Uchiha Puppet Master, Starting from One Piece.

It could be a century, or it could be just a moment.

Bai Yu felt someone move in his arms.

It's not turning over, it's waking up.

Mirajane slowly raised her head, her hazy eyes meeting Bai Yu's gaze in the moonlight.

The two stared at each other for a few seconds.

Mirajane blinked, as if to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

Then she realized that she was lying in Bai Yu's arms, her hands gripping his clothes, her face pressed against his neck, in an incredibly intimate position.

She should step aside.

But she didn't.

"you're awake?"

Her voice was very soft, like Rangiku, who was sleeping soundly behind her, afraid of waking her.

"Ah."

Bai Yu's voice was also very soft.

Miraja looked up at him, the moonlight shining from behind her, turning her silver hair white.

Her face was very close to Bai Yu's.

Getting closer.

They were so close that their breaths mingled.

So close that her eyelashes almost touched his cheek.

Nearby.

Bai Yu sensed it.

An incredibly soft touch pressed against his face.

She simply buried her face in the crook of his neck, then snuggled back into his arms.

But because the two had already made eye contact once, their body postures subtly changed.

Now her face was pressed against his neck, and her prized assets were now pressed against Bai Yu's chest and arms without reservation.

At this moment, it was pressing down on Bai Yu's chest and arms without reservation.

soft.

Very soft.

So soft was Bai Yu's mind that it went blank for a moment.

Mirajane didn’t seem to realize how bad the posture was, or she did realize it but didn’t care.

She simply snuggled closer to him, finding a more comfortable position.

With that touch, Bai Yu experienced what "soft jade and warm fragrance" meant.

Mirajane.

Bai Yu's voice sounded a little strained.

"Ok?"

Mirajane's voice was muffled, carrying the languor of someone who had just woken up.

"nothing."

Bai Yu chose to keep quiet.

Because he didn't know what to say.

Mirajane seemed quite pleased that he didn't speak, and his body relaxed a little more.

The moonlight fell softly, bathing the two of them like a thin layer of silver gauze.

"White Feather."

Mirajane suddenly spoke, her voice very soft.

"Ok?"

Bai Yu responded.

"Let's stay here."

Miraja said.

"Just the two of us."

Bai Yu remained silent for a second.

"it is good."

Mirajane's fingers curled up on his clothes, as if suppressing some emotion.

Then she smiled, a smile that was not very clear in the moonlight, but Bai Yu could feel the warmth of her lips against his skin as they turned up.

She did not back down.

They actually got even closer.

Bai Yu's hand was on her waist without her noticing.

It's not conscious; it's more like a bodily instinct. When something soft and warm comes close, your hand automatically seeks a point of support.

Mirajane has a very slim waist.

It was so small that Bai Yu felt she could wrap her arms around it with one hand.

He could feel the curves of her waist, the warmth of her body beneath the thin fabric, and the rise and fall of her abdomen as she breathed.

But Miraj did not show any resistance.

She simply continued to bury her head in the crook of his neck, maintaining that ambiguous, almost dangerous posture.

At some point, Rangiku rolled over, shifting from Shiraha's right shoulder to his left, muttering, "Another bottle, please."

The starry sky is beautiful.

The sea breeze is cool.

The temperature in my arms was very warm.

Bai Yu closed his eyes, listening to the sound of the waves, the rising and falling breaths of the five women, and the beating of his own heart.

He suddenly remembered a sentence.

I didn't see it in a book, nor did anyone tell him.

It just naturally came to mind at that moment—

"This is probably what happiness is all about."

It's not because of what you've gained, nor because of how much you possess.

These people are here at this time and in this place.

The ship continued sailing in an unknown direction.

The starlight continued to spill across the sea, breaking into pieces of silver light.

The night in the deep sea is still very long.

The night was as dark as ink, and the starlight, like scattered silver, was sprinkled on the undulating sea, flickering with the folds of the waves.

The ship rocked gently, like a tender cradle, lifted up and down by the breath of the sea.

The rhythm was very slow, so slow that you could almost count the intervals between each rise and fall; it was the heartbeat of the sea.

Bai Yu couldn't pinpoint when he lost his sense of time.

It might have been the moment Mirajane buried her face in the crook of his neck, or the moment her breath began to weave a warm net across his skin, or perhaps even earlier. As early as when Yachiru first leaned on his shoulder, he was already no longer in the river of normal time.

Time now belongs to another dimension.

It doesn't calculate based on the ticking of the second hand, but rather on the transfer of body temperature, the resonance of the heartbeat, and the subtle changes in humidity in the air with each overlapping breath.

Mirajane stirred in his arms.

It wasn't the unconscious rubbing anymore, but a slower, softer movement, as if the whole person was melting, the muscles and bones losing their original shape, turning into a flowing, warm substance, reshaping along the contours of Bai Yu's body.

Her fingers were still gripping his shirt, but the grip had loosened considerably.

It wasn't letting go, but rather a more intimate way of holding on; it wasn't grasping, but clinging, as if she had chosen to entrust all her weight to Bai Yu from a very high place.

Bai Yu could sense all the changes happening in her body.

The warmth of her chest, the rise and fall of her waist and abdomen, the curve of her outer thigh against his knee, and more.

Those two soft, muscular masses.

It wasn't the kind of brief, mind-numbing touch I'd experienced before.

Rather, it is a continuous, constant reminder of their existence.

Mirajane's chest pressed against his left chest, above his heart.

The two heartbeats were beating at different frequencies, but for some reason, Bai Yu felt that they were slowly approaching each other, like two trains coming from different directions meeting at the same platform.

Thump, thump thump.

Thump, thump, thump-thump.

The rhythms began to overlap.

Bai Yu's right hand was still on her waist, and his fingers moved unintentionally, touching a strap peeking out from the edge of her bra. It was a very small strap, so thin that it was almost imperceptible, but the fact that it was there made Bai Yu's fingers freeze for a moment.

She rubbed against it again.

Mirajane's face slid from the nape of his neck to his collarbone, his lips brushing against his skin. It was so light, as light as a petal falling on water, barely causing a ripple.

But Bai Yu sensed it.

Every single cell felt it.