One Piece: Control Fruit

Lorno was completely baffled—this just didn't match the tone he was expecting.

"You—you just said that gentle, kind, and reliable man is that sunglasses guy?"

"The one who slammed me into a wall so hard I was practically embedded in it?"

"The one who's like, 'Celestial Dragons first, I'm second, and anyone talking to me better kneel'—that cold, intimidating, mafia-style guy in sunglasses?"

Three rapid-fire questions left Akshia at a loss. "It's not like Mr. Lorno says, not that... not that…" She struggled to find the right words, stomping her foot anxiously.

A gentle sea breeze fluttered her light-colored dress. Lorno sat on the deck, eyes landing on the glimpse of her undergarments. "Little bear," he muttered.

"You perv! Where are you looking?!" VO皿OV

A polished leather shoe—shiny enough to reflect light—landed on the back of Lorno's head, slamming his face into the deck.

"Akshia, lovely weather today, isn't it?"

The man in sunglasses—aka Mo—didn't even bother acknowledging Lorno, turning instead to perform a perfectly noble bow.

"Uncle Mo, could you maybe move your foot first?" Akshia asked meekly.

"Of course." Mo lifted his foot from Lorno's head, turned, and picked him up off the floor. Leaning in so only the two of them could hear, he growled in Lorno's ear, "I do appreciate you talking with Akshia, but if you so much as touch her, I'll chop you up and feed you to the fish."

A murderous aura briefly flashed on his face—then vanished. "Oh right, I forgot you're one of my people now."

"Never mind—maybe I'll just beat you up. No need to feed you to the fish."

With that, Mo slung an arm around Lorno's shoulders and smiled at Akshia. "Akshia, Lorno, and I have something to talk about. We'll be going."

"Mr. Lorno doesn't look very willing..." Akshia tilted her head, pointing at the miserable man.

"Yeah, no kidding, I'm not willing!" Lorno screamed internally.

"He's fine with it. See?"

Mo forcibly grabbed Lorno's hair, making his head nod twice. With his neck trapped in a chokehold, Lorno could only gasp "heh heh" in despair. Dear god, I don't want to be alone with this creepy Loli lover!

"I see… I hope Uncle Mo and Mr. Lorno can get along well." The blue-haired girl squinted sweetly, absolutely adorable.

"Don't worry, Akshia—you know me, right?" Mo grinned, flashing a gleaming white smile.

"Mm-hmm! See you later, then." Akshia didn't think much of it.

"Help..." Lorno muttered as he was dragged away, leaving skid marks across the floor, and hauled toward the training room.

The moment they stepped inside, Mo's expression changed.

"You little punk, it's only been a few days and you're already getting cocky? Where were you looking just now? Do you dare touch my girl? You've got a death wish, huh?"

His sunglasses flashed, face fierce—pure mob boss energy.

"Wha—what did I even do?! Come on, I just hugged her! Are you seriously a lolicon or something?" Lorno suddenly had a lightbulb moment. "Ahh, no wonder you're helping Akshia—it all makes sense now."

Watching Lorno sitting on the floor, nodding repeatedly with a smug look that screamed "I get it, no need to explain," Mo's forehead veins bulged.

He calmly removed his suit jacket, stretched his neck and hands—crack—and sneered, "You ready to die, punk?"

"Hey hey hey! Isn't that a bit much? Oh crap—why are you already swinging!?"

Before he could react, Mo landed a punch to his gut. Uppercut. Straight punch. Side kick. Spinning kick…

Lorno felt like a living punching bag, used for target practice.

Thankfully, the training room was soundproof. Akshia had no idea what was going on. She was currently sitting in the ship's library, reading the day's assignment Mo had given her—World History. Mo would quiz her on a few questions every evening, and if she couldn't answer them, Uncle Mo would get grumpy.

Time passed, and soon it was lunchtime.

Mo opened the training room door, straightened his suit, dusted himself off, and walked off to the dining hall, nodding in satisfaction.

"Muh… I wan' ea' foo'…"

Lorno lay in a heap on the floor. Yes, a heap—Mo had beaten him so thoroughly that all his bones felt broken. Even with his healing abilities, he'd need at least ten minutes to recover—which meant most of the food would be gone by then.

Lorno lay there, contemplating life, feeling like he'd missed out on a fortune.

What had he gained today?

A bit of affection from a cute little loli.

Uh… that's about it.

Cons:

Dislocated arm once

Got pooped on by birds—twice

Got hit by a lightbulb once

Got thoroughly beaten by Mo Williams...

All in all… still worth it!

Not even worth three years in prison—why wimp out now? Ahem, correction: caring for cute little girls is everyone's responsibility, okay?

Also, that little bear print on her panties—so cute.

The ticking of time echoed in Lorno's ears as his hyper-regeneration from his healing factor slowly repaired his body. He could almost walk again.

He gathered a few bone fragments Mo had broken off him and muttered, "Even with Crimson Armament, I still can't beat that sunglasses guy... If it didn't burn so much stamina, I'd…"

He suddenly pictured himself hanging Mo up and beating him every day. A grin crept across his face, and drool started dripping from the corner of his mouth.

"Mr. Lorno, are you okay?" The blue-haired girl looked at him, puzzled. Though she didn't understand the meaning behind his expression, the lecherous look on his face made any girl feel uncomfortable.

Slurp—Lorno sucked back his drool and instantly switched faces. "I was just… contemplating life."

"I-is that so?" Akshia quickly changed the subject. "Mr. Lorno, since you didn't come to lunch, I took the liberty of preparing some food for you. Oh! And I made sure to include a special steak just for you!"

She pulled out a lunchbox from behind her back, a bit excited.

"Uncle Mo said you must've been exhausted sparring with him, so he asked me to prepare something high in energy for you. See? I told you—Uncle Mo's a nice person!"

"Mhm, mhm," Lorno nodded like a bobblehead, food being the top priority.

But deep down, he felt a little touched—maybe Mo Williams wasn't as bad as he thought. Decision made: he'd only beat the guy up once in the future.

He opened the lunchbox, and the savory aroma immediately made him swallow hard. Taking the chopsticks Akshia handed over, he activated feast mode—his chopsticks moved so fast they left afterimages.

Pork ribs? Get √

Bones? Tossed.

Fish? Get √

Bones? Tossed.

Hmm? What's this blackened lump?

Nom—Blegh! Ptui ptui ptui! Tossed.

Veggies? Get √

Rice? Get √

But something felt… off. Wait!

Where was that delicious, juicy, lovingly prepared steak Akshia had promised him?

He flipped through the entire lunchbox—nothing.

Then a thought occurred to him. Slowly, he turned his head toward a dark, charred lump nestled among the leftover scraps… then turned his gaze to Akshia.

Sure enough, the little girl had her head bowed, tears falling silently to the floor, soaking into the wooden planks and disappearing.