Kindergarteners 4
The next morning Koshiro finds Zoro in the dojo flailing two shinai and hitting himself in the legs or the head with them every few swings. He approaches the boy, catching one of the swinging shinai in his hand. Zoro sends him a glare before lowering the weapons with a huff.
"Zoro, why did you challenge Kuina?" He crouches down to look the boy in the eye. "You know you can't beat her right now, don't you?"
"I have to." The boy frowns darkly, as if the end of the world would be upon him if he fails at this impossible task. "He... he said she's strong. He likes her because she's strong."
"Who?"
"I have to be stronger, or he won't marry to me." Zoro ignores the sword master's question.
Koshiro sighs, reaching a hand to take one of the shinai from the boy's hand.
"We say 'he won't marry me' or 'he won't be married to me'." He stands up and straightens his stance.
Zoro looks up at him with a confused head tilt.
"Maybe the gods sent him to make you stronger." He turns to smile at the boy. "Now stand up straight and watch me carefully. I will at least teach you how to swing before your match."
"It's a duel." The boy mutters but does as he's told.
"Match! Kuina wins!"
As expected, Kuina pins Zoro to the ground in an instant, sending his shinai a yard or two out of his reach. Koshiro watches from the side as the blond haired boy runs to Zoro and pulls him to his feet.
"Did it hurt?" He asks, taking one of Zoro's hands to examine where Kuina's shinai struck earlier. "What did you want to tell me?"
Zoro gives his head a quick shake and holds on to the blond boy's hand.
"Listen Curly, I will be stronger than her one day! So when I win..." He frowns. "When I win, you have to agree to a request I make, OK?"
The blond stares back at him, his visible blue eye widening just a tad in wonder. He blinks a few times before the corners of his mouth pull back into the widest, most innocent of smiles. He holds out a pinky.
"It's a promise then, Marimo. Pinky promise, so you can't go back on your words! I'll wait for you."
Zoro links his pinky with the boy, and they recite the pledge in unison.
Pinky promise pledge:
If I lie, I will swallow a thousand needles.
Pinky promised!
Zoro reaches up to pull his necklace over his head, and before Koshiro can speak up to stop him, he slides it over the blond boy's head.
"Ah, Zoro!... You can't..." He calls, but the boy pretends not to hear him.
"Don't lose this. Keep it until I win." Zoro says, and for an instant Koshiro is reminded of the way the boy's father used to speak, as if his words alone have the power to bring intentions into reality.
The blond boy wraps a hand around the golden pendant and leans in to give Zoro a peck on the cheek after a moment of hesitance. The blond chef, who has been standing behind the boy up until now, promptly drags him out of the dojo by the back of his collar, mumbling angrily along the way. The boys share one last look and a small wave to each other.
Zoro watches them disappear through the door before turning back to Koshiro.
"Can you show me the stance again? I think I was doing it wrong."
Koshiro pats him on the head and picks up the shinai.
Lunch will have to wait. The boy has just found something much more important to do.
A/N:
Yes, my intention is to continue this story, but they won't be kindergarteners anymore in the next chapter... so I'm making it into a series. (But I mean... you know where this is going, so it won't always be this light and fluffy, just so you know.)
I have to admit, when I saw people pointing out that Nami's necklace in Thriller Bark matched Zoro's earrings, I was a LITTLE jealous on Sanji's behalf, so here you go Sanji, I got you the necklace. XP