Sword

Chapter 14

The day Shoko was set to leave for Loguetown, Shoko said her goodbyes to her family before walking with Zoro to the docks where he would see her off.

"You'll be ok staying with my family?" she asked him as they walked.

"Of course," he said. "They're always good to me. And Rika's fun to play with now that she's old enough to talk," he chuckled.

"She is," Shoko agreed with a smile. "Well, if you change your mind, I'm sure Johnny and Yosaku would love to have you around again. It's been a while since we've seen them."

"Yeah, I know. I'm just not interested in bounties anymore unless the target is a swordsman. I just need someone good enough to fight."

Shoko nodded. "You'll have to leave the East Blue soon," she noted, trying not to appear disappointed. Zoro had reached a point where most targets in the East Blue were too easy to fight. He needed a high-level swordsman to keep him interested now, and she knew their corner of the world wouldn't satisfy him much longer.

"Yeah," Zoro agreed. "Figuring out how to get anywhere is my problem though."

Thank the heavens for his terrible sense of direction. It was selfish, but she dreaded the day they would be in different oceans, inevitable as it was.

"You'll be able to find your way to Loguetown, right?" she teased.

Zoro huffed, trying to look annoyed, but he couldn't find it in him to be frustrated with Shoko. Not today. "I'll be fine." He reached out and held her two hands in his. "I'll come visit you in the next three or four weeks when I sail out from here."

Shoko gently squeezed his hands in return, savoring his touch. "I'm looking forward to it."

She stepped back, letting go of his hands before getting into the small boat she had borrowed from the marines on Loguetown. After setting her things down and checking that she didn't forget anything, she pushed away from the dock.

"See ya," she said with a last wave goodbye.

Zoro gave a lazy salute as he watched her go.

...

After arriving in Loguetown and getting her registration papers settled with a recruiting officer, Shoko brought her things to the women's dormitories, where she would be sharing a room with Officer Tashigi. Tashigi was assigned to show Shoko around the base and the island to orient her at Loguetown before training began the next day.

"I'm glad to finally have someone around in here," Tashigi admitted to Shoko as she unpacked her things. "There aren't many women at this rank, so it gets kinda lonely around here. I hope you don't mind sharing the space."

"I don't mind at all," Shoko said. "I'm used to it, actually. I shared a room with my older sister until she got married. And as a bounty hunter, I had to share space with my partner a lot of the time."

"Roronoa Zoro?" Tashigi asked. Her eyes were wide behind her glasses, but Shoko couldn't tell if it was from earnest curiosity or maybe fear.

Shoko nodded. "We didn't have the biggest boat, so we had to share space."

"What is he like?" Tashigi asked, sitting on her bed like a toddler getting ready for story time.

"Hmm. He's a bit of a meat head I guess," Shoko laughed. She never thought about it before, but with Zoro's reputation as a "demon man," she supposed there was a bit of mystery and intrigue surrounding him. But for her, he was just Zoro. That's not to say she didn't find him intriguing, but it was in a deeper, more intimate way compared to strangers who would associate him with legend.