บท 353: Impromptu Make-over
'That's some crazy observation haki he has.' Cherry idly thought as she looked up at the towering figure that was Charlotte Katakuri.
She had only gotten down to 5 with her 10 second countdown when he predicted what she was planning. Granted she wasn't trying to hide her intentions that much, but that kind of foresight was still insane.
"I'm not hungry," Katakuri answered her invitation to have dinner.
"You don't want to have a nice meal with your dear sister?" Cherry goaded.
Katakuri's eyes flicked to Brulee for an instant before saying, "No."
Brulee's eyes flashed with something. Some sadness perhaps, but mostly a resigned understanding and perhaps even… sympathy.
'I see, so Brulee isn't the only one with insecurities. Something to do with food, so his mouth?' Cherry pondered.
Though she hadn't seen it directly, his atypical mouth shape was clear to see with her Life Sense; like a three dimensional silhouette. The fact that Katakuri covered it up with a scarf was further proof of her guess being the truth.
"Are all of Big Mom's children really this insecure?" Cherry spole her thoughts aloud. She wasn't mocking them… this time; she was genuinely confused about how these supposed big shots could be so concerned with the opinions of others.
"We're not insecure about anything!" Brulee reacted angrily. "I know! You're just projecting because YOU are insecure about your flat chest!"
"Maybe a little bit, but you don't see me stuffing my bra do you?" Cherry raised an eyebrow at her, crossing her arms defiantly.
Brulee paused. "Are you even wearing a bra?"
"Nope~" Cherry answered without shame.
"I have work to do." Katakuri tried to excuse himself.
"Okay, cool. We can eat in your office or whatever." Cherry made to follow him.
Katakuri turned a squinted glare at her. "Don't follow me."
"I'm an honored guest, you should be more accommodating to me." Cherry countered.
"You're just an ordinary guest, you should find your own accommodations." Katakuri wasn't having it.
"But you'll make an exception since you like me so much~" Cherry added.
"No, I won't," Katakuri denied flatly.
"Ah, yes, of course you won't. You aren't allowed to show favoritism, right?" Cherry sent an obnoxiously coy wink his way.
"Onii-chan doesn't have time to deal with you!" Brulee snapped at her.
"Don't be jealous, we'll be sisters soon~" Cherry chimed.
Katakuri stopped on a dime and his head whipped around to stare at her.
"Your mama is all about political marriages, isn't she?" Cherry smiled mischievously.
"Huh? Wait, WAIT!" Brulee panicked upon realizing that was a very real possibility.
"You can have Cracker." Katakuri retorted, resuming his marching pace.
Brulee relaxed somewhat, but still wasn't keen on the idea.
"Hm, he's the one wearing that weird suit with the 'manly' face, right?" Cherry seemed to think it over genuinely.
Katakuri didn't show his shock that she was so knowledgeable about his family. There were even some of their siblings that didn't know Cracker's true face.
"How did you know that?! Do you have an informant, a traitor?!" Brulee failed to hide her own shock.
"I'm getting really annoyed with that thing you're doing with your body." Cherry said out of nowhere, ignoring the question.
Brulee scrunched her brow, confused. "What thing-?"
"This thing." Cherry slapped her hand down onto her ribs.
Brulee yelped and her body started to contort. Katakuri acted immediately, slamming a fist into Cherry and sending her flying into a still damaged building which promptly collapsed on top of her after losing what little support it still had.
"Brulee?! Are you… okay…?" Katakuri didn't know what to do, but he soon realized there might not be anything he needed to do.
Brulee's body finished its odd twisting, or rather its UN-twisting. Because Brulee looked far less like a witch now and could even be said to look somewhat elegant.
Her height had reduced a tiny bit, and her long gangly limbs were considerably less so. Her terrible gray complexion looked much healthier, though still with some gray undertones. Her nose was still long and reddish, but at most half the length as before. Even her hair was a bit more tamed. The only thing that remained the same was the scar across her face.
"What did she do… to me?" Brulee paused at the sound of her voice. It was still her voice, but the scratchy, piercing quality had gone away, leaving a sound that was easy on the ears.
"Brulee?" Katakuri was similarly stunned at this development.
*crunch* *clatter*
Cherry climbed out of the rubble and brushed herself off. "Rude."
Katakuri was looking at her strangely as Brulee examined herself in a mirror she created, expression filled with disbelief.
"You're acting like you don't know what you look like without the influence of your devil fruit." Cherry was incredulous.
"I did that?" Brulee asked.
"Insecurity is a real bitch, huh." Cherry rubbed her chin. She hadn't thought that it went quite THAT deep though.
"I thought… I thought that was just how I looked. I look so much younger, so much healthier…" Brulee was caught in a kind of shocked trance.
"Let's go get something to eat, Brulee." Katakuri snapped her out of it with his words. He looked at Cherry and said, "You as well, I suppose."
"Sweet!" Cherry might be rich, but free food was free food!
…
"..." Pekoms still sat in his chair at the fish restaurant, quietly trying to remind himself not to kill his peoples' savior the next time he had the opportunity.
Slowly the restaurant started to fill back in with employees and soon after customers, keen on finishing their shifts and food respectively.
"My my my, if it isn't my vieux camarade Pekoms." Tamago stepped inside, instantly recognising the bound and gagged lion mink.
He removed the gag so that Pekoms could speak and asked, "What are you doing here, Pekoms? Last I heard, you let a personal matter get in the way of your professionnalisme?"
Pekoms almost started blabbing about Bege planning an assassination attempt against Big Mom, but stopped himself for three reasons. First, Cherry had asked him to keep his mouth shut. Second, as Cherry had said, Bege was almost certainly going to fail and that failure could create an opportunity for the Straw Hats to get away with Sanji. Lastly, Tamago had little reason to trust his word over Bege's, who was happily married into the family and hadn't outwardly shown any inclinations to mutiny.
"Why so quiet, soir? You have nothing at all to say in your defense?" Tamago sighed.
"I did what I had to do, gao." Pekoms said.
"You know that I will have to bring you to Mama, don't you?" Tamago asked. "You don't seem to be in any position to resist, in any case. You did arrive with one of our guests, however, so perhaps Mama will be lenient if you can help convince to come to our side."
Tamago signaled some odd creatures to pick him up and they carried Pekoms out of the restaurant, following after Tamago towards the meritable fortress made of cake on the edge of the city.
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