Out of curiosity, and because I’m a sucker for non-romantic soulmates, how do you think Imu would react to Luffy being mu’s soulmate?
Whoo boy. That is going to go down bad.
Okay, Luffy is going to be noticed from the start, at his very first bounty, because the WG is going to be looking for his name. (Under the soulmate rules I created for my particular AU).
Imu's not a complete moron, and neither are mu's followers (most of the time), so they are not going to miss what Fruit Luffy has either.
Imu is going to go "well that's bad, but as long as I keep him from Awakening it, everything will be fine."
Best way to do that on Imu's end? Grab Luffy. Keep him safe. Safe with Imu.
The Elders just barely manage to talk Imu down from an even higher bounty than the World's Most Wanted Man, arguing that it'd draw too much attention from Imu's attempted competitors to a rookie from the weakest of Blues. Imu allows it, on the caveat that the poster is Wanted Alive Only.
(This is probably the most Imu has kept up with the news in centuries, following the Strawhat's exploits. The Elders don't know whether to thank the heavens or curse them.)
Imu mildly appreciates Luffy taking care of issues like rebellious Warlords, but only in the sense that mu's soulmate is doing that, and Imu can twist that to be for the Greater Good in the way the news already does in attributing those victories to the Marines.
Things would really start shifting about, hm, Water 7 and Enies Lobby? Because CP9 are going to have orders to bring in Strawhat ALIVE. They don't know why, but that's their orders.
More blatant lying to Robin about letting the Strawhats go there, because they need to capture Luffy under their orders and the Strawhats definitely wouldn't let their Captain go. She probably would fight back earlier as a result of this, come to that "I want to live!" realization.
CP9 still fails, not that much has changed. But they will wish they were dead, after their failure. Imu won't kill them. Yet.
Things then go back to mostly canon? I think Kuma would probably say something to warn Zoro and Sanji at Thriller Bark, not because he knows that Luffy has a CD soulmate but because he certainly suspects something along those lines.
Now. Sabaody. Sabaody is where Luffy is fucked, no doubts about it. It's how they were doomed to their defeat in canon as well, the fact that Sabaody is the only way to go for them to cross the Red Line.
Imu's forces, the powerful ones, will be waiting. Heck, this might even fuck over not a few of the Supernova Captains in the process, having that many forces there, even more than canon.
The Marine forces are going to prioritize getting Luffy when the Punch goes down. Kuma is going to do his Absolute Best TM because he is a GOOD MAN, but it's hit or miss if he'll get to Luffy in time. The other Strawhats are definitely going to be...taking a vacation, tho.
Whether Kuma saves Luffy (and totally suffers hell for it, if he does) or not, that only delays the inevitable. Because Luffy is either getting caught at Sabaody, or caught when he resurfaces at Marineford.
Because at Marineford, Imu will 100% send out a God Knight. No more delays. And no one there is going to be close enough or able to stop a Knight on a mission and Luffy's not strong enough.
Perfect for picking up.
(Sorry Luffy.)
