One Piece: It's always been you

Chapter 77 You can say whatever you want, I won't listen.

"Yu, can you make all kinds of desserts?" Katakuri's unexpected question left Yu somewhat puzzled.

How should she respond to that? Desserts are something that can be made with any recipe and ingredients, but to say that you can make everything seems a bit... exaggerated.

"No, not really. You can make it with recipes and ingredients, but the taste might not be good." Yu was telling the truth, but his motives for asking the question were definitely not pure. "Ka-2? Have you taken a liking to any desserts lately? I'll go and look into it."

"...It wasn't me, it was Mom." The words came out hesitantly. Yu's relationship with her mother was rather delicate, and Katakuri usually wouldn't mention it in front of Yu, but...

Sure enough, after Katakuri finished speaking, Yu fell silent, his eyes changed, and he turned his head away, as if to say, "Go ahead and talk, I'm not going to listen to a word you say."

“Those ingredients are for a dessert that Mom wanted to eat,” Katakuri explained, glancing at Yu’s expression. “Mom suffers from food cravings; when her desire for a certain food reaches a certain level, she goes crazy.”

Yu listened to him expressionlessly, watching Katakuri's cautious, hesitant manner, and couldn't help but find it amusing.

“I’m afraid Mom might not make it back to Wanguo to hand over the ingredients to the head chef, so I wanted you to try it beforehand.”

"Why don't you just hand it over to the ship's chef? They can cook it too."

“That would be a waste of ingredients. I’d also like to try your new dessert.” Katakuri praised Yu, then pulled himself along as well.

You could easily see through his little trick, but there was really no need to say it like that. If he wanted it, she would definitely help him. Besides, although the aunt didn't get along with her, she wasn't really that bad. "Actually, you don't need to do this. Just say it directly, and I will definitely help you."

Yu agreed to Katakuri, then jumped up from behind and hugged his scarf, peeking out from behind his neck. "My Lord Katakuri, I'll definitely help with this little favor. Don't think I'll refuse just because of how Auntie treated me before."

"Hold on tight, don't fall." Katakuri listened to her words and reached behind Yu's feet to cushion her fall.

“You definitely won’t let me fall.” Yu replied to him, continuing from where she left off, “Ka2, I’m helping you voluntarily, don’t worry about anything else, I’m willing to be bothered by you.”

"I'm just afraid you'll feel wronged." It would be a lie for You not to feel wronged after what her mother said before. She'd finally gotten over it, so how could she let her mother cause her to have such feelings again? "I can't bear to see you cry, especially because of me."

"Katakuri, don't be so mushy, it'll make me shy." Yu was really getting more and more fed up with Katakuri's words; it was hard not to believe he hadn't been secretly learning them. "But, there's a problem now."

Katakuri gathered the people in front of her, waiting for her to continue.

"Exactly, now that I'm like this, it's not as convenient for me to make desserts as it used to be." She was referring to her height, and there really is a significant difference.

"You can read the book first; there's no rush for practical experience. The World Kingdom won't arrive so soon."

"Too."

However, having come this far, Katakuri was still a little worried about Yu. Should he really give her a little shock? But how? Not too much, and not too little.

"Katakuri? Do we have this ingredient?" Yu looked at the dessert book, comparing the ingredients one by one according to her memory. It seemed like she was missing a few. She pointed to the ingredients in the book and waited for Katakuri's reply.

A scare?

Looking at the person in front of me, apart from being small in stature, I'm no different from an ordinary person, but I can tell they're not easily scared.

"Karn?" he called again, but still no one responded.

Then be fierce?

After thinking about it, I decided against it. I don't want to anger people away before they even get a chance to react.

What else can I do... Oh well, let's just take it one step at a time.

By the time Katakuri realized what was happening, the chess pieces in front of him looked at him with an expression that said, "Good luck, Lord Katakuri. We can't help you." Katakuri couldn't understand. Since when did he need their sympathy?

"Go do what you're supposed to be doing, what are you all doing here?"

The chess soldiers remained motionless, standing in a row awaiting orders. The first infantryman spoke up, "Lord You, the squad is assembled and ready to be deployed at any time."

"Let's go." You's small body was carrying a book, and she took small steps, cute but also majestic, after all, there was a row of neat chess soldiers behind her.

Katakuri stood alone in the wind, bewildered. "Wait, why are they all gone? Am I, the captain of this ship, so powerless?"

Praline floated over to Katakuri on a bubble. "Katakuri-nii, Yu-chan called you just now, but you ignored her. What could be more important than Yu-chan that you'd think about for so long?"

"I was distracted for a long time just now?" Katakuri asked incredulously. He remembered that it was only a few words, how could it have turned into a long time?

Pralinne pouted and thought for a moment, "Well, it wasn't for long, but Sister-in-law You was impatient, so she found a chess piece and left you behind."

"..." A good reason. Fortunately, the previous threats and scare had dispelled the idea. Without being threatened or scared, the person ran away and abandoned him.

Katakuri was about to follow when, after taking only two steps, the foot soldiers in front of him suddenly returned.

"Lord Katakuri, Lord Yu told you not to follow." Although the foot soldier was considered Yu's man and obeyed Yu's orders, he didn't forget to observe Katakuri's expression. Lord Yu was Lord Yu, and he was him. Lord Katakuri wouldn't treat him like Lord Yu did.

Seeing that Katakuri didn't show much emotion, the foot soldier continued, "Lord Yu also said that he needs to buy some ingredients," he glanced at the list, "Lord Yu said that once the ship reaches the next town, Lord Katakuri can do it all by himself."

"Hmm?" Where are the chess pieces?

"Lord Yu said that if Lord Katakuri doesn't understand, just say that the chess pieces have all been requisitioned. After all, making desserts is a big deal, and Lord Katakuri seems to enjoy being immersed in his own world, so we won't bother him." After saying that, the little soldier didn't linger for a second longer and ran away.

Reporting back is of utmost importance, and not running away could mean certain death.

Katakuri behind him had no intention of deploying his infantry. With infantry around, things wouldn't be so difficult for Yu. Besides, the list didn't list many ingredients; there were only two that needed to be prepared, and the rest was just something Yu wanted to eat.

—Katakuri, since you were daydreaming and ignored me just now, I suggest you use a jar of candy to make up for my childish heart.

—Of course, I'll go to town with you. My body hasn't turned back yet, and I suddenly feel like buying clothes.

After Katakuri finished reading, the corners of his mouth under his scarf curled up and didn't droop down.

He shook his head helplessly.

The island arrived quickly. Katakuri went to find Yu before disembarking, but Yu had already disembarked.

He felt completely overwhelmed. How could someone with no sense of direction dare to wander around in an unfamiliar place by himself? Moreover, he discovered that Pralinene was also missing. Mermaids are not safe anywhere.

After explaining everything on the ship, he disembarked.

"Lord Katakuri, why are you in such a hurry? I haven't finished speaking yet!"

"You don't know this? Whenever it comes to Lord Yu's business, Lord Katakuri loses his patience. He probably thinks Lord Yu disembarked alone." After all, Lord Yu's terrible sense of direction is well-known.

"But the infantrymen were following..."