Keeping Secrets - tell the truth

by Sharry93

Two years had passed since the crew had been separated, but finally they were reunited. Nothing had changed, right? Actually, they should just be happy to be back together again, but Sanji couldn't quite bury his doubts. How was it possible that Zoro had survived his injuries back then and what was he hiding from the crew and what the hell did Hawk Eyes have to do with it?

10. Chapter 9 - Call

Chapter 9 – Call

-Zoro-

What did it mean to trust?

He ignored this question as he pulled out the small transponder snail from his pocket, which still quietly called for him. Just a few days ago, he had called the Shichibukai after taking a nap at the Ryuuguu Palace, so there was no reason for the other to call him now; it actually was against their agreement that only Zoro would report once a week. Actually, Zoro should ignore the snail right now and ignore the other, but...

What did it mean to trust?

What did the term trust really mean if used as more than a simple phrase?

After another second of hesitation, he finally pressed the button. For two seconds, the lookout was terribly silent.

"Can you speak freely?"

Why did he suddenly feel such a strong wave of homesickness? Just a few days ago, he had spoken to the other. He should be rather unnerved, so why was he grateful to hear this too calm, almost bored, nonchalant voice?

"Yes," he finally replied, looking at his own reflection in the window, barely recognizing himself, barely recognizing his own reflection, as if a stranger was staring at him, even though he was in his body.

"You are probably wondering why I am calling you against our agreement, Roronoa," the Shichibukai said in his annoying factual way, "but let me assure you that this... Roronoa, is something wrong?"

Surprised, he looked down on the transponder snail. How the hell...?

"What the hell? Why should something be wrong?" He replied harshly, deciding to ignore the past discussions. He could only deal with one problem at a time and when the annoying Shichibukai called, he always had to expect one.

"That is what I am asking you," said the elder only, "you are the one who behaves unusually. Not only did you actually answer my call, no, you didn't even scold me, nor did you interrupt me, or act upset because I violated our agreement. In addition, you reacted very bristly to my question; if nothing urgent concerned you, you would have brushed me off with a cheeky comment."

Oh, he had completely forgotten how much he hated it when the other read him like an open book. Nevertheless, he could not deny that the other had absolutely hit the mark with his observation. But of course he wouldn't admit that out loud.

"So, Roronoa, is there anything that bothers you?" Now Mihawk sounded like during the quiet evenings in the fireplace room, when he had looked up from his newspaper and examined Zoro questioningly. For a moment, Zoro wanted to talk about the past few minutes, but then he decided to use this unexpected conversation for something meaningful and not for an unnecessary philosophy lesson. Today, of all times, he would not need Mihawk to tell him what the others had already demanded.

"How strong is Doflamingo?" Zoro asked, instead of dealing with whatever was happening within his crew, focusing on the challenge they would face in a few days. In the past, he would not have done this, would not have wanted to be deprived of surprise and fun, but today he knew that good preparation was the key to success, and they could no longer afford failure in their current situation.

"Excuse me?" The Shichibukai also seemed to have expected another question.

"Do you think I would be strong enough to defeat Doflamingo?" He specified his question, knowing that he would get an honest answer. Almost unintentionally, he wondered if it would correspond to his own calculation.

"I understand." Mihawk sighed deeply and the small transponder snail reflected his worry lines far too well. "It is not his strength that makes him dangerous, but his ability. Due to the string-string fruit, he has an advantage especially at distance, but do not think that he would be weaker in close combat."

"Can he keep up with you?"

Quietly, the other laughed his snotty laugh: "I beg your pardon, Roronoa. Not in the least."

"A single No wouldn't have done it?" Zoro murmured, annoyed by the arrogance of the other, but focused on the actual topic. "And can I keep up with him?"

"It depends," Mihawk replied as expected, but still quite relaxed. "The unpredictable part for you will be his devil power, however, this maniac loves to play with his opponent and rarely kills on first strike, at least not as far as I have ever observed. Not that I ever paid much attention to him, his fights never interested me very much. So if you use the time he wastes to come up with a suitable strategy, I do not see any reason why you would not be able to beat him."

"I didn't expect such a clear answer," he admitted.

"Oh, do not underestimate him, Roronoa. He is a poorly behaving speechifier and an arrogant tragedian. His worldview has nothing to do with reality and he believes he is something better just because he is a former world aristocrat." Once again, Zoro wondered if the five elders did not choose their Shichibukai according to certain criteria, but of course he did not say that out loud, at least not yet, as he was still hoping for helpful answers from his teacher. "But he is also merciless and brutal – and that means something coming from me – and neither his tolerance nor his patience are resilient."

"In plain words," murmured Zoro and tried to stay serious, "I should let him talk his great speeches to give me enough time, to come up with a meaningful strategy, and not to irritate him too much, so that he does not suddenly get serious."

"Exactly," the Shichibukai agreed, "that is, if you should be the one fighting him, of course."

Suspiciously, Zoro stared at the snail, how the freaking hell...?

"Why did you want my evaluation, Roronoa? Is your captain planning on erasing the Shichibukai by either defeating or pulling them on his side one by one?" The transponder snail had raised its eyebrows and Mihawk was only halfway serious.

"Don't think that would spare you from defeat," Zoro replied with a broad grin and for a moment they were back at the ruins. For a moment, the disturbance of the past conversations was forgotten, when it was again only his arrogant teacher and himself.

"Who says I would be on his side?" Teased the elder.

"And who says we're just after the Shichibukai?"

"Excuse me?" Within a second, the relaxed mood that had made Zoro smile for the first time that day broke. "What did you do, Roronoa? You are hardly on the road for a few days, you cannot have done that much mischief yet."

Now it was Zoro who laughed softly.

"Do you really know us that badly?"

"This is not funny, Roronoa! Who else have you declared your enemy?"

"Big Mom."

"Oh, dear..."

"And soon also Kaido."

"…"

The silence worried Zoro. He had expected a thunderstorm. Mihawk quickly became loud when he was unnecessarily worried about Zoro and presumably this news was worrying for him. But the fact that he was now silent almost unsettled Zoro.

"You have nothing to say?" He asked after a few seconds of devastating silence. "Don't you even want to throw at my head how foolish we are?"

"So not only the Shichibukai," the other finally noted, "you also want to face the four Emperors, make the whole world your enemy."

Then the other laughed softly.

"Tze, I wish I could be the one to tell the Red that his little protégé is out for his head. I would give a lot to see the perplexed face of this fool."

Zoro really did not expect this reaction.

"What is it, Roronoa? You seem surprised."

"Well, I rather expected you to jump through the transponder snail and cut my head off, but you sound very enthusiastically."

Again, Mihawk laughed softly.

"Shall I tell you a little secret, Roronoa?"

Not really convinced if he really wanted to know this secret, he finally nodded.

"If this was your captain's intention from the beginning, then he would do well to face these other opponents first."

"What?"

"Of course, I would never have told you so directly, but now that your captain also wants to face such a challenge, I see no need to keep it to myself anymore."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Roronoa, I told you that there are only a handful of people like you and me, and it will certainly not surprise you to hear that the red Shanks is one of those people." No, it actually didn't. "But neither you nor your captain has ever fought a real battle against opponents like us. Believe me when I tell you that all your battles so far are not nearly comparable to us."

He could hear a creaking that reminded him of the wooden throne of the coffin boat, Mihawk seemed to have stood up.

"As you know, Shanks and I once crossed the blades regularly. There is hardly anyone in the world who can keep up with us." Right now the other sounded everything but arrogant. "Unlike Doflamingo, Kaido and Big Mom are opponents that even I would take very seriously in your place, Roronoa."

It did not surprise Zoro that the two Emperors seemed dangerous, but it did surprise him that they were apparently that dangerous. On the other hand, if one wanted to get to the top, one had to face the strongest at some point.

"But as long as you cannot defeat these opponents, you should not even think about facing Shanks or me."

There it was finally!

Finally, Zoro knew how far away the other was, and in his voice he could hear exactly what he had just thought. It wasn't that far away anymore.

"Why didn't you tell me that before?" He asked curiously, as he felt the desire for a fight grow in him.

"How would a hypothetical comparison have helped you, Roronoa? Although I had not ruled out that you would take such steps, I had expected that it would take a little longer. I did not know if you would not face me first."

"Would you have wanted you to be my first opponent of this kind?"

"Oh, not at all." The transponder snail grinned broadly. "Because that would mean you would not have learned everything you should learn before, and I want you to be perfectly prepared when we finally fight each other."

Goosebumps spread over Zoro's body.

"No, it is indeed perfect," Mihawk continued, his voice almost a whisper. "Personally I have fought neither Big Mom nor Kaido, but I can assure you that both of them have left their humanity behind long ago and at least with him I also know that he, like you and I, has become his own monster. He will be the perfect preparation for you."

Zoro grinned. He knew that there weren't many people willing to face their own monster. However, only a handful of them were willing not to defeat this monster, but to take it in. There were even fewer people who had overcome their own humanity so that their bodies could endure the inhuman, and except for Mihawk and himself, Zoro had never heard of anyone who had done both.

So Kaido, he would have to talk to Luffy, Kaido had to be his.

"You can feel it, right?" Mihawk asked, and Zoro knew exactly what the other was talking about.

Although he had fought only a few hours ago, had argued several times today, had gone through some risky situations, he could feel it very clearly. He longed for a fight, for a real fight, and not for this boring banter. He wanted a real, aesthetic, demanding fight.

"I never noticed it on Kuraigana," he finally said, looking at his right hand. "I didn't think I would feel it so suddenly now."

"Nothing to worry you, it will get better at some point," the other soothed him. "On Kuraigana you were able to sharpen and exhaust your skills almost every day, you almost never had to hold back and of course you did not have to show any consideration towards me. Now you cannot do that anymore, you have to take yourself back. It is normal for you to feel it much more clearly now. Give yourself a few more weeks and it will be easier."

So a few weeks, huh, why did that feel like half an eternity?

Soberingly, Zoro thought back to the past few days.

"Will the fights get better again then as well?" He asked thoughtfully.

"What do you mean by that?" The snail's eyes bobbed slightly to the side and Zoro could almost see Mihawk tilting his head to be able to observe him more closely, as he would otherwise have always done. "Did you have trouble fighting?"

"No," he denied directly, put the transponder snail on the sofa and then let himself sink to the floor next to it, placing his arms on the furniture, leaning his head back and closing his eye, "that's not it."

"What is it then, Roronoa?"

He took a deep breath before finally sighing.

"They were boring, so terribly boring." For a moment he was silent, but the other replied nothing. "I was so excited about the New World, the adventures and the battles. Of course, I was aware that not every opponent would be able to keep up with me – you also warned me that most would be weaker – but I thought... I never thought it could be a problem."

Shaking his head, he looked at dumbbell and weight, which he had simply left in the middle of the room.

"I thought no matter how strong or weak my opponents would be, I could still have my fun. But I couldn't, neither yesterday nor the day before. Yes, we ran for our lives and were in slightly trickier situations one time or another, but the fights... they were so terribly boring." Now Zoro looked at the transponder snail next to him. "Will all my fights against weaker opponents look like this from now on?"

For a few long breaths, the other was silent, then sighed.

"Oh, Roronoa," he remarked almost gently, "oh, my innocent, naïve Roronoa. How heartwarming it is to listen to you."

"What?" Zoro could feel a vein of anger throbbing dangerously at his right temple and his cheeks warming while the other seemed to make fun of him.

"Please, do not misunderstand me," the elder, who had probably noticed Zoro's bad mood, immediately rowed back, "of course I did not want to offend you with my remark. But the way you talk about fighting - so romanticizing, so childlike, so simple and humble - touches me deeply, and I wish that every fight would be as fulfilling as you hope."

"Stop talking like that. You know I don't like it," Zoro murmured, though it bothered him more that the other took his concern so seriously. That did not suggest that it was unfounded.

"And you know I do not intend to mock you," Mihawk replied calmly. "It is just that after two years you still manage to surprise me, Roronoa, and then I react surprised."

He just quietly grumbled something that was neither approval nor rejection and looked at the barren training room. Since Mihawk had not contradicted him, this really seemed to be his future.

"Say, Roronoa, do you still argue with the chef on a regular basis?"

He just hummed in agreement and shrugged his shoulders, remembering a few hours ago.

"And do you find these conflicts also boring?"

"Tze," he snorted, "rather annoying."

"Yes, that may be," the other replied insistently, "but do you find them boring?"

For a second, Zoro reviewed the past few days.

"No," he finally judged.

"Then you do not have to worry."

"What, but...?"

"Roronoa," Mihawk interrupted him softly, his voice still as gentle and benevolent as during the silent evenings by the fire, "listen to me. The fact that these battles bored you was not due to your skills as a swordsman, nor to your monster or this greed for more. It is just because you have become a capable strategist."

"What?"

"Of course. Why do you think I think you are naïve? Even though you have such a sharp mind and see through most people so quickly, you still expect a horde of minion foot soldiers to surprise you with strategic tricks? You overestimate the intelligence of your opponents, Roronoa, or rather you underestimate your own."

"If I wanted unnecessary compliments, I would call Kanan."

The other laughed softly.

"You do not have to worry, Roronoa, these fights were not boring because your opponents were weak, but because they were just plain stupid." The transponder snail nodded knowingly. "Believe me, exciting fights will come, even against weak opponents, as long as they are not idiots. Not only your body needs occupation now, also your mind has to be challenged and these smallminded enemies obviously could not do that. Take a look at the chef – he still seems to be able to entertain you – and challenge him again, if you feel the need of entertainment or find someone from your crew to play chess, or Mah-Jongg as you prefer it."

"Are you serious?" In disbelief, he looked at the transponder sail.

"Of course, Roronoa, you know that I rarely joke, and certainly not when it comes to sword fighting. Find intelligent opponents and you will be able to fight interesting and entertaining battles again, on and off the battlefield."

He didn't even know exactly why, but Zoro felt relieved. He had really feared that from now on only very few fights would bring him joy, and he was glad that this was not the case.

However, right now he really didn't feel like fighting with the stupid cook. Zoro found him anything but entertaining at the moment, rather annoying and presumptuous, he could do without that. Playing chess against Robin, on the other hand, seemed to him like an even worse idea, after all, she was the one who had just played him like a stupid child.

"When I think about it like that," he murmured softly, "the only one I would actually like to play against would be you."

And that wasn't a lie, even though Zoro hadn't even won once against the other. After the past few days, when he had been challenged all the time by his own crewmembers, this conversation with the other swordsman felt so familiar that Zoro wished it was just that easy.

"That could perhaps be arranged," remarked the other one note too calmly and Zoro became suspicious.

"What?"

"Well, you said that you intend to challenge Doflamingo. So I assume you are on your way to Dress Rosa?"

"We are."

"Then it is quite an excellent timing that the five elders have sent me to the island Applenine for a task. Do you recall the name? This island is only a few days away by ship from Dress Rosa."

Surprised, Zoro looked up. Wasn't that the island Nami was talking about just during noon?

"We're going to make a stop there tomorrow morning," he said faster than he had thought.

"What a coincidence. I will arrive there tonight." The transponder snail showed the slight smile of the other. "If you want, we could meet. I understand, of course, if you have more important things to do, but..."

"Wait a minute," Zoro interrupted him. "Is that why you called me? To meet up with me?"

"Less than two weeks after you left? Roronoa, you can expect a little more self-discipline from me. I noticed that your Vivre Card suddenly moved into a different direction and I was worried. The New World has its own natural phenomena and I just wanted to find out what latitudes you are currently in. I did not expect us to be close to each other."

"Still a control freak."

"So rude," the other replied coolly. "If I were a control freak, I would already be following you."

"You wouldn't, because then you would put your title at risk, and you wouldn't do something that stupid."

"I give in," sighed the other, "but back to the topic, Roronoa, I have an important appointment – my assignment, as you know – so, would you like to come by for a game of chess?"

He hesitated. Actually, he had planned to face Mihawk again only when he could defeat him, moreover, barely two weeks had passed since they had gone their separate ways, and Zoro did not want the other to imagine anything that was not there.

On the other hand, Zoro could not deny that he missed the other, missed these conversations and given that there was so much conflict in the crew – given he caused so much conflict - and the ship was full of strangers, he found the opportunity to escape this hustle and bustle and regain the calmness of Kurigana for a few hours, very tempting.

Of course, he was not that naïve to accept Mihawk's story just like that, on the other hand it sounded plausible enough and maybe this order was another thing arranged by Eizen to distract the Shichibukai, since Eizen thought that Mihawk did not know that Zoro and Loreen were one and the same person, and therefore wanted to fool the Shichibukai, that Loreen would currently prepare the Reverie at Eizen's side in a few days.

No, the Shichibukai might be an overprotective control freak, but in the end Zoro trusted...

"All right," he murmured softly and looked at the dumbbell again, "but don't you dare just having your boring wine. How about some decent sake?"

Maybe... maybe he should ask the other for advice. If anyone could understand him, it might be Mihawk, who understood him so much better than even Zoro understood himself.

"As you wish."