Edit: The first scene with Nami and Nojiko was completely rewritten to remove teases to early romantic feelings with Luffy, as I felt as it would make more sense for her character to be platonic with him for the emotions and memories she's going to be experiencing and living through.
Along with that, there's new content at the end of the chapter, as well as several lines being rewritten and expanded throughout.
Draft 4: Zoro's flashbacks have been near-completely reworked into an extended storyline throughout the chapter that further examines where he currently struggles as a character and where he will be going.
A/n: Thank you for returning back to Making the Grade!
If you've read the original material, you would know that this certainly isn't how it goes. This is my adaptation of the material, and as such, I want to do things that didn't exactly fall under the original series' view of interest, or were things I think the author would've done if they had the writing skills by the end of their own journey.
The original changed a lot throughout its run, and I only want to incorporate its best aspects if I'm going through the lengths to create it again from scratch. I've already done a bit of character work right out of the gate, from keeping Nami as a cast member to reintroducing Koby as a supporting character, but there's more work to be done.
Zoro. Nami. Usopp. Sanji. Robin. Hancock. I want these characters to really have a strong presence in the early parts of the story, leading up to what becomes a confrontation with Kuro. As such, I'm reinventing the early parts of the story to have more, well, story. Each of them will have moments to shine, and instead of jumping between random moment after random moment, I'm going to try and weave as clear a story per chapter as possible.
If you can't tell what I want to do with these characters unique to the canon story by the end of the first major storyline, then I'd have failed in an improved adaptation of Making the Grade. And if each chapter doesn't live up to being an interesting, well-thought update to the story, then it didn't deserve to be a full chapter's story in the first place.
If they're reviewed poorly then I'll make sure to skip ahead to the juicy stuff, but I wouldn't write content that I thought wouldn't be deserving of the original story, and One Piece itself for that matter. It'll be fun, it'll be heartwarming, it'll have some drama mixed in for added effect, and it'll be with all the characters you love… just not in the ways that you expect.
Hope you continue to enjoy my reimagining!
XXXXXXXXXX
Zoro, by the age of nine, knew what his life mission was - to kick this girl's ass at Kendo, even if it's the last thing he does.
Both clad in training garb, Zoro's a dark green set and Kuina's a mix of a pink shirt and dark red shorts, thrashed their wooden swords together in the heat of combat. If they were steel, sparks would fly.
Around the two, several students watched from the walls of a small dojo, enraptured by the encounter. At the head of them, an older man with long black hair tied into a ponytail grinned in a mature excitement. Mr. Shimotsuki knew his students being passionate was good for training, after all.
Wielding not one, but two wooden swords, Zoro made a strong dash towards her with a simple swordsman's play; one sword would be used to get the majority of her focus, before swinging the other from below in an attempt to catch her while her only sword was preoccupied. Despite the strong play, Kuina simply rotated the sword in balance with Zoro's friction and her own momentum, catching the two swords before either could land a blow on her.
"Wow!" One student called out. "I wish I could do that!"
"I'm sure it took her years to be comfortable with it." Another murmured.
Zoro had enough of the whispering and chit-chat around him. He didn't need another reminder of how the odds were against him. Hoping his last bout of training had done him some good, he went with a risky play: a spinning swing of both swords simultaneously. If he could get her to stagger with it, then he could easily score his first victory against her. If not… he didn't have the time nor the patience to consider that.
Without hesitation, Zoro used the force of Kuina pushing away to launch himself into the spin, carefully balancing himself on his feet as he rotated before slamming back down onto her sword with a mighty THRASH!
Despite his efforts, however, she caught the swords with a strong, stable retaliation. In that moment, despite not doing it intentionally, he could only mutter to himself in deep frustration.
"Why'd you have to be taller than me?"
"Cause' then it wouldn't be a fair fight, would it?" Kuina quipped back, before using Zoro's poor positioning to launch him into a staggering motion. Within another few seconds, Zoro was on the ground, Kuina victorious.
"Match point: Kuina wins!" The man called out, the students around him clapping, cheering and jeering alike. It was certainly an entertaining match, even if it were only practice on an average weekend day.
"That has to be… my two-thousand and first victory against you, Zoro." Kuina teased, extending her hand so Zoro could get up.
"Stop making up numbers!" He angrily called back, accepting the hand to get back up.
"No, I'm really sure it's two-thousand and one." Her grin was infectious, nearly making Zoro forget he was supposed to be mad at her. Despite the anger seething inside of him, her smile always seemed to have the same effect on him.
That effect on him… did it feel good or bad?
Several buzzes of a screeching alarm passed by Zoro's ears before he regained enough consciousness to slam down the snooze button. While he wasn't a very restless sleeper, he was already rolled out of his blankets. Nearly out of the 'small single'-size bed he was in, hanging only by the bare minimum amount of force from his body, he reeled back in for just a few more moments.
'5:30' glowed from his lone digital alarm clock, one of a few possessions lined up against the wall in between the bed and the table. Eventually sitting up, Zoro glanced over to see the other small single bed stuffed in their closet designated as a room.
Its owner, a cranky and exhausted Sanji, glared up at him in frustration.
"If you're going to set an alarm this early, can you at least put a muffle on it or something, moss-head?!" Sanji whined, before covering his face with a thin, worn pillow.
"...Sure." Zoro solemnly replied, before grabbing a bag of clothes from his pile of belongings and storming out of the room. In a dark, dim hallway, where the only lights came from service stairs at the far end of it, he opened the door across from their room. It was a bathroom, covered in darkness.
Tapping on the bathroom light, its squeaky wooden door closing shut behind him, Zoro began to change into something other than the gray sweatpants he normally slept in. Swapping those out for a sleek long sleeve workout shirt, compression tights, and a pair of worn black shorts, he looked over next to the bathroom's sink and mirror. He and Sanji had put a calendar up for their busy schedules, and while messing with most of their property was fair game, they quickly agreed their lives would descend into chaos if either of them messed with it.
He usually just wrote little notes and marks depicting what kind of workouts he would be doing that day. But Zoro had written out an event for that day in particular. His writing, at least to him, was clear enough.
'24th - KUINA B-DAY'.
Zoro hid his old clothes in a small bin underneath the sink, finishing up in the bathroom. Zoro quickly began jogging down the hallway, up the stairs, and out into the open air of the Baratie deck, the fresh morning air coming to greet him.
A little over a year ago, Sanji had offered him a bed in one of the storage rooms of the Baratie in exchange for a ride to school every morning. With nowhere left to turn besides sleeping in his car, he begrudgingly accepted the offer.
The Baratie restaurant was once an ocean-going cruise liner, but after many years of service Sanji's eventual head chef Zeff bought the ship. The goal? To completely renovate it into a fine dining experience. While most of the floors were hollowed out in the renovation process, there were a few lower-deck floors left for storage, and eventually, for cooks to sleep in after late nights. Serving guests traveling as far as from different cities just to try the food wasn't easy work after all. Some food had to be prepared as early as the next sunrise just to get ingredients cleaned up and dishes set.
Jogging on a rough sidewalk near the port, not just one ship out on the riverside but several docked along it, Zoro followed the path for as long as it would take him. The only sounds he would hear were his own footsteps, the humming constant of waves, and the occasional squawking of birds in the distance. There were no cars that traveled along the adjacent road, and he'd rarely ever see another using the same sidewalks, let alone jogging upon them. It was peaceful. It was quiet.
But Zoro couldn't focus on his exercise. At least not today. It had been a rough night of dreams. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd had a dream, let alone gotten restless over it. It had been about his past, growing up, learning Kendo. He could almost feel the weight of a wooden sword in his hands, it was that hard to distinguish the dream from reality.
As long as it was Kuina's birthday, and the frustrating weight of a bad night's sleep hindered his focus even further, he wasn't sure if he was going to focus on anything at all. The weight under his eyes said everything about the day he was going to have; If he wasn't going to be stuck thinking about the past, he would be struggling to stay awake.
One Piece - Making the Grade
New World!
"Nine… ten… twelve…" A young Luffy called out from behind a large tree, leaning against it in order to avoid cheating though quick glances. No matter how badly he wanted to look, he wouldn't glance if he just didn't let go of the tree.
"You forgot elev-en." An equally-yong Nami called out in a fluttery, singing voice from… somewhere. Again, Luffy wouldn't cheat at such a sacred game such as Hide-n-Seek, even if it was the only way to win. Ace taught him that the first time they actually played.
"You have to start o-ver."
"Aww… do I have to?"
"That's the rule. But, since I found my spot, I'll let you just count to ten."
"Yes! Okay!"
Nami glared at Luffy with confidence from her hiding spot. The two played in a park near where they both lived, with enough shrubbery and trees to make Hide-n-Seek an easy game for them to play. Even better, Nami was completely confident in her hiding spot. The way the foliage of a tree grew made its base seem solid and rough, but if you dug in then there was plenty of space to crawl. She was sure he was never going to-
"Found you!"
"Ah!" Nami leapt from her spot in sheer fear, truly confident that her slow-witted friend would've taken until dark to find her. "How did you find me?"
"Oh, I always check this spot. Ace found it forever ago, and he's used it so many times to trick me that I always check here first. Just in case."
"I don't believe you! I demand a re-try!"
"What?! I won fair and square!"
"Didn't seem that way!"
"Kids!" From a distance, a charming male voice reached out over the park.
"Shanks?!" Luffy called out.
"The one and only. Now get back where I can see you!"
The two made their way to the front of the park, where a decently grown man with comfortable clothes, a rough stubble, and red hair stuffed underneath a Straw Hat sat on a park bench. Even though he was an adult, Nami could immediately see he had the same goofy grin as Luffy.
"Glad you took your time. Now come on, your mother's gonna kill me if we're late to dinner."
"Aww, come on Shanks! We were just about to do another round of Hide-n-Seek!"
"Especially not Hide-n-Seek! You'd take forever to find this girl, anyways."
"Would NOT!" Luffy whined, Nami stepping up next to him and nodding in agreement.
"As much as I think he cheated… he did find me really quick last time."
"Well, I'll be. When I can't find you though, then we'll talk. As for now, we really should get going."
"All right." Luffy frowned in a sort of dejected compliance, before shaking it off and waving to Nami. "See you around, Nami!"
"You too, Luffy!" She waved back, their evening of chasing each other around and enjoying their free time coming to a swift end.
"Alright, you've gotten enough sleep." Nami heard, just barely, from the other side of a pillow covering her face. Within a few seconds of that, before she could take it off herself, a young woman threw it off for her. Blasted in the early morning rays of light making their way through a window, Nami recoiled back into her blankets.
"Seriously, you're running out of time." Nojiko, Nami's sister, sassily teased her before making their way into the bathroom.
Nami, for the most part, felt like a tired mess. Her hair, shot up in every which way, did most of the talking for her. Scrambling off the bed in a pink t-shirt and blue short-shorts, the girl wobbled around the floor, putting in every inch of effort she could, before making her way besides her sister in the bathroom.
"Stay awake for me!" Nojiko, a young woman dawning a light purple pajama shirt and baggy sweatpants, teased her sister as they both began brushing their teeth.
"I know." She said, moderately muffled by the brush in her mouth. "But I got so much I gotta do this week! Just getting to enjoy my bed feels like a reward at this point."
"It's only the second week, sis. I'm sure it can't be that bad. And besides, you've been sleeping in too much lately. Did you have another one of those 'dreams' again?"
"Yeah…" Nami trailed out, slowing down the pace of her toothbrush scrubs.
"Well… where were you this time?"
"I was… back at the park. It was me and Luffy, and we were playing tag, or something."
Nojiko gave her sister a sympathetic glance before spitting out the toothpaste in her mouth. "Aww. I know things were a little rough for you back then, but we're back now! And you found your weird Straw Hat friend! You even have a job now, even though you won't tell me or mom where you're working…"
"I know you'll just embarrass me in front of the customers." Nami quickly spoke, as though she'd had that response ready.
"Oh, so there are customers? Then I'll just have to go to every restaurant in the Grand Line and find your embarrassed butt!"
"Who said anything about it being a restaurant?"
"What? And you work at a register at some dingy grocery store? No chance. Wouldn't even be surprised if you're working at some bar just to steal their drinks."
"Nojiko!"
"I'm just kidding, relax!"
In sync, the two sisters finished brushing their teeth, not out of being fully hygienic but simply running out of time for the day. Without hesitation, the two sisters slipped into uniforms; Nojiko wearing a diner's uniform and Nami wearing her school getup. Both looked uniquely pretty, Nojiko wrapping a red ribbon around her flowery, purple hair and Nami brushing her short, tangerine-esque hair so that it could flow slickly from either side.
They were two sisters, ready to take on the world.
Or at least Nojiko was. Even as the two headed out for the day, Nami still had this hesitating feeling about herself. The dream she'd had last night, of memories spent with Luffy when they were a child, still stuck with her. All she wanted to do was forget the past, but when the present felt like such a weight on her spirit, dreaming of childhood fantasies was the only thing keeping the young girl going.
"Come on! Who wants to fight me?!" Zoro yelled out, looking straight into a group of older Kendo students.
They were all huddled around one of their phones, looking at something Zoro couldn't even fully see because of his height. He was younger than them, and shorter than them, but he knew he could take any one of them in a fight if given the chance.
But it wasn't even that anymore. The students were the last group of kids in the whole dojo that day he'd asked about sparring with him. Besides Kuina, no one else wanted to spar for one reason or another. Some would say they were tired from training as a group all morning, others would simply say they were afraid to fight him. He even had a girl tear up and walk away when he'd asked, which he did feel bad for, but at the same time, what kind of a wimp makes it that far in Kendo training anyhow?
"We're busy." One of them muttered, not looking away from their phone.
"But class is almost up! And I've already asked everyone else."
"Well, that's not our problem, is it?" Another kid said, before they all broke out laughing at the video on the phone.
"Augh!" Zoro audibly yelled, before turning around and beginning to storm off.
"I see you're having some trouble?"
Kuina leaned against one of the sturdy walls of the dojo, giving him a cocky smile.
"Thought you were talking with your dad?"
"Just 'dojo' this and 'dojo' that. All I have to do is nod and smile and he basically talks for me." She rolled her eyes, before giving her friend another smile. "But we know how to talk differently, don't we?"
She raised a wooden sword up in front of her, forcing Zoro to notice.
"We talk with the swords?"
"Yeah, stupid. I heard you talking to everyone else… and they just don't get it like me and you. It's swords… or nothin'."
Zoro smiled back. "Yeah. Swords or nothin'."
"Now come on, before your stupid parents show up."
They ran out into the back, where a few outdoor sparring mats were placed. The rest of the students were wrapping for the day, getting ready to go home, back to their lives.
But as the first clash of wooden swords sent a snapping sound throughout the air around them, Zoro knew he didn't have much of a life outside of the dojo. This was his life. This is where he needed to be. When he could finally match up to Kuina… then he would be complete.
"Zoro?" Luffy tilted Zoro's head from its resting place on the cafeteria table. "Did you fall asleep already?" He chuckled at the thought.
"That's what you get for working out so early." Sanji snidely commented.
It was now their second week of school. Luffy and Zoro had both received several detentions by that point, many for sleeping. Usopp had only received one detention, for insisting his 'What I Did This Summer' essay was completely factual. It wasn't his problem men had yet to document 50-foot goldfish and the like! And Nami, while a fun energy for their group dynamic, was getting more exhausted from her work by the day.
Sanji had finally been busted for using the Home Economics kitchen during lunch to cook for cute girls. It mainly frustrated him since he had actually planned to practice his skills in the kitchen, and now he would have to come crawling back to practicing before the Baratie opened for the day. Just as he started bragging he got to cook with a bunch of cute girls to the crap-cooks back at the restaurant. Go figure.
And despite Usopp desperately denying it to Sanji, Zoro and Nami, it was obvious he was doing very little at lunch but sneaking glances at the girl he was assigned to work with on a history assignment.
"How early did Zoro wake up?" Nami asked, before taking a bite of a packed tangerine from her lunch bag.
"Five thirty… no, just five."
"What?!" Both Nami and Usopp nearly leapt from their seats at the table.
"It's when I need to wake up in order to get through my whole jog before school." Zoro mumbled.
"A jog? Or a marathon?" Usopp chastised, slapping his shoulder several times.
"It doesn't matter." Zoro brushed off the comments. "I'm usually never this tired by now."
"You think it's the sleep catching up to you?"
"Or maybe you've been having nightmares? Or a secret past finally coming to catch up with you?"
"Or maybe you're just an idiot."
"Or maybe you're just really hungry?"
"Alright!" Zoro waved them off, sliding into his arms even further than he already was. "Just let me sleep. I have to go to the gym later too."
"Do you have a tournament coming up or something?" Nami questioned. "I can't imagine having to work out that much just to be ready for a competition."
"It's not for a couple of months… it's only the beginning of the season, after all. But I can't let up. Not now."
Sanji leaned in close to Nami, both in an attempt to whisper but also with an air of classy seduction that he couldn't really pull off. "He hasn't won a tournament since middle school. Before then, though, he and his girlfriend were always winning in their age group for Kendo."
"Zoro used to be a prodigy at Kendo?!" Usopp exclaimed, his respect for Zoro as a man growing by the minute.
"Of course not!" Zoro snapped back.
"Sure you are!" Luffy spoke out. "That's how we met, after all. You had just had a big fight with a really tough guy, and you were chilling out on the school roof afterwards!"
"Yeah, a fight I didn't win."
"Potato-tomato! It still sounded really cool."
"Isn't it… potato po-tah-to?" Usopp nervously commented, although semantics weren't really the most interesting thing about the conversation.
"He wasn't special or anything, he just did it 'cause' he wanted to beat his girlfriend." Sanji joked to the table.
"You couldn't beat your girlfriend in a Kendo match?! She must've been the real deal."
"She was. I can't remember a single time out of what felt like thousands of attempts that I beat her… not even close."
"Then what happened? …Did she die?!"
"Of course not! She just… moved."
"Ah…" Nami smirked with an air of smugness. "So now that your girlfriend's gone you don't have what it takes, I see."
Zoro just rolled his eyes and attempted to get some sleep.
"Don't say that!" Luffy leapt into the conversation after hearing Nami's remark. "He's gonna be the best Kendo guy out there! I just know it!"
"How are you so sure? Have you ever seen him play before?"
"Only once..."
"And what happened? How'd he do?"
"He got his ass handed to him."
"Way to be subtle." Zoro muttered.
"But, I believe in him. The other guy was good, but Zoro will beat him someday. Positive."
"How sweet." Usopp commented, mainly in a non-mocking tone, before scarfing down the last bit of a sandwich. "Well, it's been fun, lady and gentlemen, but I have to get ready for later."
"What's happening? Can I come?!" Luffy nearly leapt in excitement.
"No! I have to work on that history assignment."
"Oh! The group project with Kaya!"
"Kaya, huh?" Sanji slyly teased Usopp. "Who's the lucky lady? Surely not the girl you've been peeking at since last week?"
"Whaaa-t?" Usopp quickly slipped into a deep red blush, itching the back of his head in nervousness. "I'll have you know that this is a professional project that we're taking on here, and that in no way, shape or form would I ever use this opportunity to… I don't know-"
"Get to know her better?" Nami commented, giving him a sarcastic smile.
"Well… as a scholar, I know the best work can only be done when you're in complete sync with your peers."
"Scholar my ass." Sanji barked back.
"H-h-how did you know?!"
"Just a lucky guess." He retorted back. "Although if you're taking the same class as Luffy, I wouldn't be surprised if this Kaya thought you were a Scholar in comparison."
"Well, I wouldn't put Luffy on the execution platform just yet. We have math together, and after some convincing from the teacher, we're gonna work on our next assignment together at the library. She thought that maybe if he had someone to hold him responsible, he wouldn't be so forgetful."
Even Usopp could clearly see the gears turning in Sanji's head as he suavely swooned over Nami.
"If you ever needed help with math, I'm sure I could provide assistance."
Nami gave him a cold glare. "While I appreciate the offer, I'm sure I'll have my hands full with Luffy as it is. And I need to do well on this assignment, too. If everyone just showed up, I'm positive the library would turn into chaos before the hour was over."
"Hands full?" Luffy glared at her with confusion. "I thought you were going to be doing homework, not carrying me."
Nami thought for a good while before realizing the leaps in logic Luffy had to make in order to think she was going to be literally carrying him. Without hesitation, she grabbed him by the ear, causing him to wince in pain.
"How in the world could you mess up such an easy expression?! At this rate I'm not sure the best tutor in the school could help you with English, let alone any of us!"
"Sorry, Nami..." Luffy glumly muttered, both dejected from a lack of understanding and the punishment that followed. Realizing just how much of a scene she was making with him, she let go of his ear, causing him to slingshot from the pulled force and bounce around in his seat. All Nami, Usopp and Sanji could do was laugh at the cartoonish silliness Luffy presented to them, almost as though he weren't human.
And each of them were simply glad he was who he was.
With permissions from the school, any student could use the gym faculties after class. Despite that, many clubs that centered around sports focused their practices on their own fields or locations, so the space was mostly abandoned by the time Zoro made his way in. It was a whole thirty or so minutes after the final bell had rung, meaning any student who wasn't in the nearly deserted gym wasn't going to come by that point.
That being the case, Zoro could already recognize one of the students using a leg pullup machine. After a series of rough motions, the young student got up and met eyes with Zoro.
"Zoro?"
"Koby!" Zoro smiled as best he could with the exhaustion reeling over himself. "You're going to the gym now?"
Koby tried to adjust his body to completely meet Zoro coming in, but could only turn part of the way before he sincerely shuddered in pain. "Yeah… I just joined the Navy Club, but it's much more demanding than I expected. But I'm not giving up just yet!"
The two glanced over at the leg pullup machine and Zoro let out a light chuckle.
"Hold on-" Zoro muttered, before kneeling next to the machine and making a few adjustments to the main mechanism of it. "You're definitely a bit smaller than your average gym-goer. If you keep doing reps like a normal guy, you might end up overextending yourself."
Koby wasn't incredibly short or scrawny for his age, but compared to some of the bigger people at the school he would stand out like a sore thumb. Or, in this case, not stand out. Any bit of help Koby could get in reaching those heights was appreciated, mainly since he didn't have many people to help him out.
"Oh…!" Without hesitation Koby sat back in the machine, and found the movement of his legs to be a lot more comfortable than before. "This is perfect! Thanks Zoro!"
"Make sure to do some research, alright? It's a lot more complicated than you're expecting, so don't be afraid to ask for help."
"Alright! …" Koby trailed off without much more to say to his stoic friend, but soon noticed the amount of equipment at his side. "Is that Kendo gear?"
"Yeah, that's what I'm training for."
"Shouldn't you be in the Kendo club? I'm sure the school has one."
"I know they do… but me and the club aren't exactly a great fit."
"Not a good fit, huh?" The two turned near the back of the gym, where an upperclassman girl let go of a lat pull-down bar, getting up just to engage with them. Decently fit for her age, adorned in a plum-shaded slim-fit top and white sweatpants, she peered at the two of them through a thick pair of glasses.
"You're Zoro, right?"
"Tashigi!" Koby squealed, near-completely sliding into the seat of the leg pullup machine in sheer nervousness. Zoro gave him a confused glance, hoping for an explanation. "She's one of the head officers in the Navy Club, so I never expected to talk to her…"
"Hey, Koby." She gave him a polite smile and a wave, Koby nearly fainting at the fact that she knew his name.
"I am Zoro." He commented about her earlier question. "Do you know me from somewhere?"
"Not personally, no. But I'm new to Kendo, started last year. What I hear from people in the club, though, is you're pretty good. Why didn't you join? We could use someone like you on our main team."
"Me and the club president don't exactly see eye to eye."
"Ah, I understand. Though I'd be lying if I wasn't at least a little sad we couldn't work together…" She trailed off, before a thought formed in her head, and shone in her eyes. "I know! Let's have a match, me and you!"
"What?"
"Come on! I think it would be pretty fun, no? I have my kendo equipment in my car, and we can just do something small like a best of five?"
Zoro pondered for a few seconds, sizing her up. She seemed decently confident, and certainly had a passion for Kendo behind her. Whether she was any good compared to him, someone who'd been training since early childhood, would have to be seen.
…There was only one problem. She looked so fucking much like Kuina it was driving him crazy. Her hair was only down to her shoulders, glowing a similar dark-blue to hers. Her eyes shined with a confidence he only ever saw in hers, although her smile was certainly less stoic and more… nerdy for lack of a better term. It would be pretty embarrassing to say, 'Hey! Sorry, but I don't want to fight you because you look a lot like my childhood friend and ex!' but Zoro really was worried enough about Kuina as it was. He didn't need another reminder, especially since he couldn't get her out of his head to begin with.
"I don't think I want to fight someone right now."
"Oh come on!" She gestured to the supplies hanging from his shoulder. "You've already got your gear, and it's always better to practice with someone else!" She gave him one last look up and down, before trying one final approach. "You wanna bet something on it?"
"...Like what?"
"Well… if you lose, then you have to come back to the Kendo club. Just to see if you can warm up to our club prez."
Zoro, at the very least, liked the challenge. But what would he bet in return…?
"Hm... If I win, would you be willing to train Koby?"
"What!?" Koby nearly leapt up into the ceiling, by that point considering the conversation so far away from him that he should just get up and go to another machine, lest he bother them further.
"He doesn't know much of the basics about a gym, but I'm sure if someone gave him a good shot at it, he'd be a great army guy, or whatever it is you guys do."
She eagerly smiled at the proposition, extending her hand. "I think we've got a deal."
Zoro hesitated for a moment, not really knowing if this is what he should be doing feeling like crap. Despite that, and every other warning, he couldn't pass up a good challenge.
"So do I."
"I think I get this!" Luffy loudly proclaimed from his seat in the library. Before he could get another word out, Nami leaned across the table, close enough to him to get his full attention, and put a sharp finger in front of her lips. "Huh? …Oh! Sorry!"
"Ugh!" Nami whined. "We're gonna get kicked out at this rate. Please, just whisper a bit more."
"But why?" Luffy said, still with a much clearer voice than anyone else in the library. "If anything, it's easier to talk to you now than ever!"
"Can you just do it because I ask?"
Luffy thought about it for a moment, looking down at his work before looking her in the eyes for a good few seconds. "You want me to be quiet?"
"Yes."
His face shriveled, complying with the noise complaint but obviously uninterested in obliging for more than he had to. "Fine…"
"Thank you." Nami spoke, her voice much calmer than just a moment before. "So, what were you talking about? You figured something out?"
"Yeah!" Luffy exclaimed, before realizing his mistake and shriveling up once again. "I figured out how to do problem two…"
"Let me see." She spoke matter-of-factly, almost anticipating the answer to be wrong. Sure enough, as soon as she started going over his problem, there were inconsistencies left and right. From her face of confusion, even Luffy could tell something was wrong.
"What did I do wrong this time? I thought I used that formula just right!"
"To be fair, it seems you are using the formula right. But, every calculation you're running seems to be coming out with some problem or another. Show me what you're doing."
Nami moved her chair so that they could be facing a somewhat similar direction, watching intently as Luffy began moving his pencil back and forth from his calculations to the answers he'd written down. For a moment, both of them were squarely focused on the paper, and the questions held within.
Then, in what seemed to be a moment of disassociation, Nami lost focus and looked towards Luffy, realizing only then how close they were.
Before she could freak out, she realized how intently Luffy was focusing on the page. He looked like a child who'd just learned how to read a particularly intense novel, his eyes scanning the page with a feverish curiosity. He began noting the correlations between different items on the page, but Nami couldn't really hear him.
After what felt like a stressful few weeks coming back to school, at an incredibly prestigious school for the area, her friend from the past simply reminded her what that past felt like. Just for a moment, to be a child again, was a pleasant surprise.
"Are you ready to begin?" Zoro questioned Tashigi, hands at each hilt of two well-carved wooden swords. Tashigi, on the other end of a decently large fitness mat, shook her sword around as though confirming to herself how it felt in her hands.
"Aren't we going to put on armor?" On the side of the mat, where Koby was watching with interest and curiosity, the rest of their gear sat. In a normal bout between two Kendo fighters of a certain age range, they would wear armor in order to protect themselves from long-term bruising and the fracture of any bones. It would be standard procedure for two teenagers of their fitness level, no matter the circumstances.
"I don't need any."
"Way to talk crap without even trying." Tashigi spat back, gearing up her stance all the same as Zoro, only with one sword.
"Shouldn't you at least put on armor?"
"What, think 'cause I'm a girl I'll need armor to protect myself? Or are you just that confident?"
"I'm only ambitious. And trust me, I've known a girl or two who could bruise me more than anyone in the Kendo club right now."
"I'll take you up on that bet, along with the one we've already made. Let's see if we can get the 'hunter' Zoro some new bruises." With the end of her statement punctuated with a cocky smile, she firmly set her stance. "I'm ready."
"A-alright!" Koby called out, extending his hand to signal they were about to begin. "A simple best-of-five, winner claims their bet! And…"
He swung his hand down. "Fight!"
Before Tashigi could even realize what happened, Zoro leapt at her like a tiger, thrashing his right sword into her side with a solid force.
"Point, Zoro."
"Ow! What the fuck was that?"
"Training." Zoro commented. "Not to judge, but when you're fighting against the best, they don't waste a second."
"Fine." Tashigi called back, her voice shaky but not entirely shaken. "Let's see if I can keep up to your 'golden standard'."
"And… fight!" Koby called back.
Instantly Tashigi took a defensive form, expecting to have to reel with a similar quick attack. Almost as if Zoro could read her attempt, he took his time in spinning around both swords. Planting his feet to the ground, aiming with the best precision he could muster, he slashed both swords into her defensive form. The weight of his force, concentrated entirely in his strength and muscles, caused Tashigi to stagger entirely back, nearly onto the floor. In that instant, Zoro spun around with one of his swords, getting in another blow to her other side.
"Point, Zoro!" Koby spoke with more enthusiasm, realizing only then the level of skill Zoro was playing with.
As Tashigi fumed, both with anger and genuine concern for her skills, Zoro could only quip with a half-smile. "I hate to break it to you, but I knew a girl who would never get caught up in that. Not even once."
All she could do was take a grip of her resolve. "Let's just go again."
"I think I got it this time!" Luffy nearly exclaimed, finally keeping his voice in check. It wasn't perfect, but Nami noted and appreciated the effort.
"Let me see." The two gathered close again, both eying up and down the page for any signs of mistakes. Muttering line after line, the formula still seemed intact: Luffy had gotten the last problem right, as far as Nami could tell. She wasn't perfect, but if they were on the same page, then it must mean something.
"Yes!" Luffy cheered, taking the paper and stuffing it back in his bag. "Thought that would take much longer, but I guess when I have someone to check my work it goes by a lot quicker."
"The other guys never help you study?" Nami questioned, packing her supplies away as well.
"Well, Usopp tried his best last year, but he wasn't exactly great at it. And then before Sanji helped a little bit, but I always had to help him out with cooking in exchange. Now, I have the free time to go out to eat afterwards!"
"And Zoro?"
The two looked each other in the eyes, before each letting out a hardy laugh.
Luffy nearly cheered in his spot from being done with the work, the first person fully packed between the two. Nami followed soon after, and the two quickly left through the entrance of the Library to the sidewalk.
"That sounds nice. Eating out, I mean. I'm usually busy after working on stuff, so I never went out much in middle school, let alone having people to eat out with. Even more so now, since I wanted to get a job."
"Well, are you busy now?"
"No, but-"
"Then come on! Let's go get some Ramen!" Luffy finally cheered in his full voice, the social expectations of the library no longer weighing him down. Even half expecting it, it still caught Nami off-guard.
"Isn't the ramen place really far from here?"
"I'll message Zoro if he can pick us up!" Without hesitation, Luffy reached into his pocket and began typing away at his phone.
In the comfortable evening air, Nami could see once again that childish glare coming from Luffy as he hammered away at the phone, nearly breaking it with his finger presses. It was almost as though he were in his own little world, one where the concepts of 'being embarrassed' and 'social courtesy' were nonexistent. In that sense, Luffy was more a child than Nami ever was, even when she was just playing Hide-n-Seek and going to elementary school. At the same time, maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. Maybe his optimism, his resilience, and any lack of common sense brought about nothing rational, but at the very least, something she enjoyed being around. She was comfortable around him, and considering how uncomfortable he could make a situation, that meant more to her than she could care to admit.
As he put his phone away, the two began just standing there, Luffy obviously too content just standing around to make any meaningful conversation. Eventually, Nami let out a light cough, and attempted at her best to get rid of the silence.
"D- Do you mind if I ask you about what I remember from when we were kids?"
"I don't see why not." Luffy plainly spoke.
"I remember you used to live in Foosha, near where I lived. We would always go to that park-"
"The Partys Park!" Luffy's face lit up. "I do remember that! Ace used to play with Sabo and Uta there all the time, and then when I got old enough I used to try and play with them… and sometimes Shanks. Now we live in the Mt. Colubo suburbs, which isn't far from there, but Garp wanted a bigger house."
"How is Shanks, by the way? And who's Garp?"
Luffy, while not incredibly shaken, seemed at least a little uncomfortable with the topic of Shanks being brought up.
"Oh shit, I'm-"
"No no, he didn't die or anything. Shanks… he's been in the hospital for a while. Like, years."
"Shit." Nami could only murmur to herself in frustration. "Fuck, that sucks. If you don't mind me asking…-"
"It's… a complicated story." Luffy was obviously trying to avoid talking about it, and considering how little he avoided direct confrontation on a topic, Nami thought it best to let it go for now.
"That's alright, Luffy. We don't need to talk about it. In that case, who's this Garp?"
"He's my grandpa. He took in Ace a little while before, but after what happened, he took in me as well. If you don't remember, then I guess it all happened after you left."
"Is he cool?"
"He's great!" Luffy immediately picked up. "Well… not when I bring home a report card. Or I fall asleep at dinner. Or I forget to tell him where I'm gonna be- SHIT!"
Without hesitation, Luffy pulled out his phone and began hammering at it again. It was so well timed that Nami thought it could be a joke, but as the nervous beads of sweat on Luffy's face grew all she could do was burst out into a great laugh.
"What's so funny?!" Luffy tried to yell at her, but had to keep his attention on his phone.
"Nothing, nothing! I'm just glad everything's alright."
"It won't be if Garp's checked his phone before now."
"I mean with your life. Even if you've had some rough spots, it's all…"
Realizing she trailed off, not finishing her thought, Luffy looked up from his typing only to see a small tear fall from Nami's eye. "Woah! Did I say something-?!"
"No, you idiot!" She turned, wiping the water from her eye. "I just… thought about something. You wouldn't get it."
"Alright." Luffy confidently replied, as though the moment she assured him she was fine was the signal for him to go back to normal. She couldn't really complain, only making a note to kick the shit out of him if he did it again.
"Shit." Tashigi repeated to herself, slumped up against the wall of the gym and covered head-to-toe in sweat. Shaking herself at least partially from the frustration, all she could do was wipe underneath her glasses with her fingers once again. By the time she finished wiping and looked up, Zoro was looking down at her from a few feet away, standing confidently and barely breaking a sweat.
"You're going to keep up your end of the deal, right?"
"Yeah… I'll help Koby out. But one more."
"One more? You look like you're gonna pass out."
"Just shut up." Tashigi held her sword up, the bruises on her arms causing the steadiness of her form to fade fast. "Let our swords do the talking."
The time had gone by quickly, Tashigi not scoring a single point. Despite the quick win, Zoro still felt tired and overall underwhelmed. Not even Kendo, the thing that had passionately sat within him for years, could shake him up from the funk of a bad day. He'd always imagined Kendo to be the thing that would shake him from any frustrations, the drive to succeed being the medicine to cure any weight on his shoulders. But now… his past felt like the weights. Kendo felt like the frustration in his life that couldn't be shaken.
A few years and a few days after the times where Zoro and Kuina could just spar and let the whole world melt around them, Zoro watched Dojo Master Koushirou Shimotsuki nail down the last of the 'FOR SALE' signs around the dojo property.
"Thanks for the help." The older man sweetly thanked Zoro, as he wiped the sweat off of his brow. For the first time in a very long time, Mr. Shimotsuki was wearing casual clothing instead of the usual traditional Dojo Master garb, which still made him a little uncomfortable. But the older man certainly looked comfortable, putting on the first smile he'd seen from him in a good while.
"No problem, sir. Glad I could be of help."
"I just…" His thoughts slowed for a moment, the master unable to keep his eyes on Zoro. "I'd understand if you didn't want to see the dojo in this state."
"You guys are moving, I get it." Zoro brushed it off.
"But do you?" Koushirou spoke, a little more quickly than even he'd been anticipating.
"What does that mean?"
"Well… what are your plans? For the future?"
Without missing a beat, Zoro crossed his tired arms together and began. "I'm gonna go and join the nearest middle school that has a Kendo club… and work my way at that until nationals."
"To fight my daughter?"
"...Yes."
"And that's what worries me."
"Why?" Zoro was genuinely confused. He'd known the family for several years, and had been dating Kuina for at least the past year. They were only kids, of course, but they were as close as a family and a stranger could get. Why was he talking about all of this now?
"Because… dreams are great. They push you, and they inspire you." Koushirou let out a deep breath. "But what are you left with when they're all done?"
"So… you think I'll be able to beat Kuina one day?"
"No doubt. You're strong, and steadfast. I just worry about the person that will be left when you do achieve that."
"What's that-?"
Before Zoro could ask, Kuina ran up. She hugged her father, before quickly letting go at the realization that he was covered in sweat, and shuffled over to give Zoro a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Hope you two were having fun without me." She gave Zoro a goofy smile, which made Zoro forget what they'd been previously talking about.
"Yeah, no doubt about that."
"Alright then!" Koushirou clapped his hands together. "We're just about done here, so why don't I get ready, and we all go get something to eat?"
"Sounds great!" Kuina smiled. "Right, Zoro?"
Zoro looked at them, unable to consider a future beyond the happiness that he felt with them.
"Right. Sounds great."
"HEY!"
Zoro was snapped from his dozing off with Kuina's frustrated scream, charging into the fight. Before he knew what he was doing, he just parried her attack, using a low blow that near-instantly knocked her to the floor.
"Come on!" She yelled out, frustrated. "What's your deal?!"
"My deal?"
"You don't even give a shit right now! I can tell, you know!"
"You alright, Zoro?" Koby called out from his spot watching the sparring match, sincerity in his voice. Frustrated, Tashigi shuffled over to the wall, leaning against it while sitting on the floor, digging her head into her knees.
"Couldn't even beat you once…" She began to mutter. "And you don't even give a shit."
"You remind me of an old friend of mine." Zoro said to Tashigi, surprising both her and Koby.
"...Thanks?" She said back, lifting her head.
Slowly, Zoro trotted along beside her and slid down the wall, leaning against it with an angsty frustration of his own. There was a silence between them, lasting almost an uncomfortable amount of time, before he spoke up again.
"She was the one who got me into Kendo, back when I was a kid. Every time I think of back then… it would motivate me to keep going. To get stronger. But now… sometimes I can't do that. The memories don't work like they used to. They even… it's hard to sleep."
Tashigi just stared at him for a minute, Zoro too in-his-own-head after having admitted something personal about himself to look back. He just stared forward, unsure of what his feelings even meant.
"Sorry." Tashigi finally replied, the angst of her previous failures wiping away from them. "Didn't realize Kendo was bringing up such bad shit for you."
"It's not that, I don't think… I'm still good at it. But when I think about what got me here, it feels like it was so long ago. Like… what got me here is too far away for me to even consider it part of what motivates me now."
"You did it for your friend, then." She said, almost as though the thought were obvious.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, maybe it's just you're lacking in current motivation. If this friend of yours goes way back, to the point that the memories don't even feel like memories… then maybe you need something tangible to bring you the motivation you need."
"Something tangible?"
"Yeah!" Tashigi brightened up. "I mean, even before I joined the Kendo club, I loved studying swords. I'd beg my dad to take me to museums where they were showing off old ones from places like Wano, or somewhere. I remember one time I had to go in alone because it was a 'no-smoking' zone, and my dad wasn't having any of that." She chuckled, her eyes distant but her spirit remained in their conversation.
"And now?"
"It was actually my dad, too. He was in the Kendo Club in high school, even though he's a cop now. I wanted to join after looking through his stuff one time, but the first club meeting felt like everyone hated me. They'd all been doing it for years, you know? And so I told my dad, and he said something like, 'Don't worry bout' them. If you really like to do something, you do it for you. But if it ever feels lonely, know that I'm in your corner. Know that I'm right there next to you, as long as I'm alive, and use that to bring you back to your senses.'"
"And you worked on getting better at Kendo for him?"
"Not for him… because of him. He didn't care about Kendo anymore… he wouldn't come to a tournament if I bought him the best pack of cigars the store down the street had to offer. But the comfort that I had someone in my corner, even when they weren't literally there to help me fight… that felt so real."
"You know…" Koby spoke up, for the first time in a bit. "I've had my dreams for a long time. And I just- I mean, I never went for it. Not because it wasn't my dream. Because it was hard to think of a time when anyone believed I could do something like that. But now… every day I go into class, I see Luffy. He hasn't been in class with a frown once, you know. He's just… so ready to go. That's my reminder, every day, that it's worth it."
"Then, perfect. Just enjoy yourself for a bit. Be comfortable, let yourself laugh a little. After that, get a good night's sleep and come back to practicing in the morning. You just need a reset, and that's normal. Maybe your friend was your reset, maybe you've just been holding in a lot more about your life. Either way, keep at it."
"...Thanks, for the advice."
"No problem. It sucks that you beat me on a bad day, but if I can just beat you on a good day…"
Zoro looked over to see Tashigi completely fired up about the prospect of beating him. It kind of reminded him of himself, back when all he wanted to do was beat Kuina. It was a childish passion, but when you're really dreaming of something, when isn't it childish?
"Zoro!" Koby ran over from the sidelines, skin deeply pink and covered in layers of sweat. "Your phone's going off!"
"Thanks." They passed off the phone, Zoro quickly scanning a text. "Son of a bitch."
"What?"
"Well… I have an excuse to relax now, don't I?"
"I don't believe you." Nami confidently spoke, before feeding herself a spool of ramen with wooden chopsticks.
"And I don't believe you." Zoro mimicked the action, both eyeing each other with disbelieving eyes.
"You DID NOT get into a random duel at the gym!"
"And I'm telling you there's no way Luffy finished his math homework in just a couple of hours!"
"I helped him! What do you expect, he would take the whole night?!"
"You haven't seen him the week before finals before, huh?"
"That has nothing to do with having a Kendo duel in the gym."
"It wasn't supposed to! And she challenged me, not the other way around!"
"Would you have challenged someone to a duel?"
"Well… if I could tell they were of a sufficient skill level, and-"
"Oh. Come. On." Nami rolled her eyes, laughing in response to complete disbelief. "You're a psychopath, you know that?"
"And you're crazy if you think Luffy can do as well as you're saying."
"I'm right here, Zoro."
Luffy comically sulked at the end of the table, his bowl of ramen almost gone despite the fact they'd all only just gotten their meals. Despite the arguments being made against him, Luffy was just happy the two were enjoying themselves at the local Ramen shop. School was certainly annoying, but if he could keep coming back to moments like these, then he would certainly never give up on school. Even if his life depended on it.
The two turned to Luffy as he began chuckling to himself.
"What's up with you?" Nami nearly screamed at him, adrenaline high from her conversation with Zoro.
"Ah, it's nothing." Luffy waved his hand, a big grin covering his face. "We should hang out more often."
"We see each other every day at school." Nami sighed, anticipating that much of her little free time over the semesters would be taken up by Luffy's hijinks.
"But there is a lot to do in town." Zoro commented. "There's that new mall that's opening out in New World."
"Couldn't make it, then. It would take forever just to get there by train and back, let alone car. I'm just gonna be too busy."
"Whaaat?" Luffy leaned up next to Nami, causing her to lunge back in surprise. "But it would be so fun if everyone could make it! And we could invite Koby too!"
"Might as well invite the whole school while you're at it…" Nami muttered under her own breath.
"Yeah!" Luffy agreed. "That sounds perfect!"
"Why did you do that?" Zoro asked Nami, with a weight of seriousness she'd barely seen from him.
"What do you mean?"
"Do you know how hard it'll be to get the idea out of his head?!"
"Hey, mosshead-" Sanji slid into their shared room, exhausted from a long night of work. With a last-minute rush of customers filling out reservation slots, the latter half of the shift was much more busy than usual. All that Sanji could do now was try to get some sleep, and hope that Zoro wouldn't wake him up again.
Or at least, that was the original thought. Looking over Zoro's half of the room, one of his two pillows was now laying on top of his alarm clock. Along with that, a small post-it note was on his own pillow.
'Hope that's enough to get you your beauty sleep, princess.'
Sanji could only hold in his laughter, both excited at the prospect of kicking his ass the next morning, and actually getting some good sleep for once.
In the other bed, Zoro was asleep. He was still a bit restless from the day, but he was finally at peace. With Kuina, and with himself, even if just for now. How couldn't he be when he had friends like Luffy and Nami in his corner?
"What do you mean?!" Nami called to her mother from the back seat of a car, strapped in and partially held back by her sister.
"We're not going back home." Bellemere, worn with the stress of many unknown things to Nami, as well as keeping her focus on the road, spoke with authority.
"But what about Dad? Is he going to meet us there?"
There was silence in the car. Nojiko looked as though she didn't fully know the situation, but at least she understood. The same couldn't be said for Nami.
"What about Dad?"
"He's… something came up. And, because of that, me and him both had to make some adult decisions. So, we're not going to be able to see him for a while."
"Why not?! He's my dad!"
"You don't need to know!" Bellemere shouted back, just as the car came to a strong stop at a stoplight. The car was silent for a bit longer, Nami taking in how little of the situation she had control of. She'd never felt like she had any control of her life, but especially now…
"Wait! When will we be back in town?!"
"It won't be for a long time, Nami." Nojiko plainly parroted her mother's words from earlier..
"But what about Luffy?!"
"What? Who's Luffy?" Bellemere questioned. "Is that an animal you've been taking care of, or something?"
"He's my friend! I need to let him know I'm moving!"
There was another long pause in the car. Nami, for her part, slowly began to understand that the answer to her question might not be the answer she was hoping for.
Nami snapped up from her sleep. The clock read '2:24'.
"Shit." She muttered to herself, realizing only then her dreams had only been getting worse.
BTS (Behind the Scenes) CH.2 -
This chapter, when I originally wrote it, was a bit underwhelming to me. I think the overall idea was there, but I was struggling to really bring out the execution. This had to do with a few things, but mainly centered on the imbalance between the backstories of Zoro and Nami.
Zoro having a stronger presence than Nami in the chapter is fine, but I'm really working towards a specific point for Nami's character as of the time of writing this. Due to this, I need to make sure that Nami's character is progressing whenever I have the opportunity.
In the original draft of the chapter, only Zoro really got a conclusion to the arc happening to him, but that never sat right with me. Eventually I was able to figure out what to put from Nami's backstory into the chapter, something that doesn't reveal too much but still poignantly examines what Nami's currently going through; she doesn't want to deal with the present, but the past isn't just sunshine and rainbows either. Getting to hang out with Luffy again is nice, but unlike how it worked for Koby, simply being around Luffy isn't going to be enough to save Nami from the emotions that she's dealing with.
This is, of course, in contrast to what Zoro's going through in the chapter. He is facing his past, and is attempting and learning to lean on the people that he has in his life to better himself and the world around him. It might seem weird for Zoro to stick up for Koby like he does in the chapter, but I think it's easy enough for Zoro to see a part of himself in Koby. I hope to explore the relationship between Luffy, Zoro and Koby in the future.
Overall, I've grown to really like this duality of the chapter. It's mainly setup, but through what they do we get to see a clear picture of the versions of Zoro and Nami in Making the Grade. I also just really like the ramen scene near the end of the chapter, and I hope that it only becomes more relevant in the story as it goes on. Just because Luffy is being himself in this chapter, not having to make many choices or overcome much more than his homework, doesn't mean that he isn't the heart of One Piece and this story.