Chapter 20: To our friendship! May it never end!
The two got to Sarah and Maya's room and put them in their beds before walking up above the deck.
Alex smiled and held out his bottle. "To Buggy."
Shanks laughed and knocked his drink against Alex's. "To Buggy!"
The two took a swig and laughed merrily.
Alex caught his breath. "Who could have seen that coming?"
Shanks shook his head. "I didn't even think those girls would come to our room."
Alex nodded. "They were kinda cute too… too bad they were wackos."
Shanks nodded. "Maybe one day we'll find good girls like Buggy."
Alex raised his glass. "To finding good girls like Buggy."
"To finding good girls like Buggy." Shanks repeated as they took another drink.
Shanks wiped his lips. "You really do cheers to anything, damn alcoholic."
Alex smiled and looked at Shanks. "I'll cheers to that."
Shanks laughed as they gave cheers again.
Alex took the sword he found on the pirate ship and unsheathed it. "I think it's a meito."
Shanks looked at it seriously and nodded. "It definitely is."
Alex analyzed it. "If it's just this… I could probably make something like this if you give me another year or two."
Shanks laughed. "Are you serious?"
Alex nodded. "I might even be able to make something like it now, if I really tried. It might take a couple months though."
Shanks was awed. "Wow, that's amazing."
Alex smiled. "If I can't do this much, how can I be the smartest in the world?"
Shanks shook his head. "What does being a blacksmith have to do with being the smartest in the world?"
Alex bonked his head with his bottle. "Idiot, how can I be smart if I don't even know how a sword is made? Also, if I want to make other things, I need to work with metal… like my boots and gloves. So blacksmithing is just an extension of that, just shaping it in different ways, and pouring your soul into your work to give it life."
Shanks shook his head. "You're really weird."
Alex laughed. "That's why we're friends."
"En." Shanks nodded with a smile.
Alex put the sword back in its sheath and handed it to Shanks. "Here. It's a gift."
Shanks looked up at Alex with surprise. "Really?"
Alex nodded. "To the weirdest guy I know. And therefore my best friend. I want you to have this, you'll put it to better use than I will anyway."
Shanks smiled. "Thanks, Alex. You're a pretty good best friend to have."
Alex laughed and finished his bottle before tossing it into the sea and grabbing another.
He raised his new bottle and pointed it at the moon shining above them. "To our friendship!"
Shanks laughed at him giving cheers for another reason before raising his own glass.
"To our friendship! May it never end!" Shanks called out to the sky.
The two's laughter carried through the whole ship as they took a huge swig together.
That night, Alex and Shanks's laughter sang out to the sea like a song. They're glasses were never empty and the smiles never left their faces. It was a night they would always remember with nostalgia, a night they could never forget.
The next morning, Shanks and Alex returned to their room as the sun started rising. They stumbled and giggled, bouncing off the walls in the hallway before opening their door.
Shanks shushed Alex when he saw Buggy and April sleeping in bed with their clothes all over the floor.
Alex and Shanks pointed at the duo and started loudly giggling as they both shushed each other.
They flopped down in their beds and Alex looked up at the ceiling. "Who would have thought that Buggy would be the first one of us to get laid?"
Shanks giggled. "I can't believe it."
The two eventually calmed down and fell asleep.
The next morning. I.e. two hours later.
Everyone was being awoken as the ship had reached Marineford again.
Alex yawned as he got out of bed.
He shook Shanks awake. Shanks looked up at him like he was possessed by a ghost.
Alex recognized that look and he quickly grabbed a bucket. And not a second too soon as Shanks puked the moment he was provided a bucket.
Alex laughed. "Must suck to be hungover. I wouldn't understand."
Shanks flipped him off with his face still in the bucket.
Buggy was awoken by the commotion and panicked when he realized what happened last night.
Alex laughed at the chaos surrounding him before grabbing Shanks and his bucket and leaving. "We'll give you two lovebirds some privacy."
Buggy nearly yelled back at him but stopped because April was still asleep.
Alex got up on the deck and looked at the results, everyone he had met on the ship had passed, including April, Sarah and Maya.
Alex smiled and walked back to Garp's house with Shanks on his shoulder. He got there and kicked the door open.
"Honey~, I'm home!" Alex called out.
Garp and Dragon were sitting on the couch with Sengoku sitting across from them. There was a serious mood in the air and Alex scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. He closed the door behind him and walked out of the room.
When he was halfway across the room Garp burst into laughter. "Bwahahaha! Brat! You're back! Come here, we need you."
Alex nodded and brought Shanks upstairs before walking back downstairs and joining everyone.
"What did you need?" Alex asked.
Sengoku sighed. "Somehow, I heard that you… at the ripe age of… 18, was it?"
Garp nodded. "The two of them are 18."
Sengoku sighed again. "Yes. You, the 18 year old, somehow placed in the top 5 in your school year's practical test. Thus, earning you a devil fruit, just like Dragon here. Dragon has already picked the fruit he wants and now it's your turn."
Sengoku tossed him a book that had pictures of a bunch of devil fruits. "So, I pick and you just give it to me?" Alex asked.
"Well, you pick what you want now, and it will be presented to you in your… graduation ceremony tomorrow." Sengoku sighed and looked at Garp. "Remind me again how these two kids are graduating when they never even went to school… and are 13 fucking years old?"
Garp laughed. "What do you mean? They're clearly 18!"
Dragon smirked. "It's true, we're the same age, practically twins."
Sengoku took deep breaths and chanted a prayer to buddha.
Alex laughed. "It's actually three. Buggy got 6th place on our ship."
"Bwahaha! But I didn't even sign him up!" Garp laughed jovially.
Alex smiled. "That just proves how good he is. I told you that he would be an admiral one day."
Garp laughed and Sengoku cracked the mug he was holding in anger.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone