One-piece SI with a bit of a twist. No boring dealing with a BROB for one. Secondly, this is not a Straw-Hat fic. If at one point this guy runs into them who knows what will happen... As for when in the timeline... Well, who knows, eventually that will be shown. Reiterating, at no point will there be ANY joining the Straw Hats at all. Fighting them some time.. Well, fights are fun, who knows.

Light trigger warning: The first 2-3 chapters take place on an island that is literally shit, lots of bad people, slavery, etc. Nothing is shown in detail, but slavery torture and death is mentioned.

Also even if it's starting out like so, this is not a dark edge lord I am gonna kill all the peeps for power kind of fic. This takes place in One Piece, that for all the dark things in the world, still manages a light undertone, I do not intend to make this grimdark.

English is a second language, and I have not posted anything like this before although I have been lurking for many many years.

Hope you enjoy it, and if you don't. Well let me know why constructively so that I can improve.

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Waking up in a new world... What a fantasy. Everyone probably thinks of it at some point you know. Getting a new life, getting away from the nine to five, and the humdrum of daily living. You see stories about it. Magical fantastical stories. Stories where the hero is inserted into another world by a god or such and given awesome powers or simply given life in the body of a powerful hero, or villain, sometimes those so-called BOB's weren't picky.

Those things might be true somewhere. It would be nice if it went that way wouldn't it? Protagonist plot armor from the start. I don't know if there is a god, or if people get reincarnated by random chance, or if I am just that "lucky". Either way I figure I probably hadn't been good enough of a person in my previous life. There was no BOB or God to ask me where I wanted to go or to give me powers. I wasn't born the son of a hero, nor in the body of someone destined to be great and powerful.

I was born on Obutsu island in South Blue, Lovingly called Shithaven island by us locals, or just Shithaven for short. I was born Kitanai Kaito the son of a loan shark mother and thug father. I was born into the world of One Piece. I had no special powers, No great heritage or secret weapon bequeathed onto me. I was the son of criminals, on an island where a murder in the streets gained nothing more then a glance to see if anyone else was looting the body already. A nest of absolute scum and villainy that the marines don't even bother with as the cockroaches just crawl right back in after any attempts to stamp them out.

No, the wonderful island I was born into had quite the arrangement with the marine branch nearby nowadays. Keep our scum and villains on the island murdering and scamming our own population and we are left alone. Set sail and the marines will burn us down. Well... Of course if you hand out enough of a bribe first, sailing isn't much of an issue... The slave trade hasn't had much of an issue sailing in and out, they can afford bribes of course. Goda knows the Tenryubitoo need their slaves after all.

In essence it means that all the criminal activity you could think of was let loose on Obutsu island, of course it also meant that with only ourselves and whatever criminals that travel here available to murder and swindle, life was not easy. For a child on a criminal island such as this. Most children tended to be either dead or kidnapped for the slave trade before their teens. What kept the population steady wasn't kids growing up into adults... It was more criminals traveling to the island from all over South Blue, hearing stories about a wonderful criminal haven, yeah, Shithaven actually has a good reputation outside of the island. And then of course they are stuck here unless they can make enough money to bribe the navy for passage out. Cue robbery, murder, and theft until they either make enough money. Or more likely end up dead or sold. Trust me, dead or sold are definitely the more common results.

According to the few people that actually have managed to stay alive that long, the town had always been a ramshackle dump until the last time the marines burnt it down some 20-30 years ago. The whole island had tunnels beneath it where the townspeople fled during such attacks. The navy never went so far as to go down there and try to flush them out because of the casualty risks of fighting in close quarters with desperate criminals who know the tunnels. At least back then the navy had a minor ounce of concern for the lives of their own men. Didn't see much of that in the story I remembered.

The three gang leaders at the time had contacted the Marine Commodore in charge of the nearby base and made an offer he couldn't refuse, or so the story goes. Obutsu island would be left alone from marine harassment. In return the marines would get a cut of all the money every year, the bribes from everyone traveling to and from, and they get rid of criminals on a daily basis with the numerous deaths happening. Why the 3 gang leaders are helping world peace don't you know! Criminals all over South Blue travel here and end up never leaving, South Blue ends up looking good, so the navy looks good. Ironically the fact so few leave the island managed to create the rumor the criminal haven was such a fun place to be for criminals they never wanted to leave. Thereby ensuring a continued influx of criminals. The navy made sure to keep those rumors floating around, it really cleaned up the streets everywhere else without them having to do much.

In return for this public service, the navy would deliver the food to keep the island alive, through merchants with special permission, of course, the navy couldn't risk any of their grunts growing a conscience at an inconvenient time. This delivery was also to the three gangs only of course. As such it ensured the population would forever be under the thumb of the gangs as they now controlled the food supply. There were no grocery stores on this island. You paid the gangs directly for your allotment of food. Not so surprisingly people did not tend to fight the gangs much.

The merchants never saw the town proper, always unloading at the docks and then being paid and sent on their way. Which furthered the rumors of the island being a criminal haven as the most trusted word around South Blue was from the merchants, who all saw the gang happily unloading their wares, singing, drinking, and fighting just for the hell of it. They didn't see the darker side of the island and as such word spread quicker and quicker until we had a steady influx of scum.

With the island secure, food supply and safety from the navy ensured. The three gangs built a proper town from the ashes of their slapped together hovel. As the island was full of greedy criminals that never left, new criminals with deep pockets entering and getting stuck, money very rarely left. Therefore there was plenty around to buy the materials and craftsmanship to come and build a town of stone and steel, instead of wood and whatever junk was around as before. Of course once built the builders and merchants couldn't leave and were forced into running the shops they built. With a cut to the gang in charge of their sector of course. Even with all the death the town covered the island and had at least 20 000 inhabitants, not something seen very often in South Blue unless you were talking the major kingdoms. The number of citizens was a guess for the most part as no one really performed a census, it simply counted how many food ration coupons were given out any given month. For all I knew the number was much larger.

The Stonewall Gang controlled the dock and the warehouse sectors, nothing came into town without going through them, they were the most stable gang as even the other two gangs had to tread lightly around them to ensure their deliveries of goods did not stop. All shops and homes around those sectors paid a fee to live hassle-free and receive their weekly food rations. Fail to pay and you would face starvation as well as a good beating, or death. They all wore blue to signify their affiliation. Colour coordination was important when people were being murdered all the time, why you had to make sure you weren't murdering a fellow gang member. That would be... A minor inconvenience.

The Red Whip Gang controlled the pleasure sector. Gambling houses, bars, brothels and everything else you could think of to waste your money on was under their purview. They also controlled the underground port and the tunnels under the pleasure sector. This made them the richest of the gangs as they traded in flesh through prostitution as well as slavery. The underground port was the only place for slavers to come to the island as even here such a thing could not be overt in case news spread to more decent islands. Slavery was still very illegal... As long as you weren't a world noble anyway. Therefore the island could not be openly slaving. Their colors were red and everyone in town avoided them as much as possible, when not looking to spend money in their sector. Slavers wasn't anyone's idea of friendly neighbors after all. If you didn't pay them your share of the protection money a beating was like a miracle compared to the more likely outcome of being in their debt.

The Big Time Gang controlled most of the business aspects of the town. the craftsmen, the maintenance workers, the only town hospital and they were the sole sellers of drugs in town, manufacturing them in said hospital's basement. They weren't as rich or as perfectly placed as the other two gangs. However they controlled the only place to get healed up in town, the drugs both medicinal and recreational, sewage maintenance, water maintenance, and building maintenance as well as the shops that built and repaired weapons. As such they had their own softer power in town. After all if you stop getting fresh water. Your sewage keeps coming back up..No drugs, no repairs. It was a slower death then most other gangs would give you. It still meant death. Their colors were green and because they weren't as stereotypical gangsters as the rest they tended to be even more on a hair-trigger to prove they were just as bad. If a bar fight happened anywhere you could bet a green guy was part of it.

End result, whatever sector you were in, you were going to end up spending all your money just to survive, unless you joined a gang or had some serious skills or luck. You wanted something extra, or some cash to have fun? Then you robbed or killed someone in an alley or their home and used the money for that extra fun. Your own money was simply to continue surviving.

I could really go for one of those reincarnations into a protagonist right now instead of this life. No? Well how about just some awesome powers or just being born to caring parents? No?

Yeah... Reincarnation sucks.

I was 4 years old when my parents deemed me old enough to sufficiently work for them. Needless to say I was not their loved progeny. I was free labor that happened to pop out, and now I was old enough to pay back all the food and housing I had so been graciously allowed for the first 4 years of my life. Parents of the year did not exist on this island, if you weren't making yourself useful in some way, you would probably be sold the next time slave traders came by. Even if a parent somewhere here actually loved their child... The gangs' protection money rackets, the random robberies and break-ins, and everything in-between meant you had to ensure you had enough coin at all times to survive the month. A child at that point became a burden... Or a payday... Most chose payday.

I guess I was lucky in that my parents saw more use for me then a quick payday. My mother was one of those stereotypical shady loan sharks. She wasn't part of one of the three gangs but paid protection money to the Akai Buchi gang, she had many contacts and somehow had managed to keep pretty well situated without joining up. Her business was located right at the entrance/exit of the pleasure sectors main street. Surrounded by brothels, gambling houses, and other dens of sin she was situated perfectly to give out loans to those eager to make it rich, or those that were desperate. It was rare that someone was able to pay her back, and that is just how she wanted it. That gave her the excuse to send her husband, my thug of a father, to collect by shackling the poor sod up and selling them off to pay their debt. By happenstance she never lent out more money then what she could make selling the idiot asking her for a quick loan. No one that lived in the sector was dumb enough to use her services, still, there was always enough idiots for business to be good. After all new idiots arrived almost every day.

She'd be an outright slaver if it weren't for the fact the gangs frowned on that. The only ones allowed to just snatch people and sell them off were the gangs themselves. However if you owed... Let's say a loan shark a debt and couldn't pay, well then your life was fair to cover the debt. After all none of the gangs were stupid enough to use such a service and what did they care about the ones that did, they were borrowing money to spend at their businesses after all. No loss for them.

Her name was Kitanai Himeko and my father was Kitanai Matsuda. We lived on the floor above my mother's business. We also had a basement where my Father would run his simple business when not doing work for my mother. He and a few of his friends basically had a rent-a-thug business where people could ask my father for a few men to guard their home or business for a time... Or smash someone else's. My father did not make much from this venture as he and his friends totaled just 5 people, so they could only reliably have one client at a time. It's why he mostly ended up doing thug work for my mother. The stupid thing in this is as uncaring as they are towards me, they actually love each other and tend to get overly affectionate. Some of that must have transferred to me somewhere somehow even if they don't show it. How else to explain the fact that they regularly sell people into slavery and yet I am still here. I refuse to believe in luck. Being placed in probably one of the very worst places on the planet for a kid had given me a healthily pessimistic outlook on life.

"Why am I telling you about my parent's my friend? Well I guess I just felt like sharing how much life sucks on this special day. It's my 15th birthday don't you know?" I tell the tied up gang member I had stolen off the streets, as long as no one sees you, no one cares about some low-level Red whip punk. He had been drunk as a skunk but was now looking perfectly sober, if terrified as I tapped my dagger against his throat. "Well, guess sharing is done, back to regular old life it is friend," I say contemplatively before cutting his throat ignoring his frantic last-minute silent begging. Mercy was not something affordable in this town. I had learned that quickly. It still somehow made me feel sick deep down in my soul in the tiny place I still managed to hide some of my previous life's sensibilities.

Pocketing his belongings I give another quick glance at the now dead man pondering for a few seconds whether his shoes were better than my own or not. Hearing a sound further down the alley makes my mind up for me and I quickly slip out of the alley into the main street, keeping one hand on my dagger the entire time I walk. As well I make sure I'm looking like I am walking with a purpose. You're less likely to be robbed or beaten if you look like you have a purpose, as your random thug might think your working for someone that might take offense to their errand boy getting roughed up. For once my age was a benefit. With so few youth around just my age made people figure I belonged to someone important.

If I didn't know how horrible the people here was I would have been impressed with the impressive 3 and 4 story buildings with their slanted red-tiled roofs and artfully done steel balconies. The town was beautiful, even the streets were clean and even had a mosaic of some sort of beast inlaid every 20 feet. Must have cost a fortune back in the day. Money still talked, even among criminals the urge to show off never faded.

It only takes me 10 minutes of speed walking to make it back home, I never stray too far away for these little collections. I quietly slip through the front door using a small stick to keep the bell from jingling, ensuring my entrance is as quiet as possible. I head for the stairs, almost home free now, might actually be my lucky day! That would be a first for sure...

"Buahahaha! BOY! You tryin ta hide sumethin from yer own dad? thought ya already had tha stupid beaten out of ya!?" Came the bellow from the hallway. I stop and tense up as my father comes down the hallway, having been coming up from the basement at the same time I entered, so my bad luck as usual. Meeting my parents is never pleasant, less so when they catch me in the act of doing.. Well anything really.

"Don't be shy boy..." He chuckles with a vicious yellowed grin as he comes up to me, towering over me. His hair was going grey and he was more belly then muscles now, but he was still twice my size in height and girth and able to break a man's neck with a twist of his huge scarred hands. He was also carrying a large bottle of rum that he stopped to take a loud swig of while waiting for me to bend my neck. I had counted on him being too sauced to even notice me coming back, guess he had paced himself for once. In the end there was no choice. There never was..

I handed him my haul, a watch, a wallet, and a large dagger. "Here you go, I was just going to count it first," I mumbled bending my neck slightly as to not sneer in the face of the old bastard. How tired I was of having this drunk fat bastard dictate my coming and going. One day... I will snap your fool neck you monster. I think viciously for not the first time. For making me like you people!

Matsuda takes another swig before wiping his mouth with his arm, staining his used to be white shirtsleeve further. "Now that all of it? Seems ta me ya might be holding back a little sumthing, you know what I'm sayin'?" He puts a hand on my head bending over to look me in the eye his rotten breath hitting me straight in the face. I grit my teeth as his fingers start squeezing my head, fat bastard he might be, he could still bend steel with his bare hands. "Ya holdin back any? You can trust me! After all I'm your daddy don't ya know? Buahahaha!"

The grip on my head tightens further and a trail of blood makes it way down my chin as I bite my lip trying not to give him the satisfaction of complaining about the pain. It isn't too onerous, the pain is an old friend. Really this was tame.

After a few seconds he lets go, laughing as he gives me a soft pat on the head in pure mockery. "Guess ya weren't lyin', good boy!" He grabbed my haul, tossing the wallet carelessly to the ground after removing everything. "16000 Beri, eh." He grumbled, "Watch looks decent." He eyes me before rolling his eyes and throwing me a 100 beri bill. "here's ya cut, go git ye waste of air."

I don't hesitate to immediately make my way away and up to my room. Today he was in a good mood, another 100 beri added to my stash. It was rare for me to get a cut of anything I stole if found out. Its why I attempted to sneak in without alerting anyone, my father should have been upstairs getting drunk off his ass. I would have to try and find out why he wasn't, not much could tear him away from his booze. Any future attempts to sneak money by my parents could be in jeopardy if he was going to be changing habits all of a sudden. My mother was usually not an issue, she tended to sleep half the day away as most of her work was done at night. Hence why even with the extra danger I did most of my crimes during the day.

I spent the next few hours napping lightly, the kind with one eye open. Resting up for the night in case it would be another night where my parents made use of me for some task, or whether I could attempt to get out and find something interesting.

Around nine-thirty I made my way down the creaky stairs that always made me work so hard when sneaking back in, and made my way into the storefront. The storefront was an illusion in play, nice landscape paintings on the wall, all clean and efficient looking space. Two desks with paperwork and knickknacks sat at one wall, just for show, my mother trusted no one with her books. As usual for the time, my mother was lounging behind her desk greedy eyes going over her ledger before her first customer of the day might make its way in. My mother could best be described as... What Big Mom would look like if she had the height of a normal human. Her appearance was the final nail in the coffin that convinced me I was in a new world. Only in fantasy could I come out looking simply average with broad shoulders coming from the unholy union of Big Mom lite and a guy with a nose bigger than my fist and a belly as big as a barrel.

As I stood to attention in front of the desk waiting the usual 10-15 minutes she liked to make me wait just for her own amusement. I noted with dread that she, just as my father, seemed to be in an unusually good mood. That was usually not the best sign for me. Please not another performance review! I scream internally.

"Hmmm." She finally grumbles, putting her ledger down. "This is a very important day for you." She says finally, staring me down while tapping her fat ring covered fingers on the leather-bound ledger. "Do you know why dearie?"

I very much doubt you're going to say because it's my birthday... I think sardonically. I keep a straight face however and shake my head warily. "No Ma'am." Yes. I had to call her Ma'am, if I got too familiar with her, why people in the neighborhood might think she cared, perish the thought. Fat cow..

My father came ambling into the room sans shirt, he looked more a bear then a man like that, if bears could get that fat... A bear would smell better too no doubt. He gives my mother a loud sloppy wet kiss to her cheek, even my drunk father couldn't miss a target area that large, a battleship probably couldn't. I wish I could look away as my mother giggles coquettishly, but she had not told me to stop my attentive stance yet.

"Ya told the brat yet Himeko?" My father rumbles.

"Oh don't rush me, dear, the money isn't going anywhere!" My mother and father both bursts out laughing and I really feel like this is going to be my worst birthday yet. Whatever was going on was going to be more repugnant then normal. And apparently I play a big part. Joy.

My mother focuses her attention back to me. Experience has me catch the assessing look where she sought out any reason to punish me for loosening my attention. Normally even a perfect stance wasn't enough. Today she chose to ignore the chance to punish me, which made the bad feeling in my stomach skyrocket.Shit, am I getting sold? It is the first thought that pops into my head.

"Boy.. Our little family came into something that will elevate us higher than anyone on this island!" My mother starts, her triple chin swaying with her excited words. "the nearby kingdom of Centaurea had a little bit of a coup problem. The idiot King dumped his brats on the nearest merchant vessel, to hide them before they were all hunted down. The old fool is dead now, burnt at the stake I heard." My mother tried to fake some sadness at the news but broke down giggling as my dad's loud laughter rings out.

I grit my teeth. I was no paragon of virtue.. No one could afford to be here. These two enjoyed the suffering of others at a whole other level though, laughing at someone being burnt at the stake, sickening. Even for this island. Murder was common, not many had the stomach to inflict prolonged suffering.

My mother wipes a tear away and continues the explanation. "How could the king know! The ship was coming here! Miahahahaha. The eldest daughter is one hell of a firecracker, I must thank her someday for being such a ballsy brat! When she realized no one on the merchant ship was getting off, she somehow stole some cloaks and managed to get herself and her siblings into town! And what store do they walk into in the end?" My father is pounding on the desk he is laughing so hard as my mother continues. "The ballsy girl comes in HERE! Asking for a loan trying to put her jewels and her family name as collateral in help to get away from that evil pretender that took over her country Miahahaha!"

I close my eyes for a second just despairing for that poor kid, what bad luck could ever lead them to escape into this hellhole of a town, and then of all places to walk into the shop of a slaving piece of shit like my mother. She would have made a better choice of jumping in the ocean on the way here and hoping for the best... Poor kid.

"Of course we chain the brats up in the basement and send a message out with another merchant ship an hour later. I wonder how many millions of Beri the new king will pay for the brats! It's going to be hundreds!" My mother cackles before giving me a mock sorrowful look. "Of course ballsy girl, as the eldest sibling and such a resourceful kid... We couldn't risk keeping her around, why she might manage to run off with our payday. So we will just tell the king she died in an escape attempt. Besides old Komari paid us a fortune for a real live princess. 100 million Beri our biggest score yet!"

"Buahahaha, Reckon he can charge a real bundle with a real princess!" My father chuckles. "He'll make more then 100 million before tha slut is used up don't ya know!?"

"How old is she?" I can't help asking, feeling sick. I knew who Komari was.. He had the best, and therefore worst, Brothel in town. Girls did not tend to live long there.

"Oh 15 or 16 or something." My mother waves her hand dismissively at me. "You know around your age."

Somehow, Goda knows how, I manage to keep a straight face through my next question. "And the others?" Oh I am going to puke, I think I just saw approval in my mother's eyes. This is not something I want to be appreciated for!

"2 princes and another little princess. They are chained up downstairs and we need you to make sure they don't die over the next few days, we have a lot of business to do ahead of this windfall, and can't waste time feeding and picking up after some brats." My mother and father both stare me down, soundlessly making it very clear I can not fuck this up. Or it's my skin on the line. Fucked either way aren't I, either I am a monster or dead..

"What are their names?' I ask with a quiet sigh, accepting my job, not like I had any other choice. Can at least make it as..Easy as I can while they are here, keep my parents away.

"Names? What do we care? Just make sure ye only feed them the gruel, not wasting real food on 'em, they'll get burned at the stake soon enough don't ya know?" My father scoffs as my mother waves me away to begin my duties.

As I enter the kitchen area I stumble to the nearest wall, my legs feeling weak as I slump against it, my hands on my face. I was slowly working up the money, weapons, and other essentials to try and find a way off this rock. I was years from being ready to attempt to escape. And now this. I have done horrible things in this new life, just to survive my family, this town. I...Can I really go this far? Just for my life. I already lived once, this is just extra.. An extremely screwy and fucked up extra, but I already lived a mostly full life. Was it worth to continue it while being a monster?

I take a deep breath and get myself together, thoughts later. I can't afford to be seen as hesitating right now. A score this big.. If my parents even think I could screw it up, they would sell or kill me in a heartbeat to protect the deal. Hell I am honestly surprised they are letting me in on this instead of keeping me unaware. Possibly they just think it so impossible that anyone on this island would choose to help someone over a payday. And they aren't really too wrong on that.

It only takes a few minutes to get 3 bowls of tasteless shitty gruel ready. I don't miss subsiding on nothing but this shit. And now I am the one feeding it. Shit, I can't stop my mind from going back to this is wrong. Focus. Survival. That's what matters...Right?... Right? Fuck I don't even believe myself for a second.

As I descend the basement steps it took all I had to just keep walking and act normal at the sight of three dirty royals chained down with so many chains they couldn't even move, covered in their own filth. They had obviously been crying and they stared fearfully at me as I came to a stop in front of them. This dirty already and my parents have only had them for hours... Did they purposely dump shit on them or what?

I kneel down so I can see their faces better and try to put on a more welcoming face, make things easier for myself. It feels like more of a grimace. "Hey, I brought some food, and ah, maybe I can wash you guys a bit. What's your name?" I ask quietly.

The two red-haired princes stare up at me balefully with firmly shut mouths. Their younger sister is not as defiant however. Her long orange hair shakes as she tries to sit up properly. "That's Youta and Yuuma and I'm Yuna!" She tells me somehow still a bit cheerful, although I guess I am a much-improved sight then my parents. "Oh and my big sis who is gonna come kick your butt and save us and then go save papa and the whole country and your gonna be extra, extra sorry for being such meany-heads is Yoko!" She finishes defiantly, and wow that was all one breath.

"Shut up Yuna, don't tell this villainous oaf anything more!" The elder boy barks at his sister. He has spiky red hair and very sharp features, that radiate anger. Can't really blame the kid. Fuck I am their age and here I am calling them kids.. I would have been a wreck if this happened to me when I was that age the first time.

"Idiot! Youta! I'm gonna tell big sis you yelled at me!" Yuna screeches and completely ignores her brothers as she goes into a detailed description of all the ways her big sis was superior to meanie-heads and how I was going to be walking around town with my head in my butt and be laughed at by everyone.

"Is she always like this?" I ask her brothers when she stops for breath and although Youta just glares at me Yuuma has this long-suffering look that tells me yes, she is always like this. Yuuma is also a redhead with the same sharpish features although his is much more...girly, I would have mistaken him from a girl if it wasn't for my parents already calling him a prince.

I sigh as I eye the absolutely ridiculous amount of chains around these kids, how the hell was I supposed to feed them. And my parents might be fine with letting them sit in their own waste... I was not. "Hey, I am going to get rid of most of these chains alright?" I keep eye contact with Youta as the eldest as I explain how this was going to happen. Hopefully if he agreed, he could control his siblings. "I'll still have to keep one chain around your wrist so you can't run off OK, I can't do anything about that. One chain will let you eat and have a quick shower through a hose though, wouldn't that be nice?"

Youta smiles at me. And oh... Yeah that's spit in my eye. "Dammit brat, don't make your situation worse." I sigh as I back up and clean my eye out. I can already see this one is going to be a hothead.

Suddenly there's like an aura, something heavy feeling in the room, a pressure washing over me. I feel slightly faint for a second before it stops as Youta glares at me. What the fuck? was that conqueror's haki? "Worse? Make the situation worse!? My parents are DEAD, my country is going to be raped by that murderous traitor! My sister is sold as a slave! Make it worse!" He spits at me again fighting against his chains. "let me out of these chains you slaver scum and I will show you WORSE!"

I scratch the back of my head awkwardly. "Yeah, guess you have a point." Wonder though... was that really... He is pretty young for it, but a crown prince having it makes kind of sense, to begin with I guess.

"Yuna? If I let you out of your chains can you feed your hot-headed brother for me?" I ask tiredly, not really feeling like fighting with a couple kids that when it came down to it, were perfectly right. I was scum, assisting in keeping them captive and in their death or slavery.

Yuna's cheeks bubbles out cutely as she thinks really hard about it. Goda she was adorable. No! Stop frickin thinking about it.

"Don't you dare!" Youta screams, his face going as red as his hair, he is cut off from further yelling by his brother. "Give it a rest Youta, save your strength." I guess he is the sensible sibling then. "Thank you Yuuma." I turn back to Yuna. "Well?"

As I start unchaining her after her acceptance of the "deal" I think to myself. What in the world am I going to do...

3 days later. Kitchen area. Kitanai house.

Dealing with the trio hasn't become any easier. Although I definitely have a handle on their personalities now. Youta Is... very opinionated on everything, very hot-headed. Someone that absolutely spoke before thinking, and a lot. He had much to say about me, my parents, the usurper, and how our general lineages must have come from fornicating with animals.

Yuuma was always observing, he only spoke when he needed to and when he did, his siblings listened. Even Yuna, well half the time. Yuuma... Is without any doubt the easiest to deal with. It was like he measured every possible action before taking one. Even speaking.

Yuna... She never stopped talking. She never listens to me. She would make the most adorable faces whenever I would try and tell her off for anything. She was the most aggravating ballsy little shit. And she was costing me a lot of sleep. I couldn't stop thinking about her dying. It was wrong, it was pure evil. I was having nightmares constantly where she is begging for my help and I turn away. What am I going to do...

My musings were interrupted as my parents entered.. One after another, not together.. No door was wide enough for that. I tried smiling at them but it came out entirely sickly, luckily they didn't even notice they were so happy.

"Got an answer Miahahaha! 200 million each for the princes so they can be publically executed!" Himeko twirls around the kitchen table in elation, knocking down things but evidently not caring. My stomach sinks, the boys were going to die.. This isn't right!

"Ah, and Yu- I mean the girl?" I ask with a sliver of hope, if the king had no need of her maybe she could go free.

"Buahahaha, he got no need for girls don't ya know? Told us ta get rid of her, 50 mill from him for that! And another 100 from Komari to get another princess Buahahaha!"

"What!" I blurt out not able to help myself. I can't feel my limbs, am I dreaming this, this can't be real.

"So? Dearie let's go celebrate! we are richer then rich!" My mother turns to me as my father stumbles drunkenly to go grab his good clothes. "Keep the brats locked tight boy, that's 550 million beri in that basement Miahahaha!" She ambles out, the windfall must have made them careless. If they had paid any attention there would have been no missing the blatant hatred in my eyes or the way blood was running down my hands from my nails piercing my palms as I tried to keep it together.

Fuck them, fuck this town and fuck me, no way, even if it killed me, would I let them shut the light that shone out of Yuna's eyes, her innocence reminded me of my past life, how kids should be. And I guess the other two brats deserve better too. There was no way to do this that didn't put my life in immediate danger. I didn't care. I guess even an asshole like myself have some limits. Fuck... Yuna is going to expect me to save her sister too... From the most heavily defended business in town... While everyone is already going to be looking for me, as soon as my parents lose their shit. Goda dammit. Men are supposed to fall for beautiful women that ensnare their hearts through dance and romance and such storybook shit. Not for cutesy pouts and crappy origami made from waste paper. I have no idea why she even did it, I was holding her captive. Why would she always chatter happily at me, treat me like I was just... Human. And not a monster. She was wrong, I was not human. Even if I did this.. It could never change what I have done.

It didn't matter now.

I had some work to do.

There was no other way around it. I am no saint, neither am I scum enough to let these brats suffer anymore. I had already over the years found, through some assistance, a safe house in the tunnels under the city, hidden away from everyone and on no map that I had been able to find. It was large enough for the kids..barely. I would have to figure out how the hell to ensure all our survival afterward, beyond the get the hell out of this house plan.

I steeled my nerve, took a deep breath. ok. What can I get in the shortest amount of time? I sit silently for 5 minutes, thoughts running through the plan, where to get what, what was most important, how to get it there. Once a plan was made. I snapped into action, running up the stairs to my parent's room. Since I was leaving anyway this was my first stop for 2 reasons. I did not own or have anything larger then a pillowcase, or small sack to carry things in. I didn't have enough funds to feed all these kids, while also having to lay low and not be running around town stealing.

My parent's room had suitcases.. And a lot of cash. I stuffed the entire bottom of one suitcase with what must be at least 75 million beri, luckily my parents kept all their money at home, and trusted me to be too afraid to go near it. Too bad dearest parents, even scum have their breaking points, and you've stepped way over the line. Out of pettiness I also steal my mother's jewelry. Not that I can sell it to anyone in town... Wouldn't fit anyone.

Running again downstairs, after a brief stop in my room to clean it out of everything I owned. Which was not a time-consuming job.. I stop by the kitchen and fill another suitcase with non-perishable food, some cutlery, and everything out of our first aid box. Just in case I grab a couple of bottles of alcohol as emergency medical supplies.

Leaving the suitcases by the door, trusting in my parents to be out getting sloshed for quite some time still, I grab the cloaks the kids had been caught in out of the closet and run downstairs. The royals are staring at me in ill ease as I speed downstairs. For captives a change in the routine was usually not a good thing. Even Yuna looked apprehensive, and that girl had been managing her entire captivity with amazing spunk.

Pre-empting any rude queries from Youta I bring out the keys to their shackles from my pockets. "We are getting out of here! I need you guys to just trust me for a little bit okay? Any running off while I am trying to save you guys is going to blow this entire escape up!" I look specifically at Youta as I start to unlock Yuna's shackles and chains.

"Why are you doing this?" Yuuma asks quietly as Yuna cheers at being able to move her limbs properly again. I figure out of all of them, Yuuma is the most likely to realize exactly how bad this was going to likely turn out for me.

As I finish unshackling Yuna and begin on Yuuma I speak softly so both boys can hear me while Yuna is... Is she dancing?... Is that? Can that even be called dance? Yuna is busy with ...Interpretive dance... "I am not a good guy...Not even close. I can't let this happen to you guys though. My life.. Is already stuck in this hell. I am what I am. You guys don't deserve to live it... Or to die because of it. No kids should really." I finish, chuckling slightly bitterly as I eye Yuna out of the corner of my eye. I look back at the boys. "Yuna... Should always be allowed to be this happy right? When I get you guys out of here... I'll see what I can do to get your sister...I will get you off this island. No matter what happens. What happens to me in all of this. You guys protect her alright?"

Youta scoffs, stubbornly chewing on his lip as he stands up free. "We can take care of Yuna!"

There's a hand patting my shoulder, with me kneeling, Yuuma is at the perfect height to pat me. I look at him reluctantly.

He smiles at me. "You are wrong, you are a good guy, otherwise you wouldn't have made this choice. And you deserve to get out of this too!"

"Yuuma! no fraternizing with the enemy! He was part of the group that did this to us!" Youta growls as Yuna cheerfully tries to tackle hug him having grown bored of dancing. She looks up at him with big teary eyes and Youta immediately melts. "I mean.. Whatever... He can help... I guess."

She then turns those eyes on me and adds a quiver to her lip... The kid is doing this on purpose! "And save Yoko too? Right?"

I look at those big emerald eyes filled with tears and despite knowing she is able to cry on cue I reach over and ruffle her hair gently. "Of course I will," I promise to a beaming kid.. Which immediately stops pouting, eyes dry up and those puffy cheeks deflate. Despite knowing I could never say no I can't help but think she is one hell of a brat.. Fucking princesses. Probably know from birth how to wrap a guy around their finger.

I forcibly wrench my mind back into game mode. The kids are all standing, albeit except for Yuna, they are moving gingerly. The chain length did not allow for much moving around so they must be feeling it right now, Yuna too, although she might just be able to act enough to hide it. I toss them the cloaks. "Here, you are going to need to hide your features under these."

"I doubt I will run into anyone in a place like this that would even recognize one such as I!" Youta drawls holding the smelly cloak at arms length. At this point I think he is just acting contrary to anything I say to show his displeasure with the fact his siblings seem to be listening to me.

Before I can open my mouth to really chastise the brat for picking now to be picky, Yuuma speaks up already draped in his cloak. "You mean except for the people that kidnapped us, live here, and might recognize us on the street should we happen to pass anywhere near them, besides the chance they have told others?" It was all delivered with a very dry sarcastic tone that again resulted in Youta's face copying the color of his hair. And most thankfully, shut him up.

"Thank you Yuuma, I will have you hold onto Yuna's hand while we walk, ensure she doesn't decide to chase after something," I tell the serious kid who nods solemnly and grabs Yuna's hand just as the young girl tries to escape his vicinity giggling madly. Geez, these royals are really something I think for a second, all that's happened, and they have more composure and steel then most adults I've run into on this island. They build royals differently here in One Piece I guess.

"And what am I doing?" Youta asks suspiciously, glowering up at me like he expects me to give him the worst job. Well.. Good instincts brat!

"You are going to take two suitcases filled with necessities for our escape to survive." I raise a hand up just as he looks ready to explode. "I will take the last and heaviest one. I will need at least a hand free just in case... If we get caught I am the one most able to fight and I can't be bogged down with all our luggage." Also, I think to myself. If we get separated the money will be with the kids, that way even without me they might stand a chance to buy someone's protection.

I silence Youta with a glare as he looks to be ready to get into another tirade. "Last minute rules, listen carefully. "Stay together, stay right behind me, keep quiet and don't draw attention to us. I will get you to a hideout I have, it's just a few streets away, just follow these simple rules and I will get you there safe and sound."

I take a breath as all the kids give me silent nods, even Youta. "If...We get separated.. Find a manhole cover, get down into the tunnels under the city, and find anywhere where there are no people and hunker down. If I haven't chased you down within a day... There is cash in one of your suitcases, offer the first person you see as much as you need for them to take you straight to the bar Big Buddhas Balls bar." I grimace as both boys look at me with absolutely scandalized faces while Yuna looks curiously at them. "I know its not the most refined name. Tell the proprietor that you were sent for safe haven by Kaito and he will get you at least safe as you can be on this island."

"What's his name?" Yuuma asks quietly.

"His name is Daisuke. You'll recognize him as the incredibly old man with a white beard so long its tucked into his belt so he doesn't trip over it, and big bushy eyebrows that completely covers his eyes." I think back to my first encounters with the man. "Yeah.. You won't be able to miss him. Just drop my name, remember this is all just preparation, you won't need to do this.. Because I will get you to my safe house without any of this happening." Maybe...

With three silent kids in tow I make my way upstairs again, I give Youta his suitcases, grab mine. I look them all over, impressed with their resolute attitudes. I smile softly at them. "It's all going to work out, you'll see!" And I open the door and take the kids out into the street. And if it doesn't.. Well a quick death is better then what all three of you were getting either way..

We draw a lot of eyes as we shuffle along the streets hidden behind cloaks and lugging heavy suitcases. I grit my teeth at the itch at the back of my neck telling me we are drawing too much attention. Nothing for it. If we were to openly show that we were all kids and teens they wouldn't just be looking and assessing they would have already grabbed us. One teen might be a runner or errand boy, a gaggle of them, means targets.

"One more alley," I mutter quietly, praying to Goda and anyone else that can hear me that we can just make it through one more alley. We are almost at the entrance down into the tunnels, that would lead us on the straightest path to my safe house.

"Fuck..." Goda wasn't listening, in the last alley are the last people I want to meet other than a random encounter with my parents. A red-clad snatcher unit. A part of the gang that is always prowling looking for that one drunk no ones going to miss or a kid out and about and free to take. Even if I offered them a bribe, they wouldn't miss out on such a bounty as our group is. I can feel more then see another man entering the alley behind us. The spotter no doubt. Fuck...

"If you see a chance to run.. You take your siblings and you get the hell out of here and remember what I told you!" I whisper to Youta through clenched teeth as the leader of this snatcher unit steps up, supremely confident and with a big wide grin on his face. The man's uglier than my own mother, which says a lot. Unfortunately he is also built like a brick shit house. You wait silently for any chance this can be resolved. You can hear the kids whispering to each other, arguing about something. You can't pay attention however as the snatcher leader starts talking.

"You know boy, we usually ignore you gallivanting around, favor to your parents you see." The brute starts with in a mocking way. He gestures with a dagger which makes you ill at ease as you hadn't even seen the brute draw it. "Now though... You can't run around with all that merchandise and not expect to...Share the wealth." He finishes sinisterly.

"I can offer you plenty of cash to pretend we weren't here." I offer as a last-ditch effort, knowing these guys are unlikely to listen. After all what is stopping them from taking it anyway?

"Giahahaha" The leader laughs and his subordinates start laughing with him, I can see that they are all armed with simple clubs except for the leader with his dagger. It might give me enough of a chance to get the kids out. One very very small chance. I had spent the last few years trying to figure out training One Piece style, no success so far other than stronger leg and arm muscles. I wasn't protagonist enough I suppose to get it down in a couple of weeks training montage. Years of training and all I got is more speed to run away.

"See boy, that there is a mistake. We know you don't have money...So whatever makes you able to try and bribe us...Just makes me want to take it more!" He points at us with the dagger. "Plus, you have those three brats behind you, they'll fetch a good price." He leans forward and stage whispers mockingly. "If your gonna try and hide something, you need to do better then toss a cloak on em."

I take a deep breath, I can hear the kids fighting over something behind me. They sure picked a horrible time to start acting their age. I have three men in front of me, one behind me and the kids. I had thought speed was more essential than any subterfuge and I had handily lost that dice roll. Only one choice left, and it wouldn't end well for me. Sacrifice play, 5 minutes in.. No wonder I wasn't a hero I obviously suck at it!

I turn around sharply, a hand pulling out a knife from inside my tunic, and the second I take in the position of the thug behind the kids I let it fly. It takes him straight in the throat and he gurgles, hand weakly reaching up, not yet understanding he is dead. As he staggers into the alley's wall and falls down I start to yell at the kids. "Run! Remember what we talk-!?" The kids are in a tug-of-war, the boys are trying to grab something out of Yuna's hands and they are completely ignoring me, those little brats! I gape at them in pure slack-jawed shock, of all the times...

I am slammed into the wall, a meaty hand around my throat interrupting my shocked thoughts, dust explodes out as the stone wall cracks and I spit up blood, fortunately right in the face of my attacker. Take that you shit! I think weakly.

"I was going to let you walk out here alive, after taking the kids and robbing you, you know, as a favor to your parents." His breath is rancid as he leans in to growl in your face, face red in rage, and a nice assortment of veins appearing on his bald head. His other hand pointing a dagger at my kidneys, just waiting to end me.

"Well if it was a favor for my parents," I say weakly with a bloody smile.. Before spitting right into his eyes. "Fuck my parents!" I'll fucking die standing tall I think angrily.

The guy doesn't even flinch, just grips me harder, chuckling as I gasp for breath. "Boys, take the brats while I do this...Slowly." The only thing I can think of as I desperately try and draw breath is that I can't end here, not without saving the kids first. My body doesn't respond when I try and will it to lift my arms and punch this bastard. I vaguely hear shouts and two thuds. I failed... Youta, Yuuma, Yuna.. I'm so sorry..I was too weak after all..

Suddenly a blur appears in my vision and impacts the side of my tormentor, sending him flying down the alley and into a wall, cratering it. He doesn't get up. As I fall to my knees, greedily drawing breath, black spots in my vision receding, I note with astonishment that the other two goons are also down for the count. I turn to the kids in disbelief and see Yuna jumping in place holding out her hand in a victory sign. Her brothers both look pale and are trying to avoid looking further down the alley.

As I get my wits about me, I can see why. All three men are dead, their chests and sides completely caved in. Bones, organs, and blood splattered everywhere. What the-

"Did I do good? I put the men to sleep to save you!" Yuna exclaims happily.

I quickly pick her up and hug her, ensuring her face is buried in my chest and she can not see the men she has killed, somehow. They are a mess and there is blood everywhere. I have no idea what just happened, but I won't allow her to see the result. "You did great Yuna." I say keeping her head pressed against me as I send the boys a look that says I want an explanation.

Youta and Yuuma grab all the suitcases as I am holding Yuna, and nervously pretend like nothing has happened, ignoring my increasingly annoyed look. "Look at the time, shouldn't we be going?" Yuuma says with a big fake smile. My stare intensifies and he deflates somewhat and elbows his brother.

Youta growls at his brother before looking back at me and blanching at my face. "Oiy, we are on a time crunch aren't we?" He tries desperately.

I give them that, they are correct. I lead them on, but in no way have I forgotten that we will be having a conversation. Over what the hell that was.

Just down the alley, following a left turn, is a manhole cover leading into the tunnels under the city. Yuna is already fast asleep in my arms, whatever that was seemed to have taken its toll. I climb down first, carefully balancing Yuna as to not wake her.

The boys silently follow, looking around with palpable disgust. The whole island has tunnels running underneath them, many were wide and lit, more of an underground street then anything. This tunnel... Was one used for sewage. What better place to have a hideout then where most people would avoid at any cost. After all there are so many nice tunnels nearby that do not have this particular stench associated with it.

It takes just a few minutes to reach the hidden alcove my bar owning friend had once showed me. Youta lost control of his stomach and retched into the flow of sewage, Yuuma did not look far off. I couldn't really blame them, it had taken me a dozen visits to get over the smell, well... Used to it was probably a better word.

The alcove is so full of rotting garbage that you can hardly see the back wall. That is on purpose. Once the garbage starts to lose its "fresh odor" I toss it away and get some fresh rotting garbage. No one on the island is going to climb over this literal pile of shit to investigate this random alcove, in the smelliest part of the sewer system. It made for a perfect hideout. One I had planned to use once I was ready to take off from my parents, to use it as a temporary place to lay low before trying to find a way off the island.

I sigh as I make my way over the garbage gingerly, Yuna still clinging to me in her sleep, although her nose is wrinkling cutely at the smell even in her sleep. Once at the back wall I find the stone with a small hole in it. I open the most rotten and smelliest garbage bag near me and grab the small key that is lying inside. Sticking the key in the hole and twisting there is a small Ker-Klunk sound and then the door slides open and lets us all into the cavern it hides. I can't take credit for the sophistication of the door or all other parts of this hideout. I had been given the key and shown the way but I did not create it.

The cavern was large enough for 4-5 people to live in.. Barely. It had a sleeping area, which currently only had one bed. That's going to be a pain in the ass to get more of them down here. A cleared off area which I had been using to train, it had a couple weights lying about haphazardly. A small cooking area with a vent above that sucked all the smoke up into the city, into the much larger cooking vent in use in my friend's bar, and another vent that let air back down here. It also had a reservoir for rainwater that ran all the way from the bar's roof down into the cavern. Lastly, a small alcove where the rest of the rainwater pipe led off to into a second reservoir.

This was the bathroom of sorts, with a hole in a corner that leads straight into the sewer, responsible for the...nice smell inside the cavern. And a crude shower head attached to the reservoir where with a yank of a rope you could wash in cold rainwater. It was built to be able to live in for quite some time with just the rare pop up into the city to buy food. It was meant for just one person, really, although it was possible to fit more. It sure wouldn't be comfortable with more than one person however.

I looked around mentally cataloging what was needed. Damn, going to need a curtain or something for the bathroom alcove.. And some really hard frickin nails to attach it to the stone wall. Going to need several beds..Somehow. A larger stove..Again somehow. How am I going to sneak this stuff down here? As I walked forward and gently deposited Yuna on the only bed, I mournfully decided that there was no way we could get away with being that comfortable.

Getting 3 more beds in here while the whole town would be looking for us would be too risky, or 4 if by some miracle I can save their elder sister. Likewise the tiny one-person stove will have to be enough and we will have to get used to cold meals. Trying to get a larger stove down her covertly was just, haha, nope. And also it would risk my friend if suddenly there were large amounts of smoke coming out of his bar all the time. Nothing to it, we would have to live a bit rough, but down here we would be safe. By myself I should easily be able to sneak up into the city now and then to buy or steal food so the near future seemed alright. For a given value of alright.

The thuds of suitcases being dropped on the ground brought me back to the two boys, who are looking jealously at the bed occupied by their sister. At least until I step right in front of them arms crossed and an eyebrow raised in question. Both kids blanch again looking at each other and communicating with their eyes, both appearing to be calling out, not it, with body language alone.

"Out with it! What the hell was that?" I speak up sharply not interested in a comedy routine. They had a valid excuse not to share up topside, now and here, they were not getting away with the silent treatment.

Yuuma shrugs and rubs his neck looking down at the ground. "State secret?" He tries half-heartedly.

"Try again," I say dryly, tapping my foot to emphasize my dwindling patience.

"Freak meteorological event?"

"No."

"Spontaneous combustion?"

"Try harder."

"The butler did it!"

"It's always the damn butler... Except this time, out with it brats!"

Out of the three of us the first to lose his cool despite not having said a word yet is unsurprisingly Youta.

"What part of state secret don't you get motherfu-!" Yuuma quickly puts a hand over his brother's mouth looking sheepishly at me. "He meant to say thank you so much for saving us." He uses his other hand to slap his brother over the head. "Idiot, where did you learn to talk like that!"

Youta rips his brother's hand off his mouth and shoves him away, the famous red face I already associate with him having a temper tantrum making an appearance. "I can swear as much as I fucking want! He might have saved us for now, but he and his kind are the reason we needed saving in the first place!"

"Keep it down or you'll wake Yuna." I say calmly trying to not be offended, as he is in essence completely right. "Whether you like it or not we are in the same boat, and I can not guarantee your safety if there is something going on here that I have no idea about."

"Youta..." Yuuma says softly pleading with his brother.

Youta snorts angrily, he sneers at his brother. "Fine! Tell this degenerate all our state secrets, I'll be with Yuna when you're done being a traitor!" And there he goes, stomping off to the corner. Yuuma deflates slightly before turning to me with a sigh. "Alright, how much do you know about our country? Of Centaurea?"

I think hard to try and remember any tidbit from my One Piece knowledge and draw a blank. "Absolutely nothing." I finally say.

Yuuma looks at me queerly. 'What!?" I say defensively.

"You know it's half a days of sailing away from here, how can you know nothing?" He appears baffled at my level of knowledge.

"You mean like you didn't even know this island existed.. Half a day of sailing away from your home." I answer with a quirked eyebrow.

He opens his mouth to argue before deflating again. "I guess you have a point. Anyways Centaurera is-" He stops for a second and takes a shaky breath. "Was.. Ruled by the royal family, of which we are all part of. It was protected by the 5 guardians of Centaurea and the Centaurian army."

"The 5 guardians have existed as long as anyone on Centaurea remembers, and they have always had the same ability, cultivated by the royal family for centuries."

"Devil fruits." I breathe out understanding starting to dawn on me, which means, Yuna...

Yuuma nods looking relieved. "I see you have heard of their existence, good. That simplifies things. These 5 fruits have been passed down from generation to generation to the most suited to be a guardian of our country," I raise a hand to stop him with a question of my own. "How do you manage to keep the same fruit throughout centuries? I thought it was random chance that spawned those things?"

"Long ago, centuries back, the king at the time, knowing what kind of fruit each devil fruit originated from, banned all such fruit from entering the country. Even growing the fruit was met with the full force of the law. And in the palace, the king grew a garden of fruit, 5 different kinds... It is not well known, but when a fruit user dies the fruit reappears, taking the place of a regular fruit of its kind. If you know what kind of fruit a devil fruit originated from you can as my ancestor did, ensure the nearest fruit is always in our families hand. Anytime a guardian died, we once again were in the possession of their fruit."

"I had no idea.." I murmured mind racing, this was not something I had realized from before. Then it hits me, Punk Hazard.. There had been a basket of apples left out, purposely left out to grab the smileys devil fruit when it perished.

Yuuma continues his story now with a bitter tone to it. "Of course we only had 3 guardians remaining, one guardian, over a century ago fled the island and upon death his fruit was regenerated out of our reach. One was captured by pirates, his death happened far enough away from our kingdom we did not receive his fruit either." He stops talking and appears to be silently stewing over the loss of their history.

"What were the fruits?" I ask curious if any are ones I recognize.

Yuuma hesitates, but only for a few seconds. "The one lost a century ago was the Venom Venom fruit, we know where it is now but it is untouchable." I can understand his bitterness, I recognize the fruit and no way is a south blue kingdom getting such a powerful fruit back from the world government, especially as it's in use by the warden of Impel Down, Magellan!

"The fruit lost to pirates a decade ago was the Bomb Bomb fruit, we have never heard a word of its use since." He might not have, but I remember Mr.5 the explosive agent of Baroque works. Considering how pathetic he was in utilizing that fruit he must have only had it a few years. Likely Crocodile had killed the pirate that had it first.

"The three that remained in Centaurea, until two guardians betrayed us and killed the third.. Are the Speed Speed fruit, Glue Glue fruit, and the Clay Clay fruit. The logia clay guardian and the Paramecia Glue guardian teamed up and murdered the guardian captain Yuugo who ate the Speed fruit." He falls silent looking despondent.

I ruffle his hair making him look up at me. "It's going to work out, don't worry about it. I am guessing Yuna ate the Speed Speed fruit then? How did you even get a hold of it?"

"When the guardians were fighting.. Yoko already knew we had lost, she stole the raspberry plant from the gardens. Before we made it to the ship it turned into a devil fruit, it's not common knowledge but you only need to eat a piece, not the whole thing. Yoko hid that piece in a locket and gave it to Yuna to hold on to. When we were captured Yuna hid the locket in her hair. In the alley she wanted to eat it and help you, both Youta and I tried to stop her and eat it instead as we know the toll it can take, and we didn't want that on Yuna." It all spills out as Yuuma gets tears in his eyes looking up at you in despair. "We failed her as brothers, we failed Yoko and mom and dad." He starts to sniffle.

I grab him into a hug tentatively ignoring the way he freezes up, I myself is not used to such things anymore either so its slightly awkward. These kids were too old, had already seen too much. I had the advantage of a previous life. These kids had to do it all themselves. "It's going to be OK! Whatever Yuna needs to make whatever toll it takes easier, I will get it done OK, don't worry about it I will take care of you all."

Yuuma snorts. "If only it was that easy, the fruit is speed, everything is faster! Thoughts, Yuna will think through a problem hundreds of times before we even get through asking what the problem is! She can run so fast she can run over water! She will heal quickly from wounds aye, as her body regenerates faster, but her metabolism is also faster, way faster. She won't ever get drunk.. Or be damaged by any normal poison..."

"These, seem mostly like good things." I start slowly. "What's the catch your hesitating about?"

Yuuma keeps silent for a minute, whatever the drawback is must be large because he seems like he has almost given up on Yuna, his entire body language is of defeat. I look over at Youta.. He is sitting by Yuna crying quietly while holding her hand. What can be so bad about what sounds like a very good Paramecia?

"The fruit has worked so well for our kingdom... Because it has been in service of royalty.." He pauses. And I give him time to work out the words. "Because the metabolism of the user is so fast, they can literally starve to death using their abilities if not fed properly, they need to replace nutrients quickly. Even when not using the fruit they still have to have substantially larger amounts of food."

I shiver at the thought of Yuna simply shriveling to nothing from simply using her ability, no wonder her brothers had tried to take the fruit from her! "How bad?"

"She needs to take in 10 times the calories at a minimum, and preferably more, each day, then an average person does." Yuuma shrugs teary-eyed. "Easy enough in a palace..." Left unsaid is the fact that hiding in this cave, 10 times the nutrients in a day would not be an easy task.

"Anything else?" I ask rubbing my forehead as I try to grasp how hard this was going to be to manage. Because being stuck with royalty on murder island with my scum parents looking for us wasn't bad enough!

"Yuna... If she fights.. There is no knockout or capture mode.. Yuugo had the fruit over two decades, and trained excessively. The speed was too much to ever be able to slow down enough to not be lethal. Targeting an arm or leg, just means you blow away the entire limb and probably half their torso just from concussive force." Yuuma explains.

"Alright, thanks for telling me, go with your siblings, get some rest. I will figure something out." I say trying to smile but again I have a feeling it doesn't really come off right as Yuuma sadly shuffles off to his brother and sister.

How the fuck am I going to handle this!?