24 Training Arc

Author Note: As you already know, the SCP or real-world kinds of stuff would be secondary. I may make a sub-story about them but I won't let it take long (hopefully)

*SKIP*

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"Sir, was it really a wise choice to let go of SCP-002-OP?" The girl who had been with the stern man the entire day had spoken after they confirmed that the young girl and young man were gone.

"It is... probably a bad decision but not the worst. Currently, we know too little about 002-OP. Therefore I judged that it would be too risky if I continued to make contact and unknowingly trigger a 'landmine' of SCP-002-OP."

"Have you read the intel about SCP-835-JP?" The stern man asked the girl back.

"Yes, sir," the woman replied.

"Then you must understand this. Anything related to SCP could happen. From magical literature that manifests into reality once written to a being that would hunt you down the moment you looked at its face."

"Although 835-JP is Safe-Class now, she was once a Keter-Class SCP due to our lack of information. The opposite could happen if we misstepped our boundaries. That's why, we must interact with SCP(s) with utmost care." 

"Additionally... that object that hovers around him, SCP-003-OP could pose a bigger trouble than SCP-079... Anyway, in case something goes wrong, we can only hope for the 'Union' to help us out."

"In any way, the SCP-002-OP had survived his encounter with SCP-4999, who is said to only appear to the lonely person on their deathbed. He hides too much secret. We must only move out when we are absolutely sure."

***

1996 (Earth), Feb 26.

"Kofffff!!??!?" Unaware of how overestimated I was yesterday, I choked on my saliva in my wake due to the strong impact of hitting my head and almost breaking my neck.

I woke up taking a direct fall from ten meters above the ground. Thankfully the trees below me had significantly lessened the impact.

"Ahyahyahya I almost died," I laughed it off.

Arriving to the middle of forests had no special meaning. I simply thought I wanted to get stronger while protecting Wakaba's word to hide my 'powers'.

In the middle of the forests, while stroking my head to ease the pain, I brainstormed more ways to familiarize my uses with Feather Feather Fruit. Unconscious uses of Feather Feather Fruit training were only possible when I was asleep.

At this point, I could only use my feathers when I was awake so I thought it was a good idea to practice it before my sleep but I wasn't smart enough to consider the height.

'This can't do... if I wanna save as many people I want, I need to be able to move my feather outside my perception...'

I rested my chin between my thumb and index finger as I pondered. During this time, the feathers unconsciously collected fruits.

This motion was almost seamless, as I unconsciously took the apple from the feather and placed it in my mouth, as if, the 'movement' of 'eating' was integrated into my body

'...ah. I just used my feathers without knowing it! How did I do that? Did it respond to my wants to eat food?'

From here on, I did the same action of my feathers usage but changed my mindset.

Instead of thinking of food as wanted to be eaten, I thought of food as a 'needed to be rescued and for it to be rescued, I need to use my feathers to save them and deliver to my mouth.'

'Think of food as human!! Imagine countless Stella calling for your help. Some crying, some praising you... most praising you...' I shook my head to cast off the distracted thoughts.

As weird as it sounded, it was the best my mind could think of now. 

"Okay. Being able to use my feathers unconsciously is one thing I need to improve on. What else do I need to improve then?" I began talking to myself.

Ban had always said that 'balance' is one of the most important aspects of improving oneself. One can't just train their right hand while ignoring their left hand. (Or else people will misunderstand your session in a private space)

If I wanted to improve my use of Devil Fruit, I needed to improve my body as well... 'But how?' I thought while skipping around the forest, swiftly evading the trees by changing my direction mid-air.

*Hop* *Hop*

Somewhere far away, I heard a soft thudding on Earth as something effortless bounced off the ground.

A bunny was hopping around the earth...

"MEAAAAAAT!!!!" I shouted and chased for the bunny, completely ignoring its adorable feature, only seeing its cooked version in the back of my head.

My sudden appearance disrupted its hopping rhythm but instead of falling the rabbit landed perfectly and hopped once again regaining its speed from before.

"Huh?" I exclaimed in enlightenment.

'Why is he so good at using his body?' 

The rabbit's motion of hopping with its leg and landing with its arm first to absorb the impact to flawlessly switch over the control to the leg to hop away was simple at first look but it was so perfect that I couldn't let my gaze off from it.

"This rabbit... It's trained its entire life to hop!!" I added a live commentary. 

Whilst I was dumbfounded at the rabbit's motion of how it used its muscle, a crow from high above descended.

"Caw~ Caw~" With a cry, the crow flapped its jet-black wing and landed on my shoulder stably. 

"Caw~ Caw~" It faced its head to me and cried, extending its beak to the pocket where my remaining grapes fruit was.

"What? You want this?" I took the grapes from my pocket and showcased them to the crow, and in return I got Caw'ed.

"I'm not giving it!!" I carried the grapes to my mouth and ate them in front of the crow.

"Caw~!!" The crow directed its sharp gaze to me and hit me multiple times with its beak.

"Stops it, damnit!!" I got irritated at the constant hitting so I controlled my feathers to shut its mouth tight and kept its beak from hitting me.

The crow unable to open its beak, flapped its wing to carry itself up.

"Hmph, What a loser!!" Still irritated at the fact that it tried to steal my food and even had the audacity to hit me with its beak, I tried to copy the way it flew as black wings manifested behind me.

The crow ascended, and I also did the same, albeit clumsily, that I had to make a feather below my leg to step on it.

I chased the crow all the way to the sky while whispering to its ear. "Ba~ka Ba~ka (idiot, idiot)" 

[Master... the way you're acting now is really childish.] AI hovered alongside me.

"Quiet!! I'm 9 years old right now!!" I rebutted.

Speaking of my age made me recall something causing me to halt my steps mid-air.

"My birthday... It's in 4 days..." A sense of loneliness shrouded me as I stopped mocking the crow.

"Ahh, forget it. I will get stronger for now!!" I said to myself and started chasing for the crow.

'If I don't have a teacher, I'll just copy a master's move.'

Like that, my training had begun.