The sails of The Moment flapped lazily under the sun as it drifted across the calm waters of East Blue. The ship creaked like it was groaning with each wave, barely holding together, yet somehow still sailing.
Kairos stood at the front of the ship, hands on the rail, eyes on the horizon.
Behind him, chaos.
"That's my wrench!"
"You ate the last of the seaweed jerky, Lokk!"
"Not my fault you nap instead of guard supplies!"
Jinx and Lokk were already arguing again, while Toma tried uselessly to play peacemaker. It had only been two days since they set sail, but the mismatched group was settling into the rhythm of a very unglamorous pirate life — bickering, patching leaks, and rationing fish stew.
Kairos didn't mind. Not really.
He was starting to feel… alive.
But today was different.
Today, he would test the first real use of his fruit in a serious way.
---
A New Island, A New Problem
They docked at Sakura Reef, a tropical speck of an island wrapped in pink corals and lazy breezes. The villagers welcomed them warily — pirates weren't usually friendly. But Jinx managed to win them over by fixing their broken water pump in under an hour.
Toma caught fish. Lokk chopped wood.
Kairos?
He wandered.
His gut told him something was wrong.
And by afternoon, he was right.
---
Smoke. Screams.
From the east hill, black smoke curled upward. Villagers ran to hide.
"They're back!" someone cried. "The Wild Jackals!"
Kairos and his crew turned in time to see three longboats pull ashore. A dozen men in tattered red jackets charged in, led by a man with an axe twice his size and half a face burned black.
"We told you — tribute or destruction!" the leader shouted.
The Jackals stormed the village, grabbing food, coin, and threatening families.
Kairos stepped forward.
His crew followed.
"We can't win this, Kai," Jinx muttered. "Not in a straight-up fight."
"Good," Kairos replied. "We'll fight crooked."
---
The Plan
Lokk and Toma snuck behind the huts, creating a diversion.
Jinx rigged an old Den Den Mushi to a pot of fish oil and a spark-stone.
Kairos? He walked straight toward the bandit leader.
"Oi!" he called.
The big man turned. His face curled in amusement.
"Look, boys. A baby pirate come to bark."
Kairos stopped ten feet away, hands raised.
"I'll make you a deal. You beat me in a fight, you get the village. No more resistance."
The Jackals laughed.
"And when I win?"
Kairos's eyes glinted.
"Then you're the stronger one… for thirty seconds."
---
The First Real Swap
The axe came down in a blur.
Kairos ducked — barely.
He grabbed the man's wrist.
Kōtai Kōtai no Mi… activate.
Swap: Strength.
Instantly, his body surged. His arms trembled with new force. The bandit blinked in confusion.
"I feel… weak?"
Kairos moved. A single punch — wild and raw — launched the man into a palm tree. It snapped in half.
The bandits gasped.
Kairos spun toward the others.
"Want to try next?"
Two of them charged.
Kairos grabbed the first one's leg mid-kick — Swap: Speed. He vanished from sight and reappeared behind the second bandit, who hadn't even turned yet.
"Too slow."
He kicked the man into a crate.
His body ached — the swaps drained stamina fast.
Twenty seconds left.
More bandits rushed him.
He tagged one with a delayed swap — marked with a glowing swirl on his chest.
Jinx's trap went off — fish oil ignited behind the raiders, sending smoke everywhere.
Boom!
Chaos.
Kairos swapped pain with another attacker — taking a gut wound, transferring it away, and keeping himself in the fight.
Ten seconds.
The leader got back up, eyes wide with rage.
"What are you?!"
Kairos grinned.
"Just a pirate with bad odds and worse ideas."
Final punch. Swap timer hit zero.
The strength drained away.
His arms suddenly felt like jelly.
He staggered, dropping to one knee.
The bandit leader charged — but Lokk and Toma finally joined, swinging planks and nets, crashing into the weakened pirates.
The fight was over in a minute.
---
Aftermath
The villagers celebrated. The Wild Jackals fled, beaten and humiliated.
Kairos sat on the beach, staring at his palm.
His first real fight. His first tactical use of the fruit.
It hurt. His body was sore, energy drained, but…
He'd done it.
No longer a bystander. No longer useless.
Jinx walked over, offering a bottle of water.
"You didn't die. That's progress."
Kairos laughed weakly. "I'll swap the pain to you if you keep teasing."
She smirked. "You wouldn't dare."
He wouldn't.
Probably.
---
As the sun dipped below the reef, and the crew sat around a fire with stolen rum and fresh-cooked crab, Kairos looked up at the stars.
He still had a long way to go.
But for the first time…
He believed this fruit could be his weapon.