"Wings?"
Michael was instead a little confused.
He had originally thought that this wife of the shogun of Wano was preparing to engage him in some political exchange…
But it turned out to be just…
Looking at his wings?
What was so interesting about those?
"That's right, I want to see your wings." Kozuki Toki repeated again with absolute seriousness. "This is… extremely important to me."
"What!? Mother, you want to see Michael-sama's angelic wings!? Don't tell me you've also been charmed by Michael-sama's beautiful appearance!?" Kozuki Hiyori grabbed her mother's shoulders in delight.
"Ahahaha! I am not alone!"
"What kind of nonsense are you filling that little brain of yours with?" Kozuki Toki tapped her daughter's forehead. "This is… proper business."
After speaking, she looked back at Michael.
Her eyes were full of anticipation.
If not for what she said earlier… Michael might've agreed with Hiyori's assumption.
But…
Just looking at the wings.
Michael did not say anything more. In the next instant, the wings belonging to a Seraph appeared behind him.
Still two large pairs and one smaller pair that had only recently begun to grow.
Soft Holy Light spread through the air, and a sacred feeling filled the entire garden.
Under the nourishment of the Holy Light, the buds that had yet to bloom opened at once.
Kozuki Toki looked at the changes around her, then stared unblinkingly at the wings behind Michael.
Then…
Her eyes gradually reddened, and tears streamed down.
"So… the legend is true. You really come from that time…" Kozuki Toki murmured.
Michael froze.
Wait, what?
What "legend"?
What "come from that time"?
What on earth was Kozuki Toki talking about?
He understood every single word she spoke, but strung together it made no sense at all.
"Lady Toki… what exactly do you mean?"
"Kikunojo, Izo, take Momonosuke and Hiyori away for now. I have something to tell Michael alone." Kozuki Toki did not answer him, instead issuing orders to the Izo brothers.
Michael frowned.
Everything happening now was completely beyond his expectations.
But looking into Toki's clear and lucid eyes, Michael was certain she was not suffering any mental confusion…
"Yamato, Jack, since Lady Toki said so, you two should also step out for a moment."
Jack and Yamato exchanged glances, but neither had ever questioned Michael's decisions. So the moment he spoke, the two followed after Izo without hesitation, temporarily leaving the garden.
Once everyone had retreated, only Michael and Kozuki Toki remained in the garden.
Michael had just opened his mouth when Toki suddenly crashed directly into his arms.
The shogun's wife of Wano, nearly the same height as Michael, hugged him tightly.
The sudden impact completely stunned Michael.
His whole body went rigid.
He even forgot to break free from the embrace.
Feeling her grip tightening, Michael snapped back to his senses.
"Lady Toki, I—"
Michael was just about to say he wasn't into married women, maybe even pull her off, when he felt a patch of wetness on his left shoulder…
Tears.
At the same time, he also sensed her excitement… and grief.
And in that moment, Michael inexplicably raised his hand and gently patted her back.
That action made Kozuki Toki's emotions surge even more.
Which led to Michael's clothes being soaked from shoulder to waist.
Women really were made of water…
They could cry so damn much!
But complaints aside, facing this inexplicable behavior, Michael instead acted carefully.
He continuously released faint Holy Light to soothe her emotions.
He didn't know why he was doing it…
But subconsciously, he knew it was the right thing to do.
Slowly, Kozuki Toki's silent crying subsided, and her emotions gradually stabilized.
Only then did Michael gently push her away.
"Lady Toki, I need an explanation."
"Don't call me Lady Toki! You can't call me that!" Toki shook her head stubbornly, as if the mature shogun's wife had suddenly transformed back into a willful girl. "No! Absolutely not! You have to call me Toki!"
"…Alright, alright, calm down… Toki."
"Yes!" Upon hearing the name, Toki's smile instantly pierced through the shadows left by her tears.
"Now can you tell me what exactly is going on?"
Hearing that, Toki looked again at the wings on Michael's back, showing an expression of "I knew it."
"What are you looking at?"
"Your third pair of wings… they haven't fully grown yet. Which means you haven't truly awakened the Mythical Zoan Seraph form of the Hito Hito no Mi."
Michael's eyes shot wide open.
Although he had long stopped hiding his Devil Fruit ability…
Only Sengoku, Garp, and those old fossils knew the full name of his fruit.
How did Kozuki Toki… know it?
A wary light appeared in Michael's eyes.
This was… far too strange.
In the original work, although she had traveled eight hundred years through time, she didn't actually have a detailed storyline—she existed more as a background presence.
There wasn't any deep lore about her, and even the "eight hundred years ago" was vague.
She was gentle, innocent, sincere, understanding, smart yet never weak.
Humble, hardworking, beloved by the people—
A perfect daimyo's wife.
But the Kozuki Toki in front of him… was almost completely different from the original setting.
Bold, fierce, and scheming…
"Who exactly are you?"
At this moment, the doubt and pressure Michael felt from Toki far exceeded what he had felt facing the Gorosei.
There was a secret in her.
And that secret…
Was directly tied to Michael himself.
"This goes back to a long, long time ago… More than eight hundred years ago, there was a little girl named Amatsuki Toki. Her parents died in an accident, leaving her a homeless beggar."
"Later, an angel with six wings descended from the heavens and adopted her, raising her to adulthood."
"And one day, Amatsuki Toki accidentally ate a Devil Fruit… and in her panic, the new power rampaged out of control."
"The six-winged angel happened to be within the range."
"Before he disappeared, he told me…"
"He would wait for me in the future."
Toki wiped her tears and showed Michael the brightest smile she had ever shown him.
"We haven't seen each other for eight hundred years…"
"Father."
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Fanfic is finished. 583 chapters in total on p@treon/tambeerg