One Piece: It's always been you

Chapter 171 So it really hurts.

"Yu, wait a moment before guessing," Katakuri interrupted Yu's rambling. "Have you thought about your parents?"

Huh? Huh? How did we suddenly get onto the topic of her parents? Her parents are Sha Youlan's parents. Sha Youlan mentioned a few things from the past, and Youlan listened, but didn't seem to care much.

Even parents who would abandon their child, no matter how difficult their circumstances, cannot accept this. Why not raise the child properly after giving birth? Why not take her with you when you leave? And why, after giving birth to Sha Youlan, do you leave her with her brother to raise?

Yu didn't have a good impression of them at all. "No, I've never met them since I was born. I've always had family with me, so I never planned to look for them. Actually, I don't have a good impression of them, and I don't want to find them."

"..." Katakuri didn't expect Yu to be so blunt. "Listen carefully to what I'm about to say."

"The one who can manipulate space is called Sora Mingwei, she's your mother; and the one who can manipulate minerals, Samuki, is your father." Katakuri presented the information. "When I was looking for you on Sanehaku Island, I met your mother. She told me where you were then, and I didn't think much of it. She was also in Grantesoro this time, and I bumped into her by chance, but she didn't let me tell you. I didn't think much of it then, until now that this has happened." Especially since Yu's attitude towards Sora Mingwei, her mother, was not good.

The two were standing very close, face to face, and could feel each other's breath. Yu's eyes reflected Katakuri's image, and she could hear Katakuri's heartbeat.

He seemed a little nervous.

Katakuri, seeing that Yu remained silent and looked grave, assumed she was unhappy with his concealment. "Yu..."

"I'm fine, I just find it a bit ridiculous and heartbreaking." She didn't know whether she should feel sorry for Sha Youlan or for herself. Putting Sha Mojiu aside for now, there was that so-called mother, Kong Mingwei, who knew of her existence and possessed such abilities, yet had never appeared.

This time, however, she appeared to take away the crystal that was so closely connected to her, to use her life to pay for someone else's. What a heartless person! She gave birth to a child and then ignored it completely, but now that she needs something, she appears.

She didn't even appear in person to ask for it, but instead chose to use despicable methods to obtain it, not hesitating to invade her consciousness and awaken the sleeping Shayoulan.

"Perhaps your mother just wanted to know where you were, but didn't want to appear in front of you too soon." Katakuri looked at the self-deprecating smile on Yu's face, at a loss. The reason she kept it from him was because Kong Mingwei had asked him to do so, after all, Kong Mingwei seemed to be a kind and amiable mother.

Yu covered Katakuri's mouth. "You don't need to speak up for her." Yu knew that Katakuri thought Sora was concerned about her, but that wasn't the case. "Katakuri, answer me seriously. Between you and Sora, who do you think cares about me more?"

Katakuri wanted to blurt out the question about himself, but the thought of Yu being pierced by the Earth Dragon made him swallow the words back. Turning his face away from Yu, Katakuri murmured, "No mother wouldn't care about her child..."

This answer made it difficult for You to continue asking questions, so she simply cut to the chase and said, "The crystal has another function: it can save lives. If someone is seriously injured and about to die, as long as the crystal is on them, they will not die."

Katakuri didn't know its purpose. But now, hearing Yu say it, he suddenly realized that Sora Mingwei's desire to retrieve the crystal wasn't solely to find Yu. "Then, what happens after that person recovers?"

"Saving someone always comes at a price; if they live, I will die."

Katakuri hurriedly tried to take the crystal off and give it to Yu. He didn't want to trade Yu's life for his own if he were suddenly seriously injured.

“Ka2, what’s yours is yours. As long as you’re okay, I’ll be okay too.” You held his hand. “Kong Mingwei doesn’t dare to lay a hand on you, so she has to resort to these low-level methods.”

Yu's words made a lot of sense, but Katakuri still wanted to return the favor to Yu, saying, "There are many people stronger than me at sea." Katakuri couldn't afford to gamble.

"Aren't there people stronger than me?" Yu retorted. Seeing Katakuri trying to come up with another excuse, Yu climbed onto his shoulder and whispered in his ear, "Katakuri, don't you want to know me all the time?"

He felt the hot breath spraying from his ears, and his heart began to race. But the culprit didn't seem to care; his hand had even unzipped his shirt and touched his chest without him noticing. "Your heartbeat has answered for you," he said.

Katakuri tried to push Yu away, but the latter seemed to know he would do so, letting go of his hand first and falling backward. Knowing that she had planned it, he still acted faster than his mind, pulling her back into his arms.

"I will protect you, and I will protect it," Katakuri relented.

Yu lay on Katakuri's chest, listening to his heartbeat, "Katakuri, you actually care about me more than you know yourself." And love me more.

"..." Perhaps so, but Katakuri never felt that he was that firm in choosing Yuu.

That night, Katakuri and Yu didn't sleep well. Or rather, they barely slept at all. Yu cried all night and only fell into a deep sleep with tears in his eyes at dawn. His body, whether on his neck or arms, was covered with red marks, like blooming peach blossoms, making him look pitiful.

Katakuri lay on his side, Yuu resting her head on his arm, tears still streaming down her face. Katakuri gently reached out and carefully wiped them away, thinking about what had happened the night before, unsure how to face her.

A bewildering beginning, followed by a memorable ending.

It was a strange feeling, but he didn't expect that Yu would feel pain, to the point that she cried all night.

He suddenly remembered that Perospero had explained it to him before, but at that time he was focused on improving his Devil Fruit and fighting skills, so he just let it go in one ear and out the other. Later, Katakuri never bothered to learn more about it, thinking that he wouldn't have such an opportunity, and that learning it would be pointless.

He was even more confused whenever he saw Cracker laughing like an idiot while looking at those science books. He had tried it himself once and found it seemed alright, but it wasn't, because Yu felt uncomfortable.

But he couldn't control himself, especially since You was crying, yet he couldn't stop. Gradually, the crying became like a stimulant, making him increasingly frantic and unable to control himself.

During that time, he also saw the hideous scar on Yu's waist. His hand unconsciously touched the scar, etching it into his mind bit by bit from top to bottom. Yu's trembling pulled him back to his senses, and only then did he realize that he was no longer using his hand, but kissing the scar.

A hoarse voice could still be heard in my ears.

"It really hurt back then, but it doesn't hurt anymore now. Katakuri, the wound will heal, but the scar will take a long time to form."

"I blame you, but I don't know if it's because you attacked me or because you hid your plans from me."

“I’m glad to hear you say that I will bear the consequences. You chose your family, but you didn’t abandon me either. I was also in the process of making a choice.”

Later, Katakuri didn't dare to recall it anymore; his face burned and turned red, as did his ears.

Actually, the sentence "Then I'll bear it" wasn't finished; there was another sentence after it.

—Anyone can lose me, but I can't lose You. I won't let her die, and I won't allow anyone to hurt her.

But later, he became the one who hurt her, all in the name of saving her.

Sunlight streamed in through the gaps in the curtains, moving slowly and deliberately, telling the people in the room that time had not stopped for them, but was still moving forward.

It was almost noon, and Yuu still hadn't woken up, nor had Katakuri gotten up.

Was it because he didn't want to get up, or because Yuu wouldn't let go? Katakuri knew it was because he didn't want to get up.

This kind of environment, where he didn't have to be wary of anyone even while lying down, where he could simply walk down the street with Yu and chat and laugh with others, was something he had never experienced before. If the future could be like this, he would accept it without hesitation.