Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone who's reviewed the story so far: princesslolitatheorca654, alittlebitlate, AkGold, and WateRipplE. Your reviews really motivated me to continue the story despite my fears that it was not well received. So as a thank you, here's an early release of chapter three! I apologize if I'm a bit slow in tying the actual plot to the story. It might be slow at first, but please bear with me!

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.

Chapter Three - Questionable Secrets

She was standing in the middle of a cold stone floor. Darkness hid her surroundings.

"Run," a man's voice whispered.

Over and over again, it urged her to run. She could hear the desperation in his voice, but as much as she wanted to do what he said, her legs wouldn't move. She could feel it, too: something was wrong. She swung her head wildly from side to side, attempting to find the source of the voice, but it was impossible. It seemed to come from all directions.

Finally, she closed her eyes and grabbed her head, willing the voice to stop.

It did.

She slowly opened her eyes again and lowered her hands from her head. That was when she saw it.

Blood.

Her hands were covered with it. She watched in mute horror as the dark red liquid transformed into a solid sword of blood that she held in her right hand. A loud 'thump' sound came from behind her.

Her legs finally moved. Whirling around, she saw what had caused the noise and fell to her knees, eyes wide with disbelief.

A man lay face down on the floor with gashes in his back… gashes that looked like they'd come from a sword.

Her sword.

One by one, corpses with similar injuries toppled forward from the darkness and piled up around her. She was suddenly suffocating in the scent of blood and death. With shaking hands, she dropped the sword she held just as the same voice from before whispered in her ear.

"You did all of this… you monster."

A corpse appeared from the darkness and started to fall right on top of her.

She screamed.

7:31 AM. May 7. Yumi's Bedroom. Floor 2, Thousand Sunny. Open Sea. New World. Grand Line.

Yumi woke up drenched in cold sweat, her hair and clothes plastered to her skin. She was panting heavily as she sat up, eyes wide with fear. It took a moment for her to realize it had only been a dream. When she did, she managed to relax, but only slightly. Yumi's hand shook as she tucked her hair behind her ear. Her heart was racing at a million miles per hour. This was why she'd requested a bedroom for herself.

Nightmares. She'd had them for as long as she could remember. Yumi hadn't had a good night's sleep in over ten years. No matter how many times the nightmares visited her in her sleep, she could never get used to them. It's a good thing I have a bedroom to myself. Nami and Robin would ask a lot of questions if they woke up and saw me like this.

Her heart was still racing when she swung herself out of bed and headed for the washroom outside. There was no point in going back to sleep.

Only nightmares were waiting for her.

7:48 AM. May 7. Dining Room. Floor 2, Thousand Sunny. Open Sea. New World. Grand Line.

Seventeen minutes later, Yumi was sitting awkwardly in the dining room with the rest of the Straw Hats while Sanji cooked in the kitchen. All of them, that is, except for Nami. Chopper and Usopp sat as far away from her as possible, giving her fearful looks every few seconds. While she'd expected some degree of unease and fear, it still sent a small sting of pain through her heart. The others didn't seem to mind her as much. Zoro seemed indifferent to her presence, Brook asked to see her panties (which she learned was normal for him to say), Franky said something or other was super, Luffy bounced up and down in his seat excitedly in anticipation of breakfast, and Robin asked about how she'd slept.

"Well enough," Yumi lied, not wanting the others to know about her nightmares. It was the half-truth. Compared to some of her other nightmares, the one she'd had that morning was a pleasant wake up call.

"I see," Robin smiled. Her eyes drifted down to Yumi's clothes. "You're wearing your clothes from yesterday. Did you not like the ones I brought you?"

"Oh no," Yumi shook her head. "They were pretty, and thank you for them, but I felt more comfortable in my own clothes." Even sleeping in Robin's extra nightgown had felt uncomfortable for her.

"I understand," Robin said kindly, taking no offense that Yumi hadn't worn her clothes. She smiled warmly at her. "We should go shopping sometime this week and pick out some clothes for you, Miss Blood Devil[1]." Yumi was about to protest and ask Robin why she hadn't addressed her by her name when the door suddenly banged open. Everyone looked up in surprise as Nami stomped towards them, waving around a newspaper with wide eyes. Even Sanji popped his head out of the kitchen to see what the matter was.

"The morning newspaper just arrived," Nami explained as she slammed the newspaper down onto the dining table with shaking hands. "Our faces are on the front cover! They've completely updated our bounties and everything. They found out about Yumi joining our crew, too. The townspeople of Pyreen probably told the Marines that they saw us fighting together."

"WHAT?" Usopp leaned forward as far as he could go, straining to see the newspaper for himself. It was true; their wanted posters were really on the first page of the newspaper with new pictures. "Nami, read the bounties out loud!"

"Usopp, Chopper, and I are all worth 180 million beri now. Franky and Brook: 200 million each. Robin: 250 million. Sanji: 300 million. Zoro: 400 million. Luffy: 600 milllion," Nami suddenly stopped, crumpling the corner of the newspaper in her fist in shock. "…Yumi: 1 billion beri… That's a total of 3.49 billion beri…" Everyone was suddenly shouting and crowding around Nami to take a closer look at the newspaper themselves.

Sanji was crying tears of joy, sobbing about how the Marines had finally gotten a good picture of him until Zoro pointed out that his bounty was still higher than the chef's, which caused the two to get into an argument like they so often did. Chopper was ecstatic that he wasn't treated as a 'pet' anymore. Nami and Usopp were mourning over their new bounties because they didn't want to stand out. Franky, Robin, and Brook were chatting happily with each other about the wanted posters, and Luffy was just laughing loudly. Yumi was looking at her own wanted poster with dread, though she secretly felt proud of her newest bounty.

"Jeez, Yumi, just how badly do the Marines want to capture you?" Luffy grinned broadly at her. "You're worth a billion beri now!" At that, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked over. It was the question all of them had on their minds: just what exactly had Yumi done to get such a high bounty?

"I agree with Luffy," Zoro narrowed his eyes at her. He might have helped Luffy recruit Yumi a little, but that didn't mean he didn't have his doubts about her. "Even our own bounties went up after we helped you out. What are you hiding?" Yumi stared back at Luffy and Zoro with a guarded expression, saying nothing. The room was silent until Robin spoke up.

"Let's save the questions for after breakfast," Robin suggested with a smile. The tension in the room disappeared as Sanji headed back into the kitchen to bring out the food. Grateful that the older woman had helped push the questions back until later, Yumi leaned back in her seat and started to think of the questions to come.

At least she had some time to think about what she was going to say now.

8:39 AM. May 7. Dining Room. Floor 2, Thousand Sunny. Open Sea. New World. Grand Line.

After everyone finished eating breakfast (Sanji had prepared blueberry pancakes) and the plates were cleaned, they all sat down at the dining room table looking at Yumi. She shifted slightly in her seat, waiting.

"Right. Now that we've had breakfast, why don't we all ask Yumi-san some questions to get to know her better?" Brook smiled at the young woman in question. "Could I please see your pa-" A quick slap from Nami stopped Brook from finishing his sentence.

"Can we please be serious?" Nami snapped at him, settling back into her seat again.

"Why did you become a pirate?" Luffy suddenly asked, surprising everyone with his rather serious question and expression. They all mentally face palmed when he grinned cheekily a moment later, resuming his carefree self. "Everyone here became one for a reason! We all have dreams. Mine is to become the Pirate King!"

"Pirate King?" Yumi echoed. What an ambitious dream.

"Yeah!" Luffy turned to his crew mates with expectant eyes. "Everyone else should share their dreams with Yumi, too!" There was a bit of grumbling from people like Zoro and Usopp who didn't want to share their dreams, but they all took turns and shared their aspirations in the end. When they were done, they turned to look at Yumi again. She hesitated before opening her mouth.

"I became a pirate because I wanted answers… and revenge," Yumi answered, looking away.

"And why is that?" Franky prompted.

"I…" she hesitated before shaking her head slightly. "I can't tell you that right now. Maybe later…" Yumi wanted to tell them, she really did, but she didn't consider them her true crew mates just yet. She didn't think she could actually spill forth her entire history to them the day after she'd joined.

"The hell?" Zoro snarled, leaning forward. "Each of us just told you our own reasons-" A hand popped out of nowhere and covered Zoro's mouth, cutting him off. It was Robin's, who'd used her powers to call forth an extra hand.

"We understand," Robin simply said with a smile, and everyone gaped at her. Some of them shared Zoro's feelings. Robin continued, "Don't we? It's like when I first joined. I didn't exactly tell anyone anything right away, did I?"

Everyone stopped a moment to think. It was true; Yumi's situation was similar to Robin's when she'd first joined the crew. They'd been suspicious of her at first, but it turned out they had nothing to worry about. Suddenly everyone was nodding and murmuring about how it made sense she wouldn't want to tell them just yet. Zoro was the only one who still seemed a little dissatisfied, leaning back in his chair with a slight frown. Yumi herself felt relieved that she didn't have to answer such a personal question for the time being. Nami cleared her throat.

"Moving on, can you tell us about your power?" the navigator asked. "I've never seen anything like it. Robin and I checked the official Devil Fruit book last night and didn't see the Chi Chi no Mi mentioned anywhere in it." Finally, a question Yumi could bring herself to answer. She felt somewhat bad for letting the others down previously.

"According to the Marines I've encountered in the past, the Devil Fruit I ate is an unknown one that's never been seen before. It's actually not too uncommon for there to be unidentified Devil Fruits, but still, even I don't know much about the origins of the Chi Chi no Mi," Yumi placed a hand on the table as she talked, letting blood come out of her finger and twist around in the air. The Straw Hats leaned in closer to watch, allowing her to see the various emotions on their faces: fascination, curiosity, a bit of horror.

She continued, "The Chi Chi no Mi falls under the Paramecia category. It allows me to generate and manipulate blood. If I'm running extremely low on energy and can't generate blood, I usually just control my own blood, and in cases like that I have to return the blood to my bloodstream after I use it for combat purposes. Otherwise, I'd faint due to a lack of it. I can also control other people's blood, but it's a little more difficult."

"Wait, s-so you can technically control other people then?" Usopp gulped. Yumi smiled bitterly.

"Yes. It's easier if I inject my own blood into their bloodstream first. From there, my blood takes control of the rest of their system, making them a living puppet essentially," she explained. She didn't miss the look of horror Usopp and Chopper shared but went on with her explanation of her power. "I can form objects or animate creatures with my blood, too, like small birds or insects that can move around on their own. Other uses of my power include being able to extract substances like poison from blood or transforming blood into a certain blood type." This piqued Chopper's interest.

"Wow, that's pretty useful for medical purposes!" Chopper said in spite of his fear of Yumi. His eyes were glittering with wonder and amazement. "That's really cool!" Yumi blinked in confusion, taken aback by his words. She wasn't used to hearing people say positive things about her powers.

"It's certainly interesting," Robin agreed. "It sounds like a very useful ability to have." Useful, but also a cursed power.

You don't know everything about it.

"Perhaps," Yumi murmured. She let the blood she'd generated while talking disappear before dropping her hand to her side. A silence befell the room. Everyone was taking some time to process the information they'd just received from Yumi.

"What about your weapons?" Zoro's voice broke the quiet. He was referring to her katana and pistol. "I don't see a point in you having them if you can just create weapons from blood. Are you skilled at using them?" There was a sort of predatory glint in his eyes as he talked.

"That would depend on the opponent, but yes, I do think I'm pretty skilled," Yumi said softly, setting her two weapons on the table. "While it's true I can create weapons from blood using my powers, I might not always be able to. For instance, what if I was too weak to use my powers or I had my powers sealed with Kairoseki? That's why I carry around these two weapons. This pistol was one I picked up in town a long time ago. I place solidified blood bullets into it beforehand for battle."

"And your katana?" Zoro stared at the weapon almost hungrily. It was probably because he was a swordsman that he was so interested in it.

"Its name is 'Red Carnage'. It's a family heirloom," Yumi slowly unsheathed the sword, letting the others take a look at it. The blade was a blood red color, a fitting choice for its master. After everyone had taken a glimpse of it, she placed it back in its case and put the weapons on her person again. "…The katana is imbued with blood." Usopp sucked in his breath.

"Whose blood?" he demanded in a trembling voice. Yumi didn't answer, wearing a guarded expression much like when Luffy and Zoro had first tried to question her.

"Oi," Zoro suddenly addressed her. "Let's have a match."

"Zoro, what are you saying?" Nami's eyes widened, but Zoro ignored her. His eyes were locked with Yumi's.

"I want to see your skills with a blade. If I win, you'll tell me whose blood it is that's on your katana and what you're hiding," Zoro said as he rose to his feet, smirking. His right hand rested on the handle of his sword, Shusui. Yumi rose to her feet as well, eyes never leaving his.

"…And what if I win?" she finally said, finding the challenge interesting. Zoro's smirk grew wider.

"I'll stop prying into your past and wait until you're ready to tell us everything. I'll even do whatever you want for a day," he offered with a laugh. Most of the crew gaped at his offer. "Although that's never going to happen."

"We'll see about that," Yumi's eyes narrowed slightly. She didn't like how he was taking her abilities lightly.

"I accept your challenge."

[1] Miss Blood Devil - When she first joined the crew, Robin didn't call everyone by their names. For example, she called Zoro Mr. Swordsman, Usopp Mr. Long Nose, etc. She calls Yumi by her epithet to be polite and also because there is still some distance between them.