I don't own One Piece
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3 Years Ago (Katsu's Age 14)
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"Better!" Ace grinned as the wind settled around us once more.
My own lips pulled into a grin as I tried to catch my breath. Beads of sweat fell down my face. Slowly my tired arms went to rest against my hips as my body throbbed with heat.
"Your control is getting much better." Ace said, his own hands resting on his hips. "I almost don't think you need my help."
"Clearly she does." Deuce muttered, reading a book he had bought recently. He had decided to tag along for the day's lesson, though he hadn't done much other than read. Of course, his little comments weren't always nice, but they weren't necessarily mean either.
"Shut up," I frowned at Deuce and rolled my eyes at Ace as I wiped sweat from my forehead. "Nobody else on this island is able to help me."
He didn't say much more. Instead the pirate motioned me to follow him, a sigh I took for our training being done for the day. Though Deuce didn't bother moving as we walked off, I didn't bother to ask if he was joining. From what I understood, you never bother a reading person.
Despite my tired state moments ago, I quickly found a hop in my step as I followed after the Captain. Today Ace had abandoned the yellow shirt, and decided to just go bare chest. I wasn't too fond of the choice, but I kept quiet. It would be hilarious to see if he got a sunburn.
The island was painted gold as the sun set. The light fixtures starting to light up the streets. Visiting pirates either made their way back to their ships, or went into the few remaining open shops. Of course most made their way towards the bar.
After the last two days of following me, Ace decided it was best if I followed him to the bar. He was very careful on how he said it, making sure not to make it seem as if I was lost. I didn't object. It was definitely quicker than wondering around the streets for a couple hours.
I blinked in confusion as Ace came to a stop, a certain stiffness in his body. Looking up, I frowned at the large pirate in front of us.
The woman wasn't very flattering, though I imagine she is strong considering the size of her muscles. She stood a foot taller than Ace, her face was big and round. Freckles dotted her cheeks, though I didn't find them as cute as Ace's. Her blonde hair was short, a cut I often heard Mamoru describe as a bowl cut. A sneer presented her face, showing her large crooked teeth.
I looked down to the weapon in her hand. A large heavy sword pointed towards Ace. Now I knew where her muscles came from, that sword must weigh a ton!
"What are you doin' here?" She growled, nudging Ace with the flat of her sword.
I frowned looking at the sword which was now poking Ace in the chest. He didn't move to attack, nor did he seem fazed.
"Hmm? Oh, I'm just visiting. I had heard of this place, so I wanted to check it out." He squinted his eyes, "Do I know you?"
Apparently she wasn't fond of his response. "Excuse me?! What makes you think you'd be welcome-!" A vein popped out on her cheek as her eyes widened in anger. "Did you just fall asleep?!"
I jumped, looking back at Ace. Sure enough, his head was rolled onto his shoulder as a snot bubble blew from his nose. I wrinkled my nose in distaste. Of course the idiot would fall asleep right now.
"Why you insolent little!" She growled, raising her sword.
My eyes widened as I grabbed Ace's arm and tugged him backwards. As she brought the sword down, I yelped and shot my arm out.
Her sword met air and was pushed back. As if the air had formed a solid mass and deflected her attack. She stumbled back in shock.
I blinked, realizing no harm had come to me. Glancing at Ace, I was happy to note that he was fine as well. Then, I looked back at the angry pirate. Clearly she knew Ace, but she had picked a fight on the wrong island.
A frown quickly took over my face as I carefully stepped in front of Ace. "First, you know the rules! No fighting whatsoever is to take place on this island! Second, any pirate is welcome here, so long as they follow the rules and don't cause trouble!"
She turned her glare to me, her sword now pointed towards me. "Oh? And who are you, brat?"
"You don't get to call her a brat." A gruff voice broke through the crowd. While everyone paled and stiffened, I winced and sighed. "I don't appreciate you causing trouble on this island. And now I'm really annoyed at you for addressing the kid like so."
The pirates stepped aside as he stepped through. His visible eye was narrowed into a glare, and his hand clenched an axe. Mamoru had heard the fight, and I was probably going to get in trouble. With both him and Yumi.
The woman turned around her sneer still on her face. If didn't drop at the sight of Mamoru. I too it that she didn't know who he was.
"Eh? What's it to you?" She glared.
Mamoru glanced at me, his eye scanning me over. Then he glanced at Ace, his eye rolling in annoyance before he looked back at the woman. "She's a troublesome kid, but she's my responsibility." He said, his eye narrowing into a glare. "So I don't take kindly to others acting towards her harshly."
My eyes shot towards Mamoru. His back was facing me now so it was hard to see his face. Though from what he was saying he was acting like he was a parent or something. What an idiot.
"Mmmm?" The woman mused, glancing at me.
I didn't register the movement quick enough. Once moment she was standing still glaring, the next she was in front of me swinging her sword down. Apparently, in that moment Ace had woken up from his quick nap.
I reached down to grab my daggers Yumi had given to me, but I knew I wasn't fast enough. In panic, my eyes squeezed shut as I awaited the blow.
Instead, a loud crash echoed in the air and a crackling heat surrounded me.
Opening my eyes I was met with Mamoru's back, though his entire form had been engulfed in black. Surrounding us was bright orange fire, which I knew the source to be Ace, who was still behind me.
"Dumbass." Mamoru scoffed as a weapon clanged to the ground. The fire around us vanished. "I give you ten minutes to leave this island. If you're still here, I'll hunt you down." He leaned forward a little and his voice lowered. "And I promise you don't want that."
Not a second had passed before I heard the woman scurry away.
A hand landed on my head, making me jump. Looking up I saw Ace grinning at me with a sheepish grin.
"Sorry about that." He chuckled ruffling my tangled hair.
I could feel my face heating up and I quickly crossed my arms and put up a brave front, rolling my eyes as I looked away from his grinning face. "Whatever. Even if you had fallen asleep I was fine. Lazy ass."
Directing my eyes towards Mamoru, I saw the black that had encased him trail off his body. Then he turned around to look at us both. His scowl was back on his lips as he looked at Ace and I. Annoyance lingered in his eye, as well as something else which I couldn't distinguish.
"You almost remind me of my stupid Captain." Mamoru scoffed.
Ace looked up to look at Mamoru as he took his hand off my head. "Oh? Who would that be?"
I looked towards Ace, how did he not know?
Mamoru smirked, surprising me. "Ah, that doesn't matter now. Come on you two, you've caused enough trouble."
"We didn't do anything!" I protested, throwing my arms in the air as I frowned. Neither male responded and instead we started walking through the dispersing crowd.
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We had already had our training session today, but Ace hadn't lead me back to the bar. Instead we were walking around and he was looking around as if he was lost. We've been walking around for an hour before I finally decided to mention something.
"Ah, Ace, are you lost?" I rose an eyebrow.
"Hmm?" He looked down at me, then shook his head. "No, I wanted to find the best place to put these." Reaching for his bag he pulled out colored markers
"What's that for?" I frowned, picking up one of the markers.
"This." He walked over to one of the buildings and squatted down to draw an red arrow.
"That's weird." I wrinkled my nose at Ace, "Why are you drawing arrows?"
He chuckled, "I'm making up a system. For you- I mean everyone! They just follow the arrows to get to the destination. Red is for the bar, I'll do one in blue so you can find the docks, and yellow for the cliff."
My eyes widened as I looked at the other colors, "Oh! That would be great! Do you think we could maybe do Jiro and Yumi's place too?" My face flushed as I quickly thought of an excuse. "In case someone needs to see the doctor, or the weapon's expert?"
He grinned, making my face burn more. "Yeah, we'll use green for Jiro and purple for Yumi." He looked at me proudly. "You like my idea?"
I nodded, "Yeah! It's actually really smart!"
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I didn't want him to leave.
A frown, which bordered a pout, had settled on my lips. My head rested in my hands as my elbows rested on the bar's countertop.
Serving behind the counter with a scowl was Mamoru. His eye was glaring at me. Apparently I was annoying him. Which was easy to do, today it was because of my refusal to help.
"Ace will be leaving soon, Katsu." Yumi whispered, leaning down to my face as she placed a hand on my shoulder. "How about you go say bye? I know you'll miss him." She stood up and took a to go cup from Mamoru. She was supposed to be out paroling for the old man, so she had come to grab a drink before she did so.
My hands clenched in anger, but no wind blew around the bar. I didn't noticed the raised eyebrow of Mamoru.
"Not like he's waiting." I muttered, "He's probably already gone."
"Katsu..." Yumi sighed, "Ace has to go. They're going to the new world soon, don't you want to wish them good luck?"
My frustration only grew. I knew that. I knew he wasn't going to stay. Yet, there was still something that hated the idea of him leaving. He had already stayed over a week, so I knew he needed to leave.
"Katsu." I jumped at the deep voice, my eyes looking up towards Mamoru. "Go say bye to Ace. When you get back we'll go on patrol. Yumi will watch the bar."
My eyes widened as I froze. Did he just?
Yumi smiled at Mamoru, "Excellent idea. I'll be back for you two to take over."
"Wait." I shook my head, "I thought-"
"Shut up brat." Mamoru rolled his eye. "It's about time you started helping around the island. For a couple months I'll have you tag along with me. When I think you're ready, you can go by yourself." Then he waved his hand at me. "Now go. I bet that idiot is waiting on you to say bye."
Yumi giggled, looking towards Mamoru, "I think Ace is her first crush."
My face exploded in heat and I quickly ran off from the two. "Shut up, idiots! That's not it!"
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The arrows that Ace drew around town have been very helpful. As a matter of fact, they cut my time in half.
As I neared the docks, my pace slowed. Part of me was worried. What if he had left already?
"Oi! Katsu!" My eyes widened as I locked onto the figure waving their arms. He hadn't left yet.
Not wasting a second more, I bolted past the other pirates. Why was it hard to stop smiling all of a sudden?
"You didn't leave." I noted, coming to an abrupt stop in front of the pirate and his ship.
"This idiot was complaining all day worried you weren't going to wish us luck." Deuce smirked, closing his book as he looked down at us from the railing of the ship. "It was beginning to annoy all of us, so thank you for showing up finally."
Ace rolled his eyes then looked at me, "I wanted to ask you a question."
I rose an eyebrow but stayed silent.
"Well, seeing as how you aren't in a pirate crew, would you be willing to join my crew? Not now of course, but in a few years?" He smiled, placing his hands behind his head as he rocked on the heels of his feet.
He wanted me to join his crew?
Immediately my mouth shot open to agree, but then I stopped. A few years.
"Ah, that's a big question to ask." I finally managed to say, making Ace blink at me. "In a few years you might have experienced everything there is to, or you might decide you don't want to travel any longer." I took a breath, then sighed. "I would love to join your crew, but you'll have to ask me again later. When you think the time is right, and then I'll give you a definite answer."
He blinked for a moment, then threw his head back and laughed. It only took a few seconds to compose himself after his laughter before he addressed me again, his finger wiping away a tear threatening the corner of his eye.
"That was a very mature answer." He grinned, then held out his hand. "Alright then. I'll come back and visit. Once I think you're ready, I'll be sure to ask you to join the Spade pirates."
Immediately my lips pulled into a grin that mirrored his. Throwing my hand forward, I clasped my smaller hand into his larger one. "Sounds like a deal!" I pulled back and placed my hands on my hips. "And the next time I see you, I'll be sure to beat you in a fight!"
His grin stayed in place as he turned away and lifted a hand to wave. "I can't wait to see that."
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2 Years Ago (Katsu's Age 15)
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"Where's your crew? And your ship!" My eyes were wide as I looked at the pirate that had left a year ago. Though he didn't appear stressed or in any anxiety state it didn't stop me from worrying. Why was Ace by himself?
That was when I saw his back. Before it had been bare. Now, it carried a big tattoo over the entire back. A Jolly Roger, one that everyone knew.
"Oi, what happened to the Spade pirates?" I whispered.
Ace smiled at me, "Hey, Katsu. It's been a while." He tossed a bag over his shoulder and jerked his head towards the town. "Let's go catch up."
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A few months ago (Katsu Age 16)
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A groan escaped my lips as I landed on the ground covered in bruises. This time I didn't try to stand back up as I just wanted to catch my breath. It was annoying, but I was admitting defeat.
Of course Ace found it funny and snickered as he looked over my defeated form with a damn smirk. "You've definitely improved."
"Ugh, shut up!" I groaned, rolling my eyes. "Clearly I'm not good enough to beat you."
He shrugged, "It doesn't help that your devil fruit strengthens my devil fruit. Unless you can managed to take away the oxygen, you'll only make my flames stronger." I frowned silently, then he grinned. "So, I was thinking, would you want to join my crew now?"
I peaked an eye over my arm to frown at him more. "You mean White beard's crew?" He shrugged and nodded again. I let out a sigh and covered my eyes once more with my forearm. "I'm gonna have to turn that down. White beard's crew is way too big. I don't believe in working in quantity."
I wanted quality. Not that White beard didn't have that, but I would feel lost in such a large crew. Not to mention the thought of being around that many people constantly made my head hurt. It'd be worse than the bar.
Ace blinked in confusion. "Too big?"
Well, that was one excuse. "I want someone new. I want to be able to share new experiences with a new crew. White beard is just too experienced."
I had made my decision a while ago that I would only settle for the best. White beard was definitely on the top, but he wouldn't be the next pirate king. If he wanted that I'm sure he would have claimed it years ago. The only Captain I'll follow will be someone I believe- know will be the next pirate king.
Hopefully they'll be like Taro's small crew too. They really became like a family, which is perhaps something I like too.
Thankfully, Ace didn't appear insulted. "Well, I can't say I'm too surprised." He chuckled softly, then looked over the cliff towards the docks. His smirk dropped into a frown. "I need to be heading out. Mamoru gave me some information on Teach."
I frowned now, having heard what Teach did. "Be careful with that guy. Mamoru said he's pretty powerful."
Ace then grinned at me, "Don't worry about me. I'll take care of him as soon as I find him. And I'll try to visit you again soon. Hopefully you'll still be here next time I visit though."
That wouldn't happen again. I didn't know that would be my last time seeing Ace.
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End of Chapter 42!
Well that last sentence isn't very happy...
Anyway, I believe the next two chapters will be sorta like fillers. One will be a Halloween special, and another will be a Letters to Mamoru. You guys don't have to read them. However I have noticed if I do these fillers it helps keep me interested in writing, if that makes any sense.
This is not edited.