90 Chapter 88

"1564... 1565... 1566..."

"Hurry, hurry!"

"Brother, faster!"

"1567, 1568, 1569, 1570, 1571, 1572...!"

Mei Mei, having completed her mission and returned to the school, stopped in her tracks at the sight of a rare scene.

"...Well."

A young man with green hair, shirtless, lifting and lowering a giant basket with two small children inside, performing exercises was indeed a sight one wouldn't see just anywhere.

"Kyaa!"

"More, more!"

The children inside the basket didn't stay still; they bounced around.

Seeing Zoro lifting and lowering the wildly shaking basket quickly and steadily, Mei Mei cracked a smile.

'Even a slight imbalance would tilt the basket. And the kids inside aren't staying still either.'

Zoro subtly adjusted his grip on the basket, shifting the center of gravity while continuing his play and exercise routine.

Drip, drip.

Mei Mei noticed countless sweat droplets falling every time Zoro moved.

It's mid-December. Moreover, the school's location in the mountains made it colder than the city. Today was exceptionally cold as well.

On such a day, especially in a place colder than most, how long and how intensely would one need to exercise for their shirt to become soaked with sweat?

Mei Mei casually asked Zoro.

"Aren't you cold?"

Zoro glanced at Mei Mei. Unlike Gojo, Geto, or Shoko, with whom he often interacted, Zoro didn't have much to do with Mei Mei. They had only seen each other's faces in passing a few times.

"Not really."

"You're working harder than usual, Zenin-kun. Something on your mind?"

"Not sure."

1603, 1604, 1605. Zoro counted internally, responding nonchalantly.

After Tsukumo's visit, Zoro had thought about the dream involving a heart and red threads.

He also considered the possibility that the dream wasn't merely a dream, but a real memory that Zoro had experienced at some point.

If it was a real memory, two questions arose:

One was what the red thread Zoro had given up represented.

The second was when exactly he had experienced that event.

Wondering if there might be something he missed, Zoro reflected on his experiences across two lifetimes.

"Whether it was my first life or my second, there's no particular gap in my memories while I was alive."

All memories were intact within Zoro's mind.

Of course, it wasn't that he remembered everything without fail; naturally, some memories faded over time, but there was no unnatural void.

"The only time I might not remember is when I was very young in my first life."

But lacking memories from infancy is quite natural. Unless it was about his second birth, where he was reborn as an adult, almost no one retains memories from when they were actual infants.

If there was a void...

"After death?"

Did he dip his toes in hell? Zoro thought for a moment but then shook his head.

"Hell wasn't that dark."

Trying to recall the circumstances before and after that memory proved impossible, as if trying to cram something much larger into a tiny box.

"..."

One thing was certain: he did not regret letting go of the thread at that moment.

Then, as now.

"That's enough."

It was only giving him a headache.

"If it's something I need to know, I'll find out eventually."

Zoro carefully set down the basket and put his shirt back on. Megumi's eyes sparkled.

"More! More!"

"No, Megumi. Brother is tired."

"I'm not tired."

"Don't show off."

"When did you learn to say that?"

"From Mr. Gojo!"

"...That guy, really..."

Tsumiki chuckled and then suddenly asked.

"Do you feel better now?"

Zoro looked thoughtfully at Tsumiki.

"Why do you ask?"

"You seemed upset."

Tsumiki gently rubbed between Zoro's eyebrows. To others, he might have appeared as his usual expressionless self, but she could tell the difference.

Earlier, Zoro had been in a particularly bad mood.

"Lifting heavy things and sweating a lot makes me feel better," he explained, though Tsumiki still didn't understand why. Was it because his body warmed up in the cold? But then, he would take off his top when it got too warm.

Yet, if it made Zoro happy, Tsumiki was happy too.

'The basket is fun!'

Seeing Tsumiki's bright smile, Zoro couldn't help but smile faintly himself. Megumi clung to Zoro's arm, whining for more.

"Ah, right. I want to swing a long sword. One that can reach all the way over there!"

"Why?"

"So it can reach far!"

Zoro chuckled at the childlike logic.

"A short sword can reach far too."

In his previous life, Mihawk had used a fork-sized sword, or even smaller, to unleash massive slashes. A skilled swordsman didn't need a large sword to reach far.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Then maybe I'll use a short one?"

"Up to you."

Doing what one desires is the best. Zoro, echoing the sentiments of a true pirate, gently patted Tsumiki's head.

"Higher, higher!"

Yielding to Megumi's demands, Zoro lifted his onto his shoulders for a piggyback ride. With his eye level significantly elevated, Megumi, forgetting his tantrum, hugged the back of Zoro's head and giggled happily.

"I love you."

"Me too."

Cradling Megumi, who buried his face in his green hair, Zoro also expressed his affection for Tsumiki.

"And you too."

Tsumiki's brown eyes widened, then softened.

"I love you too, brother!"

"I know."

"It's important to say it even if you know. It's nice to hear. Idiots don't understand unless you say it."

"Are you talking about me?"

"You're not that kind of idiot."

"Hmm."

"But you are an idiot at other times!"

"Teasing me?"

Zoro playfully tousled Tsumiki's hair. Tsumiki stretched her arms wide.

"Hug me!"

With an exasperated look, Zoro warmly embraced Tsumiki. Mei Mei commented,

"So affectionate."

"They're the ones who always come to me."

"Uh-huh, sure…"

Being young doesn't mean being utterly clueless. Initially, they might approach, but they wouldn't keep clinging to someone they thought wouldn't accept them.

The fact they freely ask for hugs suggests they've been readily given them before, quite frequently at that.

After completing a mission, Gojo and Geto arrived with their hands full of snacks. Each had a skewer of dango (Japanese dumplings) in their mouths already.

Seeing the kids clinging to Zoro, Gojo grimaced.

"They're at it again."

"Hello, Mei Mei," greeted Geto.

"Hi, Geto-kun. What's that in your hand?"

"We passed by a famous dango place on our way here. Bought some."

Gojo looked around and asked,

"Hey, Marimo. Where's your dad?"

"Not sure."

"Hmm, must have gone on a mission?"

Guessing correctly, Gojo tossed his finished dango skewer onto the ground.

"Too bad, I wanted to spar."

The Class 1 spirit he had just defeated was too easy. Gojo stopped himself from saying more, knowing the response wouldn't be favorable.

For Gojo now, Class 1 spirits weren't much of a threat. He needed at least a Special Grade to exert himself, but those weren't common, and as a Class 1 sorcerer, he rarely encountered them.

"Blasting spirits away with my newly learned Purple technique is fun at first."

But that soon became boring. Essentially, recent missions felt like outings with Satoru.

"Though, the dango today was delicious!" Gojo preferred dango with lots of sweet red bean paste, but the mitarashi (sweet soy sauce) dango from that shop was exceptionally good. Satoru liked the ones coated in soybean flour.

Zoro glanced at Gojo setting down a shopping bag and asked in a very calm tone,

"It was boring?"

"Sort of..."

...I guess.

Gojo blinked, surprised. It was the first time someone openly asked if he found fighting boring.

Geto set down his shopping bag and admonished softly,

"Zoro, fighting isn't for fun. It's to protect the weak."

"What if the opponent is weak?"

"Then you shouldn't fight at all. If there's wrongdoing, punishment should follow the law, not violence. Seeking meaningless fights only harms the weak in the face of stronger aggression."

A society where the strong sacrifice for the weak is the ideal. Geto concluded with a slight smile.

Satoru made a groaning noise,

"Even lecturing a kid about positioning, Satoru?"

"It's important to teach them while they're young. They don't yet fully understand right and wrong."

"Ugh, total old man talk~"

"…Haha, Satoru."

Geto grabbed Gojo by the collar, only smiling with his eyes. Gojo, with his physical restraints lifted at the collar, laughed, "You can't hit me, can you?"

Watching Geto effortlessly lift Gojo off the ground with a clean motion, Zoro chuckled.

"The right society, huh?"

In his previous life, Zoro was a notorious pirate who caused upheaval across the world, ultimately leading to its collapse. Discussing the rightness of society wasn't exactly a conversation meant for him.

"Sorry, Geto, but I don't fight based on those standards."

If there's someone to fight, whether they're strong or weak, alone or in a group, whoever they are, I'll fight.

"I won't get hurt, I won't! Even if Satoru throws me a hundred times, not a speck of dust would land on me."

"Ha. Guess we'll see if that's true if I actually do it a hundred times."

"Hey, no spinning! Who spins someone around while throwing them?"

"Who announces their moves in advance if they're not stupid, Satoru? Alright, going for ten more rounds?"

"I surrender! I surrender!"

...

As Zoro watched Geto spin Gojo around, he kept his thoughts to himself, seeing that neither seemed inclined to listen to anyone else at the moment.

Mei Mei had left at some point, and Megumi and Tsumiki were engrossed in their own game, holding hands.

Maybe it's time for some training, Zoro thought, but then he sensed someone approaching. It was his father, Toji, returning from a mission, silently coming up behind him.

"Father."

"Were you watching a fight? Fun?"

"Watching isn't fun. Fighting is where the fun's at."

Usually, people enjoy watching fights, don't they? Toji thought for a moment but then remembered neither he nor Zoro was exactly normal.

"Just make sure you don't get caught by someone who can scold you. Like the police, or a teacher."

"Who would scold me?"

"Well, I can't, that's for sure."

The only person who could really scold Zoro was Tsumiki, mainly when he wandered off on his own and got lost.

Toji whistled at Geto's actions.

"Your physical skills have improved a lot."

Well, after getting beaten up by me that much and not improving would be idiotic. Toji looked pleased, watching Geto swing Gojo around like a club. Well done, Geto. Keep it up.

"Father, are you tired now?"

"...No?"

"Then lend me a sword. As a cursed tool."

"Why?"

"I want to find something out."

Thinking might clear his head, and he felt restless after being relatively calm lately.

Guessing what Zoro was planning, Toji chuckled. Why was he asking if he was tired?

"Alone?"

"Having someone to spar with would be ideal."

"You're planning to beat up your newly returned dad?"

"You said you weren't tired."

But Toji had been quite busy with missions lately. Zoro glanced at Gojo and Geto and pointed in their direction.

"Then, how about with those guys?"

"...?"

"What?"

Gojo, still dizzy from being spun around, asked. Geto released Gojo's collar and turned to Zoro.

"What are you talking about, Zoro?"

"You're out—"

"I was thinking of sparring."

Before Toji could intervene, Zoro made his intention clear. Both Gojo and Geto stopped and looked down at Zoro.

...This could get complicated, Toji thought, pressing the bridge of his nose.

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