Immediately after Kuina accepted to train under Shiliew she was medically treated by the doctor of Blackbeard´s crew, who proceed to bandage her without comments. Blackbeard pirates´ doctor movements were slow and he coughed constantly, looking undeniablely sick and unkempt, almost like if he was some kind of junkie or vagabond. Kuina wondered why they have chosen this guy to be in such a delicate and important position, it was a pretty absurd choice for her, but nevertheless she kept herself in silence.

Kuina noticed that they were in some kind of room of an old adobe house. There was no furniture, asides from the cot where she was and a small chair. The walls were playfully decorated with posters of famous wrestlers, calendars, imitations of fine paintings and religious imagery. For the architecture and the decoration of the house she guessed that they were still in Shinsharo. It wasn´t totally a surprise, since she knew that one of Blackbeard´s crewmates had been born there and generally speaking Shinsharo´s desert villages were good places to hide. Shiliew stayed with Kuina and the doctor during all the treatment looking at them almost without blinking, checking that Kuina didn´t try to run away.

¨When do we begin with the training? ¨ asked Kuina.

¨ When your body heals enough to endure whatever hardships this maniac wants you to do. ¨ said the doctor smiling as he finished to bandage Kuina´s back.

¨Also I think that it would be good for you to know the rest of the crew and prove them that you are an invaluable ally. In a few hours more they would arrive here to meet you and talk to you in person, so please don´t embarrass yourself. ¨ said Shiliew.

¨Ok, I´ll dress myself to meet them then. Do you know were are my clothes? ¨ asked Kuina, as she slowly got out the cot. Kuina blushed angrily as she noticed that she was not wearing any pants at all as the doctor had removed them to bandage and heal her legs. She guessed that those men were enjoying themselves while watching her without any clothes asides of her boxer. Shiliew threw her her blood stained clothes. She quickly put her pants, socks and boots but hesitated at her shirt and her jacket

¨Do you have my binding bandages and my bandana? ¨ asked Kuina to Shiliew and the doctor.

¨ I lost those things. Anyway I don´t think that you need them to look presentable. ¨ said Shiliew after puffing his cigar.

¨ I need them. ¨ said Kuina nervously.

¨For what? ¨ asked Shiliew.

¨For looking like a male. They can´t know my secret, I can´t work if people know that I am a woman. ¨

Shiliew laughed viciously and the answered.

¨Relax, you don´t have that secret anymore. The captain and all the crew know it. Most of us didn´t suspect initially until I dragged you to this place to treat your wounds and then we saw… obvious things. As I said I knew that you had something strange and I even suspected that you were not a man, but to actually see it… was surreal. Everyone lost their minds when they saw it, except Vasco who is too fucking drunk to pay attention and Wolf, but he is a giant so who cares. Anyway you should be grateful that we are not planning to reveal your secret to anyone. And that I have choose to keep you alive. ¨

Kuina panicked. There were rather few persons who knew her true sex and those people where either dead or related to Zoro. She remembered how Zoro even helped her to hid her true sex when she met his captain and his crewmates and how when they found her true sex the now famous Strawhat crew swore to never revel her secret. All their effort in vain, specially now that the Strawhats were disbanded and her secret wan known by Blackbeard, damaging her reputation and making her friends promises useless. She wanted to yell and cry, but instead she contained herself.

¨Who else knows my real sex? ¨ asked Kuina. Shiliew just puffed his cigar and sighed mildly annoyed.

¨None fucking one. They believe that you are dead. ¨ answered tall swordsman, said as he gave her a newspaper. ¨ The mysterious lonesome pirate hunter dies at Blackbeard´s hands: no corpse to be found, yet. ¨ said headline of that newspaper, that was accompanied by a horrible photo of herself bleeding unconscious. Kuina shivered at the image. Now not only her reputation as bounty hunter was ruined, but also the people who she loved believed that she was dead. She needed to tell Zoro about this, she needed to find him or his crew to confirm that she was alive.

¨I need to tell my friends about this, they need to know that I am alive! ¨ exclaimed Kuina worried.

¨Friends? They don´t need to know shit. If they were your true friends then you would be sailing with them in a decent ship and they would have prevented you from getting in this situation. Besides, once that you start training with me you would transform in a totally different person. ¨

Kuina was overwhelmed by all this information, she could barely process those emotions: anger, sadness, confussion… but specially determination. Despite the odds she was determined that she wanted to be the best swordsman of all the world and defeat Mihawk and she knew that that training with that maniac was now her only solution to gain enough strength to do it. Kuina breathed deeply and proceeded to put on her shirt and her jacket, using the later one to conceal her evident breasts and the discreet shape of her nipples. She didn´t make an effort to brush her hair or making it look more lady like. She was going to survive, or die triying.