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*** above is a link to a picrew that I made for you guys to see how my OC is meant to look like! (Imagine her with a blindfold on lol) Of course you can still imagine her in anyway you'd like, but I thought this would be a helpful guide :) all credits to the creator of the picrew. Just copy and paste it into your browser and it should come up hopefully!
4 - Shimotsuki Koharu
"First… my blindfold…" Her voice had returned to its usual soft whisper.
She bent to the ground and picked up the abandoned cloth, and turned towards the three unconscious bodies laying on the ground. After deliberation, the girl disappeared to the side of the hut, and came back holding a thick rope in her hands.
"We should tie them up just in case." She gestured to the bodies, and proceeded to drag the woman by her arms to a nearby tree. Hauling both men, one in each arm, over his shoulder, Zoro followed the girl and dumped them against the three, next to the woman. The girl then began to tie the rope around their bodies, binding their unconscious bodies to the tree. Satisfied with her handiwork, she gestured for them to return to the hut.
He followed her silently, this time into the other room inside the hut, which turned out to be a small bedroom. There was a single futon spread on the floor, opposite of the entrance, and a small wardrobe placed next to it. The girl indicated for Zoro to sit on the floor, and he sat himself next to the bed. He watched as the girl opened one of the drawers at the bottom of the wardrobe, and pulled out a fresh white cloth, tossing the other one into the wastebasket in the corner of the room. She whispered something that sounded like a chant under her breath, then tied the cloth around her head. She then pulled out a white box that had a red cross on its lid, and Zoro recognised it as something that Chopper usually carried around for his first-aid duties. When she sat down in front of him, he noticed that there was a faint glow on the blindfold, before it disappeared into the cloth. He suddenly felt like a heavy pressure was relieved from his chest when this happened, and the dark energy of the girl from earlier had disappeared. Zoro crossed his arms and waited for the girl to speak.
"Um… what would Master like to know?" she said, setting aside the first-aid kit.
"First of all, stop calling me Master. It's Zoro. Zo-ro." He pronounced.
"Ah… y-yes, mas- ah, Zo..ro.." She could barely whisper his name, but somehow hearing the whisper of his name on her lips stirred up unfamiliar feelings in his chest.
"What happened when that man removed your blindfold?"
She turned away from Zoro's piercing gaze, fiddling with her fingers uncomfortably.
"Actually, I… was born without a heart. I was supposed to die after I was born, but somehow I survived. They said that a demon possessed my dying body, but my soul hadn't left my body yet, so the demon could not completely take possession of it. Essentially, the demon' soul and mine co-exist within my body, and its existence in my body somehow kept me alive, even without a heart. Ah, but don't worry, the demon was sealed away along with my eyesight when I was six. That's why I have to use the blindfold, it acts as a talisman that seals the demon away in my eyes. When it's removed, the demon awakens and could unleash its powers. I don't know what it can do, specifically, but I know that I feel a darkness within me when it awakens, and I can't control myself."
Zoro listened to her speak, without an indication as to what his thoughts were underneath his cold, expressionless exterior. The girl could still not turn her head in Zoro's direction, which Zoro found odd since she could not see him anyways.
"Back there, it was the… demon… that striked the man after he removed your blindfold?"
"Hm? No, that was me. I was trying to save him." She explained, not offering further elaboration.
Zoro raised his brows. "What do you mean by saving him?"
"Ah, I meant that the demon wanted to kill him. I could feel it urging me to murder him at that moment, so I sliced his eyes to push him away from me." She said, her tone matter-of-fact and unemotional.
More than surprised, Zoro was curious. The girl had just admitted to slicing up a man's eyes on purpose, and even called it saving him? He couldn't decide whether he should be questioning the girl's sanity or praising her ability to hurt an enemy with no hesitation. He supposed he should be doing the latter, since the other option was to let the man die by the hands of a demon that was apparently residing inside of her. Not that he particularly cared for that man's life.
"So you are also a swordswoman. I guess I should have known that you weren't carrying those swords for show."
For the first time since their conversation, she turned her head in Zoro's direction, and he felt as if she was staring into his soul. Zoro shook away the weird feeling.
"Just because I'm a woman, you think I can't handle a sword? You look down on women too much. We are as much capable of being swordmasters as men are!" She fumed, raising her voice for the first time. Her voice did not waver, and her tone held a powerful conviction behind it. Zoro was taken aback by her sudden change in demeanor, and then felt a sudden wave of nostalgia hit him as the words she spoke sounded all too familiar to those of a certain childhood friend. First it was the glasses-marine woman, and now this girl?
"Y-you… Why are you saying such ridiculous things? When did I say that women couldn't handle swords! What's with people and saying the same things to remind me of her…" He muttered the last part to himself, recalling the memories of a rival who he could never beat, who also happened to be a girl.
"Her?" The girl tilted her head quizzically, catching the last part of Zoro's words that were not meant for her.
"A childhood rival I had. I could never beat that person in a duel, and she said the same things as you did. It annoys me that you think I would think women are less superior than men when it comes to swordsmanship, when the one person I could never beat was a woman." Zoro sighed. He didn't know why he was bothering to explain this to her, when he usually would rather leave those memories in the past. There was something about her that made him go against his usual behaviour, and that irked him.
"She sounds like an amazing swordswoman. I'm sorry for raising my voice, I guess I reacted too quickly." She smiled sheepishly and reached for a bottle of liquid from the first-aid kit that she had grabbed before, along with some cotton balls and tweezers. Pouring some liquid on the cotton ball, she gestured for Zoro's arm.
"May I tend to your wound?" She asked for permission, pointing at Zoro's shoulder, which sported a deep red cut from when the woman had slashed him.
"It's just a cut." he grunted, slightly embarrassed that he allowed himself to be distracted and be wounded. He didn't push her away, however, as she reached for his left arm and pulled his shoulder close to inspect.
"Hm, it still smells like fresh blood. It doesn't seem too deep, but I should still fix it up for you." Her breath fanned his shoulder as she brought her nose to sniff the wound, and Zoro could feel the heat rising to his cheeks at her proximity.
What's with this reaction? Get yourself together, Zoro! He inwardly chastised himself, but the pink tinge to his cheeks didn't fade.
The girl began to rip the top of his shirt at the shoulders, exposing his chest and left arm.
"Oi! What are you-" Zoro exclaimed, his cheeks turning an even deeper shade of pink.
"Sorry, I will give you another shirt when I'm finished. This one is ripped and dirty anyways." Her innocent tone and lack of reaction to his exposed flesh made him embarrassed that he even blushed. His skin burned as she gently cleaned his wound with the disinfectant, though he did not flinch. He found himself studying her features closely, from her wispy bangs that framed her face, to her light eyebrows peeking out from her blindfold. Her nose bridge was not high, and the tip of her nose was slightly upturned and round, like a button. Her lips had a natural rosy tint, and the shape was round and soft at the edges, looking plump and delicious-
"Ahem!" Zoro feigned a cough, and quickly turned his face away from hers as he willed his inappropriate thoughts away. He didn't know what about her made him react so much, when he usually never faltered in the presence of beautiful women. Zoro was never particularly interested in the idea of falling in love, or being with a woman. He never gave it much thought, preferring to keep his thoughts focused on his goal of becoming the world's greatest swordsman and helping his captain become the pirate king. But with the girl, there was something stirring deep inside of him that he couldn't understand, and frankly, was afraid of.
"Oh! Right, I was going to explain how I knew that you carried the Wado Ichimonji." She suddenly started, referring to their conversation before the uninvited guests had interrupted. She had moved on from cleaning his wound to wrapping his entire shoulder and upper arm in bandages, which Zoro found far too excessive for the small scratch he considered his injury to be.
"Actually, I am fairly familiar with that sword. It used to belong to me."
Once again, Zoro found himself surprised at the girl.
"It belonged to you?"
"Yes. It was made by my grandfather, and passed down from my father to me. Ah, but I didn't get to use it for long, because I gave it away to my sister. My grandfather then made Benzaiten for me to use."
Zoro froze. She gave it away… to her sister? Could it be…
"You. What's your name?"
Her brows raised, and her expression looked surprised.
"Oh! My apologies, I haven't even introduced myself properly. My name is Shimotsuki Koharu. But please call me Haru."
WOAAHH PLOT TWISTTT
Not really but yes if yall dont get it immediately Shimotsuki is the name of the village in the East Blue Zoro was from, and also the name of the swordsmith who forged the Wado Ichimonji and Enma. ALSO he was Kuina's grandfather so basically our OC is Kuina's sister! Surprise!
Just some quick trivia:
Her name, Koharu (心春), have the japanese characters for 'heart' (心) and 'spring' (春). I guess it could mean spring heart, or blooming heart, or something like that haha.
The name of her sword is Benzaiten (弁才天), is the Japanese name of the Buddhist goddess of love and femininity. She can also be considered the god of literature and music, from my research, so that's where the name comes from. I thought it was a cute contrast to the name of Zoro's sword Enma, which is the god of hell.
** edit: i was reading the chapter over and i realised that i wrote that her "eyes" flickered to zoro's shoulder when shes supposed to be blind so i just edited that ^^ my bad!
