Hey everyone,

This is a nice chapter. Reiju and her siblings are shedding their father's control over their lives and finding a new home.

9/1/2021

Chapter 4: The Baratie

Yonji, Niji, and Reiju sat on a small boat. Niji had pushed one side of his headphones off his ears to carefully listen. Reiju and Yonji were as quiet as they could be so he could focus but his face scrunched in irritation when Yonji shifted restlessly. Finally, he said. "I hear them, off the starboard side!"

"Yosh!" Yonij leapt into the air with a net and dived into the water. When he came back up, the net was full of a school of wriggling fish. Reiju smiled approvingly as Yonji swam back to the boat and scrambled onboard.

"Very good. Tie off the net and we'll head back." Reiju asked.

Yonji drooled a bit, "Can you imagine all the tasty fish the old man could make?"

After Niji assisted Yonji with the knots, Reiju orientated the boat and set sail. After a short journey, the fish shaped restaurant appeared out on the ocean. The small boat pulled alongside the sailing vessel.

Zeff was standing on the fin, arms crossed and a deep frown on his face, waiting for them. He made eye contact with Reiju and she instantly knew what he wanted.

"Tail, now." Zeff said and walked off towards the back of the restaurant.

"Yonji, Niji, please take care of the haul. I'll be back," and Reiju was off after the old man.

"Hey Niji," said Yonji. "Look at that."

Niji followed his brother's pointer finger. There was a hole in the ship. It was fairly small but the edges were charred, like the wood had been blasted apart. They also noticed Ichiji sitting glumly near the ship's head with Sanji sitting next to him looking worried. Yonji and Niji shared a look, it was clear what had transpired when they were out fishing but the boys also knew they did not want to get caught up in the middle of it so they quickly got to work.

..oo00oo..Zero..oo0000oo..Reasons..oo00oo..

Reiju and Zeff had come to an understanding and they found a way to live with each other for the sake of the kids, but just because they tolerated each other did not mean they were a united front. It was inevitable. Reiju grew up in a strict environment under the authority of a dictator while Zeff lived his life the way he wanted to as a wanted man. Quite frequently they came to an impasse on how things were being run.

The first argument was within a week of them settling into the Baratie. Zeff refused to allow Sanji to cook and had him handle food prep and dishwashing. Sanji was annoyed by this and, while he respected his teacher, he also complained about it to his siblings. When Reiju heard, she immediately went to Zeff and demanded for the ex-pirate to teach her brother properly. They argued about this for days and it got to point where Sanji - who felt guilty for being the start of this fight - tried to placate them.

Realizing that all the arguing had made the entire atmosphere of the Baratie tense to the point that it was unlivable, Reiju and Zeff cordoned themselves at the Baratie's tail to talk it through until they reached a compromise. Reiju relinquished any control over how and what Zeff taught Sanji after he explained how he was going to rebuild Sanji's foundational cooking skills and progress from there. Zeff conceded that Reiju was her brothers' guardian and thus had the final say in how the boys were raised.

It became a normal event on the Baratie. They would meet at the back of the restaurant, away from the kitchen and the boys, to hash whatever grievances they had with each other. Zeff usually had a gripe about how boys were behaving or when training got a little too ruckus for the restaurant and Reiju usually had a problems with how the restaurant was beginning run. Sometimes the problem would be resolved within the hour, others took days to resolve. A blessing of these talks was Reiju and Zeff growing understanding of each other.

So Reiju settled against the fin, sitting comfortably against the slope of the fin like many times before and looked at Zeff expectantly. Zeff didn't waste any time and went straight to the problem.

"Something needs to be done about Ichiji." Zeff stated.

Reiju frowned. Since they moved in a few weeks ago, Ichiji had been a dutiful brother. He wasn't able to do much without his sight, but he's thoughtful and helped where he can. If Reiju recalled, Ichiji was on dishwashing today, maybe he dropped Zeff's nice dishes. "What did Ichiji do?"

"He got startled and his lasers shot right through the ship. I know you don't want anyone knowing about that poison thing you do or his laser beams but this is a restaurant. As soon as we open we're going to have waiters, customers, and chefs coming in and out of here. It's going to become a problem really fast if that boy can't open his eyes without becoming a lightshow."

"There's an easily solution." Reiju commented, "I'll train him to keep his eyes closed. Not even pain will be able to force them open."

Zeff frowned in disapproval. "Teaching that boy to hide his power is only going to hurt him."

"He'll be in danger if anyone finds out." Reiju stated firmly. Powers came from devil fruits but Ichiji and Reiju weren't going to pretend to be unable to swim. They needed to remain powerless. If Judge caught wind of people performing superhuman features without the aid of a devil fruit, he would investigate. Reiju knew that to be true. Since Ichiji couldn't control his power, he needed to hide it. Simple as that.

Zeff shook his head, "That won't do."

"Why not?"

"Think about the boy. If things stay as they are, what kind of life will he live?" Zeff asked.

She frowned and folded her arm. "Didn't we agree my responsibility is raising my brothers and your domain is the kitchen, and we don't cross that boundary?"

"I can't ignore this." Zeff stated. "If you keep raising him to fear his ability, he'll never be able to move forward."

"He should fear it." Reiju stated. "That ability is monstrous."

"Like you poison?"

Reiju's lips pressed into a thin line but she answered without hesitation or doubt, "Yes. Our abilities are unnatural. They should never be used."

"That ability is a part of Ichiji." Zeff argued. "Acting like it is a curse will only burden your brother."

"It is a burden. A burden Ichiji must bear in secret." Reiju stated firmly.

"You're putting too much on him."

"It's none of your business."

"If it's on my ship, it is."

"Old man," said Ichiji as he stepped around the corner and into sight. "It's okay."

Zeff frowned at Ichiji's stoic face, his eyes screwed shut. "What are you doing over here?"

"Sorry for intruding," Ichiji said. "But you shouldn't be fighting over this. I understand the burden I carry even if I'm not strong enough to control it."

In that moment Reiju felt proud of her brother. Out of her siblings Ichiji was always the one most receptive to command and understanding of his duties with a stoic demeanor A quiet voice whispered in her ear, telling her these were characteristics of the Lineage Factor taking hold and that she needed to be careful or else Ichiji just might….

"I'll carve out my eyes."

Reiju's mind went blank.

Zeff was equally lost for words.

"You… you can't,"

Ichiji tilted his head towards his sister's muttering, "It's no different from when you sacrificed your arm so we could be free."

Reiju's voice hitched.

"You didn't lose it from a stray bomb. Your body is too strong. I know you didn't want us to know but I refuse to let your sacrifice be for nothing. If I can't control my power, then I need to get rid of it. This is my duty to my family."

"Don't be so rash, you brat." Zeff warned.

"I've thought it through. This is what's practical." Ichiji assured.

"What about your sight!?" Zeff pressed, clearly frustrated by Ichiji's disregard for his own wellbeing.

Ichiji frowned, tucking his quaking hands into his pockets. "My family's safety is more important."

Reiju couldn't fault her brother's thinking. Sooner or later, Ichiji's uncontrollable power would get them caught. Judge would hear rumors of a boy with superpowers without eating a devil fruit and seek him out. Once that happened, it would only be a matter of time before they were found. Ichiji was thinking rationally, like the solider he and Reiju were raised to be. Reiju should feel proud of him.

But all she could do is stare at him. Ichiji must have sensed her gaze and straightened his back to appear taller.

To look older.

To look stronger.

They were raised to be soldiers. They were taught of loyalty and the duty they had to their family. Reiju knows her brothers didn't have a normal childhood but that doesn't make them any less human.

Reiju moves. She kneels down and places her hand on Ichiji's shoulder. The boy freezes under her touch but stands firm. She rarely gives them affectionate gestures, relying on commands and praises to manage her brothers. Reiju changes that standard by pulling Ichiji into a hug.

"I'm sorry, Ichiji. I imposed my fears onto you. So much so that I was blind to your own worries." Reiju said, pulling him closer. "Can you forgive me?"

Ichiji held onto her tightly as he tried to stifle his crying, brow creased harshly as the tears squeezed through his eyelids, "Nee-san."

"Your power doesn't define who you are. You always are looking after Sanji, Niji and Yonji." She pulled away so that she could wipe away Ichiji's tears. "You're a good brother."

Ichiji let out a cry of relief.

"We'll figure out how to control your power. I don't know when but, one day, you will be able to open your eyes without fear."

"Yeah!"

Zeff let out a sigh and stroked his mustache in thought. "Let Niji handle it."

Reiju looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"That boy's half-finished inventions are falling out of his room all the time. I'm sure he'd be over the moon to help Ichiji." Zeff elaborated. "Maybe he'll finish this one."

"I definitely will!" Niji stated, tripping over Yonji and Sanji as he came around the corner.

Ichiji smiled shyly, too flustered to speak.

"Don't you brats have any respect for privacy?" Zeff grumbled, "Back to work!"

Niji ignored him and placed a hand on Ichiji's back. "Just watch Ichiji! I'll make you the coolest glasses that'll stop your laser beams!"

And he did.

After frying multiple face shields, breaking a stove, destroying a couple unfortunate houses near a temporary testing range and nearly shaving half of Zeff's mustache, Niji proudly announced he finished. The Baratie was anchored at an island and everyone gathered on the beach.

Niji stood before them with a great grin upon his face as he held up a pair of goggles with red lenses. "My best invention ever! Ichiji's laser beams – which are still awesome by the way – will be refracted by the lenses and contained within their own vector field. In theory anyways."

Zeff's eyebrow quirked up in concern, "In theory?"

Niji grinned, holding the goggles out to his brother. "Try them on!"

He placed the goggles into Ichiji's outstretched hand. Ichiji curled his fingers around the frame and felt them over before putting them on. Reiju placed a comforting hand on Ichiji's shoulder and oriented him to face out over the sea. Ichiji took a deep breath and opened his eyes. Nothing happened.

"The goggles work!" Sanji cheered.

"Awesome!" Yonji said in awe.

Ichiji was quiet for a moment, taking in everything he hadn't been able to see - the sand, the water, and the sky. "….. Everything's red."

Reiju giggled.

"Yeah, best I can do." Niji replied.

Ichiji looked over everyone's faces, eyes lingering on Zeff, finally able to put a face to voice he's heard for weeks. "They're perfect."

Reiju and Zeff watched as the boys ran up and down the beach, tumbling around in excitement.

"I should thank you," Reiju said.

"No need." Zeff replied. "This is how things should be."

Reiju watched as Ichiji tripped Yonji who landed face first into the waves. He laughed but was promptly taken down by his other brothers. They were engaging in absolute nonsense without a care in the world, just like boys should be.

She nodded in agreement.

..oo00oo..Zero..oo0000oo..Reasons..oo00oo..

Zeff and the siblings fell back into routine after Ichiji regained his sight. Reiju decided to revise how she trained Ichiji, Niji and Yonji. She wanted to ensure that they could protect themselves and hid their superhuman strength but she didn't want to train them to be soldiers. Sanji focused on his work in the kitchen.

Then Patty and Carne arrived, two cooks who were fired from every restaurant they worked for because of their rough personalities. After being turned away from every establishment on land they decided to try their luck out at sea. Zeff easily kept them in line but Reiju disapproved of their crass and brutish nature. Yonji already picked up several new swears from them but they were a restaurant: they were starting to get regular customers and Zeff needed help in the kitchen. A lot of sailors came through the Baratie doors looking for a reprieve and food, many of whom were just as rough around the edges.

Reiju was working a shift as a waitress when the incident occurred. She, Ichiji and Yonji catered to a crew of merchants that stopped by. The crew was large enough to fill the restaurant, with only a handful of cooks to man the kitchen, everyone was working at top performance to cater to the merchants.

While providing drinks to a table of drunken sailors, one particular red faced man's hands wander a little low for Reiju's liking. Tossing the platter she had up in the air, the other men were in awe when the platter and drinks landed gracefully in her right arm. The platter was perfectly balanced on her elbow as she used her hand to twist the wandering hand and pinned the man to the table.

"OW! Dammit!" The red faced man howled. "Le-leggo! You're gonna rip my arm off!"

"The next time you want to rudely touch a lady," Reiju said, twisting the man's hand tighter and eliciting more screams. "Remember this pain."

With that, Reiju released the drunk and placed the rest of the drinks down on the table while the other sailors gazed at her in terror and admiration of her strength. When she turned her back, Reiju could hear the red face sailors' friends instantly start jibbing at him for being taken down so quickly by a waitress.

Reiju ignored the rest of the rambunctiousness of the customers when she saw Patty approach her.

"You should show more respect for our guests." Patty lectured. "A paying customer is always right."

"I feel you would be less inclined if a lady grabbed your junk." Reiju remarked, seeing Patty blush with a perversive expression she shook her head in distaste. "You'd probably see it as an extra service."

Patty yelped when Reiju kicked him in his back. "Now get back to the kitchen!"

"Hey, only Owner Zeff can boss me around!"

Reiju's narrowed her eyes. "I can give you a reason to listen to me."

"Che," Patty scoffed. "I came to ask where the reserves are. These squid bas- babies are eating right through our main food supply."

"I'll go get the reserves. I spent a week organizing the storage and I don't want an oaf like you ruining it."

Glaring at each other one last time, Reiju disappeared into the kitchen to help out. She pulled out the reserves, brought them to the kitchen, and passed them off to Sanji so he could start the prep work.

"Hey Pinky!" Carne called. "The orders are backing up but those waiter kids haven't come back."

"Those slackers!" Patty grumbled. "I'll get them back on track."

"I need you in the kitchen," Zeff refuted, juggling multiple sizzling pans and boiling pots at once.

"I'll handle it." Reiju assured.

Leaving the kitchen, Reiju realized that the noise they were hearing had changed from partying to shouts and provoking jeers.

"Take that back!" Yonji shouted at the red faced man who glared down at the boy. Yonji was ready to leap at the man and tear him to shreds if it weren't for Ichiji holding him back. "Take it back right now!"

"Why should I?" the man sneered. "It's the truth. That woman is a filthy little bi-"

"SHUT UP! You can't talk about Nee-san like that!"

"What are you going to do about it?" the man tormented.

Yonji shook his fist. "I'll pound you into the ground!"

The sailors burst out laughing at the thought of a tiny boy taking down a grown sailor.

"Watch out Duke, this kid's got spirit."

"We're rooting for you brat!" Another man jested.

There was a flicker in Yonji's eye and Reiju instantly knew what he was going to do. He was about to recklessly attack this man. With Yonji's superhuman strength he would absolutely kill the man. Yonji crouched low, ready to attack.

"Yonji don't!" Reiju cried out, stopping her brother from attacking but the drunk punched him right in the face. Yonji fell back and - since he was holding on - took Ichiji down with him. Reiju knew her brothers were fine from such a weak blow but it still angered her to see them attacked.

The sailor laughed, cracking his knuckles. "You're tough. I'll give you that."

Yonji sat up. "Dammit."

Ichiji placed a hand on his shoulder, whispering. "Don't make a scene."

Reiju was proud that her brothers could show restraint but she needed to stop this right now. Before she could diffuse the situation, Patty burst through the doors.

"What's taking so long?!" He shouted but found the sight of the boys on the ground with the red faced man standing over them. "Huh. What's going on here?"

"These little punks insulted me. I was teaching them a lesson."

"I see, I see," Patty replied agreeably, clapping his hands together as he stepped forward. "We'll see that they are properly reprimanded. We're a fine establishment you see, we have certain standards. As we have certain standards, I sure you won't be offended by this you damn squid-bastard!"

Patty's fist smashed right between the man's nose and the crew went wild when the man crashed into the one of the tables. Yonji whooped when the table was smashed to pieces. Patty huffed in contempt, "We're a fine establishment so if you want to be violent, you can do that somewhere else."

Reiju shook her head. "That's rich."

Yonji laughed. "You heard Patty. No violence! Bleh!"

"Get back to work already!" Patty yelled.

"Perhaps he's not so bad." Thought Reiju. While crude, he did come to her brothers' aid. Perhaps she prejudged Patty too much.

A while later, Reiju was gathering the bedsheets to clean them. She was removing Sanji's when a paper box was loosened from the folds and fell to the ground. Reiju picked up the box and examined it. She popped up one of the cigarettes and frowned.

Perhaps if Reiju was hot headed, she would have shouted out the offender's name to give him warning that she was going to hunt him down.

Reiju was not hot headed. She was trained to be an assassin. Reiju raised one of the cigarettes to her eye level and imagined it as the body of her new target and snapped it cleanly in two.

Downstairs in the kitchen of the Baratie, Patty shuddered, somehow knowing his end was nigh.

..oo00oo..Zero..oo0000oo..Reasons..oo00oo..

Once again, Reiju recommitted to her brother's training especially her three super powered ones. They needed to learn how to hold back their strength lest they unleash it upon some poor soul.

Occasionally when the Baratie needed to be restocked or they were near an uninhabitable island, she would take Niji, Yonji, and Ichiji out so that they could cut loose without having to worry about anyone watching them. The boys would come back sweaty, dirty, and smiling. Sanji would be in waiting for them at the Baratie. Because she focused on refining the other's abilities and managing the restaurant, Reiju had little time to work with Sanji on his self-defense. She was surprised Sanji didn't act more restless.

Reiju eventually found out why when she returned to the Baratie one day to find Sanji swimming circles around the ship with his arms tied behind his back. She, as her sisterly instincts took hold, frantically tried to rescue him. It turned out to be a strength training exercise from Zeff.

"I thought you'd be more upset." Zeff remarked later while the boys sparred playfully on the Baratie's fin. "You baby Sanji."

"Sanji is weak compared to his brothers," Reiju countered. "I'm always going to worry about him."

Reiju watched Sanji go up into a handstand and attempt to spin around to kick all three of his brothers at once. He fell on his face, causing Yonji to laugh.

"I was a little upset that you didn't tell me."

"That's on the eggplant. He didn't want to worry you." Zeff replied, sending her a knowing look. "It runs in your family."

Reiju shook her head. "I worry because they're my younger brothers. Sanji worries me because he's a gentle boy. The world is cruel but I don't want him to lose that smile of his. I don't want to force him to fight."

"He's stronger than you believe." Zeff said. "And a determined little shit to boot. He's going to get himself into a shit ton of trouble when he's older."

"I get what you're trying to say," Reiju replied, propping her chin on her hand. "He needs to know how to fight back."

"Not the words I would have used…"

Zeff and Reiju were startled when Sanji landed a kick to Yonji's side sending him flying through the air and head first through the wall of the restaurant. Niji and Ichiji gaped like fish as Yonji struggled to free himself.

Sanji stared blankly for a moment as he registered what happened. He broke out into a wide smile as he turned towards Reiju. "Nee-san! Did you see that?!"

Reiju could only nod as Zeff let out a laugh. "Your footing needs some work."

"Screw you Old man! That was awesome!"

"Holy shit!" Yonji sputtered.

"Nice one Squishy!" Niji laughed before receiving a face full of Sanji's shoe.

Reiju smiled. Ever since they joined Zeff on the Baratie, Sanji was becoming more confident. Even on the Orbit, free of Judge, Sanji was meek outside of the kitchen and relied on his family for protection. It wasn't just Sanji who had changed. Ichiji expressed his emotions regularly and was working on conveying what he wanted. Niji had a place to invent and fail without pressure to succeed and Yonji could run wild. It's been a short time but her brothers' personalities were starting to shine. They found security and happiness on this peculiar little floating restaurant owned by an ex-pirate captain and run by a runaway princess general. It was home. Reiju couldn't ask for anything more.

Next chapter likely won't be posted in early-November. "Zero Reasons" has reached the canon story and I need to refresh my mind on the events of the Baratie Arc. It will be posted by the end of November at latest.

Coming up next - Chapter 5: The Straw Hat

-DigitalGuardian