00051. A fated first meeting?

The gate opened to reveal a man with thick, circular glasses, who wore a kind smile on his face. His long black hair was tied into a ponytail and he had on a gray colored yukata. He glanced at the boys for a moment before he asked, "What can I help you boys with?"

Marcus smiled at the man as he said, "I'm Marcus and these are my brothers Ace, Sabo and Luffy. We came to train here while we stay on the island if that's possible."

The man looked at the boys for a moment before he looked around for other people and asked, "You're visiting the island? Where are your parents? Are they in the village?"

"My mom died when I was a baby and my dad took the scenic route to get some milk." Marcus said with a shrug before he asked, "Will that be an issue?"

"Your dad is getting milk?" The man asked as his eyebrows raised slightly.

"Pretty much… Does he need to be here for some reason?"

"No, not really… So you boys wish to train in swordsmanship?" The man asked as he studied each of them.

"I'm the only one who uses a sword, but if possible we would all like to spar with you and your students while we're here though."

He glanced at the training weapons Ace and Sabo carried as he said, "I have no reason to refuse, but I won't let you stay here for free. Do you boys have any money? I am not running a charity after all."

"How much? And does it include food?" Marcus asked.

The man rubbed his chin in thought for a moment before he said, "Two hundred belly for each person per night and it will include a simple breakfast. You will have to figure out what to do for your other meals and swordsmanship instruction will cost extra. But the basic training will be included."

"Sounds good to me." Marcus said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out some belly before he handed it to the man.

The man quickly counted it before he asked, "This is too much money. Just how long are you planning on staying here for?"

Marcus shrugged as he said, "No clue, but probably until we get bored. I will also need a training sword, so that should help cover the cost of one."

The man nodded as he stuffed the money into a pocket before he stepped back out of the way and said with a wave of his hand, "I'm Shimotsuki Koushirou and I welcome you boys to Isshin Dojo."

Koushirou led the boys into the main courtyard where most of the students were training. There were a little over twenty kids there, lined up in three rows. All of them were dressed in the same dark green training uniform and each of them held a bokken as they practiced an overhead swing.

"I'll take you to your room first, so you can drop your stuff off." Koushirou said as he walked past his students and around the main building.

The overall layout of the dojo compound was simple. It had the largest and main building placed in the middle. It was connected to a few other buildings with open air walkways that were raised off the ground and in between those buildings were gardens or resting areas.

Marcus looked at one of them as they passed by and saw a zen garden with raked sand weaving around rocks and a single cherry blossom tree that rested on a tiny plot of grass.

As they walked by another one with a small fish pond as the main feature. They saw a few small buildings near the back wall of the compound. The buildings were mostly similar to each other besides a sign board that each one had next to the door. Each board had a single word written on it in beautiful calligraphy. The building they stopped at had a sign board that displayed the word, 'Sharp'.

Koushirou opened the door as he said, "You can stay in here. I'll have someone bring you some bedding later."

After the boys placed their stuff inside what amounted to a single room, Koushirou pointed towards another slightly larger building near the wall as he said, "There's a bathroom over there that you can use while you're here."

"Is it just a restroom?"

"Yes… If you want a bath, you can jump in the river or go to town and use the bathhouse." Koushirou said as he led the boys towards the main building.

Koushirou stopped outside of it and said, "You can come here for breakfast in the morning around seven. Basic training starts right after that if you want to join. As for sparring, you are free to challenge whoever you want. But whether or not they accept, is another story."

Koushirou reached over to a weapons rack placed next to the building and pulled out a training sword which he handed to Marcus as he said, "Also be aware that if someone challenges you to a spar, you can refuse."

Marcus took the bokken as he said, "Thanks for the information but we won't be turning down anyone. We came out to train."

The others nodded in agreement as Koushirou gave the boys a kind smile. He then waved his arm towards the rest of the compound as he said, "You are free to roam around wherever you like. But please don't enter the other buildings without permission."

As Koushirou went back to his students, Marcus slid the training sword into his belt next to eternal rest before he turned to the others and asked, "Should we explore a bit or do something else?"

"Food!" Luffy said excitedly.

"We just ate a little over an hour ago." Marcus said as he glanced around looking for Zoro or Kuina.

"But we ate fish. I want meat!"

Marcus turned back to Luffy as he said, "What are you talking about, fish is meat."

"No, fish is fish. Not meat." Luffy said as he shook his head.

"Fish is meat! That's literally what we eat from fish most of the time." Marcus said in a slightly raised tone.

Luffy leaned right into Marcus's face as he said, "Fish isn't meat!"

"Yes it is!"

"No it's not!"

Marcus grabbed Luffy by the collar of his shirt as he said, "Yes it is!"

"No it's not!" Luffy said as he grabbed Marcus by the collar of his shirt and shook him.

"Yes it is!" Marcus said as he shook Luffy back.

"No it's not!" As he continued to shake Marcus.

Ace nodded in agreement before he said, "Fish isn't really meat."

Marcus stopped shaking Luffy as he glanced at Ace before he turned to Sabo for help but found him nodding in agreement with the others. Marcus let out a frustrated sigh as he let go of Luffy and threw his hands in the air and said, "I give up, you're all idiots."

"Good… I'm not an idiot!" Luffy said while he shook Marcus some more as Ace and Sabo said, "We're not Luffy!"

"Hey! What is that supposed to mean?" Luffy asked as he let go of Marcus and turned towards the other two.

"It means you're an idiot." Ace said as Sabo nodded along.

Luffy looked like he was about to jump onto Ace when Marcus pulled out some jerky and held it in front of Luffy as he said, "Have some pocket meat."

"Oh, thanks a lot." Luffy said as he instantly forgot what was going on and happily took it.

As Luffy stuffed jerky in his mouth Marcus let out another sigh before he turned to Ace and Sabo as he said, "Let's go ask Koushirou where some wild animals are I guess."

Marcus and the others headed towards the training yard where they quickly found Koushirou as he watched over his students. Marcus approached the man as he asked, "Are there any wild animals around here we can hunt?"

Koushirou turned towards Marcus before he pointed towards the rear of the dojo and said, "If you head that way a few miles following the river, you will find a forest. It has a good amount of game inside it, but it also has some dangerous creatures in the deeper parts. So make sure you don't go too deep."

"Yosh, thanks alot old man!" Luffy said as he took off towards the back wall to climb over it. 

"Thanks for the help, Koushirou." Marcus said with a helpless smile before he took off after Luffy and the others.

Koushirou frowned as he watched Luffy and the others disappear around the corner and mumbled to himself, "Do I look old?" 

Luffy was the first one to the wall, but Ace and Sabo beat him as they easily climbed over it. Marcus was a little bit behind the rest but caught up to them within a minute before they all ran along the river bank in the direction of the forest.

They traveled for about twenty minutes at a jog before they could see the forest off in the distance. From where Marcus stood, the river flowed down into the forest about a mile ahead and disappeared into its depths. Marcus studied the area for a few moments before he rushed to catch back up to his brothers who never stopped running.

It was a few minutes later when the boys reached the edge of the forest and Luffy charged in as he yelled out, "Meat!"

Ace and Sabo were right behind him but Marcus paused for a moment to note the area before he marked a tree with a small pocket knife he carried. He then followed along behind Luffy and the others and would mark a new tree every once in a while. As for keeping the others in sight… Marcus didn't worry about it because Luffy would randomly yell out from time to time.

It didn't take long for Luffy and the others to find some animals even with Luffy being an idiot. Most of them were too small to even matter, but they found an extra large boar after half an hour or so and ended up capturing it. They also found a handful of birds that looked like overgrown turkeys which they also caught.

The boys ended up spending a few hours in the forest hunting before they decided to head back. While they didn't collect too much more, they mostly wanted to see what else lived in the forest. Unfortunately they didn't even make it to the deeper parts of the forest before it started to get dark. So the boys collected their food and then followed the trail Marcus made as he entered the forest.

After they were out of the forest and headed back towards the dojo, Marcus and the others encountered someone. It was a boy with two training swords and a head of green hair. He stood on the river bank next to some decent sized boulders as he practiced his strikes against one of them.

Marcus was positive it was Zoro since he looked the exact same as in the anime. Zoro didn't seem to notice Marcus and the others as he hyper focused on his training. Marcus watched him for a little while as they approached closer and noticed large flaws in his fighting style before he said, "Your foot placement sucks. You need to adjust it if you want more power in your attacks. You're also neglecting your guard."

The boy stopped his training as he turned around to find Marcus and the others and asked, "Who thinks they know how to fight better than me?"

Marcus smiled as he said, "All of us."

The boy narrowed his eyes and took a stance as he said, "Prove it."

"Do you want to spar with me?" Marcus asked.

"Of course. You insulted my skills." The boy said as he took a stance with both swords raised up.

Marcus placed down the bundle he was carrying before he took the bundle Luffy had and pushed him forward as he said, "I choose you Luffy! Go, use gum gum no pistol!"