Hey everybody,
I hope you're having a great start into the new week! Mine was pretty busy, so I'm kind of late, but still in time, so here you go ;-)
Thank you for your nice comments, I'm always looking forward to them^^
See you friday
Chapter 25 - Distance
-Zoro-
He didn't want to admit it, he couldn't admit it, wouldn't admit it.
After a long briefing with Eizen and his assistant, Ms. Rihaku, Zoro had attended his first official meeting during the early evening of the first day.
At first, Zoro had felt as stupid as back then at the conference of the five islands to which Hawk Eyes had once dragged him, he had been very bored and wondered why he had been even there in the first place.
Just to avoid breaking his contract – and because he had been about to fall asleep – Zoro had begun to follow the lectures, had looked up notes and documents, and he had listened.
With every passing minute Zoro had more and more understood what was at stake, understood what had been discussed and why different opinions had been present. He had started to understand why people had gotten loud when certain names had been thrown into the room.
The delegates of the World Government argued about which contracts with the various kingdoms should be extended, amended, or terminated and what consequences could arise from such decisions.
Eizen attended the meetings on behalf of the World Aristocrats, sitting next to a bald man who was probably the representative of the five elders. Eizen had not promised too much, Zoro was in the heart of the World Government, and he wondered why the politician willingly smuggled in a pirate.
By now the third day had already begun and even if Zoro did not want to realize it, refused to accept it, he could not deny that the whole thing was somehow not so boring.
It was an exaggeration to say that he was having a good time – no, certainly not – yet he wanted to know with which country a war could break out. Why certain kingdoms abolished slavery and what that might mean for their respective economies. Why various natural tribes refused to appoint a common head in order to negotiate with the World Government and whether a violent action against them was necessary.
At the beginning Zoro had started to listen because he had to, because he had been forced to do so. Then he had decided to collect and pick up at least everything that could be useful for his crew and as annoying as it all was, he just couldn't convince himself to simply close his eyes and fall asleep.
He sat next to Ms. Rihaku and skimmed through the current file looking for the chart the lecturer referred to. Meanwhile, the serene woman with the almond-shaped eyes leaned forward and whispered something to her superior.
Zoro had finally found the chart and began to compare it with the documents he had compiled the night before, and at the same time he tried to listen to the speaker.
It wasn't that he was really interested in it, after all, such things had never been important to him. Even the conversations with Mihawk about what was happening in the world had been rather annoying for him. He was not a scholar, no academic, and certainly not a politician.
Things like economic relationships or international peace treaties were terms he had never used before, and yet he was sitting here and felt like he had come to know a new world. A world of which he knew purely nothing, which he had never cared for.
All these things had never been important to him, had not in any way related to his personal life. He shouldn't care whether the World Aristocrats wanted to buy up the remaining slaves of a royal empire in the West Blue. He shouldn't care if weapons had to be used against the natural people in the Calm Belt. All these issues really didn't matter to his own life.
Nevertheless, he was sitting in this meeting of mighty and powerful politicians and could not prevent from feeling small, almost insignificant, when he thought about all those things he had previously ignored simply out of disinterest.
Already during the first evening he had realized that Mihawk's way of wording would not have been a peculiarity among those people, even more, Zoro slowly wondered whether Mihawk had participated in such meetings, had been trained for such conversations.
He still had no idea why Eizen wanted him to be present, why he was sitting between all these rhetoricians and theorists, but all of the sudden this world seemed so incredibly big to him. So many places were mentioned that he had never heard of. A simple question contained thousands of small problems that were noted and each one was addressed, was discussed.
He wondered what Robin would think of all this, could already see her standing up and expressing her opinion; he could see how she would get involved here to change the world.
Rihaku leaned towards him and explained several things in a soft voice. She had been given the unrewarding task of answering his questions and explaining things he did not understand, and there were many of them. In all honesty, here among all these people, Zoro felt really stupid.
But he didn't try to let it show that easily. Every now and then he whispered to Rihaku his questions and she answered them all. Whether she was annoyed that she had to play Zoro's babysitter, only she knew; her face revealed nothing.
By the early evening the session was over and Zoro followed Eizen and Rihaku into their meeting room; the bald man, who had been sitting next to Eizen, was also present, and Zoro could see from his posture that he was probably a pretty good fighter.
Now they would revise the conference, this work was even less for him, but actually nothing was expected of him, Zoro was a listener, a silent observer. Nevertheless, he sat there and read what Rihaku presented to him and answered the questions that Eizen asked him in between, while the politician mainly talked to the bald guy.
Not a lot was expected of Zoro during this meeting. Eizen seemed to know exactly what he could ask him without making Zoro look like an idiot, for that did not seem to be the intention of the politician. Sometimes he took Zoro's rather simple answers and rephrased his words in such a way that Zoro himself no longer understood them while Ms. Rihaku next to him nodded and even the bald man would cast a glance at him.
The days passed until finally the evening before the day of his departure arrived.
Zoro would have liked to say that time had flown, that he had learned an unspeakably amount about the world and himself, and that he was now a changed person. But it wasn't like that. After only a few days, a constant headache had accompanied him, which had made it impossible to practice Haki at all, and right now Zoro was just glad that this whole mess would soon be over, at least for now.
Currently he was sitting in his room, trying to remember the names of the people who would attend tomorrow's last meeting. He didn't even know why he had to - most of them he would never see again - but he did what Ms. Rihaku told him without questioning.
A sudden knock interrupted his brooding and as he looked up Eizen stood in the door, wearing his impervious sunglasses like most of the times.
"May I come in?" He asked in his typical polite manner before a creepy grin swept any courtesy away. "As I see, you are still hardworking, my dear."
Zoro swallowed and did not respond, but only looked at him coolly. It was the first time the politician visited him in his rooms. Perona was next door to prepare everything for the departure. Now that they were among themselves, the politician did not hide his face behind a mask of courtesy. The old man closed the door behind him.
"And how do you like your first conference?" He asked innocently.
"I still don't understand why you want me to be here, Eizen," Zoro replied calmly. "We both know that I don't understand much about these issues and Ms. Rihaku certainly has more important things to do than to take care of me."
The other smiled and slightly tilted his head.
"I want you to get an idea of how a conference of the World Government works. I want you to see how people behave, how they talk, how they articulate. I want you to be familiar with the matter."
"Why?" Zoro didn't trust him.
"Isn't it obvious? You will soon take part in these discussions, even lead them."
The stranger's grin grew a bit.
"What?"
"Of course, you do not have to worry. You will be trained beforehand, a mind as simple as yours will need a lot of training before you are ready, and even then, the speeches will be written for you."
Had the other just called him stupid? Zoro wasn't sure, that guy always used so many words.
"Why should I give any speeches you have written for me?"
"Because I tell you to," the other replied with a smile.
"And why do you want me to do that? Why not stand at the podium yourself?"
Now the politician laughed slightly.
"How many times will I have to explain it to you, my dear? It is your destiny, your gift; people will listen to you, trust you. First, we concentrate on subjects moving the masses: war, slavery, famine. This will make you gather a lot of supporters and then we will go into the more sensitive topics, give you the depth and the necessary expertise."
Zoro shook his head.
"Why? Why me?"
"Because hardly anyone is interested in an old politician, in pen-pushers. But you are well known, every week you are in the newspaper and the masses will listen to you."
"You want to misuse me to gain people's trust."
"Not at all, my dear." The other took a step towards him. "On the contrary, I am building you up, making you what few can be. A mission role model, an idol, a symbolic figure. You, my dear, will initiate a new age and you are not even aware of it."
Now the other stood right in front of him and Zoro felt compelled to get up.
"You should be grateful that I take the time to prepare the way for an uneducated chimp like you. Isn't it an eccentric fate that a dirty pirate is destined to change the world?"
Zoro swallowed.
"You are insane, I told you before. Whatever you intend to do will not succeed. I doubt that I can live up to your expectations in the least."
Still broadly grinning, the politician turned around and walked away.
"Oh my dear, despite your limited potentials, you have already exceeded my expectations. Mihawk is your pet dog, so the five islands are already part of your entourage, and you sell yourself far more magnificently than I ever thought possible. I did not expect that you are such a natural at acting. Even Rihaku thinks you are educated and has found a liking in you."
"Why are you here, Eizen? Why are you telling me all this?" Zoro ignored the more obvious side-blows.
At the door, the other looked at him again.
"I want you to be aware of where this journey is leading, my dear. I want to show you what opportunities you will get through me. You will be one of the most powerful people in the world within a few years."
Then the old man pulled his glasses down slightly so that they stared at each other directly. For a brief moment, his eyes flashed in bright red.
"But above all, I want you to be aware of your situation. The village of Shimotzuki from the East Blue is on an important route for Marine ships, so life there is very peaceful. As you know, tomorrow's meeting will deal with Marine operations. It would be a shame if the route had to be changed for strategic reasons."
Quietly giggling, the other walked out and left Zoro behind.
Breathless, he fell back to his chair.
How could he ever win against this guy? Zoro wanted to break his neck, kill him very slowly, very painfully, and then getting rid of him once and for all. He had thought he was a fellow player, a match to the politician, perhaps even a danger, but no, he was no different from Mihawk, just a pawn on the field of politics.
Exhausted, he buried his head in his hands.
Less than a year ago, he had been in the East Blue, looking for Hawk Eyes, the best swordsman in the world, had led a modest, insignificant life, and now, now he was here, in a world he would never understand.
Slowly, he wondered who he really was by now? Was he still just Roronoa Zoro? Swordsman and pirate?
The delicate fingers before his eyes said something different.
"Damn it!"
He jumped up and hit the table in front of him, to his surprise it flew against the next best wall and crashed to the ground, one leg broke off and rolled over the ground.
Astonished, he looked at his little hands while Perona rushed through the door, her eyes huge as always.
"Tze."
-Mihawk-
Day ten!
Yes, he knew it, he was not a fool, yet he stood in the shade of the trees since sunrise, waiting for a shadow to darken the sky on the distant horizon.
What else should he do?
The last days had been rather dull; the book that Roronoa had translated for him had not even lasted the first evening and Mihawk had read it several times afterwards again during the days that had followed.
Otherwise, he had not been able to do much. The newspaper had occupied him perhaps for an hour every day, only the few articles about the Congress of the World Government had been able to captivate him a little longer.
Had his life always been that boring?
It was not that he had to stand here, waiting for his little frog to come back. Of course, Mihawk was anxious and impatient, but he could be like that just as well in his comfortable armchair at the fireplace. In fact, it was rather the problem that he had absolutely no idea of what to do.
Sighing, he leaned against the next best tree. Since when had his life become so cruelly boring?
He had even started doing paperwork, even though that was the least thing he was interested in. He had tried several times to call Jiroushin, but his friend had not been available. So Mihawk had decided to use his free time to travel to Sasaki to check on his childhood friend – as he had nothing else to do - but Jiroushin had not been there either. At least, he had been able to pick up a package from Kanan. As he had suspected it inheld Roronoa's new clothes. Whatever Kanan had come up with.
Now he was here wondering how long it would take for the Marine ship to appear.
But when the sun was already dangerously close to the horizon, it was not a Marine ship that he could recognize in the distance but one of the World Government.
"This stuck-up twit," he murmured.
Next to the World Aristocrats, there were only one or two people allowed to call such a ship their own. Eizen was one of them, of course, and obviously he had nothing better to do than personally bring Lady Loreen to the front door. Well, at least, he brought Roronoa home on time.
The sun had already started to disappear behind the horizon when the big ship was finally close enough and a small boat was let down into the water.
"Welcome home." He could see the surprise in these wide-open eyes of the youngster as Mihawk handed him a hand as always to come ashore.
He confidently ignored Perona and the officials of the World Government as he helped Roronoa out of the boat, should they take care of the luggage, for he would certainly not.
Roronoa nodded only briefly as a greeting and then made his way to the castle without even saying a word. Apparently, the last ten days had put his little frog in a bad mood.
Quietly smiling, he followed the youngster.
"So," he said, as he caught up with the other after a few steps, "what was it like? What did Eizen want?"
"Can we not talk about him for once?" The other grumbled unusually harsh for his feminine figure. "I'm about to break this bastard's neck."
"Oh no, was it that awful?" Mihawk couldn't help but grin at the other's behavior.
But then Roronoa swirled around and Mihawk lost his smile.
Roronoa was not only angry, Mihawk could easily see his emotions, his lower lip trembled, his fists quivered, his eyes wide open, and deep furrows between the eyebrows. Rarely had Mihawk seen him so agitated.
"Can we train, please?!" The other almost growled. "If I don't do something, I will... I can't..."
"I understand," Mihawk nodded, and walked on.
He actually did understand the other very well. This terrible feeling of helplessness, of powerlessness, having to obey someone, one's own hands tied, exposed to the arbitrariness of others.
He had never actually believed that Roronoa had signed this contract, because it suited Lady Loreen, as the other one had claimed back then. Of course, Eizen blackmailed Roronoa, probably with Mihawk and the people of Sasaki, because there was nothing else he could use, right?
He understood why Roronoa did not tell him; the other knew that Mihawk was not as thoughtful as usual when it came to Roronoa. For this very reason, Mihawk had not yet raised the issue, because it would only lead to a new dispute and the way Roronoa currently acted they could obviously not risk it. Or did Mihawk simply want to avoid the inevitable in order to preserve the fragile peace on this small island?
Silently, they rushed along the forest and finally reached the castle.
"Transform and change, afterwards we will begin immediately."
The other did not even react, but immediately stormed away. A few seconds later the gate behind Mihawk opened and Perona rushed inside, apparently just as mad as Roronoa.
"Are you freaking nuts?!" She yelled at him. "How am I supposed to bring all this luggage to the castle on my own? You could at least…"
Under his gaze, she grew silent.
"That is not my problem," he replied coldly. "Speak, ghost girl, what happened at Mary Joa?"
Still frightened, she dodged his gaze.
"Well, what you would expect," she muttered, "Eizen took Lady Loreen to all those meetings. Zoro was occupied all the time and when he was in the room he did nothing but read, read, and read. I was bored to death."
What was Eizen scheming? Well, Mihawk had his suggestions; the much more important question was why?
He dismissed the girl with a wave of his hand as Roronoa entered the entry hall. Now as a man he seemed even more impressive than a few minutes ago and that although his facial expressions revealed nothing, the lips were a thin line as often, the usual serious face, he looked almost as calm as always. But his eyes spoke volumes, revealing even more than Lady Loreen's agitated face. The demon of the East Blue was obviously awakened.
Mihawk followed the younger one outside, knowing full well that they would not practice complicated techniques, the other had to let off steam, let out his pent-up rage.
He just wanted to order Roronoa to apply both the Busoshoku and the Kenbunshoku Haki when the other had already done it. Uninterested, Roronoa looked over to him.
"Can we go?" He growled deeply, and then he ran off.
Mihawk sighed heavily but followed the other. It had been exactly his plan, Roronoa should run until he got tired, get everything out of his system, so that he could think clearly again afterwards, and so they ran laps around the island again.
It seemed that the other had trained the use of both skills during his ten-day absence, but not as much as Mihawk had expected. Nevertheless, a lot of time would have to pass before the other began to calm down, not talking about being tired.
For the first eleven rounds, Roronoa chased after an unknown prey and did not slow down at all. Only then did he seem to gradually regain his composure. The sun had set by now and with every second it got darker, not that one of them could be disturbed by it.
"Do you want to talk about it now?" Mihawk offered, easily keeping up with the younger one.
"No!" His serious eyes watched stubbornly straight ahead, but his jaw was cramped. "I want to fight!"
Then the other stared at him almost challengingly.
"I want to fight!"
Disapprovingly, Mihawk shook his head.
"Roronoa, we have talked about this many times, I will not..."
"Mihawk!" Roronoa stopped, his hands clenched into fists.
Mihawk stopped as well and looked at the younger one closely.
"You are still too weak; I could hurt you badly, kill you by mistake."
"Then don't," was all the other replied when he went into combat position.
Neither of them had their swords, Yoru enjoyed its deserved rest in the castle and Roronoa had given his swords to Mihawk at the beginning of his training with Busoshoku Haki.
"Tze, you're impossible," he grumbled. Shaking his head, Mihawk unbuttoned his vest and hung it over the next best tree, bevor he spread his arms out. "Then attack me, Roronoa. Show me how much you have improved."
He was not nearly as calm as he acted, but he had submitted to treating Roronoa not just as a disciple, but more like an opponent, so the other should bear the consequences.
Roronoa did not even wait for his go and attacked.
To Mihawk's surprise, his attacks were not nearly as uncontrolled as he had expected, but highly calculated. The other apparently did not fight emotional despite his obvious anger. Mihawk concentrated on blocking or dodging attacks without having to use Haki himself, for Roronoa was not ready for that yet.
"Not like that!" Roronoa growled between two punches. "Fight back!"
"You are quite presumptuous," he said, letting the other run past him. "Do you really think you would withstand even one attack from me?"
Roronoa wiped the sweat from his forehead and grinned at him evil.
"We'll probably never find out if you don't try it."
Mihawk snorted loudly and shook his head half-grinning.
"Well, you asked for this, so do not complain later."
It was easy, he dodged his opponent's fists, once, twice und then he hit back!
It was an actual attack, not necessarily a knockout in a real fight, but nevertheless it should be enough to finally teach his little frog a lesson. He smiled as Roronoa threw up his arms just in time and crossed them protectively in front of his head, before Mihawk could smash his face.
But once again the youngster should surprise him, by now that should be boring. Instead of flying wildly through the air, Roronoa only slid several feet back and stopped right in this defending position, his knees bent, his back curved, his face hidden behind his arms, but still standing.
Mihawk looked at the younger one in wonder. It had not been his best attack; he knew that a real blow would be enough to kill the younger one, but still...
How it annoyed him that the other got that much better so quickly.
"Was... that all you've got?" Roronoa muttered before his left knee gave in. With both hands he tried to catch himself but flinched his right arm back and grimaced painfully. With this arm he had repelled the direct impact of Mihawk's blow. It did not seem broken but was already swelling unnaturally.
The other breathed heavily but did not let Mihawk out of sight for one second, Roronoa was still in combat mode. Slowly Mihawk approached the youngster before he finally stood in front of him. He could see how Roronoa tried to stand up but was barely able to look at him, yet there was that grin on his face that he should not have after being attacked by Mihawk.
"Tze, cheeky brat!"
He snapped against Roronoa's forehead with one finger and the other slammed against the next best tree.
"Uff!"
All limbs stretched out, Roronoa remained at the base of the trunk, eyes only half open, apparently having a hard time to breathe. A fine trickle of blood slid down the bridge of his nose just between his eyes and dripped on his lower lip while Roronoa leaned his head against the trunk.
The weak armor Roronoa had been able to produce was broken, and his Busoshoku Haki was also inactive.
Damn, it should not feel so good to teach him a lesson. Yes, Mihawk had to be careful not to taste blood, but he could not hide a grin when he stepped up to the other.
"Satisfied?" He said, nonchalant, but it would be so easy to kick against Roronoa's side now, to break four or five ribs, no more. Just to teach him a little lesson, just for some little fun, just to give him...
Suddenly the green eyes looked at him intensely and interrupted his trail of thoughts.
"So that's your monster, right?" Roronoa bent forward and coughed.
Mihawk took a step back. But the other just leaned back and laughed hoarsely. Not understanding, Mihawk watched the younger man laugh and complain about his aching body at the same time.
"I can't get up," Roronoa muttered with a broad grin. "I can't even get up and my right arm hurts like hell. Does it look broken to you?"
Then the other looked at him and held his badly swollen arm.
"The gap between us is still huge."
Mihawk swallowed heavily. It was not nearly as big as he had expected.
"How long do you want to stare at me?" The youngster said, still with this mischievous grin.
Then Mihawk had regained his composure and offered his hand to the other. Carefully he wanted to pull the youngster back on his feet, but Roronoa's legs buckled away under his weight and he would have fallen again if Mihawk had not caught him.
"Pathetic," murmured the other against his shoulder, "I can't even stand on my own."
"Serves you right," he replied, pulling the other's left arm over his shoulder and putting his own right hand around his hip. It would probably be easier to just throw Roronoa over his shoulder or carry him in his arms, but he did not want to; he wanted the other to walk back by himself. "You should not have asked for this."
Mihawk had to bend his knees so Roronoa could even touch the ground, but he did not mind. The other was still breathing heavily as they limped back to the castle in the dark and collected Mihawk's vest on the way.
"But I had to," the younger one muttered softly, "how else am I supposed to see you fight?"
Without answering, he brought the other back inside.
The injuries were not that bad, a few bruised bones, some bruised skin, nothing unusual for their training. But he noticed how much happier the younger one was, nothing left of his bad mood.
Perona had meanwhile brought all the luggage inside, Mihawk did not even care how she had done it, and had already prepared the dinner. He had to admit that she was not totally useless. The dinner had something relaxing, something lively, or did it just feel like that because he had been alone for ten days?
At one point, the two swordsmen strolled over to the chessboard and chatted quietly while Perona cleared up and went to bed. Here, too, Roronoa made slow but certain progress, but much slighter than in sword fighting.
"Mihawk," Roronoa finally muttered as he took one of his pawns from the battlefield. "I have to tell you something. I met Jiroushin."
