The afternoon sun blazed down over the sprawling, broken maze of Gray Terminal — a wasteland of discarded junk, wrecked ships, and lawless danger. It was here that three boys ruled their small corner of chaos.

  Yasuragi, now eleven years old, crouched behind a pile of rotting crates, his sharp, dark eyes fixed on a group of pirates loudly arguing over stolen loot. The acrid smell of smoke and salt filled the air. Life in this place was ruthless, but it was all Yasuragi had ever known.

  “Oi, Ace, you ready?” Yasuragi hissed.

  “Yeah,” came the low reply from his left.

  Portgas D. Ace — wild black hair, a freckled face, and a cocky grin — crept up holding a small pouch of Berries he’d just swiped. His movements were quick and confident. Ace was six months older than Yasuragi, and the closest thing he had to a brother.

  Moments later, a third figure appeared — Sabo, their friend with unruly blond hair and a battered top hat. He dropped down from a stack of crates with a proud smirk, holding a rusty pocket watch.

  “Snatched this off some passed-out geezer,” Sabo said.

  Yasuragi grinned. “Nice. Alright, let’s clear out before they notice.”

  For the past year, the three of them had made the lawless Gray Terminal their territory. They’d steal what they could — Berries, food, valuables — from careless pirates and wandering criminals. Every coin was saved, every scrap gathered toward a single dream: a ship of their own.

  But Yasuragi carried a secret none of the others knew.

  When he was seven years old, his Devil Fruit power had awakened. The Makyoku Makyoku no Mi — the Reverse-Reverse Fruit. It allowed him to create a small "Room" where all directions were reversed. Left became right, forward became back, up became down. Within it, enemies lost all sense of orientation. Parrying attacks failed, strikes missed, movements felt wrong.

  It was an absurdly powerful ability — but Yasuragi rarely used it.

  Not because it was weak. But because it wasn’t fair.

  Ace and Sabo fought with grit, bruises, and blood. They earned every victory. Yasuragi swore to do the same. He’d quietly trained his Devil Fruit power alone since he was seven, testing it in secret. He could now hold a Room for several seconds before his head spun, but no one else knew.

  Not Ace. Not Sabo. Not even Dadan’s gang.

  “Let’s hit old Doma’s stash,” Yasuragi suggested. “He’s got booze hidden near the south heap. We can trade it tomorrow.”

  “Race ya there!” Ace shouted, taking off like a shot.

  “Cheater!” Sabo barked, laughing as he chased after him.

  Yasuragi followed with a grin. This was their world — running wild, dodging danger, and dreaming of the sea.

  They darted between heaps of broken wagons and crumbling walls. A gang of older kids tried to cut them off, but Yasuragi was faster, slamming into one with his shoulder and sending him sprawling into the dirt.

  “Scram!” Ace snarled.

  The older kids fled. None dared fight them now. The three of them had made a name for themselves in Gray Terminal.

  Soon, they reached the stash: a pile of old crates under a tarpaulin. Ace pried one open, revealing a few dusty bottles.

  “Tomorrow we trade these for food and rope,” Yasuragi said.

  “We’re getting closer to our ship!” Ace grinned.

  “No one will stop us,” Sabo added, leaning against a broken mast.

  Yasuragi didn’t answer right away. His gaze lingered on the distant horizon, where the ocean shimmered like polished glass.

  Someday, when the time was right, he’d tell them about his Devil Fruit. But not yet.

  For now, it was his burden to bear, and his strength to master.

  They sat there as the sun set, casting long shadows over the wasteland. Three brothers by bond, not blood — thieves, fighters, and future pirates.

  The late afternoon sun hung low behind the trees of Mt. Colubo, casting long shadows across the forest. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth, sweat, and the faint metallic tang of fresh blood from a hunt.

  From the treeline, Ace and Yasuragi emerged, both covered in dirt, their grins wide. Between them, a plump wild pig hung by its legs from a thick branch, and slung over Ace’s shoulder was a small unconscious bear.

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  “Tch. Told you I’d catch the bigger one,” Ace boasted, adjusting the weight of the bear.

  “Yeah, yeah, you got lucky,” Yasuragi chuckled, wiping his brow. “Next time, the bear’s mine.”

  They trudged back toward the shabby house that served as the Dadan Family’s base. Dogra sat on a log, lazily puffing a cigarette, while Magra stacked firewood nearby.

  “Oi! What the hell is this? You brats dragging bears home now?” Dogra shouted, his bushy eyebrows nearly disappearing into his hair.

  Ace flashed a cocky smirk before letting the bear drop to the ground with a thud. “Gotta eat big to get strong.”

  Magra chuckled, shaking his head. “These two are something else.”

  “Don’t let Dadan catch you making a mess. She’ll have your hides,” Dogra warned, his voice carrying a hint of affection despite the reprimand.

  As if on cue, Dadan’s voice boomed from inside the house. “If you idiots are getting blood on my floor again, I swear I’ll break your necks!”

  Ace rolled his eyes, clearly unfazed. Yasuragi snickered and set the pig down beside the bear.

  After a quick wash at the water barrel, both boys headed inside. The house was humble — worn floorboards, a battered table, a few hammocks, and piles of old blankets for the younger kids and strays Dadan occasionally took in.

  Yasuragi flopped down onto a ratty cushion, stretching his sore limbs. Ace grabbed a bottle of water and sat cross-legged nearby, his face serious, as always, around the others.

  Even now, Ace’s personality hadn’t changed — cold, distant, and sharp-tongued toward everyone except Yasuragi and their friend Sabo. With Dadan’s men, he barely spoke. With the other kids, he stayed aloof. Only when it was just the two of them did his usual scowl turn into a grin.

  Dogra and Magra brought in the pig and bear, grumbling about the butchering. Dadan stormed out of the kitchen with a fierce glare. “You brats better not start any trouble before dinner!”

  Ace didn’t even flinch, while Yasuragi flashed her a grin. “Yes, ma’am.”

  Later, after the sun had fully set and the rough dinner was done, Ace and Yasuragi claimed their usual sleeping spot — an old hammock on one side of the room. They always slept at Dadan’s house. No matter how wild their days at Gray Terminal were, this was home.

  Yasuragi lay back and summoned his system screen in his mind’s eye.

  [System Status]

  Name: Yasuragi

  [System Status: Stable]

  Age: 1 month

  Devil Fruit: Reverse-Reverse Fruit

  Room Control Time: 8 seconds

  Stamina Drain: Moderate

  Reverse Field Range: 6 meters

  Stats:

  Strength: 21

  Agility: 32

  Endurance: 25

  Perception: 102

  Willpower: 168

  He blinked, dismissing the floating text, letting it vanish. His powers were growing slowly, but he kept them a secret — even from Ace and Sabo. They had no idea about the full extent of his abilities.

  Ace’s voice broke the silence. “Oi… tomorrow, let’s hit that new pirate camp in Gray Terminal. Bet they’ve got cash.”

  Yasuragi grinned, the idea sparking excitement in his chest. “You’re on.”

  The fire crackled softly in the hearth as the two drifted off to sleep under the same roof, with a wild world waiting for them at dawn.

  The early morning mist clung to the ground around Mt. Colubo. A thin layer of fog blanketed the trees and the clearing around Dadan’s house, muffling the sounds of the waking forest.

  Yasuragi stirred first in the hammock, blinking against the pale dawn light filtering through the broken window. He could hear Dogra snoring in the corner and Magra clanking pots in the kitchen. The warmth of Ace, still asleep beside him, was familiar now — their lives bound like brothers since they were babies, even if no blood connected them.

  Carefully, Yasuragi slipped out of the hammock, doing his best not to wake Ace, and tiptoed outside. He needed space — not to stretch his body, but to test his power.

  Once a safe distance from the house, behind a cluster of thick trees, Yasuragi raised his hand.

  “Room,” he whispered, though no one was around to hear.

  A translucent sphere shimmered into being around him — the familiar, invisible boundary of his Devil Fruit power. It wasn’t quite like Law’s Ope Ope no Mi, but it shared one thing in common: the ability to reshape the world within a controlled space.

  Inside this space, left was right, up was down, forward was backward. He reached out to pluck a leaf, watching as his hand’s movement inverted the moment it crossed the barrier’s edge. The leaf floated to the side he hadn’t reached for, moving in reverse within the Room’s warped reality.

  It was disorienting, even for him, but he was getting better. His Room now lasted about eight seconds before the strain became too much.

  [System Notification]

  Room Duration Increased: 8.2 seconds → 8.5 seconds

  A small grin tugged at his lips. Slowly but surely, he was getting stronger.

  He let the Room dissipate and sat back against a tree, watching as the sky began to lighten.

  Before long, Ace came stomping through the undergrowth, half-dressed and scowling. “Oi, idiot — you left without me again.”

  Yasuragi shrugged. “Just testing something.”

  Ace narrowed his eyes but didn’t press. “Let’s grab Sabo and hit that pirate camp. We need more money.”

  “Yeah.”

  By now, stealing from pirates in Gray Terminal was second nature to them. They weren’t reckless — they picked easy targets: lone drunkards or newcomers who underestimated a trio of scruffy kids. Sabo, with his sharp eyes, always spotted the marks. Ace and Yasuragi handled the fights.

  After a quick breakfast — which, in Dadan’s house, meant leftover stew and a fight over stale bread — they grabbed their makeshift weapons. Ace had his thick metal pipe, and Yasuragi carried a short staff he’d carved from a sturdy tree branch.

  Dogra called after them as they left. “Oi, no gettin’ yourselves killed!”

  “We’ll be back before dark!” Yasuragi shouted over his shoulder.

  They made their way down to the sprawling, junk-covered slums of Gray Terminal. Smoke from a dozen campfires curled into the sky. Shady men lounged by barrels, half-sunken ships served as shelters, and piles of discarded goods lined the crooked paths.

  At their usual meeting spot — a broken wall overlooking the main road — Sabo was already waiting. Blond hair messy as always, goggles perched on his head, a cocky smirk on his face.

  “Took you long enough,” Sabo greeted.

  “Had to deal with sleeping beauty here,” Yasuragi teased, earning a scoff from Ace.

  “Let’s go,” Ace grunted. “I heard a group of pirates docked last night, been drinking since.”

  “Easy pickings,” Sabo grinned.

  And just like that, they were off. A team. Brothers by bond, not blood.

  Yasuragi kept his Devil Fruit power to himself. He didn’t need it for scuffles with drunk pirates — not yet. His fists, his staff, and his wits were enough for now.

  But in the back of his mind, he felt it: a storm brewing. His Room, his power… it would one day reshape this world. For now, though, he was just another scrappy kid chasing a pirate’s dream, side by side with his brothers.