Wow. This chapter came out a lot earlier than I expected. I've been struggling with this for a few days before one night, after returning from my grandma's, I just sat down and wrote all of this in three hours. o.o Ah well, can't complain now. XD Feel honoured I'm staying up till 2am for this chapter, my readers! Think of this as a thank you for your lovely support? 8D You are all my precious treasures! ^^

Now on with the chapter!


Chapter 2: SHOPPING

Zoro didn't know which was worse. Shopping with Mihawk, or wearing his silly hat in public.

It was a close, undecisive battle, this one, full of complications and debatable incidents. Zoro's young mind wasn't able to comprehend the sheer ludicrosity of it all, from the incredibly large building to the incredibly bright ceilings to the incredibly white tiled-floor to the incredibly cramp corridors and last but not least to the incredibly stupid people who kept fawning and cooing over how adorable he was, no matter how hard he glared at them. He was eight years old, damnit! Not some silly little five year old giggling over the happy faces made by old people or groups of young high school girls. Furthermore, he was a swordsman! He was supposed to be scary and dangerous, not-not cute! Even the word tasted like venom in his tongue.

And he didn't know which was more annoying: the smug look Mihawk gave him whenever people came over and pinched his cheeks or the fact that most people cowered at the older man's presence and not his. The man walked like he was the king of the world: many people seemed to know who he was and gave way to him as soon as he came into view. The murderous aura reeked from the man like the stench of a beggar who didn't remember when he'd had his last bath. And the fact there was little Zoro – tiny and wearing Mihawk's famous oversized hat and all – tottering uncertainly behind him with a scowl, only served to boost his attention, and soon people were whispering among each other.

'Is that… Hawk-eyes, the Greatest Swordsman in the World?'

'Who is that little boy behind him?'

'A new son, perhaps?'

'Adopted him, maybe?'

'Well, it couldn't be his biological. Last I remembered his wife-'

Zoro didn't catch the last of that sentence, because suddenly Mihawk grabbed him by the scruff of his collar and pulled him up into his arms.

'H-Hey!' A flush came over his face as Zoro flailed his arms and legs in the air before being nestled closer to the larger man. 'I can walk fine on my own!'

'You're too slow, kid. Keep this up and I'll lose you in no time. There are a lot of people here today.'

Zoro had to agree with him. He'd never seen so many people together in one place in his life! At most, sensei's dojo would be filled with up to twenty students in one class, and back then it'd already been so cramped that students kept hitting each other by accident on occasion. It didn't help that sensei always stressed on the importance of space in training to cultivate the right… right…

Ah, he'd never understood what he was talking about anyway.

'Whatever you do, do not give them Wado!'

The words rang in his ears again like an echo, constantly chiming like a bell to remind him over and over, the sacred duty left to him by his teacher. Conversation from this morning came back to him and he scowled.

'No! I'm not leaving Wado behind!' Zoro shouted, hugging his white sword closer. 'I will protect it with my life!'

Mihawk sighed exasperatedly. 'Perona will take care of it for you. Besides, it's not like anyone is after your sword. They are common enough in this house that even the greatest thieves have something more valuable to steal other than your sword.'

The words stung Zoro, and he felt personally insulted. This was Kuina's sword! To talk of it as if it has no value, when it held everything he treasured in its spirit… 'If you can carry your sword around wherever you go, I can too!' The words were angry, bitter.

Mihawk's eyes narrowed dangerously. 'I, am leagues different away from you, boy. I am now world-acknowledge by both light and darkness as the greatest swordsman in the world, and all knows that I carry a sword wherever I go.' Except the government who disapproved of this action, but since when did he care? 'To have a child carry a sword around will only attract attention, and pursuers from that night might recognize you from that.' Zoro stiffened at that. 'It is best to keep it in Perona's care. She knows how to handle a sword.' His tone was final, boring no more argument, and Mihawk snatched the sword from his hands and strode upstairs without a word, leaving the boy standing alone in the living room.

Zoro felt wrong. He felt like he was cheating on his sensei, whose last words to him – his last wish – was to keep the sword safe. How was he supposed to know if Wado was safe in the hands of a stranger? What if someone attacked the house, or a thief broke in? Perona won't be able to defend herself and an idiot would have to be blind to not recognize the value of that sword. His muscles tensed as the possible situations, the worst case scenarios that could happen flashing before his eyes.

Laughter was heard loud and clearly as Mihawk's house was burned down. The flames dancing, taunting him just like the other night, painting the sky with a deep, ugly orange. Perona's body lying on the ground, dead and bleeding from trying to protect what was supposed to be his burden.

'We got the sword! We finally got Wado, boss! It's ours now! It's ours!' A shadow danced gleefully in the dark alleys, then, as if spotting him, he turned around, a sinister smile curving on his face.

'Thank you for your help, Roronoa Zoro. Now we can finally proceed with boss' plans!' He thought he saw a flash of cat-like eyes glinting from the shadows of the flames. 'You've faaaailed~!'

'Focus, Roronoa.'

Those words snapped him back to reality and Zoro jerked wildly, panting heavily as he lurched forward. He felt a large hand grab him by the shoulder, and it was only from the firm, unmoving hand pressing against him then did he realized he was shaking.

Was that… real?

'Wado Ichimonji is not going anywhere, kid.' Mihawk sighed heavily. He didn't want the boy to know this, less he might demand it from him, but it seemed the child would not be reassured unless he was completely certain that the sword was safe. 'It's hanging on my belt inside my coat. You need not worry yourself to death.'

Zoro's eyes widened and darted down to the man's hip. From the large, long, loose, swishing coat, he couldn't see anything hidden inside, but then he saw it, the tiny bulge against his coat, barely visible but from what Zoro could make out was the long, slender body of Wado Ichimonji.

A wave of relief washed over him and he felt himself relax. The sword was here, in the care of the Greatest Swordsman in the World. There was no longer a need to worry.

The boy let himself be carried and tried to ignore the blatant looks of disbelief and surprise from on-lookers like they were one-eyed freaks from the circus, and silently thanked the world when they finally reached the departmental store for children. Mihawk strode to a nearby salesgirl.

'Good morning!' she chirped, though Zoro could see a slight tensing in her frame. Zoro couldn't blame her though. Mihawk really did look like someone who would decapitate anyone without a blink at first sight.

'I'm here to look for clothes suitable for ten year-olds.'

'… I'm eight, Mihawk. Eight.'

'Eight, ten, whatever. Same thing.' The man rolled his eyes. 'Any clothes that would fit this small kid ('I'm not small!'), including underwear.' Zoro spluttered, and Mihawk turned to him with a raised eyebrow. 'Or do you go commando, Roronoa?' If possible, Zoro's face went redder.

'D-don't go saying things like that in public!' he hissed. 'Of course I wear underwear!' He buried his face in his hands in despair. Sooner or later this idiot would be the death of him! One day, Roronoa Zoro, the future greatest swordsman in the world, was not going to die in a blaze of glory like he wanted, or peacefully on a bed like he wished. No, Roronoa Zoro was going to die from embarrassment! He could see the headlines taunting him now: 'Greatest Swordsman in the World died of Embarrassment'. He'd be the world's laughing stock!

The salesgirl giggled at the display, and Zoro shot her a glare. The girl only giggled harder. 'Follow me, sir. I'll show you the latest collection we have for cute little boys.' The girl's eyes drifted from the tall man and locked onto Zoro's, and she gave him a wink. The boy recoiled in disgust, his face heating up further before his brain registered it could no longer handle the absurdity of it all and buried his face into Mihawk's shoulder.

The older man smirked. 'Shy, Roronoa?'

Zoro punched him half-heartedly on his chest. 'Shut up. I bet you're doing this on purpose.'

'My, my. Since when have you grown so smart, hmmm?'

The boy mumbled something unintelligible to his ears and snorted, leaving Mihawk a little lost. Did he just tease the boy? He shook the thought away from his head. Better not venture there. That was dangerous territory. If there was one thing Mihawk wished to cut sometimes, it was some of his own damn thoughts. The self was the one enemy that cannot be defeated with weapons, and the most capable of defeating oneself. And Mihawk wasn't going to let it have the satisfaction of bringing him down.

'Here we are, sir.' The girl pointed to the small section of tiny clothes. 'You'll be able to find everything you're looking for here. The changing rooms are there.' She pointed to a few cubicles at the corner of the section. 'Feel free to browse. If you have any enquiries, please consult one of our staff members.' With that, the girl walked away, not before giving a googly-eyed glance at the boy in his arms.

'You can come out now. She's gone.' Mihawk knelt and placed Zoro on the ground.

Zoro stuck his tongue out at the retreating figure and scowled. '… I don't like her.'

Mihawk felt the corner of his mouth twitch. 'Is that so? She seemed quite fond of you. Maybe I should bring you here next time to play with her, wouldn't you love that?' The look of unadulterated terror plastered on the boy's face was absolutely priceless. 'I'm sure the both of you would have the best of times.'

Zoro spluttered again. 'H-Hell no! She's creepy! She looked like she was about to eat my face!'

'I'm sure that's just you, Roronoa.' Mihawk ran a sweeping glance through the section. This shouldn't be too hard. 'Now. Time to get down to business.'

xXxXxXxxXxXxxXx

Mihawk was very, VERY wrong.

He thought it'd be simple. Grab some clothes, some pants, some underwear and off they go, free of this wretched place that reek of human incompetency that reminded him far too much of the red-haired idiot. But Zoro just had to prove him otherwise.

'No. Too flashy.'

It didn't help that the boy refused to wear anything other than black and white shirts. And there couldn't be more than two of them in this whole damn store.

'Zoro, it's blue in colour, the colour of serenity. How could it be flashy?'

'Cause it's blue.' Zoro deadpanned like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Mihawk ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. The boy was much more difficult to understand than he first thought. 'Just give it a try, boy. They don't have lots of bland clothing for boys your age, I'm afraid. Either choose one or walk around naked or in Perona's dresses. Your choice.'

Zoro frowned. He didn't like it. Sensei had always given him clothes in black and white. He said simplicity in life can bring about peace in one's mind. And all the time he spent with Kuina he'd never seen her wear anything else other than a simple white shirt and black shorts or trousers. If he wanted to become like her, a person who was unbeatable and fearless, he'd have to start with the basics and get into the 'right mind', right? But the choices he was left with wasn't very appealing.

'Why are there so many colours, anyway,' he muttered. 'It's un-needed.'

'Apparently some people might find it boring.' Mihawk stood up and stared blankly at the blue shirt he was holding. It had the picture of a shark swimming happily printed on the front. This was stupid. The last time he checked he'd never seen a shark smile when they swim. That would be creepy. 'If you don't like flashy colours, then I suggest choosing colours like green or blue. They can calm one's mind.' Yeah, he'd prefer that. Didn't need anymore screaming in his house, he did not.

He also noticed Zoro avoided the colour orange like it was some sort of plague, but decided not to say anything.

The boy crossed his arms and grumbled. 'Fine.' He snatched the shirt from Mihawk's arms. 'I'll take this then.' He stared at the shark and grinned. It looked cool, anyway.

Mihawk's mood lifted. Things went quite smoothly after that. Shirts were chosen followed by trousers and shorts (they didn't have a lot of colours anyway, most of them were either dark brown or dark blue, and bland just like the boy liked it to be), but then his hopes were shattered when they reached the underwear section.

Zoro, in all honestly, refused to go near that section, his face went as red as a tomato.

Mihawk felt like tearing his hair off in frustration. 'It's just underwear, for goodness sake! Man up, boy!'

'No!' he shouted. 'I'm not going anywhere near that… that… accursed place!'

The taller man blinked. Where did he learn such a word? 'Why are you so insistent against facing your fears, Roronoa? It's not like it would open its jaws and eat you!'

'But it's embarrassing!' Zoro shouted, voice shaking slightly, and he tried to pry away from Mihawk's vice-like grip on his arm, covering his face with the other. He would never be caught dead staring at underwear. NO WAY IN HELL. OR HEAVEN. OR ON EARTH. OR BEYOND. He would never be able to face himself again, afterwards. Never!

Mihawk rolled his eyes. 'Embarrassing or not, it has to be done. Would you rather walk around in commando? It's not like my underwear fits yours anyway.' Zoro blanched violently at the thought of wearing Mihawk's underwear, and it frightened the boy so deeply he gave immediately. 'Fine! Fine! Just, just hurry!' Why, WHY did Mihawk have to do this? He'd rather face another humiliating defeat against Kuina than go through this! ... But the idea of wearing Mihawk's underwear just...

No, don't do this Zoro. Don't go there. Do not go into the white light, no matter how attractive it looked.

Thankfully, Mihawk kept to his word and didn't take long. He let Zoro test out a few of the underwear by himself in the changing rooms (the boy had practically flew in there and threatened to castrate Mihawk ten times if he ever peeked and it took him ten minutes to be able to persuade the boy that no, he wasn't going to peek and no, he wasn't interested in that and of course he won't tell a soul that he was doing something like this) and after finding the right size, chose a few other bland colours of underwear. Zoro was extremely grateful that he didn't chose anything disgusting like a pink underwear or that smiley-faced one in the corner. He'd burn them if that ever happened, but walking around in commando wasn't his kind of thing either. Both scenarios would lead to very unhappy endings and probably a very, very pissed Dracule Mihawk.

When the older man straightened up and turned towards the cashier Zoro dashed off from the section like his life depended on it. The man would have thought the boy was running away from the devil himself. He suppressed the urge of an evil grin. Now he'd found a weakness in this Roronoa Zoro kid. No doubt the information would it be useful in later events, he thought as he stashed the thought away into his 'Information used to blackmail children' mental box. He walked towards the cashier and handed the man the pile of clothes, and stared longingly at the store exit, feeling the excitement pumping in his veins like a drug. A few more minutes and he'd be out of this hell hole.

'Here's your change, sir. Thank you for purchasing and please come again.'

Mihawk grabbed the bag of clothes and rushed to the exit.

Only to realise that the little boy following him earlier was nowhere to be seen.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

… Where the hell was he.

Zoro didn't remember a playground when he first entered the building. He'd been in such a rush to leave that (Wrong! Defiling! Evil!) section and to leave the store and leave the building and away from those insane people that seemed to fill the place that he'd ran to the closest exit he could find. And last he remembered he came in from a place filled with cars, not children play-things. Zoro shrugged. Maybe he was so awed by the large building when he first arrived that he didn't notice. He walked towards a nearby swing and plopped onto it with a sigh.

It was strange, that the place was empty. Sure, it only had two swings and a slide, but that didn't mean the playground wasn't fun. There weren't a lot of playgrounds back where he lived, but if you walked twenty minutes into town there'd be a small playgrounds with swings and monkey bars and slides on a large green field. He smiled at the fond memory. He'd never like playgrounds, with all the screaming and squealing children around, and he'd rather dedicate his time to training anyway. But sometimes Kuina would ask (force) him to accompany her down to the playground, and he'd spent hours training on the monkey bars.

'… Zoro? What are you doing?'

'Training.' A grunt.

He could feel her eyes rolling in response. 'Relax a little, Zoro. You've been training all day. Working yourself to death is just gonna make it easier for me to beat you, you know.'

Zoro sulked. 'I'm gonna beat you one day, just you wait!'

'Whatever you say, Zoro.' The girl sat on one of the swings. 'Come on. You want to train your hands muscles, don't you? Try pushing me, and let's see how far I'll go.'

Push Kuina? Suddenly, an image of her screaming her lungs out in fear as he pushed her high into the sky, the whole swing creaking loudly in response flashed before his eyes.

'… What's with that smirk, Zoro?'

Well, he had nothing to lose. The boy jumped off the bars and tottered to the girl, placed his arms on her back, and with a yell, push as hard as he could.

Kuina flew up into the air, the ropes on the swings tweaking in protest with the amount of force he used. It slowed and suspended in the air for awhile, before rushing back downwards towards Zoro who was prepared in a battle stance, and he pushed her again, harder. She soared up, higher, higher with every push, and Zoro was suddenly disappointed that even at that height, even with the bars of the swings trembling with the momentum, Kuina made not a sound.

Suddenly, she broke into wild, happy laughter.

Zoro paused at that sound. It glided gently through his ears like the sound of the river flowing, gentle and bright and so full of joy it struck something in Zoro, and he found himself marveling at the other girl, laughing so merrily for the first time he'd ever heard her since they met, short hair billowing gracefully in the wind, eyes closed and face so content, so ecstatic it reminded Zoro of sunflowers basking in the sun at dawn and beautiful violets swaying in the wind.

Kuina turned around and shouted. 'You're good at this, Zoro! Push me again! Harder!'

Zoro felt his face twist into a smile. 'You betcha.'

They stayed like this for hours and hours, with Zoro pushing and Kuina swinging and with the both of them laughing like there wasn't a care in the world. In that moment they were just them. Zoro and Kuina. Two children laughing together as they played. Not neck-to-neck rivals bent on surpassing one another. Not the two stars of the dojo, whispered among the students as the strong, the powerful, the unbeatable. No one was here to judge them. In that moment, Zoro and Kuina were just friends, happy and having fun in the company of each other.

And Zoro thought then that life really can be perfect.

'Helloooooooooooooooo!'

Zoro startled and almost fell off the swing with the large, all-too close face inches away from his. 'What did you do that for?' he bristled.

'Shishishishishi.' The boy giggled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. 'You looked like you were daydreaming, so I decided to wake you up!' He waved at Zoro. 'Hi! I'm Monkey D. Luffy! You can call me Luffy!' he chirped.

Zoro stared at the boy. He was dressed in really weird clothes for someone from the city, with the straw hat on his head pushing against short, black hair, a red vest and knee-cut jeans he looked more like the son of a farmer than a city child. Zoro also noted the few plasters across the boy's face and arms. '… Zoro. Roronoa Zoro.'

The boy grinned at him. 'Yosh! Let's be friends!'

… What. 'Uh… Um.' He couldn't say no to that friendly smile, could he? Come to think of it, no one had smiled at him like that since… Well, since forever, really. And no one had actually asked him to be his friend. To say he was taken aback at the kind, innocent gesture was an understatement. 'Er… Sure.'

His grin turned into a happy smile. 'Shishishishi, I'm so happy! And I like your hat too!'

'Eh?' Zoro brushed his fingers against the wide-brimmed black hat, decorated with a bluish-white plum at the corner. 'It's… not mine.'

'Oh.' The boy deflated. 'It's okay! This hat isn't really mine too!' He removed the hat from his head and stared fondly at it. 'Shanks gave it to me when he adopted me and Ace, so it's now my precious treasure!' He stuffed the hat back onto his head and grinned. 'Let's play!'

His smile is so… so bright. That was all Zoro could think at the moment. He didn't even register Luffy running behind him until he felt two palms against his back. 'Wait- what are you-' Before he knew it the hands pushed at him, and suddenly, the sky was rushing towards him with tremendous speed and it felt like he was floating up in the air.

'Wow! You're up so high!' He heard a faint voice below him.

He felt gravity pulling at him and Zoro rushed to the ground, still too shocked at what's happening when the hands pushed at him again, sending him flying higher and higher-

-just like when he'd stare at her flying higher and higher, so happy, so carefree, her melodious laughter ringing in his ears and Zoro thought it was the best song in the world-

And then he was laughing. He laughed and laughed and laughed, and he couldn't even summon the will to stop himself. He felt so free, so high up like nothing in the world could bother him again. It was like being back in the playground where Kuina and he shared many wonderful memories together, when they were not swordsmen with honour and dignity but children free, free from all the worries in the world…

… And then he heard the boy down there laughing along with him, just as wild and bright and maybe a tad bit weird from Kuina's laughter. The child's laughter was contagious and Zoro felt the playful, mirthful emotions weaved into his laughter spreading throughout his system, and registered the soft, blooming feeling inside his chest. He'd almost forgotten this feeling, pushed only by his grief and determination to be the best of the best since her death, those fond memories locked away in a dark corner of his mind. He'd almost forgot what it felt like.

He was happy.

So Zoro laughed and laughed and laughed, and he didn't know how long they stayed there, pushed and pushing until Luffy grew tired, and when he came down there was something light about how he felt, like all the poison had been sucked out of his body and heavy stones lifted from his heart. He'd never felt so free in his life.

'Your turn, Zoro! Push me!' Luffy smiled through his pants.

Zoro grinned back. 'You asked for it.'

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

He didn't know how long they spent in the playground. They played and laughed for what seemed like hours before a loud shout came their way.

'Luffy!' Zoro turned and saw a boy, older with freckles, sprinting towards them. Luffy gave him a push from the slide and slid down after him himself, whamming Zoro on the back and almost pushing the both of them to the ground. He waved excitedly at the boy.

'Aaaaaaaaaaaaaacceee!'

The boy skidded next to them and the younger boy tackled him in a hug. 'Where had you been? Shanks had been worried sick!'

Luffy gave him a confused look. 'But I was here all afternoon!'

Ace groaned and slapped his forehead before he turned his gaze suspiciously at Zoro.

'And who the heck are you?'

Zoro felt his eye twitch.

'Shishishi! Don't be mean, Ace! This is Zoro, my new friend!' Luffy beamed.

'… A friend, eh?' Something steely in the older boy's eyes softened at that. 'So you've been taking care of my brother?'

'We were playing Ace! It was so much fun!' Ace gave one long look at Luffy's happy face and huffed. He turned to Zoro and, to the boy's surprise, bowed curtly. 'Thank you for taking care of my brother. I hope he hasn't been too much trouble to you.'

Pleasantly thrown off at the odd gesture, Zoro couldn't stop a goofy smile stretching across his face. 'Never.'

Ace gave him one last smile and turned to Luffy. 'Come on, Luf. We've gotta go back before Shanks die of a heart attack. He'd been panicking ever since you wandered off.' He guided Luffy away from the playground, and Zoro felt a tad bit disheartened, a little left behind at the end of what had been a wonderful day.

But then Luffy turned back and gave him another bright smile. 'See you, Zoro!' He waved. 'Let's play again, some day!'

Zoro smiled back and waved back. 'Okay!' He watched them retreat, their backs fading away, watched them until they disappeared from sight. Zoro then scratched his head and look down, the joyful smile never leaving his face.

'Roronoa Zoro!'

He snapped his head up to see Mihawk stomping furiously towards him, his eyes fierce with a dangerous glare. 'Where have you been?' he thundered. 'I've searched through all the shops for you and here you've been, sitting alone in the playground! Do you know how easily it could have been for someone to-' He stopped as he neared the boy, surprised at the look etched on the boy's face.

Zoro looked so… happy. So peaceful. His lips were quirked in a faint but gentle smile, and it was as though all the tension he had seen upon meeting the child disappeared, leaving him in a blissfully relaxed state.

'Sorry.' Zoro muttered, and a large yawn overcame him. He rubbed at his eyes sleepily, the excitement of the day finally taking its toll on him. Mihawk studied him awhile longer and sighed. He really couldn't stay mad at the boy. Not when he looked so… tranquil. Wonder what happened while he was gone. '… Just don't do it again.' He took Zoro by the hand and half-led, half dragged him back. 'Though how you ended up at the other side of the building still baffles me.'

Zoro looked around as they entered the shopping centre. There were a lot less people than there were this morning, and some of the shops were already closed. He stumbled slightly at Mihawk's fast pace. 'N-not so fast!' Then another yawn hit him, longer and wider than before.

Mihawk scrutinised him for a moment before taking him in his arms again. 'Learn to walk faster next time, boy. I can't go around carrying you like this all the time.' Zoro nodded against him and stared at the passing shops. He didn't like to be carried around either. He was a grown boy, but times like this he was glad he was still treated like a child. He watched blankly as things passed by him in a blur.

But then in the distance he saw it. A figure head perched on one of the shop windows, a black bandana tied on his head positioned just above his eyes.

… It looked so fucking badass.

He fingered the hat on his head and smiled. He thought of Luffy, thought of Mihawk and decided he might as well since everyone around him was wearing a hat, anyway.

'Wait,' he stopped the older man before they passed the shop.

'What is it now?' Mihawk asked, trying not to let the frustration leak into his voice. He was so anxious, so eager to get home after a long day of worrying he just couldn't bear staying in this accursed land any second longer.

Zoro smirked at him and stared at the bandana. 'There's one last thing I'd like you to get for me, if possible.' Mihawk followed his gaze.

Then he smirked. 'Not bad, kiddo. Not bad.'

Maybe shopping wasn't really so bad, after all.


Nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan review? 8D