Coby, a young Marine recruit, carries a secret he can't tell anyone: he's been in love with Luffy ever since the day Luffy saved him on Buggy's ship. Every day at the Marine base, Coby trains hard and tries not to think about it — but the feeling won't go away.
Things get complicated when a cool, popular senior officer named Arashi transfers to his base. Arashi sees right through Coby and says, 'You're in love with that pirate, aren't you?' Then he adds, 'I'm interested in you.' Suddenly Coby h
Ripples in the Wake — Coby's Secret - A Lowly Apprentice Soldier and an Unfading Voice
The trumpet blast sounded, and Koby nearly tumbled from his upper bunk.
He jerked upright reflexively. His round glasses slipped askew. No time to fix them.
6 AM. Petralia Naval Base, Seventh Branch. Trainee Barracks, Treno Building, Room B-12. The air in the eight-man room carried the mingled scent of sweat and sea breeze—a smell uniquely its own.
"I'm gonna be late again!"
Someone in the room shouted it and bolted into the corridor. Koby sprang up too, one hand pressed to his glasses.
He ran down the stone hallway. Footsteps echoed everywhere. He turned the corner to the left, burst outside—and the morning sun streaming from the eastern sea illuminated the stone pavement.
*That's... kind of beautiful.*
He caught himself thinking it, and immediately scolded himself for it. There was no room for such indulgence.
Heading toward the training grounds—Ground Zero, a 200-meter square parade field—Koby lengthened his stride to catch up with the other trainees. But he was still falling behind. He always was. Just a little bit. Always at the back.
Among the 120 trainees, Koby's position was roughly there. Better than dead last. But nowhere near the front.
*(I'm not even a proper soldier yet.)*
Koby thought it as he ran. Trainees were naval candidates with no rank. Monthly pay: 10,000 Beli. Food and lodging came from the base. But in the end, every day was the same. Training and chores. Training and chores. That was all.
On the south side, he could see the full length of a 500-meter obstacle course. On the roof of the three-story Galda Building, the commander's flag fluttered. It had been nearly half a year since he arrived at this base, and yet every time he saw that flag, Koby felt an inexplicable urge to straighten his spine.
*I want to become a naval officer. I really do.*
But with his current grades—
He shook his head. *Run. Just run.*
---
The morning combat training took place in the base's practice yard.
His sparring partner was a fellow trainee from his cohort. A short-haired boy roughly the same build as Koby.
"Begin!"
At the instructor's command, Koby took his stance.
Three seconds later, his back hit the sand.
*(Already?)*
That's what he thought the first time. The second time, pain nearly brought tears to his eyes. The third time, he couldn't think at all. He just lay in the dust, eyes open, staring up at the sky.
He got up. His knees were shaking. But he stood.
An unrelated memory surfaced in his mind.
The deck of the Alvida Pirates' ship. Hours spent polishing the floor while the massive Captain Alvida roared at him. His back ached. His arms ached. But if he stopped, he didn't know what would happen. When he'd said he wanted to get stronger, they'd laughed at him. *You? Strong? Don't make me laugh.*
That had gone on for two years.
*(What's different now?)*
The moment he thought it, he bit his lip. It's different. Now he chose to be here. Back then, he couldn't escape even if he wanted to. Now it's different.
But—he was thrown again.
Koby lay on the sand with his eyes closed.
"Three times in a row. Willpower alone won't improve your technique," the instructor's voice came from above.
"Start from the basics."
"Yes, sir!"
He reflexively pushed himself up and stood at attention. At least his voice came out clear.
He killed his emotions in his response. It was a habit unchanged since his days on Alvida's ship. He answered, but his heart was elsewhere. Anger or frustration—he didn't even know what it was—Koby pushed it down into his throat.
The instructor moved on to the next sparring pair. Koby brushed off the sand and stepped to the side.
His kneecaps were red. He pretended not to notice.
---
The afternoon navigation theory class was held in a stone classroom.
Through the window, the distant sea was visible. Today the waves were calm, and the quiet water of the Eastern Sea stretched out.
*(The East Blue really is peaceful, huh.)*
Koby thought it vaguely. The Grand Line was supposedly completely different. Abnormal weather, Sea Kings, swarms of powerful pirates. The textbook said it was incomparably more dangerous than this Eastern Sea where he was now.
Luffy should be on that sea by now.
*(... Don't think about it.)*
He shook his head and faced forward. The quiz papers were being returned.
63 points.
... 63 points.
Koby flipped his paper over and placed it at the edge of his desk.
"I got 71~" came the voice from beside him.
Koby made sure not to look sideways. That trainee had been sleeping through the entire lesson. Koby had at least stayed awake. And he got 63. Sleeping got 71.
*(Yeah, I got nothing to say.)*
Koby quietly slipped the paper into his bag. Not exactly destroying evidence, but he didn't want to look at it.
---
Evening came, and all the trainees were gathered in the dining hall, Camarelia.
The large cafeteria, which could hold 300 people, was just slightly earlier than the usual dinner time, and only the aroma of fish stew set meals hung in the air. It smelled good. But Koby didn't have the luxury to enjoy it right now.
Colonel Seirun stood on the platform.
A woman officer in her fifties. Her short white-streaked hair was cut neatly and pulled back. Her gaze was sharp. She swept her eyes across everyone, and the cafeteria fell silent. Her frame was small, but just standing there, she commanded presence. Every time Koby saw this woman, he naturally straightened his spine.
"Next week, we will conduct joint exercises under Eastern Sea jurisdiction,"
The Colonel's voice was low and carried well.
"Those with lower grades will be excluded from exercise participation and assigned to base maintenance duties."
The cafeteria stirred.
Koby quietly set down the chopsticks he'd been holding.
Combat training grades—bottom tier. Quiz test—63 points. It was almost certain. He'd be reassigned to chores again. Back at the bottom again.
His hands trembled slightly.
For a moment, the image of himself polishing the deck on Alvida's ship overlapped with who he was now.
*(It's different. It's different, absolutely different.)*
Koby told himself that in his heart. Then and now were different. But the fact remained that he was at the bottom again.
The other trainees around him were whispering. Who was going on the exercise, who was staying, how tough the chores were—those voices reached his ears. Koby had no words to return.
Colonel Seirun announced dismissal and descended from the platform. Watching her back, Koby simply stood there.
---
Night.
The lights in Treno Building B-12 went out, and the room darkened. The other seven were already breathing in sleep.
Koby lay on the upper bunk, staring at the ceiling.
He couldn't sleep.
He glanced at the wall of the bed and could make out the Eastern Sea chart pinned there with a thumbtack. It was too dark to see much, but he knew it anyway. Here was Petralia Island. Here was Shells Town. Northwest was Loguetown. And beyond that—the Grand Line.
Koby reached out his finger and traced the chart.
His finger moved slowly toward the Grand Line direction. Then it stopped at one point.
The direction of the sea where Luffy was now.
... Monkey D. Luffy. The pirate boy in the straw hat. A user of the Gum-Gum Fruit, aiming to be Pirate King. Captain of the Straw Hat crew, a legitimate pirate with a bounty placed by the World Government.
The person who, on that day, had casually pulled Koby out when he couldn't escape from Alvida's ship.
"You'll definitely make it, as a naval officer."
That voice, said with a laugh—it still echoed in the back of his mind.
Just remembering it made something strange happen in his chest. His pulse quickened slightly.
*(This is admiration.)*
Koby told himself. That person had his own dream and was the first to believe in Koby. It was natural to admire him.
But.
Did your face get hot just from remembering someone you admired?
Did your chest ache like this?
Koby stared up at the dark ceiling. No answer came. He couldn't give one.
And immediately, something else crossed his mind.
The Pirate Suppression Law. Military Regulation Article 17.
Naval personnel were forbidden from having private contact with pirates. Discovery meant demotion, or worst case, discharge. Luffy was a pirate with a bounty from the World Government, captain of the Straw Hat crew. No matter where he directed his feelings, there was nowhere appropriate to direct them.
*(Nowhere to direct them at all.)*
Koby pressed his face into the pillow, still staring at the chart.
A muffled sound nearly escaped him. He held it back. Crying didn't feel right. It wasn't sadness so much as... just confusion. How was he supposed to sort through a feeling he couldn't even name?
He lay with his face in the pillow for a while.
---
Time passed. He wasn't sure how much.
He opened his eyes and looked out the window.
The base after lights-out was quiet. Only the sound of waves drifted from far away. The night sea breeze seeped through the window gap, cool and gentle.
Then.
A light bloomed in the night sky.
Orange and white light spread—fireworks. Rising from a distant island. Gone in an instant. Up again. Gone again. There must be a festival somewhere.
Koby watched the light absently.
*You're strong.*
Luffy's voice rang in his head again. That was what he'd said, back on Baggy's pirate ship. Koby had been trembling. Luffy had grinned and said it. That was all.
Just those words, and yet they wouldn't fade.
Koby quietly clenched his fist under the blanket.
*(I won't let myself get stuck with chores.)*
He thought it quietly, but firmly.
Starting tomorrow, I'll give it everything. Combat basics, start from scratch. Textbooks too, read them again. One week until the joint exercises. In that one week, I'll turn it all around.
The resolve was real. No basis for it, but it was real.
And at the same time—he noticed himself thinking about Luffy again. Even after the fireworks faded, that smile was somewhere in his head. His chest ached.
The determination to train. The feelings for Luffy. Both were true, both equally strong, and both existed in him at the same time.
He couldn't sort it out neatly. But it felt okay not to right now. He didn't have to solve everything.
Outside the window, the last firework bloomed and faded.
As he closed his eyes, somehow—from far away, from some distant sea direction, something warm and free seemed to drift toward him gently.
He didn't know what it was. But it didn't feel bad.
Koby slowly closed his eyes.
---
Until the trumpet call the next morning, Petralia Naval Base, Seventh Branch, remained silent.
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