Luffy opened another unlabelled DVD case, he swivelled the disk around a finger of one hand, whilst the other busied itself with shoving down the meat sandwiches that Sanji brought over.

"It's so cool, you gotta watch this fight," Luffy mumbled around a mouthful of bread.

Sanji sat beside Luffy and watched as the logo spun onto the screen again.

"What's so special about this match?"

Luffy chuckled. "Zoro looses."

Sanji snorted. "Yeah right. You sure about that?"

"Mmhm, watch."

Luffy clicked through the clips until they stopped at the footage of Zoro and another man squaring off. They were wearing uniform different to the Kendo gear. White and hanging loose around their shoulders, tied together at the waist by a black belt. Zoro held two wooden swords. The other man had just one, and held it loosely in his left hand as he too took his place across the room.

Sanji looked over Zoro's opponent. He was much older than Zoro. Cropped black hair, trimmed beard and sharp, piercing eyes. They circled each other on gym floor. Zoro looked more stern and serious that he had in his previous videos. The whole gym was quiet.

They moved at once, at the same time, lunging straight for each other. Wooden swords clacked together, heaving grunts and swift padding of bare feet on polished wood resounded across the gym.

The exchange was fierce. Everything happened too fast for Sanji's eyes to follow. Luffy was squirming beside him in excitement.

The two fighters broke apart, stepping back and putting distance between them. A few people in the audience clapped and some even cheered on either Zoro or his opponent.

Zoro's shoulders were heaving and sweat glistened on his forehead. The other guy looked just as calm and composed as he did before the fight. Just how strong was he?

"This bit, this next part, watch, watch, watch," Luffy jittered excitedly.

Sanji tried his best to drown him out and focused on the video.

Zoro moved first, charging forward with a short battle cry. It was crazy how fast his opponent parried his attacks with just one sword. Then, he sidestepped Zoro.

Clack! Clack! Clack!

Three short swipes. Sanji couldn't even see where they hit. But after that, Zoro was on the ground, both swords whacked from his hands.

The crowd erupted. A bell dinged. Sanji watched as Zoro punched the ground clearly cursing.

"Wait, that's it?" said Sanji with a frown. "He lost?"

Luffy laughed. "How awesome was that? That guy was super fast!"

Sanji noticed the video was still rolling. He watched as Zoro got up from the ground, his face scrunched into a sneer. He walked up to his opponent, getting right up in his face. Zoro was yelling but Sanji couldn't hear any of it over the cheering. The video cut off as an elder man with round glasses and black hair rushed to the scene to pull Zoro away.

"What happened then?" Sanji asked as another video began to play. He paused it and rewound, playing back the last few seconds of the video.

"Ah, he probably challenged him to another rematch," said Luffy as though he was simply giving the time of day.

"What?"

"Yeah, Ace was telling me about it. That guy Zoro was fighting, apparently his name's Dracule Mihawk. They say he's the best, really famous in the martial arts world. Never lost a match for years."

Sanji took in a short breath. "Zoro's rival…"

Luffy nodded. "Ace said he'd left at the time it happened, and he only heard the story from Shanks. Apparently, as soon as the Tournament was over, Zoro took his swords to Mihawk and challenged him to a proper fight with their proper weapons. He's crazy. You could probably guess what happened after."

Sanji felt dread and realization spreading like a heat from his gut to the rest of his body.

"Zoro lost…"

"Yeah," said Luffy. "Ace said that fight was way more tense than the one we just watched. Ah, man. Could you imagine being there first hand?"

"I don't know, Luffy. If it was a real fight, then it probably meant the looser…"

"I know! Ace said Mihawk cut Zoro like a pie with one swipe. There was blood everywhere. Real messy."

Sanji rewound the last few seconds of the video again, to the part where Zoro was yelling his challenge to Mihawk. He watched the older man, still looking calm. But his eyes gleamed with something that Sanji could only thumb down as 'pissed'. Zoro probably ran his mouth and said too much, pushed Mihawk to nearly killing him.

"How long ago was this again?" asked Sanji.

"The fight? It happened in last years Tournament."

"Which was in…"

"Uh… May, I think. Or April. Some time around then."

Sanji paused the video. The still image showing Zoro's angry scowl and Mihawk's death-like stare. April last year, then a few months later, Zoro fell into his coma. Could it have been Mihawk? Was he finishing the job before Zoro could fully recover? But he was such an obvious suspect, why did the police miss it?

Sanji got up, his muscles started to itch at the thought of a new and closer lead.

"I need to get to this Mihawk guy," said Sanji, slipping on his coat. "You know where I can find him?"

Luffy shrugged. "No, but Ace might know. He's working downstairs in the shop right now. Let's go ask."

They ran downstairs and into the store. Ace wasn't hard to find. He was snoozing away in the stock room where Luffy was allowed in. The older Portgas brother, after much yawning and stretching, groggily told him that Mihawk sometimes trained in Shank's gym. He gave them the address before dozing off again.

Sanji left the store, typing in the address in his phone and watching as the map loaded up directions. Luffy walked beside him, peering at the screen. Sanji stopped and frowned at his friend.

"You're not coming with me," he said.

Luffy groaned. "Why not?"

"Because… I'm doing something important. It's better if you don't come."

"No!" Luffy protested like a petulant child, crossing his arms and sticking out his lower lip. "I wanna see the cool swordsman too. You took Nami last time, and that wasn't fair. I wanna go this time!"

Sanji sighed. "Look, Luffy. This guy could've killed a man."

"So?"

"What do you mean 'so'? He's gonna be dangerous!"

"I don't care, let's go!" Luffy snatched Sanji's phone from his hands and ran ahead, reading the map.

"Ah- Hey!" Sanji ran to catch up with him, and he may have done so on any other day, but not in his current condition.

"Alright, fine! I get it!" Sanji yelled after him, feeling his energy already draining. "You can come! Now get back here and give me back my fucking phone!"

Luffy slowed down, but kept Sanji's phone to himself. Sanji would've kicked Luffy's ass and got his phone back himself if he wasn't too busy holding himself up with his hands on his knees and trying to catch his breath.

Luffy chuckled and pocketed Sanji's phone.

"Now I know where the gym is and you don't. So you have to take me with you," he stated, grinning down at Sanji like a mad man.

Sanji gave Luffy an incredulous look, before sighing and shaking his head. For someone who acted like an airhead half the time, Luffy did have his little genius moments, and it was always at someone else's expense.

"You little shit," muttered Sanji. But he let Luffy take the lead, and followed him down the road.

They hopped on a bus that took them to the east of Logue Town, closer to the port. Luffy got off without warning and Sanji had to run down the whole bus to get off before it drove on again.

"We're gonna see the swordsman, gonna see the swordsman, gonna see him fight~," sang Luffy as they walked.

Sanji shook his head. He hoped they wouldn't catch him armed. The last thing he wanted to do was to anger an armed murderer.

"We're here!" Luffy cheered, throwing his fists in the air. Sanji rounded the corner after him and cast his eyes up at the building across the street. It was pretty plain, made of a cream-coloured cement and had large glass windows with oaken panels. It didn't look like a gym.

"This really the place?" asked Sanji.

Luffy shrugged. "Only one way to find out," he sang with a grin. Tossing Sanji's phone back to him, Luffy bustled across the street, mindless of the cars that were coming down the road.

Sanji pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a head ache bloom in his skull. Why did he let Luffy come with him again? Waiting until it was safe to cross, Sanji jogged to the gym and pushed past the glass doors.

He heard Luffy's unmistakably loud laugh, and found the boy leaning over the reception desk, standing on his tiptoes so his arms could reach the surface. He was happily talking to a man behind the counter, with a light stubble and golden dreads held back behind a blue bandana.

"Sanji, look! It's Usopp's dad!" Luffy gestured for the blonde to join them.

Yasopp guffawed. He laughed the exact same way Usopp did, but with a deeper tenor to his voice.

"What are you two kids doing bursting in here, anyway? You better not be causing any trouble."

He winked at Luffy, who only chuckled in response.

"I didn't you worked here," said Sanji.

"Eh, me and ol' Shanks go a long way back. I help out here and there, especially when he's out of the country. Ah, who am I kidding? I'm practically the manager here!"

He laughed again.

"So, out with it. What are you two up to?"

"We're looking for the crazy swordsman!" exclaimed Luffy. Sanji nudged him sharply with an elbow.

"Swordsman? You're gonna have to be a bit more specific. There's quite a few that visit the gym."

"Actually," Sanji started, before Luffy could burst out with more nonsense. "We're looking for someone called Dracule Mihawk. I heard he sometimes trains here."

Yasopp's smile cracked a little. He laughed nervously and cleared his throat.

"Geez, he ain't just any swordsman. Mihawk's a champ. What do you kids want with him?"

"We wanna meet him!" said Luffy. "He's awesome."

Sanji didn't say anything. He supposed coming at the pretence of being 'fans' wasn't a bad idea, regardless of whether or not Luffy intended that.

Yasopp chuckled. "Fair enough. But the guy's pretty illusive. He's not one to mingle with fans, so he keeps his training spots secret and changes his routine a lot. How'd you two manage to track him down here anyway?"

Sanji's eyes widened. "So he is here? Right now?"

Yasopp waved a hand a shook his head. "I, er, I didn't say that he was here. Just saying that if he was, he wouldn't want to be bothered while training. If he was here, per say, fans are better of waiting outside 'til he's finished and catching him then."

Yasopp waggled his eyebrows. Sanji caught his drift, but Luffy hummed in thought, frown set deep in his face.

"I undertand," answered Sanji. "But we got here in such a rush. Um, do you mind if I use your bathroom?"

Yasopp pointed to a set of stairs down the corridor. "You can use the one in the gent's changing rooms. Just up the stairs and to your left."

"Thanks," Sanji smiled, and moved on, leaving Luffy to talk about tournaments with Yasopp.

Internally, Sanji was laughing to himself. One of these days, he was going to run out of luck. He needed to stop using the bathroom excuse. Still, it worked, and he may as well milk it while he had the chance.

Dodging the changing rooms, Sanji walked up to a sign and began to follow the arrows that pointed to the 'dojo'. It was another set of stairs up past a few rooms that housed various exercise equipment.

Sanji was thankful the gym wasn't busy and over run with people at this time of day. There were a few in some of the rooms, and others making their way up and down the corridors. But as Sanji went up another flight of steps, he found himself completely isolated.

Meandering down the corridor, Sanji briefly glanced over glimmering plaques and trophies displayed in glass cabinets. His eyes also lingered on the picture frames spaced out on the walls, each one either displaying a well-timed snap-shot of two fighters in the heat of battle, or fighters posing victorious.

Sanji's attention was caught by the distant sound of grunting and the steady whoosh of a heavy object being swung. He crept to an open doorway at the end of the corridor, and peered in.

The room was built like a traditional dojo, with high windows, panelled walls and a tatami floor. Racks of wooden training weapons lined the walls. In the centre of the room, stood a man with cropped, dark hair and a trimmed beard.

Mihawk.

He wore loose jogging pants, and a white vest top, drenched in sweat. Between two hands, he clutched a long sword, made of dark wood and looked twice as thick and heavy as a regular sword. The muscles of his exposed biceps rippled and flexed as he went through sword movements, sweat glistening off his skin.

Sanji watched quietly from the doorway. Mihawk's movements were so precise, and flowed from one stance to another as easily as the waves ebbed and flowed from the shore.

"It's not a display show, boy," Mihawk spoke without breaking rhythm, his deep voice boomed out across the empty dojo.

Sanji startled. He contemplated ducking behind the doorway again, but what was the point when he'd already been detected? Instead, Sanji took a deep breath and stepped inside the dojo.

"I need to talk to you about someone," said Sanji, unsure of whether he sounded rude or if his voice shook and made him sound pathetic.

Mihawk completed a movement and turned on the balls of his feet to change stance.

"If you want someone killed, I'm afraid I don't do that sort of thing anymore," he said, as he continued to go through his forms.

Sanji froze on the spot, the blood draining from his face, as his mind tried to process what Mihawk had just said.

The older man finished his final movement and sheathed his wooden sword into the cloth belt around his waist. He turned to Sanji, his face devoid of any emotion.

"I was joking," said Mihawk. "No need to look so scared."

An awkward silence drew out between them, as Sanji struggled to get his frozen muscles to move again. His brain had long since registered Mihawk's statement as a joke, but the time to laugh had already passed and Sanji simply remained silent.

Mihawk let out a deep sigh and walked over to an open duffle bag discarded to one side of the gym. He picked up a grey towel on the floor and began to dry the sweat from his face.

"So? What is it you wanted to say?"

Sanji feigned bravery and approached the swordsman.

"It's about Zoro Roronoa."

Mihawk didn't flinch or rise at the name. His face remained stoic, not betraying any emotion in the slightest.

"What about him?

Sanji shoved his hands in his pockets, fiddling with the lighter. He had to be careful not to raise any suspicions, but at the same time he had to try and get Mihawk to confess. This was going to be tricky.

"I'm a friend of Zoro's," said Sanji, deciding to play innocent and blindly confess the truth to try and get a reaction from the older man. "I'm trying to find the person responsible for putting him in a coma."

Mihawk paused half way through running the towel over his hair. His golden eyes pierced through Sanji, but his face was still unreadable.

He flung the towel around his neck and bent to stash his sword away.

"Let me guess: I'm your number one suspect?"

Sanji said nothing, watching Mihawk's calm movements as he began to pack away his things.

"You're a year late with your interrogation, boy," said the swordsman. "The police already took me in for questioning at the time they found Zoro's body. I have a sound alibi, and frankly what would I gain by slaughtering him and dumping his body in the woods?"

Bullshit.

"Last time you fought Zoro, you ended up nearly killing him," accused Sanji.

Mihawk gave a dry laugh. "You're talking about the Logue Town tournament? Let me ask you this: Were you there to witness the events yourself?"

Sanji didn't answer. A thin smile spread across Mihawk's face.

"Do you know how many exaggerated stories I've heard about that night? If I had a Belli for each ridiculous retake of that story I've heard, I'd be sitting on pretty pile of retirement fund. And if I had a second Belli for each time I've had to retell the story the way it really happened, I'd have enough to buy my own mansion in the middle of a dark and impossible to reach woods, where I can lock myself away from prying people like you."

He zipped up the duffle bag and slipped on a plain black hoodie. Slinging both the duffle and his sword bag over his shoulders, he turned and stood directly in front of Sanji.

"Alright," Sanji challenged. "Let's hear what really happened that night then. Your first hand account."

Mihawk glanced down his nose at Sanji. For a second, Sanji thought this might be it. He'd pushed too far, and Mihawk was going to kill him for sure. Instead, the older man let out and exasperated sigh, his shoulders slouching.

"When Zoro lost at the finals, he freaked out," explained Mihawk. Sanji replayed the footage he'd just watched over in his head.

"The little brat had potential. He was immensely talented, and dedicated to his swordsmanship. I could feel it in every hit I deflected during our match. It was a shame his temper was something that needed shunting. When it was over, he ran up to me, yelling that the circumstances were not right. He said he was sure he could beat me if we were fighting with our lives on the line."

Sanji glanced away. That all sounded true according to everything else he'd seen. Mihawk laughed then, a deep and dark laugh that caused a shiver to run down Sanji's spine.

"There's nothing I like more than shutting up brats that think they can bite as bad as they bark," Mihawk continued. "So, obviously, I accepted. I was, dare I say it, impressed. Santoryu. The boy had the gall and arrogance to create his own style, and use it against me. Unfortunately, he was too hasty, to caught up in his feelings and not focused. So he lost."

Sanji gawked at Mihawk. The older man shrugged at him.

"It was a fight with our lives on the line," he said. "We'd both agreed to the terms and both agreed to the consequences. Of course, I'm not a bloodthirsty killer. I'm a swordsman. I knew he'd lost the fight as soon as I'd cut through his defences and hit him across the chest. I didn't need to finish him off. I'd already won. That's all there is to it."

With that said, Mihawk made his way out of the dojo. Sanji couldn't believe what he was hearing. The swordsman wasn't denying the fact that he attacked and nearly killed Zoro. How was he not the top suspect for everything?

"Zoro fell into his coma a few months after your fight," Sanji exclaimed, jogging to catch up with Mihawk in the corridor. "You're telling me you had nothing to do with it?"

"Of course not," said Mihawk. "Do you even know what happened after our fight?"

Sanji shook his head. Mihawk rolled his eyes.

"Again, why does nobody care about the aftermath?" Mihawk sighed with exasperation.

"Zoro was rushed to the hospital, stitched up, and spent a good week sleeping off the injury. After that he tracked me down again."

Sanji balked. "To have another rematch?"

At that Mihawk smiled. It was a genuine smile this time, and something glinted in his eyes.

"I thought so too," He said. "But instead, the poor boy prostrated himself on the floor before me. He apologized for his disrespectful behaviour at the tournament. Then he promised me that he'd train harder each day, until the next time we fought, and he'd sworn to beat me."

Mihawks stopped halfway down the corridor. He glanced at one of the pictures up on the wall, and when Sanji followed his gaze, he saw that they were looking at a picture of Zoro, in his kendo uniform, grinning madly and holding up a golden trophy. How did he miss this picture before?

"Zoro was a talented swordsman," said Mihawk. "I hadn't felt that exited about a fight in a long time. The fact that he learnt from his mistakes only shows more promise. I would gladly have my title taken from me by someone like Zoro, though he still had a long way to go. Imagine my disappointment in finding out about his accident?"

They fell quiet then, both staring up at the picture on the wall. Next to Zoro was an old man with a kindly face, his arm proudly wrapped around Zoro's shoulders. Round glasses, long black hair tied back… Sanji saw this man in the end of the video after Zoro and Mihawk's fight, running up to get between the two fighters before things got heated.

"What is your name, boy?" Mihawk's voice startled him out of his thoughts.

"Uh, Sanji."

The swordsman nodded. "If you truly are a friend of Zoro's then you must know how strong he is and how good he is with the sword. Whoever it was that put Zoro in that position must've been someone close to him. Someone he trusted. There's no way Zoro would loose to an enemy."

Sanji hummed in agreement, but he couldn't take his eyes off the picture on the wall. That guy, sure he saw him in the video, but it felt like he'd seen him somewhere else before. Something throbbed at the back of Sanji's skull, and he felt that wall again. The same one he felt when they left Kuina Dojo.

"Who's… Who's the guy next to Zoro?" Sanji asked.

"Ah," Mihawk's voice softened to a tone of admiration. "He's Zoro's mentor. A swordsman too, in his younger days. I would've loved to fight him in his prime. I heard that he raised Zoro as though he were his own son. Koshiro-sensei."

Sanji frowned. The headache pulsed in his brain, as an image of a picture frame flickered in his mind.

"Koshiro?" said Sanji. "That's not…"

Then the wall in his mind shattered. He saw it clearly, the small picture frame in the study at Kuina dojo. The two men that stood behind the children… One of them was the same man who stood beside Zoro in the picture they were looking at now. But if he was Koshiro, then who was...

Sanji's heart hammered in his chest. His breathing thinned and he stared with wide eyes at the picture before him.

"No," he whispered.

Mihawk frowned beside him. "What's wrong?"

Sanji's head spun, his stomach churned.

"I-I'm sorry," he stuttered. "I have to go."

Without looking back, Sanji rushed back downstairs.

"Sanji! What took you so long?" Luffy asked as soon as he saw him. But Sanji just walked right passed them and left the gym.

"Sanji?" He heard Luffy call after him, but he didn't stop.

Something was dreadfully wrong. The picture… The two people in the picture… Who was the real Koshiro? Who was the guy that was looking after Zoro in the hospital for the past year?

Sanji stopped at the corner of the street, his shaking hands grasping onto a nearby lamppost. He leant all his weight on the post, his breath shuddering out of his lungs, and waited for the nausea that bubbled in his stomach to subside.

"Sanji?" Luffy appeared beside him. "What's wrong?"

Sanji stared at him. How was he even supposed to explain something this complicated to Luffy? He needed Nami. He needed to find Nami.

His hand reached for the phone in his pocket, but froze. No, he couldn't ask Nami. He couldn't involve her in this anymore. But what else was he supposed to do? He was so close to uncovering the truth- no, perhaps he had uncovered the truth, but he needed to confirm it. And doing so, might lead him closer to the killer than he'd like to.

Luffy's hand clasped around his shoulder.

"Hey, you okay?" his friend asked, concern thick in his voice. "You need to go home or something?"

Home. Yes, home. They could be safe there until Sanji came up with another plan. He nodded weakly, and then pushed himself off of the lamppost. Luffy kept his hand on Sanji's arm to steady him, as they ambled slowly down the road.

The rev of an engine, then a screech of tires stopped Sanji in his tracks. He glanced up and saw white van pull up onto the pavement beside them.

Luffy leapt back, pulling Sanji with him as he glared at the van. "What the fuck?"

The doors slid open. Three men leapt out and pulled the two of them apart.

"Hey! What the- Let go!" Luffy struggled, punching and kicking out at random.

Sanji, frozen by shock, had to feel the metal floor of the van's internal under his shoes and hear Luffy's fist connect to someone's face before he realized what was going on.

He spun, swiping a leg at the man who had grabbed him, the memento causing him to fall out of the truck and on to the pavement.

"Run!" Luffy yelled, fighting off the man who had grabbed him. "Sanji, run!"

The blonde got to his feet, stopped by a thin hand on his shoulder. He turned around, facing the man with long, grey hair and a strange goatee.

"Too late," said the man and he clicked his fingers.

Sanji blacked out, with Luffy's yelling still ringing in his ears.