Rocks held Koushirou’s gaze, eyes sharp.
“In that case, before Kuina and I set sail, how about a match, Teacher Koushirou?
I’d like to see what a master swordsman is made of.”
In the original story Koushirou never drew his blade on screen, but Rocks’s Observation Haki was telling him something clear: this man was a genuine threat, someone strong enough to be dangerous to his life.
“Ha.
Your personality really hasn’t changed at all.
Still the same confidence.”
Koushirou smiled, then shook his head.
“But no, these old bones of mine can’t keep up with the young anymore.
I’m already thinking about retirement.
Go find someone else.”
He had never been fond of fighting.
And he had even less interest in fighting this particular monster of a kid.
The boy had no concept of holding back.
Most fighters would start cautiously, probing before committing.
This one opened with killing moves, insisting that even a lion hunting a rabbit should go all out.
The logic was sound enough.
But that didn’t mean he had any desire to spar with someone like that.
“Fair enough.”
Rocks let it go, a little disappointed.
He knew Koushirou’s temperament and didn’t push.
“You haven’t beaten me yet, and you’re already looking at challenging my father.” Kuina’s sharp eyes moved to Rocks.
A keen edge came off her.
“I’ve spent nearly three years preparing for this fight.
For this promise.”
“I won’t lose again.
The captain’s seat is mine.”
Rocks and Kuina shared the same goal: to become the world’s greatest swordsman.
They’d always planned to sail together eventually.
But once they did, who would be in charge?
Who would be captain?
That question had no easy answer.
So they’d made the three-year promise.
Whoever won the match called the shots.
Whoever won was captain.
“Sounds like something I’d say.”
Rocks looked at Kuina, her fighting spirit laid bare, and smiled.
“The captain’s seat is mine.
I’m not about to play second to anyone.”
Nearly three years.
The girl he remembered had grown into someone striking and self-possessed.
She reminded him strongly of Tashigi, about nine parts out of ten.
But Kuina had something Tashigi didn’t, a warrior’s edge that sharpened her beauty rather than softening it.
Her bearing was something else entirely.
She was exactly what she looked like: a beautiful girl with iron in her spine.
Kuina laughed when she heard him.
“Then we settle it in a fight.
My win, my rules.
Your win, your rules.”
It was a good smile.
Full of a swordsman’s forward-charging certainty.
She had stopped second-guessing herself.
What did it matter that she was a girl?
Who said women couldn’t stand equal to men?
Words spoken years ago by a certain young boy had lodged themselves in her mind and never left.
They had chased away the doubt, and the discouragement, and left behind only a clear and unshakeable conviction.
She would walk toward the title of world’s greatest swordsman, one step at a time.
Rocks cracked his knuckles and grinned.
“Naturally.
That was always the deal.”
Kuina tightened her grip on the Wado Ichimonji and said: “You remember the terms?
This is a swordsmanship match.
Swordsmanship only.”
“The promise was made between swordsmen.”
Rocks said simply: “Then we settle it with swordsmanship.”
He was not a pure swordsman.
But the promise had been made in that capacity, and it would be honored in that capacity.
Besides, after nearly three years of intensive training, he genuinely felt his swordsmanship had caught up to his hand-to-hand.
He had reached the iron-cutting threshold.
Push a little further and he’d be able to throw a Flying Slash.
That was a dividing line.
A swordsman who could produce a Flying Slash was recognized across the seas as a true master of the blade.
It was a mark of real strength.
“Then I’ll serve as referee for this promise match.”
Koushirou looked at the two young people in front of him, warmth in his eyes.
“Shall we start now, or after lunch?”
Rocks thought about it.
“After lunch.
I’m a little hungry.
Didn’t get to eat my fill on the ship.”
He really was hungry.
His appetite was enormous at the best of times, and the food on the merchant vessel had been ordinary and limited.
He hadn’t been able to eat as much as he needed.
Kuina glanced at him and nodded.
“Works for me.
I burned through quite a bit during training this morning.”
“Very good.” Koushirou smiled and stood to go prepare the meal.
Halfway there, he remembered something and turned back to Kuina.
“Kuina, go to the market and pick up some extra food.
Knowing this boy’s appetite, it’s probably even bigger than it used to be.
What we have in the house won’t be enough.”
“Understood, Father.”
Kuina was already familiar with Rocks’s extraordinary capacity for food.
What they had at home genuinely wouldn’t cover one of his meals.
Rocks felt a little awkward about it.
“Let me come with you.
I’ll pay for my own food.
I’m not here to eat you out of house and home.”
“Don’t worry about it.
I’ve dealt with a few pirate incursions recently and came out with a decent amount of Berry.
One meal isn’t going to break me.”
“Then I’ll come anyway.
It’s been a long time since we walked around together.
I want to see how the island’s changed.”
“Fine by me.” Kuina glanced at him sideways and didn’t refuse.
“Come along then.
Though it hasn’t changed much, honestly.
There’s not a lot to see.”
“There’s at least one change.
You’re a lot better-looking than you used to be.
That counts for something.”
“Thank you.
You too, actually.
You’re taller than me now.
Is that the fruit’s doing?”
“Just normal development.
Though my physical condition really has improved, I won’t deny that.
I am a Mythical Zoan user after all.”
“That’s practically cheating.
Women already have a harder time physically than men, and you’re also a Mythical Zoan user on top of that.”
“Not my fault.
You’re welcome to concede right now.
I’m not going to bully you.”
“Nobody’s decided who wins yet.
I’ll be the one coming out ahead.”
“…”
Despite nearly three years apart, there was no stiffness between them.
They talked easily as they walked toward the market together.
Soon enough.
Lunch was eaten, a proper generous spread of it, and after half an hour of rest the promise match between Rocks and Kuina was ready to begin.
“Watch yourself, Rocks.
I’m not holding back.”
Kuina drew the Wado Ichimonji from her hip and held it in both hands.
Something shifted in her bearing.
Her eyes fixed on Rocks with complete focus.
“You know this blade.
The Wado Ichimonji, one of the twenty-one Great Grade swords”
“Don’t come to me afterward saying I had an unfair advantage because of the weapon.
A sword is part of a swordsman’s strength.”
“My sword might not match yours, but I’m a Devil Fruit user.
The physical conditioning the fruit gives me isn’t something I can dial back.”
Rocks drew his own blade.
“Then don’t come to me saying I had an unfair advantage because of my conditioning.”
“That makes us even.”
“Agreed.”
They faced each other.
The fighting spirit in both their eyes was plain.
There was no such thing as perfect fairness in a fight.
Only individual performance.
Only individual strength.