"Kanpai!"
Sin and Yamato cheered as they gulped down the mead, celebrating their successful Treasure Hunt today.
And after sorting out all the treasure that Marco had left for Hiyori, they both decided to have a contest over who could drink more.
It was quite late at night now, a few hours in dawn, and the two were still going at it, having finished all the bottles that they had in the house.
"Where are we going next, Sin? I also want to meet the rest of the crew!" Yamato, who was quite drunk by now, excitedly asked, chugging down on another mug full of mead.
We will stay here for another week. And then I have to leave for North Blue to check up on two kids and an old man. After that, we will head to Water 7 in Paradise, to check up on the progress of the new ships."
"New Ships?" She curiously looked at him.
"Yes. There's a Main Ship and two Warships, which will be the Official Fleet of the Kingdom of Winterheim. I did not like the design of the last one, but it was an interesting piece of engineering, where it could submerge into the water. I hired some engineers to make it better."
"Oh." She nodded her head. "Tell me about Blackpearl!"
"It's the fastest ship on the Seas. 292 feet along the keel and 94 feet across the beam..." Sin proudly smiled and then proceeded to tell her some details about it. "... Its bottom is layered with Sea Prism Stone, and it has retractable paddle wheels too, so, it can easily and safely sail on the waters of Calm Belt."
"Awesome!" Yamato merrily laughed, now more excited after hearing his words, and then her mind suddenly clicked as she remembered his earlier words.
"Oh, the old man and the two boys are part of the crew or relatives?" She curiously asked and watched him smile.
"The two boys will become part of my Crew. They asked for it, and I promised them on a condition that if they can become useful to me, I will accept them. But I doubt that Old Man Wolf would agree to it." He chuckled. "He's a brilliant engineer and inventor, though. And both Shachi and Penguin have been learning under him for years now."
"How did you meet them?" She excitedly asked, looking forward to an exciting story, and Sin happily told her about the day he met Law, Bepo, Shachi, Penguin, and Wolf, and the day he saved them and the Swallow Island from the Pirates."
"...It's been five years since that day." He smiled as he picked up the bottle that still had some Whiskey left in it and drank it.
"They seem like an exciting bunch." She happily laughed after hearing the antics of the Four boys.
"Yeah. Even though Bepo never got along with Shachi and Penguin, the day I took him and Law with me, he admitted that he would miss them. He has a very pure heart."
"I want to meet him!"
"You will." He chuckled. "And you will make great friends with him."
"Tell me about others!" She requested, and then turned quiet with she heard someone coming downstairs.
Yamato giggled as she looked at Hiyori, who was yawning and headed straight to the fridge to grab some late-night snacks.
They both laughed when she looked their way with a mouthful of pastry, and the panicked looked that crossed her face was ridiculously funny. Or perhaps, the booze had gotten to Yamato's head since she failed to control her laughter.
"It's okay. Sit, and eat." Sin was not drunk at all, and he gently smiled at her when she started feeling a little embarrassed.
Hiyori obediently nodded to him as she sat at the breakfast table, happily eating her pastries, and Sin then continued his conversation about his crew members with Yamato.
They were both busy chatting when he suddenly stopped and looked towards Hiyori, and what he saw made him narrow his eyes.
There, on the seat right next to where she was sitting, was his coat, and he found her reaching inside it.
Yamato, too curiously looked at her, watched her look at the small white Devil Fruit that she had taken out of his inner pocket in a daze, and she panicked when she saw the girl bringing it up to her mouth.
She was about to yell to her to stop her, but Sin placed his hand on her mouth, stopping her, and then he shook his head as he allowed Hiyori to consume the Devil Fruit.
"Yuckk!!" The expressions Hiyori made as soon as she swallowed the first bite were so ridiculously funny that Yamato burst out laughing again, remembering the day she had consumed her Devil Fruit. "Sin, it's disgusting!"
He smiled as Hiyori complained to him.
"Why did you eat it?" He asked.
"I..." She frowned as she failed to find words and reason, and then confusedly looked at the half-eaten fruit in her hand. "I don't know."
"Finish it." He mischievously told her, and she scrunched up her nose.
"What is this?"
"It's a fruit, and very good for your health. It makes you strong." He told her, and Yamato now had tears in her eyes as she failed to get a grip on her laughter.
"Really?" She doubtfully looked at him.
"Yes." And he promisingly nodded to her.
Hiyori hesitated as she looked at the Fruit again, but choosing to believe him, she put the remaining half in her mouth and quickly chewed it before swallowing it.
"Yuckkk!"
Sin burst out in laughter, and both he and Yamato did not stop laughing for the next few minutes.
"Stop laughing!" They heard her shout, which they ignored, but then they suddenly heard her roar like a beast, and they both froze and looked at her with very serious eyes.
Hiyori panicked a little when she saw them look at her like that, and it was clear that she was oblivious to the voice she had just let out.
"Cute tail." Sin playfully commented, looking behind her legs, and when Hiyori followed his gaze and found a long and furry white tail with turquoise markings on it, and the tip which had a tuft of turquoise hair in the form of a flame and clouds around it, she froze. "And ears too."
She heard him speak again, and subconsciously reached for her head where she touched a very furry ear. Understandably, she panicked when she sensed the touch.
"Ahhhhh!!!!" She screamed, and Sin immediately appeared by her side, pulling her in his arms.
"Shhhh... It's okay " He gently told her, squeezing her in his arms, and Yamato arrived by their side.
"Don't panic. You ate a Devil Fruit, a Zoan, and this is normal." She told her.
"I have a tail!" She had tears in her eyes now but froze when she saw a long fluffy tail behind Yamato.
"So, do I." The Oni-Girl showed her own tail and then retracted it. "You can retract it if you focus on it."
Hiyori immediately calmed down after witnessing Yamato retract her tail, and when she separated from Sin's arms, she took another look at her tail.
She curiously touched it, experimented with it, and giggled at the ticklish feeling. Her feline ears twitched as she picked up on the breaths of the servants who were still soundly sleeping.
Both Sin and Yamato stayed silent as they allowed her to get used to her newfound senses, and several minutes later, when she finally managed to retract her ears and tail, she happily looked at them.
"What Devil Fruit was it?" She curiously asked, and they both smiled at her.
"Don't you know?" Sin asked back, and she tilted her head. She thought about it and eventually shook her head.
"What's the most majestic animal in the world?" He asked, and she frowned as a certain image appeared in her head. "A Tiger, isn't it?" He knowingly asked.
"Yes." She nodded to him, and both Yamato and Sin smiled some more at her.
"You ate Neko Neko no Mi, Model: Byakko. It was a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit, a type that is considered on par or even stronger than the Logia Devil Fruits. You are the Divine White Tiger now." The Oni-Girl told her.
Hiyori gaped at her words, looking at her in disbelief, but seeing the seriousness in their eyes, her heart started accelerating in excitement.
"What Devil Fruit did you eat?"
"Okuchi-no-Makami."
"The Divine Guardian of Wano?!" She incredulously looked at the Oni-Girl, who grinned and then immediately transformed into her beautiful Hybrid Form. "Waww!!!"
Both Sin and Hiyori were surprised at how beautiful she looked in her Hybrid Form, but before the two could reach forward and touch her, she returned to her original form, which was smart on her part.
"I suppose you were right." Yamato grinned at him. "Some Mythical Devil Fruit really choose their eaters."
Now that she had witnessed how Hiyori had consumed the Fruit, almost as if some invisible force was pulling her to it, she remembered the day she had stopped and opened the chest that had contained her own Devil Fruit. What exactly was running in her mind at that time when she had stopped to open that chest? She did not know. And she knew that the Chests never contained food.
Her Devil Fruit had chosen her, and just like her, Hiyori was chosen by her own Drvil Fruit.
"Told you." He grinned at her and then gently patted Hiyori's head. "It would be a real shame if you don't grow up to become one of the most powerful people in the world after consuming that fruit, my dear Wifey. Your training will be very hard."
Hiyori became a little nervous after hearing his words, but then determinedly clenched her fists. "I will become strong."
"Good." He grinned at her.
"I will help you too!" Yamato excitedly said, and Hiyori felt quite warm in her heart at the sincere and adorable smile that the Oni-Girl wore on her face.
"Thank you."