Kaito followed the three out of the office but not before the Chairman snorted when he looked at Jinchul and shrugged. Jinchul clenched his jaw but said nothing. It was like Kaito was intentionally antagonizing him, which wasn't the case, maybe.
The gym, well, technically the training hall was huge and there was no one around. Kaito looked around and saw the same stark white interior of the room. He was starting to hate the color white.
"No one will bother us here. It's usually reserved for the S-ranks. Reinforced equipment and everything."
Eunseok said as he saw Kaito looking around.
"Come on, kid. Let's stretch and see what we're working with here."
Yoonho patted his back and they all walked to the center of the room to stretch. Kaito did normal stretches for a while to loosen his body before he went for way more advanced stretches.
The trio stared as he raised his leg high and held it there for a minute before switching to the other leg and repeating the process. He dropped to a split and straightened his back. Kaito was in his own world while the others just stared at him in shock.
"Holy shit, you're flexible."
Yoonho blurted out. Kaito turned his head towards him.
"Mmm, yeah. Martial arts requires you to be."
"No shit."
Kaito went back to his stretches. His body cracking as he twisted and bent. Thirty minutes passed and Yoonho announced that they can start sparring. If only he knew what hell that would bring to them all.
---
Yoonho quickly realized that Kaito was a monster. Not in a bad sense but the bruises blooming along his body was starting to piss him off. Kaito had wiped the floor with all three of them and was standing there like he didn't just annihilate three S-ranks. Byung-Gu and Eunseok were smart enough to tap out after the fifth time they got sent flying but Yoonho was a prideful man and he refused to give up.
Dungeon beasts had never made him sweat and ache so much as this kid did. He hated it. He stood up again and Kaito got in a fighting stance. At least he was learning something valuable as he sparred against Kaito. Fighting humans and fighting dungeon beasts, are completely different.
---
The two kept at it for hours with Yoonho refusing to give up and Kaito refusing to stand down. Both too prideful to admit they needed a break. Byung-Gu and Eunseok watched from the sidelines as the shockwaves of their attacks burst through the training room. Yoonho managed to land a few hits on Kaito but it still wasn't enough.
Neither were slowing down or backing off. Punches and kicks flew, grunts and groans echoed through the training room. Yoonho vomited blood at one point from a hard punch against the stomach, yet he refused to quit.
Call it pride or foolishness but this was actually good for Yoonho. It was teaching him how to keep going even when in pain. It was teaching him that no matter the state you're in, your enemy will never show you mercy. It was teaching him to keep fighting until he could no longer fight at all.
---
The training room doors burst open but the two didn't even notice. Byung-Gu and Eunseok looked towards the door and saw Jinchul and the Chairman standing there and observing Kaito and Yoonho. Yoonho was partially transformed as he followed Kaito's rapid movements. Kaito's shirt had four parallel tears in it and was covered in blood from where Yoonho's claws scratched him.
Both were spotting bruised faces and bloody noses but they didn't seem like they'd stop anytime soon.
"How long has this been going on?"
The Chairman asked as he watched Yoonho barely managing to dodge an attack from Kaito.
"Since this morning."
Byung-Gu answered, his eyes going back to the two sparring.
"Kaito is actually helping Yoonho. I've never seen him fight with so much concentration before. It's intense."
Eunseok said mesmerized.
"It's seven at night, are you saying that they've been at this for the whole day without breaks? Aren't they hungry or thirsty?"
The Chairman looked at the two sitting against the wall. Both shrugged. Kaito and Yoonho showed no indication of hunger, thirst, or fatigue. They were in a dance of kicks and punches. Blood and sweat covered the floor and both looked like they were enjoying themselves.
Kaito had a smile on his face but it wasn't your typical happy smile. This smile was filled with adrenaline, Yoonho had the same expression on his face and it seemed like their movements had sped up. Kaito was jumping and flipping to avoid Yoonho's attacks and Yoonho was using his tiger speed to keep up with Kaito's movements.
Both were in their own world. Jinchul stared at them and at the training room that was now in disarray. The equipment was reinforced but somehow these two managed to destroy at least half of it. Well, the shockwaves of their attacks did. The walls had spider web cracks on it and the floors had little dents in it as well.
---
The Chairman flared his mana a little and the two finally snapped out of it. They stopped sparring and turned towards the Chairman.
"I'd stretch if I were the two of you. Hunters heal quicker than the average human but you're going to be sore come tomorrow. And for the love of God, eat and drink something."
The Chairman chided them. Both looked a little sheepish but nodded silently. Kaito helped Yoonho stretch and made fun of him for being so stiff.
Jinchul and the Chairman watched this and was happy to see that Kaito was at least well enough to make fun of people and that his eyes weren't so dull anymore. It would be a while before he was fully okay but they knew that if he had people in his corner, it wouldn't take very long.
Yoonho was the perfect person to bring him out of his shell, despite the man looking stern and sometimes unapproachable, he was a nice guy who wanted to help as many people as he could.
The two finished their stretches and the adrenaline was wearing off and their hunger was making itself known with their stomachs growling very loudly. Kaito poked his stomach and looked at Yoonho.
"You're buying me dinner."
He said simply. Yoonho turned to him so fast, it was a surprise he didn't get whiplash.
"What? Why?"
"Training made me hungry and I don't have money. I'm not going on raids yet, so I'm broke."
He shrugged and walked over to Eunseok to grab his water bottle.
"You're a leech. Known you for a few days and you're already bleeding me dry."
Yoonho grumbled but didn't say no.
"I'll pay you back."
"Pay me back by staying alive when you go on raids."
Kaito looked at him for a moment before nodding.
"Okay."
"And we're training everyday."
"Cool."
---
Kaito spoke to the Chairman about raiding for a moment and it was decided that until Kaito could control his powers consciously, he would raid with Yoonho and Jinchul. Well, The White Tiger Guild and Jinchul. He would rotate between them to give him some experience in raiding before he could go off and do it on his own.
Jicnhul just sighed at the future headaches he was sure he was going to get. Yoonho looked at Kaito and grinned, he would turn this kid into a great hunter no matter what.
The power scale would tilt and Yoonho had a feeling that Kaito was going to be responsible for it. The Chairman shared his thoughts about that, they could see that Kaito was a powerful individual and he looked like the type to fight for what he believed was right.
He did save people he didn't know and put his own life at risk in doing so and he did it without hesitation. Not many people would do that. Yes, hunters risked their lives everyday but many only did that for the money and the fame. Kaito did it because he could, not for fame.
"Go eat. I'll be seeing you all tomorrow to discuss Kaito's schedule and to discuss the prospect of joining a guild or the association."
The Chairman smiled slightly. Kaito looked at him with a tilt of his head. He'd never really thought about that. Not that he had the time to do so.
They all bowed and left the training room. Only the Chairman and Jinchul remained.
"That boy, he has no idea what he's capable of."
"Sir?"
"Jinchul, Goto Kaito will shock the entire world with his powers and many will come after him for it."
"I don't understand. How can you be so sure?"
"Let's make a bet."
"A bet, sir?"
"Yes. This time next year, Kaito will be in the top twenty hunters across the world. And people will recognize his name all over the world. Not as the boy who survived a tragedy but as a hunter who is changing the world."
"The top twenty? That's putting the bar a bit high, don't you think, sir?"
"No. He will achieve it. I believe in him."
"Why? Yes, he's an S-rank, but why put so much faith in him."
"His eyes."
"His eyes?"
"They burn with determination and hatred. He will utilize those intense emotions and defeat the magic beasts that plague this world."
"You sound so sure."
"And you don't sound sure enough."
Jinchul had no answer for that because it was true, he didn't think Kaito was anything special, just another S-rank who will think they're too good for the lower ranks.
"He will surprise you, Chief Inspector Woo."
The Chairman said with great conviction and left Jinchul to his thoughts. Jinchul looked at the blood on the floor and thought back on the report he received weeks ago about the dungeon break at the school. He thought about the destroyed building, something Kaito did unconsciously because rage and grief clouded his mind.
He sighed and left the room to go back to his office. He had paperwork to do and an S-rank to babysit. Jinchul's life would never again be the same again.
Goto Kaito was going to change all their lives, they just didn't know it yet. For the better or for the worst, that is to be determined.
After Kaito's breakdown the Chairman told everyone to go home. They were all still surprised by the amount of power Kaito could unleash unconsciously. Makes them wonder how much he could unleash consciously. Jinchul was tasked in taking Kaito home.
The car ride to the house was mostly silent, the only thing making any sort of noise was the radio. Jinchul glanced at Kaito from under his sunglasses every now and again. Kaito was staring out the window as they drove. He was exhausted from all the crying and didn't feel like talking.
Jinchul respected that. He didn't make small talk or force Kaito to talk. They just drove in silence, it wasn't an uncomfortable silence but it wasn't comfortable either. It was just silence. They parked in front of the house and got out.
Jinchul was getting out to explain to Kaito's family what had happened and that he was likely to become a hunter. If only they knew that this would be the last conversation Kaito will ever have with his family.
The door was thrown open just as they got on the porch and Park Ji-a stood there with a glare on her face.
"Why couldn't it have been you?!"
She yelled as soon as she saw Kaito. Jinchul wondered what she was talking about before it clicked. She wanted Kaito to be the dead one and not Taeyang. He looked at Kaito and saw that he wasn't even surprised at her outburst.
He just pushed past her gently and walked into the house. Jinchul followed with a nod in greeting towards Ji-a.
"I'm talking to you!"
She yelled as she whirled around to face Kaito's back. He ignored her and stepped further into the house, not even taking off his shoes. He already knew that he wasn't going to be there long. The thing about Kaito was that he could read people and situations like an open book. A blessing and a curse.
The yelling got the attention of their parents and they came from the kitchen to see what it was about. Park Kyue and Park Seo-jin looked at their son with the same contempt as their daughter. But when they saw his dead expression, Seo-jin's expression softened.
That was not the Kaito they knew.
"Oh, you're here."
Kyue said it with so much hatred that Jinchul wondered how Kaito didn't flinch. He just kept staring at them with the same expression he had on his face since he woke up in the hospital that morning.
"I'm gonna become a hunter."
His words surprised them. But not in the way Jinchul thought it would. The two women, well, women and teenage girl, looked at him with even more hate. His father was the only one with a concerned expression.
"Yeah? What so you could die in a dungeon? You know what? Go right ahead. Die. You should've died in that school and not Taeyang."
Jinchul had never heard so much hate in a teenagers voice before today.
"Yeah. Okay."
Kaito agreed and pushed past them and walked up the stairs. Kyue and Ji-a followed behind him. Still hurling insults at him, wishing him dead. Jinchul understood that they were grieving their son and brother but did they ever think how Taeyang's death was affecting Kaito? He was the one who saw how his brother died. How all his friends died. Shouldn't they be a bit more compassionate?
Seo-jin sat on a chair in the dinning room and placed his head in his hands.
"They're just grieving, the don't mean it."
His words sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince Jinchul.
"Mr Park, with all due respect, Kaito is grieving as well. And yet he is not hurling threats at people."
Seo-jin raised his head and stared at Jinchul. He was right, though. Since Kaito had woken up, he had never wished death on anyone. Not even himself.
The two just stared at each other for a while. A loud crash got their attention and they went upstairs to see what it was about.
They stood in the doorway and watched as Kaito was crouched down and picking up glass from a picture frame. He was careful in his movements despite his mother and sister still yelling at him. Jinchul looked around the room and saw bunk beds in one corner. Both unmade. He saw pictures around the room, medals and trophies as well.
It was Kaito and Taeyang's room. He stared at a picture of both boys smiling brightly. Kaito raising a judo trophy high above his head with a gold medal around his neck. He didn't look any younger than he did now. It was a recent picture.
The Kaito in the picture looked nothing like the Kaito in front of him. Not just because of the physical changes he went through with his awakening, but with the pure joy on his face on the picture. His eyes were so bright they shone. And now they were so dull they looked dead.
Kaito threw the glass in the trashcan in the room and placed the picture on the duffle bag on the lower bunk. He was ignoring everyone in the room. He took more pictures off the wall and stuffed it in the bag. Ji-a tried to stop him but he just glanced at her and her hands fell to her side.
Jinchul didn't know what she saw but it must've scared her because she took a step away from Kaito. Their mother saw this and moved so that she was in front of Kaito, he looked at her and her face changed. Gone was the fury and in its place fear.
Kaito kept packing while the two was frozen in fear. He grabbed something from the bedside table and held it up. Jinchul walked closer to see what it was and saw it was two blood covered gold medals. Kaito put them in the bag as well but left all the other memorabilia on the walls.
"I wish you were dead."
Ji-a whispered but everyone in the room heard her. Jinchul froze. Seo-jin's breath hitched. Kyue stared at her daughter. And Kaito? He turned towards her.
"Me too."
He zipped the bag closed and threw the strap over his shoulder.
"I hope, no, I pray, that you die a horrible death. You're not my brother, you're not even family. You're just a stray Mom and Dad felt pity for. Even your own parents didn't want you. Die already, you'd make a lot of people very happy."
Kaito stepped closer to her. He leaned down so they were face to face.
"Be careful what you wish for, Ji-a, you just might get it."
His voice wasn't loud nor was it angry. He said it so matter of fact that it stunned her.
"Jinchul, I accept the Chairman's offer to become a hunter. I don't need permission from an adult, right?"
"No. Hunters under the age of eighteen do not need permission from their parents or guardians, they are legally emancipated as soon as they awaken."
"Cool."
With that he and Jinchul walked out of the room. Seo-jin was frozen in horror he was losing his son in real time and this time not to death but because of the selfishness of his wife and daughter.
The three followed them downstairs and watched as Kaito snatched another photo from the wall. It was of him and Taeyang when they were at their middle school graduation. Kyue rushed to grab the photo but Kaito just raised it higher.
"The Association will provide you with living accommodations until you are able to get some of your own."
Jinchul told him. He was done with this whole situation. He had never met a family who wished death upon someone who barely survived in the first place. And the fact that Kaito wasn't at all surprised meant that he was expecting this outcome.
"Goto Kaito died two weeks ago. You don't know me and I don't know you. Don't contact me, for anything."
With that he opened the front door and walked out of the house he once called his home. Jinchul followed him silently.
"Kai."
Seo-jin called out.
"I hope you become a great hunter. And that you live your life to the fullest."
His words were sincere. Kaito walked to him and hugged him, much to the surprise of Kyue and Ji-a.
"Will do."
Kaito replied as he pulled away. He followed Jinchul to the car and that would be the last time the Parks saw him face to face. And it would be the last time Ji-a saw the man who considered her his sister, forever.
---
Kaito sat in the Chairman's office as he filled in his hunter forms. Jinchul had explained the situation to the Chairman and to say the Chairman was angry was an understatement. Kaito didn't looked bothered by the outcome at all but his eyes spoke louder than his mouth. It was somehow duller. Like the last thread of hope he was holding onto, snapped.
Kaito handed the forms to the Chairman and he read them. Next to next of kin he had written none. Address was left blank. Emergency contact was left blank as well. The Chairman closed his eyes as he saw that. He filled in the emergency contact with his own number.
"Goto Kaito, you are Korea's 9th S-rank. I look forward to seeing how far you'll come."
"Thank you, Mr Chairman."
"Of course the media is going to be curious about you and will want to interview you but you can ignore them if you wish to. Jinchul and I can cover that for you. Hunter Min and Guild Master Baek have both agreed to help with your training. All we need is your okay."
"Can we start tomorrow if possible?"
"Of course. They'll be notified of your decision."
Kaito nodded and stood up. He bowed to the Chairman and left the office. He was given a room at the association building temporarily while they found a secure apartment for him.
"That boy..."
"Sir?"
"No. It's nothing. Make sure he's comfortable, Jinchul."
"Yes, Sir."
"And keep an eye on him. He might look like nothing bothers him but his eyes speak louder than his mouth ever could."
"Of course, Sir."
"You can go home, Jinchul. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Thank you, Sir."
Jinchul bowed and left the office as well. Never in his life did he think he'd be put on babysitting duty for an S-rank much less one so powerful.
If only he knew that down the line that S-rank would become someone extremely important to him.
---
Kaito spent the night in the gym. He couldn't sleep and decided that he'd just train his body. He'd been asleep for two weeks and his body was stronger because of his powers but he felt out of shape. He ran around the gym for a while, lost in thought. He didn't even realize how fast he was running.
"I wonder..."
He stopped and breathed deeply once. He closed his eyes and felt for the lightning in him. He could do it unconsciously so he could do it consciously as well, right? He felt tingling on his body and forced it all to his legs.
It took a while but he got it after fifteen minutes of trying. He opened his eyes and started running again. This time the lightning around his legs boosted him. He ran even faster, of course he had never done this before and pushed too much, too fast. He couldn't pull the lightning back in to stop and tripped over his own feet and shot to the wall.
A Kaito sized dent was now in the wall. He laughed at the situation. A genuine laugh. He got up and dusted himself off. He tried again and again and everytime he got hurt he would laugh. Bruises scattered around his body but he didn't care.
By the time he stopped the gym was in disarray. Equipment was broken, dents in the walls, some walls had cracks running up them. He had no idea how long he had been in the gym but it had to have been a while.
The gym doors opened and Jinchul stood at them. Kaito turned his head towards him. The two stared at each other for a moment before Jinchul shifted his eyes towards the destruction of the gym.
"What-?"
"Couldn't sleep so I came to the gym."
"You destroyed the gym because you couldn't sleep? Did you have another breakdown?"
"No and no. I was training, exercising and I wanted to see if I could summon the lightning voluntarily. I can."
Jinchul pinched the bridge of his nose, already feeling a headache forming and it was only six in the morning. Yeah, babysitting this kid was going to send him to the grave before he hit thirty.
"And the bruises covering your body?"
"Trial and error?"
Kaito's casual shrugged made Jinchul want to strangle him. Never before had Jinchul felt the urge to hit someone, until now that is. He closed his eyes and prayed for patience because if he prayed for strength, he might actually hit Kaito.
"Shower, eat, and get changed. Your training starts at 7."
He turned and walked out, now rubbing his temples. Kaito went to do just that. At six fifty he walked into the Chairman's office where Yoonho, Byung-Gu, and Eunseok were already waiting for him.
Jinchul had his sunglasses on but Kaito could feel the glare from the man.
Chairman Go Gunhee of the Korean Hunter's Association was staring blankly at his laptop as the news about the dungeon break at the school played on loop. It was a tragedy over a thousand people were dead that they knew off, how many unaccounted for. This was a disaster for the hunter's association and that was putting it lightly.
A knock at his office door snapped him out of his thoughts. He straightened up and looked towards the door.
"Come in."
"Sir."
Woo Jicnhul, Chief Inspector of the Surveillance Division walked in. The man was usually stoic and all business but even he couldn't hide the anguish in his eyes.
"Report."
"Sir. The dungeon break at Seoul High (fake name)... the incident... the dungeon break happened at... according to the survivors the dungeon break happened after assembly when most of them were walking to class or were going to the field for PE. The survivors that were unharmed were at PE when the gate broke open. Everyone who was close to the gate had died before they even knew what was happening. A group of freshmen survived because a group of six boys saved them..."
Jinchul, a man of professionalism, stumbled over his words partially. His hands were also subtly shaking. The Chairman said nothing about this because honestly, if Jinchul wasn't affected by this incident, he'd fear the man wasn't human at all.
"The six boys were all seniors, ages seventeen and eighteen. Of the six boys... five are dead and one is in hospital in critical condition. From the corresponding hunters, they tried to heal his injuries but it was as if his body rejected the healing, hence his critical state. They all had matching gold medals around their necks or near the sight where they died. The survivor awakened and according to the hunters, he is powerful. He destroyed most of the building. And the only reason the building didn't collapse is because he passed out. He was clinging to one of the deceased, which let's us believe that the two were close."
The Chairman listened silently as Jinchul spoke. Letting the man take breaks where needed. Jinchul looked at the Chairman as he spoke because if he read from the report, he feared he'd cry and that was something he didn't do.
"They... the five boys didn't die quick... well, one did, but the others suffered. We got the names of the boys and all the deceased. Park Taeyang died the slowest, he had multiple stab wounds and broken ribs. From what we found out the boy that clung to him is Goto Kaito."
Jinchul paused and let that name sink in.
"Goto?"
The Chairman asked thoughtfully. Everyone knew Goto Ryuji, strongest Japanese S-rank hunter. And Goto was not a common name in Korea, hell, it wasn't even a Korean name. Jinchul clutched the papers a little tighter.
"Goto Kaito is the only survivor out of those who did not manage to escape. He is the one who saved the group of freshmen by throwing a table at the centaur. He was taken in by the Parks when he was four years old after his parents up and left him in a foreign country. He is... was the captain of the school's basketball team and he won them the championships three years in a row. They were all at assembly to congratulate the basketball players for their magnificent win this past Friday."
Jinchul swallowed before continuing.
"Goto Kaito risked his life to save those freshmen. He saw how his friends and brother died and he awakened because of that trauma. Goto Kaito will never be okay again and I fear that he would either become a great asset to the country as a hunter or a very dangerous individual. Our hunters could not even go near his barrier as it was too volatile and seemed to lash out at them. He evaporated centaur that most hunters have trouble fighting. And he did it unconsciously. His pain and rage fueled his powers which makes him dangerous."
The Chairman looked at Jinchul with narrowed eyes. He knew what Jinchul was trying to say. Kaito could either help this country tilt the power scale or he could be a danger to them all. Only time would tell which it was.
"His screams... the corresponding hunters reported that his screams will forever haunt them."
The Chairman raised a hand to stop Jinchul from speaking further and increased the volume on his laptop and pressed play. Kaito's screams came from the speakers, echoing through the office. The fact that it was so loud said enough. The reporters were outside the school and their was commotion around them but Kaito's screams could be heard clearly.
"This child... his screams are this loud because he lost his brother in the most brutal way and right in front of him. Tell me, Jinchul, if you were to lose someone close to you, let me rephrase, if your loved one were to be killed by a monster from myth, would you be calm? Would you have done anything differently? Mind you, you're only a teenager, who biggest fear should've been college."
The Chairman stared Jinchul dead in the eyes as the video kept playing. Jinchul froze at the direct question, he had never thought about it, he always separated himself from situations like this. Preferring to be as professional as he could be.
"I don't know."
"Exactly. You don't know. This boy lost five of his closest people and you expected him to be calm about it. How long do you think they were running before they all got hunted down? What do you think went through their minds as they were dying?"
"I have no answer for that."
"Fear, Jinchul. Fear was running through their minds. I'm sure they knew they were going to die. Only, they didn't expect it to be so swiftly. They were probably terrified as they were hunted down like animals. I'm sure your report says they were found together, yes?"
"Yes sir. Only one was found away from the group. He was the one who died the second slowest. He was pierced through the shoulder and chest."
"There you have it. They didn't even split up. They probably left him because he would've slowed them down as they ran. What do you think went through their minds as they had to leave behind their dead friend?"
"Dead? How do you know he was already dead when they left him?"
"From how close to each other the others were found, no way they left him to die alone. Jinchul, this was a traumatic experience for everyone involved. Have some compassion for the survivor, yes?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Good. I want you to monitor Goto Kaito."
"Sir?"
"Something tells me that boy won't be hospitalized for very long."
Jinchul looked at the Chairman confused but didn't question his orders. He simply placed the documents on the Chairman's desk bowed and left the office. He sighed when the door closed behind him and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had to get to the hospital. Kaito would be out of surgery right about now.
---
Kaito opened his eyes (he doesn't know when he closed them) and had no idea where he was. His body was stiff as a board and he had something down his throat but couldn't raise his hand to take it out. He stared at the stark white ceiling with half lidded eyes.
A nurse walked in and froze when she saw that his eyes were open. She ran out of the room to call a doctor and two doctors followed her back to the room. Kaito had been on life support for two weeks and suddenly he woke up? Impossible.
The doctor's examined Kaito's eyes. He didn't react to any of it, just stared at the ceiling as the checked his pupilary reactions. The nurse removed the breathing tube gently. They expected Kaito to at least cough but nothing. He just kept staring at the ceiling with blank eyes.
"Nurse Yuan, contact the association."
The lead doctor, Dr Park Yoonjin (no relation to the Parks who adopted Kaito) said as he watched Kaito's reactions carefully. The nurse didn't even question him as she ran out of the room. Not long after she walked back in with Jinchul who was already on his way to Kaito's room. He had been visiting the hospital for the past two weeks. The only one who visited, the Parks didn't visit Kaito at all.
"Mr Goto can you hear me?"
Jinchul asked and Kaito's blank eyes moved towards him. Jinchul had to hold back a flinch. He had seen all kinds of expressions in his years but never one like this. Kaito's eyes were dead. There was no light in them, his red eyes looked black which should not even be possible. (The eye color change happened with the awakening, same with the blue and red hair Kaito was rocking.)
"Mr Goto-"
"Don't call me that."
Kaito's voice was gravelly and flat as he spoke. There was no emotion behind it. His eyes moved back to the ceiling and he just stared at it.
"My apologies, Kaito. Do you know where you are?"
"No."
"Do you remember the last thing that happened."
"N-"
Kaito paused, Jinchul should've waited before he asked that question. Kaito's eyes widened as they filled with tears that spilled out quickly. His breathing hitched and Jinchul tensed.
"Out. Get out of the room. Now!"
He ordered the doctors and nurse as Kaito began to hyperventilate lightning crackled around his figure. The doctors and the nurse didn't question Jinchul and ran out of the room.
"Taeyang."
Jinchul found out that he preferred the flat tone to the harrowing tone Kaito used to call out to his brother. Kaito's silent tears turned to sobs as he remembered what happened. His eyes glowed the same deep red as the lightning crackling around his body. Jinchul knowing what Kaito's screams can do moved forward and covered his mouth.
"I need you to calm down or you'll kill everyone in this hospital. Can you do that for me?"
Kaito's devastated eyes moved to Jinchul and he nodded. He didn't want to be a murderer. He calmed down some but it was enough for the lightning to fizzle out. His eyes were still glowing and Jinchul knew that this kid was powerful, the little lightning he let out, had cracked the walls and windows in the room. If Kaito had released just a little more, the room would have been destroyed and maybe the entire wing of the hospital.
Jinchul removed his hand from Kaito's mouth and sat on the chair beside the bed. A chair he frequented often these past two weeks.
"Kaito."
Jinchul's voice was soft, which was rare for him. But he didn't need Kaito loosing control.
"You are the only survivor out of those who couldn't manage to escape safely."
He watched his reaction and as predicted Kaito's eyes widened and more tears spilled from them.
"My... brother..."
"Your brother didn't make it. I'm sorry. The hunters arrived too late and he was already dead when they got there. An S-rank healer can heal just about anything but they can't bring the dead back to life. I'm sorry."
"Why...?"
"Pardon?"
"Why did they take so long to come for us? Why? Huh?"
Kaito was getting agitated and lighting sparked back to life at his agitation.
"Please, calm down."
Kaito breathed and forced himself to remain calm.
"My name is Woo Jinchul and I am the Chief Inspector of the Monitoring Department of the Korean Hunter's Association. It took thirty minutes for the hunters to respond to the call. The reason they couldn't get to you in time was because of the overwhelming number of centaur that appeared out of the gate."
"So they were weak."
It wasn't a question and Jinchul froze at that. Weak? A-rank hunters were the first on the scene before the S-ranks and this kid just called them all weak. He looked at Kaito closely and his breath hitched when he saw the pure hatred in Kaito's eyes. He expected to see more lightning but there was none. Kaito was keeping himself calm for the sake of everyone else in the hospital.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"How is it that you look completely healed? You don't even have any bruises from where you were beaten."
"Dunno."
"Are you in pain?"
"No."
"Raise your right arm for me."
Kaito raised the arm that was in a cast over his head with no problem. He hadn't even noticed the cast or the bandages covering his head and torso.
"How?"
Kaito just shrugged at the question. Jinchul stood up and went to call the doctors back into the room.
"When can I leave?"
"As soon as you're discharged."
The doctors came into the room but Kaito didn't look at either of them. They checked his breathing, his ribs, his head and found nothing wrong with it. Which was surprising since Kaito's body had rejected the healing of the hunters. They removed the bandages and found no bruising or scarring. Kaito looked completely normal as if he had never been injured in the first place.
They cut off the cast and he flexed his fingers. He was sitting up on the bed and they were shocked at that too. They removed the catheter bag and Kaito got off the bed. He walked to the bathroom on steady legs which shouldn't be possible as both his legs had been stabbed multiple times.
Kaito was only in the bathroom for five minutes before he came out.
"What's with my hair?"
He asked Jinchul.
"Is something the matter with it?"
"Yeah. Why isn't it black?"
"Could be due to your awakening."
Kaito touched the ends of his hair and sighed. He liked his black hair but he couldn't do anything about it now. He'd dye it later.
"I'll go get your discharge paperwork."
Yoonjin said as he dragged his colleague out of the room.
"Kaito, your family, they didn't come to visit you. Not once."
Kaito froze at that but didn't say anything. Jinchul saw his expression change but didn't comment on it.
"If you're up for it, would you mind visiting the association with me?"
"I don't have clothes."
"I'll buy some for you."
"Thanks. I'll pay you back. Large for a shirt. Medium for pants. I'll walk bare foot. Could you get me basketball shorts, please?"
"No need to pay me back. Are you sure about walking barefoot? I can get you shoes too."
"All Stars, size 260(USA size 8). Thanks. Any color is fine."
Jinchul nodded and left to go buy the clothes and other essentials so Kaito could shower as well. So the hospital smell wasn't clinging to him as it was now.
Kaito sat on the bed deep in thought while he was alone in the room. He already knew that he had lost his family, the Parks not visiting said a lot and it said it quite loud. The doctors came in and set the forms on the bed next to him but said nothing. They had contacted his family to tell them he was awake but got no answer.
Jinchul came back thirty minutes later with the clothes and essentials. Kaito took them silently and went back to the bathroom to shower and get dressed. He came out twenty minutes later dressed. He had tied his hair back but left some strands to fall in his face. He let Jinchul sign his discharge forms and they left the room together.
They left the forms with the doctors and left the hospital. The car ride to the association was silent. Jinchul had already informed the Chairman that they were coming and the S-ranks of the country was informed as well. They didn't know Kaito's rank but they saw from video evidence what his powers could do, they needed to be cautious. They were also just there to stop Kaito if he went on a rampage. As if they could.
Many agents stared at Kaito as he walked beside Jinchul to the Chairman's office. They all knew who he was, the survivor of the tragedy. He didn't look at any of them, just stared straight ahead as he walked. They got to the Chairman's office on the top floor and Jinchul knocked. When they stepped in the S-ranks were all scattered around the office. Kaito looked at all seven of them with a blank face.
"Sir."
Jinchul bowed slightly to the Chairman. Kaito did no such thing and just sat on the couch in the office.
"Mr Goto-"
The Chairman started and the S-ranks turned to face Kaito.
"Don't call me that."
"My apologies, Kaito. Do you know why you are here?"
"No."
"Would you like to know?"
"Sure."
Everyone was shocked at his lack of respect when speaking to the Chairman. The Chairman himself didn't take it too badly.
"You have been informed that you awakened, correct?"
"Yeah. The hair and eyes are a dead give away too."
"Yes, seems so. We would like to evaluate you but before we do that I want to ask you something."
"Go ahead."
"Do you want to become a hunter?"
Kaito thought long and hard about that. Did he want to become a hunter? The very thing that failed to save them because they were too weak.
"Let me ask you something in return. Why don't you evaluate me first? I'll tell you my answer after that."
The Chairman smiled but it wasn't a cheerful smile, it was a smile that said so much and yet nothing at all. Kaito could see the calculation in the old man's eyes.
"Of course. Right this way."
The Chairman stood up and Kaito followed, they all left the office and walked to the evaluation room on the ground floor. Many agents stared again and those who came for their own evaluation actually moved out of the way when they saw the Chairman and all the S-ranks. Kaito walked in with them when the person who was already in their walked out.
The agent was about to call the next person when she saw them and she froze. The Chairman just smiled as he walked past her and into the room. The others didn't even look at her as they followed. The door closed behind them and Kaito looked around the room. It was a large room with a giant orb in the center of it and machines around it.
"Please step on the platform, Kaito."
The Chairman directed gently. Like a grandfather speaking to his grandson. Kaito walked up the platform and everyone moved closer to the machines to be able to see his rank. The other agent conducting the evaluation was sweating.
"Place your hand on the orb, please."
Kaito placed his hand on the orb. He breathed deeply.
CRACK! BOOM!
The orb cracked and exploded. A lightning barrier surrounded Kaito to protect him from the blast. The others froze in shock. This kid just broke the biggest mana reader in Korea. The Chairman's smile widened as he saw this. He was greatly pleased. The agent had passed out.
Alarms blared and Kaito still had his hand raised to where the orb used to be. The sprinklers went off as the flames and smoke rose and they were all drenched. The S-ranks were shocked. None of them had broken the orb. That meant this kid was stronger than them by a lot and he didn't even know it.
"Kaito, my boy. Usually you'd come back in three days for a reevaluation but I think we can do it today, what do you say?"
The Chairman sounded excited which was rare as he too kept up the professionalism.
"Sure."
The lightning barrier went down and Kaito walked to them. His hair was clinging to his face but he didn't move it. They walked out of the room and everyone tensed when they walked out. Kaito glanced at the female agent as she ran into the room.
They walked to an empty room below the association building. It was stark white and looked like a psych ward room.
"That lightning. It is a peculiar color, red. Not seen amongst hunters. Their lightning is usually blue."
The Chairman said as the door closed behind them all. Jinchul looked at Kaito and the kid just shrugged.
"How did you put up the barrier?"
"Dunno. It just went up as soon as the orb exploded."
"So, it's unconscious?"
"Probably."
"Please stand in the center of the room. The information we gathered on you says you know martial arts, that correct?"
"Yep. Don't just know it. Competed in it."
Kaito walked to the center of the room. The Chairman turned to the still stunned S-ranks.
"You will fight him. Don't hold back."
"He's a kid."
Baek Yoonho found his voice first.
"Yes. I know. You will fight him. I want to see how his powers worked."
They were apprehensive but they were curious as well. Choi Jong-in stepped forward first. He stood across Kaito and smirked slightly.
He shot a fireball to him and it exploded as it always does. When the dust settled, Kaito was standing there unharmed with a lightning barrier around him again.
"This isn't going to work."
Jinchul commented. They all looked at him.
"What do you mean, Jinchul?"
The Chairman turned to his right hand.
"Kaito. He's on the defensive. Like he said, the lightning reacts to danger near him. Agitate him. Let him be on the offense."
Despite speaking in a normal tone, everyone heard him. Perks of being an S-rank. Kaito breathed deeply again and lightning sparked around him. He poured all his anger out and the lightning grew in size and force. He screamed and the lightning shot out straight towards Jong-in. He didn't even have to move, the barrier shot up again so he was on offense and defense.
Everyone's eyes widened at the sheer size of the attack aimed at Jong-in, at least the man was smart enough to dodge. Lightning hit the wall and the building shook. Kaito screamed again and this time it was a scream filled with anguish. The lightning shot out again and his hands shot out as well. Barriers covered all of them as he let the lightning loose with all his emotions.
His eyes glowed red and it was kinda creepy to see. He looked like a demon. All he needed was the horns, wings, and tail. (Pfft. Soon.)
They all knew that he was letting out all his emotions. He was finally releasing everything he didn't release on the day of the incident. The lights flicked and burst and the room was plunged into darkness, the only light coming form Kaito's lightning. Now he looked even creepier. Their breaths hitched at the sheer grief in his scream. He didn't even pause to breathe. He clutched the front of his shirt with both hands, right where his heart was located and sank to his knees.
He was crying. He let out a louder scream mixed with a sob and the lightning reacted. But it wasn't only lightning that reacted. They figured out why his hair had blue in it as well as red. The temperature of the room dropped and they could see their breaths as they watched him. The walls frosted over and lightning broke the ice. And the cycle repeated until Kaito ran out of steam, which took a while. Did S-ranks have enhanced lungs because, whoa, this kid has been screaming a while and at top volume.
His forehead was on the floor as he cried. His screams had died down and he was just sobbing. His powers reacted to his emotions as they figured out. The Chairman didn't have the smile on his face anymore, Kaito's heartwretching screams and sobs struck them all. They knew he had suffered tremendously but they didn't think he'd let out so violently.
"Emotions. That's what his powers feed on."
Jinchul observed as he watched Kaito. And yeah, Kaito's powers stem from his emotions. He has no control over the powers he had gotten and at the moment he had no control over his emotions. The hurt was still too raw to control and he didn't have time to grieve properly.
"Is this what's gonna happen everytime he has to fight in a dungeon? If so, it's very dangerous to him and to anyone who enters a gate with him."
Choi Jong-in raised a valid point. If Kaito couldn't control his powers or his emotions, he would be a danger to everyone, including himself.
"No. That's not it. His powers are in control of him and not the other way around. The barriers surrounded him without him consciously thinking about it. He has no idea what he's doing and that is more dangerous than anything. He could use too much too fast. He needs help."
Min Byung-Gu said as he took a step forward. The barrier around him stopped him but the lightning didn't hurt him when he touched it.
"He's not trying to hurt us. He's the one hurting."
He said as he pushed against the barrier more. By some weird luck or rather by coincidence the barrier gave way and he walked towards Kaito still on the floor sobbing. Byung-Gu walked at a steady pace. He didn't rush, the lightning around him actively redirected itself as he got closer to Kaito.
He kneeled in front of him and wrapped his arms around him in a hug. The others watched in shock at this. Not shock at Byung-Gu's actions, he was a genuinely good person, so his actions didn't surprise them. What did surprise them was that the lightning and ice wasn't attacking him.
Kaito's breath hitched as Byung-Gu hugged him. He raised his head and looked at him with teary red eyes. He raised his arms slowly and wrapped them around Byung-Gu. The hug tightened and Kaito calmed down after a few minutes.
"You're gonna be okay, Kaito. Maybe not now but someday you will be okay."
Byung-Gu whispered in his ear as they hugged. Kaito let out a shuddering breath and nodded. He didn't believe him but he wanted to. He wanted to be okay. He wanted to be fine. He didn't want to have outbursts like this one everytime.
The lightning around them waned the more Kaito calmed down. The temperature in the room also regulated. They were plunged into darkness again as the lightning faded. Byung-Gu didn't let go and Kaito was grateful for it.
"Kaito. You need help controlling your powers. Or you'll put yourself and others in danger."
Kaito nodded against Byung-Gu's shoulder. He knew he needed help and he was willing to accept any kind of help they could offer.
"We'll help you, okay? Maybe not all of us but I definitely will."
He nodded again and tightened his arms around Byung-Gu.
"Thank you."
"You're very welcome, kid."
Yoonho sighed as they all heard the conversation. Of course Byung-Gu would be the first one to offer help to someone in need. It was in his nature.
"You're a real pain in the ass, you know that?"
He grumbled as he walked towards them as well. Despite the room being pitch black Yoonho could see where they were, hell all of them could.
"We'll help you, kid. Don't worry about it."
He told Kaito as he ruffled his hair. Most of the S-ranks weren't on friendly terms with each other, lots of rivalry and petty arguments, but Yoonho would be damned if he let a kid suffer alone. He'd help him anyway he could.
A perfectly normal day was about to turn very devastating for Goto Kaito and he didn't even know it. It would be the day he experienced a loss he didn't know existed and one he would never truly recover from, ever.
Goto Kaito was a Japanese 'orphan' whose parents abandoned him in Korea when he was just 4 years old. One day they were there and then they weren't. Kaito was taken in by the neighbors, the Parks. Where he met Park Taeyang who was five years old at the time. The two became brothers and they were closer than most biological siblings.
The Parks were good people who treated him like family. They also had a daughter who was five years younger than Kaito and six years younger than Taeyang. The two adored their little sister and would do anything to keep her safe.
Too bad Kaito would lose everything he held dear in the span of a week and he didn't even know it.
The students had just gotten back from assembly where the principal had thanked the basketball team for winning the championships for the third time in a row. Most of the students were already in their classes. Kaito and five other members of the team were still walking to their's when it happened.
"Hyung, are we going to your house to celebrate again?"
Kun Min-jae, one of the five teammates asked with a grin on his face. All of them were in high spirits after last week's game. It was their final year of high school and they wanted to leave with a bang. The gold medals around their necks gleamed in the fluorescent lights of the hallway.
"Why our house? Why can't your mom cook for us this time?"
Taeyang asked with a mischievous grin.
"We all know that Min-jae is afraid of his dad and would never ask to host us."
Han Seo-joon snickered, causing all of them to burst out laughing. Such a memorable occasion. Bright smiles. Bright futures. Six friends against all odds.
"Eomma wouldn't mind hosting. She's expecting you freeloaders anyway."
Kaito didn't turn to look at his friends but they all knew he was smiling by the tone of his voice. Taeyang threw an arm over his shoulder and ruffled his hair.
"Why would you tell them that, Kai? I wanted them to sweat a little."
"My bad."
"We all know that you don't mean that."
Kaito laughed and looked at his brother affectionately. The two have been close since the moment they met when they were little. Attached to the hip. Two peas in a pod. Where one was, the other wasn't far behind.
"So we're coming to dinner, right? Right?"
Min-jae asked bouncing on his toes like an excited puppy. Min Do-yoon, one of the more serious guys from the group grabbed his collar and held him still.
"Yes, you fool. Stop acting like an overexcited dog. Do you not get fed at home?"
Min-jae just pouted but said nothing. Kaito tilted his head back as he glanced at the two of them. The two always had a weirdly romantic relationship.
"Just kiss already. The tension is giving me a headache."
He looked forward again as the two froze. The other three laughed so hard that they had to hold their stomachs.
"Ne~ Do-yoon, when are you finally gonna ask Min-jae out? We're dying to know."
Eun Ji-ho asked between gasps of air as he laughed. Do-yoon glared at him which only caused him to laugh harder. Kaito snickered but coughed to cover it up, not wanting Do-yoon's glare directed at him.
The laughter died down when an ear piercing scream echoed off the hallway walls. They all ran in the direction of the scream and froze dead in their tracks. Surrounding a group of freshmen were centaur. A monster they only saw in mythology books. They had never encountered a dungeon beast before and now over a dozen of them were in their school. They were frozen in fear with no way of defending themselves.
Kaito was the first to move, impulse controlling his actions. He hurled a table from the hallway at the nearest centaur and it broke on impact as it connected with the centaur's back. The centaur turned slowly and snarled. It dropped the girl it was holding and the others soon turned their attention to the group of boys and Kaito felt like his life was over.
Oh, how true that was but not in the way he thought.
Kaito was a tall kid, standing at one hundred and eighty three centimeters tall. The perfect height for basketball and martial arts and also the perfect height to get hit on the head by a monster chasing you like you're its next meal.
Taeyang grabbed Kaito's wrist and dragged him away. The centaur stepped closer to them and their eyes widened in fear as they took a step back. They turned and ran.
"Run!! Evacuate!"
Kaito yelled at the freshman as the six of them ran in the direction they came from, the centaur hot on their heels. They ran down the hallway and to the stairs, hoping to buy some time for everyone else to evacuate. What they didn't know was that, the centaur they saw, weren't the only ones and that most of the school was crawling with them.
They ran through the eerily empty hallway. They turned a corner and froze again. The walls were covered in blood and bodies of their deceased peers. Seo-joon covered his mouth as bile rose up his throat. Kaito had tears in his eyes. The stomping of the centaur behind them forced them to keep moving forward. But how do you outrun a monster with the body of a horse?
Answer. You can't. No matter how athletic you might be.
They ran until their lungs burned and their legs ached. But they didn't run to the exit. They were too consumed by fear to think rationally. Their only thought was to get away. They sprinted down the stairs and narrowly missed the spear that was swinging at their heads as they reached the bottom.
They tripped and fell as they dodged. They slipped on blood and slid on the ground. They now knew why it was so quiet. Everywhere they looked, there was blood. And the giant pool they were lying in was still warm. Kaito grabbed Taeyang as the centaur swung again. His left calf got cut in the process, not that he could feel it. Adrenaline was running high.
They scrambled up and ran again. An arrow pierced Do-yoon's shoulder and he stumbled. Si-woon grabbed him as they all kept running. They couldn't stop. They had to keep running. At least until the hunters got there. But could they do it? Could they run for however long it took for the hunters to show up?
Their uniform clung to them as the blood soaked in further. Their white shirts now dyed red. They looked like they were in a horror movie, and honestly, it wasn't far off. They were in a horror movie, only this was real life and their lives were really in danger.
Do-yoon felt the affects of the blood loss not too long after. He was getting lightheaded and his steps stumbled a lot. Kaito turned his head back just in time to see Do-yoon being pierced through the chest from behind.
"DO-YOON!"
He turned back and caught his friend as he sank to the ground. The others stopped as well and their eyes widened in horror at the sight. Kaito grabbed the spear and tried to pull it out but his hand wouldn't move at all. He knew it was a bad idea to pull it out but they didn't have the time to stay where they were. They were out in the open and they'd all be dead soon enough if they stayed. He let go of the spear and picked Do-yoon up in a bridal carry and kept running.
He kept his eyes forward as tears rolled down his cheeks. They needed to hide. Do-yoon needed medical treatment ASAP and he knew that he was gonna lose his friend with the amount of blood Do-yoon was spitting up and the amount that was soaking his already stained uniform further.
They found an empty hallway and Kaito put Do-yoon down against the wall as gently as he could. His arms were covered in blood and he closed his eyes for a second before opening them again. He cupped Do-yoon's face.
"Hyung. You gotta hang on. Okay?"
He whispered as Do-yoon coughed up more blood. He grinned up at Kaito and Kaito knew that his friend wasn't going to make it. No matter what they did, Do-yoon was dying unless a healer magically appeared in front of them, right here, right now.
Min-jae grabbed Do-yoon's hand and held it tightly. Min-jae was wiping tears with his forearms as he kneeled beside Do-yoon as well. Kaito moved back a bit to give them space. He ran a hand through his long hair, staining it with blood. He didn't even care at that point. He was about to lose one of his closest friends and he had no was of saving him.
"Cap-tain... not... your... fault..."
Do-yoon's words were weak but he looked at Kaito with soft eyes and somehow that made Kaito feel worse than he already was. Kaito's tears were falling fast now as he crouched down and sobbed in his knees.
Do-yoon raised his blood covered hand weakly and cupped Kaito's face. Kaito lifted his head and stared at Do-yoon through blurry vision. Do-yoon's eyes dulled as the pool of blood grew beneath him. His hand slacked and Kaito caught it, holding against his face firmly. He didn't care about the blood. He just wanted his friend to know that he was there.
Won Si-woo, the quietest member of the group was shaking as he cried silently. His arms were wrapped around his middle as if to protect himself from this horrible nightmare. They were all confused and in shock. When did the gate open for it to break today? Had it been open this whole past week and nobody noticed? Why hadn't anybody noticed? Was Do-yoon really dying? Dead? Were they dreaming? All these thoughts ran through their minds and yet, they could not make sense of any of them.
Do-yoon's eyes went blank and his hand was limp in Kaito's grasp. Kaito let out a choked gasp as he stared at those blank eyes. He couldn't look away no matter how hard he tried. Taeyang grabbed his shoulders as grief hit them all. Do-yoon was dead and he died right in front of them.
Distant galloping brought them back to reality. They all turned their heads to the far end of the hallway where the galloping grew louder as the centaur grew closer. Kaito placed Do-yoon's hand down gently and closed his eyes with his hand. He stood up on shaky legs and faced the end of the hallway.
"We're gonna die if we stay here."
His voice was hollow, not his usual cheery tone. When he turned to the others he saw the same look in their eyes that he probably had too. Blank, hollow, traumatized eyes. The kind that would probably never go away. The kind that stays with a person years after the traumatic experience. The kind that no seventeen and eighteen year olds should ever have.
"We have to go."
Taeyang said following his brother's line of thinking. If they stayed, they would die and it wouldn't be painless deaths. They had no choice but to keep running until the hunters came. It wasn't like they could fight the centaur. Even with their martial arts, they would lose spectacularly. They didn't have specialized weapons like the hunters, they didn't have enhanced strength, they didn't have magic like the mages or healers. They were normal human beings who will die if they tried to fight.
The growling and snarling got closer and they all prepared to run but before they could, another dozen or so came from the direction they were supposed to run to. They froze, turned back and ran in the direction they came. Their path that way was also blocked. They were trapped with no way out. Taeyang threw open the side window. The jump from the forth floor would probably break some bones but it would be better than being dead.
The centaur grew closer and closer. They had a split second to make a decision and they chose to run. They abandoned the window and ran to the far end of the hallway where the other centaur were coming from. There was a staircase right before the hallway cut off. They had one shot at this. They ran as fast as they could. They made it in the nick of time and bolted up the stairs instead of down. The centaur hot on their tales again. They ran to the fifth floor and ran down the hallway. They needed to get to the ground floor to get out of the school.
They didn't look back as they ran, which was their first mistake. A swoosh sound, a gasp, and a thud made them turn their heads back. That was their second mistake. Min-jae's head had been separated from his body. It happened so fast that by the time the others turned their heads, his body was just beginning to fall to the ground.
Si-woo screamed and tripped over his own feet. They had lost another friend. Was this how their lives ended? Being picked off one by one? Was this how they all died? Before they could grab Si-woo, a spear was driven straight through his skull. He didn't even have time to cry out before he was dead. Kaito stared at his dead friends. Third mistake. When he turned his head slammed right into the stick of another spear. His vision blurred and blood dripped from his head already.
He gasped and Taeyang dragged him down and under the next swing. Ji-ho trembled and was the next one to die. He was sliced clean in half at the waist. He stared at Kaito and Taeyang as he coughed up blood. His body detached and he too fell to the ground, dead.
Taeyang kept his hold on Kaito's wrist as they kept running. Kaito was stumbling because of the head wound and his right eye was blurry because of the blood. He couldn't see properly and kept tripping over his own feet. They were slammed into a wall from the side. Taeyang's grip loosened as they both gasped in pain. Kaito was kicked in the ribs and was sent flying back. He landed hard on his shoulder and gasped in pain. He opened his eyes just as Taeyang grabbed the back of his shirt to drag him up.
Always looking out for his kid brother. No matter what. Kaito couldn't breathe properly as his ribs were probably broken. He couldn't even walk, let alone run. Taeyang set him against a wall. He couldn't hear properly now that he thought about it.
"... okay... you're... fine... here..."
He had no idea what Taeyang was saying but he nodded along. Taeyang seeing his brother's dazed look and slow nod, spoke louder.
"You're gonna be okay! It's gonna be fine! I'm right here!"
It was a lie. Nothing was going to be okay and they both knew it. Kaito was crying again this time from the pain. He had never cried so much in his life. Not even when his parents abandoned him. Not even when he had his tooth punched out at twelve by a bully. Never as much as he had cried today alone.
Tragedy struck again when a centaur loomed over them. Taeyang tilted his head back and looked up. The centaur was grinning at them menacingly. Kaito blinked slowly as he processed what was about to happen right now. They were going to die. A seventeen year old and an eighteen year old was going to die before they even lived their lives.
Kaito was going to die without knowing the answer to why his parents abandoned him. They were both going to die on what was supposed to be one of the happiest days of their lives. Kaito's vision was blurry and not just because of the blood and tears.
The centaur brought its spear up and Kaito stared at it, accepting his fate. Unfortunately for them, the centaur wanted to play with its prey. It twirled the spear and hit them both with the side of it hard. The flew to the side and Kaito screamed as pain shot through his body like fire. His vision was swimming now.
Taeyang dragged himself to his little brother and took his hand in his tightly. The centaur strolled to them and stabbed Kaito in the thigh and then Taeyang through the shoulder. Taeyang kept his tight grip on Kaito's hand, despite the pain. The centaur kept playing 'Who can scream the loudest?' with the two. Kaito was almost unconscious as he stared at his brother.
Taeyang had a smile on his face as he looked at Kaito. He cupped Kaito's face with his other hand and brought their foreheads together.
"I love you. Always."
He whispered right before the centaur stabbed him through the side, piercing his heart and lungs. He coughed up blood but kept smiling at his brother as he died. Kaito's eyes widened in absolute horror as Taeyang choked, gasped and went silent. The hands holding him went limp and Taeyang's head dropped to the floor.
His body went cold as Taeyang's blank eyes stared at him. He was hyperventilating, which was putting more strain on his already injured body. He screamed. Loud. Unrestrained. And absolutely devastated. Tears were flowing faster. His body tingled and the centaur brought its spear up again but never stabbed Kaito as lightning struck it from out of nowhere.
Kaito grabbed Taeyang despite his body protesting. He held his brother close as he screamed. He screamed and cried and begged it all to be a horrible nightmare.
What Kaito didn't know was that hunters were in the building already and had felt a massive surge of mana suddenly appear. What he also didn't know was that he was destroying half the school building with his new found awakened powers. What he didn't know was that the trauma from seeing Taeyang die had awakened him. What he didn't know was that his hair had changed color. What he didn't know was that his throat was bleeding from all the screaming. What he didn't know was that the centaur that had migrated to them had all evaporated as lightning surged around them.
What he didn't know was that they all died that day but only five of them stopped breathing. What he didn't know was that hunters were trying to calm him down as the building was actively collapsing because of his powers. What he didn't know was that his throat was bleeding because of all the screaming. What he also didn't know was that his grief stricken screams were echoing and it would haunt Korea for a very long time. What he definitely didn't know was that he was absorbing part of Taeyang and he wouldn't know that for a while.
---
When the hunter's association was called about a dungeon break at a high school, they didn't expect to find so many dead in the span of the thirty minutes since they got that call. They had deployed all the nearby hunters they could. And while they saved students and faculty members, a lot still died. It was a big school and the hunters had only managed to save forty percent of its occupants. The other sixty percent was dead.
If put in individual numerical values, that was approximately over a thousand people. Majority being students. The hunters went through the school and killed all centaur they found. They were moving floor to floor, classroom to classroom. When they killed most of the centaur, a scream made them run towards it.
It was a very heartbreaking scream. It was a scream that would haunt them for the rest of their days. And with that scream came a large amount of mana. Mana that was so strong, it almost made them kneel. Mana that was so dark, most had bile rising in their throats. The scream got louder and more heartbreaking.
They ran through a hallway and saw the bodies of three teenage boys, all wearing bloodied golden medals. All having died horrible deaths. They saw a dozen or so centaur moving towards what looked like two other boys, but before they could take action, the centaur evaporated.
They saw a lightning barrier around the two boys, from what they could sense, the one was dead and the one clinging to him was alive. The screams hadn't died down, they came out raw and broken. It wasn't just screams. It was begging as well. The hunters tried to talk to the screaming boy but he wasn't hearing any of them.
The building was crumbling around them and it would collapse with them in it if they didn't stop the screaming boy. They didn't have to do anything or even wait long. The screaming died down and the lightning barrier fizzled out as the screaming boy passed out still clinging to the dead boy.
The hunters sighed in relief but that relief was short lived when they saw the massive pool of blood the two was lying in. And it kept growing, a healer rushed forward to heal the still living boy but it didn't work.
It was as if his body was rejecting the healing. The hunters all froze for a second before another sprang into action and grabbed his cloak and tore it to strips. He wrapped it around Kaito's injuries to stop the bleeding. They had to pry his fingers off Taeyang's shirt as even unconscious, he clung to his brother.
They had little time left to get him to a hospital and a blood transfusion. The hunter who wrapped his wounds picked him up and jumped from the massive hole where the wall used to be. He ran to an ambulance, ignoring the reporters who were asking him questions. He filled the EMT's in on the situation and handed Kaito over to them.
They rushed him to the hospital and he was immediately taken to the OR, they didn't know if he would live but they had to try their best.
A tragedy happened that day six friends (brothers) died that day but only five stopped breathing. This day will forever haunt Korea but not as much as it will haunt Goto Kaito. Nothing will ever compare to this day for him. He will never experience a loss as great as this one in his life.
Life moved on as it always does. There was a heavy silence on the Moby Dick. One that would never fully disappear. Renji left a gap in their lives and they weren't sure if it could ever be filled again. Ace wanted to go after him for his betrayal but everyone talked him out of it. Renji was far stronger than Ace and would kill him in less than a minute if he so felt like it.
The commanders, except Ace, went to Renji's room the next morning to clear out all his things but they were surprised to see that the room was already clean as if no one had ever occupied it. Even Renji's sword mount was gone. There was not a trace of him anywhere. The only thing that was left in the room except for the furniture was an envelope on the desk.
Vista picked it up and read the first page. His eyes widened at what he read. He turned to the others and the look of shock intrigued them. The documents contained all of Teach's crimes and dirty dealings. Everything he did behind Whitebeard's back was laid out in front of them in plain sight.
They finally understood what Renji meant when he told Whitebeard that he didn't even see a traitor under his nose for decades. At first they didn't want to believe it. They've known Teach for decades but Renji never did anything just because, he didn't really hold grudges, he never did anything because he could or wanted to, he did things because he needed to. He was protecting them and they cast him aside.
Thatch was the first one to break, tears streamed down his face the more he read. He and Renji were close and he lost his brother. A brother who never felt like he fit in and now they cast him out. He removed his mark, they didn't know how, all they knew was that Renji wasn't one of them anymore. They told him to leave and he erased any trace of them from him.
They took the papers to Whitebeard. They watched as he read it. They watched as his expression darkened. They watched all five stages of grief pass through his face in the span of 10 seconds. They watched as he realized the weight of his decision to cast Renji out. They watched as he covered his face. They watched as his shoulders shook.
"He always told us that he wouldn't beg for our love."
Izo broke the silence and everyone except Ace tensed. He had no idea what Izo was talking about but everyone else knew.
"I always thought he was a pretentious asshole. I had no idea the weight he carried on his shoulders."
Haruta mumbled. He felt worse than the others. He and Renji never saw eye to eye and Renji just started hanging out with him and now he might never get to see him again. At least not as an ally.
"I always told you guys that we were gonna lose him. I should've pushed harder to get him to open up."
Vista shook his head as he said that. Renji always preferred his company, whether it was to train or just sit in silence.
"It wouldn't have mattered. Renji never felt like he belonged here and all of you are to blame for it. You never excepted him after he lost his memories."
Thatch didn't look at any of them. He just stared at the table with blank eyes.
"Renji lost his memories?"
Ace asked.
"Oh, right. You don't know. Renji lost his memories two and a half years ago. And after that he wasn't the same person. He didn't trust us and we never made it easy for him to do so. Like Thatch and Vista said, not all of us accepted him. Of the 15 commanders, only 4 accepted Renji as he was."
Namur explained.
"15? But there are 16 divisions."
Ace was confused. Well, he was never the sharpest tool in the box.
"Renji was the second division commander before you. Despite his memory loss, he took his job seriously and made sure no man in his division was left behind. He handed in his reports on time but he never really bonded with his division after the memory loss. He preferred solitude. Thatch and Vista were usually the ones who kept him busy. Renji told us that he wouldn't beg for our love or acceptance and that we should expect the same from him."
Izo explained. Ace finally got what they were saying. Renji was a bit of an enigma.
"If you had gone after him like you planned to do, the chances of you surviving that encounter were zero. Renji is strong, very strong, he never shows it but his aura alone should tell you how strong he is. He could kill us all with minimal effort. He holds back a lot but I have a feeling that he will no longer do so. Renji always expects the worst when it comes to himself. He doesn't believe that people will choose him and we just cemented that idea by casting him out."
Vista looked at Ace as he said that. He wanted Ace to understand that if they did encounter Renji in the future, they shouldn't expect to walk away alive. Renji declared them his enemies and they have all seen what he does to enemies. No one has left alive after encountering him. Whether they were Marines or pirates, he never let them live to tell the tail if he was fighting seriously. The amount of people he spared does not even compare to the amount of people he has killed.
"Are you going to inform Shanks, Pops?"
They all looked at Whitebeard at Thatch's question. It would be the right thing to do but they didn't know how he would react or if he would react. They didn't know if Renji already informed him or if he went completely dark. They didn't know what the future held and maybe that was for the better. Renji was in a fragile state right now and they didn't know how he would react, they, now that they thought about it, what did they know about Renji?
"It would be wise to inform him. Though, we have no idea how he would react."
They nodded at Whitebeard's words. But Ace was confused. Why did they need to inform Shanks? What did he have to do with all this.
"Why do we need to inform Shanks?"
He asked and they all looked at him confused before it hit them, Ace didn't know about Shanks and Renji's relationship.
"Just tell Shanks that we want to have a meeting with him. It would be easier and no one would eavesdrop on the conversation."
Vista deliberately chose not to answer Ace's question. In his mind, it was none of Ace's business what was happening between Shanks and Renji. Ace saw this and wanted to comment on it but Marco grabbed his arm and shook his head. When it came to Renji, Vista and Thatch would always jump to his defense no matter what.
Whitebeard nodded at Vista's words. It would be best to tell Shanks face to face. It was better to tell him their side of the story. Maybe Renji went to him and they would see him again and apologize. If only they knew, how wrong that assumption was.
Shanks was of course confused on why Whitebeard had requested his presence on the Moby. He went of course, wanting to see Renji again, not knowing that Renji wasn't part of the Whitebeard Pirates anymore. Both crews thought the other had Renji but neither had him. Renji was gone and maybe someday they would see him again or maybe they won't. Who knows?
---
Shanks stepped onto the Moby Dick a week later and immediately felt the tension in the air. He looked around the commanders and expected to see Renji sitting on the railing in front of them but he was nowhere to be seen. Shanks couldn't even find a trace of his haki on the ship at all.
"Old man. Where's Renji?"
Shanks skipped the pleasantries as he looked up at Whitebeard. The carefree smile he had worn on his face was gone, replaced by a seriousness rarely seen.
"He's not with you I take it?"
Whitebeard answered his question with a question. Any hope they had died when they heard Shanks's question. Renji was really gone and they had no idea where he was or if he was still alive.
"Whitebeard. Where is he?"
"He left."
"He left? No. He didn't. He didn't just leave, did he?"
"No. We kicked him out. Cast him out."
"Why?"
"He killed Teach."
That stopped Shanks cold. Renji had told Shanks a while ago that he would kill Teach. He just didn't think he would go through with it. He thought he'd wait or ask for help, instead he did it on his own and got cast out.
"Teach was a traitor. Renji did you a favor."
"We didn't know that, yoi. Not until the next morning."
"You didn't think to ask? I thought you were smarter, Marco."
"Captain, calm down."
Beckman placed a hand on Shanks's shoulder. Shanks shrugged it off.
"Do you know what he could face out there now that the world knows who he is? Did any of you even think about that?"
He snarled and his haki shot out of him in sharp bursts. The commanders had to steady themselves against the wall and the railing at the pressure of his haki. They've never seen Shanks this angry before.
"Brat, we made a mistake. We get that."
Shanks turned to Whitebeard.
"Mistake? A mistake?! You just doomed us all, not just Renji! The darkness in that man is something that we cannot fight against. If he decides to come after every single one of us, do you think we will walk away uninjured, much less alive? Do you?!"
"We didn't know."
"Of course not. I never should've let him leave my crew. I thought you would be better for him than me. My mistake. You condemned him. Did you even try to hear him out?"
"No."
"No. Why?"
"We were in shock. He killed Teach with no expression on his face like it was just another chore."
"Renji never does anything for selfish reasons. You should all know that."
"He removed his mark."
Shanks turned to Izo.
"What?"
"Pops's mark. Renji removed it. Or well, it disappeared from his back like it was being erased."
"So he has no mark on his back?"
"No."
"So he has no protection from other pirates."
"Renji doesn't need protection."
"No, he doesn't. What he needed was assurance but that ship has sailed, hasn't it, Whitebeard Pirates?"
They froze at the coldness of Shanks's words. He was glaring at all of them.
"Brat-"
"Save it. I'll find him myself. Stay away from him."
Shanks turned to his crew.
"Let's go."
They followed him as he walked off the Moby Dick. None of them looked at the Whitebeard Pirates as they walked behind their captain. Beckman was the only one who glanced back. But the look in his eyes was cold. He followed behind his captain as they stepped onto the Red Force.
---
On the other side of the ocean Renji walked around Marine based islands with no care in the world. He had already burned down several marine bases in the past two days. He never stayed on an island for more than a few hours. He didn't bother hiding his face, he wanted everyone to know who it was. He didn’t even care what people thought about him. Several Marines also lost their lives to him and he didn't care either.
---
Six months after the Whitebeard Pirates cast Renji out they finally got word about where he was. But it wasn't good news. Renji was captured and was being transported to Marinefort. It came as a surprise to many pirates and marines alike. But they wouldn't be surprised for long.
Not even a day into the transport the ship sank. The Whitebeard Pirates are the only ones who knew that it wasn't random. Renji had manipulated the ocean into sinking the ship. He got away, obviously. And what many people didn't know was that on that ship, Renji was the only living person. He had already killed all the Marines on board. He needed information from the Marines and killed them whether he got what he wanted or not.
---
Shanks stared at the newspaper blankly as he read the headline: 'Pirate Kills Hundreds Of Marines In Cold Blood. Is this the rebirth of the Marine Slayer?' Shanks couldn't figure out what Renji was thinking with all this killing. He didn't understand why Renji was putting a bigger target on his back. He didn't understand why Renji would go so far as to burn down literal islands. What was his end goal? Did he even have an end goal?
"Boss? You okay there?"
Lucky Roux asked Shanks. They had all seen his face as he stared at the newspaper. They were worried about their captain. He wasn't himself the longer Renji was on his rampage. It had been a while since they've even stopped on an island for more than two days. Shanks didn't even want to party anymore.
"Shanks. You can't keep doing this to yourself."
Beckman said as he blew a puff of smoke out. He had seen Shanks's spiral first hand and it wasn't pretty. As much as he wanted Renji to be safe, he couldn't control the man and his actions were affected his captain in a negative way and he wouldn't stand for it.
"What am I doing?"
Shanks lifted his blank eyes to look at his first mate.
"You can't keep blaming yourself for Renji's actions. He's a grown man, capable of making his own decisions. What he does and doesn't do, is not your fault."
"Isn't it? Renji went to the Whitebeard Pirates after I hurt him. And since he's been there all that's ever happened to him is him getting hurt. I don't know why he's killing the way he is but I have some part in it. He was my responsibility and I failed him. I failed Captain Roger. And that's on me."
"You're putting the blame of someone else's actions on yourself. You can't control Renji. And the way he's going, no one can control him. You have to accept the fact that he might be our enemy. Face it boss, he's a threat, end of story."
"End of story? Is that how you see it? He's just a story to you?"
"That's not what I meant and you know it."
"No. I understand, alright. I understand perfectly. If he becomes a threat I'll deal with it, until then, keep your opinions about him to yourself."
Shanks stood up and headed for the door that led below deck.
"Your love for him has blinded you!"
Shanks froze. Everyone on deck froze.
"Watch your words, Beckman. I won't tell you again."
Shanks went below deck with that. His tone had been ice cold and Beckman didn't need him to turn around to know that his eyes were just as his words. Beckman sighed as he picked up the newspaper and read it.
It seemed that Shanks didn't read the whole thing, just stared at the headline the past hour. He probably didn't even see Renji's most recent bounty. Beckman read the entire article, his eyes widened at the bounty part. He shot up from his seat, the newspaper shook in his hands and his cigarette had fallen from his mouth.
"Shanks!"
He whirled around and looked at the door Shanks had stepped through. His shout got the rest of the crews attention and they all stared at him.
"Shanks!"
He yelled again, more urgently this time. Shanks came onto the deck a minute later. He was annoyed at the disturbance and was about to voice it but he saw the state Beckman was in and speed walked to him.
"What? You're yelling my name like we're being attacked."
Beckman didn't speak, instead he thrust the newspaper to Shanks.
"I already saw the paper."
"Did you?"
"Yes."
Beckman pointed at the bounty and Shanks's eyes widened. He grabbed the paper and stared at it again but this time with a surprised expression. Everyone crowed around the two of them to see what was happening. Yassop grabbed the paper from Shanks's hand and read where Beckman had pointed.
"What the hell? He just became the most wanted man in this era in six months? What the hell did he do? Kill Sengoku?"
Renji planned his exit carefully. He packed a bag with all his essentials. His notebook. Some clothes. Some money. Everything he held close to his heart. He stuffed the bag in his closet. He didn't hide it, no one ever came into his room without his permission. He removed the wanted posters from his wall and burned them. He cleaned his room to the point where it looked like nobody occupied it.
No one noticed. Why would they? He still spent time with everyone, still laughed at jokes and ate dinner with the crew. He still attended commander meetings even though he wasn't a commander anymore. Still had late night conversations with Whitebeard like he used to. Still did everything normal. The only not normal thing he did was actively plan Teach's murder.
He would glare at the man from the mast. Stare holes into his head at dinner. Teach noticed but Renji did nothing to hide it. If Teach looked at him he would stare at the man until Teach got so uncomfortable he had to look away. Whitebeard noticed this as well. He didn't know what was happening to Renji and he had a feeling that when he found out, he would not like it at all. Oh how right he was.
"Renji, my boy. It seems that we have a lot to talk about."
Whitebeard said one night during one of their talks. He didn't know that this would be the last conversation he ever had with Renji.
"What do you mean, Pops?"
"You have been hiding something. I do not know what it is but Renji, we are here for you."
Renji looked at the man he had called his father for almost a decade and almost burst out laughing. Not because he said anything funny but because Renji knew that after tomorrow, Whitebeard would not even look at him the same way again.
"I know, Pops."
"Do you?"
"I don't get what you mean."
"You hide things because you think we'll be better off not knowing anything. Am I wrong?"
"No. You're not wrong. But I'm not hiding anything."
"So you do not glare at Teach every chance you get?"
"I do."
"Why?"
"Personal reasons."
"Will you tell me?"
"No."
"Why?"
"For the safety of this crew."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"I really hope you know what you are doing."
"Me too."
"You sound unsure."
"I am. But it's something I have to do."
"Will you be safe?"
"Probably not."
"You sound so sure of that."
"I am."
"Renji-"
"Pops. There will be somethings I will do that might look like a threat to you but just know that no matter what I am always doing whatever I can to protect all of you."
"Why does that sound like a goodbye. Are you leaving again?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"No."
"Renji are you going to leave again?"
"Probably."
"For how long?"
"I don't know. Maybe forever."
"I see."
"Do you? Do you really see? Do you see my struggles? Do you see the pain I go through everyday? Do you see my smile is fake? Do you see the unshed tears in my eyes everytime I look at everyone? Do you see me dying inside? Do you really see, Pops? Do you?"
Renji didn't mean to rant but everything had bottled up and just spilled out. Whitebeard looked at him in shock. He was stunned at the outburst. He had no idea that Renji was struggling with all that while maintaining a smile.
"I'm sorry. I had no idea."
"It's fine, don't apologize. I didn't mean to snap."
"Renji..."
"I'm sorry, Pops. I'm so sorry. I never wanted to hurt any of you. I just wanted to protect you all. And I always will even if I'm not here anymore."
Renji stood up and walked to the door.
"Renji... wait..."
"I'm sorry, Pops, for everything."
Renji opened the door and stepped out, closing the door behind him gently. Whitebeard sat in the room in the heavy silence Renji had left behind. Renji’s apology sounded like a goodbye and the feeling of dread creeped up in Whitebeard.
Close to midnight Renji stood shirtless on the deck with his packed bag against the railing. He was waiting for Teach, he knew he'd come out, Teach always did his dirty dealings at night when he thought no one was watching. He didn't know that Renji had been watching him for the past four months every night.
Teach walked onto the deck and was surprised to see Renji. As well as his bag.
"Ren, brother. You leaving again?"
He asked with that fake sweet tone. Renji turned to him with dead eyes, not that Teach could see it.
"Yeah."
Renji's voice was dead and toneless. He tilted his head at Teach and smiled. It was a smile Teach had never seen before. It was a smile Renji never wore. The smile was ice cold.
"The time for your death has come, Teach. No, Blackbeard."
He said in the same dead tone. Teach's eyes widened and he stepped back.
"What? You want to kill me? You think the old man will let that slide? You're crazy if you think any of them will welcome you after you killed me."
"I already planned ahead. You think I didn't cover my bases? I don't need their love. I need them safe and you gone."
Elsewhere the feeling of dread Whitebeard felt earlier had increased and he got up from his bed and walked to the deck. His eyes and several commanders' eyes widened as they saw Renji's lightning covered hand pierced through Teach.
Renji had no expression on his face as he killed Teach. He removed his hand and Teach dropped to the wood, dead. Renji stared at his corpse for a moment before turning to the ocean.
"Rip him apart."
He commanded and two big sea kings rose from the dark waters. They lowered their heads to the deck and grabbed Teach at each end. They ripped him in two before devouring each half and disappearing back into the ocean.
"Renji! What the hell?!"
Renji turned to the others and stared at Whitebeard.
"Say something, dammit!!"
Ace rushed towards him, his fist covered in fire. Renji stood still until Ace was close enough. He roundhouse kicked Ace against the head hard. Ace flew back and crashed through the wood, unconscious.
"Ren, what did you do?"
Renji looked at Thatch's sad expression and at that moment felt nothing. He looked at the men he had come to call his brothers and felt absolutely nothing for them.
"Why are you all here? You're supposed to be sleeping."
He said finally.
"We heard yelling, yoi. Why did you kill Teach? Why would you kill your own brother, yoi?"
Renji was silent again.
"Answer him!"
Whitebeard's voice boomed. Yet Renji said nothing. He didn't even flinch.
"Leave. Leave and never come back."
Izo's voice broke as he said that. He couldn't believe that Renji actually killed one of their own.
"You're no longer a Whitebeard Pirate. Leave and never look back. We'll kill you if you ever show your face in front of us. Leave my territories."
Whitebeard's final words should've saddened him but it didn't. He always knew that they would act like this. He prepared himself for it. He even prepared for death by their hand.
Renji turned around and grabbed his bag. With his back to them they finally saw that his mark was slowly disappearing. More than half of it was already gone.
"From this day forward, we are no longer allies. We are enemies. And should we cross paths, I will kill you. All of you."
Renji didn't turn to face them. His mark was now completely gone. On the outside he was expressionless but on the inside, no matter how much he told himself it didn't hurt, his heart felt like it was breaking into a million pieces. He would never see his family again. It hurt worse than when his father abused him in his past life.
"I see."
Whitebeard felt his heart breaking at Renji's words.
"Do you?"
Renji stepped onto the railing.
"Do you really see, Whitebeard? You couldn't even see a traitor right under your nose for decades."
Renji stepped off the railing but didn't fall into the ocean he stayed in the air. He turned one last time and they finally saw the tears streaming down his cheeks.
"Goodbye."
He disappeared. And that was the last time the Whitebeard Pirates ever saw Gol D. Renji. They had no idea what the future held but they knew that if Renji was serious about them being enemies, they would not survive an encounter against him.
That night the Whitebeard Pirates mourned for two of their brothers, one dead and one gone. It was a heavy loss for all of them. One that they would never get past.
It had been four days since Renji healed Whitebeard and in those four days, a lot has changed. The crew were visibly happier with Whitebeard's health. There were plenty of whispers about Renji. The commanders, well, those who had a problem with Renji felt incredibly guilty for the way they treated him. Renji's general aura had changed and it felt like he was two people in the same body.
Teach however wasn't a happy camper. Everything he built was riding on Whitebeard's declining health and now it was all ruined thanks to Renji. Teach still feared Renji, a lot more now than he did. He saw Renji as an obstacle that had to be removed but he couldn't even get close to him. The commanders all took watch over Renji while he was unconscious.
There was never a moment where he was alone, which meant that there was never a moment for Teach to strike while the iron was hot. It irritated him to new levels. They were treating Renji like some sort of God and he didn't like it one bit. Renji was throwing a wrench into his plans and he knew he'd never be able to defeat Renji one on one if they were to fight. Not without the power he sought.
---
Renji opened his eyes with a groan. He had no nightmares for the first time in a while and he was grateful for it. He felt rested and not at the same time. How that worked, he didn't know. He couldn't see out of his left eye but he thought it was because he slept so long. He sat up and saw that he was in his room.
"Oh? You're up. Finally."
He looked to the door and saw Thatch stepping in. Thatch had a grin on his face but grimaced when he looked at Renji's eyes, which left him very confused. Renji got out of bed and stumbled but Roger caught him. To Thatch it looked like he caught himself. He walked to the bathroom and Thatch followed. He stayed outside the bathroom while Renji did his business.
When Renji was washing his hands he looked into the mirror and flinched when he saw his left eye. It was still completely black. He touched under it as he stared at himself.
"What the hell happened to my eye?!"
"Dunno, dude. That is something you should ask Pops and yourself."
"It happened when you healed Whitebeard."
Thatch and Roger's answers gave him more questions than answers. He threw the bathroom door open and looked at Thatch.
"Pops? He's okay?"
Thatch was startled but grinned wide.
"Better than okay. You're a genius man, reversing his age? Pure genius!"
Thatch was elated but Renji looked very confused at his words.
"What?"
"You don't know?"
"Know what?"
"Oh, man! This is gonna be awesome!"
Thatch grabbed Renji's hand and dragged him to the door before stopping.
"You might wanna shower first, actually. No offense but you reek."
"Of course I reek. How long was I even out?"
"Four days."
"Four days?! What the hell?!"
Renji was freaking out and Thatch lived for it. He had never seen his brother in this state before as Renji was always calm and collected around them. He pushed Renji back to the bathroom and closed the door. Renji showered and brushed his teeth with the supplies he left on the ship when he left, it had yet to expire.
He came out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist and his hair hanging in his face. He glared at Thatch and grabbed his bag to get dressed. He didn't care that Thatch was in the room while he changed. He tied his hair and put his eye patch back on.
"You done? Let's go."
Thatch grabbed him again and dragged him to the door. They left the room and with each step they took Thatch looked positively possessed. He was smiling so much that Renji though he was broken.
"You're creeping me out with all the smiling."
"Just wait and see. You'll be smiling too once you see it."
"See what?"
"Secret~"
Renji really wanted to punch his brother at that moment but held back and let himself be dragged to wherever Thatch was going.
Thatch dragged him all the way to the top deck. Renji was momentarily stunned. Everyone looked extra happy and honestly it was creeping him out, just a little bit.
His gaze shifted from the milling pirates to the 'throne' that was on the deck for Pops and his eye widened. He looked absolutely stunned, Thatch turned to him and saw his face and burst out laughing.
"You should see the look on your face."
Thatch's laugher drew attention to them. All eyes turned to them and the commanders all cheered when they saw Renji.
Before Renji could even comprehend what was happening his feet moved towards Whitebeard.
"Pops?"
His voice was a bit hesitant. He knew what Whitebeard looked like when he was younger but seeing it on a screen and seeing it in real life was a whole different experience.
"Son."
"You- what the hell?"
Renji was honestly dumbfounded. He knew he healed Whitebeard because he didn't smell sickly anymore but he had no idea what went wrong or right? His ghostly companions were also suspiciously quiet.
"From the look on your face, it's safe to assume that you had no idea you could do that."
Renji whirled around and faced Vista.
"I did that?"
He pointed at Whitebeard.
"Yeah, yoi."
Renji held his forehead as he tried to think back to what happened a few days ago. All he remembered was that he healed Whitebeard and then, nothing. His mind was blank after that. He turned back to Whitebeard.
"You- are you feeling okay, Pops?"
He had to know. Maybe there were side effects he didn't know about. It was his first time healing a human afterall. It was also the first time healing a chronic illness. He healed plenty of animals on the island he trained on, but none of them was sick.
"I feel better than I had in years, my son. Though, you look like you are confused."
"I am confused. I was supposed to heal you not- not reverse your age. Not that I'm not glad you're doing good. I'm very glad you're okay."
The others looked at Renji basically spiraling and were somewhat amused.
"You should be glad, Ren. You're practically a God. We're very happy that you were able to heal Pops, and even more happy that you reversed his age."
Thatch clapped a hand on Renji's back with a grin.
"You're a hero man. Enjoy it."
Renji didn't feel like a hero, not at all. He smiled with them but inside he knew that the image of him they had would soon shatter into a million pieces and he wasn't sure if those pieces would ever be put together again.
Renji healed Whitebeard for his own selfish reasons, he didn't want the old man to die, none of them did. But for Renji it was more than that, yes he saved Pops to essentially save the Whitebeard pirates but he also saved him because he knew that in his heart if the day came, Whitebeard and Shanks would be only ones strong enough to stop him if the need arose.
His sea witch powers were getting a bit out of control the more the eldritch being broke out of its prison. Renji knew he would have to stop it eventually but for now, for now he would enjoy the company of his family. He watched as they all laughed and the general joy of the ship, it had never been so lively for the 7 years he had been on the ship. From the original Renji's memories or his own. It felt nice.
They threw a party in celebration of Whitebeard's recovery and Renji's return. Renji drank with his brothers and finally buried the hatchet with those who were hostile towards him. He didn't hold a grudge against them but he also let them know that his forgiveness towards them was because of Whitebeard. He didn't want the old man to worry about any of them unnecessarily.
Vista watched his younger brother with sharp eyes. He could see the underlying sadness in Renji's eye. He could see how Renji looked at the ocean expectantly. He saw the way Renji stared at Ace like he was something precious but not in a romantic way, more like someone who has lost someone.
"Ren."
He called out to him and he saw how Renji smiled that same sad smile. Most wouldn't notice it because they didn't spend that much time with Renji before he left but the few who did saw the smile and knew that something was very, very wrong.
"Yeah?"
"Come here."
Renji got up from where he was sitting with Namur and Rakuyo. He walked over to Vista with that smile. Vista placed a hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eye.
"You okay? You seem a bit lost in thought."
"Yeah. I'm good. Just thinking about what I've missed all these months while away."
It wasn't a lie, not really. Renji did think about all the things he has missed in his time away. But he also thought about how this might be the last time they looked at him with any warmth. He always knew that he wasn't the one people always chose first. He wasn't the one whose explanations people listened to. He was the one always cast aside no matter what.
"You'd tell me if you weren't okay, right?"
"'Course I would. You're my big brother."
"You can always count on me, Renji, no matter what."
"Okay. I believe you, Vista."
The smile got bigger but the sadness in his eyes grew deeper. Oh how Renji wanted to believe his own words but he couldn't. He could lie to everyone else but he couldn't lie to himself. He was always the second option and that was what he will always believe. Maybe some day someone will prove him wrong, maybe.
Renji went back to the festivities, laughing, joking, eating, drinking with everyone. Vista kept his eyes on him and he wasn't the only one. Thatch, Marco, and Izo were also watching him with the same expression. They knew that Renji was hiding something but they didn't know what. But maybe that was for the best, not that they thought that or knew it. Whatever Renji was hiding would forever change how they looked at him and how he looked at them. They just didn't know it yet.
A few days after the party the commanders saw just how much Renji had changed. He was no longer quick to anger nor was he the same quiet untrusting man he was. He was still quiet but this quiet felt final in a way people usually said goodbye. He still sat on the mast when he had to think but he spent a lot more time on the railing mumbling to himself. If only they knew he wasn't mumbling to himself but talking to ghosts about his next moves.
It was one such day where Renji was on the railing that they saw the change first hand. Renji wasn't sitting but standing. He tipped forward and dropped into the ocean. Everyone panicked as they knew that he had a devil fruit now and that he could drown. The rushed to the railing to see where he was and Namur was preparing to jump after him but the ocean physically stopped him.
A barrier of sea water surrounded the Moby, no one could leave the ship. They were all still worried about Renji but they couldn't do anything with the barrier around the ship.
---
I sank to the sea floor like I knew I would. It was the first time since I ate the devil fruit that I got into the water. I didn't panic as I could breathe under water. A real walking contradiction I was, a devil fruit user who could control the sea and not have their body weakened. I sat calmly as I waited for the shark to appear like I knew he would. I should really give him a name.
'Master Renji.'
I opened my eyes and stared into the behemoth of a shark in front of me. His white eyes always freaked me out.
'The eldritch monster. How long until he escapes?'
'Not long. Maybe a few months at most.'
'Is he gonna come after me?'
'Most definitely.'
'I see.'
'Master Renji, are you going to face it alone?'
'What other choice do I have?'
'Are you strong enough to defeat it on your own?'
'Probably not. But what choice do I have? If I don't the world ends.'
'And your friends?'
'What about them?'
'Do they know you plan to do this?'
'No.'
'Why?'
'It is not their battle. I don't want them to fight.'
'Your aura is darker. What are you planning?'
'Nothing. That's all I needed to know. Send me up.'
'Master-'
'Send me up. I'm done with this conversation.'
'I really hope you know what you are doing.'
'Me too.'
The shark lifted me up onto his back and swam up with me. We broke the surface and I saw a water barrier slowly lowering from the Moby. I wonder what caused it. Did I unconsciously set one up so they couldn't bother me? I'm really putting distance between us, aren't I?
Someday, I hope you can all forgive me for what I will do. I hope you find it in your hearts to see that everything I do, I do for all of you. I hope that we can be brothers again.
Renji tilted his head at the question in confusion. He chuckled and walked around Marco. Taunting him in a way.
"Me? Who knows?"
"Ren!"
Renji was engulfed in a hug before he could taunt Marco more. He turned his head a bit and saw Thatch hugging him tightly. The others watched in shock. They all had one thing running through their minds, 'This is Renji?!' They watched as Thatch hug their brother.
"Renji?"
"Hey, Pops. Been a while."
Renji removed the hood from his head and grinned at Whitebeard, his fangs on full display.
"It's good to see that you are alive, son."
"Told you I won't die."
"Yes, you did."
"Looking a bit weaker there, old man. Lucky for you, I come with good news."
Thatch was still hugging Renji, he didn't want to let go incase this was a dream. Renji didn't mind as much as everyone thought he would. Renji patted Thatch's back a few times and pushed him away lightly. Not because he didn't want to hug him but because they all had a serious talk coming up.
"I'm not gonna disappear, Thatch."
"You might."
"Nah. I'm home. I'm staying."
"You promise?"
Renji held out his pinky and Thatch linked it with his.
"Promise, brother."
Thatch let go of Renji's pinky and instead moved the hair covering his left eye. He was greeted with a white eye patch (like the one Ken Kaneki wore). Everyone gasped thinking the worst.
"What happened to your eye?"
Vista asked as he walked closer. He too hugged Renji but not as long as Thatch had.
"Nothing. Don't worry about it."
Renji smiled but it looked rehearsed. He wasn't lying per se, nothing happened to his eye. It's what was happening to his eye that should be the question.
"You seem different."
Izo said and hugged him too.
"Been a while since I heard that one."
Renji grinned mischievously.
"You get taller, kid?"
Fossa smacked his shoulder in a brotherly fashion.
"No?"
"You did."
Namur fist pumped him.
"Really? Didn't notice."
"How did you not notice your got taller?"
Jozu patted his head.
"I had no one to compare my height to."
Renji shrugged.
"You were alone?"
Ace asked from the side. He didn't want to interfere in their greeting as he didn't know Renji personally.
"Ace! Good to see you kid. But yeah, I was alone."
Ace's eyes widened at the warm greeting and so did everyone else's.
"Yeah. Good to see you too, Renji."
Renji looked at Whitebeard again and his face turned serious.
"Best we get some privacy for the next part, don't you think, Pops?"
Whitebeard looked at him for a moment before nodding. He stood up from his chair and walked below deck. The commanders and Renji followed after him.
"So, you have fun?"
Thatch asked as he walked next to Renji. The others listened to their conversion as they all walked.
"Yep. A lot of fun."
"Alone?"
"You can have fun alone, Thatch."
"You're a weird one."
"Yep."
They reached the war room and the commanders and Whitebeard took their seats. Renji stayed standing. There wasn't a chair for him to sit in anyway, but he preffered to stand anyway. He was too restless to sit still.
"Alright, should we do questions first or can we start with the healing?"
Renji's question turned heads. They looked at him at the end of the table. They didn't know that he was out looking for a cure for Whitebeard. They looked at Whitebeard and he didn't look at all shocked. He knew. They knew he knew.
"Why don't you tell us about this first?"
Whitebeard slid the weeks old newspaper across the table. The commanders passed it down until it reached Renji.
"Whoa. That's a lot. And dead only. Man, they sure know how to make me look like a villain."
"You ever think that in some people's eyes, you are?"
Haruta asked, his voice had none of the usual snark to it when it came to talking to Renji. He glanced at him but said nothing.
"Let's see. The slave thing is true. Destroying the auction house is also true. Fighting Kizaru wasn't my fault. He started the fight. The damaged buildings is his fault too and kind of mine. I did kick him through buildings. Fighting Akainu, also true. Burned island wasn't me. Akainu's magma did that. Killing Celestial Dragons, true. Fighting warlords, true. Though, I didn't fight Jinbei. Doflamingo on the other hand, he should be thankful I didn't kill him. The Marines stood in my way, had to get rid of them. Yeah, everything they say in here did happen. Marinefort was an impulse issue. But I meant to sink it, not just almost sink it. Pity that one. Real pity."
Renji browsed through his crimes with no emotion.
"Heh. They actually did it. Nice to see they do listen."
He read his name on his bounty poster, he was really happy that they listened and changed it. He laughed as he read it.
Wanted
Dead Only
Gol D. Renji
B 3 500 000 000
The others looked at him with shocked expressions. He seemed way too happy about his bounty. And the fact that they never heard him laugh like that since he lost his memories. Ace couldn't understand why Renji would tell the world who his father was. He seemed proud of it too, Ace could never do that. Nor did he want to.
"This is great!"
Renji beamed and looked at the others.
"Being wanted dead is great, yoi?"
Marco was baffled at Renji's obvious joy about his new bounty.
"Oh, no. That part not so great. They're using my birth name and not some nickname they came up with. That's the great part."
"You're not afraid of what people will say about you?"
Ace asked quietly.
"Nah. People have been saying bad things about me since I was thirteen. Besides, I couldn't care less about how people see me or what they say about me. Roger was my father and he will always be my father."
Renji looked at Ace with a determined expression.
"Son, why did you do all that?"
Renji looked at Whitebeard with a thoughtful expression.
"Cause I could."
He shrugged carelessly.
"You do realize that you just put a hit on all of us, yes?"
Rakuyo said bitterly.
"You're pirates. You always have a hit on your heads."
"Not the point, kid. You put us all in more danger. Did you even think for even one second about anyone but yourself."
"Mmm. Nope. I didn't. I thought to myself, 'What can I do to get the government's attention on me more and raise my bounty?' That's what I thought."
"You selfish bastard."
"Yeah. Deal with it."
"Why'd you bother coming back?"
"To cure Pops."
"No other reason?"
"No. Frankly, I don't care for the lot of you. You hate me and don't trust me. If I didn't make the promise to return to Pops, I wouldn't be here right now. I'd probably be your enemy."
Renji's declaration shocked them again. He said it with such coldness that the commanders visibly flinched. Whitebeard looked at Renji and noticed that once again it felt like there was someone standing next to him.
"And I'd kill you if it was an option."
"Renji, enough."
Renji's eyes flicked to Whitebeard and he relaxed his stance. He didn't even know he had tensed up in preparation of an attack.
"You don't mean that, do you?"
Renji looked at Thatch and before he could answer he felt a hand on his head. He glanced to the side and saw Roger looking at him worriedly. Everyone in the room looked at him and wondered what he was looking at. None of them could see Roger and Renji forgot about that small detail, having been alone with the ghost on an empty island for almost two years.
"No. I don't mean that, Thatch. I would never kill you."
They looked at him skeptically, no way Renji said something like that with no truth in it.
"How did you find a cure, yoi?"
"Secret~"
"Are you sure it even works, yoi?"
"Yep. Tested it many, many times."
The confidence in his tone was unmistakable. He was one hundred percent sure it would work.
"Can you do it now?"
"If you want, Pops."
Whitebeard nodded. He'd been feeling a lot weaker these past few weeks and he knew he didn't have long for this world. Despite the others being skeptical, Whitebeard had made his choice and none of them could stop him even if they tried.
Renji jumped onto the table and walked towards Whitebeard with the confidence of a man who had done this a thousand times. If only he knew that he would discover that some things are easier said than done.
"Ready when you are, Pops."
Erik appeared behind him with Declan and Roger beside him. Renji removed his bag, weapons and cloak. Everyone stared at his scarred torso and his 'tattooed' arms. They all had questions but they would ask him at a later stage.
Renji removed the eyepatch from his eye as well and blinked to adjust to the light. Whitebeard looked at him curious as to why he would hide his eye if it looked perfectly fine. Though soon he would see why.
Renji placed his hands on Whitebeard's chest and a gold light emitted from them as he used Erik's powers. Erik's hand stayed on Renji's and the other two stood on either side of him in case of an emergency.
"Shouldn't hurt."
'I see the damage. You need to get to the heart.'
'You want my hands in his chest cavity?'
'I want your hands on his heart. We can fix the damage from the heart and slowly go to the main organs. If you keep your hands on the surface, we'll only heal the surface.'
Renji's eye twitched at Erik's words. He took a deep breath and looked at Whitebeard.
'Tell him to keep a hand on your skin at all times. You'll absorb the pain he'd feel that way.'
'You're fucking crazy, you know that? This better work, cause if it doesn't, I'll kill you again.'
"Okay. I'm gonna start now. Keep a hand on my skin at all times, please. No matter what, do not let go."
Whitebeard placed a hand on Renji's shoulder. Renji coated his fingers in haki and pushed against Whitebeard's flesh. The flesh bled and the others protested but Renji didn't stop. Whitebeard felt no pain at all, which left him confused.
Renji broke the ribs to get to the heart and held it in his hands gently. He felt Whitebeard's heart beating in his hands weakly. He really hoped this worked.
'Okay. Good. Let's start.'
His hands glowed gold again as he started the healing. He had no idea what he was doing but with Erik's hands on his he felt better. Together the two healed the worst of the damage first. They destroyed all the blood clots in Whitebeard's main arteries before moving to the organs.
Renji's left eye had started glowing gold as well as he concentrated and Whitebeard finally had a clue as to why Renji hid his eye. Renji pushed passed his limits as he destroyed and healed over and over again. His nose had started bleeding from the strain he was putting his body under but he didn't stop.
Whitebeard could feel himself getting stronger the longer Renji held his heart in his hands. He could feel the warmth flowing through his veins. The others sat frozen as they watched Renji's back. Blood pooled out of his ears next and Marco shot out of his seat.
He got on the table behind Renji and healed his ears. He didn't try to stop him knowing it was going to be a futile endeavor. Marco healed Renji as Renji healed Whitebeard. Things took a turn for the worst when Renji's arms began shaking under the strain. Roger and Declan held his arms steady, knowing that if Renji removed his hands too quickly he would kill Whitebeard.
The gold light turned white as Renji pushed more. Whitebeard was fully healed but he didn't stop, he kept at it. His eye flickered between gold and white. He held the heart just a little bit tighter, Erik had removed his hands from Renji's and yet he didn't even notice. The three ghosts watched in horror as Renji began bleeding from the eyes.
He wasn't even seeing anymore, just feeling. Marco went to heal it but found no damage. It was bleeding but not injured. He looked at Renji's face over his shoulder and saw that his eyes were blank like he was in a daze.
"Renji, enough. Stop it!"
The three ghosts yelled but he didn't hear them. He didn't hear anything. He didn't hear his own heart slowing down. He didn't hear everyone yelling at him to stop. He didn't hear Marco's panic as he heard his heart slow. He didn't hear the chairs scraping on the floor as everyone stood up. He didn't even hear his own muttering.
His eye flickered with polychromatic colors and the light emitting from his hands changed colors rapidly. His sclera had turned black around the edges.
'How can he still heal without you touching him? I thought we needed to touch him for him to use our powers.'
Declan asked Erik confused and concerned, he had not let go of Renji's arms yet.
'I don't know what is happening right now. But he needs to stop before he kills himself.'
'How are we gonna stop him. His not hearing any of us. I'm not even sure he's present right now. Look at his eyes. Despite it being brightly colored, its blank.'
'I don't know, okay?! I don't know!'
'It's the fruit. It chose him for a reason and I think we're seeing that reason. He's utilizing the fruit itself and not just its benefits. This kid is bypassing the laws about this fruit. I see now why the fruit chose him.'
The other two looked at Roger. His eyes were on his son. The longer Renji kept going the more his sclera turned black, the black bled into the iris and his left eye turned completely black. The light turned red and Whitebeard's appearance changed. It looked like he was de-aging and he was. After what felt like forever, Renji let go of Whitebeard's heart. It was beating a lot stronger now. He pulled his hand out of his chest cavity and healed the ribs.
He had no idea what he had just done. He wasn't even in control of his own actions at that moment. He finally removed his bloody hands from Whitebeard's chest completely and healed the wound. The light was still red. Everyone looked at him shocked. His lap was covered in his own blood. Marco had tried his best to heal him but there was no damage to anything.
When Renji finally looked up, he looked like a horror movie victim. Blood was covering his face and his eyes were blank, well the right one was anyway. The left one was so black you couldn't see anything in it. Whitebeard removed his hand from his shoulder and he swayed. Marco, Roger and Declan grabbed him before he could fall over.
Renji stared at Whitebeard blankly for a minute before he went limp. His eyes were still open and he slipped from Marco's arms his head would've hit the table but Ace was faster as Marco was in shock at what just happened. He had never in his entire life seen power that could de-age a person.
Ace caught Renji's head and held him. His blood got on Ace's hand but that wasn't what was important right now. What was important was the fact that Renji just rewrote Whitebeard's entire biology. He basically rewired Whitebeard's entire molecular structure. His eyes finally closed after a while.
"Am I dreaming?"
Haruta was the first to break the stunned silence. That kicked everyone into gear. Ace looked down at Renji and saw that his eyes were closed and that his breathing came out as short and sharp gasps.
"Marco. I think something's wrong with Renji!"
Marco kneeled beside him and again tried to heal him but it was like something was blocking him and he was getting increasingly frustrated. Still he covered Renji with his flames even though it was futile. Ace was panicking as well. He just got his older brother back and before they could even bond Renji was literally dying in his arms.
Whitebeard gently pulled Marco back. He went to protest but saw the red light covering Renji. His breathing evened out and he looked calmer.
"Is this a fever dream?"
Thatch asked as he stared at Renji.
"Pops?"
They all looked at Whitebeard. He looked twenty years younger. But his eyes remained sharp. He too was staring at Renji. He had no idea what happened to him but he would find out. The presence he felt with Renji felt very familiar, too familiar.
"Get him to his room. We will discuss this when he wakes up."
"His room? Wouldn't it be better if we took him to the infirmary, Pops?"
"No. His room. Something tells me there is more to Renji than he let on. He would be more comfortable in his room. There is a reason he told me he was keeping it."
Vista picked Renji up as Ace would not have been able to carry him. Instead he grabbed Renji's things from the table and followed Vista out. He had never been in Renji's room. They always kept the door closed. Ace had been curious as to what it looked like but he didn't want to anger anyone by going in without permission.
They passed various pirates who stared at Renji's unconscious form in Vista's arms. Vista glared at all of them and they ran the other direction. When they reached Renji's room, Ace opened the door for Vista and followed him in. He looked around the room and saw various old bounty posters on the wall. A mount for a sword. Bed, closet, desk. It looked normal. Neat.
Vista placed Renji on the bed and took off his boots before pulling the covers over him. He went to Renji's bathroom and got a warm cloth to clean his face.
"You move like you've done this before."
Ace commented as he set Renji's things on the desk.
"Yeah. Not the first time we had to clean Renji up after he pushed himself too hard. Last time Marco did the cleaning up. I just carried him."
"Last time?"
"Story for another time."
"Is he going to be okay?"
"Renji always manages to bounce back. Sometimes I wish he knew when to quit."
"He doesn't seem like the type to quit."
"He's not. I'm convinced that he will literally fight to the death before he gives up."
Vista had cleaned Renji's face and ears. They left him in the bloody clothes, not wanting to invade his privacy.
"He seems like a good guy."
"He is. He comes off as cold, but he's not. He just needs time and patience. The others don't see that."
"Is that why he's no longer a commander?"
"I'll let him tell you that. Renji has his secrets but he would never hurt us."
"Will he like me?"
"Yeah. He's good like that. He's doesn't trust easily but when he does trust you it's the best thing ever. He has a smile that could light up the whole world."
"You must love him a lot."
"He's my younger brother, of course I love him. Renji doesn't do things half heartedly nor does he do things that he doesn't want to."
Ace nodded at Vista's words. He looked at Renji one final time before they left the room, closing the door behind them. He could only hope that Vista was right and that Renji would like him. It would be nice to get to know his biological brother. He wonders if Renji would like to meet Luffy.
If you told Whitebeard that one of his sons would come to him and tell him that they wished to leave for an unspecified amount of time, he would probably have killed you, but that is exactly what happened with Renji the night of the party.
He walked to Whitebeard's room and entered without knocking, he had a blank look on his face and that was worse than any negative emotions he would've been feeling at that moment. He was dressed, had his swords (katanas), and a bag on his back. He looked at the man he called Pops for a moment before speaking and Whitebeard knew that whatever came out of his son's mouth, he would not like it.
"I'm leaving. To find a cure."
He said bluntly. That wasn't how he wanted to say it but he couldn't think of a better way to say it.
"What? Now? It's night. Do you not want to wait for daylight?"
"No. I want to leave now. If I stay, I'm afraid I might kill Haruta."
"Is that what this is about? Haruta talking about your father?"
"Yes and no. What Haruta said was out of line and I can't stand the disrespect towards my father. And I realized that I was stalling. I came here not to ask your permission but as a courtesy."
"A courtesy?"
"Yes. I will leave with or without your permission."
"If you leave without my permission, you will be declared a deserter and the others will hunt you down."
"Will you declare me a deserter?"
"No."
"Didn't think so."
"Why the sudden need to leave, tell me honestly."
"I've realized that I am weak. I am stronger than the average pirate but if an admiral decided to attack us at this very moment, I would lose. I am going to be training on my own while looking for a way to cure you."
"You've put a lot of thought behind this?"
"I have."
"I see."
"Another thing, I no longer wish to be the second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates."
"What?!"
"I am sorry. But I can no longer do it."
"Why? You've been a perfect commander."
"More than half of the other commanders do not like me nor do they trust me, such animosity is not good for the chain of command of any ship."
"Will you come back?"
"Yes. Always."
"How long will you be gone?"
"I do not know. But less than three years. That's how long I will be away."
"Have you told any of the others?"
"No."
"You do not trust them?"
"I do not trust that they will understand my reason for leaving."
"You want me to tell them?"
"They will notice my absence, probably. So that will be best."
"I will tell them come morning."
"Thank you."
"Come back, alive, kid. I mean it."
"Can't come back if I'm dead."
"Stay safe."
"I will."
"Goodbye, Renji."
"See you later, Pops."
Renji nodded once and walked to the door.
"I'm keeping my room."
"Of course you are."
"One more thing..." He couldn't look at Whitebeard, not wanting to see the expected sadness in his eyes. "...I might do some morally questionable things in the future. And I won't be the same when I return. Take care."
He opened the door and walked out. As expected Whitebeard had a devastated look on his face at Renji's last words. They sounded like a warning and Whitebeard knew that with Renji, warnings aren't just empty threats, there is always truth behind his words.
Renji walked through the silent ship in the cover of darkness. He stood on the railing of the ship in the blinds pot of the crow's nest so the night watch wouldn't see him. He looked back one last time before stepping off the ship and onto the waiting sea king.
Since he ate the devil fruit, he couldn't swim and sea water made devil fruit users weak. He disappeared into the night and the Whitebeard Pirates were none the wiser. They all thought they would see him the next day but only Whitebeard himself knew the truth.
---
By the time morning came Renji was long gone. Everyone woke up and they were still a bit angry that the party had to end early the previous night and Haruta felt guilty but not for the right reasons. He was guilty he blew up like that but not for what he said. He didn't know why but Renji brought out a side of him he didn't have with the others.
Before the ship fully woke up, Whitebeard had called the commanders into his bedroom to give them the news. He wondered how they would take it. Would they be sad? Would they be happy? Was what Renji said about them true?
"Renji has left."
He didn't beat around the bush. He held up a hand when the commanders all spoke at the same time.
"He came to me last night and told be that he would go look for a way to cure me."
"Why would he leave without telling us?"
Thatch looked at his father figure with great confusion.
"You tell me because I asked him the same thing and you want to know what he said to me?"
They were all curious so they nodded.
"He told me that most of you do not like nor trust him and that you wouldn't understand. He also told me that he no longer wished to be the second division commander. So tell me, what the hell has been happening on my ship that I don't know about?"
They were all surprised by the second revelation. Renji took his job as division commander very seriously, for him to relinquish the title seemed impossible.
"Why- why would he relinquish his title, yoi?"
"He said that the animosity amongst the lot of you and him was not good for the ship's command. What have you all been telling that boy?"
"Nothing. He's overreacting."
"Enough, Haruta! This is your fault! You never know when you shut the fuck up! We told you to shut up and you never listened! You did this!"
Thatch turned to his brother and he snapped, he was angry, rightfully so. He and Renji had a rocky relationship but they made it work and he always looked for Renji when he isolated himself. Renji was his younger brother and he loved him and now he might never see him again.
"Thatch calm down, yoi."
"Don't tell me to calm down, Marco! You didn't like him either because he never followed you around like a soldier! Renji wanted to free to live his life and he felt like he couldn't do it on this ship because of you guys! He saved us, countless times, he saved us when he could've let us die! Do you get that?! Huh?! Do you?!"
The others had never seen Thatch this angry. He ran his hands through his hair, ruining his signature hairstyle and they knew that he was very particular about his hair. Thatch had never raised his voice in anger since they knew him, he was the happy one amongst them.
"He is coming back. In the span of three years."
Whitebeard told them. He understood Thatch's anger but he didn't want them to think that Renji would not be returning to them.
"Three years? Pops anything could happen to him out there."
"Yes, I know."
"Why did you let him leave?"
"He said he would leave whether I gave him permission or not. I am sorry, my sons, but I was not going to let Renji be declared a deserter."
"That's not all is it?"
Vista asked.
"No. He felt that he was weak and that he needed to get stronger on his own."
"Weak? The kid is stronger than us combined. That can't be it."
Fossa said as he chewed on his cigar in frustration.
"That he what he told me."
"And you believed him?"
"No. I don't know if any of you have noticed but since we left the last island Renji has been different. It was as if he was more than one person and that something was bothering him."
"I noticed, yoi."
"And you didn't say anything?!"
Thatch glared at Marco.
"What did you want me to say, yoi?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe just maybe pretended you cared for him or told one of us. Me! You could've told me!"
"I'm sorry, yoi."
"Save your sorry. If something happens to Renji out there because you and Haruta couldn't swallow your pride and talked to the kid. I will never forgive you. That goes for the rest of you assholes that thought Renji wasn't worth your time."
Thatch stormed out of the room and slammed the door. The others stood in silence of a moment.
"I agree with Thatch."
Vista said and he too left the room but he didn't slam the door.
"Your childish behavior might have caused us a brother and a damn strong fighter."
Izo left the room as well. They were stunned at his words, Izo wasn't one to curse much or at all. Fossa left without a word and Namur followed him.
"I'm sorry, Pops."
"Renji is never going to forgive you for what you said about his father last night, Haruta. I wanted you to know that. He told me that if he didn't leave immediately, he'd kill you. Reflect on yourself as a person and as a brother."
Whitebeard dismissed the remaining commanders and they all left the room.
---
Renji didn't stop traveling until he reached an uninhabited island in the new world. He reached it in three days traveling on the sea king who didn't stop until he could get Renji out of the ocean. He was understandably very hungry and Renji dismissed him as soon as his feet touched the sand on the beach.
"You lied. Why?"
Roger said as Renji stripped off his shirt and shoes.
"What? You wanted me to tell him that I see ghosts and that I need to prepare my body to use their powers?"
"That's not what I mean and you know it."
"I didn't lie. I just didn't tell him the full truth and maybe I never will."
"Why?"
"Why should I? I'm allowed to have secrets."
"And what will you tell him or them when they see you using various devil fruit powers."
"I thought about that, actually. I'll tell them that I ate a copycat fruit. Simple as that. And in a way it's not lying. Just not the full truth either."
"That seems like your go to, half truths."
"Yeah. The truth hurts."
"So you'll keep lying to them?"
"If it keeps them safe then yeah."
"I hope you know what you're doing."
"I do."
"Why did you blow up like that last night."
"Because you're not a demon and I won't let anyone disrespect you like that."
"I see. Thank you."
"Anytime."
"You think you'll be able to use the devil fruit to its full potential in three years?"
"I'm hoping to do it in two or less. I need to be there when Ace turns twenty."
"Why?"
"Blackbeard, Teach is gonna betray the Whitebeard Pirates and kill Thatch. Ace will go after him and Teach will give him over to the navy and he will be killed by Akainu."
"You hope to stop that from happening?"
"Yes."
"You do know that you might die using this fruit, yes?"
"I've thought about that. I won't die. Not yet."
"What's your dream?"
"What?"
"Your dream, what is it?"
"To be free."
"You don't want to be King of the Pirates?"
"No. I just want to be free with my family."
"I see. I will help you achieve your dream."
"Thanks."
---
Renji focused his energy to summon the other ghosts. He needed to start training immediately and they needed to tell him how. Originally he planned to write the theory part down but Haruta pissed him off and he decided to leave early.
"I need to know what to do in order for me to use your powers, so please tell me."
"You need to get stronger first. Physically I mean."
Declan said as he walked around Renji.
"You can use the simpler powers at your current state, like healing yourself but if you ever hope to heal Whitebeard, you need to built more muscle and stamina."
"Okay."
"Renji, our powers might leave scars on your body, permanently. Are you okay with that?"
"Yes. I'm a pirate and I'm not afraid of scars."
Declan didn't elaborate and all the other ghosts looked sad, some even refused to look at Renji. None of them spoke and Renji felt like something was wrong but didn't want to question them and make them uncomfortable so he dropped it. Little did he know, Declan's apology was warranted and he will know why in the future.
"Good. We can start training after you get some sleep."
I spent a lot of my time in my room learning all about the devil fruit I ate. Theoretically, of course. Most of the powers are volatile and I didn’t want to sink the ship. I haven't seen the others much, not even Pops and it was entirely my fault. Seeing ghosts has changed my perspective a little and I still couldn't tell who was dead and who wasn't.
I was never alone now. A ghost or two were always with me, not counting Roger, he was always with me, no matter what. I also spent a lot of time on the figure head. I had to learn how to use my water powers without getting into the water or I'd drown. With the help of the ghosts I got better.
But there were downsides. From what I learned from the shark, I made the cage the eldritch being was in weak by eating the devil fruit. Water witches needed to be able to be in the water a lot and I gave up that up by being selfish. His words not mine. In a way, he's right, I was selfish.
The end of the world mattered little to me but I would try and fight to save it. After I healed Pops, of course. Oh, and killed Blackbeard. Those came first and foremost. Everything else would have to wait.
I lifted my head when I heard commotion behind me. I didn't bother sensing what it was because I already knew. Ace was here, took longer than I expected. I turned around but didn't bother moving further. It was surreal seeing him in real life and not on a screen or on a page.
He was yapping about how he'd kill Whitebeard and take his title as Emperor of the Sea. I couldn't help but laugh. At first it was a chuckle and then it turned into full blown laugher. I had to hold my stomach as I laughed. Everyone turned to look at me, even Ace and his crew.
"Oh, man. That was funny." I jumped down from the figure head and stood in front of him with my hands in my pockets. "You kill Pops? Better luck never, kid." The grin on my face was feral.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Manners maketh the man. Respect your elders or you'll find yourself at the bottom of the ocean."
"What?"
"Hey, Rookie, I'd stop if I were you. Pops might entertain your attempt on his life but Renji will really throw you into the sea. He doesn't play."
Thatch smirked as he leaned against the doorway. I glared at Ace and he shrunk back and I grinned again before walking over to Thatch.
"You're welcome to try and kill Pops. See how you fair."
I stayed back as Ace sent his crew away and attacked Pops. It didn't get him anyway. We all knew what was gonna happen. Ace was thrown around with each attempt. Some of the other commanders stepped in and blocked his attacks and I knew Thatch enjoyed kicking his ass the most.
I didn't bother. I glared ahead before going to my room. The day had been uneventful and I was bored. I flopped onto my bed and slept while I still could. It was almost time for me to leave and get the training I needed to use the powers of the deceased.
---
Ace was knocked around again and again but he didn't give up. Some watched in awe while others shook their heads at his stupidity. All the while, Ace thought about the man he met, Renji. He had an aura around him that screamed dangerous and he didn't even bother staying on deck to see if Ace would succeed. It was like he knew Ace would fail.
Days passed and Ace had tried a hundred times to kill Whitebeard with zero success. Renji spent his time on the figurehead and ignored everything that was happening behind him. Ace swore that sometimes he heard the man talk to himself. Oh, if only he knew.
Ace sat against the railing and a plate was put in front of him, he looked up and saw Thatch.
"What's this?"
"Food. Don't worry, it's not poisoned. You know, your friends came for you, but we took care of them."
Ace's faced turned to horror and Thatch laughed cruelly.
"Thatch, don't antagonize the kid."
Renji walked onto the railing to where they were. How he was so silent for his size, Ace had no idea.
Thatch's laugh was softer now as he looked at Renji.
"Stop trying, kid. Pops will only tolerate you for so long before he kills you."
Renji looked at Ace with cold eyes.
"You tell me not to antagonize him and yet, here you are scaring the piss out of him."
"The world is a scary place. Adapt or die. Oh, and kid?" Renji grinned cruelly. "Don't even try to go after the others. I'll kill you."
Renji walked away and climbed the main mast for peace.
"He means it."
Thatch looked at Ace. Marco joined the two and leaned against the railing but he was looking at Renji on the mast.
"Why do you call him Pops?"
"He took us in when we had no one, yoi."
Marco looked at Ace.
"Okay by why not Captain?"
"Because we love him."
The two commanders left Ace there and walked to the others. Ace watched them and felt his eyes filling with tears. He looked up at the mast where Renji was standing and swallowed the lump in his throat.
---
"Hey, Ren! Party time!"
I jumped down and put my hands in my pockets.
"Yeah. No."
"Come on, man. You never do anything with us anymore."
I opened my mouth to decline again but I was Roger shaking his head.
"Fine."
Thatch grinned victoriously and pumped his fist into the air.
"Don't look so smug. I might not even stay long."
"You're still coming so that's a win for me."
"Why are we even having a party?"
"The Spade Pirates joining us, of course."
"Of course."
"Also, Ace has been asking around about you but we haven't said much. Figured you wanted to talk to him yourself."
"No."
"Just give him a chance, okay?"
I clenched my jaw but nodded nonetheless.
"Help me with the food?"
I nodded and followed him to the kitchen. I helped prep the food and we brought it out to be cook outside on the deck.
---
The party was going great as everyone ate, drank, and danced. There was laughter and loud talking and everyone was mingling with each other. All in all the atmosphere was great. Renji however sat with his tankard half empty as he watched the others. He was glad that they were all having fun but he wasn't feeling like joining the festivities.
Ace watched Renji from a distance as he was welcomed by everyone. Renji hadn't said a word to him to show any warmth nor hostility. He had asked around about him but only got vague answers. He was curious about the older man, very curious. Renji seemed like the type to not care about what people said about him and Ace admired that.
He didn't know him at all but he could tell he was strong and if the warnings he got from Thatch was true then that meant that Renji wasn't one to toy with. His eyes were cold and hollow. The two different eye colors made him look even more disturbing than if he had only one eye color.
The party was one of the best they had in a while as it had been a while since they have welcomed a new member. If only they knew that the party was going to be cut short very soon.
---
I was laughing with the other commanders as they poked fun at Ace when movement in my peripheral caught my attention. A drunk Haruta was making his was towards Renji and I knew that this wasn't going to end well. I shot up from my seat and caught the others attention.
"Thatch. What's wrong?"
I said nothing and pointed towards the two. The others looked in the direction I was pointing and got up too. Ace looked confused by all of this but we ignored him and walked towards Haruta to try and stop him but we were too late. This idiot had already opened his mouth.
"You not joining the party?"
His words were slurred and he swayed on his feet. Renji said nothing nor did he look at him and that just agitated Haruta further.
"You know, you think you're better than us just because you're the pirate king's son. You're not. He was a demon and so are you and demons have to be killed. So why don't you just die already?"
Dead silence. Renji finally looked at Haruta and his eyes were dead. The haki that burst out of him was oppressive and suffocating. He stood up and stared Haruta down which caused him to step back. Renji grabbed Haruta by the throat and lifted him off the deck.
"You like to speak before you think, don't you?"
No. No. No. Not the voice. The ship lurched violently and we all stumbled except for Renji. He was rooted in his place and was squeezing Haruta's throat tighter.
"And you wonder why I stay away from all of you."
He looked at me when he said that. All this time I thought Renji stayed away from us because he hated us when in actual fact, he stayed away because he thought we hated him. Oh, Renji, I'm so sorry, brother. I wish I knew earlier.
"Keep my father's name out of your mouth, lest you want to drown."
He threw Haruta against the railing and walked below deck into the darkness of the hallway. We could still feel his haki but there was a change to it as if someone else was with him.
"You were told to keep your distance from Renji, Haruta. Yet, you did not. I am very disappointed in you. This is the consequences of the choices you made."
We all looked at Pops and shrunk back at the dark look in his eyes. Everyone knew he was soft on Renji and that he loved him a lot, some would say more than the rest of us. Haruta coughed and tried to catch his breath but no one moved to help him.
"Should've kept your mouth shut."
I growled at him and walked below deck as well. This party was a shitshow and no way was Renji going to join us at future parties.
---
Everyone started going to their rooms and the party ended. The other commanders looked at Haruta with various dark looks and shook their heads as they too went to their rooms. Everyone left Haruta where he was and he felt that. No one would trust him now, all because he was jealous of his brother.
He sat against the railing and cried into his arms when the deck emptied. He didn't mean to say that Renji must die and now he looked like an asshole who wanted his brother dead. He didn't even know Roger personally and yet he thought he has the right to tell Renji that his father was a demon. If Renji ever forgave Haruta, it would be a miracle.
Ace meanwhile was reeling. Renji was Roger's son just like he was but Renji didn't hate their father like he did. From what he saw it was as if Renji knew Roger personally. He had to find out the truth and he knew that only Renji could give him the truth. But to do that he would have to tell Renji that Roger was his father too. What if Renji hated him like the rest of the world?
Ace didn't know what he'd do if his own brother hated him.
Renji's training was brutal. He almost died at least 3 times in the first month of his training. The devil fruit he ate wasn't a normal one, it didn't below to the other three type of devil fruit. This one was a whole mystery. It chose its user and not the other way around. Renji spent most of his days running around the island and doing heavy lifting with trees he cut down and hunting the wildlife on the island.
The first few months of training were hell for Renji. He broke a lot of bones in the process. He had been burned, by both fire and lightning. He knew how it felt to have the air be sucked out of his lungs, literally. He knew how it felt to have your bones heal constantly. He knew how it felt to have his brain scrambled. He got used to the pain after six months but it had traumatized him greatly.
It had been a year since Renji left the ship and he already looked like a different person. His hair was longer and he had more scars littering his body. Lightning burns ran down both his arms, they looked more like tattoos than scars with their black color. No matter how much he healed them they didn't go away.
His throat was charred as well from spitting fire balls like in Naruto. That healed. Somehow he looked taller as well and he was bigger too. His muscles were more defined now. His stamina and speed increased and he could run around the entire island in under 5 minutes.
Renji would go days without sleeping, preferring to train to burn off steam. And the fact that the nightmares he suffered every time he slept kept him up. A lot of the ghosts had terrible lives and were terrible people. He saw every horrible thing imaginable. He never vomited so much in his life and he hated every second of it.
Roger and other swordsmen helped him with his blades and his sword skills. He opted to start holding his blades like Levi from Attack on Titan. He also learned a lot about himself, mostly that he can be very creative. The ghosts were impressed by the way he used their powers.
He used moves they would never have thought of using. But that's only because he read a lot of manga and watched a lot of anime in his past life. He could even use spirit bomb as well and he didn't need the world's energy for it, just his own.
He also learned that the eldritch being's cage had weakened significantly since he ate the devil fruit. His control over the ocean got more powerful and he could control it with his mind alone but there was a downside as well. The eldritch being could escape at any time but that wasn't his focus. His focus was to get stronger so that he could protect his family.
The most important change about him was that he could use his sea witch powers and the devil fruit powers at the same time. Oh, and that he now had two sets of fangs, top and bottom. No one had an explanation for it but he didn't care much. He could still speak properly and he wasn't a vampire so he wasn't all that worried about it.
Everyday he trained, he became stronger than he was the day before. He pushed himself to be better everytime. To be faster. To be stronger. To be smarter. He couldn't afford to fail, there was too much on the line. Roger worried for his son but he knew that no matter what he said, Renji would not stop or slow down.
What Renji didn't realize was that with all the physical changes, emotional and mental changes came as well. His haki was different, it didn't feel the same as it used to and it was more powerful thanks to the others. Renji was a new man, literally. Though his mental health tanked, he wouldn't know that until later though.
---
Time flew for Renji on the island but the same could not be said for the Whitebeard Pirates. The whole ship knew that Renji would return but a lot of them missed him. More people missed him than those who didn't. When they were told that Renji left, there were mixed reactions.
Some were sad especially the second division, except Teach. Others couldn't have cared less. And then there were those who thought good riddance. They were not told the full truth if why Renji left. Just that he went to train on his own. Whitebeard felt it best that they didn't know he went out looking for a cure.
He didn't want to give them false hope. He wanted to believe that Renji would find a cure but a part of him was prepared to accept that Renji would return without one.
A year and nine months had past before they got any confirmation that Renji was alive and it came in the form of a newspaper article. Renji's wanted poster was front and center with a bounty that was double the amount that it was when he left.
"Is that Renji?"
Thatch asked as he read the paper over Marco's shoulder. Their relationship was repaired but it took a while. Thatch and Haruta's relationship however was not what it used to be.
"Looks like it, yoi. The blue eye kinda gives him away."
"What the hell did he do for his bounty to jump that high?"
"Let's see."
Vista grabbed the newspaper from Marco and began reading.
"Destroyed serval naval fleets. Destroyed four navy bases, freeing marine controlled islands. Killed Celestial Dragons. Wait what? He killed over a hundred Celestial Dragons including women and children, freeing slaves. Destroyed the auction house on Sabaody. Killed auctioneers. Burned down an island. Freed more slaves. Fought Kizaru and won. He didn't kill him but he did injure him badly. Sunk several navy ships. Fought two warlords at the same time and won. Jinbei and Doflamingo. Fought against Akainu and nearly killed him. Fought against Garp and sent him into a coma. Only Admiral he didn't fight was Aokiji. Nearly sliced Marinefort in half."
Everyone with in earshot couldn't believe that Renji did all that. Whitebeard gripped the arm of his chair so tightly it splintered under the weight. Renji really did what he said.
"He has different clothes on as well, is that a cloak? He looks different as well, like a totally different person. Are we sure it's Renji? Our Renji."
Vista looked at the picture of his younger brother and barely recognized him. Only reason he did was because of the blue eye. Gone was the baby faced Renji and in its place the face of a man who has seen it all. Renji had dark circles under his eye and he wasn't smiling in his photo like he did in the others.
"Whoa. He did all that?"
Thatch grabbed the paper next and stared at Renji's photo. He didn't bother reading, he trusted Vista.
"He's covering his left eye now? You'd think he'd cover the right one and not the left one. His hair is longer too. He looks good, tired but good."
He observed.
"Do you think something happened to his left eye?"
"Anything could've happened. It has been nearly two years since we've seen your brother."
Whitebeard said as he leaned back into his seat. He looked to the sky for answers but he knew none would come. Renji had become a different man than the one he was when he left. He was a different person and Whitebeard didn't know if the new Renji was friend or foe.
Teach was pale as he listened to the others talk about Renji. He thought he was home free when Renji left and when Ace became his division commander but it seemed like the world had other plans for him. Renji was stronger now and he was still not any closer than he was in getting what he wanted. If, no when Renji returned, Teach knew that he was in deep shit. Life was gonna suck majorly for him.
---
On the other side of the world on the Red Force Shanks was looking at Renji's bounty with a complicated expression. He was happy that Renji had gotten a bounty that high but he wasn't happy with everything he had done to achieve it.
Renji wasn't the confused kid he saw three years ago. This was a man who was ready for war and would cut down anyone who stood in his way. Shanks now knew that what Renji told him on the Moby's deck all those years ago wasn't a joke. He couldn't put his finger on it but, Renji seemed different. And not a good different. The fact that he covered his left eye instead of his right raised questions. The only way he would find out what happened was if he asked Renji himself.
"Is that Renji?"
Beckman asked as he looked at the picture on the table.
"Yeah."
"That's a high bounty for a pirate who isn't even a captain."
"Yeah."
"He did all that and he's still alive? He must have gotten stronger."
"Yeah."
"He looks different. You sure it's Renji?"
"Yeah."
Beckman looked at Shanks. He was repeating the same word over and over. Beckman could see that something was bothering him.
"You okay, boss?"
"Yeah."
"Can I have your sword?"
"Yeah."
"Right, you're not okay. What's eating you?"
Shanks sighed and rubbed his face with his hands.
"Renji told me that he would do anything to protect his family. I didn't think he meant it but reading everything he has done to save people he doesn't even know, shows me that he meant it. I don't know if I- I don't know, Beck. He's gotten so strong and yet he looks so broken, so tired. I don't even know if he's the same person."
"You still love him?"
"Never stopped."
"Then love him. We don't know what he went through to look like that. What he's seen. What he's experienced. Renji isn't the same twenty year old that left us. He's what, twenty-six, almost twenty-seven now? He's not a kid anymore. This is a man who will do what he must to protect the ones he loves. Friend or foe. Be there for him. If he breaks, catch the pieces."
Shanks looked at Beckman thoughtfully. Friend or foe, this was still Renji, the same Renji that told him he loved him a million times. The same Renji who he couldn't stop thinking about when he left. The same Renji who looked so lost when he saw him last.
"I hear you."
"You wanna go see him?"
"Not right now."
"Okay. Have a drink then. We can celebrate Renji having such a high bounty."
"You suggesting a party? The world must be ending."
Shanks teased and Beckman rolled his eyes.
"Yeah. Yeah. Let's tell the boys."
---
Marines were scrambling. They sent out their strongest to take care of Renji and each time they returned severely injured and close to death. The lower ranks didn't even return. The World Government sent out Cipher Pol but they didn't return either.
Renji was killing them, left, right, and center. The only man they have yet to send out was Aokiji and he had no problem declining going after seeing the other two Admirals. Normally he would be branded a traitor but they understood, he could get killed and then they'd be short a very powerful man.
---
Renji on the other hand was none the wiser about his bounty. He glided over the ocean as free as a bird. He had all the powers under control and he was happy with himself but there was always room for improvement. He was ready to go back home. He figured out how to heal Whitebeard and he was sick of the government sending people after him.
He had no problem killing them all. The only reason he left Kizaru, Akainu, and Garp alive was because he didn't want to kill them. Not at that moment at least. Rather the devil you know than the devil you don't and all that. Renji was smart, smarter than people gave him credit for. His actions seemed careless but they were not. All of it was calculated.
He sped up and did tricks mid air. He had no problem being out in the open like this. He knew the government would not come after him and any foolish pirate or bounty hunter that came after him would die. And if they did, he'd just speed up more or go under the water. He might sink like an anchor but the sea kings and the shark were more than happy to transport him wherever he wanted to go.
Renji saw the Moby in the distance after two weeks of traveling. He stopped a few times to eat. He ate more now than he did before. He slept as well but not for long. He got used to the nightmares but they still woke him up sometimes. During his training he got used to a lot of things.
He landed on the figure head, facing the deck and grinned. The others readied their weapons at the unknown man on their ship. He had the hood of his cloak over his head and it was covering most of his face (like the cloaks of Assassin's Creed). His haki was different as well so they couldn't tell it was him.
He smirked and jumped onto the deck. The pirates froze when they felt the haki emitting from him. A lot of the weaker ones passed out and the stronger ones had a hard time not dropping as well. Whitebeard's eyes widened when he felt the haki. The familiar blades on Renji's back gave him confirmation on who it was but he wasn't so sure about that.
"You give all your guests such a warm welcome?"
He stood with his hands in his pockets as he stared them down. They wouldn't see his face obviously but they felt his eyes on them.
The island looked busy even from the port and Renji internally rolled his eyes. He hated social interactions, especially with strangers, a disadvantage from when he grew up as Matthias. Social anxiety if you will.
He looked at the list that was given to him by one of the men in his division and sighed. He got off the ship with the others and grabbed all the supplies that were on his list. He was carrying five big crates on his shoulder with minimal effort and it caused a lot of the islanders and other visitors to stare at him.
He kept his eyes on the list as he walked. He didn't want any social interaction with anyone. He grabbed the last crate and walked back to the ship all while avoiding and ignoring everyone even his own ship mates. He dropped the supplies in the storage hall and checked off the items on his list before placing the list on the top crate with his name written on it before leaving.
He had left his katanas in his room under the floorboards under the bed for safe keeping. He got off the ship again and made a beeline for the beach, while the others walked back into town after dropping off their supplies. But beknownst to him he was being followed at a distance, or that's what the stalker thought.
Renji knew some of the commanders were following him the whole time, he just didn't care. He stood on the shore line and took off his boots and socks and walked into the ocean. When the water reached the bottom of his chest he stopped and closed his eyes.
Vista, Haruta, Izo, Fossa, and Marco had followed Renji to the beach and watched him walk into the ocean and stopping. The reason they did this was because Haruta thought that Renji was suspicious and the others didn't want a fight to break out between the two. They knew Renji could very easily kill Haruta without breaking a sweat.
Renji walked deeper into the water and dived in. The warm water welcomed him with open 'arms'. He thought a lot about what the shark had told him about trusting his instincts when it comes to the sea and he did just that. He let the water guide him for a while before taking control.
---
I thought about everything I knew about water control and I came up with the Waterbenders from Avatar, so I took the knowledge I knew from watching them in my past life and applied it to my situation.
I torpedoed through the water and the feeling was exhilarating. It felt like flying at high speed but under water. I shot myself into the air with the water and my eyes widened in wonder and excitement at the view I got from the height. I could almost see the entire island.
I fell back into the water and repeated the process with more speed everytime and I went higher and higher. The laughter burst out of me before I even knew it. I had a grin on my face and adrenaline running through my veins.
I went further out in the ocean and when I shot up again I could no longer see the island and I've never felt so free. I fell back into the water and swam around for a bit, spoke to some fish and other sea life and got a 'ride' back to the island with one of the smaller sea kings. He was the size of a normal great white shark.
I thanked him and walked out of the water. I laughed again and ran my hand through my wet hair.
"What?"
I looked at Vista, Haruta, Izo, Fossa, and Marco with a tilt of my head. I knew the followed me out here, why? I couldn't tell you.
"Seemed like you were having fun."
Vista spoke first and I nodded. I picked up my boots and sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that day.
"So you can control it now?"
Haruta scoffed.
"And?"
"Must be pretty powerful to achieve that in such a short time. It's been what almost a year? And already you're doing stunts, when just the other day you could barely control it without using your haki."
"Again, and?"
"How did you do it?"
"None of your business."
"Yeah. Everything you do seems to have that answer. What are you hiding?"
"What are you? My mother?"
"No. And I wouldn't want you as a son anyway. If I was your mother I'd have thrown you to the wolves when I got the chance."
"Hmm. See, the thing is, you're not my mother and FYI, what I do is none of your business. As long as the captain of the ship knows what I'm doing, I don't see why I have to inform you."
"You really are pretentious. You don't care about anyone but yourself."
"Hey, look at that. You got something right. Congratulations, Haruta. You're right, I don't care about you. Any of you. So butt out of my business."
I left before any of them could say anything more.
"I wish you were dead!!"
Haruta yelled but I didn't stop.
"Yeah. So do I."
I murmured to myself. I walked to the ship and took a shower and changed my pants before leaving again. I didn't go into town, not wanting to converse with anyone while I was still thinking about my next moves.
I walked around in the forest and this time no one followed me. The deeper I walked the clearer I could hear a voice. I of course followed it, like the white person I was. This is why I could never be transmigrated into a horror movie, my curiosity would get me killed.
The voice sounded ominous not Ketsueki no Keiyaku ominous, dark villain serial killer ominous. I walked and walked for what felt like hours before I came across a cave. It was dark even at the entrance and had 'bad idea' written all over it. I went in anyway.
For it being so dark, I had no problem seeing where I was walking. I came to a stop at the center of the cave and there it sat. A pitch black devil fruit. I've never seen like it before. Not when I was watching or reading One Piece nor in the Devil Fruit encyclopedia.
"Eat me."
I whipped around when I heard the voice clearly. Holy shit, it did sound like a dark lord serial killer. I turned back to the devil fruit and stared at it again.
"Eat me. Eat me. Eat me."
Over and over, those words rang through my head. Louder and darker each time. My body moved on its own and I picked the fruit up and bit into it. I gagged at the taste. I've never had rotten food but I'm pretty sure that this is what it would taste like, just a million times worse.
I ate the whole thing. And with each bite I felt like I was dying. My eyes were watery and my nose was runny. This was a horrible idea. One I have committed to and there was no going back.
"Alright mystery fruit, what are your powers?"
"Maybe turn around and find out for yourself?"
I spun around so fast I nearly tripped on my own feet.
"Jesus! Fuck!"
Standing in front of me was Gol D Roger. My eyes widened and my world tilted before blackness consumed me.
---
Renji passed out from the shock of seeing his very dead father standing in front of him. Roger shot forward and caught his head before it could hit the ground and sighed. He looked at his oldest son and smiled sadly. He knew what Renji had gone through. Even dead he couldn't leave his little boy all alone.
His ghost had followed Renji all through his life. He knew about the original Renji's death and how he swapped souls with Matthias. He knew about Matthias's plan. He knew everything there was to know about Renji. He was glad he could see it all happened but he was sad about how it all happened.
This boy (young man) suffered a lot to get where he was today and Roger didn't know how to comfort him, he knew that Renji's suffering was not over, not by a long shot. He had watched his son push away people who wanted to help him and yet, he couldn't blame him. The responsibility Renji took upon himself was an extremely heavy one.
Roger sat against the cave wall with Renji's head in his lap, which shouldn't have been possible as he was a ghost but hey, anything was possible in this world. Anything. He ran his hand through Renji's hair while he waited for him to wake up and he didn't have to wait long.
Renji opened his eyes slowly and blinked for a moment before his eyes widened again and he shot up. He pressed his back against the opposite wall and stared at Roger.
Roger stood up and walked closer to the freaked out Renji and Renji pressed himself against the wall more.
"I'm real, Renji."
"Are you?"
"I am."
"Why... why are you here?"
"Renji..."
"Just- just tell me. Please."
"I've always been by your side. I never left. You're my son and I'm sorry I couldn't raise you myself."
"Why did you leave me?"
"I was sick and I had to make a choice for your survival."
Renji nodded and rubbed his eyes. Somewhere during the conversation he had started crying and he didn't know why. Roger held Renji against his chest and let him cry. Both men were tall by normal human standards but Roger was taller than Renji. Renji's head reached just passed his shoulder.
"You grew up to be an amazing young man. I'm so proud of you, Renji. So proud."
"I'm a selfish bastard who doesn't let people in."
"For their own safety. I'm sure they'll understand one day."
Renji wrapped his arms around Roger and hugged him. He always wondered what it would feel like to hug the legend and now he knew. It felt safe, like nothing in the world could touch him as long as his father was hugging him.
"If I can see you, does this mean everyone else will too?"
"No. I'm visible only to you. Or rather the bearer of the devil fruit you ate. Renji, the fruit you ate is not a normal devil fruit. It was hidden for a reason and the fact that you found it so easily says a lot."
"It called me."
"The fruit?"
Renji nodded against Roger's shoulder. Roger held Renji's shoulders and held him in front of him while looking into his eyes.
"The fruit you ate has no history, no records, nothing. The government hid its existence from the world. It is one of the oldest fruits out there."
"What's it called?"
"The name of the fruit is Reikon Reikon no Mi the Spirit Spirit Fruit. It sounds simple enough but it's not. It has immense power. Very dark power with disadvantages. It is powerful but there is a price to pay for that power. You can use any devil fruit powers in existence but you will see the memories of the former devil fruit user. You can use the powers of the dead. All of it. Even ancient powers."
"How do you know all this?"
"I heard a story about it."
"From who?"
"Not important."
"What? Why?"
"Renji, the powers you will possess will consume you. And the fear you felt for your sea witch powers will be nothing compared to the fear you will feel in the future. Lean on others in your time of need."
Renji stepped back and shook his head.
"I can't. I won't."
"Why? Why are you so stubborn?! These powers could kill you! Stop bottling everything in!"
Roger was angry, very angry. Renji flinched at the sound of his yelling and braced himself for a blow that would never come. Muscle memory and all that. Roger's eyes widened and he rubbed his face before looking at Renji again.
"I'm sorry for yelling."
"It's fine. I'm going back to the Moby."
Renji turned and walked out with Roger following closely behind him. Neither said anything as they walked but Renji's eyes moved around rapidly as he saw figures in the forest that weren't there when he entered it. They all looked human and they all followed behind him.
"They know you can see them."
"Yeah. I figured that out."
He closed his eyes tight and a shiver ran up and down his spine. He opened his eyes again and right there in his personal space, staring directly at him was a man. Renji took a step back and bumped into Roger.
"Mmm. You ate the fruit and it didn't kill you. Fascinating."
Renji didn't reply and just walked around the man. He needed to get to his room to think. The spirits still followed him and he tried his best to ignore them. Roger had a hand on his shoulder and it was grounding him so he didn't lose his mind.
"You are a water witch, are you not?"
Renji glanced at the man.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Hetka Declan. I was a slave for most of my life about two hundred years ago."
"Great. A slave. Just what I need."
"You do not seemed pleased by the discovery."
"No shit. Slaves go through pretty heavy shit. And from what I was told about this fruit, I am going to experience every horrible thing that happened to you."
"Yes. Yes you are. But we will be with you."
"Yeah. Of course."
Renji said sarcastically while rolling his eyes.
"You seem like a very powerful man. I know that you will be able to overcome the devastating repercussions of these powers you now possess."
Renji said nothing and just walked faster. No one was on the ship when he got there which worked in his favor. He was sure he looked like looked like shit, with the finding out he can see dead people and the thought of using their powers and of course, the passing out.
---
I was thankful for the quiet of the ship. I leaned against my bedroom door and sighed. I had no idea on how to work this. I was scared but at the same time determined. If what Roger said is true then that means that I can use someone's healing powers to heal Pops and that is currently my main focus. Mental health be damned, I never had good mental health anyway.
"Okay. Let's get somethings straight. I use your powers however I want. None of your get to possess me. You explain to me how to use your powers safely. If I have to suffer through nightmares to use your powers, so be it. And none of you will stop me even if it looks like I'm going too far."
I looked at the ghosts in my room. This was freaky on whole new levels. I'm gonna look insane when I speak to them in front of the others. They all looked at me like I had lost my mind, and maybe I have. Who knows?
"If I may, our powers might hurt you as it is not technically yours. Our bodies have adapted to the powers due to us eating the devil fruit. You may suffer severe injuries while using these powers."
Declan said as he looked at me curiously.
"Do any one of you have healing powers?"
"I do."
A pale man raised his hand.
"And you are?"
"I am Starborne Erik."
"Starborne? The fuck?"
"I am from royal lineage approximately 500 years ago. My family was slaughtered by the government."
"You a celestial dragon?"
"You say that with much contempt."
"Yeah?" I snarled and stepped closer to him. "I wonder why."
"I was not a celestial dragon."
"Okay."
"If I may, is there a reason you seem to hate them?"
"Why do you wanna know?"
"Well, we will be working together to make you stronger and you will learn a lot about us. It is only fair that we know about you as well."
"Fair point. Celestial Dragons are the scum of the earth in my eyes. They take slaves, destroy civilizations, kill anything they don't like, take children from their parents, take parents from their children. They think they are Gods. I wish to show them that they are not."
"I see. Well, I can only hope that we can help you achieve your goals. It will be an honor to serve under you, Gol D Renji son of Gol D Roger."
"You will not serve under me. We are going to be working together. So get comfortable boys and girls. I will be bearing all your trauma so forgive me if I become snappy."
I grinned maniacally. This was going to bite me in the ass but I was committed. I will save the people I love and rewrite the story.
Things were tense on the Moby Dick and they had been for a while now. Renji continued to keep his distance from the rest of the commanders. He spent most of his time practicing with his swords or his water abilities. He had it down to a T, not that it was doing him any favors.
The stronger his control got over the sea, the stronger its control got over him. He was having a hard time processing all the information entering his head via the sea creatures. Headaches were his best friend now and sleep became his escape.
His eyes were constantly blood shot and his right one throbbed to the beat of his heart. Sometimes, the others swore that they saw markings coming from his eye but it was gone as soon as they saw it. Renji isolated himself as he didn't want the others in danger. But that's just what he wanted them to think.
He was actually isolating himself because he couldn't stand the stench of fear that permeated from all of them. He still sent his division on missions, still gave their mission reports to Marco, still did his job as a division commander, but he wasn't their friend, not anymore. And maybe not ever.
Renji knew what it was like to be isolated and discarded and he knew that the other pirates were doing it to him now. He thought many many time about calling Shanks and taking up his offer to help but then he looked at all the pirates from his spot on the main mast and decided against it. He hasn't spoken to Shanks since he came to visit the Moby Dick all those months ago.
---
Vista sat anxiously in his seat around the table in the war room. He kept glancing at the door, they were all waiting for Renji to start the meeting. He was running late, something that has never happened before. Every second that passed felt like an hour and Vista's leg began bouncing up and down.
"You okay there, Vista?"
He turned his head and looked at Thatch.
"Yeah. Actually, no. Have any of you spoken to Renji recently?"
Thatch shook his head in denial and the others followed suit. All of them except Whitebeard.
"Renji speaks to me constantly. Every other day, he'd come to my room and speak to me privately. Has something happened?"
Whitebeard leaned forward in his chair, his elbows on his knees. Before Vista could answer, the door opened and Renji walked in. His posture was relaxed but he seemed different. The way he was carrying his katanas were the first thing everyone noticed.
Renji used to keep them on either side of his waist with the hilt facing up, now they were on top of each other on the small of his back, hilts on opposite sides. He didn't look at anyone as he sat down and waited for the meeting to start.
Everyone looked at him with various emotions but they didn't register in Renji's head. Their scents did register in his head though. Fear, anger, regret, envy, they all registered and Renji was already dreading the next couple of hours.
"Let's get started. In two days we will be taking shore leave. I'm not going to tell you all to behave while we are on the island, you're grown men. Don't fight with the locals and stay out of trouble. We'll restock our supplies and set sail after the log post has set. Any questions?"
Whitebeard started off the meeting, not wanting to dwell on the fact that Renji didn't seem all there.
"Yeah, I have a question. Do we need to be in pairs? Or groups?"
Haruta asked but he was looking at Renji instead of Whitebeard.
"No. You can all go your separate ways. As long as we are restocked and everyone is accounted for after, do what you want."
"Do we need to stay on the island?"
Renji asked finally. His voice was a bit hoarse.
"For restocking? Yes. If you have extracurricular activities you want to do, do it on your own time."
"Why? You hiding something?"
The stench of anger from Haruta was burning Renji's nose and he finally looked up at him.
"How is that any of your business?"
"What?"
"What I do is none of your business."
"No, yeah, you're right. Except you've been acting suspicious these last few months."
"How would you know? You've been avoiding me. All of you have been avoiding me, so excuse me if I found something better to do with my time."
That stunned everyone in the room even Whitebeard. In all the talks he and Renji had over the months he had never mentioned that the others were avoiding him.
"You ever think that the world doesn't revolve around you?"
"Right back at you. I told you, you all had a choice and that I have one too. I was simply following your directive. Not my fault your feelings were hurt."
"You pompous bastard."
"Insults really show your intellect, Haruta."
"And you wonder why we've been avoiding you."
"I don't."
"What?"
"I don't wonder. Nor do I care. You're all free to do what you want, just like I am free to do what I want."
"What?"
"Sorry, the results you were hoping for just isn't happening."
"Can the two of you stop it already? This is getting old."
Thatch groaned and Vista nodded along with him. Izo and Marco were both looking at Renji. Marco being the closest saw the exhaustion in Renji's eyes, the way his fingers twitched and the way his lips curled slightly.
"Just be on the ship by the time we have to leave, all of you."
Whitebeard sighed. He too was tired of the two's bickering everytime they saw each other. He looked at Renji again and saw the subtle changes in his right eye. The blue was darker but brighter and had what looked like purple veins on the iris.
"Renji, stay behind. The rest of you, check inventory and make lists."
Renji stayed seated as the rest stood up and walked to the door. No one but Vista, Thatch, and Izo spared him a glance as they walked out of the room. Left with Whitebeard alone in the room allowed Renji to breathe. There was no overwhelming stench of emotions in the air anymore.
"You know, cutting them out isn't going to help you."
Whitebeard said after a moment of silence between the two.
"I know. It's not that I'm cutting them out. More of a, avoiding the inevitable."
"The inevitable?"
"Yeah. When the time comes, they will all look at me differently. I'm just speeding up the process. And if in the end I'm wrong, I'll apologize but if I'm right, no harm done to me."
"You have difficulty attaching yourself to others."
"That obvious, huh?"
"To me it is. To your brothers it looks like you avoid them purposely."
"I'm not avoiding them. They avoid me, I just don't force interactions unless absolutely necessary. You can't force love, Pops. It's not healthy."
"Do you want to be alone with no connections to anyone forever?"
"No. I don't. I never thought I would live long enough to want to attach myself to someone."
"You are a peculiar man, Renji. Very peculiar."
"Yeah."
"You've been stressed lately."
"How so?"
"Your haki bursts out of you as if you have no control over it whatsoever and you space out more than you think. The control you have acquired over the sea has disadvantages, doesn't it?"
"You can tell?"
"Since you've started practicing more with your abilities, you've slowly been losing parts of yourself. You might not see it, Renji, but you've become more beast than man."
"Yeah. I've noticed. It's like the sea is calling to me and I don't know if I should answer or not."
"Answer, son. Before you lose more of yourself than can be recovered."
"You want me to answer? We don't know what that will do. We don't know if it will help me or kill me."
"You explained your plan to save this crew and you don't know the outcome of that either. Why is this so different?"
Renji couldn't answer because he had no answer. He fiddled with his thumbs and looked at the table. He could take the risk to get answers. But it was just that, a risk. With an outcome he has no idea of.
"Yeah. Okay. No risk, no reward."
"Renji?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't shut everyone out. Some are really trying to help you."
"Okay."
Whitebeard nodded to the door and Renji stood up.
"Thanks, Pops."
He left the room feeling a little lighter than he had in months. He walked to his room and placed his katanas on the bed before leaving again. He was going to answer the call of the sea, if it killed him, it killed him. If it didn't he'd have more control of himself.
The deck had very few pirates on it and most were busy. Renji walked to the railing and stared at the sea over it for a moment before making the reckless decision of throwing himself into the ocean.
---
The water was cold, colder than usual. I didn't try swimming, just let the ocean drag me to wherever it wanted to. The human body has 2 minutes of oxygen in its lungs but I don't know if that rule applies here. This was a reckless move but I was already doing it so I couldn't complain about it.
I looked up as I sank the light from the sun reflecting on the surface of the ocean was decreasing. There were no creatures around. No fish, no sea kings, nothing. I finally made it to the bottom and I was surprised that I didn't feel like I was suffocating.
I sat on the bed of the sea floor and closed my eyes. The water moved around me and I felt a massive presence behind me, then in front of me and then at my sides. I was completely surrounded by very large, very curious creatures.
I opened my eyes slowly and nearly choked as I perked back, staring directly at me was the shark. We stared at each other for what felt like an eternity.
"You finally answered our call."
Okay. That was not what I was expecting. Mind link? Come on, man. I mean I always hear them in my head, but this sounded different, clearer.
"Yeah. I did."
"We are glad."
"Sorry. Quick question, how are you talking to me so clearly?"
"We could always communicate, you refused to listen to us."
"I listened."
"No, you heard us but you didn't listen. But we are not here for that."
"Then why are you here?"
"You have answered our call so that means you are no longer afraid of your powers."
"Afraid?"
"Yes. The reason it felt like you were losing control was because of your fear. You have nothing to fear we will not harm you."
"I don't know if you remember, but you tried to kill me almost a year ago. If it wasn't for the weird tentacle, I'd be dead."
"You are mistaken. I did not try to kill you. The tentacle belongs to an eldritch being beneath the sea. It needs you to free it. I was trying to save you from it."
"Yeah, right."
"It is the truth. The eldritch being is very dangerous and has been imprisoned for nearly eight hundred years. The sea witches imprisoned it because it was uncontrollable. If it had succeeded in letting you free it, the world as you know it would no longer have existed."
"I couldn't have freed it anyway. I had no idea I had these powers."
"It need not your powers to free it. It needs your fear."
"Is that why you said that I no longer have fear?"
"Yes. With no fear in a sea witch, the eldritch being is weak. You are an excellent witch. Overcoming your fear so quickly."
"I'm not a witch. I'm a guy, witches are girls."
"The gender does not matter, for a hybrid you are certainly strong, resisting the control the sea had over you for so long is impressive."
"Had? Past tense?"
"Yes. You are a free man."
"Cool. Cool. Send me back up. I'm done here."
"Of course. If you need any assistance from us, you need only ask. Trust your instincts when controlling the sea and its inhabitants. And please refrain from calling us creatures if you will."
"Got it. Up. Surface. Me. Go."
The sea king that looked like a dragon lifted me onto its head and swam up to the surface. We were right next to the Moby and everyone was looking over the railing worriedly. When they saw the sea king they all stepped back in fear.
The sea king 'stood' tall against the ship. It lowered its head and i got off and stepped onto the deck.
"Thanks, dude."
"You are very welcome."
It disappeared back into the ocean and everyone stared at me. I didn't bother with them and just walked below deck to change out of my wet clothes.
---
"Did that just happen?"
Thatch asked as he watched Renji walk below deck without a word to any of them.
"He was on the thing's head. What the hell?"
Haruta asked as he looked between the ocean and the door leading to the areas below the deck.
"I think I need a drink."
Fossa stated.
"No kidding."
It was a shock to everyone. Renji stepped onto the deck dressed in a dry pair of pants his boots and his katanas strapped to his back. He looked lighter, no longer stressed and the bloodshot eyes were gone as well. In the few minutes he had been gone, he looked like he slept well for hours.
I stood in front of Pops in his room, well not stood, more like shifted from one foot to the other. Pops looked amused at my nervous state, which was not helping at all.
"You gonna speak, son, or just dance around the entire time?"
Great. Now he has jokes.
"Not dancing."
I mumbled.
"Right." He scoffed. "Not dancing."
"I kissed him. Well, I kissed him back. He kissed me."
"Who?"
"Shanks."
"You kissed the brat?"
Well don't sound so surprised.
"Kissed him back. Big difference, Pops."
"And what possessed you to do that?"
"Nothing. It- it felt good and I just went along with it."
Wow, way to sound like a kid with a crush Renji. Ten out of ten.
"You kissed him back because it felt good?"
"Yes. I don't even know what happened, okay? It just happened."
"Explain it to me."
"Explain it? Okay. Um... we were talking and I was asking him some questions about the nature of our relationship and he confessed that we were lovers. Then he asked some questions and I answered and then next thing I know we were kissing."
Pops looked even more amused at my impulsiveness.
"You're bigger than him, you didn't think to push him away?"
"Uh... no. I did not think of that."
"Why are you really here, son? From what I saw yesterday, the two of you were fine. He gave you a den den number to call, right?"
"We are fine. Not dating, but fine. I actually don't know if we're dating or not. He told me he still loved me and I told him that I loved him too. Everything just happened so fast and I don't even know what to do."
"Mmm. I see. Would being in a relationship with him be bad?"
"No. Yes. I don't know. We're on different ships in different crews, we don't always cross paths."
I ran my hands through my hair in frustration.
"You have yet to answer the question of why you are truly here. I'm sure it was not to regale me with the tales of your impulsiveness."
"Yeah. Okay. Fair point. I came here to tell you the truth. Not just half of it."
"The truth? Have you been lying to me?"
"No no no. No lies. Just half truths. I just didn't know how to tell you."
"Speak then."
"Okay. You guys being a story from my universe is true. But there is something I didn't tell you. You get betrayed Pops, in the next few years. A brother dies and another is captured by the Marines. You and Oars Jr die trying to save him. Yet still he is unable to be saved. The others seek vengeance from the traitor and get killed. In the end only one Whitebeard pirate survives."
Pops took a moment to digest the information I just told him. It was still not the full truth as I didn't use any names nor did I tell him how he will be betrayed and who dies first.
"There are a lot of blanks in your story, why's that?"
"It's better this way. It means that you'll be more alert but not actively seeking out the traitor."
"And you feel that this is the best course of action?"
"Yes. I don't want to mess up the time line more then I already have. When it comes down to it, you'll know, Pops. Nothing is going to happen to any of you. Nothing."
"And you're sure?"
"Swear on my life."
"And what is your plan in all of this?"
"This is gonna sound weird but I'm hoping to find a devil fruit. A strong one. It doesn't have to be a specific one."
"You control the sea and you want a devil fruit. Do you want to sink like an anchor, boy?"
"No, but I need more power. Not to conquer the world or anything but, to save and protect this crew. It's selfish, I know."
"At least you're aware of your actions. Do what you want, but don't get lost in the process."
"I won't... get lost, I mean. I have a lot to lose if I get lost."
"Shanks?"
"You guys."
"Mmm. Cheeky brat."
"That's not the only reason I'm here."
"No?"
"No. You weren't enemies, were you."
""Who?"
"You and my father."
"What do you think?"
"Honest answer, I thought you were but then i gave it more thought. And I realized that you couldn't have been enemies."
"And why's that?"
"If my father was your enemy, you wouldn't have taken me in. I know you think all of us are children of the sea, but come on, even you aren't that naive, Pops."
"And that's your personal opinion?"
"Yes."
"Mmm. You're a smart one. And you're not wrong. Roger and I weren't enemies but we weren't friends either. I would've taken you in regardless. You and your father are no the same person."
"I know that. My father was a great man, despite what the government has to say about him. I am not. I lie. I kill. And I know that he did it too but for me it's not about being a pirate. I do it because I can. I have zero regards for anyone who I do not consider a friend or family. I am not merciful. And I never will be. If I have to kill a child to get what I want, I will."
Pops tensed up the longer I spoke and I knew then I just opened his eyes to what type of man I was. But I wasn't lying. I'd do whatever it took to save them. Even if it meant condemning myself.
"Renji..." his voice was tight. "Do you understand what you just admitted to me?"
"I do."
"And you think I would let you do that?"
"Unfortunately, in this case, Pops, I wasn't asking permission. I'd never harm anyone under your protection regardless of how I feel personally. But here's the deal, life's cruel, I know first hand how cruel it can be. And in this world, we kill for what we want, even if we don't want to."
"You really have changed. I want to say I am disappointed but that would be untrue. All a father wants is to see his children grow up and become the best they can be. As your father I would discourage you against doing what you plan on doing..."
"And as my captain?"
"As your captain... I would tell you the risks of your plan but all we want is to protect our loved ones the best we can. Renji... you feel it don't you?"
"Feel what?"
"The coldness creeping in."
"What?"
"The witch blood flowing through you... its making you less and less human and more monster. I can only hope you can find the warmth again. I will stand with you as you wear my mark but know this, Renji, everything comes at a cost. Everything."
"Yeah... I know... and no cost is too great for what I want to achieve."
"And what of your brothers? Do they know of your plan?"
"No. They do not. And I don't want them to know. They will try and stop me and I can't have that."
"Is that why you don't bother repairing the relationships you had with them?"
"Selfish. I know. But it's better if they have a negative view about me now, that way they wouldn't be surprised by my actions in the future."
"For how long can you keep this up, Renji? How long can you bear all this responsibility you've put onto yourself?"
"For as long as I need."
"You are a smart man. I hope you know what you're doing."
"I've been alone all my life... having people hate me is nothing new. If they still hate me after I deal with the traitor, that's their decision and I will have to make mine."
"And what decision is that?"
"Haven't thought about it. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get there."
"You will always have a place here, Renji. No matter what."
A melancholic smile grazed my lips and I looked down.
"I guess we'll see."
"You don't think so?"
"No. I don't."
"Renji..."
"Thank you for taking me in and for giving me a family. When the time comes... I hope we can sit around the same fire and drink together after everything has been dealt with. I will still continue to find a cure, Pops."
"You speak as if you are dying."
"Yeah." I scoffed wetly. "Maybe I am."
"Are you going to die?"
"No. No, I'm not. Can't leave you all here to deal with my mess."
"Renji..."
"Thank you for your time, Pops."
I didn't look at him, I couldn't. I walked to the door and opened it.
"We will stand by you, son."
"Not with this."
I walked out and closed the door gently behind me.
----
Renji left Whitebeard with a lot to think about. The way he was confessing to premeditated murder baffled Whitebeard a little. Renji was always a bit squeamish around the thought of murdering children and now he just admitted that he would kill children to get what he wanted.
They were pirates, they didn't follow the law and had their own sense of code and Renji stood in front of Whitebeard and told him that he would disregard everything he learned and was taught to do what he wanted.
It was worrying how cold Renji was becoming the sea witch blood flowing through his veins was becoming a problem, a very big one at that. Renji was changing and Whitebeard didn't know if it was for better or for worse.
---
Renji sat at the table furthest from the door, where he could see the door but still avoid anyone who entered and exited. No one was sitting with him as his haki was pouring out of him in small quantities. He wasn't angry, not exactly anyway. He was just feeling too much all at once.
The witches blood was heightening his senses to a whole new level and he wasn't a big fan. He could hear the curious voices of the sea creatures beneath the ship, the heartbeats of the crew. The smell of the sea, sweat and dinner. All mixed together and it wasn't a pleasant feeling.
He was brought out of his thoughts by a tap on his head. He blinked back into the present and looked at his 'assailant'. Vista was staring him worriedly.
"Ren, you okay?"
"...yeah... I'm... I'm okay."
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
"You're leaking haki like it's your job."
"Huh?"
"You didn't notice?"
"No, sorry."
"Have you been sleeping?"
"Yes."
"You're avoiding us."
"I'm not."
"No?"
"No. You're all doing a well enough job of staying away from me. I don't need to do anything."
He looked at Renji surprised. It was true that they didn't spend much time with Renji anymore but that was because they were all busy. Not because they were avoiding him, but Vista could see why he would think that. A lot of the commanders were avoiding Renji same with their divisions.
He looked at Renji who didn't seem all to bothered by the fact that everyone was avoiding him. In fact it was as if he expected it. He expected them to abandon him. He was like he already prepared himself for this mentally. Vista couldn't blame him though, he was going through it and was starting to get secretive.
The only person who knew what was happening to Renji was Whitebeard and they all knew that he wouldn't sell out Renji, even if it was for his own good. Renji finished his food and patted Vista on the shoulder before walking out of the galley.
Vista watched him disappear through the door for a second before following behind him. Renji wasn't walking fast or too slow, he walked like a man who had no problems at all. His steps were measured as quiet as he walked to what looked like the direction of his bedroom.
In the empty hallway, Vista grabbed Renji by the wrist to stop him from walking.
"You know you can count on us, right?"
"Can I really?"
The question didn't come as a surprise to Vista, no, what surprised him was the way it was asked. There was no hope in Renji's tone, just defeat and the slight hint of resignation. He didn't believe Vista and he knew that. And Vista knew that he knew that.
"You don't believe me."
"No."
"Why?"
"Why would I? I'm the bad guy, remember?"
"No you're not."
Renji removed his wrist from Vista's hold and turned to face him.
"I'm sure you want to believe that."
"What do you mean?"
"See you around, Vista."
That was the last conversation Vista had with Renji for the next few months. It was like Renji became a different person over night. But not many missed Renji like others did.
