Sword

Chapter 16

Beads of sweat were dripping down Zoro's face. His skin felt dry and he was certain it was blistering from being so exposed to the sun for so many days. His eyes burned but he couldn't even wipe the sweat away since his arms were tied to the damn wooden cross.

He focused on breathing through his nose so as not to dry out his mouth any further. The only reason he hadn't completely given in to dehydration was thanks to Ripper, who had given him drinks of water every few days when he could find the opportunity.

Zoro tried to turn him away at first. His agreement with the shitty-haired brat—was Helmeppo his name?—was that Zoro would be freed if he managed to survive thirty days without food or water. And Zoro had every intention to honor that agreement.

Even if Zoro hadn't planned to honor the agreement, he didn't want Ripper to get into trouble for helping him. The whole reason Zoro had been arrested was for trying to protect Ripper's daughter, Shoko's niece. And Captain Morgan made it very clear that anyone who helped a prisoner would be executed.

But when Ripper fell to his knees and begged Zoro to take the water as repayment for saving Rika, Zoro couldn't help but give in. Ripper wasn't going to leave, and the water was just too tempting. Since then, Ripper had snuck by late at night a handful of other times to bring water to Zoro.

Today, the sun was relentlessly beating down on him. He felt exhausted from the lack of decent rest, too. And was he beginning to become delirious? He'd noticed a couple of unfamiliar faces staring at him over the courtyard's walls, but he couldn't imagine why anyone would be so interested in watching him. He couldn't even move, after all, so he didn't understand what there was to watch.

He knew he wasn't hallucinating, however, when he noticed a smaller face appear next to the unfamiliar ones. He couldn't have been hallucinating because this was the last face he wanted to appear over the walls.

Zoro's stomach plummeted. Little Rika had somehow climbed up the wall, and without hesitation began to swing herself over the top and run towards Zoro.

I'm only here so she wouldn't be punished. The Marines won't give her a second chance if they find her helping me, Zoro thought, desperately trying to come up with a plan to make her leave.

"Zoro-san! I brought this for you," Rika said, beaming up at Zoro proudly as she held out two rice balls. Zoro's chest felt tight. It wasn't going to be easy to make her leave.

"Do you want to get killed, kid? Go away." He filled his voice with derision that even a kid could pick up on. But Rika's smile didn't faulter. She knew him too well.

"C'mon, Zoro-san! You've gotta be hungry!" She held the rice balls up higher so they were right in front of his face. "This is my first time, but I worked really hard to make them!"

Zoro's heart twinged. He adored the kid, and he was starving. But he had to remind himself that this was to protect her. "I said I'm not hungry! Stop annoying me, I don't want them!"

Rika's smile finally faltered. Zoro looked down at her feet; if he saw her face, there was no way he could keep this up.

"But-"

"Don't make me kick your ass!"

That had to do the trick. He finally brought his eyes back to her little face. Little tear drops appeared at the corners of Rika's eyes. She finally looked dejected enough to stop pushing.

There was a creaking sound from the far side of the courtyard, and Zoro felt his face go cold, despite the heat.

Get out of here, kid. Please.