Again ?
The events of Marineford had gotten on Mihawk nerves. Sure, seeing Shanks again had been nice, but honestly, he'd have rather not travelled all the way just to make the Marine and the World Government happy. He was not a prize they could parade.
He had not expected his stay to last this long. What should have been a four-day stay had turned into an almost month-long vacation.
As soon as he had realized that he would not be home by the end of the week, as he had told the ghost girl, he had called her through the private line he had set on Kuraigana.
He knew that she'd be able to survive on whatever food was available in the castle for however long it would take him to be back and promised to stop on the way back to bring some more groceries.
She had begged him to tell her what he had learnt about Gecko Moria but he had not heard anything yet, to her utmost despair. All he knew was that the other Warlord was not there yet but everyone had been awaiting his arrival.
In the end, he had seen the other man but had not told him about the girl being on his island. He did not want to risk Moria storming there while he was still in Marineford.
He had called the girl one more time to tell her her captain was there, but he knew she did not have any means to leave the island anyway. She had sounded relieved to know the man was alive and well enough to travel and keep working for the government.
The journey back to Kuraigana was slow and uneventful, to his utmost relief. It was not even sunrise when he finally saw his island's shape on the horizon.
As he got closer and closer, he noticed that Kuraigana had slightly changed. Not much, sure, but he could see clean and empty patches of land near the trees nearest the castle, where bramble and ivy had taken over years before. What could have barely been called a garden seemed to take up more space. He frowned. Had his unwanted guest destroyed the grounds ? Had she fought the humandrills there and created even more ruins ? Had she decided to make herself home more than she should have ?
When he reached the island, the ghost girl was waiting for him on the pontoon, pouting and wringing her hands behind her back. She was not even floating. With a smirk, he thought that it wouldn't be a bad idea to forbid all Devil Fruit use until he decided otherwise. He did not like the idea of having the girl floating around and sending her creepy ghosts everywhere he'd go.
She reached for a couple of grocery bags that were on the boat and walked in front of him. Even if he had only spent a couple of days in her company a month ago, he knew that her silence was unusual but not unpleasant.
On their way he noticed what seemed to be… a vegetable garden on the side of the castle, realising that it was what he had noticed from his boat. The fence around it was crooked and there was no door. He knew it would not be enough to stop the humandrills, but he said nothing. He would not admit it but he appreciated the effort, and that she, at least, had made herself useful during his absence.
"What do you want to tell me, ghost girl ?" he asked as they were walking up the stairs of the castle. She stopped right in front of him and he would have collided with her back if not for his inhuman reflexes.
"Remember when I crashed here ?" She asked. Mihawk rolled his eyes. She tried to hide her grimace.
"To the point, ghost girl." He groaned, the grocery bags precariously balanced on his arms.
"Well… Maybe… Someone else crashed here too…" The end of her sentence was barely a whisper.
Mihawk's eyes were two small slits on his face as he watched her carefully.
"He's one of the Strawhat Pirates and… We've been following what was going on in Marineford thanks to the newspapers. Making sure he wouldn't go there swimming has been quite a hassle…"
"Who ?" The Warlord had a feeling he would not like the answer.
"Roronoa Zoro ?" She grimaced and he groaned. Of course, Kuma would send someone else, and of course, it had to be the swordsman kid.
"Where is he ?" He asked as he walked past her. She followed him to the kitchen.
"In the room next to mine. He was in quite a bad shape when he landed here and I did not want to be too far away, just in case." She shrugged. They quickly stopped by the kitchen before she led him towards the staircase, their arms now empty.
Mihawk observed her walking up the stairs, agreeably surprised at the admission. He knew the other swordsman's crew had attacked hers, resulting in her being sent here. Still, she had taken care of him and did not sound bitter about their co-living arrangement. Maybe she wasn't as selfish as she had let him believe when she had arrived.
She slowly opened the door and peeked inside before opening it wider and walking in silently. Mihawk followed suit.
The green-haired boy was lying on the bed, tightly wrapped in thick bandages, looking like a mummy. Mihawk glanced at the girl as she sat on a chair she had placed next to the bed.
"I did my best, ok ?" She grumbled, arms crossed defensively.
"I can see that." The Warlord nodded as he noticed a small ghost hovering over the bed. Was that how she kept an eye on him ?
Roronoa seemed to be sleeping, but it was early after all. Mihawk motioned for her to follow him out of the room so the man could rest.
They reached the kitchen again and the ghost girl started to prepare tea while he put away the groceries organizing each cabinet carefully.
"He did try to escape the island a couple of times. I didn't tell him about the transponder snail in your office. I thought that if I wrapped him tightly enough he'd stay still for more than two minutes and could heal in peace." Her back was to him. "I also took his swords and hid them in your office. He searched for them everywhere but didn't believe I'd have in my to go in there without your approval." She glanced at him, clearly afraid he'd tell her off. "I just wanted to make sure he'd recover properly before playing with them again."
"You did well, ghost girl." He nodded again.
"Perona." She faced him with a frown. "My name is Perona."
He ignored her outraged glare.
"I noticed the vegetable garden you seem to have put up. Where did you find everything you needed ?" He kept curiosity out of his tone.
Perona sighed, not liking being ignored but knowing that she'd never get the last word.
"I found some seeds at the bottom of a drawer in the pantry. I searched for a nice and easy place to clean and for some tools. It took me some time but I'm quite pleased with the result even though it's not as cute as I had hoped it'd be." She shrugged as she handed him a steamy cup of black tea.
"Good job." Mihawk said before putting away the last shopping bag and leaving with the cup of tea Perona had prepared for him without another glance her way.
Maybe the girl would not be such a burden, after all.
AN:
I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
I know this one is rather short but it's setting things up for what is to follow.
I'm really excited for the chapters to come with finally some Zoro interactions ! Please tell me if you have anything you'd like to read about. See you soon, N.