Chapter Text
Shanks pov
Shanks was staring at the young woman suddenly fretting over him with his eyes wide and his heart beating faster than it had in years.
When she talked about being brought here with her past life's memories and this world being a legend from another world she had left in her sleep one night, he had scoffed it out but gotten ready to hear some nice imaginary tale anyway. Good alcohol, nice view of the sea, comfortable seat and a pretty girl to look at, Shanks was not asking for much more when it came to a good time.
But then she started talking.
And talking.
And revealing things no one outside of his crew should know.
Scratch that, that no one outside of Roger's crew should know.
Fuck, that no one at all should know.
Hearing his own words thrown back at him was the last straw and he lost control of himself for a second, crashing the glass he was holding. When Shanks really came back to the present, Y/N was cleaning his hand with a wet cloth and getting the last shards of glass out of his skin with deliberate care.
"You're back with me ?" she asked when his wrist jerked minutely.
"Can't blame me for spacing out after dropping all that on me, sweetheart," Shanks chuckled.
"Serves you right for challenging me," she retorted, but her soft smile showed she was just messing with him. "Do you believe me now ?"
Shanks smiled at her as she finished cleaning his hand, all the while muttering about not needing stitches, until she ultimately wrapped it into a clean and dry cloth. He kind of wanted to kiss that little frown away and engulf her in a hug to never let her go. The red-head was already missing the feeling of her hands on his.
"Yeah, I believe you," he admitted as she put the stuff on the desk and went back to sit beside him on the couch. "Congrats, sweetheart, your story's the craziest true one I've ever heard," Shanks told her with a wink.
She turned to him, an amused grin on her very pretty lips and an arm on the backrest. "I'll take that as a compliment. Do you feel ready to hear the rest ?"
"Lay it on me, babe," the Emperor said while laying back with a little wiggle of his eyebrows, which made her chuckle.
She looked even more mesmerizing when she was smiling or laughing. Like the waves on a clear night, when Shanks felt like he was blessed with the Sea's good mood.
"So, like I said, I know both past and future events pertaining to Luffy and his adventures, since he was the one the story focused on," she explained, then breathed deeply and looked at the sea, almost bracing herself for her next words. "The reason I'm telling you about it is because I want to change some major events and I need your help for that."
Shanks frowned. "You want to prevent Luffy from finding the One Piece ? Wait, he does find it, right ?"
She turned her eyes back to him, wide and shocked, and shook her hands frantically as she answered, making her hair move like the waves below the lighthouse.
"Oh seas and stars no, I'm all for Luffy becoming the next Pirate King ! And the story wasn't finished when I arrived here, but there was never a doubt that he was going to find it eventually. That's not what I want to change, on the contrary, I want to help."
The Emperor relaxed immediately, that sounded more like something he could get behind. He knew Luffy had it in him to become the next bright star of piracy.
"Okay, so what do you want to change ?"
She started fidgeting with her medallion again and bit her lower lip, almost unconsciously, but Shanks' attention zeroed in on the gesture. Fuck, what he would give to be the one doing it. With the moonlight painting her blue colours and flawless skin with a silvery sheen, she was a sight to behold. Like a treasure of the sea who was just waiting to be uncovered, and as a pirate first and foremost, Shanks really wanted to be the one getting his hand on said treasure.
"In the original timeline," she finally whispered, her somber voice getting the Emperor's mind out of the gutter he was falling into, "a member of Whitebeard's crew betrays him and kills a division commander. Ace goes after the traitor, but is captured after a fight since the devil fruit the traitor ate makes him too powerful for that hothead to handle alone. The traitor turns Ace in to the Marines in exchange for Warlord status, which allows him to go and recruit more psychopaths for his crew in the lowest level of Impel Down."
Shanks was listening intently, not missing a word, and grimaced as she painted a rather gloomy future. He already had an inkling about what would happen next, knowing how protective Old Man Newgate was of his sons.
"The Marines find out Ace is Roger's son and plan a public execution. To put it plainly, it ends up in an all-out war between almost all the Marines' forces, the Warlords, Whitebeard and his allies, and Luffy who somehow managed to infiltrate Impel Down but was too late to free Ace and escaped with a bunch of other prisoners instead – including Buggy now that I think of it," she said with a small, amused smile.
Shanks smiled as well. Buggy was not exactly the best fighter out there, but he could bullshit his way out of a situation better than anyone the Emperor had ever met.
"Ultimately though, Akainu kills Whitebeard and then Ace, who dies in Luffy's arms. You arrive too late to save them but in time to stop the fighting and ensure an unconscious and heavily injured Luffy can get away."
The red-haired man's smile vanished in a second. Shit. That was bad. Shanks could not help but notice the pained expression on Y/N's face. It was obvious how those deaths had impacted her, grief was written all over her features.
Slowly, just in case she would not welcome it, Shanks put his hand on hers, and squeezed it lightly with a reassuring smile when she did not push him away.
"Well, none of that has happened yet, alright ? And from what you say, all we need to do is identify the traitor on Whitebeard's crew and expose him to avoid everything. See ? Piece of cake."
She blinked at him, then let out a small laugh and squeezed his hand back.
"Actually, I already know the traitor's identity, and I think I know how to make him reveal himself. The real difficulty will lay in how to handle the consequences of preventing all that," she explained with a tired smile.
"What do you mean ?" Shanks asked, tilting his head on the side, and she chuckled again, which was well on its way to become one of Shanks' favourite sounds in the world.
"Well, for example, if the war doesn't happen and Luffy isn't severely traumatised, he and his crew will still need to take a two years break to train, otherwise they won't be ready to face the New World. There are a few other events like that that will have to be provoked."
Oh, yeah, that made sense. Shanks nodded, and kept holding her hand on the couch, which she seemed to be fine with. Her skin was soft, tantalizingly so.
"So, which member of Whitebeard's crew am I killing for you, sweetheart ?" the Emperor asked with a wink, but to his surprise, her expression froze at the question, like she did not know how to answer him or was gauging what his reaction would be. Ultimately, though, her expression hardened and Shanks got a feeling he was not going to like her next words.
"Marshall D Teach," she spat with her jaw clenched and hatred burning in her eyes.
Shanks' hand immediately stopped the small circles he had been tracing on her skin. So that piece of shit had somehow found a way to stoop even lower than before. On top of joining another Emperor's crew after their fight in order to avoid repercussions, Teach now planned to betray one of the few good men left from Roger's era.
"Please stay calm ?" Y/N asked in a suddenly worried voice, and Shanks forced himself to breathe deeply and smile at her.
"All good, sweetheart. Wasn't expecting that name, that's all."
"Sorry, I know it's a lot to take in."
"That's usually my line," Shanks grinned, delighted to have an opportunity to change the subject.
It took her a second to realise what he meant, but after that, she took her hand out of his and facepalmed.
"You're impossible," she muttered.
"And you're irresistible, which clearly means we were made for each other."
"Don't think I won't kick you in the dick just because you're an Emperor, Akagami."
"You know, most people are too scared of an Emperor to even talk to them, much less threaten them," Shanks grinned.
"I literally come from another world with knowledge of the past and future, do you really think I'm in the same category as most people ?" she asked ironically, and stood up to stretch her arms above her head, showing a delightful amount of skin in the process that had Shanks close to drooling.
"Didn't say it was a bad thing, sweetheart."
She only hummed at that, and turned to look in the cliffs' direction, a frown marring her beautiful face once more as she seemed to take the sight in.
"Something wrong ?" Shanks asked.
"The tide is high," she sighed. "Makes it more dangerous to walk the pier, especially at night. I'm wondering whether I should send you all the way back to your ship nonetheless or trust you enough to let you sleep on the couch."
"Well, if we both sleep in your bed, the problem's solv-"
"I suppose a strong and powerful pirate such as yourself will be perfectly fine with just a few slipping rocks, then," she cut him off with a sweet smile that was more threatening than anything.
Shanks immediately backpedaled and raised his hand in front of him, temporarily setting aside the delightful stroke to his ego her words had induced.
"Couch is fine, you have my word I'll keep my hand to myself unless you ask me otherwise."
"Good. I'll go grab a blanket and pillow for you, try not to do anything stupid until I'm back," she smirked and left the room, her hair and skirt billowing behind her.
Shanks fell back on the couch and roamed his hand on his face, feeling somewhere between impressed and aroused. Seas, what a woman.
-o-oOo-o-
Reader pov
The rays of the sun fell on your face and you grumbled as you tried to keep your eyes closed and go back to Morpheus' kingdom. You acknowledged defeat a few minutes later, and blinked your eyes open before stretching your limbs. You could feel the faint effects of the previous night's drinks in your head and put a hand on your stomach, easily willing your power to work its magic and make it disappear. Once it was done, you sighed contentedly.
Then you remembered you had a guest sleeping on your couch and it was like a bucket of ice water was thrown on your cozy happiness at the idea of a lazy morning.
Holy shit, you had all but threatened an Emperor multiple times in a single evening and lived.
You had made Akagami no Shanks sleep on your couch.
Maybe that in itself could be enough for you to become something of an urban legend in this world.
You pushed the sheets aside and grabbed your clothes quickly, checking how Shanks was doing before you reached the stairs, and immediately blushed beet red. His arm was thrown over his face, but the blanket you had given him last night was only covering below his hips, revealing a tanned and sculpted chest you really would not mind being pressed agai-
You mentally slapped yourself. Bad brain. Not going there.
With the way you had bossed him around and basically imposed your knowledge and decisions to change the future on him, it was a miracle he had not just killed you once you were done talking. Either that or he found you hot enough to want to fuck you before ending your life.
Actually, that was more likely. Your knowledge made you a living weakness for him, and you knew Shanks was someone who would do everything in his power to protect his crew and friends. Chances were high he would try to keep you close to him until your usefulness ran out, after which… well, you might survive a bit longer if he thought you were hot enough to pursue you, but that meant you would be as good as dead the second you gave in to his charms.
Well, the joke would be on him. Sex without feelings had always been unappealing to you, the idea of sharing physical intimacy without emotional intimacy made you uncomfortable at best, and repulsed you at worst. You knew most people were fine with it, which was, well, good for them, but it simply was not for you. So ha, take that, mister one-night-stand ! And if it came to a worst case scenario, you could always throw yourself into the sea to disappear discreetly and let him believe you had drowned.
You walked down the stairs to the floor you dedicated to – among other things – your laundry space, and made a quick use of your power to clean, rinse, and dry your clothes. Once changed, you tied your hair in a high ponytail and made your way back up as you thought about what to cook for breakfast, something quick and easy but still enough to feed a grown man.
In the end, you opted for bacon and eggs, adding toast and sliced fruits. The latter was mostly for you, but you prepared a little more just in case your red-haired guest would appreciate some vitamins. As you put the fruits in a bowl, you wondered whether or not you should be thankful to the person who had designed the lighthouse to make it autonomous and fully functional. Having access to electricity, a shower, and basic kitchen equipement was quite the luxury when you were so far away from civilisation.
You were turning the bacon when you heard steps, and you glanced behind you just in time to see a very sleepy-looking Emperor making his way to you in nothing but his underwear, showcasing his god-like body with lazy confidence. You snapped your attention back to the pan, trying desperately to calm the frantic beating of your heart and fighting back the blush creeping up your cheeks.
"Good morning," you greeted him while keeping your eyes firmly on your cooking. "How did you sleep ?"
You heard the footsteps stop altogether for a second, and you wondered if he had just been acting on instinct so far.
"Uh, good, I think ?" he answered in a voice just a little roughed up from sleep that had, frankly, no business sounding as attractive as it did. Still, the uncertainty and almost questionning way he put his answer had you chuckling.
"Bathroom's on the floor just below, if you need it. I'll be done with breakfast in a few minutes, scrambled eggs good for you ?"
"Uh. Yeah. I'll. Yeah."
This time, his obvious floundering worried you a bit and you lowered the fire under the pan to look at him, eyes resolutely staying on his face.
"Are you alright ?" you asked in concern.
It took a couple seconds, but Shanks ultimately blinked and addressed you a bright smile that was a bit too wide to be honest. "Yep, totally good sweetheart."
You raised an eyebrow, then rolled your eyes and turned back to your cooking. Whatever he was hiding, it was not your problem as long as it did not threaten your life. You heard him walk down the stairs and went back to your bacon and eggs, hoping the Emperor would have the decency to get dressed before you started eating.
Shanks came up as you finished putting the food on the coffee table, looking much more awake and thankfully wearing his pants and shirt.
"I hope you're good with eating here," you smiled.
"Oh no," the Emperor mock complained as he plopped himself down on the couch, "eating in front of the sea with a beauty by my side, how shall I ever recover ?"
You sent him a mischievous look, then executed a curtsy and bowed your head as you spoke.
"My sincerest apologies, your imperial majesty, I will endeavour to not let such an appalling situation happen again."
When you looked back up at Shanks, he was staring at you with wide eyes, but it only lasted a second before he threw his head back in a fit of laughter. You let a small laugh escape your lips as well and sat down, grabbing your plate and a fork to start eating.
When Shanks finally recovered, he wiped away tears from his face and then put his own plate on his legs.
"You're something else, sweetheart, you know that ?"
You just smiled and kept eating, watching the sea as you grabbed the notebook and pen you had brought as well to start taking notes.
"Holy shit that's good !" the Emperor exclaimed suddenly and you turned to him with a question in your eyes, noticing he had already eaten half his plate. "I mean, not that I thought it would taste bad, but well, erm-"
"I learned how to cook during my first year living away from my parents' place," you intervened before he could dig his own grave any further. "It's really one of those skills that always come in handy, you know, no matter what you do with your life. And not to brag, but I can bake some mean chocolate chip cookies," you added with a smirk.
"A bold claim to make in front of someone who's been sailing all over the world and tasting everything it has to offer," Shanks smirked right back.
You stared at him for a moment, then squinted suspiciously.
"I can't decide if that was a pretty good comeback or a really shrewd innuendo."
The Emperor grinned widely, then grabbed some toast and stopped to look at the bowl of fruits, almost glaring at it like it might contain a trap. You were confused about it for a second, until a tidbit of information came back to your mind and you chuckled.
"Don't worry, there aren't any blueberries in it."
His eyes snapped to you in surprise. "How did you- oh fuck, that's another one of those things you just know from your previous life, right ?"
"Eeyup," you said, popping the p. "Get used to it."
"I'm starting to think there's no such thing as getting used to you, sweetheart."
You rolled your eyes and kept eating your breakfast, adding half the bowl of sliced fruits to your now empty plate to have something to snack on as you kept writing on the notebook.
"What are you writing ?"
"The things you'll need to remember for the future and the key points you will probably need to use in order to convince Whitebeard," you answered absentmindedly, not noticing how the man stopped moving for a second.