FWOOMPH!
A rubbery mass suddenly filled the space between them as Luffy landed face-first on the deck, having stretched himself over from the sinking ship. "SHISHISHI! This boat's bouncy!"
Taiga nearly jumped out of her maid uniform. "WHAT THE HELL IS—"
Makoto calmly plucked his katana from her frozen grip and sheathed it in one smooth motion. "First," he said, adjusting his stance as the boat rocked from Luffy's bouncing, "I never said I'm a swordsman."
"Second," he continued while stepping over Luffy's stretched limbs, "that was a tactical test of your—"
"LIES!" Taiga kicked a stray life preserver at his head.
"—observational skills," Makoto finished, dodging without looking. "And lastly, any sword in my—"
"Don't you dare finish that cool-guy line," Taiga growled, already regretting every life choice that led her here.
"Neh, Makoto," Luffy piped up, now upside-down with his hat nearly falling off as he examined Taiga. "Who's this angry kid? Is she lost?"
Taiga's eye twitched violently. "I'M NOT A—" She took a deep breath, counting to three. "I'm Taiga. His maid. And I'm fourteen, not a child."
"Ah right," Makoto interrupted. "Taiga, meet Monkey D. Luffy, future King of the Pirates. Luffy, meet Taiga"
Luffy's face lit up. "Oh! So you're like... a tiny butler that's so cool I never seen one before!"
Makoto snorted as Taiga's face turned the same color as Luffy's vest. "More like a rabid chihuahua," he muttered under his breath.
"HEARD THAT!"
Luffy laughed, completely missing the murderous glare Taiga was directing at Makoto. "This is great! Now we've got a tiny butler AND we're getting a swordsman!" He turned to Makoto. "Right?"
Makoto sighed, the ghost of a smile playing at his lips. "Yes, captain." The title rolled off his tongue with unexpected ease.
Taiga's head whipped between them, her brown eyes widening in dawning horror. "Wait... you actually respect this rubber-brained idiot?"
"Idiot?!" Luffy crossed his arms with an exaggerated pout. "I'm way smarter than you!" He nodded sagely. "For example... uh..." His face scrunched up in thought before brightening. "I know that meat tastes better when you're really hungry!"
Taiga's eye twitched violently. "That's not—"
"And!" Luffy continued triumphantly, "If you stretch your arms really far..." He demonstrated by grabbing snacks from the galley without moving his feet. "You don't have to share!"
Makoto smirked as Taiga's hands slowly rose to clutch her own head. "He's got you there"
"I changed my mind," Taiga said in a deadly calm voice. " I will escape from here and join the Marines. I'll become an admiral just to hunt you two down."
Luffy blinked. "But Marines don't get adventure! Or meat!"
Makoto casually leaned on the railing as their new captain and his maid devolved into shouting. In the distance, Shells Town's outline grew clearer on the horizon. Somewhere beneath those rooftops waited a certain green-haired swordsman... and whatever fresh chaos he'd bring to this already dysfunctional crew.
The thought made Makoto's smirk widen.
…
Thirty minutes later, Shells Town's bustling harbor came into view. Before the gangplank even touched the dock, Luffy's nose twitched like a bloodhound's.
"YOOOOOH!" He shot upright, nostrils flaring. "Food stalls! Everywhere! Meat! Fish! Meat-wrapped fish! Fish-wrapped meat!" Drool formed a visible waterfall from his dangling jaw.
Makoto pinched the bridge of his nose. "You literally just ate fifteen minutes ago."
Taiga, still radiating murderous energy from earlier, delivered a perfect roundhouse kick to a loose deck plank sending it spinning toward Makoto's head. "This is your fault. You picked a captain with the attention span of a concussed goldfish and the table manners of a starved sewer rat."
"To be fair," Makoto said, catching the plank mid-air and casually tossing it overboard, "I never claimed he was civilized. Just strong." He gestured shoreward where Luffy had somehow already gotten both feet stuck in separate fishing nets while trying to smell a skewer vendor through his stretched neck.
A distant voice rang out: "HEY! PAY FOR THAT FIRST!"
Makoto sighed and reached for his coin purse. "Come on, maid-chan."
Taiga watched in horror as Luffy accidentally stretched into a fruit stand, sending citrus flying. "...I hate you both."
Makoto tossed her the purse with a grin. "Welcome to the Straw Hat Pirates."