**Chapter 16: Four Years of Chaos, Love, and Crunching Space**
**Sunny's POV**
Four years. Four whole years since Belle-mère banned me from "reckless adventuring." And by reckless, she meant that one time I punched the sea so hard our boat literally flew through the sky like a seagull on steroids. Okay, fine, she had a point—Nami and Nojiko had nearly thrown up mid-flight, Aqua had screamed like a banshee the whole way, and the villagers thought we were some kind of flying pirate curse. But come on, what kind of childhood would I have if I didn't bend the laws of physics at least once a week? Still, I behaved… kind of. Mostly because Belle-mère's glare could curdle milk, and I wasn't about to test her limits again. Not after she threatened to ground me until I was thirty.
Those four years in Cocoyasi Village flew by in a blur of laughter, lectures, and the occasional near-disaster. We were a mismatched family: Belle-mère the tough mom with her endless cigarettes and slipper threats, Nojiko the quiet, reliable one who kept us all fed and sane, Nami the sneaky thief-in-training with her berry-obsessed schemes, Aqua the dramatic goddess who turned every day into a soap opera, and me—the isekai'd kid trying to juggle Haki training, two bickering voices in my head, and a growing crush I wasn't ready to admit. Yeah, life was chaotic, but it was *our* chaos.
---
**Nami's Mischief Arc**
The first year after our infamous "boat stunt" was when Nami really revealed her true calling: stealing. Not just petty theft like swiping oranges from Nojiko's basket (though she did that too)—no, she went bigger. *Pirates*. Actual, smelly, sword-waving pirates who thought they could dock in Cocoyasi for a quick resupply.
She'd strut back home one day, jingling a bag of stolen treasure like it was her new fashion accessory. "Look, Sunny! Gold, maps, jewelry! Pirates are idiots—they leave their stuff lying around like it's free!" Her orange ponytail bounced with pride, her eyes sparkling like she'd just won the lottery.
Belle-mère's face turned red, then purple, then exploded like a cannonball. "NAMIIII! You're twelve! You can't just rob pirates! What if they catch you?!"
Nami crossed her arms, unfazed. "So what? I'm investing in my future! Maps don't draw themselves, you know. And Sunny says it's fine!"
I choked on my juice. "I did *not* say that!"
That lecture made my three-hour "don't punch the sea" scolding look like a bedtime story. Belle-mère chased Nami around the house with a slipper in hand, yelling about "raising a thief" while Nojiko tried (and failed) to play mediator, laughing so hard she had to sit down. I just sat on the porch, sipping my juice, thinking this was better than any live theater I'd seen back on Earth. But as much as she pretended otherwise, Nami grew softer toward me during those escapades. Maybe it was because I always bailed her out—using my Observation Haki to warn her when Belle-mère was coming, or stashing her loot in my inventory space without anyone noticing.
One time, after a close call with a pirate who nearly caught her red-handed, she cornered me by the tangerine grove at sunset. Her cheeks were flushed, her ponytail messy from running. "Thanks for the heads-up, Sunny," she said, fiddling with a stolen coin. "You're… kinda my hero sometimes."
I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling my face heat up. "It's nothing. Just don't get caught next time. Belle-mère would kill me too."
She grinned, stepping closer—close enough that I could smell the faint citrus on her hair. "Promise you'll always have my back?"
I nodded, my heart doing a weird flip. "Always."
She hugged me quick, then darted off, leaving me standing there like an idiot, my cheeks burning.
Aqua, who'd been spying from behind a tree, popped out with her arms crossed. "What was *that*?! Orange thief hugging my Sunny? Not on my watch!"
I sighed. "It was just a hug, Aqua. Jealous much?"
She puffed her cheeks, grabbing my arm. "Jealous? Me? A goddess? Hmph! But just in case, you're mine for the rest of the day. No more hugs from tangerine gremlins!"
Her possessiveness was ridiculous, but the way she clung to me, her hand warm in mine, made my stomach flutter. Romance in Cocoyasi was a minefield.
---
**Nojiko the Responsible**
Unlike Nami's wild streak, Nojiko took the "good daughter" path with a vengeance. She was the glue holding our chaotic family together—gardening in the tangerine groves with Belle-mère, cooking meals that somehow turned our mishmash of ingredients into feasts, and helping with chores without a single complaint. She even learned to swing an axe like a pro, chopping firewood with precise, powerful swings that left me impressed.
But Nojiko's real superpower? Her mom-glare, inherited straight from Belle-mère. One time, Aqua tried sneaking cookies before dinner, her hand inching toward the jar like a stealthy ninja. Nojiko's glare alone froze her mid-reach—Aqua's arm hovered, trembling, as Nojiko said calmly, "Don't even think about it."
Aqua yelped, yanking her hand back like she'd been burned. "H-how did you know?! Are you psychic?!"
Nojiko smirked, popping an orange slice into her mouth. "No. I just know you."
I laughed so hard I nearly choked, and Aqua spent the rest of the day pouting, muttering about "blue-haired traitors." Nojiko's quiet strength was the perfect counter to our chaos, and she had a way of making me feel… grounded. One evening, after a long day of training, she found me by the shore, staring at the waves. "You okay, Sunny?" she asked, sitting beside me, her blue hair catching the sunset.
"Yeah," I said, smiling. "Just thinking about… stuff."
She leaned her head on my shoulder, a simple gesture that made my heart skip. "You don't have to carry everything alone. We're family now."
Her warmth, her words—it was romance in the quiet moments, the kind that sneaks up on you.
Aqua, spotting us from afar, stormed over. "Hey! No shoulder-leaning on my Sunny without permission!"
Nojiko rolled her eyes. "Jealous much, goddess?"
"Eternally!"
---
**Aqua's Training Arc**
Aqua… oh, Aqua. She was still the same loud, dramatic diva who turned every minor inconvenience into a divine crisis. Domestic life wasn't her strong suit—her attempts at chores usually ended in disaster, like the time she "blessed" the laundry and turned all our clothes blue. Belle-mère banned her from the washbasin after that.
But when it came to training? She was unstoppable. We'd spar on the beaches, waves crashing dramatically behind us like some overproduced anime scene. Aqua would swing her staff, channeling water spells that whipped the sea into frothy blasts, while I blocked with my Haki-coated fists. "Take this, Sunny! Divine Tidal Wave!" she'd yell, sending a wall of water crashing toward me.
I'd redirect it with Flowing Seal Fist, the water parting like a curtain. "Too slow, Aqua. Try again."
She'd slip on the wet sand, face-planting with a *splat*, then pop up sputtering. "That's not fair! You distracted me with your annoying handsome face!"
"Handsome?" I teased, helping her up, our hands lingering a second too long.
She blushed, yanking her hand away. "I said *annoying* handsome, idiot! There's a difference!"
Still, she grew stronger. Her magic circles became sharper, her water spells more precise—turning droplets into razor-sharp blades or barriers that could deflect my punches. And when she wasn't training, she'd argue with [System] about "fair game" in our spars.
[System]: "Master Sunny, her spells are inefficient. I calculate a 23% waste in mana. Recommendation: Discard the goddess and let me optimize your training."
Aqua overheard once and exploded. "Discard me?! I'm a goddess, you glowing calculator! Without me, Sunny would be bored to death!"
[System]: "Boredom is preferable to inefficiency."
Aqua chased me around, demanding I "banish the creepy voice," while I laughed, pulling her into a hug to calm her down. "You're irreplaceable, Aqua," I said, my voice soft.
She melted, her cheeks pink. "Y-you better mean that, idiot." Her hug lingered, her head on my shoulder, and in that moment, the romance was undeniable—warm, chaotic, ours.
---
**[System] and {Ego}**
Speaking of voices in my head—living with [System] and {Ego} for four years didn't get easier; it got *weirder*. [System] was like a nagging teacher on steroids, always optimizing everything.
[System]: "Reminder: You have not yet completed today's stat optimization cycle. Also, your heart rate spikes 15% around Aqua—shall I analyze for romantic compatibility?"
"Shut up, I'm eating!"
{Ego}, on the other hand, was pure chaos, egging me on like a devil on my shoulder.
{Ego}: "Punch the moon, Sunny. Punch it. Let's see what happens."
"No! Do you know how tides work?!"
{Ego}: "Do I look like I care about tides? Do it for science!"
They argued constantly, their bickering a nonstop soundtrack in my brain. One time, during dinner, I burst out laughing at nothing, and Belle-mère raised an eyebrow. "You okay, kid?"
"Yeah," I said, wiping tears. "Just… imaginary friends being idiots."
She probably chalked it up to "Sunny being Sunny," but I caught Aqua smirking—she knew the truth.
---
**Belle-mère's Wrinkles of Worry**
Belle-mère… poor, patient Belle-mère. Raising three kids was tough enough, but adding Aqua's drama and my "accidents"? She aged ten years in four. Every time Nami came home with stolen loot, Aqua broke a wall "training" her spells, or I "accidentally" warped space during Haki practice—creating a mini-gravity pocket that made the chickens float—she'd sigh so heavily it rattled the windows.
One evening, she was peeling potatoes, muttering to herself. "Why couldn't I have normal kids? Quiet kids? Maybe a cat? At least cats don't punch the sea or summon floods."
We hugged her anyway, piling on like a family dogpile. "We love you, Belle-mère!" Nami and Nojiko chorused.
Aqua joined in, "You're the best mortal mom ever!"
I added, "Thanks for putting up with us."
She complained, grumbling about "brats," but she never pushed us away. Her warmth was the anchor in our chaos, and in quiet moments, I'd catch her smiling at us, her eyes soft with love.
---
**Sunny's Training Notes — Breaking Into Space Crunch**
The Advanced Haki Manual called it "Void Manipulation." I called it "grabbing nothing with bare hands and hoping it doesn't grab back." At first, I just tried to feel the void between objects with Observation Haki—staring at the space between two sticks until my brain felt like it was melting. It was like peering into an abyss so empty it looped back into being heavy, pressing on my mind like invisible weights.
The first success came in Belle-mère's garden. I warped space between two sticks—they looked a meter apart, but no matter how many steps I took, I couldn't touch both at once. Nami, watching, accused me of cheating at tag. "That's not fair, Sunny! You're bending the rules—literally!"
Aqua laughed, clapping. "Bend them more! Make her chase ghosts!"
Then came gravity pockets. I was supposed to create small zones of heavy or light pull. I succeeded by accident, pinning Aqua flat mid-nap. She woke up screaming, "Sunny! Why does my goddess body feel like it weighs a thousand pounds?!"
"Science!" I yelled, laughing as she flailed like a beached fish.
She didn't forgive me for a week, pouting and refusing hugs—though she'd sneak glances when she thought I wasn't looking, her cheeks pink.
Other times, I flipped it, making Nami float like a balloon during a game. She panicked, yelling, "Put me down, Sunny, you jerk! This isn't funny!" as she kicked her legs uselessly. I lowered her gently, but not before teasing, "Admit it, you loved the view."
Her blush was worth the slipper to the head from Belle-mère later.
But the most terrifying accident was folding space. The distance between me and a tree collapsed—one second it was meters away, the next my fist was buried in its trunk without moving. The tree crumpled like paper, roots ripping from the ground. Nami stared, wide-eyed. "Sunny… that was awesome. And kinda scary."
Aqua hugged me from behind. "My hero! But don't do that to people, okay? I like your hands attached."
Her warmth lingered, her breath on my neck making my heart race. Romance in training mishaps—only in Cocoyasi.
Space Crunch wasn't just a trick; it was rewriting reality. And I wasn't done pushing its limits.
---
**Four Years Later**
So here we are. I'm fifteen now, taller, stronger, with a grin that hides more than it shows. Nami's still stealing (though she calls it "investing"), her schemes bolder but her smiles brighter, especially when she "accidentally" brushes my hand. Nojiko's the family rock, her axe swings precise, her hugs warm and steady. Aqua's still dramatic, her spells sharper, her clinginess a constant source of blushes and butterflies.
Belle-mère lectures us nightly, but her eyes shine with pride. This family—messy, loud, loving—is everything.
Even if half of them want to kill me most days, I wouldn't trade it for the world.