I'll Win, for You (One Piece)

Part 1

"Zoro, can you get that!" I yelled, hoping he was paying attention.

It had happened before, but I didn't feel like interrupting my shower to answer the knock at the door in my towel. Last time I answered to a pervy old man asking donations for the local newspaper and I got the creepiest vibe from him.

As I dried off, I heard Zoro talking with a female at the front door.  I threw on some clothes and brushed out my blue hair to properly great our guest, assuming Zoro would just let them stand in the doorway all night long. I checked myself over in the mirror real quick making sure my hair was alright. But seeing as it was so short, there wasn't much I had to do to in anyways. My eyes lingered over the blue scar across my face for just a moment before I went out.

"I think you left this at the dojo," the visitor said with a nervous giggle. "I just came by to drop it off for you."

"Oh thanks," Zoro grumbled in reply. "Hey Crystal, take care of this."

I narrowly dodged the stinking cloth he tossed at me when I entered the room.

"Oh hell naw. I'm not touching that nasty thing."

"Hey, you're that new girl who always does chores around the village. I've seen you before," the girl stated flatly, seizing me up with a hand on her hip.

"Yeah,  I'm Crystal," I responded,  unsure if she was looking to make conversation or just make statements about me.

"I didn't realize you were living with Zoro. You must be his maid or something." She looked at him and her attitude suddenly shifted from malignant to pretentious.  "We train at the same dojo."

"Good for you," I answered flatly. "Here take this back."

I used the end of a broom to hand her the sweaty  bandana.

"She said she was returning it to me," Zoro interrupted.

"It's Cassandra (in case it slipped your mind)," she said with an excessive amount of cheer. Evidently, her favorite conversation topic was herself.

"Zoro, one," I pointed at his arm, "two," I pointed at the bandana pulling my hair back. "We're all accounted for."

Cassandra's blonde curls seemed to recoil when I approached her with the unclaimed cloth. Upon realizing that the sweat didn't belong to Zoro, she wanted nothing to do with it. With a quick flick, I flung it at her and she responded with a light shriek.

"Why don't you try Toyami up the road. He might have left it," Zoro dismissed.

Looking flustered, Cassandra gingerly picked up the bandana and muttered "right". As she stood back up, I was staring down at her and we made eye contact. The instant electrifying tension sparked her back to hostility.

"You know we've seen you toying around with the practice targets in the field. We laugh at you, waving your stick around out there like you have a clue. But you're just a wannabe."

I seized her up while she hissed meaningless insults. She potentially trained under the same regimen as Zoro in the dojo but judging by her manicured nails, her priorities probably fell elsewhere.

"Sounds like you've got yourself a reputation," Zoro smirked at me, caring as little about the insults as I did. "And not a very nice one. What do you say we change that."

Yeah, I caught his drift.

"Cassandra, I challenge you to a duel. Tomorrow at noon at the dojo."

"Psh whatever." And she was gone.

I stared after her into the darkness wondering what I had just done.

"You're going to kick her ass."

I nodded. Even if I didn't feel confident, I trusted Zoro's judgement and his training. I knew he wouldn't throw me into a match at the dojo if he didn't think I had a chance.

Besides, this meant a lot to him too.