#also if i get to fight kaido in this i wanna be able to hit him with a corna dio or a punk vice is this too much to ask... đ
pw4 moveset update patch for kid n killer when?
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I wanna talk about Whole Cake Island too!
So, Iâm reading Whole Cake Island right now. And I have THOUGHTS about Sanji and Luffyâs ââââfightââââ. And itâs probably nothing anyone hasnât said before but Iâm gonna write it out anyway.
(TL;DR Sanji and Luffy fight and it hurts because they both go for the throat. Also Nami has been through this shit I am surprised sheâs putting up with Sanji trying to leave in the slightest.)
So first, yeah, Iâm screaming into a pillow because this shit is rough. Letâs get those personal emotions out of the way first.Â
Sanjiâs whole thing is that he cares and serves, right? His love language is acts of service and thatâs primarily shown through feeding people. When we meet the Vinsmokes (I shall not be referring to them as his family) we see pretty quickly that they are the antithesis to everything Sanji is.Â
The men are literally said to lack the ability to sympathize or empathize. Not only do we see this is the case, but Reiju says so herself:
They do not value cooking nor food. Judge tells Sanji to never cook again, Niji wastes food.
And, of course, the brothers have no qualms about hitting women. The whole chivalry/wonât hit a women thing is a huge can of worms I donât feel like unpacking in part because I donât feel like I could talk about it without discussing womenâs power levels and roles in One Piece. And Iâve already digressed too much.
So yeah, the Vinsmokes are the opposite of Sanji and hold none of his values. In fact, they may be why he holds some of his values, because they are as far from the Vinsmokeâs values as possible.
Okay so the two chapters in particular when Luffy and Nami find and confront Sanji!Â
Pretty immediately we see that 1. Sanji was not expecting them, 2. Heâs distressed that theyâre here, and 3. It complicates things for him.
Like, that is not a face of someone happy to see his friends who have come to save him. That is an âoh fuckâ face. (And as a sidenote, yeah, itâs a whole lot harder to sacrifice yourself when youâre confronted with the people youâre leaving behind, HUH, SANJI????)
Luffyâs all happy to see him, feels like theyâve accomplished their goal, doesnât question that Sanji would want to come back. And heâs got things to do! Like save Wano and beat up Kaido! Chop chop Sanji letâs go on adventures! Plus, I would think that Luffy would also have the expectation of his crew that they understand that no one gets to leave if theyâre doing it to sacrifice themselves. Heâs already shown heâs gonna come get you and Sanji knows this. Sanjiâs first arc with them after Baratie was going to save Nami from Arlong and her self-sacrificial bullshit! Luffyâs modus operandi is saying âOh, you thought you were in a lose-lose situation and the only solution was to sacrifice your happiness and well being? Fuck that! Youâre my nakama, let me save you!â
Both Luffy and Nami arenât questioning Sanjiâs wanting to come with them. Theyâre here, itâs time to go!
And so then we see the surface level reasons why Sanji would say âNo, I canât go with you.â And we also see that he knows Judge is watching him.
I don't think Nami's buying it either. She's done this. She knows what it's like to be trapped by circumstances, to have your loved ones held hostage. And she did this shit too! She fuckin laid it down, lied to her nakama about it all being a farce in her efforts to keep them out of her dangerous situation! Maybe the words sting, but I think this face of hers is even more from her thinking about how they all know eachother so much more, and know how Luffy wouldn't leave one of them behind. So Sanji must be under some real duress right now. Like, I feel like she could extrapolate a lot from what he's saying because she knows that's not who he is. And because she's tried the same shit.
And, I wonder if sheâs hurting for him because she knows what itâs like.
Every chance she gets, she reiterates that there was nothing between them, that she doesnât care about them, that she tricked them, and even uses her supposed killing of Usopp as support of her betraying them. She is desperately trying to get them off this island. Arlong is well covered, we all know whatâs up.
And, the parallels are pretty clear for Sanji. Heâs got family being held hostage (Zeff, and the Strawhats too), and he couldnât leave anyway because heâs got explosion bracelets on. Plus heâs got his own self-sacrificial streak (which I could guess comes from being raised in a household where youâre told you donât have any value and everything you do is wrong-the fact that Sanji still cried at Judgeâs rejection of him right before his escape speaks to how as a child he still wanted Judgeâs approval and love as a father).
So, he comes out swinging with the thing that we previously established would be the shittiest thing to say, that Luffy rejected the possibility of him saying.
And then he starts on this buckwild speech that is so fucking hammed up I almost questioned if Sanji meant for them to understand the opposite of his words, and was just putting on a show for the Vinsmokes.
Nami only says heâs going too far when Sanji starts insulting Luffyâs dream, which the whole crew believes in and supports.Â
Also, as a side note, it doesnât really make sense to me that Nami would just take on the role of âyouâre going too far, you canât believe what youâre saying!â Maybe Chopper would do that cuz heâs gullible and shit. BUT NAMI FREAKIN DID THE SAME SHIT. I would almost expect a â...â speechbubble from her and later her saying something like âHe really tried his best to make that look convincing, didnât he? Heâs not very good at it.â
Namiâs savvy!
But anyway, yeah, Sanji tries to go for the throat to push thme away saying shit about Luffy not being able to become the Pirate King. My first reaction to this whole thing was:Â
âWOW HE'S REALLY DOING IT, HUH? HE'S LYING THROUGH HIS TEETH TO SAY THE MOST HURTFUL SHIT HE CAN TO HIS LOVED ONES SO THEY'LL STAY AWAY SO HE CAN SACRIFICE HIMSELF TO STOP ANYONE FROM GETTING HURTâ
Usopp has tried to leave too, but his situation was different. His reasons were stated clearly and he didnât try to pretend that all the shit theyâve gone through together and the bonds theyâve formed were fake. Nami, Robin, Sanji? They try to do the âah, I never loved youâ bullshit.Â
But Sanjiâs is the first time that from the get-go, the audience knows before the confrontation everything thatâs going on for the crewmember trying to fake betrayal. With Nami and Robin, we didnât learn their backstories until after they tried to push people away. With Sanji not only did we get it beforehand, but when Luffy and Nami show up, we are shown the three pieces of information that Sanji thinks about and that motivate him to push his crewmates away:
His hands (his treasures) are bound and threatened.
His nakama are threatened.
Zeff is threatened.
Heâs backed into a freakin corner! And he knowâs Luffyâs track record on crew members trying to leave! So he goes for the throat and when that doesnât work (or for the whole performance heâs putting on for the Vinsmokes) he attacks Luffy.
Luffy says he wonât fight Sanji, and I wonder if this is because of Water 7 and Usopp. That fight was so fucking painful, I wonder if Luffy vowed to never fight someone like that again?
Clearly he isnât getting through to Sanji, even though, to him, Sanji should know what the deal is by now.
So he goes for the throat himself! Which is honestly just heartwrenching on Odaâs part and pretty unfair on Luffyâs part. Though, when has Luffy ever been fair lol. His whole crew agrees his selfishness levels are above emperor!
This page pretty much sums it up:
Also, throughout this entire encounter we get glimpses of Sanji thinking about the crew and meeting Luffy, which is cool to see his internal world somewhat.When Luffy first shows up. I mean. Look at the pain on his face.
This is not a âwe have a difference in ideals and are fighting over it and Iâm thinking about how we met because I regret that itâs come to this.â fight. Itâs not even a fight. Itâs Sanji desperately saying âPlease leave before you die because of me!â
Actually, maybe it is kind of a fight of ideals because Sanji is fighting to say âleave me behind Iâm not worth itâ and Luffyâs saying âyes you are.â
For all the extremely clear things going on emotionally for people in this scene, Iâm surprised Oda just left Namiâs responses at this. But, since he did, it means I get to interpret them how I please!
This could simply be read as her feeling betrayed and shit. But again, they all know the history of the crew. This could just as easily be her saying âYou went too far.â or âI canât believe you wouldnât believe in Luffy enough to come back with us.â
I said she could probably guess at him feeling like heâs stuck, backed into a corner. And if I remember correctly she is aware that the Strawhatâs lives are threatened if Sanji doesnât comply with Big Momâs wishes. But she probably wouldnât guess at the bracelets being bombs and doesnât know (but might guess) at the Baratie being threatened too. Nami knows all about people who claim âfamilyâ as an excuse to hurt and bind you.
But basically, I would think for her, it would be a situation of her feeling like at this point Sanji should know Luffy well enough to know he wonât give up, and to trust Luffy enough to take Sanji home. So why the fuck would he try to play this game when theyâve all seen that it doesnât work? Why say the most hurtful things he can think of? And why not just come home now?
I donât think sheâs angry at him for the betrayal heâs trying to act out, I think sheâs angry at him for the betrayal heâs committing for not trusting the crew to get him out of there.
(Again, havenât read past this part but I could absolutely see later Nami saying âdo you think we acted hurt enough for them to buy it?â)
And then of course, the last four pages of the chapter where Luffy clearly calls bullshit on Sanji, saying Sanji felt the pain of his kicks more than Luffy did. And Sanji is just starting to fucking lose it. (panels from right to left)
Like, Luffy. Chill. It hurts so much! But no, he canât just call Sanji out. Heâs gotta go for the kill, present Sanji with an unacceptable situation he knows he canât refuse. Or at least hopes he canât refuse. Because for Luffy, Sanji leaving is an unacceptable situation.
Not only will he not eat (which, god, using that against Sanji is almost too much, fuck, Luffy), but he wonât even fucking move so get your ass back here soon before I starve, Sanji.
To use the two very deeply entrenched facts about these characters this way is sure something, huh?
Sanji will feed anyone who is hungry. He cannot stand hunger, almost.
Luffy eats all the damn time and lots and never refuses food. For him to say âiâm going on a hunger strike, Iâm not eating until itâs from youâ IS JUST SO MUCH.
Also side note god what cruel people to laugh at Sanjiâs pain as Niji and Yonji are doing.
Sanji thought he could get away with thinking heâs expendable (just like Judge has said in every time period weâve seen him on the page) Luffy flat out rejects that. Sanji is essential, an required part of the crew and a required part of Luffyâs dream. Just like the crew have adopted his dream as a part of all of their own ultimate goals, so Luffy is saying that they are all part of his ultimate goal. He has adopted them into him becoming the Pirate King.
And goddamn if this arc isnât about found family. The blood of the covenant is thicker, donât cha know.
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Why Tashigi Deserves More Respect
I really gotta remember these other things I plan on writing XD Often I get reminded though by people around me criticizing something I realise âthatâs a little misunderstoodâ and then get compelled to write about it. For today weâre looking at the female Marine of One Piece, Tashigi.
Now before we start, I want to make a point that Tashigi is still an underused character brimming with potential that Oda seems to shy a lot from. Oda can still sincerely do a lot more with her and I for one have been disappointed by her lack of use in Stampede and lack of appearance in Wano. However, I get a lot of people who feel that Tashigi is âuselessâ, and Iâm going to say that this isnât really the case.
Argument 1: Her Battles
Of course, a lot of strength regarding a character comes with their ability to come out victorious. It can harm any character in a show to constantly be on the losing side of a fight and it does hurt Tashigi (and Smoker) a lot that they do end up that way. While I would love Tashigi to have her first clean win since those guys in Loguetown Iâd like to remind you that Tashigiâs fights do have a bit of defense to them, letâs look at all of Tashigiâs named opponents
Zoro (Loguetown) - We always knew that Zoro was winning this, while she was bested by Zoro the purpose of the story wasnât ever going to be Tashigi being stronger, instead this was Zoro having to confront her similarities with Kuina in personality rather than skill.
Nico Robin/Miss All Sunday (Alabasta) - While Tashigi was unable to even strike Robin back in Alabasta, Robinâs devil fruit allowed her to be perfect for such a situation. A trained and deadly assassin, Tashigiâs physical confrontation was never going to succeed, but what was key to this battle was Tashigiâs realization in regards to the failure of Justice. In the end she had to rely on Luffy to defeat the Pirates the WG had assigned to maintain the balance.
Luffy (Marineford/Punk Hazard) - Luffy and Tashigi briefly crossed paths in Marineford, Luffy swiftly dodged her but again, Tashigi was never going to defeat Luffy and was merely a doorway to put Smoker and Luffy into a fight. Itâs also worth reminding that Tashigi mustâve been capable enough to hold her own against Whitebeardâs lesser forces, since she was uninjured from Marineford. They also crossed at Punk Hazard, but then they were both weakened by being in unfamiliar bodies, something which Luffy even acknowledges.
Trafalgar Law (Punk Hazard) - as pictured above, Tashigiâs defeat to Law was another gateway for Smoker to enter the fight, but this one had more purpose in showing Tashigiâs willpower, which we will get to. As you can tell, thereâs a theme: Tashigi would never have beaten Law in terms of the narrative, why do we hold it against Tashigi that she lost to the guy who later did this?
Ceasar Clown (Punk Hazard) - while listed as a fight, she fell the same way as Robin and Franky due to his DF being unrevealed, again this being a gateway to sell that Ceasar had a danger to him, I wouldnât actually count it as a fight.
Vergo (Punk Hazard) - the Donquixote spy is one of Doflamingoâs deadliest subordinates. The original Corazon, Tashigiâs conflict with Vergo brought Sanji into the fight and once again highlighted to Tashigi the corruption within the Marines themselves. Like Law (and the next), we canât be too harsh on Tashigi losing to Vergo, the guy easily fended off Sanji to the point of almost breaking Sanjiâs leg, he also was able to beat Smoker
Monet (Punk Hazard) - Monet is a mixed one, because Zoro quickly defeats her she was quickly overshadowed by the fact that she struggled to even get on the offensive, broadening the gap between them. But, Iâd like to remind everyone that Monet was able to force Luffy into fleeing their battle and was handling Robin, Nami and Chopper at once. Tashigi hadnât completely lost either, I would bet that sheâd fight without an arm, maybe not successfully but she would, and she got the finishing blow on Monet - her second offensive attack against Monet put her away and while technically this doesnât count as a W for Tashigi she did not technically lose in this fight either
As you can see, while itâs easy to say that âTashigi never wins her fights, so sheâs weakâ it really undermines the opposition she willingly puts herself against. Narratively thereâd be no reason for Tashigi to win these fights, doing so would lead to confusion and disbelief (for instance, would you have seen Luffy beating Kaido solo back in Bakura Town? No, obviously). Tashigi is still strong, sheâs able to survive the Grand Line, easily deflect cannon fire with her sword and use Haki, the latter cannot be said for Main Characters like Nami, Chopper, Franky, Carrot and somehow Robin (like girl you spent 2 years with the Revolutionaries, whereâs your Haki?). While we would love a win to validate this, Oda always puts her against an opponent that would be difficult for her to win against, and we thus mistake her inability to win as weakness.
So that leads to another argument.
Argument 2: Tashigi always punches above her weight
While this is very much true, One Piece has often told us that being the strongest doesnât always mean that you will win. Consider 90% of Nami and Usoppâs wins, Luffyâs wins over Crocodile, Enel, Lucci, Magellan, Cracker and Katakuri, the weak may not be able to choose how they die but that doesnât mean that the strong can either.Â
Iâd also like to argue that Tashigiâs motive on fighting strong opponents is not because she feels that she is stronger, she fights them because they are the enemy that needs to be stopped, her motives are pure in her pursuit of justice just as the Straw Hats fight stronger opponents because it fulfills a just cause such as saving Alabasta, their crewmates, people who had their shadows stolen, Camie, Fishman Island, the Punk Hazard children, Dressrosa, Zou or Wano.
Tashigi really gets criticized for it because it doesnât yield the results it does for major characters, often needing help to get the victory.
In that I wanna point out a harsh truth as well; Goku - the people many anime fans will compare power scales against - almost never beats the main villain on his own in DBZ or DBS. Freeza - required damage from Krillin, Gohan, Vegeta and Piccolo before the win, and he didnât finish him off, Cell - tags out to Gohan, who also needs Vegetaâs help to win, Buu - needs Vegetaâs help via fusion and a full power recharge by the Dragon Balls, Beerus - he lost, Golden Freeza - he got jumped by Sorbet and needed Whisâ rewind, Hit - he gave up, Fused Zamasu - lost, and needed Zeno to wipe him out, Jiren - needed Freeza and 17â˛s help and Vegetaâs energy and finally Broly - needed fusion.
So maybe, if even Son Goku cannot win on his own, we can cut Tashigi a little bit of slack given that sheâs not even a main character.
Argument 3:Â âShe does nothingâ
I donât really like this insinuation. Often Smoker and Tashigi are the ones that pick up the mess after all the enemies are defeated, but for some reason that equates to âdoing nothingâ. I think because people see Tashigi as interchangeable with any other character she is thus useless because she is not mandatory. However, Tashigiâs role is much more complex than that.
Even if sheâs not strong enough to fight the biggest fishes in the pond, she still manages to grow and prove her worth. If Tashigi was replaced with any generic marine captain a lot of what happened would be different. It was Tashigi who identified Wado Ichimonji and Sandai Kitetsu for Zoro, Tashigi who (albeit reluctantly) directed Luffy to Crocodile, Tashigi who kept the Straw Hats safe from arrest in Alabasta, Tashigi who convinced Smoker that he needed to swallow his pride and side with Law and Luffy to stop Ceasar and it was Tashigi who convinced Nami to entrust the Punk Hazard children to them. Through her experiences she also cultivates her own unique sense of Justice. While she follows Smokerâs doctrine of âA Pirate will always be a Pirateâ and that the Shichibukai system and the World Government as a whole is flawed, she has also learned for herself that there are times that pride must be set aside, in a way Tashigiâs sense of Justice has become a combination of Smokerâs and Fujitoraâs: in order to rebuild justice, the navy itself must become strong enough to not depend on pirates, but pride cannot supersede the greater good.
In addition, implying she does nothing also implies that she doesnât practice her own sense of justice either. She stepped in on Zoro twice to protect her men from harm, before even arriving at Punk Hazard we learned that she had a good relationship with the parents who had their children kidnapped as they asked specifically for her which in turn led her to personally strive to reunite the children with their parents and she even protected the truth of Vergo from G-5 so that they didnât feel betrayed and demoralized. Of the things Tashigi does, nothing is not one of them, she displays compassion, fairness and determination in definitive moments.
Argument 3: Sheâs too hung up on her Feminism
So, one of the major dynamics of Tashigi and Zoro is her misconception that Zoro wouldnât cut her because she was a woman, a belief that women have to prove themselves more to be seen as strong against men being one of the beliefs she shares with Zoroâs childhood rival Kuina. While it can be a tad irksome that sheâd hang onto this with Zoro, until Monet Zoro never actually demonstrated the contrary to her. This is mainly a complaint by hindsight, we only dislike the opinion because weâve seen Zoro more than Tashigi has, and sheâs not 100% wrong, Zoro himself has been a bit of a traditionalist, in Skypeia he angrily chastised Enel for attacking Robin since she was a woman, and he only does step in on Monet to save Tashigi - not even finishing her off despite being very capable of doing so.
Outside of Zoro, Tashigiâs feelings that she gets treated differently due to her gender is proven and reflected in how G-5 treat her with little authority, only really listening to her because sheâs pretty. You canât be too hard on Tashigi given that she is constantly faced with this truth on a daily basis, and her desire to be seen for her strength and skills are still an amicable one, itâs worth noting that even Law recognized that her mentality and warriorâs spirit was far greater than he swordsmanship, but he only thought this internally. In Tashigiâs case it would help her confidence to be given validation, and not in the condescending way Zoro usually talks to people.Â
While it can be annoying that she immediately thinks that sheâs being treated differently because sheâs a woman, this also shows that she wants to be treated as an equal; if she is defeated in combat she wants to be cut to preserve her honour, it is the mentality all Great Samurai have, including Zoro. Oda does something with Tashigi he rarely does with any woman in One Piece in making her less sexualised and body-confident to reflect her goal of being recognized by her spirit and actions rather than her appearance, but he also makes that complex for the character which in a way this is most important for.
Argument 4: Sheâs not a good Rival for Zoro
I think one of the biggest misconceptions about Tashigiâs character is that she is meant to be Zoroâs rival, in a similar manner to how Smoker and Luffy are embroiled in a Garp/Roger-esque cat and mouse chase. Because of this, people expect Tashigi to advance at a similar scale to Zoro to keep him on his toes, to make sure that he doesnât end up complacent in his strive to become the Worldâs Greatest Swordsman. Her former likeness to Kuina also adds to this misconception, since because Kuina was Zoroâs rival with the same goal and always stronger than Zoro himself, Tashigi must be similar.
But this is not why Tashigi and Zoro are always put together.
Tashigi is not Zoroâs rival, no other character weâve met has the same goal as Zoro, and this keeps his story free to develop with different challenges. Tashigiâs pursuit of strength is not for the same reasons as Zoro, she doesnât want to be the Worldâs Greatest Swordsperson, she only wants to protect the sanctity of the Meito and keep them out of unworthy hands. Her pursuit of Zoro was both because he dishonoured her in their fight and so she could claim Wado Ichimonji. In the New World however we donât see that as much from Tashigi, even when she sees Shusui she doesnât make a point to declare taking it from him because heâs unworthy (like Kinâemon would later do), this is because she does acknowledge his strength and worthiness of using these Meito, her personal conflict now though is to be seen as worthy to him as a swordsperson rather than a pirate to a marine.Â
In reality, Tashigi is instead Zoroâs and Kuinaâs foil. She is similar in looks and perspective to Kuina but different in everything else from clumsiness, skill and ambition, the fact that Zoro struggles to handle this leads to the two becoming entwined in their respective journeys. No person gets under Zoroâs skin like Tashigi does, even to a point where he was reluctant to even be in eyeshot of her - how many people have you seen Roronoa Zoro hide from? They are each otherâs foil because they are both stubborn people out to prove something but put on two different sides that conflict. That is the true purpose of their dynamic, their confrontations expose one another and show places where they can still grow and I still feel that we havenât scratched the surface of this relationship.
Argument 5: Sheâs not Important
A combination of the earlier arguments, Tashigi gets a lot of flack because people think sheâs not important enough as a character to have the screentime she gets. While itâs not hard to see why people feel that, it usually comes with people giving up on the idea that thereâs a greater plan for her. It may just be me, but I am reluctant to believe that Tashigi appears in several forms of merchandise including calendars, games (as NPCs, Bosses, Supports or playable characters) and even figurines and not have a purpose in the greater scope of the story, do we really expect that from Oda? I doubt that very much!
Granted, Wano wouldâve been a perfect placement for her to push herself given the views on women in the country and it being the homeland of famous Meito. And yes, she couldâve had a much greater role in Stampede given how well they managed Smoker in it. We are allowed to be disappointed by this, but the fact that Tashigi has remained as consistent in presence as she has been in the show does hint at a bigger role, even if itâs being that wave of revolutionizing the Marines with Coby and Fujitora, her own origins or finally proving herself to the audience and to Zoro, Tashigi is not done and thus she is still important.
âJust because they say a bird cannot fly, doesnât mean that it never willâ - Oda SBS 17 on Tashigi and Kuinaâs names being named after flightless birds
So, Why does Tashigi deserve more Respect?
Tashigi as a character is one of Odaâs more subtle progressions. In contrast to Zoro who we see grow, we donât see how Tashigi gets from A to B, we can also contrast to Coby whose rise becomes as magnificent as his puberty that Tashigiâs growth is much less abrupt and more steady, we see her struggles more than we do Coby where his successes are only heard in passing.
Tashigi can also act as the ânormal personâ in the marines, we compare her to Zoro in strength because she uses a sword but we never give her the benefit of the doubt that Roronoa Zoro is a bloody superhuman, plus not everyone has the great luxury of being trained by Dracule Mihawk for 2 years...furthermore, her challenges against Devil Fruit users are always filled with good intentions and strong willpower, but still self-doubt and shame, if anything Tashigi is one of the most human characters of One Piece for this reason; she learns, she suffers, she grows and she does it all without the luxury of Shonen perks such as superhuman power or endurance.
Also she is a good person, she has a strong sense of morality and will, an altruistic desire and even in the situation she gets put in she makes a step that leads to the plot going in a positive direction. And for a character that has been in as many arcs as she has, there is still so much potential left to be untapped that fans are still after 2 decades eager to see from her.
Tashigi is a strong, valiant and just person, who is still really powerful if people stop trying to compare her to the likes of Luffy, Law and Zoro. Even when she fails she picks herself up and can still come out with a small victory from protecting innocents, arresting criminals and escorting children to get help. She is a lot stronger than people give her credit for and itâs for that she deserves respect.
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that dumb saiki k fanfic i wrote but chapter 2
chapter 1 | story on wattpad
chp. 2 - not my intention
There was one part of auras that had always confused Aiura.
See, she was born with the ability to see auras and into the future and all that. Ever since she could walk and talk she could remember trying to figure out people based off their auras, learning what they meant.. Not only did auras reflect someone's personality, but they could also reflect memories they held dear, emotions they felt strongly, and even then her fortune telling let her tell so much more about them.
But there was one thing she didn't entirely understand, even now as a second year in high school. When she was 6 or 7, she started seeing a new part of auras. A red string.
A red string, in most contexts, connects two soulmates together by an invincible string tied around their fingers. When she was around 7 she noticed that her parents had one tied to each other. Some times she'd watch people pass each other on the street and notice them form. Red strings were a part of your aura and they had only formed when you had actually met your soulmate. Aiura had this come easy to her but what always confused her was why it took so long for her to see them. Or maybe, why did it take so long for them to form?
°¡.¸.¡°¯°¡.¸.¡°¯°¡.¸.°¡.¸.¡°¯°¡.¸.¡°¯°¡.¸.
Saiki sighed as he walked along behind his friends..and (L/n), who you could consider his friend, but it's up in the air if he'd say the same. As Kaido and Nendo bickered and Kuboyasu sided with Kaido, (L/n) fell back to walk next to Saiki. Her thoughts rang clear as she walked and scrolled through something on her phone.
'This feels kind of awkward..' (L/n) frets as she bites her bottom lip, momentarily glancing to Saiki. 'I wanna talk to him but he's giving off the "please let me go never interact with humanity ever again" vibe.' Oddly specific. Saiki almost wished other people could notice that as well. He supposed if he wanted to make a friend of this girl- get his likability up a bit- he'd have to take charge.
"Do you like the arcade?" Saiki asks her, turning his head to her.
"Yeah. I haven't been there in a while though.." (L/n) smiles and scratches the back of her head "Never have the time or money, haha.. how about you?"
"I used to go alot as a kid. But the games are all really easy now." Saiki shrugs, turning back towards the other boys yelling ahead of them as the arcade approached.
"Is that a challenge?" (L/n) grins. 'This could work perfectly..!'
Saiki smirks, looking at (L/n) at the corner of his eye. "Maybe." This could work perfectly...
"Hah, you're on!" (L/n) laughs as she begins to run ahead, dragging Saiki along by the wrist. Saiki shrugs to himself, letting her drag him along. (L/n) basically bursts into the arcade confidently. Â "Alright! You seem confident so I'll let you choose a game."
"Ooh, you two are competing?!" Nendo asks, popping up behind the two "Let us choose the games! That way it'll be fair." He's dumb but he's right. Saiki cringes a bit- they're going to call attention if he wins too much. He'll have to moderate his powers.
"Here, let me choose first!" Kaido interjects. "(Y/n), follow me." His face turns red. 'Maybe she's good at shooting games! If I choose a game that she wins at, m-maybe..' Saiki didn't want to hear anything beyond that. It was pretty easy to see where that was going.
"O-Oh, okay! C'mon, Saiki!" (L/n) beckons as Kaido lead her toward some sort of zombie-shooter game. Generally, they were pretty easy as long as Saiki didn't get startled. Lord knows what happened when he used VR.
(L/n) grins and picks up the blue colored fake gun. "Come on! Longest one alive wins!" She smiles, bending down and inserting 200 yen. Saiki does the same and sets his bag down, picking up the toy gun.. it should be easy to moderate his powers and give her a fair fight here...
...is what he told himself. Saiki didn't necessarily play games like these very often, if ever, because he'll either jump and blow something up or he'll lose and nearly break a controller. Nendo stood behind Saiki basically screaming support in his ear as Kaido stood next to (L/n) with starry eyes.
And Saiki lost. Horribly. By horribly I mean he lasted about a full minute before dying when (L/n) kept going for another 3 just to tease Saiki. Which was fine. NĚśoĚś ĚśiĚśtĚś'ĚśsĚś ĚśnĚśoĚśtĚś. It was normal to loose at games. He'd just win at the next one so it'd seem normal.
He did not. Kuboyasu chose one of those racing games where the seat is the actual sort of motorcycle itself. The author doesn't need to explain herself here. They're pretty hard to cheat at with esp, but even then- Saiki and (L/n) alike were looking for a fair fight. Which they got. Which lead to Saiki losing horribly.
"Partner, come on, stop losing!" Nendo pats Saiki on the shoulder as he stands up off the seat with a face of- to say the least, discontent.
"Shut up." Saiki glares.
"Not so easy now, huh?!" (L/n) teases, shit-eating grin on her face. Saiki breathes out. He is a patient man. He is not going to get competitive over this. The only one that can beat him is him and he will win the next game.
..Why does he even care?
Kuboyasu chose the last game. It was one of those games where you threw basketballs into a hoop for a certain time limit.
...
...would you be surprised if I told you Saiki lost again?
Saiki huffed as the machine made some stupid loud sound as (L/n) best his score. This time it was not his fault. He is perfectly fine at throwing the balls and would've made all the shots if he wasn't distracted.
He wasn't sure why he was. But for a minute there.. he couldn't take his eyes off (L/n). The way she focused on the game and her face lit up brightly every time she scored...by the time Saiki had realized he was staring he had basically already lost. This wasn't like him to get distracted. Something was off today.
Kaido had pointed out (how horribly Saiki had lost, and-) that they should get going. They'd spent a while at the arcade. Everyone agreed- if reluctantly- and grabbed their bags.
Walking out the arcade and towards there homes Kaido and Nendo continue to bicker- probably about the latest Jump.
"Stop looking so smug." Saiki comments, irritated with the girl.
"Whaaaaat?~" She laughs. "I'll make it up to you. You like sweets?" She asks. Saiki nods (violently) causing (L/n) to laugh. "I've got some coffee jelly back at my apartment. You should stop by."
Saiki nods in agreement- mainly for the coffee jelly, only about 1/8 for (L/n)'s company- as she waves goodbye to the other boys. Her apartment was only a couple blocks from Saiki's place.
"Alright then! Oh, look, they're playing baseball in the park again.. Wonder if Satou's playing." (L/n) points out as the pair pass the baseball diamond along their trek home.
There's a loud 'clang' and an indistinguishable shout before Saiki realizes.
..That the ball hit his head. Right in the power limiter. Shit. If he were alone, he could just teleport home and have his dad or mom try and fix it but (L/n) is right here. He's got one choice, and he's gotta pray that it works... Â
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"Saiki!" You screeched, as the boy fell forward and you just ever so barely managed to catch him before he hits the pavement. The ball must've hit him hard.. it even broke one of those hairclips he has. You set him down gently, picking up his bag and throwing it over your shoulder. You slide your arms under him and pick him up, standing slowly.
Jesus Christ. You forgot how heavy guys are. The last time you carried a guy was when (F/n) passed out on field day in middle school. Saiki wasn't heavy necessarily but you weren't necessarily Hairo level strong. You wanted to take him back to his house and tell his parents but there was a small problem.
You had no clue where he lived. At all. You knew he only lived a couple blocks away from you because Kaido told you but you didn't know where. So the best option was to take him back to your apartment.
What became a 10 minute walk home became a 20 minute walk as you struggled to carry the boy. He was knocked out, hard.. whoever hit that ball had to have gotten a home run. You wouldn't be surprised if the guy got two.
So after struggling for 20 minutes, nearly dropping the knocked out boy when you tried to unlock your door, and just generally regretting your decisions, you finally were able to plop the boy on your couch. Your tablet that you generally used for drawing was blown up with notifications from (F/n). Whoops. You set the tablet on your coffee table, calling him as you take the broken hairpin out of Saiki's hair, wanting to fix it.
(F/n) picks up fast, halfway through his English screaming as the connection struggles. "WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?! I'm losing sleep, woman!"
"I'm sorry!" You laugh, fiddling with the hairpin in your hand. The pink ball on top had come off and some of the pieces on the bottom of the inside fell out. "I was walking home with that Saiki guy and a ball hit him smack in the head. Broke his hairpin and he passed out. I'm trying to fix the hairpin now."
"...And the guy?" (F/n) hesitantly asks.
"Heavy as fuck." You snort. It looked like small computer pieces on the inside but, who are you to judge? The problem was now this was a jigsaw puzzle and you hated those things.
"(Y/n)!" (F/n) shouts, reprimanding you.
"Calm down, he's fine." You smile. "I gotta fix this damn hairpin though and you're gonna do your homework and sleep young man." You jokingly glare into the camera.
"Fine, MOM. Bye!" He waves and hangs up. You lean your back against the couch as you continued to sit on the floor, now too lazy to get up. There was 3 major computer looking chips which by some dumb luck, seemed to fit pretty well in certain spots. They 'click' in pretty easily and the small pink ball fits back on pretty easy.
"Well..that should be about right..!" You smile confidently to yourself as you hold up the hair clip in your vision. You stand slowly and hover over the sleeping boy before gently placing the hairpin back where it once was.
You observe him for a second as you stand up straight again. He looks.. peaceful while sleeping. He wasn't smiling but he wasn't necessarily frowning, either. Content, really. You smile as you take off his green lensed glasses and set them on your coffee table. They'll break if he sleeps in them all the time.
You wander off to your kitchen, finally picking up your school bad and setting it on your dinner table. You grab a snack out of the cabinet and begin looking through your bag, pulling out miscellaneous homework assignments. You catch a glimpse out your window- the sun was already setting..
You hear Saiki in the other room shuffle around as he seems to wake up. You grave a coffee jelly and spoon from your kitchen before wandering over to him.
The strawberry-headed boy had sat up on the couch, eyes looking around confused. Hey, that was a good nickname.
"Hey, Strawberry. You're awake." You grin. He looks up at you confused and you freeze for a second. His eyes..
You didn't usually see his eyes very clearly since, green glasses lenses. Even then you hadn't known him for long. But his eyes... they were a mesmerizing violet color that you couldn't take your eyes off of. Realistically speaking, they were as plain as ever. But for some reason you couldn't help feel your face go red. Who's the strawberry now, motherfucker?
"Where am I?" He asks you.
"My apartment. You knocked the hell out when that baseball hit you and I didn't know where you lived so I carried you here." You hold out the coffee jelly and spoon to him, hoping he'll get the gist. He does and takes the snack faster than you could blink twice.
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Saiki took the coffee jelly from (L/n) greatfully, momentarily forgetting about his limiter that, as far as he last knew, was broken. He had knocked himself out when he was hit for a reason- he figured (L/n) would call one of his friends or someone else to help. He had better luck leaving it up to luck when passed out then staying awake and nearly starting a tsunami cause he breathed wrong.
"Oh, by the way," (L/n) starts, "I tried fixing your hairpin. I tried my best." Saiki looks at her a bit confused before taking out the power limiter, and looking at it carefully...it was put back together just about the exact same way it was before it got hit..
"Thank you." Saiki turns to (L/n). She smiles and nods. 'Oh thank god I didn't fuck up.'
"No problem." She smiles. Saiki loses his train of thought for a second as he watches the girl's face brighten. He turns to set down the now empty coffee jelly cup down on the coffee table. He blinks for a second. His glasses are set on the coffee table.
(L/n) must've taken them off, but why wasn't she turned to stone? She should be frozen in place a long while ago. He picks up his glasses and stands up, putting them over his eyes as he throws away the empty coffee jelly cup.
His mind was racing. Was this girl a physic? Why was she immune to so many of his powers? Why was she kinda cute?
(L/n) interested Saiki. She wasn't affected by nearly any of his powers and he wasn't sure how to feel about it. On one hand it confused him highly and made him want to be wary on the girl, but the other part of him was interested in this girl. She was someone who he saw as normal, she wasn't a nusience like the rest of his friends. His chest felt light with an emotion he wasn't quite familiar with. The ever intriguing girl had ignited something in him that he wasn't sure what it was.
"You okay?" She asks as Saiki stands in thought. He hesitates, but smiles. "Hey, Strawberry, it's getting late. Want me to walk you home?" She asks, now with a shit eating grin on her face. Saiki, yes, the strawberry, feels his face turn warm and his heart skip a beat at the nickname. He wasn't sure why. He sighs to himself. He's overthinking things today. His pyrokenisis must be acting up since his limiter was out earlier.
"...Sure..but what's with the nickname?" Saiki asks.
(L/n) shrugs as she stands, walking to her front door and bending down to put her shoes on. "I dunno. It fits."
Saiki sighs at this curious girl and grabs his own shoes, following her out the door.
The two walk in silence as the sun sets, darkening the world around them. (L/n)'s thoughts are generally quiet. 'Fuck, I'm cold. I should've brought a jac- or not?'
Don't get Saiki wrong here. He's only warming her up cause he feels bad. They continue to walk in silence, until they stop in front of Saiki's house.
"This is my h-" Before Saiki can finish his sentence none other than is mother, Kurumi Saiki, comes out the front door, fretful about her son.
"Oh, Ku~chan! Where have you been, I was so worried!" Kurumi frets as she hugs her son close. Saiki sighs and squints his eyes at (L/n), who has a shit-eating grin. Kurumi turns around and spots (L/n). "Oh, and who is this lovely lady?" She asks excitedly. Saiki about rolls his eyes into the back of his head.
"I'm (L/n)! I apologize for keeping your son out for so long. He passed out when we were walking home so I took him home cause I didn't know where you lived." (L/n) scratches the back of her head awkwardly. Kurumi's face lights up.
Saiki cringes as his mother pulls the poor girl into a hug. "Aah, thank you for looking after my boy you're just so sweet I'm his mom Kurumi Saiki thank you so much for befriending him!" Kurumi gushes so quickly the author forgot to write punctuation.
(L/n) finally gets to breathe again when Kurumi lets go of the hug. "It's nothing, really," She smiles. "He's cool."
Kurumi starts to gush once more when (L/n) laughs awkwardly. "You're really sweet, Mrs. Saiki, but I have to get going."
"Oh, of course! I'm sorry for keeping you! Have a good night." Kurumi smiles.
"It's alright. Bye!" (L/n) smiles as she walks off into the night. He walks inside with his mother and takes off his shoes before walking to his room, sighing as he sits at his desk.
Why does he have such a headache..?
.
i apologize for any spelling errors! iâve been writing without my glasses because iâve been sick
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Usopp - The Thunder Breaks
Angst/Fluff prompt 18: âI canât breathe.â
An Usopp-centric fic lightly inspired by the song âNeptuneâ by Sleeping at Last.
Words: 1,947
Warning: mild descriptions of anxiety attacks
As always, he doesnât know how the hell it gets to this point, but Luffy is leading the five of them into another stupidly dangerous adventure.
Again:Â stupidly dangerous. Unnecessarily so. They could have left hours ago, and would have been happily on their way to the next island! But one thing led to another, and now there are explosions left and right, bullet spray maybe thirty feet behind, and the threat of sudden death looming over Usoppâs head.
A body flies past himâ an enemyâs, thankfully. He screams because heâs terrified, and he clings to Nami when she grabs his arm (because theyâve seemed to silently come to an agreement that youâve got to cling to something when it seems like everythingâs about to go to hell, and what better than a person who shares your fear?), and when Chopper starts sobbing, he does as well.
They always wind each other up like this. Itâs a way of coping with the stress of it all, he knows, but he also knows that sometimes long after Nami and Chopper have accepted whatever horrific turn of events just took place, he finds that heâs still trembling.
He always tries to squash it down. Always tries to keep up an air of bravado, but he guesses itâs kind of his running âgagâ now that he always fails at it.
Itâs Sanji who first notices.
Usopp is staring bug-eyed at nothing while countless thoughts run through his head, tripping and crashing into each other as they go.
Whatâs gonna happen to me? Am I gonna have to help them? Can I even help? What do I do, what can I do? I canât even breathe whatâs going on what if I get hit? Whereâs Zoro, Iâll just stay behind Zoro, whereâsâ
âOi, whatâre you just standing there for?â
Usopp lets out a yelp and flinches at Sanjiâs hand on his shoulder, then immediately curses himself for it. Thereâs a pause, and heâs sweating and taking heaving breaths, and then,
âAre you scared?â
Usopp doesnât think he can speak right now. He wants to push his chest out, to grab his slingshot and send his own spray of ammo into the slew of enemies. He tells himself itâs the sternness of Sanjiâs gaze that stops him from doing it, but he knows itâs an awful lie.
So Usopp swallows over the lump in his throat, forces himself to hold eye contact, and somehow manages a single slow nod of his head.
Thereâs a moment where Usoppâs heart all but leaps out of his chest, fully expecting to be kicked directly into the fray and scolded for his cowardice.
But then Sanji nods back. Not pitying, not teasing, not disappointed or irritated.Â
Just a nod.
The hand on his shoulder gives a firm squeeze.
âStick close to me, then.â He smiles, wide and fully at ease. âYouâll be fine.â
âSh-Shouldnât I help?â
Sanji side-steps him and delivers a firm kick to the gut of an approaching enemy pirate. He glances over his shoulder and shouts back at him,
âTake a breather! When youâre feeling up to it, I could use the back-up!â
He clearly doesnât need it, Usopp thinks, watching their cook send another pair of men flying.
He can still feel his heartbeat pounding all the way to his ears, but after one trembling, deep breath, he reaches for his slingshot.
He fights.
Not very impressively, but he fights still.
Two years and four crew mates later, and it still hasnât gone away. Itâs less often and usually less immobilizing, but there are still times where it returns full-force. Sometimes at night, and sometimes for no reason at all.
He really thinks he couldnât have worse luck. No one else in the crew is like this. Heâs sure of it.
He lies awake in bed for an hour. Trying to breathe like Zoro taught him to some time ago.
One, two, three, four.
Four, three, two, one.
One, two, three, four.
Four, three, two, one.
But Zoro isnât in the room right now. Zoro isnât counting out loud for him. So he tries listening to the snores of his crewmates to help guide him, but as time goes on it just gets fuzzier and fuzzier.
He doesnât want to bother Zoro while heâs up training. His heart is pounding out of his chest but he doesnât want to wake Chopper again for something thatâs not life or death (even if he feels like it is). Sanji, too, needs all the rest he can getâ itâs still a couple hours before he rises to start with meal prep.
And so Usopp staggers out of bed. His clumsiness probably makes his exit a little too loud, but almost everyone present is a deep sleeper, anyway.
He doesnât trust himself to sit on the lion head, so sits on the deck right behind it and leans his back against it.
He knows itâs Luffyâs spot, so he thinks maybe itâll help him feel a little stronger.
It doesnât help.
Itâs almost sunrise once he feels like his body is back under his own control. Heâs splayed across the warm wood of the deck, trying to regain his strength and stretch out his limbs that had gone cold and cramped while he sat curled up through the night.
The captain himself leans directly over Usopp, and nearly startles him into a real heart attack this time.
âL-Luffy! What the hell!â he shouts, scrambling back into a seated position.
Heâs snickering, but otherwise ignores Usoppâs outburst. âWanna come sit on the lion head with me? Itâs nicer up there.â
âCan both of us even fit?â
âSure we can!â
Luffy was right, but itâs a tight squeeze seated between Usoppâs legs, an arm fixed around his waist (because his sniper is paranoid like that). It was the other way around at first, but Usoppâs hair kept going up Luffyâs nose so he insisted that they switch. It took another five minutes reassuring Usopp he wouldnât fallâ and if he did, then Luffy would catch them bothâ before they were able to watch the sunrise together in peace.
"Dâya think Sanjiâs gonna wake up soon?â Probably. He usually gets up not too long after first daylight. âIâm so hungry! Arenât you?â
"Nah. Just tired.â Dammit. He doesnât mean to complain, but he gets way too loose-mouthed with exhaustion.
âEh?â Luffy cranes his head around, peering at his friend behind him. âDidnât you sleep enough?â Usopp cringes and looks away, and Luffy takes that as a no. âWhy didnât you sleep?â
Why not indeed.
Usoppâs first instinct is to lie. Itâd be pretty easy with Luffy, too. He saw a huge fish in the water last night, so he stayed up to keep an eye out for it. Simple enough.
But then he sees the look in Luffyâs eyes. Not concerned, not yet; still just innocently curious. Itâd probably eat at him if he isnât honest with his answer, but heâd get over it, right?
The only qualm is that he listens to his body. It is aching all over and begging to continue resting.
He really does not think he has it in him right now to keep up any sort of facade.
So he gulps down the saliva collected in his mouth, and speaks to his captainâs waiting ears.
âIt-Itâs justââ When the words leave his throat, he almost feels his dinner come up with them. âW-When I think about everything weâre gonna face out there... it gets... hard to breathe. Th-Thatâs why.â
Luffy turns back to face the sea, letting out a long, thoughtful hum. Usopp can all but hear the gears turning underneath that straw hat while his captain tries to see where heâs coming from. Luffy doesnât seem to succeed and shakes his head as if to signal this. âHow come? It makes me excited.â
Usopp heaves a deep sigh. âJust forget it, Luffy. You wouldnât understand.â Perhaps a little too harsh, his tone a little too biting, but could anyone blame him? He is one man on a sea of goddamn monsters. âYou arenât scared of anything.â
The shift in his captainâs mood is basically palpable, and heâs filled with regret at his words. Why does he always get so snappy when heâs anxious?
Luffy is quiet for ten secondsâ Usopp counts themâ before he says,
âSabaody was scary.â
The three words manage to take him back to that day almost instantly.
He feels it againâ the horrified confusion and overwhelming dread that bloomed in the pit of his stomach when Zoro disappeared before his eyes.
âRun! RUN!â
Back then, he could only barely hear his captainâs voice in the distance, could only barely find it in him to move, let alone run. He had never seen Luffy in a panic until that day, all too accustomed to his captainâs unyielding positivity in the face of danger. Which is why nowadays, he can hear it clear as day while heâs dreaming. Over and over.
âY-Yeah.â He doesnât know in what order the rest of them were blown away, but he couldnât imagine being the last one to go. The thought of it is just... âTerrifying.â Usopp places a hand on his chest, hoping desperately that it wonât start up again. Itâs been hours with it already. It all feels like too much.Â
âI donât want you to be scared, Usopp.â
âW-Well... me neither,â he sighs. âBut here we are.â
Itâs hard to catch Luffy during a serious moment, and even harder to keep him on a serious topic for long. But his captainâs quiet voice lets Usopp know that perhaps talking about it with him this time around might be a good idea.
âIâm not strong like you guys,â Usopp blurts out. âThatâs why Iâm not excited about it.â
"What are you talking about?â He sounds amused, like Usoppâs just said the dumbest thing heâs heard in a while. âYouâre strong!â
âNot as strong as you!â
âYeah, but so what? You always make things work.â He pats Usoppâs hand that is still fixed at his hip. âAnd youâre my friend, so it doesnât matter if someone ends up being too much for you. Iâm not gonna let anything bad happen to you.â
Luffy says it like itâs more than a promise. Firm and resolute, a simple refusal to bend.
Iâm going to beat up Big Mom. Iâm going to beat up Kaido. Iâm going to become the Pirate King. And Iâm not gonna let anything bad happen to you.
He says it like itâs fact.
Usopp really has no clue how his captainâs brain or heart exist the way they do. It leaves him in awe each time heâs reminded of this.
But like everything elseâ like a black catâs claws, like a fishmanâs punchâ he guesses he has to take it on the chin, and press forward still.
His captain doesnât want him to be afraid. There are plenty of reasons to be, but that fact alone seems to cancel them all out.
Iâm going to beat up Big Mom. Iâm going to beat up Kaido. Iâm going to become the Pirate King. And Iâm not gonna let anything bad happen to you.
Thereâs still that familiar curl of apprehension in his gut. But he thinks that maybe, by the same incomprehensible force that pushes his captain ever higher, the curl will come loose when it counts.
Luffy pats his hand again, leaning back further into his chest.
The extra warmth is a little stifling underneath the heat of the newly risen sun. Usopp knows part of himself is glad for it.
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