(SFW) Heroes of the New World - One Piece x My Hero Academia

[Zaru]

"Tch... that smarts..."

Yamato groaned as she sat in her room, rubbing salves and ointments into her many, many bruises. She had gone at her father again, to defeat him as Kozuki Oden would have. But as before, as so many times before, she had failed. She had ended up faced-down in the dirt, her body battered to near-ruin, while her father stood tall; without so much as a bruise on his gigantic frame.

She winced as her bruises objected. There had been nothing do to but drag herself back to her room, the eyes of her father's subordinates upon her all the while; pitying and confused in equal measure.

She hated those looks of pity. It made her want to take up her kanabo Takeru and smash their heads in. But as she was, in her condition, she could not bring herself to care. There was nothing to do but mend her damaged body, with the ointments and salves that had been left for her use, left to her by her father.

She glared down at the shackles on her wrists. They were proof of her reality, just like the boxes of medical supplies, and the room itself. She was as she had always been. Trapped in her room, on the skull-shaped island of Onigashima, the legendary and dreaded island of ogres. Trapped by a father who would not accept the demands of her heart, and whom she had never been able to defeat.

A father who, at some level, still cared for her. A father whose pitying care ate at her already wounded pride.

"As long as you claim to be Kozuki Oden, you will forever be chained to this island. Renounce your childish vision, accept your position as my heir, and you will be free."

"As if!"

The words came out as a snarl. Yamato stood up, stretching her tired arms and taking a deep breath. The salves would work in time. Her father's Beast Pirates were warriors beyond compare, but they knew the flora and fauna of Wano well. Medicines were only one of many uses they had found for such things. Soon she would be well again.

And what then?

Her room was quite large, having been made to accommodate both royalty and those whose height was greater than normal. She stepped past her wide bed, ignoring the creaks of the long-neglected floorboards, and stopped at the window. She stood there, gazing out at the horizon, the wind ruffling her long, white hair.

Ironic, to see the sea like this. So near, yet so far. A dream that would not die, yet never able to be born.

In her mind's eye, she saw Oden. Oden, whose death agony she had witnessed; boiled alive in a pot of oil sixteen years ago. Oden, whose logbook she had found amid the ruins of his castle. Oden, whose words had inspired her to be something more than the daughter of a pirate and a warlord.

Oden, whom she wanted to be, more than anything else in all the world.

Oden, whom her father would never let her be.

She stretched her arms again, then turned and limped out of her room. The floors creaked under her feet, a reminder of the neglect this part of the fortress had suffered. She strode along regardless, ignoring the scuttling flunkies as they worked to mend the floors, even as they bowed her heads and called her Young Master.

Wretches. Fur-caped sycophants. Servile curs without a scrap of honour or dignity. She had no time for them, any more than Oden would have.

She stepped out of the fortress, and jumped along the bridge that led to the western end. The wind whipped at her, chilling her to the bone. There would be another blizzard tonight.

She reached the sea shore, and hunkered down, hands on her knees, gazing out over the billowing waves.

This was her life now. Fighting Kaido, and losing. Healing, eating, sleeping. Reading Oden's logbook, and training her weary body.

Again, and again, and again.

She looked down at her cuffs. If they had been what they appeared to be, mere pinions of iron or steel, she would have freed herself long ago. But they were explosive cuffs, born of the cruel genius of Wano; the genius that made the Beast Pirates mighty. If she moved more than one hundred metres from the shore, they would explode. At the very least they would destroy her arms. Quite likely they would destroy her whole body, and whatever ship she was on, and whoever else was on it.

While she bore those chains, there was no escape.

She had been getting stronger. She knew she was getting stronger, a little at a time. But how much longer could she keep this up? How much more could she…?

"No!"

The words echoed over the waves. She could not give up! Oden would never have given up! He didn't give up, even as he boiled alive in oil!
She hugged her knees, as she tried to think. What was she doing wrong? Why couldn't she defeat him? What was it going to take?

Above her, the seagulls circled, cawing and cawing, as the had always done, and always would do.

"I wish I was like you guys," she whispered, gazing up at them. "Going so far away, seeing so many things…not like me."

She lay down, the sand soft and cool under her back.

"I'm just doing my best," she said, to no one in particular. "Trying to beat my father, and free Wano."

She closed her eyes, and listened to the sounds. The caw of the seagulls, the whoosh of the waves, the whistle of the wind between the rocks.

The sounds of the sea.

Her stomach growled, and Yamato winced, opening her eyes.

"Can't defeat him on an empty stomach." She sat up. Time to head over to the mess, and get something to eat.

And then she saw something.

It was there on the beach. A dark shape, that had not been there a moment ago. She blinked, and there it was again. That shape.

A human shape. In green.

"What?"

Yamato got up, and trotted up to the shape, hardly believing what she was seeing. But what she thought she saw was what it was. A person, lying face down on the wet sand, the waves washing around its feet.

She crouched down, and rolled the figure over. It was a boy, in his teens or thereabouts. He wore a green suit of a kind Yamato had never seen before, its sides emblazoned with white stripes. On his hands were heavy gauntlets, on his legs were metal greaves, and around his neck a tattered yellow scarf.

As the water washed around his legs, it came away red. As Yamato looked closer, she saw the rents and slashes in the strange green cloth, and the blood that stained it.

Her heart clenched. He looked so young, so innocent; yet his body was so smashed and bloody. He must have endured some terrible battle.

But what battle? No battle had been heard or seen, or else the island would be in uproar. And how he come to be there? She saw no ship, nor even the wreckage of one. No ship, no navigator, had ever defeated Onigashima's whirlpools; nor had anything or anyone escaped their grasp.

So how could he be there?

Was he still alive?

She bent over, and pressed her ear to his chest; praying to any nearby god or spirit that his heart was still beating. It was, though only faintly.

"Hang in there, little one," she whispered, carefully sliding her arms through the wet sand underneath him. He was small and light, so much so that her heart ached. How could one so small, so gentle-looking, have endured such violence as he clearly had?

She had to save him. Oden would have moved mountains to save him. She had to get him back to her room, where her salves and bandages awaited.

She stood up, lifting him from the water, wet sand falling off him. As he rose, something fell from his pocket. Shifting his weight to one arm, Yamato stooped down and picked it up. It was a card of some kind.

"Midoriya... Izuku... Hero name: Deku..."

 

[Zaru]

Where was he?

He didn't know where he was, or how he had come to be there. He had been…floating. Floating, as if in water. Floating, and gently swaying, the sound of waves in his ears.

"Hold on, little one. Almost there."

He was flying. The wind was cold on his cheeks. Someone was…someone was carrying him.

How did he get there? What had he been doing before?

"Rest here, little one. You're safe now."

He felt himself slipping, as if he were relaxing in a hot bath. The world, vague as it was, seemed to drain away.

And he saw.

A hideous mass of tentacles, tentacles that looked like human fingers, coiling around each other, lashing out like snakes. At its centre a smirking face with no eyes, a corpse face already dead and crumbling.

And behind it, a pair of wide, frightened eyes.

"Tenko!"

Tenko. Yes, he knew that name. The name of someone he had never seen, yet yearned to save. Someone trapped within the soul of another. Another, who sought to destroy the world.

The horror, spreading and erupting, its fingers grasping for his flesh; for one touch to end him forever.

An explosion, throwing the fingers back. A hot wind washing over him, the roar tearing at his eardrums. A familiar shape, leaping in front of him, arms thrust out. More explosions, buffeting the monstrosity and driving it back.

"Kacchan!"

Kacchan? Who was Kacchan again? It was a name he knew, but from where?

"Kacchan!"

"Get it together Deku!"

Kacchan. Bakugo Katsuki. His rival, who had driven him to greatness. His enemy, who had bullied and belittled him.

His friend, who had saved his life.

The fingers erupted, engulfing Bakugo. Their mass crushing him, his flesh turning to ash.

"Deku…don't die here…"

And he was gone.

Gone. Gone in the blink of any eye. Gone forever.

He saw only red.

He screamed a scream that rent the air. His soul erupted, blazing like a new-born star. He felt himself flying, fist outstretched. His fist struck the face, and plunged through it, down into the black morass, into the depths of the horror. The monstrosity exploded, his power blasting through and out of it, burning it out of existence.

Yes. He had won. That thing he had fought, that thing that had sought to destroy the world. He had destroyed it, and only he remained.

A human figure, corpse-pale, spiky hair the blue of dead flesh. Its eyes empty, as if the soul behind them was already long gone, half of his skull missing due to the blow he had landed.

And a big wide grin appeared on his face, teeth bared despite.

"You lose."

And then it was gone. A circle of pure darkness, erupting from within its chest. Bigger and bigger it grew, all around it vanishing into its void. The wind rushed around him, sucking him towards the darkness, drawing him in.

"Deku get away!"

He turned away, trying to fly away, to leap. But still it drew him in. He could see them screaming, crying, reaching for him.

"Midoriya!"

"Aizawa-sensei!"

Aizawa was reaching for him, his scarf flying from his hands, flying through the air towards him. His eyes were wide, desperate. He grabbed for the scarf.

He missed. And he fell, his dark tendrils too late to latch on.

And fell.

And fell.

(X)

Darkness.

A black void, over a grey wasteland.

He had been there before. It was a place that was not a place, for it only existed within himself.

He knew it. As he knew the figures standing before him. Eight figures, for his eight predecessors; the eight heroes who had borne One for All. The eight heroes, who had saved his body, and his soul, from the power of All for One.

Of those eight, all but one was dead. And of the eighth, he did not know.

"Is that it?" he asked, looking from one to the other. "Am I dead?"

He was certain that he should be. After all that, he had to be dead.

He wanted to be dead. He deserved to be dead.

He knew facing All for One in the stronger and younger body of Shigaraki Tomura may come at the cost his life but... he had hoped it was only him that fell. Not others...

"No," said the Second User, whose name he did not know. "You are not."

"But…"

"What you saw was a warp," said Shigaraki Yoichi, the First User. "A trap, left by my brother, for the one who defeated him."

How like All for One. How like him to destroy his own puppet to take down his conqueror, in one last act of spite.

"But if it was a warp, where did I go?"

"We don't know," said the Sixth User, another whose name he did not know. "We can't tell."

"All for One did not know," added Yoichi, mournfully. "He did not care to know."

"Does that mean…?"

"You won," said Shimura Nana, the Seventh User. "All for One is destroyed, and his stolen quirks along with him. You have done what none of us could do." She gave a small yet sad smile. "You have saved the world."

The words rang hollow. They had no meaning. This wasn't like some video game, ending in fanfare and joy. He had done the impossible, and it tasted like ash in his mouth.

"But I…how did I win?" he demanded, tears welling in his eyes. "I screwed up so many things! I was late to the battle! I couldn't save Tenko!" Nana's face winced a little, Izuku feeling the guilty swell within him like a monsoon. "I let Kacchan die! And All for One's old body..."

A cold dagger in his heart. A dagger of shame. How could he call himself a hero if he couldn't be there when his friends needed him? When All for One still lived in his old body? How could he be the saviour of the world, when he couldn't save his friend?

Save a single child...

"My brother's body is beginning to fail. Your comrades, Endeavor and Hawks, succeeded in their plan to destroy his life support Mask somehow." Yoichi murmured. "He is being to fade, I can feel it... why else would he desire a younger and stronger vessel?"

"He will die, and that will be the end of it." Banjo Daigoro, the Fifth User, shrugged. "Still kid, take the win, at the least."

"None of us can judge you," said Shinomori Hikage, the Fourth User. "We all failed, and I didn't even try. We all lost friends, and loved ones."

"You alone made good our mistakes," added Yoichi, his voice sad, his eyes full of the pain with which All for One had filled his life. "You alone redeemed our failures."

He gulped down a lump in his throat, as tears ran down his cheeks.

"Then…can I just die now?" he asked, his voice hoarse. "If it's over, can't I just go?"

He didn't want to live on, not like this. Not without his mother, and his friends. And how was he to explain about Kacchan anyway? What was he to say to Kacchan's parents?

He looked up, through tear-blurred eyes. The man who stood before him was not the hero he had revered, not All Might. It was Yagi Toshinori, the Eighth User, as he had seen him on that fateful day. Gaunt, lanky, drained, his eyes cast in shadow.

"All Might," he whispered, in spite of himself. "I…I let Kacchan die."

Toshinori's shade did not reply. It just stood there, regarding him with sad eyes.

"Bakugo made his own choice," said Nana gently. "He followed his own heart and made his own sacrifice. You could not have stopped him."

"I…I'm so tired…" He hung his head. "I just want to sleep. Forever."

A hand rested on his shoulder. A warm hand, like the hand of a father, the father he had barely known, and had found again in Yagi Toshinori.

He looked All Might in the eyes. The shade was smiling gently.

"It's too soon for you to die," said Nana. "You have carried our burden, and now your burden is laid down." She offered another saddened smile as she joined Toshinori in placing a hand upon his other shoulder. "You have your own life to live, and your own legend to make."

"But how?" he sniffed. "I can't even go home."

And he couldn't. He was being sent to another place, a place even these Vestiges, who had outlived death, did not know. Even if he survived, he might never return home.

He might never see them again. His mother, All Might, Aizawa-sensei, his friends.

Uraraka…the look in whose eyes he had only just begun to understand.

"You are a hero," Nana went on. "You have more claim to that title than anyone, even us. Wherever you go, wherever you end up, you will still be a hero. The only person who can take that away from you is yourself."

"Miss Shimura…"

He felt himself slipping away. The dark world around him was fading, as were the Vestiges.

"You must live on, Deku. The story of One for All isn't over yet."

Izuku tried to reach out towards her, as the Vestiges stood side by side and spoke as one.

"Awaken…Midoriya Izuku."

(X)

Light.

He blinked. There it was again. Light, low and gentle, streaming in from one side.

His eyes fluttered open. He was staring at…a ceiling.

He drew in a breath. His mind was coming back online, but he felt numb all over. He had been in such pain before, like nothing he could have imagined. But now it was gone.

He tried to move, but his limbs would not obey him. Had he finally ruined his body, as All Might feared that he would?

If so, it was no more than he deserved. A fitting fate, for a man who had saved the world, but could not save his friend. Perhaps it was a fair trade, his once-mighty body, for having defeated the Demon Lord of the world. One moment a mighty hero, the next an invalid.

He heard something beside him. He tried to turn his head, and his head moved, easing sideways to follow the sound.

It was a figure, kneeling on the floor beside his bed, humming to itself as it did something. He blinked, willing his eyes to focus.

It was a woman. A very tall woman, with very long white hair, clad in a white kosode and red hakama; secured around the waist by a nio-dasuki in white and purple, tied in an enormous bow around her back. She was kneeling down, her eyes fixed on a pestle, rolling back and forward within her hands, grinding something in a mortar bowl. .

She was quite tall; make that very tall. There were red horns reaching up from her temples, framed by her long white hair, which turned teal about halfway to the tips. Her eyes, still fixed on the pestle and mortar, were orange.

He opened his mouth to speak, but it would not obey him, and only a low groan came out. The woman paused, and turned her head to look at him.

"You're awake!"

Her eyes sparkled, and her smile lit up her face.

"That's good! I've just finished this tincture!"

She scooted over to the bed, almost bouncing with excitement. Izuku watched as she laid down the pestle, and scraped something from the bowl with a long pale finger, and began to lay it onto his arm. He looked down, and his stomach clenched at the red, swollen skin.

"Don't worry!" she declared confidently. "You'll be healed in no time!"

Once she was done laying the tincture, she began wrapping a bandage around his arm. She seemed so very happy, so energetic and enthusiastic, as if his being there was a joy, a cause for celebration.

It reminded him of Uraraka.

"Who...?" he croaked, the words degenerating into a gurgle.

"Don't talk now," she said, putting a steadying hand on his chin. "Your jaw is broken. I'll tie it shut for now."

She took a strip of bandage, looped it under his chin, and tied it atop his head, holding his mouth shut.

"There we go!" She smiled a smile that shone like the morning sun. "Don't worry little one, I'll take good care of you."

She laid a very large hand on his head. The skin was hard and calloused, the hand of a fighter. But her touch was warm all the same; a touch that made his sorrow ease.

"You look like you've taken quite a beating," she went on, removing her hand, and looking him over. "Was that your first big battle, little one?"

He wanted to speak. He wanted to tell her his name, and to ask for hers. He wanted to know who she was, and where they were.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," insisted the woman. "I've patched myself up often enough. And no one comes here. There's nothing whatsoever to worry about."

Izuku stared at her, unable to tear his eyes away.

"Oh, I forgot." The woman shifted to face him, hands on her knees. "I am Yamato, and this is my homeland. The island of Onigashima, in the Land of Wano."

 

[Zaru]

Yamato couldn't be happier.

The boy, Midoriya Izuku if that card was to be believed, was awake. He was breathing slowly but regularly, mostly through his nose thanks to the bandage, and watching her through wide, curious eyes.

He seemed at ease, which was very good. She had half-expected him to panic, and thrash around or try to escape; only hurting himself more in the process. But he seemed content to lie where he was, and let her take care of him.

She felt…very glad about that. It was as if something had changed, for the better.

"I apologise for stripping you of your clothes," she went on. "I found you on the beach. You were soaking wet and in a very bad shape. I had to take them off to apply the medicines."

An unfortunate necessity. Izuku lay on a tatami mat, his legs in a brace, the rest of his body salved and bandaged. He had been in quite good physical condition, but his injuries had been overwhelming.

All the same, she bowed respectfully, in the way Oden had described in his logbook. It was proper to show respect at all times, and to all persons; especially when she had been forced to commit an impropriety.

"I've got them over here." She pointed to his clothes; which she had carefully folded and arranged. That was another thing Oden had mentioned; being respectful to another's property.

Izuku craned his neck to look, then winced in pain, and laid back down. He seemed satisfied.

"I can't believe someone as young as you has so many injuries," Yamato said. "Oh, oden fought as a child too! But…you don't seem like a samurai."

Indeed he did not. His clothes were wondrous, but unlike anything she had ever seen. And he did not carry a sword.

Did that mean…?

"You must be a pirate then? Or an adventurer?" She beamed at him, delighted at the notion. But Izuku just looked puzzled, and actually managed to shake his head.

She frowned, pouting, as she tried to make sense of it.

"Hmmm... then how did you get onto Onigashima's shore? Curious..."

How indeed? The island was protected by whirlpools; whirlpools that could swallow any ship, and which even the greatest navigators could not evade. The only safe route was guarded by the great Tori gate, and well-manned by her father's minions. Onigashima was as secure a base as any pirate could ask for.

A low grumble disturbed her thoughts. She looked down, and realised it was coming from Izuku's stomach.

"Oh! I'm sure you must be hungry."
She trotted over to her pantry, and took a quick look inside.

"Hmmm... I only have hard edibles... not fitting for a broken jaw."

She glanced at him. He was still watching her.

"I shall fetch you some suitable food!" she declared, smiling. "And some water too!"

Then she paused, as a thought occurred. To get food, she would have to go down to the mess. They would hand over anything she asked for, without question. But what if someone were to come to her room while she was away? What if they saw Izuku?

"But…first things first." She moved a few boxes, then pulled the changing curtain across.

"Now, no one will see you from the doorway," she said. "They won't dare come inside without my say-so."

She squatted down beside him, and laid her hand on his head.

"Don't worry, I won't be long. Stay put and keep quiet, okay?"

She patted his head gently. The boy looked confused, but nodded. Yamato got up, slid on her sandals, and gave Izuku one last smile before slipping through the curtain, through the doors, and out into the corridor; pausing only long enough to grab her kanabo.

Her mind raced as she jogged along the corridor. Midoriya Izuku, neither a samurai, nor a pirate, nor an adventurer. So what was he then? What manner of person could he be?

She wanted to know. In all her life, she had never been quite so curious about a person; especially not one she had literally just met. There was Kozuki Oden, true, but she had known him only by the manner of his death, and the words of his logbook. That was the only Oden she would ever know, and the only Oden she needed to know.

But she did want to know Izuku. She wanted to know who he was, and where he had come from. She wanted to know what his homeland was called, and where it was. Did he come from Wano? Or from somewhere else, far away? Did was his home on the Grand Line, under the sway of the so-called World Government? Or somewhere else entirely?

And what was his homeland like? She wanted to know. She wanted to know about his family, and his friends. She wanted to know about their food, and their stories, and their music. What sort of clothes did they wear? What kind of fighting techniques did they use? Were there great warriors there? And if so, how did they fight?

Of course, she would have to get off the island in order to experience any of it. But that was something she was working on anyway. One thing at a time.

After a few minutes, she finally reached the nearest of the fortress' many mess halls. There was a long queue already, the rank-and-file of the Beast Pirates, waiting for their evening meal. She strode past them, showing them not a moment's consideration, and none of them offering a challenge. They knew who she was, and what she would do if they so much as grumbled.

And they probably knew just what she thought of them.

She reached the side door and pushed it open, the smell of food hitting her full on the face and making her stomach growl. .

"O-Oh! Young Master!" exclaimed one of the cooks; a pufferfish-man of some sort. "Forgive my impertinence, but it is proper to stand in line and…"

"I want food!" Yamato barked, sending the kitchen staff scurrying for cover. She tried to think of something to ask for, something that Izuku could manage with his broken jaw.

"Uh, food?" One of the familiar chefs, a woman with tattoos and piercings replied. "Not just meat and rice this time?"

Porridge? No, it may as well turn into gruel.

Oshiruko? No, that was always popular and running out fast.

She glanced around, following the scent of the bean soup. But the pot was empty, the cowering chef having been cooking up a fresh batch.

She sniffed the air, and marched through the kitchen, the lesser cooks scurrying out of her way. Her nose drew her to a large pot, in which something with a meaty smell was bubbling merrily.

"This!" she declared, pointing at the pot. She cursed inwardly as she tried to remember its name. She had lived in Wano all her life, or so it seemed, yet she knew next to nothing about its food. She only ordered what Oden had described in his travels on the seas! Seafood, meat, and rice with ale and sake!

"Tonjiru Soup, young master? whimpered the pufferfish-man. "That's…new."


"Yes! I want Tonjiru!" Yamato nodded, hands on her hips. "I want a large bowl to go!"

"Ummm, a dish like this is h-hard to carry out y-young master," stammered the one with the piercings. "Are you…?"

She trailed off as Yamato rounded on her with a glare, tapping her kanabo on her shoulder.

"I want one to go. As fast as possible." Lightning crackled on the kanabo. "Got that?"

She had destroyed plenty of kitchens in her time. She had ambushed her father in the upper mess hall by the East Horn, their battle leaving the whole place in ruins. And there was that time in the South Horn, when she had encountered that wretch Ulti and that brother of hers, Page One. Their battle had taken them out onto the roof of the Skull Dome, and had ended in a most satisfactory manner; with that blue-haired cur's face thoroughly smashed in.

"R-Right away Young Master! Quick! Someone get a bowl and cover!"

The cooks began running around like headless chickens. The rank and file feared her, and were always so pathetically desperate to please her. It might have been endearing, if not for what they were, and what they did.

Yamato smirked, crossing her arms over her bust. This would do nicely!

(X)

It took her only a little time to collect the bowl of Tonjiru, and a water skin, and make her way back to her room. Izuku's eyes had been closed, but they fluttered open as she approached.

"There you are," she said, smiling. "Are you familiar with Tonjiru? It's a pork soup."

She knelt down beside the boy, lifting the lid off the pot to let him smell it. She fluffed his pillows to lift up his head a little, then took the spoon the cooks had provided.

The boy took a sniff, and nodded. Yamato's heart leapt. He did know it!

"Well, it was the only soup they seemed to have," she said, laying a napkin over his chest. "I would have liked to get some Oshiruko, but they had none left. It always runs out."

She suddenly felt uncertain. Did Oden ever do something like this? He had mentioned something like it, when his wife was in labor with his children, but his description had been panicked, frenetic even.

Yamato didn't feel that way at all. It felt…peaceful somehow.

She undid his chin bandage, and took a spoonful of soup, blowing on it gently.

"There, if it's too hot, let me know, ok?"

She brought it carefully to his chin. The boy opened his mouth, just enough to let her pour it in. He coughed, some of the soup bubbling out.

"Oh! Was I too fast!? I apologise!"

Yamato frowned, taking a cloth and dapping his chin and lips.

"Go slow... nice and easy," she admonished herself as she grabbed another spoonful. She cupped the back of Izuku's head with her free hand, as she blew on her spoon and brought it to his lips.

He gulped it down perfectly, and the girl nodded.

"Okay... now then, let's continue."

And so it went, spoonful after spoonful. After a little while, she lifted the waterskin to his lips, and let him drink. He drank it down fast, his arms shifting as if to reach for the waterskin.

"Easy there, you were out for several days..." Yamato assured, and Izuku's eyes widened. "Wouldn't want you to choke and gag."

The boy took it to heart, slowing his drinking, until the skin was empty.

As he laid back, she looked him over once again. He had been mighty once, that much was clear. She could see hard, well-developed muscle, and more than a few old scars.

She was wrong. It couldn't have been his first battle. This boy was clearly a veteran, as much so as many of her father's best.

"I can see that you've fought in many battles," she mused; using the sppon to mash down the porkbelly, noodles, and vegetables in the bowl, making a paste he could swallow. "Yet you are not a pirate or adventurer. So then you are…a hero?"

Izuku's eyebrow quirked, and he managed an uh-huh through his broken jaw.

"This fell out of your pocket," she went on, holding up the card she had found on the beach. "Midoriya Izuku. I'm very glad to meet you, but I wonder what this card means by hero?"

Izuku didn't reply. But he did look rather confused, as if he didn't understand the question. Perhaps he did come from a faraway land after all; a land where heroes such as himself were well-known.

Were they the samurai of his country, perhaps?

"I shall give you a herb to help you heal," she said. "But it must be taken with food, like this." She showed him the paste in the bowl.

"Thank…you…" Izuku croaked, wincing as he forced his jaw to move.

"Easy there!" Yamato put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure you have many things to tell. But they must wait until that jaw heals. It won't be long."

His eyes softened, and he nodded, seemingly content. Yamato added the herb to the paste, carefully stirred it in, then began spooning it into his mouth.

It was…pleasant to do so. She felt at peace somehow, feeding him like that. She had never done anything like it before.

She shivered. She had never shown it, nor could she remember ever experiencing it. It was not how things were done on Onigashima. It was not the Beast Pirate way.

It was not her father's way. He respected only strength, and loved only power. All his merit lay in victory, and all his desire was for conquest. Honour was hypocrisy, mercy was foolish, and kindness was weakness. To be honourable was to be destroyed, to be merciful was to be betrayed, and to be kind was to be crushed.

And his minions were no better. The bulk of them were no threat; for they knew her power, and feared it too much to challenge her in any way. But what of the All-Stars, or the Flying Six, or the Headliners? They hadn't gotten where they did by fearing anything, or anyone. No one capable of fear could stand near her father for long.

Fear…or compassion.

What chance did Izuku have in this place? What would her father make of him? What would the others do to him?

Perhaps he would be strong. Strong enough to catch her father's eye, and earn a place for himself. Her father respected only strength, and cared nothing for race or creed or heritage; one of his few, ironic virtues.

But then, what would become of his heart? What would this place do to one such as him?

She looked again at Izuku. His eyelids were drooping. He looked about ready to sleep.

"I will protect you," she whispered, laying a hand on his head one last time. "I swear it. I'll protect you from them."

The sleepy eyes regarded her, and then slid shut. Yamato drew a sheet over him, then sat back, watching him sleep.

She would protect him. She knew it, in a way she only felt once before. She would protect him from her father and his pirates, at least until he was strong enough to protect himself.

And that meant taking care of herself, too. No more picking fights with her father, or anyone, until he was healed.

It was what Oden would have done.

It was the least she could do.

 

[Zaru]

It was in the middle of the night when she heard it.

The sound of a rumbling stomach. Her own that is.

Yamato stirred, getting up from her bed and rubbing her eyes.

"Hungry..." she murmured as she rolled out of bed, and pulled her robes. She reached over for the candle, and the box of matches beside it. She lit the candle, and made her way to the pantry. After collecting some bread to munch on, she headed back to her bed.

She paused, blinking. Was she seeing things?

She turned, and looked more closely. Midoriya Izuku was still there, lying on the tatami mat But his eyes were open, staring out at the night sky, and the bright, beaming moon.

In the days since his arrival, she had settled into a routine. Feeding him, changing his bandages, applying more medicine, at times cleaning his body with wet rags. The rags had been rough, and the water only lukewarm, but they had served their purpose.

She had ignored the looks and murmurs of the Beast Pirates. She had even taken to meditating on the beach, so as to deceive them as to the cause of her absences. Oden had said that the samurai of Wano had honed their minds with meditation as they had honed their bodies with training; so no one should have been surprised.

Except Oden couldn't stand it, or so he had written in his logbook. Too much sitting still for far too long.

"Izuku?" she murmed, stepping closer. Izuku turned from the window to stare at her. In the light of the moon, she could see his face clearly.

His eyes were wet.

"Something troubles you, doesn't it?" she asked, kneeling down beside him. The boy nodded lightly, eyes fixed on her. Yamato winced, as she saw the rest of his body, still festooned with braces and covered with bandages.

"I'm sorry…I changed your bandages and applied fresh salve earlier…here." She loosened the bandages around his chin, then took up the waterskin and put it to his lips, cradling his head to let him drink. He drank fast and thirstily, but Yamato could see the gleaming lines running down his cheeks.

"Are you in any pain at all? Is that what causing it?" she asked. "Just nod or shake your head." Izuku finished drinking, breathing through his mouth lightly as he looked up at her.

He shrugged. Yamato did not know what to make of that.

"Then why won't you sleep?" she asked. "You need your rest."

She set his head back down on the pillow. His eyes were sombre, full of a sorrow that tugged at her soul.

"Just…thinking…" he croaked.

"What about?" Yamato asked, perking up.

"My…family…friends…"

Yamato's heart ached for him. He was alone in this place, friendless but for her. He had a family and friends somewhere. Did they know of his fate? Were they worried sick about him? Or did they mourn him, thinking him lost forever?

And there was something in his eyes, something she had seen before.

The eyes of the people of Wano. The people who could only watch, helpless, as Oden boiled alive in a pot of oil.

Grief. Desolation. Despair. Loneliness.

She couldn't blame him for crying. Oden said a man should not cry, but he was so young, so vulnerable. The sight of him made her feel something, a feeling she could not name.

In her mind's eye she saw Oden, boiling alive, his retainers upon his back. She saw the ruins of Oden Castle, where the mortal remains of Oden's family lay; discarded and untended. The samurai she met in that cave, the day she swore to become Oden.

She knew what it was to be alone. She knew what it was to be friendless. The nearest thing she had ever had was those samurai; who had broken their chains and defied Kaido together, chosing death before dishonour. She didn't even know their names.

"Did you…lose them?" she asked, unable to contain herself.

The boy nodded, and winced as she laid a hand on his forehead. It was the only way she could think of to show him how she felt, how she understood his pain.

"I'm sorry. Will you at least drink some more? Are you hungry?"

He shook his head. Yamato took a rag from a bowl nearby, and dabbed at his forehead. She didn't now what else to do.

"If you need anything, let me know, okay?"

The boy nodded. She felt something touch her other hand, and she jumped; only to realise that it was his hand. It was so small compared to hers; but then again, most hands were.

There was just the slightest grip. A grip, and a light in his eyes that had not been there before.

Yamato could not stop herself from smiling. She yearned to talk with him some more, but she knew she could not. It would have to wait until he was properly healed; or at least his jaw was healed.

He nodded. And she could have sworn he was smiling.

"In the meantime, let's take a look at those bandages!"

 

[Zaru]

Onigashima's docks were a scene of barely-organised chaos.

Ships were coming in, making their way along the tall, rocky tunnel that served as the stone skull's throat. Those at the docks were being unloaded, mighty derricks lugging heavy crates from the ship's decks. Countless pirates were working too, swarming on and off the ships like so many ants, lugging boxes, barrels, and sacks. Off the ships, across the docks, and down the dark tunnels to the countless storage chambers, to be sorted and stored in their proper places. Then back again for more.

From his vantage point, in a vaulted gallery carved into the cave wall, Spytand Malice watched it all.

He had seen such scenes many times, back when he was in the Marines. But never on such a scale, or in a place like this. There was no pirate fleet like the Beast Pirates, not in the whole world. He had seen pirates and ships of all shapes and sizes, and fleets that terrorized the Grand Line from one end to the next. But he had never seen pirate ships so large or so powerful, or so well-kept, or so many. Nor had he seen pirates so many, and so well-ordered, under a single Jolly Roger.

One might have thought it impossible, unless one had actually seen their master. For a creature like Kaido, nothing seemed impossible.

How unlike his former superiors; for all their great strength and ability. How unlike the Marine admirals, who for all their greatness, did the bidding of the Celestial Dragons.

His teeth gritted, as the old hate resurfaced, unbidden. He clenched his hands so hard they hurt. His skin itched, as it remembered the uniform he had once worn.

Those disgusting creatures, who lived in indolence on Mariejois, never noticing the slaves to toiled beneath their feet, except perhaps to spit on them. Decadent, spoiled, indolent; incapable of the least endeavour, the smallest deed, or the slightest compassion.

All but one. One, who had paid a terrible price for it.

Yet the Marines did their bidding. The admirals did their bidding, leaping to their sides at the mere snap of gloved fingers. They who were so mighty, yipped like lapdogs for the amusement of the worthless, and demanded that all below them do the same.

And he so very nearly been one of them. He had worked so hard, given every deed and day his all and everything. He had served, and suffered, endured everything that instructors, superiors, pirates, and even his own comrades had thrown at him. All so that he could prove himself, all so that he could rise; all the way to Vice Admiral.

And then he had seen. And then he had understood.

He looked down at his hands, the hands that had ached and bled in their service. They were covered now, by heavy black gloves and spiked bracers. The white uniform was gone, replaced with baggy red trousers tucked into tall black boots, and covered by a heavy black trenchcoat.

He shook his head, forcing down his rage. There was no need for it, not now. He had found a better berth, a better outlet for his abilities. Sure they were pirates, but at least their villainy was honest. Kaido did not justify his power by some supposed innate superiority, nor clothe his fury in the garb of absolute justice. When he wanted something, he took it. When something displeased him, he destroyed it.

That, at least, was honest. Not false law, but lawlessness. Not false justice, but true freedom. That was where he had chosen to be, and where he had found a place.

He looked down at the docks again, at the barely-managed madness. The annual Fire Festival was coming up, and the Beast Pirates were going all-out. Tributes were being gathered in from all across Wano, and every combat-ready ship and crew were out on the high seas, bringing in plunder and captives. The former would fill the vaults of Onigashima, to provide for the festival in truly magnificent style. The latter would be processed, their fates decided by their strength, their skills, or simply their appearance.

His eyes fell on a coffle being led off one of the ships; one of Ulti's from the look of it. They were a miserable sight even from that distance; roped together at neck and waist and hands, driven on with kicks and blows, and cruel laughter.

Perhaps one or two of them might catch someone's eye, and be selected for better duties. Or maybe, if they had heart, and strength, and more than a little luck, they might impress someone sufficiently to be allowed into the ranks of the pirates.

For the rest, it was off to Wano, and the foundries. They would spend the rest of their short lives toiling in the darkness, lugging coal and iron ore for the furnaces.. They would toil, and die, so that the Beast Pirates could have warships and weapons. Swords and muskets, cannons and cannonballs, and the thousand-odd metal widgets and gadgets that kept a ship from falling apart on the ocean wave.

And that was that. The strong took what they wanted, and the weak survived as best they could. At least this way there was no hypocrisy. At least this way, the truly strong ruled.

Then he saw something else, something that should not have been down there.

He leant over the parapet, focussing on the figure striding across the docks; the pirates scattering before it.

Her.

He watched, tight-lipped, as Yamato strode along a line of pirates, eyes fixed on the foodstuffs they were carrying. As she moved, the ones behind her scurried away, glad to be out of her sight.

To Spytand Malice, Yamato had always been a mystery. Kaido's only daughter and sole heir, yet she despised him and all he stood for. Her only hero was Kozuki Oden, the former ruler of Wano, whom Kaido had boiled alive in a pot of oil. Rather than enjoy the glorious freedom her father offered, and the inheritance that awaited her, she would rather imitate that dead fool of a samurai. She spent all her days training her body, challenging her father, and healing herself after she invariably lost.

So then…what was she doing down there?

Malice watched, mystified, as she stopped suddenly, and ordered one of the pirates to hand over his burden; a very large, fresh tuna. Yamato took it from him, turned on his heel, and strode out the way she had come.

Tuna. She had come down there, among the pirates she despised, to bully one of them into handing over a tuna.

A tuna?

Except she had been doing stuff like that recently. People had seen her dashing through the corridors carrying food. The cooks he had asked about it had told him – amid much whimpering and cowering – told him that she normally ate rice or meat, washed down with ale or local wine. But now she was asking for bowls of soup. Any kind would do, but always lots of it. This she would lug back to her room, and the bowls would come back licked clean.

That she ate in her room was not in itself suspicious. He had never seen her do otherwise, in the months since he had joined the Beast Pirates. It was well known that she despised the Beast Pirates, and scorned their fellowship. But what did she need all that food for?

Now that he thought about it, that wasn't the only strange thing. Normally she fought her father once a week; and from time to time crushed someone for annoying or offending her. But she hadn't, not for many days. She had left her room only to get food, or to meditate on the beach.

And since when did she meditate? Training yes, but meditation?

What was going on?

"So this is where you've been hiding."

Malice jumped, then glowered. He had let himself be snuck up upon; a mistake that in this place could be costly.

"I was just watching the ships come in," he said. Not the most impressive turn of phrase, not one worthy of one such as her. But he had never been one for poetry or oratory.

"Busy, busy, busy," mused the young woman who had joined him in the gallery. She was quite a sight, her shapely body clad in a black kimono lined in red, her blonde hair done up in the local style, her beauty in no way marred by the narrow red horns curving up from her temples.

Or the fact that she was eight metres tall. Survive for any length of time on Onigashima, and such things ceased to be particularly frightening.

She stepped up to the parapet, gazing down at the ships with supercilious eyes.

"So much treasure, so little time," she mused. "I trust your own foray was fruitful, Malice?"

She shot him a smirk that would have reduced any man to a warm puddle on the floor. Her charms did nothing for him; not because she was unattractive, but because he knew what became of men who fell into the clutches of Black Maria.

"Very fruitful," he replied, tersely. And it had been. Enough so that his place in the Flying Six, would not be questioned; at least not until after the Fire Festival.

"Very good," she purred, in a tone that would have left him hot under the collar, had he not known of the shadows whence that voice might lead him. "But…do you have time to hang around here? Kaido has high expectations of you, as he does of all of us."

That was a joke. For all her high standing, and her dreaded power, Black Maria rarely left Onigashima if she could at all avoid it. Her adoring captains, all female, had brought in her share of the spoils. It was enough to make him wonder, sometimes, just how much of her status relied on Kaido's good graces.

Except, he had seen what she was capable of. They all had.

"My ships need maintenance," he replied, curtly. "They can't go out again until morning at the earliest, and Lord Kaido will probably call a halt before then."

He had run his ships hard, as he had always done. It might not have been so bad, had he gone around that storm instead of through it, but what was done was done. Fortunately for him, Kaido hadn't seemed at all bothered.

"Ah, ever the admirable vice-admiral, working everyone hard" quipped Maria, her eyes twinkling at her own joke. "Is it because they're pirates? Or were you like that in the Marines?"

His lip curled. Yes, he had run his ships and crews hard. He had always done so, even back in the Marines. His subordinates had hated him for it, but the job got done, and that was all that mattered.

"I will fulfil Lord Kaido's expectations, as I have always done" he replied, in as dignified a tone as his temper would allow. "And I will surpass them, as I will surpass my current station."

Yes, he would. There was only rank above him; the three All-Stars, who answered to no one but Kaido himself. One day, he would challenge one of them, before Kaido, and take their place.

"Oh, so driven."

Black Maria drew on the opium pipe she was rarely without.

"But what was that you were staring at a moment ago?" she asked, her tone sultry. "You seemed quite confused."

Malice paused. He wondered if he dared confide in her. She was an equal, and maybe even a comrade; but knew, only too well, how little that could count for when the chips were down.

Then again, what was the harm? What possible gain could Maria get out of it?

"Yamato was down there," he said. "She took a tuna, and left with it."

"A tuna…" Maria rolled the word over her tongue. "Yes, she seems to be fond of her food recently. I thought she might have let herself go, but there's no sign of it."

Yes, indeed. After all the food she had taken, she should have at least put some weight on; had she eaten it all herself.

Herself…

"And she hasn't challenged Lord Kaido over these past days," he went on. "Something has changed."

"Indeed…" Maria drew on her pipe. "Perhaps she has finally learned her lesson. Or…maybe she got hurt worse than usual."

She seemed to find the whole thing quite amusing. Malice did not, though he was not quite sure why it bothered him so much. Did she have someone or something in her room? If so, who or what was it? Was she keeping a pet? Or…

A shiver of anticipation ran through him. Was it possible that she had a boy in there? He supposed it would have to happen sooner or later, but there was no telling how Kaido would react.

His lips twisted into a smirk. Whatever it was, it would serve him well to find out, and to be the one who brought the news to Kaido. It rarely hurt to suck up to the boss, no matter where one was working.

Now…how to go about it?

 

[Zaru]

Something smelt good.

Izuku looked up expectantly as Yamato stepped through the door, sliding it shut behind her with one foot. This time she was carrying two large, covered bowls, and a fresh water skin under her arm. There was a bright smile on her face, as there always was.

"Something a little different this time," she said, meeting his eyes. "But first, let's see how your jaw is."

She knelt down beside him, and began to unwrap the bandages holding his jaw shut. One by one they fell away, until his jaw was free.

"It looks good," she said, running her hands around his jaw. "The swelling has gone down, and the bone feels about right."

She knelt where she was, watching him as he brought up a bandaged hand. His jaw really did feel better. It felt almost… normal.

"Thank…you…" The words came out as a croak. "Thank you."

His voice was working, at least. It just sounded bad, that was all. Probably from not being used for so long.

"It was the least I could do." That smile again. "You seem to be healing very fast, little guy."

Izuku looked over. His whole body felt a lot better. Not numb like it had been before, but just about normal. He was feeling a lot stronger too, and his mind was a lot clearer.

"Yeah, I have." He let out a big wide smile. "How did you do it? I thought I'd be laid up for weeks."

"Wano has always produced excellent medicines," declared Yamato, beaming. "I'm glad to see they've worked."

"Yes. Thanks, Yamato. Thank you for everything."

Yamato gaped as he drew himself into a kneeling position, and bowed his head in the proper way.

"No no no!" she pleaded. "There's no need for that!"

"But I have to!" insisted Izuku, straightening up. "I honestly feel fine, and you've done so much for me."

Yamato stared at him, with a look he could not make sense of. Before she broke out in a big grin.

"Fear nothing, Midoriya Izuku!" she bellowed. "I, Yamato, am glad to have been of help!"

Izuku almost fell over backwards. The words were almost like a physical wave. He knew there wasn't, but there was something there, just at the edge of his senses.

"In any case, let's eat!" Yamato grabbed one of the bowls and laid it before him. Intrigued, Izuku took off the lid.

"Ohhh! Ramen!"

"I take it this pleases you?" asked Yamato. Izuku was so overwhelmed, he could not even reply; just nodding his head up and down. He took the proffered chopsticks, and lifted some noodles to his lips.

It was all he could do not to inhale the entire bowl there and then. It was as good as Lunch Rush's cooking!

"I'm glad you like the food here, Izuku," said Yamato, after slurping down a chopstick-load of ramen. She looked like she was enjoying it as much as he was.

"I love it," Izuku replied, after downing some more. "It's just like the food back home. "

"Ah, I thought so," Yamato mused. "So, you are from Wano?"

"Oh, uh, no." Izuku was taken aback. "I don't know of any country named Wano. My country is called Japan."

"Oh that's nice,." Yamato slurped her ramen. "But I've never heard about Japan, where is that?. Is it on the Grand Line?"

"Uh…" Now Izuku was even more confused. "I…I don't know what that is."

That brought Yamato up short.

"You don't?" She looked as awkward and confused as he felt. "Then, what about the World Government?"

"No, I haven't."

"Mariejois?"

"No."

"The Marines?"

"Well, I know marines exist where I come from, but they're a subsect of the military, not the military."

"The Four Emperors?"

"I think I'm going to have to keep saying no, sorry.."

The room went quiet, but for the slurping of ramen. This continued until both bowls were empty.

"Ahhhhh!" Izuku sighed. "That was so good. Oh, but, I'm sorry, Yamato. I don't know about any of those things."

Having solid food in his stomach was the best thing…

Yamato looked at him as if he had suggested that the Moon was made of cheese.

"No, I don't mean to trouble you," she said, her smile returning. "I figured you might be from Wano because you knew the dish. Your homeland must be pretty far away, maybe from one of the Four Blue Seas?"

"Uh, no, not really. Everyone knows where Japan is. It's not like a lost island or anything."

Then he trailed off, as he saw the look on Yamato's face, and he realized what he had just said.

She had never heard of Japan. And she had rattled off a list of names and places he had never heard of. That could mean only one of two things. Either Onigashima was some kind of lost island where nobody knew anything about the world…

…or he was in another world.

He remembered what the Vestiges had said. They didn't know where All for One's warp was sending him. And warp quirks were so rare that hardly any had ever been studied, let alone figured out.

So…was he in another world? A world that just happened to have similar food to Japan? And clothes that were kinda sorta similar too?

And if he was in another world…

"I'm sorry," Yamato said, looking worried. "I didn't mean to sadden you."

"Oh, no, it's okay!" insisted Izuku, waving his hands. He had been moping again. "It's just that, well, I'm really not sure how to explain this."

"Explain what?"

Izuku cleared his throat. There was, now that he thought about it, little point in holding back.

"I think I might be in another world."

There, he had said it.

"In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm in another world," he went on. "At night, I could see the stars from your window. I don't recognise any of the constellations."

He fell silent, and waited for the hysterical laughter or cries of anathema he knew awaited him.

"Marvelous!"

That he had not expected.

"Wait…you…?"

He looked up at Yamato. She was staring at him with those same bright orange eyes he had seen when he first saw her. Those bright eyes, and that big bright smile. She was bouncing on her feet, as if she wanted to leap straight through the roof.

"Another world!" she exclaimed. "A world beyond this one! To think such a wonder was possible!"

Izuku almost fell over.

"You mean…you believe me?"

"Why should you lie?" Yamato beamed. "What purpose would such a lie serve? Besides, you strike me as a truthful fellow."

"Oh?" That took him by surprise. "You think so?" Most people would call him crazy for being from another world. Here she's just... buying it!

"Oden said that a person's true spirit shines from behind their eyes," Yamato said proudly. "If you can see that shine, you can know that person, be they enemy or friend."

In spite of everything, Izuku could not help but smile. It was a cliché he had heard a thousand times, but hearing it from her, it somehow meant something, in a way it had never done before.

It was like…he could tell her anything.

"So then, Izuku, tell me of your world!" Yamato was once again bouncing with excitement. "Are there many warriors there like yourself?"

"Oh, uh, well…" He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to think. His arms felt stiff and sore, but it felt good to move them more and more. "My country's called Japan, and there's a whole bunch of other countries too. Japan's an island country right next to Korea and China. It's pretty small, but a lot of people live there, and there's a lot of great heroes."

"Heroes…" Yamato thought for a moment. "Your card said that you are a Licensed Hero. Is that what you meant?"

"Oh yeah!" Izuku felt his old enthusiasm rise. "Oh, I guess I should start from the beginning. In my world, four out of every five people have Quirks. A quirk is a kind of special power, and it can be just about anything. Heroes are those who make protecting people and fighting crime their profession."

"Fighting crime?" Yamato cocked an eyebrow. "So you have pirates in your world?"

"Pirates?" Izuku was taken aback. "Well…Villains do all kinds of stuff. I'm sure villains on the sea are called pirates but those are awfully rare. What exactly do you mean by pirates?"

Yamato blinked. Then her brow furrowed.

"Pirates are criminals who do their wickedness upon the sea," she said, her tone suddenly grim. "They prowl the seas, and take what they want by force. Food, treasure, even people. Those who submit, they rob and bully. Those who oppose them, they destroy. Those they cannot destroy, they run from."

Izuku stared at her. Her manner was suddenly taciturn, grim, maybe even angry. But there was something else there too. Was it…shame?

"It sounds like…you've been hurt by them," he hazarded.

"Not in the way you think, little one."

She sighed a deep, sad sigh.

"This island of Onigashima is off the coast of the land of Wano. Once it was ruled by the Shoguns of the Kozuki family, whose sign was the elegant crane. But Kaido and his Beast Pirates came here, and made this island their home. They destroyed the Kozuki family, and conquered the land of Wano. Now, Kurozumi Orochi rules in their name, and the Beast Pirates do as they please."

Izuku's heart ached for her. She seemed so sad, so tormented. Yet, what had she to be ashamed of?

His eyes fell on the shackles on her wrists. Shackles, but no ball and chain to limit her. Did that mean…?

"Are you a prisoner here, Yamato?" he asked. Yamato sighed again.

"In a manner of speaking, Izuku. I am a prisoner here, bound by these seastone chains, which will explode if I try to remove them, or leave this island. On this island I come and go as I please, and none dare deny me anything. None except Kaido, whom I must defeat in order to earn my freedom."

Izuku was confused. If she was a prisoner, why was she being allowed to wander around as she liked? If any of his UA friends had been shown such courtesy, they would have found a way to escape before too long; exploding shackles or no. What did she even mean by Seastone too? What kind of substance is that?

So then why?

Unless…

He looked back at her, and she nodded lightly.

"Yes, Izuku. Kaido is my father. I am the heir to the Beast Pirates, and all the evil he has wrought."

Izuku stared at her in amazement. Yamato was still smiling, but it was the smile of someone about to start crying.

Then Yamato faltered, her sad smile fading.

"Please don't do that, Izuku," she said, half-pleading. "Look at me… like that."

He would have cried yet… Izuku didn't feel the waterworks come.

Then again, he had cried previously over the course of the days he was healing. He half wondered if he had any left to spare. His mother. His friends. All Might. Tenko.

Kacchan.

"I can't help it," he said, a lump rising in his throat. "You just seem so sad…so lonely."

He cuffed at his tears, sniffing hard, as he mastered himself.

"You don't mind?" Yamato was incredulous. She then gave off a slight laugh. "It's not like I am lonely or anything! Not at all!"

"It's okay." Izuku cut her off, the boisterous white haired woman pausing. "But… I can still help you. Somehow. In anyway pos-whoa!"

Something wrapped itself around him and mashed his head into something soft and warm.

Okay. That white robe was very baggy because... she's big in more ways than one! Not just in height!

"I knew!" It was Yamato as she laughed for joy. "I knew when I saw your eyes! I knew you were special!"

She pulled back, holding him by the shoulders. That big, beaming smile was back in place.

"Oden spoke of this! This a fated meeting! I know it!"

Then Izuku realized where his face had been, and his cheeks turned red.

"Oh? You're heating up?" She placed a hand on his head, and blanched. "You are heating up! Should I get water and-"

"N-N-No it's fine!" Izuku stammered, looking away with his face a bright red. "Y-You didn't do anything wrong! N-No at all!"

Yamato would tilt her head, and Izuku would look back at her, his green eyes to her orange ones.

"So... what... now?" He's on an island of Pirates, off the coast of a country ruled by said pirates. In another world with a 'World Government', 'Four Emperors', and 'Marines'. So many things he has to know!

"Well... you can talk more easily...oh!" Yamato sat cross legged, sitting down and beaming at him with her hands on her knees. "Why don't we tell stories! If you tell me yours, I'll tell you mine!"

"Stories? Ummm, well... I don't see the harm and-Does... does anyone know about me?" Izuku asked and Yamato shook her head.

"Not at all. No one comes towards this side of the Skull Dome. I practically own it. If you like, I can tell you the tale of Kozuki Oden!" She reached into her robes, and Izuku looked away a bit, feeling the blood go to his cheeks again. "And all of his travels!"

"I-I'd love to hear it but... I do want to repay you Yamato." She seemed incredibly excited at the prospect of him coming from another world. Yamato perked up, pulling out a very old and ragged looking journal as Izuku spotted the characters.

Kozuki Oden's Logbook

"Maybe..." Izuku trailed off. "I can tell you my story? Then you can tell me the story of this Kozuki Oden. He sounds like quite the person."

"He is!" Yamato gushed, hugging the journal. "He's my hero! The one I want so hard to become! The man I wish to be!"

Man?

But the look in her eyes, her quivering smile, it felt like looking into a mirror.

Yes. The way she must feel about Oden... Is the way he felt about All Might.

"Oh that's right! You're going to tell your story?" She scooted forward, and Izuku blinked as she was almost on top of him, sitting by his side. "Please hold nothing back. I promise I won't when I tell Oden's travels and his adventures too!"

Izuku smiled, sitting up and taking a deep breath.

"Well... remember that every four in five people where I came from had a quirk? Like, a special ability?"

Yamato nodded, eyes wide, her attention fixed on him with a beaming grin. Izuku chuckled.

"Well, I was born without a quirk. I was born Quirkless."

He looked off to the night sky, seeing it clear again. Thank goodness too, as there has been a lot of storms coming and going. Rain and snow at that.

"For even if I wanted to be like him, I couldn't."

"Like who?"

"All Might. He was my hero." Izuku smiled sadly, looking at his sheets. "The man I wanted to become as well... And for a time, I had to give up on my dream. but... My arm kept reaching out."

Izuku looked up, as he remembered fondly. Of the journey he had taken to get here... for better or for worse.

"And thanks to the people I met, they guided me. Helped me. Made me a better person. Me and my friends... setbacks and all..."

He took a deep breath, and looked at Yamato.

This would be a long night. And he didn't mind it one bit.

"This... this is the story of how me and my friends... became the world's greatest heroes..."

 

[Zaru]

"And that..." Izuku took a deep breath, relaxing as he laid back against his pillows "…is how I got here."

He looked over, and Yamato had barely moved. Nor had she asked questions. Yet her eyes were fixed unwaveringly on him.

"So... you saved your world from that villain, All for One...someone with many of these stolen abilities, these quirks..."

She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"False stolen strength I say! It's no surprise you surpassed him! And you made this... One for All your own! Your story is amazing!"

She sighed, looking up.

"Giant metal islands... cities with buildings that reach into the clouds... winged metal flying machines... and these... smartphones! Your world is amazing, Izuku!"

She leant forward, her big orange eyes bright with excitement.

"You are a true hero! Of that I have no doubt!"

"It's not much," insisted Izuku, sighing. "I saved the world…at least."

He reached for the waterskin, taking a drink to ease his parched throat.

"I wanted to be a hero who would save everyone, a hero that everyone can smile and be at ease towards. I did what I could but…..."

He gripped his sheets, as his anguish rose again.

"I didn't manage it like I wanted to…..."

A bittersweet end to the beginning of an underdog story. Not one deserving of fanfare.

"You did your best," said Yamato, her voice soft. "No one will blame you. I don't."

A small consolation, but it made him smile.

"Thanks..." The pain was still there. He looked out the window, at the night sky beyond.

"You miss them... right? Your mother and your friends?" Yamato asked.

"Yeah... I think I always will..." Izuku murmured. "I got sucked into a black hole, and woke up on your shore on this island. Honestly, the fact that I'm still alive is still a miracle. But... I don't think I'll find a way home."

"True... I don't believe this world has 'quirks' or any way to cross between worlds." Yamato mused. "At least, from what I can gather from Oden's logbook. And he was able to see so many things too!"

She perked up suddenly.

"Oh yes! I said I was going to tell you the tale of Kozuki Oden and his adventures!"

She giggled, and then looked away.

"And…may I say something, Izuku?"

'"Sure." He wondered what she meant.

"The way you spoke of this Yagi Toshinori, this All Might!" she proclaimed. "I liked your story about him too. What a heroic figure!"

Izuku let out a chuckle.

"Thanks. He was my hero, someone I'll always admire."

Yamato's smile lit up the room; but it was softer than the smiles she had given him before.

"I know the feeling…" she said, sadly. Then she shook her head, her old enthusiasm returning.

"But enough of that! Time for my story! Are you ready, Izuku?"

Izuku made himself comfortable, and rubbed his eyes.

"Go right ahead. Do you mind me asking questions?"

"Not at all! I didn't want to interrupt you, since you were reciting from memory."

Yamato beamed, and opened the journal.

"My name is Kozuki Oden," she read aloud, with a confident tone. "I am writing in this journal to document my thoughts, my travels and my journeys across my home, the Land of Wano. I am writing this entry at the age of 15, at the order of my stiff and nagging father, the Shogun. This first entry, I will document my childhood first, as a way of recollection and perspective on my younger years..."

(X)

"He did all of those as a kid!?" Izuku exclaimed, eyes wide. He hardly dared believe what he was hearing. Only six minutes in and... this Oden killed a bear with his bare hands at the age of four. And roamed... Pleasure Halls at age six?!

"Oh yes! He even drank at age eight! Wasn't he so brave!?" Yamato gushed. "Have you drank sake before?"

Izuku was flabbergasted. "I'm... underaged. I'm sixteen."

"I've had my fair share of rum when I was your age!" Yamato giggled. "Oh! Would you like some? We're still in the first part!"

"Umm, no thanks I'm fine!" insisted Izuku. Now was not the time to cross that bridge. "So what did he do next after his failed attempt to go out to sea?"

"Well," Yamato giggled. "He returned to his home, and from there he built his own harem~"

"What...?"

"Yep! Many of the women of the Flower Capital adored him! So he kidnapped some and took them to his own hideout! Of course, he didn't do anything untoward! They just spent time with him, drinking and cuddling! He mentions those quite a bit you know!"

"He kidnapped them."

"But they were allowed to leave at any time! They just wanted to stay by him! Plus he asked for their permission too!"

She coughed, and shifted into a new tone; one that reminded Izuku of those over-the-top Kabuki actors.

"'Oh beautiful woman, wife to a worrisome Samurai, will you grace with your presence and join my harem!'" She sighed, her cheeks turning pink. "What an outstanding man! He infuriated their husbands and brothers too!"

Izuku could only stare in utter disbelief. This person was... her hero? It had to get better, r-right?

(X)

"A mountain boar?" Izuku asked. To think Oden would eat, well, Oden soup, over the corpse of his friend. At his own funeral pyre?!

Granted, it was a way of honoring him, according to the journal's description. It seemed to have matched with his character.

Chaotic, rambunctious, eccentric, spontaneous, brash, stubborn, and filled with testosterone.

Still, he had a good heart. He had battled Yakuza, honored his friends, not once hurt a single woman and stood up for the weak.

There was no mistake though. For all his feats, in Izuku's world Oden would have been dubbed a vigilante at best, a villain at worst.

And Wano! From Yamato's description, it sounded like feudal Japan! Japan! Shoguns and Samurai and retainers! Had he gone back in time too?
"Mmhmm. Oden slew it with his own two blades! One slice was all that was needed." Yamato explained. "It was rampaging through the Flower Capital, so he had to defend his home somehow! The thought of him returning home after his father exiled him to save it... what a man..."

"How big was this boar? You make it sound like it was literally a boar the size of a mountain."

"Because it was."

...

"Oh."

"Of course, the reason being was that the boar was attacking the Flower Capital thanks to the actions of two of his future Retainers: Foxfire Kin'emon and Denjiro!" Yamato held the weathered book up, and continued to read. "Which begins some of my favorite parts, the recruitment of his retainers! The Akazaya Nine!"

(X)

"So he became Daimyo of the Kuri Province, and then after a year of governing it, he encountered Pirates?"

Oden had matured. From the chaotic youth to a capable leader and delegator from the looks of it, yet the journal described a yearning to leave Wano. A wild horse yearning to run free, despite his obligations as Daimyo.

"Oh yes, this is how he encountered the Whitebeard Pirates!" Yamato added. "He so desperately wanted to join, even hanging off of a rope to his ship, the Moby Dick, for three days straight!"

Three days?!

Well, this was a man who sliced a mountain sized boar in two... at the age of twenty, Kozuki Oden was a physical monster!

"It was also this time, as he tried to prove himself to Edward Newgate, the Whitebeard Pirate captain himself, he encountered the love of his life. The maiden known as Toki... the mother of his children."

"What about him joining the Whitebeards? He was out at sea without a boat or anything." Izuku inquired.

"Turns out fate favored Oden that day. Because of him saving Toki and letting go of the Moby Dick, Whitebeard himself saw a man of quality in Oden, a man with a strong and good heart. He might not have fulfilled the whole three day requirement, but he accepted him into his crew regardless!"

"The whole three day requirement?"

"He hung on for about... two days, twenty-three hours and fifty minutes exactly."

...

"He kept count somehow?"

"Nope, he was told the time later on by one of Whitebeard's pirates... Oh right! Now for his travels and his ascent to becoming his Second Division Commander!"

"Division Commander?"

"Yep! Whitebeard's crew was huuuge!" She spread her arms far and wide, "So he assigned Division Commanders! Oden was so great he rose through the ranks to become one, along with his marriage to Lady Toki! This is my favorite part!"

"You said that about his recruitment of the Akazaya Nine though!"

"I know! This is another favorite!"

Well...

All Might's exploits with David were some of his own favorite parts. Or was it when he was solo after the presumed break-up with Nighteye? Or before that?

Izuku shrugged, and looked towards her, content to listen and to absorb as much information as he could.

(X)

"So Oden became a famous Pirate huh… talk about a journey from a statesman to an outlaw." Izuku mused. "And this Whitebeard, he has an incredibly powerful ability."

"He does! The Quake Quake Fruit is what Oden learned that Whitebeard had eaten. It allows him to conjure, manipulate, and fire out earthquakes!" Yamato looked back down at the book. "At least, that's what Oden wrote down."

Emit, conjure, and manipulate Earthquakes? "So this all came from a Devil Fruit? What is that?"

"Well, a Devil Fruit is a cursed fruit, that if anyone were to take a bite out of one, they would gain a special ability, but at the cost of being unable to swim, due to having a Sea Devil inside you."

"A Sea Devil?!" Izuku perked up, eyes wide. "So it's like… One for All and inheriting powers?"

"That is a good comparison from what you told me about you and the past holders of One for All indeed!" Yamato nodded, smiling. "Although you can swim just fine, right?"

"I can yes."

"So you don't have a Sea Devil! My father and many of his pirates and underlings have consumed various Devil Fruits to acquire such abilities to enhance their fighting strength, particularly Zoan Types, which allow you to transform and gain an animal's characteristics. Whitebeard did the same, according to the journal, he ate a Paramecia type, which allows you become or control a concept of something. For Whitebeard, it was earthquakes!" Yamato explained, arms crossed over her bust and nodding with pride.

'Could the fruit give the user the power to emit tectonic force… Seismic Force perhaps… if he can do that at sea… he could even cause Tsunamis!' Izuku thought. What a frightening ability indeed! "No wonder Oden said that Whitebeard was labeled as the world's strongest man!"

Yamato beamed. "And then there's Logias too which…" She looked down at the journal again. "Allow you to become, control, and conjure a special element, like fire, lightning and sand!"

Zoans, Paramecias and Logia Types. Devil Fruits can be split into categories. This world keeps getting stranger and stranger… and there's so many strong pirates on the sea too. To say nothing of the fighting forces of the World Government as well, the Marines that prowled and were the main military force.

"Oh oh! Let me tell you of the one time Whitebeard and Oden fought off this one young pirate named Crocodile. It's really funny too!" Yamato laughed as Izuku leaned in and began to listen.

(X)

"And so he left the Whitebeards to join the Roger Pirates?"

"Yes, and Gol D. Roger would become the King of the Pirates too! Roger really really wanted Oden to join him for his final voyage into the Grand Line after he spent several years with the Whitebeards."

It felt like the story had gone on for hours. But Yamato's enthusiasm was undimmed.

"With the Whitebeards he found a family, and while he was able to explore, he never really had a chance to really go on an adventure you know?"

She took a deep breath, stretching her arms over her head.

"Roger had a disease even Oden himself did not know about, so he wanted him to come on one last adventure. Whitebeard was against it at first, but honored his request nevertheless."

Yamato set her arms down, grabbing the waterskin and drank a bit.

"And after bringing his wife and children aboard, and even encountering Cat Viper and Dogstorm who snuck aboard, Oden began his journey as a member of the Roger Pirates!" Then Yamato perked up. "Oh yes! Before I get into their journey into the Grand Line, Oden made a special mention of his first encounter with Roger and Whitebeard! When the two clashed, their weapons didn't touch!"

"Didn't touch? You're making it sound like the weapons connected but didn't."

"That's it! They didn't. When Oden asked on this matter with Silvers Rayleigh, Roger's first mate… let's see…" She turned the pages. "Ah yes, 'What Rayleight had described to me, was that the two had used the power known as Haki in their clash that rattled the entire island.'" She said, reading off from the logbook.

Haki?

"I see… sounds like a dangerous power."

"Not really," Yamato shrugged. "Rayleigh mentioned Oden used Haki too. And that everyone could learn it. Even I know it! See?" She raised a hand, clenching her first and… nothing happened. Izuku tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at her fist. "Hmm, don't see it? My forearm is black and everything."

"Under your bandages?" Izuku pointed at her bandaged hand and the white haired woman laughed.

"Oh no, my bandages are black too! It's shining like obsidian. I guess you don't know it yet."

Izuku cupped his chin. Haki can be learned according to this Rayleigh fellow… "I see… Forgive me, I was going off tangent there. Shall we continued onto their adventure to the Grand Line?"

"Yes of course!" She flipped back several pages, finding her previous spot and beamed.

And so Izuku listened in, telling him of their journey across the Grand Line...

(X)

"A sky island?"

"Yes! Oh I would very much love to see one someday!" Yamato beamed, as Izuku rubbed his eyes. He had completely lost track of time, but he couldn't bear for her to stop. He needed to hear the rest of the story. Yamato had listened to his story right to the finish, so the least he could do was listen to hers.

He wanted to hear more about them. Oden, Whitebeard, and this Roger fellow.

"There was even a city of gold in the sky too!"

"Kind of like El Dorado?"

"There's a city of gold in your world too?" Yamato's eyes were shining as she leaned in close. Izuku leant back. He could only cope with so much proximity from her.

"O-Only in legend…but do go on!"

(X)

"So Toki became ill and had to be dropped off back in Wano huh?"

"Yes. It was hard, but the final step in their voyage was perhaps the most perilous." Yamato explained. "It only made sense too. Toki was frail despite being a Devil Fruit user, and it kept his children safe."

She looked to the side, frowning lightly.

"From there, they sailed on..."

And on they went. To the giant elephant known as Zou, where the Mink Tribe resided. It befuddled Izuku that there were other species that inhabited the earth. From Skydwellers, Fishmen and Merfolk, to these beast-like Minks, the same race Kawamatsu, Cat Viper and Dogstorm came from.

Oden was able to even read the giant indestructible stone tablets called 'Poneglyphs' as well. Using the special Road Poneglyphs, they were able to triangulate the final island on the Grand Line.

"And what was there?" Izuku asked, as Yamato smiled.

"The greatest treasure Roger had ever found. So great, yet so hysterical, he couldn't help but laugh." Yamato replied. "Even Oden did too... today however, it goes by one name. The One Piece."

"And what is the One Piece?" Izuku could feel his heart race as Yamato smiled back at him, turning the page.

"I… have no clue!." She showed him the journal, and the page was gone! It had been torn off!

"Of Oden's entire logbook, this was one of the few pages that was torn. The last entry on the prior page said that it made him and the entire crew laugh, so they called the island they found it 'Laughtale.'"

"Laughtale..." Izuku mused.

"It must have been removed for a reason I bet. To ensure no one else knows." Yamato shrugged.

"Kind of like how pirates tend to bury their treasure on desert islands only they know," Izuku mused. "Well, that's how pirates hundreds of years ago in my world did things."

"True... I wonder who wrote this," Yamato said, cupping her chin. "Oden wrote most of it, but Toki wrote some parts too. Still, it must have been for good reason to remove the page..."

She took a deep breath.

"Still, there is another page that's interesting. Did you know that people called Roger Gold Roger instead of Gol D. Roger?"

"I did not." He didn't have much of a choice. "Why is that?"

"Well... Oden mused that the Government may have done so to hide the D in his name. Roger even admitted it too. He told Oden that he possessed something called 'The Will of D.'

"The Will of D..." Izuku mused.

"Do you want to know what it means?" The boy nodded, and Yamato looked down at her journal.

And she told him.

(X)

The story went on, covering Roger's departure, and the disbandment of the Roger Pirates. Then after that came Oden's return to Wano, which had fallen under the rule of Kurozumi Orochi, backed by Kaido.

Yamato's enthusiasm was gone, and Izuku couldn't blame her. The descriptions of Orochi made his stomach churn. He had taken hundreds of people hostage, and made Oden dance naked in the streets once a week for five years, just to spare them from slavery…or worse.

He had almost forgotten about Oden honoring the departed Roger, after the captain's execution at his hometown of Logtown.

"Oden's return was fraught and perilous... his last entry here was him preparing to attack Onigashima for Orochi's treachery in slaying Hyogoro's wife, as well as backing out of their deal."

Yamato sighed a weary, sad sigh.

"He gathered his retainers, and he wrote down 'Although this may be my final message, leading my men to doom, it would sufficient to die fighting for a free and open Wano for my children to inherit, than to live in bondage, pain and chains."

She closed it, signifying the end of the story.

"I take it Oden failed..." Izuku asked, though there was no need. If Kaido and Orochi were still around...

"Yes." Yamato nodded sadly. "Although my father suffered grave wounds, he defeated and captured Oden and his retainers. Orochi then ordered their execution."

She sighed again, and Izuku saw pain in her eyes; the same pain he had seen when she first admitted to being Kaido's daughter.

"I saw him die…and he was magnificent. He was sentenced to boil alive in a pot of oil, all while carrying his retainers on his back. If he kept them out of the oil for one hour, they could go free."

"I can't imagine it," breathed Izuku, shocked. "Boiled alive?"

It was barbaric, horrific, unimaginable. But he had endured it, for their sake.

"Yes... he held them all on the pot lid on his back, even as his flesh boiled... the sweat evaporating from him…"

Yamato paused, wiping her eyes. Then suddenly she glared.

"But Orochi never honored the deal. He wanted revenge on the Kozuki clan, for they destroyed his own clan. He ordered Oden's death, and my father shot him. But as he died, he managed to hurl his retainers clear, and make one last declaration."

She smiled sadly.

"He said, before my father shot him in the head…Oden is not Oden…"

"...unless it is boiled," finished Izuku. "I know. My mother used to make Oden soup for me."

"Yes. The people said it, as he sank into the oil."

She sighed again.

"Ever since then, I wanted to be like him. After I found his logbook and learnt who he was deep down, I was committed. Oden gave me a role model, his logbook gave me a look into him as a person."

Yamato looked at the book fondly.

"I love reading this still. It keeps me going, despite the hard times, and the ending." Her free hand wandered to her bandaged arm.

"Nevertheless, I'll become like Kozuki Oden, and defeat my father and open Wano's borders to the world!"

Her beaming smile returned, brighter than ever.

"I know it! I will avenge Oden and his family, whose lives were taken by my father!"

"His family were killed? By Kaido?"

Yamato paused, and frowned.

"Yes... I was there at Oden Castle when my father assaulted it, and burned it to the ground. Nothing remained, except this logbook by the river."

Toki. Momonosuke and Hiyori, children Oden wrote so lovingly about. Murdered in their own home.

By this villain. This Kaido...

Izuku was silent, taking a deep breath. He could see why she admired Oden so. That man, who for all his wildness had been brave and generous, a good-hearted man who saw the best in people. Strong, yet kind.

For Yamato, the daughter of a cruel tyrant, who had never left Onigashima, his story was her one window to the outside world. A world she yearned to see.

"But you're still trapped here." Izuku finished. Yamato pouted, and nodded.

"Well I'm... working on it! I'm getting stronger! Even after my father tried to starve me to death with other samurai!"

Izuku went still.

"Or tried to beat my dreams out of me! And all those times I tried to kill him, and he defeated me! I'll never relent! No matter how many times he may beat me!"

She crossed her arms, huffing her chest.

"Have you had any luck? Have you gotten stronger?" Izuku asked, looking her way. "Get a read for his fighting style at all?"

Yamato blinked, looking to the side.

"Well... I'm working on it! Like I said!"

She took a deep breath, wiping her brow.

"Phew... that was long. I never read to someone else before. You're the first one Izuku!"

Izuku fell silent, looking at a smiling Yamato and the bandages on her arms. The horns on her head. Her white hair. The hidden pain in her eyes, even as she looked at him fondly.

He didn't see Yamato in that moment, her chains binding her to a monstrous shadow.

He saw Eri, a young girl trapped by the feathered demon known as Overhaul, Chisaki Kai, her body crumbling as bullets were falling out of her.

"Still I'll... be free. Someday..." Yamato mused, looking at her logbook, and Izuku could see it in her eyes. The hesitancy. The unsaid words of "I hope" on her lips as her tone from boisterous to reluctant was evident.

She was twenty-four years of age. Most of her life had been in these shackles. She knew nothing of freedom, chained to an island filled with people who feared her at best, despised her at worst. Her only interaction with her only family was battle and bloodshed. Only her status as Kaido's only heir had spared her from death.

Yet... Kaido had destroyed Oden Castle with a single breath of his dragon form, from this Fish Fish Fruit: Model Azure Dragon... he could fly and had the power to melt mountains to glass.

Even so...

"Yamato..." Izuku looked to the floor. "You said... that your cuffs were made of seastone, and will explode if we destroy them." He looked at his own bandaged hands. "Is there a key to perhaps, to unlock them?"

Yamato perked up, blinking. "Well, yes... the only key to these cuffs is on my father's person. Why do you ask?"

Izuku faltered, as his doubts returned. With his Float Quirk, he could fly away. No one knew he existed. He could fly away, find a place to hide, maybe go somewhere else.

But where would that leave Yamato? Could he just leave her alone, after all she had done for him? Yamato, who had grown up without a mother, or friends, or a childhood? Yamato, whose only companion had been a dead man's journal?

He had let Eri fall back into Overhaul's grasp, when he could have taken her away; Togata and Nighteye's warnings be damned.

He had failed to save Tenko from the demon that was Tomura, and from the manipulations of All for One.

No more.

Never again.

"Because Yamato…" His body ached as it healed. But Izuku felt something alight in him. Not since facing Tomura at Jakku, and again above the skies of Musutafu. Since facing Overhaul with Eri on his back. Against Stain with Iida in that alleyway. His green eyes; hard and determined, stared into her orange orbs.

"I'm going to steal that key from Kaido. And we will leave Onigashima. Together."

 

[Zaru]

Yamato couldn't believe what she had just heard.

She sat there, stunned, trying to process it. Not just the words, but what everything in them, in Izuku's countenance, in his eyes, seemed to mean.

He wanted to help her. He wanted to help her escape, to fly with her away from this place.

He wanted to help her.

It wasn't possible. It made no sense. Since when had anyone actually wanted to help her, to do anything for her? She had been served before, but that was always out of fear or deference. Nobody had ever done anything for her because they wanted to.

She couldn't believe it. She didn't dare believe it. It couldn't be true.

But it was true. She knew, somehow, that it was. She could see it in his eyes, just as Oden had said. She knew somehow, as she had known when she saw Oden die, and when she found his logbook. He meant every word that he said.

But…

"Don't say that, Izuku."

He could not say it. She could not bear for him to say it. She could not let him attempt it.

"I mean it!" insisted Izuku, eyes as bright as ever. "I'll get that key, and we'll leave this place together!"

He smiled a gentle smile, a smile that made her feel warm and soft inside; in a way she couldn't remember feeling before she had met him. It was the sort of smile he might have smiled to soothe a frightened child.

"You don't have to stay here anymore," he said. "You don't have to suffer like this anymore."

Yamato let out a sob, and tears welled in her eyes. Tears of shame.

"I can't just leave, Izuku!" she wailed. "It's not that simple!"

"But it is!" insisted Izuku. "Yamato, I know you're scared. I know you feel like you can never leave. I know that you feel like there's no hope, that things will only get worse. But it's not true, Yamato. You can leave this place."

His eyes were still so bright. He believed it. He really did believe it.

Yamato sniffed, and cuffed her tears with her sleeve. She hated herself for her tears, for her weakness. She had waited for so long, wanted it for so long, yet here he was, offering her heart's desire.

And she was afraid.

"Izuku…you don't understand," she croaked, a lump in her throat. "You don't know what my father is… what he's capable of."

She shivered, her blood running cold at the memories. She had seen Kaido fight, seen him kill and destroy. For all his strength, and his great heart, she knew that Izuku was no match.

"You haven't seen me fight," replied Izuku, grinning. "I've faced some pretty powerful villains in my time and-"

"Not like him!"

The words came out as a shriek, making him falter. Yamato gulped down the lump in her throat, trying to master herself.

"He has an army of pirates at his command!" she screamed, her stomach churning as old memories arose. "He has enough warships to destroy a fleet of Marine battleships, and level whole cities! But when he destroyed Kozuki castle, he didn't use any of those! He did it himself!"

Izuku's eyes widened. Now, at last, he was starting to understand.

"He did it on his own!" she went on. "He burned it to the ground and killed everything inside! All by himself! He can incinerate entire Marine fleets, level entire towns and mountains, all with a single breath! That's what he is, Izuku! That's what I've been fighting! My father he's… the strongest creature on the planet… And all these years I've been fighting him and failing…ever single time…"

Izuku sagged, his face falling. Yamato's heart clenched to see it, and she hated herself for crushing his spirit. But she had to make him understand.

"That's why you have to leave," she insisted. "In two days, there will be the Fire Festival. The false Shogun and his entourage will come here, to thank my father for his help, and to feast with him. All the other pirates will be celebrating, except the ones manning the Great Torii Gate. It'll be the perfect time for you to escape."

And it would. She had seen enough Fire Festivals to know for certain. While the common folk of Wano drank sake, prayed to their gods, and hoped for better times, the Beast Pirates would gorge themselves on food and liquor; much of it harvested and prepared by those same common folk. Onigashima would be awash with merrymaking, but for the unfortunate souls condemned to man the Great Torii, lest some attackers dare to strike.

Yes, he could escape then. He had to escape. It's the perfect opportunity.

"I can't."

Yamato gaped like a goldfish, and then realized that he had indeed refused.

"You have to!" she pleaded, desperate. "You have to escape!"

"I'm not leaving!" Izuku replied, his face screwed up with anger. "I'm not leaving you in this place!"

…

Why?

Why wouldn't he understand? Why was he going so far for her sake?

No one has ever gone this far for her… not since the three Samurai and…

She felt her heart clench in a Vice.

"You must!" she wailed, feeling emotions she has never felt before. "I can't let you die here, not for my sake! He is my burden, my responsibility! If he killed you, I could never bear it!"

"And I can't bear this!" He retorted on the spot.

His cry stunned her into silence. His green eyes hard as he stared back to her wet orange ones.

"I can't just leave you here!" he pleaded. "I can't fly away and leave you here like this!"

"But…"

"You've done so much for me," Izuku went on. "You could've left me to die on the beach, but you didn't. You brought me in here. You fed me, and took care of me, and talked to me. And you told me your story, and about your dreams."

He faltered, and sniffed as he drew a breath.

"There's someone I knew, not so long ago," he said, his voice hoarse. "Remember that girl I saved from that villain Overhaul? Her name was Eri. She was only a child, but her guardian kept her locked up, experimented on her, all so he could use her in trying to change superhuman society for his ends and ideals..."

He sniffed again, and Yamato saw that terrible pain in his eyes once again.

Pain…and shame.

"She was broken. She thought there was no hope, no way to escape. She couldn't imagine being free, being happy, being loved. And I…I let her down."

He gulped.

"I came upon her by chance, and I knew something was wrong. I could have carried her away, there and then. I could have saved her there and then. But we had strict orders not to spook Overhaul, not to let him realize that he was being tracked. If he had, he would have disappeared, and we might never have found him again. I knew that, and my partner knew that. That's why…we let him take her back."

He had a pained expression as his gripped his fists, and Yamato's heart ached. His world was certainly no idyll, and its cruelty had hurt him, she could clearly see.

"We let him take her back, and she was so terrified of him, of what he might do, that she went back with him on her own. She didn't believe anyone could save her, and I proved her right in that moment."

He sniffed, and stared straight at her.

"That's why…that's why I can't walk out on you, Yamato. Even if you weren't the person I know you are, I couldn't do it. I can't do that again! I… I want to help you, not just… as a friend. But because it's the right thing to do." He took a deep breath, gazing back at her. "Besides… saving others when they don't want to be saved… that's what a hero is." He smiled softly. "I was reminded of that not too long ago… and that's why I will save you Yamato."

Yamato thought her heart would burst. She wanted so desperately for him to run, to get away from Onigashima and all the dangers it posed. But no matter what she said, he just wouldn't go.

He wanted to stay. He wanted to help her. He actually wanted to help her.

To save her.

"Izukuuu!"

She flung herself upon the unsuspecting Izuku, wrapping her arms and around him and pulling him close.

"No one ever said what you said!" she cried, hugging him tight. "No one ever did what you've done!"

She pulled back, holding him by the shoulders. His face was bright red for some reason.

"Izuku…thank you, thank you!" Her old fire was blazing once again, lighting up her weary heart. "I never dared to dream I would meet someone like you! Someone with a pure and true heart like yours!"

"Uh, uh, right!" Izuku seemed to master himself, that determined self gone and replaced by that charming bashfulness. "So, uh, we need to make a plan to get you out of here!"

He was bouncing on his knees, shaking his clenched fists up and down, a mad grin on his face. Yamato saw it, and in spite of everything she giggled.

"So, you were saying about a festival?" Izuku asked, coming back to himself.

"Yes, the Fire Festival," said Yamato. "It's the perfect chance for us to escape, but it's only two days away."

"Two days, huh." Izuku seemed to think about it, hand cupping his chin. "I'll need to get in shape by then. But your medicines have done a really great job."

He flexed his arm, the muscles rippling as he moved it back and forth. "I feel a lot better. I'd better start training again."

"Training?" Yamato was surprised. "But you're not fully healed yet."

"It's okay, I know what I'm doing."

Izuku stood up, and started to stretch his arms and legs.

"Nngggh… Just a little bit to loosen up. I haven't moved much for days."

Yamato watched as he continued his calisthenics. He moved with the practiced ease of a trained warrior, one movement flowing smoothly into the next, and then the next. He was moving well, and without any sign of discomfort. It looked like he was getting close to being healed.

"There," Izuku said, smiling brightly. "Now, for a little something I've been thinking about while laid up here…"

He stood still, and then narrowed his eyes, concentrating hard. Yamato felt the air in the room shift. Something was happening.

"I had an idea…. bring out my full power," Izuku went on. "Then dial it down to what I can manage."

Yamato stared, amazed, as Izuku's muscles bulged, and green lightning crackled around his body. The room was getting hotter, and the air in the room was suddenly heavy, and oppressive. This was a power indeed, a wondrous power. Not from a cursed Fruit… But from his Quirk.

"Izuku, your body!" Lightning was crackling all about.

"It's okay. Dialing it down."

The pressure in the air faded, and the lightning fizzled and vanished.

"I can't go all the way as I am," Izuku said, still smiling. "If I went up to one hundred percent, I'd probably bust my limbs..." He looked at his fist. "As I am right now I… can handle and move fine at fifty percent. I'm halfway there…" He mused, clenching his fist.

Yamato let out a sigh of relief as the power faded, and his body settled back into its previous form, the lightning gone.

"Oh, and we're gonna need some stuff too. We'll need a compass, two pairs of goggles, two backpacks, non-perishable foods, and two jackets. Can you manage all those things, Yamato?"

"Oh?" Yamato blinked, caught off-guard. "Yes, that should be easy!" Just a quick visit by the Quartermaster should do it!

"Great! We'll need to leave in a hurry once I get the key to your shackles. And we should have everything we need for a long journey. Oh, and I'll need a disguise as well, something to sneak around the island in!"

"Yes, indeed!" Yamato felt a surge of enthusiasm. "Equipment and supplies for a long journey! I can…!"

Then she faltered, as she realized what he had said.

"Wait…Izuku…did you say…?"

"Your father does have the key, right? And it's the only one, isn't it? I just thought, because if there was another key, you'd have just taken it and left. So it had to be the only one, because that's an added incentive for you to keep fighting him, and…"

"Wait!" Yamato exclaimed, silencing his babble. "You…you're going to take the key?"

"Well, yeah. You said he's too strong to defeat, so I'll just have to steal it instead." Izuku grinned. "No one knows me here, right? So if I've got a disguise, I can take a look round with no one noticing. Once I've got my routes figured out, I can sneak in and out after the party when he's crashed-out drunk. He does like to drink, right?"

Yamato stared at him in amazement. Had he come up with that plan in the moments since she had told him all that?

"Yes, he does, all the time actually" she replied. "But he can hold his liquor better than most men. The Fire Festival is the only time he ever drinks enough to get sleepy, and even then he won't be helpless."

She knew that better than most. She had never been able to sneak up on Kaido, or past him. His Haki, the mysterious power that lay within every human heart, made sure of that. There was only one way this could work.

Heck, while he may have been more open to attacks while drunk, he also hit harder too… His Shuron Hakke martial arts was far more harder to predict than when he's sober.

"You may succeed, but only if I distract him."

Izuku looked worried.

"Are you sure you can do that?" he asked. "I don't want you getting hurt again."

"I need to!" insisted Yamato, her heart blazing with that old, familiar fire. "It's what Oden would have done! It's the least I can do!"

"Yamato…"

Yamato opened her mouth to repeat her insistence, and then saw the pain in his eyes. It was the same pain as when he had described the child Eri.

There was no way around it. If she owed him that service, then she owed him that truth too. It was the only way he would understand.

"Once, when I was younger, my father imprisoned me in a cave with three samurai," she said. "He had imprisoned them there to starve them, to break their spirits and force them to serve him. He gave them food enough for one person, and swords to fight over it with."

She paused, gulping down her pain, and her shame.

"Rather than fight over food, they gave the food to me instead. They even cut my chains, and showed me how to read Oden's logbook. Then, after ten days, they broke out of the cave and attacked my father, and died together."

The look in Izuku's eyes almost made her want to cry again.

"I was the daughter of their enemy, the one who had crushed their country and locked them in that cave. I was afraid that they would kill me. But instead they showed me kindness, and chose death before dishonor; just as Oden would have done."

She looked him in the eyes, her smiling coming back.

"They gave me hope, Izuku, as you gave Eri hope. They showed me what honor and dignity were, as you showed Eri the love she had never known. They showed me what sort of man Kozuki Oden was, as you showed Eri what a hero is."

She paused, mastering herself. She then gave a confident smile, feeling sure of his strength. She's fully healed since her clash against her father before meeting Izuku. She can take it.

"I'm not a helpless child like Eri, Izuku. Even with these chains, I can fight. Even if I can't beat my father, I can distract him; just long enough for you to get the key. That's all we have to do, Izuku, and then..." The words felt foreign, yet she felt hope fill her core. "We can get out of here."

Her smile broke into a big wide grin, as her passion blazed.

"I want to do this, Izuku! You're the first friend I've had since those three samurai, and I would rather die than forsake you! So then, let's do this together, Izuku! The way Oden would have wanted us to!"

She held out her hand, praying that he understood her meaning. For a few heartrending moments, Izuku hesitated. Then he grinned too, and grasped her wrist.

"I guess that makes us partners, Yamato!" He beamed. "Let's do our best!"

"Fine by me, Izuku!"

 

[Zaru]

"Okay, first things first."

Izuku sat cross-legged on the mat, facing a kneeling Yamato.

"We're gonna need a pen and paper for me to make you a list of things to get." He cupped his chin. "Got anything to write with?"

"I do! Let me find something!"

Yamato got up and trotted over to her cupboard. After a few moments of very loud rummaging, she returned with an armful of bric-a-brac.

Izuku stared, wide-eyed, as she laid a wooden board before him, along with a roll of parchment, a set of charcoal sticks, some quills, and even an inkwell.

Yes. This place really was like old Japan. A land of Samurai and Daimyo, before the pirates took it over.

"Okay then," he said, picking up a charcoal stick and starting to write. "We'll be flying high over the ocean, so we're gonna need jackets to keep us warm, and a compass too so we can find our way…or one of those Log Posses from Oden's journal, only I don't know how to use one of those. We'll need food that can go in the jacket pockets, just enough to get us to an island. We should maybe get a map too, but we might not be able to get one without…"

He paused, as he saw how Yamato was beaming at him.

"You seem to think things through a lot, don't you Izuku," she commented, still smiling.

"Uh, well, it's a habit," he said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I used to spend forever gathering info on heroes and writing it down. I used to nerd out about it…a lot…make that all the time…"

Yamato giggled. Ordinarily being giggled at by a girl would have reduced him to the depths of embarrassment. But this time it didn't. There was something…honest about Yamato, something sincere. It's like she was hanging off his every word, and loved every last one.

"Say Yamato," he said, remembering himself. "Have you ever gone to the inventory to ask for stuff?"

"Not really," replied Yamato. "Only for these clothes. The belt I made myself!" She pointed at it, grinning with pride. "If I needed anything else, I had to sneak in there. Before I got strong enough to just walk in, that is."

"You snuck around there?"

"Yes. After I declared myself Kozuki Oden, my father ordered that no one was to give me anything. I had to sneak around the crawl spaces and air ducts to get into places. Now I can just walk in and they give me anything I want, but that's just because they're afraid."

She was smiling, but her smile had faded somehow.

"Do you remember them? Those places?" Izuku asked. "I'd rather you not draw suspicion as to why you're asking for a spare Beast Pirate costume and well, you know, the essentials we need for when we get out of here." He said, explaining his reasoning. The white haired woman's eyes flashed as it came together.

"Ohhhh I get it! And no worries! I know those spaces like the back of my hand!"

Yamato grinned, and stood up to reach atop her cabinet, bringing down a sack. She took a candle from the cabinet, lit it with a match, then turned her attention to the wall beside it. Izuku watched, amazed, as she carefully pressed the edges of one of the wooden panels, until it came away and slid aside.

"And there we are!" she declared, grinning even wider as she undid her bulky belt, then took up the candle and sack. "Follow me!"

(X)

It did not take long for Izuku to lose track of time.

The crawl spaces were dark and winding, ranging from rocky caverns and crudely-cut tunnels through to gaps and crawl spaces. Izuku was fine with such places, but he had trouble keeping up with Yamato; who knew the endlessly-twisting network far better than he did.

All the same, he was glad he had gone. The crawl spaces seemed to go everywhere, and they were full of gaps and peepholes, allowing him to see the rooms and corridors beyond. It was like something out of a ninja castle.

The Beast Pirates, as he saw them for the first time, were most definitely not. They looked more like vikings or bikers than anything that belonged in an old Japanese-style castle. Each one wore a horned helmet and a heavy-looking fur cape, along with big belts and all manner of weapons and accessories. They were of all shapes and sizes, and all ages. Most of them were men, but he could see one or two women too.

Fortunately, it was late in the evening. Most would be in bed, or getting drunk down in the mess halls, or maybe doing late-night duties. They didn't seem like the most reliable types to Izuku, but then again, this was the first he had seen of them.

Then Yamato stopped, in a small space lined with floorboards on the bottom. There was a crack in the boards, with light flickering up through it.

"It felt so much bigger in here when I was little," she said, chuckling. The small space was quite tight, forcing Izuku to back up a bit, and carefully move around Yamato as she got into position, and peered down through the crack.

He couldn't see much, for there was little light. But he could see long racks, containing rows and rows of equipment. They had reached their destination.

"Okay, now which board was it?"

Yamato carefully felt around the boards, pressing them very gently, until finally one of them popped loose.

"There. You can tell them by the nicks."

She pointed at the board, and Izuku saw two divots in the wood. Holding the candle closer, he saw two marks.

"They're from my horns," Yamato explained, grinning.

"That makes sense," he whispered back, as Yamato eased up enough boards to make a hole, then began to wiggle her way down. She paused, grunted, then pulled back up.

"It's been a while, I got too big, haha," she chuckled, patting her…chest.

Izuku blushed. She wasn't too over-endowed for her size, but there was no denying that her chest was… quite large. It was a good thing Mineta wasn't there.

"Don't worry, I'll go."

Izuku carefully clambered around her, then eased himself forward through the hole,

The chamber was what it appeared to be; an armory or storage room of some kind, dimly lit, and entirely deserted. Long racks dominated the room, stacked with trays and boxes. Some of them were even labeled.

These pirates were better organized than he had expected. More like an army, for all their wild appearance.

"Can I get the sack?" he asked. Yamato handed him the sack, and he crawled forward, lowering himself down through the hole

"Careful you're gonna fall!" hissed Yamato. But Izuku let himself drop, his power rising with a thought. His fall halted, and he hovered in mid air, grinning back up at her.

"Ah, right, that," Yamato said, grinning back.

Izuku floated gently down, hovering just above the floorboards as he moved along the racks, taking what he needed. Two Triple-needled Log Posses, then a backpack, then two pairs of goggles, then a jacket. Having got all he needed, he searched again through the jackets, looking for one large enough for Yamato. He picked out one of the largest, then floated up to Yamato.

"Try this on," he hissed, passing it up through the hole. Yamato took it, and slid it on. It was a bit tight around her bosom, but it'll fit.

"It'll do," she whispered back.

"Right, now for a disguise."

He floated back down, and moved back along the racks. But there was no sign of any of those strange uniforms from before. His search took him along the racks, until he reached the corner of the chamber, where a door was set into the wall. There was light coming from under it, and the sound of talking.

Carefully, Izuku eased himself closer, and listened.

"So hear the rumors?" came a raspy noise. "Heard there's gonna be a big announcement at the Fire Festival this year."

"Oh yeah?" came another male voice, one more grungy in tone. "Like what?"

"Not sure, but it's gonna be big. Something about bolstering our forces. All I know is one of the ships under King's command came back from an island in the New World."

"Got a clue from where? I raise."

"Tch, fine. I call ya. It's been hush hush... but... " A yawn.. "If it's enough that Lord Kaido would send King out there... I'm betting it's Devil Fruits. Plural."

"Why's that?" Grungy asked.

"Well, weapons and that sort is more up Queen's alley, you know how he is.." There was a pause, and the sound of chugging. Drinking.

"Faaaaa... and like, it wouldn't be so hush hush about it... wouldn't need a big announcement so... I bet Lord Kaido might hold some kind of tournament... and all of the Non-Headliners have a chance to fight it out for these. He holds them at the Fire Festival sometimes."

"Well, count me in. You could be set for life selling one of those in Paradise. Imagine how one can sell in the New World."

"You thinkin' on selling? Better to eat'em and become a Headliner! That is, if it is Devil Fruits. For all we know it could be new weapons or some shit. And three eights and a Jack. Eat'em."

"Cute." Grungy toned.

"Gaaah shit! Four tens?! You tricked me!"

Grungy laughed at Raspy's displeasure in losing as Izuku floated away from the door. He turned back around, and headed down the next row. Various odds and ends, glasses…horns! He stuffed a pair in his sack, and continued along the row, eventually reaching a door.

COAT ROOM

Izuku grinned. He opened the door, wincing as it creaked. He paused, glancing up at Yamato, who was already putting the boards back. He looked back towards the other door, where Grungy and Raspy were. But the door remained closed. They hadn't heard him.

He slid the door all the way open, and floated through. Inside there were indeed coats, arranged on racks along the walls.

"How many animals did they skin for these?" Izuku mused aloud as he reached out, setting the candle down on a ledge before grabbing one and trying it on.

Too small. He put it back and tried another, and another, until he found on that fitted right. He stuffed it into the sack, then grabbed the candle and floated out, closing the door behind him. Above, Yamato pulled aside the boards as he floated up to her.

"Okay, got our stuff." He said with a grin as Yamato nodded.

"I was half worried there. Your flying quirk is very handy!"

"Tell me about it." Izuku replied as she put the board back in place. "Come on, let's go."

"Kaido's lair is at the top floor, near the Castle section." Yamato whispered as they began to shuffle backwards. "You'll need to make your way there... and find the air ducts. The attic-crawl spaces there are already filled up and destroyed."

"Why's that?"

"Because I used them to ambush him in the past. They got wrecked, and the work crews filled them in."

Izuku nodded. That made sense.

"Got it... air duct, top floor, Castle Section. Just gotta make my way there without anyone noticing."

"Better to know the lay of the land first." Yamato replied. "Think you can do it?"

"Yeah, I can just fly out your window, land somewhere unseen and go about my business there outside the Skull Dome."

Izuku took a deep breath. Step one was complete. Now for step two.

"Back to your room, change into my disguise, then take a wander around Onigashima," he mused aloud.

 

[Zaru]

Spytand Malice glared, as his fur-clad subordinates hurried about their duties.

"Keep it moving!" he barked. "Lord Kaido wants these stores stowed by nightfall!"

The pirates did as they were told. Malice watched them as they scurried along the wide corridors, lugging wooden boxes between them. The boxes were open, leaving their contents visible as they passed. Bags of rice, ginger roots, enormous daikon radishes, fresh fruits; ice boxes full of fresh fish and meat, whole squid, enormous crabs and lobsters. Bottles of vinegar, soy sauce, fine wine and a dozen things he didn't recognise.

Food. Not the usual faire, which would be stored down in the basement for the rank and file. No, this was the finest food; the best that Wano had to offer. It would be stored in pantries and cold rooms inside the castle, to be inspected by the chefs, and then prepared for the highest of the Beast Pirates. The All-Stars, his fellow Flying Six, their various hangers-on, and Kaido himself. All would feast on this food and drink, amid the merrymaking of the Fire Festival.

And it was his job to make sure it got stowed safely.

He watched in silence, the minutes ticking by. On and on the pirates scurried, lugging their loads, or scurrying back for more.

He hated this job.

He knew that it was technically an honour, and he was in no position to refuse anyway. But that didn't make it anything less than a chore, and a stressful one at that. Every creak of wood, every clink of bottle-on-bottle, made his teeth clench. Any bottle dropped and broken was one less for his fellows and superiors to drink; not to mention a mess needing cleaning up. And mess was not tolerated, not in the cavernous corridors of the inner castle.

They wouldn't drop anything. They knew where they were, and what would happen to them if they did. But that didn't make it any less annoying.

Malice seethed. He should have been out on the sea, with the wind in his face and ships at his command. He should have been bringing in more loot, getting himself noticed.

But he couldn't. Kaido had called a halt to the raids, and ordered all warships to be repaired and restocked. More weapons and supplies were being brought in from Wano; cannon, shells, muskets, bullets, gunpowder, even timber and parts. All that, on top of the festival preparations. His fellow Flying Six had been run ragged, with Queen and Jack breathing down their necks all the while.

And King, of all people, had been sent out on a special mission. A mission that had the lower ranks abuzz with gossip. King the Wildfire, the longest-serving of the three All-Stars, and many reckoned the strongest. Malice had never seen his face, let alone knew where he came from, or what he was truly capable of. But according to rumour – whispered or drunkenly blathered – Kaido had found him in a World Government laboratory.

Regardless, for him to be sent out at a time like this, it had to be something important. And the gossips were all whispering the same thing.

Devil Fruit.

The thought of it made him shiver. Devil Fruit, the mysterious fruits found all around the world. One single bite granted a wondrous power, some commonplace and some terrifying, but each one unique. Some merely altered the consumer's body, while others let them transform into animals or mythical creatures; and a rare few allowed control of an element. The price in every case was the same. Those who ate a Devil Fruit would never again be able to swim. No one knew how or why, it was what it was.

Devil Fruit. Was it possible?

A flicker of movement drew him from his thoughts. He looked along the line, half-expected to see someone struggling, or something about to fall. But there was nothing to see. The line was moving along, just as it was supposed to.

No, the movement was on the other side of the wide corridor. Malice looked, and saw a pirate hurrying along, eyes straight ahead, seemingly heedless of what was going on around him.

Malice regarded him for a moment. It was a young man, not much more than a boy, with curly green hair and a round, soft-looking face. Not the sort of person he would have expected to see in the horns and cape of the Beast Pirates. Even as the youth drew closer, and Malice saw hard muscle and scars, he seemed very young.

Were the Beast Pirates letting children join now? Ulti and Page One May have joined as children but they have been the exceptions and more than proven themselves, despite Ulti's boorish personality and Page One being her doormat.

A clatter brought his head snapping round. Two pirates carrying a box had stumbled, the sake bottles within it clattering around inside. Fortunately none of them had been damaged.

"Careful with that!" he snapped, looming over the luckless pair. "That sake is for Lord Kaido and the All-Stars! For every bottle broken, a broken bone! Understand!?"

"Yes Lord Malice!" babbled the pair. "Sorry Lord Malice!"

"Get on with you!"

Malice glared after the pair as they hurried away, their fellows scurrying along behind them, heads down, not daring to meet his gaze.

It felt good to be so feared. It felt good to have such power.

Then he remembered. He looked round, but there was no sign of the green-haired youth from a moment ago.

Malice's lip curled. He was annoyed, and he wasn't quite sure why. He hadn't seen that boy before, but it wasn't like he actually recognised any of the pirates. There were too many of them for that. It wasn't even particularly suspicious that he was there; there were plenty of other pirates running around running any number of errands. To have stopped him, even just to ask him, was more trouble than it was worth.

He knew why. It was because of her. Yamato.

He glowered at the scurrying pirates, venting a little of his frustration. It had been days since he had seen Yamato making off with that tuna, and still he didn't know what she was up to. Still she was hiding in her room, only coming out to meditate on the beach or to get more food; and always it was enough food for two.

And still she hadn't challenged her father!

His fellow Flying Six had been of no help. None of them took him seriously; at least not over this. They all thought she was just taking her time getting ready for her next bout with Kaido.
Malice supposed that was the most likely explanation. But what if it wasn't? What if something else was going on? Did she have someone in her room after all? If so, who or what was it?

He shook his head, and glanced down the corridor. He could see the end of the line, moving slowly towards him. His task was just about complete. Once everything was stowed, and the pirates were dismissed, he could do a little snooping.

Except he couldn't. He would have to go and find Queen and Jack, the other two All-Stars, and see if they needed anything done. With Onigashima in chaos as it was, slacking off would not look good. The last thing he wanted was any of the All-Stars after his blood.

Especially if he was to take one of their places sometime soon.

So he waited, forcing himself not to tap his foot, until the last of the boxes had been lugged along the corridor, and the last empty-handed pirate had scuttled past him. He sighed, then strode down the corridor, and down the stairs. He knew where Queen would be.

His journey took him out of the castle, and onto what the island's inhabitants called the Live Floor. The floor itself was on the Skull Dome's ground level, and was in effect a town in its own right. The buildings were in the Wano style, with white walls buttressed in oak, and wide pagoda roofs. The street itself was paved in wooden planks, and soribashi bridges led away to other streets. It was mostly deserted, but for lines of pirates scurrying back and forth with their heavy loads. During the Fire Festival it would be swarming with pirates; some enjoying themselves out in the streets, others inside the buildings, and the private rooms within.

And upon the balcony where he stood, he would perform; for the adoring crowds below.

Malice looked around. It did not take him long to find the one he was looking for.

"Keep those crates moving! Drop one and you won't be around to complain!"

Malice steeled himself, then headed for the nearest stairs. By the time he reached floor level, he was still there.

"Zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom…ohhhhhhh…"

Queen the Plague turned slowly to face him; his obese form creaking as he moved. He loomed over Malice like the living nightmare he was, his tiny eyes staring out from the flesh of his swollen head, sitting atop rolls of fat that had long since taken the place of his neck; if he ever had one.

It was all Malice could do not to shudder. In a world full of bizarre things, just looking at Queen made his stomach churn. That enormous figure, its bulk partly concealed by black and white striped overalls, the scarred torso heavy with muscle, the legs tiny, almost stick-like. One arm was mechanical, a memento of a battle Malice had never seen, and the other was long and fat, reaching down to his tiny legs. Upon its fleshy should was emblazoned a Jolly Roger in black, with the word QUEEN emblazoned under it; in case there was any doubt as to who it belonged to.

"Ohhhh…" cooed the thick, purple-painted lips, between which a smouldering cigar was perched. "It's Spytand Malice…come with spite and malice aforethought. What's up with a malicious marine? You come to challenge me?"

The painted lips split into a smirk, followed by a shriek of laughter; the fat wobbling, the blonde top-knot and moustaches bouncing as Queen guffawed at his own joke. Around them, the pirates continued with their lugging, not daring to look.

"The upper kitchen supplies are stowed, Lord Queen," replied Malice, with all the dignity and respect he could muster. "The upper kitchens have everything they need."

"Do they now?" Queen leered down at him, making him want to run and hide. "I sure do hope so, Mister Spiteful Malice. You know how Kaido likes his sake."

Malice knew better than to correct the mispronunciation of his name. Survive long enough in the upper ranks of the Marines, and you had a fighting chance of surviving on Onigashima.

"And you know, Mister Spiteful Malicious, how I like my oshiruko," declared Queen. "Methinks they'd better not run out on the night, or tonight, or in the next hour. 'Cause we all know whose fault it'll be."

"I saw it all go in, Lord Queen," Malice replied. "And I saw it all stowed. The cooks know how you like it."

And they did. Just as they knew what would happen to them if Queen had to go without his favourite food for more than ten minutes.

"Funny, 'cause you're the one fulla beans these days!" quipped Queen with a laugh. "Sneaking around the place, stalking Yamato. What's wrong, Spiteful Malicious? You taken a shine to Princess Oden?"

He struck a pose, bringing his mechanical hand to his ear to 'listen'. The pirates paused, for what felt like forever, and then started laughing. Malice knew it was as forced as it sounded, but it still made him want to kill something.

"Lord Queen, she's acting strangely!" he insisted. "She keeps taking food for two people, but she never leaves her room! And she hasn't challenged Lord Kaido in days!"

"Oh, now that is just so strange, and so suspicious!" drawled Queen. "Maybe somebody ought to do something about it?"

He paused. The air around them was icy cold. Malice knew what was coming.

"Bzzzt! Wrong! Get outta here Spiteful Malicious the princess stalker! You're as bad as King!" roared Queen, amid the cheers of the pirates. "Why don't you try talking to her! If you think you'll survive!"

Malice turned on his heel and stormed away, teeth gritted, ignoring the hoots of laughter, and Queen joining them.

"Marines! Ever the dickless stiffs ey boys!" He mocked with his fellows as he laughed. "Now get back to work!" The obese giant then barked, humming off as Malice marched away, his teeth sharpening into canines, his gripped hands feeling the claws forming at his fingertips.

…

He would kill that one. Yes, for sure. King was someone he respected. Sure, Jack was weaker, but he would not enjoy killing any of them like he would enjoy killing Queen the Plague.

When the time was right.

And once he had figured out what on earth Yamato was up to.

 

[Zaru]

A day and change of exploration, and Izuku felt utterly dissatisfied.

He sat in the mess hall, keeping to himself as he ate. Around him the pirates hustled and bustle, stuffing themselves with food and drinking to the gills. So far no one had even noticed him, let alone bothered to speak to him.

Izuku had done nothing to draw attention to himself. He had joined in with their work, lugging food and drink up from the docks and stowing it in the various pantries and freezers. The latter had been a surprise. He had not expected to see electricity in a place such as this; but clearly they had it. More to the point, he had made a note of all the important locations throughout the Skull Dome; as the island's main geographical feature was called.

All the while, he had kept up his cover; a greenhorn pirate, who had the sense not to think himself overworked. He did as he was told, with head lowered and no complaint, never looking anyone in the eyes. He had gotten some odd looks from higher-ranking pirates, but none of them had said or done anything. Most of the other pirates were older than him, or at least looked older, but he had scar and muscle enough to match any of them.

The one thing he did not do - dared not do - was join in their merrymaking. The barracks were awash with beer, rum, sake, and liquor he had never heard of; the air thick with tobacco smoke and other scents he didn't recognise. He had never seen men and women carry on like that, drinking and smoking themselves into stupor.

Fortunately, he didn't have to stay there. Every night he crept back to Yamato's quarters to sleep; unnoticed all the while. Her apartment was in what looked like a neglected area of the fortress, where no one went unless they had to.

It felt…lonely just thinking about it. No one seemed to care if Yamato were even alive, let alone what she might be doing. And the rest of this place too, these people. What sort of life made them want to drug themselves into oblivion at the end of the day?

He shook his head, driving such thoughts away. Now wasn't the time. The Fire Festival was due to begin that very evening. But for the watch he had acquired from the inventory, he would never have guessed that it was already late afternoon. The weather outside was dark and stormy; as it always was on Onigashima, it seemed.

He glanced at his watch. Time to reconvene with Yamato, and go over the plan one last time.

He finished his meal, then stood up and put the plate on the allotted tray, forcing himself not to look at the small children gathering up plates and bowls from the other tables. Their clothes were ragged, and there were cuffs on their wrists; not unlike the ones Yamato wore. They kept their heads down, working in silence as the pirates ate and drank and laughed all around them.

A loud crash almost made him jump. He glanced around, and saw a boy of about ten sprawled on the floor amid a sea of broken crockery; surrounded by laughing and jeering pirates.

Izuku looked away. There was nothing he could do, no way he could help them. He had to escape. He had to get Yamato out of there! He had promised her!

He strode out of the mess hall, the ugly laughter ringing in his ears. He had come to understand why Yamato was so contemptuous of the Beast Pirates; why she would rather be a prisoner than be one of them.

And they weren't the worst, not by a long shot. Yamato had warned him of the others, those who led the Beast Pirates in Kaido's name. The Flying Six, and the three All-Stars above them, whom the pirates spoke of with dread.

Of the former, two he had seen already. Sasaki, a rotund man with an under-bite jaw and a mane of green hair; an easygoing fellow from the look of him, whom his subordinates actually seemed to like.

And Spytand Malice, a man who might have been good-looking if not for the permanent scowl that made Sir Nighteye look jovial by comparison. Izuku had seen him only once, and had been glad not to see him again. He had barked and cursed at his hapless subordinates, and generally looked as if he wanted to kill something.

And he had heard the one called Queen the Plague; tremors in the floor, bursts of song, and barks of cruel laughter. From what he had overhead, Queen was the technological genius behind the Beast Pirates; the inventor of many of their weapons. His concerts were also, from what he had heard, not to be missed.

But he too was feared. They were all feared. The lowly pirates feared their officers, and the officers feared their own superiors.

Izuku felt a little better as he exited the dome. The dome was enormous, like a mountain carved into the shape of a horned skull, with inner caverns big enough to house whole towns. It had taken him days to map out its interior, finding all the tunnels and stairwells and elevators; though he had yet to find out how they were generating electricity. Otherwise, the part that had truly interested him was a little place at the back, near the ventilation system.

His route took him round the side of the dome. Fog hovered over the river moat that encircled the dome, while ocean mist drifted in from the mountain range the encircled the moat in turn. Onigashima really was a place like no other; a natural fortress, all but immune to attack. Izuku had wondered more than once what it would take to storm that place. What army, what host of heroes, could have fought their way through all that?

All at once, he reached his destination. There, above him, was the chalk mark he had left behind on the rock of the mountainside. He glanced around, making sure no one was watching him, then took to the air. Float carried him upward, the cold wind whistling around him as he accelerated. For hundreds and hundreds of meters he ascended, rising above the fog, until he reached the open window.

He loved flying, as he had loved few other things. But Yamato's window was a welcome sight. It was the only warm place on all of Onigashima.

"Ah, you're back!" declared Yamato. She was kneeling by the bed, their equipment arranged upon it. Two backpacks stuffed with food, and topped with rolled blankets. The two Log Possess, and the goggles too.

"Yeah, just need a break before the mandatory assembly," he said, sitting down by the bed and taking off his horns. "Some big announcement by Kaido himself."

"I see." Yamato scooted over to sit beside him. "Shall we go over the plan one last time?"

"Yeah." Izuku turned to face her. "We wait until Kaido is passed out drunk, as late as we can get it to make sure everyone is asleep. Right before sunrise at least. ."

He held up his watch to show her. Yamato held up her watch, the one he had nabbed for her along with his own. Being too small to fit on her wrist, she held it in her hand instead.

"I'll be in the air vent near his room, while you attack him."

"And while he's distracted, you get the key," Yamato mused. "My father tends to take his trousers off when he's drunk in bed."

Izuku paused, caught off-guard by the comment.

"So…it's in his pants then?"

"Yes. Whenever we fight, he always pats his trouser pocket. You should probably swap it, so he doesn't realize right away."

"Right…" Izuku murmured, hand on his chin. "So long as he goes straight back to bed and doesn't check…"

It was getting late, too late for this. They had only hours, yet still they were finding holes in the plan. This was going to be one hell of a gamble.

But he couldn't think of anything else. It was a chance they were going to have to take.

"I'll keep him distracted," Yamato urged. "When I fight him in that state, he never bothers to put his trousers back on. You'll have your chance."

"Right." Izuku nodded, deciding once again to trust her. "So, all I need to do is get into the vent and get into place. The only worry is the Flying Six and the All-Stars?"

Izuku glanced up at the small air vent embedded in the wall near the ceiling.

"Too bad I can't use that," he commented. "But you said these air vents are a different network."

"They are. I checked myself this morning."

"Oh well. Can you get to his room okay?"

"Of course!" Yamato grinned. "No one will stop me, not when I come to challenge him."

"They really won't?"

"Kaido gave orders. No one is to fight me unless I call them out openly. He wants to be the only one to beat me."

"Got it." Izuku looked at his watch. "I'm going to take a little rest, then I'm gonna head to the assembly."

"I'll get something to eat for myself and 'meditate'." Yamato got up, taking Takeru in hand and tightening her rope belt. "You rest up Izuku... tonight's the night."

"I know." He got up on Yamato's bed and rested against her pillows. As he closed his eyes, he heard the door slide shut.

(X)

Izuku awoke, and glanced at his watch. It was almost time for the assembly.

There was no sign of Yamato, so he got up, tidied the bed out of habit, then dropped out of the window; floating down to ground level.

The main entrance - the Skull's jagged-toothed maw - was swarming with pirates heading inside. Izuku fell in with them, head lowered, silent amid the hubbub. Many spoke too loudly, while others swigged from bottles; the stench of rum heavy in the air. It was enough to make him miss the Tokyo Subway, even at rush hour.

He clenched his fists as he trudged on. He was a Pro Hero from another world, alone in a hive of honest-to-goodness pirates; Villains of the ocean waves.

"Keep a calm mind," Yoichi spoke in his ear, with a voice that wasn't real. "Do not give yourself away. Observe, but move unnoticed."

Izuku looked around. Pirates swarmed around him; those stationed on Onigashima, and those brought in from mainland Wano, all mingling and chattering amiably; or as amiable as people like them could be. No one paid him the slightest attention.

Then he saw the signs. They were all trooping towards the Live Floor, whatever that was.

"So what's going to be on the Live Floor?" he asked, looking up at the gruff-looking pirate next to him. The pirate, a much older man, sneered down at him.

"Lord Kaido's making an announcement," he replied. "From his castle."

"But before that, Lord Queen's gonna sing!" chirped a female pirate with a shapely figure. She'd be attractive, but for the scars and the eyepatch. "I've always wanted to see him on the Live Floor! Everyone talks about it all the time! He's so amazing!"

"Okay then." Izuku replied, facing ahead as they continued on through the tunnel. So the Live Floor was in front of the castle…the castle he needed to infiltrate.

Better to stick around until the assembly was done. With all those people around, it shouldn't be that hard to sneak in.

As he entered, the first thing Izuku noticed was that the Live Floor had the openness of a stadium. It was large, with countless rafters and balconies as many more pirates were taking their spots and places. Bridges connecting various floors around them, all styled in old Japanese pagoda style, with electrical lighting all around them. During his scouting, Izuku hadn't come here, both due to his 'duties' as a pirate, and that the doors to the Live Floor was cordoned off, likely due to whatever Queen is up too. He can see the many banners and colorful lanterns all around as Izuku began to climb up some steps, being funneled to one section of the stadium-sized room.

Up ahead, Izuku can see it.

The first two floors, but it was styled as a castle with several balconies and a large stage. No doubt for Queen, but the balconies look much akin to a platform for public speakers behind the railings.

Kaido would be there.

Izuku felt a shiver of anticipation as his group slowed to a halt as he was against the railing, feeling pressed against it as many other pirates were taking their stand. There weren't any seats.

He can hear the droning noise of the ambiance within this giant chamber as Izuku felt the ground shake and he jumped up.

"Earthquake?" he said, mostly out of habit. No one bothered to respond. They probably couldn't hear him.

Then he saw them. In one corner of the Live Floor, an open space populated by enormous shadows. They were tall, taller than buildings, with long fangs and curving horns.

"What are those?" Izuku asked, tapping on the older pirate's shoulder. He looked down with a sneer, then scoffed as he saw where Izuku was pointing.

"Talk about green," he growled. "Those are Numbers. Artificial giants Lord Kaido bought sixteen years ago." He replied. "They're stupid, but they get the job done; when the job is killing and eating people."

He turned back to his fellows. Izuku blinked.

Artificial giants?

Killing people?

He turned away, trying to ignore their strange, bellowing laughter, and tried to make sense of where he was.

The castle was massive, about as wide as the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building's base, and he couldn't tell how tall. There were balconies and verandahs, even then filling with people.

But these were different. They didn't dress like Beast Pirates. Some of them were even wearing traditional Japanese garb; or something like it. Some in totally unique attire different from the authentic Japanese asthetic or fur cape and horns.

Who were they? Other pirate crews? People from Wano? But if they were from Wano, why would they be there? Yamato had made out that Kaido was oppressing them.

Or were they with that fellow Orochi? That made sense.

He lowered his eyes to the floor, looking around for an exit. THere were two doors, to the left and right of the castle; both of them packed with pirates streaming in. From what he knew of the layout, he could get into the castle from either of those doors; and from there, into the ventilation system.

He drew a long breath, and then another. This place was huge, overwhelmingly so. How could there be a giant mountain shaped like a skull? And how could it have such intricate architecture? A castle the size of a skyscraper, a performance floor the size of a stadium, a port big enough for dozens of ships, and countless more besides.

It was like nothing he had ever seen or imagined. Onigashima was an architectural marvel, up there with I-island!

THe lights suddenly dimmed, and the crowd began to roar. Coloured lights flickered on and off, and the roaring grew even louder.

"He's heeeereee!" shrieked the woman from earlier.

"Here he comes!" yelled an overexcited pirate. Izuku clung to the railing, trying to steady himself as the pirates surged forward, the crowd undulating back and forth, bumping him all the while.

The lights flickered and flashed, and the words GOLDEN FESTIVAL appeared above the main stage. And above that, a horned skull atop of four bones in a skull-and-crossbones Jolly Roger, the word QUEEN written under it.

The crowd cheered again as drums began to rattle and thud. Izuku had to cling hard to the railing to steady himself. The noise was deafening, worse than anything he could remember. He could even smell beer being tossed around.

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE!" yelled a voice Izuku could not see. "IT'S TIME FOR THE FIRE FESTIVAL TO BEGIN! TO KICK THINGS OFF! YOU KNOW HIM! I KNOW HIM! THE ONE. THE ONLY!"

Something erupted from under the stage. Izuku gaped as a gargantuan man dropped lightly onto the boards, striking a pose as he landed. He was enormously fat, with blonde hair in a long braided topknot, his eyes concealed by goggles. All around him, backup dancers in fur capes and matching goggles formed up.

"THE PLAGUE! QUEEEEEEN!"

The crowd roared. Izuku clutched his hands to his ears, drying to block out the noise. The pirates around him were jumping up and down in mad delight. That woman from before was squealing, hearts in her eyes.

He could hardly believe it.


"ALRIGHT THEN!" Queen belted, hand on a mic, and he snapped his fingers. "Hit it!"


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxDTilDaIKs

The lights dimmed, and the music started up. Izuku could hear the crowd chanting, moving in time with Queen as he hunched over, arms low, moving from side to side in a one legged jump. His dancers doing the same.

"Zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom zoom~"

The lights flickered in time, changing colour with every zoom.

"I'll be too popular if I keep my chunk~"

"So I won't be thin, it's just my FUNK!"

"Zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom zoom!" the crowd changed in unison, matching Queen's moves, dancing as one.

"I may look fat but I'm a musclehunk!" he roared, twirling with a grace that should not have been physically possible, his muscles rippling with every movement.

"I can sing and dance, cuz that's my-!"

He leanr out to the crowd, hand on his ears and holding out his mic.

"FUUUUUUUUUUNK!" roared the crowd in reply.

Izuku winced. He had never liked concerts, not like this.

On went the tune, Queen dancing in time, his backup dancers striking poses around him. Finally the song reached its climax, fireworks erupting all around him.

"Yeeeeeeaaah!" Queen roared. "Get excited ya mangy wenches and sons-of-bitches!"

He grinned, leering out as he pointed at the crowd as the fireworks died down, the crowd cheering.

Izuku felt the woman slump against him. He looked up, worried, but there was a look of utter bliss on her face.

"Lord Queen...called me...a mangy wench~" she stammered, hugging herself.

Queen breathed, wiping his brow as he walked up around the stage, grinning as he chomped on an enormous cigar.

"Can I get a yeah!" he yelled into his mic, Izuku winced at the feedback, but the crowd didn't care.

"YEAH!" The crowd belted.

"Can I get a Yeah!"

"Yeah!"

"Can I get a 'What'!" He brought his hand to his ear, beaming as he played the crowd of pirates in the tens of thousands like a fiddle.

"WHAT!"

"What?"

"WHAT!"

"I say 'Yeah' you say 'What'!" Queen added. "Yeah!"

"WHAT!" The crowd bellowed.

"When I say 'What' can I get a 'Yeah!" Queen grinned. "What?"

"YEAH!"

Izuku jammed his hands against his ears, grinding his teeth.

"What?"

"YEAH!"

"Yeah?"

"WHAT!"

"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaah~!" Queen yelled.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT~!"

"What?" He said softly then.

"YEAH!" The crowd yelled but in a softer tone.

"Oh yeah."

"Oh what!"

"What yeah!"

"YEAH WHAT!"

"What?"

"YEAH!"

"Fuck you." Queen finished, pointing towards Izuku's direction as the boy felt his heart stop for a moment before he laughed. He heard a squeal, the woman from before... and other women in the area howling.

"Oh please do! Lord Queeeeen!" the woman shrieked, waving as she shoved Izuku aside. "Pleeeeaaaahehehehese!"

She slumped, foaming at the mouth... and Izuku just let her drop to the floor.

Queen laughed, walking around on stage.

"Okay then!" The lights were coming back to normal. "How's everyone doing tonight?"

The crowd roared their approval.

"I figured as much! It's the annual Golden Festival after all! So for the next couple'a'days, you get to drink, eat, and party the day away! After all, y'all worked hard, so time to party hard!" He grinned, hand on his hip. "We also got some important news to announce tonight!"

(X)

High above within the crawl spaces, Yamato peeked from a hole, gazing out onto the Live Floor.

She sat, her Kanabo close by, watching the horde of pirates enjoy Queen's little jig. Her eyes scanned the crowd, searching for some trace of Izuku.

Nothing. She moved along the floor, staring down through the crack, but there was no sign of him anywhere.

She had to find him. She had to see him move towards the castle's first floor. Once she did, she could make her own move.

So…where was he?

(X)

"But first! We're gonna do a roll call, ya know who you are!" Queen bellowed, pointing towards the balconies and private rooms where pirates loyal to Kaido and high ranking officers sat.

High above in the rafters, Malice sat leaning against a beam, hidden in the shadows, glaring down at the obese All-Star.

"Let me hear it from your guts! The best of the best! Headliners!"

The pirates on the balcony cheered back, the pirates below joining in. Malice could not help but feel nostalgic. He had been one of them, not so long ago. They were pirate captains who had bent the knee to Kaido, usually after being crushed in personal combat.

Not like him. Kaido had not persuaded him with violence. He had known what he was getting himself in for, long before he had reached Onigashima. Those Headliners who objected to his presence, or who got in his way, had paid with their lives; their blood proof of his worth.

"And next up! Give it up foooor!" Queen posed, pointing towards an empty box as Malice rolled his eyes. "The Flying Siiiix!"

Silence. The box was empty, and Malice knew why. The Flying Six had their own quarters, and were keeping the Fire Festival in their own way.

Besides, they couldn't stand Queen either. The only exception was Black Maria, but she had no apparent desire to rise. She seemed content to be where she was.

Then again, she could afford to be. She was Kaido's favorite courtesan, and far more dangerous than that role implied. Malice knew better than to underestimate her, or the others. The too-jovial Sasaki, the too-lax Who's Who, and the petulant Ulti and her doormat of a brother, Page One.

The arena was still silent. Malice could hear a cough or two.

"Kiddiiiiing!" Queen chortled. "Those dickless killjoys never come around do they!"

The rest of the auditorium laughed, and Malice ground his teeth. "Not once ya know, for all those newcomers out there! Just for tonight just forgot about those absolute maroons ey?"

He twirled, and pointing up towards the Numbers' Corner.

"Now let's give it up for the meat and potatoes, the monsters of the Beast Pirates!" Even the back up dancers pointed. "The Numbers!"

The collection of artificial giants, their minds ruined from experimentation from Punk Hazard all roared and laughed, their eyes agleam in their dark corner. All eyes fell on them, eyes full of fear.

Malice knew that fear. At his first Fire Festival, many years ago, they had gotten loose and eaten some of the pirates. But King had put them down, backed up by Jack; beating them so badly that they coughed up their last meal; some of them still alive.

"Okay then!" He pointed towards another sky box. "Alright! Let's give it up for the people of Orochiii!"

(X)

Izuku was rubbing his ears, both from the endless noise of the stadium, and the roars of those giants that seemed to tower over even Gigantomachia...

He couldn't make out a word Queen was yelling. But he could feel his Danger Sense tingle as the Numbers gazed over the crowd. The pirates feared those things, and Izuku didn't blame them.

"-at should be the end of it!" Queen declared. "Now then! I-" Queen paused, a female pirate pointing at his leg.

"What now I-" Queen knelt down, hand to his ear as the dancer whispered a message.

"Hmm. Okay!" THe dancers fled the stage, and Queen stepped aside. "Now then, without further ado, let's get on with an important news announcement! Delivered from the man himself!"

The crowd roared their approval, Izuku squeezing his eyes shut against the nightmare cacophony. Why did people enjoy events like this?

"Here he comes" Yoichi said in his ear, as Izuku opened his eyes.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxYSVyWHENQ

The doors behind the stage slid open. Izuku stared as an enormous figure marched out. He was tall as Queen, but broad, lean, and muscular, with a fur cape and long braided hair, his mouth hidden behind a metal mask.

It was Jack the Drought, just as Yamato had described him.

Behind him came another figure; this one just as tall, but not as broad. His entire body was covered in black leather, tied tight with heavy-looking belts. Black-feathered wings hung from his shoulders, and flames flickered around his neck. From behind his spiked mask, dark red eyes glowed.

"Lord King!" chanted the crowds, as he took his place to the right of the door, opposite Jack. "Lord King! Lord King!"

So that was King the Wildfire. Izuku had not quite believed Yamato's description. It seemed too extreme, too bizarre. Yet there he was.

The chanting stopped, as footsteps thundered from the door. Izuku stared, in horrified disbelief, as another shape stepped through the door.

"KAIDO! KAIDO! KAIDO! KAIDO! KAIDO!" roared the pirates.

He was enormous. A literal man-mountain, at least seven metres tall. His arms were thick with muscle, lined with scars, and emblazoned with dragon-scale tattoos. His horns were ivory-white, and long enough to impale a grown man. Midnight-black hair billowed down his back, matched by long and intricate moustachios, and a short, neatly-trimmed beard. He wore dark brown pants, held up by a heavy rope belt similar to Yamato's own, and boots heavy enough to crush a man's skull. Upon his right shoulder was an enormous spiked kanabo, an elder brother to Yamato's Takeru, longer than a Tokyo subway car.

Izuku could not think. He could not tear his eyes away. Never, not in all his years, in a world of wondrous quirks, had he seen anything quite like it.

And his form was as nothing compared to his eyes. Yellow slits, glaring out from under a heavy brow, the eyes of…no, not a predator. Greater than a predator. Worse than a predator.

Izuku shuddered, his stomach churning with an ancient, instinctive dread. This wasn't like All for One. Even he hadn't been like this. Even he, at his most dangerous, had never radiated such power, such inhumanity.

To look upon Kaido was to look upon one who was the master of his own destiny. Here was a man who knew that no one, not on the whole island, could threaten him. This was his island, his kingdom. This Onigashima, and the land of Wano beyond it. This place was his and his alone, and no one resided there except on his sufferance. He was a man who needed no one.

"So that's... Kaido..." Izuku murmured.

This was Kaido. This was the man he was about to cross.

This was Yamato's father.

As Kaido reached center-stage, another man scuttled out to join him. This one was much shorter even than the All-Stars, about half their height, with broad shoulders. He was not at all appealing; his face marred by a large underbite, his enormous head bald but for purple sideburns, decorated with a small, ill-fitting crown; one that did not match the elegant kimono he wore.

"And the Shogun," Yoichi confirmed. "Kurozumi Orochi."

So that was Orochi. There was the man who had conquered Wano with Kaido's help; the man Yamato had told him about. The man who had crushed his own homeland, enslaved its people, tore iron and coal from its land and poisoned its air and water; all to feed the war factories, that the Beast Pirates might have ships and weapons.

Kurozumi Orochi, a Shogun of nothing. Izuku was sure of that. There was no way a man like that could have inspired others, or led them to victory. Only by Kaido's power could he have succeeded; and only through Kaido's good graces could he rule.

He had ruled, by taking the throne that belonged to the Kozuki's, shooting it's patriarch dead in the oil pot, then his wife and and children in their own burning castle.

Just as Yamato had told him, with that terrible shame in her eyes.

Kaido raised his free hand, and the chants stopped. All was silent. The enormous hand fell, and Queen slipped his microphone into it.

Even he seemed afraid as he stepped aside.

"Today…a new era is born!"

Kaido's voice rolled over the cavern like an ocean wave. This was not Queen's crude shrieking, but true power; a voice that could command armies, and conquer nations.

"Today, is the turn of the tide! For on this night as we feast and celebrate the achievements of our efforts, a new power is rising! And I see the potential for that power…in all of you."

He scanned his narrow eyes over the crowd.

"Before we begin our days of celebration, a gift has befallen us. One earned by our efforts, our might, and our power!" He looked to the side, nudging his head. "For those newcomers to the Beast Pirates, I bid thee welcome to Onigashima."

"And I say eat my ass buddy." Daigoro grumbled in Izuku's head. A movement in the corner of his eye drew his attention, and he saw a group of female pirates pulling a cart across the stage. The top of the cart was covered with a white cloth.

"Thanks to our new business partner in the New World," Kaido declared, "we have acquired the power to break the stalemate. Big Mom, Shanks, Whitebeard, the Marines! None shall stand against us."

The cart was brought before Kaido, the women bowing in respect. The horned pirate lord acknowledged them with the briefest of nods, and they hurried away. Kaido grabbed the white cloth, and with a flourish pulled it away.

The crowd gasped in awe, as they saw what was sitting on the cart. The cart was piled with cushions, upon which sat ten large apples, their skin covered with a pattern of rings.

"Those are Devil Fruits! King really did grab them!"

"And we have ten!"

"But wait, why do they all look the same?"

"Yeah they're supposed to be different right?"

"This," Kaido held up one of the apples in his fingers, "is a SMILE. Now, for whoever shall consume this whole, a chance to receive its blessing. But be warned."

His voice became a growl.

"For you shall never swim again after consuming this artificial Devil Fruit, and the chances of you receiving its boons are low."

He fell silent, his words hanging in the air like a storm cloud. Izuku found himself wondering what would happen if the fruit's boons did not transfer.

It was not a pleasant thought.

"Who here will gamble with fate, for a power beyond their wildest dreams!?"

The crowd erupted into a frenzy, pressing forward towards the stage, arms thrust out to receive.

"Toss it to me!"

"Over here! Over here!"

"I want it!"

Izuku glanced about, amazed and horrified. Why would they take such a chance? What sort of power could be worth that risk?

Kadio took one of the fruits, and tossed it out into the crowd. The crowd closed in around it, clenching shut like some sea monster's mouth, as the pirates fought tooth and nail. Heedless, Kaido took another, and threw it out in turn, this time to a different area. Again and again he threw, each time to a different balcony or area of the floor. The seventh, the eighth, the ninth…

Kaido's eyes scanned over Izuku…and for a moment, they met. His green, and his slitted yellow.

He threw. Time seemed to slow down as fruit flew through the air towards him.

Izuku caught it, staggering back under the impact. It was large, about the size of a cantaloupe. It looked harmless, but he felt a tingle in his head, his Danger Sense…

He ducked, a clenched fist whistling over his head.

"Give me that!" snarled the pirate whose fist it was. Izuku dropped it and fell to the floor, scurrying away as the pirates started fighting over it. He pulled himself up on the railing, and watched as the pirates tore at eachother like wild animals, grabbing and pulling at the fruit.

Finally, the gruff pirate from before managed to bite into it. His eyes shone with a strange light as he tore at the fruit, biting and biting like a man possessed.

"Damnit!"

"Fuck I wanted it!"

The crowd dispersed, grumbling and muttering. Gruff kept on eating, grinning from ear to ear as he swallowed more and more of the fruit.

Then he gagged, the core dropping from his hands as he clutched at his chest, staggering towards Izuku.

"H-Hey! Are you okay!" asked Izuku, in reflex. The older man slumped to his knees, coughing and spluttering. His hands grabbed at his shoulders, his bald head slumped.

And then rose, his face split into a wide, manic grin, eyes wide and bloodshot. He burst out laughing.

"Hehehhee…HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! What… what is this?!" the man shrieked through his laughter, and more coughing. "Why aren't I transforming?! Why is nothing happening?!"

The laugh was not natural. It wasn't like any laugh Izuku had ever heard. It was pained, forced. His face was a mask of faux-glee, but Izuku could see his eyes, and what was really there.

Fear. Hopelessness. Despair.

And the laughter. Izuku could hear it all around him. He looked, and saw the crowd parting, gaps opening up as the pirates backed away from those who had eaten the fruits. They were writhing in agony, shrieking with that same crazed laughter.

"So that's why they're called SMILES…" Nana said in his head, and Izuku gulped. Before him, Gruff brought his hands to his face.

"T-That means I lost my chance!? I can never swim again?! Hahahahahaha! What kind of sick joke is this man?! I never did anything wrong or anything! Hehehehehehe!"

The man threw back his head, and shrieked with gut-wrenching laughter. Tears ran down his face.

"WHY HAHAHAHA! WHY CAN'T I-Kehehehehehe…stop… LAUGHING HAHAHAHAHAHAA! MY FACE HURTS! I'M SMILING SO MUUUHAHAHAHAHAHA! SO! SO MUCH! THAT IT HURTSHEHEHEHEHE! IT HUUUUURTS~!"

Izuku's heart ached for him, for all of them. True he was a pirate, and there was no telling what he had done. But he didn't deserve…that. This… for the rest of his days.

And up on the stage, Kaido stared down at them, with a look of mild disappointment.

Izuku gripped the railing, his anguish turning into rage. These were his men, who revered and trusted him. Yet he…

"This is how…you treat them!?" he snarled under his breath, glaring at Kaido.

"Hey!" Queen barked over a new microphone. "Anyone of you able to transform yet! Or you all a bunch of duds!"

"There." King spoke for the first time, pointing to the upper level. Kaido followed his arm, his eyes fixed on a man staggering to the front by the railing, on a higher-level pagoda. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with pink gear tattoos with the letter "C" on them, and long wavy brown hair.

Izuku gaped at the sight. The man's stomach was now the head and forelegs of a lion, the head roaring, the paws swiping at anyone who got too close. The man struggled to control his new appendage, as the pirates around him looked on, faces alight with horror.

"You there!" Kaido bellowed, glaring at the man. The lion-stomach-head-thing seemed to have froze up as well. "What's your name?"

"H-Holdem! My name is Holdem sir! I serve in Wano as a Sheriff in Bakura Town, Lord Kaido sir!"

Kaido looked around once again, taking in the nine sufferers, and the one survivor.

"One in ten… as expected I suppose."

(X)

"One in ten! Father…when I thought you couldn't get any lower!"

Through her latest peephole, Yamato stared down at the crowd, at the nightmare playing out before her.

Never, not in her darkest moments, had she imagined such a thing. Never, not even when he burned Kozuki castle, had she thought him capable of this. His own pirates…

She shook her head, forcing herself to focus. There was nothing she could do about it, not now. She had to find Izuku, and get on with the plan.

Her eyes moved from pagoda to pagoda, searching for that familiar mop of green hair, those bright eyes. Her gaze fell momentarily on the lone victor, the one with a lion erupting from his stomach, and then to the side.

There he was! Izuku! And still unharmed!

(X)

"So that's what King brought…"

From his vantage point among the rafters, Malice watched with renewed interest. They really were Devil Fruits, but artificial, and nowhere near as powerful as the legitimate article.

He looked down at his own hand. His claws were out, the scales forming. He had to will his heart to slow, to force his power to recede, the claws turning back into fingernails.

Kaido had always wanted to do this; or so Sasaki and Who's Who had told him. An entire crew of Zoan users; an army of supernatural warriors. Considering what he and his fellow Flying Six could do, not to mention the All Stars, the proof was in the pudding.

"Now! Holdem! You shall become the first Gifter among the Beast Pirates! You who have been blessed by fortune to earn the SMILE's gift!" Kaido bellowed. "The rest of you, laughing mad from the Fruit's curse! You shall be the first of the Pleasures!"

Gifters and Pleasures? To be condemned to laugh without ceasing, a face full of pleasure, hiding a heart in agony. A cruel joke, that.

"And for the rest of you, all who do not possess a Devil Fruit ability. Henceforth!" Kaido tapped his kanabo, the mighty spiked club Hassaikai, on the ground. "You shall be the Waiters! For you shall wait for your chance at a SMILE, and the power it brings! Who else here wishes for the chance for power!?"

He held out his hand.

"Will you remain powerless and weak!? Or will you take the chance, and aim for greater heights!?"

The crowd roared their approval, and Malice smirked. He could see Kaido's intent. The Pleasures alone would be terrifying to behold; an army of laughing berserkers, despairing of life. And those who attained Zoan powers would be a force to be reckoned with unto themselves. Such a power would not be resisted easily. More and more captains would bow to Kaido's will, and become Headliners; rather than face such a nightmare in battle.

Yes, Kaido had meant what he said. This would alter the balance of power in the New World. This would allow the Beast Pirates to overrun Red-Hair Shanks' miniscule posse, and Big Mom's meddlesome fleet, and those weak and lethargic Whitebeards.

Malice's teeth lengthened, his canines growing into sharp fangs.

"Mariejois will soil themselves in fear," he whispered, chuckling to himself.

"Good! Our business partner will provide us with twenty of these SMILEs a month, and more to come later!" bellowed Kaido. "In the meantime, I give the floor to our patron, Kurozumi Orochi, Shogun of Wano, who has a special presentation for you all!"

He stepped aside, his left hand brushing his trouser pocket as he handed the microphone down to his ally.

Malice rolled his eyes. Orochi, the disheveled toad that thought itself a cunning serpent.

"Ahem!" began Orochi, sending a shriek of feedback through the speakers. Malice flinched at the noise, but then lost interest as the unsightly shogun began to speak. He had no intention of taking part in the festival; only in making sure it ran smoothly, for Kaido's sake. He would not allow any…

Then he paused, as his eyes fell on something familiar. On one of the pagodas, right by the handrail. It was that young man from before, the one with the green hair. Malice pulled out his eyeglass, and took a closer look.

Yes, it was certainly him. That scarred, muscular body, and that freckle-cheeked face that didn't match it at all.

Those eyes didn't match either. Those were not the innocent eyes of a young boy, a youth on the cusp of manhood. There was a look in them, a look he knew only too well.

It was the look of baleful rage that had been in his own eyes, when he saw the Celestial Dragons for the first time. It was a look aimed at the stage, and those on it.

"Hmmm…"

(X)

"Well, it is as Kaido says." Orochi said. "More Devil Fruits are coming, and best of all, there will be special fighting tournaments held around Onigashima if any of you wish to prove yourself in battle! After all, it is one in ten! Not Zero!"

The shogun paused, amid the cheers of the crowd.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4K69gXQHNg

"But, that's enough of that! For now…" His face morphed into a dark and cruel smile. "Before we begin tonight's facilities, here's something that'll get your blood pumping! Bring in the prisoners!"

Izuku's heart stopped, as a group of pirates pushed four crucifixes onto the stage. Tied to them were three men and one woman, clad in traditional Japanese garb; beaten, bruised, and clearly starved.

"These four!" Orochi declared. "have been tied to an underground cell, pledged to carry on the ideals of the false shogun, Kozuki Oden, the dancing fool!"

He barked a laugh, and the crowd joined in.

"The charges are simple! Theft! Assault! And high treason to the Shogunate!"

His wide mouth split into a cruel grin.

"But I am a generous lord! A lord of the people! And so I bring these four here, on these charges, for the verdict!"

He held out his hand, and a robed man appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. He had a bald head and long earlobes, and he was carrying a spear.

Kaido regarded Orochi with thinly-veiled contempt. King and Jack did the same, while Queen just looked bored.

"I ask of thee! A jury among their peers! How do you plead!" he called out, taking the spear from his strange companion. He smirked, and Izuku's heart clenched.

"Midoriya you can't." Yoichi asserted in his ear.

"Don't do it kid." Daigoro spoke.

"But they're-"

"GUILTY!" roared the audience.

Izuku had never felt so small. He wanted to go up there and save them. He had to! He needed to!

And yet… This wasn't back home, in a modern society and a modern world. With modern sensibilities…

This was a world of pirates.

And this was their era… their world.

"How do you plead!" Orochi asked again, hands to his ear, relishing the moment with an ear to grin grin.

"GUILTY!"

"Rip off," Queen muttered under his breath.

The railing began to crack, as Izuku's fists clenched.

"You have to calm down!" Nana barked in his ear. "You go up there, you're dead!"

"But they…. but they…!" Izuku whispered, squeezing his eyes shut.

"GUILTY!"

"Guilty it is!" Orochi laughed, turning towards the four as Izuku opened his eyes. "As rightful Shogun of Wano! I sentence thee to death!"

He leered, aiming for the first man with his spear in hand. The railing warped and cracked as Izuku clenched harder and harder. Around him the crowd cheered, baying for blood, heedless of his rage.

"KILL THEM! KILL THEM! KILL THEM! KILL THEM!" they chanted.

"Midoriya." Hikage hissed. "They were dead the moment they stepped foot on this island."

Izuku caught his breath, as he saw Orochi thrust…

The spear stopped, as Kaido's enormous hand closed around it, tearing it away. Orochi stumbled back in shock, as Kaido glared down at him, and threw the spear away.

"H-Hey! What's the big idea!" Orochi yelled, enraged pointing at the horned mountain. "You said I can bring these four to be executed!"

The bald ear-lobe man was standing beside his master, gazing up at the Emperor of the Sea.

"I did say so, yes," replied Kaido, glaring at the condemned, and at the crowd. "But I'm not going to dirty my floor with the blood of these wretches."

He stepped forward, and grabbed one of the crucifixes, lifting one up so easily.

"You want to rile up my pirates, Orochi? This is how!"

He glared down, making Orochi shrink away. Izuku felt a moment of hope. Might he not allow it? Might he save them?"

His eyes fell on a distant place. Izuku followed his gaze, and his heart sank.

"No…"

"NUMBERS!" Kaido bellowed, and the giants all perked up, their red eyes gazing from the shadows at their leader, like a pack of dogs being called to by their master.

"HAVE A SNACK!"

He then threw the crucifix like a frisbee, its occupant screaming as he spun towards the corner. The entire stadium roared in bloodthirsty glee, their cheering louder and louder as Kaido grabbed crucifix after crucifix, and threw them after the first.

"STOP IIIIT!" Izuku yelled, screaming at the top of his lungs. But his cry was drowned out, lost in the cheers of the pirates. His Danger Sense was screaming at him to do something, to save them. But all he could see was those terrible shadows, as the crucifixes spun into their midst.

THe first was caught, the monster stuffing it into its mouth and biting down. The second was caught and eaten whole. The third, the last man, was grabbed in one hand and bitten in half like a biscuit. The last, the woman, was caught by two giants at once. The crowd laughed and cheered as they yanked and pulled, fighting over their prey like two enormous, demonic hounds.

Then, mercifully, the wood split into two; the two parts vanishing into the beasts maws.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=numsyPJoDZs

Izuku could only stare, tears running down his face, his heart crushed. Eyes wide as plates and mouth agog as the world around him was loud with thunderous bloodthirsty cheer and glee.

How could they do it? How could they enjoy something like this? How could they be so cruel?

Kaido…

H felt something bubble within him.

"God… damn… you…!"

He slumped down behind the railing, teeth bared, eyes fixed on the horned monster on the stage, the devil presiding over this foretelling of hell on earth.

He had only been angry like this once before. So angry that he had actually killed.

Kill.

He had to kill.

Kaido needed to die.

If he can get Fa Jin charged…

"You go up there, you can't save Yamato!" Yoichi barked inside his mind, freezing his rage.

"Midoriya… I know you want to save everyone… but you can't do that… not right now" Nana whispered. He could feel the phantom embrace from her, her voice in his ear. "Save what you can…. And then later…avenge them, and bring these monsters to justice."

"You can still save Yamato. Hold onto that, at the least…" Daigoro spoke, his normally gruff voice soft, sympathetic.

Izuku gasped for breath, as he tried to control himself, the words of his predecessors like a cold water dousing over him as he slumped to his knees, looking down at the ground.

He couldn't save them. He called himself a hero, yet he couldn't save them! He had failed again!

But…Yamato…

"Now then! We shall begin the festivities!" Kaido roared, hoisting his Kanabo into the air. "The other ten SMILEs are around the Skull Dome! For each SMILE, a tournament! Winner claims the Fruit, and the rest is fate!"

"The Headliners are in charge," added King. "Follow the signs to the tournament locations."

"And with that…" Kaido's face split into a grin. "Let the Golden Festival begin! Drink! Eat! Frolick the nights away! WORORORORORO~!"

"And the Red Light Distriiiiiict...!" Queen added, posing with both arms pointing to the sides and downward, towards the doors beside Kaido's Castle, "...is now open!"

The entire crowd roared, and began to move; going for the doors. Izuku rose back up to his feet, eyes to the ground as he looked from one to the other of the doors.

He had to make it there. Somehow.

Some of the pirates were leaping down to the lower levels. Izuku did likewise, landing on the pagoda below. He glanced at the stage, and saw Orochi talking with the bald man again, and sending Kaido a sideways glare. Kaido smirked at the crowd, then turned and strode back through the door, followed by the All-Stars.

Izuku dropped down again, landing on the floor. Keeping his face as straight and stoic as possible, even as his teeth were grit and his heart ached.

(X)

"You…" Malice mused as he followed the green haired boy atop the rafters high above the Live Floor. "...are not from here, are you?"

Yes. He dressed like a Beast Pirate, but he didn't act like one. He could understand the youth being shocked; the whole thing had been a surprise to him too. But he had never expected a reaction like that.

So what was he? A Cipher Pol agent? No, they were as cold as the ocean depths; no waterworks or death-glares from them. A spy from another Emperor's crew maybe? He had the body of a pirate if nothing else. Or were the Marines getting into the espionage game these days?

Or maybe he was one of those Kozuki loyalists? Had he just seen his comrades fed to the Numbers? The reaction was about right.

Either way… he would have to have a little…talk with this youth.

He stood up, tapping the ledge. Time to go down and..

"Hey look! It's Spiteful Malicious!"

Malice jumped, and glanced around. The call had come from two pirates on a nearby causeway; clad in janitorial garb, and with rum bottles in their hands.

"Whatcha doin' all the way up here huh?" slurred the fat one. There was always a fat one.

"None of your business whelps! Get back to work!" Malice hissed, looking back into his eyeglass. But there was no sign of the youth! He had vanished into the crowd!

His teeth clenched. He cursed himself, even as the pirates laughed and chugged their booze.

He had him! He had him right there!

He could tell King, but what good would that do? King wasn't bad by All-Stars standards, but he would get the credit regardless. His shot at glory would be gone.

He clenched his fists, his claws pricking his palms. He had lost him! A moment's distraction, and his big chance had vanished among the horde below. Those wretched pirates, off to gorge themselves on the finest food and liquor, to fight each other for those faulty fruits, or heading down to the Red Light District to frolick with the geishas.

Beasts. Beast Pirates indeed. Wretched, lustful, cruel…

He turned towards the two pirates who had disturbed him. They were drinking from their rum bottles, and laughing at some pointless joke.

He bared his teeth, the canines lengthening into fangs. He flexed his fingers, the nails now long claws. He could feel his body changing, as the power within him rose. It was a good pain.

And no one would miss those two pathetic louts.

(X)

"Okay there he goes… north side door," Yamato mused to herself, as she watched Izuku move.

"Now, I must get ready too!"

She grinned, and stood up, hurrying down the dark corridor. Her grin faded, as she remembered the look on Izuku's face.

"Please… stay strong Izuku! I know you can do it!"

(X)

Izuku managed to break away from the crowd, stepping into a public bathroom. Keeping his face straight, he stepped into the first stall he could find, shut the door, and locked it.

He sat down on the toilet seat, and brought his hands to his face. He breathed in and out, trying to control his wounded, fearful heart. To hold back panicked breath.

Never, not in his darkest nightmares, had he imagined anything like this. He had thought what had happened to Eri was bad; but she was just one girl, kept prisoner by ruthless gangsters who exploited her quirk and crushed her spirit.

Here, there was thousands of slaves. Adults and children, men and women, people of all kinds. Slaves, collared like livestock, with collars of the same make as Yamato's cuffs, toiling under the lash of their cruel masters. And that's on Onigashima. Wano has to be worse…

These people…no, not people. Animals…no, that was an insult to animals.

Beasts.

Beasts in every way. Beasts who wanted only power, and the right to abuse it as they pleased. Even if it cost them their bodies, their sanity, their very lives.

He had thought All for One was evil. But he had only been a bogeyman, hiding in the shadows, doing his wickedness by stealth.

Kaido was not like him. Kaido was a thousand times more, a thousand times worse. He was an apex predator, the one true king of this kingdom of beasts.

Even so…

"I couldn't save them…" he whimpered. He hadn't seen their faces, and he didn't know their names. But they had died on his watch, while he had done nothing.

World's greatest hero… what a joke.

"Midoriya." Nana again. "You must remain strong. For Yamato's sake."

"I know" he replied. Then his heart skipped a beat, as he heard voices and footsteps outside.

"Dude did you see those poor fuckers get eaten by the Numbers?!"

"No I was on the other side. Did you?"

"Oh yeah! The woman was alive and well, you should have heard her scream!"

Laughter.

"Oh man wish I could have seen it! Did you see her innards or anything!"

"Yeah! On Hacha's nostril no less!" A giggle. "You should have seen him try to lick his nose with his tongue!" And they laughed.

Izuku gripped his fists as he sat on the toilet, grinding his teeth as he tried to push down his anger. He wanted to go out there and beat those callous villains to within an inch of their lives; to give them a small taste of the pain that had been their entertainment.

No! He had to keep a low profile! He had to! He couldn't let Yamato down!

"You are a hero," said En. "If you can't save everyone… save who you can."

Save who you can…

Izuku took a deep breath, staring down at the floor. He waited until the pirates were gone, then left the stall and headed for the nearest basin. He splashed some cold water on his face, then looked into the mirror.

Save who you can…

The meaning was like an anathema… and yet, En was right. He has no choice.

Still…

"Will I… be able to save everyone…?" he muttered. He almost jumped, as Yoichi and Nana appeared in the mirror behind him. He still wasn't quite used to that.

"You will. I know you will." Yoichi said. "If there is anyone who can do it, it's you, Midoriya."

The silver-haired man put a hand on his shoulder. Izuku could fel it.

"You must get stronger first." Nana added. "As you are now… we cannot face Kaido. But if you become strong… with Yamato, then perhaps a chance down the road."

Stronger…

"I must go further beyond, huh," Izuku mused, chuckling ruefully. He looked at his hand, and then clenched it. "I was able to defeat All for One at fifty percent… yet I felt like All Might in my battle against him."

"Indeed. Your power is far greater than Toshinori's was," Nana said. "If his one hundred percent is your fifty…"

"Then you will double his power," added the Second User, whose name Izuku still did not know. He reminded him of Kacchan a little in appearance. "Or perhaps your power can be squared."

"Squared?" Izuku mused, blinking.

"Correct," the Second User replied. "You must become stronger, master One for All. Use whatever means to do so, and then when you're ready…"

"You will overtake this Demon King." Yoichi smiled softly. "And you will not be alone."

"Literally and… ummm…" Daigoro paused. "Metaphorically is the word I'm looking for right? Since like, Midoriya is gonna need allies in the living world and not just us."

"He already has one." Nana giggled lightly with a smile. "And she's a tough one. I like her."

Izuku took a deep breath, washing his face once more. The deaths of those four would haunt him, but…

'Even if I couldn't save them… I can save Yamato.' Izuku thought, taking a towel to dry off as he walked towards the door. He parted to the side, as some pirates bolted in.

"Don't get in her way!" warned a muscular man.

"Yeah I don't wanna cross her!" a slim, gaunt-looking pirate replied.

Izuku hurried outside, wondering what they meant. Were they talking about Yamato? Had she arrived?

He forced himself not to smile as he strode along the hall. Some pirates scurried about, seemingly getting out of someone's way. He paid it no mind. It had to be Yamato. It was…

He rounded the corner, and talked straight into two very large, very soft pillows. He stopped, so suddenly that he fell over backward, a surprised feminine "oh!" coming out.

"Oh, sorry about that Ya-"

Izuku paused, looking up at whom he bumped into. He felt his Danger Sense starting to simmer.

Standing before him was not Yamato. She was shorter than Yamato, with a light-blue and white-stripe dress to go along with a blue cape. She had a decent figure, and a head of blue hair with pink highlights, reminding him of Hatsume Mei. Her lower face was covered by a soft pink mask. Her pink eyes regard him with…curiosity? She looked a bit older than him too.

"Who do you think you are, ya little shit!" growled the boy beside her of matching height. His costume was similar to the girl's, but in white and green; complete with a horned cap. Izuku's danger sense tingled all the harder.

"You think you can cope a feel of my big sister and get away with it huh?! Punkass!?" he growled, his voice deep, his eyes slitted. The Sense began to lightly boil…

Oh no…

Lower face masks. Brother and Sister.

They were Ulti and Page One! Two of the Flying Six!

And one of them looked ready to kill him.