Chapter 13 - The Greatest Swordsman in the World

Chapter 13



Jasmine slept quite well that night, or as well as anyone sleeping in a bathtub could. Sanji's watch, which was sitting on her stomach as see slept, started beeping quietly at 5:00 a.m. Jasmine threw it across the room before she even woke up, before suddenly remembering where she was, and why.

Jumping out of the bathtub, she walked over to the far wall, to make sure no damage had come to the watch. None appeared to, but the wall had a scratch on it now. Jasmine shook her head, sighing to herself.

Jasmine went over to the sink and splashed some water on her face and, simply out of habit, brushed her teeth and combed her hair (and tail). Then, she walked out the bathroom and into the bedroom, put Sanji's watch on the floor next to him, snatched up her Sais and left the ship.

Only then, while walking around the dark town at five in the morning, did Jasmine realize that she had no idea where or when the fight was. Groaning, she decided to simply walk around in circles until she found Mihawk.

The sun started rising about an hour and some later. A bored Jasmine quickly noticed some people coming out of houses, and going to the central-square-area of the town. Jasmine followed.

“This is where it's supposed to be, right?” Somebody whispered.

“Yeah. I think that's what the pirate hunter said.” Somebody else replied.

Jasmine sighed happily, now positive she was in the right place. And so, she waited in the slightly growing crowd of people for Mihawk to show up.

Jasmine couldn't help but fidget uncomfortably, thinking about her crew. What would happen if someone woke up and came to get her? Would they be angry that she left alone like this? Hopefully not. Getting rather tired of waiting, she crossed her arms.

Only a few moments later did Mihawk appear. He was wearing the same outfit as he was yesterday, large hat and all. Jasmine couldn't help but wonder his he always wore that hat to battle. But at this time, Mihawk was impatiently looking around for his opponent. Jasmine stepped forward.

“Mihawk!” She called, trying to keep her voice from squeaking as he looked at her. “I'm you opponent today, so …prepare!” Smooth.

Mihawk looked her over, emotionless, but clearly unimpressed. “I came here to fight Roronoa Zoro…” he said slowly.

“Yes, well, I'm fighting you instead!” Jasmine insisted stubbornly.

“I have no idea who you are. Why would I waste my time with you?” Mihawk asked. People watching started murmuring to one another, all watching Jasmine.

“B-Because! Just because!” Jasmine replied lamely. Mihawk sighed and turned away.

“You- You-” Jasmine stuttered. “YOU HURT ZORO!” She screamed, throwing one of her Sais at him. Mihawk moved his sword. The Sai hit it, bounced off, and flew back to Jasmine, who caught it. He turned back to her, a faint smile on his lips.

“Yes.” He replied. “After he challenged me. That angers you? Hm. You amuse me.” He decided. Jasmine didn't know how to react. “Unfortunately, since I was expecting to fight someone worth while, I didn't bring my smaller sword. So this won't last too long.”

Jasmine almost growled. This was it. Without thinking for another moment, she lunged forward at him with her Sais. And bashed into hard metal. He moved his huge sword so fast! Refusing to be discouraged, she lunged to the side and in. Again, she was blocked. Getting slightly annoyed, she stepped back and tried again.

This went on for quite some time. Jasmine realized that she couldn't match his speed like this, and he was tiring her out. At about the same moment, Mihawk got bored.

“I've played enough now.” He declared. “So then let's finish this.” He said, swinging his huge sword forward. Jasmine shrieked and ducked. Crouched on the ground, she noticed about two inches of her long hair fall down in front of her. She couldn't believe how close that was. A split second later, the sword was slamming into the ground, and she was rolling away.

Luckily, eating a cursed fruit gave her a cat's reflects. If she hadn't, she'd be dead by now. She jumped up to her feet, just as the sword came down again. This time, she wasn't fast enough. As she jumps out of the way, the sword came down on to her left shoulder. Clutching it, she fell, only to quickly jump back up, facing Mihawk.

“Hm. You've last far longer then I'd have guessed.” Mihawk told her. Jasmine would have replied, but the pain in her shoulder was really the only thing on her mind. “Don't worry. This battle will finish quickly.

At this point, Jasmine's brain just shut down. She really didn't know what was happening, but her reflexes were moving her out of harms way for the most part. She really wasn't sure how long she was dodging, and she also didn't know where or when she dropped her Sais. She only really noticed a sudden sharp pain in her thigh, and another, a bit later, on her wrist. It wasn't until Mihawk's sword hit her in the ribs, did she truly know what was going on again. Holding her ribs with both hands, she fell down to the ground. She could hear Mihawk walking over for the final blow. Then, she noticed her Sais lying near her. She waited. Mihawk came closer. When she could sense he was near, she rolled over, grabbed her Sais, and leaped up at Mihawk. This time, she hit him in the arm.

Mihawk blinked down at his arm. “Hm. I underestimated you.” He blinked. In a flash, his sword came down, too fast for even Jasmine to move. The flat side hit her straight in the head. Luckily, she didn't pass out, but the force knocked her flat on her back. Everything hurt. She couldn't move. Mihawk swung his sword down. Jasmine closed her eyes.

There was the clash of metal on metal. Jasmine dared to open her eyes. Standing directly over her was the unmistakable figure of Zoro. He had two of his swords crossed in front of him, incredibly, stopping Mihawk's sword. His face looked positively furious. Jasmine couldn't help but feel slightly afraid of him.

“You- You- How could you attack a helpless girl?!” Zoro demanded, glaring at Mihawk, and almost shaking in anger.

“…” Mihawk took a step back, lowering his sword. “Hm. It seems I misunderstood.”

“WHAT could you misunderstand?” Zoro yelled. “You were supposed to fight ME! Not a little girl!”

Jasmine pushed herself onto her knees. She noticed Katherine, the Patricks, Phillip, Sanji, Luffy, Nami, and Robin pushing through the crowd.

“I was… misinformed.” Mihawk said, not looking like he cared very much either way. “I believed I was fighting your replacement.”

Zoro then turned his glare to Jasmine. “You!” Jasmine looked down at the ground. He was angry. Of course, he would be. He was an honorable swordsman, and she just ruined his fight. But whatever Jasmine expected, it wasn't what Zoro did. He dropped down onto his knees and hugged her.

“You stupid girl.” Zoro said quietly. “Why would you do something like that? You could have been hurt. Then what would we do?”

“Yeah, leave the fighting to us men!” Patrick D said proudly. He was ignored by all.

Now, the fact that Zoro wasn't screaming at her somehow made her feel all the worse. She knew she was crying, even though she really couldn't feel anything. She noticed two hands grabbing her shoulders and turner her away from Zoro. She was then facing her best friend, tears streaming down her face as well.

“Why did you do that?” Katherine cried. “Why did you go out all alone? And you lied to me again! You said you wouldn't do that!”

“Katherine, I'm sorry!” Jasmine sobbed, crying just as hard. “If I told you, you'd want to come too! And you could get hurt!”

“But you DID get hurt, Jasmine.” Robin said from the side.

“She looks pretty bad.” Nami observed. “We should get her back to Chopper.”

The rest of the crew nodded, except Sanji, who was being held back from attacking Mihawk by Luffy.

“HOW DARE HE DO THAT TO HER?! HOW DARE HE HURT JASMINE! THAT- THAT-”

“SANJI! Calm down!” Luffy yelled. “We gotta get her back to the ship! Then we can beat Mihawk up!”

Katherine attempted to help support Jasmine, but Jasmine could still barely move and Katherine was weak from crying. So instead, Zoro carried Jasmine back, and Katherine was helped by Robin and Nami.

“I'm not leavin' while he's here.” Patrick D announced, sitting on a bench and glaring at Mihawk. “He ain't going no where.”

“Yeah.” Patrick F agreed, sitting and glaring at Mihawk with his friend.



**



Back at the ship, Katherine, Robin, and Nami took a look at Jasmine's wounds. None were too deep, but there were pretty bad. The girls helped Jasmine wash them out, and Jasmine could feel again.

“Alright. They're clean, but still bleeding.” Nami said.

“We'll get Chopper to bandage them up.” Robin smiled.

Katherine walked over to the closed door of the room, and opened it up. Zoro, Luffy, Sanji, Usopp, Chopper, Phillip, and Steve were all sitting in the hallway. “We're ready for you, Chopper.” Katherine announced cheerfully, and Chopper walked into the room. Katherine closed the door behind her, and only then noticed Chopper was whimpering, his eyes closed.

“Chopper, what's wrong?” She asked blankly.

“It's just… just…” Chopper stammered.

“What?” Nami asked.

“She doesn't have a shirt on.” Chopper whimpered.

“WHAT THE HECK?” Luffy yelled from outside.

“What do you mean, idiot?” Sanji's voice screamed.

“You're a doctor!” Phillip cried in disbelief.

Robin nodded thoughtfully. “I see. That shouldn't worry you.” Chopper didn't reply.

“Look, she's wearing a bra, right?” Katherine said impatiently.

“Yeah…” Chopper replied.

“Does it bug you to see girls in bathing suits?” Usopp asked from the other side of the door.

“No…” Chopper replied.

“SO SUCK IT UP AND FIX HER!” Zoro roared, just as loud as if he was in the room. Chopper jumped and obeyed.



**



After Jasmine was bandaged up, she was told to go to bed. So she tried to sleep on the couch. And failed terribly. But she pretended to sleep, to make her crew happy. After a little while, Zoro went out to go meet Mihawk. Everyone else, except Katherine and Chopper went with him.

Jasmine decided to quite pretending to sleep, and sat up. Katherine sighed and sat next to her. Chopper paced around the room.

“Chopper, if you're worried about Zoro, you can go watch the fight.” Katherine said.

“No… no, I'm the doctor. I'll stay.” Chopper muttered to himself.

“Really Chopper. If you want to go, go.” Jasmine said. With that, Chopper ran away. The two girls couldn't help but grin at each other before returning to a silence.

“Kaff, you can go too.” Jasmine said.

“Naw. I'm good.” Katherine replied. “Besides, Zoro'll be fine. He's gonna kick that guys butt, don't fret.” She grinned. “And if doesn't, the others'll team up against him and rip him apart.”

Jasmine nodded, and Katherine continued. “You shouldn't have gone alone. If that guy even scratched you while I was there, I'd have broken his nose.” She vowed, making a fist.

“Hm.” Jasmine blinked. “Katherine?”

“Yeah?”

“Why'd you have too pull me away from Zoro?”

Katherine blinked, then started laughing. “Aw, you're HOPELESS!” She laughed, hitting Jasmine on the back. “I know, I'm terrible. But hey. Live with it.” She grinned evilly. “Wherever you go from this second on, I'm gonna be right next to you. So get used to it.”



**



Zoro walked back to the town square. He knew that his friends were walking right behind him. Of course, if he could choose, they'd all stay at the ship. But he knew them well enough by now to know that they wouldn't listen to him.

He had to beat Mihawk now. Absolutely had to. Not only for Kuina now, but for Jasmine as well. What he did was completely unacceptable. Who attacks little girls?

Zoro was growling to himself when he got to the square. Most of the crowd that was there earlier had thinned out. He saw his apprentice and friend sitting on a bench, glaring at Mihawk, who was lying on the ground. It looked to Zoro like the two boys hadn't moved at all in the time he'd been gone.

“He ain't going anywhere.” Patrick D muttered coldly.

“No way.” Patrick F agreed.

“… Good job.” Zoro told the two boys. “You can stop now.”

“Alright! Finally!” Patrick F said, jumping up and moving out of the way with Patrick D. Mihawk stood up.

“Ah. There you are. I was beginning to wonder if I should have fought through your watch dogs to get away.” He said, with obvious sarcasm that the Patrick's didn't get.

“But he didn't!” Patrick D said proudly.

“'Cause we're so tough!” Patrick F added.

“So, then.” Mihawk said, turning his attention back to Zoro. “Are you ready?”

Zoro quickly tied his bandana around his head, and put Kuina's sword in his mouth. It was now or never. He just hoped he was ready.



**



Jasmine and Katherine sat in the silent ship for what seemed like forever. Or at least a really long time. Both girls were worried sick, but didn't want to say anything to worry the other. So they were absolutely silent.

Jasmine was starting to feel a bit better. Her wounds still hurt, of course, but she could move now. So she was able to pace around the room while Katherine stared at the ceiling.

The two girls decided to go up on deck, so Jasmine could walk around a larger space and Katherine had something else to look at.

Only a short while after that, they could here shouting and cheering. Both girls perked up and ran to the side of the ship.

“It's over…” Katherine said.

“But who won?” Jasmine pleaded.

Her answer came shortly after. Luffy, Chopper, Patrick F, Phillip, and Steve came jumping and whooping into view. Usopp and Nami were laughing and doing some ultra-fast tango for some unusual reason. Robin was walking, smiling hugely. And Zoro, being supported by Patrick D and Sanji, came into view. And Zoro was grinning.

Katherine cheered and jumped off the ship, landing on top of Patrick F and Luffy. Jasmine just charged off the ship, down the dock, into Zoro, and clung to his waist.

“ZORO! YOU'RE ALIVE!” She cried happily.

“… Yeah.” Zoro agreed. Jasmine turned into a cat, climbed up his bloody shirt, and curled up into a purring ball on his head.

“You can all change your history books!” Patrick D screamed. “The greatest Swordsman in the world is Roronoa Zoro!”

That night was spent celebrating, the Zoro way. Getting drunk. At about midnight, this was the scene on the Going Merry: Zoro was drinking his 53rd beer, sitting on the ground. Jasmine was currently a drunken cat, sleeping on Zoro's head. Nami, Luffy, and Usopp were seeing who could drink the most. Usopp had passed out on the deck. Katherine sat on a barrel, screaming “Clear the runway! I'm taking this baby to the MOOOON!” Patrick F and Phillip were telling each other that they were their best friend ever. “Man, you're *hic* meh best friend!” “Naw, man, you're awesome.” “No, dude, you're awesome!” “I'm tellin' ya man, you're awesome!” Steve was sleeping. Chopper was attempting to walk in a straight line, and was failing sadly. Sanji was telling a wonderful fried fish recipe to the mast. Patrick D had just bitten the head off a live fish. And eaten it. Robin, who also actually had some beer, was laughing at everyone.

All and all, it was a good night, and everyone passed out before 4:00am.

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