Hey everybody,
guess who got off from work early to be able to upload the chapter in time, but still ended up being late?
But here we are now, so let's get startet ;-) Have a great time
P.S. And thanks for your lovely comments, every single one really makes my day!
Chapter 8 - Knowledge
-Zoro-
"Come on, do it!" She sat at the other end of the bed and stared at him nonstop, her hands placed on her thighs, while she was moving back and forth cross-legged.
Between them lay a plate with two pieces of cake; Zoro had actually eaten one of them despite them being way too sweet for him, dripping with bright yellow icing, but since then he felt nauseous.
By now he mourned Kanan's cooking, he even mourned the food prepared by the damn cook.
"Come on! You can do it!"
"I'm not a dog, got it?"
"But I want to see it!" She lamented.
"I don't care," he growled.
"Well come on, I cooked especially for you."
Slowly they got louder.
"Throwing sugar and butter in a pot is not cooking!"
"It is! And now, transform!" She commanded, slapping the sheets.
"I can't!" He yelled.
Surprised, she leaned back and he, too, was surprised by his loud confession.
"What? Why?" Now she wasn't as excited anymore.
"Because I don't know how. I have no idea how I changed," he finally admitted.
"Oh, so..." She tilted her head but after a moment she grinned scornful. "You're really stupid, aren't you?"
He stared at her. "Are you trying to make me kill..."
"Well, you were unconscious when you turned into a girl. So, it can't be that hard, right?"
Wordlessly, he watched her pounder. Perhaps she wasn't that wrong.
"Maybe that means it's easier for you to turn into a girl than a man. After all, you even made it while being unconscious."
Deliberating her words, he nodded. Despite her snappy behavior and her annoying hassle, the ghost chick could be right.
"Let's summarize," she muttered, "you don't know how to change and you're unintentionally turned into a girl again. But when I found you, you were a guy."
"What's your point?" He grumbled unnerved.
"Do you know what you did when you turned into a guy?"
Zoro thought about it; he didn't know exactly what he had done to transform back into his original form, but he knew exactly what had triggered it.
"Actually, it's very simple," she said, tipping a finger against her chin.
"Oh, really?" He asked skeptically. If it was so easy, why had it taken him over a month to transform himself in the first place?
"Yes, of course, you just have to do exactly the same thing as when you transformed and BOOM, you're a man again. Although..." She looked at him with pouted lips. "You're so much cuter this way, maybe it would be better if I don't help you."
"Shut up!" He growled. But if he was honest, she was probably right.
Sighing, he decided to give it a try.
He looked at his hands on the white sheet and remembered the previous evening, recalled this feeling of horror when he had lost his friends one by one, recalled that despair when his captain had fallen to the ground.
He closed his eyes, letting this unrestrained energy of fear and terror flow through his veins. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, on the contrary, he didn't want to feel that way, didn't want to feel that pain, but then he realized it. Suddenly, as if the gates to hell were being torn open, he felt torrid. A consuming, painful heat, like a fire that devoured his intestines.
He opened his eyes and clung to the sheets, while this inner fire gradually burned him.
"What the..." Perona's voice was far away, and although Zoro had his eyes wide open, everything was blurry and distorted, nothing more than an all-enrapturing vortex of light and shadow.
The sea of internal flames had reached his fingertips, he could hear his bones cracking, could feel tendons tearing and muscles bursting, could feel how each part of his body threatened to melt under the heat of those unseen flames.
He knew this heat, this pain, did not feel it for the first time.
But this time he clung to his mind and did not allow himself to faint under these inhuman torments.
Then it was over. Within a few heartbeats, the flames disappeared, leaving bland numbness and glaring pain behind, and then it was just over.
All he heard was his own hot breath and his fast-beating heart.
He had bowed his sweat-drawn forehead against the sheet, his wet hands still cramped, every muscle of his body was almost bursting apart.
Slowly he calmed down, breathed more evenly, allowed oxygen to fill his tired lungs.
"Unbelievable."
He could hear Perona whispering, her voice just a hint.
Carefully he leaned back, his view still blurred, noticed that Perona, holding the cake plate, had jumped from the bed and was now watching him.
"Z... Zoro?" She asked, almost anxiously.
He was still breathing heavily, and his body was still burning with exhaustion, but then he saw his hands, saw his tanned and gruff male hands.
He had done it!
He had transformed!
He was Roronoa Zoro again!
-Mihawk-
He woke up.
Grumbling he ruffled through his messy hair and was already annoyed with himself. He had fallen asleep on the sofa and his body was not quite thankful.
His gaze slid down to the small transponder snail that was sleeping next to him on the pillow. With a sigh, he put it back into his pocket and looked around.
His chambers were illuminated by a red light, the sun was just setting, he must have slept for several hours.
He looked over to the big clock, which was ticking silently, Kanan and her family must have reached Sasaki by now or would soon, unless something had happened, but in that case, he probably would have been notified.
Roronoa himself was apparently safe, on an island with a castle and dangerous primates.
Could it actually be Kuraigana? That would be an almost clichéd coincidence. Why should the youngster land on that island of all places? On Mihawk's chosen home? His real home?
On the other hand, how had this idiot managed to run into Bartholomew Kuma - of all people who were in Mary Joa - without being seen by anyone else?
This boy seemed to have a very odd kind of luck.
Kuma's behavior, however, did not seem to be either coincidence or unbelievable fortune to him. It was not that Mihawk knew this weakling well enough, he almost detested the World Government's bootlicker, but it seemed quite uncharacteristic to him that Kuma had intervened unquestioned in a situation that did not need him to take action. Since when did Kuma act out of line?
Without his intervention, the straw hats would have been captured; in the end his entrance had even helped them to escape, at least as far as the respective crew members had actually survived the power of Kuma's devil power.
But even stranger was that he had also sent Roronoa away without even mentioning it apparently. A pirate in the Holy Land, just a few days before a war and Kuma did not report it?
Poundering, Mihawk walked over to the adjoining bathroom and began to undress. Under the shower, he looked at his distorted reflection in the glass.
In fact, this independent action without seeking first authorization by the World Government first did not fit Kuma at all. No, Mihawk was absolutely certain that something was off, and if he really were interested in that matter, he would take a closer look while he was here, dig deeper into the past of the other Shichibukai and find out every little dirty detail just to get a clear picture.
But if he was honest, he did not want to.
Kuma may have had his reasons, reasons that were obviously beyond the influence of the World Government, but that was fine for Mihawk. He would not get involved, after all he had to take care of Roronoa and that was already a challenge he could hardly master.
Mihawk turned off the water and walked out again.
His reflection in the mirror surprised him. He looked... softer. Yes, exactly. His wet hair was spiked into all directions, making him look younger and hotheaded. His untrimmed beard blurred the sharp line of his jaw and somehow the man in front of him seemed more relaxed than he was familiar with.
Sighing, he started correcting this softer, gentler image of himself by first taming his beard and then his hair. This was already going too far!
Lady Loreen was allowed to act as his weakness, Roronoa was his weakness, but he would never become weak, never again!
He was no longer the weak boy of that time and nothing should ever remind him of it.
Satisfied with his work, he dried up and dressed again, no longer reeking of dried sweat, no longer looking weak.
Arriving in his rooms, he strolled over to the in-house transponder snail and ordered something to eat. If he already had to spend his free time here, the World Government could at least treat him to some reasonable wine.
Over and over again, his right hand slipped into his pocket and patted the small transponder snail, as if his subconscious desperately wanted him to call Roronoa.
But the other one was probably even asleep.
"Argh!"
Angry, he ruffled through his hair, destroyed his carefully groomed hairstyle, and kicked against the already broken screen lying on the ground, which then crushed against the next wall.
Why was he not able to think about something else? About somebody else?
When had this cursed child decided to become master of his thoughts?!
How dare he…?!
"Geez, Hawky."
Surprised, he rushed around. In the room door stood no other but Rear Admiral Cho Jiroushin, in front of him a small wagon with food and drinks.
"What are you doing, Hawky?" His green eyes under the Marine cap were wide open and his boyish face could not hide the surprise.
"Jiroushin, what are you doing here?" Mihawk, too, was confused; there was no reason for his friend to be present at all. Did he not have enough work to do? Why did he show up in Mary Joa and especially in this room?
"What are you doing in my rooms without knocking first and like a servant with this wagon?"
The blond laughed.
"Listen to the spoiled upper-class brat complaining. Today, they're not called servants, but employees."
"Tze, a few blocks down the road they are still called slaves."
The other closed the door behind him and came closer with large steps. As if they had not seen each other for ages, the Rear Admiral embraced Mihawk and hugged him, though Jirous had helped him train Roronoa just a few days ago. No, rather the other had trained Lady Loreen and Mihawk had watched.
"What are you doing, Jirou? We are no longer children."
"Oh, stop complaining. I was worried."
Unimpressed, Mihawk raised an eyebrow and brushed off the other's arms.
"About me?"
"Of course, and about Loreen."
Mihawk walked over to the wagon and pushed it in front of one of the sofas.
"Your overprotective behavior will one day be your doom, my friend," he said cold.
Jirou followed him and sat down next to him while he was already opening the wine.
"Look, who's talking," Jirou replied with a subtle grin, but Mihawk ignored him. "Stop avoiding me, Hawky. Drop the act, I know you too well for that."
Mihawk did not respond while filling two glasses with the crimson liquid. Meanwhile, his childhood friend opened up the buffet.
"So? Gonou just called me and told me that he and Kanan brought Loreen back to Sasaki. She doesn't seem to be doing well, right?"
Mihawk shrugged his shoulder.
"Why did he call you? He was supposed to inform me," was all he could say without lying to his childhood friend.
Jirou muttered something dissatisfied under his breath.
"Excuse me?"
Mihawk as well filled his plate before his friend would eat it all.
"Well, I rush over here for you to share the important news about the lady of your heart and you're..."
"Lady of my heart?" He asked, while the other continued to ramble.
"And you're not even grateful. I understand that you care about your great love but still..."
"My great love?" He looked at the blond with raised eyebrows. "You are aware that this foolish child is nothing more than that, a foolish child?"
"Ohohoh Hawky, you don't fool me. Everybody knows how much she means to you, and I have already given you my blessing."
"Yes, I still don't know for what I would need your blessing."
The other poured himself some more wine.
Mihawk sighed, it was pointless to argue with the other about this topic; no matter how often he explained that Roronoa and him had no romantic feelings, Jiroushin would never believe him, Mihawk himself had made sure of that by building up all those lies about Lady Loreen. Now he had to live with the consequences.
"So Hawky, how are you?"
He shrugged his shoulders and began to eat. How this charade annoyed him, but it was necessary to protect Roronoa.
"Say, Jirou. What are you doing here? A war is just around the corner, a war against Whitebeard. All the officers will be on high alert and I can imagine that work has only piled up after your vacation. Why are you here?" He asked, even though he knew the answer. He knew his childhood friend too well, too long, to not know why the other had come over.
"You know why," the other replied accordingly, "after our phone call, I was worried about you. I thought you might be doing something stupid."
Mihawk grinned awkwardly. "No matter how many years go by, you cannot stop worrying about me, can you?"
The Rear Admiral laughed aloud: "Of course not. However, I admit that I have been much less concerned about you during the last few weeks than usual."
Mihawk looked at the other questioning.
"Well, because of Loreen", the other clarified.
Mihawk sighed and looked at his almost empty glass. He had never lied to Jiroushin, perhaps he had not always told him everything, not always revealed the whole truth to him, but never lied. Not because he had scruples to do so. No, such an unnecessary sense of honor was nonsense and completely out of place in this world. Sometimes a lie was necessary and for the better good of all, no, he had no problem at all with distorting the truth when it was appropriate.
The reason he had never lied to Jirou was a very different one, a much simpler one. It had never been necessary, there had never been anything he had needed to hide from the other, from his best and closest friend.
But with Roronoa's appearance, even that had changed.
It was a strange feeling, not really foreign and yet unfamiliar.
He was also disturbed by how much his best friend interpreted into Mihawk's relationship with his little frog. It was incredibly annoying.
They continued to eat in consensual silence.
"Hawky?"
"Hmm?"
"It's okay," muttered the other.
Mihawk looked stubbornly ahead into the darkening night.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not stupid, you know? If I may remind you, our last chess game was eternity ago, but it took days."
"Just because you dislike playing for time."
"Playing against you for time is boring. A game without restrictions is much more interesting."
"Well, you might be right about that."
They were silent again.
"Will you ever tell me the truth?"
For a long time, Mihawk was quiet but then he sighed.
"That is not in my control, my friend. However, I cannot stop you from finding out the truth yourself."
For a moment, Jiroushin was also still.
"And if I just ask Loreen for the truth myself?"
Mihawk could not prevent a quiet laugh.
"I doubt you can avoid relying on your own mind."
"Oh, that's mean," the other mumbled before he began to think aloud. "I think she's kind of related to this Roronoa Zoro. I mean the same hair, both swordfighters, and she showed up at your place shortly after his death. Would also explain her connection to the straw hats. So, how close am I?"
"Not even at the same ocean; your deductions are superficially, as often, Jiroushin. Why should the sister of Roronoa Zoro come to me after his death and not go directly to the straw hats? Why would I agree to train his sister while Roronoa Zoro wanted to defeat me and yet was nothing more than a novice?"
"Yes, I've been thinking about that. Especially because all of this is so contrary to your usual behavior. It's also hard to filter what's correct from the newspaper and what's not. Kanan and Lirin seem to know something, but neither of them would tell me anything at all."
"Well, that just speaks for the fact that your investigative skills are not as good as you always think."
The other sighed heavily and dropped against the back of the sofa.
"I've already thought about all possible sorts of scenarios and yet nothing really meaningful comes around."
"Maybe you should consider the impossible."
"What?" Jiroushin looked at him awkwardly. "That doesn't make any sense at all."
Mihawk shrugged his shoulder and decided to drop the topic.
"Say, are you fine with not being home yet? Lirin must be worried and furious at the same time."
"Oh, don't worry, there's some stupid session for the Rear Admirals tonight, so I have to be here."
"Oh, I thought you had come here just to tell me the news of the lady of my heart," he grinned sarcastically.
"Stop it, you idiot. I've cut off work earlier because of you. I don't know why I have to attend such an evening event, but I really don't want to sit around for five hours or so."
"I would dare to suspect that it might be related to the approaching war and that the World Government could not better integrate the instruction of minor Rear Admirals into the schedule."
"Minor?"
"When is this event even going to take place?"
"At eight, why?"
He nodded over to the clock.
"Oh, holy shit!"
"Language, please."
But the Rear Admiral had already jumped up and ran to the door.
"Jirou?"
"What?!"
Mihawk turned towards him and pointed to the wagon with the finished meal.
"Do you please take back what you brought?"
"Kiss my ass!"
Loudly, the door behind the other slammed shut.
Laughing, Mihawk got up and pushed the wagon outside, where it was no longer his problem.
It was at that very moment that his problem called.
