The Partys Bar was always noisy.
The smoke of cheap tobacco mixed with the smell of cheap rum, while drunken sailors slapped the tables, spitting saliva along with liquor as they bragged about exaggerated sea adventures.
Behind the counter, the hostess Makino polished glasses with practiced ease. Her gentle smile showed she was long used to such rowdy chaos. The warm fire drove away the early spring chill and lit the group of pirates sitting at the central table.
Shanks the Red-Haired, one of the acknowledged strong figures of this sea.
His trademark straw hat rested casually on his red hair, a black cloak over his shoulders. His trademark carefree grin never left his face. His arms, both intact, showed strong muscles. One rested lazily on the table, the other tossed a tray holding a strange fruit.
The fruit's twisted skin looked like a vortex. Its deep purple surface shimmered under candlelight with an unnatural, almost living pattern.
The yet-unnamed Gomu Gomu no Mi (Rubber Fruit).
At the table's edge, a small boy with messy black hair stared at the spinning fruit.
His dirty round face and wide black eyes gleamed with anticipation. A line of drool threatened to fall from his mouth. This was Monkey D. Luffy, seven years old, whose greatest wish was to set sail immediately and become the world's greatest pirate, just like these cheerful rogues before him.
"Oi, Shanks!"
Luffy's clear childlike voice cut through the rough noise. He wriggled impatiently on his stool. "That fruit! That weird-looking fruit! Give it to me!"
He pointed his dirty finger stubbornly at the purple fruit spinning in Shanks' hand.
The laughter grew louder.
Benn Beckman puffed his cigarette and shook his head with a deep chuckle. "No way, kid. That's a Devil Fruit we worked hard to get! Once you eat it…" He dragged his words and squinted at Luffy.
"You'll never swim again. You'll turn into a sinking duck!"
Yasopp the sniper added exaggeratedly, making a sinking motion. The men roared with laughter.
Luffy shook his head furiously, his black hair flying.
"I don't care!" His voice rose over the laughter. "Even if I can't swim, it doesn't matter! As long as I can become strong like you, Shanks! Give it to me!"
Like a puppy begging for food, his eyes burned with raw desire, his little hands itching to grab the fruit. His body overflowed with pure passion.
At that moment, no one noticed as Luffy suddenly froze.
The brightness in his eyes rippled violently, then was suddenly replaced by a deeper, foreign sharpness.
Katsuo widened his eyes in shock. The rough wooden table, the smell of alcohol, the faces he knew so well—Shanks with both arms, Beckman, Yasopp…
Them?
A dream?
Memories not his own exploded like waves—pirates, adventures, his grandfather's fist, dreams… and then, from another world, himself excitedly chasing the manga!
Two consciousnesses collided, merged, tore apart. Luffy's young body could not contain an adult's flood of information. Katsuo felt his head hammered, his vision spinning, stomach churning. He grabbed at the table to steady himself.
"Urgh…"
He covered his mouth, forcing down the vomit. Sweat rolled down his forehead as dark spots danced before his eyes.
He bit his lip hard to stay awake.
His gaze moved from Shanks' smiling face to the purple fruit in his hand. The childish longing was gone, replaced by a blade-like sharpness.
A Devil Fruit.
The Paramecia: Gomu Gomu no Mi (Rubber Fruit).
The legendary Nika no Mi (Nika Fruit).
A key to fate. A sweetly wrapped poison. A prison disguised as freedom.
"Ha…"
Katsuo exhaled hot breath. His heart pounded in his chest, reminding him of the body's reality.
Luffy's instinct screamed to eat it, but Katsuo's will hammered like an axe on ice.
Eat it, and for twenty years your will and body will dance to the so-called Drum of Liberation. The so-called god's form was only another set of chains.
The tavern's noise seemed distant, muffled. Katsuo heard the hollow, endless laughter of Nika echoing inside his head.
No. Never controlled by anyone or any fate.
The fruit came down again from Shanks' toss. "Oi, brat, you really want it?" Shanks joked.
The men laughed, waiting to see the kid make a fool of himself.
Katsuo—inside Luffy—lifted his head. He reached out, not with a child's haste, but with a strange calmness beyond his age. With a firm "clap," he caught the purple fruit.
"…"
The bar fell silent. Yasopp's grin froze.
Beckman's hand stopped mid-air. Makino's gentle smile shifted with surprise.
Even Shanks' grin faded slightly, his eyes sharpening as he studied the boy.
Katsuo's eyes swept calmly over them. He felt something within stir, a chilling sharpness scratching at his soul's shell.
He inhaled deeply and then raised the fruit high, pressing it forward toward Shanks.
"Rubber?"
The childish voice rang cold in the silent tavern. "Heh. Eat it, and I'll become a ridiculous rubber band?"
Everyone froze.
"Rely on this cursed thing, and let fate chain me?"
His voice was sharp, each word like a bullet. "I will never hand my future to a cursed fruit!"
He thrust the fruit back at Shanks.
Shanks' eyes, no longer playful, locked on him with stormlike depth, as if trying to pierce into his soul.
"I'll choose my own path," Katsuo—through Luffy—said firmly.
He dropped from the stool without looking back, ignoring the shock and laughter that followed. His small figure dashed out of the warm but suffocating tavern.
The sea wind wrapped him with the scent of salt and freedom.
Katsuo stopped at the cliff above the ocean, breathing heavily. His chest heaved.
He stared at his muddy hands, then at the vast, endless sea below. A mix of fear, clarity, and determination surged in his chest.
Then—
"ROAR!"
A thunderous roar, raw and violent, blasted from the rocky waters below. A huge scaled head rose from the sea, blocking out the sun.
Its massive yellow eyes, full of hunger, locked onto the tiny figure at the cliff's edge.
The Sea King.
The sudden attack carried the chill of death, instantly tearing Katsuo from his thoughts. His body screamed danger.
(End of Chapter)
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