It had been only a few days since Ace found himself in a desert island — well he was not completely alone, but there wasn't any food, which really sucked — when he decides to walk around the beach to see if he found something they could use to build a boat and leave this place, he still had things to do, and he wasn't letting something as bad weather and a island to stop him.
Ace was starting to lose hope on finding something useful when he found something— well, not something exactly.
Rather someone.
Drenched in saltwater, and laying on the sand there was someone and he quickly rushed to them and realized a few things.
First, the person was a girl, with pretty long black hair, fair skin and really long eyelashes, second, luckily she was breathing, so not dead, which is good, they could use another set of hands to work.
The third thing he noticed was that peeking from under her clothes — a white and red outfit that looked too stuffy and not comfortable at all — there were thin golden chains wrapped all around her body.
A new fashion trend?
.
"Hey! I found something!" Ace called, and he stopped what he was doing to look what Ace had brought, with some luck it was finally some food.
But apparently luck was not on his side since what he had appeared to be a girl on his shoulder, hanging like a sack of potatoes—
"Oh God put her down!" He screamed because that was no way of treating a girl!
.
When Kiryuu opened her eyes, familiar darkness and shapes welcomed her, but something felt— off.
She didn't know how to describe it, she just knew that something was not different.
Also— there were voices she didn't recognize arguing in the background.
"You can't just carry someone like that! Have you no manner at all?!" someone screamed, a man, by the sound of his voice, and she realized that she was next to a fireplace or something that produced heat, since she wasn't freezing despite the fact her clothes were soaked — and why did no one change her clothes? Her family would never leave her like that, what if she got sick? —
"Okay, okay, I get it— oh she woke up!" She heard and she turned around to see two shaped things, people.
"Hello?" She asked unsure.
"Hi, how are you feeling?" The first voice asked gently.
"I'm… cold and hungry" Kiryuu answered honestly. "Also… confused, where am I?" she asked, going straight to the point.
"We are on a desert island with no food! So we are trying to build a boat, want to help out?" the second voice answered, like it was nothing and Kiryuu blinked.
Island?
She was on an island?
Kiryuu quickly stood up and started to blindly ran, she could hear the men calling out to her, but she just ran faster, she wasn't completely sure where she was going until she heard it—
The sea.
She ran faster and faster, until she could feel the water on her feet and the sea breeze on her hair.
She was on an island.
For the first time on her life, she actually was on a fucking island.
Ah, it was a damn shame that she couldn't see a damn thing, she always wanted to see the sea with her own eyes, but hearing it wasn't that bad either.
.
When Ace and— Masked? — he said he didn't have a name but Ace called him different names with masked been the common denominator — finally caught up to her and they explained a little more about their situation.
Apparently they were on a desert island in the middle of the Grand Line, Ace was a pirate who wanted to surpassed the last Pirate king and Masked wanted to be a writer and—
Kiryuu had no idea what they were talking about.
Last thing she remembered was falling into the lake behind the shrine at her house and waking up here, but last time she checked pirates weren't really a thing, since a couple of centuries ago — well except in some parts of Africa according to the news — and there was no Grand Line.
Sure, there was the possibility that they were both lying and they were trying to trick her for some reason, but— it didn't feel like they were lying, she was a rather good judge of character and the two felt sincere, nice.
"So, what's your name?" Ace asked while they stayed close to the fire for warmth.
"Kiryuu" she answered, not feeling like sharing her last name, it probably didn't mean anything here, but still—
"Oh what a pretty name!" The boy said, and although she couldn't see it, she was sure he was smiling. The man gave the same energy as an excited golden retriever.
"I don't like it" she confessed. "It's too… heavy" she added, closing her eyes, waiting for the critiques, after all it was such a lovely name! Why couldn't she be more grateful?
"Well, it's kind of long" Ace said quickly, sounding as if he was in deep thought. "What about Kiri-chan? It sounds way cuter! Doesn't it?"
"Hey! You can't just change other people's name—
"Kiri" She murmured while the two argue— it was— it was an offense, such a silly name for someone like her—
Just that she wasn't longer in her house, or the shrine, or even in her own world.
She was in a new place, with different people, that had no idea who her family was, or what her name mean—
Kiryuu was—
No, no, Kiryuu—
Kiri.
Kiri was free.
"I like it" she said with a smile, and despite the chains she could still feel wrapped around her body, she felt lighter than ever.
"See? She likes it! You should let me name you too"
"Oh please don't encourage him" Masked sighed and she just smiled.
.
As it turned out Kiri was blind, partially blind, she could see shapes and sense other things, but— she couldn't help much when she couldn't see their improvised hammer, still, she helps the best she can and they do their best but it's not enough.
Their boat breaks, and so their group harmony, he screams at Ace, accusing him of eating when they weren't looking and he storms off, because he is pissed and hungry and he doesn't want to say more things he'll regret.
And somehow that turns into a giant bird trying to eat him— lucky for him Ace is not a bastard and manages to hit the bird, making it spit something and before it could fly away something catches it.
Thin, bright golden chains wrapped around the bird like snakes, the bird struggles but it's useless.
He knows that chains—
Those are Kiri's chains.
He blinks and follows the chains to their source and sure, they begin or end under Kiri's sleeve.
He had always wondered why Kiri wasn't worried about being trapped in a desert island with two strange men, he naively believed that it was because he was a gentleman, and she felt safe around him.
Apparently it was because she always had the capacity to kick their asses if they ever became a threat to her.
He makes a mental note to not piss her off.
.
Kiri wasn't going to show her abilities, after all they weren't mean for tricks and parties, they were a gift, a blessing, and should be treated with respect, only used to stop evil, but evil doesn't lurk on her world like it used to, demons and ghost are not really a threat anymore — so she eventually becomes irrelevant but important, something pretty to be look at but never touched —
But they had been kind to her, and also, she was damned hungry, so eating a big bird thing sounded really nice.
Ace talks about how to roast the thing and suddenly something shifts.
Her whole body shivers and masked has something that Kiri can only describe as cursed.
"Look! There 's fruit! We can share it while we wait for the bird to roast" Masked said, hopefully, he holds evil in his hands and he doesn't know it.
The dragon wrapped around her humms, not defensive, but— interested.
Kiri comes from a family of exorcists, she was trained to sense evil, to fight evil, and that fruit feels wrong.
But the dragon is interested and this world is already crazy enough.
"Kiri?" Masked offers a piece and she shakes her head.
"I'm allergic" she Answered despite the fact that she can't even see the fruit, the boys are too hungry to notice the lie or maybe think she is being picky.
Ace ates the fruit first and something shifted again.
When masked says that Ace is on fire later, she doesn't get surprised.
.
Thanks to Ace's new found powers, they managed to build a boat that allows them to leave that island.
Ace talks about getting a ship and starting their own pirate crew.
A blind ex exorcist, a masked drop out med student, and a human golden retriever.
It sounded like the start of a joke.
But somehow Kiri thinks that it also sounds like the start of something great.
Maybe Ace's positivity is rubbing on her.