3 - Dance

Zoro paused in his movement to clean the blood off his swords when he felt the presence of another person inside of the hut where the girl was waiting for him. He realised he was too late when the person stepped out of the hut, holding the girl captive with a knife pressed against her neck. He growled lowly when the girl let out a soft whimper.

Zoro usually didn't feel strong emotions towards strangers he just met, and with any other person in a situation like this, he was sure he wouldn't be reacting in this way. Then why was this girl an exception? Although he would not simply let any stranger die in a situation like this, he still wouldn't be feeling this much anger inside him. His blood was boiling, and he eyed the knife at her neck with a look that, if looks could kill, the shadow and the arms he used to restrain the girl and threaten her with would be ripped apart. What was it about the girl that made him react this way to her life being in danger? She was not his nakama. She was certainly not someone close to him, so why? He shook his head of these bothersome thoughts, and focused on how he would handle the situation at hand.

"Now, now, Roronoa. Don't make any sudden movements, or this girl will die."

The stranger, clad in a black suit and wearing black gloves, looked like an ordinary salaryman with an ordinary day job. His natural black hair was slicked back neatly, and his face was clean shaven, without any significant scars or features. He simply looked like a forgettable face.

"You know who I am. So why would you think that I, a pirate, would care about the life of some random little girl?" He said, in the calmest voice that he could muster despite his increasing rage.

The girl flinched slightly at his words, and Zoro felt a pang of guilt hit his chest. What was that? he thought. He had never felt such an emotion before.

"Don't bother with the act. I've been watching you for quite some time. I know you saved the girl from the bear, and with the way you reacted to me when I came out with the girl, I know you probably wouldn't want her to die so easily. Well, you are right about one thing. You are a pirate, and you filthy pirates can't be trusted, so even if what you said was true, we have you cornered anyways. We don't need the girl alive, although it would be preferable."

The man's words caused Zoro to take notice of a third figure inching closer towards them, until they finally emerged from the shadows of the jungle into the clearing. This time, it was a tall, slender woman clad in the same black suit as the man, sporting dark sunglasses that hid her eyes. Her dark red hair was slicked back into a bun, and she held two guns in her hands, both of which were pointing at Zoro.

Zoro cursed at himself for not being able to sense the presence of the woman. Why couldn't he sense the man and woman before they came out, when he usually would be able to? And what he said before, they were being watched the whole time? How could he not have noticed?

"You must be confused. Let me explain it to you. Although I believe it would be a waste of breath to explain this to an idiot pirate like you, I must share the brilliance of this power that I possess, the stealth-stealth devil fruit. I am able to conceal my entire presence, along with my colleague's, and hide myself as if I was never even there. Isn't it so convenient for a government spy such as myself? Huhuhuhuhu!" the man laughed haughtily, then froze as he realised what he had inadvertently revealed.

"Ahem," he cleared his throat, "I will now be taking the both of you into custody. Do not try to escape, it is pointless."

Zoro scoffed. In fact, the whole time the man was giving his ridiculous speech, Zoro took the time to calm himself of the rage he was feeling before. He now had a clear head and knew what to do next. First, he would go for the man holding the blind girl hostage. He could easily cut him down before he could do anything to harm the girl, he now realised, as the man was arrogant but a coward. He would try to preserve his own life before trying to take the girl's, Zoro was sure of it. Secondly, he could easily dodge and deflect bullets, so the woman would be easy to take down. Now-

Before Zoro could make a move, the girl's cry caught his attention.

"No! Don't remove my-"

"Stop struggling, I just want to see if what they say is true, if you've really got demon-"

Before the man could finish, and before Zoro could swing his sword at him, the girl disappeared into a flash of movement and the man suddenly fell to the floor, writhing in agony.

He was holding his hand to his right eye, trying to stop the blood gushing out of it. The girl stood looking down at him, holding her bloodied katana in her left hand. Her blindfold had been tossed carelessly into the grass.

Zoro narrowed his eyes. The girl's aura had changed. Although she looked like the same girl from a few seconds ago, her presences felt completely different. He could feel something darker, more sinister in her presence, and almost felt smothered by it. What was this evil energy radiating of the once innocent looking girl?

Instinctively, Zoro raised his sword to block the oncoming flurry of bullets that the woman was firing at him and the girl. Deflecting each bullet with ease, he walked backwards until his back touched the girl's.

"What…" he started, before being interrupted.

"P-please, help me put my blindfold back on... I can't control it yet, I might hurt you!" the girl cried out desperately. Zoro raised his brow, wondering what she meant by controlling 'it'.

Zoro snapped his eyes to a bullet that was headed straight for the girl's head, and managed to slice it in half before it could make an impact. He decided that he would question her later, and moved towards the woman.

Pulling out his second sword, he crossed them and pushed against the woman, who was defending with her guns. He easily overpowered her and flung her guns away, before slashing her with both swords. She stepped back before he could inflict a deeper wound, and reached for her shoe to pull out a silver dagger. Zoro's focus was broken for a split second with the sound of the girl grunting in pain from behind him, which allowed for the woman to slash at his face. He managed to dodge his face to the right at the last second, but the woman was still able to leave a bleeding cut on his left shoulder. Zoro tsked at himself for getting distracted, and decided to end the stupid scuffle. He could hardly consider it a fair fight anyways. Gripping his swords tightly, he rushed forward and cut the woman's defending dagger into pieces before landing a final blow on her chest with the back of his sword. The woman crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

Turning around, Zoro was ready to finish off the other man when he saw that the girl was still fighting with him. The man had ditched his knife from earlier for two shortswords, and the pair were locked into a close battle. The girl had pulled out her kodachi and was using it in her right hand, along with her katana. She skillfully wielded both swords as if they were an extension of her body, and Zoro couldn't help but admire the way her movements flowed like she was simply dancing, her footsteps light and soft despite the strength she demonstrated with her swords. After a moment of clashing, the girl finally managed to duck under an attack from the man and slash both his legs with her katana. He finally went down with a thud and the girl stood up, panting heavily. Her kimono was slightly ripped, exposing a deep red gash running from her collarbone to her left shoulder, and her hair had loosened from her bun. Hip length, soft curls spilled down her back, and her bangs slightly stuck to her forehead which was slick with sweat. She raised her head to the sky, the moon enveloping her soft features in an ethereal glow. Zoro almost forgot what he was doing as he admired her beauty, and clenched his jaw to remind himself of the potential danger that the girl posed.

He carefully walked towards her, sheathing his swords but keeping one hand gripping the hilt of one of them.

"Oi, explain to me what happened."

She turned around, and Zoro felt a chill down his spine as he stared into her blood red irises.


*footnote:

Take a shot everytime I describe the girl with 'soft' T.T BUT CMON SHES SO SOFT AND CUTE UWU

also i realised yall dont even know the name of the girl yet shes literally been called "the girl" for THREE WHOLE CHAPTERS… anyways name reveal in the next two chapters hehehe

ALSO notice how i tried to make a somewhat one-piece-esque villain, from his comical monologue to his stupid laugh "huhuhuhu" XD

Updates will probably get slower from here as the story is a work in progress (maybe once or twice a week?), but I wanted to get out these three chapters immediately so that you guys can get a feel for the flow of the story and the plot or whatever.