Zoro took the train to the art museum. He almost missed his stop and had to squeeze himself through the closing door because his mind wasn't in the reality. He still couldn't believe it. Hawk-Eyes – the online friend he had met completely by chance – had studied in Mariejois Senior High – the very same school he was soon going to be graduating from. Provided that he would pass the course which had brought him to the museum today. He joined the other students waiting on the building. Their teacher was already there too, explaining the classical architecture to the youths who couldn't care less – save for some overly eager point fishers. After waiting for some minutes for the late students the group moved inside.

At the lobby the teacher kept talking and proudly announced about that he had specifically organized this excursion to get them a very influential person to talk about the museum to them. Zoro tuned the man's annoying nasal voice out and let his mind drift back to Hawk-Eyes. At first it hadn't really mattered to him what the other person was like in person. But now that he knew that at least at some point they had lived in the same city his mind wouldn't let it go. It felt surreal to think that if the other still lived in Mariejois they could have passed each other by on the streets every day and not know anything about it.

Zoro walked with the group into a presentation room flooded with light. Seemed like their guide had joined them too. Zoro hurried into a secluded corner where he could doze off with his thoughts. Fencing club, huh? Then... his friend couldn't be that much older than him – that club was founded something like ten years ago, give or take. He felt somehow guilty for getting excited about the mystery – the more he thought about it the more he itched to dig deeper into it. But it wasn't as if he was doing it to entertain himself, he was just curious. He wondered if Hawk-Eyes had intentionally dropped the school's name...probably not.

"Roronoa! You should pay attention instead of slacking!" a hushed voice scolded him. Zoro looked at the disruption, annoyed. It was that girl who was always trying to make her opinions matter, but whose name he still couldn't remember. He was quite surprised himself, he'd known about this person's existence for years and he wasn't sure if he had even heard her name. She was one of those people who had straight sharp noses – perfect for sticking up while looking down at people – and who were always lecturing others about something.

"Just mind your own business." The girl's nose twitched angrily before she turned back. She was sitting in front of him... how come she had time to look around finding something to complain in other people if it was so important to focus now? He looked at the front of the room. The masses of orange light from the evening sun invading straight in prevented him from seeing clearly, but the voice flowed through the room well. The teacher had stopped talking and the voice filling the room was steady and rich. He could see the silhouette of the man in the front. He was talking about the museum's events and collections. Zoro yawned. Not particularly interesting. But he could get used to listening to this voice.

When the presentation was over their teacher started instructing them.

"As you all remember you must pick a piece of art from the museum's current exhibitions and write an essay on it. Now you may independently search for a subject. Don't run off – I will call your names at the end of our visit!" Zoro sent a glare in his direction for ruining his day and moved out with the rest of the students who started to scatter around the halls, most in small groups. Zoro banded together with a couple of guys he knew from the kendo club.

"Wasn't he just so eloquent!" the boys all looked at the giggling group of girls near them. Of course it was what's-her-name speaking, in a voice that made unnecessarily clear to other people what she were saying. "Oh why can't all men be like that? I hate the childish brain dead boys at our school." Zoro and the other two realized very well who exactly the last words were directed at.

"Hey are you trying to pick a fight?" asked the rougher one of his companions.

"Don't, she's just a girl." the other held him back.

"Doesn't matter if she's a girl or not I won't take bullshit from anyone..."

"You see what I mean girls?" she said and the group burst into giggles again.

"Everyone, there he is!" squeaked one of the girls and in a second all of them concentrated their energy on trying to hide their staring. The guys looked at them in confusion. Soon a man appeared in their view. He walked tall, smoothly like a panther. He had a presence that drew respect from people. Dressed in all black except for the wine-red tie – Zoro could see why the girls were infatuated. Oh, there was someone beside him, he had hardly noticed. In fact he only realized it when the all too familiar voice of their teacher grated his ears, making him break his stare. Had he been staring?

"Who is he, what's so great about him?" he asked. All the girls turned to glare at him with a disbelieving look. The guys laughed.

"Oh man, Roronoa were you sleeping again? That's the guy who talked to us earlier. He owns this place or something."

"His name is Dracule Mihawk." said one of the girls. "Elegant, cultured and rich... he's like an emperor. I want my husband to be like that." All the females nodded and sighed in chorus, completely in their own world. One of them continued absentmindedly "But wouldn't it be kinda nice to have a boyfriend with Roronoa's body and his grace?" the words evoked another set of sighs and nods in the girls, and made the boys almost choke while trying not to burst to laughter.

"Hear that, Roronoa?" one of his companions nudged him and snickered.

"I had hoped that you boys would be able to behave yourself, like the girls here. We came here to be inspired by the magnificent works of art here, not to fool around." Smug smiles appeared on the girls' faces when the teacher stopped and scolded them.

"Excuse me, Mr. Dracule," what's-her-name said with all her charm "could you say a few words about these lovely ancient cave paintings to us?" The teacher looked at her approvingly and smiled. Boy was she getting extra points. The black-haired man faked a pleasant smile, something strange shining through the polite surface, and briefly explained the themes of the pictures and some archaeological details of the photographs.

"I find it very touching that these pictures have lasted thousands of years. What is their meaning? What do our ancestors want to say to us through them, what were they thinking when they made these images?" the girl said dramatically.

"Noble ponderings indeed. " the man said with his dark voice. "Shall we take this painting as our example? It has been dated to 25,0000 years ago and has been one of the most researched cave paintings because of it's particularly interesting details. As you can see in this image the stick figure on the left has gained a stick. He now feels that he has the upper hand in comparison to this other stick figure. I apologise, but I really must go back to my duties now. I hope you all have an inspiring day here." The look on the teacher's face was worth seeing. The unaffected man smiled and left.

Zoro snorted. The group stood still in silent confusion. The teacher looked like something inside his head had exploded. Poor guy. Zoro laughed to himself and started to follow the other boys down the hall – until something more interesting caught his eyes in the opposite direction. The exhibition hall was almost completely void of people, despite the beautiful renaissance paintings. Zoro didn't pay attention to the pictures on the walls. He was looking at a sword in a glass cabinet with a keen eye. It was beautiful. He remembered seeing it somewhere before.

"It's the Sword of Thousand Truths." Zoro looked up and to his surprise saw Dracule Mihawk. "Doesn't it please your eye?"

"It's not that. It's beautiful...but..."

"But?"

"It doesn't feel right. Sorry, it must sound really stupid. This is a named blade, right? I would like to consider myself a swordsman... and there should be a certain aura in a sword like that. People tell me I'm weird when I say things like that but I feel the 'personalities' of the swords when I'm holding them and this sword should give off some sort of aura even without holding it, like Wadou Ichimonji – but there's just stillness." the green-haired man felt a little embarrassed when he watched the other man smirk. Why had he said something like that?

"You are a swordsman, Roronoa Zoro. What you just said confirms it. The named blades do have 'personalities', a man with the spirit of a swordsman can tell that."

"How do you know my name?"

"I go see some of the larger sword fighting events every now and then. You've been victorious quite a few times." Zoro grinned.

"Haven't been defeated once in a tournament. But what about the sword?"

"It's a replica. The original is also in my possession but I'm uneasy about displaying the swords. When I was told that there was to be an exhibition of art inspired by the sword and they wanted to include the sword itself I had to decline the request. There would normally be a mention of this being a replica but we agreed to leave it out as not to break the spell of seeing 'the real deal' but a person like you or a highly skilled sword smith can tell that it's a fake. You've held a named blade before?"

"I have the katana Wadou Ichimonji."

"Really? That's one of the rare swords which aren't owned by museums or collectors these days."

"You seem to know an awful lot about swords...?"

"Well, this exhibition piqued my interest in the named blades so I've done some research recently. There was no documentation about the Wadou Ichimonji, only the name of the sword, time of the commission and name of the client. Would you be willing to bring it to be photographed?"

"Um..." Zoro couldn't tell why but something smelled a bit fishy. "You'd have to wait for a while. I still have some final exams left and this stupid assignment too, and I'm trying to look for a job at the same time. Things are really busy for me right now."

"What kind of job are you looking for?"

"Anything where I get paid really." Zoro scratched his head and frowned. He had been worried about the situation for a while. Since he was living with Sanji and the blond had a job for the summer they weren't in too much trouble if he didn't find anything – but he'd still have to borrow money from Nami and the mere thought scared him.

"Talk to Benn Beckman at human resources before you leave. He's in charge of the maintenance staff and security."

"Is it OK? I mean, don't I have to have any experience or something?"

"I'll let him know about you. There shouldn't be any problems, unless you have a criminal record. You're in good shape and you know how to fight if necessary."

"Wow... Thanks, I'll go and see him. Thank you very much." Zoro said sincerely.

"You're quite welcome. It was a pleasure to meet you, Roronoa Zoro. Here's my card, let me know if you have time for the sword after all."

"I will." Zoro said. He watched the man walk away and frowned. There was something strange about the things the other man had said, he couldn't help the suspicious feeling.