CRRRRRAAAAACK!!!!!
The sound split through the air like the world's most final point at the end of a very long, very bad sentence.
You know that moment when you realize you've made a terrible mistake? When all your efforts suddenly reveal themselves to be nothing but a huge blunder?
Yeah, well, multiply that feeling by about a thousand and you'd get close to what I was experiencing right now.
The deck beneath my feet wasn't just tilting anymore—it was actively trying to dump me into the ocean like some kind of maritime trash disposal.
How wonderfully appropriate. Even in another world, I was still being thrown away like garbage by circumstances beyond my control.
'This is what I get for trying to be a hero,' I thought, my fingers scrabbling for hold on the increasingly vertical surface.
'This is exactly what happens when Hikigaya Hachiman decides to abandon his perfectly reasonable policy in favor of illogical impulses.'
The screaming started then. High-pitched, panicked, thoroughly human sounds that cut through the chaos like audio daggers straight to my already frayed nerves.
People were discovering what I had already figured out: we were all about to die, and there wasn't a damn thing any of us could do about it.
"Abandon ship! Everyone into the water!"
Oh, wonderful. The captain's brilliant solution to our fishman problem was to voluntarily enter their natural habitat.
That was like solving a bear attack by covering yourself in honey and lying down. But then again, what better solution do we currently have?
'I should have stayed still,' the cold, rational part of my brain that I had been ignoring recently returned with a vengeance.
'I should have minded my own business, kept my head down, hid my things away, and let someone else play hero. But no, I had to get involved. I had to think I could easily take down a bunch of fishmen who've probably been sinking ships since before I learned to tie my shoes, because I had a fancy sword.'
The irony was suffocating. Back in my original world, everyone criticized me for being too result-focused, for not caring about the people around me. Now, in a world where my old approach might have actually kept me and everyone else alive, I'd decided to act like a knight in shining armor.
The universe had a sick sense of humor.
I hit the water like reality hitting any optimist—hard, cold, and completely without mercy.
The shock drove every philosophical thought right out of my head. Water invaded my nose, my mouth, my ears, turning the world into a muffled nightmare of blue-green chaos.
For a moment, I was completely disoriented, not knowing which way was up or if "up" even mattered anymore.
'Breathe,' some survival instinct commanded. 'Get to the surface and breathe.'
I kicked upward—or what I hoped was upward—and broke through just in time to see the full scope of the disaster. The ship was coming apart like a jigsaw puzzle someone had thrown against a wall.
Pieces of wood, metal, and what had once been people's belongings were scattered across the water's surface in a chaotic maze of debris and desperation.
People were everywhere. Swimming, flailing, screaming, drowning.
Some were calling out names—family members, friends, lovers they'd been separated from in the chaos.
Others were just making noise, the kind of primal sound that comes when civilization gets stripped away and all that's left is the animal need to survive.
'This is what heroism gets you,' I thought, grabbing onto a piece of wooden plank that had probably been someone's dining table an hour ago. 'This is what you get when you try to act like you are the protagonist when the world already has one.'
Several people were swimming toward me, their faces wearing that particular expression of desperate hope that I'd seen too many times in this world already.
The look that said they thought I might be their salvation, their way out of this nightmare. As if I had any more idea what I was doing than they did.
'I can't save everyone,' looks like the cold, logical part of my mind really had a vendetta. 'I can barely save myself. If I try to help them, we'll all drown together. The logical choice is obvious.'
But logic and I hadn't been on speaking terms lately. Not since I'd decided to fight these fishmen in the first place.
So out of pettiness, I reached out toward the nearest swimmer.
But suddenly, the water next to me exploded.
Water cascaded everywhere, and rising from the chaos like some kind of aquatic nightmare was exactly the person I'd hoped never to see again.
"Hey, kid! Like the new scenery?"
Gyaro!
'Fu*k!'
"Sea Current Sweeper!" he roared, his massive arm cutting through the air toward me with the kind of force that turned human bodies into abstract art.
BANG!
The impact hit me like a freight rocket made of muscle.
For a moment, I was weightless, flying through the air with all the grace of a broken mannequin.
"AHHH!!"
The world spun around me in a kaleidoscope of sky, water, and pain, and I had just enough time to think about how this was probably going to hurt a lot more when I landed.
'Don't fall in the water,'
The survival instinct screamed at me.
'Whatever you do, don't fall back in the water!!'
That's his world down there. That's where he wins.
I was breathing deeply according to the Hamon rhythm before the thought completely processed itself. And the ripples were already flowing to my legs.
Splash Splash Splash Splash Splash!
My feet touched the water's surface, and instead of sinking, I kept running. My sword was still in my hand.
The sensation was still bizarre, even after all this time—like jogging on top of liquid concrete.
'I need to run. There!'
I spotted my target: a larger piece of debris, wide enough to serve as a platform, and enough to give me cover from water and support extended combat. If I could just reach it, if I could—
/A strong leg attack from below the water/
"Shit!"
"Rising Current Spear!"
He was coming up from below this time, both legs extended in a kick that would probably separate my head from my shoulders if it connected.
The technique was beautifully executed, I had to admit. There was an artistry to the way he moved through the water, a perfect fusion of natural ability and trained skill that spoke to years of experience hunting prey exactly like me.
My sword was barely able to intercept it in time, it was charged with Hamon, but not enough.
'Damn it!'
BRRAANG!!
The collision was tremendous. My desperate defensive strike met his devastating attack in a clash that sent shockwaves through the water around us.
For a moment, we were perfectly balanced, two opposing forces canceling each other out. Then physics remembered how momentum worked, and we were both blown backward by the force of our own techniques.
"Nice walking trick you have there!"
With the sudden distance, I landed again on the water but kept running toward a wooden platform so as not to waste this chance.
Then Gyaro demonstrated exactly why hope was such a dangerous emotion.
Instead of pursuing me directly, he disappeared beneath the surface again.
And then—
CRASH!!!
A crash-like explosion came from where I was heading—a piece of debris I'd been considering as an escape route simply disintegrated, blown apart from below by Gyaro's attack.
Wood fragments rained down around me like the world's most violent confetti, each piece a reminder of just how easily he could destroy anything that might offer me sanctuary.
"Come on, don't make such a face! You were so confident earlier!"
Gyaro said as he jumped back into the water, and swam with his back fin protruding out of the water like a shark on a hunt.
'He's not going to let me run. He's going to hunt me across the surface until one of us is dead.'
And considering that he's a fishman pirate and I'm a high school student with issues, I'm pretty sure I know which one of us is going to be.
"Where did all of this confidence go?"
"It is still there, right?"
He continued to taunt while swimming and circling around me. Jumping up from time to time while increasing his speed.
/A High Speed Punch At His Head/
"Then show it to me! Hundred Tile True Punch!"
BRRRANG!!!
The attacks came relentlessly after that.
/A Sweeping Kick At His Leg Then A Sweeping Kick At His Neck/
BRRRANG!!!
Gyaro would swim at the surface level, moving around me like a shark stalking prey while collecting speed, then strike with devastating force.
/A Strong Punch Toward His Torso/
BRRRANG!!!
I kept running on the water, trying to find a way to dodge and counterattack.
/A Double Kick At His Head/
BRRRANG!!!
But he isn't giving me a chance.
"Your Observation is truly annoying. Well then, how about this!"
After he said that, Gyaro suddenly dived deeper and disappeared from view.
Not ten seconds later,
/A Full Speed Punch From Below/
From right at my feet, he attacked me with a full-speed charge.
I was barely able to intercept it in time, but I nearly lost my footing.
The attacks continued like this, Gyaro would vanish below the surface, then suddenly, I would face a full-speed attack.
It was like fighting a whack-a-mole game—if the mole happened to be two and a half meters tall and capable of punching holes through solid stone.
'Damn it!'
Each time I managed to block or dodge his attacks, I could feel myself tiring away just a little more. The Hamon that kept me standing wasn't omnipotent, and Gyaro seemed to have stamina to spare.
This was a war of attrition, and I was losing.
"I need to do something!"
'But what?'
Thinking clearly was becoming increasingly difficult when every few seconds brought another attempt on my life.
It was hard to get a clever idea when your primary concern was not having your body speared like Kendama.
An answer came to me with the kind of clarity that only emerged in moments of absolute desperation.
'Fine, if you don't want me to go away, I'll just have to bring you to me.'
As Gyaro dived deeper again, I reached down while moving and scooped up a handful of seawater.
Using Hamon to keep it concentrated in my palm while sending more ripples to it.
Hamon energy flowed from my hand into the water, then outward into the sea itself.
Like this, I was able to sense what was going on inside the water.
And there—a massive presence cutting through the water directly toward my position. Gyaro, moving with the deadly purpose of an apex predator closing in for the kill.
'Now!'
I moved aside at the last possible second.
"Are you having fun, Hero-ku—EH?"
Gyaro burst from the water where I had been standing, his attack finding only empty air.
"This…!"
For a moment—just a moment—he was vulnerable, suspended by his own momentum and the laws of physics. It was the opening I'd been waiting for.
BANG!!
"GAAAAAHHHH!!!!!"
My Crush Overdrive caught him in the side, the impact sent him flying backward, his massive form tumbling through the air like a boulder launched from a catapult.
'Don't let him get back to the water.'
Every tactical instinct screamed.
'This is your chance! He won't give you another one!!'
'Run!'
'Run!!'
'RUN!!!!!'
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Splash Splash Splash Splash Splash Splash!
I charged full speed after him, using the water-walking technique to build momentum with each step!
Even though I am running on water, this is the fastest speed I have ever run.
I caught up with him just as gravity began to reassert its hold,
"WHAT ARE YOU—AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"
Driving my sword into his flank and using the impact to alter our combined trajectory!
We were heading for the largest piece of debris I could see—a section of the ship's hull that was wide enough to serve as a proper obstacle to stop him from immediately returning to water.
"RRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"
"RELEASE MEAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
As our momentum began to fade, I made one final gambit!
Instead of another sword stab, I drove my fist into his solar plexus, channeling every bit of Hamon energy I could muster into the blow!
BANG!!!
The punch connected with tremendous force, sending Gyaro crashing onto the wooden platform.
'It Worked!!'
But satisfaction was a luxury I couldn't afford.
Gyaro recovered with frightening speed, rolling into a crouch that somehow managed to look threatening despite his obviously injured condition.
"You-You little shit-"
I was in front of him before he finished his sentence, my body was already in a slashing motion!
Even wounded, even out of his element, he was still enormous, and very much capable of killing me.
'I need to act fast!'
Taking a deep breath, I channeled as much ripples as I could into the Barbossa Sword, gritted my teeth, and slashed at him with everything I got!
BRRAAANNGGGG!!!
He met my sword strike with a punch, and I could immediately tell that something had changed.
"Uggg…"
The power behind his technique was diminished, weakened by the injuries I'd inflicted and the change in environment. His hand was actually injured as it made contact with my Hamon-charged blade.
'Now! Right now! This is it!'
I raised my sword, channeling every bit of remaining energy into what I hoped would be the decisive blow to the head!
"HAMON CRUSH OVERDRI—"
SPLASH!!
'Eh?'
The thought arrived a split second after the impact, but a split second is still too late to matter.
'Something's wrong.'
I heard the sound of a splash, and something small, hot, and fast hit me in the side with the force of a cannonball…
A moment later, I find myself rolling on the wooden plank.
Cling clang!
I collapsed, my sword clattering away across the wooden platform. Blood filled my mouth, warm and metallic, and when I tried to draw air into my lungs,
"AKK…GAHCough…Cough…AKK!!!"
'IT HURTS!!'
'IT Hurts like hell!'
Something hot like magma was filling my chest. Every time I tried to breathe, an unbearable pain shot through my lungs, and I kept coughing up blood.
'I was hit…'
Someone had hit me,
'I can't breathe…'
This was enough to send me into a wave of pain and panic. And I began writhing around in pain, trying to get a breath.
If I can't breathe, I will die.
I am injured.
'I need to use Hamon-Oh, no! No! NO!!'
If I can't breathe, I can't use Hamon, I can't stabilize my injury, I can't fight back.
'FU*K!'
Hamon is a powerful technique that allows users to channel sun-like energy waves that can be used in various applications like fighting, healing, and utility purposes.
However, like any ability, it has weaknesses:
Hamon users must maintain controlled breathing to generate energy. If their breathing is disrupted—due to injury, exhaustion, or external interference—they become unable to use Hamon…
'Help…'
But help isn't what I got.
Gyaro loomed over me, his massive form blocking out what little light filtered through the smoke and debris.
Then there was a kick…
BANG!
'ARRRGGGG!!!'
When it came, it was delivered with the casual brutality of someone swatting an insect.
The impact rattled my already damaged ribs and sent fresh waves of agony through my chest.
My vision blurred, the edges of my consciousness fraying like old cloth.
Then I was airborne again, but this time there was no technique involved, no careful application of energy to control my trajectory.
I was simply a broken body following the laws of physics, arcing through the air toward the one place I absolutely could not afford to go.
The water.
'Oh no.'
***
—Third Person POV—
The human's body arced through the air, following a trajectory that would end in the water below.
Splash!
Gyaro watched with detached interest as his opponent disappeared beneath the surface, the splash barely audible over the ongoing chaos of the ship's destruction.
Gyaro saw the projectile before the human did—a perfectly aimed water shot from one of his crew members, in an excellent moment to save his life.
'Okuba always did have excellent timing.'
The water shot punctured the human chest with a wet, decisive thud. Causing him to be blown away.
Gyaro watched the human kid wither around in pain, probably drowning in his own blood.
He didn't need to think twice as he kicked him into the sea.
"That was close Gyaro-san. Are you sure you're all right?" Okuba, the hammer shark fishman, asked Gyaro who was holding his bleeding side.
"Don't worry, this is nowhere near enough to take me down. I have been injured way more than that before." Gyaro replied while keeping his back straight, as if the injuries he had were nothing.
'But you almost died right now, right? Hmm, speaking of which…'
"That human kid was truly troublesome. Where did someone like him appear? If not, this would have been an easy haul." Okuba wondered where a monster like that human kid came from.
Usually, humans in the Blues (Especially the East Blue) are so weak that the strongest of them is barely as strong as a regular fishman, Devil Fruit or not. (Unless it was a very strong Devil Fruit)
'Moreover, Gyaro-san said he can use Haki! HAKI!!'
Even them fishmen with strong bodies can't learn Haki. In addition to having a strong body and mind, you need a bit of talent to learn the fabled power called Haki.
In the whole crew of Arlong pirates, none of them could use Haki. In fact, a big reason why a lot of pirates in the Sun Pirates followed Arlong to the East Blue of all places was because they were a bunch of weaklings who had had enough with monsters in the Grand Line.
So, to suddenly face someone with such troublesome abilities here in the weak East Blue is quite a surprise.
"Well, who cares! With an injury like that and being a power user, he is done for. Good job, Okuba. Oh, and your water shot has become so strong!" Gyaro said while surging, and praised his fellow fishmen as it was a normal thing for people to die by their hands.
"Is-Is that so? Haha, it's still nowhere near Chew-san through!" While Okuba was trying to look humble, he was clearly happy with the praise.
But as Gyaro turned to leave the platform, something glinted in the sun.
The human's sword lay where it had fallen, its metal blade had some carving and looked quite exotic with its broken-like tip.
He found it interesting for a human to use a sword like that, and when he bent down and picked it up,
"Hmm?"
Gyaro felt a strange feeling.
"This is…?"
"Eh? Is there something wrong, Gyaro-san? Do you feel hurt?"
"No, nothing like that, by the way, let's get out of here, did you finish what I told you to do?" Gyaro changed the subject while his mind was still wondering about the sword of the human.
"Yeah, we did! We killed a few of the humans and injured some. And you won't believe it, Gyaro-san! The amount of cash this ship had was fantastic!" Okuba replied with greed glittering in his tone.
"Is that so? Looks like this one was worth the trouble after all! Well, let's go, I need to bandage this wound."
Gyaro said as he jumped into the water, his eyes couldn't help but take a look at the human kid falling toward his death.
Then he looked at the sword in his hand.
'Yeah, worth the trouble indeed. Such an interesting thing.'
Then he moved with Okuba toward the rest of his subordinates.
…
A/N: Well, That's it for now.
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