Across the Ocean (Zoro x OC)

6 - Before the Storm

What does it mean to be a bounty hunter? Looking through wanted posters, determining their whereabouts, sneaking up on these people, you were looking for, to hunt them down? The last was one possibility. The other was to confront them, but let them live.
Both, Johnny and Yosaku, had only experienced with the first option but had not been very successful either: one or two very small fishes which was far from the definition of successful bounty hunters.
Only the swordsman showed them what it looked like when they were really successful. Not only did he know how to track down the bigger guys, he was quick and effective in his approach. Zoro also had no pity for those who suddenly feared for their lives when they had previously tried to take theirs. It might seem ruthless on the outside, but the extradition of bandits was their job and if they wanted to do this, staying alive, sometimes they could not avoid making heads roll.

Johnny and Yosaku had got used to this and now Akiko had to get used to, too: When the first head rolled in front of her eyes, she seemed frozen, completely in shock. Of course, she knew how quickly a person could lose their lives. She knew how long it took for someone to die from a gunshot or suffocate by hanging. Akiko had learnt about this when people were shooting down the residents of Evida or hanging them in front of anyone on a plateau. But this was something different. And transporting a rolled head was no less. One of several reasons Zoro had previously suggested that she should consider whether she really wanted to learn how to use a sword: this was a possible outcome.

"Anego," Yosaku spoke first while Zoro was taking care of the beheaded man, whose head would be proof of his death and let them gain the reward.

Akiko did not respond. Not even when he called her a second time with that nickname, she did not like and therefore usually snapped back. However, before he could call her a third time or wave his hand in front of her nose, she swallowed the heavy lump in her throat and finally looked away from Zoro, the pool of blood to his feet and the leftovers of the dead man he had cut down.

"Akiko, are you okay? You're as white as lime," Johnny asked and even put a hand on her shoulder, whereupon she could not find any words, but turned on her heel to resign.

Her quiet "Yes, of course" did not exactly reassure him. "I'm just trying to figure out how to negotiate a higher bounty" – which of course was a lie. Her body, the mean traitor, spilled out the truth, then: Not only feeling sick, a few meters ahead on the way into the city, she was no longer able to push back the stomach acid rising into her esophagus and threw up.

Zoro also raised a scrutinizing eyebrow. Although her steps were quick, she didn't run as she vomited at the closest tree. Composed as ever.

"That was probably too much," Johnny mumbled as they stopped at a nearby restaurant a short time later. They had decided to take a short break before heading to the Marines' base at the other end of town.

Akiko had excused herself to use the restroom to refresh herself.
Meanwhile, he sat down at the bar with Zoro and Yosaku, and each of them ordered a beer.

"At first she looked like she was taking it well," Yosaku interjected, since Akiko had already said that it would not be the first time seeing a dead person. Nothing wrong! Well... that was before the guy got beheaded by Zoro's swords.

The swordsman himself had been remaining silent on the topic so far, letting the others ponder, and simply took a few deep sips from his mug. However, when they asked him directly for his opinion, he put down the drinking vessel: "That's exactly why I said she wasn't made for this."

There was a difference between killing another person in a fight because you had to kill for your own survival, or whether you did so voluntarily. After all, they could have made a living in other ways instead of kicking the bad guys' asses.