Yuta stood in front of the mirror, smoothing down his jacket, adjusting his hair, and giving himself pep talks like, "Okay, don't act nervous. Smile. Compliment her. Keep your eyes on those legs to avoid that exposed cleavage that woman is gonna show on purpose to distract you... and of course, have contacts on top of your Sharingan..."

Meanwhile, Maki had been ready for a while. She stood near the door, arms crossed, tapping her foot. "Yuta, it's been twenty minutes. Are you getting ready for a date or a wedding?"

"I'm multitasking!" Yuta called back from his room.

Truth was, he wasn't getting ready. Instead, he had gotten distracted—by something important. After learning about his grandmother's mysterious ties to the One Piece world, he had planned to dig through her old belongings. Something inside him kept pulling him to it.

Maki peeked into the room. "You better not be putting on makeup."

"I am not!" Yuta shouted back, rummaging through a pile of old books and boxes. But as soon as his eyes went back to the girl standing at the door...

All his actions paused.

There was Maki, wearing a dress with a slit showing off her long, strong legs. Her back was muscular yet at the same time sexy.

Her hair, having regrown over the past year or so, fell to her shoulders with grace. Her emerald green eyes stared back at him. This time, instead of the usual challenging, smirky look, there was a hint of shyness and embarrassment as she caught him staring.

This kind of dress was new to her—uncomfortable and highly impractical in battle—but she had chosen it for him, and seeing his reaction now, she could say it was absolutely worth it.

"What... cat got your tongue?" She flashed a slightly smirky, slightly slutty smile and teased.

That immediately snapped Yuta back, mentally slapping himself for zoning out. He composed himself and said,

"If you're the said cat, then I wouldn't mind..."

"Ah... already taking things so far on the first date. Quite impatient." Maki huffed.

"I am a man of many virtues, girl. Unfortunately, as a certified Jujutsu Sorcerer—and one of the few Special Grade ones at that—patience is not one of them." Yuta smirked back, hitting Maki exactly where she had no argument.

Even after getting so strong, Maki hadn't been promoted to Special Grade, all thanks to the Zenin clan and what she had done to them. Even after death, those bastards were like iron pricks in her path.

"Tck... part of the reason you're a virgin is because of that mouth of yours, you know." Maki snarked.

"Tsk… tsk… tsk… Miss Maki. You don't understand a thing. This is not called being a virgin. I'm just saving myself for the right girl."

Maki's eye roll was bigger than Sukuna's plot armor.

"So, tell me, oh statue of purity, whether this mortal girl is worthy to get your holiness arse out of that dusky room so we can find out whether you can find that right girl today..." Maki deadpanned. This content belongs to N()velFire.net

"Huh... who told you we need to go through that much? Just come in and let's find the answer. It shouldn't take that much time, as long as you want it otherwise. I've got stamina." Yuta grinned like the sun.

Dark lines formed on Maki's face. 'This bastard was purposefully wasting time.'

Sighing, she let the teasing drop. She was getting hungry.

"Alright, hurry up already. How much time are you gonna take? Honestly, you're worse than a girl."

"Hey, it's not my fault you're not acting like one here. Shouldn't teenage girls take hours getting ready? Why are you here so fast..." Yuta grumbled, seeing her getting tired.

Teasing was only fun when their intentions didn't turn into Eren Yeager and start rumbling inside.

He had anticipated Maki would take time. However, the girl was way faster than he thought she'd be at getting ready...

'Can I say she was eager as well?' A small smirk appeared, but he let it go.

Now, he was the one delaying them, so he lost the chance to tease her.

"I'm researching family secrets!"

Maki raised an eyebrow. "Can you do it after the date?"

"I was trying, okay?" he said, brushing dust off an old trunk. "But I thought I'd be done in no time. Sigh..."

He was about to give up and go with her when he spotted it—a small wooden box at the bottom of the chest. It was beautifully carved, but what caught his eye most was the symbol etched into the lid.

"The Kozuki Clan crest?" Yuta whispered.

Maki stepped closer. "That's from Wano, right?"

"Yeah… my grandma really was connected to the One Piece world."

Curiosity took over. Maki forgot all about the date and crouched beside him. "Open it."

"Hey... what about the date?"

"Just a quick peek, and then we'll be off." Maki shrugged. She too was interested in knowing why world traveling ran in the blood of this boy.

Shrugging, Yuta opened the box.

Inside was a folded letter and something strange sitting next to it.

"Is that… a fruit?" Maki asked.

It didn't look like any normal fruit. It had swirly patterns and a shine that screamed "Not for eating."

"That's not just any fruit, Maki. That's a freaking Devil Fruit..." Yuta's mouth was wide open.

'So, grandmother really was an interdimensional Lara Croft.'

"I've seen plenty in the One Piece world. But… why is one here?!"

Maki leaned in, poking it lightly. "So, if I eat this, will I turn into a fire-breathing penguin or something?"

"Either you get fire or turn into a penguin. You can't have both together...," Yuta deadpanned.

"Do you think it's your grandmother's?"

Hearing this, Yuta looked at the fruit with more intent and went quiet. He picked up the letter, carefully unfolded it, and began to read.

However, just as his eyes fell on the letter, they turned glassy. His grip loosened on the paper. Slowly, almost as if hypnotized, he reached out and took the Devil Fruit from Maki's hands.

"Hey, I'm still...?"

Blink. Blink.

"Yuta," Maki's instincts told her that something wasn't right, seeing that strange look on his face.

Without saying a word, Yuta bit into the fruit.

Maki's jaw dropped. "WHAT—ARE—YOU—DOING?!"

"Blergh! Tastes like sweaty socks!" Yuta gagged, spitting crumbs of fruit out.

"WHY would you eat that?! Do you want to explode?!" She had always thought Yuta had already eaten a Devil Fruit before.

But suddenly, Yuta's body began glowing. Not just a little shimmer, but full-on disco-ball level brightness.

Light poured out of his skin. His hair floated like he was underwater. Maki shielded her eyes. "I swear Hiro If you blow up on my first date after your dense ass finally asked me out then I'm gonna kill you!"

The ground shook. Wind swirled around them. Light sparked like lightning.

"Ahmmm Maki... I don't feel so good." Yuta felt his stomach churning. His body was doing shit on its own. And even if it was getting out of control… why eat the entire fruit? Wasn't one bite enough?

Thinking fast, Maki did the only logical thing a sensible person would do.

She tackled him.

With a yell, she threw her arms around him—and POOF!

They both vanished.

The room was silent once again.

On the ground, fluttering softly like a falling feather, the letter read:

"You're already under my Genjutsu…"

xxx

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