Chapter Five: Kitetsu III and Yubashiri

Ace: 12

Zoro: 11

Luffy: 9

Sanji: 11

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I apologize for the months-long wait! I got into RWBY! Isn't it funny how both Zoro and Qrow—my now favorite characters—have the same amount of letters in their names? Roronoa. Branwen. Zoro. Qrow.

…Roronoa-Branwen? Hmm… I smell a crossover.

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Indeed, Luffy did get to see the execution platform. To make his day better, he was going to climb it. To see what Ace's dad saw. Now…if only his brother would let go of him!

"Ace! Lemme go!~" Luffy whined, but the grip on his ankle stayed firm. Ace was just as stubborn as he was.

"I wanna go up too, but we need to find Zoro." Ace frowned at him. Luffy continued his futile efforts and Ace was seriously considering going through with it…honestly, Zoro gets lost at the most inconvenient times—

"Zoro doesn't even want to see it, remember?" the youngest pouted.

Ace thought about it and found he agreed. Not needing any further confirmation, Luffy laughed and stretched his arm to the top of the structure, grabbing Ace as well.

"Gomu Gomu no…"

Ace still wasn't used to this.

"ROCKET!"

Getting a promotion wasn't really all that exciting. Getting your own post, however, was something to look forward to. Especially since Logue Town is the perfect place to weed out pirates before they enter the Grand Line. Captain Smoker was only promoted a week and a half ago, and already, his presence had already affected the town. Crime rate and the criminals themselves have decreased significantly, though some scum still linger… really, the only reason he wasn't of higher rank and how it always took him forever to get promoted was because he was not completely obedient to higher-ups and that, at his current age, he hadn't had enough "experience."

Knock-knock…

"Come in."

"Captain Smoker!"

"What is it."

"There are reports of two young boys refusing to come down from the execution platform, the eldest seemingly no older than 12." Smoker's face became void of his usual apathy and replaced by slight irritation.

"…Lieutenant."

"Yes, sir?"

"Are you telling me you can't handle a few troublesome brats?" Smoker kept his gaze strong as the marine began to sweat, but remained silent. Sighing, he got up from his seat and began to make his way to the window. Opening it, he jumped down into the busy streets of Louguetown and towards the town square. As he got closer, he listened to bits of conversation from passerby, just in case he hears anything informative.

/-the price of this is unbelievable!/

/Have you seen this place? I'm new/

/I can't believe that was true-/

/-cution platform? Kids these days./

Smoker paused at the last one and found the source of the voice to be from an elderly couple having lunch a little to his left. He walked up towards them. They hadn't noticed him until he tapped on the table. The Marine nonchantly noted the lack of surprise on their faces.

"Yes?"

"Have you two been talking about some kids on the execution platform?"

"Why, yes we have, young man! Two of 'em."

"What were they like?"

"Mmm, lets see…" the elderly woman tapped her chin. "Two kids with dark messy hair. The younger one had a straw hat"

Smoker nodded to them in thanks and resumed his way to the town square. His first cleanup here in Louguetown and it was reprimanding some brats.

Before that, however…he saw a group of pirates walk menacingly into a weapons shop.

Zoro wandered aimlessly through the streets with his katana strapped to his back. Ace and Luffy had wandered off a while ago so he was left on his own. Well, he didn't really want to see the Execution Platform, anyway. He paused in the middle of the road and saw a weapons shop to his right. He doesn't have any cash, but maybe he can still get a two extra swords for free… maybe try out that three-sword-style he thought of before.

Meh.

Nonetheless, the young swordsman wandered into the shop, examining all the swords and guns—mostly swords—on display. Ippon-Matsu, the shop's owner at the counter watched him, annoyed.

'This kid…'

Ace and Luffy continued to ignore the marines coaxing—then demanding—then threatening—them to come down, enjoying the more-or-less same view Roger had before he died. It was a nice view, if you set aside the fact that Ace's dad had died in that same exact spot. When Luffy asked, Ace shrugged.

"Hard to care for an asshole like that." He muttered. That was that. From where they were, the two boys could see as far as the harbor they'd arrived in. Ace narrowed his eyes on the visible horizon, before pulling on Luffy's arm to move and get off the goddamned platform!

"Ace? What are you—oh."

They didn't need to read the letters spelled proudly across the sails to know. Both of them would recognize those blue and white colors anywhere.

"Sorry, Lu. We're leaving."

"Hey, brat. If you're not with anyone to buy anything you should just go." Ippon-Matsu, or, for the sake of simplicity, Matsu, muttered. The kid had unusual green hair and normal clothes ( a bundle tied around his back ), and as soon as he turned around, the shopkeeper found unusual silver eyes matched with a seemingly permanent scowl. The kid then had the nerve to arch a brow at the shopkeeper before returning to observing the swords on display. He was about to kick the kid out himself when a group of pirates walked in and began helping themselves. The supposed leader of the group made his way to the front.

"I'm the greatest swordsman in all of the East Blue! Porcheny! We're allowed to take what we like—" He sent Matsu an ugly grin "—no charge, right?"

The brute waltzed over to the collection of threatening-looking broadswords on display. At the shop keeper's bout of silence, the pirates began pillaging the shop for weapons. The door opened in the middle of the chaos, and in stepped none other than Smoker, the White Chase.

"Now, what are you doing, ruining an establishment such as this?"

The pirates—as one, turned to look at the Marine Captain with shock, agitation, and slight fear.

"Oh, shit! It's Smoker!" As soon as his name was said, five men fell unconscious on the wooden floor of the shop, aforementioned marine had his fist raised in an end-strike position, surrounded by the unconscious criminals.

There were only a handful of pirates left, and the leader quickly snatched a heavily decorated sword off one of the shelves, and got into a stance. Smoker would be tricky to get by, but above all, he's a marine through and though. If Porcheny were to escape, he'd need some sort of hostage…But that old shopkeeper's too far away, and there's no one else in the shop other than him, his men, and his obstacle—

"Greatest swordsman in the East Blue, eh?"

All eyes were drawn to Zoro, who had remained unnoticed (surprisingly) until now. He looked up at Porcheny, a glint in his silver eyes. The permanent scowl on the boy's face seemed to deepen. Not in anger, but apparent annoyance. Smoker's eyes widened in recognition. It's one of those kids from the bar.

"Your stance is horrific at best, and that sword you grabbed is created for the sole purpose of displaying wealth." He said monotonously. "The carvings on the handle defeats its purpose so you have a shitty grip. Then there's the blade itself. Those embedded gems knock off its balance way more than it already had with that shape."

"Why you little—"

Porcheny acted, pinning Zoro to the wall with average-ish speed and pointing the decorated blade at his neck.

Before Smoker went to intervene, Zoro had grabbed a nearby katana and sliced at Porcheny's arm. The man cried out in both pain and surprise, releasing Zoro, and the kid went on to dispatch the rest of the man's underlings. He was still for a moment before gripping his own arm that held the blade in surprise. Zoro stared at his own hand and the blade he currently wielded, he reviewed with himself the past few seconds.

'What…what the hell was that? The feeling…the hunger! That wasn't me…' The flame-patterned katana seemed to calm somewhat, as if satisfied at what it's done as droplets of blood slid off its stainless steel and staining the light wooden floor`. '…this katana.' "...woah."

Porcheny tightened his grip on the decorative sword.

"What—what the hell did you do?" he demanded. Zoro shrugged. It was clear that the nine-year-old was almost as equally confused.

"I didn't do anything, old man." He said. "It was this sword."

"Don't give me that BS. It's in your hand." He growled. "It's IN. YOUR. HAND."

"Not my fault. The moment you pointed that dull-ass sword at me this katana—" The kid raised the blade he held in his right hand, it's sheath in his other hand. "—was screaming for blood."

As if to confirm, the blade caught light and glinted menacingly in the dimmed light of the shop.

"With things as they were, who was I to deny it?"

As Porcheny and Zoro partook in a staring contest of sorts, Smoker caught movement in his peripheral and saw the old shopkeeper staring at Zoro with a mix of uncontrolled emotions. Horror, fear…pity? He broke the silence.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?"

The shopkeeper looked startled at the question. "Th-that sword the kid is holding…" He stammered out. "Sandai Kitetsu, it—about that sword—it's…that's a cursed sword!"

There was a brief pause as this information soon sunk in. Soon Porcheny let out a guffaw that sounded suspiciously like a sigh of relief.

"If it's cursed, then this kid'll die anyway!" he exclaimed, loosening his tense self.

"I'm not gonna die." The young swordsman said indignantly. The older pirate arched a brow but barely opened his mouth before he was interrupted.

"The idiot would die from getting lost before losing to some evil sword." A young voice noted.

"Yeah! 'Ro's strong, but he'd get lost on a straight line!" a younger, more cheerful voice laughed. The unnerving aura from the green-haired kid vanished.

"I don't get lost, dammit!" the now revealed " 'Ro" barked. Smoker followed his gaze to the open doorframe to find two black-haired boys. Again, Smoker recognized them. The older one leaning on the doorframe, while the younger simply stood there, a large meat-on-the-bone in his hands. That's why the old couple's description sounded familiar. Zoro began to walk towards them but paused as something heavy and blunt landed on his shoulder. It was the heavily decorated sword, which was still held in Porcheny's grasp.

"Now I know why you're so familiar." He muttered. "You three are those brats who took down brother Porchemy a little while back." He growled. "Thanks to you, I'm being hunted down by Bluejam!"

Smoker arched a brow but said nothing. He had a feeling he didn't have to interfere with this one. He was right.

The freckled boy at the door sighed heavily. "Mosshead, we don't have time for this!" He took a pipe from out of nowhere and took a running jump forward towards the pirate, who froze up in surprise and instinctively swung the golden sword forward. Instead of its intended target, the boy used it as leverage and propelled himself even more, swinging the metal pipe. There was a loud sounding smack and a thud quickly after. The pirate was down for the count, and Zoro paused before walking up to the counter.

"Hey old man, can I have this sword and another one for free since I helped save your shop?"

Matsu, still wary, frowned.

"No way! If I sell that to you and you die, then it'd be like I killed you!" He said. No reasonable civilian would want a child's death on his or her conscious. "Here, give me a second…" The man disappeared into the back of his shop and came out with a polished looking katana on a stand. "If you want a graded sword that much, I suggest this one. It's the finest one in this shop other than that cursed blade in your hand there, and much safer. It's called Yubashiri."

Zoro set the Kitetsu down to wield the offered katana. Yubashiri was incredibly light—most of it's weight from the sheath itself. The young swordsman contemplated it, drawing it out and performing a few experimental strikes. Light. Very light, and like any good sword should, it had perfect balance. He then drew out the Kitetsu as well, and experimented with different grips and techniques.

"They're good." He said simply. "I'll take both off your hands, old man."

The weapons dealer stared at the kid with mixed emotions. He didn't want the kid to die, no matter how scary and anti-social. But something told him that he'd see the kid again…so he didn't argue further (more like he wasn't able to). He was hit over the head by a heavy fist.

"Idiot! How're we supposed to make money if you give away one of our best weapons?" Matsu's wife growled. The two began fighting back and forth, ignored.

"Sweet! But 'Ro, why do you have three?"

"For Kuina." He said simply, and the younger boy nodded. Smoker's baby den-den began ringing, and he answered.

"Is this Captain Smoker of Loguetown?"

"…Yes."

"Be on the lookout for three kids—two brunettes and one green head. Arrest/kill on sight."

Smoker stares at the Den-Den Mushi a bit longer even after it shut off and the three brats had left. Then he looked at the empty doorway.

Sal-u-tations!

I know, it kinda sucks, but merry Christmas! I did my best on this chapter…I think there's still a few typos here and there, and the plot overall is kinda cringe. Apologies, readers! Hopefully, next chapter would be better.

Chapter Six: Back to the Chase