40 Spar against the feminist

Down on the docks Hiko watched as Tashigi stood two meters away from him, ' I didn't take her long I wonder how she's going to bring her gender into this. ' To Hiko, it was stupid that Tashigi thought she was weaker because of her gender, on earth women had to deal with the long history of them being inferior to men, and just only now were they striving for equal status. In One Piece the reason why women were looked down upon was that they didn't have the same physical strength when they reached adulthood as men.

' But you don't need physical strength to make it in this world, skill can overcome might with ease. If you can't land a blow on your opponent you lose either way. That said strength is still required, but it's not like girls can't increase their muscle mass. ' Standing up straight Hiko faced Tashigi as he held out Shigure in one hand, " If you can land a fatal hit against me the Shigure is all yours if you can't within twenty minutes I win. "

Nodding Tashigi's knees bent slightly as she placed her hand on the hilt of her sword, there was a moment of silence before Tashigi drew her sword as she ran at Hiko. While there was still space between them Hiko placed Shigure to the side turning back just as Tashigi had brought her sword down in an overhead strike. With minimal effort, Hiko's tail blocked the strike, letting her sword glance off to the side Tashigi brought her sword back up striking towards Hiko's chest.

Stepping back Hiko let the sword lightly graze his skin cutting his shirt but not the skin, the diagonal strike left Tashigi open which she tried to correct but before she could Hiko brought his knee up into her ribs. The blow made the air leave Tashigi's lungs, gritting her teeth the swordswoman hopped back putting distance between herself and Hiko.

Letting her recover Hiko waited for her next attack, Tashigi's next attack was a stab aimed directly at Hiko's heart. Once again he blocked her attack before delivering another crippling blow, the pattern repeated itself again and again each time Tashigi would take a bit longer to attack again. By the twentieth time, Tashigi had several bruises across her body and if Hiko's guess was right severe internal bleeding. As she charged forward to deliver another strike Hiko held up his hand to stop Tashigi's attack, his action only seemed to anger the dark-haired beauty even more as she left herself completely open ready to deliver a final strike.

Sighing Hiko caught Tashigi's blade in one hand before shattering the blade, with his other hand Hiko's palm strike slammed into Tashigi's midsection. Catching the swordswomen as she passed out Hiko sighed as he lowered her to the ground before removing her shirt and activation healing hands, he had gone overboard with the last hit the vibrations from the attack had caused her liver to burst.

While he could heal flesh wounds and other wounds, the liver's main job was to detoxify waste from the blood so if the liver burst all the waste and bile would end up in the bloodstream.

Not entirely confident in his abilities Hiko opened the shop and bought a pill that could cleanse the bloodstream, placing the pill in Tashigi's mouth Hiko massaged her throat making her swallow. Placing his hands back on her stomach Hiko activated healing hands as he watched over the swordswoman, after a few minutes all of the bruises on Tashigi's body disappeared leaving pristine white skin.

Hiko retracted his hand when Tashigi started to move as her face furrowed, opening her eyes Tashigi looked up at Hiko when she felt a breeze cool her stomach. Looking down Tashigi blushed when she realized her shirt had been undone and her chest was on display, " Before you scream please notice that all your wounds have healed. " Tashigi was cut off as she felt her ribs and realized there weren't any points of pain across their body, " You didn't have to dress my wound you know. " Hiko sighed as he walked over to retrieve Shigure, " You had three broken ribs one of which punctured your lung, two cracked, and a ruptured liver. If I did nothing you would have died within the hour. "

Turning back around Hiko dropped Shigure into Tashigi's lap, " Here for breaking your old one. " Tashigi blinked as she picked up the sword, " Why are you giving this to me, I lost and my old sword isn't worth half of what you spent. " Hiko sighed, " You aren't going to leave me alone until I tell you I bet. " Tashigi nodded standing up clutching the Meito sword to her chest like Hiko would take it back at any moment, " Well let's go get something to eat as we, It's been too long since I last ate. " Not waiting Hiko started to walk away making Tashigi chase after him, as they walked Tashigi would try and pry answers from him only to get no response.

Eventually, she gave up until they arrived at a pub where Hiko promptly sat at the corner table before waving over a waitress and ordering what the chef recommended and a drink. The latter arrived quickly and Hiko drained half of its contents before he nodded at Tashigi, not missing a beat she started to talk. " I don't want your pity, take back the sword I can get my own. " Frowning Hiko wiped his mouth clean before staring at Tashigi, " It's not pity it's my respect from one fighter to another, even though I'm not a sword user anyone can see your talent. "