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The waves crashed harshly against red sand as the sun beat down on his freckled shoulders. Lazy eyes watched how the fish flicked and spun like shiny silver coins in the water. It was the warmest island he had been to in a while, finding only those that were humid or too cold. The way they dug his fingers into the sand, the warmth and grit made it feel like home. They let their eyes fall close, not caring how the water lapped at his tattered cargo pants.
Maren hummed as he leaned back on his hands, he refused to chart his next course or see what was next. He was happy to just wonder for once, letting the sun speckle his skin with kisses and felt how the salted air coats his hair with every gust. But he was trying to ignore the lopsided feeling in his stomach.
He felt that there was something wrong and he couldn’t point out what. It felt as if something had shifted or moved to the wrong place and it irked him. So as a remedy he sat by the sea, waiting for its familiarity to calm that uncertainty growing sour in his stomach. They wanted to ignore the way the hair in the back of their neck was standing on edge for the past hour and it was starting to worry him. He hadn’t felt like this since before the Summit War and it worried him. Maren had to constantly remind himself that he was pretty much far away from any danger.
Then he heard the familiar squawk of a News Coo, Maren opened their eyes and looked up at it and hesitated. Maybe it will distract him for a while. Before the bird could fly away, Maren waved their hands at it and with it the newspaper fell into his hands, he watched it fly away before unfolding the paper with a sigh. His eyes widened at the front page:
BREAKING NEWS! :
BIG MOM PIRATES DEFEATED BY STRAW HAT PIRATES!
“Oh shit,” Maren muttered, straightening out and reading the headlines, trying to see what the hell happened. Their eyes scanned the words trying to look for something specific. “Katakuri, Katakuri, Katakuri-” he stopped when he found the snippet of information he was looking for:
“…After defeating TWO of the Sweet Commanders: the overly armored Cracker and the “untouchable” Katakuri…”
Maren could feel his stomach drop when he saw a picture of Katakuri himself under those words. Katakuri was splayed out on his back with his face covered by a black hat while he lay in a pool of his own blood with a gaping wound on his side almost covering his whole torso in a tar colored stain.
The newspaper fluttered as his hands began to shake at the shock that ran through his whole body. One of the strongest men he knew was defeated by a rookie pirate, it didn’t make sense. But as he looked at the picture longer it slowly became less undeniable that Katakuri was in critical condition or dead. The latter was a tough pill to swallow.
Without giving it another thought, Maren got up, letting the newspaper drop onto the sand, and headed to his boat. They needed to see Katakuri, they needed to make sure their friend was still alive. He couldn’t live without knowing.
***
“Brulee, I’m fine,” Katakuri sighed as his sister continued to fuss around him, making sure his bandages were clean and tight (for the tenth time that day); looking at the drip and the sugar bag to make sure it was enough for now. But Brulee still looked unconvinced and continued to look over his condition.
“Hush, don’t act as if you don’t have a hole on your side! It's ridiculous that you’d even think to help around Tottoland!” She exclaimed as she patted at the bandages, which haven’t budged an inch since he was set on the bed in the island’s hospital.
“Mama made a mess of the place… It's my responsibility to help the islanders under my care,” Katakuri argued, trying to put his arm behind him to sit up but as quickly the attempt started it ended with him hissing in pain.
“See! You’re in no shape to even sit up,” Brulee huffed while motioning the entirety of Katakuri’s tattered body. Then with a sigh: “You just have to stay put for a little while when you're all healed up you can put Tottoland in all its glory, deal?”
Katakuri regards his sister for a second. The guilt he felt when the Straw-Hat defeated him had been roiling in his chest like the first signs of a storm. He felt his hands clench at his sides, he had become useless overnight and he didn’t know whether it was a gift or a curse.
“Kat,” Brulee said softly, putting a small hand on Katakuri’s shoulder. “You did your best to protect us and it was enough to keep us all alive.”
“Okay, Brulee,” Katakuri said, looking away at the window at the left side of the room. He could feel a lump at his throat but Katakuri knew his sister was right. He faced a strong opponent and lost protecting his family, there is nothing else he would change.
“Good, I’m going to see what's going on with Mama now,” Brulee announced and gave Katakuri a stern look. “There is a mirror over there” she points at the farthest corner to the right, “If I look into it and you’re not resting I’ll tell Perospero to candy you into the bed.”
Katakuri waved her off, knowing she is in need around the islands in Tottoland. She glared at him once but left the room, and then there was silence.
Katakuri watched the door for a while, half-expecting for another sibling to walk in and scold him with how crazy he was for stabbing himself. He prided himself in fairness and honor, even if his siblings were more inclined to do the opposite. So he looked within himself to find some sort of regret or reprehension for the choices he made in that battle and he found none. Made him wonder if he was normal… His hands reached up to his exposed mouth and traced the scars.
“Pelican eel…” Katakuri muttered looking over at the window again. Maybe he wasn’t normal.
He raised the blanket that was over him and pulled it over his mouth.
***
A few days later…
Maren could recognize he was near Tottoland by the overpowering smell of sugar. It tinted everything around it to the point he swore he could taste the cookies, chocolate and candy that every island was cooking up.
As he slowly led him through all the islands that made up Tottoland he would see them hard at work fixing from whatever whirlwind of chaos that the Straw Hat brought to almost each one. Maren gnawed at their lips as he came closer to Komugi, the island’s huge centerpiece doughnut becoming bigger and bigger. Maren could feel their palms getting sweaty as he realized he was about to find out if his friend was alive or not.
After finding out what happened in Tottoland and Katakuri, Maren could not forget the image of Katakuri bleeding out and strewn in his back, like it was etched into the back of his eyelids every time he blinked. It haunted him to no end. And the dread hadn't dissipated one bit as it continued to claw its way from his stomach to his throat, making feel like gagging every time the thought of losing Katakuri popped up. Maren didn’t want to pinpoint the source of it, the disgusting feeling of it was enough to unnerve him.
Once Maren reached the docks of Komugi he was met with a lot of guards and suspicious looks, everyone being high strung after having the Straw Hats wreck havoc in the archipelago. He walked on, ignoring every turn of heads or side glares. Then, he was suddenly stopped by a candy guard. Its face had an unnerving look with a perpetual smile but the eyes were created in anger and suspicion.
Maren raised their hands in surrender trying to placate but it seemed to be following strict orders from the looks of it. As he started to try and flounder his way through the situation a familiar smooth voice saved his ass.
“Leave him,” Smoothie huffed as she approached the small crowd that had started forming around them, now it burst into hushed whispers between onlookers. “He’s here to visit Katakuri.”
The candy guard quickly let go and stepped back, giving him a wide berth.
“Thanks,” Maren said warily, looking over at Smoothie who was eyeing him as if looking for the quickest way to wring him dry.
She shrugged in indifference and started walking away and before she left earshot she called over her shoulder: “He’s at the island’s hospital.”
With a harsh nod, Maren rushed to the hospital.
***
It was already sunset when Maren reached the hospital with how small it was he just had to ask a few nurses to lead him to the room and they were kind enough to do so.
Standing right outside the door, they could their heart pumping harshly against their chest as they looked at the silver knob. Maren didn’t know what state he was going to find Katakuri in, for all he knew he could be in a coma. He only heard of what the Straw Hat was capable of, he was never close enough to see it. So he spun and spun different outcomes to what might have led Katakuri to be bedridden for so long.
They might have stood there for seconds or hours before they decided to bring a shaky hand up to the doorknob and twist it.
It slowly creaked open, the warm pink-orange of the sun bleeding into the stale light of the hallway. Maren held his breath as his eyes tried to lock onto Katakuri. When his eyes finally focused on the lying figure in the center of the room he felt a wave of relief crash over him. Katakuri was safe, he could see the steady rise and fall of the man’s chest; there was not even a hint of pain as Katakuri slept soundly.
“Thank gods,” Maren muttered, his knees buckling at how quick and violently the relief came. He could feel the exhaustion and contentment down to his bones now that the nauseating traces of dread were gone.
Closing the door, they walked over to the chair placed beside the hospital bed and slumped on it. He made no attempt in waking the man up, he still didn’t know the extent of his injuries but it was clear he needed rest.
Maren quietly moved the chair closer to the bed and rested both of his elbows on it, looking sideways at Katakuri. His eyes immediately felt heavy so he let them slip closed now that he knew that Katakuri was okay.
***
Katakuri worked up with a start, his eyes were heavy from fitful sleep and he felt as if his mouth was filled with cotton. He blinked harshly two or three times to try and bat away the sleep that still remained in them as he tried to remember his surroundings.
It was already dark out but the lamp beside his bed was casting warm light around the room, making everything softer with deep shadows. Katakuri groaned slightly when he sat up as much as he could in the stacked pillows behind him.
He jumped when he heard a grumble and looked around the room. His eyes landed on Maren, quietly sleeping by his hip. Katakuri felt his shoulders slump in relief as amusement bubbled in his belly. He had never seen Maren so unguarded before, his soft face smushed by his forearms as a little drool pooled at the corner of his mouth while strands of his hair flopped over his face. Katakuri unconsciously reached over to brush the hair aside, shifting the bed slightly.
“Hm?” Maren hummed, his eyes fluttering slowly open.
Katakuri jerked his hand away and froze slightly, not sure what he was planning to do. He quickly placed his hand back on his lap while Maren rose slightly from the mattress and looked sleepily at Katakuri.
“You’re awake,” he said with a sleepy smile spreading across his face. Maren raised his hands to stretch out, his shirt hiking up to reveal his soft pale stomach. Katakuri looked away, feeling a slight blush rise up to his cheeks. “You look better than I expected.”
“You thought I was worse?” Katakuri asked, not hurt but not really amused by it. He was used to projecting confidence and strength, for another person close to him would see him fail… It left a sour taste in his mouth.
“Well, yeah,” Maren hummed, leaning over the bed, resting his elbows on the bed. “To be honest, I was kinda losing it thinking you died.”
The hollow feeling that was growing in his chest seemed to stop for Katakuri now recognizing Maren’s genuine worry.
“I’m okay,” Katakuri said quietly, wringing his fingers as Maren continued to quietly stare at him. Katakuri could tell they were tired, their eyes were drooping more than usual and the bags under their eyes were dark as if he hadn’t slept for days. “Did it take you long to-”
Katakuri cut himself off when he saw Maren’s eyes widen, his face remained relaxed and there was a small blush creeping up on his cheeks. Katakuri looked at them confused wondering what was wrong.
“What?” Katakuri asked, brows furrowing. Was he bleeding through his bandage? He reached up the wrapping around one of his eyes. “Why are you staring?”
Then he realized that his mouth was uncovered, he got so used to Brulee or Smoothie coming in to check on him that he didn’t bother to cover up his mouth. He fidgeted a moment trying to decide what to do, how not to make Maren uncomfortable.
***
Maren after the all the exhaustion had abated for a little bit, he finally was able to take in his friend completely. The first thing he noticed was Katakuri’s pink eyes, they had a healthy shine to them with no sign of fogginess as he continued to look down at him. It made something warm in his chest grow and fizz up. He tampered it down.
Then Maren noticed something that caught his attention completely, it was Katakuri’s mouth. Where the corners of his mouth should have been there were scars on each side of his face; they were a slightly darker color than Katakuri’s skin, going back to his ears. There were fangs protruding from his bottom lip upwards, gently laying on his upper lip. Then there was another set of fangs poking out his upper lip and they were flush against his bottom lip.
Maren stared at Katakuri’s face in shock, they had never seen the man without his scarf. This was the first time and it didn’t really click for them until they saw Katakuri. The same bubbly fizzy feeling he was pushing down earlier burst in his chest as he started feeling giddy. They had similar teeth: sharp and scary to others.
It's charming on him , Maren found himself thinking as Katakuri started looking nervous.
“My mouth?” Katakuri hesitantly asked as he slowly pulled up the blanket up to his face.
“Your teeth, I’ve never-” Maren started but he could suddenly see Katakuri trying to somehow make himself smaller.
“Seen something like me?” Katakuri said, trying to fill in the gaps, his tone was sad and quiet.
“No!” Maren said quickly, not trying to make Katakuri uncomfortable with his staring. “Erm… Your teeth are sharp like mine…” he said a little in awe.
It was Katakuri’s turn to stare at him in shock before there was a bright red flush covering his cheeks and down to his neck. He looked down, breaking eye contact with Maren as he put the blanket down and meekly tugging at the fraying seams.
“I’m not a fishman… I don’t think?” Katakuri said shyly, cautiously looking back at Maren.
“Well, I like it. Your mouth… Face,” Maren stammered, flushing a little more and feeling his heart pump a little faster. “Yeah.”
“Um… Thanks.” Katakuri said awkwardly but it felt sincere. It made Maren feel relieved that Katakuri knew that they weren’t making fun of him, and they had something in common.
Maren reached over to one of Katakuri’s hands so he would look at him. Katakuri looked at their hands together for a moment, his face somehow becoming redder. Maren gulped loudly but didn’t move away, just in case it would somehow shatter this new level of trust that they were building.
“I don’t care what you look like, Katakuri,” Maren started trying to sound as sincere as possible without coming off too intense. “You’re my friend alright?”
“Thank you… For not making fun of me,” Katakuri said with one of his quiet smiles that Maren only got to see with the slight crinkle of his eyes. It made his breath hitch slightly, thankfully, Katakuri didn’t seem to notice. Maren with a squeeze let go of the other man’s hands.
“I would never make fun of you, and fuck whoever did,” Maren huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I’m used to it… That’s why I have the scarf,” Katakuri hummed, slowly slipping back to his usual demeanor but, even as it became gradual, there was still a cute blush still tinting his cheek. “But I’m glad I can be without it around you.”
“Of course,” Maren said nonchalantly but his heart was threatening to burst out of his chest. “Also, fair is fair,” Maren said before opening his mouth and tugging his cheek to the side to reveal his sharp teeth and sticking his tongue out in good humor.
Katakuri laughed and it was the best sound Maren has ever heard.