Isshin Dojo had a private dining room for the dojo master.
That is: a spacious, independent room.
Inside the room, a long table was set up, and everyone took their seats on round cushions on either side of it.
Usually, only Koshiro and his daughter ate here, so today's meal was considered a family dinner.
Besides Jon and Makino, there was also an uninvited guest—the moss-head.
He had returned from training too late, and the apprentices' food had already been eaten, so he had no choice but to disturb them.
This earned him a series of glares from Kuina, who found him quite an eyesore.
The dinner was simple: several kinds of stir-fried vegetables accompanied by a flavorful soup.
Koshiro was very health-conscious and rarely ate much meat, and Jon wasn't a picky eater; he could eat anything.
"Hey, Zoro! Your table manners are awful, eat slower!"
"Huh!? I've always eaten like this!"
"Not today, you're not allowed to snatch Mr. Jon's food!"
"...Kuina, you damn fangirl!"
At the dinner table, Kuina and Zoro bickered back and forth, looking like siblings with a very close relationship.
Jon smiled without responding, quietly eating his meal.
But after a short while, he keenly noticed a gaze occasionally staring at him.
Looking up, Kuina quickly retracted her gaze, casually holding her chopsticks, delicately chewing her food in small, ladylike bites.
—This unlucky child, why does she keep secretly looking at me?
Jon was too lazy to think much about it; his chopsticks moved like a blur, and in a blink, the plates stacked higher than his head, making Makino giggle.
"This guy, is his stomach a bottomless pit?" Zoro sat opposite him, dumbfounded. "His eating habits are like a starving ghost reincarnated…"
"Shut up!"
Kuina's face instantly darkened, and she glared at him fiercely. "It's only natural for a strong man to have a good appetite, isn't it? As for you, a guy who can't even beat a girl, how dare you eat so much?"
Jon: ?
He seemed to hear a conversation from the Green Green Grassland.
Miyangyang: Feiyangyang, your table manners are terrible!
Feiyangyang: Oh, hey Xiyangyang, your table manners are terrible!
Miyangyang: Shut up, a man should eat like this to be bold!
Jon's mind played out a grand drama, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously curled up.
Zoro was also furious; this hateful woman was simply double-standard!
He sullenly went to get more rice, and when he returned, he suddenly began to quietly observe Jon.
All the apprentices said this guy was terrifyingly strong, and even the master treated him differently. Was he really that strong?
He couldn't see through him.
Zoro narrowed his eyes. How about… trying him out tonight?
...…
The night was enchanting, and the moonlight was shy.
In the dojo courtyard, the playful bamboo swords of children occasionally made light sounds, startling the fish in the pond into frantic swimming.
Jon stood under the eaves, watching the apprentices train, when Makino suddenly walked over. "Jon~ The children have all returned to Windmill Village, and Mr. Garp has also heard about this."
"What did he say?" Jon asked.
"He said to thank you on behalf of the villagers, and he also said that if you're interested, you could be his student, and he'd take you into the Marines."
Makino hugged his arm and said, "I forgot to tell you, Mr. Garp is a Marine Vice Admiral, Hero Garp is him, you should have heard of him."
"I've heard of him, but I'm not interested."
Jon didn't want to be a Marine, nor did he want to be a pirate.
He had his own ambitions: to punch the World Government and kick the Revolutionary Army.
To raise the banner and become the boss of the uprising army!
Makino knew Jon wouldn't agree and didn't try to persuade him for Garp. She just nestled in his arms without speaking, quietly enjoying her husband's embrace.
Jon caressed her soft, perky butt, just about to use the H-word to separate his fingers and tease her pants, when a light tap landed on his shoulder.
Turning around, he saw the moss-head standing on a wooden chair, trying to meet his gaze.
"Mr. Jon! Here, this is for you."
"Oh, you really did pick fruit for me?"
"I didn't pick it for free! I say, let's have a spar."
Zoro grinned, shouldering two bamboo swords with a mischievous expression. "I heard that even that clown Buggy isn't worthy of you drawing your sword. I'm very curious how strong you really are, let me see?"
Jon looked down at the Mugetsu sword at his waist, frowned, and didn't respond.
"Zoro." Makino said with a smile, "Jon doesn't like playing with children, okay? Be good, go play by yourself."
"Hey, hey, hey, don't treat me like a child, woman! I'm a man, you know?"
Zoro made a shark-like mouth at Makino, then stared at Jon. "Can't you use a sword?"
Jon hadn't expected Zoro's intuition to be so accurate.
Although it seemed like a provocation, Jon suddenly found it quite interesting.
Then, let's do it.
Crushing children's dreams was also one of his great pleasures.
"Alright, I'll spar with you."
Jon drew his Mugetsu sword and handed it to Makino, using the scabbard as his weapon instead.
Zoro was furious, his eyes wide. "What! Are you looking down on me? You actually want to fight me with a scabbard? I'll kill you!"
Such big talk, little kid. Jon smiled and ignored Zoro.
Suddenly, without turning his head, he said:
"Kuina, you come along too?"
Huh?!
In the shadows of the corner, Kuina, hiding behind a pillar, widened her beautiful eyes, her slender hands tightly clutching the hem of her clothes.
When did he find her?
Speaking of which, when he was kneading Makino's butt, he seemed to smile at her.
Was that not an illusion?