A little boy watched the pond silently at the garden just behind the palace they we're visiting.
He had a short crimson hair and a very serious face. Scarf covered his lower face. And for a kid, he was quite tall.
For someone on his age, his eyes had already seen enough violence to last him a life time. Unlike other children who played at the play ground with toys on their hand, battlefield was his playground and weapon we're his toys.
His mother was a pirate and an ambitious one at that, so he really don't have much of a choice but to fight and to kill.
He was currently at the country he forgotten what the name was. He wasn't really paying attention when his mother told him and his siblings where they we're going.
Speaking of his brothers, where are they anyway? Hopefully, they weren't causing trouble wherever they we're right now. His sister wasn't a problem. His brothers on the other hand...
Their mother was at the castle talking to the king of the place where they we're in.
He shivered slightly. It wasn't snowing yet but he could already feel the cold wind the incoming winter brought.
His mother always told him that he better learn to endure heat and cold because there might be times they might end up going into those kind of places with harsh environment. He wondered if he would ever learn how to do that. Is it even possible to be able to withstand those?
He silently cursed. He should have brought a coat with him. His older brother, Perospero brought one. Compote, Daifuku and Oven too. He should have listened to his sister when she told him to bring one.
"Hey! You're going to catch a cold, dressed like that! Scarf is not enough to warm you up!" a shrill voice sounded from behind him.
He winced at the painful sound and turned his head.
A young small girl was standing there with a frown on her lips. She looked younger than Amande, one of his younger sisters. But who knows? She might be older than her.
She had [h/c] colored hair and a big [e/c] eyes.
The boy glared at her. "Mind your business, brat." he spat and turned his eyes back to the pond.
He didn't saw it, but the little girl puffed her cheeks.
She then went beside him and sat.
"You're Linlin-sama's son, right?" she asked.
"Yeah. What is it to you?" he asked, annoyed.
"Well, she told me 'Find one of my son and tell him to play with you. I have something important to discuss with your father.' so I'm here," she said, imitating his mother's tone. It was totally a bad imitation though.
His mother probably wanted to send her out of the room to discuss something important to her father that was why she told her to go play with whoever she find among her children.
He glared at her. "Find my other brothers then."
"Well I can't find them. So you're stuck with me." she cheekily grinned.
The boy wanted to kill her or at least hurt her. But his mother might get angry at him if he does. And so, he had no choice but to be quiet and to baby sit the bratty princess.
"Hey, how old are you?" she suddenly asked.
"Seven."
"Eeh?! You're on the same age as my brother?!" she frowned. "I knew it! Staccato nii-chan is just scrawny! He said his body size is normal for someone on his age but I knew he's lying," she said, nodding her head as if agreeing to herself.
The boy stared at her weirdly. Honestly, the boy do think that whoever her brother was, he was the normal one. His body was large for someone on his age which was understandable considering that his mother was a big woman. But whatever. It was not his job to correct the annoying little girl.
"Hey! Your arms are so big!" she giggled as she grabbed his arm, startling the boy.
"Hey!"
"I bet you could beat Staccato nii-chan in arm wrestling," she looked up to him with sparkling eyes. "If we saw him, can you defeat him for me? He's kinda being annoying lately, boasting of not losing on arm wrestling when he plays with the other children in the city."
The boy sighed. He cursed his luck. He should have run off to the city instead of staying there to wait for their mother. If only he didn't sat there, he wouldn't have met this pest.
"Why don't you find your brother and play with him instead of bothering me?" he asked, already losing his patience.
She looked down sadly and that was something the boy didn't want to see. His younger sisters loves to make that face whenever he refuse to do what they wanted. He was weak from that kind of face.
"He said he don't want to play with me cause I'm a girl. And unlike him, I can't go to the city and play with the other kids so I'm always alone here," she said.
The boy sighed in defeat. Little girls that were younger than him was really his weakness.
"Fine. I'll accompany you. But I won't play with you," he said, defeated.
The girl's eyes brightened. "Really?!"
"Yeah, yeah," he sighed once again.
"Yay! Thank you!"
A cold wind suddenly blew making him shiver.
Seeing that, the little girl stood up and stepped behind him. He sat there in surprise as he felt her arms around his neck while her small body pressed on his back. Her cloak, covering his arms a bit. He felt her warm body warming his cold ones.
She was small. Even though she was standing and he was sitting, they we're on the same height.
"Warm now?" she asked with a smile.
He looked down, embarrassed. "Yeah."
She smiled. "What's your name?"
"Charlotte Katakuri."
"I'm [y/n]. Nice to meet you, Katakuri-sama."
Muffled scream sounded around the kingdom of Avon as the mochi ground swallowed the people and kill them by suffocation.
Men, women, old people, children and even their pets weren't safe from Katakuri's anger.
As he slowly made his way to the palace, people begged for mercy but he ignored them.
Its not like he could hear them anyway. His brain was busy thinking about the time he met [y/n] for the first time. [y/n] probably don't remember it anymore but he does.
When his mother asked him before, if he knew [y/n], he lied. He told her he knows her name but haven't seen her.
Well, it was not completely a lie. It was a half lie. He knew [y/n]'s name but ever since that time they first met as kids, he had never seen her again.
So he didn't know how much she had changed since that time at the garden of Melodia palace.
Imagine his surprise seeing that the annoying brat turned into a beautiful, gentle and kind hearted woman.
Yesterday, back at the garden, when she told him she was glad it was him she ended up marrying, he almost gave away his real feelings.
Living his life as Charlotte Katakuri, he learned to hide his real thoughts and feelings, masking it with violence and indifference. But it seems that simple words from her was enough to make it crumble.
He was actually thinking the same way as her.
He was glad it was him she ended up marrying. Not Perospero, not Daifuku or Oven. Him.
Avon soldiers and even some of the world government marines came to stop him with their guns.
Katakuri however was unstoppable. They we're on his territory. They we're stepping on his mochi field. There was no way they could win against him.
As mochi swallowed all of them who we're on his way, he continued and made his way to the palace.
The floor of the palace turned to mochi as well, the moment he stepped inside.
The same as outside, the mochi swallowed everyone. Servants, guards and the noble family.
[y/n] could wait. He needed to find that Alto first. And no, he wasn't planning on killing him with a mochi. Katakuri was planning to kill him with Mogura and with a very painful death.
Thanks to the mochi field, it only took him a short time before he found the coward, hiding in one of the rooms of the castle, surrounded by his guards.
Katakuri dispatched all of them one by one until Alto was the only one left.
"K-katakuri-sama... Have mercy! I... I was just ordered by the king of Avon! Y-you see, he got my family hostage," he reasoned but Katakuri obviously know he was lying.
Katakuri stepped closer to him. "Don't worry. I'll send your family with you after," he coldly spaid and stabbed him on the neck with the mogura.
"Ack!" Alto gasped as blood flowed from his lips.
Katakuri grinned under the scarf with a crazed look and raised him up in the air with mogura still stabbed on his neck.
"How does death feels?"
[y/n] slowly opened her eyes as she felt a familiar warmth.
It seems that she was dreaming. "Katakuri-sama?" she called.
"I'm here." Katakuri's voice sounded.
What a nice dream. She don't want to wake up anymore.
She snuggled closer to his chest as she felt him move.
The action completely woke her up.
"Katakuri-sama?!" she looked up at him wide-eyed.
It was really Katakuri and he was carrying her on his arms as he walk.
"I-its really you," she teared up.
"Yeah. You're safe now," he said.
She then pressed her face on his scarf. "Thank you."
"Did they hurt you?" he questioned.
She shook her head, face still pressed on his scarf. "No one came to my cell ever since I woke up there."
He nodded his head. "I see."
"Thank you for saving me," she whispered, moving a little to press a kiss on his neck. He stiffened at the action but managed to regain his composure.
"You're my wife. A member of my family. Of course I'll save you."
[y/n] smiled warmly. She love hearing that he consider her as a part of his family. She knew some of his sibling don't consider anyone who weren't carrying their mother's blood as part of their family. She even heared Cracker said once that he don't consider his own birth father as a part of the family. That's why it warms her heart hearing Katakuri's words.
"I'm sorry for causing you trouble," she apologized.
"Don't worry about it. It's not even your fault anyway. Don't worry about Alto or Avon anymore, they won't bother you or Melodia ever again."
What he said made [y/n] look around.
She was sure they we're in Avon but the whole place looked like it was covered in mochi. There we're no people around whether dead or alive, it was strange.
"What happened? This is your devil fruit ability, right?" she asked.
Katakuri nodded. "Yeah." he simply said, not giving anymore information. "Go to sleep. I'll wake you up later."
[y/n] nodded. She was actually sleepy despite of just waking up.
She pressed her face close to his neck. "Thank you for everything, Katakuri-sama..." she whispered before falling asleep.
The next day, news about the genocide became the headlines of the newspapers and Charlotte Katakuri's bounty rised up from 650 million berry to 800 million.
TO BE CONTINUED