One Piece: It's always been you

Chapter 40 The Misty Forest (2)

Before me stood a candy house, quite similar to the buildings on the island managed by Perospero of the Kingdom of Wan. However, the solitary house nestled in the forest gave it an eerie feel.

A fence surrounded the house, isolating it from the woods. The closer one gets, the stronger the aroma of candy becomes. The smell is familiar; it had been faintly present all along the way, and it must be from Sai Langlang.

"Lulu, we have a guest."

You followed Sai Langlang inside. The room was filled with the scent of candy, but upon closer inspection, a faint medicinal smell could be detected mixed in with the fragrance.

"Excuse me, are you here to buy candy?" A girl's voice came from inside the house, and then a person came out carrying a plate full of various candies.

"Yes, we couldn't find what we wanted in town, so we came to take a look."

"You can try these, they're all newly developed by me." Celluloid held up a plate in front of You, letting her choose.

Yu's fingers traced across the candies, finally settling on the amaranth-red ones. She picked up two and held them in her hand without tasting them.

"Why don't you try some, Miss Yu?"

You smiled slightly, "It's not the right time yet. Tell me, what do you want from me that you brought me here?"

"Shall I take you to buy candy?"

"Since you don't want to talk about it, I'll find out for myself."

You picked up a candy and shot it at Sai Langlang. The candy passed through his body, hit the roof, and Sai Langlang vanished into nothingness.

The celluloid behind them had also disappeared, and the plate of candy fell vertically, scattering candy all over the ground.

Yu pushed open the door, and the forest outside was completely different, with mist spreading in from the periphery.

"Damn it, no one's going to show me the way, how am I supposed to get there?"

Despite not knowing the way, Yu still knew to head towards the coast first.

The further she walked, the more uneasy she felt. The fog around her was too thick, and she couldn't see anyone, yet she had a feeling that she wasn't alone.

Yu could only rely on the seawater to move forward, and several times the fog was so thick that she couldn't see the road and bumped into trees.

"Ouch! Hiss~" How many times has this happened? When will it ever end!

"Please, save the people here."

"who are you?"

"Who I am doesn't matter, please save the people here."

What happened here?

"I can't tell you, but I can tell you that your friend is just ahead, go find him quickly."

"Could it be Brin and the others? How did they get in here?"

Brûlée and Brin were in town and wouldn't be their target. He noticed something was off as soon as he arrived on the island, so he separated from Brûlée and Brin to prevent them from getting into danger because of him.

"hateful!"

Yu was getting anxious; Bleu and Lin couldn't possibly get out of this forest.

As they got closer to the shore, Yu heard sounds of fighting and Pudding's screams for help.

Over there, Brulee was protecting Pudding as she fought another person. Brulee's Mirror-Mirror Fruit ability was unique, and in this situation, it couldn't be used to its full advantage. In close combat, she was at a complete disadvantage.

Pudding also wanted to help Brûlée, but she was too weak.

"Purene! Brûlée! Get out of the way!"

Katakuri entered the forest from the other side of the island and found nothing unusual, nor the rumored mist. However, the people here seemed to have lost their way, existing like walking corpses.

Along the way, these people will launch sudden attacks without warning.

But to his surprise, Yu was among them. Katakuri had to dodge the attacks of the three while also trying to bring Yu back to his senses, and Yu was also among the targets of the other two attacks.

"Yu, wake up."

"You won't hurt Brin and Brûlée!"

To Yu, Katakuri's words sounded like he wanted to take Brulee and the others' lives.

“They are not Brulee and Pudding, wake up.”

Katakuri couldn't attack Yu, so he wanted to defeat the other two first, but Yu mistook them for Bleubourin and couldn't bring himself to do it.

Suddenly caught in a predicament, a moment of carelessness allowed Katakuri to attack from both sides. Yu used vines as swords to stab from the front, while behind him were the pirates whom Yu mistook for Brulee.

Katakuri cannot dodge. If he does, Yu will be afraid of hurting Brulee and will retract his sword. But the pirate behind him will not, and his sword will only hurt Yu.

"Pfft" is the sound of a sword or knife piercing a body.

Katakuri took the blows of a sword and a blade, his right shoulder near his chest was pierced, blood flowed freely, and the air was filled with the smell of rust.

The sword behind him was drawn, and as Yu sheathed his sword, Katakuri pulled him into his arms. The scent of Katakuri hit them, especially the metallic smell of blood.

The people behind him had appeared in front of him without him noticing, and two pirates kicked Yu twice in the back. The person in Katakuri's arms was still unconscious, and he couldn't dodge with the struggling Yu, so he could only take the kicks.

With a "plop," the two fell into the sea.

The moment the seawater touched his body, Katakuri felt an unprecedented sense of powerlessness. But he didn't loosen his grip on Yuu's arms. The seawater washed over him, and the feeling of weakness grew stronger. Until his hands had lost all feeling, he finally let go under the force of the seawater. The distance between them grew ever wider.

At the last moment, Katakuri saw that Yu's eyes were no longer empty; they had expression. At least she had woken up; she would live.

A long time ago, he read a quote: When a person is about to die, they will not think of themselves, but of the person they love most.

He used to disbelieve; now he does. He's found the one he loves most. Yes, he changed from the moment You appeared in his life.

So that was love.

He thought he saw You swimming towards him. Had she come to save him? She must still be angry.

"Karry Boy? Cough cough cough...Karry Boy?"

Yu finally managed to drag him ashore and let him lean against the cliff edge. Every time he went out with Katakuri, he would get injured, and the two of them would either hide in a cave or lean against the cliff edge.

Yu tore open the hem of her clothes and barely managed to stop the bleeding from Katakuri's wound. This was not an injury caused by the fruit, so there was no way to heal it.

Thanks to the smell of blood, she regained some of her senses and gradually realized the contradiction between the blood in her mind and what she saw and smelled. This prevented her from taking the opportunity to finish off Katakuri while he was holding her.

She was hallucinating just now. When did she start experiencing this hallucination?

Is it when you enter the candy house, or when you first enter the forest? This is crucial.

"You're awake? How are you feeling?" Yu saw Katakuri's eyelids flutter, indicating that he was about to wake up.

But upon closer inspection, it became clear that his eyes were empty and devoid of life.

"Could it be that he has also fallen into an illusion?"

"Karry? Kakashi!"

Within Katakuri's consciousness.

This is...Mama's room on Whole Cake Island? And that's...Yu? What are they talking about?

—You like Katakuri, don't you? But I won't let him marry anyone. If he does, it won't be you. You have no power or influence. What can you bring to our family?

He vowed to protect the Big Mom Pirates for life, until the very moment of defeat. If he failed, then there was no point in him living. Mommom~mommom~

"Mom said these things to Yu that day? Yu... likes me..."

Katakuri was still pondering when the scene before him gradually faded away. He arrived outside the room of the giant Yu, where he was blocking Yu's way.

"What if it were you? What if you were the protagonist of this wedding? What would you do?"

At that moment, Katakuri understood; everything made sense.

He had always thought that Yu just wanted him to put himself in her shoes and let her help Lola escape. He had misunderstood. Yu was afraid, afraid that he would do what his mother had said.

He should explain things properly to Yu, but not now!

(The timeline of Chapter 1 has been changed; it's three years ago, not two years ago!)

(If there is no second update today, it will be made up for tomorrow.)