Chapter 14: Kuina's Promise (Part 2)
"What?! Eric and Akame became wanted criminals to save me?!" Kuina, who had just awakened after her long coma, was stunned. She asked her father what had happened. Koushirou explained everything—from her twelve-day coma and the failed attempts of every doctor, even Revolutionary Army's Ivankov (who had been contacted via Den Den Mushi but couldn't heal her), to Eric bringing back a doctor who successfully revived her, and how Eric and Akame had attacked a Marine branch and become fugitives, with their names now appearing in the papers.
"Yes, we really owe him a huge debt," Koushirou said with a sigh.
"I'm going to find Eric !" Kuina couldn't accept that Eric had become a wanted man because of her. She ran in the direction Eric had left.
"Kuina! You're awake!" Zoro ran over after hearing from some of the kids that Eric had returned with a doctor.
"Yeah, I'll talk to you later—I'm going to find Eric !" Kuina replied without even looking back. Zoro, confused, paused before chasing after her.
"Eric !" At a secluded natural harbor, Kuina found Eric chopping wood.
"You're supposed to be resting. What are you doing out here? Go back," Eric scolded.
Thanks to the Senzu Bean, Kuina was in perfect health. Her complexion wasn't pale like someone who had been bedridden. Maybe it was due to the naturally tough bodies of people in the One Piece world, or the Senzu's side effect of keeping her fully nourished for ten days.
"You became a wanted man—why didn't you tell me? Am I not your friend?" Kuina demanded.
"Eric 's been wanted?!" Zoro, who had been focused solely on training and oblivious to the outside world, was shocked.
"I was just posted yesterday, and you just woke up. I didn't get the chance."
Akame walked over and gently patted Kuina's head. "You're awake."
"Sister Akame, sorry for the trouble I've caused." Kuina, ever polite toward someone older and far more skilled in swordsmanship, bowed respectfully.
"Don't be silly. We're dojo sisters—and friends," Akame replied with a shake of her head.
Kuina turned back toward Eric , still upset. "Then why are you leaving the dojo? You became a fugitive for my sake, and now we're throwing you out like some criminal? Do you think we're that kind of people?!"
"Yeah! How am I supposed to beat you if you leave?!" Zoro chimed in.
A vein throbbed on Eric 's forehead. 'You really think you're stronger than me? I already lose to Kuina in swordsmanship—don't lump yourself in too!' He didn't say that aloud, though. Instead, he asked, "Do you know how vast the world is?"
"No, but it must be really, really big. What's that got to do with leaving the dojo?" Kuina wasn't letting him change the subject. Unlike Zoro, who had excellent combat sense but a bad sense of direction, Kuina had a good head on her shoulders.
"I want to see the strongest people in the world and find out how I compare. Your goal is to become the world's greatest swordsman, right? You can't achieve that in East Blue alone!" Eric started boasting. "Training in just one place is like working in isolation. I'm already an adult—I need to sail and challenge strong people elsewhere. East Blue is known as the weakest of the four seas (though also the most peaceful), and pirates from the other seas mock us. I want to show them—East Blue does produce strong warriors, and when it does, they become leaders who shape the era and change the world!"
Kuina and Zoro were stunned. They were still young, and Eric 's speech had left them in awe.
"Also… you don't know what Haki is, right?" Eric turned and shouted, "Master Chiron! Come over here, please."
Chiron walked up and asked kindly, "What is it?"
"Could you demonstrate Haki for them? Can you coat this stick with it?" Eric picked up a short branch and handed it to Chiron.
"No problem." Chiron accepted the stick and coated it with Armament Haki. Kuina and Zoro sensed a strange energy emanating from it. Then Chiron slammed the stick against a nearby tree.
BOOM!
The tree collapsed.
"What?!" Kuina and Zoro were speechless. A simple stick—just a common branch—had felled a tree?
"You see that? That's Haki. Very few people in East Blue can use it. If you stay here, forget becoming the world's greatest swordsman—you won't even reach the mid-tier strength of pirates in the Grand Line," Eric said gravely.
"That's why I'm going to sea. Even if I hadn't become wanted, I would've left eventually. This just made me go a few months earlier. It's not because of you, Kuina," Eric added gently, trying to ease her guilt.
Kuina lowered her head, hiding her expression. Then she looked up and said, "Take me with you! I want to go to sea too!"
"What?" Zoro was stunned.
"No, no—you're still too young," Eric shook his head repeatedly. 'She's only eleven—I can't let her on the ship.'
"Don't tell me you want to monopolize Master Chiron so we can't learn Haki?" Kuina folded her arms and taunted him. "Afraid of getting beaten by someone younger?"
"Haven't you already beaten me in swordsmanship plenty of times?" Eric wasn't falling for it. If he took Kuina with him, Koushirou might actually chase him across the ocean.
"I mean overall strength!" Kuina shouted. Sure, she had superior sword skills, but Eric had the advantage in size, stamina, strength, and the Shave technique. If it were a real fight, Kuina couldn't beat him.
"Yeah! Eric , you're being stingy!" said Zoro, who had been quiet up to now.
"Alright, alright—I get it," Eric sighed. Dealing with persistent kids was exhausting. "Let's make a deal: in a few years, once you're older, I'll come back for you and take you to sea." He held out his pinky.
"Really? You better not lie to me! If you do, you're not a real man!" Kuina cheered and hooked pinkies. Then she asked, "How many years? Two or three? It better not be nine!"
Eric broke into a cold sweat. 'A little girl saying "real man"? Has she been exposed to too much modern info?'
"Two or three years, I promise. I usually keep my word," Eric said—though what he was really thinking was, 'This kid's sharp. Hard to fool.'
"Me too! Me too!" Zoro chimed in.
"Zoro," Eric leaned down, his face shadowed ominously. "I have a prophecy: when you're eighteen, you'll meet the captain destined to change your life. You'll find true companions—and I won't be one of them."
"R-Really?" Zoro stammered.
"Really. Your future captain wears a straw hat, there's a curly-browed cook, and a long-nosed sniper. They're people you can trust, so you better train hard until then."
"Got it!" Zoro nodded earnestly.
'Good. Two kids handled,' Eric thought, grinning internally. 'And in two years, Arlong will come to East Blue—perfect timing to return and boost Nami's favorability.'
To preserve the cool farewell moment he'd had with Kuina earlier, Eric let Akame take Kuina and Zoro back to the dojo and explain everything to Koushirou. It would've been too embarrassing for Eric to say goodbye one day and show up again the next.
Eric stayed behind to help Chiron reinforce the ship—quicker the job, quicker they could set sail for the Grand Line.
Akame returned with a message from Koushirou: "Master Koushirou agrees. He said if it's Eric and Akame, he trusts you both to take care of Kuina."
The next morning, to the sound of goodbyes from Kuina and Zoro—they set sail!
(END CHAPTER)
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