Brand New World
Ch. 25: The Cat`s out of the Bag
-X-
Disclaimer: The following is a fan made work of fiction. One Piece is owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonen Jump Manga, and Eiichiro Oda. I do not own One Piece or any of its characters, nor any of the songs I put in here. The only thing I own here is Kakusei and a few fan characters.
Summary: I`m Kakusei. I have no idea where I am, or who I am, but I feel I m in a familiar world, just not my own. Mentions other mangas as the character is from our world. I`m being realistic.
Rating: T for Language, Violence, and Blood.
-X-
The Next Morning…
-X-
"Guys, I wanna say something," I said at the table after breakfast.
"What is it?" Nami asked.
"It`s something Aokiji told me," I replied.
"WHAAAAT?" Everyone but Robin exclaimed at the same time. Robin just looked a bit shocked.
"Well, what is it?" Usopp asked. "What`d he say to you?"
"Before I say anything, I want to say this," I said building up the suspense as I kept a fairly neutral look on my face as I held my hands in front of my face, elbows resting on the table. "I`ve been here for longer than we thought, and I was, and possibly still am, much stronger than anyone here."
"And what the hell gives you the right to say that?" Sanji asked me. "We all have more combat experience than you do! Even Usopp!"
"Hey!" Usopp retorted.
"Let me say what Aokiji told me," I said still keeping my neutral face. "It turns out that I`ve fought Dracule "Hawk-eye" Mihawk and obviously I survived."
"WHAAAAAT?" Everyone exclaimed. Even Robin looked shocked at this.
"Yeah," I said moving my hands away from my face. "Apparently I fought him to a stand-still for three days straight as a swordsman. I don`t doubt Aokiji because he had a near perfect description of me from Mihawk, and somehow, I know he`s telling the truth."
"THAT IS SO COOL! WE HAVE A GUY STRONG AS MIHAWK ON OUR CREW!" Luffy yelled out in excitement and with stars in his eyes.
"When the hell did you fight him?" Zoro yelled at me in almost desperation. "And why the hell would he fight you?"
"I`m guessing I had a sword on me at the time," I said. "And it also turns out that the fight took place a few miles from Arabasta`s capital, Alubarna, and the fight ended the day before the attempted takeover by Crocodile." Again, I got another "WHAAAAAT?" from the crew. Robin was a bit less shocked this time.
"So that`s why you`ve been so out of it the past few days," Usopp said still in shock over what I said. "So you`ve been in this world since we fought Baroque Works in Alubarna?"
"That seems to be the case," I said still calm. "But what bugs me is why the hell did I end up in Alabasta, why didn`t I die of thirst or something, and when exactly did I arrive here? I don`t know any of that. Things just don`t add up."
"Well, what did Mihawk say about you?" Sanji asked still a bit shocked himself that I could take on a Shichibukai.
"Well, as Aokiji put it, he said my swordsmanship is poor at best, but my strength and techniques were otherworldly. The techniques I still have, and I agree with the swordsmanship comment, but I`ve become weaker, and I doubt being out of practice was the problem."
"So somehow, you`ve become weaker and you`ve been here longer than you thought?" Chopper asked.
"Well, the good news is we have a better idea of how long you`ve been here," Nami said speaking up. "And there`s got to be some way you can get back to normal strength."
"Actually, I think there is," Robin said speaking up as well. "Kakusei, remember when you helped lift the Golden Bell back in Skypeia?"
"I think you`re onto something Robin," I said smiling a bit.
"What does she mean?" Nami asked.
"Well, when the locals of Skypeia were hoisting up the Golden Bell, I lent them a hand," I said. "And suddenly, I felt a lot lighter, and when I pulled the rope, I pulled the Bell into the air, as well as sending everyone else flying. I then jumped over to the bell, and picked it up single-handedly. After you guys ran away, thinking it was a cannon, I used Instant Transmission to take it to Jaya and cashed it in. Nami and I have secured the money for certain circumstances."
"Well, I knew the last part," Nami said.
"So I take it you went back to "normal"?" Sanji asked.
"Yep," I replied. "I returned to my current strength and current level of Ki control. It`s like someone put a limiter or training weight on me."
"Maybe it was him…" Robin said in her mind as she thought of Tetsuga, the man who showed her Kakusei`s mind.
"Anyway, I`m going to spend the next day training with Luffy, to try to get my strength back," I said still calm.
"I can`t let you do that!" Chopper retorted. "Luffy still needs to rest!"
"But I can let him rest and get some training in," I said slyly. "…with this." I held up the dragon-headed ÄRM. "This ÄRM is a Dimension ÄRM called Training Gate. In it, time passes 60 times slower. One day out here is 60 days in there. Luffy will rest for a few days, and then we`ll train for the remainder of the 60 days."
"You two are gonna spend two months in that thing?" Usopp asked. "Seems kinda cramped."
"Nami and Sanji have seen a Dimension ÄRM in action, so they know the kind of thing that`ll happen," I said calmly. "A gate will open in the deck of the Merry, and we`ll go to a pocket dimension where we can train."
"COOL!" Luffy and Chopper exclaimed with stars in their eyes.
"But I`ll follow Chopper`s advice and wait until later to use it, alright?" I said.
"That`s fine," Chopper said smiling.
"Then I`m gonna pass the time by sorting through the ÄRM we got from Foxy`s ship," I said as I used the Zipper ÄRM on my finger, shocking everyone but Nami and Sanji with the whole, "You made a zipper in mid-air" thing. I pulled the chest out as well as the other treasure we got from Foxy`s ship and let Nami divide that up as she pleased. She asked me to look over her divisions later so I would make sure if they were fair. As for the ÄRM we collected, I had also grabbed a few I recognized that wouldn`t fit in the chest due to their natural size. In the end we ended up with a few types of simple ÄRM, two types Holy ÄRM, fourteen types of Weapon ÄRM with a few copies of each, luckily only two Darkness ÄRM with a few copies, seven types of Dimension ÄRM including the Training Gate and Zipper, seven types of Guardian ÄRM, not that I wanted any of use to have to use them in large battles, seventeen different Nature ÄRM, some of which I wanted to use personally, and only one Ghost ÄRM (thank God, cause those are creepy). All in all, a good haul.
"Why don`t we want to use the Guardian ÄRM?" Usopp asked. "Summoning someone to fight in my place sounds awesome!"
"Yeah, it`s handy," I replied. "But when you summon a Guardian ÄRM, you aren`t able to move from the spot you summoned the Guardian. In most of our fights so far, our opponents tend to move and move fast. I don`t know about you, but I`d rather not be a sitting duck."
"Good point," Usopp said shuddering at the thought of not being able to run from an attack.
"What about this one?" Chopper said holding up the one Ghost ÄRM that we had.
"I`m the only one who uses that one," I said snatching away the ÄRM from Chopper. "Ghost ÄRM are way too creepy to use under normal conditions."
"Ghost ÄRM?" Robin asked, the name piquing her interest. "Why do you think they`re creepy?"
"Ghost ÄRM are powerful," I said thinking back to the manga MÄR. "But they fuse with the user and form biological weapons. This one, Howling Demon, turns the user`s hand into a mouth which shoots out energy blasts." Everyone but Robin looked a little repulsed at that thought.
"Would you mind explaining the other types?" Robin asked inquisitively.
"Not at all," I replied smiling a bit. "There are seven other types of ÄRM: Simple, Holy, Weapon, Darkness, Dimension, Nature, and Unique. Simple ÄRM are only tools when activated, and we got a few of those. Simple ÄRM don`t take any magic power to activate, so any of us can use them. Holy ÄRM are normally associated with healing or lifting curses. We have a few of those too. Weapon ÄRM are as the name states, weapons. Some are simple, while others can contain effects and abilities that the weapon can use. We got quite a good deal of those. Darkness ÄRM are the opposite of Holy ÄRM, they give curses, but at a cost to the user, like blindness or paralysis. As for Dimension ÄRM, you`ve seen them already. They can manipulate the world in some way, like the Zipper."
"Oh, I get it," Usopp said in realization.
"Anyway, as I was saying," I continued, "Nature ÄRM usually can manipulate an element in some way, like how I can with Ki. That`s the most of what we got. And Unique ÄRM are ÄRM that are literally one of a kind and don`t really fit in any category of ÄRM. We didn`t get any Unique ÄRM in our haul. But we did get plenty of Magic Stones."
"Magic Stones?" Usopp asked as I held up one, which was a small, red jewel about the size of a marble.
"This is a magic stone," I said calmly. "Magic stones are used to upgrade an ÄRM, so to speak. They can create new abilities for the ÄRM depending on the imagination of the person. However, since I have no knowledge of how to modify and ÄRM for equipping Magic Stones, we`ll have to hope any here are already modified."
"So that`s why you said they might rival Logia-Class Devil Fruit," Nami said walking in.
"They can rival Logia-Class DEVIL FRUIT!" Usopp and Chopper exclaimed.
"Only when created correctly," I said. "Some ÄRM have powers you couldn`t even have with Devil Fruit, so we may not need it. So Nami, I take it you need me to look over your divisions?"
"Yep," she said smiling a bit. "Over here." She ushered me to where she had divided the treasure, and I went over it for a bit with her watching me carefully.
"Looks good," I said after musing over the divisions.
"Hey, Kakusei, can you help the others catch some fish?" Sanji yelled out.
"Guess you better get going so we get some food tonight," Nami said jokingly.
"Yeah, but I won`t be long," I said as I took of my shirt and pants, revealing the shorts I had underneath. "Time for a dip." I dove into the water, shocking Nami a bit.
"Wow, Kakusei has a great body," Nami said in her mind after looking at my chest and back as I dove in. I swam around for a bit, dragging a mass of Ki behind me.
"Did Kakusei just dive into the water?" Sanji asked looking over the side of the Merry. "I thought he said he was going to help…" Sanji`s sentence was cut off by me flying out of the water and a stream of water flying behind me. "What the hell?"
"Someone order fresh fish?" I said as I manipulated the water around me, containing several of the island`s native and very elongated fish.
"Nice job Kakusei," Sanji said a bit astonished and happy. "Now this is fresh!" He grabbed a few fish and pulled them out of the water. "I`ll get started right away."
"Good thing I`ve come to like seafood," I said as Sanji returned to the kitchen and I returned the remaining fish to the sea. I began to get dressed, and out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Nami looking at me funny. "Yes Nami?" I said making her realized I noticed.
"Nothing," she said turning her head away and blushing a bit. A bit after I got dressed, Sanji opened the door.
"Hey guys! Dinner!" Sanji yelled causing Luffy to bolt to the door. I hurried cause I knew if Luffy ate my share, I wouldn`t get anymore.
-X-
Later that night…
-X-
I sat out on the deck, on my back, looking at the stars in the night sky. Tomorrow, I`m gonna start training hard with Luffy for two months straight. I plan to do a lot while I`m in there, including learning to master a few ÄRM. And for some reason, I just felt like singing tonight, so I had grabbed my guitar earlier. I sat up and picked up my guitar and began to strum it a bit to make sure it was in tune. Then I began to play and sing the song Magnet from the Vocaloid series.
(A/N: Italics here are a change in voice to recognize a second character singing.)
Romaji (Japanese) Lyrics:
Kabosoihi ga kokorono hashini tomoru
Itsuno manika moehirogaru netsujou
Watashino chou fukisokuni tobimawari
Anatano teni rinpun wo tsuketa
Karamiau yubi hodoite kuchibiru kara shitaeto
Yurusarenai koto naraba naosara moeagaruno
Dakiyosete hoshii tashikamete hoshii
Machigai nado nainda to omowasete
Kiss wo shite nurikaete hoshii
Miwakuno tokini yoishire oborete itaino
Sokubaku shite motto hitsuyouto shite
Itoshiinara shuuchakuwo misetsukete
"Okashii" noga tamaranaku sukini naru
Ikeru tokomade ikeba iiyo
Mayoikonda kokoro nara kantanni tokete yuku
Yasashisa nante kanjiru himanado nai kuraini
Kurikae shita no wa ano yume janakute
Magiremo nai genjitsu no watashi-tachi
Furetekara modorenaito shiru sorede iino...
Dareyorimo taisetsuna anata
Yoakega kuruto fuande naite shimau watashini
"Daijoubu" to sasayaita anatamo naite itano?
Dakiyosete hoshii tashikamete hoshii
Machigai nado naindato omowasete
Kiss wo shite nurikaete hoshii
Miwakuno tokini yoishire oboretai
Hikiyosete Magnet no youni
Tatoe itsuka hanaretemo meguriau
Fureteite modorenakute ii
Sorede ii no dareyorimo taisetsuna anata
English Lyrics:
A slender flame burns at the edge of my heart
Without warning, it spreads into a burning passion
My butterfly, flitting around it chaotically
Scales dropping into your hand
I am wrapped around your finger from the lips to the tongue
Even if this is something that cannot be allowed the flames jump higher still
I want to embrace you, I want you to tell me
That you don't think this is a mistake
I want you to kiss me, I want you to remake me
I want to drown in this moment of captivation
Every moment, it's harder to restrain myself
If this is love, I want to wear it on my sleeve
The "strange feeling" turns into an unbearable longing
I would follow you to the end of forever
If my heart goes astray I will be easily relieved
as if we had no time to feel tender each other
That dream has never come again
There is no chance in our reality
If we touch, I know we can never go back and that's just fine...
You are everything in the world to me
Anxiety arrives with the dawn to find me still crying
When you whispered "it's all right" did I hear tears in your voice, too?
I want to embrace you, I want you to tell me
That you don't think this is a mistake
I want you to kiss me, I want you to remake me
I want to drown in this moment of captivation
I am drawn to you like a magnet
Even if I left, we would find each other again
I've touched you, I can never go back and that's just fine.
You are everything in the world to me
"You`re still up?" I heard a voice say. Let`s see, one of two female voices, and this one sounded less calm.
"I could ask the same to you, Nami," I said looking behind me. "I thought you`d be in bed by now."
"I couldn`t sleep," Nami said. "Something popped into my mind again that I wanted to ask you, and that was a lovely song by the way. What`s it called?"
"It`s called Magnet," I said standing up and facing her. "It`s a romantic song from my world."
"Do you know more romantic songs?" she asked me.
"Yeah, I do," I said sheepishly, "but what did you want to ask me about?"
"It`s about what you told me during the Davy Back Fight, about the code phrase," Nami said looking a bit sheepish, which was unusual for her.
"Yeah?" I asked.
"Why did you choose that phrase?" she looked at me with her usual confidence, but a bit more blush in her face than normal.
"Well, I wanted to choose something I`d never say under normal circumstances, so the guys would know what I really wanted them to do," I said calmly.
"Are you saying I`m unattractive?" Nami said a bit angry at me now.
"No, no, not at all!" I said a bit flustered. "I would never think of you in that way!"
"And what do you think of me then?" Nami said getting closer. Crap, I always laughed when I read other people getting in these situations in fan-fiction, but I never thought I`d be in one. I always wanted to avoid this kind of situation if I ever was talking to a female friend, and now I was in one. Dammit.
"Well, uh…" I began stuttering a bit as I began blushing. "I… umm…"
"C`mon, spit it out!" Nami said getting even closer. I swear her face was not more than two inches away from mine.
"I… I uh… think you are very attractive and well, to be blunt, cute and sexy," I said, my face now bright red. I swear Nami could feel my body temperature rising like a balloon.
"Well, I have one more question," Nami said looking into my eyes. I looked back into hers, seeing those maroon colors almost dance in the moonlight. My heart pounded. I could hear it in my ears and feel it beat in my throat.
"Wh-what?" I asked nervously. Immediately after I said that she wrapped her arms around my neck, stood on her toes to meet my face, and kissed me. She kissed me! She just gave me my first kiss of her own free will! My mind fried at this concept, and I swear I lost IQ points. Her lips were so soft, and so were her boobs as they pressed up against my chest (A/N: Yes, I said boobs. Deal with it. It`s a T-rated story.), but neither of us tried any tongue. I was too shocked to, and I think Nami was just testing the waters, so to speak. She only kept it up for a minute, and then she broke the kiss.
"Did you like that, Kakusei?" she asked me. I just stood there with a shocked yet pleased look on my face for a few seconds.
"N-nami," I began slowly. "Are you saying you love me?"
"What did you think I was saying?" Nami asked almost rhetorically. "Yes, I love you. I really do. I think you`re one of the few normal guys here on the ship, and you`re kind, sweet, and you`re very courteous, even if you are a bit of a perv sometimes. You`ve also taken the liberty to defend me every chance you got, like during the Davy Back Fight. And I have to say, your body is just the icing on the cake." She hugged me softly, and in my frazzled state, I blurted out the first thing that popped into my mind, not that I don`t do that already.
"B-but you`ve only known me for like, a month!" I said still a bit nervous and stammering. "Sure, I`ve known about you for years, but I`ve only known you personally for a month! Aren`t we going a little fast?"
"Are you saying you don`t love me?" Nami asked looking very cute and hurt at the same time.
"No, I`m not saying that!" I almost yelled out. "I`m saying I`m not sure." I looked in her eyes and held her softly. You could just take our picture and paste it on a romance novel. "I`ve had a lot of things thrown at me over the past few days. Give me a bit to think about this, okay?"
"Alright," Nami said as she kissed my cheek. "I`ll wait for your answer. Good night, Kakusei."
She walked back to her room, leaving me just standing there, on the deck, alone and confused. Where do I stand on who I love? When Sanji asked me if I loved anyone, I thought of Robin. She was the first one, besides Luffy, to really accept me into the crew. Sure, she`s ten years older than me, but she was beautiful, intelligent, and those deep blue eyes and knock-out figure could sway most sane men. And then there was Nami. She was about my age, had a knock-out figure as well, and was still growing for that matter. She was cute, and sexy, and she just told me she loved me. I don`t even have an inkling of whether Robin likes me or not, and I know Nami does love me. If I go with her, I have a girlfriend who I know loves me, or I can go for Robin and chase after a woman who might not even love me. And now I have to choose between them. Do I go with Nami, a girl I know I can be happy with, or with Robin, a girl who seems like an impossible dream? Nami or Robin, Nami, Robin, Nami, Robin…! I ran up the mast, jumped off the crow`s nest and flew as high as I thought I needed to. I took a deep breath, held it for a second, and yelled at the top of my lungs in frustration.
"WHY THE HELL DOES THIS HAVE TO BE SO DAMN COMPLICATED?" I yelled, venting my frustrations to the world. Not like anyone could hear me on the island. Tonjit might have heard me, but he was probably asleep by now. I floated back down and waked to the guy`s room to try to go to sleep.
-X-
On Long Ring Long Island…
-X-
"Hmm, it seems that Kakusei is having a bit of a romantic dilemma," Tetsuga said as he mused over what he just heard Kakusei scream to the heavens. "I`m sure his heart will lead him to the right place."
"Oh, it will," said an unknown figure with a deep voice as he revealed himself to Tetsuga. He was at least half a foot taller than Tetsuga, he had a bigger build, was wearing a brown cloak, which hid the majority of his face, even in the moonlight. All you could get from his face was a thick, brown goatee-beard, and obviously an adult jaw line.
"You, you`re not from this time period," Tetsuga said mysteriously. "Are you the one causing the ripple in this timeline?"
"No, it`s not me," the figure said smiling a bit. "Kakusei is still the second reason for the interference."
"Second reason?" Tetsuga asked. "What`s the first?"
"You`ll find out in due time," the figure said mysteriously. "I just wanted to see my past self beginning one of his most troubling dilemmas and also the start of finding himself."
"Hmm," Tetsuga said smiling under his metal wolf mask. "So that`s who you are. Should I call you by name, Kakusei?"
"If you want," the future Kakusei said revealing who he really was, but not taking his cloak off. "I just wanted to revisit the past for a bit. Now, if you don`t mind, I have to get back to my wife. It`s our anniversary tonight."
"Which one does he hook up with, if you don`t mind my asking?" Tetsuga asked the future Kakusei.
"I thought you knew that a person can`t give out information about the future," the future Kakusei said as a blue and indigo energy circle was created in mid-air, forming a portal. "Isn`t that why you sealed my memories in the first place?"
"Wait, didn`t you just?" Tetsuga asked as the future Kakusei slipped through the portal and went back to his own time, the portal closing behind him. "Heh, I should have expected as much. Looks like you don`t change that much in the future, Kakusei."
-X-
The Next Morning…
-X-
"Damn it, I can`t seem to find it," I said ruffling my hair as I walked up to Luffy in the early hours of the morning on the deck of the Merry.
"Find what?" Luffy asked as he looked at the ÄRM I was carrying on my body. I was wearing a few rings, a bracelet, and had a keychain on my belt.
"The Training Gate ÄRM," I said. "I`ve searched this ship from top to bottom and I can`t find it. I swear I put it right next to me last night."
"Looking for this?" a voice said causing Luffy and I to look where it was coming from. It was a cloaked man in a metal wolf mask, and he was holding the Training Gate! But it was modified with four Magic Stones!
"What the hell?" I asked. "How did you get that, and how did you put those on it?"
"That doesn`t really matter, and it`s not like you had the magic power to use this anyway," the man said from beneath his mask.
"What do you mean?" I asked. "And who are you?"
"Just because you can use the Zipper, you thought you could use this, right?" he asked. That freaked me out a bit. How the hell did this guy know I used the Zipper ÄRM? "And as for my name, you can call me Tetsuga. I hope you liked the gift I gave you in Skypeia. You seem to be using it well enough."
"Wait, you`re the one who gave me the guitar?" I yelled out in astonishment.
"Dimension ÄRM: Training Gate!" Tetsuga yelled as a silver set of doors suddenly appeared under Luffy`s feet and mine. The doors opened, and we dropped into the Training Gate, with Tetsuga following us closely. The gates closed behind us and we began our two month training period.
A couple of hours later, the others found the doors in the middle of the Merry`s deck.
"I guess Luffy and Kakusei got an early start," Nami said calmly.
"I figured Luffy would wait until breakfast," Sanji said calmly as well. "Oh well, less food I have to cook."
"Interesting," Robin said as she looked at the doors. "So this is the power of ÄRMs."
-X-
Well, the cat is certainly out of the bag now! (A/N: God, I really wanted to write this chapter too! And thanks to Avril170 on deviantart for the lyric translation! ) From now on, do you guys just want me to post the song lyrics I use from Japanese songs in English, Japanese Romaji, or both?
Now that Kakusei knows Nami likes him, how will he change? Will he retain his feelings for Robin, or side with the spunky Nami? And what exactly happened in the adjusted Training Gate?
Next chapter, we have a brief glimpse into the training of Kakusei and Luffy!
Tsugino jikan made! (Until next time!)