Peppermint Duel

"Wait!" 'No no no, not her again!' Zoro thought, quickening his pace as he rounded the sword shop. "I said, wait!" Zoro acted deaf as he continued to walk/run in long strides. 'Give up give up give up...' Zoro thought desperately as he walked. Too late. "I SAID 'WAIT' YOU UNCIVIL BUFFOON!!" One second Zoro was out in broad daylight, carrying his new swords, and the next second Zoro was pinned against the wall, Tashigi panting at the effort of keeping up with him, in a darkish alley. Zoro sighed. "Sorry, I didn't hear you. What is it?" He asked, inwardly slapping himself in defeat. Tashigi caught her breath first before speaking. "You have to be Roronoah Zoro. I just know it." She looked at him in an inspecting manner. Zoro waited for the verdict. "You have to be." She repeated. "Why do I have to be?" Zoro asked. Tashigi raised her glasses up onto her forehead. She tiptoed a bit to get a better look at him. "Because I heard a bunch of people call you so outside the sword shop. And you carry three swords... and you're a good swordsman... " Tashigi raised herself as high as she could, her eyes almost level with Zoro's. "And you have three earrings... and you have a waist-band... and..." "How do you know it's not coincidence?" Zoro asked calmly. In truth, Zoro didn't feel calm at all. Her eyes... they were blue, just like Kuina's. Blue and deep. He wanted to just close his eyes and block the sight of his old friend out, but he considered that as an invalid option at the moment. Her eyes travelled down his neck to his shoulders, then to his left arm. In a swift movement, Tashigi snatched the black material tied around Zoro's arm and also took a sword from him. Luck would have it, Zoro knew it was Kuina's sword the second it was taken from him. "Look! This black fabric. I know what this is." Tashigi said confidently. "What is it?" Zoro asked, trying to keep his voice as calm and monotone and possible. His mind was spinning at the familiar confident tone Kuina used to use at him, but he quickly snapped back to reality in order to hear Tashigi's next words. "It's your bandanna, or your mask, or whatever. You are Roronoah Zoro." "How do you know it's not just some fashion statement?" Zoro asked. Tashigi's eyes flashed. "Don't play dumb with me. Just admit it." "And if I am Zoro?" Tashigi looked at the sword she held in her hands carefully before glancing back at Zoro. "Then ... we duel." Zoro took his sword and mask slowly from the girl, and she set herself in her fighting stance. Zoro appeared to do so as well, but he suddenly turned right and began to sprint down the alley. "Eh? Wh-what the... WAIT!!" Tashigi yelled again, and she ran down the alley after him. He skid to a stop after realising the wall before him stated a dead end. "Dammit!" He cursed out loud. Zoro could hear her footsteps echoing within the walls of the alley behind him. 'I could pretend to fight her here... then jump over her head... and run out of the alley!" Zoro thought. He turned around to face her, but he found that she wasn't there. Suddenly, a sword was thrust just inches away from his nose infront of him horizontally, in parallel motion. He could feel her soft breath against his neck behind him. This wasn't good. "You ran away!" She hissed. Zoro really did close his eyes this time, but it wasn't much good since it was the voice that had sounded like Kuina's, not the stupid sword infront of him. "Are you a coward or do you think I'm not strong just because I'm a girl?" Zoro wanted to block his ears, but his hands wouldn't move. He was numb with shock at Tashigi's words. She was really like Kuina. "Answer me! Roronoah Zoro!" Zoro didn't move. This seemed to agitate and anger Tashigi further. "Dammit, answer me! I didn't become a swordsman just for the heck of it! Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean-" Finally, he snapped. "Shut up!" Zoro's words stunned Tashigi, and he used the moment to shove the sword off his face. Tashigi attempted to turn Zoro around using her sword to force him round, but Zoro turned around himself and grabbed her wrists, then turned them away from him. Tashigi was very strong; she almost managed to wrench herself out of his grasp, but he pushed her against the dead-end wall - hard enough to wind her, but not hurt her really, especially since she had a thick coat on - and she gasped, the sword she had once held clattering onto the stones below. "Dammit..." Tashigi muttered. Her eyes half-filled with tears of anger. Her glasses were still on her forehead. She suddenly snapped her face upwards, so that her eyes met Zoro's. "I didn't train for this. I trained to swordfight, but you just use brute strength to overcome me because... I'm a girl." She sniffled. "Dammit..." She repeated. Zoro couldn't believe her. She was just like Kuina. It was too weird... actually, it was kinda scary. He relaxed his grip on her, but not enough to let her move. "Listen... I'm not doing this because you're a girl. I'm doing this because you look like someone I used to know." Tashigi looked at his eyes, which were not revealing anything. But a tinge of sadness tainted his voice as he spoke quietly to her. "You don't only look like her... you act like her, too. I used to duel with her." He let out a rueful grin. "And I lost." Tashigi listened, her eyes still searching his. "I never won her even once. But she told me she'd never become the greatest swordsman in the world because she was a girl." His grin faded. "Where is she now?" Tashigi asked quietly. "Above." They were silent for a few moments. Then Tashigi's face hardened. "That doesn't give you a reason to not fight with me! It's not my fault that I look like your friend." Zoro didn't say anything. His hands remained on her wrists. Tashigi began a futile struggle, and continued her reasoning. "I mean, come on. You're known for getting pirates with your swords just for the money. You don't know what causes you need to use your sword for. I want to-" "I promised Kuina that I'd become the greatest swordsman in the world," He growled. Tashigi shut up for a second, and stopped her useless writhing and twisting. "so I just needed the reward money to live until then!" Tashigi didn't need to wonder for long who Kuina was. She frowned. "Look. Zoro, there are other reason's why I want to duel with you too. I'm a marine general." "You're a what?!" "Yeah, a marine. I heard rumours that you're with Monkey D. Luffy, and Luffy is a 30 million beri man out there - a pirate. If you're with him, then that makes you a pirate too. Pirates... getting them out of the sea, that's some bit of a marine's job." Tashigi looked at him closely. "Are you with Luffy?" Zoro raised an eyebrow. "And if I am?" Tashigi looked at him, her expression annoyed again. "If you are, you are, and if you're not, you're not. Just say it!!" "And if I am?" Tashigi considered looking angry again, but decided against it. He was in a much more advantageous position, in any case; he was holding her in a position that made her swordskill useless, and he was probably going to just keep saying 'And if I am?' anyways. She answered. "If you are a pirate, then we might duel, and if I win, I can take you in. If you're not, I still want to duel with you anyways. For personal reasons." Zoro looked slightly away, his eyes intense. Tashigi felt the grip on her wrists grow more firm. "I can't fight you, Tashigi. For personal reasons." Tashigi waited for Zoro to look at her again before retorting. "Well, you can, and you will. I'll make you." Zoro raised an eyebrow. "Just how will you do that?" "By my own means." "Your own means?" Zoro's voice had dropped lower. Tashigi forced herself to remain eye-contact with him, although it was getting difficult because of his expression. "Yes, I'll make you by using my s-" "Why do you have to look like her?" He murmured, interrupting her. Zoro leaned a little lower, looking at her more closely. He wanted to look at her and not look at her at the same time. It was maddening. "Dammit Zoro, why do you have to have a friend like that?!" Tashigi muttered. She could see his eyes growing more intense and more sad by the second. Quite suddenly, there was a shout behind them. "FREEZE!" Zoro turned, and Tashigi craned her neck a little. There were around five marine soldiers, pointing pistols at Zoro. "Let go of the general! You have been caught terrorizing a general of the main marine base. Therefore, we request of you to surrender." Zoro didn't move. Tashigi opened her mouth to explain, but the same marine spoke first. "You leave us no choice. Men, fire only at the man, do not hit general Tashigi. Remember, we trained for this." It all happened in a few seconds. Zoro turned back to look at Tashigi, and their eyes met briefly. He closed his eyes, leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. She was too much in shock to stop him from stepping back. He flipped backwards, and somehow deflected every single shot directed at him. They bounced off trash-cans nearby, as well as the walls, and fell uselessly to the floor. Zoro then landed behind his opponents, all of which were severely shocked, and he said in a low voice, "Tou Rou Nagashi." Small wounds suddenly burst forth from each of the marine soldier's shoulders, and they let out yells of surprise and pain. Zoro was out of sight already. "He wasn't terrorizing me, okay?!" Tashigi yelled at the soldiers. They winced at the words and wounds, and one of the marines said in a terrified voice, "How the hell did he do that?!" "Don't ask me," Tashigi snapped. She couldn't believe he stole a kiss from her just like that. She took off her glove from her right hand, and touched her lips with her fingers, trembling slightly out of anger and shock. "I cannot believe him." She seethed. It was obvious the soldier had no idea what had happened, and they all knew it wasn't exactly a good time to question just what had happened. "That man... by the way, why on earth were you going to kill him!?" "We weren't, general Tashigi. We were planning to make him go to sleep. It's the new sleeping darts that-" "Yeah yeah, okay." Tashigi interrupted, her eyes still flashing. She kicked the darts that littered the floor angrily. 'He invaded my personal bounds. He stole a kiss from someone who was practically a stranger. He tasted like peppermint.' Tashigi blinked. 'Did I just think that? Come to think of it, he did.' She thought. Then she shook her head quickly to rid herself of the idea. "ARGH!! I'm going to get that guy if it's the last thing I do!!" Zoro heard her from twelve shops away. He himself couldn't believe what he just did, but then again, they had been very, very close. 'Better sleep on it,' Zoro thought, and continued to walk.