Chapter 27: Kuina
The night at the dojo was still. Moonlight streamed through the paper shoji doors, painting the wooden floor in patches of light and shadow. The night wind rustled through the bamboo grove.
Luffy was sprawled out on his futon, snoring loudly, his stomach rising and falling. "Meat... just one more piece..." he mumbled in his sleep.
Nami was resting her chin on her hands at the open window, staring at the full moon. The gentle light caught her small frown.
"Big Bro Roy..." she asked quietly, as if afraid to break the silence, "That 'Marimo-head'... is he really going to come with us?"
Roy sat on the wooden steps of the veranda, idly flipping a coin, the silver glinting between his fingers. He didn't look up. "Maybe."
Nami tilted her head. "But... the dojo master didn't seem very happy about it..."
Roy caught the coin. "Some decisions take time. And sometimes, people need to make them for themselves."
Rustle—
A soft sound came from the bamboo. A slender figure was standing in the shadows. It was Kuina, clutching her worn wooden sword, her knuckles white from her tight grip.
"Rear Admiral Roy."
Her voice was softer than the wind, but just as firm. "Can I talk to you?"
The coin vanished. Roy looked up. "Of course."
Kuina took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling, her eyes full of a stubbornness she couldn't hide. "I... I heard what you said to my father. About 'fate.'"
Nami gasped, covering her mouth, but Roy didn't even blink. "And?"
Her wooden sword was trembling. "I won't be bound by 'fate'!" She snapped her head up, her eyes as sharp as a blade, her voice suddenly rising. "I will prove... that a woman can become the world's greatest!"
The moment she spoke, a sharp crash echoed from inside the dojo. Koushirou stood frozen at the corner of the hallway, a shattered teacup at his feet.
Roy stood, the moonlight making his shadow stretch long, as if he were part of the night itself. He looked down at Kuina, and a slow, knowing smile spread across his face. "Good. Then prove it."
"How?" she bit out.
Roy pointed to the dark bamboo grove on the hill. "Before sunrise, cut down ten of those stalks with that wooden sword."
Nami gasped. Those stalks were as thick as her arm!
But Kuina just tightened her grip, a fire in her eyes. "Understood!"
"Wait!" Koushirou rushed onto the veranda, his sleeve stained with tea. "Kuina! You can't—"
"Father!" she called back from the edge of the grove, her profile sharp in the moonlight. "You taught me the sword is an extension of the will. Are you telling me to deny my own will now?"
Koushirou froze, as if he'd been struck.
When the first ray of dawn broke the horizon, Koushirou walked into the bamboo grove.
Ten thick stalks lay shattered on the ground, their cuts clean. In the center, Kuina was kneeling, her keikogi (training uniform) stained, her wooden sword broken, and her hands a bloody mess.
She was trembling, but she looked up at him, her lips cracked, and managed a smile. "I... did it..."
Koushirou's hand trembled as he removed his glasses.
For a second, he saw his late wife's pale, stubborn face... her weak but firm voice... "Let her... choose her own path..."
He had smiled and agreed, but in his heart, he had sworn to protect his daughter from that world.
But now... looking at her, at those same stubborn, unyielding eyes...
"Zoro can go," he said, his voice quiet. "But Kuina..." He looked at her hands, gripping the broken sword. "Her path as a swordswoman... it shouldn't end here."
"Her path," Roy said, suddenly standing behind him, "is on a much bigger stage."
"Father!" Kuina forced herself to stand, using the broken sword as a crutch, her blood staining her white uniform.
"Rather than let me die in some... accident..." Her voice was hoarse as she yelled the vow she had kept hidden for years. "Let me die... trying to become the world's greatest!"
She raised the broken hilt to the sky, the dawn light reflecting in her eyes. "I will be the one... to cut fate itself!"
The wind howled through the bamboo.
Koushirou looked at his daughter, his expression a mix of pain and pride. He turned to Roy. "Rear Admiral... can you promise... she won't..." He didn't realize he was clenching the teacup shard from the night before, his palm bleeding.
"Mr. Koushirou," Roy's voice was quiet, "how much time did they give you?"
Luffy and Nami looked confused, but Koushirou flinched as if struck.
His voice was a hoarse whisper. "...One month."
Roy's gaze hardened. "That's enough time."
He turned to leave, his Marine coat snapping in the morning wind. "Watch Luffy and Nami for me."
He paused at the gate, the dawn light catching his face. "I'll prove it to you," he said, his voice full of unshakeable confidence. "I have the power to rewrite this rotten fate."
Kuina gripped her broken sword, watching him go, an unreadable light in her eyes.
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