The Boy Who Changed a Life 2

Chapter 3

This chapter is a more normal look into Luffy and Katakuri's life. And a certain blonde. Enjoy~

As the trees were very thick on either side of the trail the father and son had made to their home, it wouldn't be really possible for Judge to fit through. Katakuri and Luffy couldn't walk through the thick trees and that's why they ended up cutting some down to make it possible for them to leave and come back easier. So it would be difficult for the "family" to all get through the woods without Katakuri absolutely noticing them immediately.

So at the beginning of the trail, Katakuri made a thick gate out of hardened mochi, and then continued to follow the kids.

Luffy surprised his friends with the jungle gym and mochi trampoline. To say the four kindergarteners had fun with the new things would be an understatement. Even Zoro was laughing while they all played, and he usually kept his enthusiasm lower than his other young friends.

But he was having a blast on the mochi trampoline. The others raced and played on the large jungle gym. "I wish I had your daddy's powers! I could make so many cool things!" Luffy laughed.

"Yeah, it's really cool!" Luffy agreed, playing with his friends while Zoro finally stopped bouncing, and was catching his breath. His face grew red in embarrassment of how loud and enthusiastic he'd been in front of his friends. He was supposed to be the cool one.

"Hey, Luffy, will you show us what you did yesterday? I want to see it up close," Zoro said with a grin. He really wanted to see his friend's progress. Luffy looked to the supervisor, who nodded. As long as the kids stayed far from him, it was unlikely they'd be hit. After all, Katakuri was meters taller than all of them and hadn't been struck.

"Yay! 'Kay, I'll show you guys!" Luffy cheered as they ran to the training area. Their property really was massive, though they had made it for themselves. The land hadn't been owned, so it was open for them to make their own place far out.

Plus, at the beginning, they wanted the fearsome Dogtooth to be far from them. The kids all stood next to each other while Luffy ran off to the other side of the field. He hoped he wouldn't get super tired again.

Luffy grew quiet and serious, and looked at his friends. How much he loved them and would protect them from those boys. Like Koori had. He scrunched his eyes tightly and suddenly a thick bolt of lightning appeared and struck down Luffy, scorching the ground in a new place. It lasted longer and was much brighter and hotter than last time. Then it ended.

For the first time, Luffy's hair reacted to the electricity and stuck up like he had bad bedhead. He stayed awake this time, though he was a little sleepy. His friends all had their mouths open in shock before cheering for his huge progress. It was cool having a friend with a devil fruit, and they wished they had some, too! Well, except Zoro. He didn't want any help with becoming a swordsman. He'd do it completely himself.

"Wanna know what helps me do it?" Luffy asked as he zipped over to them, the ground still smoking where he'd been standing. They nodded. "You guys! Cause I wanna protect you from bad people, so I have to get stronger!"

Usopp and Nami gave small and sincere smiles. Zoro looked slightly offended. He could take care of himself! But it was still a nice sentiment. That they were his motivation to get more powerful.

"Do you guys want to do your homework here?" Katakuri called. It was three by then. The kids' backpacks were all in the house before they had immediately gone to play. "You can all do it together."

"Yeah, we should do that," Nami said, and Usopp agreed with her, like always. Out of the group, Nami and Usopp were closest, while Zoro and Luffy were. They were still all best friends, though. Zoro looked at the mochi trampoline once again, but turned a little red again as to how noisy he'd been on it.