Then Rangiku said, "That's impossible, Unohana-sensei. Just because he's wearing one doesn't mean he's some royalty, right? Maybe it's just a replica, or it only looks like it."
Isane nodded. They were more inclined to believe it was just a replica or a fake rather than think this man had something to do with the Kujas.
That would be absurd. Who doesn't know who the Kujas are?
Mei and Nemuri also looked at Unohana questioningly.
"Well, I wish that were true as well," Unohana said as she sipped her tea.
They all looked at Maki, who didn't care about what they were talking about. He was busy breaking apart the snack in his hand.
They watched him.
A man full of mysteries surrounding him.
Then Nemuri asked, "If his earrings are just replicas, then why can't we touch them, but he can?"
That left their minds in bewilderment again.
Now the explanation Unohana gave earlier resurfaced in their thoughts.
They gulped as they looked at him.
A man? A royalty? And from Kuja?
That was the most bizarre thing they could think of.
The Kuja tribe is known as one of the Amazonians. The most notable thing about them is that they hate men to the core. Following the lead of Medusa, they despised men so much that they secluded themselves on an island in the Pacific Ocean millions of years ago. For those who dared to enter their domain, inevitable death was the only outcome — especially for men.
It was said that Kuja Island had Gorgon statue guardians surrounding the entire island, and those with hostile greed or malice toward the Kujas would surely be turned to stone.
So it was impossible for a man to ever receive or be considered royalty among the Kujas.
Yet here was this guy, sitting calmly and not caring about any of it.
They could clearly see that he could touch the earrings while they couldn't, which only deepened their bewilderment.
The clues were right in front of them, yet they didn't want to believe any of it.
Then Unohana asked him, "Anata, can you remove the earrings on your ears?"
He nodded. "But they'll return."
They watched him.
His left hand rose and reached for the earring on his right ear. With a simple motion, he removed the golden snake earring.
They saw it sway slightly as he took it off.
Then, after he removed it, the golden snake earring suddenly disintegrated into countless golden particles, like grains of salt. The particles hovered in the air before drifting back toward his right ear. From there, the golden snake earring materialized again, condensing into its original form.
They saw it clearly.
Could a replica do this?
"Well," he said, "I'm stuck with it."
They fell silent, trying to connect everything they knew about him.
Another mystery for today.
Was he really royalty from Kuja?
A man?
Yet Maki wasn't concerned about that.
In his mind, he was thinking about classes and when they would start. He hadn't finished his studies before, and now he had to attend classes again.
He wondered what the lessons would be.
History? Societies? Individuals? Headache.
Mathematics? Bullcrap.
Science? In one ear and out the other.
Aesthetics and Culture? Good.
Ethics and Civics? Doesn't really matter.
Quantitative Reasoning with Data? No one actually reads or studies that.
Too troublesome.
He looked at Unohana and asked, "Anata, do you know how many subjects there are?"
Unohana had been watching him closely. When he called her, she smiled.
"Well, there are about five main curriculums and a bunch of others."
He nodded.
Five. That's good, he thought. I thought it would be eight or nine.
"But—" Nemuri interrupted, "Maki, you're a special case, and you need to start from scratch. Serves you right for not listening to me before."
He looked at her. "How did it become my fault?"
He tilted his head again, an imaginary question mark appearing above him.
Mei added, "Don't worry about it. I'll make sure I teach you well," she said charmingly while her hand stroked his right thigh.
Nemuri scoffed. "You? What would you teach him? How to be a bitch?"
A vein popped on Mei's forehead.
"What did you say?" she shouted.
She jumped off the sofa, and they started their catfight once again.
Isane and Rangiku watched everything unfold.
Maki grabbed more snacks from the table. It seemed his favorite for now was the fudge snack.
He looked at Unohana. "Do you want some?"
Unohana smiled. "Yes, please."
He opened a fudge snack and handed it to her, but she opened her mouth instead.
So he broke off a piece and fed it to her.
Unohana parted her lips as he placed his thumb and index finger, holding the piece of food, into her mouth. Her lips brushed against his fingers, leaving a slight warmth and moisture behind.
He released the food into her mouth.
She chewed and savored the snack while looking at him, and he looked back at her, waiting to feed her again.
Rangiku watched this unfold right in front of her and could hardly believe it. Her eyes widened at the two of them.
Isane also watched their interaction, her face flushed red.
After finishing the whole snack, he asked Unohana, "When will the classes start?"
( *´・ω)/(;д; )
AM N. NOT.