CHAPTER 16

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Diary of Dracule Mihawk, #990:

With all their shenanigans, I feel like I'm living in an overly-dramatic romance novel. Or perhaps a comedy. Roronoa walked into a tree today because he "didn't see it." Of course he didn't see it. He was got distracted by the Ghost Girl and walked into a low-hanging branch. I'm surprised he didn't put his eye out.

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Zoro rotated his wrist and flexed the fingers of his left hand. His wrist felt a bit stiff still but at least Mihawk had declared it all right for him to at least practice stances and simple moves.

"No sudden movements. Don't overdo it," Mihawk had said. "It's only been two days. Fortunately, your sprain appears to be of the milder sort. But do not aggravate it."

At that moment, Mihawk was doing his own exercises at the other end of the courtyard. He paused occasionally to observe Zoro's practice and called out comments when he thought it necessary. Zoro watched Mihawk with begrudging respect. Mihawk was using a wooden sword for practice. It was a normal-sized sword; nothing like Yoru or the tiny dagger Mihawk wore round his neck. Zoro had to respect Mihawk's willingness to keep working at the basics even though his skill level was so very far above that. Zoro did his basic exercises, but he found them tedious and much preferred basic strength training to basic sword drills.

Zoro looked away from Mihawk and resumed his own activity. He stretched out his right arm in front of him and with his left, placed Kitetsu carefully on the back of the right hand. It wobbled for a bit before he managed to find the correct angle and position for optimum balance. Then he closed his eyes and carefully moved his arm to the side, trying to keep the sword in place. Mihawk had recommended this as a method of practising concentration and familiarising himself with the weight and feel of his swords. This way, he learnt that Wado Ichimonji felt the lightest and had the best balance. Shusui had the heaviest blade but something in its make caused it to be quite easy to balance quickly on the back of his hand. Kitetsu proved to be the trickiest one to figure out. It felt light, but at the same time it seemed to be weighted strangely so it had a tendency to teeter unsteadily.

He breathed in. And out. He felt a slight wobble in Kitetsu as he exhaled.

Relax and hold steady. Breathe.

A minute tilt of the arm stopped the wobble.

He didn't have to look at it to know that he'd got it just right. He smiled to no one in particular. Now to hold it for a full minute. The last time he'd tried this he only managed to balance Kitetsu on the back of his hand for thirty seconds before it fell off (presumably due to some unconscious muscle twitch of his).

The sound of Perona's voice made him crack one eye open. She was holding a basket (Real Perona then, not Ghost Perona, thought Zoro) and seemed to be asking Mihawk something about whatever was in it. He could hear their voices, but couldn't make out what they were saying. Not that he cared what they were talking about. It was probably something boring. Let them flirt all they wanted. He had better things to do. It wasn't as though he wanted to talk to her anyway.

Kitetsu rolled off his hand and fell to the ground. Zoro made an annoyed noise and picked it up.

Mihawk and Perona were still talking. Mihawk idly tossed the wooden sword up – it went high enough to flip round twice – and caught it by the hilt without even glancing at it. Perona appeared to be impressed.

Zoro snorted derisively. She thought that was impressive?

He tossed his sword straight up and caught it by the hilt. He threw it again – higher and with enough force to make it spin, and caught it again. When he repeated the actions and caught the sword a third time, he smiled smugly. Easy stuff. Nothing very impressive about that.

He wondered if he could throw it higher still and then catch it in his mouth. That would be really impressive. Might be a good thing to add to his repertoire of moves too.

Up went the sword. But it didn't go high enough; the arc was low and he had to catch it with his hand instead. He weighed the sword in his hand for a moment, to reassess the feel of it and the force needed to send it up to a sufficient height. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Perona and Mihawk look his way.

I'll show them.

So he threw it into the air, watched it spin, descend – and then there was pain, and darkness.

… … …

"Are you sure the ground outside there is suitable for growing cabbage?" asked Perona. She shook the basket so that the three cabbages within it rolled around like oversized green marbles.

"When I first arrived here, there were clear signs that the area outside the castle had been used for growing plants in them," said Mihawk. "I do not know if cabbages in particular will grow well there, but if you wish, you may try."

"Like I said, it would save time if we could grow our own foodstuff. Notson Ear is – what?" Perona stopped, noticing that Mihawk had turned in Zoro's direction. She followed his gaze.

Zoro flung his sword high up and –

Perona hardly understood what happened next. The sword came down. And then there was blood. Zoro stumbled backwards and fell to the ground. She heard herself scream his name at the same instant that Mihawk dashed over to him with superhuman speed. Then she was running across the courtyard too.

Later, she would describe it all as just being a blur: Zoro lying on the ground with blood running down his face. Mihawk lifting him up with ease and taking him into the castle. Mihawk instructing her to get water, get cloth, get bandages, fetch this, fetch that. Did she know how to treat injuries like this? No, she did not. Mihawk saying he would send for a doctor. Rain beginning to pelt the windows. Mihawk calling a doctor on his rarely-used transponder snail. Zoro, still bleeding, mumbling, "I'm fine," "Go away," and "What happened?" over and over again but in varying order and with a variety of swear words in between, while she tried to do what she could to staunch the bleeding and make him lie still.

Four hours later, at eight o'clock, a boat arrived from Notson Ear Island carrying a doctor and a nurse. Only when the doctor set about his task did Perona remember that Zoro's swords were still out in the courtyard, and so were her cabbages. She took an umbrella and went out in the rain to retrieve the swords and cabbages. Her hand trembled as she picked up Sandai Kitetsu with its bloodstained blade. As soon as she got back to the castle, she dropped it – and everything else – on the floor and just stood there. One cabbage rolled out of the basket and got stuck under a table, but she didn't notice it until the next day. The noise of swords and cabbages falling to the floor brought Mihawk out. He took one look at her, propped the swords up against the wall, and firmly steered her into the dining hall where he sat her down in one of the armchairs, poured her some wine and handed her a piece of bread.

"Eat," he said. "I need to be with the doctor right now. After you eat that, go make yourself a proper dinner, Ghost Girl. And eat it. That's an order."

"But –"

"I don't need two people in shock on my hands. Roronoa alone is enough." Mihawk placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her slightly. "Pull yourself together. You can."

Perona stared as he left, munching the bread mechanically. Then, just as mechanically, she went to the kitchen and made herself something to eat. What she made she didn't know. She ate, and headed back to her room. She passed Zoro's room on the way. The light under the door and low voices and sounds of movement told her that the doctor was still at work. How long had it been? The clock on her mantelpiece showed that it was only just a quarter after nine. It felt like it had been hours.

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A/N: I always thought it would be amusing if the reason Zoro lost his eye was a fairly silly one instead of the automatic "he lost his eye dueling Mihawk" idea...

I apologise for the long wait. And for dragging this story out so long... I think I've put some people off, actually. :/ Kind of demotivated myself in the process too. I haven't lost interest in the story, but to be honest, my motivation to work at writing it has dropped. Writing Zoro with serious romantic feelings is turning out to be much more difficult than I ever thought it would be. But yeah, story will end in a couple of chapters! Please bear with me? *bows*

(AvengerGal and tanithlipsky and Guest: thank you SO much for leaving the little notes! )

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