A Strange Fruit!

Three months had passed since Izuku first crossed paths with Uta, and life has been going pretty well during that time. With Uta now a part of his life, his weekends looked quite different than before, as now he was helping Uta in controlling her power, as well as coming up with new applications of it much ire of the trees and stone in the forest. Well, it was not like he was helping her for her benefit alone, after all, he too was interested in learning how the devil fruits work, as well as to see what kind of boundaries Uta could push with her power.

Aside from Uta, Izuku's relationship with Shanks and the Red Hair Pirates had developed significantly as well. He often found himself enjoying their company whenever he was at Mainko's place. Izuku was fascinated with the tales the Red Hair Pirates had collected over the years. However, they weren't always present in the village, as the Red Hair Pirates frequently sailed to different locations in East Blue. Despite this, Uta often found herself staying back in the village, especially when it was closer to the weekends.

When asked for a reason, Uta just shrugged and mentioned that she was more interested in improving her control over her power than traveling with a bunch of old men. However, Shanks knew, even though Uta would never admit it, that she was actually enjoying Izuku's company and wanted to spend more time with him. Though a little sad about this, Shanks understood that Izuku was the first person of her age that she could call a friend. Moreover, it's not that he or his crew disliked the boy; on the contrary, they were always amazed at how unchildlike that kid acted most of the time. Not to mention, with Makino always around, Shanks thought that Uta could use some female, and more importantly, a motherly presence in her life.

Aside from this, nothing interesting was happening in Izuku's life as it continued like usual, with stability and peace around him. However, today was different as Izuku had decided that he was going to do something that had his heart racing and his mind overthinking, as it usually did in stressful situations. Despite that, he wasn't going to chicken out. He needed to have this conversation with his brother right now because he had already prolonged this conversation long enough, and more importantly Ace deserved to know the truth.

So after steeling his resolve, Izuku walked to their usual sparring spot. Upon reaching it, he saw that Ace was already there, doing some warm-up exercises.

As Izuku approached the older boy, Ace noticed him and smirked, "Hey there, little brother, ready to eat dirt like usual?"

"Well, I keep losing because you are older than me," Izuku retorted with a frown. What he said was true, but only half the truth. From his own experience in his past life, Izuku knew that age mattered little when skill was involved. With Ace not only being five years older than him but also a monster when it came to fighting instincts, at the end of the day, Izuku was always the one on the ground.

"Why don't you stop complaining and get good, little brother?" Ace said as he laughed at Izuku. Then he put on a serious face and asked, "So what's the matter? You wanna talk about something?"

"Huh? How do you know that?" Izuku asked.

"Two things: first, because I am your big brother and you can't hide anything from me," Ace said. "And second is the face you are making right now. So stop wasting both of our time and just tell me what is going on."

"Well, you see..." Izuku sighed and decided to just get this over with. He looked down and said, "...it's just that I learned about your father."

After Izuku's admission, there was a moment of silence as he continued to gaze at the ground.

Then Ace decided to break the silence. "I see," he said. "How long have you known about him?"

"Three months ago... I accidentally stumbled upon that information when I was going through Grandpa's stuff," Izuku replied. "Listen, Ace, I know that I should have told you this sooner, and I also know that you hate to talk about your father, so trust me, I never intended to go behind your back and learn-"

Izuku's rambling was cut off when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Ace smiling at him. "It's alright; you don't have to apologize for anything," he said. "Honestly, I think it's my fault for not telling you this sooner."

"No! No! What are you talking about?" Izuku asked, looking at him wide-eyed. "You are not obliged to tell me anything!"

"No, I am not, but I should have told you this the moment we became brothers, if not years ago," Ace explained as he squeezed Izuku's shoulder. "Don't dwell on it so much. Instead, tell me, is there something else?"

"Well, you see, there is this pirate crew that is currently using Foosha Village as their home base," Izuku said.

"Huh? There's a pirate crew in the village?" Ace asked, sounding surprised.

"Of course... you don't know about them," Izuku said with a sigh, remembering that Ace doesn't actually visit the village much due to some past bad blood between him and the villagers. Although Ace is much calmer now, the villagers still see him in a bad light and since Ace knows that Izuku has a good relationship with the village, he tends to avoid coming down as much as he can.

So after one brief explanation about the Red Hair Pirates, Ace was up to date with the current happenings in the village.

"So there is an Emperor and his crew in the village, cool," Ace said. "So what does that have to do with me?"

"The captain of the Red Hair Pirates, Emperor Shanks, was on your father's crew," Izuku explained as he saw realization dawn on Ace's face. "That's why. Do you want me to introduce you to him?"

Upon hearing Izuku's offer, Ace actually took some time to think it over. After pacing around for 15 minutes, he finally had his answer. "No, I think I am good."

"Are you sure?" Izuku asked. "I think he can provide some of the answers you are looking for."

"Yeah, I know, but I don't think I even care anymore," Ace shrugged. "Besides, why should I even bother to know what kind of man he was? Does it even matter? Not to me, at least. Izuku, you, Gramps, Sabo, and Dadan are more of a family to me than that man would ever be," he said with a smile. "Also, I am going to sail out to the sea in three years anyway, so if I ever want to find answers about anything, then I will find them on my own. That's why I would rather stay away from anything and anyone related to my father for now."

"Well, if that's what you wish for," Izuku said, respecting his brother's wishes.

"Great, now get off your ass, my fists are tingling for some action," Ace said, dragging Izuku along with him.

Later that weekend, Izuku once again found himself behind the bar counter, tending to Makino's bar as she was out in the village for some shopping along with Uta. In front of him were the Red-Haired Pirates, occupying the seats in the bar, drinking, laughing, and having the time of their lives.

Just then, the door of the bar swung open, and in walked an unknown man. As soon as the man entered, Izuku sensed he was bad news just by the way he walked, the smug smile on his face, and the sword at his hip. Still, Izuku believed that as long as the man didn't cause any trouble, he would serve him and let him go on his way.

"Hello, how can I help you?" Izuku asked in a polite voice.

The man looked at Izuku and frowned, raising his brow. "Huh? What are you doing here, brat? Where is that woman who usually runs this bar?" he asked.

"No, she is not here right now," Izuku replied, pushing down the irritation he felt upon hearing the way the man addressed Makino.

"Well, that is a shame. I was hoping to go a few rounds with her," the man said with a lecherous grin on his face, completely oblivious to how the temperature of the room dropped all of a sudden. "Whatever, just hand me a few bottles of booze."

"We don't have any in stock," Izuku instantly dismissed him in a cold voice.

"What do you mean you don't have any?" the man asked in an enraged voice. "Then why are they having booze served to them?" he asked, pointing at Shanks and his crew.

"Oh, sorry. Let me correct myself," Izuku looked at him with an innocent smile and cold eyes. "We don't have any in stock for scum like you."

It took a minute for the man to digest Izuku's words, but when he did, his face turned red with rage. "How dare you say that to me, brat!? Do you know who I am!?" he yelled as he unsheathed his sword and held it in front of Izuku's face.

Unknown to that man, as soon as he unsheathed his sword, the Red Hair Pirates were already reaching for their weapons. However, before they could do anything, Izuku held the hostile man's wrist and started applying pressure to it.

"Sorry, but we don't allow weapons in our establishment," Izuku said as he broke the hostile man's wrist with a loud crack, making him drop his sword and fall back on his butt while clenching his broken wrist and screaming in pain.

"You!" the hostile man glared at Izuku. "Do you even know who you are messing with!? I am a member of the Higuma Bandits! We will destroy you and this stupid bar!"

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say," Izuku said, dismissing the man's threat. "Now, if you're done threatening me, just leave."

"Why, you—"

"I think you should do what he said and leave," Shanks interrupted the bandit, directing his killing intent towards him. It was enough to scare the bandit, who promptly ran out of the bar.

Once the bandit left, Izuku leaned onto the bar counter and rubbed his temples. "I really hate resorting to violence, but when he said bad things about Makino, I just lost my composure."

"It's okay, kid. Your reaction was totally natural," Shanks reassured him, understanding that he would have done worse if someone had made that kind of comment towards Uta or any of his female friends. "However, I must say, you are really strong for a kid your age. Breaking someone's wrist with a bare hand is not a small feat."

"Well, my grandpa has been training me ever since I was five, and honestly, I don't think that man was strong at all," Izuku replied.

"That is true; however, anyone who points a sword at a child cannot be called a man," Benn said.

"You're right, man. That guy was just a moron!" Lucky added, and everyone in the bar burst out laughing.

At that moment, Makino returned to the bar and was curious about what was going on to make everyone laugh like that, but they just told her not to worry about it.

"Hey, Makino, where is Uta? She was with you, right?" Shanks asked, noticing the absence of his daughter.

"Oh, she went back to your ship, saying that she had a gift for Izuku," Makino explained. "Oh, that reminds me, Izuku, Uta had asked me to tell you to meet her at your usual spot."

"Yeah, sure, I will head there right now," Izuku said as he walked out of the bar, wondering what kind of gift Uta had gotten for him.

Upon reaching their usual meeting spot, Izuku noticed that Uta wasn't there yet. Not knowing how long it would take her to arrive, he found a nice spot, sat down, and overlooked the village below him.

Now that he was alone with his thoughts, once again his mind wandered off to the contents of his Grandpa's diary and, more importantly, toward his abandoned dream.

This feeling of being purposeless was quite a new experience for Izuku. In his past life, becoming a Hero like All Might was the only thing he had on his mind for as long as he could remember. Even when his prospects of becoming a Hero were down in the dumps, he clung to the hope of achieving that dream and never considered any alternative paths in life. So now, in this life when his initial goal is shattered, the empty feeling keeps growing in his gut.

Honestly, spending life as a nameless civilian was quite appealing to Izuku, especially considering how he died in his last life. However, to Izuku, that option died the day he read his Grandpa's diary. And now, he wants to help people who are being wronged, but he honestly has no idea how to go about it.

"You know, Izuku, I always wonder how big that head of yours is, that you are almost lost in it," a familiar voice broke Izuku out of his thought. Turning around, he saw Uta standing there with her favorite white bag and a cheeky smile on her face.

"Big enough to know your devil fruit better than you," Izuku retorted back with an equally cheeky smile as he noticed a twitch in Uta's eye. "Anyway, Uta, do you mind if I ask you something?" he asked and continued when Uta told him to go ahead. "Do you have a dream?"

"Yeah, I do have a dream," Uta said, looking at the sky. "I want to find out where I came from."

"What do you mean?" Izuku asked.

"You know, I love Shanks, and even if we are not blood-related, he is my father. However, I still want to know what happened to my real parents," Uta looked down with a sad smile. "Father never told me where he got me from, and whenever I try to ask him about it, he always changes the topic. This makes me think that maybe my parents never wanted me or they just threw me away for some reason before Shanks found me."

"Maybe, you are overthinking it too much," Izuku said, offering her a reassuring smile. "Maybe things are not as bad as you think they are. Perhaps the decision to give you up to Shanks was born out of desperation and necessity, and not by their own choice."

Uta glanced at Izuku with a smile, thinking how much she appreciated having a friend like Izuku who always tried to find the good in any situation in front of him. "Yeah... I hope that is the case, but still, I am not giving up on my goal. One day, I will find out about my origin."

"I am sure you will," Izuku returned the smile. "And if you ever need help, you can always count on me."

"Darn it! Stop saying things like this!" Uta said with a frown. "You are only making what I am going to tell you that much difficult!"

"What happened? Is there a problem?" Izuku asked.

"No, it's not a problem per se..." Uta bit her lip and twiddled her fingers. "Listen, yesterday Father told me that we are going to leave for the Grand Line by the end of next week."

"Oh..." Izuku said, feeling saddened by the sudden news. "I'm sad to hear that, but I understand that you all can't spend your entire lives here in this small village."

"It's not that," Uta shook her head. "Father says that Marines are starting to notice our presence here in East Blue, and they could cause trouble for this village if they find out that we are frequent here."

"It's okay, Uta, I understand. Even I don't want any Marines around my village," Izuku replied. "Moreover, just because you won't be staying here doesn't mean we won't be friends anymore. Besides, we can always make a promise to meet each other in the future."

"Of course, we are going to meet again! I still need to show you how awesome I am!" Uta grinned at him. "Now let's put this depressing topic behind because I have a gift for you."

"Oh yeah, Neesan told me you had something for me," Izuku said, recalling Makino's words.

"Trust me, you will love this," Uta said, taking something out of her bag and holding it in front of Izuku.

"What is this?" Izuku asked as he stared at the weird object in Uta's hand. Its shape and the stem at the top made him almost tempted to call it a fruit. However, what made him hesitant was the rainbow-colored appearance of the fruit, as well as the weird swirl pattern all over it.

"This is a Devil Fruit!" Uta said with a smug and proud voice.

"What!?" Izuku exclaimed, doing a double-take as he looked at Uta and the fruit in her hand. "Where the hell did you get that from?"

"Two days ago, we were on this cool inhabited island with lots of beautiful flowers and tasty fruits. There, while I was exploring the island, I came across this, and since I already ate one, I thought why not give this one to you," Uta explained.

"But what about Shanks or any of his crewmates? Doesn't any of them want this?" Izuku asked.

"Honestly, I don't think any of them are too keen on eating one since we've come across various devil fruits in the past. But every time the Crew decided to sell it away instead of giving it to anyone on the ship," Uta explained. "Besides, we have a rule on the ship that anyone who finds any kind of treasure has complete ownership over it."

"But you told me that Devil Fruits sell for millions of Bellies? Are you sure you want to give something like this to me?" Izuku asked, uncertain about accepting something so expensive and valuable from Uta.

"Why are you being so stubborn about this?" Uta asked in an irritated voice. "Why are you so against accepting my gift?"

"It's not that I don't want your gift, but I just don't want to take advantage of our friendship by accepting something so rare and valuable," Izuku explained.

"And I am telling you that I want to give this to you because I want to," Uta insisted with a tired expression on her face. "Izuku, you are the first and only friend I have ever made. You helped me control my power without asking anything in return. You and Makino neesan always treat me so nicely and never ask me to pay for anything that I eat or drink at her place. So after all of that, I thought I should do something nice for you. Please, Izuku, don't reject my gift."

Izuku let out a sigh, knowing that he wouldn't be able to deny Uta's gift anymore, especially after hearing those heartfelt words. "Fine, I will take it," he said, shaking his head.

"Great!" Uta exclaimed with a cheerful smile. Then she held the fruit in front of him and said, "Eat this!"

'Deja vu...' Izuku thought with a comical sweatdrop on the back of his head. He took the fruit out of her hand and stared at it for a moment before a question popped into his mind. "So, what powers does this fruit grant?" he asked.

"I have no idea," Uta replied without a care in the world while keeping a sweet smile on her face.

"So... you want me to eat this fruit without knowing what it does?" Izuku asked with a deadpan expression.

"Oh, come on! Stop being such a party pooper!" Uta whined. "Even I didn't know what my fruit did before I ate it, but it still gave me amazing wind powers, right?" Uta said with a cheeky smile while waving her hair with the wind.

"Didn't you eat your fruit on accident, though?" Izuku muttered under his breath, knowing that there was no winning against this girl. "Fine, I am eating it. I just hope it doesn't turn me into an insect or something."

"Don't worry, even if you turn into an insect, I will make sure that you are not eaten by a frog or something," Uta said, chuckling to herself.

"That's reassuring," Izuku muttered, shaking his head with an amused smile. "Well then, here goes nothing," he said and took a bite of the strange, rainbow-colored fruit. However, he immediately regretted it. "Ughh, that was disgusting..." he said as an indescribably unpleasant taste filled his mouth. Then he heard Uta laughing at him, making him glare at her as he realized she purposefully hid that fact.

"Ha ha, very funny, good job," Izuku said, rolling his eyes. "Now let's figure out-" Suddenly, he stopped as intense pain assaulted his body and mind. He fell to the ground, his mind rapidly assaulted with memories of his past life—showing him various people, scenarios, and battles that he had seen or been part of. Simultaneously, he felt physical pain as if someone was constantly breaking and reshaping his body.

"Izuku!" Uta screamed her friend's name as she rushed toward him and kneeled beside him while Izuku gritted his teeth and squirmed on the ground in pain. "Izuku, please talk to me! What is going on?" she said, her voice turning desperate, tears welling in the corners of her eyes.

Then Izuku's movements suddenly stopped as he passed out from unbearable pain, giving Uta the biggest scare of her life. Panicking, she thought something had happened to Izuku and decided to take him back to the village. However, when she tried to pick him up, she realized that he was too heavy for her. "Darn it! What do I do now?" she cursed under her breath. Just then, an idea clicked in her mind. She used her power and created a small tornado under Izuku, lifting him off the ground.

Once she managed to lift him up, she quickly took him to Makino's bar as fast as she could, ignoring the strange glances the villagers were giving her. However, the entire time she was running, the crippling fear kept growing in her heart, and her mind desperately hoped that her stupidity hadn't caused any harm to her friend.

Meanwhile, when Izuku opened his eyes, he found himself in a vast, infinite plane surrounded by mist.

'Where am I?' he thought as he started walking forward, continuing until he found himself on a familiar beach, in the presence of a setting sun. "Takoba Beach... never thought I would see this place again," he muttered with a faraway look in his eyes.

"You and me both, lad," suddenly, Izuku's eyes widened as he heard a familiar voice. Slowly, he turned around, and immediately his eyes teared up upon seeing a skinny man with wavy blonde hair, two long strands coming down from his hairline, and a wide, reassuring smile on his face. "It's nice to see you again... young Izuku."

Izuku's breath hitched as he tried to find words until he finally gathered his composure and whispered, "All Might..."

To be continued...