Kaya's voice was a fragile thing, filled with a hope she had almost forgotten how to feel. The chronic illness that had plagued her for years was more than a physical burden; it was a chain that kept her locked away from the world, a prisoner in her own beautiful home. The mere idea that this confident stranger might hold a key to her cage was almost too much to bear.
"Mr. Leo... can you truly cure my illness?" she asked, her eyes wide and earnest.
Leo met her gaze, his smile gentle but his words deliberate. "Miss Kaya, curing your illness is the second reason I am here," he stated calmly. "I believe it is more important to first deal with the viper you have been sheltering at your breast."
Her illness wasn't incurable. Even if it were, the power of the Heal-Heal Fruit could wipe it away in an instant. It was, to him, a trivial matter.
"A viper?!" Kaya's delicate brows furrowed in confusion. The people around her were all good, kind souls. Where was there a villain? "Mr. Leo, you must be mistaken. They—"
"I am not mistaken," Leo interrupted, his voice cutting through her denial with the sharpness of a blade. His eyes shifted, their focus intensifying as they locked onto the tall, spectacled man standing protectively behind her chair. "Isn't that right... Mr. Klahadore?"
Being called out so directly, with zero preamble, caused a reaction so minute that anyone else would have missed it. But Klahadore's pupils contracted for a fraction of a second before his impeccable composure slammed back into place. It was enough. Leo had seen it.
Klahadore adjusted his round glasses with a palm, pushing them higher on the bridge of his nose. His expression remained a mask of polite confusion. "I'm afraid I don't know what you mean, sir."
"Mr. Leo, you must be misunderstanding," Kaya interjected, waving her hands dismissively. "Klahadore has been my (butler) for three years." Her meaning was simple: if he were truly a villain, he'd had countless opportunities to act over three long years. Why wait until now?
"Miss Kaya, your kindness blinds you," Leo said, shaking his head slowly. He began to speak, his voice taking on the cadence of someone reciting a well-known dossier. "Kuro. Captain of the Black Cat Pirates. Known by the alias 'Kuro of a Hundred Plans'. Wanted: 16,000,000 Berries."
"Three years ago," Leo continued, his eyes never leaving Klahadore's now-still face, "he was reportedly executed by Marine Captain Morgan. A feat for which Morgan was promoted to the rank of Captain."
Leo paused, a knowing, almost taunting smile playing on his lips. "But in reality, this was all just a single move in Kuro's own grand scheme. He had one of his subordinates use hypnotism on the simple-minded Morgan, making him believe he had captured and executed the real Kuro."
"The real Kuro, however, had already slipped away. He changed his appearance, adopted a new identity, and came here, to Syrup Village, to patiently wait. Isn't that the truth... Mr. Klahadore?"
"Or should I finally call you by your real name... Captain Kuro?"
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Slow, deliberate applause echoed in the tense room.
A smirk, cold and utterly devoid of its previous servitude, twisted Klahadore's lips. "Mr. Leo... a truly fascinating story," he said, his voice dripping with mock admiration. "But... do you have any proof?"
"I cannot imagine what your purpose is in approaching Miss Kaya with such slanderous lies. But I am confident she will not believe your wild accusations without a shred of evidence."
His words were firm, confident, and delivered with the practiced ease of a master manipulator.
"This guy..." Nami and Makino muttered in unison, their faces hardening. He was good.
Just as Kuro had predicted, Kaya's voice took on a slightly offended tone. "Mr. Leo, if you don't have any—"
"But I do have proof," Leo interrupted smoothly, his smile never fading. "A man can change his name, his face, even his personality. But some instincts, some habits... they are carved into the bone. They cannot be erased." Leo's gaze dropped, focusing intently on the jet-black gloves that always adorned Kuro's hands. "According to Marine intelligence, the pirate Kuro's weapon of choice, the 'Cat's Claws', is hidden within a pair of specially crafted gloves."
He looked back at Kaya, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Miss Kaya, if you doubt this, you can send someone to verify the records. The description is quite precise."
"But if I were to guess," Leo said, his eyes locking back onto Kuro's, "those very gloves you're wearing now contain your precious 'Ten Venomous Cat's Claws', do they not, Captain Kuro?"
"And Miss Kaya... in three years of service, has your ever-dutiful butler ever removed those gloves in your presence?"
Kuro was silent. It was a checkmate he could not argue against.
"Disgusting! Hiding your identity next to her for three years! What was your goal?!" Nami, who had seen enough deception in her life, shouted, unable to hold back her anger any longer.
Makino didn't speak, but she took a wary step closer to Leo, her body language shifting into a protective stance.
"Klahadore...(Sir)..." Kaya's voice was a whisper, her wide, luminous eyes staring at him, pleading for a denial that wouldn't come.
Three years of care and companionship—she had trusted him implicitly. But the cold, irrefutable logic in Leo's words, coupled with Klahadore's telling silence, finally cracked the foundation of that trust. A cold dread began to seep into her heart.
"Mr. Klahadore..." she began, her voice trembling. "Could you... could you please take off your gloves? Let me see."
It was a simple request. The truth would be revealed in an instant.
"Hah... hahahaha... AHAHAHAHA!"
Suddenly, Kuro threw his head back and laughed, a harsh, grating sound that held no warmth, only a lifetime of bitterness and cunning finally unleashed.
"Three years... a full three years..."
Kuro let out a long, shuddering sigh, and when he looked up, his face was contorted into a(vicious) mask of pure hatred. The gentle butler was gone, replaced by the ruthless pirate captain. "Do you have any idea what these three years have been like for me?!"
"I was this close! So close to finally achieving it! Once I had control of the Merry fortune, I would no longer be a filthy pirate! I could have lived the rest of my life in peace and luxury, bathed in sunlight!"
"Why... WHY DID YOU HAVE TO COME AND RUIN EVERYTHING?!"
As he spoke, the air around him seemed to warp. A dangerous, predatory aura radiated from him, sharp and deadly as a naked blade.
"You... you really are Kuro?!" Kaya stammered, her face draining of all color. Her legs gave way beneath her.
In a blur of motion, Leo was at her side, his arm gently catching her and supporting her weight before she could fall. She stared in sheer terror at the man who was now a complete stranger, a chill colder than ice spreading through her veins. She had lived under the same roof as a notorious pirate for three years.
"Heh... hehehe... You see, Miss Kaya?" Kuro's voice was low and sinister, all pretense gone. "Just like your illness, life is always full of... unpleasant surprises.
This story is rewritten version of a famous fanfic so if you find any similarities please dont mind . Thank you .
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T/N :
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