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"Like this?" Anana spun the gelatine knife on her wrist.

"Exactly!" you cheered "Now you flick, then flip, spin, and catch" You demonstrated.

Anana watched you with a completely enchanted expression. When you caught the knife her face lit up and then switched to one of total concentration as she tried to mimic your actions. It was so surprising to you how such a sweet little girl could be so terrifying at early hours of the morning. Waking up to her staring at you from the side of your bed did nothing for your poor delicate heart.

"Flick, flip spin aaaand ca-! Ah! I dropped it!" She wailed and began to sulk.

"But you almost got it! With a little more practice you'll be using a real knife in no time" you beamed.

'Wait... is that a good thing?'

"Really?!" She beamed

'How cute!' you internally gushed

"I have no doubt in my mind" you winked at her as she went to pick up the gelatine knife and try again.

You'd both been at this for about 2 and a half hours, although the first hour was you trying to make yourself look less like a monster and more like a human. Crying did nothing for your skin. It was clear that none of her siblings knew that she was here because she came by herself in the early hours of the morning, insisting that you had to teach her cause you'd promised, which you did. You were thankful for the company though. It helped to distract you from the your dangerous thoughts.

"Thank you for playing with me (Y/n)" Anana mumbled.

"Aw don't worry about it, honey, I did promise"

"Are you married (Y/n)?" Anana smiled at you.

"Excuse me!?" you blurted out "Where is this coming from?"

'Why are these children so interested in my marital status?'

"Well you're just super nice so I thought that it would be cool if you became my sister for real, so we can hang out more" She fidgeted "Mama always marries my brothers and sisters to make a bigger family so I'm sure she'd do it for you too"

'I don't think your mom wants me in her family right now sweetie' you laughed.

"I don't need to be married to hang out with you Anana" you stroked her hair

'Hold the front door! Why is your hair so silky!?'

"Thanks (Y/n)" She smiled at the thought "But I still think you should marry my brothers, Katakuri is still single, so's Oven and Cracker and Perospero and-"

You're face was the almost the shade of her ruby red eyes as your imagination went to work.

"WHY DONT I DO YOUR HAIR!?" you desperately tried to change the subject.

"Okay!" She hopped off the bed and ran to the door.

'phew,' you sighed. 'I'd better come up with some interesting discussion topics for her'

"Ah! Big Brother! Are you here to see (Y/n) too? We were just talking about you!" Anana giggled as she stood in the doorway.

Your heart rate stopped for three seconds straight making your legs go numb. Running away was not going to be an option right now.

"She's inside! I'll be ri-" She paused and looked down as though she was being scolded "Okay...I'll go and get some breakfast" She sulked. "Bye (Y/n)"

From the way she looked at you, it truly felt as though she was saying goodbye forever. You gave a small wave as she scurried away, the sound of her footsteps and the fire in the back were now the only sounds you heard.

"I'm coming in" His footsteps bounced off the walls of the room as he walked in.

You watched as he stopped beside your bed and held your arm out which started to shift and wiggle unnaturally before it became a whole different substance altogether. Eyes were glued to the fascinating scene before you as the sticky substance formed a chair that began to harden.

'He's a devil fruit user...' you stared in amazement.

Seen as how it was your first time seeing his ability, you were completely captivated. He sat down right next to you and crossed both his arms and legs. Glaring down at you from behind his scarf made your head woozy to the point you almost forgot your name. He wasn't in any mood for jokes.

"H-Hey Kata" you forced a smile through the tense atmosphere "It's good to see you"

He said nothing but seemed slightly irked by what you were saying.

"Did you manage to complete all your-"

"Stop stalling" Katakuri spoke with a firm tone, like a parent trying hard not to seem mad at their child but was failing miserably. "You know exactly why I'm here (Y/n), so stop stalling and talk" He demanded.

"I don't exactly know what you want me to say" you admitted.

His eyes glowed with a burning red ferocity, like polished down rubies placed in the light. It didn't really give you much to go off but from experience you knew Katakuri wasn't one to waste his breath on needless chatter. He was the personification of efficiency. This meant he was going to sit there silently until you said something worth replying to.

"I don't regret what I did Kata" you started.

Katakuri patiently waited for you to explain.

"Life is so precious. You can't waste one second of it. I look around you and I see how important you are to your family and friends, I've seen how much you've impacted their lives, and how much they love you. It's not fair that you have to lose time with them for a small-town baker. It wasn't even your fault..."

"No one was to blame, I made it very clear that I would take full responsibility for my actions, life isn't fair (Y/n)" Katakuri pointed out.

"I know life isn't fair Katakuri, but that doesn't mean we should be unfair. Just because a problem already exists doesn't mean you should accept it as normal and take it on by yourself" You argued.

"Don't contradict yourself (Y/n)! You almost died!"

You flinched but not from the words, from his voice. He sounded worried, but there was something else, he sounded scared. Both of you were engaged in a little staring competition and neither one of you was showing any signs of backing down. Although you couldn't show it, you did appreciate the fact that he let you finish speaking even though he was clearly looking ahead to hear your explanation. It was nice to know that he was allowing you the satisfaction of actually getting your say in, instead of cutting you off and letting you feel like you weren't contributing.

"Katakuri look, after meeting your family, I feel like I've been able to understand a little more about you. To them you are perfect, untouchable and flawless... it's nice" you smiled at your hands which were unconsciously gripping your bed sheets "But I am not your sister, I'm not your mother and I'm definitely not your brother! I don't need you to be perfect, I don't want you to be perfect, I just want you to be you! That cool guy who seriously likes doughnuts"

Katakuri no longer had his legs crossed. Instead, he was leaning towards you both elbows resting on his knees w1ith his hands clasped and pressed against his forehead so that you couldn't see his face. The only thing that gave hint to his emotions was the fact he began to tremble.

'He's shaking, why is he going shaking? Is he mad? Is it because I implied that we were friends? Was I getting ahead of myself?' Your thoughts spiraled out of control causing your face to go completely red.

"Ah! I-I'm sorry! Was I being too presumptuous when I said friends because we're business partners!?" you hurriedly apologized and held your hands up in defense "W-We don't have to be-"

"I can't tell whether your incredibly stupid or stupidly incredible... I just can't seem to keep up with your ludicrous actions" Katakuri rumbled from behind his hands.

'Ouch.... but it's probably the first one...'

His voice was a lot softer and more gentle than before. He sounded relieved. As a result, a hoard of butterflies was being sent directly to your poor unsuspecting stomach. You were almost thankful you hadn't had breakfast yet...almost.

"You sure know how to turn my world upside down" He finally decided to look at you. "I can't seem to see a future where you don't win"

His previously cold magenta orbs had softened and become more welcoming to you, but slightly watery. He was practically on the verge of tears, and yet he still seemed happy.

"It's become a bad habit of mine" you smiled, and patted his leg, the only part of him that was within reach of your bedside.

The action seemed to encouraged his own little chuckle.

"You didn't have to do that (Y/n), I thought you were going to die because of me" he admitted.

A pang of guilt hit your heart. You hadn't taken his thoughts into account, what he would do after he found out.

"Honestly I should've seen it coming" He chuckled.

In a swift movement he removed any evidence that may have suggested that he was crying and gave you a more heart-warming look which you could only assume was a smile. Of course you returned it and in that time he carefully lowered his scarf for you. He couldn't exactly bring himself to look you in the eyes with his mouth the way it was, but he wanted you to see him say it.

"Thank you (Y/n)... I live because of you" He muttered as he desperately tried to fight the blush that crept onto his face.

"Don't mention it!" you beamed at him.

It was wonderful to you, that he'd allowed you to see his mouth even though he struggled so much with it. He was already breaking down the barriers that he'd been fighting for to uphold for so long. He was starting to be himself around you.

'But seriously, don't mention it' you chuckled nervously.

Almost as quickly as he'd shown you his mouth he tucked it away out of sight leaving you a little baffled.

"(YYYY/NNNNN)!" Oven barged in and headed straight towards your bedside "IS IT TRUE!?"

"Wh-What!?" you squeaked.

"Did you really challenge Mama pero-lick?" Perospero strolled in with Daifuku close behind.

"O-Oh! W-Well I wouldn't say challenged" you chuckled nervously from all the sudden attention. "That makes it sound like we were on equal footing..."

'I'd be dead if it wasn't for Brulee intervening when she did...'

"I-It was more like she found a better solution to a trivial matter, and now all things have worked out for the best" you reasoned.

"But (Y/n)..." Oven gave you a sympathetic look.

Actually, all of them were giving you that look. Imagine large body-builders giving you apologetic puppy-dog eyes... yeah that's what it looked like.

'Oh the guilt! How it burns!' you internally cried as you gazed across sympathetic expressions.

As endearing as it was to see how concerned they were you seriously didn't want to focus on that issue right now.

"Come on guys! D-Don't look like that!" you smiled "This was definitely for the best!"

They were still reluctant to agree.

You visibly flinched as you looked beside you. Right next to you was a massive basket full of baked sweets.

"You haven't eaten yet right?" Oven grinned. "They're my favourite"

"How's she supposed to eat all of that?" Perospero approached and placed a slightly smaller basket full of sweets next to your bed. "Don't feel pressured to eat all of that (Y/n) pero-lick!" he jabbed a finger at Oven's basket.

"There's no nutritional value to any of those treats" Daifuku piped up as he slammed down a basket of what seemed to be daifuku mochi "these bean daifuku mochi will give you back your strength in no time !?"

"Like hell it will!" Oven growled.

"You're only giving her that cause it's your favourite food to eat!" Perospero pointed out

"Aren't you guys doing the same thing!?" Daifuku retorted

"Katakuri!!!" They all growled in unison.

Katakuri said nothing which made you laugh. For grown men they were so much like your boys back home. All of them seemed surprised by your laughter but Katakuri seemed the most surprised. So surprised he turned away to cough? you tilted your head in confusion.

Katakuri placed down a large basket of doughnuts he'd whipped out of nowhere right beside you. The impact of the basket against the floor somehow managed to mask the sound of your growling stomach. Of course, no matter how perfect the timing was, this didn't make it any less embarrassing.

'NOOOO!!!! STOMACH!!!! HOW COULD YOU RIVAL THE CRIES OF GIANTS!?!?' You internally screamed as your face burned bright red. 'That's why he turned away, he was laughing at me!'

"I am so sorry!!....." you whispered as you covered your face in shame.

"Eat something" he replied simply.

Unfortunately for Katakuri, the whole situation went right over his siblings head and they did not appreciate the fact that he was acting like his gift was superior to theirs; which triggered a whole other argument. Again You watched the grown men bicker like children whilst you leaned over and went for a baked doughnut.

"Th-Thank you for the food" you muttered, not that they were listening.

"(Y/N)!? You'd better not be trying to get out of bed!?" Liv burst through the doors like a hurricane.

'Why do I keep getting into so much trouble for no reason?' You internally wept. 'I just can't win'

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😈😂