~Capsule House, Outskirts of Broil Town~
Kazuki had stayed in the town for a few weeks now, recovering and resting in the small capsule house near the orphanage. He spent his days healing and occasionally playing with the kids, sharing laughter and stories as if they'd known each other for years.
The children begged him to move in permanently, and even the older children kept suggesting it, but Kazuki declined. He knew he wouldn't be returning frequently, and occupying a room in the orphanage felt like taking space away from someone who truly needed it.
Besides, he loved the kids—but they could be a lot, especially when they teamed up and jumped on him in chaotic ambushes.
And truthfully, after all the noise and chaos of the past months, it felt good to live alone again, even if it was just in a tiny capsule house.
Outside, Kazuki stretched, his breath calm, his posture grounded. With closed eyes, he began flowing into his kata—smooth, deliberate, and focused.
He was still healing, but he couldn't afford to lose any more training time. The last battle had gifted him more than just injuries. It had sharpened him—his speed, his reflexes, his instincts.
He replayed the fight with Devon in his head—the weight of each strike, the crushing pressure as their weapons clashed, the raw pulse of danger at every turn.
As he analyzed his form, shifting from blocking stances into a rhythm of punches and kicks, he lost himself in the flow of motion—until a shadow leaning against his capsule house drew his attention.
"Took you long enough to notice me." A familiar voice called out. "Had to ditch my lieutenant only to watch your sorry excuse for a warm-up."
Kazuki turned to find Nehishi standing with arms crossed, looking at him unimpressed.
"Your form is trash." The old Marine muttered bluntly. "But your rhythm's decent. You flow well from stance to stance. Still trash, though."
"Old bastard," Kazuki growled, eyes narrowing as he looked at the man with disdain.
He hadn't forgotten how Nehishi nearly sliced him in half during their first encounter, especially after Kazuki had shared one of his rare precious beans with the man.
"Shitty brat." Nehishi snapped back, walking in a slow circle around Kazuki. "Did your master never teach you proper posture or footwork?"
Kazuki's expression dimmed slightly, but his voice was steady. "My master has taught me philosophy. He died before he could teach me martial arts."
Nehishi stopped mid-step and studied him for a long second. Then, with a grunt, he nodded.
"Hmm. Then come. Let me fix those awful stances of yours."
Kazuki tilted his head, surprised. But with a shrug, he resumed his kata—this time under the stern gaze of the old Marine.
~Broil Town – Underground Lair~
"Boss, we need to make a move!" A red-haired young man barked, his voice echoing through the cavernous chamber beneath Broil Town. He wore a sleek grey suit with a white tie and a fire in his eyes. "They're crossing lines! Disrespecting us like we're nothing! Like we're also not one of the Five Families too!"
Dozens of men in suits sat around a large stone table, murmuring among themselves as a few nodded at the young men's fury.
"Luciano's right! We're the Yoroki Family but they dare to plan against us!" shouted another young man dressed in all black, a heavy fur coat draped from his shoulders. His bald scalp reflecting the lamplight high above.
"Giovencie, stop," an older man muttered, lighting a cigar calmly. "We've had peace for fifteen years now. They won't break the treaty so easily."
"We're already at war!" Giovencie barked, sneering at the older man. "An orphanage just recently sold a Devil Fruit to the marines. That land's valuable! If we can get a hold of it and sell—"
"Enough!"
An elder in a dark blue suit stood up, eyes blazing. "You'd evict orphans and sell the land for a quick profit, wouldn't you, Luciano, Giovencie?!"
Luciano clicked his tongue, lighting a cigarette with a flick. "War costs money. You want us defenseless?"
Meysky slammed his fist on the table. "You and Gio are the only ones calling for war! Who else wants this? Stand up now!" He glared scanning the room.
Silence penetrated the room, as no one stood.
Luciano clenched his fists, disgust in his eyes. "Cowards. You lot have no ambition! No spine! We are the Yoroki—the strongest family in West Blue, and yet they lump us in with the rest, and conspire against us!" He yelled in a furious rage.
"Enough, Luciano."
The room immediately fell still, as everyone felt the hair on their arms stand.
A tall, pale man at the front of the table sat hunched, coughing violently into his sleeve. His shaggy hair was streaked white and black, and a sharp white suit hung loosely from his frame.
[Jio Bino – "The Lucky" | Yoroki Mafia Boss | 10,000,000 Berry Bounty]
"Boss Jio," Giovencie whispered, looking down. His fists clenched at the sight of the frail man.
Luciano scoffed. "Maybe if we'd shown some strength, you wouldn't be in this condition. You might as have died along with—"
"Enough!" a chorus of angry voices rang out. "Show some respect!"
The men in the room yelled as they glared at the young man with anger at the lack of respect for their boss.
"Stop!" Jio commanded with a bellow as he silenced the room, he then looked at Luciano with an unwavering cold gaze.
"We are the Yoroki! Since when did we go as low to attempting to steal land from the unfortunate, much less some lucky orphanage! There's a reason why we don't operate in the drug, or prostitution game!" He said with an intensity.
His voice, though raspy, carried force. "We are the Yoroki. We do not steal from orphans. We don't peddle drugs. We don't traffic the helpless. We sell weapons—to keep a balance between Marines, pirates, and civilians."
Giovenace looked down shutting his eyes, but he could practically feel the mocking looks sent his way from his earlier immoral suggestion.
"Our family has always been different from the other four, because we have integrity and value peace! But what has happened recently can also not be forgotten nor forgiven." He growled clenching his hand.
"It seems that peace, has made our friends and allies think that we're easily too control, conquer!"
His shift in tone caught the room by surprise, and even Luciano looked at him shock but immediately began to stand straighter.
"We will now prepare for war, for that will be the only way to preserve our family." He said somberly while looking around the room.
"Get the guns and ammo stocked up and give the women guns also.To be free, we must now be armed, for blood has already been spilled, Now, we too shall spill more to protect our own."
~Marine Base – Branch 80~
"Sir are you alright? You've been gone most of the day?
Nehishi grunted as he walked in the room, and immediately sat down leaning back into his chair, he groaned looking at his lieutenant in exhaustion.
"Was out getting a little excercise, in my old age it's important to be mobile often." He said with a chuckle when she rolled her eyes.
Nehishi yawned as he looked at the the packet on his desk and flipped through it and immediately grimaced as he read it. "Has one the five mafia families caused any trouble recently?"
"We have intelligence about the most active in the region so far. The Yoroki family are notorious arm-dealers that sell lethal weaponry from illegal guns, muskets and cannons." She said shaking her head in exasperation.
She handed him another packet and began reading from the classified documents in her hand. "What's most important, is that their has been a stir among the five families recently that caught our immediate attention."
"There was an assassination attempt on their Boss that nearly succeeded, luckily he managed to survive the hit… kinda." She said now frowning as she read the rest and looked at Nehishi, who also began to frown as he read the document.
"His son died?" Nehishi grimaced when he looked up and saw her nod in confirmation, he slammed his hand against his desk as he looked at the photo of a young boy.
"He looks just slightly younger than that orange brat." He muttered shaking his head and took a deep breath before giving his order.
"Get heavier security around the Boil, Simmer, Amber, and Dopri islands. Have ships stationed not to far apart from each other and have them group up and attack on sight if any mafia ships appear." He ordered as he stood up and looked out the window, observing the calm sea.
"There's going to be a war soon."
~Capsule House – Late Afternoon~
"That old bastard," Kazuki muttered, rubbing the fresh lumps on his head as he sat surrounded by kids, a crown of flowers tilted sideways over his bruises.
Everytime his stance wasn't up to the old marines standard, he would hit Kazuki on the head with tons of force.
"Kazuki-nii, what's a basturd?" MeeMee asked sweetly, tying flowers into a vine.
"It's bas-tard," Kazuki corrected. "It means jackass, or—"
"Don't teach her that!" Beany shouted, smacking one of the lumps as she walked by.
"OW! C'mon, no little sister of mine will go out into the world not knowing how to spot a bastard or a—"
"Stop. Talking!"
Beany tackled him causing the kids burst into laughter, cheering on the playful scuffle.
Nearby, Jess tended to the younger children. "Careful with those roses, Kishi. They have thorns."
Udon laid in the grass, arms behind his head. "I never imagined times like this—so peaceful, so normal."
Jess smiled. "Yeah. It feels like a dream sometimes."
"Stop running and face me like a man!"
"Haha come on, catch me if you can slowpoke!"
Udon laughed and he looked up at the clear sky. "I hope that this goes on forever."
~Amber Cone Island – Shipping Port~
A young man in a fisherman's uniform yawned as he leaned against the large ship and looked out at sea in boredom.
"This is so boring, Yuskue can't we go home early? We haven't caught anything all damn day and already had to come back for more bait." He complained, slumping against the ship.
An older man walked on the deck and waved away his complaining as he sorted through their storage.
"Shut up, you weren't doing anything anyway Boris, might as well help an old man with real work."
Boris groaned and looked back out to sea with bitterness but then squinted his eyes as he saw a large shadow forming in the distance.
"Huh, is the caravan supposed to come this month." He muttered scratching his head in confusion.
Yuskue hearing his mutter looking at him with annoyance. "What are you talking about? The ship caravans came two months ago, they only come back every six months."
"Huh?" Boris looked at him blinking his eyes in confusion, as he looked back out to sea trying to get a better look at the ships in the distance, his eyes then widened in horror.
"P-pirates!"
Soon a bell started ringing across the port alerting everyone immediately. People ran into town to alert people then went home bolt shutting their door tight, others prepared their boats and immediately set sail.
"Hurry Boris untie the ship and let's get out of here." Yuskue yelled as he released the sails and they immediately set off to get far away from the island.
"My god, its like a armada of fleets." Boris whispered as he turned the sails and looked at the twenty ships sailing towards the island.
Yuskue grunted as he turned the wheel and steered the ship away not looking back.
"Hey, doesn't that flag look familiar." Boris asked looking at Yuskue but flenched when the man glared at him.
"Stop talking! We need to get ou… oh my god." Yuskue who was yelling went quite, as he stared at the familiar flag in the distance with horror.
"A massacre is about to happen." He whispered as Boris who finally recognized the flag looked at it in fear.
A white skull with a white top hat and a mask hanging on the side with slit eyes
~Pirate Ship Deck – Flagship~
A figure in a all white suit and cloak tipped his white top hat up, his blank white mask glinted under the suns glare.
"Captain, ETA to Amber Cone Island is just ten minutes," a dark-haired pirate woman reported as she saluted the man.
He nodded, bouncing a small ball in his hand.
"Mmm. I wonder who I get to play catch with today." He chuckled low and menacing as he stared at the island they were approaching.
[Icura Sylvester – "Pale Nova" | Captain of the White Kraken Pirates | 100,000,000 Berry Bounty]
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To be continued…