Ebisu Town was much like the other settlements in Wano that had been ravaged by poverty. Quaint little homes with thatched roofs that had started to fall into disrepair some years ago, but the residents simply never had the excess energy to do any proper work on them.
"Hm, maybe I can convince Franky to come over here and spruce the place up a bit," Cherry pondered aloud. The cyborg did quick, quality work and he was just soft hearted enough to do it for free and without complaint, she reckoned.
She could do it too, albeit with less skill since her focus was in other crafts, but she wasn't that charitable with her time. It would be faster and serve the people better, in her professional opinion, to simply scrounge up a few weeks worth of food and let the residents handle their own affairs. Or not, if that's what they chose.
"Franky? What a strange name," Yasuie said. "Is he a carpenter by trade? I doubt that much work could get done here in any short amount of time."
"A shipwright, actually, though his talents are both expansive and deep. If he only did the job to the level of being 'good enough', then I'm sure he could finish in less than a week," Cherry said. "Though now that I think about it, he definitely wouldn't settle for 'shoddy' work like that, so it's probably best if I don't say anything to him."
"The people here may be poor, but they have their own pride. While they are willing to accept help from others, there are some things that they can't accept." Yasuie agreed for his own reasons.
"Yasu-san! It's good to see you're back safe and sound!" A smiling old woman approached as they drew near to the town.
"Azuki-san. It's good to be back," Yasuie said as he turned to her.
Azuki paused as they looked at one another, as if searching his face for something. Her eyes then widened in shock, though her smile never fled her face of course.
"Y-yasu-san! You're not smiling!" Azuki pointed at him with a trembling hand, the other hand going up to cover her mouth. It had the odd effect of looking like she was laughing at him instead.
"I-" "Worry not, Ma'am! I am Sakuranbo, the greatest masseuse in the world! Stiff facial muscles are no match for my miraculous hands!" Cherry cut off Yasuie with something that sounded like a sales pitch from a professional scammer.
"Really?!" Azuki bought it immediately, though it did help that Yasuie was seemingly living proof of the claims.
"Yes, really! Your friend here has already paid me for my services, so you'll be happy to know that you needn't pay a single coin out of your own pocket!" Cherry declared.
Azuki ran off into Ebisu Town with a spring in her step that the likes of a woman half her age would struggle to replicate. "Everyone, everyone! Come out quickly, there's a miracle worker here to see us!"
The town was apparently not as asleep as it had appeared to be moments ago as people started poking their smiling faces out of doors and windows to see what was happening that had Azuki all worked up so early in the morning.
The news spread quickly from that point onwards and soon people were crowding around the figures of Cherry and Yasuie in the town's center. The air was abuzz with excitement and wonder, but also disbelief. Not everyone had the optimism to hope for an end to their curse, even after seeing the example that Yasuie represented.
"Who's first then? Step right up, don't be shy! It'll be over in a jiffy and won't hurt a bit!" Cherry sing-songed.
The residents of Ebisu Town muttered, murmured, and whispered among themselves. Even those who were most hopeful hesitated to be the first.
*stomp stomp stomp*
A big brute of a man pushed his way through the crowd and plopped himself down onto the ground in front of Cherry, his weight making a great thump that everyone felt through the ground with their feet.
"I'll go first. The children will go after me," he declared, his furrowed brows making his smile look quite vicious. "If this is a trick, don't think that you can escape."
"A skeptic, how refreshing! It's not often I have the chance to prove my skill to someone who doesn't already trust me!" Cherry said.
With a light jump, Cherry landed on the man's shoulder and immediately planted her hands firmly on either side of his face with a light slap. After about five minutes of awkward face squishing, which made the local children giggle with genuine laughter for once, she finally released the poor man and stepped away from him.
Gasps rang out from the crowd.
"Let's turn those smiles upside down!" Cherry produced a hand mirror and showed the man his brand new frown.
The brute gave one sharp nod before he stood and retreated back to his hovel, where he would spend the remainder of his day crying where no one could see or hear him.
As the first volunteer had suggested, the children went next. Women and elderly followed, with the men going last. The order wasn't important, as everyone got a turn.
Cherry worked tirelessly through the morning, afternoon, evening, and night before finishing up with the last one on the following morning. When she finished working on that final victim of Orochi's cruelty, the entire town erupted into cheers. People embraced one another with tears spilling down their faces and there wasn't a smile in sight.
"Now listen up!" Cherry called out, gathering the attention of the townsfolk. "Just because you aren't smiling and laughing any more doesn't mean that you aren't still under the effects of the S.M.I.L.E. fruits! If you eat another one, you will explode, do you understand me? I've seen it happen before, and it is not pretty!"
"We've seen it as well. We weren't told what the cursed fruit were when they were given to us. After we were cursed, a few of us figured we couldn't get more cursed and ate another, only for them to…" Azuki shivered. "You don't need to worry; we understand the consequences all too well."
It was with that that Cherry left them and started making her way back to the Flower Capital with Yasuie.
Except for Cherry's. "I've gone and done it now. Made a whole town cry. They ought to call me the Tear-Jerker."
"That would give people the wrong impression, I think," Yasuie commented.
"Clearly I am a villain whose evil knows no bounds! Even now I am plotting to kidnap an innocent little girl. I may even dethrone the rightful ruler of this fine country!" Cherry ignored Yasuie and monologued about her despicable plans. "By the time I've left, so many people working in the mines and the factories will no longer have a job! The food grown in the farms will be distributed amongst the filthy masses who are ungrateful for the leftovers so kindly granted to them!"
"I get it. Just be quiet, someone might actually overhear you," Yasuie suppressed a grin. It felt so good that he could do that again.