When Swords Clash (A One Piece Fanfic: Roronoa Zoro)

CHAPTER 16

Pirates and Samurais, an unlikely friendship?

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As far as Zoro was aware, Sora rarely ever gets ruffled. Because she usually takes things in stride. So whenever she does get unsettled, it comes off as notable to him.

And so there he watched Sora, unceremoniously pointing a finger at Katana's face, with all the accusations written over her. Since when did these two know each other?

"You little—" Sora hissed, "Hah! I knew I was gonna run into you again sooner or later. Time to get your ass kicked this time!"

Law made a move to stop her (at this point it was probably reflex for him more than anything), but Zoro shook his head at him. The surgeon gave him a 'What-do-you-mean?' look while he answered with a 'Stay-out-of-it-they're-both-crazy-women' face.

A tense silence drifted in the cold of the night. Zoro waited for Katana to retort to Sora's sudden challenge. She was looking at the brunette intently, with her trademark neutral expression that looked like she was about to slice through her, and Zoro thought she was going to raise her naginata and roast Sora like a kebab. He was honestly rooting for it—Sora's loudness often annoyed him at times; it would be a fresh change to see her getting a taste of her own medicine from time to time.

But, to his surprise, Katana tilted her head, visibly puzzled and an imaginary question mark popping up.

"Who?"

.

.

.

Zoro swore he could hear the glass called Sora's pride shattering in the near distance.

She blew up a fuse, face reddening a few shades darker in apparent embarrassment. This was a first.

"Wh—how—" Sora sputtered, before she shook her head and regained her composure. "What do you mean 'who'?!"

"Have we met before?"

"Of course! We even fought!"

Katana blinked a few times. She racked her brain with a hand on her chin, deeply contemplating. Her brows were furrowed as well, and somehow, the sight seemed very comical to Zoro.

"I.. must apologize. I only commit to memory those whom I deem worthy."

And came the final attack on Sora's dignity. There seemed to be an imaginary arrow that pierced through her as she sunk to her knees in despair, with the letters K.O. hanging over her head.

Zoro pressed his lips tighter in a firm line, suppressing a proud laugh that was itching to come out. Katana knew how to hit someone without even trying, it seems. She sounded genuinely apologetic. Too sincere for someone who just made a jab at someone's ego.

"Zoro-ya," Law finally spoke up, "do you understand what's happening?" He was looking at the scene with utter bewilderment plastered underneath his frown.

Nodding, the swordsman said smugly. "Ah. It's time to prop up a grave for your girlfriend's dead pride."

Sora snapped at him, pink in the face. "Shut up, swordsman!"

Law looked even more confused. He decided to dismiss his confusion away, probably realizing mulling on it would get him nowhere, as he regarded the samurai. "And who exactly are you?"

Katana shifted her eyes from Sora's depressive state towards the surgeon. Her brows knitted together even more, muttering how 'rude outsiders' are. "It is common courtesy to introduce oneself before demanding others' names."