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Akagami Kasumi. A wanted child. He had known ever since he was young that his father was a decently important person, with information that others needed to know and had to take extra care to make sure that no one ever found out that Kasumi existed. Because of his father’s importance, Kasumi had his own importance. He didn’t really understand what it was, but as he got older, it made more sense why he had to stay hidden. Though some people knew of him, like Dracule Mihawk or the Redhaired pirates, but most individuals did not need to know who Kasumi was. At the age of five, he was told he was an Akagami but to never say it. So he kept his identity a secret and followed in his father’s footsteps.
Kasumi had also learned who Monkey D. Luffy was at a young age. Sitting in Makino’s bar, sipping on water while she cleaned out her mugs. They were both waiting for Shanks to arrive back and drink up all the booze, Makino had said. Kasumi didn’t care, he just wanted to see his dad again, and his uncle Benn! Uncle Yasopp always got upset when he was more excited to see Benn, but Kasumi couldn’t help it. He always loved hearing Benn’s story. But most of all, he wanted to see his father. Apparently, someone else was just as eager.
“Makino, is Shanks back yet?” Kasumi whipped his head around as the door slammed open to reveal a child younger than himself standing in the doorway, a determined look on his face as he marched over to where Makino was, ultimately bringing him closer to Kasumi as well.
Makino had smiled at the little boy and shook her head, pointing towards the door with one of her petite hands. “He’ll be walking through that door any minute though so why don’t you sit next to Kasumi? I’m sure he’ll be very excited that his two favorite boys were waiting for him to come back!” This caught Kasumi’s attention as he stared at Luffy, watching the ravenette blink at Kasumi with large eyes. “What’s a Kasumi?” He had asked, picking his nose and staring passed Kasumi to Makino. Kasumi shied away, ducking his head down and sipping at his water.
A loud laugh from the doorway caught Luffy’s attention before he could figure out who Kasumi really was. “Why Luffy, he’s a little boy I always tell you about! Right in that seat!” But Luffy was no longer looking at Kasumi, or even Makino. His eyes were wide as he raced to hug Shanks.
“You’ve been gone too long, idiot!” He had cried out, wrapping tightly to Shanks. Shanks had laughed, patting his head and smiled at Kasumi, holding a hand out for him to come run up and hug him as well. But before he could, Benn had walked in and scooped him up, making him eye level with his father.
“Uncle Benn!” Kasumi had squeaked out, hugging tightly to his neck before reaching out for his father. He knew he wasn’t allowed to call him his dad in public, but he still wanted to show the man that he missed him. It was two weeks, but to a nine and seven year old, two weeks was too long! So he watched Luffy become disentangled from the other man by Yasopp who started excitedly telling him stories so Luffy was distracted enough that Kasumi could get time with his father.
“Hi daddy,” He whispered, hugging his father’s neck tightly while pressing his face into his shoulder. “Hi Kas,” Shanks had whispered back, hugging him tight enough to make breathing hard but a few seconds without air was nothing compared to two weeks without his father. He couldn’t wait until he was old enough to actually go out to see with him! Then he would never have to miss him. He had told Shanks as much. Though he didn’t know why Uncle Benn and Yasopp had grimaced but his father had grinned widely at him and hugged him at the idea.
“Shanks, tell me about your adventures! What did you guys do- Who is he?” Kasumi’s head popped up, turning to look at the other child in the room. Luffy was staring up at him, tiny arms crossed and a pout on his face. Yasopp had the same expression, claiming that Luffy wouldn’t listen when he tried to tell the stories of what they’d been doing.
Shanks set Kasumi down, who quickly moved towards Benn while Makino hugged Shanks and his crew to welcome them back. “Luffy, this is Kasumi. I’ve told you about him before.” Luffy only tilted his head, flat expression on his face as he looked between Kasumi and Shanks. Kasumi, growing uncomfortable, reached a little hand out in greeting. Luffy smiled widely at him and took his hand, shaking enthusiastically. “I’m Luffy, it’s nice to meet you! We should be friends!” Kasumi, not used to the idea of having friends his age, only nodded and smiled back. Like his father, he had a natural charm and Luffy liked him from the moment they shook hands.
Kasumi thought about that moment a lot, especially when Luffy and himself were being taken up to the mountains by Monkey D. Garp. Because now he was holding tightly onto Luffy’s hand while they made their way to meet Dadan and the mountain bandits. Though Kasumi had never been scared of tough individuals before, he would blame his father for that one, he did know that someone else was waiting up there to meet him. Another child, around his and Luffy’s age and Kasumi wasn’t so sure that they would like him.
Though Luffy had never figured out that he was Shanks’ son, it was almost too obvious from the red of his hair, to the waves and part, to the grin that spread across his face anytime he was happy. Garp had noticed it instantly, grilling him about his relations to Shanks, only for the now ten year old to state that it was merely coincidence, that Shanks had found him on this island, like he had been told to tell others.
Garp had taken him along with Luffy, hoping to break him of his pirate intentions and make a real marine out of him and Luffy. Luffy hadn’t been willing to give in, but Kasumi had stated that Garp seemed like a strong and kind man so he wouldn’t mind staying around. Garp had taken a liking to him, ruffling his hair while punching Luffy hard for pirate talk.
When they arrived, Kasumi learned that Dadan was a curly redhead, much like himself, though her hair was more strawberry blonde. This helped him blend in a little more, keeping the questions of his parents out of the way. However, as he looked around, he noticed that there were no other children there. Dadan had noticed and stated that Ace was out in the woods, probably hunting. Luffy didn’t like that answer, looking around and finding that they were being watched by the kid in question.
“Hi, I’m Luffy! I hope we can be friends!” Kasumi watched in horror as Ace spit at Luffy and walked away. Kasumi was never one for violence. His father had always told him to be as civil as possible until his friends were in danger or he felt he needed to stand up for them. He had never gotten in trouble for his ideals before, so Kasumi had marched up to Ace, pushing Luffy behind him and pulled a training sword out of its sheath. He held out one arm in front of Luffy and glared up at Ace in the tree.
“You don’t have to like us, but you better respect us.” He grit out, and Dadan gawked while Garp only guffawed at how Kasumi acted. “That one has spirit. He’d make a great marine!” However, Kasumi wasn’t thinking about that, or even listening. He was keeping his full attention on Ace. He was waiting for Ace to make a move, but instead Ace jumped down from his tree and left them behind.
Luffy chased after him, pushing passed Kasumi to talk to Ace. Kasumi sheathed his sword and turned back to the adults, more comfortable in their presence. Though they began asking him where he got his sword and how he learned to use it.
“I’ll be honest, I’m not the best with a sword, but my f-friend used one and I want to be like him! I’ll never be the best swordsman but I want to be a good one!” Garp ruffled his hair, not realizing that Kasumi meant as a pirate, but he didn’t want to get hit by Garp so he refrained from mentioning his father or pirates. Though he almost slipped up and had to replace father with friend. He sweatdropped as no one caught his slip, chalking it up to them not knowing him well enough yet. So he walked in with Garp and made sure to learn as much as he could about Dadan and the bandits.
It wasn’t until much later in his stay that he began to befriend to Ace. Though they always came back to the same place, Ace and Kasumi seemed to stay away from each other as much as they could. Kasumi couldn’t believe Ace’s disgusting attitude and Ace couldn’t stand Kasumi’s need to protect Luffy at every turn. Whether it was for leaving him behind or for not leaving him enough food, Ace and Kasumi would get into small fights. Pipe clashed against Sword a little too often in the Bandits’ hideout.
One of their fights happened after Luffy had been injured from one of Ace’s attempts to push him away and Kasumi had gotten so fed up that he had gone to seek Ace out, even while Luffy protested and pulled at his arm. Kasumi had his mind set on this one and strode towards where Ace was with determination.
Ace had just put away the money he’d stolen for the day when he saw Kasumi and Luffy, though he noticed how angry Kasumi was. However, he mistook it for being angry at Luffy and called out to Kasumi. That had been a mistake.
“You finally tired of that crybaby? I figured you would be eventually.” Ace’s eyes flicked between Kasumi and a scraped up Luffy. He was a bit confused on the cut on his forehead and the scrapes on his knees but chalked it up to being a kid. But when his eyes flickered back to Kasumi, who had noticed him, he saw that the anger on his face had worsened. Neither Luffy nor Ace had ever seen him so angry. It almost seemed like rage, something Ace was accustomed to but the peacekeeper and sweet talker was never one for the emotion. Ace at least knew that much about the idiot.
Kasumi didn’t even say anything this time, just pulled out his sword and with a strong swing, slashed at Ace, who jumped back and grabbed his pipe. Ace tried countering as much as he could, but found the other to be much faster than himself, and with a smaller weapon, it was easier for him to get a hit in. The two clashed against each other in a heated battle and neither was left unharmed. Ace had a few cuts along his arms and face while Kasumi had bruises all over his body from the pipe hitting him. Long range had its advantages.
It was at the call of another boy that the two stopped their fight. “Hey Ace, I thought we were going to meet up! What happene-” The blond was cut short, staring at the three boys in front of him, who stared back in shock and confusion. Ace was the shocked one though, moving away from the two ‘crybabies’ and towards the blond. “Sabo, these idiots got in my way. Let’s leave these two behind.” Kasumi, having gotten over his anger could only stare in confusion while the two ran off. He watched Luffy chase after them and he shook his head, sheathing his sword and following after.
When he arrived, he saw that they had tied Luffy to a tree! Kasumi, once again angry, now at two opponents, went to unsheathe his sword when he saw Luffy actually chatting with the two. Though his eyes were red rimmed, meaning he had been crying over something. Kasumi knew he cried a lot, much more than he himself ever had so he let go of his sword and walked closer to the trio.
“Boo.” He had said, standing behind the two boys and watching them jump away from him in shock, getting a smile in response from both Kasumi and Luffy. “Thanks, Kas! Kas, this is Sabo! He’s one of Ace’s friends!” Kasumi, known for teasing Ace, had smirked a bit and crossed his arms. “Ace has friends? What a surprise to me. He’s never been nice to anyone.” Ace got up in arms, reaching for his pipe and spouting out insults and cursing at Kasumi while Sabo held him back and laughed. “Haha, Ace, you didn’t tell me that Kasumi was so funny!” Ace gave up wanting to fight Kasumi and huffed, now pushing Sabo off of him. “He’s never funny, just mean.”
The four boys had grown close together, promising to becomes pirates together. Though Luffy and Kasumi wanted to be closer to Shanks, Sabo and Ace only wanted to find some place they could truly be happy. Kasumi agreed as they shared sake together, saying he’d never be as close to anyone else as he was to them. That was why later that night, Ace told him that he was Roger’s son, hoping to bring them closer or break the fantasy that Kasumi had in his head about his ‘brother’.
“Ace, I know that we had a tough start, but you’re my brother now. No matter who your father is, you’ll always be my brother. Would it help if I told you a secret, too?” Ace had leaned closer, tears stinging his eyes as his brother accepted him. “My real name is Akagami Kasumi.” Ace, not understanding, leaned back and huffed. “What does that matter?” He grumbled, looking away. “I’m Shanks’ son. I’m a wanted kid, too. I overheard some marines say that they were looking for me. That they would kill me if they ever found me. Garp really saved me by sending me to stay with Dadan. I think I would’ve been dead by now.”
As his words continued, Kasumi’s voice grew quieter. He wrapped his arms around himself, looking down at his lap. “While Luffy loves Shanks because he’s a pirate, I love him because he’s my dad. But because of that, the world wants me dead. Just like- like how they want you dead, too. So we have to stick together, okay? The world won’t get the best of us. My dad said so. If he believed in me, I know he’d believe in you. And I believe in you, too. Pinky promise!” Kasumi knew that wallowing in pity and sadness got him nowhere, so he wiped his tears and reached his right hand to Ace, pinky up. “I know it isn’t as final as a cup of sake, but I promise to always believe in you.” Ace and Kasumi became closer that night, knowing they shared a very special bond.
So when Sabo died, Kasumi had to rely on that very important bond as he screamed into his pillow at night. He had been sick when Ace and Luffy were captured. He had been sick when he found out Sabo was dead and that Ace was missing. He had screamed in agony as he thought his brothers were dead, clinging close to Luffy and hoping that he would wake up and let him know that he still had one brother.
When Ace came back, Kasumi tried to be the strong one. He stayed at their side, helping patch up Dadan and Ace, changing Luffy’s bandages. He couldn’t smile like he used to, but he tried as Luffy cried to him. He sat with Ace, who held onto his hand tight enough to bruise and he made sure the bandits never saw a single tear. It wasn’t until he was well enough to go see Grey Terminal.
He saw everything that had been burned and fell to his knees, screaming out for Sabo to come back to him. No amount of ‘buck up’ and ‘be strong’ could save him from the intense agony that spread through him as he realized his brother was really gone. He clawed at the ground, rocks digging into his knees as he cried out for his brother to come back to him. He didn’t care that tears were dripping onto the ground, or that his nose was running. All he wanted was his brother.
Ace and Luffy had heard him though, and came to his side, hugging him tightly and crying while Kasumi finally let it all out. He had been strong for them for weeks. He couldn’t be strong forever though. He was still only ten. That didn’t matter to the world though. It took his brother away from him, regardless of how he acted or what he did. No amount of being strong could bring Sabo back.
It was a tough time moving on, but with Ace and Luffy at his side, it was easier to go back to the happy boy that he was. So when Ace announced he was leaving, Kasumi felt his nose twitch and his smile fall a bit before he caught himself and he beamed at Ace. “Follow your dreams!” He had said, but deep down he wanted to keep Ace by his side forever. So he’d never have another Sabo incident again. He didn’t even get to see Ace leave though.
A few months before his fourteenth birthday, Shanks walked into the Bandits’ hideout. It was the middle of the night and Kasumi had wanted to wake Luffy and Ace, but he had told Kasumi that his ship was waiting for him and he couldn’t stay here too long. So, that night, he told his father to go back down to the ship with his stuff so he could say goodbye to his brothers. Shanks had smiled, allowing it as he kissed Kasumi’s forehead. “I missed you.”
Kasumi had to try hard to wake the boys up, but both of them sat up, tired and messy hair. “Kas, what’s wrong? Another nightmare?” Ace asked, yawning and trying not to fall asleep. Luffy had fallen onto Ace’s shoulder, seconds from snoring when Kasumi quietly told them he was leaving. That had gotten their attention quickly. “What do you mean you’re leaving?”
Kasumi turned around to see Dadan and the bandits in the doorway to their room and sheepishly smiled at them before turning back to his brothers. “I have to go to the ship that’s in port as soon as possible. Someone is waiting for me. He said to say thank you to all of you for looking after me. He can’t thank you all enough.” Dadan had held back tears when he hugged her, but the two boys had burst into tear and tackled him to the ground. “We won’t forget you, so you better see us again, okay?” Kasumi had tearily agreed, pulling them close before getting ready, sword on his hip. “Dadan, if I ever find myself back here, can I come visit you?” He had never seen her choke on her words but she had to nod as to not cry in front of the bandits.
He made it to port sometime during very early morning. Shanks looked exhausted, as did Benn, but they smiled upon his arrival and hugged him tightly. Kasumi went to the back of the boat to watch the island grow smaller when he caught sight of Ace, Luffy, Dadan, and the bandits! He climbed up onto the railing of the ship, waving his arms at them until he couldn’t see them any longer. He had wanted to yell to them goodbye, that he loved them, but he knew they all knew it. They saw it in the reluctance to leave and the willingness to come back. The tears pouring down his face helped them see his true feelings as well.
He was going off on a new adventure and he was ready to face the new world with a smile, much like his father had. And he watched the sun begin to slowly rise, and he hoped above all else that his brothers would be able to make it in this world without him by their sides. Though he also hoped Shanks knew that if those boys were ever in danger, he’d be at their sides in a second. They were brothers after all, and his brothers had a bond no one could break.