"What the hell is this pain?" I groaned as I began to hear voices. "Argh!" Grabbing my head, I tried to make them stop, but alas, I had no control over the situation.
Memories rushed in, and I nearly had a heart attack as I looked around. I was in a medical room with many people tending to injured marines.
Yes, you heard that right—injured marines. I had somehow woken up after the war, as Koby.
"Koby! You're awake!" I turned my head to the side when I heard a voice. 'Helmeppo-san,' I thought as I nodded. "Yeah, I'm trying to shut these voices down," I said, my eyes darting to the doctor with him.
"I spoke with the doctor. He said it's Haki—Observation," Helmeppo said, looking at the doctor, who nodded.
"Yes, the big shots in the Navy all have Haki, and it seems you have it too—pretty advanced as well, since you said you could hear voices," the doctor explained as I looked at my hands, focusing on them.
Closing my eyes, I tried to rein in my intent to know everything around me, and just like that, I could no longer hear the voices, nor could I sense anyone.
"I did it," I smiled. Yes, Haki is the only thing that will let me survive in this world, and I am determined to do so.
This body has enormous potential. If I remember correctly, Koby went from being a scrawny kid to someone capable of using "Shave" like it was nothing in the span of months—a technique that requires the user to kick the ground ten times in an instant.
He even went as far as to use advanced Armament Haki the first time he ever used it in his life. Such potential is a treasure trove for me. Shaking off my thoughts, I looked at Helmeppo and opened my mouth.
"Helmeppo-san, where is Vice Admiral Garp?"
"Don't know." He shook his head with a disappointed expression, tinged with sadness as well. Of course, I'm sad too. Ace died, and Luffy went through so much pain. I still remember everything like it was just minutes ago, even though I'm somewhat sure it's been days.
I was a Luffy fan in my previous life, and I'm still a Luffy fan. I just didn't expect to die one day so suddenly, and even more unexpected was this reincarnation—or transmigration, or whatever it is.
Honestly, it feels like my soul merged with Koby's; otherwise, this strong sense of justice wouldn't be there. I wasn't a hero after all.
I stood up and wobbled a bit, still not used to this body. After steadying myself, I turned to Helmeppo.
"Helmeppo-san, I'm going to clear my mind a bit," I said, then turned to the doctor. "Thank you, doc."
He nodded with a smile and walked away to tend to others, leaving me with Helmeppo, who looked at me with a sigh.
I left the hospital alone and walked to the other side of Marineford. Most of the city was still wrecked from Whitebeard's last attack.
Cracks and holes were everywhere. What was truly terrifying was that this destruction had been caused by a man in his late seventies, with who knows what stage of cancer, and he couldn't even use his Haki.
I sighed and walked to the junkyard where the retired marine battleships were. I'm gonna punch my feelings away.
As I got closer, I noticed the dents on them, likely caused by Koby himself. Bracing myself, I pulled my fist back and gave it a light punch. It felt like a tingling sensation.
"Alright, let's go hard," I muttered to myself. Once again, I pulled my fist back, closed my eyes, bracing for the incoming pain, and punched with all I had.
*Clang*
Damn, my entire right hand felt like it had gone on vacation. My bones shook, going numb and still.
'If that Koby can do it, then I definitely can,' I gave myself a pep talk and, with difficulty, raised my hand again. Reeling my fist back, I punched once more.
*Clang*
I punched again, this time with my left hand.
*Clang*
'Why am I here?' I raised my right hand and punched.
*Clang*
'How am I here?' Left hand again.
*Clang*
'I'm supposed to be dead!' Right hand again.
*Clang*
'I don't deserve to live after that incident.' Left hand again.
*Clang*
'WHO EVEN AM I!' I screamed inside my head as I pulled my hand back as far as I could and punched with everything I had.
*CLANG!*
"Argh!" Blood sprayed from my broken fist, and waves of pain hit me as my face contorted in agony.
With a sigh, I sat down on the ground, staring at the new dents I'd made on the battleship-each one marked with blood-covered fist prints. Raising my hands, I saw blood dripping from both of my fists.
"Koby."
Startled, I quickly turned around and saw Garp-san. He wasn't in his marine uniform—just a gray tank top, black trousers, and sandals.
"Garp-san," I muttered as I stood up. I still couldn't believe he was really here. He felt both fictional and real at the same time, likely a result of Koby's memories mixing with mine.
"Come here," he said, walking over and sitting down on a small boulder. Next to it was another boulder, and between them was a slab of rock, set up like a makeshift table.
"Koby, I heard from Helmeppo that you awakened Haki," Garp said, placing a file-like document on the table. "This is the file we have on Haki."
"Garp-san," I said, looking at him. He turned to me with an unusual seriousness. "Are you okay?"
"What are you talking about?" he said, laughing loudly. "Bwahahaha! There's nothing in this world that can harm me!"
That's not what I meant, but I had a feeling I shouldn't push further.
"Of course, who am I kidding?" I allowed myself a small smile; he had erased some of the worrying thoughts in my mind.
I'm having an identity crisis, but I guess I'll leave that for my future self to handle. For now, I have to train.
"Garp-san," I said, looking at him with the utmost seriousness I could muster, "I'm resigning from the Navy."
"WHAAAAAT!?"