One Piece: It's always been you

Chapter 50, Card 2, You're the Gentlest.

Today the sea is calm, but the seagulls have brought news that will shock the world.

"Why are you all gathered here so early?" Stretching as she emerged from the cabin, she saw a group of people huddled together, seemingly doing something. "What are you looking at? Let me see."

"You're up?"

Katakuri walked over and sat down next to Yu, patting the spot next to him to signal Yu to sit down as well.

What are they looking at?

"It's nothing, just a news report: the entire nation of Eregia has been wiped out."

"Was it done by pirates? Or some other force?"

"Pirates, this news has spread to every corner of the Grand Line."

"Which pirate crew is so ruthless and terrifying? What about the Navy? Nothing's happening?"

Yu leaned against Katakuri, still a little sleepy from just waking up. It was comfortable against Katakuri, and she listened to him talk, chatting idly. Yu smacked her lips and yawned again.

"The Red-Haired Pirates. Their bounty has been increased to 1,040 million Berries because they destroyed a country."

"What did you say! Which pirate crew, who!"

Yuu was jolted awake. Had she heard correctly?! The Red-Haired Pirates! Shanks! Eregia wiped out!

Impossible! Shanks couldn't possibly do that! There must be something fishy going on! It definitely couldn't be Shanks; he must have been framed!

"The Red-Haired Pirates did this. What happened?"

Before Katakuri could finish speaking, Yu was nowhere to be seen. He ran to the group of chess pieces, grabbed the newspaper, and read it carefully once more.

Even when Yu saw Shanks' cheerful smile prominently displayed in the newspaper, he couldn't believe it.

Although Shanks is a pirate, he is never a killer. If he were, I wouldn't be here. I was killed by Shanks when I was a child.

Moreover, during the months he sailed with Shanks, he never caused any disturbance to the townspeople whenever he visited an island, and the entire pirate crew did the same.

"This newspaper must be making things up! How could that be!"

"What? Do you know them, or do you know the inside story?"

Katakuri noticed that Yu's behavior was unusual; she would never act like this before, there must be something going on.

"Of course I..." Yu almost blurted out, "I don't know them and I don't know the inside story!"

"Then why are you so agitated?"

"N-nothing. I just feel he's definitely not that powerful. Your bounty is about the same as his, and you couldn't have wiped out a country, right?"

"..." This sounds a bit strange.

Katakuri found her words strange and stared at Yu with a slightly puzzled look in his eyes.

Yu was stunned by his stare, and a chill ran down her spine.

"Hey, don't look at me like that. I didn't mean anything by it, hehe."

"..." I don't believe it.

"I really didn't mean anything by it. How could this pirate crew be so ruthless? How could they wipe out an entire country? It's just too much!"

"As a pirate, there's nothing wrong with what he did. It's just that everyone on the Grand Line knows how ruthless Shanks is now."

Katakuri was telling the truth: they were pirates, not philanthropists. Even the Navy couldn't be absolutely honest with them, let alone pirates.

“Karn, although it’s a bit unreasonable, you have to promise me that you absolutely cannot do such a thing. You must never do something like destroying a country and slaughtering innocent people.”

Yu suddenly made Katakuri ask her for a favor in such a serious manner, which made him a little uncomfortable. But her words were nonsensical; did he look like the kind of person who would do such a thing?

"He looks so ferocious to me..." Katakuri said arrogantly, turning his head slightly away and closing his eyes to avoid looking at You.

Okay, this guy's throwing a tantrum again.

“Of course not, Katakuri is the gentlest.” Yu sat down next to him, leaning on his shoulder. “I just don’t want innocent people to be killed. Of course I know you would never do that! You’re the gentlest person, otherwise you wouldn’t have saved a stranger like me back then.”

She peeked at Yu through a crack in her eye. Yu, however, was watching Katakuri's every move without blinking, so this little action naturally caught her attention.

"Karry? Kakashi? Kakashi~"

"Ah."

"I knew you'd say yes. You're the best!"

Yu wrapped her arms around Katakuri, and in her excitement, she threw herself at him.

On the surface, it seems that Katakuri is in a dominant position between the two, but in reality, Katakuri has been going along with Yo all along.

"Sit down."

"?"

Yu didn't understand, but following Katakuri's gaze, Yu seemed to understand.

The group of chess soldiers had been watching the two of them ever since You took the newspaper. Who knew Lord Katakuri was more responsive to gentle persuasion than force? Wow, I've hit the jackpot! So delicious!

Unlike Katakuri, Yuuka didn't pay as much attention to her image; instead of toning it down, she became even more so.

He plopped down on Katakuri's lap, his arms still wrapped around him. He looked up at the group of chess soldiers who had never seen anything like this before, "What are you looking at? Don't you have anything to do? Go do what you're supposed to do."

This display of force startled the chess soldiers, who responded in unison, "Yes!" and went about their business.

"Pretty impressive?"

"How about I copy you? Doesn't it look like you? Doesn't it give you the air of a captain?"

Yu turned to look at Katakuri with an expectant expression, her desire for praise undisguised.

"Who told you that's all there is to being a captain? Besides, this is how I usually am, how come I didn't know?"

Katakuri patted Yu's head, really wanting to know what was going on in her head; he wasn't like that at all.

"You're the same, always looking down at me with a cold face, just like I did just now. Don't deny it."

"You've observed quite carefully."

"Tell me, do you have the demeanor of a captain?"

"Yes, but I think 'captain's wife' would be a better fit. What do you think?"

Yu was speechless at Katakuri's words. Why did he suddenly...? Yu wasn't going to fall for it.

“Captain’s wife… sounds nice. How about I become the captain and you become my captain’s wife?” Yu raised an eyebrow and reached out to beckon Katakuri.

"You've gotten better these past few days. I'll consider it when you can beat me."

"You keep your word?"

"You keep your word."

Don't think that just because Katakuri said that, Yu will extend her daily training time; that's impossible. She won't forget to rest and play, but she won't take up training time.

Every night, when all was quiet, she would secretly leave the ship alone to practice her ability to control the seawater. This was also why Yu often slept in very late.

Also, Katakuri would come to her room to keep her company for a while every night. She wanted to go to training but couldn't send Katakuri away, and she also wanted to spend more time with him, so she had no choice but to postpone her bedtime.

Fortunately, the training was effective; she was becoming more and more proficient, and now she could use seawater and vines together more and more frequently. Moreover, she discovered that she could not only control seawater, but also use it to create something.

As for its effects, they are still being discovered.

(It's been added, it's been added. Enjoy, everyone!)