"So hungry.." you whined pathetically as Ace and Luffy both laughed at your childish whines.

Cracker squirmed around in your stomach, clearly as distraught as you were.

Your stomach acid is trying to digest us

You only rolled your eyes at his silly complaint, knowing full well how his body was resistant to such acidic fluids.

"I hear ya (Y/N), just please try to sound like you'll have a little mercy on my wallet" you hissed vehemently at that, chuckling darkly.

No mercy on the fool

"No way! I'm draining your bank account!" The freckled teen made a dramatic moan of distress and leaned over like someone just punched his gut.

"My- My life savings.." the younger laughed boisterously beside him at that, gaining him a knock on the head.

"It's all your fault Luffy! Don't laugh!"

He shouldn't have offered to feed us at all, the fool

The three of you continued to argue and debate- with Cracker making several interesting comments to you on a variety of subjects as you wandered down the science wing.

"What class do you two have next?"

Ace smirked strangely at that wiggling his brows, "English"

Luffy pulled out his schedule from the inner confines of his Power Rangers napsack and deflated, "I got Phys. Ed with Mr. Morgan"

We hate that man

"We got- I got biology"

Feeling quite flustered when your lips slipped, you turned your head to question Ace about his English class when you accidentally bumped shoulders with someone else.

Keep an eye on your surroundings!

"-Oh sorry" looking back at the guy, all you saw was familiar fire red hair poking out from the top of a thick fur coat before they marched off around the corner.

Rude

The two brothers must have felt the same, seeing them look back to where the guy vanished with dirty looks.

"What was his problem..? I think I've seen him before.." Luffy whispered to himself, most likely a comment to Katakuri right before the bell rang.

"Gotta go-" briskly giving the two of them halfhearted hugs, you all went your separate ways.

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"Today we will be discussing invasive and alien species" you blinked dully as several students around you began to take out their notes.

What the hell? What is she talking about?! We just started discussing the ecosystem yesterday! Now we're starting something new?!

Shaking your head, you brought out a blank sheet of paper as the teacher began to screech her marker across the whiteboard.

"Invasive species are a species that are introduced to ecosystems where they don't belong- very often this ends up in upsetting the food chain and destroying the ecosystem" writing down the words you see on the board, you felt Cracker begin to settle down as she spoke.

"Many cases of invasive species being introduced to ecosystems are a result of human interference- like flushing goldfish down the toilet, rabbits being released in Australia, rats on board ships across the world, Kiseichus infecting astronauts returning to Earth"

Are we an invasive species..?

You flinched at that, all your attention was derived from that question, losing all focus on the lecture.

"I guess you are.." not really paying attention anymore, you continued taking notes without really reading them.

Is that bad?

"Not to me" Your answer was quick and confident this time, and you felt your guts shiver feeling Cracker vibrate pleasantly.

"Kiseichu, are a very good example of invasive species, since they came to Earth- they've introduced themselves to our ecosystem and have altered the food chain around the globe"

The lecture continued to go on and on, and Cracker was really distracting you with his small complaints until the fire alarm cut in unexpectedly.

The teacher halted midway as she was pointing out the important parts in her slideshow, looking just as caught off guard as the students.

Oi, what's happening?!

The next thing you knew, when the repercussions of a nearby explosion hit the classroom, all hell broke loose.

Everybody rushed at once to be the first one out the door and near the safety awaiting outside, as more and more people fought through the one door frame, you felt your legs weaken hearing a watery yell.

We need to get out of here!

Letting Cracker give you some added strength to your arms and legs, you shoved your way through the huddled crowd.

After fighting for a good while, you grew tired and popped out of the cluster of students, collecting yourself somewhere away from the commotion.

We need another faster way out

Nodding with him, you ran down some empty, forgotten halls and searched the place for anything familiar.

"If we can just-" you cringed feeling yourself ram into a hard statue.

Wait not a statue, a guy.

Feeling your face pale, your mind drew a blank seeing the lithe, shirtless man turn to glare at you deafeningly, there was a stray moment where you could see a dark mark on his temple, but the guy was swift to stand in an angle that covered the assumed bruise.

Danger! That's a Kiseichu!

His grey eyes bored into you threateningly, and you felt numb seeing his arms twitch reflexively at your touch.

"K-Kiseichu.." the Kiseichu glared hard into you as if you were merely cattle, choking you with his coldness.

"Tch, you saw us.." your mouth dropped open on its own as his arm rearranged painfully into something that looked rather knife-like.

And definitely life threatening, yep, he was gonna kill you.

"W-Wait!" Falling back on your rear, the Kiseichu froze, eyes widening in surprise seeing the tips of your hair rise and transition into a lilac purple, hearing your voice going watery, you could feel Cracker rise and coagulate in your body.

Cracker was prepared at any moment to take ahold of the reins and defend your body.

Though it seems that wasn't needed, as the man stumbled back, "they're.. one of us.." then the other doubled over with a pained groan, you watched aghast as the small Kiseichu struggled with his host, both of them arguing heatedly.

"Stop! We're doing what's best for us you fool!"

"This- This is my body you freak! You can't just do what you want with it!"

"We're protecting us!"

"No you're not!"

"Th-They were going to hurt us!"

"I wasn't going to let them you idiot! Calm the fuck down!"

This is bad, we need to do something

You gulped hard, if those two didn't get out of here quick, it wouldn't take long for the authorities to jump over here and take them out- and sweep the place for more infected people.

"This isn't the time to be arguing you two!" The man abruptly whirled his head at you, staring foggily now with one gold and one silver eye.

Careful (Y/N)...

"The cops are gonna be here any second! And then you'll both be separated! Do you want that?!"

You were left stunned seeing them scowl angrily at you in defiance, "no goddamn way!" Then you were left speechless as they lifted you up and began to run.

Oi oi oi oi!

"W-Wait! Ahh!" You screamed loudly as the Kiseichu rushed towards the wall.

Hearing the heart plummeting sound of shattering glass, you clenched your eyes tightly shut feeling wind rush around you.

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"I can't believe this" Walking back and forth as soon as the Kiseichu let you down, you tried hard not to let your stress mount.

Well with the chaos that was happening, we don't have to worry about making any excuses

Sighing in appreciation to Cracker's attempts to soothe you, looking back to the Kiseichu, you tensed up seeing him watch you carefully.

"What the hell was that?! Why did you take me?!" Shrugging hesitantly, he absentmindedly brushed a hand through his raven locks, "we thought it would be better to get you out of there.." Cracker pulsed threateningly at that.

We can take care of ourselves just fine!

You laughed, it was short-lived though as the situation at hand began to rest it's full weight on your shoulders.

'We were kidnapped by a rampaging Kiseichu and are now hanging out with them in an alleyway..' the air was more awkward than anything else.

"What happened that made you go wild in such a populated area..?" The raven haired man tensed up, as his features darkened.

"They were going to hurt us.." you frowned uneasily, your protective side not settling well at that.

Intraspecific competition has been quite vicious these days, no wonder he jumped in to defend..

You softened subconsciously seeing their guilty face, "hey, did they see you shift?" They shook their head, "we hit their heads pretty hard.."

Finally, as if they thought that they were safe, the Kiseichu began to sink back into their host's body.

To your surprise, the body expanded- as if it was being tightly encased in something and now just being set free, as the Kiseichu retreated, the skin grew paler and the dark, bruise-like marks all over their body faded into pale scars that covered a majority of the skin.

Once the Kiseichu fled completely into the body, your eyebrows shot up in recognition and Cracker throbbed in surprise.

"Kidd?"