Kami-e. Paper Art. The words lingered long after Garp had disappeared into the relative darkness of the hut, leaving Ace and me standing under the vast, star-dusted canvas of the night sky. Luffy, oblivious, continued his peaceful, drooling slumber against my shoulder. Paper Art. What did that even mean? After a day spent failing to achieve superhuman speed or walk on air, and then enduring Garp's 'Iron Body' training which mostly involved getting punched repeatedly, the idea of learning something called 'Paper Art' felt almost anticlimactic. Yet, Garp's tone held no levity. It hinted at something elusive, perhaps even more difficult than raw power.
Ace eventually muttered a gruff "Goodnight," his earlier questions left hanging, unanswered, between us, and stalked into the hut, presumably to find his own corner to brood in. I carefully maneuvered the sleeping Luffy, somehow managing to detach myself without waking him and half-dragged, half-guided him towards the pile of straw that served as our shared sleeping space – Dadan certainly wasn't offering separate accommodations. He flopped down instantly, curling into a ball, already snoring again.
Exhaustion finally claimed me. I sank into the scratchy straw beside Luffy, the aches from Garp's training making every muscle fiber protest. My mind still buzzed – Garp's warnings, Ace's questions, the strange energy of the Tenshi fruit stirring within me, the weight of the Sunstone Heart and the Kaenken. Lies... Proof... Archangel... Paper Art... It was too much. Sleep offered the only escape, pulling me down into a restless darkness filled with fragmented images of fire, falling stars, and shadowy figures with cold eyes.
Sometime deep in the night, the mountain chill seeped through my thin cloak and Ace's borrowed shirt. I must have shifted, seeking warmth unconsciously, burrowing deeper into the straw. There was a source of heat nearby, radiating a steady, comforting presence…
Sunlight, pale and filtered through the grimy windowpanes of the hut, gently prised my eyelids open. My first conscious thought was warmth. Unexpected, pleasant warmth pressed against my front. My second thought was the soft, rhythmic sound of breathing right beside my ear. My third thought was that something heavy was draped over my waist.
My eyes snapped fully open. Panic seized me as memory returned – the hut, the training, Garp, Ace… Luffy. I wasn't alone in the straw pile. Slowly, carefully, I tilted my head. Staring back at me, inches away, was Luffy's sleeping face, looking utterly peaceful, his mouth slightly open, a faint snore escaping his lips. His arm was slung casually over my waist, and I seemed to have curled up against his side during the night, my own arm tucked somewhere between us, effectively hugging him.
Oh, Kami, no. My face instantly flushed hot. How? When? Had I rolled over? Had he rolled over? Knowing Luffy, probably the latter, but still… I needed to move. Now. Before anyone saw. Especially before Ace saw.
Slowly, agonizingly slowly, I tried to extract myself. I carefully lifted Luffy's surprisingly heavy rubber arm from my waist. I tried to inch backwards, away from the warmth, holding my breath. The straw rustled treacherously loud in the quiet hut. Dadan was already banging pots near the hearth, thankfully oblivious. Garp was nowhere to be seen – likely already outside, waiting to inflict more 'training'.
Almost free… just another inch…
"Well, well, well. What have we here?"
I froze, heart pounding like a drum against my ribs. Ace's voice, low and dangerously amused, came from the doorway. He stood there, arms crossed, leaning against the frame, a wide, mocking smirk plastered across his freckled face. He must have woken early and seen the whole embarrassing tableau.
"Waking up nice and cozy, are we?" he teased, his eyes dancing with mirth. "Didn't realize things were progressing so quickly between you two."
"It's— it's not what it looks like!" I hissed, scrambling backwards the rest of the way, putting distance between myself and the still-sleeping Luffy, my face burning hotter than the Kaenken. "He must have rolled over! Or I did! It was cold!"
"Riiiight," Ace drawled, clearly unconvinced, thoroughly enjoying my flustered state. "Cold. Uh-huh." He pushed off the doorframe and strode further into the hut, his voice deliberately loud now. "Oi! Luffy! Wake up, you lazy bum! Stop cuddling your girlfriend! Time for training!" He punctuated the last word with a sharp kick to Luffy's backside.
"Ow!" Luffy shot bolt upright, rubbing his rear, looking utterly bewildered. "Training? Cuddling? Love wha—?" His bleary eyes focused, first on Ace's smirking face, then on me, sitting a few feet away, looking mortified. Then his gaze drifted down to the empty space beside him in the straw where I had just been. Comprehension, or at least confused awareness, seemed to dawn slowly. He looked back at me, then down at himself, then back at me again. A faint pink dusted his cheeks.
"Ehh?" he tilted his head, brow furrowed. "Akane? Were you...? Did we...?" He touched his own chest, looking genuinely puzzled. "Ehhh?! Nanda?! What's going on?! My heart's beating so fast!" He thumped his chest a couple of times, looking down at it in confusion, as if it had betrayed him somehow. The blush on his face deepened.
"See?" Ace crowed triumphantly, pointing at Luffy's flustered state. "Even the idiot knows something happened! Lovebirds!"
"WE ARE NOT LOVEBIRDS!" I practically yelled, jumping to my feet, embarrassment making me reckless. "Nothing happened! He drools in his sleep!"
"DO NOT!" Luffy protested automatically, though he instinctively wiped his chin, looking even more confused. "My heart's just... BWOOM BWOOM! It's weird!"
"Enough!" Garp's voice suddenly boomed from outside, cutting through the chaos. The cheerfulness from the previous day was gone, replaced by stern command. "Stop flapping your gums and get out here! Both of you!" He clearly wasn't addressing Luffy and Ace. His command was for Ace and me.
Ace's smirk vanished, replaced by his usual guarded expression. He shot me one last teasing glance before heading towards the door. I took a deep breath, trying to quell the frantic pounding in my own chest – purely from embarrassment, obviously – and followed Ace, pointedly ignoring Luffy who was still thumping his chest and muttering about weird heartbeats.
Outside, the morning air was crisp, the mist thinner than yesterday. Garp stood waiting in the clearing, arms crossed, his face set in a serious expression. No jokes, no laughter. Something felt different today. More intense.
"Took you long enough," he grunted as Ace and I emerged, blinking in the growing light. Luffy stumbled out a moment later, still looking bewildered.
Garp ignored Luffy entirely for the moment, his gaze fixed on Ace and me. "Yesterday, we worked on speed you couldn't achieve and defense you couldn't master." He gestured dismissively. "Brute force has its place. But true combat requires more. It requires adaptability. Evasion. The ability to flow around force, not just meet it head-on."
He took a stance, relaxed yet poised. "That's where Kami-e comes in." His eyes narrowed. "Paper Art. It's about relinquishing conscious control over your body, letting it go limp, flowing like paper on the wind to evade attacks."
He nodded towards Ace. "Hit me again, brat. Same as yesterday. Stomach."
Ace hesitated for only a second, then swung his pipe with practiced force. CLANG—whoosh! This time, the pipe didn't just clang against an iron-hard surface. As the metal approached, Garp's body seemed to ripple, to sway impossibly like cloth caught in a breeze. The pipe passed through the space where his stomach should have been, hitting empty air as Garp's torso flowed around the attack with liquid grace before snapping back into place, completely unharmed. It wasn't dodging in the traditional sense; it was becoming momentarily intangible, like paper avoiding a fist.
Ace stared, his pipe still extended, mouth slightly agape. Luffy forgot his weird heartbeat, eyes wide. "Whoa! He's like... like a ghost!"
Garp smirked faintly. "Not ghost, brat. Paper. Consciously relax every muscle. Anticipate the flow of the attack. Let your body react on instinct, moving with the force, not against it. It requires immense concentration and bodily control."
He looked directly at me, his gaze sharp, probing. "More difficult for those used to facing things head-on, eh, Akane?" He paused, letting the implication hang. "Or for those relying on instinctual shields of light."
He clapped his hands together. "Alright! No time to waste! Pair up! Ace, Luffy! You two try hitting each other! Focus on relaxing, flowing! Akane!" His gaze pinned me. "You're with me."
My stomach tightened. Training one-on-one with Garp? Especially on a technique requiring relaxation and instinct when every fiber of my being screamed for vigilance and control?
"Don't worry," Garp said, seeing the apprehension on my face. A dangerous glint entered his eyes. "I'll be gentle." He cracked his knuckles, the sound echoing like miniature explosions in the quiet morning air.
"Gentle as a cannonball, maybe," he added with a low chuckle. "Now, relax. Let go. Feel the attack coming... and become paper." His fist blurred towards me.