One Piece: Dream of Immortality

Chapter 501: Hiyori



"So why do the whole 'fake your own death' thing?" Cherry asked.

"Oh, um..." Hiyori quickly thought up an excuse. "I could only lead Orochi on for so long before he expected something more from me. It was clear during the banquet that my time in the Flower Capital had run out. Fortunately, I had Kyoshiro there with me; we had already discussed and refined the details of the plan far in advance."

"I see. I guess Denjiro had you scrounging up funds for the war effort, huh? Brave of you," Cherry said.

Hiyori stiffened in place and stumbled over her speech in a frantic attempt to save this situation. "D-Denjiro? I don't believe I'm familiar with that name..."

Cherry gave her an odd look that said "What in the world are you on about?"

"Komurasaki-sama, Cherry knows all kinds of stuff! She's helping that Kin'emon guy with the war!" Toko seemed to sense her distress and explained quickly.

"Kin'emon!" Hiyori lit up. "You truly know him?"

"Sure, my crew and I met him a while back. He'd been nonlethally chopped into pieces and Momo turned into a little pink dragon," Cherry said.

"Momo?!" Hiyori slapped her hands down on Cherry's shoulders, as if afraid that she would run away. "You met him too?! Is he well?!"

"You seem awfully worried about him," Cherry stated. "You wouldn't happen to be related to him somehow?"

Cherry knew the answer to that already, of course. Her life sense told her that Hiyori was an even closer relation than Sukiyaki. Judging by her age, that could only mean one thing.

""You're/I'm his sister."" Cherry and Hiyori spoke in unison.

Hiyori blinked before regaining her bearings. "I am Kousuki Hiyori. My father is Kouzuki Oden and Momonosuke is my older brother."

"Oh," Cherry realized something as she said that. "Well, he's not the older one anymore. It'd be funny to keep calling him that, though."

"It would be, wouldn't it!" Hiyori giggled, having finally started to relax her guard.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Cherry beat Momonosuke up!" Toko shouted.

"Eh?!" Hiyori gasped.

"He asked me to, so it doesn't count," Cherry didn't deny it. "He seems to have it in his head that he'll be doing some of the fighting in the battle to come, so I thought I'd help him understand how out of his depth he is whilst giving him some tips on how not to die when someone is trying to kill you."

"I-I see," Hiyori sighed, her mood somewhat dampened by the reminder of what was to come. "The day my family was ripped apart feels like so long ago, and I suppose that it was. It's hard to imagine what it is like for Momonosuke and the others who were sent forwards in time. The wounds must still be so fresh for them..."

"Mm, it also means they won't have to wait so long to see the wrongs of Orochi and Kaido righted," Cherry said.

Hiyori gave a somber smile. "Yes, I suppose that is true."

"I suppose we'll hang around here for a while," Cherry said. "Kin'emon doesn't want me starting trouble too early, which is why I agreed to babysit Toko. Here's as good a place as any."

"Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way," Hiyori agreed, happy to have Toko with her, safe and sound.

...

Cherry opened her eyes in the dead of night.

Hiyori and Toko were asleep. Cherry had not joined them, choosing to catch up on her cultivation instead. She advanced by leaps and bounds thanks in combination to her S.M.I.L.E. pills from Dressrosa and her awakened fusion devil fruit powers making the process of fusing her body and soul much more efficient.

She stood up and walked to the door, opening it to Zoro with a raised fist about to knock on it.

Cherry looked him over. "Well, you made it to the graveyard, but it looks like you haven't found Shisui yet."

"What? Oh, right..." Zoro said.

"You... didn't forget why you were here, did you?" Cherry smiled disbelievingly.

"I'm tired," Zoro huffed.

"Alright, get in here before all the heat escapes," Cherry said, stepping aside so he could enter. "Don't wake up the girls or I'll tie you up and hang you from the rafters."

"I won't wake anyone up," Zoro spoke quietly.

Cherry believed him. He spent a lot of time on watch at night when they were at sea, so he was accustomed to keeping quiet when he needed to.

"Don't you have some kind of 'blacksmith sense' that you could use to find the sword for me?" Zoro asked in a whisper.

"That's nonsense," Cherry answered with her own whisper. "It's only possible to sense an inscribed weapon. Otherwise they're dependent on the energies of its wielder rather than producing its own."

"Uhuh," Zoro pretended to understand as he found a spot to settle down on. It was easier that way.

"Go to sleep. I'll wake you in the morning so you can get to searching again. If you don't find Shisui, I'll lose my bet after all," Cherry said.

"What was that about a bet?" Zoro asked.

"Sleep," Cherry pushed his head down and Zoro found it strangely difficult to resist.

-

"WAKE UP!!!"

Zoro shot to his feet in a hurry, hands reaching for swords that weren't where he had left

them.

"Hahahahaha!" the tiny pink haired girl he met yesterday laughed at him.

"You're quite the heavy sleeper," an unfamiliar green haired woman offered him a bowl of porridge. It smelled of cinnamon and apples.

"Uh, thanks?" Zoro accepted the bowl and wooden spoon. The woman giggled.

"Where did Cherry go?" Zoro asked.

"She said she was going to leave some hints for you. Do you know what she meant?" Hiyori asked in turn. She tilted her head in confusion when Toko burst out laughing again.

*slam*

"I'm back!" Cherry burst through the door. "Oh, you're up. About time."

"Where are my swords?" Zoro asked, a sense of growing dread as he realized he could see

them anywhere.

"I'm testing something. Hurry up and eat, you've got a Shisui to find!" Cherry clapped her

hands, hurrying him along.

"Shisui? I thought that sword was stolen?" Hiyori gasped.

"Indeed, but my mossy haired friend here brought it back from the other side of the world!"

Cherry revealed.

"Really?" Hiyori seemed impressed. "But... where is it now?"

"The big monk took it!" Toko shouted.

"Ah," Hiyori nodded. It seemed that she was familiar with that particular individual.

Cherry nodded as well. "Yep, and the big monk agreed to let Zoro use it until we leave Wano,

so long as he finds it by himself. An impossible task, but maybe a miracle will happen."

"Hey!" Zoro shouted in indignation.

"That's why I took his swords. One of them is supposedly cursed, so I'm curious if this will improve his performance," Cherry explained.

"Wado Ichimonji isn't cursed, so give it back!" Zoro complained.

"Maybe it is?" Cherry said offhandedly. "How would you know?"

Zoro winced. Cherry filed that away for later and said, "Chop chop, times a wastin and we don't have a hundred years for you to finish your breakfast!"