29...
Title: Master and pupil
Theme: Set #3 - Master
Claim: Zoro
Words: 1406
Rating: PG
Warnings: Continuation of the World's Greatest Swordsman arc, kinda
Disclaimers: I don't own One Piece.
"Sensei! SENSEI!"
Koshiro paused in his instruction when he heard the frantic cries. It wasn't unusual for him to be called to the scene when one boy struck another a little too hard during practice bouts, or to be asked to adjudicate in some quarrel, but this time there was genuine fear in the screams.
"Carry on with your katas," he instructed the boys, and went outside.
There was a crowd of boys in the courtyard, and in the centre of them a tall, burly man with a jaw made of steel and an axe replacing his right forearm. Curled in his left arm were two of Koshiro's youngest students, struggling in the man's muscular grip.
The man's black eyes swivelled round to Koshiro. "You! Are you the master of this dojo?" he demanded.
Koshiro moved through the mass of frightened boys. "Excuse me, but I don't believe we've been introduced," he pointed out politely, as if it was extremely rude to have taken his students hostage without having first done so.
"I am Captain Morgan," the man growled. "You're Roronoa Zoro's teacher, aren't you?"
"Indeed, I have had the pleasure of teaching Zoro. My name is Koshiro."
"At last," Morgan's eyes flashed with vindictive pleasure, before turning stony once more. "If you were his teacher, why didn't you teach him to navigate? Do you know how many times I've criss-crossed East Blue, trying to trace Roronoa's trail back here?" he complained.
"Perhaps Zoro did not wish to be traced," Koshiro suggested mildly.
"Then you should have taught him respect for authority! Do you know what he did to me in Shell Town?"
"I understand that you were sacked from your position for abusing that authority. Presumably Zoro had something to do with it."
"He and that rubber brat of a captain conspired to bring me down! Me, the strongest man in East Blue!"
"Is that so," Koshiro said vaguely. He looked at the two fearful boys caught in Morgan's grip. "May I ask what you intend to do with my students?"
"Prevent them from going out in the world and making a nuisance of themselves like that green-haired brat you taught!" The two boys whimpered and struggled all the harder.
Koshiro's eyes hardened, though the change in expression was well-hidden behind his glasses. "I'm sure it needn't come to that. Would you like to come in and discuss your grievances over a cup of tea?"
"NO," Morgan snarled.
"Then perhaps we can resolve this through an honourable duel," Koshiro suggested. "Ryuu, give me your shinai," he said to a nearby boy, who readily surrendered his weapon.
"You're thinking you can beat me with just a bamboo blade?" Morgan scoffed. "You may be a good swordsman, but you cannot disarm me when my arm is my weapon!"
"A shinai is sufficient against a man who would take children hostage," Koshiro replied.
Morgan's expression darkened. "Very well. A duel, then, if you are so ready to die." Without further warning, he threw the boys aside and charged Koshiro, axe at the ready.
"Stand back!" Koshiro ordered the boys, automatically raising his shinai to meet the blow. Morgan's eyes bulged when the bamboo stick met the sharp edge of the axe and parried it with ease.
"What the hell...?"
"Ready, Captain?" Koshiro paused politely to allow Morgan to gather his wits about him once more. The considerate gesture only angered Morgan all the more.
"I'm always ready!" he roared, attacking Koshiro the same way, only to be blocked the same way again. Morgan paused uncertainly, casting a glance at his axe to make sure it hadn't been mysteriously blunted.
"Ryuu," Koshiro addressed the shinai-less boy who was watching the duel with eyes as wide as saucers, "can you tell me what mistake Captain Morgan just made?"
The boy gulped, casting a wary glance at Morgan before reciting, "If a move has failed once, don't use it again. To expect a different outcome from the same move under the same set of circumstances is folly."
"Very good."
"Good? The boy was mocking me!" Morgan raged.
"He was merely giving you some good advice, Captain. Tai, what other advice can we give Captain Morgan?"
This time the chosen boy replied more confidently. "Do not strike when anger clouds your judgment, for it is your unclouded judgment that will lead to victory."
"Excellent."
"You think I'm angry? I'll give you angry!" Morgan apparently refused to take their advice into account, and charged once more.
Koshiro raised his shinai, dodging the edge of the axe and landing it squarely on Morgan's forehead. "Men!"
Morgan's eyes went blank as he toppled backwards, his head split open as surely as if he'd been hit with any blade. There was a long pause as all the students gaped, before someone declared the match over. "Ippon! Sore made!"
"Oh dear. I fear I was a bit rough with you, Captain Morgan." Koshiro handed the shinai back to Ryuu and knelt by his fallen enemy. He ran a finger down the wooden shaft. Not a single splinter.
"Ryuu, fetch a medical kit," he directed.
"Yes, sensei!"
"Tai, get a pillow."
"Yes, sensei!"
The boys watched, wide-eyed, as Koshiro proceeded to render medical assistance to his duelling partner, sponging the blood off his forehead and wrapping it in a bandage. Presently Morgan came around, spluttering angrily. He was cut off with a sharp jab in the ribs disguised as a gentle push back down into the pillow.
"You really shouldn't move, Captain Morgan. You've lost a fair amount of blood."
"This isn't over!"
"Thank you for assisting me in today's lesson. I'm much obliged," Koshiro continued, as if Morgan hadn't said a thing.
"You bastard!"
"I assure you my parentage is very properly documented," Koshiro assured him. "Kyou, Ichiro."
"Yes, sensei," the two older students responded.
"Restrain Captain Morgan and put him in a comfortable room. Manabu, run for the village police and let them know what happened."
"Yes, sensei." All three immediately rushed to do Koshiro's bidding.
"Don't worry," Koshiro told Morgan, who was babbling incoherently with rage as the two students wound rope around his wrists. "You will be very well-treated, as our guest. Ah, what's this?" He drew out a rolled-up piece of paper that was sticking out from Morgan's pocket. A smile spread over his face as he perused the document. So you've done it at last, Zoro. He began walking away.
"Sensei, where are you going?" a student asked, seemingly with a good deal more respect than before.
"To have a cup of tea."
"He did it, Kuina. He beat Mihawk." Koshiro placed the offering cup before Kuina's altar, and next to it the piece of paper. He glanced down at it proudly once more. Beneath an updated picture of Zoro, it read "Roronoa Zoro, World's Greatest Swordsman". It also named an astronomical sum as his new bounty.
Outside the room, he could hear some of the boys talking excitedly.
"Wasn't Sensei awesome? He stopped an axe with a shinai!"
"He must be the greatest swordsman in the world!"
"You know what that means?" one boy asked, trying to sound wise.
"What? What?"
"That means Zoro-senpai will have to come back someday and fight Sensei for the title!"
"You mean we'll get to see Zoro-senpai? Awesome!"
Koshiro smiled wryly. So that was the source of their excitement, was it? He looked back down at the picture, remembering the homeless waif who had turned out to be his most brilliant and troublesome student. The only student he'd ever had to stop from training so hard, in those dark days just after his daughter's death when Zoro had sought to quench his sorrow in blood and sweat rather than tears. And then the tears had come anyway, when he'd given him Kuina's katana. The same katana that lay clenched between his teeth in the bounty poster.
"Zoro's still out there fighting for your dream," he told her, even though he knew she didn't need to be told. "But the boys are right. He'll be home soon."
Theme: Set #3 - Master
Claim: Zoro
Words: 1406
Rating: PG
Warnings: Continuation of the World's Greatest Swordsman arc, kinda
Disclaimers: I don't own One Piece.
"Sensei! SENSEI!"
Koshiro paused in his instruction when he heard the frantic cries. It wasn't unusual for him to be called to the scene when one boy struck another a little too hard during practice bouts, or to be asked to adjudicate in some quarrel, but this time there was genuine fear in the screams.
"Carry on with your katas," he instructed the boys, and went outside.
There was a crowd of boys in the courtyard, and in the centre of them a tall, burly man with a jaw made of steel and an axe replacing his right forearm. Curled in his left arm were two of Koshiro's youngest students, struggling in the man's muscular grip.
The man's black eyes swivelled round to Koshiro. "You! Are you the master of this dojo?" he demanded.
Koshiro moved through the mass of frightened boys. "Excuse me, but I don't believe we've been introduced," he pointed out politely, as if it was extremely rude to have taken his students hostage without having first done so.
"I am Captain Morgan," the man growled. "You're Roronoa Zoro's teacher, aren't you?"
"Indeed, I have had the pleasure of teaching Zoro. My name is Koshiro."
"At last," Morgan's eyes flashed with vindictive pleasure, before turning stony once more. "If you were his teacher, why didn't you teach him to navigate? Do you know how many times I've criss-crossed East Blue, trying to trace Roronoa's trail back here?" he complained.
"Perhaps Zoro did not wish to be traced," Koshiro suggested mildly.
"Then you should have taught him respect for authority! Do you know what he did to me in Shell Town?"
"I understand that you were sacked from your position for abusing that authority. Presumably Zoro had something to do with it."
"He and that rubber brat of a captain conspired to bring me down! Me, the strongest man in East Blue!"
"Is that so," Koshiro said vaguely. He looked at the two fearful boys caught in Morgan's grip. "May I ask what you intend to do with my students?"
"Prevent them from going out in the world and making a nuisance of themselves like that green-haired brat you taught!" The two boys whimpered and struggled all the harder.
Koshiro's eyes hardened, though the change in expression was well-hidden behind his glasses. "I'm sure it needn't come to that. Would you like to come in and discuss your grievances over a cup of tea?"
"NO," Morgan snarled.
"Then perhaps we can resolve this through an honourable duel," Koshiro suggested. "Ryuu, give me your shinai," he said to a nearby boy, who readily surrendered his weapon.
"You're thinking you can beat me with just a bamboo blade?" Morgan scoffed. "You may be a good swordsman, but you cannot disarm me when my arm is my weapon!"
"A shinai is sufficient against a man who would take children hostage," Koshiro replied.
Morgan's expression darkened. "Very well. A duel, then, if you are so ready to die." Without further warning, he threw the boys aside and charged Koshiro, axe at the ready.
"Stand back!" Koshiro ordered the boys, automatically raising his shinai to meet the blow. Morgan's eyes bulged when the bamboo stick met the sharp edge of the axe and parried it with ease.
"What the hell...?"
"Ready, Captain?" Koshiro paused politely to allow Morgan to gather his wits about him once more. The considerate gesture only angered Morgan all the more.
"I'm always ready!" he roared, attacking Koshiro the same way, only to be blocked the same way again. Morgan paused uncertainly, casting a glance at his axe to make sure it hadn't been mysteriously blunted.
"Ryuu," Koshiro addressed the shinai-less boy who was watching the duel with eyes as wide as saucers, "can you tell me what mistake Captain Morgan just made?"
The boy gulped, casting a wary glance at Morgan before reciting, "If a move has failed once, don't use it again. To expect a different outcome from the same move under the same set of circumstances is folly."
"Very good."
"Good? The boy was mocking me!" Morgan raged.
"He was merely giving you some good advice, Captain. Tai, what other advice can we give Captain Morgan?"
This time the chosen boy replied more confidently. "Do not strike when anger clouds your judgment, for it is your unclouded judgment that will lead to victory."
"Excellent."
"You think I'm angry? I'll give you angry!" Morgan apparently refused to take their advice into account, and charged once more.
Koshiro raised his shinai, dodging the edge of the axe and landing it squarely on Morgan's forehead. "Men!"
Morgan's eyes went blank as he toppled backwards, his head split open as surely as if he'd been hit with any blade. There was a long pause as all the students gaped, before someone declared the match over. "Ippon! Sore made!"
"Oh dear. I fear I was a bit rough with you, Captain Morgan." Koshiro handed the shinai back to Ryuu and knelt by his fallen enemy. He ran a finger down the wooden shaft. Not a single splinter.
"Ryuu, fetch a medical kit," he directed.
"Yes, sensei!"
"Tai, get a pillow."
"Yes, sensei!"
The boys watched, wide-eyed, as Koshiro proceeded to render medical assistance to his duelling partner, sponging the blood off his forehead and wrapping it in a bandage. Presently Morgan came around, spluttering angrily. He was cut off with a sharp jab in the ribs disguised as a gentle push back down into the pillow.
"You really shouldn't move, Captain Morgan. You've lost a fair amount of blood."
"This isn't over!"
"Thank you for assisting me in today's lesson. I'm much obliged," Koshiro continued, as if Morgan hadn't said a thing.
"You bastard!"
"I assure you my parentage is very properly documented," Koshiro assured him. "Kyou, Ichiro."
"Yes, sensei," the two older students responded.
"Restrain Captain Morgan and put him in a comfortable room. Manabu, run for the village police and let them know what happened."
"Yes, sensei." All three immediately rushed to do Koshiro's bidding.
"Don't worry," Koshiro told Morgan, who was babbling incoherently with rage as the two students wound rope around his wrists. "You will be very well-treated, as our guest. Ah, what's this?" He drew out a rolled-up piece of paper that was sticking out from Morgan's pocket. A smile spread over his face as he perused the document. So you've done it at last, Zoro. He began walking away.
"Sensei, where are you going?" a student asked, seemingly with a good deal more respect than before.
"To have a cup of tea."
"He did it, Kuina. He beat Mihawk." Koshiro placed the offering cup before Kuina's altar, and next to it the piece of paper. He glanced down at it proudly once more. Beneath an updated picture of Zoro, it read "Roronoa Zoro, World's Greatest Swordsman". It also named an astronomical sum as his new bounty.
Outside the room, he could hear some of the boys talking excitedly.
"Wasn't Sensei awesome? He stopped an axe with a shinai!"
"He must be the greatest swordsman in the world!"
"You know what that means?" one boy asked, trying to sound wise.
"What? What?"
"That means Zoro-senpai will have to come back someday and fight Sensei for the title!"
"You mean we'll get to see Zoro-senpai? Awesome!"
Koshiro smiled wryly. So that was the source of their excitement, was it? He looked back down at the picture, remembering the homeless waif who had turned out to be his most brilliant and troublesome student. The only student he'd ever had to stop from training so hard, in those dark days just after his daughter's death when Zoro had sought to quench his sorrow in blood and sweat rather than tears. And then the tears had come anyway, when he'd given him Kuina's katana. The same katana that lay clenched between his teeth in the bounty poster.
"Zoro's still out there fighting for your dream," he told her, even though he knew she didn't need to be told. "But the boys are right. He'll be home soon."