The tiger and the dragon's covenant

The voice inside Ryoto's mind took control over the body. 'Damn brats! I will show them,' the voice declared.

He stood up, grabbed the one who kicked him by the collar and punched him straight into his face. Thinking it was enough, he then turned to the wheat-blonde-haired kid and tried to punch him as well, but the guy he punched just a second ago was already swinging at Ryoto's head. Before the voice could land his second punch on the wheat-blonde guy, his world darkened. 'This damn body is too weak,' the voice diagnosed before the shared brain shut off from the impact to the head.

Inside a dark place, the first encounter where the two souls could communicate happened. Inside the brain, anything was possible - that's why dreams can range in absurdity and realism. Ryoto's soul manifested as himself with black hair and eyes, exactly as he was just a day ago. The second soul to manifest was that of the voice that Ryoto heard inside his head before passing out. The voice manifested as a tall and bulky man with green hair and many scars, most notably the ones on his face that went through his left eye, the one that ran across his chest and stomach, and the scars on both of his ankles. The green-haired man wore a white Kimono with green patterns across it. But most notably, and something that aroused Ryoto's attention due to the nature of his Quirk, the man carried not one or two, but three whole Katanas on his right hip.

"Who are you," Ryoto asked again, scared of this whole ordeal of a voice manifesting inside his head.

"Never heard of me before? I'm the world's greatest swordsman, Roronoa Zoro," the voice introduced himself, putting a hand onto his chin, radiating pure confidence just by standing.

"What are you doing in my head," Ryoto demanded a series of answers which Zoro did not like at all. A kid disrespecting him to this extent even though his name managed to reach the heavens of his plain? Not something he liked to encounter and be presumably stuck with for a while.

"I don't know what you are talking about. To me, it seems as though you are at the wrong place. I was told I would be given a new chance at life with a new body," Zoro countered, confusing the kid.

"What are you talking about? This is my body, you are the parasite!"

"The system explained what would await me. It said, 'you will be given a new life, a new identity, but we will take away your memories but leave you your personality.' And here I am, in my new body, waiting to begin the journey of a new life," Zoro paused, remembering something that may convince the kid to trust him a bit more. "The stone that fell on you this morning would've crushed you if not for me. Like, how can someone have no survival instincts? You even closed your eyes while my instincts commanded the body to jump aside."

Reminded of this morning's events, Ryoto realized that it wasn't that bad and that this situation was a lot darker, twisted and complicated than he believed. Luckily for him and Zoro, he was smart, and he could be reasoned with. 'Does seem weird... But in this day and age where humans have Quirks, anything seems possible and plausible. This reminds me... could he be a villain that used a strange Quirk on me,' Ryoto wondered, hoping to find an answer that doesn't include a part where his body is taken over by another soul. "Did you use your Quirk on me or something? Why do you want my body?"

"Quirk? What is that? Something to eat? I feel hungry even though it's not my real body," Zoro asked, unknowledgeable about this whole 'humans developed powers' thing.

"What do you mean? Everybody has Quirks. The gigantic Villain and Hero that fought, the guy that controlled the wood that his body produced... Even I have a Quirk," Ryoto explained.

"Eh? Strange... I thought they were just giants and the others some other human-like race. I felt a certain familiarity when I saw them... So, Quirks? What do they do?"

Ryoto gave him a whole spill about Quirks and their history, forgetting that Zoro was still a parasite-like threat to his life. Of course, Zoro didn't understand 80% of what Ryoto told him. Only the 'everybody has special powers that make them strong' part is what interested Zoro.

"My Quirk is Sharpness. I can create cuts on people and objects but it won't cut everything that his hard enough. If I use a tool that can cut and cleave, my Quirk multiplies the tool's sharpness by 10," Ryoto revealed his own Quirk's powers.

"Seems strong...," Zoro replies. "With a power like that, you could easily become the strongest swordsman, if not for me that is. I will become the strongest swordsman for a second time then! You can live with being the second strongest, can't you?"

"So.. What I understand from this is that your memories were taken but your personality remained so that you could be reborn into a person's body that just so happened to be mine," Ryoto summed it up.

"Yeah, pretty much."

Zoro sat down in this "dream-space". And because of the mental strength he possessed, he was able to coordinate it perfectly. With a wave of his right hand, a jug was summoned that exuded a strong scent that smelled like disinfectant, or in other words liquor.

Zoro took a sip from this liquor, immediately, both of them felt dizzy - the imaginary liquor had a placebo effect on their shared mind that created this dizziness.

Seeing Ryoto stare at him, Zoro felt somehow obligated to tell him what happened after Ryoto's mind collapsed, leaving the control of the body to Zoro. "I tried to teach those brats a lesson, but you are fucking weak, they knocked me out in about a second." While he told Ryoto what happened, certain feelings and emotions caused him to become mad and disappointed. Without even knowing the reason, Zoro said what came to his mind. "Damn it, kid! I have only lost so few times, don't make me lose again," he yelled at Ryoto.

Taken off-guard and scared, Ryoto took a step back. More reason than instinct - the boy named Ryoto thought of a covenant that benefitted both.

"Roronoa Zoro, if I did hear your right, you said that you were the strongest swordsman, right," Ryoto asked.

"I did say that. I was the strongest swordsman before coming here, I am sure of it, I can feel the confidence in my soul reassure me and confirm that fact," Zoro responded.

"And you want to become the strongest swordsman again, yes?"

"If we somehow solve this thing with MY body, yes," Zoro confirmed, showing that he was claiming ownership over Ryoto's body.

"Then I have a few things to say to you. Because of Quirks and wide-range weapons, the use of swords diminished and only a small fractions still use blades. Quirks are much more versatile than swords in 'my world' at least," Ryoto explained. He then proceeded to explain the whole Hero-Villain system. "For you to become the strongest legally, you need to become a Hero, which I am aspiring to become as well. And since there is a top-10 hero ranking in each country, you would need to challenge all of them after becoming the #1 Hero in Japan."

"Hmm... And how do I become a Hero," Zoro asked, seemingly pleased with the idea of becoming the strongest even though there aren't that many swordsmen.

"Going to a School with a Hero-course and graduating from it," Ryoto revealed his plan's last step. 'If my judgement is right, he isn't the smart-type, and adding the fact that he doesn't know anything about this world, he must accept my request...'

"Damn...," even Zoro realized that it was almost impossible - him going to school and graduating. 'I could become a Villain if I wished, but then I wouldn't be recognized...,' he was instinctively pulled to the illegal ways of life, as he was a pirate in his previous life. "What are you hinting at," Zoro took the bait.

'He took the bait!'

"We will share the body. That way, we will both get what we want. I will handle school things and 'my world' things, and you will handle our body's strength and so on. I will become a well-respected Hero, and you will become the strongest swordsman this world will see. So? What do you say?" Ryoto finally showed Zoro the contents of his covenant.

Zoro thought, not like he had much of a choice. It wouldn't take long for him to literally get lost and get caught if he decided to become a villain. "Well... It's a deal, but I can't bother to deal with a kid that is being bullied. We will do something abut that first. I will make you into the dragon that you name hints at, alright?"