I do not own One piece
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3rd POV
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The crew has experienced Katsu remembering a memory before, and for the most part even those few times concerned them as it typically left the red head staring off into space. Though the last time it completely knocked her out, which had been at the absolute worst time possible, and as such even now wasn't the best time for their artist to receive another memory.
However, the start of this one was different. They didn't see her rub her head and squint her eyes as if suddenly recalling something. They didn't see her slowly fade out and begin to stare into space.
This time was far different.
What the child had said had triggered something.
The memory that had been triggered, Chopper was quick to explain, must have been traumatic. Given that instead of the typical zone out was replaced by a panic attack.
Chopper was quick to jump into action, as well as Zoro and Luffy who had been closest to the red head. Though Zoro went to push Sanji away, he had managed to stop when he remembered it was actually Chopper inside of Sanji's body.
The rest of the crew stood off watching as the three closest to Katsu tried to calm her, though she wasn't responding to them. The inside of the cave was becoming windy as a few cries from Katsu echoed. Chopper trying to sedate the female as the wind grew stronger.
Luffy and Zoro moved quickly to stop her arm from moving as it went to claw at her tattooed arm as she cried out as if she was in pain. Chopper was the first to realize what she must have been remembering as he watched her body movement and the cries escaping her. In this type of situation he would have wanted to place her in a quiet room without so many wondering eyes, to help and give her the privacy to hopefully help cope.
That wasn't the case this time.
The whole crew was witnessing the artist, and it wouldn't take long for them to piece together what kind of memory she was having.
"When the hell did she get so strong?!" Zoro grunted as he held her arm down.
"Katsu!" Luffy shouted, "Snap out out of it! Wake up!"
Chopper turned to see the children looking at the scene with worry and fear and quickly looked towards Robin. One look from him was enough to make the woman sprout multiple arms and gain the children's attention, Usopp picking up on the hint as well and starting to ramble on about different stories.
"Chopper! Sedate her." Zoro ordered, glaring up at the doctor as the wind around them grew sharp and was beginning to leave small cuts.
Before he could respond, the wind suddenly stopped and the female let out a strangled gasp. Her eyes blinked and she tried to look around, her breathing uneven as if she couldn't catch it. A strong tremor overtook her whole body and her eyes looked watery as she began to shake her head.
"Let her go!" Chopper ordered, both Zoro and Luffy putting their hands in the air in a surrender motion. "Katsu..."
"No... No...." She muttered, gasping again as she sat up and tried to move away from the three figures. Mind still hazy while simultaneously struggling to remember where she was. "Please stop... No."
"Oi! Katsu!" Luffy sat in front of her, squinting at her. "You're okay, stop that."
She looked up, her eyes landing on the straw hat for a moment. "Shanks... you came."
"Eh?" Luffy tilted his head, tapping Katsu on her head. "It's Luffy, not Shanks. Katsu, stop acting weird."
Chopper's eye twitched, "Luffy-"
"Luffy... Luffy..." Katsu muttered, her breathing starting to calm more as she looked over and saw Zoro and Chopper, though Chopper appeared to be Sanji at the moment. "I'm... I'm Katsu, not Mitsu."
"Yeah, you're Katsu." Luffy agreed, smiling and laughing. "See Katsu, you're okay."
"I am okay." She repeated.
She was not okay.
She began to shake her head, her bottom lip quivering. "No."
Luffy's smile dropped and he looked at her in confusion, "No?"
"Katsu, it was a memory, it's okay now-" Chopper was cut off as Katsu shook her head more.
"No, it's not.... it's not okay. I changed my mind." She shook her head, gripping her head and pulling at her hair. "I don't want to remember anymore. No more."
Zoro frowned, his shoulders sagging as realization started to come to him. He had been too busy stopping her from clawing her skin he didn't take the moment to realize what she was remembering. She was trying to claw at the bran mark that was on her arm, now covered by her tattoo. He was certain now that she must have remembered something leading up to that.
"I don't want to remember anymore. I don't." She repeated, shaking her head as her eyes became more watery. "Mamoru. Mamoru said I wouldn't ever have to see him. He wouldn't remember me and I wouldn't remember him." Her arms wrapped around herself and squeezed as she shut her eyes. "He remembers me... I don't want to remember him. Not after that."
"Katsu, it's okay." Luffy repeated, though he didn't smile. He didn't like seeing his crew upset like this.
She opened her eyes and shook her head again, tears falling from her face now and she reached out to grab Luffy's coat. "Captain, I'm... I want to leave, please. Please." She swallowed, her bottom lip trembling more, and the hand that was gripping Luffy's coat trembled. "I'm scared. I can't... I can't... I don't want to remember."
"Katsu." The stern tone from Luffy was enough to gain Katsu's attention. "I swear you'll be okay. I'm not going to let you, or anyone else, get hurt. Got it." When she nodded softly, tears still falling down her face. "Also, I'm gonna kick that doctor's ass."
Zoro grunted in agreement, "Not if I get to him first."
Chopped nodded as well, "It's sickening what he's doing."
"Luffy..." Katsu's voice was small, and none of the three males around her liked hearing her sound so broken. "I'm sorry for being a coward."
"You're not-"
"You're fine." Luffy gave a small smile, placing his hand on top of Katsu's head as the tears kept falling. "As Captain I step in when you're a coward, so it's okay."
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Nobody needed to be told that Katsu was in a delicate state of mind for the time being. They had all witnessed what had happened, the crew had heard. When Chopper and Zoro directed Katsu off to the side of the cave for her to be able to draw in peace, they didn't interrupt. The only comment that had been made was when Luffy asked Katsu to make sure to draw the dragon they had been on.
They all had the same feeling bubbling inside them. Rage. They wanted nothing more than to march down and murder the man that was responsible for the pain they just watched their crew mate relive.
Zoro sat next to Katsu as she drew quietly listening in to the information being shared. However, his eye twitched when Nami began swooning over Robin for the tenth time, and again he had to remind himself that it was not Nami but instead Sanji. He was certain he wasn't the only one that was having a hard time remembering who was who.
Turning to look at Katsu he grunted to gain her attention, "You think you could make-"
He was cut off as she held up her hand which was holding four pictures. Zoro blinked taking the pictures and looking at them.
"Done," She mumbled, "You just need to put it on the correct person."
He nodded, trying to remember when she had drawn the pictures. "How'd you know what I was about to ask?"
She glanced up at him with a raised eyebrow, "You made the face each time Sanji made a comment, then you looked confused because it was Nami not Sanji, only to remember who Sanji currently is in. Figured you would want that to help remind you, as well as the rest of the crew."
He hummed in thought, looking back down at the pictures. Though he knew they had been done quickly, they pictures looked far from being done fast. Perhaps the most amusing to him was the hearts in Sanji's eyes, which Zoro always commented was Sanji looking at his most idiotic.
He couldn't wait to slap that on Nami's face.
Hearing Zoro's snickering, Katsu figured he had finally seen Sanji's face she had drawn. Having heard him swoon over Robin more than once, and given how he was in Nami's body and having made inappropriate actions, Katsu drew him at his stupidest looking. Of course she also knew Zoro would get a kick out of it. Given how happy he was when she drew him looking similar for his wanted bounty poster under Zoro's request.
Though she supposed Zoro was more satisfied then because that picture will be posted for the whole world to see. She was simply happy to see that god awful monstrosity be replaced by an actual picture.
Hearing the comments about the Doctors, which were referred to as master, Katsu had to shove her head deeper into her sketchbook. She didn't want to hear the demented experiment centaur praise the doctor which has tormented not only her, but also the children and plenty of others.
The memory was too fresh.
It only reminded her that she wanted off of this island. She didn't want to remember anything else from the memories lost. That much was made clear when she remembered just that little bit.
Of course to make it all worse, she had totally broken down in front of her Captain. That wouldn't even have been on the list of the last thing she wanted to ever do. She didn't want everyone to see her like that.
It was beyond embarrassing.
And it just happened to be her luck.
Finishing the drawing Katsu stared at the image of Luffy standing in front of the dragon, the image next to it was him on top of its head with his arms up in the air in victory. She had plans later on to color in Luffy, leaving everything else without color. The shading she already had done on the Dragon had the perfect amount of detail and she felt it would ruin the picture if she colored it all.
"Katsu," She paused to look up at Zoro who was watching the rest of the crew. "You okay?"
"Ah," She muttered, again the embarrassing moment of her break down popping up in her head. "Yeah. I am okay."
She knew that wasn't the truth.
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Sato absolutely hated secrets.
He also knew that made him a hypocrite. How could he hate secrets, yet be keeping a big one from his own twin? To his own defense, he had almost split the truth multiple of times. Had Makoto not been there to shut him up, Sato was sure Mitsu would already know.
There was no doubt in his mind that if it didn't put Mitsu in danger, he would have already told her. However, as said multiple times, if she knew it would increase the likelihood of their family finding out. They had been wanting a female heir, and there was no doubt in his mind that they would get their hands on Mitsu and she would never escape.
Granted, it would also likely put her crew in danger. Sato knew Luffy, and while he was sure Luffy would protect his crew, Mitsu included, he wasn't sure even he could handle their family.
"Sato, you hear from Makoto?"
The teen jumped at the loud voice which belonged to none other than his Uncle. Sato looked up and frowned, shaking his head. "The idiot won't answer my calls. He's been silent for a week."
Shanks mirrored his nephew's frown with one of his own. "That kid is so secretive lately." He sighed, rubbing his face. "Here I thought after we found Mitsu things would get better."
Sato moved to sit next to his Uncle. They had been staying at some island, which so far appeared to be abandoned, for a few days now. Though his Uncle stated he had business to do, all Sato had seen was Shanks being lazy and getting drunk partying with his crew.
Times like that really made him wonder if he should have left this crew years ago.
"I overheard him talking about his parents before he left." Sato answered, "I think whoever he's working with has information about them."
Shanks sighed, flopping down on the sand and staring up at the sky with a blank look for a moment. Sato looked down at Shanks, knowing the blank look to be Shanks lost in his thoughts. "Sayomi would be disappointed in me." He finally murmured.
Sato rolled his eyes, sending his leg out and kicking the down Captain who didn't even voice protest. "Shut up dumb ass. Mom would kick you ass saying shit like that."
He hummed, glancing over at Sato. "She might have, but she would have still been disappointed in me." A sigh escaped him. "I mean, immediately I lost you and Makoto. You two went through so much with those bastards. Then I end up losing Mitsu only after a couple of months. She ended up being raised by Mamoru, and that old bat isn't really suited to raise kids. In the end it causes Makoto to get into some kind of shit, which I bet is something he probably shouldn't be involved in-"
Sato kicked his Uncle again. "Shut up. I'll beat you up in Mom's place."
A pout settled on Shank's face, "You would never."
"Mitsu would never." Sato corrected, "I, on the other hand, would most definitely take a chance to beat you up." He sent a smirk towards Shanks, making the man mirror it.
"I suppose we should probably get used to calling her Katsu, huh?" Shanks murmured before frowning as he watched Sato gather his hair and begin tying it up. "You should grow it out, it'll help you."
"No," Sato shook his head, gather his hair and looking at how long it had gotten. He didn't want it getting longer than two inches past his shoulder. "While it could help, it can also cause more harm too. Kimiko even recommended cutting it fairly often, in small amounts. If it gets too long and they end up cutting it all off I'll be screwed over."
Shanks curled his lips, sitting back up. He dusted the sand off of his shirt before turning towards Sato. "Care to spare with me?"
"Sword or no sword?" Sato asked, raising an eyebrow.
Shanks appeared to think it over, a teasing smirk forming on his face, "I think I'll leave the sword play to Mitsu. She's far better."
Sato rolled his eyes, "She was raised by the Pirate King's Navigator, who was known to be able to yield any weapon. Of course she'll be great with the sword. Don't hold back either, if anything I should hold back since I have two arms."
Shanks winced dramatically, placing his hand over his heart. "That hurt."
The rest of the crew had started to make their way towards Shanks and Sato. However, feeling the air shift as both stood up to face each other, they paused. A few of them cheered as they knew what was coming. Benn, however, let out a sigh and hung his head.
"The damn idiots are gonna end up destroying the island."
Upon his proclamation, Sato's body covered itself in haki and a chilling grin covered his face as he looked at his Uncle. The ground under his feet cracked as he stamped his foot before pushing off and launching himself towards Shanks. The crew cheered loudly as a loud bang sounded as Shanks held up his hand and caught the haki covered fist.
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End of Chapter 87!
Not my longest chapter, but I did leave some information in there for ya'll. I do apologize for the lack of updates, everything has been quite hectic for me lately. My mother just got over covid-19, which took her a little over two months to get over, which honestly is a miracle in itself since she's diabetic, has lung issues, and has no immune system. I'm sure with just that bit you can likely assume how crazy things have been for me since I've been having to do everything to keep the household going. Needless to say, I'm back now, so I should start coming out with updates!
Thoughts on this chapter? And seriously, please stay safe guys! I know states are reopening now, but please still continue to use caution.
This is not edited.