A/N: Taking another liberty and inserting a real (English) novel into this fic. If you are reading this and you have never heard of the book "Sense and Sensibility" be warned that I do reveal the ending of the book in the next few chapters. If you have read "Sense and Sensibility" (or seen the television adaptation with Kate Winslet and Emma Thompson) you will appreciate the irony and relevance of the story, and you will understand that I am nothing but an Austen thief – my last major fanfic ripped off "Pride and Prejudice". Geez, get an original idea, huh?!
Recap: Zoro told Tashigi about Kuina after seeing her fall down the stairs; Tashigi gained a little appreciation for Zoro's attitude towards her face and his desire to hold on to the Wado; Smoker decided to abandon his duties as a marine to search for Tashigi alone, because he loves her… Aw, bless!
Chapter 13 – Sense and Sensibility
Tashigi sat with her arms around one knee, her other leg stretched out in front of her, resting her sprained ankle. From her vantage point, she had an ideal view of Zoro carrying out his many bizarre training techniques, most of which seemed more to Tashigi like forms of self-torture than personal development. The longer she watched him, the less inferior she felt, as she became sure that if she were to spend as much time and effort on her own physical training as Zoro did, she would probably be ten times as strong as she was, and a far more worthy opponent for him. But being a marine was not all about physical training – even though that did form a large part of a marine's career. Tashigi had discovered that the higher she climbed in the ranks of the navy, the more time she had to spend on paperwork and administration.
At her side, Tashigi had a plate, fork and glass, which she was actually slightly ashamed to return to the kitchen; she could not deny that Sanji was the finest chef she had ever encountered, and her breakfast dishes looked as though she had licked them clean – which she practically had. And, thanks to Usopp, Tashigi almost had clear vision of her surroundings. He had offered her a pair of adjustable goggles, showing her how to use them to focus her eyesight. The result was that the goggles worked almost as well as her glasses, even if she did feel a little odd wearing goggles constantly. Thanks to Nami she had a sensible change of clothes that did not make her look like the common pirate girl she had feared they might, Chopper's handiwork meant that her injuries were comfortable and bearable and Luffy had continued to make her feel welcome onboard his ship, despite the fact that she was his foe and had tried to arrest him and his crew in the past.
Slowly moving her eyes from Zoro, Tashigi began scanning the sea again, silently wondering if she might see a ship she recognised. She had given up on Smoker coming to rescue her, but a small part of her still felt that the government might order another crew to search for her when she was officially reported as AWOL. It was unlike the navy to just let a marine disappear, least of all in the company of pirates. Tashigi had not really thought about what she would do if another, unknown, division of the navy came for her: she could not stay with the Straw-Hat Pirates forever, but since she no longer had a place in the marines, going back did not really seem like an option either.
Lowering her eyes a little, Tashigi started in alarm as she spotted Robin sat in a deckchair, one arm draped across her stomach, the other holding up an open book in front of her face. Whilst the sight of Robin reading a book was no cause for concern, the fact that Robin's eyes were in fact fixed onto Tashigi instead of the book did make Tashigi a little uncomfortable.
"Do you like to read, Miss Marine?" Robin called up to her.
"Uh…" Tashigi began awkwardly. "Sure."
Robin nodded her head, her eyes lowering back to her book. Tashigi yelped as a book flew through the air in her general direction, yelping again as a hand sprouted from the floor at her side, catching the book and holding it out towards her.
"You should read this one," Robin suggested, turning the page in her own book, her eyes not lifting from the page.
Tashigi watched Robin for a moment before gingerly plucking the book from the hand at her side, watching curiously as the hand receded back into the wood.
"Sense and Sensibility?" Tashigi read aloud from the cover. "Is this a novel?" she called to Robin.
"You should appreciate it," Robin replied, her eyes still on her book, her tone somewhat disinterested. "Perhaps you will learn something from Miss Marianne Dashwood."
"Marianne Dashwood?" Tashigi muttered, frowning down at the book in her hands.
Tashigi did not want to admit to Robin that she had not actually read a novel since she had joined the marines: any free reading time she had was spent studying swords, criminals, trials and naval regulations. But, she told herself, she had plenty of free time now that she was onboard a pirate ship and unable to train with her sword thanks to her injuries, and so she might as well indulge.
"What's so special about Marianne Dashwood?" she called to Robin.
"Read the book," Robin called back, again without looking up. "And think carefully."
Tashigi pulled a face at Robin, finding her tone oddly parental; but she opened the book regardless, and began reading the first chapter.
Zoro dragged the back of one hand across his brow, grabbing up his mug to take a drink. He paused mid-gulp, a small frown creasing his features, his eyes shifting to Sanji. He had asked for more rum, but apparently Sanji was being obnoxious again, as he had filled Zoro's mug with milk. Slowly swallowing the contents of his mouth and replacing the mug to the barrel it had been sat on top of, Zoro pouted involuntarily as the taste of warm, slightly sour milk filled his mouth.
"Bastard…" he grumbled, thinning his eyes at Sanji's back.
To his relief however, Tashigi had not bothered him during his training. Since interrogating him about Kuina, she appeared to have finally given up pestering him about everything. Zoro began to wonder if it might have been worth telling Tashigi about Kuina sooner; but he did still grudge having to disclose such personal information to a marine. And she had behaved quiet oddly afterwards, asking strange questions that seemed completely irrelevant. Zoro's head hurt just thinking about the whole situation, and he really did not appreciate any distractions on his road to becoming the greatest swordsman.
"Are we near land yet?" he called to Nami as she neared him.
"Another few hours," she called back.
"Good," Zoro muttered, casting his eyes upwards, locating Tashigi.
She was sitting reading a book, a pair of Usopp's goggles pushed up into her hair, her expression intense as she read. Zoro had no idea what she was reading or why, but whatever it was, it had kept her very quiet and very much out of his way for a long time.
'Probably something about famous swords, or being a marine,' Zoro thought to himself.
"Why?" Nami asked, drawing Zoro's attention from Tashigi once more.
"What?" he echoed, frowning at her, the dark smirk on her face making him feel a little uneasy.
"Just wondered if you had plans for when we dock," Nami casually replied.
"I need to get a few things," Zoro said, eying the mug of milk at his side disdainfully.
"So you need another loan?"
Zoro turned to Nami with wide eyes, watching her smirk widen. He was sure her teeth looked more jagged than usual as she grinned maniacally at him, drawing her usual amount of pleasure from Zoro's consistently poor financial situation.
"Because you owe me six hundred thousand," she said.
"Six hundred thousand?" Zoro yelled. "What? I thought you said it was three hundred thousand?"
"Yeah, but I also said it would double if you didn't pay me back," Nami frankly replied.
Zoro growled at her, but she merely smiled sweetly in return.
"So, do you need another loan?" she asked lightly.
"Hell no!" Zoro snarled.
"If you're sure…"
Nami sighed, shrugging her shoulders. Zoro twitched involuntarily, wondering how he would find the money to buy the things he wanted without borrowing it from Nami. As he was speculating on what to do, Usopp and Chopper passed by him, discussing supplies they needed to buy when they got to land. Zoro grinned slyly, deciding that Nami was not his only source of money after all.
Tashigi sighed, gladly snapping shut the book Robin had given her as the Straw-Hat Pirates began to disembark the ship. She was a third of the way through the book, but she still had no idea what she was meant to be learning from Marianne Dashwood. In fact, she thought, Marianne Dashwood seemed like a bit of an idiot with little to offer anyone in the way of personal development. Getting off the ship and walking about on solid ground at last was a welcome break from the book, and the only thing that prevented Tashigi from jumping down to land and running off was her injured ankle.
Moving Usopp's goggles over her eyes and hobbling a little as she walked, Tashigi gladly left the ship, frowning as the captain took off with great exuberance, leaving the others behind. The rest of the crew began to disperse and by the time Tashigi had entered the seaside town, she had lost sight of every Straw-Hat Pirate. Rolling her eyes, Tashigi started to make her way through the streets at a slow pace, subconsciously steering herself in a specific direction: a notice-board mounted near a large restaurant.
Tashigi stopped at the notice-board finding that, as expected, it was largely decorated with wanted posters. Although she knew she ought not to be surprised to find the faces of Luffy and Zoro amongst the posters, Tashigi still felt insecure and uncomfortable knowing that the town she was in saw Luffy and Zoro as criminals. If the locals thought of Luffy and Zoro as criminals that inevitably meant that they considered anyone else travelling with them to be just as bad: including Tashigi herself. But in spite of her dark thoughts, Tashigi found herself searching out the posters relating to the local bandits, automatically familiarising herself with them as years of training in the navy had taught her to do. Looking at the posters, Tashigi began to wonder where the local naval base was, and why none of the Straw-Hat Pirates had taken her to it; oddly, they seemed to have accepted her as an almost temporary member of their crew.
Thinking harder on the matter, Tashigi decided that the best thing for her to do was to seek out the local naval base and ask for assistance. But before she could even take a step away from where she stood, Tashigi stalled herself, her mind trying to figure out exactly what she would say when she arrived at the base. The local commanding officer would doubtlessly send her back to Captain Smoker, and Tashigi did not particularly want to see Smoker, least of all so soon after his dancing display with Hina. Perhaps she ought to ask to get sent back to Loguetown, where surely the navy had found a replacement for Captain Smoker. Loguetown was, after all, Tashigi's hometown, and the place she felt most comfortable.
Concluding that a return home was her best option, Tashigi began her search. She decided she would not report that the Straw-Hat Pirates were in town with her: since they had been civil towards her, she would allow them to escape arrest just one more time. Of course, returning to Loguetown would mean that she would never have to worry about trying to capture the Straw-Hat Pirates, since they would probably never return there. In fact, Tashigi thought to herself, she would probably never see any of the Straw-Hat Pirates ever again; unless Luffy achieved his dream of becoming the next Pirate King, meaning that she might see him many years later at his execution. But generally, she was unlikely to see them again. No more Straw-Hat. No more Zoro. No more Wado Ichimonji.
Tashigi slowed her pace, chewing on her lip thoughtfully. She had decided to allow Zoro to keep the Wado Ichimonji in light of the personal value it held for him, but she was disappointed by the idea of never getting to duel with Zoro again. Tashigi did not dream of becoming the greatest swordsman as Zoro did, but she did enjoy being a swordsman, and especially duelling with a strong opponent.
"I'll return to Loguetown… Train harder, become a captain of my own crew, and I'll go after the Straw-Hat Pirates myself!" Tashigi decided, clenching a fist decisively in the air in front of her face.
"You ain't going nowhere, girly."
Tashigi stiffened, her eyes slowly moving to the shadow at her side. Her body tensed as she sighted a large-built man pointing a sword in her direction. Two men stood a short distance behind and at either side of him, grinning at her as she looked fearfully between their faces. Whilst the two men further back seemed like common bandits, Tashigi recognised the man threatening her from the wanted posters she had just been viewing. Although he had only been worth a few thousand, the very fact that he had a bounty on his head warned her that he was a force to be reckoned with.
"You're gonna walk real quietly along this road and turn right onto the next street," the bandit added.
Tashigi crossed her eyes, focusing on the tip of the blade. It was not ridiculously close to her face, and the level of threat it posed depended on the level of skill the bandit possessed. Quickly running her eyes over the man analytically, Tashigi decided that, by his stance and manner of holding his weapon, he was not an expert swordsman, and that if she had a weapon of her own, she could probably best him in a duel.
"Now, girly," he added, taking a step closer to her.
Tashigi leapt back from him, ducking to one side as he lunged forwards, thrusting his sword at the point where she had been standing. Thinking as quickly as she could, Tashigi grabbed the sheath of her Shigure, which she had stubbornly kept with her, swinging it around against the back of the bandit's knees. He stumbled a little, allowing her the chance to leap back from him again. But no sooner had Tashigi straightened than the bandit's two accomplices charged at her. Gasping in alarm, Tashigi swung up the scabbard, catching both men's blades against it. Surprised that her move had actually proved effective, Tashigi hesitated, her eyes moving to the shocked look on her attackers' faces.
"You've made me mad now, girly!" the leader yelled, rounding on Tashigi.
Tashigi let out a small growl of frustration, inwardly cursing her own lack of a weapon. She began to think that she should have kept the Yubashiri Zoro lent her; but she did not have long to dwell on her own regrets, as the leader of the bandits was jabbing his sword in her direction again. Sharply swinging her arm around to throw off her other two attackers, Tashigi leapt back again, watching the large bandit swing his own sword down against the road like an axe. She curled her lip involuntarily at his sickening lack of skill, her disgust turning to surprise at the sight of the blade he wielded. It looked vaguely familiar, as though it was one of the lower ranking fifty fine grade swords. Her mindset suddenly altered, Tashigi moved her eyes to the other two bandits, tightening her grip of the Shigure's scabbard as an idea formed in her mind.
Moving swiftly, Tashigi slid one foot to one side and hacked the sheath downwards, hitting the bandit nearest her in the back of the neck. As Tashigi had caught known weak point, he fell to the ground stunned from the blow, his sword clattering from his hand. The second unknown bandit began to jump over the body of his fallen comrade to attack Tashigi, but she hurriedly skipped over the fallen bandit's legs, crouching to grab up his dropped sword.
"Not so fast!" the wanted bandit yelled, slamming his own sword down onto the one Tashigi sought, blocking her route to retrieving it.
Tashigi scanned her eyes over his sword, silently acknowledging that it was definitely one of the famous named swords she had read about, and not only was it in the hands of a bandit, but it was being wielded by a man who had little or no ability to use it. Tashigi rose sharply to her feet, to which the wanted bandit responded by lifting his sword. Taking advantage of the opening he had offered her, Tashigi kicked the abandoned sword out to one side, hitting back the bandit's own sword as he tried to attack her again. Tashigi decided that she had to act quickly and catch the criminals off-guard; so she did something she knew they would not expect. Tashigi threw her scabbard at the wanted bandit, using his ensuing confusion to dart after the freed sword, hurriedly grabbing it up and turning to attack the second weaker bandit.
Finally having her weapon of choice in her hands, Tashigi cut down the wanted bandit's second assistant with ease before turning on the main criminal himself. He tried to duel with her, but his sword skills were pitiful, and within seconds Tashigi had knocked his sword from his hands. He reluctantly held up his hands in defeat as Tashigi brought the tip of the blade she carried to his throat.
"Give me the sheath for your sword," she demanded.
He frowned at her, eying her over as though he thought she was mad.
"Do it now!" she demanded.
He began fumbling with the sheath, removing it from his side. The sound of heavy footsteps drawing closer momentarily took Tashigi's attention from the bandit. At the sight of a small group of low-ranking marines running towards them, Tashigi felt herself panic.
"Hand it over now!" she yelled urgently.
The bandit nervously threw the sheath at Tashigi's feet. Taking one last glance at the approaching marines, Tashigi dropped the sword she had, grabbed up the sheath the bandit had surrendered along with the sheath for her Shigure and hurried over to retrieve the precious sword she had knocked from his hand. Without so much as a backward glance, Tashigi wrapped her arms around the sword and two scabbards and ran off as fast as she could, not stopping until she had reached the end of the street and run halfway down another street branching away from the bandits and marines behind her.
Tashigi slowed to a halt to catch her breath, slowly replacing her newly acquired sword to its sheath. She did not believe in keeping any of the named swords she sought to recover – after all, that was as good as stealing, and stealing was a criminal's business – but in the absence of her Shigure, she decided to hang onto the sword she had at least for a little while. She did not want to be caught unarmed again, and so she justified her decision as being one of self-preservation.
But, Tashigi thought slowly as she looked down at her newly acquired sword and the Shigure's empty sheath, why had she run away from the marines? After all, she had been on her way to the local naval base to seek help returning to her post, and those officers could have taken her directly there.
Tashigi clutched her treasured items to her chest, silently wondering if she had gone mad.
"You've made me mad now, girly!"
Zoro lifted his head, frowning a little at the sound of the gruff voice far behind him. The sound of metal against metal captured his interest, and Zoro turned around, his eyes widening as he spotted Tashigi attempting to fight off three bandits with an empty scabbard. Zoro felt the urge to run over and offer his assistance, but as Tashigi managed to somehow throw back two of the bandits and dodge the third one, he wondered if she really needed his help. Despite being nowhere near as strong or skilled as he was, Zoro did appreciate that Tashigi was still a decent swordsman; he could still remember the first time he had encountered her, watching her fight off two bandits effortlessly.
Zoro slowly moved closer to the fight, deciding he would do well to watch her carefully and be ready to attack, but also to get a better view of the girl in action. Suddenly no longer the clumsy, idiotic, nagging, short-sighted girl, she took out one bandit with the scabbard and tried to take his sword. The leader of the band of criminals stopped her with his sword, and the whole fight seemed to pause for a moment. Zoro began to move a little quicker, but promptly stopped short as Tashigi pounced upwards, fending off the leader with her scabbard whilst kicking out the sword she had been trying to retrieve. Zoro had never thought that she could be so resourceful or cunning before – it was almost as though she was an entirely different person when she was in a duel.
Zoro grunted in shock when she then threw her scabbard – her one method of defence – at her attacker and darted off to one side. But he soon saw her reasoning as she grabbed up the sword she had just kicked across the road. Zoro watched quietly as she took out the second bandit with relative ease before turning to commence a duel with the apparent leader of the trio. Determined, unfaltering and strong, she caught his sword, sending it flying out of his hands, and finally pointed her own sword at his throat. Zoro almost expected Tashigi to begin informing the bandit that he was under arrest – but instead she said something entirely different and completely bizarre.
"Give me the sheath for your sword."
Zoro screwed up his face, wondering if the girl was still sick. She was still hurt from her fall after all, and the exertion of fighting off three bandits had maybe just been a little too much for her.
"Do it now!" she demanded, her voice echoing around the street.
Zoro took a step back into the gathering crowd as a group of marines began running towards Tashigi and the bandits, keeping himself concealed from their view as he continued to watch the bandit relinquish his sheath to Tashigi.
"Hand it over now!" she yelled urgently.
The bandit obediently threw the sheath at Tashigi's feet, even looking a little afraid of her as he did so. Zoro watched Tashigi gather up the bandit's sword and sheath along with her own scabbard and then run off at an alarming pace, disappearing from sight before the marines reached the bandits. Zoro screwed up his face in confusion: what was she thinking, running away from the marines? She was a marine, not a criminal! And she had just apprehended a group of bandits!
"Idiot girl," Zoro grumbled. "At this rate, we'll never get rid of her."
Tashigi sat still and quiet on the edge of the pier, her legs dangling down towards the water. She was sitting quite close to a naval ship, her mind arguing over whether or not she ought to return to the naval base in the village she had left behind. The more she tried to come to a decisive conclusion, the more confused she became. Deep in thought and tense as she clung to the sword she had just recovered and the sheath of her own treasured Shigure, Tashigi did not hear someone approaching her.
"Ow!" she cried as something smacked into the back of her head.
Looking back over her shoulder, Tashigi saw Robin standing a short way behind her, her arms folded across her chest, her face stern.
"You didn't finish reading the book," Robin said plainly, sprouting a hand from the ground at Tashigi's side.
Tashigi recoiled as she watched the hand retrieve the book and hold it out towards her. Tashigi touched a hand to the back of her head as she looked down at the book, realising then that it had been the book that had hit into her head.
"I don't really read romance novels," she began awkwardly, turning to Robin. "I don't think that–"
"Just read the book," Robin insisted, flinging the book into her lap.
"Right…" Tashigi muttered, picking up the book with a dejected sigh.
"We'll be leaving soon," Robin added.
"Okay," Tashigi said with a nod.
'And for now I think I'll just stay with the pirates,' Tashigi thought silently. 'And finish reading this stupid book.'
Next Chapter:
"But if I was Willoughby," Zoro continued, much to Tashigi's own personal agony. "That would mean that you would have to be in love with me… And…"
Zoro's face softened, making him suddenly look like a lost little boy as he stared at Tashigi with large eyes.
"Oh…" he said quietly.
Zoro and Tashigi talk literature, Sanji makes Zoro look like an idiot and Tashigi has a little emotional revelation of her own. Chapter 14 – Say What You Mean.