"A World to Store"

Questions of the Past

Yuki sat on the edge of the porch, her eyes trained on the horizon where the setting sun painted the sky in hues of orange and pink. She had been asking the same question for years, but the answer had always been the same: silence, followed by a cold, harsh reply.

"Mom," Yuki's voice broke the stillness, her fingers playing nervously with the hem of her sleeve. "Who is my father?"

Her mother, a woman whose fiery red hair mirrored Yuki's own, did not turn to face her. Her eyes remained fixed on the distant sea, her expression hard and unreadable. After a long pause, her voice came, cold as ice.

"Your father is no one," she spat. "Forget about him."

Yuki's heart sank, the familiar sting of her mother's rejection cutting deep. But it wasn't the first time she had been told to forget. Ever since she was old enough to understand, her mother had refused to speak of the man who was supposed to be her father. She had grown up with only fragments of stories—stories that painted him as a cruel and uncaring man, someone who had abandoned them both.

But Yuki had never believed it. There was something in her gut that told her the truth was much more complicated than what her mother said.

"I don't believe you," Yuki whispered, though she knew it was pointless to argue. "I want to know who he is."

Her mother's grip tightened around the railing, her knuckles turning white. Her voice was low, almost dangerous. "Your father was a pirate—nothing more. He was a fool who didn't know what it meant to care for anyone. I had to leave him. He didn't want you, Yuki."

Yuki's brow furrowed in confusion. "Then... why did you...?"

Her mother's shoulders trembled as she stood, walking away from Yuki without another word. But before she could retreat into the house, Yuki caught sight of something—a look, a flicker of something in her eyes. Was it guilt? Pain? Yuki didn't know, but she felt it. There was more to the story, something her mother wasn't saying.

Yuki stood up, determination building in her chest. She had to know the truth.

As the years passed, Yuki grew stronger, her abilities sharpening. Unknown to her, the life her mother had kept hidden from her was starting to unravel. The woman Yuki had once called mother was no ordinary pirate's lover. She had been a former crewmate of Whitebeard, a powerful and respected figure in the pirate world. After her relationship with Shanks fell apart, she'd left him, carrying a deep resentment. She had cheated on him with another man, who eventually abandoned her once he discovered she was pregnant with Shanks' child.

Alone and heartbroken, her mother had fled to a remote island to give birth to Yuki. She thought she could raise her daughter in peace, away from the pirates, away from the life she had once known.

But fate had different plans.

When Yuki was five years old, Whitebeard himself visited her mother. He found the woman on the brink of death, weakened by illness. Moved by the loss of his old crewmate, and perhaps out of a sense of duty, he took Yuki under his care, raising her as one of his own. The memories of that time were hazy to Yuki, but she knew one thing for sure: Whitebeard had been the father figure she needed, and he had protected her all these years.

Fourteen years later, Yuki had become a force to be reckoned with—strong, confident, and full of potential. But the truth of her origins still haunted her, and she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something bigger waiting for her.

Meanwhile...

Ace, a young man with a fiery spirit and a heart full of loyalty, was having his own encounter with Whitebeard. Their paths would soon cross, their destinies intertwining, as the pirate world continued to shift and change.