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Katakuri spent most of the rest of the day equipping his house for the boy, as that was where he was going to be staying. He sighed, irritated he'd now have to wear his scarf at home as well. It would scare the tiny child to see his mouth. At least anytime soon, that is. He had subordinates and siblings with nothing to do help him move the correct sized furniture into his house, into the room that had previously been a small library.
He left hardened mochi step stools strategically around the house so the boy could reach light switches and the bathroom counter. Katakuri was very glad he was potty trained, since Pudding told him that was utter relief. He didn't need the added task to potty train him along with training him and continuing the brainwashing.
He would also need to teach him to read and write, but not for a few years at least. Though he wasn't really looking forward to the long task, he wasn't going to perform it poorly. Clothes were bought after he called Pudding and asked her to do measurements on him. She was looking forward to getting rid of the kid that had been her responsibility for a few weeks.
Once the house was equipped and toddler proofed, so he didn't slam his fingers in the doorways that he would be allowed to enter through, Katakuri called Brulee to take him to Cocoa Island instead of having to sail there.
-x-
A knock on the front door of Pudding's homemade Luffy jump and rip his drawing, which upset him but he didn't show it. Pudding hurried to the door with a big smile on her face, and Luffy wondered what made her so happy. He stood up and walked to the side of the couch to peek over the edge at who was at the door.
It was a very large man Luffy was convinced would step on him, but now that he was made of gooey stuff and rubber, hopefully it wouldn't hurt him. Plus, he would just come back to life! That was the most reassuring power he knew he had so far. Though he didn't want to die and have to use it.
The man couldn't fit into the house, and Luffy heard his name said by the man, and recognized the voice from the den den mushi the other day. Kata-something. One of his big brothers. Really big brother.
His dark eyes looked to Luffy, who was barely visible over the arm of the couch. He looked at him in slight surprise, like he didn't expect something about Luffy. Luffy was a bit nervous about being near this man, but Pudding had praised him for being a really good big brother.
"Luffy, you're going home with Katakuri. He's going to be taking care of you and training you in your fruit now," Pudding explained, and handed Luffy his trash-bear and basically pushed him out of her house. Luffy stumbled out, and the door was closed quickly behind him. His lower lip wobbled slightly, but he didn't want to upset Kata by crying.
Katakuri crouched down and introduced himself. "I know you don't remember me, but we'll rebuild the relationship again and it will be like it used to." Luffy nodded, and was picked up, making him look down in fear as he was lifted higher and higher until he was dropped into a chest pocket. It was a big shirt, Luffy thought. That he could fit in one of the pockets.
"Wh… when do I remeet everyone else?" Luffy asked quietly. It really was a big change from the previous Luffy Katakuri had briefly met.
"Whenever you feel ready," the man replied. Luffy smiled, liking this man much more than Pudding, even if he was scarier looking. Then he asked when he started his training. "Soon. I have a plan for it. I will help teach you the most useful fruits first. Silly and useless ones will be near the end and the hardest will be the last to attempt," Katakuri explained.
"Ok. I used some of them," Luffy mentioned. "I made sticky goo, and soaps, and made more arms out of my two arms."
"Pudding told me about you sleeping in mochi form. That is my power," Katakuri said offhandedly. He wasn't bothered by sharing his power. It was for the family that Luffy become strong.
They were both quiet while walking with Brulee through the Mirror World and to Katakuri's (and now Luffy's, too) home. Luffy was watching all of the mirrors sparkle, completely distracted with them. He was feeling a bit better after leaving Pudding and hearing he had a home. He wondered where he had lived before he lost his memories. But he didn't ask. He was a bit nervous but also excited to go someplace new and not be cooped up in one room for weeks.
The two came out at a large mirror in a big room. Luffy was shocked at how big everything was, not putting two and two together about how big Katakuri was, so he'd need things sized for him. He walked through the house, Luffy still in the pocket, and shown where everything was, and the rules. Not to run or leave any trash around, as Katakuri liked living in a clean house.
When he reached his bedroom, Luffy saw that the ceiling was impossibly tall, but the furniture was his size. He was set down and run to his new bed. He was tired of sleeping on a couch with a flimsy blanket. It wasn't dark out yet and Luffy didn't want a nap just yet, so he made sure to smooth the blanket down again and then slowly inspect the room.
He was happy to see he had a variety of clothes, and was even happier to see there were picture books and other children's toys he'd never seen before. "Thank you," Luffy said to Katakuri, who was watching from the doorway.
Even though he wasn't smiling like Pudding, and looked grumpy, he didn't seem to be mean like Pudding sometimes had been. "You're welcome. Don't go into any of the rooms that don't have the spongey door stopper, okay?" Luffy nodded, and sat on his bed, not really sure what to do now.
"Do you have any papers and wax pastels?" Luffy asked quietly, shyly and worried asking for more would get him in trouble. But Katakuri nodded and walked out of the room, Luffy reluctantly following after him to find a very large pad of paper set on the floor with a variety of the drawing utensil.
Luffy drew for a long stretch of time, able to draw so much more on the massive canvas. The drawings were scribbles to anyone else, but to Luffy, he was drawing a happy feeling, instead of the sad ones he'd mostly been doing at Pudding's. Katakuri alternated with watching the boy and reading the book on devil fruits. It was an expensive encyclopedia that included the history of the past users that had been documented.
A few of the fruits did make him a bit uneasy to be in the care of a toddler. Especially the hobby-hobby fruit, which might just be the most messed up fruit there was. To not only turn into a toy with no way to reverse it, but everyone else in the world forgot about you. Katakuri would not be teaching him that one anytime in the near future. Plus, how would you teach someone that? Well, he'd probably use people who commited a crime as practice. Whether Luffy could turn them back or not didn't matter if they were enemies of Mama and the family.
Despite Luffy using the mochi-mochi power without meaning to, it was very difficult to control elongated parts of the body, so that would be later to teach. Maybe after teaching the rubber-rubber fruit. It could be seen as useless, but Katakuri could see good points about it. Especially being immune to bullets or blunt force attacks.
Luffy eventually grew tired, and requested a nap. He walked through the big house and to his room, and looked at something in the door he hadn't noticed before. It had been changed to have a child sized hole in it that was more like a cat door that couldn't be locked. Luffy easily walked through it, having it be impossible to open the door himself. All of the other doors into the rooms he could go into didn't close all the way, so he could just push it open a bit and slip through the crack, not needing to use the door handle.
The guest bathroom was now Luffy's, and Katakuri would keep his bathroom the only one he used. Sharing a house with a child one fifth of his size might make things a bit strange. The amount of food Luffy would eat was unknown. But Katakrui had doubts that he would be able to eat a normal serving size for Katakuri.
When Luffy fell asleep, Katakuri peeked inside to see what Pudding had told him about. All that was in the bed was a white blob with a face on it. He actually almost laughed, glad that had never happened to him.
The man went to the office, which was off limits for Luffy, at least for now, and wrote up the log of the journey now that it was completely finished. He wondered when the next time he'd be sent on a mission outside of Totto Land would be. The man sighed, and looked at the ceiling. Raising a kid he wasn't even related to. He never saw himself having to do a mission like this one. Never expected Mama to accept someone into the family like this.
Though he wondered if Luffy would even be welcomed, even if the others were afraid of how Big Mom would react. Katakuri and his older siblings never knew Mama still seeked the all-all fruits. Maybe she just never mentioned it anymore because she assumed it wouldn't be discovered in her lifetime, but when word got out that it was found in the East Blue, the moment the paper was delivered she sent some of her most capable children to go fetch it.
Everyone had wondered what she would do with it, since she cant eat it while having a devil fruit of her own. Would she have fed it to one of her children? Which one would it have been? Well, he'd probably never know the answer as it was reckless to ask the yonko any unnecessary questions.
Oven had asked her once why sweets were her favorite food and she yelled at him for it. It was awkward to be in the room as none of the others saw anything wrong with the question. But such was the life of a Big Mom pirate. It didn't bother Katakuri as he was used to it.
Luffy eventually woke up near dinner and wandered through the house, looking at what he was allowed to before peeking around the corner into the living room to see Katakuri sitting on the couch that had a stool to it for Luffy to get onto it, reading something.
"Are you hungry?" Katakuri asked, making Luffy jump and wonder how he knew he was there. Luffy didn't ask, though, and said he was hungry, slowly making his way to the couch area and looking up at the impossibly tall man. He wanted to ask if everyone else in the family were super big like he was, but didn't. It might be a stupid question.
Luffy looked down at the floor sadly. He didn't like feeling sad, and some part of him felt it was a new feeling. Had he ever been sad before now? His head began to ache as he tried to remember before, but it hurt so he stopped.
Katakuri went into the kitchen, which was just a big as the rest of the house, with a massive refrigerator that there was no possible way Luffy could ever open it. At least not now. Katakuri made dinner, which was a large serving of pasta. Knowing everywhere was made of food here, Luffy was almost surprised it wasn't candy for dinner.
Pudding fed him sugar endlessly, and it made Luffy more sleepy than hyper. It might have been the point of Pudding feeding him it. To put him asleep and to not have to take care of him. Just leave him on the couch, all alone.
The food was yummy, and left Luffy fuller than he had been in the last couple weeks. He didn't need to ask for seconds because that much food was in his first serving. He scarfed it down with little manners, finally smiling brightly. Katakuri recognized the smile from before he had his memories taken away. Looked like food was something Luffy valued. Maybe teaching him Streusen's power would be beneficial for both Luffy and Katakuri. He wouldn't need to spend money on extra food, though it would be cheap anyways. And Luffy could eat whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted.
Katakuri was not going to let him get fat, he wanted the kid healthy and in tip-top shape for the rigorous training he was going to go through. "Once everyone knows you're better, but have lost your memory, we can reintroduce you to them." He didn't say anything like, "I'm sure they'll be happy to see you" because they wouldn't, and Katakuri didn't want Luffy to think he was lying to him, even though he was. Luffy's whole past and future are and will be full of lies.
"Okay," Luffy said, sad again. He wasn't looking forward to meeting other people. Pudding didn't like him, would the rest like him? Did he do something bad before he could remember and that's why Pudding disliked him? He kept his emotions inside, didn't want to cry or ask anything about what he couldn't remember. It would just make him want to remember more.
Luffy went back to his new room. He liked it, but for some reason it didn't feel cozy. He wanted to sleep under the stars, but the bed was nice. He wouldn't make things worse and anger Kata when he was going to teach him how to use his powers.
How had he eaten the fruit anyways? What had it looked like? A painful splinter stabbed his head, so he stopped thinking about it. But, not knowing anything about yourself kind of made it hard to think of anything other than what you're missing. What's lost, maybe forever. He laid down in the comfy blankets, and tried to think about nothing that would hurt his head. The boy eventually fell asleep, morphing into the mochi blob like he did whenever he fell asleep.
-x-
Luffy sat on a box in the backyard of Katakuri's large house, trying his best to do as his brother said, but he just didn't feel it happening. He was supposed to be making some goo come out of his fingers, nothing was happening. Katakuri said it could possibly be the easiest one to learn. Even if it was largely useless, Katakuri had decided to go by the easiest and then up to the hardest. There was no reason to rush, as Luffy had years to hone his fruit powers.
And as much as Luffy tried, he got that much more discouraged when nothing came from it. Katakuri was taking care of him and he couldn't even do anything right. But, the man didn't give off his irritation at nothing happening. It was largely his job to assimilate Luffy into the family, which he needs to think is caring for him and will be there to help him through his life. Getting angry or showing disappointment this early on would be counterproductive.
Luffy became distracted by a bee that kept flying around his head, making him uneasy and uncomfortable with the bug. For some reason, he felt like he was supposed to love bugs. He was feeling that strange feeling a lot lately.
It had been four days since he started living with Katakuri, and when he did things, part of him thought those things were wrong. It raised questions Luffy was afraid to ask and get an answer to. He still didn't know this man enough to feel safe asking any vulnerable questions. He didn't want to disappoint Katakuri, and then maybe the whole family.
The bee landed on his shoulder, and suddenly an arm sprouted from his inner elbow and slapped the bee dead, not stinging Luffy thankfully. Then the arm disappeared. Katakuri's eyebrows raised, surprised at the sudden control that was involuntary. But, it was useful to see as it showed that maybe it was best to have Luffy choose what powers to use.
He was only showing a few that were constant. The mochi-mochi, flower-flower, and the stick-stick fruit. There hadn't been another incident with soap, and Katakuri thought that it might have to do with Luffy subconsciously being afraid to use certain powers and anger someone else. Maybe it was best to let his emotions speak and direct the appearances of some of his many powers.
Katakuri changed his tactics, and instead of trying to tell him how to do something, would ask how he'd like to do it. Let him realize what kinds of things work for him, not what works for Katakuri.
"What did you feel when the hand appeared?" he asked, both of them inside now and on the couch.
"Mad and… scared. That the bee would hurt me."
"So you wanted the bee to go away because you were scared it was going to hurt you?" the big man asked patiently. Luffy nodded. "Have you ever used that power before?" Luffy nodded and explained the incident where he was growing frustrated with that sheet of paper not staying up, so a hand appeared to hold it down for him.
Katakuri hummed. "So, two times now it has come out when you were mad?" he asked. Luffy nodded, thinking that was correct. "Why don't we try and tap into the anger and get the hands to come out again? What make you mad?" Luffy frowned.
"I don't remember ever being mad before," he answered truthfully. "How do I get mad?" Luffy didn't want to be mad, but he didn't want to irritate Katakuri, who was still being nice to him.
Katakuri didn't know where this was going. He didn't know anything about Luffy, and he didn't know anything about himself, either. The sweet commander also didn't want to ruin his budding relationship with the kid. How would you know how to make someone mad who you've never met before and don't want to truly anger?
"Maybe think of someone telling you your drawings aren't good?" It was clear as day to probably anyone that Luffy's drawings were very important to him. Katakuri just saw scribbles and disjointed circles, but they meant something else to Luffy. Luffy frowned.
"My drawings are good..." he argued.
"I'm not saying they aren't. But, would you be mad if I did? What if I took away your drawing tools? Would that make you mad?" Katakuri probed. These should be common things children get mad at. Hell, Mama gets mad at someone taking away something from her.
Luffy's little face turned into a scowl, something Katakuri hadn't seen before. "My drawings are good and no one is taking it away," he said strongly. This method wasn't working, as it was making him actually angry and no other limbs were sprouting from anywhere. Luffy seemed to then immediately realize he'd behaved badly, and his eyes grew wide and terrified. What if he was kicked out of the family? He didn't know them, but he had nothing else.
Hands suddenly bloomed all over the walls and floor, startling both residents. Immediately all of the limbs disappeared. Well, looked like fear tapped into his powers. But that wasn't the way Katakuri wanted to train or get to know Luffy. Fear would drive him away, and may backfire on them in the future.
"Sorry," Luffy quickly apologized, wringing his small hands together. When Katakuri asked why he was apologizing, Luffy replied that he had gotten mad and mean.
"I'm not mad and you weren't mean. I might have pushed too far and upsetting you wasn't the best way to go about this. But, it does look like intense emotions affect your abilities. We don't want you to only be able to use them by being scared or angry. That's no way to live a life." Luffy nodded his head slowly. "Why don't we try and find something that makes you very happy. We can take a break now, but why don't you try and come up with something that makes you very happy?"
Luffy nodded his head and said that he'd try. Katakuri went back to his book, signaling to the boy that it was break time. Luffy didn't know what he should do, so he walked back to his room and crawled under the covers. Naps made him happy. He feels better after waking up from a nice nap. Especially now that he was on a comfortable bed.
Katakuri stayed in the living room, writing down notes about what had happened. Awakening something that makes Luffy truly happy might actually be detrimental to the family. If he remembers something, which should be impossible as everything was ripped out of his mind, then he may start to rebel and learn about their plot.
Might remember who he used to be. Katakuri couldn't let that happen, couldn't let the mission fail like that. But, there was always Pudding's ability to regularly remove memories. She'd never had to do something like this, such a thorough cleaning. And no one knew how Luffy's mind could handle something like that a second time. After all, his personality was completely altered after the memory wipe.
He'd have to be careful about this.
-x-
Three days later, there was now a jungle gym made of hardened mochi now was in the backyard. It was low enough for Luffy to use safely, even if he'd be fine even if he fell. For some reason, Luffy really liked high places. So Katakuri made a very very tall slide that he would set Luffy on top of, as there was no way he could climb a ladder that long.
When he slid down the slide, he looked absolutely joyous. It seemed like a safe thing. Lots of children enjoy slides, and Katakuri couldn't come up with a reason he'd have enjoyed being meters up in the air from a past experience. But, he could be wrong. However, that didn't matter right now. Everytime Luffy slid down the contraption, arms appeared on the edge of the slide to mess around with him and cause him to giggle.
Katakuri decided this version of Luffy was much better than the Luffy that was scared of everything and very sad. Though, that's who he became again once he got tired of the slide for a while. He'd sink back to his lonesome-seeming self. But Katakuri couldn't have seen any other way of getting him to completely assimilate to the family other than wiping his mind and starting again.
But, the slide gave them progress, and that was more than anyone had expected this early. After all, Luffy was only four, and yet he was able to manipulate a couple of the devil fruits, no matter how hard it was or how little of the time it happened. But it was a start, and Katakuri made sure to tell Luffy that he was doing well. He wanted to seem as kind as he could, as he didn't want to disappoint Mama.
He wondered if kindness would work best to get him loyal to the family. Well, Katakuri would do his best to stay seeming like this calm, collected and kind man. Instead of a brutal killer and faithful watchdog for the family that would do anything to fulfill a mission for his precious family.
Though, even Mama knew they couldn't go about this the normal way. Seeing an outsider treated like this might upset the others. Chiffon was already married out of the family, so the beatings on her for looking for Lola were over. Would the family resent Luffy for not going through anything the rest of them went through?
An argument for that point of view was that Luffy had the power to kill any of them if he wished to. He'd be more inclined to betray if they were cruel to him rather than having him love them as family. The easiest way for Luffy to betray would be using the hobby-hobby fruit. He could betray them by turning one of their members into a toy, who would then be forgotten by everyone but that person and Luffy.
As of now, Katakuri didn't think Luffy would kill anyone. Of course, that would have to change. But he wasn't going to rush this. Slow and steady wins the race.
"Kata?" Luffy asked, startling him out of his thoughts. "When do I get to meet the others?" He had a shy demeanor, and Katakuri wondered if it was too soon. Over the den den mushi, Mama had said that she would like him assimilated into the family quickly. She acknowledged that he was too young to go on missions, but getting to cooperate with the others and feel more welcomed would prepare him for partiaking in joint missions when he became older.
There was a woman who could manipulate her age with her own devil fruit, the age-age fruit, but it was agreed upon that it would be useless. It wouldn't age Luffy's brain, just his body. A four year old in a twenty year old body would still be as useless as just a plan four year old.
"Do you want to meet some soon?" Katakuri asked. Luffy nodded slowly.
"I want to make new memories. I don't like the empty in my head," he replied honestly. "I try and remember sometimes, but it hurts. I wish I never got hurt," he lamented. Katakuri frowned for him. He didn't want Luffy trying to remember his past. It could do damage to their plan and Luffy if he said that it was painful. They couldn't have him with any sort of brain injury.
"I'll set up a date soon to meet some of our brothers and sisters. The older ones," he clarified. Luffy nodded, internally wondering when he'd get to play with other kids. Katakuri was nice with the slide, but Luffy couldn't see him playing tag or hide and go seek. He was too big for both and maybe he would think Luffy was stupid to ask.
Lunch was made after that, and Luffy scarfed it down like a starving animal again. No one knew who the boy lived with before the marine vessel, but did they teach him zero manners at all? He did eat everything on his plate for every meal, leaving nothing to put in the fridge for leftovers or throw in the trash. And he thanked Katakuri for the meal anyways, which showed some manners.
The boy shyly and reluctantly asked for a bedtime story. Katakuri almost refused, but thought that it would hurt Luffy's feelings and make him doubt Katakuri. He couldn't have that happen. So, he read him a picture book while he was on his bed, Katakuri sitting on the floor next to the bed.
Luffy easily fell asleep and slept the rest of the night, peacefully in his mochi form.