The last thing Gege remembered was the blinding headlights and the screech of tires.
He'd been walking home from school, earbuds in, probably thinking about what instant ramen to have for dinner—because that was the extent of his exciting life as an average high school student. Average grades, average looks, average everything. His mom always said he'd find his purpose someday.
Guess getting hit by a truck wasn't quite what she had in mind.
Now he stood in... somewhere. Everywhere was white. Infinite white. Like someone had forgotten to render the background in a video game.
"Well, bloody hell, another one."
Gege spun around to find a man in a chef's uniform, arms crossed, glaring at him with an expression that screamed disappointment. The man had blonde hair, intense blue eyes, and a presence that made Gege want to apologize for existing.
"Um... where—"
"You're dead, you muppet," the man interrupted, his British accent sharp enough to cut steel. "Truck got you. Absolutely tragic. Now, I'm Gordon Ramsay, but here I'm ROB—Random Omnipotent Being. Don't ask why I look like this; I lost a bet with Buddha."
Gege blinked. "Gordon... Ramsay? The chef?"
"The WHAT?" Gordon's face turned red. "I'm a ROB! R-O-B! I decide your fate, you donut! Now shut it and listen. You're getting a second chance because some cosmic idiot messed up your life thread. You get to spin for a world and one power. That's it. One. So don't screw it up."
With a snap of his fingers, a massive spinning wheel appeared, divided into countless anime titles. Another wheel materialized beside it, labeled "TEMPLATES."
"Right, spin the world first. And I swear, if you land on something boring, I'm judging you eternally."
Gege's hand trembled as he reached for the wheel. This was insane. This was—
He spun.
The wheel blurred, colors melting together, titles flashing by too fast to read. It slowed... slowed...
**CLICK.**
**Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.**
"Oh, bloody brilliant!" Gordon actually smiled. "Demons, swords, tragic backstories—proper entertainment! Right, now spin for your power, and for the love of God, make it good."
Gege spun the second wheel. His heart pounded. This would determine everything. His survival. His strength. His—
**CLICK.**
**Shanks Template - One Piece.**
Gege stared. "Shanks? The... the Red-Haired Shanks?"
Gordon's eyes widened, then he burst out laughing. "SHANKS?! You magnificent bastard! You're going into a world with demons and you got a PIRATE EMPEROR template?! Oh, this is going to be absolutely delicious to watch!" He wiped a tear from his eye. "Right, here's how it works: you start at 10% template integration. You'll slowly unlock more as you grow. At 10%, you'll have his basic physical abilities, his foundation, and his instincts. The rest? Earn it."
"Wait, but—"
"No time for questions! Oh, one more thing—" Gordon's grin turned wicked. "You're being inserted into Tomioka Giyuu's body. Right at a very... critical moment. Try not to die immediately, yeah? Would be embarrassing after getting Shanks' template."
"Giyuu?! But he's—"
"TA-TA!"
Gordon snapped his fingers.
Everything went white.
**Taisho Era - Snowy Mountains**
The first thing Gege—no, Giyuu—felt was the biting cold.
The second thing was the weight of the katana at his side.
The third thing was the overwhelming scent of blood.
His eyes snapped open. Snow fell gently around him, but ahead, up a mountain path, he could see it—a traditional Japanese house, its door hanging open, dark red staining the white snow leading inside.
'No.'
Memories that weren't his flickered through his mind. The mission. The report of demon activity in this area. He was supposed to investigate, but he'd been delayed by another demon on the way and—
'The Kamado family'
His body moved before his mind caught up, legs pumping, racing up the mountain path. The snow crunched under his feet, his breath coming out in white puffs. He could feel it—something in his chest, a warmth, a power that thrummed with each heartbeat. Different from anything Giyuu should have known.
'The template, Shanks' template.'
He burst through the treeline and froze.
The house was a massacre. Blood everywhere. Bodies—he could see them through the open door. A woman. Children. All except—
Movement.
A boy, maybe fifteen, with burgundy hair and a scar on his forehead, was kneeling in the snow, cradling a younger girl who was covered in blood. The boy's eyes were wide with horror, tears streaming down his face.
"Please, please, Nezuko, stay with me!"
But Gege's attention snapped to the figure standing in the shadows nearby, partially obscured by the falling snow.
A man in a suit and fedora. Pale skin. Crimson eyes that glowed in the darkness. An aura of pure malevolence that made every instinct scream in him to run.
'Muzan Kibutsuji'
The Demon King.
"How unfortunate" Muzan said, his voice smooth and cold. "I had hoped to examine my... experiment more closely. But it seems a Demon Slayer has arrived."
Those crimson eyes fixed on Giyuu, and Gege felt his blood freeze.
This wasn't supposed to happen. In the original story, Giyuu arrived after Muzan left. After Nezuko had already transformed. But now—
'I changed things just by being here'
"Water Hashira" Muzan observed, tilting his head. "Tomioka Giyuu. How... inconvenient."
Gege's hand moved to his sword, drawing it with a smooth motion that felt both foreign and natural. Giyuu's muscle memory, combined with something else—a confidence, a steadiness that came from the template burning in his chest.
'10% of Shanks'
He didn't have the Haki. Didn't have the true power. But he had the foundation—the physical prowess, the combat instincts, the sheer presence of a man who'd stood against the strongest in his world and never flinched.
"Run" Giyuu—Gege—said to the boy, Tanjiro, his voice steady despite the terror clawing at his insides. "Take your sister and run. Now."
"But—"
"NOW!"
Tanjiro flinched, then stumbled to his feet, lifting Nezuko onto his back. He ran, disappearing into the forest.
Muzan watched them go with mild interest, then returned his gaze to Giyuu. "You let them escape. How sentimental. It won't matter. The girl is already transforming. She'll become a demon, and that boy will die trying to save her. As for you..."
Muzan moved.
One moment he was ten feet away. The next, he was right in front of Giyuu, hand extended toward his throat.
'Fast!'
Gege twisted, bringing his blade up in a desperate parry. "Water Breathing, Eighth Form: Waterfall Basin!"
The technique came instinctively from Giyuu's body, but the power behind it—that was different. Stronger. The blade crashed down in a vertical slash that actually made Muzan step back, his eyes widening fractionally.
"Interesting. You're stronger than the reports suggested."
Gege didn't respond. He couldn't afford to. Every fiber of his being was focused on survival. Muzan was faster, stronger, more experienced—but something in Gege's chest, that warmth from the template, refused to let him freeze in fear.
'Shanks faced Whitebeard. Faced Kaido. He never backed down'
Neither would he.
"Water Breathing, Third Form: Flowing Dance!"
He flowed forward, blade moving in fluid arcs, each strike precise and powerful. Muzan dodged effortlessly, but he was engaged now, actually paying attention.
"You're different" Muzan observed, blocking a strike with his bare hand, the blade biting into his flesh before it regenerated instantly. "Something about you has changed, Tomioka Giyuu. Your energy feels... foreign."
Gege pressed the attack, combining Water Breathing forms in rapid succession. He was outmatched—he knew it—but he couldn't stop. If he stopped, Muzan would kill him. If Muzan killed him, Tanjiro and Nezuko would die too.
'I won't let that happen.'
"Persistent" Muzan said, almost amused. Then his expression darkened. "But ultimately futile."
His hand lashed out, moving faster than Gege could track.
Pain.
Blinding, searing pain exploded in his left shoulder.
Gege looked down in shock to see Muzan's hand gripping his left arm just below the shoulder. Muzan's fingers were elongated into claws, piercing deep into flesh and bone.
"You should have run when you had the chance."
Muzan *ripped*.
The world went white with agony. Gege heard a scream—his own scream—as his left arm separated from his body in a spray of blood. He stumbled back, falling into the snow, clutching at the stump with his remaining hand.
Blood. So much blood.
His vision blurred. The pain was indescribable.
*I'm going to die. I'm actually going to—*
**THRUM.**
Something *erupted* inside his chest.
Heat. Power. A presence so vast it made the air itself tremble.
The template activated fully, flooding his system with strength. 10%—it was only 10%—but it was enough. Enough to stand. Enough to fight.
Enough to survive.
Gege's eyes snapped open, and for just a moment, they held a weight that made even Muzan pause.
With his right hand, Gege gripped his sword and rose to his feet. Blood poured from his severed arm, staining the snow crimson, but he didn't fall. The pain was still there—God, it was still there—but beneath it was something stronger.
'Willpower. Shanks' unbreakable will.'
"You..." Muzan's eyes narrowed. "What are you?"
Gege didn't answer. He couldn't waste breath on words. Instead, he moved, faster than before, the template's power surging through him. His strike came from an impossible angle, aimed directly at Muzan's neck.
Muzan blocked, but the force behind the blow made him slide back several feet, leaving tracks in the snow.
"Impossible," Muzan hissed. "You lost an arm. You should be dying from blood loss. How are you—"
"Water Breathing, Eleventh Form: Dead Calm."
The world seemed to still. Gege's blade became perfectly motionless, creating a sphere of absolute protection around him. When Muzan attacked again, every strike was deflected with minimal movement, each parry precise and economical.
Muzan's expression shifted from curiosity to irritation. "Enough of this."
Multiple tendrils erupted from Muzan's body, lashing out in all directions. Gege dodged, parried, moved with a grace that shouldn't have been possible for someone missing an arm and losing blood rapidly.
But he was slowing down. The template could only compensate for so much. His vision was dimming at the edges, his movements becoming sluggish.
'I need to end this. Now.'
Gege poured everything he had into one final technique. "Water Breathing, Tenth Form: Constant Flux!"
His blade moved in a rotating motion, building momentum with each rotation, the power multiplying. He brought it down in a devastating overhead strike aimed at Muzan's head.
Muzan raised his arm to block—
The blade sheared through Muzan's forearm, cutting it clean off.
For the first time, Muzan's expression showed genuine surprise. The wound regenerated almost instantly, but the message was clear: Giyuu could hurt him.
"This is... unexpected" Muzan said, examining his regenerated arm. "You're more troublesome than I anticipated. Perhaps I should eliminate you properly—"
"KAWW! Demon Slayer Corps members approaching! Multiple signatures detected!"
A crow circled overhead, its call breaking the tension.
The sun also started to show on the battlefield.
Muzan's eyes flickered toward the sound, then back to Gege. For a moment, their gazes locked—crimson meeting dark blue.
"Remember this, Tomioka Giyuu," Muzan said softly. "The next time we meet, I'll uncover what makes you so different. And then I'll kill you slowly."
He vanished, melting into the shadows as if he'd never been there.
Gege stood alone in the bloody snow, swaying. His left arm—gone. Blood loss—critical. Vision—fading.
*Did I... did I actually survive that?*
He fell to his knees, still gripping his katana. With trembling fingers, he reached for his haori, tearing a strip of fabric with his teeth. He wrapped it tightly around his upper arm, just below where it had been severed, creating a makeshift tourniquet. The pressure was agonizing, but the bleeding slowed to a manageable seep.
'Shanks lost his arm saving Luffy. I lost mine saving Tanjiro and Nezuko. Guess some things are meant to be.'
The irony would have made him laugh if he wasn't on the verge of passing out.
_________________________________________
I had another idea written down but this one was fresh so why not, hehe.
Another brilliant idea of mine.