#Zoro was the FIRST person she told she considered him a friend

[uweiy]

OooH oop oop has anyone got a fic where Zoro apologizes to Nami for the

"Because you're my friend you idiot

–You said it yourself. you don't have any friends"

[eureka-its-zico]

Chaos in Their Bones: Wanted

Ongoing Series

Synopsis: After the defeat of Arlong, at Arlong Park, the five of you promised to yourselves, and each other, to achieve your dreams on your way to the Grand Line helping Luffy search for the One Piece. It seems simple enough, except for the minor detail that you died. Coming back from the brink of death, Zoro and the others have noticed you haven’t been the same. You aren’t sure if it’s Death himself chasing after you or something far more sinister. But facing your inner demons won’t be the only fight you’ll have to worry about when family comes calling. 

Pairing: Roronoa Zoro x Reader

Genre: established relationship, idiots to lovers, angst, mentions of smut, (will add stuff later) it’s an adventure, y’all!

Words: 6.3+

A/N: Hello my darlings! It is I! Your resident clown! I hope you are all doing well!! Finally, I have finished the prologue to my version of One Piece filler. I am so incredibly excited to share this with you guys while we wait for the next season of OPLA to arrive! I’m even more excited to share in this journey with all of you. This first chapter is pretty heavy and gives a brief backstory to what took place in season one with CITB, just in case anyone comes in reading this one first.. I’ll always do my best to make sure there are proper warnings in place for each chapter and, if I ever happen to miss one, please let me know. Now, let us properly get on with our new adventure.  As always, I hopeyou all enjoy this! Much much love, Jenn

p.s. shout out to @deadneverlander for always being my clown bestie and the bestest editor-in-chief

Warnings: mentions of previous torture, trauma, and gore

Chaos in Their Bones Master List

It was odd how the body adjusted to change before the mind realized what was happening. How Zoro could barely remember when he’d strictly stopped thinking of just singularly him and began to think about them. The one specific goal he’d carried with him his whole life - an armor that entombed him - suddenly no longer held the same weight as it had before.

Zoro was part of a crew now. It felt unbelievable when he thought about it, but he wasn’t a part of just any crew.

Zoro was a part of Luffy’s crew - his first mate. 

Kuina always told him he needed to lighten up. Get some friends. If only she could see him now. A band of misfits who’d become family. 

(Except for the waiter. Zoro still wasn’t sure about that guy.)

That one word, family, bounced around the inside of his skull, shattering every ounce of the solitary life he still tried to hold on to. After Kuina died he used their promise for a solid reason for his loneliness. It protected him - shielded him from having to go out and be a part of the world. While others thought he led a lonely life, Zoro believed it was simply a life free from distractions. A life centered around one goal,  a promise, and that didn’t allow room for error. 

And then everything changed the minute a boy in a straw hat stumbled on him tied up in a yard. Zoro recalled how instantly he’d found Luffy annoying; a pest. A nuisance in the form of gangly limbs and possibly too much leg, until Luffy asked him one simple question: “Is that all you are? Is that all you want?”

It surprised the hell out of him when he’d considered answering him. It surprised him even more when he did. Luffy didn’t laugh when Zoro told him, either. Instead, he listened and looked at Zoro like it was more than a possibility. Anything felt possible when you were with Luffy. The words spilled out of him with such conviction he was sure they could raise Kuina from the dead. He wasn’t sure why he’d even answered Luff. Once he did there was no denying his words had solidified a belief in Luffy that Zoro’s dream wasn’t just a possibility, but that Zoro would succeed in doing it. 

The only person who’d shared in his dream believed it would become a reality the harder they trained, had been Kuina. Sharing your hopes and dreams with another person was one of the deepest connections you could inadvertently make. Suddenly, just from sharing a few words, your entire being was stripped bare. Open for everyone to see down to the very marrow of your bones who you were and, because of this, Zoro didn’t share lightly. He couldn’t risk someone laughing at him or telling him he never stood a chance. 

The Demon Pirate Hunter would burn the heavens down if it meant he could get what he wanted.

So, Zoro waited for Luffy to laugh in his face. To try and curse his spirit along with his dream. Instead, Luffy believed just as vehemently as Zoro believed in himself. The possibilities were endless. One distraction - addition - to his life was something he could handle. 

Then Zoro stumbled upon you and having just one more distraction didn’t seem all that bad.

 Suddenly, being the world’s greatest swordsman wasn’t all he wanted. 

He wanted you too.

The universe seemingly conjured you into existence - a magical pain in his ass. The more he’d tried to deny his feelings, the more annoyingly louder they grew. If fate was real, it had a terrible sense of humor - reminding Zoro a little too often that even the best-laid plans carried detours.  

Neither of you was willing to admit that the universe seemed to be playing a cruel joke. The universal bingo card the two of you carried, chock-full of goals and aspirations, and not a single mention of…well, not a mention of either of you were on it. 

Zoro didn’t believe in fates. Magical beings who dictated your future and the outcomes of your life and the supposed powers they wielded in who entered and left. He could be incredibly stubborn. You called him hard-headed. He just liked to think of it as knowing what he wanted. The universe proved to beat him at his own stubborn game, however. He’d been a fool to try and reject what everyone saw, but Zoro and you…the two of you felt it. 

Falling in love with you had been as easy as breathing.

He tried to deny it for so long - his tunnel vision widening just to catch glimpses of you - bright and warm and alive to cast sunshine into the hollowest parts of him. The ones he’d left empty ever since Kuina died. He protected himself from having to feel that overwhelming feeling of grief again. No matter what anyone said, it never got better. It didn’t get easier. You just slowly learned to live with the empty space their loss created and, because of this, Zoro never allowed people to get too close. 

His drinking kept him languid and carefree.  

Zoro didn’t believe in magic. 

It wasn’t in his nature to believe in things he couldn’t see - couldn’t feel their weight in the palms of his hands to make or break his world. The very idea of magic alone was the biggest unseen force he could think of. But when you looked at him, cheeks rosy with a blush he gave you, he swore he’d become a believer. The world was brighter, anything was possible, and the stars in your reflected a constellation of every step you’d ever taken that led you to one another.

He didn’t think it was possible for his world to shift - to change - all over again until that night in your room. 

Zoro stood there paralyzed - transfixed. Cool, remain cool were the words that darted through his head but how could he? He’d spent all day endlessly teasing you. Every chance he got to bump against you, shamelessly removing his shirt just to feel the hunger of your gaze slid over his skin, or to dip his hands low, impossibly lower, was a chance he had to take. Just to make your cheeks flush that pretty pink hue that was just for him. 

He wasn’t an idiot. He didn’t miss the heat that shimmered underneath. How could he miss it when he’d felt it too? The pleasure in knowing he was the cause for every heavy breath that rose in your chest. Pupils blown wide and body preening at his touch. No matter the breath that stuttered out of you or the looks you gave, Zoro remained in control. 

Perfect. Control.

Until he’d opened his door to find you covered only in a towel, droplets cascading down your skin and those eyes - god your eyes - looking at him like that. 

Cool. Play it fucking cool. 

He’d repeated it to himself over and over. A mantra that wasn’t much of a mantra because he was failing miserably. Even after he admitted he’d been waiting to hear you make it safely back to your room. He would’ve left it at that - teasing you one more time to have that good ol’ blush of yours see him off to bed. But then his eyes caught the way your hands protectively tightened on the towel. 

The way you self-consciously hide the worst of the damage that Arlong - that fucking fishman - and his men had done. You tried so fucking hard to make everyone believe you were okay. The wounds on your body practically all but healed, while some were slowly beginning to show they’d remain as scars. He worried that you’d see yourself as less because of it. How could he get you to see that your scars were beautiful because those scars meant that you were still here. With him. 

But Zoro knew the scars that plagued you the heaviest were in your mind. 

You thought you were less because of them but, god you were so much more because of them. And suddenly, hiding inside the safety of his room didn’t matter anymore. 

Zoro had to show you - make you understand - how remarkable you were. Arlong and his men could never take away the way his breath still caught - trapped and frantic - in his throat every time he looked at you. You’d been doing it since that first night at Kaya’s: his eyes held prisoner as his gaze helplessly followed your every move.

Even when you were a brat and stole his glass of wine.

He didn’t think it was possible for the feelings that brewed behind the safety of his walls could get worse. To overwhelm and flood his senses until what little common sense he had left evaporated completely. 

He was wrong. 

That night, Zoro learned the only thing prettier than your blush was the sounds you made. Just for him. 

Always for him.

He knew everything changed that night in your room. And how could it not? The desire to touch you, show you with his mouth, his body, all of him, every piece of himself that you’d claimed, just how much you were a part of him. How deeply you’d woven yourself into the fabric of his being, hollowed out his bones, and made a home. 

There was an unmistakable connection Zoro felt towards you. It was something new that he’d never felt. He didn’t know what to call it. Love? How could one word seem to hold so much weight? The power to plant flowers in the garden of his rage or completely shatter it. There was no fucking in between and that was frightening. 

Fucking terrifying

Zoro couldn’t formulate words to describe the invisible teether that coiled around you both. Or the fear it created. A terror like a serpent that constricted tighter and tighter around his heart, more and more with every passing second. If Arlong could take you. If he could…you almost…

No no, don't fucking think it! Don’t speak it. 

The reality was it could happen again. 

The fear of someone taking you - hurting you -  became all too real. 

He’d almost lost you. 

Zoro would never admit to it. Say it out loud or allow it any space during his waking day. But when he was asleep the fear threatened to slip through his control. It formed itself into nightmares that painted out every outcome that could’ve happened in vivid detail. Painted in tragic detail into the whites of his eyes on how close he’d come to saying goodbye. 

Save me… pirate hunter…

He had saved you, hadn’t he? 

That day haunts his waking hours even now. It’s what wrestles him awake even with your head tucked underneath his chin, his arm draped across your back, and the steady beating of your heart pulsing against his chest. He’d arrived busting through Arlong’s gate with Luffy and crew, his breath caught in his throat not knowing what they’d find. 

What greeted him was the last thing Zoro thought he’d find. Your body, crucified, arms painfully splayed to make a perfect T shape. Gore. It was the only way his mind could describe it - screaming at him not to look. You were a decorated gory masterpiece. All the light and sunshine of who you were was dimmed in a blanket of blood. The stench of burned flesh clung to his nose the way the taste of chopper lodged itself in the back of his throat. 

You seemed so lifeless. So fucking lifeless. Zoro felt his knees threaten to give out on him in seconds. You couldn’t be alive. It shouldn’t have been possible, but he listened as the chains chimed at your movement. A fucked up wind chime of dread and hope that carried on the wind and told him all he needed to know. 

You were alive. 

Zoro could still save you. With that knowledge blacking out all reason, Zoro created hell inside the walls of Arlong Park. He would do it over and over, becoming a demon, a king of monsters,  to burn down the world if it meant saving you. 

And yet…it almost hadn’t been enough. 

There were times Zoro wondered if this is how you felt as you watched him give himself up to Mihawke. He could still remember the look of agony that bloomed across your face. The way it stole the spark Zoro loved to see in your eyes, bleeding them dry until all that was left was an emptiness that he gave you.  

Zoro had willingly gone to death. 

And you saved him. 

You cared for him even then - when he didn’t deserve it - after everything he’d done to try and prove to you, and himself, that the universe was wrong. It was just a sick joke to believe that fate itself had woven you both from such different clothes to somehow make each other whole. Zoro gnashed his teeth, swore, and fought his own demons to try and prove he didn’t need you - want you - but he’d been a goner the second he opened the guest room door. 

Plus, it didn’t hurt that you packed one hell of a punch. 

Zoro could still feel your knuckles connecting perfectly on his nose. The impact of it shocked him so hard it’s what caused him to lose his grip on the well. It was a damn good hit. 

He’d woken up to the emptiness of a bed Zoro shared with you. In the privacy of the cabin you both now called home, Zoro would admit dread tied his stomach in knots. That it spurred his legs to swing over the edge of the bed and his hands to furiously move around the room looking for clothes. All thoughts he used to have about pretending he wasn’t looking for you - searching for you - when he always had been, dissipated with his next breath. 

Even still… Zoro had almost died and came back more or less himself. Deep down, however, In the dark recesses of his mind, a nagging voice reminded him endlessly that something was… off. Something was wrong. 

Wrong with you.

Zoro hated that he even entertained the thought. In the privacy of his own head, it still felt like a betrayal. A dishonor of the trust you’d placed with him. He tried to knock the thoughts away because now wasn’t the fucking time. You were missing – again – in the middle of the night. He had to find you but no matter how hard he knocked away the nagging thoughts of growing questions, the voices persisted.  

Nami was the first to notice, which wasn’t surprising. She was always carefully crafting plans and backup plans with backups to the backup plans if those fell through. Zoro came to understand the second they stepped into a room, that Nami was twelve steps ahead of everyone else. Her eyes scanned the room for marks - the weakest links in the chain of command - so that was why it wasn’t surprising, not in the least, that Nami noticed the oddities about your recent behavior first. 

“She’s doing it again.” “Doing what again?” Every time Nami brought it up, Zoro couldn’t keep the irritation from shifting heavily in his tone. The annoyance at throwing around large sacks of grain that the waiter just had to have turned his mood even more sour. More than the fact Usopp somehow magically disappeared from having to help load all of this below deck.  Zoro followed Nami’s gaze until it landed on you. A hand wrapped around the rope of one of the sails with your eyes turned out towards the sea. Zoro imagined a passing ship would think you were a statue the way you barely moved. Shit, he even started to worry if you were even breathing. Unlucky for them, this wasn’t the first time you’d started doing this. Your eyes focused out on the ocean, almost as if you were searching either the water or somewhere farther.  “She’s just looking at the waves.” “No,” Nami replied, a shake in her head reflecting the word. Just the one word alone held a lifetime of worry as her eyes cautiously watched your head tilt. A motion that spoke volumes of words being carried on the wind and you were listening. “It’s like she’s hearing something, or someone, speaking.” “Yeah, it’s the sound of the birds above us. I think they’re called seagulls,” Zoro shot back.  Zoro didn’t know why he needed to protest their concerns so much. Zoro had his own but when it came to you a protectiveness he couldn’t fathom seized every last available brain cell. Their words sent his body immediately to defend you even though Nami’s concerns only voiced the ones he was too afraid to say himself.  His words earned him a glare from Nami as she moved next to him. A hand playfully smacked his shoulder, but her eyes never strayed from you.  “No, you asshole, not the birds. It’s like someone is… talking to her.”

Zoro had thought Nami was crazy. She had to be. You were fine. She was just being a protective mother hen again, which she’d promised you she wouldn’t do anymore. The look on his face must have said the same thing causing her eyes to narrow in on him all before her chin jutted out towards your direction. He wanted to call Nami crazy, but when Zoro glanced back at where you stood, your head was cocked further to the side. Your lips parted, eyes focused, like you were about to reply. 

A few days after that incident on the deck you began talking in your sleep. It started off as grumbles and grunts until it graduated to lazy words and, finally, short sentences that burst from between your lips in reply. Sometimes though, the voice that came out of you… it didn’t sound like your own. The words hissing and breaking from your lips in jagged whispers that raised the hairs on the back of his neck. 

The worst part was, if Zoro asked you, you’d never remember or know you’d done it. Zoro had promised to save you, and he had. So, why did he feel like he’d been too late?  

And that thought alone is what startled him awake. 

Zoro finally located a pair of pants that he’d thrown haphazardly in his earlier haste to get into bed. Your scent was still pressed into the sheets - pressed into his skin. It was enough to inform him you’d been there beside him. He hadn’t been dreaming - not that he would since you’d both agreed that him sleeping over in your room just made sense. 

He didn’t bother putting on his boots. The only thing he made sure to grab was the Wado Ichimonji that rested on his side of the bed. You’d strictly forbidden him from sleeping with it in the actual bed after you woke up with the hilt pressed against your ribs. 

The sheets had long since gone cold and that told him wherever you’d gone, it’d been a while since you’d left. Zoro wasn’t known for having tact or being quiet. If he was being honest, Nami often called him a brute and she wasn’t incredibly far off. He didn’t have any plans to quietly walk out of the bedroom or make his footsteps dainty soft like a whisper. He didn’t have time for pleasantries. 

He didn’t bother wasting time looking for you in the kitchen. There had only been a handful of times he’d caught you bravely traipsing around the waiter's kitchen. Banging his beloved pots and pans around like you had a death wish. Zoro wasn’t too keen on hearing him bitch later about the sanctity of a man’s kitchen and his utensils after Sanji had caught you. Zoro was, however, willing to admit the food you’d prepared that night tasted a thousand times sweeter knowing Sanji would be having a heart attack about it later. 

No. By now, Zoro knew there was one place and one place only that he would find you. 

With the swaying of the ship under his feet, Zoro made his way towards the stern. The Wado clutched tightly in his fist in a weak attempt to keep him grounded. He ran a hand through the mossy haphazard strands of his hair in hopes of soothing its messy state but knew he was only making it worse. His fingers tugging too violently like he could rip his thoughts out by the roots. 

There was nothing he should be worried about - you were fine. He was going to walk up those stairs and find you just enjoying the night breeze. It was what he needed to see because he didn’t know what to say if he didn’t find you standing there. How he could fix it if you weren’t admiring a view; waiting to share whatever was on your mind. 

One by one he released his hair from his fingers. The ache of his scalp was enough to help focus him back into the present. To ground him just enough for when his eyes finally landed on your frame. 

You weren’t standing at the edge of the stern, safely behind its railing like he imagined, or admiring the view of the midnight water. Instead, your legs were precariously over the side of the Merry. So painfully close to the edge that one wrong move, a simple shift in the wind or the way you were sitting, and you’d simply go over. 

An image of you going over, a sudden flash of your body disappearing into the darkness below, sent his steps widening, eager to reach you. To close the remaining distance between you, as if it would ever be enough to keep you there.

His bare feet thundered loudly across the remaining feet that were left between the two of you. The heavy thumping scraped away whatever chance he had at catching you off guard. The sound alone should’ve been enough to draw your attention but when he arrived at the edge of the banister, one hand holding on to the ashen wood while the other curled around your shirt - his shirt. After all this, you still hadn’t acknowledged him. 

Your eyes were locked on a horizon of midnight - obsidian, endless, with promises of nightmares etched out of brimstone lying underneath. Your head tilted, just like before, just like it always was, listening to something none of them could hear. 

Zoro wasn’t much of a praying man, but he found himself silently making one as he sucked in a breath. 

“It's a little late for a midnight stroll, don’t you think, Snowdrop?”

You weren’t surprised Zoro found you. 

You knew he would. Since the minute you woke up in bed curled up beside him, an arm tucked behind his head while the other draped itself loosely over your shoulders, pressing you closer, that once you left he’d be up. Maybe not right away, but it will happen. Gradually or all at once. 

Even in his sleep, Zoro searched for you. His fingers stroked the curve of an arm; swirling into the crease of an elbow. His nose buried itself in your hair or the sensitive spot just under your ear. Zoro searched for you as vigorously in his sleep as he did while he was awake. 

You expected him to come find you. It wasn’t a surprise when the sound of padding feet on cured wood imploded the silence you’d come in search of finding. His presence was unforgiving heat across your skin. Unspoken questions hanging between you. A part of you prayed he would ask them. Another part of you hoped he didn’t. 

Maybe that was the voice that made you wish he hadn’t found you. That Zoro had stayed blissfully asleep enjoying the blanket of restful sleep instead of the restlessness of whatever you now had to offer. The thought gnawed on your nerves, brewing an annoyance that soured the comfort you’d found looking into the vast darkness of the waves. 

During the day, everything was bright and inviting. The sea most of all. Its multitude of hands that rolled against ships and overlapped wave after wave to create a white froth was a silent beacon to come explore. It promised relief from the scorching heat of the sun and an endless supply of food to fill a starving sailor. Underneath all of that brightness, however, you could feel the darkness that took shape in the form of monsters underneath. Sea beasts that swallowed entire ships with crews. Sirens seducing men and women from their beds with a song - pulling them screaming, lungs heavy with water, down into the deep. 

It was this darkness that began to call to you. A disease that infiltrated your body slowly, without warning so as not to cause alarm, until it completely plagued every sleepless hour. You weren’t aware it’d been happening until the third night you’d woken to the spray of the ocean on your face. You found yourself standing on the rail of the ship. The threat of a harsh wave possibly sending you over was imminent. Yet there you stood, your arms splayed out at your sides, waiting for an embrace that hadn’t come. Yet, when you opened your eyes it wasn’t terror that turned to ice in your veins. You knew the ocean wouldn’t claim you.

It couldn’t. 

You didn’t belong to this graveyard. You belonged to something else. There was a power that resonated below the murky depths. A force that felt ancient and terrifying. It felt like it created the dark; and devoured it until it became whole again and again. It writhed and moaned like the damned, as it searched for more life, more souls, to devour and own. This blackness demanded worship like an old god and that same darkness was what called to you now.  

You weren’t sure what you were supposed to be: a sacrifice or a sacrificer. But one thing was clear. Whatever it was, it was inside of you and it was calling you home. 

Naan strived to make sure she was careful - that you were careful. She shared warnings in the forms of stories and fairytales as a child to soften the terrifying meaning that lay underneath. All this time she painstakingly put in to make you understand and, in the flash of a second, it took less time for you to choose Nazifa’s life over your own. 

It’s what Naan had taught you to do: protect others. How could she ever think, or believe, that you made the wrong choice? How could you regret saving someone’s life? Saving people was who you were, who Naan raised you to be, down to the very marrow of your bones. 

Naan’s trade was never forced on you. She never held you back from thoughts of going to school, leaving the island, or if you wanted to learn a different trade. It was always very clear it was your choice to spend hours in the garden and in the forest scrounging for ingredients. Your choice in agonizing over the creation of your book of remedies. It felt natural. Your whole purpose is wrapped up in easing the pain of the dying and the chill of the sick. 

But this darkness…it touched what was yours. It cascaded oil thick, blackening the seas of your memories. The shared dances in Naan’s kitchen as she taught you how to move across the floor, ‘like a young lady’. The spring in her gardens, surrounded by bergamot and cardamom. 

Every last memory of joy and hope and happiness was suffocated until the only thing left were nightmares. This darkness – this sickness – writhed under your skin. It changed who you believed you were, who Naan loved and cared for you to be, and stripped it all away. 

Brick by brick every belief you held was knocked loose and replaced by something grotesque; vile. It whispered ways to silently kill those you loved aboard the Merry. Townsfolk and villagers whenever you stopped for supplies. It slithered black chords of strength in your muscles, seizing your hands to tear apart and break dressers. The doorknob to Luffy’s room completely caved in as you struggled and fought to not take that final step inside. 

The voices were growing louder with each denial you gave them. Each life you refused to take - each villager you saved instead of maimed - turned them rabid. The whispers grow into shrieks:

Belladonna to strip a man of pride and the air from his lungs - closing up his throat with froth and screams. Mosswood burns the mouth and twists the gut making them turn liquid.

‘We can break them. Grind their bones into dust. Lay it like powder on our skin. Let us make them putrid! Skin soft and pliable like pudding - flesh that caves at the touch. One touch from us, from you, OUR TOUCH,  and we can rot them from the inside out. Listen as their tongue turns liquid and they gurgle liquid sweet! Let us rot them! LET. US. ROT. THEM!’

It whispered and screamed until you thought you would go mad. It took every ounce of willpower you struggled to hold on to your sanity. Not to claw at your ears. As if it would ever be enough to make the whispers just stop. 

Something inside you came back wrong. You were wrong. You thought about the possibility that you might be imagining it. This call of chaos - of sinister dread - swirled inside of you like a whirlpool threatening to suck everything down around you. The more you tried to ignore it, the louder it grew. The voices were no longer murmuring - their words were convoluted - gargled as if held underwater. 

Now they were screaming, demanding to be heard, and they were always the loudest when you were sleeping.

You were so lost, so completely lost, consumed with your thoughts, these fucking voices, that you weren’t sure when your body turned to face him. Maybe Zoro had asked you a question or been asking questions. The usual mask of careless indifference he wore was there, but it was easy to spot the worry that etched itself into the fine lines around his eyes. 

His brow creased, drawn tight, which reflected the dark panic that was pooling to the surface in his eyes. If you didn’t answer him soon he was going to shake an answer out of you. Just to hear something. 

What could you say? 

“Do you hear them too? They’re whispering for me to do things and the more I ignore them, the more their fingers seem to dig holes in my mind.”

No. 

You couldn’t ask him that. It sounded crazy. You would sound crazy, and maybe you were. This whole thing felt like a waking nightmare. You thought you could keep it at bay as you attempted to work through it. There had to be a scientific explanation for something like this or at least a psychological one.

Death came to claim you. You’d felt the clutch of cold hands eager to drag you away, drag you down into the earth kicking and screaming. It felt greedy. Excited. 

But you came back. 

Maybe this madness was a form of penance. Maybe this truly was what it was: madness. 

You couldn’t look at him anymore as you tried to swallow the bitter truth down. Underneath, however, you knew you lived in a fantastical world where boys were made of rubber, Devil Fruits existed, and so did magic. 

But what did that make you? You with your voices of chaos. 

Death bringer, They whispered, clamoring against your skull. 

What if the part of you…the dark part Naan always feared would consume you, festered like a cordycep eating its way through your soul until there was nothing left? What if it ate and ate until you were just…gone? The only thing left was an imposter who’d taken your place.

The thought was enough to make your mouth desert dry. Your heart clamoring against the ribs in your chest demanding for you to take it back! You weren’t being eaten starting from the soul and outwards. You were in control. Perfect control. 

“I’m okay.” The words croaked around an unused throat forcing you to clear it and try again. “I’m okay.”

“Who are you trying to make believe that? You? Or me?”

When Zoro looked at you, like he did now, all the world grew quiet. The sound of the ocean, her waves, and the lapping at the hull of the ship all died away. It was harder to catch a breath, the air denser somehow, as everything came grinding to a halt. 

The only thing that mattered in this moment, in every moment, now and always, was the way he looked at you. But the moment didn’t last - it couldn’t - when the current underneath your feet began to pound against the hull of the ship. A seismic rhythm that vibrated through your body in earth-shattering ferocity. 

You looked out across the water around you and found her unchanged. Her waves thrashed at their own speed to collide against the Merry before they rested back down into the murky midnight of the water. 

“Zoro, do you feel that?”

The need for confirmation that it wasn't just you who felt this primal call was palpable. You grasped at whatever reasoning made sense but there was none. A sharp sting on your fingertips brought a hiss of pain from your lips. Your eyes darted down to find that same inky blackness that had burned the flesh of the face of the fishman like acid was crawling up your arms. You tried to swat it away as a fresh flood of panic gripped you. 

“Zoro!”

Your eyes flew up to look for him beside you. You wanted to reach for him - you needed him to hold onto you - but if you touched him would you hurt him? Would you kill him? 

Fear and panic constricted your throat turning your next sentence into a delirious garble of words. All attempts at civility and calmness ended when your vision centered on his body next to yours. Zoro was covered in the thick black ink - your darkness. You heard the sizzling of muscle and tissue melting away. The wet sound of flesh hitting the deck. You watched as a piece of his cheek, the top of his eyelid, slid down his face as his hand reached out for you. 

“It’s going to be okay, Snowdrop.”

The horror of what you were seeing grabbed a hold of your throat and worked the earlier sounds free. It knocked them back down to be digested to allow them to come back up at something brand new. 

A scream housed from despair and grief tore through your body and released itself there on that deck. A panicked heart filled with regret left you shattering into a million pieces and it wasn’t until you were sitting up in bed, thrashing around in the sheets of your shared bed, that you realized it was all just a dream. 

Your eyes bolted open but the frantic terror that left your heart thundering in your chest was still there. It made you search the room like crazy, grasping for things that were real. 

Zoro was standing by your desk. His hands fastened the last button of his shirt while a cool set of eyes watched over you. It was then you felt how your body was coated in sweat; your hair clinging to your neck and cheeks. The shirt you’d worn to bed sticking in thick hot clumps against your skin. 

“What happened,” you rasped. 

Zoro finished with his shirt but didn’t make a move to answer. The Wado was secured at his hip and you watched him drop a now free hand onto the hilt. A comfort you could only assume he needed as he showed no immediate sign of replying. 

After a long pause, Zoro let out a sigh as he moved towards the bedroom door. 

“I found you sleepwalking on deck. Again,” he replied. His voice was all smoke and velvet. It should’ve brought you comfort hearing him, but it wasn’t hard to notice the cracks that formed around his words. “This is the eleventh time you’ve woken up screaming, Doc.”

“Zoro–“

“After we get supplies at our next stop I’m asking Luffy if we can turn around.”

He spoke to the door. The decision he was making seemingly cost him his own grief as your own. You threw the sheets back. Your legs scrambled to make it over the side of the bed before he could completely exit the room. 

“Turn around for what?”

You wanted to sound tough, demanding even. Instead, you just sounded small. Scared. Your mouth dried up around every word, every sentence, you tried to formulate. The sick idea that he was trying to say goodbye, to let you go, making it damn near impossible to even breathe around a thought. 

“To find someone willing to give me some answers.”

Zoro didn’t wait for you to reply with the usual weak promise of telling him. It was only when you were ready to share and that could be never. He was tired of waiting and didn’t bother to wait to hear an even weaker response before Zoro walked out the door and quietly shut it behind him. 

As always, thank you all so much for reading! Reblogs, comments, and likes are always appreciated.

Taglist: @honeyoru @oneandonlyizabelle @shanshan4143 @naomihatake @tombraiderjones2505 @illusory-segurity @hippieele @nadlx33333 @fancifulrealist @litlebruh @jonnelpunk

[portagas-chan]

Yours Forever and Ever : Part 1

Yandere Katakuri x Isekai Reader

Summary: [Y/n] is part of the Strawhat Crew. She followed Luffy and the others to retrieve Sanji. However, she was separated from her friends and was kidnapped by Big Mom's children. Luckily, she wasn't going to be killed but held as a hostage by none other than 'Charlotte Katakuri' who is considered to be the strongest sweet commander in the Big Mom Pirates.

Part 2: https://www.tumblr.com/portagas-chan/748738024063516672/yours-forever-and-ever-part-2?source=share

Nobody knew she was from another world, not even the straw hats. She never told anyone and when she first arrived here, she came up with a lie and they all believed her, even Zoro which was surprising. The straw hats accepted her and welcomed her to their crew. She felt joyful.

Anyways, that's not important. [Y/n] was in trouble. She got separated from Luffy and the others in the Seducing Forest. She would be doing okay if she encountered an opponent who was not a sweet commander. However, she would stand no chance against them if they were a sweet commander. She hoped Lady Luck would be on her side today.

[Y/n] walked and walked, she didn't know where she was going but it didn't matter. It wasn't like she could fly. There was nothing she could do. Suspicious enough, the trees shifted to form a path where she found herself outside the Seducing Forest. All the thinking was giving her a headache and she decided to be meh.

[Y/n] looked around in awe at her surroundings. The whole island was literally made up of sweets. It was even crazier seeing this in person. Suddenly, she felt her leg go numb and fell onto her knees. The last thing she saw was the triplets -Smoothie, Citron, and Cinnamon- staring down with Flampe laughing at her.

She widened her eyes in realization, 'I knew it was too good to be true. This was a trap made by Brulee.'

A harsh splash of water stung her face as she scrunched her nose and slowly opened her eyes. She looked at Flampe who had a now empty bucket of water, glaring at her, "Was that necessary?"

"You were sleeping so soundly. I thought you weren't going to wake up," Flampe retorted to which she rolled her eyes. She was tied up in a chair.

[Y/n] analyzed her surroundings. Sitting in front of her was Big Mom who stared at her with that creepy grin on her face. It was frightening to see her in person.

Then there was Katakuri and his triplets -Oven and Daifuku- looking intimidating as ever. There was Perospero licking his lollipop and Smoothie with her triplets and of course, Flampe. All attention was on her and it was not in a good way.

"[Y/n] from the StrawHats. I will admit, your captain is a brave one but to survive in the New World, bravery is not enough. Mamamama!" Big Mom laughed.

[Y/n] stayed silent. She would be lying if she said she wasn't scared at all. In fact, she was terrified. Terrified of what would happen to her. But she had faith in Luffy. Even if she was kidnapped, she knew Luffy would eventually come and save her. He would never abandon his crew member. That's just how he is.

"So, what do you think we should do with her, my children?" Big Mom asked.

"I say we kill her!" Flampe demanded.

'Bitch,' [Y/n] cursed in her mind.

"Now, now, don't be hasty. Taking her hostage can give us so much advantages in many ways," Perospero suggested.

Big Mom's expression seemed to brighten a little. It seems she likes Perospero's suggestion. "Taking her hostage? I like that! Which one of you would like to take on the job?"

Katakuri stepped up, "Mama, please allow me to deal with her. There's no way she can escape me."

"Katakuri?" Big Mom looked at him, studying his face. When she saw that he was dead serious, she laughed, "You're right! Then it's settled!"

[Y/n] didn't expect Katakuri to voluntarily choose to deal with her. She thought he wouldn't bother with this stuff. Either way, Lady Luck seems to hate her. She knew Katakuri had a soft side behind that mask of his perfect demeanor but it wasn't like she could suddenly bring out his soft side to her. If she ever saw what was under that scarf, he would be blinded by anger and accidentally kill her before he could even hear her out.

Big Mom placed cuffs on her wrists that explode if she disobeyed Katakuri. Crazy, right? She didn't even know you could give certain commands to the cuffs.

One thing she noticed about Katakuri was that he never let her out of his sight. She must always be with him but of course, she was left alone when he had something important to do but he always made sure it ended quickly. But she paid no attention to it, shooking it off as him doing his job and that it was due to the loyalty he had for his mother.

Sitting across him, she could feel the hard stare Katakuri was giving her. He always had that kind of stare whether he was doing it intentionally or unintentionally. Nevertheless, it made her feel nervous as she uncomfortably shifted in her seat.

"Why did you join the Strawhat pirates?" Katakuri started.

She looked up at him, "Are you using your observation haki thing again?"

Katakuri closed his eyes before opening it again, "I asked you a question."

"I will take that as a no," She muttered. "There's no deep meaning behind it, actually. They seemed fun and interesting, that's all."

Katakuri raised his brow, "That's all?" She nodded her head.

"Then will you join our crew under my wing if I promise to make it fun and interesting? I will make sure you stay happy too," Katakuri said.

[Y/n] was puzzled. Why would Katakuri want her to join the Big Mom pirates and be under his wing at that? She tried to think of a good reason but there simply was none. Sure, she could fight but she wasn't all that strong. She wasn't special at all. So, why?

"Why would you want me on your crew? I'm not strong," [Y/n] said.

"You don't have to be strong because I will protect you," Katakuri said and he meant it. He was not joking around. He was being serious.

To [Y/n], this was weird to see Katakuri acting like that. It was out of his character. It has just been a two days since they first met and he's acting like they have known each other for years.

[Y/n] remembered something important. "Why are you asking me that when you already know the answer?" She raised her hands to show the cuffs.

Katakuri smirked behind his scarf and [Y/n] could tell because his eyes changed a bit.

Katakuri stood up from his chair and walked towards [Y/n]. She tensed up when she saw him approached her. He sat on an empty chair beside her and dragged it closer to her.

He suddenly picked her up and placed her on his lap. His hand on her thigh slowly rubbing it while the other hugged her in place.

Don't get her wrong. She loves Katakuri but being this close to him like this and having no choice but to obey him in real life was scary. He was so huge too and it didn't make it any better.

"Katakuri?" She called out nervously.

"Are you scared?" Katakuri touched her hair, twirling a strand of her hair around his finger.

If she were to answer him honestly, it would be a yes and a no. He looks intimidating and scary, but she knows he's actually a cutie inside. He was getting touchy with her and she honestly doesn't know how to feel about it.

In the end, [Y/n] is unable to answer at all.

"It's okay. I won't hurt you," Katakuri reassured her. "And I promise you, no one will lay a finger on you."

[undiscovered-horizon]

Hello Sofia! My name is Aleksandra! Just wanted to send a request of Zoro x reader where reader has just joined the crew she is a witch and very strong, sweet, but could be intense (in a good way) as well as mysterious everyone in the crew absolutely loves her but it takes time for Zoro to completely trust her so he keeps his eye on her causing them both to have some tension some days they are arguing over tiny situations some days they are sitting alone together laughing and smiling at one another with feelings building up that they have yet to understand even though they are confused with their feelings their connection runs deeply to the point it drives them insane everyone else in the crew see's this (Besides our dear Luffy.) They try to get them to open up but it's hopeless at times. I was thinking Zoro gets a deep cut during a fight and Reader helps him with his wound this is where they are able to share their feelings and once they deeply kiss they understand how they feel from there.

I hope this is a good one to do! Thank you!✨🌻✨

I would love to be tagged at!💜 @shewalksinanotherworld

This took a little bit longer and I have nothing to say for myself except that my executive function does not, in fact, function. Enjoy! @shewalksinanotherworld Enjoying my work? You can leave me a tip on Ko-Fi | Have a request?

"The way to a man's heart" - Zoro x Reader

[graphic descriptions of open wounds]

Somebody once said that love and hate are two sides of the same coin - a token of devotion. Like tides of two seas that create storms and whirlpools upon meeting, it is often impossible to determine where one ends and the other begins. Perhaps, these waters have never differed as they are two ends of one river. Both lovers and enemies alike make up the first row of the funeral cortege.

And just like those seas, no matter whether they are the same or two different bodies, Zoro and you seem to be ebbing and flowing across love and hate. Flipping the coin of dedication each day to see where your tense relationship will take you. Sometimes more than once a day, when mere hours separate passionate fights from merry laughter.

But speaking of turning tides and seamlessly flowing waters, wouldn't the seas know each other far too well? What constitutes oceans of hate was once the pond of love. Conversely, the waters of affection had once flown as tides of enmity. If the answer is yes, it would explain quite a lot about the rather inexplicable connection you share with the swordsman. Sometimes not a word has to be spoken but a fleeting gaze exchange for either of you to know perfectly well what the other has on their mind.

To be fair, it's hard for you to put your finger on the why - Why are you and Zoro so strange with each other? The most plausible explanation would probably be his stubborn distrust. He's a very guarded person which, by itself, is not unfathomable considering his journey and livelihood. But it is absolutely tedious when he sticks to his guns against all available evidence. Weeks went by when Zoro was the only crewmember who perceived you in different shades of suspicion, even after witnessing you put your life on the line for your mutual friends. His stubbornness was frustrating, so you gave him as good as you got and well... Here we are, wading in the murky waters of passion, both pleasant and adverse.

However, you'll be wading much different waters, those flowing in the Styx River, if you don't escape now. The Indigo Cross pirates are a little too close behind you. You can almost feel their breaths on your neck as they scream about revenge, bloodshed and defending their captain's honour. Yes, about that... It wasn't exactly Luffy's fault that the man he told to apologize to the tavern waitress was the world's most narcissistic pirate. Alas, the damage is done and so is your chance at a peaceful shore leave.

The Merry Go is but a few meters away. You just have to get to the gangway and run up the stairs so fast your mother would go bald from stress. Just two things, right?

Your foot gets caught the between rotting planks of the pier. The unforeseen obstacle in your escape startles you, giving you barely any time to shield your face from the painful impact of the ground.

"Shit!" you groan to yourself, yanking your foot.

Zoro yells out your name. In long strides, he catches up with you. He manages to rip away one of the mould-covered planks. Despite your foot being set free, the man lifts you to stand on your own.

"You go, I'll hold them back," he orders you as he nudges you in the direction of the ship. Before you can defy him, Zoro is already running towards the oncoming wave of looking-for-a-scrap pirates.

Time seems to slow down as you watch a spear, its polished head shining in the sunlight, fly through the air and pierce Zoro's chest. He stumbles backwards and falls on one knee. With a roar of agony, the swordsman grabs the long shaft of the weapon. A loud snap fills the air as he breaks the wood off. Then, like a phoenix rising from the ashes,, Zoro stands up. Although his legs tremble slightly, he still lifts his swords and fights off the Indigo pirates. Some seem to drop their weapons in surrender, seeing that not even death can grasp this demon of a man.

You want to call for him but Sanji firmly grabs your arm and pulls you on board. "Come on, he can handle himself."

Having hidden on the lower deck, you're not sure what happened on the shore and onboard the ship until you saw none other but Roronoa Zoro, stumbling down the stairs and almost falling on the floor. Luffy, Usopp and even Sanji yell and nag at him to get his wound looked at while Nami keeps calling him different variations of "stupid" but Zoro only curses at them and tells a less savoury "Leave me alone".

Maybe thirty minutes pass by until the emotions die down or are at least well hidden. Your four friends sit around the kitchen, all strangely silent. They all give you a curious look when you let out a heavy sigh and march towards Zoro's room. He's going to die one day, obviously, but it's not going to be today. And definitely not because he put your safety before his own. What kind of rom-com death would that be?

Zoro is facing you with his back when you swing the door open without even knocking first. You seem to have interrupted his rather poor attempt at bandaging the hole in his chest. He looks over his shoulder, his face bearing an expression of annoyance.

"What do you want?"

You toss a handful of medical supplies on top of the chest with his belongings. The fresh dressings, a small bottle of alcohol, a needle and a thread tell quite the story, lying next to the bloodied head of a spear with splinters coming out of where the long shaft should be. It's still hardly believable what he did back there.

"When you get an infection, you green-haired idiot," you speak with your hands crossed on your chest. It's clear as day - you're pissed off, "it will be Sanji spoon-feeding you. I'm sure you'll be having the time of your life then."

Your sarcastic remark doesn't seem to phase him. The wrinkle between Zoro's eyebrows only gets deeper.

"I'm fine. I've been worse," he says with an exasperated sigh. "Just piss off," the man groans in a low voice.

Maybe if he wasn't already injured, you'd punch him straight in the jaw. "Stop being a stubborn ass," you raise your voice, "and let me help you."

Zoro rolls his eyes dramatically. Making a show of his discontentment, he sits on the edge of his hammock. If he was just a few yours younger maybe he'd stomp his feet too, as befits a toddler he seems to have chosen to act like.

Minutes go by in silence as you clean the deep would and do your best suturing it. Meanwhile, Zoro doesn't even wince. He's perfectly calm and collected, almost as though his soul has left his body and gone for a stroll.

By the looks of it, you haven't stitched wounds many times and Sanji would probably be better at this, with his experienced hands and all, but that would require Zoro to be either already dead or at least unconscious. There's no other way he'd willingly let those slimy fingers touch him.

“They say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach," you say under your breath as you tighten the knot on the last suture. The last thing you want is the deep wound reopening. "I guess going through his ribs works too.”

"A lot more efficient." The swordsman chuckles but his laughter soon turns into winces and groans. Although he's not going to bleed to death anymore, the rather large hole in his chest is this painful and not something to trifle with.

"A spear nearly pierced right through you and you're having a laugh?" You nod with approval. He's impressed you, you have to give him that. "Roronoa Zoro, you command respect."

A silence falls between you again as you put back the collection of medical supplies you've managed to find aboard. Little do you know, Zoro's watchful gaze doesn't leave you. He seems to be intensely thinking about something.

"Thanks," he finally spits out. "I would rather die than let Sanji spoon-feed me."

It's not the wraith of death that scared him into letting you patch him up - it was the cook in a striped shirt. Really? Roronoa Zoro is a lot of things but "ordinary" or "predictable" is not one of them.

You burst into laughter. "Unfortunately," you manage to breathe out, "I would have loved to see that."

He shakes his head in disapproval but his lips are curved into a grin. "I hate you."

"No, you don't, big guy," you answer as you playfully poke his arm. It's still covered in dried blood and sweat.

His dark eyes stare into yours with a strange glint to them. It's almost like amusement but not entirely - it's deeper, much deeper. "Yeah, I don't," he whispers.

Everything happens so fast: Zoro grabs your neck and pulls you flush against himself, crashing his lips against yours. Involuntarily you yelp, which elicits a chuckle from the man. On one hand, you're surprised with his sudden declaration of passion but on the other hand, you're relieved. Of course, you have joked that Zoro must be in love with you to be so annoying most of the time but rarely did you consider it a real possibility. He just... didn't seem like a man who loves, only desires. But now, when he's kissing you so desperately and eagerly, you feel stupid for ever thinking such thoughts. As his hand roams your body, you begin to wonder whether all of this has always been this funny - every one of your friends already knew the feelings you had for each other, except the two of you. Something so obvious it's easily overlooked.

It makes you think that he was, actually, scared of losing but not his life. He was scared of losing someone.

[anystalker707]

I'm going nowhere [2/2]

Pairing: Roronoa Zoro x [gender neutral] Reader Words: ~ 2 100 Summary: You were a slave to the Celestial Dragons, saved by Zoro, who decided to make you part of the crew. It's the first time you see Zoro get so wounded and pass out after a battle. Tags: Reader is very caring / Zoro recognizes it, so he makes sure to pamper reader / Very fluffy

requested by @noorbdhdhd "hey! so yeah how are you doing? i hope you're well , so i have something to ask. I'm beginning for part2 "it's not going anywhere" with zoro , please I'm literally beginning 🥹🥹🙌🏻 thank ya!"

MASTERLIST

[PART ONE]

.𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟.

          “Where’s Zoro?” You tilted your head, observing that Sanji and Usopp were back from the fight the crew had been going against. Luffy also wasn’t back, but your worries naturally surrounded Zoro. Your mind kept driving away, sometimes having Chopper ask you for the same thing more than once, in a way Nami told you to just leave helping Chopper up to her, so you quickly rushed to the deck, observing the island into the distance where eventual blows would raise clouds of dust. One mountain was sliced, sending half of it sliding down, and that was certainly Zoro. Damn.

A sigh escaped your lips as you stood there with Brook and Robin, observing the fight that was going on in the distance. A sigh escaped your lips—it felt like it would never end. Zoro was all you had; practically everything you had to hold onto ever since you’d been pulled out of that mediocre reality by him. What if Zoro died? Would you need to return to the Celestial Dragons’ possession?

A sudden warm, gentle touch on your shoulder made you immediately look to the side and see Robin standing there, with that gentle smile of hers that always carried so much elegance and comfort, or at least when she wasn’t exposing her intrusive thoughts.

“Zoro is a great warrior,” she said as if reading your thoughts. Her voice was calm and nice over the sound of the blows in the distance.

“She’s right, (y/n)-san!” Brook cut in. “Seeing Zoro fighting is enough to make my eyes pop off my head! Wait— I don’t have eyes!” He let out his characteristic laugh, and you couldn’t help but smile a little as Robin did the same.

They were nice. The crew was like family, even if sometimes you almost thought of them the way you did to the friends and family of the Celestial Dragon you used to serve. It was annoying, angering even, because it wasn’t fair to them. They treated you so well, nothing like the Celestial Dragons could ever be capable of. It went from the way Luffy already considered you one of his accomplices to the way Sanji would scold you for trying to steal food with Usopp. It was the sort of domestic thing you always needed, but never knew.

Then, there was a whole other type of life. A new feeling that Zoro introduced to you, even if unconsciously. He showed you there can be safety without depending exclusively on one person, and that you can feel at home even if you’re just drifting along the sea. It gave you something to look forward to in the morning, and also gave you more reasons to be a better person.

All of that, though, seemed distant inside your mind as you crouched down behind the railing. Your arms were folded over the top of it as you watched how the fight probably kept going on the island, even if the blows were weaker and more occasional. The sun was already starting to set. Robin was still there, but she had already come and gone a few times, while Brook was off to something else already. The rest of the crew seemed used to it, but none of them seemed to try to convince you things were going to be okay because they knew you just had to learn it on your own.

It felt like forever until you could finally spot the familiar green shade over the shore, far enough to make you blink a few times to make sure you weren’t seeing things. Zoro had Luffy’s unconscious body thrown over his shoulder despite the great amount of blood that was flowing from his opposite shoulder. He took steps each time slower until he finally collapsed over the wet ground, face first, letting Luffy fall as the water of the sea reached them whenever it draped over the sand.

Your eyes were wide, but you couldn’t really say anything, watching it as some of the others quickly got in the mini-Merry to go get the two.

          Chopper fixed Zoro, cleaning the wounds, and stitching and bandaging what was needed to. You could finally approach Zoro after that—he had been laid on a futon on the ground along with the others for Chopper to take care of them. It hurt to see Zoro like that, but there was some comfort in at least having him within reach.

You couldn’t really place yourself there. Sitting next to Zoro was relieving, though you also wanted to touch him so badly, but what if you opened a wound or something just because of that? You didn’t even want to look away for too long because what if he woke up? The most you could do was rush to the kitchen and grab a glass of water in case he woke up feeling thirsty, letting it sit on the ground as you sat next to Zoro, observing him quietly.

Zoro had a neutral expression on—it wasn’t the peaceful one he had when he slept nor the careless one he had when napping around. A sigh escaped your lips as you observed him, wondering what was going on in his mind. If there was something at all going on in there right now.

There were a lot of cuts along his body, more than usual, and he needed bandages across his chest, along his shoulder, and around his forehead. It made you wonder how he’d gotten them, what sort of grasp the enemy had on him.

At some point, you got up and Zoro’s stuff to clean the katanas—you’d learned how to take care of weapons while being a slave for the Celestial Dragons and also learned how Zoro liked his katanas taken care of through observing him when he did it, so it wasn’t that hard.

The blades and handles were covered in blood that had already started to go dry, so you did your best to get rid of every little stain that covered even the sheaths. Eventually, you finished it, so all you could do was observe Zoro again. Nothing had changed. The same neutral expression lingered on his face, hence sometimes you would take a moment to watch his chest rise and fall to make sure he was breathing, and also breathing properly.

“You need to sleep,” a voice said and there was a hand on your shoulder. Robin smiled as she looked at you, her voice as gentle as her touch. “You need to take care of yourself so you can take care of him. You know he would hate to see you sacrificing yourself in any sort.” She let a thick comforter fall over your shoulders, and, until now, you hadn’t noticed how cold it had gotten with the night.

Robin’s words made you think, and you could practically see Zoro click his tongue and look away at the mention of you doing something like that for him, even if he would be thankful for it. Still, having more than one of you in a worrying situation wasn’t nice.

It was so quiet already that you were surprised you hadn’t heard Robin approach. All you could do was mutter a quiet ‘thank you’ while she walked away.

Sanji and Usopp were gone from there already, and you only had faint memories of the two struggling to sit up while the rest of the crew was gathered around them, though Luffy was still out of it. A sigh escaped your lips as you looked at Zoro, observing him as you heard the soft sound of the waves outside and the gentle rocking of the ship suddenly felt so...

A yawn escaped your lips as you wrapped the comforter more around yourself, trying to make it at least a little more comfortable so you could lie down next to Zoro. It didn’t matter if you were on the ground as long as you were near him.

A sudden commotion brought you back to reality—you hadn’t really been able to sleep with the thought that Zoro could wake up at any moment, but you could at least rest a little bit. It wasn’t dark outside anymore. Now, you immediately shot up when he groaned. He felt around for a little, eyebrows furrowed, only relaxing again when his hand finally found yours; he sighed and squeezed your hand. You blinked, observing him for a moment before you called Chopper.

          Zoro was strong. Far stronger than the warriors of the Celestial Dragons that you’d see around, staying in bed for days after facing enemies—actually, the Straw Hats were stronger in general, even the ones that deemed themselves weak. It was kind of impressive seeing how Zoro was already walking around like that and also eating a whole lot.

You were there holding his hand the whole time while he shared information about the fight with the others, summing up with what Sanji and Usopp had reported and building theories on something that regarded the Marine. Only bits of it made sense to you because you weren’t really paying attention to it, more worried about cleaning the wounds on Zoro’s hand again despite how it wasn’t really needed—it was but a dumb excuse you used to hold his hand and keep close even if you didn’t really need one.

“...You aren’t supposed to train,” you mumbled as you watched Zoro walk around the Crow’s Nest. You pouted a little, but sighed in relief when he just dropped to his futon instead, patting the spot next to him. Zoro yawned, crossing his arms behind his head as he leaned back against the couch. “...It’s not really comfortable here,” you whispered as you sat down, watching Zoro for a moment. “Do you want me to grab you a few pillows?”

“I want you next to me,” Zoro replied almost instantly. He continued with that same expression despite how your face heated up and you were about to start stuttering when Zoro wrapped an arm around your shoulders to pull you closer. “I saw you cleaned the katanas. You did a great job,” he mumbled as he ran his fingers through your hair and opened his eye to peek at you. “What’s it?”

“I—” Your breath caught in your throat as Zoro’s compliment rang in your mind, but you tried to focus; you couldn’t have Zoro teasing you getting flustered at whatever he did, not again. “Um, are you sure you don’t need anything?”

Zoro blinked a couple of times, looking around the room as he thought before slowly cracking a grin. Aw, hell. “I think a little kiss might make me feel better.” He raised his eyebrows a little, prompting you.

“Zoro,” you mumbled in defeat, sighing. With all those bandages and wounds...

“You won’t hurt me!” Zoro rolled his eyes and sighed, muttering about how you were overthinking. He didn’t give you any time to think now, already wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you close; Zoro had his legs crossed loosely, so he let you sit on the space between them with your legs sorta hooked over his thigh. Your arms wrapped themselves around his neck out of instinct despite how you were still worried about his wounds. He leaned in, brushing his nose against yours in a gentle nuzzling motion before he nuzzled your cheek. “So? No kiss?” He pouted lightly.

The closeness was enough to have your heart fluttering; the warmth of his body against yours and the way his breath fanned on your face. His hands were always so careful when holding you, as well, despite being strong and firm. He just managed to make you fall in love more and more.

You blinked, snapping back into reality. “Sorry.” You pressed a kiss to Zoro’s cheek, easily making him smile, so you gave him more kisses along the side of his face until Zoro finally turned his head and pressed his lips to yours.

“You were taking too long,” he whispered against your lips, giving you more kisses. They were short pecks, each time more intense and helplessly sending you leaning back while gripping onto his neck until his grip became firmer on your waist. It had you still, so Zoro could finally give you a proper kiss. His lips were a little chapped, a little wounded from the recent battle, but the kiss was nice nonetheless. It always was. Zoro’s kisses were gentle and comforting, making up for all the time you spent worrying about him.

“You alright now?” You pulled away a little to cup his cheeks, running your thumb along Zoro’s cheeks, tracing some of the cuts while keeping his face close.

“I’ve been alright this whole time,” he scoffed, ignoring the way you rolled your eyes and kissing your lips again. “Actually, I need one thing to be completely alright.” He grinned. “I need a napping buddy. Also known as the love of my life.” He wrapped his arms around you tighter to keep you close as he leaned back.

.𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟.

[v1smokewife]

who is this person - chapter eleven - final chapter

On a quest to find love on a dating website, Sanji falls head over heels for a woman with an interest in...alternative relationships that sends him down a rabbit hole of completing tasks for a seemingly sadistic mistress. But what happens when she turns out to be more than what she seems?

or

Zoro pretends to be a female on the internet to talk to Sanji and bad things happen.

Darkfic with themes of internalised homophobia, bad bdsm practices and lying about your identity to strangers on the internet. Please read with caution. This is NOT how BSDM should be practiced. Always practice Sane, Safe and Consensual practicesboarders on being considered dead dove do not eat material

read on ao3

authors note;

WE ARE FINALLY FINISHED. oh my goodness!! i can't believe I'm finally done!! this means so much to me. first of all, thank you for all the lovely comments and kudos. i'm so bad for not replying to them but i really do appreciate every single comment and kudo i get. thank you for the love <3 there's plenty of stories planned for 2024. once I finish i need a doctor, i will probably start releasing the sequel as i will be starting to write it now <3

S POV  

A FEW MONTHS LATER  

Time was what Sanji got in return. He hadn't seen Zoro for a few months and Zoro kept to their conversations. Even when Luffy came over to the restaurant, Zoro was never in tow as he normally was. At first, Sanji never paid more mind to it. Obviously, Sanji had told him that he needed time and that he did. He needed time to get over what had happened to him and process things a bit more than he had previously. After a while, Sanji felt like things were sort of returning to normal. He was back working at the restaurant and things had gotten a tad better. Himself and Nami were still best friends, and he quickly forgave her for what had happened. It was forgive and forget. Things were back to normal, almost. 

He never saw Zoro and come to think of it, no one else did. When Luffy would come to the Baratie, he would often lament about how Zoro has no time for him anymore and how he misses him. When Sanji said he needed time, he really did need that time, but it was a little weird for Zoro to just completely distance himself from everyone. What a pain that was. Although, Sanji didn’t know why he felt bad about that because after all it was him that suffered the most through the whole thing.  

It was something that still kept him up at night and he probably would be traumatised for the rest of his life but… 

He had time to think about what Zoro said and now he needed to talk to him again. Sanji was finishing work. He had been given the evening off. Zeff, in his own way had become a little bit more gracious with the working hours and letting Sanji work better hours and not always closing up for him. Although Zeff never said it, it seemed as if he must have felt bad for what happened. 

Something just felt amiss. Sanji wanted to talk to Zoro again. 

Sanji’s decision was to try and reach out again. Space and time gave him the opportunity to think about things but there was a sense of unfinished business because their last conversation gave him so much more questions rather than answers.  He wasn’t sure how to approach this He could call or text…it was awful, but he still had his number from when they used to text each other during the Zoey days, and he never got rid of his number. However, phoning and texting had got them into this mess so he needed to have a much more direct conversation that would be a lot more meaningful.  

After much thoughts, Sanji decided that he would try and approach the gym that Zoro tended to frequent. It was a place that Sanji knew from Nami that Zoro liked to go when he needed some time to think. As Sanji was walking towards the gym, his mind was starting to feel like a whirlwind. Although he knew that he was the one that suffered the most in this, Sanji couldn’t help but wonder how Zoro had been. How would he react to Sanji just turning up to his gym out of the blue. There was a mixture of apprehension and curiosity in his stomach that was almost making him feel sick.  

Once he arrived at the gym, Sanji took a moment to stop at the entrance. He took a deep breath before stepping inside. The sound of training filled the air as he stepped inside the gym. Ahead of him, right past the empty reception, Sanji could see Zoro training with a wooden sword in an empty hall.  

The thud of his feet on the mat, the clank of the wooden sword against the training dummy and the controlled breaths. Zoro seemed to be in his element here. Sanji stood at the hallway leaning against the frame and watching him. Every turn and every muscle that moved. It was…. hypnotising. He didn’t realise that he was staring until Zoro noticed a presence in the room. He paused and turned. His expression changed from concentration to…surprise and Sanji realised that he was staring at Zoro working out. Holy shit. Why? 

“You?” Zoro said with a mix of uncertainty and…confusion. 

Sanji didn’t really know what to say but he cleared his throat and stepped in the room, “I…just wanted to see what you’ve been up to recently. You’ve disappeared entirely,” God this felt so awkward. Sanji needed a smoke, and he needed one bad.  

“You said you wanted time. I’ve been giving you that,” Zoro said as he placed the wooden sword on the ground. 

“Hm. First time you’ve ever listened to me in the history of ever,” Sanji said as he stepped forward a bit more. Sanji was a little uncertain about what was going on. He was unsure of how to approach this.  

Zoro raised an eyebrow at Sanji’s comments with a hint of defensive humour, “Well I figured that it was important. You said so yourself. You wanted space. I respected that and gave you space. You aren’t giving me shit for giving you space, are you?” 

There was a minute between them with such a mix of emotions. Curiosity, tension was all the emotions that were going on right now. It was clear that they both had a lot on their mind. Thoughts and questions simmering below the surface.  

Sanji shifted his weight. God, he absolutely NEEDED a cigarette. He looked around the gym before setting his gaze back onto Zoro, “Yeah. You are right. I’m not going to give you shit for that. I did need time,” 

Zoro nodded, he was willing to engage in conversation. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about it to. If you…don’t mind waiting for me to finish up here, we can talk outside…or go somewhere else,” 

Sanji nodded, “My apartment is not far away. We can go there…It’s quiet,” 

Zoro and Sanji agreed that would be right for them to go there. Sanji went to go and wait outside of the gym where he got his much needed cigarette. He stepped out of the gym and the fresh air was a much needed welcome. He lit up his cigarette and took a drag of it. His mind was racing with what he wanted to say to Zoro. The questions he wanted to ask him.  

After a few moments, Zoro appeared from the gym, having quickly changed out of his gear. They walked in pretty much silence back to Sanji’s apartment. It was starting to get late and as they appeared, Sanji could see that the Baratie was starting to quiet down for the evening. However, Sanji directed Zoro upstairs into his apartment. He never really invited much people upstairs. In fact, he can’t even remember the last time Nami came over.  

He offered Zoro a seat and a drink. Zoro, as per expected, wanted alcohol. Sanji indulged him with a beer while Sanji poured himself a glass of wine. He sat on the sofa with Zoro on the furthest side. 

Sanji decided that he didn’t want to sit in silence he decided he would take the lead and he would talk. 

“Zoro…I’ve been thinking about what we spoke about last time,” Sanji decided that since it was his own apartment, he would have another cigarette as he lit it up and took a drag, “I’m not gonna lie. I’ve had time to think about things and well, what you did really messed me up. But…we both got involved in something really…complicated. 

Zoro, who was swirling his beer around as he listened intently about what Sanji had to say but he didn’t interject. He knew what Sanji was talking about. When Zoro admitted having feelings. So, Sanji continued talking as he ran a hand through his hair. 

“I guess what I’m trying to get at is…I want to understand. Not just about what happened. I don’t think I’ll ever truly understand but what about us? Where do we stand?” 

Zoro set his beer down and he turned his head to look at Sanji. The question…it was direct and to the point. It was now cutting to the heart of their tangled history. The future was so uncertain, “I’ve been trying to figure that out myself. This is…complicated,” 

Sanji exhaled a cloud of smoke, and his expression was contemplative, “This…we’ve always been complicated, Zoro. Fights, arguments, a rivalry and now…this. Whatever this has been. He gestured between them, a vague gesture of their encompassing existence between them. 

Zoro leaned back slightly, “It’s…complicated but…I meant what I said…” He didn’t need to elaborate or repeat what he said. Sanji and them both knew what he said. He admitted feelings and Sanji… felt incredibly conflicted right now. 

Sanji’s eyes flickered with a mix of different emotions. Surprise, uncertainty and perhaps…something new. Something softer. Maybe it was the wine or maybe it was the time that he was allowed to have but he thought about it more, “Work through this mess…” He took another drag of his cigarette and took the time to consider Zoro’s words, “I…don’t think I can just forget about what happened. 

“I’m not asking you to forget about anything,” Zoro said, and Sanji could swear he was closer to him than before, “All I’m wondering is that…do you think we could have an existence where we tolerate each other more than we do?” 

“Tolerate?” Sanji deflected with humour, “I don’t think I could ever want to not fight with you, moss man,” 

Zoro cracked a smile at that use of his usual descriptor. Their usual banter beginning to resurface yet again, “I don’t expect anything less. I was just thinking that there is also room for other things other than tolerating each other and fighting,” 

Sanji took a moment, looking at his glass of wine before meeting Zoro’s gaze again, “The whole thing with Zoey…it was a mess…but it has also changed my perspective on things. I see you differently,”  

That admission hung in the air. It was a new and delicate thread in the complex fabric of their brand new relationship. A direction that neither of them thought that this would go in.  

When Sanji moves to look at Zoro, he was caught off guard when Zoro took a hold of the collar of his shirt and leaned forward to…well, kiss him. 

And holy shit did that catch Sanji off guard. The kiss was so sudden and unexpected. A bold and what seemed like a really desperate move by Zoro. Like he couldn’t just help himself.  

Sanji was taken aback. He was surprised. He was confused but he felt something. Something that he had never felt before. Of course, he had kissed plenty of women, but he had never had ever kissed a man. 

Kissing a man. That’s something he never thought he’d ever do and yet he was here, and Zoro kissed him.  

Huh. Why wasn’t he pulling away? 

As Zoro pulled back. There was a sense of questioning in his eyes. An intensity that Sanji wasn’t expecting as Zoro tried to gauge Sanji’s reaction to see if he had crossed a line, but Sanji just sat there for a moment, processing what had just happened. The kiss had been brief but…it made Sanji think. 

“…That wasn’t too forward, was it?” Zoro’s head tilted a little to gauge his reaction. 

There was a rush of emotions and the unexpected turn of events. The pads of his fingers touched his own lips in response. The intensity of Zoro’s gaze was met by Sanji’s own, and it was…confused.  

“It…no…not too forward,” Sanji rubbed the back of his neck. The tone of his voice was thick with realisation, “This…it just caught me off guard…that’s all,” 

There was a moment of silence where they both sat with the significance of Zoro’s kiss. It was a bold step. A physical manifestation of all the complex emotions. 

Sanji leaned back, his mind racing. Zoro watched him. 

“Was it bad?” Zoro asked and Sanji looked at him. 

“What? No? It wasn’t…It’s just really complicated,” Sanji felt flustered by Zoro kissing him and didn’t want to show it, but he was…terrible at that. Zoro watched him and then... 

“Ooooh….it was really good, and you don’t want to admit it,” There it was. Ther usual banter was back again, and Zoro was teasing him about something. 

Sanji shot him a look. A look of annoyance and a very reluctant smile playing on his lips, “Shut up, mosshead. Don’t get cocky. You kissed me once,” 

“But you’re blushing now…you enjoyed it… you liked being kissed,” 

“I swear if you don’t shut up I will- “  

Sanji didn’t know what came over him. Maybe it was the fact that Zoro was annoying him by being cocky or if it was the affect the kiss had on him, but it was his turn now. Sanji grabbed the collar of Zoro’s shirt this time and pulled him into a kiss of his own. This time, it was a little more aggressive and more…passionate than before which shocked both of them entirely. The sudden reversal of roles, with Sanji being the forward one added a brand new intensity to what was going on. This kiss was charged with emotion.  

That feeling…Sanji felt that feeling when he spoke to Zoey. When Zoey would make him do things and take videos and pictures... it was that feeling he felt kissing Zoro. It was the same arousal.  Sanji didn’t want to pull away because of it but he needed to pull away to breath but only inches away from Zoro’s lips. 

Zoro looked at Sanji with surprise but once that settled, a small smirk appeared on his face as he whispered against his lips, “Hmmm…didn’t know you had it in you, cook,” His usual teasing taking on a new tone. One that was equally aroused and very dominant. 

Christ. 

Sanji, caught in all of that, whispered back, “Don’t underestimate me, moss head. I’m full of surprises,”  

Zoro could only chuckle but not for long because they were back kissing. It was like a powder keg had gone off and now there was nothing that could stop them. It was so confusing. Sanji should hate him. Sanji should hate Zoro for the things he had done. He shouldn’t be doing this. Yet, he’s here and he can’t stop. He just can’t stop. 

Zoro’s hand moved to the back of his neck and pulled him closer. His tongue was shoved into his mouth and mapped out every inch of the blonde’s mouth. Sanji should push Zoro off of him, but he partially started this. He was already not wanting this to end. He didn’t want this to stop. It felt really strange, but he didn’t want this to stop ever. He’d kissed plenty of women and a lot of them got him aroused, and often left him aroused. However, the way that Zoro held the back of his neck to hold him there and the dominance battle he had already lost.  

His feelings were so all over the place right now, but he couldn’t deny, even if he tried to ignore it, the tightness in his pants.  

He hadn’t wanted it to end. Not in the slightest. But Zoro pulled away and Sanji didn’t want that. He moved as Zoro pulled back and was almost on his lap.  

What had Zoro done to him? No really, what had he done to him? Because he couldn’t believe that he was behaving like this now when Zoro had done such a fucked up think to him not that long ago. Zoro and Sanji were now kissing quite passionately on Sanji’s couch, and he never expected that to happen. 

Sanji looked at Zoro and Zoro looked at him. They didn’t say anything to each other, but Zoro turned to the side and then went to stand up. 

“Where are you going?” Sanji asked. A hint of annoyance and a hint of confusion. Zoro was just getting up and leaving him as he was turned on from their kissing.  

“Wouldn’t you rather do this in your room? I mean, I’m happy to do it on the couch but...” 

Hold on hold on. What does he mean by do this? So, it was a reality. They were going to have sex and Sanji was feeling… 

"Who said I wanted to have sex with you?" Sanji sneered at him. The thought that this was going to happen. Was it too fast? Sanji wasn't too sure. Maybe it was but, in his mind, he found himself leaning towards the idea. He didn't know if it was the right thing to do but it was the thing, he felt himself leaning towards wanting to do.  

"It's not what you say. It's how you react to me..." There was a little bit of smugness from Zoro's side which was annoying and weirdly attractive. Damn him. Damn him. Zoro looked back at him and tilted his head. 

"Well, are you coming then, cook?" 

Sanji had no choice. He got up and pushed past him but only so he could show him where his bedroom his. Sanji, who always prided himself on his charm and ease around women was in completely new and unfamiliar territory. This was different, more intense and more confusion. However, in his bedroom, Zoro moving in close to him and feeling his strong hands taking a sudden hold of his hips, there was a growing desire he couldn't ignore right now. 

Zoro moved his head against Sanji's. As equally as lost in this as Sanji was right now. He was about to kiss Sanji again before Sanji whispered to him. 

"This doesn't change the past," Sanji said, a moment of vulnerability that could be heard in his voice.  

"I know..." 

And that was that. Sanji moved so his lips to smash his lips against Zoro's lips. Later on, he would consider this but for now, he would fall into this moment and fall into it. When he came to Zoro, he never considered that he would never be in this space kissing Zoro. As they kissed, Zoro took a few step forwards and tried to guide Sanji going backwards so they can go over to the bedroom. Sanji followed in the way that Zoro tried to guide him until he felt the back of his knees hit his bed. When they did, he almost fell back but he grabbed Zoro's shoulder and pulled him onto the bed with him. Zoro was guided to land on top of him.  

This was actually kind of scary. Sanji felt a bubble of anxiety at the idea that Zoro was going to...Zoro was going to fuck him and the idea of that should have made his toes curl and while he thought that Zoro was still his rival and he wanted to beat him at being the best kisser, but the idea of Zoro was going to fuck him was... 

Zoro's knee pushed against his thigh and invertedly, his cock was rubbed against, and Sanji suddenly realised how aroused he was as he was incredibly fucking hard. A moan left his mouth, and it was incredibly embarrassing. He could feel his face heating up as they feverishly kissed. Sanji felt Zoro's hands that were on his hips trailing up his waist and... oh goodness. This was already too good, and Sanji didn't want to show that, but he just couldn't.  

Zoro tugged at Sanji's shirt so Sanji leaned up so he could quickly remove his shirt. Zoro followed suit by doing the same. Sanji never thought that he would ever gawk at a man but...damn. 

Zoro was built like a herculean hero.  A muscled hero and Sanji couldn't take his eyes. He wanted to reach forward and feel ever depth and muscle but before he could even think about it. Zoro's head went to the crook of his neck to take in that addicting scent and bit him. His hands were on his waist. His hands went to touch him everywhere. His hips, chest, shoulders and then further down.  

"You're so perfect..." 

Sanji's breath was caught. Perfect.  

This changes nothing. Absolutely nothing.  

Caught on a stray thought, Sanji was brought to life when Zoro's hands hooked at the waist band of his pants. Sanji went to lift his hips up so Zoro could pull them off. Sanji kicked them off before throwing them somewhere in the room on the floor. He tried not to think about the past. The current moment was free of all that had happened so surely, he would be able to move on from it.  Right. 

But he just couldn't deny himself anymore. 

"You look so good like this Curly," 

Sanji began to wonder if he looked just as good as the photos that Sanji given him. Although, he didn't want to think about that because it would likely ruin the moment for him, and he didn't want to think about what Zoro did to him. As they both stripped off the rest of their clothes, Sanji and Zoro were naked in front of each other for the first time and Sanji couldn't take his mind off of the beautiful body in front of him.  

Zoro moved his hands onto Sanji's kneed with the intention of slowly parting his legs. it should have felt really embarrassing for him to be seen like this under Zoro's lustful gaze, but it just didn't feel that way. It felt incredibly right in this moment. Zoro looked up at Sanji's face and studied his face intensely. Face flushed and his eyes dipped down to Sanji's cock and untouched hole that Zoro knew had never been breached by another man and there was a swell of pride at the thought that he would be the one to do it. 

"You...Do you still have lube?" 

Sanji turned his head to the side and reached his hand out to point to the drawer next to the bed. 

"Bottom shelf," 

To which Zoro went into the shelf and grabbed the lube. He coated his fingers in the lube before easing Sanji's legs open. Sanji was mostly complacent. 

"How are you feeling?" Zoro asked, looking up with him 

"Just get on with it," 

Right. Sanji is feeling fine then. He made sure that Sanji's legs were spread nice and wide for him before pushing the pad of his finger against the blonde's hole and eased it, slowly. 

"Ngh-" 

The moans were just as good as they were in the videos. 

"That's it baby..." Zoro whispered, easing his finger in, "Good..." 

After a few minutes, he inserted a second finger. He thrusted his fingers shallowly. Sanji's hips buckled into his hand every time that sweet spot inside of him. Zoro had found it already. Wonderful. This was deeper than Sanji had ever managed to get with his own fingers. His eyes were shut and if it wasn't for Zoro's arm, he would have shut his legs too. Zoro inserted a third and then daringly, Sanji then inserted a fourth. That ended up getting small hiss out of them who buckled his hips. Despite what he was doing, Zoro made sure to watch his face while he thrusted his fingers into that spot.  

As much as Sanji didn't want to act too lewdly like he had in those videos, he couldn't help but moan and groan every time Zoro's fingers brushed against that thought. If he had told himself a year ago that Zoro was going to fuck him, and it was going to feel really good, then Sanji would have thrown himself in the ocean. 

Oh. That's funny. Times change then. 

Zoro could only help but hope Sanji is just as tight around his cock. Just as he always wanted. 

"You look good like this," Zoro breathed out as he brushed his fingers against the spot, "Stretched around my fingers like this...will I fuck you?" 

"J-Just....Just get on with it Please ,"  

Likely embarrassed that Zoro had made him feel really good. Zoro grinned before pulling his fingers out and grabbing the lube again. He covered his cock in lube before making sure there was plenty on Sanji's hole. Zoro moved so he could get in between Sanji's legs. He moved his hand to grab a hold of his cock only so he could guide it into Sanji's awaiting hole. He couldn't think of a place he'd rather be, and Sanji couldn't think of a place he would rather be. 

This was real bliss. 

"Fuck...you feel good," 

Sanji gripped the bed as Zoro moved in inch by inch. He took a hold of Sanji's hips so he could bury himself into his ass. Sanji couldn't help but close his eyes and groan. It wasn't overly painful; he'd gotten used to it the number of times he'd done it to himself. Even after, Sanji still filled himself when he was masturbating because it just made things 100x better. 

Zoro pulled his hips back and then back in. He wanted Sanji to feel and get used to every inch of his cock before it was pulled back out and then back in again. His thrusts were set as a steady pace. His lips were on Sanji's. His lips were drawing out breaths and then lapping up the flavours of the blonde underneath in. Sanji swore this didn't change anything and that he would go back to resenting and hating him afterwards, but this felt... 

Well, all is fair in love and in war, isn't it? 

Zoro's hips began to quicken in pace, but it didn't get overly fast. His hands held onto Sanji's hips tight in a way that would probably cause bruises from the way that the pads sunk into the pale skin underneath them. If anything, it would be a hidden reminder of what they had done. 

Sanji was getting closer to the edge, and it felt much more intense than when he had done it himself. The way his legs shook and the way he clenched around Zoro's cock. Zoro knew he'd be able to watch Sanji cum soon like in those videos and that would be absolutely divine. Zoro dipped his head into Sanji's neck and began to kiss him a few times before biting into the crook of his neck which made Sanji gasp. Suddenly, a hand was wrapped around his cock and Sanji groaned, thrusting his hips into Zoro's hand. 

"Come for me...I need to watch you..." 

Zoro didn't need to say anymore. Sanji's hips moved forward, and he arched his back against the bed as Zoro began to milk his cock. His hole gripped around Zoro's cock as Sanji let out a pathetic whine as he came into Zoro's hand. It was too much for Zoro too who came with a pant and painted Sanji's insides with stipes of cum. He continued to fuck him until they were both over their orgasm and then Zoro just stopped and panted next to Sanji once he had pulled out. 

All Sanji could do was look at the celling. All he could think about was the post-orgasmic bliss...or not really. 

At the end of it all, it changed nothing between them and as Sanji lay there in all the glory of the morning, that thought occurred into his head. Maybe Zoro didn't see it. Maybe this was a distraction to stop him from thinking about what happened between them or maybe it was something else entirely. Whatever it was, Sanji looked up at the celling of his bedroom while he puffed and panted. He turned his head towards the window and memories of what happened a few months ago flooded his brain and there was a pang of hurt in his chest. He didn't forgive Zoro. He couldn't forgive Zoro and he never would.  

This changed nothing. 

"I love you," 

Sanji was caught off guard, but he wasn't surprised to hear him confess such things. After all, that was what all this was about. A game that had become more serious as the days went on.  

Sanji couldn't say it back. It wasn't true. Even in the intense moment where he maybe had the smallest smidge of feelings, he couldn't say that he loved Zoro. No. Not after all that happened. He didn't think it would be possible for him to love Zoro. He didn't say anything and when Sanji didn't say anything, Zoro didn't press it any further. In fact, he didn't say anything. He just got dressed and left without saying another word. There was a small acknowledgement of each other's existence here and there but otherwise they didn't exchange much words. Once Zoro was gone, Sanji moved onto his side and faced away from the window. He didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to acknowledge any of this anymore. 

It was a mistake. He thought it might change things, but it didn't, and he was a fool for thinking it might change something.  

A MONTH LATER.  

Sanji never really closed for Zeff much anymore. Zeff must have taken some resemblance of pity on him but for a change, Sanji asked if he could do the honours. Zeff was a little suspicious of Sanji's reasoning, but he framed it as being a thank you for all the good things he had done for him. It was...partially that, but Luffy has been complaining recently about not being able to raid the fridges so he promised that if he could get rid of Zeff for the night, Luffy could come by the restaurant. Apart from it was never just Luffy was it? It was Nami and... well, Zoro. Zoro had started coming by with the others too once again just like he used to before all of...this. 

At first, it made Sanji feel a little apprehensive about it considering that he really didn't know what to expect but it ended up being like normal. As if nothing ever changed. Maybe nothing ever did change. Everything that he'd went through with Zoro, and it was as if nothing ever happened.  

"SANJI!" 

Sanji was in the back office getting ready to close when he heard Luffy's booming voice and him banging on the window. No matter how many times he had told him not to do that, Luffy still did it anyway. Despite how it used to annoy him, now it just made him smile. He finished what he was doing and got up to let them in. 

Sanji made his way over to the door. He had to admit it, but he missed this so much. This whole thing brought him a sense of familiarity and comfort. Luffy's boisterous presence and Nami's knowing smile were part of a routine he unknowingly loved and missed when things happened not that long ago. 

As he opened the door to let them in, Luffy burst through the door and immediately ran to the kitchen, "Sanji! I'm starving! What's for dinner?!?" Luffy's enthusiasm was infectious. Sanji couldn't help but smile as the chaos it brought with it.  

Nami followed in the door, "You know, you didn't have to do this. You deserve your evenings off," 

Sanji returned the smile, "It's no trouble. I missed having you all here," 

His gaze shifted to Zoro who was always the last to enter. As always, he carried a nonchalantness about him but... 

"What the hell you looking at, curly?" 

Ah yes. Things were back to true form. 

"Whatever the hell you are, moss head," Sanji went to do his usual, block Zoro from getting in but Zoro was too quick for him and got in no problem.  

"Like hell you are. I'll beat your ass," 

Quiet. But then their eyes met briefly and there was a quiet acknowledgement of each other. A silent telepathic communication that didn't need words to say how they felt about each other.  

The evening unfolded with ease. Luffy raided the kitchen, Nami chatted with Sanji about the latest happenings and Zoro sat at the bar with a beer and watched the usual scene. The atmosphere was lively and warm, and it was filled with laughter. Sanji cooked his friends a meal, something he sometimes did if he could hide from Zeff that he had been using the restaurant's resources. As the evening developed, Sanji and Zoro were back to their usual. Occasional barbs that looked like they had returned to their own ways. 

As Sanji served up the meal, Luffy grew excited, and his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. Nami continued to chat with Sanji as they caught up on recent events. Zoro was content to watch the scene unfold as he sipped his beer and occasionally joined in on the conversation. Oh, and of course, to banter with Sanji. There was a renewed sense of camaraderie among the group, and it truly felt like a family sometimes. 

As the night began to wound down, Luffy and Nami prepared to leave. Sanji was quite tired and was looking forward to resting for the night, but he couldn't help the great deal of love her felt when he looked at his friends around the room. The warmth of the evening continues to linger. As those two left, Zoro lingered a tad looking back at Sanji but not saying much before he left.  

Sanji was cleaning up the restaurant making sure that they didn't leave a trace that they had been when he felt his phone buzz. He reached into his pocket as he leaned against the table. 

Zoro. Finally, he changed the name on his phone to Zoro. 

Z: So, will I wait for you upstairs?  

Sanji couldn't help the small smile that came onto his face. Things didn't change. This didn't change the past. 

However, that didn't mean that things could blossom. 

S: Sounds good.  

S: See you soon, Mosshead.  

[robinchan-hananomi]

Another interesting thing I noticed in my One Piece reread up to Thriller Bark is Luffy when he offers to share food. So I’ve talked a lot over the years about how food is really important in One Piece. Zoro being willing to eat Rika’s mud covered rice ball told Luffy a lot about Zoro as person, more than anything else had up to that point. We know that for Sanji, cooking is a very important thing that not only gave him something to focus on while his mother was sick, but was also what helped him learn how to live free of his family and a skill his adopted father taught him. Nami’s favorite meal is the last thing Bellemear cooked for the girls before she was killed. I can go on and on, but this time I’m focused on Luffy.

Luffy doesn’t share food. He’s a bottomless pit with a stomach made out of rubber who any cook has a next to impossible task of keeping up with, at five massive meals a day; and Luffy has a bad habit of just grabbing whatever food he sees’ regardless of who it belongs to. A good illustration is the party at Alabasta where Luffy was literally pulling food out of various cremates mouths. And when Luffy has no idea what to do about making something to eat, he just throws everything they have into a large pot and tries to consume that. But there are at least two times up to Thriller Bark where Luffy actually takes a moment and offers his food.

The first was to Nami. When the strawhats were leaving Alabasta, Nami was particularly upset. The crew members all made the assumption Nami was upset about leaving Vivi behind and were trying to assure Nami that they understood her feelings. In a moment of sympathy, Luffy offered Nami a piece of his meat as a way to cheer her up, being very specific in telling her that it will only be one piece. Vivi is the only member of the strawhats (she’s considered an unofficial one by a few sources) who left the crew and stayed gone. While others have standing invites to join whenever they want (Yamoto, Momo, and Kinemon), Vivi was the only ‘shipmate’ who left and stayed gone before Wano. Luffy saw what he thought was Nami having a hard time accepting them leaving a friend behind and offered his own food, one of the things that makes Luffy the happiest, in a way to cheer her up.

The other time it was Zoro in Thriller Bark. After Luffy, Franky, Robin, and Sanji had disembarked the Sunny, Zoro hesitated because as he pointed out, it was very obviously a trap and he wasn’t overly enthused about just walking headfirst into it when they still were missing three crew mates (he kept only saying Chopper and Usopp but I think that’s just because Sanji wasn’t letting them forget Nami was in danger so Zoro was probably just saying it like he did to keep their names out there too). Luffy however responds with telling Zoro to hurry up as he’s going before switching gears and offering to share his food with Zoro if Zoro comes. Luffy is Zoro’s captain, and Zoro follows any actual order Luffy gives him. Honestly there was no need for Luffy to have to ‘bribe’ Zoro to come with them and even if Zoro hadn’t come it wasn’t like they would be hurting on manpower in their walk to the mansion. However Luffy wanted Zoro on that adventure so he bribed Zoro with the one thing that defiantly would get Luffy moving, food. Honestly he would have had better luck with alcohol but I’m not going to tell Luffy how to manage his crew.

I just really love how Oda uses food a lot in One Piece and how he shows some relationships through using food, especially when it comes to Luffy being involved.

[holykillercake]

One Year

pairing: Zoro x Reader

word count: 2k

summary: No summary this time. I´ll just say this ¨Bartholomew Kuma and Sabaody¨. Read at your own risk. Seriously, ¨KUMA AND SABAODY¨, do you understand?

highlight: ¨Everyone did their best, but no one could have done better.¨

warnings: angst with happy ending; Sabaody Archipelago spoilers (?)

notes: Hey guys! This was a request from @roronoatrash​ in which ¨Zoro who has 0 sense of direction seemed to always find his way back to is s/o, and his s/o only.¨. I really hope you like it!💚 This is also the first time I write a Devil Fruit user, so I'm considering a sequel to develop the character and add more humor.

𝕷𝖊𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖒𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖘, 𝖗𝖊𝖖𝖚𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖘, 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖑𝖔𝖛𝖊!

It was a cloudy and melancholic day in the New World. The men on board were leisurely enjoying their afternoon; some drinking, some napping, some eating. The air was humid and cold, and the tides were strangely calm. No one seemed to care. After all, that was the New World. 

¨Boss!¨ the lookout shouted from the crow's nest ¨Something is falling from the sky! It´s going to land on deck!¨

All men tilted their heads to look at the sky, watching a tiny black spot become bigger and more recognizable.

¨Is that what I think it is?¨ the captain asked himself, not believing his eyes.

¨Boss, is that a girl?¨

¨Yep, I think so.¨

They stood still watching what they suspected was a girl fall from the skies. The red-haired took a quick glimpse at his first-mate and officers, and since no one moved, he felt safe to assume that that was not a threat. Mainly because whatever was falling towards the ship looked dead already. 

The body fell through the main deck and went straight to the lower level of the ship. The captain and his officers stood around the hole on the wooden floor, observing the unconscious and injured body of a girl. 

¨I´ve seen some crazy things rain around here... but this is new.¨ he spoke.

They were ready to have someone dispose of the dead body when the girl opened her eyes, putting herself on her shaky legs. Blood dripped from her eyebrows and nose, and she had bruises all over. Her eyes wandered around as if she was looking for something.

¨Z-Zoro...¨ she spoke when her teary eyes met the captain´s ¨I-I need to find Zoro.¨ 

That was all she said before falling on her knees and collapsing. 

                                                             </>

Almost a year has passed since the tragedy in Sabaody Archipelago. A year passed since you were defeated in the fight against the marine force. Your gashes closed, and your bruises healed, but there was a wound that would not go away, even after one year. 

So much had happened since that day. Luffy had broken into Impel Down, fought in the Paramount War, and lost his brother, Ace. A few days later you received the hidden message he had left you, saying that you were no longer going to meet in Sabaody in three days but in two years.

It took you a while to understand the situation you and the rest of the Strawhats were in, and it took you even more to let go of your selfishness and trust them. The guilt for not being strong enough to protect yourself and your comrades ate you alive during the first weeks, but then you considered how they must be feeling too. No one could have done better. 

Everyone did their best, but no one could have done better. 

For one year, whenever a News Coo flew by to deliver a newspaper, you would run and grab it before anyone did, hoping to see another message from your friends. But the status of your captain was the only one you knew so far. You knew he was training with Rayleigh-san, and this whole two years thing should have been his idea. 

When Bartholomeu Kuma used his Devil Fruit powers on you, you ended up landing on the ship of the Red Hair Pirates. They would always tell you how you rained on their Red Force and broke the deck floor. They said you were looking for someone, and during your stay in the infirmary, you would always call for the same person. 

For months nightmares had you waking up in the middle of the night panting and crying. The same one, torturing you in an infinite and merciless loop. 

Every detail, color, and noise. Everything was so precise and clear in your head. 

When he fought still injured from the last encounter with the Shichibukai; when he stood up and faced the Warlord fearlessly. Even with the damages caused by Kizaru and the Pacifistas, he stood up. 

And maybe your eyes fooled you, maybe your exhausted body played a sick trick on you because he was there until he wasn´t.

 Right in front of your eyes.

 His cropped green hair and tanned skin, the vibrant red and white striped shirt, the scar across his chest, the haramaki, and the swords. Gone, simple as that. 

But after all the training that you had with the Red Hair Pirates, you seemed more in peace with yourself. After one year, the nightmares would bother you only every once in a while. You were not prepared for the New World before, maybe still aren´t, but you will get there. 

And they made everything easier. It was no mystery why Luffy liked them so much. Whenever you were not engaged in a fight or some other Emperor crap, those guys were incredibly light-spirited. And the moment they realized you were part of Luffy´s crew they treated your wounds and welcomed you onboard. 

Shanks agreed to have his men training you, but he made very clear that no one would babysit you, so it was ¨keep up or keep out.¨. You spent most of your time with Yassop, Benn, or Roux, for they were the best in the abilities you exercised. 

Inside the Strawhats you were a stealth agent, mostly because of your Devil Fruit, the Nagi Nagi no Mi, once possessed by a Marine Commander. Another Supernova, the Surgeon of Death Trafalgar Law had told you that before shit broke in Sabaody. 

You used that combined with your fighting skills to breach the enemy´s first line of defense before they saw you coming. Usually, Usopp would assist you with the sniper training, trade he ¨learned from a friend¨, Sogeking. 

His father was an extraordinary sniper, and he used the same kind of firearms as you, differently than Usopp´s slingshot. Benn´s combat skills were remarkable, and Roux was exceptionally fast for a man his size. You haven´t had a lot of opportunities to fight the Red Hair himself, though you had a strong will, his Haki was something you have never seen before. 

¨We´re going to a bar, kid. You´re coming?¨ Benn asked you with his cigarette on his lips. 

You pondered a little over his invitation but decided to decline it. ¨Thanks, Benn, but I´m keeping a low profile tonight.¨ He nodded and smiled, turning to follow his crewmates ¨Don´t drink too much, we have training tomorrow!¨ 

The first mate laughed shortly and spoke without looking at you ¨Roger that, kid.¨ 

You walked the opposite way, wandering between the vegetables and gimmicks tents, feeling the kind sunset kiss your skin. There was some music playing, kids running around with ice cream in their hands, laughing loudly and happily. Marketers were announcing their prices, housewives were thinking about delicious recipes to prepare for their families, and couples would sit together around the font, swearing love to each other.

Every day was like that. The citizens would wish their neighbors ¨good morning¨ from their windows; bakers would open the doors early, letting the delightful smell of fresh bread wake up those who slept in.  

How could you, in the middle of all that happiness, feel so sad and lost?

You sighed and made a route change. Maybe you needed a little bit of booze. 

The island where Shanks had decided to dock was in the Grand Line, a place where they were known and welcomed. So you knew where they were, and it would be a short walk to get there.

¨Y/N?¨ 

You turned automatically, thinking that a crew member had gotten lost and was looking for his captain - or boss, how he likes to be called.

 But when you saw the man standing in front of you, everything stopped. The music, the kids, and the love promises. 

At some point, you started to cry and hyperventilate, believing you were in another nightmare, and you would have to go through that day all over again. Your lover carried pain in his eyes as well, like his fears were the same as yours. 

Those minutes you stared at each other felt like hours while you kept every detail of him in your memory. His hair was slightly longer, and his complexion was paler, even with the sunset painting his skin. 

¨Z-Zoro...¨ you whispered shakily.

He gave a step forward ¨Y/N... it´s you...¨ 

You ran in his direction as soon as your name fell out of his mouth. Your arms embraced his neck, and your legs gave up when he held you tight against his body, whispering comforting words as you broke into tears. 

¨I...¨ nothing but sobs came out.

¨I know... me too.¨ he fondled your hair and hid his face in the curve of your neck. And there stood the both of you, not wanting to let the other go. 

                                                          </>

¨How did you know I was here?¨ you asked and he blushed a little.

¨I didn´t... I had to buy stuff for the castle, and I got lost.¨ a loud laugh came out of your mouth. It was so obvious, how didn´t you guess that?

¨They didn´t give you a log pose?¨

¨They did, but I took a nap and when I woke up, I was here.¨

You spent the rest of the day cuddling on the beach sand. Zoro was laying on his back, and you were resting on his chest. You had one year worth of conversation to catch up on, and neither of you rushed to do so. He told you about Mihawk, the creepy island in which the only native habitants were copycat human drills, the boat he destroyed, and even how he begged the Warlord to train him.

The sun had started to hide behind the sea, and the warm sand was cooling down. The sound of the waves crashing on the shore together with the salty breeze made you question if you had died at some point, and that was heaven.

¨You´re paler.¨ he chuckled.

¨It´s not very sunny where I´m living.¨ 

¨Hm...¨ you hummed ¨And how long did you take to figure out Luffy´s message?¨ 

¨Oh...¨ he thought for a second ¨ I knew right away.¨ you giggled and doodled on his chest with your finger. 

You felt his chest go up and down as he let out a sigh. 

¨I missed you, Y/N.¨ he hugged you tighter. 

¨I missed you too.¨ you stayed in silence for a few minutes ¨Anyway, when are you setting sail again?¨ You asked him softly, and he tensed up. ¨I know... ¨ your lips began to tremble ¨ I don´t want to go either, but what happened in Sabaody... I don´t want that to happen ever again.¨ you bit your lip as tears started to roll on your cheeks. 

He wiped the tears with his fingers and pulled you closer. None of you wanted to part ways again, but not only those were your captain´s order that was your future. If something like that happens again in the New World, a two-year separation would be the best scenario possible. 

¨It won´t. I promise.¨

When the night came, you decided to stay on the beach and talked until you fell asleep under the stars. The best sleep you´ve had in a long time. No nightmares, no agony, and no pain. Just the warmth and peace you missed so much.

On the following morning, you helped him get the provisions for Mihawk´s castle. You toured around the city holding hands and joking, kinda like the couples sitting by the font, enjoying every second you had before he left. 

If he didn´t get lost trying to go back to Kuraigana Island, it would be a quick trip. You assisted him with the bags and walked him to his boat. Your heart ached to say goodbye to him, but you had to. The circumstances were bigger than the two of you.

¨I love you, Zoro.¨ you hugged him and tried not to cry again.

¨I love you more, Y/N.¨

¨Careful with the naps, ok?¨ he chuckled and nodded ¨One year. We´ll meet again in one year.¨ 

¨Wait for me. I´ll go get you, and we´ll return to Sabaody together.¨ 

¨But how will you know where I will be?¨

¨It doesn´t matter where you´ll be. I´ll always find you.¨

[itsthemoofacewriting]

Take your time (I’ll wait)

I have a head canon that Sanji’s full of hot air, he believes he’s the woman whisperer, but should an attractive woman actually flirt with him, especially the woman of his dreams, he wouldn’t realise or know what to do.

Also, I wanted Nami to make the first move for once.

This is for my wonderful friend @fangirlingwithnoregrets. I told her I was writing something for her but told her I had no idea when it would be done. Well, I lied.

Summary:Black leg Sanji, self-proclaimed ladies’ man, can’t even see when he’s being flirted with. Nami has her work cut out for her. Rating: M- just to be safe. 

This can also be found on AO3 and FFN.

Enjoy!

For eight long years, Nami had gathered money, week by week, month by month, never taking a break. It was hard, it was painful, and it was relentless. But despite all of that, she’s never had to work as hard as she is right now.

“Oh, Sanji-kun!” Nami called after him like she was surprised as the cook came into view. She’d heard the kitchen door open and the familiar pattern of his steps and she’d sprang into action.

“Yes, Nam-” He stopped dead, words lost at the sight in front of him and Nami had to bite down her grin.

There Nami stood just outside the women’s door, her hand pressed to her chest to hold the front of her dress up with the back unzipped, exposing her creamy back. Sanji looked like he was going to have a seizure, his eyes as round as golf balls and mouth agape.

In her most innocent voice, she asked, “Could you zip me up?”

He didn’t reply straight away, and if her ears had heard right, he actually gurgled. It was exactly what she was going for and she only had to wait another long moment before he was taking a tentative step towards her, like he was expecting it all to be a joke.

She played it oblivious, like she hadn’t noticed his struggle and turned to display her back- to show off what she needed done, of course, no other reason. She may have also scooped her hair up out of the way and curved her back more than necessary, but she needed to exaggerate.

He just wasn’t getting it.

When she felt him finally standing behind her, she turned her head to the side to look at him and fluttered her eyelashes. “Thank god you came by when you did, I’ve been struggling with the zip for ages.”

She’d waited twenty minutes behind her bedroom door for him to leave that damn kitchen.

Sanji nodded at her stiffly, staying silent but his reaction spoke volumes. His hands jittered nervously as they reached for the zip of her dress and he stopped breathing at it slowly dragged upwards. His hands lingered when the zip reached the top and before he could pull away, she was speaking, “Oh, could you also do up the clasp?”

He nodded dumbly, fingers fumbling to follow the new request and it took him three attempts before he finally managed it. He breathed out loudly when he was done and she felt it dance along her neck, causing her to shiver.

Letting her hair down, she spun around to face him. “Thank you for doing that, Sanji-kun.” Her hands smoothed the front of the dress and Sanji watched their journey like a hawk. It was incredibly satisfying but so frustrating because that’s all he ever did. Look. Not touch.

“Maybe you can help me out of it later.” When all he did was gape at her, she spared him and explained, “With the zipper, it gets stuck.”

She truly commended him for holding it together, not one sight of blood. Where was he finding all of this self-restraint from all of a sudden?

He found his voice then, “Of course,” he croaked.

Nami beamed at him and he took a step back, turning to leave. His footsteps were uneven, like he was going to faint at any moment, and it was such a stark difference from before that Nami grinned to herself. It wasn’t exactly what she wanted, but it was something.

“You have no shame, woman.”

Nami turned to look behind her and Zoro was peering down at her, having just turned the corner. She grinned at him cattily, unaffected by his words and shrugged.

“Keep it up and maybe his balls will finally drop,” were his words of encouragement before leaving and although they sounded harsh, she knew he meant well. She sure hoped his words were true because this was exhausting, she wasn’t sure just how many moves she had left in her arsenal.

Why was she trying so hard, you ask? Because she’d finally realised, after all this time, how she felt about Sanji and getting him to make a move was harder than she’d expected.  

Oh, and she’s pretty sure everyone knew about it at this point, except for Sanji, of course.

.

.

.

Nami was going to have to up her game.

Again.

Sanji’s zipped up another dress since then, an even skimpier one this time, where the zipper went all the way down her back and she’d even had her sexiest underwear on, purposefully shifting to show it off. He’d seen it, she knew he had. Heard him gasp, unable to hold it back, and she’d looked over her shoulder to give him a smouldering look, to silently encourage him but instead he’d just got his act together.

He’d taken a deep breath in, zipped up the dress and left.

She’d tried not to take it personally. Maybe she was just rusty.

So she had a new plan. A plan that she knew was going to get him. He was going to have to actually touch her this time.

The plan was put into motion as soon as everyone had left for town and Sanji had retreated to the kitchen. She’d changed into her bikini and laid down on her sun lounger she’d unfolded and waited.

It was a good 20 minutes before he’d come out of the kitchen, and briefly she’d wondered if he’d actually gone into town and she’d missed it. But then he’d flung open the kitchen door, drink in hand, ready to call her name but it died on his lips at the sight of her. She leaned up on her arms, smiling up at him like nothing was wrong but she was no fool, she knew he had a great view of her cleavage, she’d positioned herself that way.

He was motionless for a second, his brain trying to compute what was happening and then walked over, forcing his eyes to look away.

That’s fine though, she’d planned for this. It was time to up the stakes.

Putting on her best smile, she sat up as she accepted the drink and thanked him. She took a large a gulp and put it down next to her lounger. Then she reached up behind her neck, undoing the strings tied there, her other hand cupping her chest to hold the bikini top up.

She wasn’t quite at the stage of flashing him yet. Especially if Chopper wasn’t around.

His hand twitched at his side and he no longer tried to avert his eyes; they watched her hands shamelessly.

Time to bring this home.

Leaning down, she grabbed the sun lotion next to her abandoned drink with her free hand. “Will you put some on my back?” She asked innocently, shaking the bottle at him when all he did was stare, “I don’t want my skin to burn.”

When he nodded wordlessly, still stunned, she took it as a cue to lay back down on her front, carefully positioning herself so her bikini stayed put. When he didn’t move, she held the bottle over her shoulder, ready for him to take.

It was kind of cute. She shuffled over for him to sit and he sat cautiously, like any wrong move and he’d wake up from a dream.

“Can you undo the other bow, please?” She asked sweetly, pulling her hair out of the way to reveal the tied strings at the middle of her back.

“Yeah,” his strained voice replied, and it took a second but then fingers were pulling at the strings. She felt them flutter across her skin to fall either side of her body on the lounger.

It took a second after that, and she wished she could see his face, but she wasn’t ready for that yet. The first touch was cold as his lotioned hands made contact and Nami hissed at the temperature difference on her skin and he muttered a quiet ‘sorry’ under his breath.

He was clumsy at first, unsure. His hands skittered across her skin, trying to keep the touching to a minimum, which was ridiculous considering the task. Nami was having none of it, so she hummed in contentment, relaxing under his touch and it seemed to have an immediate effect. He relaxed, his posture slackening next to her and he no longer looked like he was going to take off at a moment’s notice. His hands found their purpose, surer of themselves and moved with more rhythm against her skin.

Now she could really start to enjoy this.

“Sorry, Sanji-kun, could you make sure to get rid of the streaking? White marks ruin a tan.”

He complied so easily, his hands running large strokes along her back and although it was a hot day, she could feel goosebumps erupting along her arms. His hands were soft on her skin, but firm in their actions and she briefly wondered if he moisturised them regularly considering how much he probably had to wash them.

At one point, he daringly ran his hands down the side of her waist, she wasn’t sure if he was doing it on purpose or not, but she would see that behaviour was rewarded. It was the most she’d got from him since this all started. She sighed loudly, almost making it sound like a light moan and wiggled her hips.

It was a cheap trick, but it had the exact effect she was going for. His hands were back at her waist, slowly stroking up her sides and daringly reaching higher up, not brave enough to brush the underside of her breast but enough to make her shiver.

Finally.

“You’re really good with your hands,” she said softly, laying her head against her arms and looking at him from over her shoulder. “If you weren’t a chef, you’d make a great masseuse.”

He had a light blush on his cheeks, but he smiled down at her boyishly, “Maybe something to consider if we’re short on money?” He joked, laughing lightly at the end.

“Hmmm,” she paused, as if mulling it over, “it’s not a bad idea but maybe I want to keep you to myself.” She leaned back up on her forearms, turning as much as she could to look at him.

It was bold and she really was putting herself out there, half naked on the deck and basically telling him she wanted him all to herself, but it was worth it. He leaned closer and she didn’t miss the way his eyes darted down to her lips quickly. His hands had stopped their travels over her back and rested heavily on either side of her waist.

Time to bring this home.

“A man who can cook, dress well and is good with his hands, a catch if you ask me.”

She had him.

He was blushing brightly now, speechless but leaning closer by the second, she could almost count his blonde eyelashes. His breath was light against her face, and she shivered again. He was going to kiss her, this was it.

The spell was broken with the thumping of footsteps hitting the deck.

Zoro had ungracefully climbed back on board, unaware he was interrupting something, but it had the effect of splashing cold water on their moment. Well, not so much Nami. But for Sanji the effect was instant. He clammed up, all the tension she had eased out of his body back tenfold, his hands were off of her body and he pulled away like a shot.

It was game over.

She had been so close.

Under his breath he muttered an excuse, stood up and made a quick journey across the deck, retreating into the kitchen. He was still somewhat in character, he made sure to shoot Zoro a dirty look before disappearing but that didn’t help Nami as she watched his retreating figure.

Even Zoro looked concerned.

If it wasn’t for Sanji’s obvious interest and reactions, Nami might have started to doubt herself.

.

.

.

It took a few days for Nami to get back up on her feet and try again. It wasn’t exactly easy putting yourself out there to be shot down each time. Well, she wasn’t shot down, he reacted, but it wasn’t what she wanted. God, even Zoro, in his own blunt and brash way, had given her a pep talk.

Zoro!

And in those few days, Nami wondered if maybe she’d come on too strong. Maybe the best form of action wasn’t to hit on Sanji half-naked. He was hardly the most composed person and she could always ease him into that later.

The new plan was subtle but friendly.

They were having a small party on the deck after Luffy’s and Usopp’s impressive fishing haul from earlier today. There was a large table filled with food and drinks in the centre of the deck, with chairs scattered around in an unorganised fashion. It was a bit of a free for all, but then when was anything with them involved anything but that. Luffy’s currently doing impressions of various people they’ve met, much to the crew’s amusement, and they’re all guessing who it is.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Sanji leaving the kitchen, finally finished with the food as he held the last dish in his hand. As soon as the dish was set down, he was scanning across the deck for somewhere to sit and jumped eagerly as Nami waved him over to the empty seat next to hers.

Which, honestly, was nice considering the lengths she’d gone to recently.

If Sanji noticed that their chairs were closer together than anyone else’s, he didn’t say anything as he slid down next to her. She smiled at him but frowned shortly after at his empty hands.

“You’re not going to eat anything?”

“I taste and test as I go along to make sure everything’s okay, I’m good for now.”

Nami snorted, “Don’t tell Luffy that, if he gets to eat along the way, he might actually take an interest in cooking.”

Sanji laughed lightly, smiling down at her, his eyes crinkling at the corners. Her thigh brushed against his as she shifted but she didn’t move away, just settled in closer.

“Do you mind?” Sanji asked, hand nervously twiddling the cigarette between his fingers and she bit down the grin. She’d learned over the last few weeks that if he was nervous, it showed through his hands.

“Not at all,” She replied, “It reminds me of home, actually. Bell-mère used to smoke non-stop.”

“Oh really?” He encouraged, before taking a drag and blowing it out the other side.

“Yeah, our village doctor used to nag her. Kind of like Chopper with you,” she smiled and Sanji laughed.

It was always nice talking to him, he made it was so easy. If it wasn’t for his perverted tendencies or his lack of knowledge with flirting, she might actually be worried about him with other women.

“By the way, do you know who this is?” She asked lowly, as if she were telling him a secret and leaned in. She had his attention instantly, she knew she did, but it didn’t stop her from lightly touching his knee under the ruse of getting his attention.

“Uh, it’s-” he fumbled over his words for a moment before finding his feet, “the new navy admiral. It was on Dressrosa, I don’t think you’ve seen him.”

Her hand was gone then. Small steps. “Yeah, I definitely haven’t.”

They continued back and forth like that, at first guessing who the impressions were, a game within a game almost- who between them both could guess the impression first. It didn’t last as the topic changed and instead, they ended up just talking quietly between themselves and Sanji soon settled into it. His arm was across the back of Nami’s chair and they were leaning into each other, like they were sharing secrets and her hand found a permanent place on his arm.

Neither of them new what game was being played, or if it was even the same one anymore, they had become too wrapped up in each other. At one point, Sanji had got up to get food for himself and a drink for Nami, returning back swiftly. He even flicked his cigarette overboard so he could use that hand to pick at his food, the other arm never moving from around her chair.

Time to step this up a bit.

“Oh, you got the fish. That was really good today, did you do something different?”

He came alive at that question, his face brightening as he started to explain what he had done and tried, apparently it was a different technique.

It started out innocent, just a hand on his knee and he barely blinked at it. She’d been scattering in touches to his knee all evening. Except this time her hand didn’t leave, and it was only a few seconds later that she moved it further up his leg.

His eyes flicked nervously down to her hand and then back to her face, he looked like he was trying to assess what was going on.

She kept a poker face and asked a different question about dinner.

Just as he was telling her about a new cookbook he’d bought, her hand slide further up his leg until it rested comfortably on his thigh. It rested as high as it could without accidently touching something else. Not that she had an issue with that, but she’d rather they were on the same page first and didn’t have an audience.

He almost choked, then. She wasn’t sure on what, he’d stopped eating since he’d started discussing their dinner, but his eyes watered, and she passed him her drink.

His eyes almost bulged at that, but she didn’t truly shock him until she rubbed his thigh, being so bold as to run her hand down to his inner thigh.

“Are you okay?” She asked, half in mock concern and half real concern. He did look like he was about to have a heart attack, after all.

With a bright red face, he nodded, almost wheezing but he shut his mouth before that could come out. She smiled reassuringly at him but as soon as she squeezed at his inner thigh, he was on his feet. His chair clattered from the sudden move.

“Ah, um, the kitchen’s a mess,” he blurted, dancing between his feet, “I should-” he pointed at the kitchen.

“I can help,” she offered, leaning forward on her chair.

“No! I mean- no, thank you. Enjoy,” he finished awkwardly, gesturing at the deck, towards their friends and stiffly walked to the kitchen.

And then he was gone, not looking back once.

Nami was utterly defeated. She had nothing left. That was her last trick and nothing.

Unbeknown to Nami, who was still dejectedly looking at the kitchen door, Zoro was frowning at her from the other side of the deck after witnessing their little display. But it wasn’t just Zoro, Usopp next to him nudged his arm and made a ‘what the hell’ gesture. Zoro shrugged at him, as bewildered as he was.

.

.

.

This was stupid. She was Nami, cat thief and navigator of the infamous Straw hats; she was a gorgeous, wanted woman (in more ways the one). Yeah, it stung that she’d been rejected, but she’d get over her little crush on Sanji. At least she had her answer now anyway.

The pep talk didn’t do much to make her feel better right now, she wished it did, but it didn’t. Suddenly, she didn’t feel like partying anymore.

Before she could make up an excuse to leave, Usopp got up and went to the kitchen. Normally she wouldn’t think anything of it, but she’d seen his expression. He looked serious and stern, like he was about to tell someone off and marched to the kitchen like a man on a mission.

Maybe she’d missed something during her brief period of wallowing.

Except, when she looked around the deck, everyone looked normal. They were still talking and laughing, completely unaware of Sanji’s exit or Usopp’s huffy departure. Zoro caught her eye and he jutted his chin out towards the kitchen. She turned to look and Usopp was just about to swing the door open. Looking back at Zoro, he nodded but she didn’t get the chance to get anything more from him because then he was throwing in a comment to the rest of them, causing them to laugh.

A diversion.

She got up to her feet and walked over to the kitchen casually, so she didn’t attract attention. Except she didn’t enter as she arrived, instead squatting outside so hopefully she’d be a bit covered by the railing from the others on the lawn deck. They were facing the other way, but one careless look and she’d be spotted.

Maybe she didn’t have to worry about that. Zoro didn’t look over at her again, but he was keeping them distracted. God damn it, she’d have to increase his spending money at the next island.

She ignored that and got to the task at hand. The door was cracked open and she wondered if it was left like that by design. She craned her neck towards the crack in the kitchen door and she could hear the voices inside.

She’d missed the start, but it seemed she hadn’t missed much.

“What’s wrong with you!?”

Usopp. He sounded irritated.

“What’s your problem?” Sanji sounded confused and she didn’t blame him. It was rare to come across a cranky Usopp. He was almost as fun loving as Luffy.

“I don’t have a problem, you do! I’m not the one currently brushing off the advances of the woman I’m interested in.”

Oh. Usopp was talking some sense into him, for her.

Ah shit. She was going to have to give him more spending money too. She was going to be poor at this rate.

“Huh?”

“Oh my god! Nami! Nami’s interested in you and you’re doing nothing!”

There’s a long pause and Nami wished she could see their faces, or at least Sanji’s.

“Nami’s not interested in me,” he said it with such surety that Nami questioned her skills.

Usopp spluttered before saying, “You’re kidding right? She’s been all over you the past couple of weeks; the touching, the sun lotion and don’t even get me started on the dress incident.”

“How do you-”

“Zoro told me,” Usopp cut in. “Even Zoro’s caught on before you and that’s Zoro.”

“Nami-san just needed her dress done up.”

“Twice? Doesn’t she room with Robin, a woman that can sprout multiple hands?”

Nothing. Silence.

“Has she ever asked you before?” Usopp’s not letting up though.

There’s a long pause.

“Or put her hand on your thigh, or spend the evening whispering with you or offered to help in the kitchen?” No response. “And that’s just the shortened list, I could keep going if you wanted.”

There’s some shuffling and she wondered if it was Sanji. He did that when he was unsure of himself.

“Nami’s not interested in me, not like that. That’s just Nami being Nami.”

Usopp groaned. “Then how do you explain-”

“It’s a nice thought though,” Sanji interrupted, his voice sounding final, like he’s done with the conversation, and then she can hear footsteps walking further into the kitchen.

“Sanji-!”

“Do you want coffee? And can you ask Nami-san and Robin-chan.”

That’s a dismissal if she ever heard one. She never expected it from Sanji though, it wasn’t like him at all and she frowned at the thought.

No one spoke then and she wondered if they were staring each other down, Usopp could be stubborn when he wanted to be. But then there are footsteps walking towards the door, but they sounded defeated so Nami didn’t scramble away like she wanted to.

Usopp didn’t look surprised to see her, he closed the door after him and stood in front of her. He gave her a solemn look as he delivered, “Good luck getting through to him. He’s convinced nothing’s different.”

Nami stood up then, frustrated as she said, “He’s such an idiot. When has he ever needed this much prompting?”

“Maybe when you weren’t seriously trying, and it was just a pipe dream?” He shrugged

Nami groaned, why did Sanji have to be complex?

“I suggest going direct, now’s not the time to be a coward.”

Rich coming from him. “Like you can talk, coward!”

“I’m not currently trying to woo someone.” He even had the audacity to wiggle his eyebrows at her.

“I am not trying to woo him!” She can feel her cheeks reddening.

She was seducing, it’s a very different thing.

Except Usopp doesn’t stay to argue with her, he spun on his heel and walked off back to the lawn deck. His job was done apparently.

Rude.

She stood there for a second and Usopp and Sanji’s conversation rolled over her, replaying in her head. The longer she thought about it, the more irritated she became. Feeling wound up, she used that energy to get it over with and marched into the kitchen, throwing the door open, only to slam it closed behind her.

Sanji turned at the sound and his face lit up at the sight of her, seemingly over what happened on the deck earlier.

She didn’t give him the chance to greet her or sputter off nonsense.

“Why do you think I’m not interested in you?”

It came out more aggressive than she’d intended and Sanji blinked at her, not expecting that to come out of her mouth.

The brightness on his face dimmed when what she’d said settled in and he’s reaching into his suit pocket for a cigarette. “I don’t know what Usopp or Mosshead said to you, but just ignore it.”

Really. Really.

“I’ve been throwing myself at you for over two weeks. They don’t have to say anything to me.”

He looked stunned, the hand with the cigarette in fell to his side, mouth trying to form around words, eventually all he managed to croak out was a, “No?” He didn’t even sound sure of himself.

“Yes! Sanji, I rubbed your thigh!” She said incredulously. “I almost touched-” she gestured between his legs and he blushed- “there, with no problem about it whatsoever, in front of our friends. I don’t go around doing that to just anyone.”

She used her feminine wiles to get what she wanted, sure, but she never went that far. Never had to, men were so easy.

The frown on his face looked out of place against the blush still on his cheeks and he doesn’t quite look her in the eyes. “But you’re…” He trailed off.

“I’m what?” She really needed to take the impatience out of her tone, it wouldn’t help but honestly, how was he this slow?

“Out of my league.”

She doesn’t know whether to be flattered or angry.

If he truly believed that, then no wonder all her attempts had failed, but did he really not see himself? She almost couldn’t believe she’s going to say this, but apparently it needed to be vocalised because he’s just not getting it.

She took a few steps forward, moving closer towards him. “No I’m not.” Another few steps. “Your kind, sweet, thoughtful, one of my closest friends,” she listed, closer with each attribute she listed, “and you in a suit should be illegal. You fill it out well.”

She was in front of him then.

“Really?” His eyes tentatively flickered to hers and the cigarette in his hand is still unlit.

Progress, she’s getting there.

“Really, really.”

There’s a long pause, but this one’s okay because she thinks her words are settling in.

“Then… can I kiss you?”

All the fight that’s been spurring her on left her so suddenly and his question’s so innocent, but it does something to her. She could feel her cheeks heating up and she has to fight the urge to bashfully look down at the floor. She feels like a schoolgirl and it certainly didn’t help when he cupped her face with his free hand.

But it’s the look on his face that really gets to her. It’s so soft and earnest, but there’s still some doubt hidden behind it, like he couldn’t believe this was happening and it could all be taken away at a moment’s notice.

She nodded, eyes never leaving his face.

He sharply breathed out, like he’d been holding his breath waiting for her answer, and she felt it play again as lips.

It’s nothing compared to when their lips actually touch. It’s soft and tender, a quick brush. Which then turned into more brushes and his other hand cups the other side of her face, she’s not sure what happened to his cigarette. His touch is as delicate as his kisses and it has her clutching at his vest to ground herself.

“Took you long enough,” she spoke against his lips.

“I’m an idiot,” he replied and it’s another brush of lips against hers.

“Understatement,” she murmured, and she’s had enough. Just as he’s about to brush against her lips again, she leaned up on her toes as far as she could to properly kiss him.

It got the reaction she’s been after. It’s still gentle, she couldn’t imagine Sanji being anything other than that, but there’s urgency now, his lips move against hers with purpose. Her hands move up his vest to fist in the lapels, clutching him to her and refusing to let him pull away but he doesn’t even try.  

She pulled away after a moment, taking a step back and his hands slide off of her face. He’s surer of himself now, his hands reach for her as she takes another step back to stop her from walking away, but she evaded them. Instead she grabbed his tie, pulling him gently after her and when her legs bump the kitchen counter, he seemed to be getting the idea.

She hopped up onto the counter and the moment she parted her legs, he’s filling the gap between them with his body. She tugged his tie, “This is handy.”

He doesn’t have a chance to respond because she’s tugging it again to bring him back into another kiss. His hands don’t find themselves back on her face, instead they rest low on her hips and she’s happy with the progress he’s made in such a short amount of time.

There’s a shift in the atmosphere when the heels of her feet push into his thighs to press him flush against her. His hands tighten their hold on her hips, and she can’t resist the roll of her hips when his tongue found hers. His mouth is hot against hers and they find their rhythm as they exchange hot kisses. Her hands run up his chest, squeezing his shoulders and the muscles there before stationing themselves in his hair.

They parted to breathe but didn’t go far.

“The last few weeks have been torturously good.”

“And you didn’t question why it’d changed all of a sudden?” She’s not sure she’ll ever be over this.

“I thought I’d been imagining it all. You know, convincing myself something was different when it wasn’t. I was so sure.”

“It was frustratingly impressive. I’ve never seen you so composed.”

“I wasn’t. Well, I was around you but as soon as you were out of sight? I was a mess. You’re so sexy and alluring and well, you. The sun lotion almost broke me, you were so responsive under my hands.”

His jaunty, stiff walk came to mind when he’d scampered away after that and she tried not to laugh as a puzzle piece slotted in. “Sanji… were you turned on after that?”

He didn’t answer her verbally, but he did hide in her neck from embarrassment, nodding after a second.

She shouldn’t be pleased at that, she’d made him suffer, but well, she lapped it up. After what she had thought were failed attempts actually weren’t, it was nice to hear.

“Oh god,” he moaned, lifting his head from her neck as a thought came to him, “and the bath towel?”

Oh yeah. She’d forgotten about the bath towel.

That one had been an accident, not planned at all but she’d used it to her advantage. Well, tried to. She’d taken one step out of the steamy room after having accidently left her clothes in her room and bumped into Sanji who was leaving the toilet. It’d been short lived; he’d taken off before she could do anything, but his immediate reaction had been satisfying.  

His hair had almost stood on end just at the sight of her, a hot flush colouring his neck and face. She’d wondered just how far that flush had gone down but she had been distracted by the look on his face. He’d looked like he wanted to devour her.

Kind of like now actually.

“The bath towel was a happy coincidence,” Nami assured him but it didn’t take the look off of his face.

He dived down to reunite their lips and this kiss was hurried, bruising and his hands squeezed her hips. Her hands tugged lightly at the strands of his hair and it was clearly the right move as his hips jumped against hers.

Oh.

He was hard.  

It didn’t deter her, if anything she made sure to really emphasise the roll of her hips and he made a breathy sound that made her head light. Just like that, a switch had flicked on and they were barely kissing anymore as they grinded against one another, chasing the feeling caused from the friction. His hands finally slid under her dress, hands pawing at the flesh of her behind and helping her grind into him. The fabric of her dress was bunched just above her hips, but she didn’t care because he felt so good against her and her underwear was wonderfully thin.

A particularly good thrust, good angle, had them both moaning and it was way too hot in the kitchen for this. Distantly she wondered if they were missed outside, but it was pushed to the back of her mind almost instantly.

“Nami, we need to stop or I’m going to embarrass myself,” he panted, but his hips didn’t slow. A quick glance down confirmed there was indeed a wet patch on the front of his trousers.  

“Sanji,” she gasped against is lips and became distracted when he licked at the corner of her mouth, “lose the pants.”

He groaned in the back of his throat, “I don’t want our first time to be like this.”

The boner pressed intimately against her disagreed.

“We don’t have to go all the way right now, there are other things we could do instead.”

At his confused look, she raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to catch on. When he still looked confused, she brazenly palmed him through his trousers.

“Oh! Oh!”

Apparently, there wasn’t a great deal of blood left in his brain.

She smirked at him and her fingers deftly started to work at the buckle on his trousers. When his hands pulled hers away, she almost moaned in displeasure but the smoky look he gave her stopped the sounds from tumbling out.

He held her hands in his, pressing a lingering kiss to the knuckles of one of her hands and then promptly dropped to his knees, face hovering between her legs.

“Ladies first.”

.

.

.

Outside on the lawn deck, Luffy was picking at what was left of the food on the table.

“Do you reckon Sanji has more of the octopus?” He didn’t wait for anyone to respond, “I’m gunna go ask him.”

Zoro just managed to snag the back of his top to stop him from going any further. “You’ll have to wait, eyebrow’s busy.”

“Huh? Busy with what?” Luffy turned to look at him, confused. “More octopus?!” He suggested, face lighting up at the thought.

“No. His balls finally dropped.”

Across from Zoro, Usopp laughed.

----------------------------

If I’m not shipping Zoro and Nami, they’re going to be bros. He totally has her back. Usopp’s always a bro, that’s just his default.

As always, please ignore any errors.

Thanks for reading.

[amindofstone]

Match up, No. 7

Anon said:

Hi! If the matchups are still open, is it ok if I ask for one? If so: I’m a 24 year old woman. I love oddities, horror, mysteries, baking, mythology, linguistics, and history. I have a dark and sarcastic sense of humor that would shock most people, since many consider me to be a sweet person. I don’t take much care of myself since I’m usually busy taking care of others, especially the ones closest to me. I’m very introverted and my circle of friends is small, but I’ll defend my loved ones to the death. I’m tall, have short dark hair (tho I wear wigs sometimes), dress in muted and dark tones, and yeah I’m basically goth but I don’t have any tattoos or piercings. Thank you so much and sorry if I bothered you!

a/n: Hey! Thankx for requesting. I hope you will like my choice of the match up and enjoy the little work I came up with. Like always please tell me if there is anything that bothers you or you simply hate. I´ll make sure to change it into something better. Other than day happy reading!

Match up rules can be found HERE.

Warning(s): Maybe grammatical or spelling mistakes since English is my third language and I´m still improving in every aspect (Please have mercy on that.)

!!! Please do not steal my idea or work. Credit me if this is shared or published in any other platform or any other way. Please respect me as the writer and my work. Picture is not mine. Credits to: Please tell me ASAP if you know who the artist is, so I can give credits. Thank you in advane. !!!

· After reading your request for the first time I instantly thought of Nico Robin

· You two have a lot of similarities in many aspects. Intellectually but also personality wise.

· When the strawhats met you for the first time the first thing they came up with was “Another Robin?!”, what confused the hell out of you at first

· On the first day of the ship it was either Chopper, Nami or Sanji being constantly around you while trying to take care of you

· You absolutely didn´t mind that and in fact really liked the accompany until Robin came up to you and had a chat with you

· She asked you if you´d like to have tea with her and you agreed

· It didn´t took you both long to start a conversation. You got along really well what made Nami and the others really happy.

· It started with a simple small talk and getting to know each other until you asked her if they actually had a plan to get to the last island. Because sailing around until you found it was weird in your eyes but also a waste of time when you could make a plan to avoid that

· She smiled at you and nodded before she started to tell you some basic facts. She told you about their ally, the porneglyphs and the plan of fighting the emperor and much more.

· You were amazed and listened to her words with so much interest and joy. When she was done you started to ask her one question after another. Some were about their journey until now and some were about the porneglyphs.

· Robin realized that you were different. She had cero problems sharing her knowledge with you. On top of that you shared a lot of ideas and thoughts of yourself with her she took with joy.

· She told you about Thriller Bark what got you really sad that you never got to see such a amazing place. Ussop on the other hand was telling you that you were absolutely not normal for wanting to be there. So he told you all the craziest stuffs about that place with the hope for you to not like it anymore but that didn´t quite work. In fact you even wanted to hear more and were disappointed by now.

· Talking with Robin was absolutely your favorite thing; in her you found a soul mate that understood you and your mind. You felt at ease around her and so did she. You tow would always spend every minute together talking about your thoughts. Other than that you would take care of researches together or start arguments and discussions about the most deepest or random things. Sometimes those discussions would go for days with every strawhat wondering if the stuff you said would make sense

· “Instead of talking they could have trained to get stronger. This is a waste of time in my opinion”, would Zoro say and huff before making his ways to the crows nest to train “But the topics they discuss are really interesting and important and usually this is what a intellectual does, Zoro.”, would Chopper try to explain. “But I doubt that an intellectual would talk about one word for three days straight.”, would Ussop counter and make Chopper rethink his words

· You always liked spending time with Robin while talking about either a book you recently read or about her researches. You always would learn something new out of a conversation with her. Sometimes you two would lay on your backs on the grass while you told her about the stars and universe that would stun her so much that she would invite Nami to join. After some time the whole crew would join. They all would be laying on their backs with blankets and pillows spread around the grass with you telling them stories or explaining them phenomenon’s. Chopper, Robin and Nami would be the ones who would always ask you questions and make you tell them more.

· And those moments were the ones you would realize how much they love you but also how much you loved them by now. As much as you tried you couldn´t think of a life without them by now. You grew fond of them and you were ready to throw hands for them if you had to. There was no way you would let anyone disrespect the ones who took you on their ship and cared for you. No matter what happens you always tried your best to fight for them. Or at least sat at the back cheering on them while they fought what would turn into a huge ego and power boost to Luffy and Sanji.

Bonus:

· “Hey Chopper. I think you should make a check up on y/n. While you´re at it please check if she´s not Robins sister.”, Chopper is confused. “Why should I do that? Wait you think they are siblings?! WOAH! I need to tell Luffy and Brook about this!”, claps and jumps around like the excited and easily amazed creature he is before he walks away

· “Wait no! This is not what I meant… it was…. rhetorical…”

· “They are creepy and so is their humor! Should I make Luffy rethink his choice of taking her? Because I honestly don´t need another creepy Robin to scare the sht out of me.”

· “Hey Ussop, do you wanna play Jenga with me and Robin?”, you tapped on his shoulder and gave him a lovely smile but sadly you made Ussop wince out of shook. “You gave me a heart attack! Don’t sneak around me!”

[milks-shake-cafe]

This is my first ever self indulgent fic I've written for me so I'm kinda nervous to share! It's not really much but I hope y'all have a fun time reading!

One Step Forward

Word Count: 918

Disclaimers: None

Orange washes across the horizon, enveloping everything on the Going Merry including its newest member hidden under one of Nami's tangerine trees. Rae looks out at the sunset, clutching a plate close to her as the scent of citrus begins to cling to her clothes.

She had felt really guilty about not eating dinner with the rest of the crew, especially after staying a few days on their boat. But it was anxiety inducing being surrounded by strangers at all hours. It was also obvious that some didn't fully trust her either considering the small member with antlers hides behind walls, just watching from afar or when cautious murmurings would travel upon the sea breeze. Rae spins the plate around in her hands, taking in the smooth glossy texture to break away from her thoughts. She leans forward from the trunk with a sigh.

"So this is where you usually run off to."

Rae yelps as she whips her head around to find the source of the gruff voice. Heavy thuds against the wooden floor boards came from the left side of the mini orchard before she catches a glimpse of green. His tan skin glows in the marmalade colored light, giving him a pleasant, maybe even warm aura if it weren't for his tense gaze at the woman. It's the swordsman-

'Oh shit, what's his name again?' Her eyes bounce around trying not to look at his before landing on the golden twinkle of his earrings, rolling her brain for his name like a semi deflated ball. He leans against the banister, arms crossed as he continues to stare her down. Not even the waves lapping against the ship's hull could fill in the silence that takes its place between the duo.

"I'm going to be blunt with you," the man starts, "But do you have any clue how suspicious you look?" He quirks an eyebrow as the woman begins to fidget with the tied knot on her yellow button up. Rae's eyes glimpse over to his before quickly going back to his earrings. 'Why is he so intimidating for?'

"Um, I'm really sorry but I don't understand what you're getting at." A grunt is heard and before she could react, a fairly sizeable shadow overcast her as the swordsman crouches in front of her. Within the close proximity, they had no choice but to finally make eye contact.

His cool gray gaze held one emotion alone: distrust. The woman's leg begins bouncing in order to chase out the nerves. She fidgets with her glasses as he starts, "The fact that we picked you up from Mock Town is suspicious enough. But you have yet to make any attempt to seem trustworthy or seen as part of the crew." The man continues, "You haven't talk to a single person on board-"

"Yes I have! I talk to the nice cook a lot." The woman interjects.

"Curly brow doesn't count. Nami and Robin say you haven't come up to them once. And Chopper told us all you do is stare everyone down."

"I like to people watch; that's not a crime or anything."

"It's creepy, especially since you're a stranger. Having someone who doesn't communicate or eat with you while living under the same roof makes everyone here nervous."

Silence fell between the two. The swordsman's narrows his eyes slightly, "To be clear, I don't trust you with my crew."

Rae takes in a deep breath and clutches the plate in her hands tighter. "Listen, I get it," She begins, "I'm just someone your captain maybe took pity on and let join. And I know it doesn't help that I try to stay away from everyone but there's a reason for that!"

She chews on her inner cheek as she continues, "I really want to get to know y'all, I honestly do. You guys have fun everyday, with your antics and loud laughing and the energy everyone has is amazing. But....I'm afraid that once I start trying, you're gonna think I'm too much to handle or that I'm uncomfortable to be around. And then your captain is gonna drop me off back in town-"

The woman chokes up, feeling as though a giant ball of cotton lodge itself in her throat. "I really can't go back," She looks at the man with glossy eyes. "This was my only chance of getting away and I can't ruin it."

The swordsman rubs the back of his neck, sighing, "You didn't expect you to go crying on me." He stands from his crouching position with Rae following suit. "Look, I usually trust Luffy with his decisions on choosing members. Despite my apprehension about you, he saw something worth keeping and I have to respect that. However," He begins to walk away, his katanas lightly clacking against each other. "I'm gonna keep a close eye on you for as long as I see fit."

Rae fumbles as she steps forward. "Wait! Um, I wanna try being your friend!" The man stops and looks over his shoulder at her. She stretches out her hand, smiling at him. "My name is Rae Ronronear."

He turns around fully, taking in the sight of her. Her smile, the first one her ever gave him, strikes him as he places his hand in her own, giving it a semi rough shake. He offers a half smile.

"Roronoa Zoro."

The sun sets as the two walk back to the kitchen, a start of a very interesting relationship.

[husbandograveyard]

Hi how are you? I had a new ideia for headcanon in 2nd person. Could you please do one where reader is Law's younger sister (around Zoro's age), she was found by Cora-san and she considers Toroa her bother (even though they aren't blood related) and she ends up falling for Zoro-ya (she could speak like Law too???) and Law-ya is the overprotective brother and all (maybe Bepo-ya and Chopper-ya as matchmaker for the couple). Thank you for the attention and sorry for the many requests.

Hey love! No need to apologize for making requests! This was again a very fun one I hope you enjoy reading it! Not all the details actually made it in since it was a lot to go over, but i put my little twist on it and I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.  Thank you for your patience in waiting for this one! <3

Zoro Falling for Law’s little sister - Zoro x Reader HC 

After Cora-san’s death, Law not only swore to avenge him, but he also swore to protect you, as you lay crying and shivering in that chest as Cora-san lived through his final moments. You were the very last family he had left and nothing would ever happen to you. 

And in general, that had been a reasonably easy mission for him. You were strong, perceptive, and most importantly, you listened to him and his instructions very well. You blended in with the crew family and you never fought whenever he told you to back down because a situation was too dangerous. 

When he had gone off to Punk Hazard in order to move along his plans to defeat Doflamingo, you had gone along with the crew. Law knew, that if he did not survive this mission, his crew would take proper care of you. 

So when he returned,  months later, allied to the straw hat’s crew, you were of course overjoyed! Your brother was back AND he brought new friends! You clicked immediately with the Strawhats, mingling and talking during the celebrations, and noticing a certain green-haired men stare at you quite often. 

You would be lying if you’d say you didn’t feel slight butterflies every time you made eye contact. You got terribly flustered, you barely knew them. But you had helped the green-haired man find his way back to the camp a couple of times after spotting him in the forest. And you had been positively enamored by how he stubbornly refused to admit that he was in fact, lost.

As well as the fact that he was extremely easy on the eyes. There were worse people to be staring at.

You accidentally confided in Bepo how you felt about the swordsman when he carried you back after the reunion party. You had challenged him foolishly for a drinking contest after already drinking a little bit too much and misinterpreting his stares for a challenge. 

You lost, of course, and while Bepo carried you back to where the heart pirates you spilled your heart out through slurred sentences, noting that a true gentleman would have let a lady win. Bepo noted that Zoro may be much, but that a gentleman would not be the most appropriate way to describe him, and offered you some bear hugs until you fell asleep. 

News spreads like wildfire in a forest and it’s not too long before the entirety of the heart pirates and the Strawhat pirates become aware of your mutual pining and both the crews were giving some encouragement. Even if the interest would not be returned, you’d at least get it off of your chest. 

Zoro didn’t want to, because there were ‘other things to focus on’, ‘allied crew or not, we’re still rivals in some sense’ and just ‘no’ cause he doesn’t know how to do love. 

You didn’t want to because saying nothing was better than to get your feelings hurt. And well, a particular sibling of yours wearing a very fluffy snow leopard printed hat had caught wind of your feelings and had taken out at least half an hour to lecture you on your questionable choice of men. “at least it’s not straw-hat ya” and “what is wrong with the men in my crew?” 

Eventually, it was chopper who had sent Zoro out to retrieve him a herb, having planned with Bepo that you’d be in that area too. It took them a couple of attempts, mostly because Zoro kept going in the wrong direction even after the two had painstakingly drawn arrows on the trees. 

You actually physically bumped into each other when you finally did meet, the conversations with the crews from the days before (the Strawhats had been bugging Zoro too) on your minds making the encounter more awkward than any of the meetings before.

There was a lot of interrupting. “My crew says” “chopper said” “you go first”, “no you go first” 

After some annoyingly incoherent conversation, you both did realize what you wanted to say. 

“So… You want to try? I don’t know how long the crews are gonna be joined for…” 

You smiled and pressed a kiss to his cheek, a gesture that made his cheeks turn the lightest pink before you grabbed his hand in yours, for the contact, but also to make sure he wouldn’t get lost on the way back. 

“well we can definitely serve as a reminder of the alliance~ keep the crews close!”

[sanjisock]

keep playing that song (hey mister dj)

ao3

Usopp isn’t scared.

The stranger might be a tall, burly dude with one eye, two large scars, and muscles that could rival a god’s, but Usopp is not scared. Nope. Sure, the guy could probably crush Usopp’s head if he does so much as flex , and the scars seem to indicate that he’s trained in some kind of deadly martial arts, and even without all those things he’s still big enough to be able to beat Usopp up into a pulp through sheer strength, and —

Okay, so Usopp might be a little scared.

But it’s not his fault, okay! Who can blame him for being scared when their usual hangout place-slash-music studio is suddenly occupied by such a scary-looking man! Scars, green hair (is that natural color ?), earrings…all signs seem to point to him being a delinquent, if not a yakuza . And on top of that — are those swords lying on top of him? Real swords? Three of them?

The only saving grace of it all is the fact that the man is sleeping soundly, so it’s unlikely that he could kill Usopp right now. Maybe. Usopp isn’t ruling out the possibility that the man could identify weaker life forces in his sleep and eliminate them accordingly, Drunken Master-style.

Usopp yelps when the door to the studio swings open.

“Yohoho, you’re here early, Usopp!” Brook greets with a wave and, completely unperturbed by the existence of the Scary Green Man, makes his way to his guitar. The others start filing in behind Brook one by one, chatting among themselves.

“All right, I’m going to get started over here,” Sanji announces to the group as he starts plugging things up onto his booth, before pointing at the keyboard. “Oi, Usopp, those keys aren’t going to play themselves.”

Okay, so they are not acknowledging this.

Okay. Usopp’s fine with that. Usopp’s good with that. He knows all the wise words like let sleeping dogs lie — or, in this case, let green-haired men with visible battle scars and three swords lie so nobody (read: Usopp) gets maimed and/or fatally injured. He can work with that, sure.

The session starts, and it does get easier to ignore the man when you’re enjoying the music. Before Usopp realizes, they’ve been playing for a couple of hours, made plans for the next jam sessions, and bid their goodbyes. He’s three blocks away on his bicycle before the whole thing dawns on him.

Who the hell was that man?

 -

 When Usopp opens the door to the studio, the green-haired man is still sleeping on the couch.

Usopp closes the door again.

All right. Back up. It’s been a week since their last jam session, but somehow the man is still there. Usopp is a smart, rational man — he can work this out.

Option one: the man is a homeless man who somehow has found his way to the studio and started living there. Possibly dangerous, but enough grounds to call the cops. This, however, doesn’t explain why no one seems to be aware of the man’s existence, which leads to the other possibility —

Option two: the man is actually a ghost haunting the studio and Usopp, being the amazing and attentive man that he is, is the only person who could see him, and now he has to find a way for the ghost to move on or he will drag Usopp down to hell with him.

Usopp laughs at his own idea, opens the door again, just as Sanji drops onto the sofa, right beside the man’s head, all-too-close and completely oblivious to the proximity.

Option two, it is.

Usopp is mentally chanting some exorcism spells in his head when Sanji suddenly calls out, “you’re just going to stand around there or what?”

“Ah, right, was just, checking some texts on my phone,” he replies, half-rambling, hoping Sanji would buy some of the lies he’s selling. He quickly scrambles towards the keyboard. “Just gonna practice some variations first before we start.”

“Okay, I’ll wait for the others to come in before setting up,” Sanji says, half-distracted by the book he’s currently reading. If he notices that Usopp is more on edge than usual, he doesn’t point it out, and simply returns to his book.

Usopp takes the opportunity to make some observations.

The situation is downright baffling , because Sanji, generally, is not a tactile person. That’s more of Luffy’s thing — throwing his limbs all over his friends and wrapping them in hugs like a monkey would to a tree. Sanji generally keeps his distance, even with friends, and especially male ones.

But right now, Sanji somehow looks completely comfortable beside the green-haired man, despite the closeness. His shoulders are slumped comfortably against the backrest, with only one hand holding the book — his other hand rests on the empty spot near the man’s head, and Usopp thinks he’s started hallucinating, because — are those fingers absentmindedly playing with the man’s hair?

Men-are-lowly-creatures Sanji? Playing with another man’s hair?

Usopp is beginning to question his own sanity.

 -

 Usopp swears he is cursed, because how else could he find himself in a room with the man. Again. With no one else around.

And because the universe hates him, the man suddenly snorts, yawns, and blinks awake.

Usopp has half the mind to run out of the room, and doesn’t do it only because he’s pretty sure the man is like a wild beast that can sense fear. Instead he stays rooted to his spot as the man blearily looks around before finally noticing Usopp’s presence.

Their eyes meet. The man blinks again, before frowning. “Who are you?”  

“That’s my question,” Usopp wants to yell at the top of his lungs, which he does, except it’s more of a whisper, and he’s also jumping behind the DJ table. Just in case. “Wait, you can see me?”

The man continues to frown at him. “Why can’t I?”

“You’re alive,” Usopp can’t help pointing out instead.

“...Yeah?” The man looks like he’s questioning Usopp’s mental health, but he also doesn’t look like he’s going to stab anyone anytime soon, so Usopp considers this a win. The man runs his hand through his hair. “Look, I assume you know the Cook.”

The Cook. There can only be one person in their group that fits the nickname. “Sanji. Yeah,” Usopp quickly says, “I’m Sanji’s friend. Also in the band. The name’s Usopp, by the way.”

“Heard ‘bout you. I’m Zoro,” the man — Zoro — introduces himself. And — doesn’t elaborate.

“Right,” Usopp responds, mostly to fill in the silence, “you, uh, you know Sanji?”

It seems like the natural direction for the conversation to take, but it earns him another look from Zoro. “Seriously? The Cook never…” he pauses, before groaning. “Of course he hasn’t. Bet he’s told you more about Nami than he does about me, huh.”

Usopp knows Nami — she’s a friend from Sanji’s university, and sometimes she’d drop by and help with the band’s finances. Zoro, on the other hand... “Look, I’m sorry, man, but all I know is that you’re this guy who started coming into our practice sessions and slept throughout the whole thing.”

“Because it’s boring as hell, that’s why,” Zoro says, before quickly adding, “no offense.”

“None taken, I know it’s not everyone’s thing. Although —” Usopp gulps, wonders if the question is appropriate, but curiosity got the best of him. “If it’s boring to you, why are you here?”

Zoro surprisingly blushes at that. He rubs the back of his neck in a shocking display of embarrassment. “Well, don’t tell him this, but —” he clears his throat, clearly flustered, before mumbling, “the Shit Cook said he’d be happy if I come and support and shit like that.”

“Come and support,” Usopp echoes, brain refusing to work. “Sanji wants you to... come and support him.”

“Yeah, you know,” Zoro says. “As his boyfriend.”

Usopp chokes on air at that. The ghost theory would’ve made so much more sense. Really .

 -

 “I wish I could’ve seen your face,” Sanji says in between peals of laughter, “you really thought this Mosshead was a ghost ?”

“It seems to be the most plausible explanation at the time, okay,” Usopp retorts, indignant. In his defense, it would be less surprising than this whole... boyfriend thing.

It’s not like Usopp has a problem with his male friend getting a boyfriend — god, no, not that. But this is Sanji . Woman-loving, romance-obsessed Sanji, who wouldn’t shut up about how it is a gentleman’s duty to take good care of ladies, or how women are so much more beautiful than gross, uncultured men.

That very same Sanji is currently sitting with Zoro’s arm around his back, his head resting comfortably on Zoro’s shoulder. Zoro’s hand is in Sanji’s hair, the gesture familiar, and Sanji clearly preens under the attention like a cat.

“Sorry, I forgot you weren’t there during Nami’s birthday,” Sanji says after he’s finally done laughing, “that’s when I first brought Zoro to meet the band.”

“Wait. Nami’s birthday?” The timeline doesn't add up — “Oh my god, Sanji, that was six months ago .”

Sanji shrugs, “yeah, my bad, I just kinda assumed everyone knew after that.”

Usopp is reeling from it all, because it’s just one revelation after another — not only Sanji started dating a man, Zoro isn’t even some random fling; they might even be going steady . Something he hasn’t seen Sanji do since he was fifteen and got his heart broken by a girl Usopp can’t even remember the name of anymore.

It’s turning Usopp’s world upside down, except when it’s — not. He never considered the possibility before, but looking back, it makes perfect sense. Sanji, with all his self-sabotaging insecurities, would find comfort in Zoro, who is clearly a man of actions. Sweet nothings would’ve done nothing to Sanji, but Zoro, who comes in to his boyfriend’s band practices despite his lack of interest, just because it’d make Sanji happy...Usopp can’t help but smile at the thought.

“Oi, what are you grinning for, Long Nose,” Sanji points out. “That’s creepy.”

“Nah, I was just thinking how sweet it is that Zoro would come to our band practices to support you,” Usopp answers without thinking. “He told me he got bored by it, but he still comes in because you want him to.”

Usopp watches the two men in front of him blush simultaneously at his words as Sanji disentangles himself from Zoro’s arm and sits up straighter. “What? The Marimo told you that?”

“I told you not to tell him!” Zoro growls, and looks away when Sanji turns to him with wide eyes. He buries his face in his hand, but even Usopp can see the blush reach the tips of Zoro’s ears. Sanji beams at the sight, and Usopp has never seen him so happy.

It’s sweet, and Usopp is happy for Sanji, but he still doesn’t want them to start making out here, ew, so he clears his throat.

Zoro and Sanji jump away from each other, clearly having forgotten about the only other person in the room. Sanji instantly scrambles to his feet and make his way to the DJ table, blabbering, “anyway, uh, I’m going to set things up, you just be a good boy and wait there as usual.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Zoro says, plopping back into the sofa, but Usopp notices how Zoro doesn’t immediately go to sleep like usual. Instead, his gaze lands on Sanji.

Zoro doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who beams, but right now there’s one of those little smiles on his face, the kind that someone wears when they think no one is looking. It erases the hard lines on his face, and there’s a flash of something — soft , in the way his gaze clings onto Sanji’s back.

Zoro is not so scary after all.

[onepdumpsterfire]

Summary: Usopp moves to the city after a year since his mom died in a way to feel closer to her. There he looks for a roommate and finds none other than Zoro himself. what fate has in store for them is left for a later date lol

Roommates

Usopp . Zoro

It’s been almost a year since my mom died. She’s been sick for a long time, so I knew this was coming for some time now.

Even so, knowing didn’t stop it from hurting just as much.

Since her funeral, all I’ve done is coop myself up in our house. I’d probably turn into a hermit if it weren’t for my neighbor, Kaya. She came around whenever she had the chance.

That was nice of her considering what she has been going through…

But the more she worried about me, the guiltier I felt.

I know that she can't help but take care of people. Hell, It's why she’s been studying pharmaceutics, but I also know she can do so much more with her life. She could be some big-city doctor or researching to cure cancer!

Wouldn’t that be so much cooler than being stuck in a no-name city, too small to even afford more than the one clinic it has?

In any event, that’s only one of the reasons why I’ve decided to move away for a while. I think some time out of this house would do me some good.

The city that I’m moving to isn’t all that big and a bit further than I’d like it to be, but that’s the point of moving, right?

One way or another, I chose this city because my mom fell in love with it. She used to tell me about how, when she was young, she used to travel all over! She’d seen it all. Every tourist attraction and big-name city, but there was something about this city that just took her breath away. She told me that this place managed to calm her need to be constantly moving. This is also where she got pregnant with me then later she moved back to where she was raised and had me.

As much as she loved it there, she wanted me to go out on my own and find a place that would ‘sate my most wild urges and fuel my deepest desires,’ as cheese-ly as she put it.

At first, I thought she was joking.

I thought that she only liked that place because it’s where she met dad… It’s also why I hated this city.

My father was a coward that ran away as soon as my mom got sick. Though, she never blamed him for it. I never got to as her why, though. Years later, I did ask her if I was right. That she only romanticized this place because she fell in love there. However, she told me that he was only part of the reason why she loved this city so much, and that if I didn’t believe her then I should go find the depth of this city for myself.

I debated with myself for the longest time. Whether this was the right choice, or if I was ready to set foot in the place I used to loath so much. But being here now, I feel so much smaller than I thought I was. I’m nowhere near the heart of the city, but the sheer enormity for this place makes it feel like it’s trying to swallow me whole.

Sure, back home we had a lot of open fields and the horizon was always noticeable, but here the buildings towered over everything. It felt like a tsunami that threatened impact but never collided. The horizon was replaced by millions of stars that fell from the sky and sat just out of reach so that if you got too close thy’d turn into someone else’s day. Someone’s life.

There are so many people here that It almost made it feel lonely. Being surrounded by so many lives yet being so far from them. A mirage in a desert, one could call it. It promises life, but the closer you get the more you realize you could never get close enough.

I guess I was too much of a coward to be as alone as I felt when I first stepped foot here, though, I’ll keep telling myself it’s because the apartments here are too pricey and I only managed to land a job as a gas station attendant. Nevertheless now I’m sitting on the first floor of a fully furnished two-bedroom apartment checking a roommate wanted ad I posted earlier this week.

So far there have been only two people who wanted to move around this area, but one ghosted me after a few messages and the other ended up creeping me out so much that I had to report his account! I just hope the last person that answered my ad isn’t as much of a weirdo as the previous two.

They seem to be a bit curt, but I shouldn’t get too picky. Rent for next month is gonna be due soon, and there is barely anyone who wants to live near this area as is!

I’m sure that they’re nicer in person! I shouldn’t worry. It’s just two days.

Two days.

-2 days later. Thursday 2:30 pm -

When I arrive at the coffee shop, I walk straight to the back of the line. It isn’t that long and I’ve got here thirty minutes early, so I should have time for a drink before they get here.

Should I get something for them too? No, that’d be weird, and it would probably get cold by the time they get here.

The person in front of the line leaves and we all step forward.

Shit.

Someone arrives and lines up behind me.

I didn’t ask for their name! I don’t even know if they’re a boy or a girl!

The next person leaves and we take another step forward.

Is it too late to ask? Would it be weird if I did?

Another step forward

What if they’re a girl? Would they feel uncomfortable living with a guy?

“-ir?”

I did put on the ad I was a dude though…

“-cuse me, sir?”

“Huh?” The barista’s voice brings me back to earth. “Oh, sorry!”

“It’s okay!” her chipper voice rung out, “could you repeat your order? I didn’t quite catch it.”

“O-oh, sorry. Sorry. I didn’t mean to talk out loud. I was lost in thought, I guess... haha ...” I looked up to their hanging menu, more so to look away from her than to figure out what I wanted.

After putting in my order I take a seat at the very back.

Ten minutes later my drink was ready and my anxiety was rising again.

What if they don’t come?

Five minutes later and I sent them a message to let them know I’m here.

Maybe I could’ve phrased it better?

That sounded weird…?

God, is that a typo?

five minutes later

They haven’t answered, but that’s okay! It’s only been five minutes. Can’t expect them to be by their phone 24/7 right?

I’ll play some games on my phone to distract myself. Yeah, that’ll be fine. It’s fine.

I take a big gulp from my drink

I downloaded that new game. My hopes aren’t high for it, though. I found it via a random Facebook ad. Hopefully, it’s not one of those scams that say 90% of people can’t pass level five, but it’s only ‘cus no one lasts long enough to get to level five.

Hmmm… it seems plays well. A bit of a lag but the graphics are awesome! The old-style, pixelated art and bright, neon, solid colors give it a very retro vibe. The ads between levels kind of ruin the experience, though.

Guess they gotta make money somehow, right?

I wonder if they’ll go away if I turn off my data and Wi-Fi.

I shouldn’t just in case the person I’m meeting tries to reach me.

Could be fine for a round or two, though, I’d anxiously suffer through all of it.

I shouldn’t just in-

A sudden scraping sound from the chair opposite of me jolts me from my hypnotic state. “Hey,” a green-haired man in front of me mutteres before taking the seat he pulled out.

Taking in his form as he makes himself comfortable, my mind begins to race. Green dyed hair with roots of black hair showing. Fitted, sleeveless Nike shirt and black basketball shorts paired with a white pair of sneakers.

Oh, god. What’s with the green hair? He looks super buffed. Am I about to be mugged? No, that’s stupid. He wouldn’t have sat- in a cafe, really?

I quickly glance down at my phone for the time.

Exactly 3. Is he super punctual? More than likely a fluke, but impressive nonetheless. What if he’s a perfectionist?

My thoughts continue to swarm around my head, buzzing in an insatiable mob until a humming silence washes over me. Like one of those box televisions from back in the day. Not broadcasting anything in particular, stuck on a blue screen, droning on in silence.

The sudden stillness in my thoughts came so abruptly that it almost gave me whiplash. That aside, I need to focus now and answer him.

“Hey, sorry I didn’t ask for your name-” I left my statement open so that he could fill in the blank“-Zoro”

“R-right, Zoro. My name’s Usopp,” I waved my hands like the gesticulation would somehow help my words form into a coherent sentence, “but you probably already knew that from my ad... Hah..” I gave a quick huff before pushing through my awkward inexperience with ‘interviews’. “I was thinking we could talk and get to know each other before I take you to see the apartment.”

“That’s fine by me,” Zoro relaxed further in his seat. “What do you wanna know?”

Right at home, ain’t he.

~Do you smoke? “No”

~Are you a messy person? “I don't have a lot of things other than clothes.”

Doesn't quite answer the question but ill take it.

~Do you have friends over often? “No”

~What do you do for a living? “I’m a bouncer at a bar near here.”

Explains the muscle.

~Can you pay rent on time? “Yes, actually I brought the first month’s with me. Your ad said that split cost between the both of us plus the utilities would be $487 right?” Zoro dug around his pocket before pulling out a folded wad of cash and handing it to me.

“U-uh yeah,” tentatively I reach over to take the money. “Yeah...” I doubt I can find someone else by the end of the month. Zoro’s my safest bet at getting a roommate before next rent's due. He doesn’t seem so bad, I’m sure we’ll get along just fine.

...I guess this means there’s only one more question to ask.

“Do you wanna see the apartment?”

[britishassistant]

But I Like One Piece (8)

She should know by now that a running theme in her new life is that it doesn’t

The weather’s finally warmed up again. The cherry blossoms suffered because of the continued cold snap this year, and Ino’s family flower shop is struggling to keep a lot of their stock alive.

She knows this because Ino will not stop complaining about it.

They’re in the first class of the day and the teacher is lecturing about chakra, teaching them the difference between genjutsu and ninjutsu. She’s thinking that both sound horrifying in their own ways— subverting the laws of nature to attack an opponent, or invading their brain to do so.

A sound pierces the air.

It’s not a siren wailing—not quite. It’s high and fluted, too close to birdsong for that.

But it has a similar urgency. The teacher’s head snaps up the moment he hears it, and his face goes pale.

“Everybody follow me.” He snaps. “Single-file line, hold hands now. Anyone trying to mess around or run off will be automatically expelled from the Academy, do you understand?!”

There’s a bit of confused muttering, and a couple of lamentations from Kiba when it transpires he has to hold Shino’s hand again, but them teacher shoots them a wild-eyed, barely restrained look.

That shuts them all up.

They walk out into the hall, where several other lines of children, older and younger than them, are assembled into similar formations and following other teachers out of the building.

She catches a brief glimpse of Lee, holding hands with a girl with her hair in buns, before the crowd of children moves and swallows him up once more.

“What’s going on?” Naruto mutters behind her.

She shrugs helplessly, shaking her head at him.

In front of her, Chouji shifts nervously, clutching her hand tighter.

They’re lead out of the Academy and up to the not-Mount Rushmore.

They’ve been learning that these are the past and current leaders of the village. Their huge faces seem to frown down on them as they approach.

They take little trails up the side of the cliff face, so thin and crumbling that their single-file procession is the only way to avoid plummeting to a painful end.

“Look!!” Someone—she doesn’t recognize who—yelps from several children in front of them in line, a pale arm appearing seemingly out of the throng to point.

They stutter to a halt, as people’s heads crane round to follow the pointing finger and they stop moving to see what all the fuss is about.

They’re a lot higher than the village, at this point on the trail. So it’s easy to see numerous shapes—dressed in dark clothes and white masks, or in green jackets like Gai-sensei’s—moving with a single minded focus through streets and over roofs towards one building.

The Hokage Tower.

There’s a low, percussive BOOM.

Fierce wind pushes the children flat against the mountainside as dust and debris rolls through the streets below.

The side of the Tower closest to them now has a gaping hole.

“MOVE, all of you!!” The teacher from their first year screams.

Someone’s crying as they all begin shuffling forward again at a faster pace, an intense wail that almost drowns out the harried whispers of “What was that—” and “This can’t be happening—” and—

Naruto’s foot slips.

He shrieks as gravity pulls him down. She hears a scream as she tightens her grip on his hand and yanks as hard as she can, inadvertently using Chouji as an anchor.

To his credit, he plants his feet and holds onto her as tight as he can to stop her from going off the edge after him.

Shino, holding Naruto’s other hand, also strains to keep him from plummeting, a mass of insects swarming out of his sleeves and pushing at the boy’s chest until he’s leaning against the cliff face, sweaty and panting.

They shuffle along a lot more carefully after that, until they arrive at the entrance to a series of tunnels.

Naruto suddenly makes an urgent little noise behind her. She turns back to look.

There’s a person.

They’re perched on a roof not too far away, face turned up towards the little mountainside procession.

They could be a boy or a girl, long blond hair whipping in the wind. They seem...small. Maybe about Ino or Shikamaru’s size?

Their clothes seem strangely bulky for the mild weather and help to hide their sex. There’s a dark mask over the bottom of their face, concealing it from view.

Their eyes, however, are clearly fixed on Naruto.

She clenches his hand tighter, tries to pull him behind her so the stranger won’t have a clear shot at him. Shino’s insects buzz in warning. Kiba bares his teeth as he and Akamaru let out twin growls. Chouji begins yelling for a teacher.

The masked person tilts their head, considering.

Then they vanish in a swirl of white she thinks might be snow.

Several masks materialize around the place where the person was, before disappearing themselves in flurries of leaves.

The teacher from their first year grabs Naruto and Chouji’s shoulders and shoves them behind her.

She does the same thing to her and Shino, pushing them all deeper into the tunnels as she strides back to the entrance, a kunai clenched in her teeth.

She thinks she might’ve respected Taki-sensei more while she taught them if the teacher was nicer to Naruto, if she didn’t have such an obsession with Usagi-hime (the tyrant), and if she had known that the woman could do a stellar impression of Zoro-on-the-Warpath.

They’re swept along in the throng of crying, shouting, scared children.

Chouji’s muttering what happened to Shikamaru, who’s growing paler by the second. Kiba’s growling epithets and empty threats behind them, punctuated by Akamaru’s high-pitched barks, while Shino remains worryingly silent.

Sakura, Ino, Hinata and Uchiha are too far ahead for her to be able to see them, to know if they’re alright.

She can’t see Lee anywhere in the crowd around them either, and an irrational cold sweat breaks out on her brow.

Naruto’s hand trembles slightly in her grip. She squeezes it, gently.

They walk for what feels like miles, before the tunnels finally widen out into a cave.

From there they’re told by the teacher (their current one) and the nice man with the scar to sit quietly with their class as the teachers call role to see if anyone’s missing.

Much like the fire drills of her past life, it devolves into chaos pretty quickly.

Lee manages to sneak away to join their lunch time group in a corner.

He greets the others with his usual exuberance and takes her sudden, frantic hug with aplomb. Then he promptly sets about telling Sakura how lovely she looks today.

They all relax a little bit at that, even Sakura who’s desperately trying to hide how unused she is to the praise by changing the topic to anything else.

The knowing looks Ino keeps giving her and Lee only serve to exacerbate the pink-haired girl’s efforts.

She startles suddenly. “Oh shit.”

“Huh? Mayu-chan, what’s wrong?” Sakura asks, nervous.

“This is bad, this is bad, this is so, so bad—” She repeats, running her hands through her hair, nearly knocking her silver hairclips loose. Luffy save her, this is a nightmare on top of everything else. They couldn’t go on like this. How could she be so stupid?

“What is it?!” Shikamaru demands, eyes tight and focused.

“I forgot our lunches back in the classroom.” She rasps.

For some reason, instead of reacting with the appropriate horror, everyone else just groans.

“Mayu, it is ten in the morning.” Ino says. “Lunch isn’t for another two hours.”

“We might be here for longer! You don’t know!” She argues, cheeks flushing hot. “I don’t want you guys getting hungry!”

“Why are women so troublesome?” Shikamaru grumbles, flopping back to stare at the ceiling.

She pouts, Hinata’s hand on her knee the only thing stopping her from booting Shikamaru in the side, and leans into Naruto’s side to grouse about ungrateful friends, not appreciating all the worry she goes through on their behalf.

He pats her head consolingly.

She’s drawn out of her sulk by Sakura’s worried. “...Sasuke-kun?”

When she looks up at the boy in question, he’s white as a sheet, hands digging red lines where they grasp his knees, eyes bulging and staring at nothing, breath coming in shorter and shorter gasps.

Shit.

“I believe Uchiha is having a panic attack.” Shino says. “Why? Because he is unresponsive to the stimuli provided by my kikaichū and his pulse is elevated to fight-or-flight levels.”

“What’s a panic attack?” Naruto asks, eyes fixed on Uchiha’s shaking form.

“Something reminded him of something scary,” She says, hoping she’s not mangling it as horribly as Ino’s face is suggesting she is. “Now he’s having trouble staying in the here and now.”

Uchiha begins muttering something, too low to hear.

Kiba tilts his head. “Why’s he saying ‘it’s him, he’s back’ over and over?”

Shikamaru’s eyes widen. “The massacre. Shit.”

Lee’s about to whip around, like he expects the murderer of the Uchiha to be behind him, when Ino grabs his arm.

“Don’t.” She orders. “No sudden movements or raised voices. Daddy says that freaks them out more. Just be calm and quiet. Can you do that?”

Lee nods silently, and Ino gradually releases her grip on his arm.

“Uchiha-san.” Hinata asks. “Can you hear me?”

No response.

Then—a quick jerk of the head.

“I was wondering if you could tell me how you made that cake. For U-Uzumaki-kun’s birthday last year? The one all the adults liked?”

There’s a silence.

“...Whisked sugar and butter.” He croaks. “Didn’t use as much sugar as Akimichi wanted. Still was fluffy. Added eggs and a bit of flour slowly. Can’t use all the flour until after. Fold it in with baking powder. And coffee bits. Lots of coffee bits. Half the tin.”

“That’s dumb.” She says in her most soothing voice. “You’re only supposed to do one tablespoon.”

He actually lifts his head and glares at her. “No it’s not.” He argues. “It’s too sweet otherwise.”

She’s about to argue that it’s cake, that’s the entire point when Sakura cuts in. “Yeah.” She says. “Your cake just had a more...mature taste than what Mayu-chan’s used to.”

She narrows her eyes at Sakura, contemplating elbowing her. Her tastebuds are fine, she just doesn’t destroy them with bitterness and acidity.

But Uchiha’s snorting in amusement and his trembling’s slowed down a lot, his breathing gradually returning to normal.

They keep talking quietly like that about cakes and the various ways Uchiha was planning on butchering perfectly good recipes, and the potential of making safe doggy-cakes for Akamaru, until the teachers tell them the coast is clear.

The sun is long past the noon mark by the time they make it back to the classroom.

She was right about them going hungry, because everyone falls upon their lunchboxes with the ferocity of wild beasts or a hungry Luffy before the teacher sends them all home for the day.

Sasuke somehow leaves before anyone can notice and offer to walk back with him.

Okaa-sama is waiting outside the gate to greet her, Naruto and Lee.

Her teahouse uniform is covered in brownish dust, which her mother appears heedless of as she hugs each of them individually, and then gives them all one big hug.

Nobody knows what happened, or why a bit of Hokage Tower exploded yet. Apparently there was a huge genjutsu cast that made everyone in the surrounding area, even the masks, fall asleep after that, so the culprits got away for now.

Okaa-sama reassures them that the Hokage will surely have his best hunter-nin on the case, and they’ll be caught and brought to justice soon.

She goes a bit green when Naruto describes almost falling, and then seeing the mysterious person who was likely one of the perpetrators staring at him, squeezing his hand tightly as they walk.

There are lots of people walking home now. Even shopkeepers are closing up early and returning home to their families.

She wonders when Otou-sama’s coming home while she washes up the lunchboxes with Lee and Naruto. Surely his job would’ve let him go home by now?

Nobody says anything, but his absence becomes palpable as dinner draws closer. Okaa-sama makes them wait half an hour past when the food should be served, watching out the window anxiously.

Eventually they have to eat or Naruto won’t get home by curfew. They leave aside a plate warming in the oven.

Okaa-sama has begun gnawing at her bottom lip when a knock at the door finally comes.

Everyone exchanges glances, before her mother rises and goes to answer it.

It’s not Otou-sama.

It’s a mask.

“I am here to collect Uzumaki.” The mask says. At least it’s not the one that hurt her.

“I understand,” Her mother replies. “Naruto-kun!”

Naruto stands from where they’ve been peeking around the doorframe. Lee follows him.

“If it is alright, ANBU-san, I would like to walk home with Naruto-kun!” He says. “I wish to ensure he returns home safely before going back to the Orphanage.”

The mask tilts his head. “This is permissible. Come.”

“Wait.” Naruto says, stopping before the threshold. “Where’s Mayu-chan’s Otou-san? He’s never this late. He even missed dinner.”

“That is not relevant.” The mask says, trying to grab Naruto’s arm. “Come.”

“No!” Naruto ducks back into the house, hiding behind Okaa-sama’s legs. “I wanna know where Mayu’s Otou-san is! I’m not going until I know!”

Okaa-sama shrugs helplessly but makes no move to pull Naruto out from behind her. “Please sir, we’re all just worried about my husband. If we could have some word of his whereabouts—even if he’s in hospital—?”

The mask goes very still.

“Ketsugi Jirou is currently being held in custody of Konoha’s Interrogation department. He will be released once he cooperates with questioning regarding today’s incident.”

Then he rips Naruto away from Okaa-sama, grabs Lee, and vanishes in a whirl of leaves.

And all she can do is watch as her mother slowly sinks to the floor.

She begins crying in the still-open doorway.

[anubislover]

“Welcome to the Heart Pirates, Nami-ya” Chapter 13: The Lesser Evil

Nami awoke slowly, her fogged brain sluggishly processing her strange surroundings. A high-pitched beeping noise. Low, muttered voices. Scratchy sheets against her skin and a stiff mattress beneath her back. Her eyes cracked open only to immediately shut again in pain from the blinding white light. She attempted to shield them but was startled to find her wrists bound with thick leather straps to a metal headboard.

Memories of Jinzo and the club snapped to the forefront of her mind. Had she been captured? Was this that creep’s brothel? Where was Ikkaku? Was she still bleeding out in the alley? Where was Law?!

Panicked and disoriented, she screamed and struggled helplessly until a pair of large, gloved hands firmly but gently grabbed her shoulders, pinning her down as Law’s hard face blocked out the bright light, allowing Nami to finally see.

“Nami-ya, calm down; you’re in my infirmary.”

“What?”

He neglected to answer as he inspected her eyes, his stern expression softening with relief. “No blue in the iris—looks like I got all of the drug out. Do you remember last night?”

“Of course I remember! Law, you need to get Ikkaku—”

“Right here, Nami,” a voice from one of the other beds groaned. The redhead breathed a deep sigh of relief when she saw Bepo unshackling the engineer before gingerly helping her sit up. There was an IV full of fluids hooked to her arm and she was in one of the Tang’s hospital gowns, but she was alive. “Neptune’s beard, I never want to see another martini again.”

Nausea bubbled in her stomach as Nami recalled Hypnotique and the state she’d had to leave the other woman in. “Those men…they didn’t—”

“They tried.” Penguin’s face was dark as he leaned against the wall. Tension and quiet rage radiated from every pore as he stared at his shipmate, latex gloves squeaking softly as he clenched and unclenched his hands. “We barely got there in time.”

“I was out of bullets, and Mandōreku had me pinned…” Ikkaku trailed off with a shudder.

“Penguin pulled him off you,” Law said quietly, though Nami could see the angry tic in his jaw as he ground his teeth and the way his tattooed knuckles were white with rage as he released the straps around her wrists. “Shot him point-blank in the family jewels.”

“Did you kill him?” Ikkaku asked, turning to the first mate.

“Not right away,” he replied coldly, the brim of his hat casting his eyes in shadow. “You’d lost a lot of blood and the uranos needed to be dealt with immediately, but once Law had you unconscious and in the infirmary, I took care of him.”

“Good. I only wish I could have done it myself,” she snarled. “Apparently, that son of a bitch was the one who spiked our drinks and supplied the drug in the first place.”

“If I’d known that, I’d have let him bleed out from the hole in his crotch instead of finishing him quickly,” Penguin growled. “I thought he was just a regular scumbag.”

“What’s important is that we got the drug out of you both in time,” Law cut in as he helped Nami sit up. “Uranos basically acts as a stimulant and aphrodisiac. If not treated quickly, it can cause enough brain damage to turn even the most level-headed person into a pleasure-addicted zombie. To say nothing of how much it fucks up your liver, kidneys, and reproductive organs.”

“At least your powers could get it out of us,” Nami stated, remembering how he’d managed to remove the birth control from her system.

“Yes, but given how many vital parts it effects and how fast it works, it takes a lot more concentration and energy than usual—especially since I couldn’t afford to treat you one at a time. I also find it’s easier when the patient’s unconscious; a slowed heart rate means the drug’s processed less quickly, plus it lessens the amount of distracting moaning and writhing from the patient. Not that it stops entirely,” he stated, nodding at the leather restraints.

She flushed. So that’s why he knocked her out. She could now clearly remember how she threw herself at him, practically begging him to fuck her. God, how humiliating! And to think she’d been so overwhelmed by need that she nearly hadn’t told Law about Ikkaku. If he hadn’t managed to trick the answer out of her…

“Thanks for getting us, Boss,” Ikkaku said, breaking the tense silence that fell upon the room.

Bepo gave her a faint smile as he rubbed her back, carefully avoiding scratching her with his claws. “Law’d never leave you two behind.”

“Jinzo didn’t think so,” she replied sourly, hands tightening into fists. “Planned on making Nami his star attraction, and he was going to hand me over to the bartender as a bonus for his ‘services’. Knew there was something off about that guy, especially when he wouldn’t get us water.”

“I’m sorry I left you alone with him,” Nami whispered guiltily, drawing her knees against her chest. Mandōreku had seemed so nice, but behind that charming smile had been utter scum. To think, she’d even encouraged her friend to give that creep a chance!

Ikkaku shook her head insistently. “Nami, I specifically told you to go to the bathroom because I had the feeling something was up, and I wanted you safely out of the way in case things turned violent. Which they did, and you ended up coming out and saving my ass anyway, so no harm, no foul.”

“What’s ‘foul’ is the fact that that bastard had enough uranos to spike the drinks of an entire bar,” Penguin snapped. Despite the girls being safe and sound, his scowl hadn’t eased up, and his posture still implied that he’d like to go out and kill something. But even though anger radiated off of him, he stayed put, not moving so much as an inch from his place by Ikkaku’s bed.

Gloved hand rubbing his goatee, Law nodded in agreement. “Uranos is extracted from a berry that only grows on a single island in the South Blue—Jinzo must have sunk a fortune into getting enough juice to dose a whole bar full of women. Just 15ml costs at least 50,000 belli.”

“If he got the shipment in recently, plus factoring in buying property, remodeling, paying his guards, and all his other expenses, no wonder he didn’t have the money to pay you and Drake,” Nami said, tallying up the rough costs of everything Jinzo had likely been spending in the past month.

Frown deepening, the surgeon looked at her in consideration. “He and Kimo-ya had always done well in the black market trade, but I guess with so many upstart pirates moving on to the New World to take advantage of the chaos, he wanted a fallback in case his normal clientele dried up. It’s not a bad plan, but he should never have tried to muscle in on Haiko-ya’s territory; she may be married to his partner, but she’s basically the unofficial ruler of Grimm’s nightlife.”

“Haiko’s that powerful?”

“She’s established quite the foothold over the past two years. Hiroshi once told me that, before she married Kimo-ya, Grimm was even worse; the dead bodies of whores were regularly found on street corners, drug lords ran rampant, you never knew if you were drinking alcohol or formaldehyde, and the slave trade was out of control. When Haiko-ya arrived, she used her influence to start cleaning things up. The first thing she did was reform the brothels; because of her, they’re now run like legitimate businesses with willing employees that are treated well.”

“Yeah? Jinzo seemed to have had other ideas,” Nami said softly. “He had us all drugged so he could cut down labor costs. No need to pay whores if they’re mindless sex slaves.”

Law scoffed. “Idiot. Women who take uranos have a life expectancy of a month, tops, and that’s still longer than men. Aside from the organ damage the drug can cause, being in a constant state of arousal like that typically results in dehydration, puts a massive strain on the heart, and when you’re only focused on fulfilling your sexual desires, basic human needs like eating and sleeping fall by the wayside. Most wither away to nothing.”

Penguin took off his hat to rub his forehead, scowl deepening. “So, even if he’d succeeded, once those girls died, he’d have to pay out again for a new batch of brain-fucked prostitutes.”

Nami shuddered at the thought. That could have been them. She would have died a mindless sex slave. Despite her life of servitude and the dangers she’d faced as a woman on the Grand Line, such a fate had never even occurred to her. Even when Absalom had kidnapped her and tried to marry her, she’d never even considered it—mainly because she’d been unconscious, but also because she never doubted that Sanji or Luffy or Zoro would save her. Those three always seemed to show up when she was in trouble. But Law…

She had far more faith in the Surgeon of Death than she used to, but it wasn’t the same instinctive trust that she had with her nakama—if she hadn’t gone looking for him, would he have shown up in time to get her and Ikkaku out of there? Luffy would drop everything if he even thought one of his friends was in trouble. Zoro, for all his terrible direction sense, never failed to stumble across her in the nick of time. Sanji had a sixth sense for women in danger. Even Usopp and Chopper, her fellow scaredy-cats, could be relied on to overcome their own fears if she were in trouble.

But Law had been on his own mission. The man had his own goals and priorities that wouldn’t always line up with hers. She couldn’t always rely on him to save her. She shouldn’t always rely on others.

Ignorant to the navigator’s inner turmoil, Law shook his head. “You’re assuming Haiko-ya would let him live that long. She already knew he was opening a brothel, so the second she caught even a whiff of uranos being used on the girls, she’d burn the place to the ground.”

“Unless…” Bepo began before stopping himself. “Sorry.”

“Unless what, Bepo?” Ikkaku asked curiously.

“Speak,” Law ordered, eyes narrowed.

The bear looked nervous as he twiddled his claws. “Well, what if Jinzo planned on getting Miss Haiko out of the way? With Mr. Kimo out of commission, it would be a lot easier for him to take over and drive her out. Or kill her. Or,” he swallowed harshly, “maybe even drug her and add her to the brothel.”

It made a sick amount of sense, and Nami watched Law’s gold eyes burn with understanding. “Haiko-ya probably suspected Jinzo was looking to take her out before his new business opened. That’s why she asked me to go after him last night.” Glare deepening, Law stalked towards the door, motioning for Penguin to follow. The first mate reluctantly left his post, tossing a concerned glance at Ikkaku before leaving the infirmary.

The room was filled with an uncomfortable silence until Nami uttered, “Bepo?”

“Yes, Nami?”

“What happened to the other girls? The ones in the club that were also drugged?”

Her fellow navigator seemed reluctant to answer, glancing around as if hoping someone would pop out to answer the unpleasant question for him. “Well…Captain’s primary concern was you two, but he did order us to sedate and deliver them to Miss Haiko. Once he was sure you would be alright, he went to see what he could do for them, but given how far gone most of them looked…” He bowed his head sadly. “I’m sorry.”

Nami bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes as she stared down at the white tiled floor. Given all that she’d heard about the drug, she felt overwhelming pity for those girls. What would happen to them? What kind of lives could they expect? Did they have husbands or boyfriends or families? Would they ever know the girls’ fates? Were they better off not knowing?

“I’m so sorry, Nami,” Ikkaku murmured, catching her attention. The Heart Pirate looked utterly devastated, tears welling up in her dark eyes. “I was so, so stupid. I figured since Haiko’d been cleaning up the clubs and bars, it was safe to have a night out.”

“You couldn’t have known this would happen,” Nami replied weakly.

Bepo nodded emphatically as he pulled his crewmate into a tight hug. “Don’t blame yourself; even Law thought it was safe enough for you two to go out alone! New bars don’t open without Miss Haiko’s approval, after all. And with the way she’s been running things, it’s more dangerous to go out alone during the day than at night!”

“Really?” Nami asked, surprised.

“Oh yeah. Since Miss Haiko pretty much runs the island at night, she doesn’t get involved with things during the day. It’s the compromise she made with Mr. Kimo and Jinzo. So, slavers and stuff are still a problem while the sun’s up, but once things get dark, it’s a lot safer.”

“Kimo’s really ok with stuff like that?”

“Yeah,” Bepo said nervously, round ears drooping. “He may be more honorable than Jinzo, but he’s still pretty ruthless—wouldn’t be in the black market organ trade otherwise. Handing over control of the island at night to Miss Haiko was basically his wedding gift to her. Jinzo really hadn’t liked that—the red light district had been his domain.”

Frowning, Nami considered his words. Since arriving on Grimm, she’d assumed that Kimo was the lesser of the two evils between himself and Jinzo. But something wasn’t quite right; considering all the work that went into opening a new business, Jinzo must have been planning on starting the brothel for at least a month, if not two. Yet if Kimo had handed control of Grimm’s evening affairs over to Haiko, there was no way Jinzo would have dared disrespected his partner like that, right? And Kimo would have had to be completely stupid not to notice his partner muscling in on his wife’s territory.

Stupid, or in on it, Nami thought, eyes widening as she remembered her brief encounter with Haiko. The club owner had seemed pretty pissed about what had happened to her husband, but not nearly as distraught as one would expect from a woman whose beloved had been possibly assaulted by his long-time partner. And she’d been so quick to point the finger at Jinzo. More than eager to push a slighted Law in his direction. To step back and let someone else get their hands dirty.

It was all conjecture, and she had no proof, but Nami’s gut had told her when they first met that she was the kind of woman who could slit a man’s throat with a smile. And now her gut was saying Haiko was far more involved in this whole mess than she’d let on.

Lost in thought, Nami didn’t realize Law had returned until she heard a low, rapid thumping inches from her face. Looking up, she jumped back like a startled cat as she found herself staring at a beating heart in a translucent cube.

“What the hell is that?!” she screeched.

“I think that’s pretty obvious, Nami-ya; a heart. Specifically, Jinzo’s.”

“Why do you even have that?!”

Tossing the disembodied organ causally into the air and catching it with one hand, he replied, “Well, because I was a bit preoccupied with saving your life, I didn’t have the time to make that bastard suffer like I wanted to. So, I took his heart and handed the rest of him over to Drake-ya.” His grin was cruel and pleased, especially as the organ in his hand beat faster, clearly under some kind of distress. “When I explained the situation to him, he was more than happy to deliver justice in my stead. Especially since Haiko-ya agreed to pay him the money he’s owed, plus a bonus for taking care of this disgusting pest problem.”

“What’s Drake doing with him?” Ikkaku asked, glaring at the heart with cold determination.

“Torture. He promised to use every trick the Marines and his father ever taught him. Broken bones, waterboarding, hot pokers, acid in open wounds, bamboo shards under his nails—but he’s not allowed to kill him.” Gold eyes landed on Nami. “That’ll be my pleasure. Unless you’d like that honor for yourself?” he asked, offering the organ to the navigator like a macabre Valentine.

She gasped in horror. “I’m not killing anyone!”

“You sure? After what he did to you? Think about what would have happened, Nami-ya; he tried to make you a sex slave. He would have profited off your body and laughed as you served every sick scumbag willing to pay. You’d be used, abused, and at the mercy of men who’d only see you as a notch on their belts and a warm hole to fuck,” he sneered, grip on the fragile organ tightening unconsciously.

She shuddered. The picture Law painted wasn’t pretty. Just the thought of what she would have been reduced to made her want to vomit. She and Ikkaku and all those other girls…

Swallowing hard, Nami nervously met his cold eyes. “Law, did you manage to cure the other girls?” Bepo had been doubtful, but a small part of her prayed for a miracle from the doctor.

Law ran a hand through his dark hair. “Haiko-ya’s familiar with uranos—she had some anaphrodisiac on hand to hold back the effects, but not enough for everyone. Some I was able to fully cure. Others will likely be nymphomaniacs for the rest of their lives, but at least still have their higher reasoning intact. Several unfortunately succumbed to the permanent effect before I even got to them. And a few had been taking other drugs that didn’t play well with the addition of uranos and alcohol—needless to say, they died.”

Her throat tightened like a fist had wrapped around it. “Oh my god.”

Holding the rapidly-beating heart out towards her like a rose or box of chocolates, he asked coaxingly, “So, considering the number of lives Jinzo ruined tonight, are you sure you don’t want to give it a little squeeze?”

Fingers twitching, Nami was tempted to take him up on his offer. To grab that fragile organ and crush it between her fingers. To make Jinzo suffer in a way he never could have prepared for in the name of the women he’d been willing to use for his own ends.

But her conscience won out. She wasn’t a murderer. Maybe if it had been Arlong’s heart, she would have done it. This Fishman had spent nearly a decade pushing her to the breaking point. Hell, she’d tried to kill him at least a dozen different ways before resigning herself to the fragile glimmer of hope that he’d honor their deal and free her village.

She had no doubt that Jinzo was just as bad as Arlong, and he’d certainly wronged her and her friend, but as far as personal stakes went, Jinzo paled in comparison. So, even though he deserved it, she couldn’t bring herself to kill him in such a callous, ignoble way. Luffy would never approve. None of her nakama would. She didn’t give a damn about honor or fair fights, but killing him like this, when the man had no chance to fight back, was a slippery slope she didn’t want to go down.

Gingerly, Nami pushed Law’s hand away. “I’m sure. It just…I could never…”

The Surgeon of Death seemed disgruntled that she refused his macabre gift, but he got over it quickly. “Suit yourself. Ikkaku?”

The engineer seemed to consider it, but one look at Nami’s ashen face changed her mind. “Better take that somewhere else, Boss—I don’t give a shit what you do to that bastard, but Nami doesn’t need to see it.”

Law glanced at the woman in question before shrugging and tossing the heart onto an empty bed. Casually, he checked Ikkaku’s IV and stitches along her side as he said, “Fine. I should call Drake-ya first and see if he’s gotten bored of ripping chunks of flesh off of the bastard, anyway. Hate to interfere with his fun. Penguin’s getting your breakfast—eat up, then get dressed. The log pose has reset and we’re leaving Grimm no later than sunset. This visit has been an absolute shit show.” Satisfied with his engineer’s condition, Law retrieved Jinzo’s heart, tossing it up and down like a beanbag as he ordered, “If you have anything you wanted to pick up before we head off, this is your last chance—though you’re both wearing the uniforms. No arguments.”

“Fine by me,” Nami murmured, refusing to look at the vulnerable red organ.

Her chin was lifted gently, and she was forced to meet Law’s tired eyes. “Nami-ya, I promise the next island we land on will be much more relaxing. No black markets, drugs, or creepy psychopaths.”

“That…that sounds great, Law,” she replied uncomfortably.

“That’s it? No complaining? No demands for monetary compensation? No insults?” His frown deepened as he took a step back, taking care to keep Jinzo’s heart just out of her line of sight. “What’s on your mind, Nami-ya?

She worried her lip. Haiko was Law’s friend, or at least they were on good terms. Should she really risk inciting his anger by making accusations against her without proof?

Then again, Law was an intelligent man, and he knew the woman better than Nami did. If anyone could put her mind at ease and prove her theory right or wrong, it was him.

For better or worse, she’d trust his judgment.

Taking a deep, steadying breath, Nami asked, “Did Haiko ever tell you what kind of accident her husband was in?”

A dark blue eyebrow raised in bemusement. “No. We were a bit preoccupied with brainstorming ways of making Jinzo pay for his transgressions. I assume it was something pretty serious, though.”

“But she knows how good a doctor you are. You completely repaired Hiroshi’s hands. You can pull drugs and poison out of people and find out exactly what’s wrong with someone with your powers. Why wouldn’t she ask you to look Kimo over and see if you could help him?”

“Because—” Law paused, quickly realizing he had no answer. “That’s a very good question, Nami-ya.” Brow furrowing, he stood before her in deep thought for a few minutes, idly running his thumb over the heart in his hand. It continued to beat at a dizzying speed—Jinzo was terrified, in agony, or both.

Finally, with a dark glint in his golden eyes, the Dark Doctor stated, “I’ll look into it. As for you two; rest, eat, and be ready to set sail by tonight.”

“Aye-aye, Captain,” Ikkaku replied while Nami nodded mutely.

Without another word, Law stalked out of the infirmary, leaving the two women and the Mink alone.

Determined not to endure any more awkward silences, Bepo walked over to Nami, lifted her up like she weighed nothing, and carried her over to Ikkaku’s cot. The bear sat down and pulled both women onto his lap, hugging them close like they were a pair of dolls.

“You had us all worried,” he whimpered, rubbing his muzzle against Ikkaku’s tangled hair. After six hours and all the craziness that had ensued during that time, the dark strands were regaining their natural curl. “I thought we were going to lose you.”

Despite the stress and trauma she’d endured over the past few days, Nami couldn’t help but feel the need to reassure the sweet bear. “We’re ok, Bepo. You guys got to us just in time,” she promised, patting his soft fur comfortingly.

“We knew you’d never let us down,” Ikkaku agreed, smiling softly at the way the Mink nuzzled her.

“But what if we hadn’t—”

“If you’re worried, next time you’re coming with us on Ladies’ Night,” she offered.

“Yeah,” Nami chimed in. “No one would dare mess with us if we had our fierce Mink bodyguard with us!”

“I don’t think you’re getting a choice on the whole ‘bodyguard’ thing,” Bepo admitted. “Law was a wreck. Pretty sure he’s not going to let either of you off the ship for a while without either him or a whole entourage for protection. Sorry.”

As much as Nami wanted to be annoyed at this, she couldn’t blame the dark captain for such a precaution. Grimm had taught her that, if she wanted to get through the rest of the year in one piece, she was going to have to adapt to her situation better. Life with the Straw Hats had made her forget just how much danger a woman faced.

Ikkaku had said she was lucky to have kept her virginity for so long—that she had the chance to choose who to give her first time to—but she hadn’t fully realized just how lucky. Absalom, Jinzo, Harpin—she could have been raped by any one of them. And though she was fortunate enough to have powerful people looking after her, she needed to be better prepared to defend herself in the future. As it was, she was a liability, and she couldn’t always count on others to rescue her.

Resting her head against Bepo’s furry neck, she made a decision. “Hey, Ikkaku?”

“Yeah?”

“Think you could take a look at my Clima-Tact later? Maybe see if there’s a way to bulk up its attacks, or give me some tips on how to utilize it better? I…I don’t want you to feel like I’d be in the way of a fight again.” Usopp would probably freak that she’d let someone other than him mess around with his invention, but Nami was sure he’d understand that it was for the sake of survival.

“I didn’t exactly think you’d be in the way,” Ikkaku replied, though there was a hint of hesitation in her tone. “I just didn’t want you getting hurt. I mean, if it turned out Mandōreku had a gun, I couldn’t risk him shooting you.”

“I get it, but if I’m going to stand a chance in the New World, I need to up my game. I’m never going to be a great fighter like Luffy or Sanji-kun, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try to get stronger.”

The engineer smiled sympathetically. “Then sure, I’ll look at it. Honestly, I’ve been dying to study that thing for a while but didn’t want to overstep.”

“I appreciate it,” Nami said. She meant it, too; Ikkaku might have been blunt and a bit pushy at times, but it was good to hear that she really did respect Nami’s boundaries.

“If you want some combat training, I can teach you a few of my moves,” Bepo offered, turning to rub his fuzzy cheek against her forehead affectionately.

“That’d probably be a good idea. Law said it was time to start some combat training, but I’ve been avoiding it. Guess it’s time to bite the bullet.”

“You want to learn to catch a bullet with your teeth?!” the Mink asked, shocked. “Not even Law can do that!”

Neither Ikkaku nor Nami bothered to correct him. Not that they could have; both women were laughing too hard.

XXX

Several hours later, Nami, Law, Jean Bart, Shachi, Ikkaku, and Penguin were loading the last of the supplies onto the submarine. The two women weren’t really in any condition to do any heavy lifting, but Nami was determined to spend as much time outside as she could before they submerged, as she had no idea when she’d get the chance to enjoy fresh air again. Ikkaku had decided to keep her company while the men did most of the work, and Law had agreed to let them lounge on the docks as it allowed him to supervise the men and watch over the women at the same time.

Normally, Nami would be on edge from his scrutiny, but she barely noticed as she was more interested in the amount of attention Penguin was giving them. Or rather, Ikkaku. The first mate had come up with practically every excuse under the sun to come over to check on them, mostly under the guise of ensuring his crewmate didn’t do anything to pull her stiches.

“I swear, he thinks I’m an invalid,” Ikkaku scoffed as Penguin scuttled off to help Shachi load up the supplies for the greenhouse Clione had ordered. “I’m not going to tear my stiches getting a drink.”

“Give the guy a break—he was freaking out when he realized you were in danger last night,” Nami replied, sipping her tea as she reclined in her deck chair. Penguin had insisted on fetching them some from the galley to ward off the gloomy island’s chill. It was definitely appreciated; a thick fog had settled over the Fall island since mid-morning and, combined with the chilly ocean spray, even the normally warm navigator was getting goosebumps.

“I guess. He’s a good guy like that,” she acquiesced with a small, affectionate smile. “He’s always looking after the crew. Speaking of, how’re you holding up in the uniform? You’re not getting overheated again, are you?”

The navigator gave the beige jumpsuit she’d once again been saddled with a brief scowl. “I’m fine—just trying to think of ways to make this damn thing palatable without Law freaking out.”

“Maybe we could modify it or something—make you a custom version. So long as it’s got the Heart Pirate emblem on it, I’m sure Law wouldn’t mind if we made it a bit sexier,” she said with a suggestive wink. “Especially if he gets to parade you about like his very own mikan arm-candy.”

Before Nami could tell her off for such an absurd suggestion, the man in question approached as if sensing the girls were talking about him. “And how are the two princesses doing?” he asked, tone teasing as he leaned Kikoku against his shoulder. “Has Penguin started feeding you grapes and offering foot massages?”

“Sadly, not yet,” Ikkaku snickered. “Need something, Boss?”

“I’m going to go run an errand. I won’t be gone long, but until I get back, stay close to the ship.”

The two women shrugged. Law had been popping out to run various errands all day; at this point, none of the Heart Pirates gave it much thought anymore.

“Don’t worry,” Nami replied, waving away his concern as she sipped her tea. “If I never set foot on Grimm’s shores again, I’ll be a happy woman. The docks are as far as I plan to go.”

“Good to hear it. Anything you two want me to pick up while I’m out?”

“Being awful magnanimous there, Boss,” Ikkaku drawled, an eyebrow raising suspiciously. “You trying to butter us up? Bribe us?”

He gave an insincere, too-wide smile. “Maybe I just feel like spoiling my two most beautiful subordinates.”

“And now I know you’re up to something. Well, if you insist on buying our silence, you can get me a huge box of gourmet chocolates or something,” she quipped, smirking up at her captain challengingly.

“Make that two boxes,” Nami giggled. “One for each of us. And a case of the most expensive sake the island sells.”

Law rolled his eyes, exasperated. “Greedy wench. Should have known you wouldn’t settle for a coffee or something.”

“If you don’t like it, I take cash, too.”

“Speaking of, you still owe me—”

“Nope!” she cut him off. “You said I could pay you back in cash, or with a kiss. And guess what, oh Surgeon of Death? I distinctly recall kissing you last night.”

“Under the influence of a sex drug.”

“You never specified the circumstances of the kiss. As far as I’m concerned, we’re even.”

Law let out an annoyed tch, and it took Nami a ridiculous amount of willpower to keep from commenting on the fact that the infamous Supernova was basically pouting. “Fine. I should be back in a half-hour. If I’m not, avenge my death.”

“Will do, Boss,” Ikkaku replied as she reclined in her seat, unbothered by the concept of her captain’s grisly demise. Not that she had reason to be—word had quickly spread about what had happened to Jinzo, so even if any of his former subordinates wanted revenge, only the truly stupid would risk their boss’ fate.

A blue bubble encased him and Law vanished before their eyes. Not wasting any time, the engineer turned to her companion. “So, you kissed him, huh?”

Nami scowled half-heartedly at her. “Because of the uranos.”

“Sure, sure,” Ikkaku chuckled but didn’t press the topic any further. It was good that she was feeling comfortable enough to make the occasional joke about last night’s debacle, but Nami could tell she didn’t wish to dwell on it longer than needed. There was a moment of comfortable silence between them before Ikkaku sighed. “Damn, now that he’s mentioned it, I kinda do want that foot massage. I’m getting a little cold, too; I’m gonna see if I can talk Penguin into giving one inside. You in?”

“Nah, I’m good. I think I’ll stay here and enjoy the fresh air a little longer. Go treat yourself!” she laughed, shooing the engineer away.

Normally, Nami rarely said no to a free foot massage, but she had the sneaking suspicion that Penguin wouldn’t mind doting on just Ikkaku for a while. With all his hovering, concern, and fury towards her attacker, Nami was beginning to theorize that the first mate might just have a burgeoning crush on the beautiful engineer. And even if she was completely off-base, Ikkaku deserved a little extra pampering after the night she’d had.

As Ikkaku meandered back into the sub, Nami wandered over to the edge of the pier, giving Jean Bart and Shachi a reassuring wave when they made to get up from where they were resting atop a stack of crates. Making sure to stay in their line of sight and within shouting distance, she stood there for several peaceful moments and relished the feel of the ocean spray on her face. She hoped the journey to the next island wasn’t too long—Grimm was damp and chilly and grey and an overall miserable experience, but she certainly hadn’t been bored.

“You seem to be doing well.”

Nami whirled around to find herself face-to-chest with Drake. Instinctively, her hand went to her Clima-Tact—Law had practically strapped it to her leg himself, though she doubted she’d risk leaving the submarine without it again.

Drake looked down at her critically, blue eyes lingering briefly upon the Heart Pirate insignia on her breast pocket before snapping back up to her face, a faint blush rising to his cheeks as he realized exactly where he’d been staring. He coughed into his fist awkwardly, waiting a moment for his composure to return. “I heard you ran amuck of some uranos. I suppose it’s a good thing you had Trafalgar for a temporary captain. I loathe the man, but his medical skills are beyond compare,” he spat as if giving Law even the slightest bit of praise filled his mouth with a foul taste.

“Y-yeah, he really came through for me,” Nami said nervously, fingers twitching above her batons.

Drake noticed her disquiet and took a half-step back, putting a respectable amount of distance between them. “I’m not here to kidnap you, Miss Nami—especially not with your companions ready to attack if I so much as blink at you wrong.”

Her anxiety eased up at the reminder. Glancing at her shipmates over her shoulder, she noticed Shachi glaring daggers at the rival captain through his sunglasses as he polished his rifle. Next to him, Jean Bart cracked his knuckles meaningfully. Confidence returning with the knowledge that she had good people watching her back, she returned her attention to Drake, hand retreating from her weapon to rest elegantly on her hip. “Smart man, though if abduction’s not on the agenda, why are you here?”

“Partially to check up on you. I was concerned Trafalgar would want to take advantage of you in your drug-addled state.”

“Law would never!” she snapped, instantly offended on the Dark Doctor’s behalf. The man may have been a sadistic, flirty bastard, but she instinctively knew he had never considered using her like Jinzo had intended. After all, she’d basically offered herself up on a silver platter, and when he’d kissed her back, it had been for the sake of distracting her. Law was a lot of terrible things, but “rapist” was not among them.

Holding up his hands in surrender, Drake raised an eyebrow at her outburst. “You’ve certainly changed your tune. Just two days ago you told me you didn’t even like him and literally begged me to help you strip off his uniform. I’d hoped you’d be smart enough not to fall for his seduction techniques so easily.”

“I haven’t fallen for anything—I’ve just realized that, even if he is a creepy asshole, he’s at least got enough honor to keep me safe from other scumbags. He’s the lesser of the evils out there.” Biting her lip, she reluctantly brought up, “By the way, I heard that you’re the one who…took care of Jinzo.”

With a nonchalant shrug he replied, “Normally, doing anything that benefits Trafalgar turns my stomach, but I was willing to make an exception in this case. The lesser of the evils and whatnot. That, and Haiko offered me a rather impressive sum of belli in exchange. I certainly wasn’t going to turn down that kind of deal—especially when I found out what Jinzo had done.”

“You…said he owed you a lot of money for something. What was it?” she asked, not sure she wanted to know the answer.

Piercing blue eyes narrowed as he crossed his arms. “You’re not accusing me of selling him uranos, are you?”

“Jinzo did sink a small fortune into getting his hands on enough to drug a whole bar. Maybe it wasn’t the only thing you sold him, but you did say he owed you 600 million belli,” she countered, though her heart wasn’t in it. Drake may have been a dangerous Supernova and attempted kidnapper but considering how he’d seemed rather shy around unclothed women, she highly doubted that he’d supply a drug that would turn girls into sex-slaves. Still, it didn’t hurt to check.

His answering glower put doubt into that thought, though. “Miss Nami, I understand you’ve been through a traumatic ordeal, and thus I’ll humor your idiotic accusation—no,” he stated, voice barely more than a deep, threatening growl. “What he and Kimo owed me money for was a job they requested assistance on, plus I had raided a merchant ship full of uncut diamonds, platinum, and silk. And considering how you relieved Jinzo of his cash, even if I did bring in the uranos, do you really think I’d hand it over without getting paid?”

Ice water ran though her veins at his tone. Drake was deeply offended at her allegation. She couldn’t blame him—despite the near-abduction, he’d been remarkably courteous to her since they’d first met. Besides that, even if he wasn’t a Marine anymore, it was clear he was far more honorable than most pirates. But every man had his limits, and if she didn’t lighten the mood fast, she might end up sharing Jinzo’s fate. Backing up a half-step and holding out her hands as if to calm down an angry beast, Nami simpered, “Hey, I’m sorry! You’re right—it was stupid of me to think you had anything to do with this. I-I’ve been through a lot over the past couple days and wasn’t thinking straight!”

Drake took a deep breath, and the tension eased from his shoulders as his hands fell to his sides. Behind her, Nami could hear the safety of a gun clicking, and she suspected her bodyguards had something to do with his new calm. “I may be a pirate, Miss Nami, but I don’t care for my honor being questioned.”

“I’ll remember that.”

His stern expression softened at her obvious fear. A large hand rubbed the back of his neck with a hint of embarrassment. “I confess, though, I do now feel a bit guilty for even considering selling you to that madman. Uranos is nasty business—rumor has it that the Navy briefly considered using it as a form of torture for female pirates in Impel Down, but Sengoku shot it down.”

Bile burned the back of her throat at the mere thought. “Dare I ask who proposed that option?”

“I believe you robbed his mansion last month.”

A disgusted shudder wracked her body. Of course that perverted psychopath would suggest such a thing. Considering Harpin’s low view of women and shady dealings, she wouldn’t have been surprised if he suggested it so he could get his hands on some for his own depraved use.

“God, the Navy employs the sickest people,” she groused. “How can they even look at themselves in the mirror?”

“People will go to quite the extremes in the name of Justice,” Drake answered, tilting his head down so his face was cast in shadow. “You can’t always stop evil by playing by the rules.”

Nami bit her lip. She probably shouldn’t be discussing such things with a former Rear-Admiral. Even if he had no love for his former leaders, she doubted such a conversation would go anywhere pleasant. She was trying to keep the mood light, after all. “Right. So, where are you heading next? Off to the New World?”

“No, not yet. It’s still too chaotic on the other side. Perhaps in a few months, when the waves of idiots looking to make a name for themselves have all killed each other. If I hope to stand out, I can’t just be another voice screaming for attention.”

“Not the worst plan in the world, I guess.” In fact, it was pretty similar to Law’s. Perhaps all North Blue pirates were this pragmatic—it seemed they were the only ones willing to wait for the best moment to strike instead of recklessly rushing into certain death.

“So glad you approve,” he replied sarcastically, though there was an amused tilt to his lips. “I may also be staying on this side for the sake of enjoying Paradise while it’s unusually peaceful—it’s almost like a vacation.”

Just like that, the rest of the tension between them dissolved like sugar in hot tea, and Nami found herself able to relax. Drake was an intimidating man, especially when he was angry, but like Law, he didn’t seem the type to cause trouble unless he could gain from it. Especially not with the Heart Pirates so close by.

That in mind, Nami gave him a small smile, intent of staying in his good graces. “By the way, thank you for…what you did to Jinzo. I’m sure getting payback on my behalf wasn’t a factor in your decision, but it’s good to have the peace of mind knowing he won’t be coming after me again.” Death and torture were never things she’d be able to condone, but it seemed smarter to praise Drake rather than condemn him.

Broad shoulders lifted in a mild shrug, but the large captain seemed pleased enough at her gratitude. “Honestly, while it wasn’t at the top of my list of reasons, when I was informed that he’d drugged you, it did help sway my decision. I thought perhaps my act of chivalry might help you see sense and convince you to join me instead of Trafalgar.”

A wry smile curled her lips and she jutted out her hip as she replied sassily, “Torturing a guy isn’t a great way to earn a lady’s affections, though points for creativity.”

Drake blushed slightly at the mild teasing in her tone, pulling the brim of his hat a bit further down to hide it the damning tinge of pink. “Perhaps not my preferred way to win you over, but I work with what I have.”

Intent on keeping the mood light, she teased, “Well, Captain Drake, how would you prefer to ‘win me over’, as you put it? A shopping trip? Candlelit dinner? A long stroll on the beach under the stars?”

“I’d rather appeal to your sense of reason—you’re an intelligent woman from what I’ve seen, and surely by this point Trafalgar would have shown you his true colors. While he might not be the absolute worst piece of scum sailing the ocean, you’re better off without him. That insane bastard will bring you nothing but trouble.”

Part of her appreciated the fact that Drake seemed even the slightest bit concerned for her safety—it was always good to have allies, after all. “Law’s a little unhinged, I’ll admit, but still far from the worst captain I’ve ever served under. He’s loyal and protective of his crew, and I guess that includes me now. That, and I have this sneaking suspicion that you only want me because I’m his.” She blinked before smacking her forehead with her palm, cheeks burning bright red. “That didn’t come out right.”

Drake let out a faint chuckle as he closed the distance between them with a few casual steps. “Whether or not you meant it that way, you’re not wrong. Considering all the times he’s gone out of his way just to screw me over, I wouldn’t mind the chance for some payback.” He leaned in, his voice a seductive growl in her ear as he continued, “And what better way to do it than to steal away the woman he clearly plans to fuck?”

“Wha—”

“Back it up there, Drake,” Shachi snapped as he audibly clicked the safety of his gun off again, raising the rifle meaningfully. “We cut you some slack when you badmouthed the boss, but trying to seduce our Cat Thief is a big no-no.”

Nami shivered as a puff of Drake’s hot breath danced against her neck when he scoffed. “Oh? Don’t you have faith in her loyalty to your captain? Or do you think she’d be so easily seduced?”

“Like you said, Miss Nami’s a smart woman,” Jean Bart replied, once more cracking his knuckles, ready to fight. “Smart enough not to fall for such an obvious ploy from a guy who tried to kidnap her just two days ago.”

“Then you boys have no reason to worry.” His attention returned to the woman in question when he felt her small hand lightly press against his torso. “So, what will it be, Miss Nami? Surely such a gorgeous, intelligent woman knows she deserves a better captain than an unhinged scoundrel like Trafalgar. Someone like me. Perhaps I could convince you over a bottle of wine in my cabin.”

Memories of the fantasy she’d shared with Ikkaku about how she’d seduce Drake popped into her head. She certainly hadn’t imagined he’d try to beat her to the punch like this. But while his attempt was admirable, the execution was unrefined. He had the proximity and the low, coaxing tone down, but he wasn’t even trying to touch her. He was smart to compliment her looks and intelligence, but he wasn’t quite making her feel wanted. Or maybe she’d just gotten used to Law’s much more patient, methodical approach. In fact, she couldn’t help but wonder if Drake was trying to imitate him but wasn’t quite comfortable enough to commit.

And too bad for him, when a Cat Thief like her sensed weakness, she took advantage.

“Hmm, I admit it’s a tempting offer,” Nami cooed, playfully running her fingers along the fur trim of his bolero. Large brown eyes gazed up at him through long lashes as she continued, “Having the famous X Drake so interested in little old me is certainly doing wonders for my ego. And what woman wouldn’t want to serve under such a big, strong, handsome captain?” For extra measure, she blew a light stream of air against the bare skin of his sternum as she drew a little heart on his prominent abdominal muscles.

Drake’s face turned the same shade as his hair, prompting Nami to laugh and drop the act, stepping away from him. “Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure that if I ran off with one of his rivals, Law wouldn’t take too kindly to it. But I’ll keep it in mind.”

Growling faintly in annoyance at how easily she’d gotten under his skin, Drake sought to compose himself by dusting off imaginary dirt from his sleeves. “Hmph. Well, in case you do come to your senses, just know the offer expires when I leave for the New World.”

“Fair. Now, unless you were looking to say goodbye to Law…” she trailed off, suggestively wagging her eyebrows.

Any composure Drake might have regained fell away instantly. “It was bad enough dealing with that smarmy bastard over the phone,” he snapped, ears burning brightly. Given what she knew of their interactions, Nami could guess that call had been utterly dripping with Law’s smug, suggestive flirtations. No wonder Drake had waited until he was gone to approach her. “All I have to say to him is ‘burn in Hell’!”

“Well, unless you plan on telling him that yourself, you should get going—he’s due back any minute,” she warned with a teasing smile. She’d never admit it out loud, but Law had been right—the best way to deal with Drake was to lean into the sexual tension to knock him off balance.

“Fine,” he growled, shoving his hands into his pockets and marching away with his head held deceptively high. “One last bit of advice, Miss Nami—I know it’s inevitable, but at least make him work for it before you sleep with him.”

Her jaw dropped in shock and outrage. “You—I’m not going to sleep with that jerk!”

“That’s the spirit,” he replied dryly over his shoulder, his large silhouette fading into the fog.

Once the former Marine was out of sight, Shachi was at her side, leaning his elbow on her shoulder. “You ok, Nami?”

The red haired thief was grateful for the cool air, as it helped her blush fade more quickly. “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for having my back.”

“No problem. Glad we didn’t have to fight him, though. I hate to say it, but Drake’s got a higher bounty than Law for a good reason—guy turns into a total monster during a fight.”

“Literally or figuratively?”

“Yes.”

“Of course,” she sighed. Not that she was surprised—she’d seen his hand become a green scaled claw back in the alley, and she’d heard rumors that he could transform into carnivorous dinosaur of some kind. “How long until we plan on leaving?”

“Probably no more than an hour,” Jean Bart replied, hoisting up one of the larger supply crates. “Why? Need to get anything before we go?”

A cat-like smirk curled her lips as she fanned herself with a wad of cash. “Nah. I’d just rather we be on our way before Drake realizes he’s missing a few thousand belli.”

Shachi immediately doubled over laughing. “Holy fuck! When did you pull that off?!”

“When you two were distracting him with your chivalrous display,” she said evenly, tucking the money into her breast pocket. Even if Drake did realize his wallet was suddenly empty, there was no chance he’d dare let his hand go anywhere near her cleavage.

“Seems you three are having fun,” Law said, appearing like a specter from the thick fog, Room dissipating around him. “What did I miss?”

“Just Miss Nami picking Drake’s pocket,” Jean Bart said with a chuckle, picking up the crate of sake that had appeared with his captain and hauling it towards the submarine.

“Dumbass tried to seduce her and got robbed for his troubles,” Shachi explained gleefully, though it was replaced with a low grunt as two massive boxes of assorted gourmet chocolate were dropped into his arms. He let out another oof as Kikoku unceremoniously landed on top of them.

“Drake-ya tried to seduce you?” the captain asked Nami, lips curling into a smirk. “Without my permission? I’m not sure if I should be pissed at him or proud.”

“Does he need your permission to seduce me?” Nami scoffed lightly. “Maybe I should have gone with him; having an actual gentleman for a captain would make a nice change.”

“I’m surprised he didn’t try to appeal to your desire for a more flattering uniform.”

“Wait, they have better uniforms? Drake, come back!” she called mockingly, making a show of trying to run off in the older captain’s direction.

Chuckling, Law caught her arm and pulled her back against him. “Shachi, bring those boxes to the girls’ room and check the cargo hold to make sure we have all the provisions we need.”

“Aye-aye, Captain,” Shachi replied, already halfway to the sub. He knew Law was just giving him busywork to get some alone time with the beautiful thief, but he wasn’t going to argue—if Law wanted to, he could easily just Shambles him to the other side of the island to get rid of him.

The Dark Doctor didn’t get to enjoy that alone time for long, though, as his second mate was quickly replaced by a second redhead, though this one was far more beautiful and curvaceous.

“Hello Law,” Haiko purred, her ruby lips curled upwards in a satisfied smile. In stark contrast to the sexy silver dress she’d preformed in, today she wore a smart black blazer with a tight pencil skirt, though her generous cleavage was tactically on display. “Your work last night was exemplary. I’m going to have to think of new VIP perks to give you. Maybe have Hiroshi write another song.”

Nami tensed at the appearance of the seductive club owner. She still had no idea what was up with her—if Haiko could be fully trusted. Law had said he’d look into it, but had he? Or had he just said that to appease his suspicious shipmate?

“Thank you, Haiko-ya,” Law replied casually, though it didn’t escape Nami’s notice that he placed himself deliberately between the two women. “How are Jinzo’s victims?”

The assured smile fell slightly. “I sent the ones you cured home to their families. The dead will hopefully be identified and given proper burials.”

“And the nymphos?”

“A few are going to try and return to their normal lives. The others…I’ve offered them employment at one of my brothels—if they’re going to crave sex for the rest of their lives, they might as well get paid for it. And at least with me they’ll be safe.”

“Very generous of you.”

Though she waved off the comment, Nami could see the subtle stiffness in her posture—as if she were an actress not entirely comfortable with the character she had to portray. “It’s the least I can do. If I’d taken care of Jinzo earlier, none of this would have happened.”

“I can’t argue with that. Though he must have done a great job covering his tracks to keep both you and Kimo-ya from realizing he intended to muscle in on your territory. What will happen to the black market trade now?”

Her easy confidence returned—when it came to talking business, Haiko was clearly in her element. “Well, since I’ll have my hands full keeping that from imploding, I’m entrusting Oscar with running the red light district. Hiroshi can manage Ruby 8 until things settle down. I admit, since so many of your peers have run off to the New World, the black market’s taken a bit of a dip in profits.”

“And with fewer pirates around, the island’s entertainment and legitimate businesses must have been more accessible to citizens and other visitors.”

“All the more reason to clean this town up, I suppose.”

“Kimo-ya won’t be happy about that,” Law said casually, studying his nails.

She shrugged, though her red lips turned in a subtle frown. “My husband’s a crime lord—to him, rampant rape, drugs, and murder meant that his clientele were happy. But when such a thing is the norm, it’s only a matter of time before you fall victim to it yourself.”

“Of course. It’s easy to rule the underworld when everyone else is a good, law-abiding citizen.”

Seductive smirk returning to her face, Haiko playfully stroked Law’s goatee. “Oh, don’t worry, Dr. Heart Stealer; you’ll still have a place to sell of your ill-gotten goods, and after last night, you can expect VIP treatment at any of Grimm’s fine establishments.”

The Surgeon of Death flashed a devilish smirk. “Good to hear. And without the risk of drugging, rape, and kidnapping, maybe next time we visit, Nami-ya will be able to actually enjoy herself.”

Pulling her hand away from Law’s face, Haiko turned to Nami, green eyes apologetic. “Yes, I heard you were one of the girls Jinzo’s goons drugged. It’s good to see you’re doing well. No one hurt you, did they?”

“I’m fine,” Nami replied, shifting uncomfortably. Though her concern over the thief’s welfare felt sincere, she still wasn’t sure if the island’s new Queenpin had a hand in the island’s drastic power shift, or if she was just taking advantage of the opportunity she’d been presented with her husband and Jinzo’s removal. Her goals at least appeared admirable.

“If you’re ever back in Grimm, you’re welcome at Ruby 8 anytime. In fact, next visit your meals and drinks are on the house.”

Law stepped between them again, and for a brief moment, Nami felt him run a reassuring hand over her back. “Perhaps by that point, Kimo-ya will have recovered—we can make it a double date.”

“Oh, I doubt that,” Haiko stated, a nearly imperceptible tightness in her jaw. “My medical staff says that with the damage he suffered, even if he does wake up, he’ll be confined to his bed for the rest of his life. He took a tremendous fall down the stairs and broke his neck, you see.”

“Was that before or after he was stabbed in the liver?”

Green eyes narrowed. “Excuse me?”

This time, Law blatantly pushed Nami behind him, looming dangerously over the older businesswoman as they stared each other down. “Well, since I seemed to be in the habit of doing you favors, I thought I’d add to my good karma and stop by your house to see if I could do anything to heal your beloved husband. He certainly has a broken neck, and the bruises and cracked skull line up with your story, but that stab wound sticks out like a sore thumb.”

Haiko’s stone-cold expression would put a professional poker player’s to shame. “Well, the fall did break a few steps—perhaps he landed on a sharp piece of wood.”

Law’s own face was just as unreadable. “No, the size and shape clearly indicate that it was a knife. A small one that a lady could easily hide under her dress. I also noticed that your home doesn’t have any stairs.”

Her expression hardened, a fierce green fire flickering in her eyes. “Are you accusing me of harming my husband, Captain Trafalgar?”

“Haiko-ya, you’re a woman I genuinely admire—you’re cunning and determined, yet you still have standards higher than most of the criminal underworld. You’ve come a long way from that underground gin joint you started in the North Blue. You’ve spent years cleaning up the brothels and bars on Grimm; I’d certainly be upset to find my husband was conspiring to undo all of my hard work simply because he couldn’t adapt to the changing times.”

Nami held her breath as she and Law awaited her answer. This was the moment of truth.

“That’s quite the theory you have,” Haiko replied coolly, crossing her arms and raising an auburn eyebrow. The anger in her gaze dimmed down into a tranquil simmer. “Do you have any proof?”

“Nothing physical, nor do I really care—if you stabbed Kimo, I have no doubt it was well-deserved. Perhaps it was even an accident, or in self-defense.”

“Or perhaps you’re just making baseless accusations.”

“Haiko-ya, it doesn’t matter to me what really happened. If anything, I imagine you’ll be a better business partner than either of them. I simply don’t appreciate being used and lied to.”

When she gave no reply, Law gave Nami a meaningful look, gold eyes flicking down to her Clima-Tact before holding her gaze intently. “Nami-ya, why don’t you disappear for a bit? I think this is a conversation Haiko-ya and I should have without an audience.”

Catching on, she nodded, ducking inside the Polar Tang just out of sight. While Law distracted the club owner by leading her towards the edge of the pier, Nami quickly cast her Mirage Tempo, rendering herself invisible so she could sneak back over, footsteps silent as a cat’s paws. For extra measure, she crouched behind a nearby crate, peaking her head over the top so she could watch the duo’s interactions.

Law casually slung his arm over Haiko’s narrow shoulders, dropping his voice so only Nami could eavesdrop. “Look, I know power struggles are common in the underworld, and innocents getting caught in the middle happens. However, this little spat hurt two of my subordinates. I’m sure you understand that, if something like this were to happen again, I’d take it upon myself to wipe out both sides of the conflict in revenge, correct?”

The redhead stiffened. “Of course, Law.”

“Good. Because I respect your reasons—Kimo and Jinzo betrayed you. Tried to undo all your hard work because their own profits were down. Potentially even planned to slip you a little uranos out of spite. But I won’t stand for someone else’s grudge putting my crew in danger. Nor do I tolerate being used—if you want me to kill someone for you in the future, I expect you to be straight with me instead of treating me like a pawn.”

For a moment, Haiko stood in silence, staring out at the churning waves as they slapped against the pier. Finally, she spoke, voice tight and minutely vulnerable. “A few nights ago…Kimo came to Ruby 8 with a few of his thugs after closing. We argued about him helping Jinzo open a brothel under my nose—he said if I didn’t give the red light district back, he’d burn my club to the ground and put me to work as one of the whores.”

“Is that when you stabbed him?” Law asked, tone even and calm.

“Of course. Oscar and the band overheard the commotion and took care of the thugs while I ran, but Kimo followed me to the top of the stairs…”

“Well, that lines up with what Hiroshi told me. I appreciate your honesty.”

“You questioned Hiroshi?” she asked, angered at the musician’s betrayal.

“You forget—he owes me. I guess he also figured I’d be more lenient with you if I knew how you’d been backed into a corner.” Law paused, letting the tension between them simmer before he admitted, “He was right. Kimo deserved what you gave him, and if I hear he’s tragically succumbed to his wounds, well, I won’t shed any tears.”

Haiko sighed, shoulders sagging in relief. “I wanted to trust you, but you had a profitable partnership with Kimo. I couldn’t be sure whose side you’d be on—I just knew it wouldn’t be Jinzo’s.”

“A common enemy is a good hook for an alliance—I just hope you plan to be more honest with me if you intend on maintaining our partnership.”

“Of course.”

A shadow fell across his eyes as he turned the woman so she fully faced him. “Did you know about the uranos shipment?”

“No. Nor was I aware that Venus would be used to distribute it,” Haiko explained, looking him straight in the eye. “The owner was new but on the level; he had my full permission to host a Ladies Night to attract customers. When I went to confront him this morning, I found his body—he’s been dead for at least a few days.”

Nodding at her answer, Law’s somber expression relaxed. “Good. Because not telling me about Kimo and Jinzo’s betrayal is forgivable. Not warning me about the uranos…”

“I am truly sorry your girlfriend and engineer were subjected to that.”

Nami had to physically slap a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming “I’m not his girlfriend!” She doubted Haiko would appreciate it if she found out she was being spied on, and Law would be pissed that she’d ruined his plan.

Perhaps he could feel her rage, because Nami caught Law’s amber eyes glance in her general direction before returning to Haiko. “Pretty words aren’t the kind of apology I’m interested in. I expect compensation.”

Haiko’s confident, naturally seductive grim returned as she leaned in, running a finger along the Heart Pirate insignia on his sweatshirt. “Oh? And what exactly did you have in mind?”

“I’m sure you’ve already thought of something—I doubt you would have come all this way just to say goodbye.”

“That I have; in fact, it’s exactly why I came down here. Two weeks ago, a man named Dira tried to sell Kimo and Jinzo some items. Most of it was junk, but there were a few things that stood out. One of them was a lovely white vase.”

“Are you seriously offering me a vase as reparations for Nami-ya and Ikkaku nearly becoming sex slaves?” he sneered, eyes narrowing in offense. Nami bristled in solidarity. She didn’t care how drop-dead gorgeous Haiko was; unless said vase was made of platinum and filled to the brim with belli and gems, she’d kick the older woman’s ass for being so cheap!

“Oh, no—the vase isn’t even here!” Haiko replied, smile never wavering despite the anger radiating from the Dark Doctor. “Once he realized what it was made from, Kimo turned it down and told the man to take his wares elsewhere.”

“And what, pray tell, was it made of?” Law asked sarcastically, patience wearing thin.

Her manicured hands reached up to smooth out the wrinkles in his sweatshirt. “At first, they thought it was marble or alabaster, but upon closer inspection, Jinzo realized that the white was just paint. It took a little arm-twisting, but Dira admitted that the vase originated from a certain tragic island in the North Blue.”

That immediately caught the surgeon’s attention, and the full focus of those golden eyes was fixated on the club owner. The hostility vanished, replaced by cool intent. “Where did he go?”

“Atifakuto. None of us wanted something coated in Amber Lead, of course, but I remembered you once mentioning that you had an interest in such items. In fact, I even have an eternal pose to the island—I took my last vacation there.” Reaching into her generous cleavage, she pulled out the hourglass-shaped device. As she handed it to the pirate captain, she fluttered her long lashes sweetly. “So, am I forgiven?”

“…for the most part. You’d better not be playing me, Haiko-ya,” Law replied, studying the magnetic compass intently, looking for anything that might give away whether or not it was fake.

“I think I’ve learned my lesson about leading on The Surgeon of Death. You did me a favor, so I’m returning in kind.” Standing up on her tip-toes, she brushed a kiss to his jaw. “I do hope you visit again soon. And treat that Cat Thief of yours right—maybe it’s the red hair, but she reminds me of myself at that age.”

“Unscrupulous and greedy?” he asked, taking her hand and pressing his own farewell kiss to her knuckles.

“And a magnet for dangerous men,” she purred as she flounced away. “Safe travels, Captain Trafalgar. Always a pleasure doing business with you.”

When the new Queenpin of Grimm was out of sight, Nami dropped her illusion, jogging over to Law. “Well, that was…quite the conversation.” Part of her was relieved—Haiko had done some shady things, but she couldn’t fault her reasons. Another part was flattered. She was a dangerous, stunning, formidable woman—someone Nami could certainly admire and wouldn’t mind becoming someday. Though, she hoped she’d manage to avoid marrying someone who’d betray her.

And one tiny, sneaky part of her burned with irrational jealousy over the fact that Haiko had kissed him. It shouldn’t matter—Law was obnoxious and arrogant and certainly not someone she had any intention of kissing when not under duress. But for some reason, she had been really tempted to use her Cyclone Tempo to knock her into the water.

“That it was. Seems a trip to Atifakuto is in order,” Law said lowly, the brim of his hat casting a shadow across his eyes as his tips twisted in a sullen frown.

Nami’s brow furrowed. She knew Law had some kind of interest in Amber Lead, but why would he want to hunt some down? “Is that our next destination?”

He rubbed his goatee in brooding thought as his eyes fixated on the delicate needle pointing towards the horizon. Nami could practically see the wheels in his head turning, an internal argument raging in his mind. His body was as stiff as a cadaver’s, the tendons in his neck straining as he held in whatever powerful emotions he was feeling.

Finally, he shoved the eternal pose into his pocket and answered, “Not yet. I promised you the next island we landed on would be far more relaxing, and I need time to plan, anyway. But don’t expect a long vacation; I can’t let the trail grow cold.”

She sighed in relief. After the horrors of Grimm, she was in desperate need of a breather. Especially if they ended up going after an artifact from Flevance; she’d only heard tragic stories about that place. How they’d once been prosperous and highly-renowned, until the whole country had come down with a horrible, incurable disease. A disease that, if Law was to be believed, hadn’t been as contagious as the World Government had claimed.

Before she could ask any questions, Law pressed his hand between her shoulders, gently but insistently leading her towards the Polar Tang. The darkness in his expression had faded significantly, and his sly smirk was back in place. It felt phony, though—like a mask. “By the way, I appreciate you staying close. Considering what she did to her husband, I half expected Haiko-ya to stab me and push me off the pier.”

“Yeah, I figured you only wanted me there so I could save your ass,” she snipped, though her heart wasn’t quite in it. Law had berated Haiko about being honest with him, yet it felt like he was putting up a front with her. Sure, it wasn’t quite the same—Haiko had been using him, while Law seemed to be just keeping his thoughts to himself—but the slight hypocrisy grated at her.

At the same time, she couldn’t entirely fault him for it. Their relationship and sense of trust in each other had certainly improved over the past twenty-four hours, but she couldn’t blame him for not enlightening her to his troubled thoughts. She only hoped he’d confide in Penguin or Bepo.

“The singular pitfall of wielding the awesome power of a Devil Fruit—water is your nemesis,” he replied sourly.

“Then why’d you lead her so close to the dock’s edge?”

“To make her feel less threatened. Her husband attacked in her own bar. Ruby 8 is as much home to her as the Tang is to us. People value that illusion of safety; when it’s compromised, especially by someone we should trust, it can turn someone into a skittish, feral animal.”

“Ah. Yeah, makes sense,” she replied as they stepped through the submarine door. He definitely had a point—if she’d been attacked on the Thousand Sunny, a place she’d always felt safe and secure in, she’d probably be on-edge for months. “It was still a risky move, though.”

“But a calculated one. Did you really think I’d accuse a woman as cunning and dangerous as her without a plan, or at least a basic understanding of how her mind works?” he asked, dark blue eyebrow raised in annoyance.

“No, but are you confident enough in that understanding to guarantee she’s not sending us to our deaths?”

“Another reason to take a slight detour and recover our strength before heading to Atifakuto,” he said nonchalantly, smirk becoming darker but more genuine. “I’m not particularly worried, though. Haiko and I think alike in many ways; she values long-term planning. She knows she only has one shot at killing me, so she wouldn’t risk it all on a scheme she threw together in a day. She’d wait until I least expected it, even if it took years, all the while carefully moving the pieces into place. And when she struck, she’d get the outcome she wanted no matter how the cards fell.”

“Do you…have someone you’re planning to kill?” Nami asked, a hint of nervousness bleeding into her voice. “Because you sound like you’re speaking from experience.”

“No one you’ve met, and no one you’d miss,” he said vaguely, his hand finally moving from her back so he could climb down the ladder to the next level. “You should worry more about getting stronger and preparing for the New World; Bepo tells me you’re finally ready to start combat training.”

“Let’s just say Grimm’s been a bit of an eye-opener,” she replied, carefully climbing down after him. Her heeled sandals made a reverberating clank as she stepped down onto the metal floor. “Luffy can’t risk me being a liability—if I can’t handle myself in Paradise, I’ll stand no chance on the other side of the Red Line.”

“Exactly why I’m willing to train you—I’d hate to have put in all that effort into saving Mugiwara just for his crew to bring him down.”

Nami glared at him, but he ignored her all the way to his quarters. Upon realizing she’d followed him, his eyebrow arched upwards again, though this time in amusement. “Were you looking for something, Nami-ya? A private tour of the captain’s bedroom, maybe?”

She blushed slightly at his suggestive tone but held her ground. “You gave me crap about keeping secrets from you, and yet you spew out the most irritating non-answers when I ask you a simple question. Your hypocrisy is infuriating.”

“I gave you crap about keeping secrets relevant to your well-being,” he countered easily, slipping inside his room. “Your tenure as a Heart Pirate will be long done by the time I enact my revenge, so it’s nothing you need to worry your pretty little head over, sweetheart.”

Before she could reply or even get a good look at the inside of his quarters, he shut the door in her face.

Staring at the steel barrier, Nami felt her stomach twist uncomfortably.

She trusted Law. She knew he was sincere in his desire to help her train for the New World. That he would protect her until she returned to Weatheria at the end of the year.

She also trusted her gut, and it was screaming that he had ulterior motives. That this generosity, along with his rescue of Luffy, had something to do with some long-term plan.

Trafalgar Law was the lesser evil now, but how long until that changed?