There was something different about her, at least that's what his senses were telling him. Maybe it was the way she confidently walked around the bar, having two swords at her waist, ready to slice up her anyone who dares to bother her, or maybe it was just the fact that everyone seemed to avoid making eye contact with her, almost like they feared for their lives.
This sparked some interest in Zoro - which was something not many were able to do just by simply walking inside a bar - but just as said, she seemed different.
She didn't seem to be bothered by the discreet glances or whispers, in fact, she seemed to enjoy every second of it. It was like she owned the place.
But that did not intimidate Zoro. A girl, who was most likely inferior to his strength, was not going to make Zoro flinch.
The girl took a quick look around the room. She was looking for something, or more likely, she was looking for someone. Zoro looked back at his drink, not because of her but because he was out booze. Again...
The Strawhats had quite a rough night, dealing with storms and monsters alike, leaving them no time whatsoever to sleep or relax. Once they reached the island, they were more than happy to spend some time on their own, doing whatever they wanted.
Zoro, like always, took off on his own, luckily this time, he ended up to the nearest bar. He ordered some booze as always and slowly started to relax, forgetting all about the trouble from a night ago.
But that's when, a woman, who seemed to be around his age, or maybe even a year or two younger, entered the bar, with the most interesting aura Zoro had encountered from a fellow swordsman. She wasn't from here, that was for sure.
The girl wore a beautiful turquoise kimono, which had some kind of flower pattern on it; her straight black hair reached down to her lower half of her back, making her seem almost like a lifelike doll. She had a porcelain like skin, making her look like she could crumble at just a small touch.
The only part that almost seemed out of character was her two swords which were carefully being held by her obijime* and otaiko*.
If Zoro wouldn't know any better, he would say that this girl could actually be a samurai. Well, that was definitely the most likely option.
Either way, the interest in her slowly faded as she sat down in front of the bartender, hiding away a small smile on her face.
But Zoro couldn't help but stare at her for a moment. If that love cook was here, he'd immediately tell him that he was stalking the 'poor lovely girl' and that he had impure thoughts; something that was totally absurd and that would only make the pervert a bigger hypocrite.
He watched as she ordered something to drink, nothing suspicious considering this was a bar. But then, things got interesting as a group of 'tough' looking guys stood up and walked towards her.
The girl didn't seem to give any sort of reaction as the guys literally cornered her in her seat. They smirked at her, one of them even placing his hand on her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. The other people inside the bar seemed to also give their full attention to what was going on.
But no one dared to move a muscle. Some flinched and some pretty much left the bar, as they all seemed to know what was going to happen next.
To Zoro's surprise, the girl didn't do anything. She continued to drink, as she slowly looked up at her aggressor. She raised a brow as she finally noticed the man's arm on her.
She proceeded to give him a smile and then, all of the sudden, the man, along with his crew were all bleeding to death on the ground. If it wasn't for his Observation Haki, Zoro could almost swear she didn't even do anything to those guys.
Her speed was absolutely remarkable, nothing he had seen before, but nothing he couldn't beat in a heartbeat. She seemed like a worthy opponent, but then again, she only took down trash so there wasn't anything he could actually make an impression out of.
Instead of sitting back down, she turned around and looked at Zoro directly in the eye. She furrowed her eyes at him and walked closer to his table.
Zoro gulped and poured more booze in his stein, but not breaking the eye contact.
"Oi, swordsman, I've seen you use Haki. You're no ordinary fella, are you?" She asked with a small smirk forming on her face. Zoro didn't respond. Once he filled his stein with booze again, he began to drink once more, trying to ignore her annoying presence.
She pouted at him and looked at his swords which were leaning across the table. Her eyes immediately landed on the most treasured sword he had, the Shusui.
Her eyes darkened, a shadow now covered half of her face. Her hands twitched a little as they fell down at her sides.
"Oi... Where the hell did you get your hands on that sword." She said darkly. Now, that's what caught Zoro's interest once more. She seemed to recognize the sword, which was no surprise, but still, it showed the fact that she knew her stuff. But her tone, it was demanding, unlike he had encountered before, she seemed ready to slice him up for that bit of information.
After all, the sword was legendary, along with the samurai who used to wield it.
"I didn't steal it if that's your assumption." He replied, not even bothering to look at her. She gritted her teeth and slowly her hands were making their way to one of her swords.
"That sword... Do you even know what sword that is? There's no way you didn't steal that." She said as her hand was on her sword's grip. Zoro didn't feel any less intimidated by her threatening look. He rested his head in his hand and slowly smirked at her.
"I didn't steal it. That's the truth. But either way, you won't believe me so there's no point in telling you why I have it. Well, it's none of your business to begin with." He said in a mocking way, making her frown.
"My, aren't you a big talk. Very well, don't tell me, Roronoa Zoro." Hearing his name out of her mouth made him raise a brow at her. So she did knew him after all. He wasn't surprised by it, he was a pirate after all, but he thought that maybe she didn't have an idea of who he actually is.
But knowing that she knew about who he is made him question her choice of words even more. She knew about him but she still thought she was better than him. How cute.
"But you probably know by now that, - that sword -" she pointed at it, "It's a national treasure of the Wano Country."
Her words only confirmed his suspicion on whether or not she was a samurai. He was right all along.
"So you're from Wano, huh?" Zoro said as he finished his booze. "Which means you're most likely a samurai, right?" The girl clenched her fist and didn't try to look up. "That's none of your business." She hissed at him.
"Don't worry, unlike others, I don't give a crap about other people's business." He said as he stood up, not before he grabbed his swords much to the girl's disappointment.
"Well, then, see you around." Zoro said as he left the bar, leaving the girl almost shocked at his actions.
What Zoro didn't know at that moment, was that their meeting wasn't a simple coincidence and that their fate, from that moment on, was tightly tied together.
×
* =
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
