Blind

The clinking of Katakuri's spurs mixed in with the swooshing of the waves on the shore. The mixed shouting of commands and bustling of the people of Komugi Island had long faded behind him. The aftermath of a terrible storm that ripped through the night could be seen all over the island. Back in town he had given out orders for the town to be fixed up while he decided to roam the island for other damages that needed to be addressed. And there was a lot of it. Several trees had been pulled up from their roots. Branches of stronger trees had been snapped off and thrown on the ground. Flowers and bushes had been shredded. Small fish were blown ashore and now lying dead on the ground.

Pieces of wood lain scattered and broke on the beach. He leaned down and picked one up. Turning it this way and that he declared it was piece of a ship. It would have been maddening to sail out in that storm. Whoever this ship belonged to they were no longer alive. If they were they had some amazing luck. The storm was the worst he had seen in a long time. It was amazing that there were any buildings and plants left on the island at all.

Tossing the wood down he continued on. Sand crunched under his boots though he barely heard it over the clinking of his spurs. The salty wind blew over his skin. He longed for the sweet smell of the donuts that were always being cooked on this island. This storm had thrown off his snacking schedule. He wanted his donuts. His stomach grumbled for them. His mouth drooled for them. But his duty had to come first.

So he continued on for a while longer. Other than the damage that he had already seen there didn't seem anymore. He was about to turn and head back to the town when something on the beach caught his eye. A dark spot with an odd shape lying on the beach. It was probably just some ocean creature on the verge of death or dead. A couple hours had passed since the storm stopped. He knew there would be no saving the creature. But he walked over to it anyway. Maybe it was fresh enough to take back and eat.

His eyebrows lifted when he stepped up to the creature. It wasn't an ocean creature at all. It was a woman. A woman with torn clothes, long blonde hair, and a stick attacked to her wrist by a leather strap. She looked to be in her early twenties, probably about ten years younger than himself. Her clothes, despite being torn, looked like money wasn't an issue for her. Though they didn't strike him fancy enough for her to be a noble or royalty.

Pulling off his glove he knelt down and pressed his finger to her neck. Her pulse beat against his skin. "She's alive." He looked out at the ocean and thought of the piece of board he found. "Was she caught in that storm? How did she manage to survive? And land here of all places?"

Katakuri pulled his glove back on. He stood with the intention of leaving her right there. But he stopped. Something shimmered under her eyelid. Knitting his eyebrows he watched for it to happen again. It did. Kneeling back down he pushed up her eyelid. A light grey eye stared out into the air. Nothing appeared to be out of place. It looked like a normal eye even if the color was light grey. Whatever the shimmer was it appeared to be gone. He moved to release her when the shimmer happened again.

He became wary. Something was different about this woman. He couldn't just leave her to wander around when she woke up. So he picked her up.

Her slender body allowed her to easily fit onto his arm like he was carrying a life size doll. Her stick tapped against him. With a light pop the stick shortened to four inches long. After a moment of confusion as to why the stick shrunk he turned and headed back into the town.

Several of his men rushed to report to him when he stepped back into the town. When they saw the woman he was carrying their mouths snapped shut for a moment. Then one asked, "Who's the woman?"
"She washed up on the shore," Katakuri said. "Take her to the hospital and have her checked out."

"Sir," the man said. "The hospital took a lot of damage. Patients are currently being moved out and into other buildings until the hospital can be fixed.

Katakuri frowned. He should have known. His eyes scanned the town. People were still being extracted from fallen buildings. All those with medical experience were helping out where they could. It would probably be a while before a doctor would be available to come check the woman. There was only one thing he could do.

"Have the doctor come to my quarters immediately." Katakuri turned and headed for his place.

"Y-yes sir." The man rushed off.

As he walked through the town a few people paused to take in the sight of him carrying a stranger while others never spared a glance. He ignored them either way. He wasn't doing this woman any favors after all. All he was going to do was have her checked out by a doctor then determine if she was a threat to his family. If she were a threat killing her would be the next step. But if she wasn't a threat he would let her go on her way.

Katakuri's eyes lifted when his house came into view. It was one of the bigger buildings on the island. Being a big man he needed a bigger house than most. Though sometimes he did wonder why the house was as big as it was. There were over fifty rooms and bathrooms, two living rooms, one rather large kitchen, an indoor pool, an outdoor pool, three libraries, and a few rooms that looked to have no use other than to sit there looking nice. Like all the buildings on this island his house was decorated to look like sweets, donuts.

He opened his front door and stepped inside.

"Welcome back, Master Katakuri." Three maids stopped working. They moved to bow to him but paused when seeing the woman in his hand. Come back to their senses they bowed to him.

Katakuri ignored their pause. It wasn't like him to do this for a stranger after all. "Ren."

The tallest of the three stepped forward. She bowed to him. "Sir?"

"This woman was on the beach. Clean her up and give her new clothes," Katakuri said.

"Of course, Master." Ren bowed again. "Shall I have someone come and take her to a room?"

"I'll carry her." Katakuri went up the stairs and turned into the first door he came to. He moved to place her on the bed. The maid rushed to the bathroom in the room and filled a basin with warm water. "A doctor will come and make sure she's unharmed."

"Of course, Master Katakuri." The maid started scrubbing the sand off the woman's skin.

Katakuri took that as his queue to leave. He'd done enough for the woman. His staff would take care of the rest until she woke up. Then he'd take over again. So he set back outside to continue with fixing the island up with the people.

It was well past sunset when he finally returned to his home. He entered the front door to his maids greeting him like always.

"Welcome back, Master," they said while bowing.

"Master." Ren stepped forward. "The doctor came and found nothing wrong with the girl. She is awake now. She has requested your presence so she can thank you for helping her."

Katakuri scoffed. He didn't bring her here for gratitude. Still he found himself walking up to the room he placed her in. He had to determine if she was a threat or not. He entered without knocking and paused. She was sitting in a chair now next to the window. But instead of looking out the window the woman was staring at the floor. It was at that moment he realized why her eyes were light grey. She was blind.

Yet she when she turned to him she looked right into his eyes.

His body tensed. Something was definitely different about this woman.

"Hello?" she said. Despite her calm tone her body was tense with nervousness. "Ren, is that you?"

"No," Katakuri said. "I am Katakuri."

The woman relaxed. "Of course. Ren said you would be back. Thank you for coming to see me. I wanted to give you my thanks for saving me." She bowed to him without standing. "I thank you oh so much. Your maids have been wonderful. They dressed me and brought food."

Katakuri's eyes landed on the table beside the woman. A teapot and tea cups remained on the table. "I didn't tell them to feed you."

The woman's eyebrows rose. "They won't get into trouble, will they? They were only trying to help me. I was a little hungry."

Katakuri crossed his arms. "What's your name?"

"Niji," she said.

"Why were you on the beach?"

"I was out sailing with friends," Niji said. "We were attacked by some pirates. They took all the women that were on board. My blindness didn't discourage them from keeping me. They wanted to use me for their pleasure." Her hands clenched in her lap as her eyes fell from his.

Katakuri frowned. She was lying. "You're lying."

"Pardon me?" Her eyes went back to his.

"Your hands clenched at the same time you looked away from me," Katakuri said. "Two signs often associated with lying. And I saw your eyes shimmer when I found you on the beach. I want to know if you're a threat to my family."

"Will you kill me if I am?"

"Yes."

Niji smiled.

"People don't often smile when faced with death."

"Indeed. But I have nothing to fear because I am not a threat to your family," Niji said.

"I'll be the one to decide that. Tell me why your eyes shimmer."

Niji didn't say anything for a long moment. "It is a gift, or sorts, that appears in my family every thirty generations. I can tell when people are lying and when their motives are negative. This gift is why those pirates attacked the ship I was on. They wanted to use me."

Katakuri nodded. A gift like that would come in handy. His mom would really like it. If she's telling the truth.

"You want to use me too."

She spoke so casually about it that it caught Katakuri off guard. At least he had his proof now. "How did you get to this island if you are blind?"

"Luck was on my side apparently."

"Did the storm free you from them?"

"I guess you could say that. I was their captive for two days. I was outside on the deck when a large wave crashed into the ship. I fell overboard," Niji said. "I thought I was going to die. But then I blacked out and woke up here. I thank you again for the help even if you wish to use me."

"I didn't save you for gratitude," Katakuri said. "I was only concerned that you might be a threat to my family."

"And now that you know I am not?"

Katakuri didn't say anything. Which surprised him a lot. He had already decided to give her to him mom. But now that the question was out there something inside of him told him not to let him mom have her. "I haven't decided."

"Oh?" Her eyebrows rose.

"Where do you live?"

"I live on Coal Island," Niji said.

"That's three days northwest of here," Katakuri said.

"So then it's true. I am in Big Mom's territory," Niji said. "Ren told me that before. I didn't want to believe it. I think part of me didn't until now."

Katakuri activated his haki. He knew this woman wasn't a threat to him but years of experience told him to watch her carefully anyway. Blind or not she could still be a fighter, a threat. "If you are here to harm anyone then I will kill you before you do."

A small smile ghosted over her lips. "Still untrustworthy I see. I understand. You don't know me after all. I meant what I said before. I don't mean any of you harm. Even if I were a fighter I wouldn't try to fight you. You are a very strong, intimidating man."

Katakuri took a closer look at her. She was trembling. Was she doing that the whole time since he stepped into his room? That's when he noticed. "You have observation haki."

"I do." Niji nodded. "Though I'm sure I am no where near as skilled as you are with it." A moment of silence passed between them. "I am sorry for putting you through trouble. But I need to return home. I'm sure my parents are very worried about me. If I could I would ask to borrow a boat." She waved at her eyes. "As you can tell that won't do me any good. I can, however, pay you for your troubles when I get back home. My family isn't as rich as nobles or the Celestial Dragons, but I'm sure we can come to some sort of agreement."

"I'm sure we can." Katakuri turned to leave. "I'll have a ship prepared to take you home tomorrow." He closed the door. Confusion filtered through his mind. He had made the decision to turn her over to him mom. Having a skill like this woman did would come in handy. His mother could become queen of all the pirates. The Big Mom Pirates would be unstoppable.

Yet he told this woman, this Niji, he would take her home.