Sword

Chapter 23

**(A/N) Ok first, sorry it's been taking me so freaking long to post! Thanks for sticking with me :) 

Second, this song is kinda different, but I also kinda like it a lot and the lyrics just fit the vibe AND the video is fun so I'm like what the heck let's use it lol

Between carrying crates of rotten food and trying to deal with coworkers who refused to accept her help or her presence, Shoko was daydreaming about the end of her three-month-long punishment, which she now understood was going to feel like a small eternity.

After her early mornings and long shifts, she would spend her evenings either in close-combat training with Tashigi and Smoker, or in archery training alone in the weapons training hall, followed by dinner, and finally bedtime.

One morning, during her fourth week of work at the docks, she was taking a water break from carrying crates. The sun had just reached a point in the sky that was nearly impossible to hide from, outside of the warehouse: the only place the soldiers at the docks could find refuge from the scalding rays of heat.

The back of the warehouse was much cooler than the front since the walls were better insulated there. The cooler air also meant that the rotten food smelled slightly less rotten than the food stored in the hotter part of the warehouse, so naturally, most of the soldiers took their breaks in the back part of the facility.

Any time Shoko would try to join them, however, she had been chased away by their dirty looks. Most of her colleagues at the docks weren't very vocal in their ridicule, but none of them could repress their emotions enough not to show how unwelcome she was.

So, for today's water break, she was sitting on the ground at the front of the warehouse, back leaned against a wall as far away as she could get from the smelly crates, but she was still painfully aware of the odor as she sipped her water.

She made her way back to the docks once her break was over and waited by a particularly large crate for someone else to help her carry it.

"All nice and refreshed, Officer?" a derisive voice came from behind her as two soldiers approached. She recognized the voice immediately: a man named Hitch who had consistently been the most vocal about his resentment for his job being used as a punishment for a higher-ranking officer.

Behind him was his loyal crony, Marlo, who was much quieter and even kinder than Hitch, but still tended to give Shoko the cold shoulder.

Shoko ignored Hitch's remark and instead asked for the pair's help in carrying the large crate. Hitch grunted in annoyance but followed Marlo to the crate. They each took a back corner of the crate while Shoko took the front side.

As they were setting the crate down on the warehouse floor, Hitch and Marlo were moving a bit faster than Shoko, and as she was trying to adjust her grip on the box, her fingers slipped, and she dropped the box on her foot.

"Tch," Hitch scoffed at her hiss in pain. "Couldn't hold on a couple more seconds?"

Shoko glared up at him as she stood on one leg, massaging her foot through her boot, but she kept her mouth shut. She had adopted a policy of not responding to ugly comments during her work at the docks; the last thing she needed was getting into a fight with someone and getting her punishment extended.

Throughout the remainder of the shift, Shoko was forced to carry lighter crates as she wanted to keep as much weight as possible off her foot.

When the shift was finally over, she made her way to the empty break area at the back of the warehouse, where she could finally enjoy the odor-free cool area and have some water. She found a chair to use and sighed in relief as her feet could finally rest. She slumped backwards over the chair's back and let her head hang, chin pointed up at the ceiling.