Chapter 1: When Eyes Open to the Sea
— "You died."
The voice in the void was not a voice. It sounded like a thought, like an echo inside the skull.
— What...?
Before his eyes was a white nothingness. No body, no floor under his feet. Only the sensation of falling. He felt as if something important was slipping away, as if he was being pulled beyond everything familiar.
— "But you are not one of the ordinary. You are the one who remembers what he has never seen. You will be given a chance."
— Where am I?..
— "The world awaits. The gift - you have already received."
And the next second, white light exploded around - and everything disappeared.
East Blue — somewhere between Fusha and Orange Town
Slurp... Slurp...
He came to with his face in the sand, wet, as if he had emerged from a nightmare straight into reality. The salt burned his eyes. He stood up, staggering, looking around. It was a tropical beach, palm trees, the sea... and not a single power line, building or telephone.
"What the..." he breathed out. The voice was his. The hands were his. But the clothes... some kind of torn shirt and worn pants. And he had nothing on him except a strange burning sensation in his chest.
He remembered the name. Katsuro Hayasaki.
But the rest... seemed to have faded.
And suddenly — as if something had snapped in his back. A vision: a man in a kimono with two katanas — takes a step to the side and sharply cuts diagonally. He felt him move. He understood why he did it.
It wasn't his memory. But it lived in him.
- This... what the hell?
- BOOOOM!!!
Katsuro jumped. A man in a straw hat was flying over the sea, not far from the shore, literally catapulting himself out of a boat, laughing like crazy.
- WAAAHAHAHAHA! THAT WAS COOL!!!
He fell into the water a couple of meters from Katsuro.
- ...Are you okay, dude?!" Katsuro shouted, running up.
- Glug-glug-glug... - And then he realized: he couldn't swim. He instantly dove, grabbed him and pulled him to the shore. Katsuro's shirt was soaking wet, as was his hair, and the guy in the straw hat was coughing and... smiling.
- Phew... Thanks! You're cool!
— Um... Are you okay? Who are you anyway?
— Me? I'm Monkey D. Luffy! I'm going to be the Pirate King!
Katsuro froze for a second.
Name. Voice. Image. Everything clicked in his memory like a broken lock.
He knew where he was.
The world of One Piece.
— ...Are you kidding me... — he breathed out. — I ended up in an anime.
— Who are you? — Luffy tilted his head. — You have a cool look. Like a swordsman!
Katsuro grinned.
— Nobody yet. Just... a survivor.
Later, on a makeshift fire, Luffy chewed meat, and Katsuro thought.
He remembered how to fight. Not the techniques, not the names, but the feeling of movement. He didn't even know where it came from — but as soon as he got into a fighting stance, his body moved on its own. It was his Memory Curse. Or maybe his power.
"Hey, want to join my crew?" Luffy suddenly asked.
"What?"
"I'm looking for a crew to become the Pirate King. You're weird, but strong. And your eyes are smart. Come on, you'll be... like, my second-in-command!"
Katsuro laughed. Bitterly, sincerely.
"You don't even know who I am."
"It doesn't matter! The important thing is that you saved me. That's enough."
He looked into Luffy's eyes. There was no falsehood there. Just light.
"...Okay. It's a deal, Captain." He extended his hand. "I'm Katsuro Hayasaki. You can just call me Katz."
"Great! Welcome aboard!"
And somewhere far away, in another part of the world, a woman with dark hair and cold eyes - Nico Robin - will see for the first time in a dream a power shrouded in a strange memory that never existed...