Your first day in your new life had come to a close, and you were quite happy about it. Perhaps your father looked at you funnily as you buzzed with excitement at the dinner table, but that didn't matter. The day ended nicely. All you did was terrorize some of the people of your village before promptly fucking off, like nothing ever happened.
Kosai proved to be the type of demon who was mostly 'hands off' when you wanted some sort of guidance. You had to figure it out by yourself if you wanted to know. This included everything but certain questions that he preferred to answer. He wasn't against telling you about himself, either.
He also liked eating and thinking about how much hell he'd be putting you through to toughen you up. Even though you had only known him a day, he already made you a human garbage disposal. Your stomach still hurts from dinner.
The next morning was more of the same treatment. As was the morning after that, so on, and so forth. It had been around a week and nothing phenomenal or groundbreaking had happened. Though your demon mentioned training, you weren't doing anything until you got a week to settle into your new life.
Kosai was taking his anger out on you by making you eat enough food for five people. He wasn't going to let you rest this morning at all, it seemed. Sitting across from your father in the dining hall while scarfing down food had become a staple. Along with you ignoring how he shook his head at your antics and started working on some tasks. Maybe you'd have to do that before you left to become a pirate.
Your siblings, on the other hand, were not so discreetly staring at you before they cast glances with one another. There were five of them, all younger than you by a few years. Two sets of twins, both sets eleven and ten respectively. All of the twins were boys. The youngest was probably nine, and the only other girl.
She was the only one who could look you in the eyes.
"Are you still wondering if your actual father is the only reason they're scared of you?" Kosai pondered.
You blinked slowly and leaned back from your cleaned plates. Maybe now you could rival Luffy– but only when he was snacking. You were waiting for your plates to be taken away so you could ask for more.
If I'm being honest, I don't really care if they're scared or not. That's their problem. You began drumming your fingers idly on the table.
"What happened to not coming off as suspicious? As far as you're concerned, the only thing new about you is this new 'prank' of having amnesia, and your curse."
This is normal? The way I'm acting?
"Yes. It would be problematic if you had been put in a body where your personalities clashed. The only thing that the King found suspicious was how you acted a week ago."
I have no idea what you're talking about.
"Punching that man was out of line, even for me."
A sudden look of disdain came over you. Well, that's just where you and I disagree.
"Out of line"??
He almost killed you
"...We start training tomorrow."
For fuck's sake
~ . . . ~
He wasn't kidding
Kosai wasn't the jokester. He was legitimately pushing you to your limit on the first day, and it wasn't even that hard to do. It was unfair that Koko took the opportunity to work on the weakest point of your body– your main arms.
You were thinking that it was unfair because the only way you were going to exercise is if you got to complain every step of the way. Your record for push-ups was ten. Twelve if you were feeling strong.
And now you weren't allowed to eat until you physically couldn't use your arms anymore. You never stood a chance against his sheer willpower to make you keep going.
Compared to your past workout attempts: "I worked out for one day for five minutes and now I need three days to get my body to stop aching" and, "Eat healthy: (Drench your salad in so much dressing it's like drinking vinegar)"
Kosai was on the track to make you throw yourself off the nearest cliff.
His constant reminders of what would happen if you failed to succeed were the only things that kept you going.
Mainly, Ace.
Your face was flush against the ground, your entire body drenched in sweat. You weren't about to take on the role of "everyone's hero" like in most of the fics you've read. You already knew the risks of actually going through all of that shit.
There was a high probability that you would die. Did you actually stand a chance against any of the antagonists to come? to any normal person, they'd be bodied in an instant. You thought about all of them, trying to recall the order they all appeared in. Severity didn't matter- you had never been in an actual fight before.
Since you already knew that you'd be joining around the time that Luffy had already forced Zoro to join his crew, Iron Club Alvida wouldn't be a problem for the time being, and that meant Axe-Arm Morgan was also taken care of.
Buggy the Clown terrified you. If he could stab Zoro, then that clown would certainly skewer you. It was a good thing that Luffy was going to do most of the fighting because you would be sitting that one out. Who was next after that? If you recall correctly, after Buggy came Captain Kuro. At your level? You're dead for sure.
God, why did you have to face so many minor antagonists in the East Blue? After Kuro was Don Krieg, and after him was Arlong (an arc that you really weren't excited about), and then... That's when the real fun started.
One, you would have the golden opportunity to meet Smoker. And Tashigi.
"Stop drooling. The dirt is going to turn into mud if you keep on doing that."
Jesus, let me brainstorm in peace. Your arms burned as Koko forced you to start doing more push-ups.
Grand Line. That was right after Loguetown, and you'd meet Laboon and Crocus. Baroque Works was handled by Zoro. The Little Garden arc was fairly quick, but you were probably going to be witnessing your friends teeter between life and death when you encountered Mr. 3. Drum Island was going to be a bitch and a half to deal with.
What you feared most was what came after that. The Alabasta, Jaya, and Skypiea arcs respectively. Crocodile wouldn't have to lift a finger and you'd already be lying dead on the ground. Enel could strike you down the moment you entered his domain. His Haki was impressive.
Water 7 was after that fiasco, and you didn't know if you were even allowed to rest after that. Aokiji also showed up during the Long Ring Island (you couldn't remember the full name). The Straw Hats ended up going through a lot of shit before they even reached the Red Line. Before you could even reach the Red Line, there were some of the worst roadblocks coming.
Enies Lobby.
Thriller Bark.
Summit War.
Sabaody Archipelago.
Impel Down.
Finally...
The Marineford War
You had too much to plan for. There was so much that you needed to do in preparation. Could you teach yourself how to use Haki? With Observational Haki, you wouldn't have to be worried about randomly getting attacked. What about the techniques of CP9– could you learn those? It would take years to master all of them, and those Government Assassins usually trained from childhood.
Once again, you collapsed on the ground as your arms gave out. It wasn't your doing though. Your best friend decided that you had done enough arm workout. Still, Kosai was unimpressed.
"If thinking is the only thing that helps you exercise, then go ahead. Just think about something other than... that. It's depressing hearing all of your pessimism."
What do I think about? The plot of One Piece is the only thing that is calming me down. You fired back with a silent groan. "There's nothing else to talk about anyways."
"For one, there's the plot of your story, (Name). Aside from the obvious, it hasn't been messed with. The family you're in and your body are the only things that have changed."
"What, do I have some cannon characters incoming?" you joked. Kosai hummed.
"You do."
You stopped breathing for a second.
"I w h a t."
"Don't act confused. You're the one who wrote it– it's in the outline. "Zoro comes to Crow Island during his time as a bounty hunter." Kosai went on, "This is before he was recruited by Luffy, and is set around two to three years before the post time skip."
Zoro?? YOU WROTE ABOUT ZORO??
When did I ever write about that?!
You shoved your face into your hands and groaned even louder. He was arguably one of your favorite characters in the entire series. Why did they have to choose this fanfic for your backstory? You were like the only one who didn't have something really tragic happen.
"That's the reason we're training. He arrives after you're around sixteen, so you might as well start. Sure, you made him promise to bring you along the next time he came to your island, but it's Zoro we're talking about."
Because your dumbass actually believed that he could find you the minute he left the island.
Can I be done for today? Thinking hurts.
"Absolutely not."
And so, you trained for four more hours
After locating the showers, you bathed, already knowing that you'd be in a world of hell the next day. Kosai made you stretch after the workout before you decided that it would be fun if you went and visited the village.
You hoped that the previous (Name) also walked around. If not, then you'd just say you were shopping or some shit.
"Nothing can go wrong, right?" you were very unsure.
"Stop talking out loud and it might."
Your mouth zipped shut. The village you walked into was nothing like you had pictured. It was much larger than you had originally thought, and most of the structures had two or more floors. Any building with one story was a restaurant.
The air was thick with the scent of warm and savory foods. You'd think that there was a festival with how many stands there were.
Wait a minute
Where was everyone?
I'm sure I heard people coming down this street. Did they just randomly disappear? You fidgeted with your hands and looked around. Kosai had already taken the liberty of wrapping your other arms underneath your chest, so your clothes would hide them.
"They fled the moment they saw you."
What?! I'm literally the nicest person in the world! This is an outrage!!
The priest's face flashed in your mind
Your lips pursed. I'm not the demon! If anything, it's YOU they should be scared of. You thought, now trudging through the streets. It wasn't your fault that he was scary like that. You didn't think that the villager's reactions would be like this. They were treating you like some sort of criminal.
In some sense, they were right. You were going to become a feared pirate and bring either shame or pride to the people of the Island.
Can't you just tell them to fuck off or something? I could care less what they think about me or what they say to me, but it'll be a bother if I'm treated like some rabid dog.
"(Name), even if I left your body, they wouldn't be able to see me. It's possible, but they can't see me."
Can't see you? That's some bullshit. How?
"Normally, it's only fleeting glimpses. Like when someone sees a shadow moving in the corner of their eyes. For regular people to see me, something traumatic has to occur that directly involves me. Like if the Straw Hats were to see you get stabbed by... let's say... Arlong. And I was actively trying to stop him or shield you. Then I would become visible." The demon explained.
You didn't want to traumatize these people– that would be terrible.
You had no idea who they were, but based on your first impression, that would be the worst thing that you could do. No point in scaring the people any more than they already were.
The mention of Arlong also soured your mood. Just because he had the power to peel you like a banana didn't mean that you'd be letting him do it. For his crimes against Nami, you'd be fileting that sucker like the fish he was.
Kosai had a feeling that you'd narrowly be avoiding death with every foe you came across. You might've been smart for leaving your future captain to handle the bosses that he was actually supposed to fight, but your simple mindedness when it came to women would absolutely be your downfall.
You found yourself wandering past the village, towards the shore that every Island had. Now that you were already on the bad side of the town, you had to maintain a good reputation before you left.
"Can you tell me about anything important that I wrote? I have so many revisions of just this one scenario, so I have no idea what to expect." you asked aloud, the ground beneath your feet slowly turning from cobblestone and stonework into sand.
"This is one of the many drafts that you never even turned into a story. It's only pages of outlines."
How many?
"I don't know. I don't have access to all of them. They will only give me more information when there is a definite need for them."
How convenient.
I'll hear out what we have, then.
Kosai cleared his non-existent throat. "I'll start on the previous MC's page then..."
You unintentionally drowned his voice out with your own thoughts. You really were here, weren't you? In the world of One Piece. You hadn't processed it fully and just went with it. Yes, you're dead. What an accomplishment!
Now you had to deal with the absolute mindfuck that the afterlife was real, alternate universes existed, you could decide if these people literally LIVED OR DIED, and you had Kosai, your babysitter from hell.
You were a mortal god. The future- you knew it. You knew everything that happened up until the war. That made your situation more dangerous, meaning that you couldn't tell anybody about it. Your premonition. The Marines would want that power. Pirates would want it.
If you ever fell into the wrong hands...
You were feeling the exhaustion hit you all at once. Most of it was from your first day of training. Your feet sunk into the sand as you sighed, rubbing your eyes. You knew that you couldn't do everything yourself- you already told yourself that earlier that day.
Kosai could sense how tired you were. It had been a week of you just shutting up and going along with everything.
"Sit down before you pass out."
"Yessir."
You fell on your ass, making a new dent in the sand. You had other thoughts on your mind aside from the shore, though.
What was your goal this time? This was a do over. You could start again. The world of One Piece. You'd make it a safe place for everyone to live. Frankly, the World Government needed a reality check, and despite not knowing what happened after Marineford, you decided that you were going to be the one to dish out a Marine fleet's worth of beatings.
One man alone deserved it– and his name was Blackbeard. If there was one person that you hated the most, it was Blackbeard. You couldn't fight him in this position. You couldn't do anything right now. You were too young. Ace couldn't be your only reason to train.
"Hey, Kosai."
He stopped reading off the information from the top of his head. "Yes, (Name)?"
"I remember thinking that I would die for Ace. Or that I'd take his place and be the one who died instead. That's not possible, is it?"
"Anything is possible. You may want to die throughout this, but I won't let you. I'm meant to protect you."
You watched the setting sun. It slowly began to sink into the horizon, giving off the effect that the ocean was beginning to swallow the star whole. It bathed you in warm light, hues of yellow and orange shone against your skin.
"I'm an idiot."
"Yes, your endless stupidity never surprises me."
You ignored that. "I don't want to die. I won't."
"That's good. But I don't understand what you're trying to tell me."
"I'm going to live for Ace. For my future friends. I won't die." You leaned back and closed your eyes. Then, you breathed out a quiet sigh, the lovely sound of the waves calming you greatly. "I won't be useful if I'm dead."
It was only four years until it all began
All you had to do was wait.