6 Devil Fruits & Unfamiliar Woman

"Come on, I'm not old enough to be having dementia or sick enough to be having hallucinations," Ban protested.

He shook his head, attempting to deny the existence inside his head.

'But I'm here, partner. You should accept the reality because from today until the day you die, I'll be inside you. Calm down. I'm also just as confused as you,' the voice inside Ban spoke.

'Thank you, that's very comforting... you rascal, get out of me,' 

'No can do! Who in their right mind would willingly reside inside an old man's mind? You virgin, lame, loveless soul,' the voice inside Ban's mind returned his hostility with a volley of insults.

'Urgh,' Ban felt a pang of heart as the voice spewed out insults.

In fact, Ban was so wounded that he decided to ignore him and get straight to the point, 'In the first place, who are you? Why are you inside my mind? Explain it in one sentence.'

'Gotcha, partner. I have no name but you can call me Yami. I'm inside you because you ate a fruit.'

'I eat fruits every day since the day I escaped from the institute, your explanation makes no sense! Give me a more detailed explanation,' 

'Heh. Born as the embodiment of humanity and not limited to humanity's hope and desire, I took the form of a Fruit, Strangely, humanity began to call me a Devil Fruit, despite being the one made from above heaven and below hell to fulfill their cravings, regardless of their power and or aspirations. We are the most reviled, and those who consume us will gain permanent power in exchange for the inability to swim to the sea. *endless chattering*'

'Okay, okay. Stop. I understand that you're devil fruit and I don't care about your origins, Tell me, why a devil fruit, who is supposed to only grant power in exchange for the ability to swim, speaking to me.' 

'That, I don't know. Ever since that kid appeared, I began having my own thoughts, and on the day he woke, I became able to speak.' 

'Sure, that explains nothing on how the heck you're speaking... is this what is it? Did my intrusive thoughts finally begin whispering to me? Ahh shit,'

"Ban,"  I called out to the old man who was acting weird, mumbling to himself.

My unexpected call successfully grabbed his attention causing old man Ban to direct his gaze to me.

"W-what is it, you alien..." Ban said nervously.

"This," I showed him the notebook I had been writing. 

My verbal development at the moment was astonishing as within an hour of studying, I learned a simple word like 'This.'  It was as if I finally received the beginners' package for babies to naturally learn how to speak though my desire to communicate also played some significant role.

'Or maybe I'm just a natural-born genius?' I felt this way. Regardless, as a person who received zero formal education, getting taught by someone felt good even if I didn't fully grasp what my teacher was saying the entire time.

"Oh, that's right... I didn't expect you to enjoy learning words. That's all you have to learn for today. Spend the rest of the day doing whatever you want like playing, eating, or shitting."

'Playing, eating, shitting...' new words was engraved in my brain.

Old man Ban finally regained his composure when I showed him the notebook. After instructing me to be free, I became dissatisfied but I left his side to approach Mistella who had resumed her training.

Observing me engrossed in the activity of annoying Mistella, Ban returned to his mumbling, talking to the intrusive thoughts (personally named by him) inside him.

'You sure that kid is the guy that gave you an ego? He's a kid who can barely speak.'

'No? Who said that it was him that made me be able to speak? You dumb?'

'This little shit, get to the point.'

'I am already at the point, aren't I? Ever since that kid appeared on this island, I became able to think for myself. That's all I know.'

'You... serious? From now on, until I die? You're stuck with me...? What if I lose my virginity? It won't stand up with you reacting to my acts...'

'Don't worry, partner. No one would do it with an old man like you. You missed your chance.'

The old man let out a scream in tragedy.

.

.

.

In another place, deep in the jungle of an unexplored island, a peach with an extremely bizarre pattern, one would be reminded of a devil, suddenly materialized out of thin air.

Inside the peach, a being without substances, an ego without bodies constructed itself and took the shape of a monkey.

'Where is this place!?... Buddha! What trickery did you use this time! I, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven won't be sealed in this tiny peach!' the shapeless ego wreaked havoc inside the peach, causing the fruit, or rather, Devil Fruit to sway left and right.

.

.

.

In a similar vein, within the location known as Mary Geoise deep inside a castle, in particular chamber, a tall person with extraordinarily long hair erected or a crown, rose to his feet from his sitting position.

The empty throne is shrouded in darkness, making it uncertain whether the figure who arose was even a man a monster, or a god in human guise.

His expression remained obscure because of the darkness shrouding him, there was one thing clear about him—the crimson glow of his eyes that knows no depth.

His red eyes visibly swayed from side to side, betraying the shock he had never received in a century. 

"The world's Ideology has been shaken, and the balance of power in this world will once again shift," the man declared in the undecipherable sentence.

---

Since the day the old man took me in, a week had swiftly passed. With no known method to get out of this world, I immersed every single day in 'One Piece Online.'

Maybe because of that, I learned how to conversate with someone else to a normal extent, and gone were the bad manners I had in the past...

Or so it should have been...

"It's not fair, Mistella cheated! She cheated, she is a cheater! I'm telling this to Ban!" I protested, annoyed at the outcome of our match and the fact that Mistella had removed the weight in her leg. My finger pointed straight at the directions of her.

"Hmph! It's not cheating; on the battlefield, anything is fair. You're the one cheating because who the heck in their right mind fights with handicaps on?" Mistella refuted.

"Bullshit, you're the one who said you will fight me with that thing. Tch, just because I am more talented than you in fighting..."

Despite learning more words, my specialty of annoying Mistella hadn't disappeared. The words 'talented' struck Mistella's heart deeply as she got irritated enough to restart the match without my consent.

"First of all, why are you so light!? A man should be heavy and hit hard!" Mistella complained as she threw a punch in my direction.

"It's not my fault for being light! It's your fault for being heavy! You got a lot fatter since the day we met! Maybe you should eat less food?" I rebutted, lying as naturally as I breathe.

In reality, I hadn't paid much attention to Mistella's weight and didn't care how she looked. I had a peculiar talent for seeing beneath the surface and saying the words that annoyed them the most in certain situations.

Coincidentally, annoying Mistella had become the funniest thing in the world to me.

'If I can't beat her physically, I will fight her with words,' was my thoughts.

Mistella on the other hand, had no way to fight back against me except for hitting me harder. To her, I was a strange person never seen before (well it was the first time she had thoroughly observed the people outside the institute).

Unlike the advantages and disadvantages Grandpa Ban taught to her, I, a boy was notably faster and more flexible than her, a girl. However, in contrast, my blows were weaker and I was more fragile than her.

Mistella began to question whether the notion Grandpa Ban had taught her about 'girls have less strength and boys being slower than girls,' was entirely accurate.

What Mistella had missed was Grandpa Ban at the time, also added 'Most of the time.' So it was her fault for not listening to the end. 

When she wore a weight, Mistella had limited offensive options, as she mainly relied on counterattacking while fighting me. The limitation was incredibly frustrating for her, leading her to ultimately remove the weights.

Of course, these thoughts were only running through Mistella's mind during our spar. At the moment, I was only thinking of how to win against her physically.

Which, as it turned out, seemed an impossible task. 

---

In the end, my face became so swollen, that it looked like Usopp after Vivi slapped him countless times at the Drum Island.

Thankfully, my adorable, cute baby face returned to normal in a matter of an hour after washing it. I hadn't noticed before, but ever since started washing myself a week ago, my golden hair had restored its luster and I looked more refreshed overall.

It would be perfect if I didn't have that dumb-looking expression on my face, as I drooled.

After finishing washing my face, I walked back to the house but stopped in my tracks when I saw an unfamiliar face. 

"Ua?" I made the same reaction when I first spotted the triangle object that brought me to this world. 

The person before me was a stranger, but her face radiated beauty that even I, a country-bumpkin kid who lived in a city could tell that she was exceptionally beautiful.

The woman had aqua-blue hair that flowed down to her slender waist. As she slept, her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and her face that knew no taint showed a miserable expression like that of a kitten in distress, tugging at anyone's heartstrings and making them want to help her out no matter the situation.

Currently, the unconscious woman was bound at her wrist by a rope that looked neither durable nor fragile.

Perhaps it was the attire that she was currently wearing or the way she had been tied up, but the woman, whose face radiated nothing but pureness had her arm raised, and the revealing garments she wore fully displayed her armpits and side-boobs.

As a child, I walked past her and called out to Grandpa Ban, completely unaware that my sexuality had been distorted that day.