The Devils in the Fruits

4- Ito

I sat through his meeting quietly, even though the other devils talked to one another.

They didn't like me too much, but why should I care.

I didn't need the other devils. I was the most powerful. I was the most important.

He needed me.

He wanted me.

He knows me.

He loves me.

The meeting ended. He was always the last to leave the room.

I stayed behind for a moment as he began to walk out of the room, just to see if he stayed as sharp as he had always said he would.

After a few moments, he paused and turned his blonde head to look around the room through tinted glasses.

"Ito?" He called out softly, his ever present smile fading from his lips as he looked around the room. "Where are you?"

I grinned widely with happiness and flew to his shoulders. He must have sensed my presence, because his usual smile brightened his beautiful face once more.

"Fufufu. Don't leave my side, Ito. I'm useless without you." My smile widened and I nodded even though he couldn't see it, strands of string-like black hair waving around both of our heads.

The other devils in the Don Quixote family despise me.

But who cares.

Who needs them? I know I don't. There's only one person I need.

I need him. Don Quixote Doflamingo.

My master.

My human.

My life.

My everything.

It is ingrained into the very fibers of our beings: devils will forever despise the humans who eat their fruits.

I thought so at first with Doflamingo.

When we made a contract, he was still at a rather young age. He had no idea that the 'Ito-Ito no Mi' or whatever the humans called it contained a devil.

None of the Eaters ever do.

It took him nearly ten years to realize that I was there... To find out the truth of Devils' Fruits.

An old, tattered book had washed up on the beach he and his crew were docked at at the time.

Curiosity had captured his attention and he took it to his room to read.

I never paid attention to anything he read, so imagine my shock when the next night he bought a ouiji board.

He had sat down on his bed, legs crossed, and set the thing up.

He smiled and looked around the room though tinted glasses.

His question had shocked me.

"Are you the Ito-Ito no Mi?" He asked with a voice as deep as the ocean.

I remember my eyes widening as I moved the piece over to the 'Yes' spot.

His grin widened. "Fufufufu! So the book was correct!" He had laughed, then leaned back against his pillows and headboard.

"What should I call you?"

I moved the piece again. "I-T-O." He had muttered as it moved. "Ito. Do you have a gender, Ito?"

I moved the piece again. 'Female'.

He laughed again. "Fufufu. Then it's a pleasure to finally meet you for the first time, Ito."

He smiled widely and it was in that instant that I felt my walls crack and whatever dead heart I possessed began to beat again.

I smiled softly back and felt tears stream from my eyes. "It's nice to finally meet you too, Master."

He couldn't hear me, but his smile was all I needed.

It was from that day forward that I vowed to protect my master from anything and everything.

He had never learned to swim, so when he fell into the water I would slow his decent and breathe air into his mouth long enough for some other human to get him out of the water.

We talked over the ouiji board every night and after, he would let me sleep in his bed with him.

I am his greatest ally.

His closest friend.

The one he trusts the most.

I am his devil, and he is my master. And nothing, not even God himself will ever change that.

{Ito: Ito-Ito no Mi (String-String Fruit)}