G'day guys! How are you all? Well, this is another One shot. It contains ZoLu. -grin- Rated for reasons that I shall not reaveal because... that would ruin the story, wouldn't it!
Disclaimer: Does it look like I own One Piece? I mean, seriously. -sighs-
This story was requested by BrazillianPrincess, so, it goes to her! Hope you like it!
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Trying Hard
By Wishing for a Zoro plushie
-Zoro P.O.V-
Okay, if you thought fighting other pirates, dodging Marines, wielding three swords and putting up with that mouldy cheese head is bad, then you have never tried to tell someone that you like them. Holy shit is that hard! Oh, you think it isn't? Well sit down, shut up, and read this goddamn story so you'll understand. Oh and Sanji, shut the fuck up.
---
-Normal P.O.V-
Why did this Island always seem to be cloudy? It wasn't raining, wasn't cold, wasn't hot. Wasn't… anything. It was just right, but, always cloudy and that was the annoying part. Zoro glared up at the clouds before sighing as Luffy nattered on about mutant three eyed fish. Something Usopp had told him about apparently. Zoro really wasn't interested. It was quite boring really.
Well, not boring, but… something that wasn't interesting to someone who was thinking about swords, sword fighting, kicking the greatest swordsman's butt, etc. General stuff like that. At least, that was what Zoro would usually be thinking about, but today, he had something else on his mind. Glancing beside him, he noticed Luffy was still happily squawking about the mutant fish, and he was beginning to throw in a few giant toads. Zoro had to somehow shut this kid up.
"Hey Luffy…" he said. The boy stopped and looked up at Zoro happily.
"Yeah?"
"I…uh…" he began and he felt his face begin to warm, "I… you like meat, right?"
"Of course!" Luffy responded, giving Zoro a scrutinizing glare before continuing down the road again. Sighing deeply, Zoro smacked a palm against his forehead. Okay, so, being weak really wasn't okay with Zoro, but still… this was telling someone you liked them! It was a lot harder than it looked. Especially when the person you liked usually attached themselves to you for at least twelve hours of the day.
Zoro couldn't get away from the damn kid!
Luffy would latch onto Zoro's arm and hang off of it like a monkey, or he would jump on Zoro's back and cause the swordsman to nearly have a retroactive hernia. Sometimes, Luffy would just curl up next to Zoro and sleep beside him. Yes, it was a pain in the butt when Luffy was always hanging around him, and Zoro couldn't tell the kid he liked him. Throwing a glare at the road, Zoro followed Luffy into the town and guess what! Who else would be standing there other than a certain shitty cook who Zoro really didn't want to see right now. Where the hell had that bastard come from anyway?
He had just… appeared!
Actually… Zoro was finding that Sanji was doing that a lot more lately. It was becoming rather annoying.
"Sanji!" Luffy cried and ran towards the chef. Zoro sent one of the most dangerous glares he had, at Sanji. This caused the chef to raise a swirly eyebrow and then smirk at him. He was about to say something when Nami popped up from behind Sanji… and frightened the living daylights out of the swordsman. She laughed triumphantly.
"Told you! Pay up!" she crowed, waving a hand under the chef's nose.
"Of course my wonderful Nami-swaaan!" Sanji cooed and then ruffled through his pockets before coming up with the money he owed Nami. Zoro, who was watching the exchange with a mixture of anger and… well, actually it was only anger.
"The hell are you doing here?" Zoro finally managed, glaring at the two. Nami frowned in return and crossed her arms.
"You're a very rude person, you know that Zoro?" she responded.
"So sue me." Zoro growled in return.
"I would… if you had any money." and she gave him a sly smile. Zoro turned beat red.
"Bitch!" he snarled. Sanji was instantly between them.
"Don't talk to Nami-san like that you asshole of a fucking retard!" Sanji yelled. Zoro shook with anger.
"Take a long walk of a short pier!"
"Only if you walk first!" Nami rolled her eyes and moved off to look at a pretty dress in a nearby window.
"The only way I'd walk first is if the sky started to fall!"
"What the hell was that!? It wasn't even an insult you moron!"
"Degenerate!"
"Ohh, big word there moss head!"
"You don't even know what it means!"
"Neither do you!"
"…That's beside the point! Dickhead!"
"Don't change the subject! Bastard!"
"I wasn't! Idiot!"
"You were! Idiot!"
"Were not! Fucktard!"
"Were too! Son of a bitch!"
"I hate you asshole!"
"I hate you even more, shit head!"
"I hat- … wait!" Zoro suddenly yelled, looking around blankly before he realized that one piece of the puzzle… was missing.
"What the hell are we waiting for!? We were just getting started!" Sanji yelled. Zoro glared at him.
"Damnit you shitty cook! Can't you see Luffy's gone?" Zoro snapped.
"Well that's your goddamned fault isn't." and Sanji took a deep breath and looked around as well. Zoro stood there, looking around.
"Go and fucking find him!" Sanji yelled, moving towards Nami. Zoro glared after him.
"I. Will!" and he stomped off. Muttering vague curses and insults didn't seem to be enough for Zoro, so he kicked a brick wall. Rock cracked and tumbled down, but to add to Zoro's annoyance… he now had a stubbed toe. Nice. Could this day get any worse?
"Oh my god! That boy ate all of the food in my restaurant!" a voice yelled, filled with pure rage. Zoro sighed. It got worse. Turning almost instinctively, Zoro saw Luffy running right at him, belly bulging with food and wide grin on his face.
"Come on Zoro!" Luffy yelled as he ran past. Zoro found he had no choice but to follow, as Luffy's hand was firmly wrapped around his wrist and now he was being dragged like a rag doll after his captain. How Luffy could run so fast with a belly full of food was beyond Zoro. He could barely get himself to stand up after eating that much, but, this was Luffy they were talking about. Luffy always managed to do the impossible. Whether in a bad situation, or not.
"Hey! There's no one even following us! Wouldja stop dragging me through the dirt!" Zoro yelled angrily. Luffy blinked and stopped so suddenly, that because of the speed, Zoro was whipped forward and straight into a tree. Luffy blinked again and then smiled sheepishly.
"S-sorry?" he offered as Zoro got to his feet and rubbed furiously at his face.
"Damn…" Zoro muttered. It had hurt bad enough for his eyes to water.
"Are you okay, Zoro?" Luffy asked, walking over to him and looking up at the older man in concern. Zoro nodded.
"Yeah. Just hurt is all." and he took a deep breath. His eyes continued to water though.
"Na Zoro, I'm sorry. I was just hungry is all."
"You're always hungry."
"Of course! I love food… and meat!"
"Meat is food."
"No, food is stuff like potatoes, and cheese, and meat is meat!"
"…right." Zoro mumbled as they turned to walk down a road that they hadn't explored yet, He classifies meat as it's own food group… fair enough. Zoro thought as they walked. Luffy was silent, but every now and again he would hum a bar, which led Zoro to believe that there was a song going on inside that rubber head of his. Zoro's nose was aching and Zoro was tempted to just say they wanted to go home, but Luffy wanted to explore so… they were going to explore! After all, Zoro had one hell of a hard time saying no to Luffy. It was still quiet as they walked side by side, until Luffy grinned and turned to Zoro.
"Nami said we have to set sail tomorrow." he said.
"Yeah. Back to being bored again." Zoro grumbled. It was boring being trapped on a ship for longer than a few days. Luffy's grin fell a little.
"It's not that boring." he defended.
"Maybe not for you, but for me it is."
"All you do is sleep anyway!" and Luffy chuckled heartily. Zoro stiffened for a second and then let his eyes slide half closed so he could glare at Luffy, who just laughed harder.
"I don't just sleep." he finally defended. Luffy paused and took a deep breath.
"Okay! You train, sleep and drink!" and he giggled. Zoro sighed. He wasn't going to win this argument.
"Fine. Whatever."
"Nawww… come on Zoro, you can do better than that!"
"No I can't." Zoro replied, not really caring about anything else other than the opportunity to just be with Luffy. A small smile crept across his face as Luffy puffed out his cheeks and pouted.
"Can!"
"Nope."
"Zoro! Stop being mean!"
"I'm not."
"Are too!"
"Am not." Zoro replied, his voice trembling with laughter as Luffy tugged at his sleeve.
"Are so!"
"Nope." Zoro replied and received a sharp jab to the shoulder. He spun around and smirked as Luffy raised his fists and smirked as well.
"Let's go!" Luffy cried and pounced forward. Zoro ducked just barely in time to avoid a kick to the head, and he swung his own leg out and around, trying to catch Luffy's feet and make him fall. The captain was quicker, and he jumped over the leg, and landed easily before pulling at both sides of his mouth and poking his tongue out at Zoro.
"Too slow!" he yelled. Zoro raised an eyebrow and grabbed Luffy's tongue quicker than the time it takes to blink. Pulling it to an extraordinary length, Zoro smirked.
"You were saying?" he asked and then let it go so it snapped back into Luffy's mouth again like a blind on a roller. Luffy grinned widely and then got his fists ready in front of him again. Zoro raised an eyebrow and then smiled as he did the same thing. They fought for a while, (Luffy landing a few more hits than Zoro) and then collapsed to the ground side by side, panting heavily and sweating.
"Ha, I'm still better Zoro!" Luffy said in triumph, turning his head to look at the green haired swordsman, who smirked.
"I just let you win." he replied, still panting.
"Did not! I won fair and square!"
"How can you be sure?"
"Uh- Cos I did! I beat you!" Luffy growled, sitting up. Zoro laughed heartily before sitting up as well and looking over at Luffy, who softened and smiled again. Zoro could feel his heart pounding in his chest, and it really had nothing to do with the fact that he had just been fighting. Well, maybe it did a little. But he was sure it was more to do with the person sitting beside him.
"Zorooo. You okay?" Luffy asked, leaning in and waving a hand in front of the swordsman's face. Zoro grimaced and blushed, turning his face away and staring determinedly at a spider that was climbing through the grass. He wasn't fond of spiders, so he reached out a hand and idly flicked it away. He could tell Luffy was still watching him too. It unnerved him a little and he yawned widely, hoping to convey the image that he was tired.
Which he was actually. Laying back in the grass, Zoro pillowed his head with his arms and closed his eyes. The sun was shining down (unfortunately) directly on him, so Zoro sat up again and looked around. It was then that he noticed Luffy was oddly silent. Looking at his captain, Zoro noted that the boy was decidedly uneasy.
"Hey… what's wrong?" Zoro asked. Luffy jerked around and then blinked.
"Nothing. Just thinking." he replied, before going back to studying the ground in front of him. Zoro's brows furrowed and he reached out a hand and touched Luffy's forehead.
"Hm… you're not sick are you?" he asked, trying to gauge Luffy's temperature through his hand. The captain shook his head and knocked Zoro's hand away.
"I'm fine. Just thinking."
"Oh." Zoro noised and waited for Luffy to begin explaining everything (as Luffy sometimes tended to do). It only took three minutes before Luffy decided to spill.
"I was thinking about something Nami told me."
"Oh?" and Zoro's smile, went to a frown. Nami may be a friend, but, she was still a bitch. To him anyway.
"She said… a few things."
"Like what?"
"Oh… just things." and Luffy looked even more nervous than he had a second ago. Whatever Nami had said must have made Luffy either very confused, or very uncomfortable. But he wasn't going to jump to conclusions just yet. Nami may have been a bitch, but… she always meant well when it came to Luffy, or any of the others. She looked after them.
"Do you wanna tell me?" Zoro asked, bringing up his knees and leaning his arm on one so he could rest his head on the upturned palm. Awkward position, but, it was sort of comfortable. Luffy turned to him and smiled.
"She told me to say something to you, and told me to do it soon… or she would say it for me. And I don't want Nami to say it for me, I wanna say it myself because I think it would sound better if I said it myself…ne?" and Luffy looked expectantly at Zoro, as if willing him to understand. Zoro was completely and totally lost.
"Um… so… are you gonna say it?" he asked, still confused. Luffy took a deep breath and nodded.
"I… like you Zoro." he said and looked up. Zoro blinked and then scratched at the back of his neck for a second while Luffy's pleading eyes were totally focused on him.
"I uh, like you too Luffy." he replied. Well… that hadn't been so hard. About as hard as trying to swim underwater with a cement brick tied to your foot.
"You do?!" and Luffy leapt at him, hugging him tightly. Zoro's breath was forced out as he was thrown onto the ground, and hugged like a gigantic plushie. He coughed.
"Yeah." he replied in a strained voice. Luffy pulled away slightly and then practically slammed his lips into Zoro's, which made the swordsman's eyes shoot open and a heavy blush to appear on his cheeks. They lay there like that for a moment, Zoro relaxing into the kiss and after the temperature had died down from his face a little, Zoro found himself tentatively putting his arms around Luffy's thin form. When the need to breathe became undeniable, Luffy pulled away from Zoro slowly, but only far enough to breathe, their lips still just touching. Zoro smirked.
"I win." Luffy said and grinned. Zoro raised an eyebrow.
"You call that a kiss?" he whispered before completely wrapping an arm around the back of Luffy's neck and pulling him back down again.
---
Nami chewed on the bottom of her lip as she watched the sun sink behind the hill that was in the very middle of the island. Daylight was dying quickly, and the sky had already turned a deep purple, with shots of orange and red mixing through it, highlighting the bottoms of clouds. Small stars were appearing in the east, and Nami looked back at them for a second before looking back down at the road in front of them.
"Where are they?" she breathed, hoping that nothing bad had happened. She was just beginning to scratch small marks in the wood when she heard a loud laugh that was easily recognisable as the captain's. Letting out a heavy sigh, Nami let her head drop forward for a second before looking back up. There they were, walking down the road towards them. And… hang on a minute.
Why was Luffy wearing Zoro's Haramaki?
And why was Zoro wearing Hat?
What the hell!?
Luffy's hair looked like it had been caught in a whirlwind… it was worse than normal! Nami's smile became so wide that it was in danger of disappearing off the sides of her face. As the two reached the ship, Zoro placed Hat back on Luffy's head and stuck his hands into his pockets and waited as Luffy returned his Haramaki. (Nami was hiding in the shadows and they couldn't see her).
"So… what are we going to say?" Zoro asked quietly. Nami's ears pricked from above.
"Umm… it's common for pirates to fall in love?" Luffy suggested. Zoro raised an eyebrow.
"The hell?"
"It was just a suggestion." Luffy mumbled before brightening, "We'll keep it a secret! That'll make it more fun, ne?"
"…I guess. If you're okay with that." and Zoro yawned. Luffy nodded vigorously.
"Secrets are fun!" and Luffy gave Zoro a quick kiss before climbing up the ladder onto the ship. Zoro followed and leapt onto the deck only to be confronted by Luffy again, who pushed a more passionate kiss against his lips this time. Nami had to slap a hand over her mouth to stop herself from making a noise, even though she was now shaking with silent giggles. In truth, Nami had never said anything to Luffy, she hadn't even known the two liked each other that way.
Luffy had just used the excuse so it would make it easier for him to say. Typical Luffy.
Zoro and Luffy had always acted more like brothers than anything else, and she hadn't paid much notice. Although… she remembered she had had a discussion with Robin once, late at night when they couldn't sleep due to the boys making a hell of a lot of noise while playing one of Luffy's loud, (and sometimes dangerous) games. Robin and herself had come up with some very interesting pairings that night.
"Hmm…Usopp and Sanji?" Nami suggested. Robin chuckled.
"Swordsman-san and doctor-san." she said and Nami burst into hilarious giggles.
"Luffy and Usopp!" she suggested and even Robin had to properly laugh.
"Captain-san and cook-san." Robin said. Nami giggled.
"Luffy would love the ability to go in the kitchen and not get his ass kicked." she replied and Robin nodded, "Hmm… Zoro and Luffy?" and Robin chuckled lightly, turning to look out the porthole. Nami was laughing like she had never laughed before. It was funny to think of any of the boys together like that. Not like it would ever happen. There was a loud thump from the men's cabin.
"Zoroooo! It's not nice to throw things at people!" Luffy cried, his voice able to be heard all over the ship.
And now one of the pairings had come true. Strange how those sort of things happened. Luffy broke away from Zoro again and grinned widely as he moved towards the trapdoor that led down into the men's quarters, where Usopp and Chopper had gone to play a game together. Nami began to seriously consider paying more attention to the others now. Especially when things like this happened right in front of her… and she had perfect bribery. As she moved back towards the kitchen (where Sanji was making dinner for that night) she pushed her camera back into her pocket.
----------End----------
Well, that was interesting ne? Nami's so evil. And Shiruji-chan is evil for teaching me ne! -pokes shirujles- evil, sho evil. Anyhoo.