CHAPTER 12
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Diary of Dracule Mihawk, entry #914:
There are times when I am thankful that Kuraigana is devoid of human life except for myself. And that Notson Ear is such a quiet, sleepy island that it's mostly unknown to people. Sometimes I think even the residents of Notson Ear are barely aware of it themselves. Marines hardly come by too. They can be tiresome. Like Akainu. That man is overzealous.
Why do people complain about living alone? Living alone is great.
… … …
Mihawk surveyed the scene before him impassively. Perona sat on the ground, hands bound in handcuffs. The Marines clustered around her gaped at him. A small crowd of people had gathered as well. He sighed internally. This was going to be annoying.
"What is going on here?" he asked.
The captain came forward. "I am Captain Dogtooth – Dogtooth Chris."
Appropriate name, thought Mihawk. The man had a rather bulldog-ish look about him.
"We have apprehended a criminal and we are taking her away. It is nothing you need to worry about, Mihawk."
"I was not aware," said Mihawk, "that there were any changes in the agreement between the Shichibukai and the World Government."
"Changes? There have been no changes. This woman is a member of Gekko Moriah's crew, and his demotion means that none of them have special protection anymore."
"You are mistaken. This woman does still have that immunity. Not as part of Moriah's crew, but as part of mine."
A buzz of wonder and confusion went round.
Mihawk felt sure that some people were reading entirely too much into his statement. The captain was so surprised that his eyes were almost popping out of his head.
"Since when?" demanded Captain Dogtooth.
"How does that matter? She now comes under the umbrella of my name and that should be enough for you."
"With all due respect, sir, you don't have a crew. Everyone knows that."
Mihawk turned on his iciest stare. "I have a crew when I wish to have a crew. It is not your place to poke your nose into the business of the Ouka Shichibukai. There is an agreement in place. We do the occasional bidding of the government, and we the Warlords – and our affiliates – are let alone and free."
He let several seconds pass before he said, "Well? Release her."
Dogtooth began to argue, but Mihawk cut him off. "I insist, Captain."
The captain looked like thunder but Mihawk had been a Warlord for a long time, and had been a formidable force even longer. A furious Marine did not faze him in the least.
"If it's too much trouble, I'll remove those handcuffs myself," said Mihawk, walking forward and reaching for the sword hanging on his back. Kairouseki items were tough but more importantly, kairouseki items were expensive. They would not be keen on having him cut up their precious handcuffs.
Captain Dogtooth gave the order through gritted teeth. One of the other Marines unbound her hands.
"Thank you, Captain. I expect you and your crew will be leaving soon. No doubt duty calls you."
Dogtooth fumed in angry silence.
When the Marines had gone and the crowd had dispersed, Mihawk turned his attention to Perona, who was trying to get to her feet.
He held out a hand to her and helped her to stand. "I hear kairouseki can be quite detrimental to Devil Fruit users. You've never encountered that before, have you?"
She shook her head.
"Can you walk?"
"Yes, I can walk." Perona dusted her hands and then gingerly touched her left cheek, which looked scratched and slightly bruised. She winced.
"Very well. Let us return. Come."
They walked for a few minutes in silence. Mihawk noticed that she was favouring her right leg and surmised that she must have injured her other leg somehow. But she didn't seem to want to mention it. So he let it be, but slowed his walking pace and kept an eye on her.
Perona asked, "How did you know?"
"How did I know where you were? The policeman recognised you. You and Roronoa have both been with me on the last few visits here, after all. And you're both quite recognisable. He called the Drunken Squirrel the first chance he got."
"The Drunken Squirrel…"
"That is the place I usually go when I'm here, Ghost Girl. Or have you already forgotten?"
"No, I just – I don't know. Sorry, just tired."
They turned down a quiet road and then Zoro came dashing round the corner. He skidded to a halt when he saw Mihawk.
"Hawkeye! Perona – she –" He broke off, noticing Perona standing beside the Warlord.
Mihawk let the moment hang in the air for several seconds. He observed that Zoro had drawn Shusui, leaving the other two in their sheaths. Interesting. That one was the most powerful sword of the three. He wondered if the choice had been subconscious or conscious - automatically selecting the sword with which he trained the most now, or choosing the strongest one in a time of need.
It didn't matter. He saw here an opportunity to make the most of the situation. He said, "Excellent timing, Roronoa. She has had a bad shock, and is quite exhausted. Be a gentleman for once in your life and lend her your arm." He gave his student a pointed, expectant look.
Zoro just stood there awkwardly.
Oh, good lord, does he know nothing? Mihawk sighed. How useless.
"Ghost Girl," he said, "Feel free to use him as a walking aid. If not, then just pretend he's your bodyguard until we get to the ship. Put your sword away, Roronoa. We're leaving."
"Wait!" said Perona suddenly. Even Zoro was startled.
"What is it?"
"Zoro's new clothes. We haven't –"
"You're worried about Roronoa's clothing?"
"Well, I don't want to spend my time mending all the clothes you two mess up! You did pick out the ones you wanted, right?" The last part she addressed to Zoro, who was looking as disbelieving as Mihawk sounded.
"Yeah, but…"
"He needs the clothes," she said decisively. "We only need to pay for them. Oh! Oh no, my handbag – the Marines confiscated it. It must be –"
On the positive side, Perona was at least sounding more like herself now.
"Calm down," said Mihawk. "I will retrieve it. It should be there. Tell me the store where Roronoa's new clothes supposedly are and I will settle the matter. You two go straight to the ship and wait for me there. You know the way?"
Having ascertained that Perona did know the way (because Zoro certainly did not) and having made a note of the name of the clothing store, Mihawk set off.
… … …
Perona was extremely glad to be on the boat and heading towards Kuraigana. She tried not to show it, but her ankle was hurting badly. She guessed she had twisted or strained it when she had tried to escape the two Marines. It had taken all her energy and willpower to keep walking without an obvious limp. That she could do so meant it wasn't a really bad injury but it would take at least some time for the ache to go away.
Mihawk had known, though. He must have, or he wouldn't have told her to use Zoro "as a walking aid." She wanted to, but she hadn't. It would have made her look weak. She felt like such a fool. Getting caught by Marines, and not even being able to put up a fight. Then getting injured. She really was a weakling without her Devil Fruit.
Kuina wouldn't have – WHY am I thinking about that?
Her shoulders sagged. When she had boarded the boat and settle in a seat, she'd tried summoning her hollows and they instantly popped into existence around her. Now several of them hovered close by, and it was comforting to have them there. At least her hollows wouldn't (and couldn't) judge her for being weak – or for having inconvenient feelings. But it would be nice to have a Kumashi to hug again. She couldn't hug her hollows.
She loosened the buckles on her left boot a little to ease the ache on her ankle. Her ankle didn't look swollen. Not a bad sprain or anything then. Just a strain that should go away fairly soon. Relieved, she leaned her head against the bulkhead and stretched out her legs before her. It was a good thing that Mihawk had acquired a boat other than that coffin-shaped raft of his. She thought that one singularly uncomfortable when they'd used that on the first trip to Notson Ear.
She could hear footsteps and voices on the deck, and from the sound of it, Mihawk was bossing Zoro around, making him adjust the sails and such. Funny. Knowing they were both there was almost as much comfort as having her hollows clustered around her. She yawned and drifted off to sleep.
Perona awoke a while later when Zoro opened the cabin door and announced that they'd reached Kuraigana.
"Hawkeye's dropping the anchor," Zoro said. "He says we're to head back first."
"All right." She rubbed her eyes, careful to avoid the injured part of her cheek, and rose. The pressure on her left ankle brought the ache back all at once but she managed to not wince at the sudden pain. She thought Zoro was eyeing her carefully but she pretended not to notice.
The short gangway to the wooden pier was already in place. She appreciated that it had been laid out before he came to get her. It would not have been pleasant to stand there whilst he unfolded the linking platform and set it up. Perona crossed the gangway and walked up the pier, hoping she wasn't showing signs of injury. It wasn't that bad, really…
"Hey, wait."
She stopped and turned around. Zoro walked up to her.
"What?" she asked.
"Does that hurt?" He pointed at her foot.
"No."
"And you say I like to pretend my injuries are nothing."
Argh. He'd noticed!
While Perona felt glad that he had seen it, she also didn't like that he had. Comparisons to the toughness of Kuina rose up in her mind again. She began to dismiss his remark but her words turned into a shriek of surprise as he bent, placed an arm around her back and the other at her knees, then swept her up unceremoniously.
"What are you doing?" she said, flailing about ungracefully in an attempt to get him to put her down.
"You probably shouldn't walk all the way," was his flat response. "The forest ground is uneven. There are those stupid monkeys still hanging around. And you can't run wearing those insane boots."
"Insane?!" Perona stopped flailing in her indignation. "Excuse me, but these boots were custom-made! They're not insane!"
"Whatever."
She tried half-heartedly to reach for the ground with her feet. "Ugh. Put me down, Zoro!"
"Stop fidgeting," he growled. "And support some of your own weight, will you?!"
"How do you expect me to do that? Wait, I think I should be insulted by that…"
"Just hold yourself up somehow instead of thrashing about like that! Hold my shoulder or something. I'm trying to be helpful here! Geez!"
"Fine," muttered Perona. She stopped struggling, let her arms slide around his neck, and pulled herself up a little.
Then she became very conscious of how close her face was to his and hurriedly looked over his shoulder at the trees, sky, bushes – anything else but him. This might be a more convenient and stable position, but it was also… Rather nice? She hated that she thought so.
Perona sighed. And immediately wished she hadn't, because Zoro heard it.
"What's that sigh for?"
"Nothing! Why do you care so much all of a sudden?" she snapped.
You didn't even come to save me.
She caught herself before she said the words, but the unspoken thought seemed to hang there in her mind. Glad as she was that Mihawk had arrived to get her out of that fix, she was still a little disappointed that it hadn't been Zoro. She knew it was a foolish, irrational feeling. Things didn't happen like they did in romance novels, and Zoro was no romantic hero, much less her romantic hero.
"Never mind," she said, trying to drive the awkward moment out of her head. "If you won't put me down then just… keep going. I'd really like to get back home."
Home. Kuraigana was home now. How odd.
It felt like he tightened his hold on her just a little bit more.
Oh, why not just enjoy it?
She dropped her head against his shoulder and tried not to think about how pleasant it was to be held like that.
… … …
"Why do you care so much all of a sudden?"
The words struck Zoro like a dagger.
When he'd found her – with Mihawk – a tremendous wave of relief had washed over him. Mihawk said she'd had a bad shock. It sure looked like she had. Her face was bruised and cut on one side, and she was paler than usual. He became aware then of an uncharacteristic desire to sink to his knees and beg forgiveness for not getting there earlier.
"Be a gentleman for once in your life and lend her your arm," were Mihawk's words. He had been puzzled. Lend her his arm? Was that what Sanji did sometimes when they went ashore to get supplies? He vaguely recalled Sanji happily walking off arm in arm with Nami or Robin on occasion. But why should he do that now? That was weird.
Only when they reached the port did it occur him that she was favouring her right leg. Was her other leg somehow hurt too? It must be – that would explain Mihawk's telling him to lend her his arm, and that other comment about using him as a "walking aid" if she felt like it. He had felt even more awful then.
Mihawk had reappeared, tossed the bags of new clothes at him, and proceeded to order him around the ship. While a little irritating, it was also a welcome distraction.
But then Mihawk had asked where Zoro had gone.
"I was almost surprised not to find you there already, causing chaos," Mihawk had said.
He had only been able to mutter something about "damn confusing roads."
They'd arrived at Kuraigana, and he'd watched Perona as she crossed the deck and the gangway. It did look as though she had some sort of injury on her left leg. Picking her up and carrying her to the castle was a spur-of-the-moment idea, a way to assuage his guilty feelings.
"Why do you care so much all of a sudden?" she said.
The words stung. And puzzled him. Why did he care?
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A/N: Thank you for reading, and - especially to those of you who jumped in at the first few chapters - thank you for sticking with this fic so far! My initial plan for this fic was 5 chapters... It's kind of expanded now ^^ I hope you're all still enjoying it!
And shoutout to Namibean, who helped me name the Marine captain in this chapter~