Masaomi was seven years old when the ruling Kozuki Family were dethroned, Kaido and the Beast Pirates occupied the country, and Shogun Kurozumi Orochi enforced isolationism on the whole of Wano.

Einosuke had to make a choice for the sake of his people. He could never leave them starving and defenseless, and so as much as it pained him to do it, he pledged allegiance to the shogun and offered up his army in a show of good faith. This fealty pleased the shogun, who in return allowed Einosuke to keep his high status, as well as allowed the Shindou Clan to remain in the Dango Province under Einosuke’s rule. 

This decision pleased the nobility of Youshin Chuu. The opinion of the people was split. Some found it dishonourable to bow down to an obvious tyrant. Others understood that Einosuke’s priority was the clan, and he’d done this to protect them. Kohaku detested him for it. He could not understand how one man could be so spineless, to become the bitch of the shogun. He thought more of Einosuke. How dare he bring such shame onto the Shindou Clan? Those of lower class who resided in leftover towns seemed to think the same. The Shindou samurai were no friends of the public.

Kohaku could not outright take his anger out on the daimyo, but he could take it out on Masaomi, who continued to be punished for reasons he could never figure out.

In his early adolescence, Masaomi began to dream of glittering seas and a gentle breeze, a faraway place where he wouldn’t be forced to his knees with the weight of everyone’s sneers. There must be other people, other islands, things to explore, things that had nothing to do with his clan and country’s oppression, a place where he can just be, right? He felt trapped, he wanted to run away. His father was cruel to him, his siblings were distant. The public changed their minds on him and his clan every day. His mother had too many mouths to feed and didn’t pay him as much attention anymore.

The highlights of his day were when Lord Einosuke would visit their town. Masaomi loved the daimyo with his whole heart. They were a lot alike, it was nice to know he wasn’t alone in his feeling of restlessness. Once, Einosuke confessed he wanted to journey to the end of the world, to discover all things unknown, but was held back by his duty to his clan. He would sing and dance and joke with Masaomi. Lord Einosuke only ever looked at Masaomi with gentle eyes full of pride. And then, when he would leave and Masaomi would be subjected to the coldness of his father, he would wonder, bitter, why couldn’t Lord Einosuke be my father? The idiot never caught on to the truth.

This was not an accident. Einosuke forbade any mention of Masaomi’s parentage. He did not want Masaomi to grow up trying to be his father, someone he’s not. When Orochi took over, this reason changed. It was because Einosuke was not truly loyal to the shogun. Just as back then in his youth, he wanted to stage a rebellion. If he failed, Masaomi would be executed by Orochi as a way to end Einosuke’s treacherous bloodline. Masaomi would only know of his true father when the country was free of Orochi’s tyrannical reign.

Seeing the unhappiness weighing down on his son more and more brought more resolve to what Einosuke was planning to do. A child should be their own person. Their clan, as much as he loved them, was holding Masaomi down. When he’d gathered a ship, resources, and trusted men to get Masaomi out of the country undetected, he thrust a satchel in his son’s hands and gave him an order he couldn’t refuse. “Leave. Go on your journey, find who you were meant to be. I’ll be waiting here for you if you choose to return.”

He at first thought Lord Einosuke was joking, however in his eyes there was a darkness that he only ever gets when he is determined, when he really means it, and that was all it took for Masaomi to wear the satchel with pride. He asked if he could tell his mother and younger siblings he was leaving, and then left to go inform his family. His younger siblings, some of them toddlers or infants, could not understand why he wanted to go, or that he was going at all. His mother’s reaction was appropriate, given Masaomi was the oldest of her children, and he was only fourteen years old. Where was he going? Why was he going?

Masaomi grabs her by the shoulders and pulls her into a tight hug. “I have to, I just do.” And then he’s gone.

The first island Masaomi stumbled across was the island of Davenport, where he literally stumbled into the backyard of a retired marine named Alphonse Delorian, broken and hungry and sick. Delorian took care of Masaomi, and after nursing him back to full health, put him to work in repairing an old well that had broken after Masaomi fell against it. Delorian was stern, and didn't talk much. He would shrug off hardship like it was something expected of him. Being as tough as he was, his heart softened for the boy under his care, whom he began to see as a son, and whom he saw in need of protection. 

Simply put, Masaomi had behavioural problems, wouldn't take orders, was unstable in emotion, cried randomly, ran away from Delorian when he tried to show any amount of affection, and didn't understand the meaning of a compliment. He suffered from night terrors that he couldn’t remember in the morning. He was constantly worrying about being punished. The ex-marine realized this boy must've had a lot of troubles at home, and officially vowed to do right by him.

Delorian is married to a woman named Gladys, and had a son named Bellam who was terminally ill and died a decade prior to Masaomi meeting Delorian. Before Bellam's death, Delorian did something unforgivable in the navy. Their stronghold was being decimated by a pirate force unlike they'd ever seen, and instead of staying to die with his men, Delorian deserted them, ran back to his wife with his tail between his legs, leaving all his comrades to die without their commanding officer. Shortly after, Bellam died, and Gladys blamed Delorian, who she claimed brought bad karma on their family. She left him. For years he attempted to reach out through letters to no avail. Her silence was telling. 

He'd just accepted it until Masaomi convinced him to reach out to her again, this time in person. When Delorian met her at the hospital she worked, she was furious, but more than that, she'd missed him. They had a long chat, and when Gladys met Masaomi herself, she understood why Delorian suddenly had the courage to seek her out again. She was the one to convince Delorian to leave with Masaomi on his journey. "That boy needs you more than I need you." And that's all it took.

The second island visited on Masaomi’s journey was Sandalwood Island. There, he and Delorian came to stay with a group of monks, The Rachanaa, who worshipped a god named Shiva. The Rachanaa are all female, and are made up of women and young girls who ascended the mountainside looking for spiritual cleansing and healing.

A girl one year younger than him, Raava, became his closest friend during this period. They went everywhere together. She showed Masaomi things that meditation and self sacrifice could not. She brought him to the Sivappu Sands, where the sun glowed bright red as it descended through the sunset clouds. She showed him the streams and the lotus flowers that flowed down from the mountain high in the sky. She and Masaomi joked around. She watched him fail to catch a Heaven Beetle, and he helped her catch a Ribbon Eel, which she wore proudly around her neck until they got home to cook it. She found Masaomi humorous and fun, a point of interest in her mundane life of prayer. One day Masaomi shared with her his own ideas on how the universe worked, ones that differed from The Rachanaa view but did not contradict them. She was amazed, and asked how he’d come to such a conclusion. “The world taught me, dearest Raava.” When he placed a stray hair back behind her ear, she thought in that moment, ‘I want the world to teach me too.’

The Rachanaa helped Masaomi learn the usefulness of meditation and prayer, taught him to appreciate fate and a power greater than oneself, and established the intimate connection between destruction, creation, and transformation. He began to understand the importance of universal flow, which started him on the path to controlling his own inner energies. It was through these teachings that Masaomi unlocked what The Rachanaa called The Gift of Sight, however in layman’s terms, what he acquired was Observation Haki.

When Delorian and Masaomi decided it was time to go, Raava begged her elders to go with him. They could not deny her such an innocent request and let her go with her friend.

The third island he visited on his journey was called Snaketail Island. If viewed from bird's eye view, the island would appear to be a snake eating its own tail. There, Masaomi, Delorian, and Raava came across a trail of glowing mushrooms, and once they followed it, they ended up in Tall Tree Grove, a place that barely saw the sun and was home to all sorts of dangerous creatures. The environment was harsh and unpredictable. They could go days without eating or having shelter. Through it all, they learned to survive through the aid of a huntress named Fionn Swiftfoot.

Fionn had become accidentally separated from her original hunter gatherer tribe a decade prior after they were attacked by a rival gang, and lived alone up until she made friends with an old mystic named Fertrix, who claimed to know the art of survival, which he taught to Fionn for a price. That price was to feed him, and to help him build his shelter, a tree fort that Fionn would inherit once he died. He was kind and he was brave, but he was also prone to not looking where he was going and stumbling into trouble. Fionn could swear he was going to get himself killed... she didn't think he'd actually do it, the old fool! She came across his torn apart carcass three days after she'd last seen him, and that was that, she thought. She went back to living alone and she stayed that way, refusing to show anyone else the kindness that Fertrix showed her, letting many people go hungry and starve to death on her doorstep, or be eaten by creatures of the night. She did not want to form another attachment. 

That is, until Masaomi and his friends caught her attention as they were running from a Kadabracat. And just like that, she wasn't alone anymore. She had no choice, the boy was convincing and had eyes she couldn’t deny… also he literally crashed right through her window. She became Masaomi's teacher in the same way that Fertrix taught her, and very quickly she came to realize that Masaomi was very much like the old man. Because of that, she grew fond of him, and decided she would follow after him when he left, to prevent him from getting himself killed the same way Fertrix did.

Fionn taught Masaomi how to survive on nothing but willpower, and helped train his Observation Haki such that he eventually surpassed her in skill, for he had become in tune with an environment that was constantly changing, just like fate and the universal flow. The one thing he still could not best her in when he eventually set off again was her close combat, which she confessed she used Armament Haki, a skill Masaomi had not yet unlocked, and one of the Six Powers, to win.

The fourth island Masaomi visited on his journey was an island by the name of Ruston, a dirty, mechanized island where everything runs on steam and where the ocean around it is polluted by trash. There, Masaomi stayed with his friends in a rundown motel in the city of Yorktown. The downtown streets smelled a little funky, and there was tons of illegal underground business, but the sunsets were breathtaking, and the nightlife was bustling. Masaomi fell in love with the rustic city. He had to explore.

His curiosity led him to a table where a man by the name of Parson Gero was playing with passerby on the street. People around him were betting, and losing sorely. Yet no matter the size of the opponent, if one chose to get frisky, they got beaten down to the ground by Parson. After the crowd cleared and the sun began to set, Masaomi challenged him. He lost once, twice, thrice, four times. He bet some jewelry, some money, his sunhat, and then finally, when he had nothing else to use, Parson decided Masaomi would work off the debt as his personal assistant (read: slave). Although Masaomi's friends were ready to fight the bastard for Masaomi's freedom, he accepted his loss, and proclaimed loudly, "I will take this defeat in grace and bow down to the mercy of this rotten scoundrel!" Parson, who had cheated every round that day, didn't understand the nobility. He was drawn to it, however, and decided that he'd take Masaomi under his wing and teach him the ways of the streets. 

Parson was a runaway Celestial Dragon who left his comfortable lifestyle in search of personal thrills, an adrenaline junkie who took to putting himself in dangerous situations for a living. A kickboxer, a gambler, a scammer, a loan shark, a gangster; there was nothing left of the noble he once was. It is with Parson that Masaomi learned the art of street fighting, of trickery and deception, and what it meant to truly play dirty.

Parson learned a lot about Masaomi that wasn’t apparent on the surface. Masaomi was very bold and very charming, and frequently used this to earn favours from people, to be forgiven for things that would’ve gotten Parson beaten. Business started to boom when Parson let Masaomi take the ropes. Something else he learned was that Masaomi could twist and turn the truth, talk circles around people. He confused and confounded them until they weren’t sure what was up and what was down. He could make them believe anything! He could make them feel sure about a lie and doubt the facts. He could read people’s emotions very well and adjust his angle just slightly to ensure victory. His acting and theatrics were unlike any Parson had ever seen. Even he began to believe the stories that Masaomi spun. Parson grew terrified of Masaomi, and this terror excited him. Masaomi already had it in him to play in the underworld, and Parson wanted to see where that excitement and terror took him.

But Masaomi is not the self-serving, manipulative bastard that Parson thought he was, and it was a surprise to Parson when he found he didn’t really care. He didn’t care for nobility, for bloodlines, for the straight and narrow, but Masaomi made him care about honour. When Masaomi was exposed to the true nature of the underworld, to the unkindness it had to offer, when he learned that not everyone came out of hardship with a smile on their face and a loving heart, it strengthened him. Most people cannot fight the world and win, and those that did were anomalies here. Masaomi promised himself that no matter what, he would never allow anyone he cared about to ever experience the same thing again, and that is why Parson chose to follow him.

It was then that Masaomi was visited by a raven sporting goggles and a scarf. He’d been sitting with his companions in a hotel tavern when the bird flew in through the window and landed daintily on the table. With it, it’d been carrying a leathery transponder snail housed in a black, golden-spotted shell. The snail was professional, with rectangular glasses and long eyelashes. Before then, Masaomi could not recall setting sights on a prettier transponder snail.

The snail rang, and without hesitation Masaomi answered it. On the other end, a woman’s smooth voice greeted him. Well, not really greeted. There wasn’t a hello. She got straight to business, introduced herself as Raven Nevermore, and invited him to join the guild Lenoria, of which she was the master. If he wished to join, then he should keep the transponder snail for when he met up with his partners at Visitor’s Peak on the island of Gilead. If he did not, then he should get rid of the transponder as quickly as possible before it detonated and killed everyone within a fifty meter radius. Masaomi accepted the invitation, also without hesitation, and also without guidance from his companions. Obviously, accepting the invitation was crazy, that much didn’t have to be said. Still, his companions trusted his judgment, and they followed him to Visitor’s Peak, prepared for the worst but hoping for the best.

The moment his partner set eyes on him and his tiny shorts, she screamed bloody murder and punched him right in the gut. She hadn’t realized that he was the one who would be joining her, and only saw a predator coming after a lonely woman. The other partner had to drag the shorter one away to explain the situation, and when they came back, they introduced themselves as Helena Hearteater and Myrron Atticus, and from that moment on, they were going to be his mentors!

Myrron came from an island in the North Blue in the Burkic Isles. The Isles are a cluster of islands under tyrannical rule, plagued by civil war, political corruption, and unstable economy. Its people were starving, its productivity was nonexistent. Myrron came from a rural community that had to hand over majority of its produce to the royal family. She had been tired of the sickness and the hunger, so she joined a revolutionary group to overthrow the royal family against the wishes of her family. After years of war, the royal family agreed to sign a treaty with the revolutionaries, and that is when the leader of their group, Alexander Louisard, came to Myrron with a request. Louisard told her that the royal family was planning to assassinate him at the signing, and that he needed her skill with a scope to execute the king before they could kill him. Disgusted with the underhandedness of the king, Myrron did what she was told. When the king was dead on the ground, Louisard turned around and shot the queen and her four children, and then ordered the execution of the entire noble class and their supporters, as well as a seizure of their assets. But wait, that’s not what Myrron signed up for! What was even worse was when Louisard put out a bounty on Myrron’s head, claiming she’d been trying to kill him at the behest of their king. Myrron had to escape the Isles, and ever since then, she’s been plagued with Louisard’s men chasing after her, of which she’s had to murder every single one.

Masaomi and Myrron hit it off quickly. She was bubbly, loved to dance and sing, and loved all things that sparkled! She was in possession of the Quartz Quartz no mi, a paramecia-type devil fruit that allows the user to grow quartz crystals out of their body, and not just out of their body, but out of someone else’s body as well when the user touches them. Myrron is the one who taught him the basics of how to handle firearms. She also suggested to him to incorporate dance in his fighting style because he loved it so much.

Helena came from an island in the West Blue that she’d never revealed the name of. Her and her parents’ lives were ruined by her older brother Jean and his addiction to drugs. He stole from his parents, he lied to them, he brought trouble to their home. Multiple times they were robbed or attacked because of money Jean owed to his dealers. Multiple times he threatened his own parents for money. Their parents thought that they were at fault for how their son turned out, and with the feeling that they were failures as parents, they took their own lives. Helena, who had been training in the local clinic, returned home to find her parents dead and her brother gone. Vowing to avenge them, she hunted for her brother and joined his drug gang as soon as she found them. She was the only woman present, and it was horrible. They harassed her, assaulted her verbally and physically. Those men really were the worst. Helena couldn’t wait to make them suffer. She killed all twenty men at once by making them tea laced with cyanide. After she fulfilled her goal, she made her living as a travelling doctor.

Masaomi and Helena struggled to connect. Though she’s a doctor, she was aloof and impatient, more of a loner who preferred peace and quiet to the excitement of the other two. She was skittish and quick to attack, especially if approached from behind. She shut herself away in her office and only came out when they arrived at their destination. She immediately didn’t trust Masaomi because he’s a man, and she never had good experiences with men. But Masaomi was the first man to pay attention to her needs, the first man to respect her “no.” He was the first man to learn her particular neuroses without her having to teach him all the time, and because of that, she felt comfortable showing him basic first aid so that he wouldn’t have to come to her all the time for help.

She still didn’t want to be partnered with him though, and when she, Myrron, and Masaomi completed their job and delivered the goods, she was under the impression that she’d never have to see him again, because he would be assigned an official partner instead. She thought that she and Myrron were only meant to guide him, to see if he had what it took to be in the guild in the first place. It was to her chagrin that Myrron wanted to be permanently partnered with Masaomi, and she was happy to be partnered with his companions as well. More men. Helena didn’t want to stay his partner, and if Myrron wanted to, that was her choice, but Helena wouldn’t be joining them. This disappointed Masaomi and Myrron, but they respected it, and Helena put in a request for a different partner.

However she did not like that partner either, and she couldn’t put her finger on why. That woman, Charlotte Rose, was perfect, quiet and kept to herself and shut herself in her room at night and didn’t make small talk, only speaking when it concerned the job. Helena ended up feeling lonely. She tried to teach the woman how to apply a bandage to stop bleeding but the minute she had a criticism the woman stormed off and refused to learn anymore. Masaomi and Myrron would’ve sat through and perfected it, they would’ve appreciated Helena’s advice.

When she started to compare her new partner to her old partners, that’s when it struck her that she never disliked them, she disliked not having the control to decide when she was ready to accommodate for their energy, and maybe if she’d just talked to them instead of callously telling them to piss off, they’d have understood. Above it all, Helena missed Masaomi the most, his big goofy grin, his bright shining eyes that looked at her with interest no matter what she did… she missed feeling important. Masaomi made her feel like everything she said mattered. Even if he was loud and always in her space and extremely extroverted, even if he spoke very fast and was annoying, he was also attentive and sweet, and a hard worker, always willing to learn something new. He was what Jean could’ve been without the drugs. She hated to admit it, but her feelings on Masaomi were more complicated than she thought. 

She resigned herself to her fate. If she wanted the good, she’d also have to put up with the bad. She posted a job on the request board for Masaomi and Myrron, and when they arrived, she told them their task was to take her back, with the requirements being that when her office door is closed, no one is to disturb her. That is the one and only time she was okay with Masaomi hugging her. 

When they returned to Visitor’s Peak, Raven rewarded the team with The Spider Monkey, a mechanical beast that could move on land, up cliff sides, and sail water. It served as a mobile home. “Better than a ship,” she claimed, and she was right…. And then she immediately assigned them another job to do.

The contractor’s name was Siv, and Siv required a partner with a specific skill set to aid in her theft of an important peace treaty. When Raven read the requirements on the request board, she only had one person in mind, and that was Masaomi. He and his companions arrived on Bronzebark Island and were met with a country ruled by its militia. Three military factions were attempting to take control of the nation and their contractor belonged to one of them.

Siv is a thief. The most precious thing she’s ever stolen is knowledge, in this case the art of the Six Powers. Having mastered their technique, Siv owned them, made them her own. She stole books of history, of culture and language and art, books that were priceless and could never be replaced. She stole these because she took the saying “Knowledge is power” literally. One of the things she’d read was an exact repeated history of the current power dispute. The war did not end well for her faction three hundred years prior, and she had a feeling it was not going to end well this time either. Back then, her faction had been forced to accept sole responsibility for the conflicts, and were forced to pay unfair reparations to the other two. Their faction was crippled, half of them died of starvation and poverty. That is what started the conflict up again three centuries later. 

The peace treaty Siv aimed to steal was currently hidden in a vault in the neutral territory of Spindle. On different occasions the faction leaders met up under a ceasefire to develop this treaty, though there were whisperings of the other two meeting in secret to plan to pin the blame on the third yet again. Her goal in stealing the current peace treaty was to bring it to her faction leader to have it scanned for any such betrayal.

The security system in the vault was activated as Siv grabbed the treaty, and as she and Masaomi were running out, her arm got smashed behind the door. She told Masaomi to leave her and just take the treaty, but he couldn’t. The arm was crushed beyond repair, and Masaomi knew thanks to Helena that the arm would be sending back bad blood to the heart so he had to act quick. He tore off his sleeve, tied it around her upper arm as a tourniquet, and used her blade to amputate. 

For Siv, this was tantamount to a declaration of love. She’s the type to always repay a debt as soon as possible, but how could she repay this debt? He could have been caught and executed! This was the first time anyone ever sacrificed anything for her, the first time she felt like she meant something to someone.

As expected, the treaty had been altered, and because of that, the nation was thrown into all out civil war as accusations flew and tensions rose. At that point, Masaomi and his companions had planned to leave, because the terms of their contract was complete and the payment had been received. Except Raven contacted Masaomi to inform him that he must remain in Bronzebark as the terms of his contract had changed. Siv, who had panicked at the idea of Masaomi leaving her before she could repay her debt, had called Raven and put in another request, the request to change her contract to include seeing the civil war to its end. In order to sweeten the deal, Siv promised triple the reward for completion of this contract. Masaomi may not have wanted to participate in civil war, but he saw dollar signs and was sold. 

Masaomi saved Siv once more. They were trapped in a building, having been incapacitated and tied up, being held for ransom. Masaomi wanted to wait for Fionn and Myrron’s arrival to back then up. They were supposedly coming. Siv didn’t trust that they would, let alone make it inside with all the guns pointed at the entrance. She wanted to slice open her ropes and scape out the window. It was super tedious because their captors were keeping close watch on them. There were a few close calls but Masaomi talked circles around these guys and kept their attention away from her with his stories.

Midday was when Fionn and Myrron were supposed to meet them but they hadn’t appeared, and Siv, who was tired of waiting, decided she would attack. Masaomi did not have time to react to her attack of the first captor, but he did see the second captor turn right around with his gun. Masaomi jumped out between him and Siv and was caught by a bullet to the side. Siv attacked the other captor before he could reload and then escaped with Masaomi out the window.

They met up with Fionn and Myrron on the way, who had been held up by a siege at the town hall. Siv didn’t stop to hear the explanation. She left Masaomi with them, and in her cold anger, went on to slaughter every mercenary who stood in her way to clear a path for her beloved saviour. How dare they hurt Masaomi like that. They would pay.

The civil war lasted three weeks before peace was established, this time for all factions. Masaomi was ready to leave with his companions. He thanks Siv for the payment, and said he hoped to see her again sometime. However, Siv couldn’t let him go. If he left her, if even he didn’t want to stay with her, then she was not worth the waste of space. “I’ll be dead before you’ve sailed over the horizon.” Masaomi understood immediately, and begged her not to do it. She gave him an ultimatum. Take her, or let her die. The choice was obvious. 

Siv left with Masaomi and his companions, with the feeling that she could never repay Masaomi for his kindness, for he had saved her a third time, and for that, she would serve him to the end.

On the way back from Bronzebark, The Spider Monkey sustained damage from a storm and needed to dock for repairs. It docked at the quiet island of Ditan Shi that was uninhabited except by frogs and a Wobbegong Shark fishman by the name of Zhen. He lived in a villa not far from the dock, backed by a swamp where frogs thrived. He offered a place to stay while Delorian got to fixing The Spider Monkey.

When Masaomi established contact with Raven to inform her of their delayed arrival, and Raven inquired about their place of stay, she informed Masaomi that Zhen was a highly wanted man who could be turned in to the navy for a high bounty. She told him that the fishman was wanted for multiple counts of kidnapping human children and selling them to slave auctions and traffickers. Masaomi relayed this information to his companions, and told them he wanted to attempt to capture the fishman. With Delorian and Siv at his side, that is exactly what he tried to do. And they failed miserably. The fishman could take hits like a tank, and one hit from him was devastating. After another failed attempt, and another, Masaomi and his partners gave up, and Masaomi apologized for his rude behaviour. The fishman only laughed and asked them what they would like for dinner.

Zhen didn’t do anything that required effort. He’s very slow, easy-going, calm and level-headed. He would sit at the riverside and soak his feet for hours. He woke up early every morning and stood out on the beach to meditate. Masaomi, who is also an early-riser, started to follow Zhen out to the beach and copying his movements. Zhen found it endearing that the little human was mimicking him, and sought to teach him a form of meditation called Qigong that involved movement of the body with the flowing energy of the earth. During one of these sessions, Masaomi asked the fishman if he really did commit those crimes. Zhen nodded. He confessed to having been a very angry person decades ago, back when fishmen were more oppressed. He thought the best way to deal with that anger was revenge. They took fishmen children and sold them, well see how they liked it when the tables were turned. 

Masaomi nodded along with the story, and then gave the fishman a hug. He was not judgmental, nor was he disgusted. He understood what Zhen was going through, that feeling where anger takes over and turns you into a different person. Zhen was grateful for this. In fact, he was surprised at the amount of wisdom this young man had at his age. He continued to meditate with Masaomi, teaching him the value of relaxation, forgiveness, and patience. Through this form of meditation, Masaomi unlocked his Armament Haki, and strengthened it with Zhen’s guidance.

This journey was eight years. Masaomi was fourteen when he left, twenty-two when he came back. He had changed substantially, and so had his country.

Shortly after Masaomi escaped, a foreigner by the name of Lucius Torsten was stranded on Momoiro Beach (桃色きし Momoiro-kishi — “pink,” “beach”). He was found starving and dehydrated by Shindou swordsmen and brought back to Youshin Chuu to be treated by the high priestesses and their handmaidens. After he was rested, he was questioned by Einosuke personally. Lucius explained that he was a dangerous man on the run from the World Government, and would not be staying longer than he had to. He thanks Einosuke for his kindness, but Einosuke will not let him leave before he elaborates on that. Lucius explains he is ex-Cipher Pol, and thus is bad to have around, since other World Government agents would be after him. What Einosuke sees is an opportunity.

“You’re technically a criminal, coming into this country as a foreigner,” Einosuke informs him. Though it has an air of mischief about it, Lucius understands. He will be hunted down no matter where he goes and ought to stay with allies. So Einosuke decides to keep Lucius hidden in the Dango Province under the identity of Ru-hachi.

Ru-hachi was supposedly a potter who lived in Hoen Town undercover. It was a coincidence that he ran into O-Shiori and helped her bring groceries home, but after that, he became almost a replacement father for Shiori’s children in place of Kohaku. Kohaku did not have much of a relationship with his nine children aside from the eldest, Hotaru (蛍 — “firefly”), and so Ru-hachi easily filled the hole in the household.

Einosuke fully intended to utilize Lucius’ skills and connections to gain intel on the shogun and aid in a scheme of revolution. He had Lucius deliver messages to the Ryuuga, the Yamada, the Muritora, and the Nezumi clans. The Shindou Clan secretly sold farmers’ tools to allow the clans to arm and train their civilians for when the rebellion took place.

Although Einosuke and Lucius’ relationship was supposedly one of business, spending so much time together made it personal. Einosuke’s wives welcomed Lucius into their family immediately, and they married without a ceremony.

A short time before Masaomi arrived to Wano again, Einosuke was tipped off that the shogun’s men had caught wind of what he was up to, and would come to arrest him within the week. The same thing was being said of his allies. The Nezumi clan head ratted them out in exchange for the shogun’s clemency. He would be treated the same as the rest of them and arrested, the damn fool. 

Einosuke had only days to make arrangements for his wives and daughters to go into hiding. He trusted Kohaku to take care of the clan and keep their interests in his heart. Then he arranged for Lucius to escape Wano with one last request. He confessed to Lucius he had a son named Masaomi that he’d sent out of Wano eight years ago to protect. “Do not tell him yet, my love.” Lucius promised he would find Masaomi. And then Einosuke was arrested and locked up in Udon for conspiring against Kaido and the shogun.

Masaomi hits Wano’s shores and is immediately apprehended by Kaido’s forces. However, once he explains he is of the Shindou Clan, an allied clan of the shogun’s, he is accompanied by these men back to Dango, where he is handed off to Shindou samurai and taken to Youshin Chuu. 

To say he is surprised to see Kohaku sitting where Lord Einosuke should have been is an understatement. He should’ve been immediately tipped off something was wrong when the estate was quiet and devoid of life. Kohaku wastes no time in informing Masaomi that Einosuke was arrested over a month ago and imprisoned in Udon for the crime of treachery, and therefore that made him Lord. Masaomi is confused on why his father hasn’t already gone and fought to release His Lordship, and Kohaku laughs at his naïveté. Instead of answering him directly, Kohaku gives Masaomi one week to get out and never return, for the next time that he did, he would be treated as a criminal. This was the one mercy he would ever show Masaomi.

Masaomi spent that one week with his family; helped Satoru catch up on his studies, teased Chiharu and Haru on their crushes on the same boy, sat and meditated with Hotaru, stood as Minoru’s practice dummy, taught Koharu and Mitsuru how to do their hair and makeup, and got the twins Shigeru and Hikaru out of trouble with the landlady. And during that time, within him, something burned, something fierce. Anger towards Kohaku’s callousness. Desire for their clan to be free. Hatred towards Kaido and the shogun for turning countrymen against one another. He left, promising his family he would right this wrong.

Trap them, that is what Masaomi set out to do. Weaken the weapons trade, weaken the illegal substance trade, stave off their operations. He needed information and he needed allies. Using the resources available to him thanks to Lenoria’s request board, he found plenty of people who were willing to get their hands dirty, risk their lives to find him what he was looking for. He needed names, trade routes, schedules, hideouts, the enemy’s allies, and their detractors. They killed, tortured, stole, delivered and escorted, and Masaomi did the same. In return he took jobs for his partners, established a large network amongst his guildsmen.

There were plenty of allies, an almost endless supply. If they couldn’t be convinced to turn their backs on the Beast King by a middle man, then they’d be eliminated in the dead of night. There were plenty more detractors; revolutionaries seeking justice against tyranny, bleeding hearts who sought to help their fellow man, nobles with a secret lust for Wano’s secrets, bought and sold on empty promises.

They didn’t see him, they didn’t hear him. He was patient like Delorian, perceptive like Raava, lightning-quick like Fionn, adaptable like Parson, decisive like Myrron, meticulous like Helena, silent like Siv, and calm like Zhen. They didn’t know who he was, but they whispered his name wherever he went, The Silent Death.

It is fitting that the only one who could’ve found him would be a man trained in the art of disappearance, who had these lessons branded into his bones. Finally, after months of searching, Lucius found Masaomi. His explanation was precise. He is married to Shindou Einosuke and was sent by His Lordship to protect Masaomi. He would offer no more information than that. Masaomi might’ve hesitated to trust him, but Lucius wore a ring of delicate gold fashioned from the ornament on His Lordship’s blade, and the only way he could have that is through a proposal, and so the ex-Cipher Pol agent became a close ally.

The next target is cutting off Kaido’s source. Intel told him of four names: Jack, Joker, Queen, and King. The Joker operated in the same Underworld that Lenoria did. Finding him was as simple as retracing the trail his customers left behind. Donquixote Doflamingo, one of the seven warlords, king of Dressrosa. His companions asked him what he planned to do about a foe so formidable. The answer was obvious! Go to Dressrosa and make the Joker laugh!

Keeping watch of the king’s operations from a distance, Masaomi surmised The Silent Death wasn’t going to impress a man dressed like that. This wasn’t the time for silence, this was the time for loud. In completely Masaomi fashion, he crashes a gala and declares himself a worthy dance partner for Doflamingo, but only after he’s sufficiently commanded the attention of every single person in that room. Doflamingo, excited and intrigued, took that hand and danced. Not just physically, but in every sense of the word.

Masaomi spoke to Doflamingo’s narcissism and godhood, his greed, his thirst for power, and his fear of death. Do you want to be Kaido’s dog forever? What if you had the power he did? What if he begged you for mercy, what if he feared the consequences of failing you? Masaomi sought equitable partnership. Doflamingo had resources and wealth, and if they broke apart Kaido’s alliance with Orochi bit by bit, then Wano would begin to gain its strength once again, once the people were free of their chains. Sea prism originates from Wano and its blacksmiths are second to none. All that and more could belong to you. You’d have allies even the World Government won’t touch.

All the promises he made to nobles in the past were phony, but the moment their eyes met, Masaomi’s entire being was set ablaze, and he could feel it, the king’s heart lit up just the same. They’d found a kindred spirit in one another, like two halves of the same soul, galaxies trapped in the other’s gravity, coming closer and closer to collision every second. Anger, hatred, desire twisted into a black hole of ambition in them both. Masaomi could not lie to him even if he wanted to. His promises were real.

Doflamingo may have had his underground empire, but there was something so thrilling about gaining access to Lenoria’s network that operated in all corners of the world, even in top positions of the navy and government. More thrilling than that was the hand-for-hire that came through his window every so often to accept a contract or two from him. When he got back, they’d get into heated discussions lasting hours on philosophy, politics, economics, ethics, forgetting everyone else in the room the minute the other walked in. They always seemed to be playing a game, one where no one but them knew the rules. The consequences of losing were lost on outsiders.

They connected on a deeper level, one of understanding. Loveless, useless fathers, families turning a blind eye, a want and a need to be better than that man, to have their own family. When their physical touches held more weight, when they meant more than a friendly pat on the back, they discovered they could communicate complex emotions this way, and they never let each other stray too far after that.

They were a pair of lovebirds. Doflamingo was Masaomi’s big bird, and Masaomi, the little bird.

The Paramount War drew to a close, and Masaomi sought out his closest friend, Captain Julien Torsten de Witte. The man had been put on suspension, devastated at his personal defeat and angry at his physical weakness, looking for a chance to grow stronger. Masaomi knew no one better in the art of hand-to-hand combat than Lucius. It was at that moment Masaomi discovered Lucius is Julien’s estranged biological father. Awkward introductions over with, Lucius spent some time with Julien, catching up, training him. It was a peaceful time for them, a time interrupted by the delivery of a letter with no return address, calling Masaomi back to Wano.

Something about that letter’s vagueness sat heavy in his gut. You’re needed. End this. Masaomi told his companions to keep The Spider Monkey and wait for him. The only person he took with him was Lucius. He warned Lucius that the last time he was in Wano, His Lordship Einosuke had been imprisoned, and Kohaku placed a bounty on him. Getting into the country might be rough.

They enter through Momoiro Beach and are stopped by Shindou Clan samurai painted with crests Masaomi does not recognize, and pirates carrying the emblem of the Beast Pirates. They did indeed treat him as a criminal, and tried to arrest him for treason against the shogun. He and Lucius had no trouble defeating the soldiers, and advanced to Youshin Chuu by the cover of night. 

That’s when they pass a bulletin board with wanted posters, and Masaomi sees his sketchy face with the caption reading, ‘Shindou Masaomi, son of Shindou Einosuke, wanted for the crime of treachery and conspiring against the shogun and his allies.’ Beside it are newspaper clippings pinned to the board, reporting the execution of Shindou Einosuke, his allies, and his supporters.

Son of— Masaomi reads it twice, three times, ten. He turns to Lucius immediately with a question in his eyes, Is it true? Did you know? Lucius nods. All this time—

Masaomi instructs Lucius to go on ahead without him to Hoen Town to see if the family’s okay. Lucius hesitates, Masaomi repeats himself. Something about that command is different, it has gravity to it, almost pushing Lucius away from him. That time, Lucius obeys.

Masaomi sets his sights on the estate. Back to business.

Kohaku was waiting for him, kneeled on the floor, sharpening his blade, back turned. Masaomi sits across the room from him. They exchange no greeting. He knows Kohaku knows he is there. The estate is as empty as last time, so it is silent as he waits. When Kohaku sheaths his blade and turns to Masaomi, that is when the silence is broken. He addresses Masaomi by name only. Masaomi struggles to keep a calm composure in returning the greeting respectfully and warmly. You shouldn’t be here, Kohaku says, disappointed like he’s talking down to a toddler.

Masaomi inquires about the nobles. Kohaku tells him they were executed out of treason. Masaomi inquires about His Lordship. He too was executed for conspiring against the shogun. Finally, Masaomi breaks. “Where were you? His Lordship, my father, my real father, was your friend, your brother.”

Kohaku snorts. Only a fool such as this one would take so long to figure it out. “That perverted whelp was not my friend nor my brother, and my whore of a wife was no better. They brought this upon themselves.”

They—
They?

“Father, how could you? Have you no honour?”

Now that made him laugh. A lecture on honour from a child born of dishonour? It made him sick. He rose and unsheathed his blade. “I was merciful in letting you leave. Remember that.”

Masaomi was done biting his tongue. “Merciful? Are you a comedian now, father?” He stood, fists clenched. “You have not an ounce of mercy in you! More than anything, they loved you, I loved you—” He couldn’t help it, his whole body was taut with rage, his eyes stinging from tears. After all this, his father looked so bored. Nothing moved him. Not then, not now. 

Wiping away any sign of weakness, his eyes grow cold. “Father, I love you.” Again, there it is, that wave of pressure, and finally, something made Kohaku react, his eyes showing a hint of surprise as he’s brought to his knees. He has some sort of realization, and rises again, determined.

“Take that love straight to hell.”

Masaomi refuses to go down without a fight. The years of training he’s had make him more than an equal match for Kohaku’s strength. He has what Kohaku does not, however. He fights dirty, he switches tactics, he utilizes anything in the room he can find. He is faster and more determined to win, and it’s not long before Masaomi overpowers Kohaku and is poised to kill.

And then he stops himself.

He spent years of his life believing Kohaku to be his father, tried desperately to build a relationship with this man, worked himself to the bone to earn one look of pride, one expression of gratitude, one acknowledgement that his existence wasn’t a burden or a shame on the family. To have sought his approval so long… Kohaku’s betrayal didn’t make Masaomi hate him, it made him blame himself for the destruction his birth brought to their family. Masaomi couldn’t bare to end the man’s life. He meant what he said. He loved him.

This moment of hesitation is an open window for Kohaku, who sends his blade clean through Masaomi’s left side. Masaomi staggers backwards. Before Kohaku can finish the job, Masaomi escapes out the window and runs off. Moments later a siren is bellowing, and Masaomi struggles to hide. Damn, breathing so hard, they were bound to find him! He remembered the breathing techniques that’d been taught to him, and used them to drain the tension from his body, making him able to wait out his chasers. When the coast was clear, he ran to Momoiro Beach, where he hoped Lucius would be waiting.

Thankfully, Lucius knew to meet him there. The man looked ragged but otherwise okay, though at the sight of Masaomi’s injury, became enraged, wanting to go back to Youshin Chuu to skin Kohaku alive. Masaomi stops him, reminds him of their priorities, and the two are gone.

Sufficiently far enough from Wano, Lucius attempts to treat Masaomi’s injury to the best of his ability. It’s a rough patch job that will have to be tended to by Helena as soon as possible, but it will do.

Now is their moment of rest, and now is when Masaomi has the courage to ask about his mother and siblings, hoping that the answer he expected turned out false. It was not. His mother, his brothers, his sisters, they were all dead. Lucius could not explain how it happened, for he had no one to tell him. Masaomi just sighs and deflates. It’s a while before Lucius speaks up again. “He wanted to tell you so badly.”

Masaomi perks up at this.

“Einosuke wanted to tell you, but he wanted you to be free, and he wanted to protect you because he knew what he was going to do would endanger you.”

Masaomi cries at this, and then lets the waves of the sea lull him into a dreamless sleep.

He and Lucius did not speak a word to anyone. They returned to The Spider Monkey and sailed back to Dressrosa. It was like nothing had changed. He greeted everyone cheerfully, he spun tales of great adventures. No one noticed how stiff his movements were, how well he hid the physical and emotional pain. No one except for Doflamingo, who picked up on it right away, who knew from the minute Masaomi refused to embrace him. There was something cold about the way Masaomi smiled at him, there was hesitation in his answers, his eyes far away, distant. Doflamingo only played his game for one week before he grew tired of waiting for Masaomi to tell him the truth.

Masaomi gave him a shorthand of events. To say Doflamingo was furious was an understatement. Why didn’t you kill him you coward, what have you been working towards, you’ve gone and made yourself a target, you could have put the whole operation in jeopardy—

He was suddenly calm and collected, and wrapped his arms around his broken little bird. Truth be told, he cared deeply for this one, perhaps more than anyone else. Perhaps the anger was in caring too much. Doflamingo only wanted his little bird to feel satisfied and happy. How unfortunate, Masaomi had shown himself untrustworthy. What a horrible decision maker. Because of this, he could not be trusted to leave Dressrosa without informing his king first. That’s okay, Doflamingo is quite a forgiving man. Masaomi could work himself back up to where he was before. From then on, all his movements were to be reported to and approved by Doflamingo.

It was around this time Masaomi receives a mysterious message via transponder snail, one that is bright red and glamorous, and a proposition by a man who calls himself the future god of the underworld; personal work in exchange for a “priceless cargo.” A specific name catches his attention, that of one of his half-brothers, Minoru (實 — “to bear fruit”), who he finds out survived and was graciously picked up by said Underworld God to be held safely in captivity until pickup by his older brother. How could that be— 

Masaomi asks Doflamingo if he knows who the ‘future god of the underworld’ is, and if the man is trustworthy. Doflamingo is obviously displeased about it but hears Masaomi out, only warming up when he hears mention of Masaomi’s younger brother. Well then, of course he can leave, so long as he came right back! 

Lucius went with him, though it’s not like Masaomi had a choice in the matter, because as soon as Lucius heard the name, he insisted on coming.

The “future God of the Underworld,” who Masaomi came to know as Carlisle Desrosiers, a sea prism broker, did not ask anything of him at the time of their meeting, though Carlisle insisted that Masaomi keep the transponder snail if he ever needed anything, and it was apparent he expected Masaomi would answer to his every beck and call, for how else would he be able to repay the debt that could never be repaid? Masaomi readily agreed, calling Carlisle his “friend.” Minoru was not so happy about the arrangement and was quick to voice his concerns about the unequal tradeoff. The only thing that mattered to Masaomi was having his brother by his side.

Said brother was displeased to see Masaomi, and his first reaction to his brother was to punch him straight in the gut and yell at him for being shameless and irresponsible and a goddamn bastard for making him worry and—

And then he cried as he embraced Lucius, who he thought he’d never see again, muttering unintelligibly about how horrible it was, how the only thing driving him forward was the thought of making Hotaru pay for what he’d done—

And then he punched Masaomi again for attempting to sneak a hug.

Before they sailed back to Dressrosa, they docked to refuel The Spider Monkey, and that’s when a man by the name of Darshan approached Masaomi, who was seated with his companions at a cafe. He was friendly enough, though there was an air of mystery shrouding his smile. He claimed he was a friend of Julien’s, something that caught Masaomi’s attention. Darshan? He vaguely remembered Julien mentioning something about him, but he couldn’t recall what it was. Quite high from the happiness and excitement at finding his brother alive and well, Masaomi didn’t think there was anything odd about this sudden meeting, to the chagrin of anyone on that ship with a brain.

Regardless, there was no stopping Masaomi from expanding his allies. A friend of a friend is a friend! Welcome aboard, Darshan!

Masaomi continued to receive and fulfill contracts sent to him by Raven, and soon enough, Doflamingo trusted him again to let him leave without permission.

One such contract led him and Raava to a community that called itself The Temple’s Gate. It became apparent the community was centered around a cult, but there was no mercy or forgiveness to be found in that awful place. Though Masaomi’s goal was to bring forth a sacrifice to the altar, it turned out his contractor had been slaughtered brutally not even one day before he was set to arrive there. Therefore, he had no obligation to fulfill this request, not like he wanted to anyways, given the cult’s treatment of outsiders.

As he and Raava were leaving, they ran into three children who were attempting to escape. They were dirty and bloody and they begged the outsiders to get them out of there. Masaomi did not hesitate. Raava also wanted to go and torture their prophet but Masaomi didn’t have the taste for it.

Once they left, the three introduced themselves. The one-eyed seventeen year old boy was Otis Walsh. The blonde thirteen year old girl by his side was Paige Walsh, Otis’ child bride (they requested he not ask, so he didn’t.) Then there was Seth Walsh, Otis’ three year old brother. Ah, youth! Perfect! They could join the guild and fill odd jobs around The Spider Monkey!

His companions were skeptical, to say the least. Children joining a guild filled with criminals? Masaomi argued, if the children wanted to leave, they could. But they did not, and so he opted to keep them. Besides, once Doflamingo met Seth, he fell for the boy the way Masaomi did, and it was like they had their very own baby bird.

It was a shame this happiness had to end so soon. When the events on Punk Hazard occurred, Doflamingo for the first time felt a nagging voice at the back of his head telling him to let his little bird fly. Since he’d arrived, there’d been a jealousy in the king. Masaomi was close to the Family, sometimes he felt it was too close. Masaomi had the ability to make allies wherever he went, the same as that wretched Strawhat. If they met, could Strawhat turn Masaomi against the Family, against him? Could Masaomi and Strawhat turn the people against him? And what of Vergo and Monet? Would his precious little bird suffer their fate? He wouldn’t have that. His little bird could only leave if Doflamingo dismissed him.

Doflamingo made the decision to tell Masaomi to get lost, go find himself something else to do. It was meant as mercy towards someone he’d come to greatly care for, but it came across as cold and uncaring. Masaomi challenged him, he always did. This concerns the Family, well I’m part of that Family! Then Doflamingo had to be cruel. “No, no you aren’t. You never were. Go away, Masaomi.” Doflamingo looked elsewhere, for he did not wish to look at the pain on Masaomi’s face. It stunned him, and he left Doflamingo in silence.

Masaomi learned of the Family’s fate and their operations in the newspaper. He insisted on hearing it from Doflamingo’s mouth, so he convinced his friend Julien to take him to see Doflamingo.

Standing in Impel Down, face-to-face with his chained captain, and the bastard regarded him like shit on his shoe. What had changed? Why was Doflamingo so cold? If only he could reach out and touch him, then he’d know, then he could feel it. “My love, my life, my moon and my stars, tell me about justice. Aren’t you supposed to be the winner? And what of loyalty, have you none left to someone who gave you all of theirs?” It could almost be considered begging. “Tell me it was a lie, big bird.”

Doflamingo sighed. There was always something so profound in the way his little bird sang to him. He was far wiser beyond his years. Phrases turned in his mind, things he’d said to Masaomi. There was almost something hopeful about his little bird’s begging. He still had faith in his king. It was sweet. It was sickening. He could’ve believed in the lies he’d told his songbird, things about justice and loyalty and trust and nobility. He could’ve believed the things Masaomi told him about hope and history and love and equity. But he was never that naive. So he had no other choice, he had to clip his little bird’s wings. He had to play the bad guy. He’s good at that, after all. Hurting, manipulating. Lying. “Oh my precious little bird, you really thought we had something, didn’t you?”

Something in Masaomi broke at that, something vital. The part of him that forgave, that was merciful. Beneath that lay the thorns that’d been carefully stuck into him every goddamn day by his bastard father. Anger, spite, hatred, vengeance, the ability to hurt, to tear a heart in two with mere words, to turn a man’s weakness against him; those were Kohaku’s lessons. Masaomi had learned them well.

He gripped the cell bars until his knuckles turned white. “You spoke of duty, of Homing failing to fulfill his duty as a provider, and you spoke of loyalty, of which you murdered your brother for having none. Does the pot know when it has become the kettle? How much did you provide for your family? The apple has not just fallen close to the tree, it has grown into it! Well, sleep comfortably in that bed you’ve made, my love, for tomorrow the lumberjack comes.”

He’d crossed a line Doflamingo didn’t think he could cross. The fallen king struggled so hard in his chains, Julien pulled Masaomi behind him far away from the cell in case Doflamingo came free. He was laughing, a hollow sound that rang through Impel Down. It was time to go.

As Masaomi and Julien climbed to the entrance, Masaomi could swear he heard Doflamingo yelling out “Bravo!” Julien told him it was just his imagination.

Though he has a grave disdain for the Strawhat and Heart Pirates, Masaomi is aware they went to Wano to take down the shogun and Kaido. He seeks to join this alliance and aid in this rebellion. Do not mistake this for camaraderie. They share goals, nothing more.