A 'Light' Spar With Kuina

After seeing Kuina effortlessly win her match, I felt motivated to start my training early.

I can't just wait to be trained by someone's own time, I have to make my own.

I walk out of my room and head back to the main area. I didn't see anyone, so I grabbed a bokken and walked away from here.

I went outside of the dojo and saw an open area I could take.

There's enough space for me to practice some of the stances or katas I saw from the matches.

I went to the middle and started to remember what I saw.

The beginning stance that captured my eyes the most was Kuina's. That's the one thing that I was fully able to see in her match.

Standing straight with a tight grip on my bokken, I slowly raise it.

I slightly moved my left foot in front of my right and now both of my arms are extended in front of me with a bokken in hand.

I hold this stance for a few seconds. To firmly remember it with my mind and body.

Lifting my bokken above me, I prepare myself.

I inhaled deeply.

Then with a single step with my right foot, I swing down my weapon.

"HAAA!"

*WHOOSH*

Feeling giddy, I try to spice it up a little.

After bringing it down, I twist my body to the left and swing my bokken upwards diagonally.

*WHOOSH*

However, I put too much power in that swing and I fell on my back. My feet were in an awkward position, so I couldn't catch myself.

*THUNK*

"..."

I exhaled deeply...

I laid there for a few seconds before giving myself a little laugh.

"Heh."

No flashy moves yet...

I slowly get up and continue practicing.

I control my excitement and strictly focus on the basics I saw.

For the katas that still have parts I'm missing, I try to improvise by creating movements that flow with them.

Without me realizing it, an hour has passed.

"Haahh...haahh."

Breathing heavily, I drop on my back to catch my breath.

Even though I got used to it, I'm still far from mastering the basics...but I can't help but feel joy.

It may be small, but I know that I'm getting stronger.

"What are you doing on the ground?" Said a voice that sounds like a girl.

Staying on the floor, I look behind me and upside down I see a little kid with blue hair staring back at me

So, we finally meet huh...

"I was training," I simply said.

She examines me before crossing her arms.

"Hmph, well if you're finished, I wanted to have a spar with you."

...you WHAT!

" My dad keeps talking about you and I want to see what's so great about you."

...he WHAT!

I wasn't expecting something like this to happen! Why couldn't that damn Koushirou keep my name out his mouth!

But...I could use this.

In any Shonen anime or manga, there's one truth that always rings true.

That fighting with people stronger than you...also makes you stronger.

This is especially true in One Piece.

With newfound motivation, I get up from the ground and turn towards her.

I stare into her eyes with a grin on my face.

"I accept your challenge!"

She looked at me with slight surprise.

She probably didn't expect me to agree with her after watching her last match.

Then she scoffs and goes inside the dojo.

After a few seconds, she came out with a bokken in her hand.

"I hope you're ready, cause this match won't end until one of us surrenders or becomes unconscious," Kuina said seriously.

I tightly grip my hands into my palm and look down.

She wants to beat me and show me that she's better than me, and I know that she is.

For now, that is...

I'll show her I'm not like the other kids in the dojo.

I won't yield to her.

I lift my head back up with an equally serious face.

"I'm ready."

She widens her eyebrows and gapes at me and then frowns.

"Fine."

We both get in our stances. I calm myself by closing my eyes and breathing deeply.

In...and out...in...and out...

I repeated this several times before opening my eyes.

Now...I'm ready.

We both stand there, waiting for the other person to make the first move.

It took a while, but it seems that my patience outlasted hers.

She quickly rushed towards me and swung her bokken horizontally. Getting into a defensive stance, I moved as fast as I could, barely blocking the attack.

*CLANK*

She then raised her weapon and brought it down again.

*CLANK*

*CLATTER*

Because of the last attack, my grip on my bokken loosen and the second attack forced it out of my hands.

Kuina then thrusts her bokken into my stomach.

"OOOFF!"

I dropped down to the ground, holding my stomach.

"Do you give up? I understand if it hurts too much." She asked with a condescending and mocking tone.

Just hearing it pisses me off.

"No," I said, getting back up and gritting my teeth.

I walked over to my bokken and picked it up, going into position.

She stares at me before also getting into position.

This time, I rushed at her.

And then the cycle began.

For the next hour, I try to land a hit on Kuina while she stays on the defensive and blocks, deflects, and counters everything I throw at her.

I wasn't spared either, there were times when she went on the offensive too...

What's even more frustrating is that I could tell she was holding back.

But I never gave up. I got back up and got into position again and again. I also made sure to pay attention to Kuina.

The more I fight her, the more I learn.

The more I learn, the more I can fight.

Slowly but surely, I was able to react to her moves...at the price of my beat and battered face...

*CLANK* *CLANK*

We meet in a deadlock.

"Why...are you not...giving up!" She yelled.

We pushed off each and with my trembling body, I dashed at her.

She raised her bokken in the air, readying to finish me off.

That's when I decided to answer her, with another question.

"Why...aren't you giving up?"

She froze.

This is my chance!

I took a deep breath...

...and collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

Kuina's POV

*THUNK*

*CLATTER*

Just when I realized what he said to me, the boy dropped to the ground.

I quickly got a hold of myself and went to check on him.

"..."

He passed out...

I plopped down and relaxed, catching my breath.

No one from the dojo was able to fight me for this long before...

I looked back to the past hour and can't help but admire his perseverance.

'Why...aren't you giving up?'

I can't help but remember what he said to me.

All my life, my father looked down at me.

'Dad! Why can't I get stronger! I need to be if I want to be the greatest swordsman in the world!'

'Well, Kuina...it's because girls are weaker than boys. A girl can't possibly become the greatest swordsman in the world with such a weak body.'

His words would always float around my head.

I train and train to make him see that I could be strong, that I could become a swordsman...

That's why I keep going, that's why I never give up.

But usually, my father just dismisses my progress and says that I will stop getting stronger eventually...it's so frustrating...

I glanced back at the boy and tried to remember his name.

I think it was...Noah...

"Noah huh...maybe...you'll help me get stronger..."