For Mint, fitting into a society where even though there was little difference on the outside, but on the inside where she clearly knew there was a racial barrier was... difficult, to say the least. What made it even more difficult was how accepting and open the minks were. Since day one they had always been the most hospitable, most friendly beings she had ever met. It was too good to be true, so much so that thoughts of them just putting on a happy face to tolerate her presence haunted her at the back of her mind every day.
Pedro assured her there wasn't going to be any problems, she was brought up exactly like how a young mink would've been brought up on Zou. But perhaps she was just paranoid because facades weren't strange to her. So she abandoned her human form completely, opting to stay in her hybrid form in order to 'fit in'. Needless to say, staying in her hybrid form constantly save for times she was alone, like in the toilet or when she was in her own room, started to take a toll on her.
She started to feel more lethargic during the night when she was on guard duty, and it often resulted in her falling asleep on the job. Her physical strength weakened, and her fighting ability soon started to lack in comparison to the rest of the guardians. Eventually, the guardian council decided that they needed to re-evaluate her suitability for being a guardian. This sent her spiraling into depression, she didn't know what else she could do in order to 'fit in' and maintain her physical form.
Then, after the third day of refusing to morph out of her hybrid form in a foolish attempt to increase her stamina, she finally fainted. And when she came to, she was in her own bed being tended to by her housemate, a red fox mink by the name of Clover that was about her age. Clover had always attempted to be friendly whenever they met at home, but she was usually too tired to bother socializing by the end of the night and prioritized retiring into her room so she can revert back to human form.
"I've never seen you-teia in your lesser mink form before," Clover had remarked cheerfully as she leaned over and gently wiped away the sweat from her forehead. "Your lesser mink coat is so beautiful and smooth, why don't you-teia ever wear it?" she asked, her pale green eyes shining with genuine curiosity.
At this point, Mint had just stared at her in disbelief before her face erupted into a full-on blush as Clover's words sank in. Her bare skin was beautiful? No one had told her that before. She had just wanted to fit in so badly with the minks so much so that she was willing to forgo her human blood altogether. "I-I..." she stammered, not knowing how to react.
After trying and failing to come up with a coherent sentence, Clover just chuckled, "you're so awkward, I like you." She stood up and walked over towards the room door before looking back and giving her a bright smile, "you-teia should use your lesser mink form more often, I'm sure I won't be the only fan of it."
Mint felt a small warmth bubble in her heart and suddenly she had a weird feeling in her gut, the kind of feeling that made her feel like if she didn't do anything now she'll regret it later. So out of impulse, she had exclaimed, "will you-teia be my friend then?"
Clover stopped in her tracks. For a moment she was silent and the younger girl instantly regretted with all her being that she had blurted that out, the mink was going to think she was a total weirdo and avoid her for the rest of eternity- "were we not already?" a voice interrupted her thoughts and she looked up to see a rather amused Clover.
Then suddenly it hit her. Since she arrived, she had always been so self-conscious, she had always been searching for validation from strangers. Had she been doing it wrong all this time? Perhaps... she should've been searching for friends that accepted her as she was. At that moment, Clover became like the sun to her. So effortlessly herself, drawing in everyone around her with the warmth of her smile. Almost as if it was instinct, Mint wanted nothing more than to be close to her.
But as all stars flicker out in the end, so did her sun.
"I'm so, so sorry," Mint just kept apologizing and apologizing, and at this point, it didn't seem like it was directed at Bepo anymore. Perhaps she thought that if she apologized enough it would be able to reach the one person that she had failed to protect.
Bepo, on the other hand, was silent. He couldn't process this information. He literally just saw Clover a week or so back on Zou. She was happy, healthy and all smiles whenever they crossed paths. They talked about old times and she even played songs and sang for him in a small clearing within the Whale Forest. She was always so vibrant and bursting with life; How could someone like her suddenly be dead?
It was near impossible to imagine someone like Clover... dead. He just couldn't imagine it. He didn't want to.
"I... I couldn't protect her," Mint's small voice broke through his thoughts. Her single fox ear was pressed flat against her head that hung low and she was visibly trying not to shake. She didn't know how Bepo was going to take this, he had only just found out that his dear brother had passed, seven freaking years after it actually happened, and now it was his childhood friend. He didn't deserve this. "I'm so sorry."
"How?" he asked, his voice cracking towards the end. Mint stayed quiet as she stared at the ground in front of her. She didn't want to tell Bepo yet, not just yet. She swallowed a lump in her throat. How could she possibly tell him about the sickening way Clover died? She couldn't bring herself to do it, for his sake, and her own sanity.
"Can you give me some time?" she blurted out eventually as she finally lifted her head towards the polar bear. One hand covered the right side of her face but even so, she could still see him shaking through her other eye. She flinched as he made eye contact with her and she turned away and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to unsee the grief in his eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm not ready... to talk about it yet."
There was a moment of silence before Bepo spoke again. "It's okay," he mumbled as he lumbered up to her, "I'm sorry, it must be hard for you too." Mint's eyes widened at his words as he enveloped her in a big bear hug. It felt was so warm, so open and understanding, that her heart shattered into pieces and a stream of silent tears started to run down her face. She rubbed her cheek against his in response, and just like that they grieved together in silence.
"Do you want to get something to eat?" the polar bear asked as he finally let go of her. He used the sleeves of his boiler suit to wipe away the tears that he had shed earlier. As much as he wanted to know what happened to Clover, he didn't want to force Mint to relieve any bad memories, especially since she was recuperating now.
The smaller girl nodded slowly as she stood up without removing her hand from the right side of her face. "Do you-teia guys have some bandages, an eye patch and a surgical mask I could use?" she asked in a quiet voice, her eyes fixated on the floor.
It was a simple request, one he could easily fulfill. Bepo looked around - he also realized that his captain had left while they weren't noticing - and headed straight for the cabinets. He grabbed what she had asked for, though he didn't know what she was going to use them for.
"Thank you," she smiled briefly at the polar bear as he handed her the eye patch and mask, and walked towards the mirror that was still standing in the middle of the room. She wore the eye patch over her right eye first before putting on the mask next, making sure it covered the entire lower half of her face. Then, she swathed her right hand with bandages all the way to her elbow where the sleeve stopped.
"You don't need to actually wear that you know," Bepo commented quizzically as she turned back towards him. The only visible part of her face was where white fur had sprouted from, and she had covered up her human skin entirely.
"I know," Mint laughed weakly, "I'm sorry, I just... can't accept my human blood anymore."
Meanwhile, the Strawhats along with a couple of the Heart Pirates including Law, were engaging in a card game of sorts around the dining table. The Wano natives looked on closely, intrigued by the strange game that was deemed enjoyable by staring intensely at each other's faces whilst discarding and acquiring pieces of cards. The goal of the game was to apparently collect a set of cards all whilst putting on your best poker face so that your competitors wouldn't realize which set you were collecting. Interesting.
As Ikkaku discarded a card of her own into a pile in the middle, Usopp eagerly made a grab for it before realizing he shouldn't be showing this much excitement in the game. He slowed down just before his hand reached the pile and picked it up with a very obviously feigned hesitance that was almost comical.
"So, what happened to the girl?" he asked casually as he regarded another card in his own hand for a moment before discarding it.
"She's alive," Law replied coolly as he contemplated Usopp's discarded card for a moment before deciding against it and taking a new one from the deck instead. He then discarded another one from his hand seemingly without a second thought.
"Did you guys manage to find out who she is?" Robin commented as she claimed the card Law discarded indifferently and placed down one of her own.
"Her name is Mint and she seems to genuinely be a Zou native, by her speech patterns and actions," the captain mused as he scanned the room for anyone that might have too smug of a smile on their face or anything similar.
There was a frustrated sound from Franky - he completely failed to keep his emotions in check during these kinds of games - when he realized that Robin's card did nothing for his set. "Ow! But she's human isn't she?" he distractedly asked as he grabbed a card from the deck instead. His eyes brightened at the card that he picked, "super!" he exclaimed as he discarded another card from his hand.
"You know, you're just giving yourself away like that Robo-san," Shachi remarked as he snatched up the card that Franky had thrown out before discarding one of his own. "Did you find out anything about Clover as well?"
"She's..." the doctor paused for a moment, remembering how Mint had fiercely rejected her human origins, "complicated, and according to her, Clover is dead," Law replied in a tone a little too callous for the second half of his sentence.
This caused the whole room to forgo the card game completely and turn towards him. All poker faces were gone, replaced by startled expressions. In Zoro's case, the swordsman had just simply turned his eye towards him without even moving his face. The biggest reactions came from his own crew members unsurprisingly, as they were the only ones to actually meet Clover in person.
"Wait, what?" Penguin broke the silence first in disbelief as he laid down his hand, the game was no longer important now that their captain had suddenly told them of Clover's death.
"That's what she told Bepo earlier," Law shrugged, recalling the short conversation that his crewmate and the young girl had just before he decided to give them some privacy to grieve. "She didn't say how or why," he continued, already predicting the next question they were going to ask, "she told Bepo to give her some time, so I would suggest you guys refrain from asking her as well."
Shachi scratched the back of his head. They weren't close to Clover, so it didn't hit them quite as hard, but he was more worried about their particularly sensitive crewmate. Bepo had only just found out that his brother had passed away several years ago, would he be alright handling the fact that now his childhood friend had also died? He exchanged a look with Penguin who seemed to share his sentiments, and a silent agreement that they would ditch the card game to go search for Bepo passed between them.
Just as they were about to stand up and leave, the door to the kitchen clicked open and there stood the white polar bear in question. "Ah, everyone's here," he commented in surprise as he noticed the big group of people inside the room.
"Bepo!" the Heart Pirates chorused in unison as they swarmed over to the mink, burying into his thick fur as they tried to comfort him all at once. He was overwhelmed for a second, wondering where all this sudden affection was coming from, before he caught sight of Law leaning back in his chair in a corner. He realized that their captain must've told them about Clover and now his nakama were all probably worried about him.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled eventually after the sympathetic murmurs around him died down.
"Don't apologize for nothing!" Shachi and Penguin exclaimed as they released themselves from his fur and stepped back. It was then they realized there was another person present as well, a smaller mink-like creature standing behind Bepo nervously.
Mint was in a dilemma, did she greet them? They were humans so was there even a need for the customary garchu? When she had greeted the weirdo doctor earlier he had reacted pretty strangely to it as well, so perhaps she wouldn't need to greet them. But what if they thought she was rude? Would it be better to come off rude or invasive? She eventually decided to just watch Bepo and see how he reacted to the other humans inside.
"Ah, this is Mint," the polar bear introduced the other as he realized that his crewmates had noticed the girl behind him. "I brought her here for something to eat," and as if on cue, the girl's stomach rumbled and she sharply looked away in embarrassment.
He herded the girl inside. As she stepped into the light, everyone's eager expression to see who was the strange girl on the ship, turned into one of scrutiny. They eyed her from top to bottom, and then back up to the top again. A low hum resounded throughout the room as they deliberated on what kind of impression they should even have of her.
When Law had said she was complicated, they weren't sure what to think of it but now they understood. She didn't look completely mink, but neither did she look human. There was only one pointy ear at the top of her head and the visible portion of her face was furry as well, but there was no hint of a muzzle underneath her mask, and they caught some flashes of human skin between the gaps here and there. What on earth was she? As they continued to stare and attempt to come to a conclusion, their eyes widened curiously as her white fur started to bristle under their gaze and her single ear twitched.
"Nnaa... don't keep looking at me like that!" she finally exclaimed in annoyance as she turned her body away from them.
"Sorry sorry," Franky was the first to apologize as he gave out a boisterous laugh, "we were given the impression that you were human so we were kind of expecting something else."
"W-wasn't she human the last time we saw her?" Usopp stammered as he tried to match the girl in front of him to the girl in his memories. He only saw her for a few brief moments yesterday when they had rescued her from the Tenryuubito's ship, but he was pretty sure she looked completely different since then. Robin, who also had seen her before she was rushed to the operating room, made no comment and looked on curiously.
Bepo ushered her into the room, seating her right opposite his captain. "I'm not human," she growled as she shot a glare at the weirdo doctor in front of her.
Law returned her glare with a nonchalant expression. This girl was really adamant about rejecting her human origins seeing the way she had tried to cover up her human skin completely. To be honest it didn't really concern him but perhaps he had undermined the importance of it to her.
"Like I said, she's complicated," he remarked indifferently. He didn't know why this girl had so much hatred for her human blood, nor did he care, but if she really didn't want to identify as human then so be it. Even if not now, she'll have to come to accept it sooner or later. "But what is definitely true is that she's a Zoan type Devil Fruit user and the one that caused various people around the ship to lose their heads this morning."
"Ah!" there was a united voice of realization as all the victims - Shachi, Penguin, Ikkaku and Robin - all sharply turned towards the young girl who sat back in alarm with her pointed ear shooting up straight. Shit, she had almost forgotten about that after all that had happened afterward.
"Well, I mean," she feigned a cough as she awkwardly averted her eyes from the people she had targeted this morning, "I had to get around somehow."
There was an audible sigh that passed through the room as the victims realized she had a point. She didn't know whether they were friend or foe when she woke up after all. Well, it wasn't a big deal since she didn't physically harm them. "Tea?" Robin eventually offered with a cheerful smile as she got up from her seat to walk behind the counter.
"M-mint!" she blurted out suddenly before quickly regaining her composure as the whole room stared at her, "...tea please," she mumbled the rest of her sentence.
"What kind of Zoan type are you though?" Shachi asked as he started to pack up the discarded cards on the table since nobody had interest in continuing the game anymore. "I thought Zoans only had three forms that were based on their animal," Penguin continued, "how were you able to have like... four, or five human forms?"
"Nnaa... I ate the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Kitsune," Mint conceded to their questions as Robin approached her with a cup of warm tea. Instinctively as the older woman set down the tea in front of her, she leaned in and gave the other a friendly rub with her cheek as a gesture of thanks. Robin was stunned for a moment as the soft fur brushed against her skin, she was so fluffy!
Mint continued without noticing, "I'm able to target a single individual to glimpse into their heart and transform into either a person they'll be attracted to or a person that they'll be compassionate to."
A Mythical Zoan huh, how rare. Law immediately thought back to the night that he had glimpsed his dead sister right outside the library. At that time he thought that he was either tired enough to mistake Zoro for a small girl, or he was straight up hallucinating. That should've probably been her doing as well.
"I'm also able to put people into a trance-like state temporarily with my voice," she stared at her tea, realizing she wouldn't be able to drink it with her mask on. "So that's why even though you-teia guys would've normally been suspicious of my presence, I had already induced you-teia into believing that I was harmless," she glanced up with a slightly apologetic expression on her face at her former victims.
"That kind of power is perfect for assassinations isn't it?" Robin remarked cheerfully as she took a seat beside the younger girl.
Mint stared blankly at her for a moment, not knowing how to react to this very blunt but very true statement. Her face twitched as she fought back a laugh. "Don't give her any ideas!" Usopp yelped as he shot up from his chair.
"Well, yes kinda," Mint took a moment to breathe and regain her composure. "The transformation only works if my target doesn't know I'm fake, so that means I can't directly transform in front of them. If they become suspicious of me in the slightest, my transformation wears off without any indication for me that I've been caught."
"And the tail?" Law spoke up from the corner, recalling catching her earlier. As he had observed from the back, she had a tail pressed flat against her legs as if she didn't want anyone to see it, but technically it would've just been easier to not leave it hanging out.
"Nnaa..." she sighed as she closed her eyes, this was turning into a full out interrogation and she didn't have a way to stop it, "I can't hide my tail when I'm in disguise and if my target catches sight of it, my transformation also wears off."
"Can you replicate people, Fluffy-chan?" Franky asked inquisitively. If she could that would definitely be a very useful ability. Though he would definitely like to see what kind of transformation she would have if he was her target since he didn't particularly take interest in either gender.
'Fluffy-chan?' she blinked, not knowing how to react to the huge man's new nickname for her. "I-I can't take on the form of another person or duplicate any of my transformations on a whim," she stammered hurriedly, deciding to ignore it for now. "Even though I'm the one casting the spell, I can't see what I'm transforming into other than the view I get from looking down, I only see my original form in reflections."
"How did you appear different to the both of us?" both Shachi and Penguin demanded as they leaned across the table towards her, eager to ask their own question. They had argued for almost an hour earlier regarding this topic, they thought it was only fair that they should know.
"Hey! Don't get so close!" she squeaked as she tried to lean as far back as she could into her chair. "Look! If... It's just minor features, I can slightly alter my transformations," she exclaimed rather loudly before shrinking back into her chair. "D-does that answer your questions?"
"We still have one problem though," Zoro spoke up after being quiet the entire time. "We can't bring her with us to Wano unless she intends to meet up with the rest of the minks there."
The whole room erupted into thoughtful murmurs and agreements. That was true, they were going to war with a Yonko, they couldn't possibly drag someone they barely knew into it. Unless she wanted to meet up with the other minks that would eventually meet up with them there. But even so, they didn't know how long the minks would take to reach Wano.
"You-teia guys are heading towards Wano?" Mint's fox ear perked up at the mention of the name.
"Yeah, I mean technically speaking the minks from Zou will be meeting up with us there eventually as well, so you could follow us," Usopp said as he scratched the back of his head.
"No, I don't want to go to Wano," she said quietly. "But could you-teia drop me off at Airnaheim instead?"
Everyone exchanged looks with each other, "Airnaheim?"
AN: Okay so I noticed there might be some people that are unclear on certain things, so let me just clarify 3 of them here.
Mint is a human, who has eaten the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Kitsune. She has a past with minks and has lived with them on Zou for a period of time, which is why she has the same mannerisms and speech pattern as they do - more will be revealed at a later timing. However, due to over-consumption of AIR pill, her body is now suffering from the side effects where a portion of her body is her Devil Fruit form whilst the rest is human.
The AIR (Artificial Induction of Re-transmutation) pill is a drug that was invented by Vegapunk for Tenryuubitos that wanted to keep their Zoan type Devil Fruit slaves in animal form for long periods of time. However, it was discontinued because of the side effects that come with consistent consumption of the drug. Side effects may include, a temporary inability to morph, distortion of physical appearances between forms, intense pain during morphing, permanent damage to the owner's body, permanently being unable to morph between forms for the rest of their lives.
The Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Kitsune is a Mythical Zoan type Devil Fruit. One of its abilities is to peer into a singular target's heart and take on either one of two appearances; one that the target will feel sympathy and compassion to or one that the target will feel physically attracted to. In these transformations, Mint is unable to hide her tail. If her target becomes suspicious of her or if her target catches sight of her tail, the transformation will wear off. There is no indication for her when the transformation wears off, so she must be extremely observant of her target's body language in order to tell if she's been found out. She's also unable to fully see what kind of person she turns into other than just looking down at her own body. When she looks into the mirror, it'll only show her original form to her.