Narrator
It had been nearly twenty minutes since the two teenagers had been staring at each other in these archives.
"..."
"..."
Neither had taken the initiative to start the conversation and the atmosphere was starting to become extremely awkward.
There was first on one side Yuki who found herself facing a boy around her age, masked, who had avoided all the barriers and all the guards patrolling this estate which, let us not forget, is that of the future vessel of the most important entity in the jujutsu world, and who claimed to know her mother and have a debt toward her.
Then on the other side there was Zoro who was realizing that he had rushed here and that he had absolutely no idea how to approach her.
Thus now that they were both sitting around a table and illuminated by the faint light of Yuki's lamp, they could not find anything to say to each other.
But as the awkwardness reached a level never before attained, Zoro decided to take matters into his own hands.
"So?," he said.
That pulled Yuki out of her thoughts and she started really staring at him.
"Hm?" she replied as if to say that she did not understand what he was asking.
"What do you think about what I told you earlier?" he finally asked.
At that question Yuki closed her eyes and threw her head back. She began thinking for a few seconds before facing Zoro again.
"What do I think about it huh?" she said more to herself than to Zoro. "Let's recap. The most feared and fearsome mercenary of the last 5 years, that is to say Roronoa Zoro, has a debt toward my mother, who has been dead for 2 years and on top of that he's a teenager who is at best 4 years older than me. Okay."
As soon as she finished summarizing the situation she grabbed the lamp and suddenly threw it at Zoro.
"And you think I'm going to believe this bullshit?" she shouted.
Zoro did not expect that reaction and was therefore very surprised. He had not thought about activating his Observation Haki after finding her and so it was only a few centimeters from his face that he caught the lamp.
From there everything happened very fast. Realizing that Yuki had not finished her tantrum and that she was about to make an unbelievable amount of noise he moved before she could open her mouth again.
Soru
In an explosion of speed Zoro appeared in front of Yuki and placed his finger on her mouth.
"Shh! No noise," he ordered her.
Zoro's voice was surprisingly firm and Yuki, rebellious child that she was, was forced to obey, not without throwing him a dark glare in the process.
'She also resembles her mother when it comes to behavior. In any case she is very different from the Yuki I know,' he acknowledged.
Zoro then slowly stepped back and sat down again in his chair. And then he did something he had never imagined doing: he removed his hood and his mask.
His face now exposed, he hoped to gain a little more of Yuki's trust.
Then he let out a joke while laughing to lighten the atmosphere, "I never thought I had become so famous that 14-year-old brats would know who I am."
Surprisingly being called a brat did not please Yuki, but her attention was diverted by the face of her interlocutor.
'Hm he's not ugly,' she said inwardly.
Of course, not being someone really attached to appearances she did not pay more attention to it than that. She nevertheless used it to get her revenge on Zoro.
She had a smug smile as she sat back down, "I thought you'd be uglier than that considering everything you do to hide yourself. Unless that pretty face is just another mask to hide your real one?"
Her reaction surprised Zoro a little but since his goal had been achieved he paid it no mind.
Yuki's smug smile finally disappeared, replaced by an impassive face, "To answer what you just said, few people who try to learn even a little about the jujutsu world ignore who Fear and Terror are, and even more so who the Scythe of Certain Death is."
'Damn I love that nickname,' was the only thing that crossed Zoro's mind while he kept a faint smile on his face.
"So where is Sudden Death? I heard that Fear and Terror were never far from one another," continued Yuki.
Zoro crossed his arms and leaned deeply into his chair, "My brother is at home testing his new console. And people seem to forget that I originally had a solo career. It wasn't always a duo."
Yuki's attention was piqued by that revelation, "So he's your brother. That validates one theory about you."
The awkwardness present at the beginning had then completely disappeared from the room leaving only two teenagers teasing each other. Yet this light atmosphere could not last forever.
"Alright enough small talk," said Zoro as he took on a serious expression. "I'm not going to tell you everything about myself because I don't see the point. But I'm going to reveal what happened for me to say that I have a debt toward your mother."
Yuki's face also became serious at those words, "Well go ahead, I'm listening."
"About 10 years ago I came across a cursed spirit. I fought it and I almost died doing it. I finally defeated it but I ended up in terrible condition. If I had been left like that there was no doubt that I was going to lose my life," as he finished saying that Zoro's face and tone filled with sad nostalgia. "That's when I met your mother. She rescued me and treated me, not without her natural sharp tongue."
Upon hearing that Yuki started laughing, "Yeah that really sounds like her."
"At the time and even now we did not maintain a good relationship with our clan," continued Zoro. "My brother and I were seen as outcasts and we did not have our current strength. So when I woke up three days later the only thing in my mind was finding out how my brother was doing and unfortunately just as I expected they did not leave him alone during that time but that doesn't concern you."
"So that's why you have a debt toward my mother? She took you in and treated you after your fight?" Yuki tried to conclude.
"Not exactly," denied Zoro. "Even though I am grateful to her for that, if we really look at it she already owed me something before that so from a purely logical point of view getting me treated was simply a fair return."
"Then what is this debt?" she said as she began to grow impatient.
"I'm getting there. A few months after that incident things became catastrophic with my clan and they finally crossed the point of no return. I took my brother, grievously injured and in a coma, and we fled our home while taking the opportunity to make a mess over there," the more Zoro spoke the more nostalgia could be heard in his voice. "I went to the only person I knew who could help me at that moment."
"My mother," deduced Yuki.
"Your mother," confirmed Zoro. "She hid us, treated us, housed us and fed us until we recovered enough and when we were about to leave to rebuild our lives she gave us supplies to help us in our journey."
"And that's why you say you have a debt toward her? If that's the case sorry to disappoint you but..." Yuki did not have time to finish her sentence.
"Yes I know she's dead," interrupted Zoro. "When I returned to Tokyo I went to your house to meet her again. I learned from a neighbor that she had died 2 years ago but that's precisely why I'm here."
"What do you mean by that?" asked Yuki suspiciously.
"Now that Mrs. Hye is dead you are the one to whom the debt I owed has been transferred. You are my new creditor so to speak." Zoro finally concluded.
"Huum I see," said Yuki while nodding. "That's completely..."
"I'm willing to bet that if you resemble your mother even a little you're going to say something like 'That's completely stupid' or 'That's completely dumb', that you don't need this stupid debt or that I have way too much free time to stay stuck 10 years in the past. Am I right?" Zoro interrupted once again with a smug smile.
Yuki closed her mouth unable to believe that Zoro had just guessed exactly what she had intended to say.
"Okay maybe you're right that's what I wanted to say but it doesn't change the fact that it's true," she insisted.
"And that's where I answer that I don't give a damn and that I am fully determined to repay this debt," retorted Zoro.
The two teenagers stared intensely at one another, engaging in a staring battle.
Neither blinked nor looked away because that would mean admitting defeat.
Eventually it was Yuki who admitted defeat.
She closed her eyes and threw her hands into the air (absolute cinema pose), "Fine do whatever you want."
Zoro had a satisfied smile and stood up.
"Perfect. Go pack your things," he said.
Confusion then settled into Yuki's mind.
"What do you mean go pack your things?" she asked.
"Well we're leaving. I'm getting you out of here," said Zoro as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Wait wait wait wait. That wasn't part of the plan. Why make me leave here?" she asked while slamming her hands onto the table and standing up.
This time it was Zoro who looked at her with confusion, "You want some thousand–year–old geezer to steal your body?"
"Of course not but the assimilation isn't planned for another 10 years at minimum, why do we have to leave now? Besides I need the Star Plasma influence to successfully complete my project," she replied.
That calmed Zoro down a little, "Okay I understand. And so what's this project? Maybe I can help you."
Zoro already suspected what this project was, and although he found it impossible in this era, he knew that telling her would change nothing. It was better for him to help her in order to stay by her side rather than do something useless that might ruin their relationship.
Yuki's face became impassive at that question, it was obvious that she hesitated to answer but she eventually opened her mouth anyway, "I want to annihilate all cursed spirits."
As she was about to clarify that she did not mean simply killing them but truly exterminating them, Zoro beat her to it.
"So more than simply killing them you want to prevent them from existing. Is that it?"
Yuki was very surprised by what he had just said, "No. Well yes that's it. How did you guess?"
"Don't worry about it. What is certain is that it will be very difficult. To the limit of the impossible," replied Zoro.
"And so you're going to tell me to give up? If that's the case you'd better leave right now and forget this debt story," she said while smiling and crossing her arms.
A smile even deeper than hers appeared on Zoro's face, "Don't worry about that I was only stating facts. That's not what's going to stand in my way."
Ba-dump!
Yuki's heart skipped a beat at that moment.
She turned her face away to hide the redness beginning to appear on her cheeks.
Zoro did not notice it and simply extended his hand.
"So do you accept my help?" he asked.
Yuki looked for a moment at Zoro and his outstretched hand before extending hers as well and shaking his hand with a sigh, "Okay I'm in. But I have to ask you a question that will determine our future relationship."
Zoro withdrew his hand after a few moments and said, "Yes I'm listening."
"What is your type of woman?"
Author's note
This is by far one of my favorite chapters so far. It doesn't contain any fights or revelations or anything special, but I consider it the best-written chapter in the entire fanfic. It is also the longest chapter of the fanfic.
Let me know if you think my storytelling has improved or if you don't see the difference.
It's also the second interaction between the MC and Yuki, although Yuki didn't recognize him. Tell me what you think about that in the comments.
And one last thing—it's been a while since I asked, but please spam the power stones.