Lady Toki was perhaps one of the few sane mbers of the Kozuki family.
At least, that was how Ozz saw it.
Her gentle features, paired with an intelligent and warm smile, and that high ponytail of soft sky-blue hair, gave her an aura that was graceful without being submissive.
A classic "perfect wife."
Oda really did treat Oden like a favored son, didn't he? Even went so far as to assign him such an ideal partner.
As for whether Ozz had any interest in her...
Not really. He'd seen all kinds of won across the seas. A married woman? Please. With one wave of his hand, Ozz could summon flocks of won willing to abandon husbands and children alike to chase wealth and splendor all the way to Sabaody Archipelago.
What caught his attention wasn't desire. It was just that having a sensible person in the Kozuki clan was a rarity worth noting.
At the very least.
She wasn't delusional.
"You saving our lives in such a ti of crisis is more than enough. I wouldn't dare ask for anything further."
Lady Toki spoke with a soft smile.
Her poise and elegance revealed the dignity of a noble house matriarch.
Then, with a small wave of her hand, she dismissed the surrounding retainers.
Denjiro and the others hesitated at first, but under Toki's firm gaze, they bowed and withdrew.
Seeing this, Ozz raised an eyebrow.
Surely she wasn't planning what he thought she was?
For a mont, so strange plotlines flashed in his mind, but then he rembered she wasn't actually from Wano.
"Lady Toki, this is...?"
Hiyori, peeking up at him with shining eyes full of awe and admiration, made Ozz chuckle lightly in response.
He hadn't expected it, but even such a tiny Hiyori could blush so easily.
Toki didn't notice. She looked at Ozz solemnly, a quiet sorrow glimring in her eyes.
"Ozz-kun... you traveled to the final island with Oden, didn't you? Then you must know..."
She paused.
"Twenty years from now, the true savior of Wano will arrive to liberate our land."
She calmly spoke of the prophecy Oden once entrusted to her.
He had even asked her to leap forward in ti to skip ahead to the age of salvation she longed for.
But in the end, because of love and family, she had chosen to stay, to die with her beloved rather than flee alone.
"Yeah... I know about that. That's the new era Roger was waiting for."
A faint smile tugged at Ozz's lips.
Though, it really didn't have much to do with him.
He wasn't soone of that era, nor did he bear any so-called responsibility to push the wheels of history forward.
More than anything, he was an observer. At most, a behind-the-scenes puppeteer.
With the monsters of the new age stepping onto the stage, the seas were bound to get exciting.
And Ozz loved a good spectacle.
"In that case... I have one final request. It may be unreasonable, but I beg you to hear it. The Kozuki family will forever be in your debt."
Suddenly, Lady Toki dropped into a deep kowtow, catching Ozz completely off guard.
He vanished in an instant, reappearing at the side of the room.
That kind of overwhelming karmic debt? He had no interest in bearing it.
"Please... if you ever find the chance, I beg you to look after my son."
Tears welled in her eyes. Her resolve was clear she had already chosen to die.
Hiyori had the samurai of Wano to care for her. But her son, sent to a ti two decades ahead, into an unknown and dangerous world...
As a mother, this was all she could do.
And a mother's plea, no matter who it was directed at, was always hard to turn away.
"I understand. If I ever cross paths with her, I'll keep an eye out."
Ozz chose his words carefully.
He didn't give a firm promise.
At most, when the Punk Hazard or Dressrosa arcs rolled around, he might tell Doffy to go easy on that little brat.
After all, what was the point of seriously dealing with soone that useless?
If you stoop to the level of trash, aren't you just trash too?
Emotionally unmoved, Ozz still gave the woman a final kindness.
And to soone who had already resolved to die, even a vague, half-hearted promise was a trendous comfort.
...
Lady Toki died.
Leaving behind a prophecy.
And Ozz? He changed nothing.
Or perhaps, he never intended to change anything.
He already knew the story. No matter what happened, it wasn't going to shake him.
In this world, it's the strong who laugh, and the weak who cry.
Ozz didn't like Wano.
But he did like sightseeing.
And he especially enjoyed places with a deeply ingrained culture of submission.
"Welco, dear guest~ co play with us!"
Everywhere, won in brightly colored kimonos filled the streets, dolled up like flowers in full bloom.
The mont they saw this generous young gentleman with money to burn, they flocked toward him.
Ozz was already a regular at places like this. More familiar than going ho.
As long as you had money, you could do whatever you wanted.
"Ten girls! All hands on deck!!"
Ozz, eager to experience the local flavor, tossed his money around like candy.
All eyes turned toward him, geisha and courtesans alike unable to look away.
"What a clueless rich boy. We're gonna squeeze him dry."
"Right? Haven't seen such a loaded fool in ages."
From the top floor, the madam and her companions watched Ozz from behind a screen, smirking in secret.
The kind of behavior Hiyori would one day beco infamous for luring in rich clients with beauty, draining them of their wealth, and kicking them to the curb had been going on long before her ti.
With geishas clinging to his arms, Ozz strolled into a private room.
Nothing explicit, really. Just music and massages.
One geisha played the shamisen, its Tokyo-style twangs echoing softly.
Ozz lay back, arms behind his head, enjoying the mont without asking for much.
After all, this was a closed-off country. If he demanded anything too exotic, they probably couldn't handle it anyway.
An hour or so passed.
Now resting peacefully, eyes closed and body relaxed, Ozz lay on the mattress. The geishas had already finished and quietly slipped away.
Then.
Creak.
The door opened. The madam entered.
"Forgive the intrusion, my lord~"
Hearing her voice, Ozz slowly opened his eyes and looked at the woman's sly face.
"It's about ti... to settle the bill."
"Oh? How much?"
Ozz smiled, not at all concerned.
"With all the services and arrangents, the total cos to... ten thousand platinum~"
"So expensive?"
From what Ozz knew, platinum coins were already considered a rare, high-value currency in Wano.
Ten thousand platinum?
You could buy several pri properties in the Flower Capital for that.
"But I don't have that much. What should I do?"
The madam's expression darkened. She didn't believe him for a second.
With his deanor, attire, and the way he had called for ten girls like it was nothing, he clearly didn't look like a pauper.
He just didn't want to pay.
"Dear guest, you'd better think this through. We're an establishnt that sells art, not bodies. If the shogun's officials catch wind of this, they could easily say you forced our girls to sell themselves. That would count as... well... whoring, wouldn't it?"
Ozz burst out laughing.
"If I don't pay... then it doesn't count as whoring, does it?"
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