Finding Myself (One Piece Fanfic)

Chapter 106: Change of Plans

Luffy, Robin, and Chopper stopped and turned as Usopp approached wailing.

"Why are you crying?" Luffy asked with a frown.

Zoro jumped over the ship railing, landing on the deck with his knees crouching to help absorb the impact. A sinking feeling had settled in his stomach.

Either something bad had happened to Katsu, or Katsu had done something bad to Usopp.

Zoro hoped it was the ladder.

Usopp was sobbing, clutching the items to his chest for a moment. Sbit was running down his nose and his words were gibberish.  After a moment of nobody reacting he held out his arms, dumping the items on the deck as he fell to his knees. Katsu's sketch book, art supplies, and fans scattered at our feet. He took a deep breath to attempt to calm himself before shouting again.

"Katsu was taken!"

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 Sato wanted to hit himself. He had failed at contacting Makoto. He had failed at keeping his twin safe from the family. He had failed the Coming of Age test, again.

Perhaps he shouldn't have listened to his father's advise and told Mitsu everything. She could have been better prepared that way. He should have insisted she trained with him more than the ex-marine turned artist.

The amount of things he should have done were too long, and too late.

Now the family had captured him. He had failed, and they had gotten their hands on the female twin. The big prize they had been after since the beginning.

The guilt eating away at him managed to numb him from the hunger that was consuming at his stomach. He hadn't been allowed any food for, what he assumed, a month. Time had become disorienting once he was thrown in the dungeon. His cell was windowless, and the only ounce of light that would stream in was when a guard was passing by occasionally.

Though when they passed by his eyes were always trained on the strands of red hair that had been slashed off then discarded on the floor. Hair that he had always been instructed not to cut aimlessly, as it was a symbol of strength.

Rather it wasn't just a symbol.

He had felt his strength leave his whole being as a frightening wave of weakness and nausea. Taro had warned him of the effects that can happen if a large strand of hair is cut off all at once, and that he should either always train by constantly cutting off smaller portions of his hair or always protect it with haki. Never-the-less, as soon as he failed the test his grandfather was in his face slicing off his hair as he declared him a failure.

Something he believed wholeheartedly.

Shuffling from the hallway sounded as footsteps approached. Slowly an ounce of light began to filter into the room. Sato looked up with his eyes squinting as he tried to adjust to the approaching light.

"Due to your sister misbehaving," A woman's voice called out. Her voice as smooth as velvet, yet as deadly as a viper. "You'll be missing another week of food. Too bad Mitsu can't seem to get her act together."

A proud smile formed on his face as he shut his eyes. "Thata girl. I hope she gives you all so much hell that you wish you were burning in it instead."

"Perhaps we'll just use fire for her instead then." Sato's eyes snapped open as he glared at the blurry image of the woman behind the cell door. "I heard having two of everything is rather nice, so maybe a new brand mark would suit her nicely."

Even with the weakness that settled inside of him, Sato suddenly found the energy to lunged at the cell door. His eyes white with rage as he banged his head against the metal bars as he bared his teeth. "You so much as touch a strand of her hair and I won't hold back on tearing this place apart brick by brick."

The violet eyes of the woman became much clearer as she met his glare with a cold glance of her own. "Dearest nephew, if you had the energy to do that you would have done it already. Now be a good little prisoner and sit in your cell quietly, maybe you can earn some privileges for the both of you." She reached her hand up and merely poked her finger out to touch his forehead, but her strength was enough to send him down across the cell.

Sato let out a weak groan as he was unable to lift himself once more.

"Let's hope your sister doesn't take after either you or your father." She turned and began walking away. "Otherwise all this effort will just be such a waste."

Sato hoped with every fiber of his being that if Mitsu couldn't pass the test incoming, that her crew would be able to save her at the very least. He knew Luffy when they were kids, and he knew that his Uncle had given his precious strawhat to someone he found worthy. So, he hoped, at the very least, Luffy would be able to save Mitsu.

Especially after he had failed.

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End of Chapter 105!

I've been gone for about a year,  and I apologize for that! A lot has happened, but i won't go into that for now. Instead, I'm going to work on getting Katsu's arc written and set out for ya'll to read! I hope you all enjoy!

This is not edited.