DISCLAIMER: All rights to 'One Piece' go to Eiichiro Oda, Shueisha, Toei Animation, Fuji TV and FUNimation, as well as any other parties involved with licencing that are not already listed in this disclaimer.


HUGE thanks to Your own random stalker for Beta-ing for me again. We've both been bogged under with work recently, so the two remaining chapters in this Arc may not be released soon as they are yet to be edited. However, I couldn't in good conscience leave Episode Four to rot in my Doc Manager before the year was out, so here we are. Merry Christmas, and here's my (early) gift to you!


Why not check my Tumblr blog for more behind the scenes posts, artwork, and sneak-peaks about this new story, and even some of my other works on Fan Fiction and A03? You'll find me as yuilhan-from-ff. tumblr. com on that particular site!


"Pom-Pom Pom!"


Arc Two: 'Friend or Foe?'


Episode 4. The Marigolds are Ravaged! Welcome to the Crew!


Morning had broken over Isola Giungla, one of the few isles on Grand Line that kept somewhat regular seasons and weather patterns. Currently in the cycle of four seasons, Isola Giungla was in the midst of summer; and Hideki Inoue was most grateful for this.

He would rise with the early summer sun, just as dawn cracked over the dense canopy of the trees, and made his way from his family home to the gardens. Before his mother, and more importantly his father and brother rose, he would spend his time tending to the allotment and the planted flowers at the bottom of the garden. The only part his father would allow him to maintain himself, the part that his mother had begged to be given to Hideki one day, when his father had been in a rare good mood. It was a treasured sanctuary for the teen.

"Sometimes, Elena," His father grouched over breakfast, the paper from the News Coo having just arrived and a slightly muddy Hideki along with it, "I wonder if that boy is even mine."

Elena said nothing, but did cast a saddened look at her first-born son as he seated himself at the kitchen table; it was far too small for him, and Hideki struggled with great difficulty to tuck his knees underneath the table top. The boy was certainly Taichi Inoue's son. Elena had never been unfaithful in the years they had been married, or during the time Taichi had courted her. Not once had she looked at another man in the same way she had her husband, and if not for her two wonderful children, she couldn't firmly say that she would never thought about finding someone else. Someone better.

'Does he make you happy?' her mother had asked her when Taichi slid a ring on Elena's finger. He had, at the time. After nearly twenty-five years together, Elena was no longer sure that he could make her happy though. It certainly didn't fill her with joy when he took to berating Hideki, and proudly spurred on their second-born son to do the same. It didn't make her happy when Jun took precedence over Hideki as next in line to run the family business- and it certainly didn't make her happy that she'd been wearing the same spotted apron to cook and bake in for the last five years. She never did get round to buying or making a new one, and the time and funds she could spare were eventually sucked back into the Den Den Mushi business her husband ran. Or by running round caring for her family.

She placed a plate in front of Hideki- who nearly elbowed his father in the face just to try and reach his cutlery, and smiled softly at the boy: "How was the garden this morning, my little runner bean?"

Taichi's lip curled, as did the newspaper in his hairy hands. Jun shovelled some more of his breakfast down his gullet to keep himself from laughing.

"… The marigolds…" Hideki intoned, his monotonous lisping voice whispering into existence, "… they are ravaged."

"Oh sweet pea, I'm sorry to hear that," Elena told him truthfully. Hideki was a gentle soul- a gentle giant too, if you took into account how tall the boy was. Perhaps that was why Taichi questioned her fidelity; apart from Hideki, their family consisted of those within average height whom were slightly portly. It was only Hideki who pushed nearly nine feet tall and was a thin as a stick. If Elena was not relieved that her first-born son ate regular meals, she would be worried with how spindly he looked.

"Well I for one am not," Taichi groused, "You need to stop your girlish habits and become a proper man. I'm the laughing stock of all the traders, I am! See, this is why your brother is next to inherit and not you- the firstborn who should be the one to do it." Taichi was now red in the face and puffing, "But instead you've passed on all of the responsibility to your brother, while you go frolicking round meadows and hugging trees!"

Hideki's knuckles had turned a deathly shade of white from how fiercely he'd clenched his fists.

Elena held her breath.

Jun kept eating.


"Are we nearly there yet?" Hari called impishly, trimming something overly fluffy with the scissors she kept in her sewing kit.

"Oh, here, let me see," Li-Anne said snidely from Junky's wheel, "Hm... No!"

"Don't be mean to your Captain, Li-Anne," Hari reprimanded, pointed to their new Jolly Roger. It was something they both looked up at each day with equal parts excitement and dread, as though their declaring Piracy were not quite real- and also as if they knew bearing such a flag would bring them a steaming heap of trouble in the future.

Li-Anne grit her teeth; "If I knew makin' you Captain would also make you unbearable, I wouldn't have done it. I'm still regrettin' my decision of not throwin' you overboard after Reverse Mountain after seein' what a limp noodle you were."

The pair had set sail from Pastello Island and raised their Jolly Roger nearly three weeks ago, and while their sailing had so far been unhindered, their provisions were well-stocked and the dynamics between Hari and Li-Anne hadn't changed at all, things were becoming a little… strained.

Hari was weary from waking up each morning to find they were still sailing through endless open blue, whether it be sky or ocean. It seemed suspiciously like they had drifted into the Calm Belt, but a distinct lack of Sea Kings quelled that idea; it was just calmly torturous Grand Line weather conditions. When Li-Anne had drudged a frilly blue dress out of her closet, Hari had become decidedly queasy. She spent her afternoon below deck, amongst the crates of non-perishable provisions that were more likely to be normal earthy colours, and not blue. With conditions being so good, there was little wind to turn the turbines and power Junky's motor. Li-Anne was saving what little energy remained in case of an emergency.

"But I'm bored! I've gone beyond antsy- I'm bored and I want to feel dirt under my feet again!" Hari whined, stringing multiple pink pom-poms (which she had been trimming down to size earlier) onto an almost invisible thread. She picked through one bag of assorted buttons and fixings in her sewing kit until she found a suitable clasp; tying the clear thread securely to each piece of the fixing.

"'Antsy' my arse," Li-Anne grumbled, voice smoky. She near choked when Hari looped the threaded pom-poms around her neck and clipped the two fixings together. "What in Roger's name is this?"

"A necklace?" Hari replied, cutely cocking her head to one side. Her neatly cut hair bobbed as her chin tilted.

Li-Anne pulled at one of the pom-poms with her childish fingers: "Normal people make daisy chains; you do know that, right?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Do you see any daisies around here?" Hari snorted. "I'm bored and I'm using what I had to hand. Plus, we match now! Sort of." She gestured to the decorations on the hems of her denim shorts.

"Whoop-dee-do, Kiddo." Li-Anne touched the pom-poms strung around her neck hesitantly, "Say, these aren't goin' to do anythin'… weird are they- say, blow up when I'm sleepin'?"

Hari thought on that, tapping a finger to her chin as she mused; "They shouldn't do. Darling said that somehow the materials are only coded to me because of my fingerprints, and since I'm the only one using them. Just like I wasn't able to lift or use your hammer, you or anyone else won't be able to utilise my own weapons."

"Good to know," and Li-Anne sincerely meant this. After thirty-two years of living, she wasn't about to throw it all away because a necklace detonated while she was caught unawares. Looking to the Log Pose as the needle steadily remained true to their course, and then the sky; which had begun to draw in dark clouds, Li-Anne frowned. "You may want to get on a rain coat or somethin' Kiddo, the heavens are openin'."

Hari dashed below deck, grabbing her rain coat and Li-Anne's waterproof poncho just as the first drops of rain began to fall.


Thunder cracked over the island, but Hideki's fists had not yet unfurled.

"Taichi…" Elena breathed, "That is enough. You have said enough."

"Do not tell me what is enough woman, I've not even started with the mile-long list of problems I have with my firstborn," Taichi sneered. Hideki swallowed harshly, eyes darkening under the mop of unruly black hair atop his head. "I could go all day-"

Hideki pushed away from the kitchen table, forgetting that his height caused him to fold his legs uncomfortably under it. The table lifted and was flung backwards; it landed on Jun, who yelped as he became trapped under the solid piece of furniture.

"Now look what you've done!" Taichi blustered, and Hideki flinched. "Get out of my house!"

As her first born fled- whacking his head on the small doorframe, and Taichi lifted the table off of Jun, Elena felt silent tears roll down her face. One hit her lip, and she licked at the crystalline track; feeling the bitterness of the salty taste on her tongue.

Each morning since Hideki was old enough to totter round the island unattended and life had turned sour, had played out in exactly the same fashion. Her firstborn son would return from tending to his section of the garden, or from walking around the island in the colder months. He would seat himself for breakfast, the News Coo would arrive, and the bickering would begin. All Elena wanted was a morning not kick-started with a row. She was not asking for much, after all, but it seemed nigh on impossible for her wish to be fulfilled.

Hari and Li-Anne were wishing that for the rest of their journey through Grand Line they wouldn't encounter any more storms, but that would be plain sailing and Paradise's ocean was quixotic in a way that you could only react to- not anticipate.

"Can you not use the motor to get us through this?" Hari yelled over the roar of the tide as she assisted Li-Anne with wrestling with Junky's wheel.

"We can barely go in a straight line as it is," Li-Anne puffed as the wheel tried to twist away from them again, "How would addin' more fuel to fire help?"

One of the sails had been blown loose by a strong gust of wind, and the ship veered off course.

"Go reel that in, Kiddo!" Li-Anne nodded to the flapping loose sail, "I can handle this, but I'm not tall enough to reach the ropes over there-" here she was virtually lifted off of her feet as Hari let go of the wheel "-quickly now!"

Hari grappled with the ropes and the loose sail, repeatedly grilling herself mentally as to why she'd jumped on a pirate ship to begin with. She was drenched through; her hair hung in dark strings against her neck, her clothes more water than fabric, and nothing was worse than soggy stockings. She wished for the ground beneath her feet again, instead of the constant violent rocking of a ship.

"Land ho!" Hari heard Li-Anne scream, and she hurriedly tied the sail down so that she could assist the older woman in steering. "Land ho! Land ho! Oh Mariejois it's finally over!"

Both Li-Anne and Hari burst into spontaneous floods of relieved tears and laughter.


Hideki walked.

Isola Giungla was not one of Grand Line's biggest islands by far. If one were a bird and flew above and over, the island would look like two individual segments of an orange. One half was sandy and urbanised, the other a deep leafy green. Those who settled on this isle each had different purposes for doing so, yet all of them interlinked. One family arrived because of the jungle's verdant vegetation; it made the perfect place to grow exotic species of plants and crops- the dense jungle's humidity mimicking the original habitat of many of the species. Another family settled because they could use those plants and crops in their medicines, which they then sold on to travellers and obscure areas of Grand Line like those beyond the Calm Belt.

Hideki's family settled because Isola Giungla was the perfect place to cultivate Den-Den Mushi. They- the snails that is, fed off of the unwanted plants in the jungle, protecting the rare species from competition. The translucent trails and parts of the snails could be used for medicinal purposes, or so that particular pharmaceutical family had said when they struck up a contract. The jungle was perfect for the budding Den-Den Mushi, it was so tightly packed that they could remain unseen from the sharp eyes of predators and evade being caught. Low flying branches were the bane of every bird's existence, of course.

The Inoue family had been one of the main suppliers of Den-Den Mushi snails for decades. Other businesses and home-grown snails simply couldn't match the standard of those cultivated on Isola Giungla, and it would be foolish to think otherwise.

However prosperous the Inoue Den-Den Mushi business was, Hideki could not bring himself to be part of the business' proceedings.

He despised snails, took every opportunity he had to discreetly place down pesticide in his garden or accidently tip over the conveniently-missing-from-the-kitchen salt shaker and spread the granules around.

Snails ruined his plants, and were a general plague on nature that had to be stopped at all costs.

The marigolds he'd worked so hard on keeping alive in this tropical climate had been beyond recognition this morning, and he had a fair hunch that his father had employed Jun into letting a Den-Den Mushi in training loose into that particular part of the garden.

Not that he could confront the two about it.

So he walked; beyond the houses and as straight as he could through the thick undergrowth filling the other half of the island. He blended fairly well amongst the trees, something that the other family's children took great amusement in. It couldn't hurt him anymore though- Hideki had heard their taunts for years, falling from his father's mouth easily, his brother copying their parent's example and employing his friends to do the same. His mother would smile with watery eyes and tell him to pay them no mind, but he could tell that she'd had enough of the constant tension in their home.

Hideki couldn't help being tall. It wasn't as though he was a rare fluke in their family; his mother had disclosed her own father had been fairly tall, but she had inherited her mother's genes. The inhabitants of Isola Giungla were all of what they would call 'average height', another thing they took delight in telling the tree-like Hideki.

He exited the dense undergrowth, stopping on the strip of sandy beach to just stop and breathe. Rain trickled down his browned skin, and though he shivered Hideki was anything but cold. He dug his bare toes in the sand and tilted his head to the clouds. Wet clumps of his fringe stuck to his cheeks, nose and eyelids.

"Land ho~! Land ho~! Land hoooooooooooo~!" Hideki heard someone trill in a terrible musical key, and quickly sought to find the source of the din. A ship had docked just shy of the shore, and two people (having waded from their ship to beach as there was no dock or jetty on the uninhabited half of the island) were dancing around on the sand.

"I never thought I'd see it again," one said, a brunette woman in a bright yellow rain coat, "Sweet land, how I've missed you!"

The second, a blonde child, collapsed on the beach. "I have to agree with you Kiddo, I nearly thought we were goners for a bit back there."

Hideki watched their enjoyment grow, as the brunette danced on the beach and the blonde made sand-angels. But why had the child called the woman 'Kiddo'? And how could a child's voice be so scratchy?

"Oh!" The brunette had spotted Hideki. Instead of balking at his lofty height, she smiled and waved: "Hello there!"

Anxiously, Hideki waved back. The blonde child got to her feet and the pair walked over to him; the brunette dusting off the smaller of the two's back to get rid of all the sand stuck to the child's wet dress. It was futile effort- whatever colour the dress was before it was now a sandy yellow.

"Could you tell us where we are?" The blonde asked, craning her neck to look at him.

Hideki opened his mouth to answer, but closed it shyly. The child- no, appearances could be deceiving, and this was certainly no child despite their looks, had a rasping voice fitting of one who smoked or had reached later than thirty in their life. He pointed to the jungle behind him.

"…That really doesn't answer my question," the not-child blonde muttered.

"Do you mean that you live in those trees?" The brunette prompted, and Hideki flapped his hand- as though to say 'further than that'. "Beyond them?"

Hideki nodded.

"Do you think you could take us there? We need to find out how long it takes for this Log Pose to set," the blonde asked, tapping the reinforced glass globe strapped to her wrist. Hideki surveyed the red and white needle inside it and nodded again.

"Great!" The brunette chirped, "I'm Hari and this is Li-Anne."

"… Hideki…"

"Nice to meet you n' all," Li-Anne drawled, "But could we get a move on? I'd like to get out of the rain."

Hari made an unpleasant keening noise deep in her throat, "I know, I don't remember what dry clothes feel like."

"You did half an hour ago!" Li-Anne responded, stepping into the jungle after Hideki.

"But that was half an hour ago, and I'm all moist now," the woman protested.

Li-Anne snorted; "Don't go tellin' the male population of this island that!"

Hari's ears reddened.


Hideki knew his father and brother had left for work during his absence, so Hideki lead the two women- because Li-Anne was a fully grown woman, no matter what her appearance led one to believe, to his home and sheepishly helped to right the heavy fallen table that Taichi did not have the strength to overturn. Jun had miraculously escaped the wooden prison, but both his father and brother had left Elena with a kitchen in disarray until Hideki returned with the travellers in tow. Elena had flustered over the three of them, bringing hot mugs filled to the brim with tea and chunky woollen blankets to warm them up. Hideki's mother soon adored the pair of travellers; they were brightly coloured if slightly soggy blocks of surprise in her monotonous life. They were different, and had been pleasant guests so far.

"What exactly are you at the island for? We don't get many visitors unless they come for trade," Hideki's mother was curious, and Hari and Li-Anne shared a uneasy look.

"Actually ma'am," Hari said quietly, "We're Pirates."

Hideki twitched.

Elena blinked. Her mouth formed a perfect 'O' of surprise. Then she fainted.

Li-Anne slurped from her mug of tea, the sound echoing strangely through the small kitchen as Hideki gently pet his mother's shoulder. "Nice work, Hari," she drawled from behind her raised cup.

Elena roused, dazedly thanking her son as he lifted the smaller woman to her feet:

"I had the strangest dream," she murmured to her eldest child, "That you had brought Pirates home when you knew your father has no patience for them."

"… I did," Hideki told her.

"O-ooh…" Elena's face flushed with panic, "Your father will never forgive you for this, Sprout. I have no idea of when he will be home for lunch."

Due to how relatively close the business was to their family home, Taichi and Jun spent their lunch hour at home rather than buying food in town or having Elena pack something for them in the morning. Occasionally, when a large order of Den-Den Mushi were soon to be shipped out or if a new contract was being drawn up, did they eat elsewhere. Every day down to the specific stroke of the clock, would the pair return home. Elena began to sweat.

Hideki mused on this. Beneath the curling strands of his drying bangs his eyes darkened, remembering the incident in the garden this morning. A snail had been deliberately set amongst his potted plants, and the marigolds had fallen prey to the pest. This could work in his favour; this could help break the same old routine and allow him to grow as swiftly as a climbing vine.

"I suppose we got lucky on the last island, we were taken to someone in charge straight away," Li-Anne told the panicking woman.

"We also hadn't raised our Jolly Roger then," Hari reminded Li-Anne, who's lips pursed in agreement.

Elena worried her worn apron strings; "You haven't been…?"

"Pirates for long?" Li-Anne finished, "No, no."

Elena visibly relaxed, so Li-Anne hatched a quick and delicate plan to extract the information she needed before proceedings turned… disastrous. The last thing both she and Hari needed was an irate husband returning home and flying into a mad rage after discovering his wife hosting Pirates of all things. It also appeared that Hideki was presently on thin ice with the family's patriarch, and it would be in the Pirate's interests to leave peacefully and not be the catalyst of a familial domestic.

"Listen, all we need to know is how long the Log Pose takes to set here on…?"

"Isola Giungla," Elena provided.

"Right, Isola Giungla," Li-Anne amended, "We can stay on the ship until it's set and not bother anyone."

Though she looked conflicted, Elena answered; "It takes roughly two hours to set. You've been here for some time already, so I doubt that you have more than three quarters of an hour left to wait."

"How is it so quick?" Hari asked, "The last island we went to took four days for the Log to register before we could move off again."

"This island is mainly visited because of trade," Elena told them calmly, "Ships only need a few hours to load and pay for any outgoing goods, and stock inspections from potential contractors are conducted swiftly. By having the Logs register quickly, more goods reach their buyer's destination sooner. It is good for business, and one of the lesser known reasons why people settled here."

Hari's eyebrows rose; "That seems really handy and all, but I've been on a ship with this one-"

"Oi!"

"-for over three weeks. I'm grateful for any time I get to spend on land, but I can't help but selfishly wish we could remain here longer."

Elena swallowed and looked at the clock ticking on the wall. The hands were drifting far too close to-

"Elena love, we're home." A burly voice grumbled from the doorway. A stout man with extensively styled hair and a pinstriped suit entered the kitchen and planted a kiss by Elena's mouth. He was soon followed by a well-groomed and miniature version of Hideki. "I didn't know you were receiving guests today?"

The man looked at Elena almost accusingly; the woman in question forced a smile on her face.

"You're home early today," Elena tugged at her apron's hem as though trying to hide her body. The binding around the edge was frayed and the white sections of the spotted pattern now a buttery cream colour.

"There wasn't much business, so we finished before we usually do," the man replied with a roll of his eyes, as though his answer should be so obvious to her.

Elena smiled again, but it did not reach her eyes.

"Who are your guests?" The younger of Elena's children enquired, eying the two travellers sat in their places at the kitchen table.

"I'm all of a flap, you coming home early has thrown me off time-wise -I forgot to introduce Hari and Li-Anne to you, and you know it isn't like me to not acquaint you with guests!" Elena covered her nervousness rather clumsily; she rubbed at her forehead with a tired hand. It was true that normally she was a gracious and attentive hostess, but there was nothing normal about this situation. Her husband was eyeing the brightly dressed Hari warily, as though he could smell the stench of Pirate. She caught his glances at Li-Anne, and Elena knew he was finding the woman distasteful from his kindly disguised sneer. "Li-Anne, Hari, this is my husband Taichi, and my second born, Jun. You already know Hideki, of course."

"Lovely to meet you," Taichi said, though he did not sound at all enchanted to be acquainted with the pair. "Where do you hail from then?"

"Oh, I'm originally from Logue Town," Hari told him and the man leant forward with keen interest.

Taichi rubbed the stubble on his chin; "Logue Town, eh? We get some good business with the Marines from there- they like to keep stocked on Den-Den Mushi."

Hari could feel sweat beginning to bead on her forehead. She laughed prettily: "I'm sure they do, I'm sure they do… ah ha ha…"

"And what about you?" Taichi growled at Li-Anne.

The elder woman looked up disinterestedly from her empty mug and answered; "Here, there and everywhere, really."

"I see," Taichi's lip curled. "Might I ask what the pair of you do for a living? It's not safe on Grand Line for only two women, surely you must be here on business with some others?"

"Would anyone like some tea?" Elena blurted. Taichi stared intently at Li-Anne as his wide blustered through niceties; "I baked some cakes just the other day- and they're still fresh! So I could serve them with a fresh pot-"

"Does it look like anyone wants tea, woman!" Taichi barked and Elena flinched.

The woman's lip quivered, yet she answered neutrally to the lit fuse that was her husband; "I suppose not."

"What is it that you two do then?" Taichi asked more forcefully of the two travellers. They were reluctant to answer, but knew if they tried to cobble together a believable story they would come unstuck- just like they had on Pastello Island. The pair shared a knowing glance, respectively thinking back to the last time they tried to come up with a legitimate backstory.

"… Pirates."

"What was that?!" Taichi snarled.

"… I said that they were Pirates…." Hideki intoned. Hari and Li-Anne grimaced.

Taichi's snarl of animalistic rage shocked everyone- even his own family. A slight smile could be seen on Hideki's face; one that Elena had not witnessed since her little runner bean had been a young boy.

"You mean to tell me," Taichi spat, rounding on his wife, "That you've invited Pirates into my home?"

Hideki stretched to his full height, hiding his now trembling mother behind him. Underneath his curling mass of black hair, his eyes noarrowed dangerously.

"… No…. I did," the boy intoned quietly to his father, and felt his mother's hands take fistfuls over the baggy white vets he wore- as though she were bracing herself for what was to inevitably come.

Having not been in the Piracy business for long, Hari had not expected the man's vibrant disgust for the 'P' word. Elena had been right to be nervous; her husband was near vibrating from sheer anger. Taichi's face had flushed an inhuman crimson, his fists clenched and ready to swing like hammers. It was fascinating to see the transformation of someone from almost pleasant to otherworldly irate happen, Hari mused. She couldn't look away from the scene as Taichi's fury descended onto Hideki.

"… And yes, I did invite them…"

"I told you!" Taichi pointed a finger accusingly at his wife; the latter of which's head peaked nervously around her firstborn son's side. "I told you this boy wasn't mine! No son of mine would skip through meadows and pick flowers like a priss! No son of mine would invite Pirate scum into my home!"

Li-Anne was not so surprised by Taichi's behaviour. She had sailed for far longer than Hari, and though she gave the impression she was young, her appearance did not match her experience- she knew very well how the world worked. Li-Anne had met bigots before, those of the exact same brand as Taichi. And she despised them.

Hideki's smile broadened.

"Do you think this is funny?!" Taichi raged, spittle flying from his anger-puckered mouth. A sadistic gleam entered the man's eyes; "I'll show you what's funny!"

Taichi stormed away from the kitchen to outside. Hideki started and followed after his father; soon the rest of the family and the two travellers also spilled from the tiny house and onto the lawn. Reaching the end of the garden where Hideki kept his potted plants and allotment, Taichi took the nearest terracotta plant pot, lifted it above his head, and then flung it to the ground.

The geraniums looked pitiful, slopped on the grass as they were. The planter was not salvageable, having ben cracked in two.

Next went the wooden trellis that held a climbing vine. It was snapped into pieces and was thrown unceremoniously atop the fallen geraniums. One by one, each species in Hideki's garden fell prey to Taichi's vicious intent.

The man began to laugh; pulling vegetables prematurely from the allotment's fertile soil. Hideki sank to his knees, shaking as he watched his father destroy his hard work- his only solace. The screams that filled his head were too much to bear, and his fingers clutched at the baggy fabric of his trousers with a deathly-white grip.

Breath now coming in heavy pants, Taichi wiped his sweaty foreheads on his suit jacket; now muddied from soil and scattered with leaves and petals. He went to grab the last heavy planter- containing Elena's favourite species of flower; a snarling nest of blue roses.

Suddenly, Hideki threw back his head and keened. His dark eyes were wide with unrestrained grief.

From the insanely lanky boy's body shot thorny vines; they rose far above the ground and writhed, intertwining. The vines crackled, the bark and thorns along the stem stretching and gaining size. When full twisted together, the vines resembled something of a giant hand: curling fingers were tipped with thorns, akin to a bird of prey's talons.

The keening stopped, and Taichi stared his first born son directly in the eye. The man panted heavily; the chuffing of his breath escaping his mouth in what seemed to be maniacal bursts of laughter.

"Look at you," he said, his mouth downturned in a grim grin. His eyes flashed nastily, no longer the eyes of a doting father, or a tolerating parent, but the eyes of a raving lunatic beyond any means of help; "Look at what you've become. You and those pieces of filth-" Taichi spat in Li-Anne and Hari's general direction., "-you're nothing but freaks!"

Taichi grabbed the plant pot containing the blue roses, and Hideki lost all control of himself. As the plant pot fell, the vine-hand he had created lashed out- swatting his father into oblivion. Though the vines were swift and malleable, they could not react fast enough to save the roses; they too, were strewn across the lawn.

Hideki wailed, clutching at the long curling strands of his black hair. Elena rushed forward, rubbing her eldest son on the back. Jun however, rushed to help his father stand.

A gushing flow of blood spewed from Taichi's nose; he wiped it away with his dirty suit jacket, tongue flicking to lick the blood that made contact with his upper lip. Taichi's eyes were hardened flint and trained intently on his eldest son.

"Get out of here…" he rasped, voice colder than ice. "Never show your face here. Ever again."

Elena gasped: "You can't just-"

"If I see you here on this island ever again, whether you are my son or not…" Taichi continued, "I will kill you."

Waves of tears spilled from Elena's eyes as Hideki simply nodded, and began to stand. She clutched at his legs.

"You can't, you can't!" She cried. "You can't go! You're my-" Hideki softly removed himself from his mother's hold. The woman sobbed, watching her son blend with the tall jungle trees. His back soon disappeared in the dense undergrowth.

Taichi turned his attention to Li-Anne and Hari, who had watched proceedings play out numbly from the side lines:

"As for the pair of you, I hope you the Grand Line drowns you both!" The man gnashed his teeth together and stormed into the house, his youngest son trailing after him.

Elena lay curled on the ground, hands caressing the fallen soil from the planted roses. Fat tears rolled from her eyes as she sniffled. Hari approached the woman and laid a hand on her shoulder, which Elena promptly shrugged off.

"Are you satisfied?" The woman snarled at them, "You have brought this upon us! It's all your fault."

Perhaps Hari and Li-Anne were to blame. Perhaps they were not.

It was Hideki who had used them as a catalyst in his feud with his father; the revenge he had wanted to exact on him because of the destroyed Marigolds backfiring spectacularly. Hideki had seemed strong enough to defend himself; he had displayed an intent to stop his father's actions, even if the result was more violent than first intended. Elena had also noted her son's strength, and felt perversely proud of him; the anger she felt at having to lose a precious person so suddenly had been directed towards Hari and Li-Anne, and not the actual culprit (whom was currently shoving rolled-up tissue up his nostrils to halt the bleeding).

"Are you satisfied?" Hari asked back cryptically, avoiding Li-Anne's palm before it slapped the back of her head; the older woman believing she spoke insensitively.

A myriad of emotions washed over Elena: confusion, sadness, loss, anger, fondness, and finally a jaw-cracking smile. Soft giggles hiccupped from the woman's mouth, increasing into hysterical guffaws that turned her sad tears to those of mirth.

"I… haaa, I am!" Elena giggled. "I've wanted to hit my husband for- heehee, years," she told the pair in confidence, laughter still bubbling within her.

"You've ruined- hahaaa, you've ruined everything!" Li-Anne and Hari watched as the woman fell into further hysterical giggles. "You've ruined everything- he he haaaa! And I'm okay with that!"

"Just 'okay'?" Hari said with trepidation, hoping that she came across as cheeky to help ease the hysterical woman on the ground. Hari instead earned herself a disapproving look from Li-Anne, who was not impressed by Hari's attempt at being nonchalant.

"I can't help but feel responsible for all this though," Li-Anne drawled, eyes never leaving the entrance to the house just in case Taichi made another appearance. Her eyes flicked momentarily to her wrist were the Log Pose was strapped; the needle was now spinning, indicating that the Log had registered and it was now time to set sail. "We have to get goin' soon too, so it's not as if we can fix this. The Log's changed."

Elena's giggles subsided; "We're both finally free, but there is one more thing you can do to make up for this mess."

Hari and Li-Anne leant closer, listening intently.


Hideki looked at the snail happily perched on Hari's shoulder disdainfully.

"-so your mother decided that we should take you with us, considering we're partly responsible for this mess. She gave us a Den-Den Mushi so that you can keep in contact with her; and she wants you to call every week just so she can make sure we're taking care of you."


"My son is sensitive," Elena had told them. "When he was ten, he took a walk around the island with Taichi. My husband was hoping to take him to work with him that day, but Hideki's has always been more fascinated with nature than anything else. If we didn't keep an eye on him, he'd be lost in the jungle for most of the day or up and flying with the News Coo birds. He'd always turn up for meals though."

"What happened next then, to make them so hostile with one another?" Li-Anne queried. She had a strange hunch that a new crew member and his backstory were going to make her life hellish in the future.

"Well, Taichi grew impatient with Hideki's lack of interest, and told the boy to go and play outside. From what Taichi and Hideki told me, he'd ended up on the beach near where the trading ships dock. Hideki got hungry, and knew there were fruit trees all around the island that people pick from when peckish; he was only doing what was normal and then…"

"And then?" Hari was practically bouncing from the suspense. Li-Anne rubbed her temples, her hunch from earlier somewhat confirmed true.

"Then he ate that cursed thing," Elena told them gravely. "It looked like a piece of normal fruit, so he picked it from the trees. But the taste was foul, and though he tried to spit it out and regurgitate it later, Hideki had devoured the whole thing."

Li-Anne let loose an exasperated huff, "He ate an Akuma no Mi then."

"Yes, it was only when he began talking to the trees and plants and growing things did we truly notice the extent of what happened beyond his usual fixation. We thought that he had only eaten an unripe piece of fruit at first," Elena said solemnly, feeling her eyes mist with tears again.


"I thought I was only goin' to be supervisin' one child, let alone two," Li-Anne complained as she started Junky's motor.

Hideki had his back resting against the wooden walls of the cabin, warily eyeing the Den-Den Mushi Hari was coddling.

Hari cooed: "I think we should name you Marvin!"

Then transponder snail grinned widely to that. Hari melted at the sight, and nestled the candy-striped snail closer to her chest.

"Roger give me strength," Li-Anne muttered with a shake of her head. She began busying herself with the ship, revving the motor slightly to block out Hari's sickening croons as she fussed over the Den-Den Mushi.


Hari and Li-Anne stared as Elena mopped at the tears streaming down her face; the woman had yet to stop crying, from either sadness or mirth. Elena's expression had sobered whilst sharing her family's story, Li-Anne and Hari each stilling in order to listen intently.

"But I still don't understand how such a big rift has been formed between them, eating one of those things isn't a crime right?" Hari asked. Elena had gone onto explain that Hideki had ate the Ki-Ki no Mi, a Logia Devil Fruit allowing him to manipulate his own body to match the growing flora around them. A passing trader with an interest in the cursed fruits had confirmed it for them, some years ago.

"Many Marines have tasted cursed fruit- it is where most of their might has been achieved," Elena pontificated, "But many Pirates have also eaten them, which is where my husband has associated the stigma of Akuma no Mi to have originated from. "'Pirate scum who have become freakier', I believe he said once."

Li-Anne scoffed, "So he took Hideki havin' unusual abilities as a sign of him betrayin' the family to become a Pirate."

"Pretty much," Elena confirmed with an awkward rub of the back of her neck.

"Pathetic," Li-Anne derided. "C'mon Hari, we've been here for far too long." The deceptively-portrayed Li-Anne led the way into the jungle undergrowth, stopping when her Captain did not follow straight away. A Den-Den Mushi, just shy of being fully grown, was being pushed into Hari's arms.

"Take this with you please!" Elena begged. "It will come in handy for when you reach further along the Grand Line and serve you well into the New World."

Hari juggled with the snail, feeling some of the slimy substance snails left behind in their wake slosh onto her palms; "I don't uh, Li-Anne! A little help?"

Li-Anne shook her head. Violently.

Hari sighed; "I would be delighted to accept… this. But may I ask why it is being gifted?"

"This is one of Taichi's up-and-coming Den-Den Mushi. Young, but has shown promise; he's already got the Home transponder snail's signal down-pat, so new frequencies shouldn't be too difficult. It was supposed to be a reward for a new hot-shot in the Marines for his service, but well, it's going to you now," Elena explained.

"'Home transponder snail'?" Hari echoed.

"The snail in my home, the one that this snail will call on a weekly basis when my son is at sea with the pair of you," Elena said sternly, and her expression promised pain if they didn't care for her son.

Hari looked desperately to Li-Anne, the elder woman smiled thinly over her shoulder; "Sure, what's one more on board?"


Hideki had begun to look at the snail in a new light, seeing as it would allow him to keep in contact with his mother.

"Welcome to the crew I guess?" Hari said unsurely, both she and Li-Anne watching for his reaction lest he implode into various plants. The transponder snail was certainly still wary around him, after Hideki had tried to use his vines to capture the pest so that he could throw it overboard. Hideki gave the trio an unconvincing grin and a thumbs up that scared them more than it reassured them. Li-Anne was certain that such a face could crack glass, should the scenario so arise.

They left him be after that.