Welcome to…

HIT THE STAGE!

Chapter 1: Soul

I groaned in pain as my eyelids fluttered open. What was going on? What happened? Why was I in so much pain?

Lights and sounds and senses assaulted my very being, not giving me time to process anything. My memories seemed to blur in a haze because everything seemed to happen so fast. It was kind of hard to focus when it felt like I got severed in half, blaring noises circled around my head, every color of the rainbow attacked my retinas, and the taste of blood and bile outright burned the back of my throat.

It was so hard to breathe, especially when I'm pretty sure all I could smell was smoke and car oils. There was a dash of burning rubber and fresh morning springs as well, what a lovely mixture.

But no really, I thought someone had plugged my trachea up and filled my lungs with tar. My breathing was coming out short, uneven, and taking a lot of effort. I coughed and sputtered, but it did nothing, it just seemed to get worse. Make it worse. My nose was clogged and I only ever seemed to get a breath of ash and rubble anyway, just leading me to hack up my innards moreso.

My attention then seemed to focus on the fact I was smack dab in the middle of the road. At least, of what I gathered from my diluted senses anyway. The pavement was harsh and searing on my skin, it was clear from the injury on my midsection (however bad it was), was also supported with some nasty road burn to boot. I must have shaved off at least all the top layers of my skin. I've hit the ground hard before, and I know all too well what road rash feels like, but this was different. This was something else. This was deadly.

I was dying.

I had to be. I-I was dying right there, in front of everybody. Because that's what was happening.

I started panicking even more as I finally remembered what had occured. It hit me like a batteram, but it was so obvious. When my vision cleared I could see the remains of the car I had been damn near thrown out of, the glass from the windows busted and the flashing lights of the police cars. I could hear the siren of the ambulance and the fire trucks helping to lessen the casualties I'm certain was already a hefty number. I could… I could feel the giant, gaping hole in my stomach and I swear my guts were spilling out at that point.

A car crash. It was a car crash. A really bad car crash, and I was dying in this sea of despair and death that shadowed over me. And that had to mean…

My family! If I was in a state like this then, they had to be dead or dying too, huh? I could picture it all too easily and that only served to make me blanch harder and cry hopelessly.

I had no energy to scream, as it was, I could feel the tug of the reaper pull my soul to the depths of darkness eagerly. I wafted in and out of consciousness too many times. I wanted to pray, wanted to hope, wanted to wish that I'd live, but that was foolish. I knew I would die. The life I tried to grab onto slipped out of my fingers all too fast, but I didn't want to stop too quickly.

I always heard that before you die, your whole life flashes before your eyes, but I'd say that's inaccurate.

My life flashed before my eyes, yes, but it was just the tiny sliver I had left of it. I had no time to ponder, to think, about my whole life, as I held onto the string that threatened to snap and let me tumble to my demise. I don't know if maybe it was instinctual or what, but I knew for a fact that in the moment that I dying, I wanted to live more than anytime in my entire life.

Ironic, no?

Then, I felt it. A rush unlike anything I had ever felt. It was exhilarating, it was bounts of energy, and it was also chilling. Sinister.

I clenched my teeth as I turned my head up and looked. I blinked, thinking I was hallucinating. Considering the state I was in, it wouldn't be surprising.

It was a figure, blocking out the warm rays of the sun to flood me with a cold gust of air instead. It locked eyes with me, or so it seemed, as its 'eyes' weren't really discernable, nothing of its face was. The figure did though, have a comical, cartoon like smile. Its full row of teeth the one bright thing it had to offer. But despite that, I could tell, it had power. It had an aura.

"Tell me," it spoke up, making me gasp, "do you wish to live?"

There was an uncomfortable pause as I thought over my answer, but eventually, I managed to rasp out a "Y-yes."

"I see. But would you be willing to die for that?"

"What?"

I squinted up at the figure, confused and agitated. I had no time, I could die any second, there was no time for mind games. What could it mean? I wanted to live, so why in the world would I die?

Unless…

"You… You don't mean…?" I wheezed.

The figure chuckled darkly. "That's exactly what I mean. So, will you take it?"

How could I not? I have literally fantasied about this and thought about it so much I could make a story out of it. I have always thought about what it would be like, to wake up and be in a different world, or do my life over, things of that ilk. Inserting myself in a fictional world, changing things about my own life? Of course. I didn't care if I had to die for that to happen, because it has always been one of those impossible things that I could never get but would satisfy all the fibers in my soul. It was pointless dreaming about it, but now that it was laid out on a silver platter for me? I would be idiotic to say no.

"Yes, yes. I will," I replied, desperation creeping into my voice.

The figure's smile somehow widened, but instead of being comforting, it made me feel uneasy. Something was going to go wrong, I just knew it.

"Would you do it, even at the cost of not being yourself?"

"A-are you kidding? I h-hate being me," I said weakly, coughing and growing impatient. What was with all the questions, couldn't this figure see my intestines popping out?

"That settles that. This makes my job much easier," it chuckled once again. It reached its hand out and I flinched as it patted my head. "Don't worry," it cooed, "you'll die a painless death."

I was about to ask what it meant, before I jolted when almost all my sensations were stripped of me in an instant and I was no longer in pain.

But, an instant later, my vision also receded and faded away into darkness. I slipped into a peaceful bliss, drifting off as my thread of life was finally snapped and my consciousness swam far away from my empty husk of a body.

Luckily, the figure still had a hold on my thread.

{~}

I woke up dazed and confused. I shot up, but found out a second later what a mistake that was when the ground under me rocked and swayed and got a good case of whiplash.

"Wh-!"

Once my seating was more steady and I rubbed the dizziness out of my eyes, I gaped as I swiveled my head around to look at the blue expanse that was laid out before me. The ocean, as vast as it could be, and I was sailing it in this small little boat with nothing but a barrel and the clothes on my back. It was kind of terrifying really, looking and seeing virtually nothing but the sea for miles on end.

Where the hell…?

I stopped dead as I started to finally take things in and thought.

I was about a breath or two away from hyperventilating and having a full on panic attack, but I had to check. I had to make sure. And so I looked down and saw what I was wearing. A red vest and blue shorts. I reached up and touched my head, and there lie a hat. A straw hat to be exact.

"No way…" I said, startling myself when my voice didn't come out of my mouth, but instead a different one.

I ran my hand over my left cheek, feeling what I knew was a scar I was surprised was that prominent after maybe 10 or 11 years.

I took off the hat and ran my hand through my hair and feeling the slightly rough but still soft tufts run through my fingers. It was a bit shorter than what I was used to.

Gulping, I stood up shakily. This was the last test, and if the results came out how I thought, then there would be no doubts. I pulled my arm back and then shot it forward. I slightly recoiled at the feeling, and all but almost fell over when my arm snapped back from being stretched farther than any normal arm could stretch.

My suspicions were confirmed.

"No fucking way…"

I was in One Piece.

"Are you serious? That person- thing- was serious?!"

More specifically. I was Luffy.

But that couldn't be right? I died. I felt it. I was me not a minute ago! How did that bastard do it? I held my arms out and looked them over like I had never seen arms before in my life. With the recent revelation, could you blame me?

My mind ran a mile a moment. So many questions swirling around in my head I thought it would explode. Normally I'd be fine because I'm used to having fifty things go on in my brain at once, but then I considered that this was simply my consciousness in Luffy's brain. We all know his head wouldn't be equipt for someone like me who has probably thought about more things in a week than he would in a year. Thinking for me could be fun, now it was painful.

"But wait… am I me? Or am I Luffy? Is Luffy me? A-after all it's just my thoughts, personality and stuff in his brain and body. So is it like a combination of me and him? That doesn't sound right…" I rambled to myself. Well, glad to know I still had that habit. God forbid someone caught me doing it.

A sudden buck of the boat jerked me out of my thoughts and mutterings.

I sat back down and nearly hugged the boat to try and stay on, and I latched to the side as I realized what a predicament I woke up to. A giant. Ass. Whirlpool. Ready to swallow me and my rinky dinky boat whole. I think it's justified that I was scared.

My sight tore away from the swirling sea before I started getting sick and have another close call heart attack. I ran over to the barrel and opened the lid. My hopes ran frigid, my throat ran dry, and it dawned on me how dumb it was that I had to use a barrel, a fucking barrel, in order to save my hide. I didn't have too bad a case of claustrophobia, but I still hated cramped spaces, and it was amped by the fact that I could drown at any time because of the whirlpool I was at the mercy of. I climbed in hastily.

How Luffy managed to sleep through this hell, I have no clue. Just my luck that particular quirk didn't stay.

So I stayed in that barrel muttering a mantra of things. Praying to god- oda help me- telling myself it'll be okay, and luring myself into a false sense of security, all the while scraping against the sides of the barrel as I was tossed around like a ragdoll. I was extremely thankful I had lost my motion sickness, because I'd rather jump in the sea than deal with that or deal with what could be the result of that.

After what seemed like an eternity of sloshing around and then floating aimlessly in the dark, I felt and heard a thud above me, signaling the start of the adventure I was in for.

I swallowed nervously, could I be able to do it? Would I really be able to live up to Luffy's legacy? Hell, the legacy of every single pirate in this series? It was… daunting, that was for sure. I had the weight of a main character of a shonen series put on me, and I knew I was in for a lot of pain. I have more of a chance dying in the world of One Piece than I did in my original world, and yet I still died to end up here anyway. I didn't know if I had it in me. To face death that many more times was absurd. I had no doubt Luffy's personality would rub off on me simply because of the way his brain works, but I was still me, and I was a normal human with normal human convictions. Becoming the fucking king of pirates? Me? What a terrible joke.

Except this wasn't a joke, I really was sailing the seas and I really was going to fly the skull and crossbones. Facts don't care about feelings, and the fact is I was on the path to become a legend.

I'm glad I had one thing going for me though. I still had all my memories from my past life. And all my knowledge about this world.

Once the barrel was pulled up and into the ship I had to play a little bit of a waiting game again. The Alvida pirates would come and raid the ship, steal me, Koby would come in as well as some thugs, and then I could burst out of the barrel as soon the thugs so much as touched the lid.

I counted sheep, I counted beri, and I counted how many times I'd probably brush death in this life. Then finally, I heard a door open.

Due to the fact I was in a tight lipped barrel I could make out jack shit of what Koby was saying, but I still felt some semblance of relief at hearing his voice. I may have only known him as a character before, but I known him as being a good one. Despite my festering anxieties, his voice gave me something to focus on.

The relief didn't last very long though as I heard burly voices sound through soon after. Laughing, mocking, taunting, disgusting.

This was it. It was now, or never.

I braced myself as I heard one voice grow closer and clearer, and once I felt the slight shake of him grabbing the top of the barrel, I shot up at speeds I didn't know I was capable of. Granted, it was what Luffy was capable of, but it felt nice nonetheless. Who knew wood splintering on your knuckles could bring such joy?

I didn't shout anything out like Luffy did in the original, but I did laugh and smile. I stretched and observed the terror that was on Koby's face, the guy I knocked out, and the two guys who were shocked into silence.

"Oops?" I joke apologized.

That got the two thugs out of their stupor, and they adopted angry snarls. I almost found myself regretting it, but Luffy's brain and instinct gave me a hand and kicked in for me.

The two swung their swords at me, and I jumped out of the barrel, landing firmly. I dodged more of their swings, apprehensive to try and land a hit myself and leave myself open. I let my/Luffy's body do what it wanted, going with the flow, but that wouldn't be able to take down the thugs, so I steeled myself to take my swing.

I sidestepped a slash and grabbed onto his shirt, slamming him down onto the floor board and missed the sword that flew over my head.

For that guy, I simply spun around and punched him in the gut, sword falling out of hand and crashing to the ground with him. I dusted my hands off and let out a breath I had been holding. So far so good.

I turned around and smiled at Koby. "So, mind showing me where the food is?"

"E-excuse me?" He asked, clearly scared for his life. Oh, if only he knew. If I was anybody else but Luffy, to be honest, I'd look just like him.

"Food. Show me where. I'm hungry," I stated simply.

I hadn't even thought about food up until I laid my eyes on Koby. I was actually hungry once I thought about it, and it wouldn't hurt to act a little like Luffy, especially when it came to food.

Koby climbed back up to his legs and said, "O-oh. Okay, yeah n-no problem."

I felt bad at how utterly weak and timid he looked. Like a small helpless animal. He became such a badass and turned 180 in just over 2 years. It took me dying to use the body of a badass.

He showed the way to the pantry after I said my thanks and I rummaged through the boxes to find me some good looking food. Mostly fruits, which was fine by me, but not fine by Luffy's body apparently. Unfortunately, the constant craving for meat was not curb stomped out, and so despite eating a whole day's worth of my usual diet, I was still hungry.

I think I heard somewhere that Luffy consumed and expended like what? Three times what a normal human does? Loved that.

"Say," I started, after swallowing the last of my makeshift meal, "what're ya doin on a pirate ship? You don't look like you could throw a punch to save your life."

He tensed up at that, and then sighed sadly.

"Yes I'm on a pirate ship, but not of my own free will. I'm not, and never will be a pirate…" He shook his head before continuing, telling the story of how he 'joined' the Alvida pirates. A story I already knew. I grimaced.

"That's some bad luck huh? Also strikingly close to how I ended up here..." I said a bit sheepishly.

"H-how did you get here? You just, popped out of that barrel," he asked.

I felt a bit embarrassed now, knowing how stupid the answer was. Luffy wouldn't care, but I'm not Luffy and I had at least some shame! "Well, you see… I'm a bit of a pirate castaway myself."

"What."

"Yeahhhh." I rubbed the back of my head discreetly. "I got caught in a whirlpool and escaped through the barrel, hehe."

He gave me a flat look and a sweatdrop, and then his expression changed again quickly. A mix of fear, horror, surprise, and curiosity. Never did I think I'd be able to see so many emotions at once, but Koby managed to do it.

"Y-y-you're a p-pirate?!" He shouted.

I stood up and grinned. "Yep! I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!"

I had to take a breath in after I finished that sentence. It felt… amazing. That was the only way to describe it. It just rolled off my tongue like it was the most natural thing in the world. I didn't hesitate saying his name, if anything it was music to my ears. Declaring that I would be King of the pirates was, an enlightening experience, if anything. It made me feel like I could actually do it, I could reach raftel with my crew and carry out Roger and Luffy's will.

Koby's eyes grew as wide as saucers and I stifled a laugh.

"What?! B-but that's impossible! Impossible impossible impossible! Y-you mean you want to go through the g-grand line and find-" gulp "f-find the One Piece?! You want to risk your life?!" He screamed incredulously.

My grin delved from being wide and peppy to a simple serene smile. I thought about what to say, mind flashing to the pain I had experienced before I came to this world.

"Risk my life, huh? That's one way to put it." I snickered darkly, much like how that figure did. "I'd almost say that's the point. The grand line, it holds more adventures than you could ever imagine. It holds more secrets than you could ever hope to keep. It holds a legend that I intend to uncover. I'll dance with death as much as I want," I gave him a look and touched the brim of the straw hat, "all that does for me is make me stronger."

The air became thick and heavy after that but Koby still looked at me with awe and with ambition. A glint in his eye I was glad to see.

"I…I have a dream of my own. It's not as great as yours but, I still believe I can do it!"

I crossed my arms and smirked. "What is this dream of yours?"

He clenched his fists and yelled, "I'm going to be a marine! I'm going to be a great marine and capture bad people and pirates, and I'm not gonna let anyone stop me!"

I laughed a hearty laugh, and started to really look forward to seeing Koby in the future. The things Garp could do in such a short amount of time. It was a miracle really.

"O-oops. I got ahead of myself. You're a pirate yourself…"

I glanced at him for a second before waving him off, a smirk still in place. "Aw come on, that doesn't matter. We can be friend enemies. Frienemies. Rivals. Whatever. You and I both know we're good people, so it doesn't matter where we stand with the law. You'll still always be my friend, and I think that you'll make a fine marine," I stated with no room for argument.

He looked at me with that same inspiration from earlier, and then finally cracked a smile. A real, genuine smile.

I shook my head playfully and then gave him a mischievous grin, saying, "Well, let's get our asses in gear and get the hell out of here!"

I shot out of the room, hearing Koby following behind me. I was thoroughly satisfied at my attempt to make my first friend in these travels. Koby was a good kid, and while I have a bone to pick with the world government in general, I knew that he'd make a good impression on them. One day, when the world government falls and I carry out Luffy's dream, Koby will be there, standing on the other side and rebuilding what he looked up to for so long. I didn't care if he flew the white flag and I flew the black, we'd still be united in our conviction and friendship. The law had shit all to do with that.

We reached the way to the deck and I skipped past all pleasantries to burst out from below to be met with the sight of the Alvida crew. I winced, seeing at least half of them all on deck, and all of them supporting murderous glares.

Koby was still hiding from below as I crawled out and came face to face with them all. And face to face with the menace herself. Alvida.

Man, the fictional world could just not do her justice huh? She looked uglier in person. How anyone in world would be able to call her the most beautiful person on this planet and keep a straight face? It would fly right over my head. Like I don't have anything against heavy sized people, a lot of people can make it work, but she. She couldn't.

"Hah? And who are you? You don't look like that Roronoa Zoro guy," She spat, spiked iron club resting on her shoulder and making me sweat nervously.

I knew that brunt force attacks wouldn't hurt me due to the Gomu-Gomu no mi, but I still didn't want to take my chances. I'd hesitate or do something that indicated fear, probably when she would swing the club and try to bash my head in. That's all they would need for an opening.

I huffed, trying to fein an act of annoyance. "Monkey D. Luffy. Future pirate King," I said matter-of-factly. "Who're you?"

She appeared to get frustrated at that. "How could you not know who I am? I am the beautiful and great Alvida. I'm the most beautiful pirate in these seas, aren't I right, men?"

They all clammed up, but shouted a loud "Yes, you are Alvida-sama!" In unison. Creepy.

I blinked in response, once again taking in her awful mix of genes. Oh man, she got all the wrong phenotypes. I knew there was only one correct response to that. I may have not seen her in person yet, and I wouldn't for a long time, but I was pretty sure she'd live up to her epithet of being the most beautiful woman in the world. I highly doubted her powers would affect me if it came to that point, but who knows.

I cast a sidewards look at Koby, who was still hiding below deck, and I gave him a wry smile. A know it all I'm-gonna-do-something-stupid smile.

"Are you sure about that? I thought Boa Hancock had that title," I started, making everybody do a double take, "you look a beached whale, to be honest."

There was a long, awkward, and frightening silence that followed my words. Everybody was stunned. They all must have thought I'd be cowering in fear of her or at the very least wouldn't be so far out to do something like what I did. Even Koby beside me had his jaw dropped wide open. And as I scanned the crowd of mind-boggled minions of Alvida, herself included, I couldn't help but let a little laugh slip out. I still thought I was dead as doornails thanks to that endeavor, but the sight before me was nothing short of comedy gold.

"Shishishishi… HAHAHAHAHA!"

I burst out with tears of laughter, and then not a second later I heard the fierce growl of an angry Alvida. I stopped myself quickly before my laughter signed my death warrant for me.

"DAMN KID!" She yelled to the heavens, running at me with her club raised.

Fear flashed across my face briefly, but I got a hold of myself and let my head drop down. I closed my eyes and swallowed thickly, when I felt the club land on my head with a loud THWACK! But there was no pain. There was just a odd pressure on my head, and of course the weight that, had Luffy's body not been so sturdy, my knees probably would have buckled from.

"LUFFY-SAN!" Koby cried out from below me.

I waited just a moment, before raising my head a smidge, getting a lovely perplexed sounding noise from Alvida. I stretched my arm back, still not entirely comfortable with the feeling, and then shot it back forward, right into her gut and lifting some of the weight off of my head from her stupid Iron club. She flew backwards into her equally as dumbfounded crew, causing them to fly away too.

"W-w-w-what just happened?!" Koby stuttered, finally starting to climb out from the below deck and got a better look at the destruction. "How'd you do that?"

"Easy." I took a finger and stretched my mouth out to unnatural lengths. "I ate a Devil fruit called the Gomu-Gomu no mi. So now I'm a rubber human!"

He gave me a baffled, somewhat grossed out look, before a sound of someone crawling out of rubble and scrap heaps interrupted our conversation. But I couldn't complain, I wanted to give her an earful. Preferably insults, but an explanation she'd be too dumb to comprehend was fine by me as well.

"So, you ate a Devil fruit huh? They're real and not a myth?" She said, brushing off the now broken boards of her ship.

I raised an eyebrow. "As real as ever. With how common they actually are though, in the grand line and Marines, I'm somewhat surprised people still think they're myths." I mused. More to myself than anything.

She started growling again as she dusted herself off. I take it she was too pissed to process my words, and I take it a small blessing she didn't notice the way I worded it. She did, however, notice my snark, and called to her crew. "Men, kill this bastard! Right now!" She snarled.

"Oh shit!" I cursed, seeing them all rush towards me at once.

Koby jumped to the side, out of the way, while I stumbled backwards dodging strikes, swings, punches, and everything in between. A near kick to the stomach here, a couple missed attempts at decapitation there, a failed gang murder, and partridge in a pear tree. These guys were pathetic, in every sense of the word, but they were my level. All I could handle at that moment was pathetic. Anything more and even Luffy's influences couldn't get me out of that hell. The Alvida pirates were nothing more than a warm up to get used to this world, the fighting I'd have to do, and the body I'd be doing it in.

I defeated them easily enough, and thanks to their incompetence, they sometimes even took each other down. Made my new life easier, I suppose. So after that romp, I stood up strong and put on another brave face to counter Alvida's fuming one.

"Stupid kid. First you come and sneak onto our ship, then try to steal my cabin boy Koby, and now you've gone and made a mess of my crew! You'll pay!" She screamed, lunging at me with her glorified bat.

I played whack a mole with her for a bit, dodging out of the way of her attacks and leaving her to destroy her own ship. I saw Koby start to sneak away, probably to go get one of the little boats that'd I'd be riding with him to Shells Town. Good choice. I'd rather him not risk the chance of getting mixed in with our battle. To which, we were both starting to get annoyed by, so I aimed to change that.

I jumped back one more time, a bit farther away. I stretched both my arms back as far as I could, and then she leaped at me with her club raised high. Rookie mistake.

"Gomu-Gomu no-" My arms started to shoot forward right as she came into range, "-BAZOOKA!"

My open palms dug into her meaty frame at a high speed and with a lot of force. She inhaled sharply, but she couldn't do anything to stop the momentum of my arms, and so she god damned flew, far, far away. Far enough that she wouldn't be able to touch Koby. Far enough that I wouldn't have to deal with her again. And I reveled in her shout of anguish as she skyrocketed away. The sheer joy I got from shouting that attack name.

My first win and first step to becoming the next pirate King. Oh, I was basically radiating happiness.

"Luffy-san!" Koby called out to me, cutting me from my thoughts. He waved from the railing, boat prepared, and I smiled as I ran over.

"Ready to go?" I asked.

He nodded. "More ready than I've ever been."

"That's what I like to see. Alright then-" I climbed onto the boat with him, "let's go!"

We dropped into the sea below us with a stomach churning feeling, and I watched as the water around us exploded into the air, tiny droplets finding its way onto my skin. That made me acutely aware of how much skin I was actually showing. I was used to pants, t-shirts, and jackets. I'd have to find some change of clothes within the next few islands.

The boat tossed and turned much like when I was tortured by that whirlpool earlier, but I still managed to steal a glance at my hopefully would-be navigator, Nami.

She locked eyes with me for what seemed like forever, but at some point, our gazes tore away. Hers tore away, at least. I kept my eyes lingering for a little while longer, both sad and understanding of her obviously guarded look and mistrust of everything. I really, really wanted to change things for her, and I wouldn't be able to wait.

"Luffy-san, look," Koby said, pointing a finger out to the horizon, on the narrow space between the ships.

Squinting, and thank fuck I don't need glasses anymore, I could see Navy ships pulling in from beyond the blue haze of the ocean. They were pulling in quick. While Koby and I wouldn't really be under threat because of them, I still didn't want to deal with Marine bitches. That was all the more reason to start getting out of there faster.

"Damn, thanks for pointing that out. Let's get the hell outta dodge then. Onwards!"

And so? We set sail. Onto the great ocean waves. I told Koby my destination, Shells Town, and gave him my two main reasons for going there. One, I was planning on recruiting Roronoa Zoro. Naturally he freaked out about that, but I just laughed. Two, there was a Marine base there that I could enlist him in, but that it was also corrupt and I wanted to kick the ass of the bastard behind it. So technically three reasons, but Koby was just as determined to join the Marines as he was to filter the scum out of it. Little by little, that was for sure. It wouldn't be easy, as corruption ran all the way from its roots to the tippy top, but I had faith in my generation. I had faith in Koby. I had faith in my would-be allies. Faith in the revolutionaries. In Luffy's- my crew.

I had faith in dreams, and couldn't be happier that I did.

[Not to put a huge AN at the end of the chapter, but heyo! If ya couldn't tell, this is a Self Insert. One thing to note, however, is that this will be 100% gen. No shipping in this story except for canon or implied canon ships. Go off on ya own, but not for this fic. Also, schedules! I will try oh so very dearly to keep up a weekly/bi-monthly basis. Keep me on my toes about it for a little while. Thanks for reading and have a good one!]