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 Senior Too Close, A Heart in Turmoil
The night Arashi said "I'll continue training" and left, Koby barely slept at all.
Staring up at the ceiling of the bunk bed, that low voice kept circling endlessly through his head.
I'm interested in you.
(It's about training. It has to be about training.)
Koby pulled the blanket over his head. The sound of breathing from the bunk next to him seemed unusually loud.
The next morning, Wednesday.
The moment the 6 o'clock bugle sounded, Koby was already awake. Of course he was—he hadn't slept. His eyes ached with a sharp, prickling sensation. He adjusted his glasses and left the Treno barracks.
Ground Zero's mornings brought strong sea winds. The stone pavement was slightly wet with night dew, and Koby's boot soles made soft patting sounds as he walked. He checked his surroundings while doing warm-up exercises. The other apprentices hadn't arrived in large numbers yet.
(He might not come. He just said that last night—maybe today he'll go back to regular training under the NCO—)
"You're late."
A voice came from directly behind him.
"—!"
He turned around, and there was Arashi. Black hair tied back, wearing the usual navy training uniform. Those cold silver eyes looked straight at Koby. His expression was unreadable. It always was.
"We're continuing from last night. Take your stance."
"Ah, yes—um, sorry, good morning."
"Stop wasting time with unnecessary talk."
With just those words, Arashi moved behind Koby.
Close.
The moment Koby took his stance, Arashi's hand extended smoothly and rested on Koby's right shoulder.
"Your shoulder's raised. Relax."
His voice came from right beside Koby's ear. He could feel Arashi's body heat transmitting through his back. Koby reflexively tensed his shoulders.
"I said relax."
"I—I am relaxing...!"
"You're lying. I can tell."
Arashi's fingers pressed slowly around Koby's shoulder blade. A dull sensation of his body being guided into the correct position. Koby desperately fought down the heat rising in his face while repeating in his mind: (This is training. It's definitely about training. Completely about training.)
The more he repeated it, the hotter his face became.
By the end of morning training, Koby's face had become a mysterious pattern of alternating red and white.
Arashi handed him a water bottle. Their hands touched. Koby nearly spit out the water.
"Those two are always together, huh?"
He overheard two apprentices doing independent practice nearby, whispering to each other.
"The senpai must really like him."
"Think they're a thing?"
"—!!"
Koby coughed spectacularly on the water he'd been drinking.
"That's not it!! This is training!! Completely, it's about training!!"
The apprentices quickly looked away, their faces saying "never mind." Arashi glanced sideways at Koby's reaction. And then—the corner of his mouth lifted, just slightly.
But his face remained cool, so it was impossible to tell if he was actually smiling. Still, Koby found that subtle change oddly compelling.
(Is he laughing...? Is this person laughing?!)
During afternoon classroom instruction, Arashi sat next to Koby. As if it were the most natural thing. Every time he casually explained a problem from the textbook, that low voice reached Koby's ears, and his face grew hot.
"Koby, do you have a fever?"
The instructor looked at Koby with suspicion.
"I don't! Definitely not!!"
Arashi said nothing. But again, the corner of his mouth seemed to lift slightly.
Thursday evening.
After three days of training, Koby's body was beginning to show real change.
Arashi struck lightly. Normally, Koby would be sent flying the moment he received the blow. But not today. He let his weight flow backward exactly as Arashi had instructed. He absorbed the impact. Three steps back. Two steps. —He stopped at one.
Arashi's movement paused for just an instant.
"You've improved."
It was a short statement. That was all.
But something spread slowly through Koby's chest. A sense of accomplishment mixed with a desire to be recognized more. A complicated sensation.
(I want to be recognized—)
The moment he became aware of that feeling, Koby applied the brakes internally.
Wait. Wait, wait, wait. Is it strange to want Arashi's recognition? I like Luffy. I like the way Luffy laughs, I like his voice, I keep wanting to see him. My feelings toward Arashi are different from that...they should be.
But there was a part of him that couldn't say "they're different" with certainty.
Koby blamed it on training fatigue and shook his head.
Friday evening. Rosso Plaza.
The day when apprentice-versus-apprentice mock battles were held. Rosso Plaza—a practice ground elsewhere in Petralia Base, smaller than Ground Zero but surrounded on all four sides by stone observation stands. Apprentices lined the stands to watch.
Koby's opponent was a fellow apprentice who had thrown him three times in a row before.
"...It's me again?"
The opponent was the type whose feelings showed plainly on his face, and he looked a bit bored. He was underestimating Koby. That much was clear.
"Begin!"
The opponent stepped forward heavily. His usual habit. His center of gravity flowed forward. Koby recalled Arashi's words—"When your opponent's center of gravity moves, you move."
He let his weight flow backward. The opponent's arm cut through empty air. Then he destabilized the man's center of gravity—
A dull thud, and the opponent dropped to his knees.
One point.
Rosso Plaza fell silent.
For several seconds, Koby's mind couldn't catch up with what he'd just done. He simply stood there, looking down at his opponent on his knees.
Then the surroundings erupted in noise.
"Did you see that?"
"That was Koby?"
"Where did he learn that footwork...?"
Koby stood in a daze, unsure what to do next. His eyes drifted across the observation stands.
Arashi was there. Standing calmly with his arms crossed. And when their eyes met—slowly, deliberately, he raised his thumb. That was all. His expression hadn't changed. He remained cool.
But the moment that gesture entered Koby's vision, something tightened deep in his chest. He couldn't tell if it was pain or joy—a sensation that flashed through him for an instant, and Koby quickly looked away.
(What is this feeling?)
Night fell.
Koby had climbed alone to the base's observation tower, Mirador Tower. Mirador Tower stood at the northern edge of the base, a stone structure from whose summit one could see the eastern sea in full view. It was a place where someone might come to gaze blankly on a night off, but nights were usually quiet here.
He opened the door at the top of the stone stairs, and someone was already leaning against the railing.
Black hair. Tall frame.
It was Arashi.
Koby's feet stopped for a moment. Arashi didn't turn around. He stood quietly, gazing up at the night sky.
"Today's match was good."
His low voice dissolved into the night wind.
Koby hesitated for a moment, then stood beside Arashi. He placed his hands on the railing, and the night eastern sea spread out below him. The moon was out, and the waves glimmered silver as they swayed. The sky was full of stars. Petralia's nights really did have beautiful stars.
For a while, the two of them stood in silence, looking at the sky.
Only the sound of waves continued from far away.
Then Arashi began to speak quietly.
"I was born into a military family. From the moment I could understand things, I was only asked to be strong."
Koby didn't turn to look at him. He simply listened.
"For a long time, I never felt emotions like happiness at seeing someone grow. I honestly didn't even understand what that was."
Arashi's voice held the same quiet, composed tone as always. But something felt different. The word "gentle" wouldn't suit it. Yet it wasn't cold either.
"When I watch you grow stronger, it comes out naturally. So—"
There was a brief pause.
"I want to keep watching you grow stronger."
Something leaped in Koby's chest.
He looked to the side. Arashi still gazed up at the night sky. But his profile—in the night wind, his expression had softened, just slightly. That cool face.
Koby searched for a response. But words wouldn't come.
"...Th—thank you very much."
That was all he managed to squeeze out. Pathetically, that was all.
Arashi glanced at Koby. Then he turned his gaze back and simply said "See you," before descending the observation tower.
The sound of his footsteps on the stone stairs gradually faded into the distance.
Koby was left alone, gripping the railing with both hands, gazing out at the night sea.
(What is that feeling?)
Even as he asked, no answer came. He couldn't give one.
After Arashi left, Koby didn't descend from Mirador Tower.
The night eastern sea was pitch black, with only a lighthouse beam flickering faintly in the distance. The sound of waves continued low and steady. The wind had grown slightly colder.
When Koby thought of Arashi, his chest grew restless. That thumb. That profile. Those words—I want to keep watching you grow stronger.
But.
When he looked at the sea, Luffy's face always floated into his mind.
Where was he on the sea right now? Was he somewhere out there, wearing that straw hat, laughing that laugh? The voice that declared "I'll become King of the Pirates" still rang clearly in Koby's heart.
The feeling of "wanting to see him" only came when he thought of Luffy.
But Luffy was a pirate, and Koby was navy, and Military Regulation Article 17 stood as a wall between them. Navy personnel were forbidden from having private contact with pirates. If discovered, demotion at best, discharge at worst. Koby's dreams would end completely.
He couldn't meet him. Luffy was out there beyond this sea, but completely out of reach.
His feelings for Arashi and his longing for Luffy tangled together in his mind. He couldn't tell anymore which was the real feeling, which was different from which.
Koby felt heat building behind his eyes. Don't cry, he told himself. Crying wouldn't change anything.
He looked up at the stars.
Beneath the endless night sky, Koby simply stood there. Two feelings existed simultaneously in his chest, both real, both impossible to sort out, swirling quietly together.
The answer hadn't come yet.
—But next week, a joint exercise covering the eastern sea was scheduled at the base. And before and after that, Koby sensed something approaching—something connected to Luffy. That premonition was growing steadily larger within him.
Only the sound of waves continued, unchanging.
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