Slowly opening his eyes, a beam of light shone brightly, making him raise his arm to block the view. He noticed that he was on a ship sailing through the blue ocean
"nii-chan!"
A young, petite voice called out to him. He looked to his left and saw a small, six-or-nine-year-old girl with purple hair, a long, pointed red nose, and she was wearing a white dress.
"brulee?" he asked
"Oh?" Brulee gave him a concerned look. "Katakuri Nii-chan? You weren't thinking about what those boys said to you before, were you? Don't let it get to you, Nii-chan. They don't know a thing about you like I do, and you are the best Oni-chan I have!" She proclaimed, spreading her arms and smiling.
"oi! Katakuri, lick!"
"hey big bro Katakuri!"
Behind him were two young boys, a bit older than brulee. One wore a yellow raincoat, with his tongue sticking out, and was carrying a candy cane staff. Next to him was a boy with gradient-coloured hair.
"Perospero, Oven?"
"nee Katakuri whats up with you? Lick" Perospero asked
"Yeah, bro! It's like you haven't seen us in a while or something." Added Oven with his hands behind his back.
Katakuri felt a hand on his shoulder, brulee was smiling warm fully at him "Katakuri nii- chan, time to wake up now"
That's when everything around him was engulfed in a flash of bright light. The last thing he saw was his sister and her bright smile.
Snapping open his eyes, Katakuri had a droplet of sweat running down from his forehead. He found himself comfortably laid down on a king-sized bed, four in total that were put together. Considering his size.
Taking a long hard look at the room, he noticed something odd. Normally, when he's awake, he finds himself staring at the ceiling made of crackers or next to him is a basket of giant donuts. What's even odder is that normally he has Brulee tend to his wounds.
But no, instead he saw that the room was made of wood, with a structure similar to the houses in Wano, which he had never even visited because it is the home of their greatest enemy.
Aesthetics aside, the bed itself was indeed comfortable, but he groaned as he pushed himself up the blanket, which felt down, revealing the bandages that were wrapped around his torso. He brought his hand to his head and rubbed gently
His thoughts were set on recalling every little detail of what had happened. The last thing he could remember was fighting with Strawhat and then making a proclamation. Everything went blurry after that.
He heard the sounds of footsteps followed by muffled humming. The doorknob turned as it opened and a young teenage girl stepped in. She had short dark hair, with two locks of hair tied up in braids. She also wore a hairband.
"Oh!" she flashed a grin. "I see you've woken up. Good." She took a stool and placed it in front of him, and then sat down. "As soon as I saw Fubuki's division arrive here, with Maia hauling your enormous body, I couldn't believe my eyes-"
As she continued, Katakuri was surprised that almost no one would talk to him so casually. Most people stutter because he is the son of the infamous Big Mom, and also because he is considered a monster.
She stopped in her tracks and looked back at him. Then she chuckled, "Apologies. I went ahead and talked to myself there. So, what's your name?"
"Katakuri"
She blinked, "Hmm, an odd name. Either way, good to make your acquaintance." She held her thumb and pointed at herself. "Tobare Azuma. You're welcome, by the way. It's not often I get to heal men, especially big ones like yourself." She winked at the last sentence.
"I see. Thank you." He bowed his head slightly.
She waved it off, saying "Save your gratitude for my girls; they deserve the most. After all, they were the ones who found you. Big man."
"If you were wondering about where they are, They're off doing some errand right after they dropped you off" she quickly answers his exact question.
Then came silence, for a brief moment until Tobare broke it and she leaned with her chin resting on her hand. "While we're all alone, I was hoping I could ask you some questions. Is it okay if you're still weak and not feeling well?"
"No, please ask away." He cut her off in a formal voice.
"Very good!" she said, pointing to his noticeably sharp teeth. "What's up with the fangs?"
"...i was born with it" he responded with a tad of hostility
"Really?" she received a nod in response. "Oh, you know with a mouth like that, people might mistake you for a pelican eel or a pelican bird."
"i happen to get that alot"
"i can tell" she pauses for a bit "are you hungry by any chance?"
before Kata could even respond his stomach spoke for him, growling intensively earning a playful grin from Tabare "so the stomach has spoken, you wouldn't happen to like sweets do yo"
well Katakuri sure knows what he's having "do you have donuts"
"Oh, a fellow dessert lover I knew I'd like you the moment I saw you being lifted in" she said, putting her hands on her hips before walking out the door.
As Kata watched her leave, he remained on the bed. He lifted the covers and noticed his pants were missing; he was almost naked, but thankfully he still had his underwear on.
"OH, AND BY THE WAY, I TOOK THE LIBERTY OF ASKING THE SERVANTS TO TAKE YOUR PANTS OFF,!!"
He heard her scream from the door. Kata sighed...she probably should have said that in the beginning.
Homare lets out a prolonged yawn, she was seen with Maia standing outside a large building
"I'm bored" she whined, her eyes shifted to Maia who was staring out of space. Her arms were folded beneath her chest for some reason; it irritated her, then again, everything irritates her, especially Maia.
"Hey!, how long do you think we have to wait here!"
"how should i know" Maia responded without even looking at her
"aren't you a vice captain!?"
"True, but even vice captains have limited knowledge on things except for The Captain of each division."
Homare harrumphed and crosses her arma in annoyance she decided on shifting the subject "what did you think?"
"about what" Maia ask now has her attention
"that Man we found" she replied like its obvious "what was he"
"Im not sure, what im concerned is how he ended up like that in the first place, im surprised he was still alive"
Homare was silent for a bit then asked "by the way what was actually going on when Mother was uh checking out that Mans body like that"
"I have have no idea, And by the way it's Captain Fubuki you know were only allowed to address Our Mother when we're off duty" Maia States earning a groan from Homare
"ugh!, get that stick out of your ass will ya" She retorts
"Who's Ass are we talking?"
Homare almost fell from her pose, she was leaning. She noticed Fubuki standing with her right hand on her hip. "Captain!" She stood firmly.
"i take it the meeting went well" Maia greeted her with a slight bow
"Not really, although we did take care or a little intervention during the meeting. It was just a group of terrorists." She explained
"Wait the Meeting was attacked" Homare Blinked in surprised "and i missed it!?"
Fubuki ignored that and continues "further more i did get to meet Kyoukas rumoured Slave, he was quite adorable" she smiled warmly
Maia went ahead and asked her the main subject "Captain did you-"
She was cut off by Fubukis palm Infront of her "No"
Both Homare and Maia were Alarmed "b-but captain what about the Commander
"Commander Ren doesn't need to know at least not now. If I told her, she'd have him transferred straight to the Onmyo Agency. Think for a second: it's odd that a man as Big as a statue was found right after Division 6 and the 7th squad battled against these so-called 'Eight Thunder Gods.' It couldn't have been a coincidence." She obscured the man her squad recently discovered hours ago and knows the Commander like Ren Yamashiro herself. Well, let's put it this way: it's risky.
She went ahead and walks away Snapping both Homare and Maia out of thier frozen state and follow suit.
After a while of walking, they made it to the Azuma estate. Homare stretches for a bit. Maia yawned with her hands covering her mouth. Fubuki, on the other hand, couldn't wait any longer to question their 'guest'.
"Finally, home sweet home" praised Homare "I do know a certain hot spring awaits me"
On the way inside they overheard a conversation, That picked up the three's attention and went to check on it
Once they've arrived at an open field, what they saw next was just out of the ordinary. They found their grandmother, Fubuki's mother, who was eating donuts with a man they had brought back.
Tabara noticed their entrance and greets them "ahh girls welcome back i was just having a nice dessert with my new friend here"
All six eyes shifted to Katakuri who stopped eating and waved "Good evening" he said in a monotoned voice
Without a second Homare stepped forward and pointed accusingly at him. Well, considering her size, she'd be pointing up. She gave him a fierce glare, "Oi, man. What kind of greeting is that? And If I were you, I wouldn't feel too comfortable."
Katakuri did not seemed fazed by this what he did next was much to Homares surprised he bowed "forgive me, im truly grateful for having you rescue a complete stranger like me please is there anything you wish for me to do to pay for such hospitality you provided me"
Tobare Grinned further, Fubuki had a warn smile on her face, Maia only stared. For Homare though she was caught off guard
"oh well- Humph! that's more like it, i like men who's obedience" this girl was really pushing it.
Fortunately, Fubuki stepped up. "Homare.., please excuse her. I'm glad to see that you're awake. I'm Fubuki Azuma. I see you've already met my Mother."
Katakuri did a double take, she said mother?, How in the world does that make sense when Tobare noticed his gaze she and winked at him.
"And over here is Maia Azuma, my Co-Captain." Maia gave him a slight bow in greeting, while Katakuri bobbed his head in return
"I hope you don't mind Sir?"
"Katakuri"
"very well Katakuri, i hope you dont mind me as well as the rest of my group are going to ask you some questions"
"i certainly do not" he can only hope these questions weren't hitting on a personal stage
Fubuki flashes him a grateful smile "very well"
"but, do you have more donuts" he asked holding an empty box of Mister Donut
Tobera got him covered; "No need to worry, my friend. I've got us both covered." She presented them with a whole new batch of fresh donuts.
Maia and Homare could only stare in disbelief.