" 'Swordsman' is a Gender Neutral Term"

Chapter One

"It's a promise!"

Genderbend Straw Hats AU.

Summary: Roronoa Sora was always told that girls couldn't be swordsmen, and certainly not the world's greatest. It was easier to pretend to be a boy than deal with it. That was before a girl with a straw-hat and a bright smile asked 'Zoro' to join her crew.

Disclaimer: One Piece, every character and the majority of the plot points are not mine. I am making no profit from this. It's just for fun.

Set: From pre-series (Zoro's backstory) to after Skypeia. Spoilers for all in between and none after.

Ships: None.

Authors Notes: Wow. I've been writing this one for months. It's long, and it's done, so expect fairly regular updates.

So, a couple of notes. Firstly, a lot of it is going to be rewritten canon scenes, adjusted for the genderbend and their subsequent changes. There are quite a few scenes with no basis in canon, but the general plot stays the same (eg, they go to the Grand Line, they go to Alabasta, etc). Zoro/Sora is the protagonist for the first few chapters, but it also starts to spread out to the rest of the crew

Secondly, and more importantly – the nature of my adjustments to the plot makes gender a serious issue in it. I've tried to avoid any transphobia, but I may well have made mistakes. Please let me know if I offend you and I'll do my best to fix it. On a similar note, sexism plays a huge role in the plot, as a character trait for several (minor but significant) characters. Tread with caution if this might be an issue for you.

Other warnings are mainly what's canon in One Piece – violence, blood, etc.

The two girls might have been too young to be using real swords, but both were confident enough that they felt no need to hold back. Either could take any blow the other dealt out.

The younger girl gritted her teeth. She was holding two swords in her hands as she spun around, before the opposing blade hit them both at the same time.

Sora's swords spun into the air as the green-haired girl fell backwards. Kuina's sword pierced the ground beside her head.

"That makes two thousand and one times I've beaten you!" Kuina crowed.

Sora's two swords clattered into the ground behind her.

"Damnit!" Sora shrieked, covering her face with her hands. "Why can't I beat you?"

Fifteen minutes later, the two girls were sitting by the dojo, leaning on the steps.

"I think it's because we're both girls," Kuina said quietly.

"Huh?" Sora blinked at her. She'd almost forgotten what she'd asked.

"If you were a boy, you'd be able to beat me," Kuina said, a slight smile on her face. "Pretty soon, I won't be able to beat any of the boys in our class."

Sora looked at her, not understanding.

"Sora, you're always saying that you're going to become the world's greatest swordsman," Kuina murmured quietly. "Dad says you won't be able to. Girls can't be master swordsmen."

Kuina's eyes began to water as she tried to smile weakly at Sora. "I wish we could do it. I wanna become the world's greatest swordsman too!"

She rubbed her chest forlornly, tears dropping down her face. "But my chest is starting to develop… I wish I was a boy…"

"Stop crying!" Sora snapped angrily. "You beat me!"

"But… Sora…" Kuina whispered, looking up at her.

"Someday I'm going to beat you! And I'm going to beat every boy that I fight, too!" Sora shrieked, gripping her swords tightly. "It's got nothing to do with being a boy or a girl! I'm going to train and I'm going to do it!"

Kuina could only stare at her as Sora stepped next to her, swords in hand.

"Let's make a promise to each other! Someday, one of us will become the greatest swordsman ever! We'll fight each other for the title!"

Kuina laughed weakly, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. "You idiot! You're too puny!"

Tears were still streaming down her face but she was smiling widely at her as Kuina took Sora's hand.

"It's a promise!"

X

"Sora! There's been an accident! It's Kuina!"

Sora had rushed to the scene as fast as she could. Then she could only stand dead still as someone explained what had happened, her eyes locked on the figure wrapped under the linen.

"She fell down the stairs… she's dead!"

One of the boys in her class put a hand on her shoulder. He was expecting her to get hysterical as girls were supposed to do.

Instead, she got angry.

"Kuina! You made a promise yesterday!" Sora shrieked. Suddenly the hand on her shoulder was restraining her from jumping forwards. "You can't run away from your promise!"

"Sora! Stop it!"

"Humans are fragile things, Sora…" someone said quietly as Sora stared at the black-haired body.

Sora felt her fists bunch up as cold determination ran through her throat. Her eyes were beginning to sting, but she held them back.

The green-haired girl pushed the hand off her arm and walked purposely up to her teacher, bowing. "Sensei! May I have her sword?"

Kuina's father considered the girl for a moment, giving a final glance at his daughter's form. "…I suppose so…"

Sora grabbed the sword in question, wrapping her young hands around it. "I'll have to keep that promise for both of us."

The young girl took a deep breath, looking to the sky as she clutched the sword tightly. "I'm going to become such a great swordsman that they'll known about me in Heaven!"

X

Six years later, the fifteen year old girl brushed green hair out of her face, tugging on the side of the rope. Her small boat leant to the side as the wind filled its sail.

She glanced at the wanted poster clutched in her hand, peering at the ship she was nearing. It matched the description, at least.

Sora rubbed her sword handles, not pulling them from their sheaths. She was itching for a battle. Besides which, the bounty was nice and she needed money.

Her boat slowed to a stop next to the ship. Sora knotted her boat to the ship, then gripped the side of it.

The ship's keel was slippery as she scaled it, fingers scrambling for purchase. But it still only took a few minutes for her to clamber onto the deck.

Snikt.

Several pirates glanced around as she unsheathed her swords, slipping the one that had once been Kuina's between her teeth.

"Who are you?" the navigator shouted, pointing his gun at her nervously.

"I'm looking for Captain Crissandler," Sora said around her sword, her voice quiet and dangerous.

"That would be me," a booming voice announced.

Sora spun around to face him. He was a big man, overweight and with a long, filthy beard reaching to his naval.

Sora smiled wickedly. "Perfect."

Faster than any of the pirates could react, Sora raced forwards. All three swords pulled back together, to come to a point.

The only reason Crissandler managed to block the swords was because she let him. Even if she was holding back, a longer fight was preferable to a three second one.

Much preferable.

With an easy strike, Sora pushed Crissandler's sword off hers. She skidded forwards, the blade in her right hand sweeping out. It slashed into the pirate's knee, causing a deep wound that would slow him down but not stop him.

As Crissandler roared in pain, Sora allowed herself a brief moment of satisfaction.

A sudden pain from the back of her head cut the moment short.

Sora let out an involuntary gasp. The sword slid from her mouth, which she easily caught before it landed on the ground.

The green-haired bounty hunter spun around, stopping with the sword pointed straight at the first mate's throat. He had slammed his drinking mug into the back of her head, nevermind he had a sword and a gun tucked into his belt.

"You should stay out of fights you're not involved in," Sora growled, warningly pressing the sword in a little deeper.

She was expecting either defiance, maybe a pledge of loyalty to the captain, or terror from the blade. What she wasn't expecting were the eyes that widened slightly at the sound of her unmuffled voice – and then darted to her chest for a second before snapping up to her face again.

"You're a girl?"

Sora snarled. "What's it to you?"

On the other side, Crissandler laughed. "My, my, my. Shouldn't a nice young lady like you be at home cooking for your husband instead of playing with such sharp thing like these?"

In an instant other hand had a sword pointed at him, too.

She didn't move her eyes for a second, but spoke cleanly to the man sneaking behind her. "I have three swords. If you come another step, I will shove my final one through your throat."

The man froze in place. Unfortunately, Crissandler did not. He slowly slid his sword down Sora's, moving it away from his neck.

"Since I'm such an honourable gentleman," the pirate said, leering at her, "I'll give you one chance to turn around. A girl like you shouldn't be involved in such things like this."

Sora's glower notched up as she slid her final sword back into her mouth.

Okay. Forget holding back.

X

Even the marines had laughed at her.

Sora kicked the side of the road, her face still flaming with rage and humiliation. When she had handed the beaten and bloodied, but still living, pirates into the marines, they'd laughed.

"Aaw. You dropping these in for your brother?"

"Looks like your boyfriend hit them pretty good."

"Sorry miss, but I can't give the money to you. How about you bring in the man who did this and then you can split it among the two of you?"

She would have thought the greatest test of her control would be learning a new sword technique, not holding back on attacking marines. As it was, she'd had to wait hours before the disbelieving marines eventually handed over the bounty just to get her out of there.

Muttering under her breath, Sora walked into the tavern, sitting herself down in the corner.

In a moment a waitress was standing next to her. "Heya. What would you like?"

"Get me the strongest drink you have," Sora muttered.

The waitress hesitated. "You sure? It's a little strong for girls-"

She almost wilted under the deadly glare that Sora gave her. "Right away, miss."

The waitress raced off, Sora glaring after her. Even other girls didn't think she was capable of the same stuff as men.

Okay, her drinking limit was still pretty low. But that was because she was fifteen, not because she was female.

Still muttering cuss words under her breath, Sora dug into her satchel, pulling out the bounty.

She started sliding the berries onto the table, counting her money without bothering to hide it. Every few seconds she'd glance around, daring someone to try and rob her.

Sora paused for a moment, and then carefully recounted. And then a third.

The marines short changed her. She barely had half the bounty she should have.

Sora swore violently, shoving the cash back into her satchel. She jumped to her feet just as the waitress returned, shaking, mug of grog in hand.

"Thanks," Sora snatched it from the waitress's hand, taking a deep gulp.

Her throat burned but she didn't flinch. Sora drained the whole thing in one, slamming it down onto the table. "Here." She rummaged in her satchel, pulling out a few berries and dropping it carelessly onto the table. She knew there was a generous tip in that, but she was in too much of a rage to bother counting it out.

Leaving the waitress to tidy up, Sora stormed out of the tavern, intending on demanding that the marines paid her her due. If they still didn't believe she was capable of taking out pirates, then let them fight her.

She was halfway down the street before she glanced anywhere but the marine headquarters up ahead. Her gaze fell on a clothing store up ahead.

Sora felt herself stop dead. Her eyes were locked on the mannequin standing outside, modelling a flimsy summer dress.

All of a sudden, all her rage drained out of her and she was hit with an unprecedented resignation. No-one was ever going to take her seriously.

For the past six years – for the past fifteen years – she'd been ignoring everyone claiming she couldn't do it. She'd ignored the questions of why such a pretty young girl wanted to do such a boyish task of sword-fighting, ignoring the laughter when she walked into a ring, ignoring every assumption that she couldn't do it.

She hadn't even realised every comment had been building up inside her until she saw that dress billowing in the wind.

Her feet started moving of their own accord, bringing her towards the dress. Before Sora knew it, she had passed the mannequin, and was standing inside the store.

Sora took a step forwards, trying to ignore the uncomfortable pricking behind her eyes. She rubbed her eyes with her sleeve, trying to ignore the fact that it came out a little wetter.

Without really looking, she grabbed a dress off the messy pile. Lifting it up, she studied it.

She had absolutely no desire to wear it. But maybe if everyone in the world seemed to expect her to, she could…

Sora's train of thought skidded to a halt as she realised she wasn't entirely sure where it was leading.

She was going to be the world's greatest swordsman. Whether or not anyone thought she could do it was irrelevant.

Angrily, she brushed the remainder of the water out of her eyes.

That's when her eyes fell on the mannequin at the back of the store. It was draped in a match to the dress outside. A male version.

Sora felt as if her blood caught fire. She took a deep breath, energised and strong. Her tears began to dry as she walked forwards, examining the mannequin, looking over the haramaki, the long black pants, the shirt that was the same colour as the top of the dress but oh so different.

A few minutes later, Sora handed the pile of clothes in to the sales assistant, ready for her tight wallet to shrink even further. Thankfully, he barely raised an eyebrow at the male clothing, merely asking if there was anything else.

"Yeah. Have you got any bandages?"

"Of course. Right this way…"

A few minutes later, Sora was standing on the deserted river banks, observing her reflection carefully. She pulled her shirt off and picked up the bandages.

The bandages felt uncomfortable, but her already small breast was pulled nearly flat.

Sora picked up one of her swords. If she had a choice, she wouldn't use it for this, but even without the awkward questions she didn't have enough money left for a barber.

Green strands fell around her as the sword easily shredded her hair.

Sora inspected herself as well as she could in the relatively still river, judging her new hairstyle. It was messy, almost a buzz cut, but it definitely reduced some of her femininity.

When she pulled on her new clothes, the image was complete. Her clothes had never been especially girlish, but now she looked like a boy, the new style going some way to hiding her figure.

Sora could recognise herself as female, but only just. A stranger might notice her to be feminine, but not that she was a girl, especially with the addition of her swords.

Satisfied with her new look, Sora drew back, her eyes drawn back to the marine headquarters.

If they wouldn't give her the bounty like this, then she would take it anyway.

As it turned out, though, getting her money became a whole lot easier disguised as guy.

Sora leant on the side of the table, smirking at the marine on the other side. "You know, when my sister came in here for her money, I think you short-changed her," she said, trying to make her voice deeper.

The marine's eyes widened with recognition. "Ah, yes, but of course, we couldn't give her the total sum when you were the one who defeated the pirates."

Sora bunched a fist. "Well, it was me who fought them," she said through gritted teeth. "Are you going to pay me or not?"

"I suppose you did earn it. Next time, though, don't send your sister in though," the marine said lightly, opening the safe behind the painting. He twirled in the combination. "You know she was trying to take your credit? Kept claiming she did it."

Sora tried to laugh. It sounded grating even to her. "Women," she said disparagingly. "Always… always claiming that they… did stuff…"

It felt like bile was going to rise up in her throat.

No. If I have to be a guy, I will not be this type of guy.

"She did help, though," Sora amended her statement as the marine handed her the rest of the bounty.

"I'm not denying she probably made an excellent navigator or something, but it's not like she was actually in the fight or anything." The marine waved it aside.

Sora said nothing, tucking her berries away and trying not to let her skin burn red.

"So, what was your name, son?"

"Sora," she said instinctively.

"Wait… wasn't that the name your sister gave?" the marine asked, confused by the admittedly unisex name shared by apparent twins.

Sora froze, the cash securely in her bag. "Wasn't… wasn't that what you asked? What my sister's name was?" she asked, her mouth dry.

"No. I asked for yours."

"Oh. Mine's…" Sora hesitated for a split second, her mind frantically searching. "Sor…o. Zoro. Roronoa Zoro."

"Well, it was a pleasure doing business with you, Roronoa Zoro," the marine said with a smile as Sora walked out the door.

Sora's speed picked up as she walked through the headquarters. Occasionally a couple of marines would glance at her, the word 'bounty-hunter' travelling after her.

Funny. When she was in here only a few hours ago every comment had been about how a girl such as her shouldn't be carrying such dangerous weapons as swords.

Sora found her teeth grinding as she realised just how much more accommodating marines were to young men instead of young women.

Final note. Please, please, please don't follow Sora's example in using bandages to bind. She doesn't know any better at the moment, and she's also got just as bad a survival instinct and a strong stubborn streak as Zoro. She'll be using a real binder in the next chapter. Please make sure you do too - if you're going to bind, do it properly. Bandages are damaging and painful and can break ribs at best.

Now that's taken care of, please review!