Disclaimer: The original story of One Piece, excluding my OCs and original creations/events, all belong to the respective owner of One Piece.
"MY BABY!"
An ear-piercing scream echoed throughout the streets of High-town. A middle-aged woman, her red hair streaked with premature grey, wore an expression of sheer horror that seemed to freeze her features in place.
Before her sat a boy, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead, glistening in the light and betraying his nervousness. He fidgeted slightly as if the weight of her gaze made the air around him thick with tension.
The boy's lips twitched nervously, his mouth quivering as he seemed hesitant to speak. The boy's mother quickly recollected herself as she calmly spoke. "Who did this to you?!"
She tried to seem calm, but the
anger and pure rage flowing from her body seemed to give away how she truly felt.
Impatient for an answer that the boy who sat before her seemed reluctant to give. Her eyes twitched, and her fist tightened as once again she repeated herself, this time sounding a lot less calm and a lot more authoritative.
The boy twitched in response. For some reason, he seemed so reluctant and scared to give his mother an answer. For a noble such as himself, it was a disgrace to fear anything below their level is nobility.
With that in mind, the boy spoke up.
"It was the red devil."
The stressed mother's eyes tensed and her body uncontrollably twitched. Her tense eyes glanced over the boy's body. 5 bruises covering his face. A large slash mark goes down from his shoulder to the middle of his forearm. The boy's mother silently cursed under her breath as she sat down on a fancily made chair.
The boy's mother sat in heavy silence, and the boy already looked as if he regretted telling his mother anything. This was evident by the noticeable quivering of his lips, followed by his nervous habit of biting his fingernails.
It wasn't the first time an event of this caliber happened to the boy. To be blunt this is around the 8th time a situation like this happened.
"Staged. Death. Red devil." The corners of the middle-aged woman's lips began unnaturally rising.
The boy shivered at the tone of her voice. Despite this, he was still confused about what she was trying to say.
"We're gonna get rid of that devil for good."
The boy was too young to understand what she meant. However, in an attempt to not further anger her, he remained silent.
*Creak*
The sound of a door opening alerted both the boy and the mother. To the right of them stood a very tall, and big man. Whether by coincidence or not, this man also had premature grey hair.
The man wore a very tidy and clean suit. The jet-black fiber and his black sandals, alongside his raven-colored hair, all fit together perfectly.
"FATHER!"
The boy ran up to the man and embraced him in a tight hug. However, he has to quickly let go as he is quickly reminded of his injuries.
The tall man nonchalantly looked down on the boy, his stern black eyes surveying his son's body.
"What happened to you?" The man calmly said. He seemed to not be in as distressed a state as his wife was.
The boy shivered and his lips started to quiver as he stumbled on his words. "I- well- the red de-"
"THAT RED DEVIL HURT OUR BABY." A booming voice raised over the boy's pathetic attempt at a sentence. The boy looked down even further, being disappointed in his inability to speak for himself.
The tall man, however, didn't budge an inch at this information. In an instant, the tall man's demeanor shifted dramatically, transforming from one of casual indifference to unmistakable revulsion.
With a swift motion, the towering man seized the boy by his hair, yanking him off balance before slamming him harshly to the ground.
"You dare let a noble like yourself get hurt by some house rat?"
The tall man scoffed in disgust and walked past the boy, whose expression was hidden by his similarly black and now ruffled raven hair.
The middle-aged woman stood in fear as the tall man approached her. His shoes creaked on the wooden floorboards with every step.
The boy, with a groan of pain, stood himself back up; in an attempt to look manly, he tried to puff his chest out and stand straight. However, a quick reminder of the aching pain in his body quickly humbled him to a more grounded stance.
The boy stared at his father's back. A brown-skinned sheath rested on the man's back, with the hilt of the katana protruding from the top.
Despite the previous actions his father committed the boy watched in amazement. On his father's back was the kaneshigi koshirae.
Kaneshigi koshirae is a century-old sword that passed through many generations and periods. Commonly known as one of the great 21 swords, the Kaneshigi blade was most famously held by swordsman Miyamoto Musashi.
The Kaneshigi koshirae is also commonly believed to be a cursed blade. Rumor has it that the sword has a mind of its own. One day, it'll cut a boulder, and another, it can't even cut a thin piece of paper.
BAM
Knocking the boy out of his thoughts was a loud sound that reverberated through his head. Looking around the boy noticed his father wasn't in front of him anymore, and towering over his mother who was groaning on the ground with blood dripping from her head.
"I told you, FOOLISH woman, that this boy should learn the way of the sword. Now it is too late." The man angrily voiced his rage.
Before anyone could react the raven colored man pointed at the boy.
"LOOK AT HIM!" The boy flinched under the gaze of his father.
"The fool can't defend himself even if a baby ant was attacking him!"
The boy could feel his eyes sting as he resisted the surge of tears from flooding his vision.
But his father continued.
"If not him, who is supposed to tame this damned blade! It hasn't been properly used by someone since the days of Musashi!"
The man sighed and backed away from the bleeding woman.
"I'll go take care of that devil brat. But I better come back to some good booze."
The woman sat in fear as she tried backing away.
"YOU HEARD ME WOMAN."
With that final shout, the middle-aged woman snapped back into reality and immediately started preparing multiple bottles of booze and good old sake.
On the sidelines the boy watched as his father left the house, his Kaneshigi blade in hand and a devilish look on his face.
A drop of sweat slid off the boy's brow. After all nothing goes well when his father uses that blade.