-I'm sorry." I said softly. The girl smacked my books from my hands. I raised my hands to defend my head incase she hit me. I felt her hands on my wrists and she yanked them down and glared in to my eyes. I felt like crying. These were the school's popular girls. I couldn't do a thing.

"What did I just say? Do not speak in my presence ever again! And what did you do? You spoke! You have to pay the price.

"Pl-please!" I cried. I closed my eyes as she raised her hand. I waited for her to slap me. I heard her hand move, and I heard the sound of skin meeting skin, but I didn't feel any pain.

Slowly, I opened my eyes. I was surprised to see a shorter girl in front of me. Her back was to my attackers, but she had easily caught the hand of the girl that was going to slap me. I stared at her. Her eyes were a deep emerald and indicated irritation. She glared at the girls over her shoulder.

"Just what the fuck do you think you're doing, Hancock?" She asked. I blinked. The girl pulled her hand away from my defender.

"Dawn! What the hell do you think you're doing?! Interfering with my business!" The girl, Hancock said. My defender faced her.

"If it's your business to harass and bully the freshmen then it is my business to beat the living fuck out of you." She said.

"You wouldn't!" Hancock glared.

"What's wrong? Afraid I'll beat the generic right out of you, ya generic bitch?" She asked. She cracked her knuckles.

"Beat it, Hancock. You, too, Alvida. Or I'll punch the fat back in to you." She said in a cold monotone. I watched as the girls retreated. Next thing I knew, my books were being held out to be by the obvious rebel fighter girl.

"O-oh, thank you." I said, taking my books back.

"Don't let Boa "Generic Bitch" Hancock get to you. She just can't handle competition." She said.

"Oh." I said softly.

"The name's Dawn." She said.

"Oh, I'm Makino." I said.

"Cool. See ya later, Makino." She said and walked away. I smiled softly at her back as she left.

The next day, as I rushed down the hall to try to avoid Alvida and Hancock as I ran to my locker. To my surprise, Dawn was standing by my locker, reading a book.

"There you are, Makino. Get all your things and come on." She said. I got all of my things and followed her curiously.

"Where are we going?" I asked curiously.

"To hang out with my friends." I said. I stared at her with wide eyes.

"You want me to meet your friends? Why?" I asked her.

"Isn't it obvious? We're friends now. Your my Freshmen and I'm your Junior. You're chilling with us now." She said. I stared at her back as she lead me to the fountain in the courtyard.

"OI! MIHAWK! SHANKS! I GOT SOMEONE FOR YOU TO MEET!" She yelled out as she pulled me over to two boys. One was tall with feathery dark hair and golden eyes that could pierce your soul.

The other made me stop in my tracks.

He had red hair and brown eyes that made my heart stutter. When he grinned over at us, my stomach did a flip and it felt as if I had lost all strength in my legs.

"Come on, Makino. It's just Shanks. He doesn't bite." Dawn said, grabbing my arm and pulling me over.

"Guys, this is Makino. Makino, the one with black hair is Mihawk and the one with red hair is Shanks." Dawn said. The dark haired one, Mihawk, wrapped his arm around Dawn's waist.

"Hello." He said to me. The red head, Shanks, grinned down at me.

"Well, hi! You're pretty cute!" He said. I felt my heartbeat speed up and a blush flew to my face.

"H-h-h-hi." I forced out shyly.

"Aww, how cute! She stutters!" He laughed. Dawn huffed.

"Shanks, don't flirt. Hope will get pissed off again." She said. I felt my heart drop. He had a girlfriend.

"It's fine, Dawn. Hope and I broke up again." Shanks said, a small bit of regret in his voice.

"Hopefully it's permanent this time." I heard Dawn grumble.

"Dawn." Mihawk scolded her.

"What? I don't like the girl. Yeah, she's all sweet and shit, but I just have a bad feeling about her." Dawn said.

"Have you ever thought that maybe you're wrong about her?" Mihawk asked her.

"Who's Hope?" I asked softly.

"She's Shanks's on-again-off-again girlfriend. I can't say why, but I just don't like her." Dawn said.

"Oh." I said softly.

"What about you, Makino? You got a guy to call yours?" Shanks asked me, immediately cheerful, but I knew he was trying to change the subject.

"No... I don't." I said softly. He grinned.

"Really? You think I'll believe that? With how cute you are, you've got to be to be taken." Shanks said. I blushed again.

"Alright, Shanks, stop badgering her. You're gonna scare her off." Dawn said.

"Well, maybe you can help me with my plot, Makino." Shanks said.

"Your plot?" I asked.

"See, Dawn and Mihawk like each other, but they just won't admit it. So I'm devising a master plan to get them together!" He said. My eyes widened. I was surprised he would state something so plainly about his friends in front of them.

Dawn punched Shanks's head.

"Baka, don't go putting your damn delusions in her head. Just cause Mihawk and I hug each other in greeting doesn't mean we want to fuck each other." Dawn snapped at him. Shanks laughed and rubbed his head.

"You didn't have to hit me, ya know." He laughed with a fake pout.

"You are such a child." She said.

"And your eyes have turned pink, which means you're embarrassed so I know I'm right!" Shanks said. I looked at Dawn. Her eyes were indeed pink.

"Weren't they green yesterday?" I thought. The bell rang and Dawn turned, grabbing my arm.

"Come on, Makino. I'll walk ya to class." She said. I followed her, watching her carefully. She sighed.

"Sorry about the moron. He likes to tease me and Mihawk like that because last year at a party we both got a little drunk and ended up making out with each other." She said.

"I see." I said. She nodded and we continued to walk for a little bit.

"So, how do you feel about Mihawk?" I asked. She shrugged.

"He's my friend. We've been friends since middle school." She said. I hummed.

"Okay, what do you think about him? Do you like him in that way? Even a little bit?" I asked. A blush flew to her cheeks and I watched as her eyes go from pink to a silvery gray.

"I guess... You know if he asked me out... I'd give him a chance." She said. I smiled at her.

A few weeks later, after much encouragement from Shanks and I, Mihawk asked Dawn on a date. Dawn told me the date went well, and there was a second date. After that, they officially became a couple. And Shanks told me he and Hope got back together. Dawn was displeased.

"What's so bad about her?" I asked one day as Dawn and I hung out after school.

"She's got a weak heart." Dawn said.

"A weak heart?" I asked. Dawn nodded, pushing her dark auburn hair out of her face, scowling at the length of it.

"The smallest word can make her change her mind. That's why she and Shanks are on-again-off-again. A guy will flirt with her, ask her out, she'll tell them she's with Shanks, they'll tell her they're better, she breaks up with Shanks, gets stomped on by the other guy, then comes crawling back to Shanks. What's worse is, he lets her do it. He says it's because he's in love with her. They started dating this year." Dawn scoffed.

"You don't think they're in love?" I asked.

"Its puppy love. Shanks is so blinded by the nice front Hope puts on. Yeah, she's not a full out bitch, it's just if a girl changes her boyfriend every time she changes her period pad, then you know that's going to paint bad trouble. Shanks is rushing himself in to a relationship and I'm worried it's going to hurt him." She said.

"Dawn, do you secretly have a crush on Shanks?" I asked. Dawn shook her head.

"He's really more of like my brother. Yeah, he and I dated freshmen year, but it just felt weird. Like I said, he's like my brother. I just... I don't want him to get hurt." She said.

"Why are you so protective of him? Aside from he's like your brother?" I asked. She sighed.

"Shanks and I have been friends since we were kids, but... Don't tell him I told you this... but Shanks is an orphan." She said. I stared over at her in surprise.

"He is?" I asked. She nodded.

"We kinda relate on that level. He's an orphan, I don't have a father. My mom is a workaholic, and my older brother is in his thirties. I may as well be an orphan. Shanks and I have always been there for each other. It's because of Shanks I've decided my career." She said.

"Your career?" I asked. She nodded.

"I want to open my own Child Services company, so I can help out orphans like Shanks get adopted and in good homes where they're safe from the dangers of the world." She said.

"You mean that Shanks-"

"Was never adopted. That's why he clings to Hope. I honestly just wish he'd let her go and find someone who really loves him. He's going to get hurt really bad one day, I know it. He doesn't deserve that. He deserves some real love." She said and sighed.

The years passed. I slowly gave up on hoping that Shanks might possibly give up on Hope as Dawn said. I gave up hoping that I'd stand a chance in his eyes. We drifted apart and became strangers to each other again.

Dawn kept contact. She and Mihawk ended up breaking up because she got involved with the Roger Mafia for one year and the Whitebeard Mafia for three years. Though, she did end up getting her Child Services branch up and running. She called it Morning Shadows Child Services.

I had dated a few other men, but nothing ever worked out. My Aunt Party died and left her bar, Party's Bar, to me. Dawn told me that Shanks had married Hope. I gave up on him. There was just no way we'd ever be together.

Then his friends, Benn, Yasopp and Lucky dragged him in one night many years later and said he needed to drink because his wife was leaving him. It seems Dawn called it.

Then came that day when he drank alone and told me about his daughter. I slowly started to fall in love with him all over again.

The rest is history. Six years of dating Shanks, meeting his daughter, marrying Shanks, adopting Aisuru...

I finally had my own dream come true.