damned_institute | Day 29: Cafeteria, Brunch

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Day 29: Cafeteria, Brunch

Hitsugaya left the chapel no less frustrated than before. The head doctor once again had chosen not to hide his face, yet promised he would be making an appearance at some time in the near future. He didn't like being patient, but there wasn't much choice. Either the head doctor would show his face, or he wouldn't. Renji had already seen him, and knew how to find him. That was enough.

The thought of eating made him slightly nauseous as usual, but he knew he needed to get his strength up. He could either be weak and try to force his way through brunch without eating anything, or he could be smart and actually give himself something to eat. And there was rice. Rice and fruit. He took a heaping pile of rice, and grabbed as much watermelon as he could fit on his plate, then proceeded to an empty table. He scanned the room, watching for Momo. He wasn't exactly looking forward to their conversation, knowing how she'd acted yesterday; however, he knew he had to speak to her, and there was a good chance that she would show more restraint now that the drugs were out of her system.

Thoughtfully he consumed his rice and waited.

[free at the moment, pester if you wish]

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What sort of a response was that? Perhaps it was only the presence of another that had startled Zoro. Phibrizzo didn't know what to say to that, especially after the other so calmly stared him in the eye with a frown. It was highly likely that Zoro didn't know him, but what if he did?

No, no, he wasn't going to get worked up over this. No, only a few knew, truly knew what Hellmaster looked like and Zoro did not look like any of them. That he could remember, anyhow. This was going to bother him.

Clearing his throat, he poked at his food again, saying, "Ah, then I suppose I'm mistaken." He smiled slightly. "What's your name, Mister?"

Zoro glanced at the boy out of the corner of his eye, ceaselessly shoveling food into his mouth even as conversation was being made. He swallowed thickly, a habit he'd worked up as Luffy's crewmate. You had to learn how to swallow large quantities of food in a short amount of time if you wanted to stay a relatively well-fed Straw Hat.

"Roronoa Zoro." He answered simply, taking a gulp of his apple juice. It didn't occur to Zoro to ask for the boy's name in return, nor did he realize that his table manners were starting to look what most people would call "appalling".

Phibrizzo smiled. "Well, nice to meet you, Mr. Zoro."

He stabbed a sausage and began to nibble on it. "Where are you from, Mr. Zoro? What do you do? How long have you been here?" Maybe if he could figure this man out, he could manipulate him to cause a bit of mayhem.

Apple juice gone and food pretty secure considering Luffy wasn't around, Zoro turned to look at Phibrizzo. Putting an arm on the table and slinging the other around the back of his chair, the pirate figured that he could cut the kid some slack and not try to scare him away just yet.

"I'm a swordsman. And a pirate." He added, because at this point he was as much of one as he was of the other. "And I'm from the Grand Line, I guess. Been here a few days."

"Woooo~ow. A swordsman and a pirate?" Phibrizzo put his hands together and widened his eyes. "It must be hard to be both at once! You must be pretty skilled, huh?"

He leaned in closer. "Where is your sword now?" If Zoro still had one and any talent with it, maybe Phibrizzo could hire him for a job.

Zoro raised an eyebrow. This was one bizarre kid. Zoro's instincts told him that something was a little weird but he shrugged it off. He'd met stranger people who turned out alright in the end.

His only claim to his skill was a quiet, "I don't lose," but even that short statement weighed heavily on his consience. He should have been training now, not sitting around in an asylum talking to some kid. A heaviness settled itself at the back of his mind. It felt like Mihawk's stare.

"I have no clue." He didn't bother to correct the assumption that he only wielded one sword. That knowledge only mattered on the battle field anyway.

"Really?" He leaned in even closer."You don't lose? Ever?"

Cocking his head to the side, he continued, "But surely you must lose sometimes. Everyone always loses sometime."

Like, for example, when your omnipotent and omnipresent mother decides you have lost favor with her...

In Zoro's experience, children were annoying little bastards that often invaded his personal space without thought to whether he was yelling and holding his swords or otherwise. It stood to reason that this boy was no different, though the swordsman wasn't sure he liked where the conversation was going.

"I don't lose anymore," He amended with a humble nod. "I can't." Because though his only recent defeat had been at the hands of Mihawk, Zoro had still had Kunia deal him his first 2000 and 1 lessons. Funny that he was thinking of her now. He didn't normally like to dwell on the past.

Phibrizzo nodded. "So you have lost then." It seemed to him that this man must have some investment in his pride to assert his inablity to lose. That he could use to his advantage. "But you don't anymore? Why not? I think if you could lose once, you could lose again and again!"

Hellmaster would test the waters, see what sort of reaction that comment would produce. He waited, smirking inwardly. He could use this man for his amusement...

Zoro's eyes, which had been thoughtful and almost carelessly blank just a moment before focused sharply as if he'd just suddenly become aware of Phibrizzo's not quite child-like intentions. Of course, he had no idea what had disturbed his thoughts so all he really did was glance at the boy.

Calmly and almost intuitively, Zoro's eye caught Phibrizzo's and in that one moment his face held an expression so openly certain that the swordsman could have convinced an ice cube that it wouldn't melt in the sun. His answer came easy but also heavily laced with meaning.

"I don't lose because I promised I wouldn't." And that was that.

Zoro then chose that moment to pick up a hotdog with his fork and jam it into his mouth whole. He chewed slowly, his right cheek puffing up as he calmly regarded the rest of the food on his plate.

Oooo, that was a VERY impassioned reaction and Phibrizzo rather liked it. So, this man was very proud of his sword prowess, was he? Fanatically so, it seemed to Phbrizzo, combined with that lovely, lovely pride that couldn't be subdued. This was going to make "Roronoa Zoro" very mallable...

"I wonder if you're half the swordsman Mr. Zelgadis is..." he mumbled, seemingly by accident. He put a hand over his mouth. "Ah! Never mind me!"

Lowering his face in 'embarassment', he returned to his food.

Zoro blinked and sat up a little straighter. So there were other swordsmen here as well. Of what skill level Zoro would have to gauge for himself, but it all sounded promising.

"Never heard of the guy." Zoro stated bluntly, not caring if the information had been given by accident or not.

Phibrizzo shrugged, as if trying to skirt over the topic. "Ah, different worlds, I suppose. He's something of a sword legend in our world." He smiled sweetly. "But that isn't important at the moment. I mean, you don't even have a sword, mister." Phibrizzo didn't know if Zelgadis was armed either, but he didn't particularly want to find out. Anyhow, wouldn't it be better to give Zoro the impression he was?

He took a sip of his juice and poked at his food. "'course, if you wanted a sword or something, I think there are people you can ask."

"Yeah, I guess." As Zoro bit into a sausage, his mind idly toyed with the thought of a swordsman whose name not only reached the heavens but other worlds as well. How would that work, anyway? If searching for the Worlds Greatest Swordsman took him a while, how much harder would it be to locate the Greatest Swordsman in every world? More than a few years, probably.

"He's a legend, huh?" It really didn't matter to Zoro though, as Zelgadis wasn't the legend the pirate had sworn to defeat but if it came down to it, if they somehow managed to cross swords, at least he'd know his opponent.

Zoro was a straight-forward guy and didn't naturally assume things unless it involved some direction he had to run in to get somewhere important. He asked, "Does the guy have a sword?" mostly because he wanted to know how many were armed. If it came right down to it, Zoro wouldn't steal from anyone not in direct opposition of Luffy and the other Straw Hats but in the event that someone of the sort were to pop up...

Phibrizzo "hmm"-ed. He debated saying something like, "He did when he murdered my parents", but it was too late to go the "orphaned at the hands of the evil killer" path with Zoro. Instead, he settled on a different answer. "I should think so. Swords are his life and I would think one as dedicated to sword fighting as Mr. Zelgadis is would be quick to find one."

...well, he remembered that the chimera had a sword. He might not have been obsessed with it, as Lina Inverse's beloved body guard had been. Then again, if Zelgadis had been in possession of Gorun Nova, who knows how his life would have turned out. Anyhow, did any of this really matter?

"Ah." The noise was noncommittal at best. Zoro let a thoughtful quiet stretch out between them, perfectly comfortable lapsing into silence if the kid had nothing more to add. So far, this Zelgadis guy had no tales of defeating dragons or slicing whole galleons into two attached to his name. And while Zoro personally knew that boastful stories of that sort never spoke of a swordsman’s true worth in a fight, the greatness of a man was easy enough to feel for by word of mouth. There was a difference when the stories actually had some merit to them.

Zoro wasn't very convinced that Zelgadis was as incredible a swordsman as those on the Grand Line but, then again, in Zoro's mind until he'd crossed swords with them a swordsman was still just a man with a sharp blade.

...that was all Zoro had to say on the matter? 'Ah'? Phibrizzo snorted inwardly. That sort of a reaction hardly seemed worth the build up he'd given the ex-chimera. Why was he wasting his time with this one?

He mulled over his options. He could ignore Zoro, but that was boring for him as well; he could attempt to sweet talk the pirate into helping further his plans along or tormenting Zelgadis, though that didn't seem to be going anywhere; or he could make a new game of bothering his companion. Afterall, what else was he going to do with his time?

Had Zoro been sedated yet? That was always a bit of a laugh. Maybe he'd arrange that.

Zoro continued chewing his meal slowly, completely unaware of what was going on in his seatmate's mind. It was a few moments before he broke his silence.

"Ok," Zoro started, looking content as he put his fork down on a now empty plate. Heavy muscles were pulled taut as he shook off his morning lethargy with a quick stretch of his arms. Damn if he wasn't already missing his weights. "Kid. Wanna tell me why you aren't sitting with this legend guy or do kids from your world just really like to sit alone?"

The statement was delivered casually, almost carelessly as Zoro crossed his arms closed his eyes.

Because while the pirate was far from suspicious of Phibrizzo's intentions, his instinct was nagging at him. Little boys weren't this reserved, nor did they ever do things for no reason. It was best to just come out and ask about it.

Phibrizzo looked up at Zoro with the biggest eyes he could muster and acted confused. "Huh? What do you mean, Mister? How could someone like me sit with such a great man?"

Damn him. 'I shouldn't have to try this hard,' the Mazoku lord stewed. It annoyed him to have to continue to dress Zelgadis up as a great legend when in actuality he fell into the category of "things I can kill with a snap of my finger". Maybe if Zoro had flown into a proud rage and set off to attack the Chimera Hellmaster would feel differently, but this was demeaning. He was the supreme being-- at least, he usually was. Had the loss of his powers really made the great Hellmaster Phibrizzo so pathetic?

He was going to have to do something destructive and chaotic within the next few minutes or he was going to boil over with anger. Roronoa Zoro would not leave brunch without a new wound or two.

Zoro's eyes were still closed so he missed the visual of Phibrizzo's innocent act.

"Best time to try, don't you think?" He asked, leaning back in his chair. The comment was just as blase as the last one.

Cracking open an eye, Zoro continued his questioning. "How long've you been here anyway, kid? You're kinda small. You should stick with people you know."

Not that he cared, but maybe the kid didn't know any better. Survival was better taught by experience but Zoro wasn't above shoving overly girly looking kids in the right direction.

He smiled brightly back. "Oh, I don't know, Mister! I don't know anything about Swordsmen, so I couldn't dream of holding a conversation with the great Zelgadis." His lips twisted slightly. "Although, if all swordsmen act like you, then I guess I've been missing out."

He drummed his fingers on the table and glanced about the cafeteria as he answered the pirate's next question. "I've been here a few days. And there's no one I know here, except Mr. Zelgadis." He cocked his head and plastered a big grin on it. "And I just explained to you that I don't talk to him."

Zoro's eye opened to focus on the smiling boy. He observed him piercingly and waited for Phibrizzo to stop talking before closing his eye again.

He smirked smugly, amused despite what he was going to say. The slight sarcasm in the Mazoku's words didn't go completely unnoticed but that kind of thing (from a kid no less) didn't usually bother Zoro. In fact, it just egged him on. Children were fun to tease sometimes. "Guess you're screwed then, kid. You don't look like much of a fighter."

Phibrizzo gritted his teeth but forced the grin to remain on his face. "Ha ha! I can't fight at all, mister!" He put a finger to his mouth and blushed slightly. "I'm always relying on stronger people to protect me. It's kinda embarassing to admit."

His grin returned, although sheepish looking this time. "Ah, but you should be used to relying on stronger people too!"

Did the kid just call him WEAK??? Zoro's eyes snapped open and he frowned at Phibrizzo. He frowned hard.

The only ones who ever questioned his abilities were either dead, beaten up, or Sanji. Obviously, Zoro was in a bit of a pickle. He couldn't harm the kid, whether the insult had been meant or not; at least, not after Nami had expressedly told them all to avoid making trouble.

Eye ticking in barely concealed annoyance, Zoro leaned forward, a sharp half-grin half-scowl forming on his face.

"And what did you mean by that kid?"

"Well, you're a swordsman," Phibrizzo said in a tone befitting the phrase "duh". "There's only so much one can do with a sword. Sure, you swordsmen are impressive so long as you're armed, but everyone knows that, so once they take your blades away, you can't do much, can you?" He continued to smile. "True power isn't from a piece of sharpened metal, though I know it helps you feel powerful."

He crossed his legs and linked his fingers behind his head. "You're in the same boat as me right now, aren't you, Mister? No swords and you gotta rely on someone stronger because your only strength was within those weapons."

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