Connor's Death?

| One Year Later |

In the yard of the retired knight Connor's house, two children were dueling with swords. A little girl with pink hair, and a boy with white hair are continually clashing their swords in an aggressive duel.

The white-haired boy manages to land a powerful blow on the little girl's head, which makes her fall to the ground while whimpering in pain.

''Damn it! Why can't I hit you, you old man in a child's body!''

''Pfft! As if you can do that. You're not gonna be able to defeat me with just one year of training. I trained all my life with my father, not to mention that I am a genius, so don't be so disappointed with the obvious result, pink gorilla!'' He says with a cheeky smile.

Currently, Freya is eight years old. It has been a year since Freya started training in Connor's house, her sword swing training has advanced to combat training.

What she didn't expect was that combat training was not with Connor himself, but with his son, Haru. Connor had to leave for an important job he received a few months ago, so he left Haru to train Freya.

At first the two didn't know how to interact with each other, as Connor never introduced the two of them to each other, but as time passed, the two developed a closer relationship as sparring partners.

In the beginning Freya thought it would be an easy spar, after all he is also a child. But after all this time, she was unable to hit a single attack on Haru.

Unknown to her, even though she never hit Haru, he couldn't help but think about her.

'This girl.....she only trained for one year, with only a few months training in the art of the sword, and she is already close to my level. Even though she still can't understand why she can't hit me, it won't be long. She is a monster when it comes to training, more than I am.' He thought as he looked at Freya on the floor, who was still whimpering and cursing.

Haru wondered what this little girl would become if she continued to advance like this. Surely she could become a sword master when she reaches middle age if she continues to train without interruption.

On the floor with a sore body, Freya started to think about why she can't hit Haru, and how she could do that.

'Shit! Why can't I hit this guy? Just seeing how arrogant he is, it really pisses me off! He looks like those guys in my past world who on the internet have the name xXWeebSlayerXx and loves to argue with little kids to inflate their own ego!'

'He moves too fast, how can I land a hit on him?' Freya sat on the floor for a few minutes, thinking. Haru just continued to watch her with a smile on her face. He could see that she was thinking deeply about how to get the sword to hit him.

After spending some time with Freya, Haru discovered that she is quite fun to be around, and soon he began to see her as a headstrong little sister. Because of that, whenever he saw Freya surpass herself, he felt a sense of pride towards her. Slowly, without him noticing, the arrogance he had was fading, and with each passing day, the more he wanted to see how far Freya could go.

After some time of reflection, a smile appeared on Freya's face, and for a moment he saw a dangerous glint in her eyes.

'She finally found out what was missing!' Haru thought while having a smile on his face.

Freya gets up and points at him with her sword, ''I finally understood why I couldn't hit you, Haru!''

''Oh? So tell me, what did you understood, pink gorilla?''

''I know why I can't hit you! It's the movement of your feet, I was too blind to not have seen it before, it's such a simple thing!'' She answers smugly.

'A simple thing? She's kidding right?' Haru thought in disbelief.

Connor had to leave to do an important job that was on another island, so he didn't have time to teach her the sword style footwork he uses, so her footwork is completely random; or rather, she doesn't have any footwork. It may seem simple, but footwork is a very advanced technique and can take a person to a whole new level. Soru is an example of this, it may not be a footwork related to the sword, but it is still a footwork technique.

''And now that you know this, what are you going to do?'' he asks excitedly wondering what she would do.

''Now that I know about it, it will be different! I will hit you so much that you will start calling me big sister!''

''Heh, I want to see you try. Bring it on!'' Haru responds by signaling with his hand for her to attack.

The two of them moved away and stayed in their positions. Haru placed the sword above his head, while Freya placed the sword in front of the body.

''Here I go!'' Freya exclaims. She stepped forward and attacked with the sword horizontally.

''Not today, pinky!'' Haru defended himself by placing the sword side to his body with the hilt of the sword pointing up. Seeing his defense work, Haru moved his sword upward with great force, to try to disarm Freya.

Freya, realizing what Haru wanted to do, took out her sword and walked away from him.

'He hasn't used his footwork yet, I need to focus'. Freya thought.

'She's more cautious now that she knows why I always have the advantage, that's a good thing. Before, she just ran and tried to hit me. She really progresses very fast!' Haru was neutral on the outside, but on the inside he was happy, no one his age could match him, and now a girl three years younger is fighting him as equals.

''Let's try again!'' Freya advanced again towards Haru and began to unleash a sequence of horizontal and vertical attacks, leaving Haru on the defensive.

Heavy sounds of wooden swords clashing could be heard even outside Connor's yard.

Haru was managing to defend himself from her sequence of attacks, but it was not easy, Freya may be younger, but she had a lot of strength in those thin arms.

In a small instant, in her last attack, Freya seemed to have got a little tired and took time to reposition her sword to launch another attack. Haru noticed this opening, he moved his feet quickly and attacked.

'Too bad for you!' He thought with a smirk.

When Haru brought his sword closer to Freya's head, he could see a small smile on her lips, as if she wanted this to happen.

'Shit!'

Haru realized that this was a feint, but he couldn't stop his attack now.

Freya put strength on the foot and kicked the ground, rolling diagonally. Seeing that Haru could not stop his attack in time, Freya swung the sword and hit Haru in the back with force.

The sword hits Haru's back and creates a loud cracking sound. Freya put all her frustration and anger into that attack.

Haru drops his sword and falls to his knees on the ground, and immediately tries to massage ihis back, but Freya hited him right in the middle of it, and his hands can't get there.

''Argh! Fuck!This hurts a lot!'' He exclaims in pain.

Freya put her hands on her hips and started laughing like a generic villain,''Now you know how I felt, and for the first time, I managed to hit you! Now is the time to call me big sister!''

Haru gets up with the help of his sword and grunts,'' I will admit, I didn't expect you to do a feint, after all you always attack without thinking too much, but don't be arrogant. Now that I know you can make feints, I just need to be more cautious and you won't be able to hit me anymore.''

''Ow, don't be a bad loser, you cry-baby!''

''Huh?! Don't call me that, you flat board!''

''Flat board?! I am still only eight years old, they will still grow up, you bastard!'' Freya responds with irritation.

'They will still grow .... right?' She thought in worry.

Some people passing through the garden could not help but sigh at the sight of this common scene. After the two started training together, this scene became commonplace, and people who passed by Connor's house every day see the two fighting; whether with weapons, or words.

While they argued, a person was standing outside the yard next to them, watching them fight, and then interrupted them, ''You two seem to be having fun.''

Surprised by the sudden visit, the two looked towards the voice, and they saw a nun dressed in a very revealing way.

''Eh? Head Nun? What are you doing here?'' Freya asks.

''Oh, well, I came here to give news to little Haru.'' She responds without much emotion, as usual.

Haru raises his eyebrow, ''News for me?''

''Yes. Can we talk inside your house?''

For a moment, Head Nun made a sad expression, which Freya never thought she would witness, and quickly began to feel anxious.

'Something is not right.' Freya thought.

Haru, seeing that he was known to Freya, didn't think much, ''Of course, it looks like Freya knows you, so I'm going to open the door for you, just wait a moment.''

Haru leaves the yard, enters his house and opens the door, letting Head Nun in.

Entering the house, the Head Nun asked the two of them to sit down. Then she also sat and looked at Haru in silence for a while.

''You know, I've been friends with your dad for a long time, but I never visited his house, I didn't even meet his son, you.'' She comments with melancholy.

''Really? He never told me about you.'' Haru laughs. It was common for her father to forget important things.

''Oh don't worry about it, it's normal that he didn't say anything.'' She says while waving her hand. It didn't matter whether he knew about her or not. In fact, it was wise for Connor not to tell about her.

''Head Nun, is everything alright?'' Freya realized that the more she spoke, the sadder she seemed.

Head Nun was silent for a moment, and then turned to Haru, ''Haru, I received bad news this morning.'' She says bluntly.

Haru sighs,''So say what it is, stop with all this suspense. I need to go back to training, dad would beat the shit out of me if he knew I skipped training.''

Freya was surprised, because right after Haru said that, Head Nun's expression was visibly sad and hurt.

Pulling herself together, she stares into Haru's eyes and says, ''Haru.....your father, he.....passed away.''

''Eh? W-What do you mean?''Haru asks, confused by such news.

''Connor died in combat yesterday.'' She responds, not stopping to look into Haru's eyes.

Haru lowers his head for a moment, then explodes in rage, ''Stop lying! My father can't die! He is the strongest swordsman I know!''

''Haru...''

Freya could feel her heart ache, her past life parents died when she was young, but she was never close to them, and neither were they to her, so she didn't really care much about their deaths. If this news is true, then she has no idea how Haru is feeling right now.

''Listen, boy. I'm as sad as you are. He's been my friend for over twelve years, but there's nothing I, or you, can do about it, he...is gone.'' She answers resolutely.

Haru starts to shake and tears fall from her eyes like waterfalls. Head Nun could see in Haru's eyes that her mind was now in a great state of confusion, fear and anger.

She sighs, ''He knew about the threats, so he wrote a letter and left it with me, in case he couldn't come back to you.''

The Head Nun took a letter from between her breasts and placed it on the table in front of Haru.

''I've already done what I should do here, goodbye. And I'm sorry for your loss, Haru. Connor was a good man, he deserved more.'' She got up from the chair, headed for the door, and left.

Haru fell into the chair like a doll without strings, and Freya quickly went to his side, trying to comfort him.

''Haru, are you-''

''Leave me alone.....''

''But-''

''LEAVE ME ALONE!!''

Haru pushes Freya away and runs to his room, locking the door.

Freya, seeing that her friend was not in conditions to talk, with one last look at him, she got up, and she left.

—————————

| A Week Later |

Freya was very worried, it had been a week since Haru don't leave his house, she don't even now if he is eating or drinking something.

At the moment, she is in front of Haru's bedroom door, and she is continually knocking and calling out to him.

''Haru, please open the door, it's been a week, stop hiding yourself!''

She calls out to him, but there is no answer.

''You know what? Enough whit this shit!''

Freya took a few steps back, and then kicked the wooden door.

The lock on the door broke, and finally Freya was able to enter, but what she didn't expect, was the bad smell and the mess that was in the room.

''Holy shit! Smells like the boy's bathroom in the orphanage!''

The room was all dark and messy, which made it difficult to her to see.

She hears a whisper in a corner of the room, ''Leave me alone.....''

''Haru?''

Haru was in the corner of the wall, with his body covered with a blanket, only his head was out of it. His eyes were lifeless; he looked like a dead person.

''Haru, get up.'' Freya approached Haru and took his arm, pulling him up.

''I said it leave me alone!'' Haru pushed Freya, but could not make her let go, he was too weak.

''For fuck's sake Haru! Get yourself together! I'm also sad for Master, but sitting here crying won't help at all!''

''Shut up! You don't know what it's like to lose someone, not even parents you have!''

Freya immediately frozen yp and her face darkens.

Realizing what he said, Haru looks at Freya with an apologetic look.

'' I-I'm sorry Freya, I didn't ...I didn't mean to say that.''

Freya was pissed, but she forced herself to calmed down, ''You know, Haru. I may not have parents, but I didn't lamented it at any time, losing someone close to you must hurts, a lot. But do you think Master would want to see you here? In this state? And what abou your dream? Have you forgotten about it?''

Haru bites his lips, ''My dream.....without Dad, I don't know if I have the courage to make my dreams come true.''

Freya let go of him and looks at him with determination, ''If you don't have courage for yourself, then I will have courage for you!''

Haru looks at her in confusion, and she continues, ''If you don't have confidence in exploring the world alone, then have confidence in me and let's explore the world together!''

She reaches out to him, ''Let's go be pirates together, and turn this world upside down!''

Haru's eyes widen at the idea. He knew of Freya's plans, and Freya also knew of his plans, but he never thought that the two of them could fulfill their wishes together.

''Do you want me to join your pirate crew?''

''Yeah! Your dream is to travel the world and discover all the secrets, right? There is no better method to explore unknown and forbidden places to discovery their secrets than being a pirate! And you know how to navigate, and I need a navigator on my crew, what do you think? Do you want to come with me?'' She says with a smile.

'' I don't know....''

Haru squirms under the blanket. He really liked the idea, but he's still afraid. Afraid to leave his house who has so many memories, afraid that maybe your father is still alive and that he won't be here to say 'welcome back.'

Freya kept looking at Haru, waiting for a decisive answer, she was determined to take him along.

Haru then remembered his father and him talking about his dream, how his father said that to fulfill his dream, he couldn't go with Haru. When Haru asked why, Connor never answered. It was then that he remembered the letter Connor had left him. He still vividly remembers every word written in the letter.

----------

Haru, if you received this letter, then I'm dead.

I'm really sorry for leaving you and the girl alone, but I had to do this, this is bigger than all of us, Haru.

I sincerely wanted to tell you what is going on, but I can't, it could put us all our plans in danger, and you two too.

But remember, if you want to know why I couldn't come back to you, and also about the secret of this corrupt world, then you must become strong.

Become strong and go to the Grand Line, your answers will be waiting for you there, and never forget, I love you, son.

----------

With those words ringing in her head, Haru finally looks Freya in the eye, ''If I go with you, will you promise to help me find out about how my father died?''

Freya can see Haru's eyes gain light again.

''Yes, I promise you!'' She answers.

Haru stands up and drops the blanket, then squeezes Freya's hand, ''Then I accept. I look forward to working with you, captain!''

Freya saw in Haru's determination and gave a a sincere, big smile.

''That's the stuff!''