He tells her that the earth is flat-

He knows the facts, and that is that.

In altercations fierce and long

She tries her best to prove him wrong.

But he has learned to argue well.

He calls her arguments unsound

And often asks her not to yell.

She cannot win. He stands his ground.

The planet goes on being round.

-Wendy Cope

Fuyuki and Natsuki travelled various islands, stopping at each one in wonder if there was a person powerful enough, or had potential to join them. There was a girl who caught Natsuki's eye, with bright orange hair and a sack of gold, eating a tangerine happily, but she knew the girl wasn't meant to be for her crew. There was a son of a famous royal family at a floating restaurant, his swirly eyebrows and heart shaped eyes rather memorable, but he also didn't seem right. Though on an island, right in the centre of the South Blue, there was a presence who caught their attention.

He was slightly shorter than Fuyuki, with tousled mousey brown hair, with streaks of black amidst it. He wore a black eye patch on his left eye, and a raggedy brown cloak over his worn-out shirt and ripped trousers. His face was gaunt, cheeks hollow, shadows under his eyes. He touched the grass, which dried up and wilted, and he looked at it sadly.

"Who's there!" His gruff voice called out, and both summer and winter smiled. He could sense them.

"Hi. My name's Natsuki."

"I'm Fuyuki."

"Who are you?"

"We're pirates."

"What are pirates doing in the middle of the woods?"

"Looking for a potential crewmate, and I believe we just found one." He looked around, then pointed at himself.

"You want me? No no no. You don't want me!"

"Why?"

"I'm the bringer of bad luck! I had that peculiar fruit a month ago, and since then, all I touch dries up!" He looked at his hands which had skin peeling off.

"What you ate was the Kasa kasa no mi. The dry dry fruit, well that's what I think you ate anyway. Whatever you touch become dehydrated yes?"

"Dry dry fruit?" What's that? I mean, yeah. Whatever I touch gets dry, but..."

"Have you never heard of devil fruits?"

"Devil?"

"Ah. They're fruits which grant people peculiar powers. Like his." Fuyuki made a small ball of snow, and the man looked at it curiously. He touched the snowball which shrivelled and hardened, and in Fuyuki's hand was a small ball of ice.

"How did you do that?"

"I dunno! You're the one who knows about the fruit!" He backed up to a tree, which shrivelled up and hollowed. The leaves fell off and decoloured, creating a small area just as if it were the season of fall. He ran off, down the hill and Natsuki followed together with Fuyuki. "Don't follow me!"

"We don't even know what your name is."

"You don't get to know!" He ran to a house which was on the verge of collapsing, and slammed the dried-up door, breaking it in the process. He didn't care, and went further inside, and the pirates warily entered the cottage which was living its last moments. They saw Kanki put on gloves as he entered a room.

"Kanki... Are you back?" Came a raspy voice from further inside.

"I'm back dad. How do you feel?" Natsuki entered a small room with a makeshift bed, with a man who was thin and wrinkly laying between its thin mattresses.

"Better than yesterday. How-" The man started coughing and wheezing, unable to speak for another second or two. He calmed down after holding his throat for a bit and sank back under the sheets. "You shouldn't be here. What if you catch the disease as well?"

"You know I don't get sick easily. I'll be fine."

"I can't lose you too. Not like your mother."

"I know dad." The man, now identified as Kanki, walked out of his father's room to find one girl bawling her eyes, dabbing them with a handkerchief, and a man who was rubbing her back with an awkward look on his face.

"Who are you?"

"You already forgot? We're the ones who invited you to join us. To become a pirate." Fuyuki explained as Natsuki blew her nose.

"As I said before, the answer is no. I need to tend to my father."

"What's his illness?"

"The branching disease. It's where you gradually get thinner and thinner, until you snap, and die. It's spread by what you touch, and your saliva. My father got it from using a spoon which my mother used, who died a few weeks ago." He explained.

"I am sorry for your loss, and I'm sorry that we couldn't arrive sooner, because I can heal that illness." Natsuki replied.

A few moments passed with absolute silence.

Which continued for another few minutes...

Followed by screaming.

"WHHATTT????" Kanki shook her violently, and Natsuki felt her eyes roll back and forth, rattling in her skull.

"Calm down Kanki. Listen to what she has to say."

"As I was saying, I can heal your father."

"Really? You could really do that?"

"Yes, I can. So get out of my way." Natsuki walked into Kanki's father's room and placed her hand on his forehead.

"How can I tell that you're not killing him?" Kanki said, stopping her from doing anything further.

"By trusting me." She placed her hand on his forehead again, and her palms glowed green, until it enveloped his whole body. The man's body regained its healthy glow, the unnatural wrinkles disappearing, his body becoming slightly fuller than the sickly thinness he had before. He sighed in content and fell into a deep sleep.

"I don't know what to say..."

"A thank you would suffice."

"...thank you."

"You're welcome. Can you reconsider our offer?"

"I- I'll spend more time on it... I'll talk with my dad."

"Of course. I'll see you tomorrow Kanki."

"Please, we can't offer much, but I'm sure we have a few more mattresses."

"It's alright. We prefer camping anyway."

"Okay..." Natsuki and Fuyuki climbed up a massive willow tree, wrapping their bodies up with blankets as they settled in.

Exchanging a few words of good night, they fell asleep on each other, with stars shining above.

They woke up to a sudden shake of the ground. Natsuki was immediately alert, looking for the source, only to notice that the tree they slept on was slowly dying. She looked down at a man who was utterly terrified.

"I forgot my gloves..." Natsuki sighed and shook Fuyuki awake, who tumbled to the ground, instantaneously filling the floor with snow on instinct.

"What was that for?"

"For not being alert." Fuyuki stuck his tongue out at her, and she placed her hand on her chest, as if she were offended.

"Um..."

"Oh, yes. Sorry. What was it?"

"My dad said he wanted to talk to you." So Summer, Winter and the Dry season walked into the dying house.

"Ah, you must be my saviour. Thank you so much. My name is Sahara. You got me out of leaving my son all alone, but that's what we're here to talk about."

"It wasn't a problem sir. About your son, sir. I thought it would be good to explain what we are, and what we do as a pirate first."

"I was just about to ask. Please, do go on."

"My name is Akagami D. Natsuki. This is Kurama Fuyuki. I am the captain, and he is my first mate of a pirate crew called the Seasons. As I think you can guess, I'm Summer, he's Winter, and your son, is our sixth member. Your son, his name means the Dry season. We think of it as a joke, but still rather interesting, how all of us have names according to our seasons, and powers based on it. Fuyuki, he ate the snow fruit. My friend, Haruki, he ate the camouflage fruit, which allows him to disappear from plain sight, which I'm sure you've seen animals do in the nature. My other crew mate, Uki, she ate the rain fruit, which correlates with her season, the season of rain. My last crew mate, her name is Aki, and though she doesn't have a devil fruit, I have a feeling she'll be getting one soon."

"Isn't it selfish? Or unfair? To other pirates I mean. To have crewmates that are so powerful? Also, why do you yourself not have a devil fruit?"

"Well, firstly, I chose them for their personality and past. Uki, though only ten, soon eleven, she has seen the world without the protection given by her parents. She chose to come with me, so that she could get stronger. She hadn't even noticed that the rain responded to her emotions. Haruki, second youngest, being sixteen, he has experienced something that no child should ever see. His goal was revenge on the pirates who made him suffer, but I believe his ideas have changed now. He became stronger to defeat them and has never stopped since. Aki, eighteen-year-old, had to look after a group of orphans, including Uki, all on her own, making her mature much earlier than most. She became powerful in order to protect her siblings, only leaving because they wished for her to follow her ambition. Fuyuki here..." Natsuki looked at Fuyuki, wondering if it were alright for her to speak of his past. She only spoke briefly of her other crewmates' pasts, but he was actually here.

"I was called a demon because of my powers, believed that every death caused by a snowstorm, or an avalanche was by me. I have learnt to control it, but the villagers still torment me in my dreams."

"As I think you can understand, we didn't invite them for their powers. They all became strong by their own will, and they wish to be stronger because they have a dream. Their devil fruits were just a bonus. That is what I also think for your son. He has strong will and determination. He thinks logically rather than rationally. For instance, yesterday, before I healed you, he stopped me, wondering what I was doing first. Most would either not stop me in the first place or start to use force to stop me from what I was doing. If I were to kill you, and he didn't stop me, you would be dead, if I were to heal you, and he used brawn, both of you would be dead." She deadpanned.

"So you're inviting him for his person, rather than power?"

"If he were a toddler with will and correct ideology, I would take him in as well. His power is not the issue here. My friends and I are in a three-year interval from the world to get strong. Though there's only two years left, I wouldn't doubt the strength your son already has."

"But his powers... He could kill one of you by accident..." Kanki looked down. It stung, but that's what the truth was like most of the time.

"I don't think so. Fuyuki?" Fuyuki didn't have doubt in his eyes... Well maybe a twinge of it... He could regret this forever, if he even had a future... Fuyuki swiftly took of Kanki's glove and touched Kanki's hand.

Immediately, Fuyuki shrivelled up, quite alike to the branching disease Kanki's father was infected with.

"NO!!" In that moment, Natsuki disappeared, reappearing with a small girl who was almost exactly half the size of Kanki.

"Uki? Can you use your rain?"

"Oh my goodness! What happened!?" Uki exclaimed, immediately rushing to him. She made a small rain cloud above him, and it began to rain softly of healing elixir. The rain made his body fuller, just like Natsuki's medical jutsu had done to Sahara.

Fuyuki woke up with a strangled gasp.

"Never- never make me do that again..." He got out.

"Gotcha."

"As demonstrated, even if Kanki touches any one of us, we can heal them. So no worries."

"Then I guess it's done." Sahara concluded.

"I guess so. Kanki, welcome to the cre-"

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO DID THIS!?" Uki exclaimed, and Natsuki sighed. This was going to be long...