One Piece: Dream of Immortality

Cherry scooped up the sword that Momonosuke was using. She didn't need Sakura Tengoku if she was just playing around.

"Let's see how far you can go!" Cherry cackled and burst into motion.

She didn't use Soru. That kind of speed, combined with Cherry's raw strength, might instantly end the bout. That wasn't what she wanted here; a sparring match was about skill, not brute force.

Cherry didn't get too many opportunities to have an honest sword fight. Granted, that was mostly because she was a dirty cheat, but the point still stood. Zoro didn't really seek her out for it, the coward, and she didn't really want to push him on that… too often; it was fun to bully him sometimes.

Now, though, she was in a whole country full of sword hooligans to bully! Really, a girl couldn't ask for anything more than that.

Kiku's eyes shot open as wide as they could go. She hadn't expected Cherry's relatively tiny frame to be capable of such speed. When Cherry's wild one-handed strike pummeled into her two-handed defense, she was once again shocked by how much force was contained within.

Immediately Kiku was on the back foot, desperately fending off an onslaught of slashes. There was no reason or flow to them that could be followed, only insanity. Kiku's instincts screamed two contradicting conclusions at her; that she was fighting both a rabid beast and a master swordsman at once!

After a particularly powerful upwards strike sent Kiku's guard high over her head, Cherry dropped low to the ground and suddenly Kiku's legs were no longer beneath her.

*stab*

Cherry's sword stuck in the earth a few hairs away from Kiku's unprotected neck.

"Would you like to play again?" Cherry asked, the smile that would haunt Kiku's dreams replaced by one of a milder mirth.

It was that question that allowed Kiku to remember she wasn't actually fighting for her life against a mad woman. "Oh… okay."

Cherry barked a laugh at the response. "Not one to shy away from defeat, eh? We'll see how long it takes for you to change your mind, then!"

Kiku felt a shiver down her spine, but excitement also bubbled up in her stomach. How long had it been since she had been so thoroughly and completely bested by another swordsman? Years at least, not even counting the twenty she had skipped over. It had been Oden at that time, but he was not one to teach and such occasions had been rare indeed.

It didn't matter if Cherry fought dirty, either. She was about to go to war against pirates from the outside world. Having some understanding of how they fought would be a valuable experience.

"You're looking at me like I'm an interesting book. Never seen that before… weird," Cherry said. "Oh, were you hoping to learn how to fight someone like Kaido?"

"Er…" Kiku wasn't sure what to say after being seen through so easily. "Somewhat, I suppose…"

"Well, I'm not a massive brute like him, but I'd wager I'm stronger than he is… Oh, I know!" Cherry reached into a pocket that her outfit hadn't had before and started pulling out piles of gold. "Here we are!"

"What's this for…?" Kiku didn't understand.

Cherry didn't answer, instead pulling all the gold together. Beneath the gazes of everyone present, the gold started to meld together as if it were only clay. Then she started shaping it into a familiar shape. A spiked metal club; a kanabo to be specific. One that looked much the same as Kaido's weapon of choice, except the fact that it was smaller and made of solid gold.

"Up on your feet, then, Kiku! I haven't got all day to thrash you!" Cherry laughed.

Kiku scrambled to her feet and readied herself.

"Ahem!" Cherry cleared her throat as she ran a hand over it. "Oh, have you come to avenge your master? How foolish! You will die just how he did… like a dog."

Kiku felt red hot rage flow through her veins. Cherry's Kaido impression was perhaps just a bit too good. Kiku hadn't been able to gain any momentum in the last bout, but now she was the one on the offense!

'Wow, that's some thick killing intent…' Cherry noted as she swung her kanabo in the same sweeping motions that she had seen Kaido do, batting Kiku's blade away. It wasn't common that someone's desire to kill was strong enough to register with observation haki.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Momonosuke had frozen up. He probably had a bad experience with the big bastard, but Cherry wasn't going to let up on the voice. Both Kiku and Momonosuke ought to learn to control themselves better, especially if they found themselves in the real Kaido's presence.

"WORORORORO!!!" Cherry cried as she smashed her kanabo into Kiku's side and sent her flying.

…

Kiku couldn't move any more. Even so, it took her almost ten minutes after the fight was over to calm down the simmering hatred in her heart.

"Kaido isn't here," she told herself. She knew that the whole time, of course, but it was hard to listen to your sense of reason through the sound of blood rushing in your ears.

"No, he isn't," Cherry squatted down next to her. The golden kanabo, cut clean in half, was laying off to the side.

"You got the bastard's laughter spot on," Kiku grimaced.

"It's pretty hard to forget it. Too annoying," Cherry agreed.

Kiku chuckled. "It must be nice to think of that monster as merely 'annoying'."

"It's very nice," Cherry retorted. Kiku couldn't help but snort in laughter at how blase she was about it.

Cherry looked over at Momonosuke. Sukiyaki had him and the two girls sat cross legged in front of him as he guided them in meditation. It was mostly for Momonosuke's benefit, though. The boy might have refused if he thought he was being singled out.

Momonosuke hadn't taken Cherry's Kaido impression well at all. Sukiyaki had stepped in about halfway through the fight to help him, and to tremendous effect. By the end, Momonosuke didn't even flinch when Cherry pulled out the laugh, the very picture of serenity.

Honestly, the boy impressed Cherry. She had half a mind to make him her apprentice with how quickly he had taken to meditation. Even if he had dog shit potential in cultivation, he'd be able to make decent gains with how strong his focus was alone. And given his heritage, it was doubtful that his potential was poor.

"He can't start right away, regardless," Cherry muttered.

"What's that?" Kiku asked.

"Just thinking about kidnapping Momo, don't worry about it," Cherry patted her head.

Kiku weakly swatted her hand away and glared at her, but there wasn't any heat in her gaze. All that heat had been used up in the fight.

"Hehe, but seriously, that boy's got greatness in him. He'll just need to be older before I could formally take him as an apprentice." Cherry saw no reason to hide her thoughts.

Kiku opened her mouth, but no words came forth from her mouth. Hearing Cherry's honest praise for her young master, it was hard to deny her outright.

"Until he's older. Then you can ask him yourself," Kiku finally spoke. When that time came, Momonosuke wouldn't be a boy any longer, and could make his own decisions.