One Piece: I have Hacks

[The Synonym]

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[Catching Up]
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| Four months later... |

...

—Tack!—

A bamboo sword came down with brutality and sheer efficiency, clacking heavily against another.

"Argh!"

Soon, the sword on the receiving end dropped clean from the person's hands, clattering against the floor.

Then, the point of the other sword slashed against the air, stopping just a few centimeters from a man's face, who eyed the sword with a shocked gaze, a bead of sweat rolling down his brow.

Then—

"The duel is over. The winner is Dan!" Koushirou announced from nearby, his loud voice echoing across the stunned silent dojo.

The silence stretched for a bit more, before chatter broke out instantly among the students lining the borders of the dojo.

"For real?! He actually beat an adult...!"

"And that's Yashimura-sensei. He's no small fry either!"

"How long has he even been here?!"

"...About nine months."

"And he already beat an adult?!"

"I wish I had his talent."

"You guys think he can beat Zoro and Kuina yet?"

"No way, those two are way too powerful. He might not lose instantly, though…"

"But don't you guys remember how Kuina seemed to struggle a bit months ago? Perhaps now he can truly put up a fight!"

"Hmm, I don't know. At the end of that duel, he still lost rather disappointingly. I'd say at that point his power level might have been that of a quarter of a Kuina."

"I'd say more like a third. A quarter is too little considering how much he endured that fight."

"Who cares how strong he was before? How many Kuinas is he now?!"

"Considering his feats so far, and taking their last duel months ago as a reference—perhaps 70% of a Kuina, maybe more. I guess it's up for debate until both clash again."

While the students of the Isshin dojo powerscaled their classmates in a strange manner, the subject of their conversation stood in the center of the dojo, breathing steadily as the effort finally caught up with him.

'Well, that went better than I expected.'

Dan rested the handle of his sword against the floor and leaned on it, letting out a quiet huff.

'Didn't even need Tireless for that.'

Today, like every month, was the dueling class. And this time, he'd gone a step further and challenged an adult outright, just to see what nine months of training with Tireless—and a real sword—had actually yielded.

The short answer: a lot.

Not only was he now stronger than a trained adult at still ten years old, he was also fairly confident he could hold his own against a properly formed swordsman.

… A normal, non-superhuman one. No cutting-through-steel bs, and also not early-canon Zoro level.

Just someone who genuinely knew how to use a blade. That was his estimate as to where he stood based on the duel.

And if he was overestimating himself, there was always Tireless to even things out.

All in all, he was finally starting to feel like a One Piece protagonist—barely ten, and already able to contend with armed adults. Who knew how strong he'd be by the time his training arc wrapped up?

He was planning to give it at least four or five more years, so he assumed he'd have built up quite a lot by then.

'Or sooner, depending on how things develop.'

His mind wandered over to his other discovery from recent weeks. After discovering, or rather rememorating, Arlong's situation and the opportunity it might present, Dan had gone looking for more concrete answers about Jinbe's warlord status.

Eventually he'd asked Koushirou, who struck him as the type to keep reasonably current with the world's state of affairs.

He'd started the conversation from Hawkeye's status as a warlord since the guy was a swordsman, and let it drift to the others from there. Koushirou had given a thorough rundown, and Jinbe's name never came up once.

Safe to assume, then, that Arlong was still operating on the Grand Line and hadn't yet come to terrorize a baby-level village in the East Blue.

Which meant there was still time.

For what exactly? he hadn't fully thought it out. He'd decided to figure it out when he got there.

After all, even with the progress he'd made, the thought of actually going up against Arlong was still somewhere between ambitious and delusional—that saw-nosed fishguy was on a superhuman level, while he was just barely cresting adult human. The gap was pretty significant.

'Though maybe I won't need to be equally strong to deal with him...'

He gave the bamboo sword in his hand a pensive look. His hacking system gave him a fairly creative toolkit to think with, after all.

Though maybe he was overestimating what the system could do at this tier.

Either way, that was for later. Jinbe wasn't even a warlord yet, so there was no point rushing.

Huffing, he turned and stored the bamboo sword back in its basket, then settled back into his seat while the other students' stares and whispered commentary washed past him.

Across the room, two people rose from their seats almost in unison.

Kuina and Zoro, up for their duel of the day—though calling it duel of the day would be innapropiate, since the two tended to squeeze in at least three per day, which explained how fast the count had climbed.

Right now's marked their 1,908th.

Ninety-two more to go before Kuina met her match against the stairs of her own house.

'Although, maybe my intervention isn't even needed anymore.'

He figured things had already diverged from canon at least a little, just from his presence.

For all he knew, one of his handful of encounters with Kuina might have nudged one of pair's duels back by a day, which would push the final one back too, and change how everything played out.

Or maybe nothing had changed at all.

—Or maybe something had, but it would still end the same way.

He had no way of knowing. So patience it was.

-Thud!-

"Damn it!"

The dry sound of Zoro hitting the floor pulled Dan out of his thoughts. Kuina stood beside him with the sword pointed at him, a slight smirk on her face.

'And that makes 1,908.'

Dan watched with an amused but quiet snort, his cheek resting against his palm.

One month from now and he'd be free of this self-imposed vigil.

As he thought it, Kuina's gaze drifted over to him for just a moment, her smile carrying a hint of extra pride before she turned and walked back to her seat.

Dan noticed it and felt a faint, slightly uncomfortable awareness of how involved he'd let himself get in something he was supposed to only touch when absolutely necessary.

He let out a quiet sigh under his breath

'Hopefully everything goes smoothly.'

...

°

°

°

| The next day... |

...

'Nice way of screwing me over, universe.'

Dan's eye twitched as he held the newspaper in front of him.

The headline felt like a personal taunt.

{"A Fishman!—Meet the new Warlord chosen by the World Government"}

Just when things had seemed to be going smoothly, this landed the very next day. The irony was almost impressive.

He didn't even need to read the article. He already knew what it meant. Arlong was getting out of prison and coming to the East Blue to stomp around the weak.

Dan rubbed his temple and stared at the headline a moment longer.

There was still time—a few things had to happen first before things developed like that, and the travel from the Grand Line to the East Blue wasn't short. But the window was now significantly smaller than it had been yesterday.

And on top of that, Kuina's situation still needed handling—that alone would eat up the whole month.

'At this rate, I won't be able to do much about how things unfold.'

He knew it wasn't his responsibility to deal with Arlong, and the power gap only made that more clear. But it still left a bad taste in his mouth to just sit on the knowledge and do nothing, especially with a system in his pocket and future knowledge at his disposal.

But as much as it bothered him, things weren't looking particularly optimistic either.

Groaning, he folded the newspaper and lay down on the flat rock he'd been sitting on—the same one he'd started coming to when he needed to think.

The view and the breeze made it decent for that.

"What to do, what to do...?" he muttered at the sky.

The core problem was clear enough. There was too little time, and even with more time, very few things he could actually get done within that.

Eyes narrowed, he opened the system shop.

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[Starter Tier SHOP]

≡ Passive Hacks

▸ Presentable: [10 NP]

▸ WalkingCompass: [25 NP]

▸ SpeedReader: [30 NP]

▸ IronStomach: [30 NP]

▸ Pokerface: [50 NP]

▸ Polyglot: [250 NP]

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≡ Active Hacks

▸ Dry: [10 NP]

▸ Internal Clock: [20 NP]

▸ Clean: [25 NP]

▸ Appraiser: [30 NP]

▸ Tireless: [BOUGHT]

▸ Coward's Eye: [100 NP]

▸ Sugar Rush: [200 NP]

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≡ Scripts

▸ AutoRest: [75 NP]

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≡ Items

▸ Water Bottle: [5 NP]

▸ Jerky: [5 NP]

▸ Clothes: [10 NP]

▸ Golden Pencil: [15 NP]

▸ Golden Pen: [15 NP]

▸ Golden Quill: [15 NP]

▸ Golden Fork: [15 NP]

▸ Golden Spoon: [15 NP]

▸ Golden Lockpick Set: [15 NP]

...

▸ Music Headset: [25 NP]

▸ Fix-everything Tape: [30 NP]

▸ Bugged Smoke Pellet: [30 NP]

▸ Bottle of Hyper Glue: [50 NP]

▸ Gravity Cuffs: [65 NP]

▸ Very Stable Surfing Board: [75 NP]

▸ Intelligent Dumbbells: [80 NP]

▸ Haki Knot (Weak Level): [300 NP]

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A solid catalogue, though most of it was training-oriented rather than an outright boost to his combat capability.

'Proper for the starter tier, I suppose.'

Sugar Rush was an exception to that. The description said it put him in a sensorially-enhanced state.

But even buying it, he doubted it would do much to bridge the gap between him and Arlong.

'Is there anything useful I can even do if I go there?'

His best bet might not be going himself at all, but finding a way to tip off the marines—hopefully someone with actual strength, not fodder that's going to go there and get folded instantly— and get Arlong taken out before he can even get started.

But he had no idea how to make that happen in practice.

He didn't have Garp's number on dial, or Sengoku's, after all.

He didn't even have a Den Den Mushi.

"What a pain." He sat back up and stared at the ocean.

Then his eyes went back to the list, scanning it slowly.

They narrowed.

'Though... if I bought that... then perhaps...?'

He sat with that thought for a while, jaw moving slightly as possibilities branched and crossed in his head. Whatever he was working through, he kept it to himself.

Eventually, he stood up, looking noticeably less clouded than he had a few minutes ago.

"Alright. One month it is."

A smile settled on his face.

...

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-To Be Continued...-

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[Yohnos]

I wonder if Koujirou is trying to protect Kuina or if he's mysoginist, in a world where Big Mom or the Kuja exist

 

[The Synonym]

I wonder if Koujirou is trying to protect Kuina or if he's mysoginist, in a world where Big Mom or the Kuja exist

Click to shrink...

In my view it's just tradition that comes from Wano.

 

[The Synonym]

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[Subtlety]
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| Two weeks later... |

...

Life at Shimotsuki Village remained as simple as ever.

Every day, villagers continued their rounds around the village, watching out for their sworn enemy, while others farmed or fished.

Trades occurred in small amounts over the days. But they still happened every now and then. Mostly with travelers, cargo ships, or passing marines who needed to restock.

On that same routine, the cries of the students at the dojo as they swung their swords remained a constant in the people's daily life. They were the hope of the village, one more layer of security for its future and its people—hearing them filled the villagers with hope.

Today in particular, however, those cries sounded a bit more harsh.

"Argh!"

-Thud!-

At that same moment, inside the dojo, a certain greenhead hit the floor after a sword caught him square in the face.

Standing next to his defeated body, Koushirou gave a faint nod before pointing at the person not too far away who had delivered the finishing blow.

"Winner, Kuina!"

Who was, of course, Kuina.

The girl in question heaved a long sigh as she cleared the sweat from her forehead. Then, without even looking back at the half-unconscious, half-sulking figure of Zoro on the floor, she turned around and began walking back to her seat.

"Do those two not get tired? That's the 1,952nd duel already."

"Ask Zoro, he's the one issuing the challenges every day."

"Maybe he likes getting beaten up. My mom told me about such people, and said to stay away from them."

"Who would even like getting beaten up?"

"Dunno, but I agree with her. Whatever's wrong enough with his head to make him like getting roughed up like that is reason enough to maintain a safe distance."

Kuina caught the tail end of the students' conversation as she walked past, her mouth curling slightly.

As always, she remained unbeaten, proving her father's beliefs wrong.

Zoro was improving—she couldn't deny that. But so was she. No matter how much he chased her, she'd continue to be ahead.

She'd make sure of it.

As she had that thought, her smile widened slightly.

But as she finally approached her seat, her eyebrow twitched as the smile on her face dropped a little.

"..."

Something was ruining her sweet moment of victory.

Slowly, her eyes dragged to the corner of her vision, glaring at Dan.

Instantly, the boy's eyes shifted, looking elsewhere as if he hadn't just been openly glaring at her.

'What's wrong with him?'

Her brows creased slightly, a huff leaving her nose in dissatisfaction.

This had been going on for a while now. For some reason, a few weeks ago, the boy shifted from looking lost in his own world to glaring at her constantly.

She didn't notice at first. But eventually those long gazes became too noticeable and too piercing to stay ignorant of.

And no matter how much time passed, no matter how many times she made it clear she'd noticed by glaring right back at him, he never brought it up—just looked away, and whistled like an idiot, as if trying to feign innocence.

For a while, she wondered if she was being paranoid. But eventually it became clear she wasn't.

And it was starting to get on her nerves.

Narrowing her eyes, she let out a huff and turned back to her seat.

Calmly, she sat back down, her back straight and posture perfect, a clear show of discipline, just like her swordsmanship.

As she did, however, she shot yet another look at Dan.

The boy dodged her gaze again, suddenly looking at the ceiling as if it were the most interesting point in the dojo.

Kuina's eyes narrowed.

Whatever it was, he'd better bring it up soon. Otherwise, her patience was going to snap one of these days.

...

°

°

°

| Hours later, in the afternoon... |

...

Sitting on a rock by the backyard of the dojo, Kuina let out a scoff as she placed a bamboo sword down beside her.

"You're so weak."

"K-kgh...!"

In front of her, flat on his back on the ground, was a beaten Zoro with a bump on his head still sizzling from the recent blow, his expression extremely sour.

Seeing his unwilling face, she grinned, resting her head against her palm. "Why won't you learn, Zoro? You can't beat me. The 1,952 duels before this one should've made that clear by now."

"S-shut up, only losers give up!" Zoro grunted from the ground, slowly pushing himself upright and pointing a finger straight at her. "Besides, I'm catching up to you sooner or later! If you're scared, just say so!"

She sneered, crossing her arms and looking at him with a suspicious gaze. "You know, earlier, after I beat you, I heard some of the boys saying how there are people who enjoy getting beaten up, and assumed you must be one of those... Is that true, Zoro?"

"What?! I'm not a freak!"

"Well, the nearly two thousand duels with zero victories in your favor until now say otherwise."

"Shut up!"

She smirked at how easy it was to frustrate him.

"Well, I'll beat you up whenever you want. So don't hesitate to ask."

"Enough! Let's duel again, and I'll show you who enjoys getting beaten up!"

...

In the end, he ended up sprawled on the ground again, this time more pathetically than before, making that the 1,954th.

Kuina chuckled at the pitiful sight—only for her smile to freeze as she caught sight of something.

Inside the dojo, sneakily staring at them from the door frame, was Dan.

"Alright, that's it!" She stood up.

Zoro looked up at her as if she'd lost her mind, then stared in confusion as she left him behind and made her way inside.

"...What did I do?"

Back inside, she stomped her way over to Dan—who was now sweeping the dojo, acting as if he hadn't done anything.

She stopped right in front of him, arms crossed, staring him down with an upset expression, clearly waiting for him to acknowledge his weird behavior first.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Clearly, she hadn't accounted for Dan having the resolve to keep ignoring her blatant stare without issue for a full minute.

In the end, she broke the silence first.

"What's up with you?!"

Only then did Dan turn to her—his face looking completely puzzled and tilting to the side.

"What's up with me?"

A thick mark appeared on her forehead. "You even have the nerve to deny it?! This is like the one hundredth time I've seen you staring at me!"

"It hasn't been that many times."

"So you accept it!"

"Accept what?"

"Argh!" Kuina massaged her face in exasperation.

While Kuina fumed on her own, Dan's expression flattened slightly.

'Tailing people isn't as easy as they make it seem in media... wonder if the system will have a stealth hack for purchase eventually.'

Sighing, he went back to sweeping the dojo, ignoring the blatant glare and hysterical groans coming from beside him. Koushirou had given him sweeping duty today, so he didn't want to waste much time here.

Of course, he wasn't only sweeping. He was, indeed, observing the blue-haired girl.

As to why he was doing such things? The answer was simple.

To say he was anxious was an understatement.

For starters, the urge to go to Nami's village and unfold his plans there, but having to stay here to prevent the girl next to him from falling down some stairs, had made him grow a bit impatient.

Secondly, yes, the moment of truth was supposed to happen after the 2,001st duel, so there wasn't much reason to be this attentive this early. There were still a few dozen duels left.

However, the thought that things might have already diverted off course from canon without him knowing, and that Kuina's mid-stair tripping tendencies might flare at any second rather than when they originally did in the show, had made him a bit paranoid.

That, plus his urge to get the heck out of there and unfold his plans at Nami's village, didn't help.

Which is why he'd ended up being overly observant of her whenever there was a duel—though maybe a bit too much, seeing as how she had noticed, and clearly wasn't enthusiastic about it.

There were other solutions to his predicament, of course. Like moving the sharpening stone that Kuina had gone to fetch—the one that ended up killing her—down to the first floor of wherever it was, thus making her avoid going up the stairs in the first place.

But who knew if they'd put it back up the moment he turned around.

He could also hide it, for extra security.

But in that case, they could just buy a new one.

Basically, with them being thinking beings, and not robots he could order not to do stuff, this wasn't going to be easy.

Especially because fate in this world was a variable to consider, or at least it seemed like it.

So he wasn't about to take risks. He'd remain on the island—putting all the contingencies he'd previously thought of into motion at the moment of truth—and keep a tight eye until it finally happened, he stopped it, and Kuina learned her lesson around stairs. But not in the lethal way.

Then he'd dip.

If she died even after all that, thanks to fate or whatever... well, he'd feel bad about it. But there was nothing more he could do.

He had a criminal empire to build.

And in it, guilt had no place.

To such thoughts, Dan nodded with his eyes closed, caressing his chin thoughtfully.

But just as he felt he'd arrived at a clean enough conclusion, a sharp voice brought him back to reality.

"Are you listening to me?!"

"...What?" He turned to Kuina, a bead of sweat rolling down his temple.

"I said I'm not going to put up with your sneaky glances anymore. If you have something to say, just say it! Otherwise, stop stalking me!"

"You've got a lot of nerve, coming from the one who stalked me first..." Dan muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?!"

Dan ignored her, thinking about what to do now that she didn't seem like she was going to overlook his vigilance this time.

He could, of course, just walk away and put an end to this. But given that there was still half a month left before the event he was waiting for, he very much doubted he'd stop his vigilance over her.

So he supposed it was better to deal with the problem now, smooth over whatever wasn't working here, and let his plans sail cleanly from here on.

So, smiling slightly, he turned to her.

"There's a reason I've been acting like this."

"Well?" Kuina asked, eyes squinted.

Dan let a pause follow for a moment, then pointed the tip of the broom at Kuina dramatically.

"I plan on challenging you during the next dueling day."

An awkward silence followed, with Kuina apparently taking in the war declaration.

"You?"

Only for a frown to take over her face the next second.

"I've been training my whole life, since I was a literal kid, and you already think you can beat me? With just nine months of training?"

That sounded a bit assholy when she put it like that, but Dan nodded anyway. If it could get her out of his hair for now, passing off his vigilance as merely "scouting the enemy," it worked for him.

Whether he lost or won that match when the day came, it wouldn't matter—not long after, her death event would happen, and after he did what he could to prevent it, he'd be leaving this island for good.

"I see," Kuina nodded, her expression a bit calmer.

Dan was about to let out a sigh of relief—and even more so when she began walking away.

That lasted until he saw her heading toward the bamboo sword pile instead of the exit.

Soon, she grabbed one and tossed it to him. He caught it, the corner of his eyebrow twitching slightly.

"If you're so confident, how about we test whether you're as ready as you think you are?" she asked, her tone leveled, though Dan could read it clearly enough.

She had taken his challenge pretty close to heart.

'I should have seen this coming.'

He shot a wry look at the bamboo sword in his hand, then back at the approaching Kuina.

After a moment, though, he sneered softly, let go of the broom and kicked it clear of the area around him, then settled into his stance.

'No matter. I've been curious either way. I've improved a lot, after all.'

Kuina took her stance a few steps away.

"Don't you dare hold anything back," she said suddenly.

Dan immediately knew what she meant.

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[Tireless Hack Activated!—Time left: 59 minutes, 59 seconds.]

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"I didn't plan to."

Her frown deepened as whatever slight traces of exhaustion that had been on him vanished from one moment to the next.

Still, she gave a short nod and tightened her grip on the sword.

Without a referee to declare the start, nor any spectators to witness it, they had no way to mark the beginning of the fight.

So instead, the two just...

—Tack!—

Lunged.

...

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-To Be Continued...-

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[Hilight]

Dan: She dies because of exhaustion ending with her tripping down the stairs. To save her life I'll make sure she's even more tired.
D. Stairs: Yesssssss, gooooooooood!

 

[Yohnos]

Are we sure that Koujirou isn't the one who killed her?
The elements of the investigation are against him
- He as the mobile (he didn't want her to inherit the dojo, he was against her getting stronger and he gave her blade to her main rival before her body was even cold)
- He is the only witness
- You don't need to sharpen Wado Ichimongi that much.
Maybe he didn't push down D stairs but he has a psychological impact on her

 

[Despacitoleo]

Awsome chapter Down D. Stairs is coming

 

[Plaguedromance]

Thank you for the new chapters!

 

[Plebston323]

Wonder what hax he gets later

 

[Trek]

He needs some memory hacks, if he can't even remember the other warlords then his future knowledge advantage is truly doomed.

 

[The Synonym]

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[Better Than Talent]
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...

As the battle started, both parties rushed at each other, swinging in wide arcs.

—Tack!—

Their swords came crashing down against each other with a dry sound as they collided, and from then on, the two pushed against each other, the bamboo swords trembling under the contrasting pressure coming from both sides.

'I can't...?'

That simple fact seemed to surprise Kuina. Months ago she had been stronger physically—Dan had the advantage in endurance with his strange ability, but she had clearly been stronger at that point.

Yet now she couldn't push him around anymore.

However, despite the surprise, soon she shook the matter off.

'...You may have grown stronger, but there are still things you need training at!'

Gritting her teeth and knowing she wouldn't win a battle of attrition, she changed tactics. Using Dan's focused strength on the sword clash, she let go of her own pressure, and in the gap where Dan adjusted to the sudden lack of opposition, she slipped out of his range before quickly delivering a slash at his blind spot.

—Tack!—

He blocked it—flimsily. He barely had time to react, so he wasn't able to get into a proper stance. It did the job of keeping him in the fight, but it left him in a compromising posture.

And Kuina wasn't about to let that go unpunished.

'Just as I thought, you're still too weak!'

Taking a deep breath, her expression hardened as she began hammering down on Dan from all sides, her speed picking up with each blow.

—Tack!—

—Tack!—

—Tack!—

Dan did his best to block, and under normal circumstances, he might have managed it well enough—but the flimsy block from just a moment ago had trapped him in an unbalanced state, and Kuina wasn't giving him room to regain his footing. Her slashes looked like ricocheting bullets, hitting his guard and then curving down swiftly to rain back on his weak points.

For most people, being constantly hit at their weak points, forcing them to use desperate attempts at blocking and thus being very unstable, would wear them down, cause them to slip, or simply break their guard in due time.

—But in this situation, the exhaustion wasn't accumulating. The pain of each improperly blocked hit was there, muscles and tendons bearing pressures they weren't supposed to… but that was something he could ignore.

Going down wasn't on the table anytime soon.

So the only one who actually began wearing down from all that relentless assault was—

'Why isn't he falling?!'

—Kuina.

And Dan was the first to notice.

In her frustration at having him a sliver away from breaking but not managing to deliver the finishing blow, she'd forgotten that such tactics simply wouldn't be enough.

That proved a grave mistake. The moment she slowed even slightly—

—Tack!—

"...?!"

Dan batted one of her swings aside. Her exhaustion, combined with his completely undiminished strength, was enough to throw her off balance this time instead.

And with that done, Dan smiled.

... and proceeded to start his own counterattack.

—Tack!—

—Tack!—

—Tack!—

—Tack!—

Using his unlimited reserves, Dan turned the tables and became the one hammering down on Kuina's guard. Each of his attacks equal in speed and power to the others—a stark contrast to Kuina's fading strength and shortening breath with every block she had to endure or attack she had to dodge. The more she blocked, the closer defeat felt.

It was in that moment, with her brain in overdrive searching for a way out, that the reality of how much Dan had grown since their last spar finally dawned on her.

Before, even in a similar situation, she would have been fast enough to find a gap to strike him between his attacks.

But now she couldn't find anything of the sort. His speed had increased compared to before, and the efficiency of his movements had improved tremendously as well. Trying to pull something off carried too high a risk of eating a hit instead.

Though, maybe, the fault lay in her own exhaustion slowing her down and keeping her from fighting at her best.

Or maybe it was just the difference that the ability to push off exhaustion granted in fights, and only now was she truly becoming aware of it.

Or perhaps...

'...What father said was true.'

Years of training, all reduced to nothing before the boy in front of her. A newcomer who had caught up to her in mere months.

Sure, he was clearly abnormal—capable of holding off exhaustion in a way that no ordinary person could. But was that really the only reason? Was that alone really enough to trample over years of her effort in just a few months?

Or was it also the fact that he was a boy?

"...!"

That thought brought forth a burst of energy she hadn't known was still there. Feeling anger fill her, her grip on the sword tightened, and she pushed against the burning in her muscles.

Her breathing re-adjusted itself, and soon her eyes sharpened, settling on the attacking figure in front of her.

She wasn't going to lose today, she wouldn't—

—Whack!—

Her thoughts and fury were doused in an instant as a sharp sting hit her palms, followed by the feeling of her sword leaving her hands.

-Clack, clack!-

The sound of it clattering against the ground followed.

"..."

Just like that, so abruptly, what she had thought was her comeback ended.

-Swish-

The tip of a bamboo sword stopped right before her throat as she stood stunned.

"I guess challenging you at the dueling day is unnecessary now."

Dan's comment snapped her out of her trance. Her eyes wandered to the dropped sword, then to her reddened palms.

Losing was one thing. Losing by letting go of your sword in combat was another.

Not only had she lost—she had lost badly.

Her jaw trembled slightly. "How...?"

Dan smirked faintly. "It was a bit of a gamble, but I figured you wouldn't be in the clearest headspace and would try to pull something out of desperation."

Kuina's eyes widened.

"So I just waited patiently until you snapped," he continued, "and used that moment to strike a bit faster than I'd been letting on up to that point... and I guess it worked, didn't it?"

Kuina's lips trembled slightly as she took in his words.

She had been led on from the beginning. He was faster than he'd been showing, and had caught her completely off guard at the last second using that very fact.

She had been read completely.

She had truly lost.

"..."

Kuina fell silent as the reality of her defeat settled over her, thoughts running a mile a minute.

Then, after a few seconds, she spoke.

"How did you know?"

Dan stared at her for a moment, seemingly weighing whether to answer, before shrugging.

He'd be leaving this place soon. There wasn't much reason to care about his relations here.

So, sneering, he answered. "It was obvious. A boy was slowly coming close to beating you, and you weren't able to do anything to stop it... I just saw the moment where the desperation was about to make you slip, and acted accordingly."

A deep frown took over Kuina's face, her teeth gritting.

"... Was I wrong?" She asked, her tone clearly upset.

Dan raised an eyebrow, but she kept going before he could answer.

"Nine months, and you were able to catch up to me—someone who's trained most of her life... Your exhaustion-pushing thing might have helped, yes, but that much?!"

She slouched forward, her hair falling to block her face.

"... If it's not that, then what other reason could there be besides you being a boy?! Is there anything else?! I don't think so!"

Dan looked a bit taken aback by the outburst.

A few sniffles came through as she spoke, making it pretty clear what was happening despite her face not being visible.

In the end, she said one last thing through them.

"... How am I supposed to feel about the fact that my father ended up being right?"

A silence fell between the two after that. Kuina kept her gaze on the floor. Dan, meanwhile, stood there staring at the sulking girl in front of him for a moment, a bit unsure of what to do.

It seemed he may have been a bit tactless with his words.

Realizing that, he scratched the back of his head, annoyed at himself.

For people he wasn't supposed to care much about, and should quickly forget once his criminal career started, they sure made it hard to remain that detached.

Maybe he just didn't have the cold-heartedness required yet.

He let out an annoyed sigh.

"Alright, cut it out." He said, calling her out.

Kuina lifted her head, small tears at the corners of her eyes, looking pretty frustrated—like she was expecting him to laugh at her for what she'd blurted out in a burst of anger.

What she didn't expect was a finger suddenly shoved into her face, making her stumble back a step in surprise.

Only once she was clear of it did she focus back on Dan properly.

"Why you...?"

"In the first place, you're under a big misconception," he said, cutting her off. "You think I caught up so fast because I'm a guy."

He opened his arms wide.

"But the fact is, I caught up to you simply because I'm me."

A beat of silence settled for a moment.

Followed by Kuina's scrunching face of bewilderment.

"... Hah?"

Seeing her reaction, he snorted in amusement. "What I mean is, your father was wrong. The fact that I'm a boy is irrelevant to me catching up to you. Even Zoro hasn't caught up to you yet, has he?"

"..." She didn't answer that, but her expression said enough.

That was true. And not only Zoro—all the other disciples, including the adult ones, had been defeated by her.

So what made the guy in front of her different?

Seeing the look she was giving him, he shrugged with a wry smile. "Then the real reason should be clear enough, right?"

She didn't answer, as if expecting him to just say it.

So he did.

"The answer is that I'm just that good."

"..."

Kuina's mouth opened in sheer disbelief.

This guy... he was unbelievably cocky!

But on second thought, even though she wanted to bring him down a notch, it made sense. Why else would his growth rate be so outrageous compared to the rest of the students? And that was obviously setting aside the other clear advantage he had—the exhaustion thing.

Both clearly abnormal. Both explained by that simple statement.

He was just that good... apparently?

Kuina blinked, looking like she was struggling to come to terms with that. It was the first time she'd been in a position where she was the one lacking in talent—she was usually the one at the top of that ladder.

But now the roles had reversed, and she didn't quite know how to sit with it.

On one hand, she felt relieved. Once again, the supposed limits she'd been told existed since birth were being proven wrong. She could still achieve her goal.

But on the other hand, if the matter of him having greater talent was real—as he said—wasn't that roughly the same problem as before, just shrunk down from a whole gender to a single person? The fact that she might ultimately be unable to surpass another existence remained.

On that thought, Kuina's fist clenched.

Dan picked up on it, his eyebrow twitching at how troublesome she was to calm down.

"Listen, it's not even a talent thing. Even if you were the most talented person in the whole world, you still wouldn't be able to catch up to me."

Kuina's face snapped up at him—not angry anymore, but outright baffled.

"What?"

He had gone from talking plausibly to crazy in an instant. What did he mean by even the most talented person not being able to catch up? How did that even make sense?

Walking closer, Dan slung an arm over her shoulder and gestured at the air above them, sweeping his free hand from one side to the other.

"The thing is, I'm beyond talent. This isn't simply about you. The rest of the disciples, Zoro, your dad, marines, pirates, heck, even Mihawk... none of them will stand a chance against me in due time, and consequently, no one will be able to catch up to me either."

Kuina was not even baffled anymore. She was scared.

When they first met, he seemed relatively normal... who could have thought he had this level of delusion hidden inside?!

She could concede him having great talent. But "being beyond it"... what did that even mean?!

While she struggled to process the words leaving Dan's mouth, he let go of her and stepped back.

"That's why there's no reason to compare yourself to me. Just go for whatever you're aiming for and put me out of your mind."

Those words seemed to snap Kuina out of her trance for a moment.

"... Even though you'll probably beat me to it?"

Dan paused, looking confused for a second—before rolling his eyes as he got it. "Right, the whole becoming the strongest swordsman thing... I'm not interested. My goal is another."

Kuina still didn't look convinced.

Dan's smile twitched in annoyance, so after another roll of eyes, he added something else. "... And besides, even if my goal was that, just because I'm faster than you at getting to the finish line doesn't mean you can't reach it eventually. My talent being higher doesn't cap yours off... At least, it shouldn't work that way, I think."

He honestly wasn't very versed in the power scaling of this world, or in the matter of talent. He knew that stronger Haki was basically what mattered the most at the top—at least according to Kaido. But so long as you put in the effort, you should become pretty strong, right?

Even if for some, "putting in the effort" meant breaking their body apart over and over, unlike the most talented—like Coby. That guy, catching up to Luffy so quickly and learning Rokushiki just as fast, was a pretty clear display of what talent meant in this world. Talent paired with effort, but talent either way.

That, or other factors he wasn't aware of.

'Whatever,'

Dan shook his head and shrugged his wandering thoughts aside.

Looking back at Kuina, he found her deep in thought over his words.

'At least I got through.'

Huffing in quiet relief, he turned around—but before leaving for good, he stopped, glanced back, and gave her a light bump on the shoulder.

That snapped her out of her swirling thoughts. She looked up to find him holding out the broom toward her, like passing down a sword.

"So long as you put in the effort, you should be able to reach your goals. So focus more on yourself, and not on others... Take your destiny into your own hands."

Kuina looked dazed for a moment, her eyes moving between him and the broom.

Her jaw clenched a little as her throat tightened.

But in the end, she nodded and took it from him.

Smiling faintly, Dan nodded back and turned around.

He waved once without looking back, before walking out of the dojo.

"..."

Kuina remained where she was, staring at the spot where he had disappeared. Then, she glanced down at the broom in her hand, inspecting it with a pensive look.

"Take my destiny into my own hands..."

Her eyes shone with newfound realization as she uttered those words.

-Step, step, step-

"...?"

Just at that moment, the sound of approaching footsteps from behind made her turn.

Her father was just leaving his room, heading her way.

Once he got close enough, he gave a quick look around before settling on her. "Kuina, where's Dan?"

She blinked, surprised her father was looking for him, before staring down at the broom in her hand.

"... He just left."

"What? I'm sure today was his turn at cleaning duty—" His eyes drifted to the broom in her hands, eyebrows rising slightly before settling into a small smile. "Oh, I see you took over for him. No issue then."

"Huh?"

Kuina looked at her father, then at the broom in her hands, then at the door where Dan had just walked out.

Then, back at the broom.

'That guy... gave me the broom to skip out on cleaning duty?!'

...

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-To Be Continued...-

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