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As kid he'd decided that the letter 'D' stood for nothing but trouble. 'D', like 'devil'; the Devil's Fruit that made him a hammer when he loved nothing more than floating among the waves.
Or like the blasted Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, whose birth and death blemished his hometown.
Vice Admiral Jaguar D. Saul, legendary hero turned legendary traitor, and as a mere Petty Officer he whole-heartedly blamed that damned letter for the downfall of his idol.
Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp who might have been an accomplished Marine Officer, but was as nuts as all those D.'s before and after him.
Portgas D. Ace, and the name alone made him bite hard on his cigars. Boy not only had the gall to get between him and his prey, but got away with it too, the cocky bastard.
'D' as in Dragon the Revolutionary, whom he could have liked if the man wasn't the most wanted criminal of the world. Guy had the guts to go against a corrupt government and try to change things, but still, laws were laws and Dragon was breaking them.
(Later, when he would hear the rumors concerning Dragon's real name he would not be surprised, but he would have a good laugh at the Vice Admiral's expense. Served the madman right.)
And of course the last one, Monkey D. Luffy, the kick in the pants, the downpour drenching his beloved cigars and leaving them unsmokable.
(And what the hell was up with that family, anyway? One crazier than the other, and all a pain in his ass.)
When he first heard of the Strawhat, he knew he'd be trouble. When he came to his town, when he escaped – what did it matter whether he had help or not? Kid had gotten away from him, one way or other – nothing but trouble, just as he'd predicted. So he had packed his bike and Tashigi, and made for the Grand Line to catch that grinning idiot.
(What kind of fool would laugh at their own execution? Only a blasted D.; that's who.)
But when he sat on the rail of his ship, the bound and subdued form of former Shichibukai Sir Crocodile under him, Tashigi bawling her eyes out behind him, and in front of him a country that narrowly avoided a civil war he couldn't help thinking that maybe, just maybe all the trouble that came with the letter 'D' was sometimes worth it.
(And if it made him feel better about the cursed D. in his own name? Nobody's business but his own.)