Bab 20: *****

S.C.S Chapter 20: The Sea

Ian and Zoro, who had always believed that Kuina would wake up, did not expect for it to take so long.

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, six years have passed. After all this time, Kuina was still unconscious.

Apart from not being able to wake up, her body had kept growing. Lying on the ground, she became a slim beautiful girl. Because almost all the people in the dojo were men, Master Koshiro was insecure to let them take care of Kuina, so he specifically invited an aunt from the village to take care of her, feeding and grooming her every day.

Every day, Ian and Zoro took time to talk to Kuina, especially Zoro, constantly saying how much they have become stronger every day, trying to stimulate her to wake up. However, they didn't know why she didn't wake up, maybe the intensity of the stimulation was not enough. Although her eyes would have some movements every time she hears this topic, she couldn't really wake up.

Zoro worked harder and harder every day. It seemed that he wanted to use this way to alleviate the deep anxiety in his heart.

He even took the Wado Ichimonji from Master Koshiro and began his Santoryu path. He believed that since Kuina could not exercise now, it was up to him to keep going and reach their shared dream.

What about Ian?

Ian was sitting in the dojo at this time, face to face with Master Koshiro.

In the past six years, Ian has gradually grown up. His long-term exercise has given him a straight and robust figure. Now he is 18 years old, 182 centimeters tall, with a long black hair, tied in a ponytail behind his head, his face is tranquil, and his mouth often shows a slight dashing smile, just like Master Koshiro.

Over the years, the most influential person to Ian, of course, was Koshiro, who was a teacher and a father to him. So it was not surprising that he would almost resemble him.

However, today's Koshiro also has a lot of white hair, although his reception has been moderate as water, Kuina's situation still made him feel a little more anxious.

Old teacups were filled with fresh hot water. The tea leaves were stretched out at a suitable temperature to form a beautiful green. Kuina was in a coma, and every day at noon, bringing the Master's tea has become one of the things that Ian must do.

When the teacup was lifted, the foam was blown gently. After Ian took a sip of tea, put the cup down and said, "Master, I want to go out to sea!"

For Ian's words, Koshiro was not surprised. He smiled and said, "If I remember correctly, that's what you said just two years ago."

Indeed, he was anxious to say that Ian was not like Zoro, even two years ago, Ian had wanted to go to sea to find a cure for Kuina, but at that time, Koshiro stopped him. The young man who had just turned 16 years old, wanted to go out alone at sea, but Koshiro was absolutely not at ease with that.

Now two years later, Ian had once again mentioned that old story. This time he has made a decision, even if Koshiro objected, he wouldn't take it to account and would just do as he wish.

However, the strange thing was that Koshiro did not object after listening. He just sighed: "Ian, do you know? I've always regarded you as my real son. The reason why I didn't want Kuina to inherit the dojo was that besides being a girl, I actually wanted you to inherit the dojo."

Ian didn't talk, he just kept looking quietly at Koshiro.

"But over the years, I have seen clearly that your mind was not in Frost Moon Village!" Koshiro continued: "A boy is a boy, even if your body was here, but your soul was yearning for the outside world."

"Gomen'nasai(sorry), Sensei!" Ian bowed his head and apologized.

"Don't say sorry!" Koshiro laughed and said, "I know very well that in such an era, there is no power that would prevent a man from going to the sea, so if you want to go, I won't stop you from going."

"Hai." Ian nodded.

"Has the time been decided?" Koshiro asked.

"Tomorrow!" Ian says seriously.

"So urgent?" Koshiro was somewhat surprised.

"The sooner, the better!" Ian smiled, "Kuina has been sleeping for so long, so I must go as fast as possible."

Ian decided to go to the sea as soon as possible. First, he wanted to find a way to cure Kuina. Second, he wanted to try and see if he could find a Devil Fruit for her.

In her unconscious situation, Kuina naturally can't exercise. With her strong personality, if she wakes up and sees that there was a large gap between her and Zoro, he was afraid she couldn't accept it anyway. Ian, who is her brother, naturally needs to consider for his sister. Devil fruit is undoubtedly the best way to become stronger, but he doesn't know if Kuina will accept it.

In fact, in these six years, Ian also tried to contact Ivankov again, but strangely, he was unable to get in touch with him.

Remembering what Ivankov said last time that he has some affairs in the Kamabakka Kingdom, Ian suddenly recalled that in this timeline, Ivankov seems to have been arrested by the Marines! And with an unwarranted reason, he was imprisoned in the Impel down… Ian could not count on him.

Ian wanted to find a Devil Fruit for Kuina, Koshiro knew it, and Ian mentioned it to him before, but Koshiro didn't take it seriously. In his opinion, the Devil Fruit is evil! The only thing a swordsman can really rely on is his own sword.

But this was Ian's good intentions, Koshiro would not object, but he asked: "What about the boat? How would you get a ship?"

"I found Uncle Hull in the village! He will give his old fishing boat!" Ian smiled and said: "Uncle Hull is a good man. He didn't want to accept my money, and he gave me a map of the nearby islands."

"The sea is unpredictable. You should be careful when you are alone!" Koshiro warned him.

For this, Ian was not worried, he was a child growing up at the seaside, so he was good with seawater. Even if he encounters wind and waves, he has the ability to protect himself.

"Now that you have made up your mind, go ahead!" Koshiro said: "I will leave you alone, I will not send you out!"

He didn't want to accompany him to the shore because he may not be able to bear the sadness brought by parting, Ian naturally understands this and says nothing. He just bent down, and gently touch the ground with his forehead, then got up and walked out of the dojo.

The next day, in the seaside.

Master Koshiro did not come, but there were still many people who came to see him before he leaves. Except for Zoro, all the other young teachers and disciples in the dojo came.

These snotty children have grown up, their image improved a lot, and they looked more pleasant.

"Brother Ian, remember to come back and see us!"

"Ian brother, we will miss you!"

The younger brothers surrounded Ian and shouted, this has not changed much. The youngest one even cried.

Although Ian is usually a black-bellied person, he often plays tricks on Zoro, such as fooling him, flicking him, hammering him, but he was very good to these young disciples. That's right Kuina is in a coma, but he took over her responsibility of caring for these young disciples, and now Ian is going to the sea, so they were naturally reluctant to give him up.

Ian patted them comfortably on the shoulder and felt some sigh in his heart. If it wasn't for his system, with his qualifications, it is estimated that he is now similar to these young disciples. Looking at them was like seeing himself before he was 10 years old.

Feeling a gaze, Ian turned around and found Zoro standing by with his arms crossed.

When Zoro first came to the Dojo, he was almost nine years old. He fought Kuina for a year, earning a record of zero wins and 2001 loses. Six years later, he was 16 years old. Now he already has the style of his well-known appearance, a green algae head was still so conspicuous. This guy's hair was long and shaved by his own sword, so it was messy like Sh*t. He replaced his Keikogi with a short-sleeved T-shirt, and three long swords were placed on his waist. The only good thing was that he hadn't put on his earrings at that time. He was afraid that Master Koshiro would scold him.

When Ian looked over, the fellow hummed, turned his head and ignored Ian.

"Hey, kid!" Ian couldn't help laughing and said, "You know that I don't want to go out without you, but I'm helpless!"

Zoro knew that Ian was going to the sea, so he insisted on going with Ian, but Master Koshiro refused. Just as Ian wasn't allowed to go to the sea much earlier, Master Koshiro was afraid that Zoro was too young. Ian naturally obeyed the words of Koshiro, so he refused the request of Zoro to travel together.

For this reason, Zoro had been angry all night.

When he came to him, Ian patted his shoulder and said, "You have to wait for a little longer. I'll go to the sea first to find a way to cure Kuina. If I haven't come back in two years, then you can go out to the sea on your own."

"Wordy! You don't have to say it, I know that!" Zoro turned his head away from Ian and said, "It's you. If Kuina wakes up during this time, don't blame me for saying bad things about you!"

"Ha! Say what you want!" Ian winked at him. "Don't forget, I'm Kuina's brother, and you're her opponent. Who do you think she'll believe?"

After that, Ian pressed on his bear ear cap that was about to be blown up by the wind, and smiled: "Okay, I've to go now!"

"Wait!" Zoro's voice came and stopped him. Then he reached him and handed over a long sword with a white scabbard. He twisted his head and said, "This is the Wado Ichimonji, you've got to take it with you!"

It was a tough thing to say, but was he really worried about him? Why else would he want to give him such a good sword?

Ian smiled but did not take it. "No, this sword is not suitable for me. You should keep it. When Kuina wakes up, you should give it back to her!"

When he reached the shore, Ian untied the rope and threw it into the boat. Then he pushed the small fishing boat into the sea and then jumped in.

"Goodbye, I'm leaving!" Ian waved to the people on the shore.

With the reluctant voices of the people, Ian pick up the oar and rowed the boat farther and farther into the distance till the boat was only a tiny speck before vanishing from their eyes…