"Stinky brat, are you sure you're not just taking me in circles?"
The sky darkened, just like Nero's expression. She had already realized this stinky brat was a terrible navigator, and she just wanted to see how long he could wander around in one spot.
She didn't expect it to go from afternoon to evening. Seriously, did this guy get lost the moment he stepped out?
"Huh? What nonsense are you spouting? We've been moving in a straight line in one direction!"
Zoro turned and gave Nero an incredulous look, then naturally turned left.
Nero stopped, staring at the stinky brat in shock. She had seen bad navigators before, but this was beyond ordinary!
How could this kind of person's family be at ease letting him go out without a leash, thinking he could find his way back home?
"Kid, are you an orphan?" Nero didn't care if her words would sting; she just asked directly.
"How did you know???" Zoro looked at Nero in shock, turning in another direction at the same time.
...Nero glanced outside the bushes at the dojo down the hill and said nothing.
With this sense of direction, if this child was lost, he probably wouldn't be able to find his way back in this lifetime, barring any accidents.
She grabbed Zoro by the collar and gestured with her chin: "Is that Isshin Dojo?"
"That's right! It's just down ahead!" Zoro said with an air of inevitability, as if saying they had finally arrived.
..."Hmm, try not to go out alone in the future."
"Huh? Weird woman." Zoro tilted his head, feeling puzzled: "Don't talk about that, we've walked so long, let's hurry to the dojo for a drink of water!"
"Then let's go down from here." Nero held him and walked a few steps towards the steep cliff.
"Are you blind? This is a cliff! If you want to die from a dozen meters up, don't take me with you."
Zoro struggled violently. Although this woman was dressed lavishly, she had a strange feeling about her, and now she wanted to jump off a cliff?
"Hey! Hey! Ah—!"
The wind whistled past his ears, and Zoro screamed in terror.
"So noisy! Kid, open your eyes and look!"
Hearing Nero say that, and feeling his body land on solid ground, Zoro tremblingly opened his eyes.
Indeed, they were on the ground now. He looked up at the towering cliff and patted the solid earth.
Zoro's mouth hung open as he turned to Nero: "How did you do that?"
Besides the wind in his ears, he hadn't felt any other sensation of falling or landing.
This woman was truly not simple!
"Hey! Can you teach me? Just that move…"
Seeing Nero ignore him and walk towards the dojo, Zoro quickly jogged to catch up, gesticulating wildly around Nero.
'…So noisy. I think I don't want to see children for a long time. They're both stinky brats, but why is this one so different from Robin?'
Nero drooped her eyelids, muttering to herself inwardly.
'Hmm, speaking of which, I suddenly miss little Robin. The Flower-Flower Fruit is definitely one of the top three fruits in my heart…'
"Hey… hey! Teach me, okay? Or are you afraid that if I learn it, I'll surpass you?"
Zoro beside her was still chattering, trying to move Nero with clumsy taunts.
"Eek—so noisy! stinky brat! With your mediocrity, you'll never learn that move in this lifetime!"
"What did you say, stinky woman? I, your lord, can learn that little trick in two or three tries!"
"Is that so, little wooden sword swordsman? You haven't even seen a real sword many times, have you?"
"Of course I've seen real swords, and even used them!"
Although it was only recently… but Zoro certainly didn't say that out loud.
"Hmm, even if you're just bragging, all you'll get in the end is emptiness!"
"I'm not bragging!!"
"By the way, the main gate of the dojo is on the opposite side, right?" Nero looked at the wall in front of her, a little speechless.
"Ah, this side is the warehouse; usually no one comes over here."
"Sigh~ I'm too lazy to go around, let's just climb over from here."
"Huh? Stinky woman! Take the main gate! The main gate!"
Nero lowered her head, pinched Zoro's cheek, and twisted it back and forth: "stinky brat! You haven't shown me any respect this whole way! You should use honorifics when speaking to adults, understand?"
"Ngh… you… you… backstabbing bastard!!"
Zoro glared with fierce eyes, attempting to awaken Nero's conscience.
Nero's eye twitched: "Hmm, do you still think you led the way, even now?"
Zoro struggled desperately to break free from Nero, his eyes resentful. You Bad Girl (scum woman) ate your fill and still won't admit it.
After Nero released him, she leaped onto the wall in one swift motion.
Zoro saw clearly this time; Nero's movements were incredibly light, like a butterfly, moving as casually as if she had invisible wings.
"How about it, stinky brat? You're not insisting on the main gate because you can't climb, are you?"
"How could that be? It's just this height!"
Faced with Nero's taunt, Zoro instantly abandoned the idea of the main gate. He rolled up his non-existent sleeves, intending to climb the wall.
"Then you better move quickly, be careful not to be discovered!"
"I won't… not…"
Zoro laboriously climbed onto the wall and ran straight into the figure on the warehouse stairs.
"Ku… Kuina?"
"Zoro?" The girl on the steps looked at the figure sprawled on the wall in surprise.
"Who are you talking to?"
Nero, who had jumped down from the wall and was standing in the girl's blind spot, made a shushing gesture, then waved with a mischievous smile, intending to leave.
This action immediately made Zoro see red: "Stop! Stinky woman!!"
"What did you say? Is that a challenge?" Kuina thought Zoro was talking about her, a cross mark appeared on her forehead, and she smiled dangerously.
"No… it's not that! I was talking about another stinky woman, that person over there!"
Zoro also realized Kuina couldn't see Nero, and he explained in a fluster.
Nero drooped her eyelids, tilted her head, and stuck out her tongue, making a funny face, still making no sound.
Meanwhile, Kuina also realized there was someone hiding in her blind spot, still responding to Zoro's words.
"Who are you calling a stinky woman, you idiot!"
At the same time, she subtly pulled out wado ichimonji, but somehow, she also brought down the whetstone from the warehouse roof.
Seeing the whetstone about to hit Kuina's head, Zoro on the wall shouted loudly.
"Kuina!!!"
He hoped this would alert her, but the incident was so sudden that Kuina's only reaction was to close her eyes, bracing for impact.
As if a segment of time was extracted, Kuina felt herself fall into a warm embrace.
Opening her eyes, she saw a peerless beauty with golden hair and blue eyes under the Moonlight, supporting her with one hand, and holding a whetstone with the other.
"Hmm, I told you stinky brats shouldn't climb to high places."
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