Hi, please read this bit, it's quite important.
This is a side story to the two chapters called Not so ordinary after all from my Sanji one-shot collection called Through the Eyes of a Cook. This story uses the events from that story, but in a way that probably makes no sense if you haven't read the original story first. So I'd really recommend reading that first. If you are new to my Through the Eyes of a Cook series, it is just a collection of one-shots (and sometimes two-shots), so there is no need to read them in a specific order, unless I say so in the beginning.
This story also only works if you are more or less up to date with the manga, and it spoils information from the newest arc, so please don't read if you don't want to get spoiled.
And to those who have read the original story. Please be aware that the inconsistencies and change of information you may find or notice are completely intentional, as I assume that Sanji and Zoro would pick up on different things.
It was a funny thing: Rivals. Zoro never thought he would have one, since he always divided people into one of three groups; Enemies, allies or those who didn't matter. Kuina had always been the one exception, but she was never a rival, she was a goal. The goal. The goal he could never make, and now never would. So instead he aimed for hers as well and maybe then he would feel satisfied. But they were never rivals. Just like Zoro didn't consider Johnny and Yosaku his friends. They were allies. Companions. But not his friends.
That was what Luffy was at first too. An ally. His temporary captain until he found something better or his new captain died. Zoro couldn't say he didn't admire Luffy though. He was stubborn, but he had good values, values Zoro himself had, so it always seemed to work out quite well. He was strong too, maybe even stronger than Zoro was willing to admit (at least at first), but he was also a bit of a klutz. A little green around the edges, though Zoro had a feeling that his captain had seen his fair share of injustice and cruelty. His smile may never reveal it, but the faint glint of wisdom sometimes found in his onyx eyes gave it all away.
By the time Nami and Usopp joined them, Zoro had already begun to shake his pre-written view of the world. He laughed a little easier, he got a little closer to the people around him and he began to trust Luffy more and more. Began to trust his dream, his strength, his heart. Zoro would be lying if he said that the feeling wasn't somewhat nice, despite it being new. Luffy would always be his first friend.
Getting a proper chef had been an issue for a while. Both Zoro and Nami had voiced their concerns with not having one and despite having the means to enter the Grand Line, they both wanted that missing role to be filled. As much as Nami and Usopp could cook for the four of them, they lacked experience and knowledge when it came to nutritions, and their roles were too important to be comprised on. So Luffy agreed that they wouldn't enter the Grand Line until they had found a chef. Not that he minded. He was a glutton after all.
And so they found themselves seated around a table in the floating restaurant: The Baratie. And Zoro would never be able to pinpoint what exactly ticked him off about the obnoxious chef who was flirting with their navigator. Maybe it was the way he talked to him that made Zoro want to pick a fight right then and there, or maybe it was the way he dressed. In a fine suit with a smug expression to match as if he was some snooty nobleman. Zoro wasn't sure, but he figured that Luffy wouldn't pick this guy as their chef. He already had a job, so surely this wouldn't be the guy they picked.
Of course, at this point, Zoro should have known to always trust that Luffy did the opposite of what he thought he would (it would be this knowledge that later lead Zoro to be the only one to always be able to read their indecisive and unpredictable captain).
Between his fight with Mihawk, Nami's disappearance and the fight with Arlong, Zoro held his view of their new chef. Some arguments, Zoro could admit, were childish and had it been anyone else he wouldn't even have thought twice about opening his mouth in protest, but that stupid chef just rubbed him the wrong way. So they fought over stupid things like what to do with Nami (even though Luffy had made it perfectly clear that he wasn't letting her leave) and how to best fight Arlong (again knowing that Luffy would just barge in and punch him in the face), but it seemed that neither of them could help it.
However, it looked like that Zoro would eventually have to accept their new crew member, and when it mattered, he allowed the cook to fish Luffy out of the water despite always having been the one to do it previously. It only stung a little that the cook seemed to have replaced his spot beside Luffy. Not that Zoro particularly cared. He may have been the first one to join Luffy, but it's not like Luffy had ever come up to him and said: "So you're my vice-captain whether you like it or not", because Luffy simply didn't function that way. Luffy was the Captain solely because 1) it sounded the coolest and 2) he didn't like the notion that anyone could tell him what to do (even if that had happened on multiple occasions already. Luffy was surprisingly willing to admit that he wasn't perfect and needed all the help he could get). But still, Zoro was annoyed by how easy the cook had been accepted by Luffy, but he made damn sure to never say that out loud.
And then again when Arlong had been defeated and the village celebrated with banquet after banquet, Zoro sat by himself with a cup of ale, calmly observing the party from afar. His wounds from Mihawk had been patched up, but it would be awhile until he was healed and the scar would be there forever. Something Zoro was grateful for. It was like a constant reminder of how weak he really was and how long the road ahead would be. While deep in thought, he was suddenly handed a plate, which he accepted before he looked up to see the stupid (but genuine) smile of their blond chef. "I figured you were hungry," he had said silently as if he didn't want to disturb Zoro, but took a seat opposite him anyway.
The cook had a plate of food himself, and like Zoro seemed more interested in watching the party than partaking in it. Zoro slowly glanced at the food on his plate and found his respect for their chef take a jump up. The plate was filled with all of Zoro's favourite foods, and Zoro would never be able to understand how the chef had done it. They'd spend approximately no time together, and their conversations had mostly been yelling at each other in anger, or making half-assed battle strategies while their captain was out of commission. "Don't think too much about it," the chef had said when Zoro had done nothing but stare at the plate for a little too long "It's my job after all." Zoro was surprised by the tone. As if the act had been nothing special.
And rather than feeling annoyance towards the chef as Zoro had done up until now, he was suddenly conflicted, confused and, more than anything, intrigued. Zoro would be a fool to dismiss the chef's strength as ordinary or average, and while he was certain that he could take him in a fight, he was sure it wouldn't be an easy win.
They didn't fight again until they had left the island.
At some point throughout their voyage the fights had become normal. The chef still ticked him off to no end, but with each day his respect for him grew a little. At some point curly brows (sometimes referring to him as 'the chef' didn't get across Zoro's annoyance, so sometimes he felt the need to change his name) became the official devil fruit saviour, and Zoro found himself only ever saving Luffy, and later the others, if the chef was nowhere to be seen. The chef also seemed to take on the role of looking after the weaker crew mates, something than Zoro had also done before. It was no surprise that the chef was especially attentive to the ladies, but on more than one occasion, Zoro had seen him protecting or giving friendly advice to Usopp and Chopper.
And once, just once, when the chef had come to the crow's nest to give Zoro the lunch he had missed because of his training, he had muttered some advice about footwork. And of course when Zoro had, in his baffled and tired state of mind, asked that he repeat what he had said (he wasn't even yelling, just kind of... surprised), the chef had practically screamed his advice and then quickly disappeared when his ears started to go red. Zoro had needed to take a moment to compose himself, but ended up taking the advice seriously. If there was anything the chef was an expert at (other than cooking obviously, even Zoro had complimented his food with absolutely no regrets), it was footwork.
Zoro was quite surprised at how much easier it became to move after just one adjustment. He made a mental effort to be a little nicer to the chef for at least the remainder of the day. He was semi-successful, because honestly, the chef was still so annoying.
Zoro wasn't sure when he'd started thinking of the blond chef as his rival rather than just that annoying cook. It wasn't that they strived for the same goal, not at all. The chef's dream wasn't even remotely related to fighting, but they seemed to push each other's limits in a way only they could do. Therefore, Zoro saw it as no big deal that he paid a little extra attention to the chef, because the stronger he was, the more he could push Zoro.
The first big thing Zoro noticed, which really shouldn't have come as a surprise to him, was that Zoro seemed to be the exception for a lot of things when it came to the chef. Because the cook rarely raised his voice out of rage (unless some dickhead really pissed him off), and always responded to taunt with a calm fury and a strong kick. No, the chef was more likely to raise his voice when he was happy.
The chef never bragged about his fighting capabilities, again unless Zoro was the one he was conversing with, and Zoro found that he actually seemed to underestimate himself, just a little. Like the one time when he had brushed off his strength by saying: "Most of our customers were outlaws, so we had to defend ourselves", which, the more Zoro thought about it, made no sense. It wasn't that the chef was lying, because he'd witnessed as outlaws came and messed up the restaurant, but Sanji had been stronger than any other chef there. Far, far stronger. And that had been months ago by now. Not only that, but the chef was naturally talented as well. He improved quickly and had a creativity behind his fighting style which was only matched by their dear captain. He was agile as well. An agility, Zoro knew, only came about with years of practice. Yet the chef was also quick to brush off his abilities... unless Zoro challenged him. Then he could get really full of himself.
The confident, short-tempered, fighting genius that was the strawhat chef only ever appeared when he fought or argued with Zoro. At all other times, Zoro noticed, the chef was more... reclusive. He was good at keeping secrets and rarely talked about himself. And Zoro had a feeling that the cook was definitely hiding something. Though, as Zoro noticed this, he also acknowledged that the chef wouldn't keep important information from them, and decided not to pry into it. Zoro had his own secrets too. And if he had to be fully honest, Zoro knew that Luffy was just as secretive as the chef, though Zoro suspected that that was for entirely different reasons.
This feeling of his was only confirmed when the cook dropped the bomb that he had forgotten to mention that he was not born in the East, despite various crew members continuously having said so in front of him. Zoro didn't let it escape him how quickly the chef changed the subject and directed the attention back to the book, easily making everyone forget what he had said.
And it was not long after that the first incident occurred.
Zoro had been fully prepared to take care of the matter himself, when he'd located a group of bounty hunters who were definitely much smarter than anyone they'd encountered before. But the strawhats were in desperate need of a break from just about everything (a break they had hoped their sky adventure could have provided, but alas didn't), so Zoro decided to not burden the others with his discoveries. He simply planned to take care of the threat the following night... Except he never got the chance. Just as Zoro was about to leave the ship and head in the general direction of the threat, Sanji boarded the ship (no one apparently having noticed him sneaking out) and just smiled: "Don't worry, I took care of it. Wouldn't want you to get lost." And Zoro couldn't even manage a reply because what the hell?
This happened a couple of times before Zoro eventually gave up and let the chef deal with these types of issues.
As it turns out, the chef was more suited to this than Zoro was. He was discreet, often resolved the issues without a fight making it hard for the strawhats location to be traced by marines or other potential enemies, and he was quick. Zoro suspected that some of the more observant members of their crew had noticed what the chef was sometimes up to, but most of them seemed to have no clue.
However, one particular incident had Zoro realizing a lot of new things about their chef.
The strawhats were sat in a restaurant eating. They did that sometimes. Even though they had an amazing chef, that chef was prone to overwork and going out was the best way to make him take a goddamn break. Zoro was always extra wary when the chef hadn't taken a break in a while, because the last time he had softened his blows in one of their fights, the chef had been so mad at him that he'd made all the foods Zoro really could live without for a solid week. And since they all followed the chef's principles of never wasting food, Zoro was basically suffering for a week. One wouldn't think that cooking would take that much out of you, but whenever Zoro had watch, which was ridiculously often because he slept so much during the day, he was reminded of just how much the chef worked.
While the chef did like to go to bed before everyone else, because he had to prepare breakfast the next morning, he somehow failed to keep his bedtime on most days. He always prepared food for the person on watch, made sure that Luffy's midnight snack was easily accessible so that he wouldn't raid the fridge, and sometimes just got lost in working and preparing for the next day. Zoro remembered one time when the chef was still awake at three in the morning, and when he eventually fell asleep in the kitchen, Zoro had informed Usopp and made him prepare breakfast instead. Needless to say, Zoro had once again earned himself a mad chef, and this time was punished by not having a sparring partner for three days.
Sometimes Zoro noticed how weird their relationship was.
Zoro figured that the chef had needed this break, because throughout the meal he seemed to be off in his own world. He was hardly paying attention to their conversations, and was definitely not about to join in on them. At some point the chef glanced a look at a different table and, curious as he was, Zoro looked to the other table as well. There were eight people. None of them seeming like much of a threat, but what caught Zoro's attention was their conversation. It was in a language he didn't recognize. It was rare to hear anything but the common tongue on the Grand Line, so Zoro figured that the chef had been caught by this abnormality as well.
As Zoro had no chance in understanding the people talking anyway, he turned his attention back to the conversation at their table. He wasn't really talking either, just enjoying his ale, but he paid attention. The conversation had turned into where to go next. Apparently Nami wanted to leave the next morning because the season was about to change, and they all just agreed with her. There wasn't much left for them here after all. At some point Nami had asked the chef if he had all the supplies they needed, and Zoro was surprised to see the chef just stare dumbfounded at her as he had obviously not heard, nor even realised, that she was talking to him.
After he'd said that he still had a little shopping to do, he zoned out again, but this time not for long, because a woman approached their table and the cook's attention was suddenly back in full swing. Usually this would be because oh look! A person with boobs and Zoro wanted to roll his eyes, but the chef was oddly enough not eyeing her as he usually would a pretty lady (and Zoro had to admit that this woman was attractive, even if he wasn't particularly interested). No, he was looking at her as if she could, at any given time, take out a dagger from her cleavage and try to stab Luffy with it. On the topic of Luffy, she was standing uncomfortably close to him, and Zoro noticed that even Luffy looked slightly wary, though he hid that behind a nice smile.
The conversation was mostly held between the newly arrived woman and the strawhats' own ladies, and the only thing Zoro really picked up on was the woman's very distinct accent. She was gone as quickly as she had arrived and by that time the strawhats were slowly preparing to leave. At some point the chef scanned the table and their eyes met for a second. At the chef's slightly alarmed expression Zoro lifted an eyebrow in question. He figured that he had missed something about the woman that Sanji had picked up on, but his concern was discarded with a shrug. Zoro rolled his eyes, trusting that he take care of the situation and got up just as Luffy left his seat.
They walked back to the Sunny, stopping whenever they came across an interesting shop, but did make it back before the sunset. As the cook sorted out all the food, Nami started calculating the time it would take to get to the next island with the information she had acquired in the town. At some point the cook emerged from the kitchen and made some excuse about getting more supplies and left. He hadn't even been gone for a minute when Nami realized that they probably didn't have as much food as they needed and was about to send someone after their chef.
Luffy was faster though: "Zoro, go after Sanji," he said quietly enough for only Zoro to hear.
"Why me?" Zoro rolled his eyes, but made no attempt to walk away or disobey.
"You know what he's like," Luffy smiled, and Zoro raised an eyebrow, "He likes to make a game out of it, but if we want to get supplies we don't have the time, so tell him to hurry up. But don't fight unless he lets you." Luffy smiled a little wider and walked away. Zoro had no choice but to obey.
Zoro was really lucky that their cook was so easily distracted by food stalls (sometimes Zoro suspected that he was even more distracted by food than Luffy), because if he'd been walking any faster, Zoro would have gotten lost. Zoro kept his distance and simply followed the cook through the town. Eventually the houses thinned out and they began walking through alleys and over rooftops, possibly to avoid getting caught by whoever their enemy was. They reached a warehouse where they waited until the group from the restaurant appeared (Zoro was slightly confused as to how on earth the cook had figured out where they'd be, but decided to just ask later). The cook entered the warehouse through a window in the roof and Zoro followed silently.
The ceiling was mostly made out of iron bars hidden in the shadows and Zoro sat down, leaning against a vertical bar, a few metres from the chef who was silently observing the group beneath them. Knowing that this would have to end in a fight, Zoro decided to just study the women of the group, there were three of them, and then let that be it. They didn't seem particularly strong, so as long as Zoro handled the women, it should work out just fine.
When it looked like the chef was about to make up his mind on what to do about the situation, Zoro decided to make his presence known:
"Just tell me if you need any help," he said quietly, not wanting the people below them to notice them just yet. Zoro smiled at the horrid expression he received and saw as the chef had to bite his lip to avoid making surprised yells.
"What are you doing here?" He eventually hissed, and Zoro decided to tease him a little.
"Nothing in particular, but if it comes down to a fight you'll be happy that I'm here," since you can't fight women went unsaid.
"I can handle this myself," was the response he got, and the chef set his eyes on the people below then once again, "Why did you even come?"
"Luffy sent me," Zoro said knowing exactly what would go through the chef's head if he didn't get any elaboration.
"Really?" He said in disbelief and looked back to Zoro. There was a hint of hurt in his eyes, so Zoro felt slightly guilty at what he'd done... but only slightly, mostly he just found it funny. But there was a limit to how long he could keep silent. The chef wouldn't exactly burst into tears, but Zoro wasn't one to hurt his crew mates like this.
"He just wanted you to buy more food. Nami said the voyage will be long, so we need more supplies than usual."
"Oh..." He looked relieved. Zoro let a little smile crawl onto his face when the chef was no longer looking.
Zoro could see the annoyance in the chef's face when it came down to a fight, but it was over quickly and that seemed to be the end of it. They went back through the town, picking up the supplies they needed. They mostly walked in silence, the cook sometimes telling Zoro to hold some bags to which he didn't really feel like arguing with. As the Sunny started coming into view in the distance, Zoro figured that there was no better time than the present to start asking questions.
"Say..." Zoro started, not really knowing where to begin, because he had a few questions he could ask.
"Hmm?" The chef said absent-mindedly, probably not really suspecting that Zoro was about to start a topic that wasn't food related or anything of the sort.
"Are you hiding something from us?" He figured that he might as well get to the point, and while Zoro continued walked he noticed that his companion had come to a stop.
"What do you mean?" Zoro was a little surprised that the chef seemed to legitimately have no idea what he was referring to, so Zoro changed his approach.
"Those people... How did you know what they would do, where they'd be?"
"I just overheard their conversation," the chef clarified, apparently coming to the conclusion that they were not about to have a big conversation after all and started walking again. Zoro didn't follow because there it was again. Just. The amount of times the chef said that word when talking about himself was infuriating.
"In a different language?" Zoro had to remind himself not to shout "That's not something you just do." He didn't shout, but he wasn't really hiding the fact that he was slightly ticked off. The chef responded to that with his own angry outburst.
"And how would an idiot like you know?"
Zoro could have snapped back, but at this rate he wouldn't get the answers he wanted so he just sighed and continued walking instead.
When he could feel the chef having calmed down a little, he tried again.
"I don't really care..." he started, "and I know Luffy doesn't really care either, but you shouldn't keep too many secrets from us."
"Huh?" Zoro heard from somewhere behind him and turned to see the completely baffled expression on the chef's face.
And that's when Zoro came to a key realization: "You don't even know, do you?". The fact that the chef continued to look confused reaffirmed Zoro's conclusion: The cook, no scratch that, Sanji had no idea!
Zoro was full on laughing at this point, because he realized just how stupid it been of him to not have figured this out sooner. Sanji had absolutely no fucking clue just how incredible he was (and Zoro was definitely not about to tell him). Here was a guy who could apparently speak multiple languages, when really you just needed to know one to get around in the world. A guy who could kick your ass to the next island while making the best soufflé you'd ever tasted. A guy who could win a fight by hardly moving, just pulling the right strings. A guy who had figured out how to create fire from his body and move at superhuman speed. A guy who was one of the most prominent fighters of the strawhat crew who were known for winning fights they definitely shouldn't win. A guy who, despite his occupation as a pirate, was so incredible kind to strangers, and always ready to help, despite Zoro feeling that that kindness would definitely come back and bite him in the ass. A guy with so many good qualities, despite how much he pissed Zoro off. And that guy had absolutely no idea that he was special. As if he hadn't read the job requirements of joining the strawhat crew. In case you were in doubt, the first requirement was be special.
"Care to tell me what's so funny?" Zoro heard somewhere between laughs (honestly his stomach was hurting at this point), and eventually calmed down only to keep the chef in the dark.
"Nah, I don't want to give you the satisfaction," he smiled victoriously and began walking again. As Luffy called their names in the distance, the chef aimed a kick to his face. A kick which was easily dodged, but had Zoro smiling all the same...
The next few days were hellish. That was the only way Zoro could describe it. They had endured marine attack after marine attack and it had begun to take its toll. They were on the fourth day of this, and the strawhats were looking worse for wear with every passing day. The cook for some reason looked like he was blaming himself, which, while it was so him, Zoro found hard to find justification for.
What made these fights especially taxing was the fact that at this point the strawhats were famous enough for their abilities to be widely known. The marines, while being significantly weaker than them, had done their very best to set the pirates up against marines they'd naturally have a hard time dealing with. Brook and Robin was targeted by snipers, while Usopp was constantly surrounded by short-ranged fighters, giving him almost no chance to back the crew up as he normally did. Nami was in mostly the same situation, and they were quick to join up with other crew members. Nami joined with Chopper and Usopp with Franky. Luffy fought different devil fruit users every day, and while their captain was levels ahead of his enemies, lack of rest was starting to have a serious effect on his natural instincts, his speed and his strength.
Zoro and the cook had switched opponents meaning that he found himself against a group of annoying martial artists. In. Every. Single. Fight. And the cook was always surrounded by at least ten swordsmen (not high-level swordsmen, but kind of okay swordsmen). As much as the two of them fought, the other's fighting style was actually what they struggled with the most, which had always made Zoro thankful for the training sessions. But this was starting to get ridiculous. The biggest problem, that especially Zoro and the chef struggled with, was that their most powerful attacks could not be used on the Sunny. They were simply too destructive, and that prolonged their fights in ways that certainly did not benefit them in the slightest.
The chef and Chopper seemed to be working extra hard as well, because they needed to keep working after fights to take care of the rest of them. For the cook especially Zoro was beginning to see the dark shadows beneath his eyes and he had the slightest urge to punch him unconscious just to make him sleep.
Zoro couldn't quite put his finger on why, but the attack that occurred by the end of the fourth day felt like the finale. It was as if the marines were more organized in their attack, and Zoro immediately knew that their opponents this time were stronger than the ones they'd fought earlier. And there were more as well. Luffy was the first to act and, as he'd done increasingly more the last few battles, decided to ease the load for his crew by taking out as many of the lower ranking marines as he could within a relatively short time. Of course, this strategy of Luffy's had not been good for him and, as irrational as it was, Zoro could practically feel his protective instincts kick in. An instinct that was usually reserved for the weaker members of their crew, yet Zoro was feeling the need to protect his worn out captain as well as his tired rival. It was stupid, he knew, since he was just as bad off, but at this point Zoro was so far in that he didn't even have anything against voicing his concern for his friends with no shame whatsoever... Zoro mentally noted how much he had changed over the course of just a few months.
Throughout the fight Zoro had tried to keep his protective urges to himself, but he couldn't help but steal a few glances every once in a while. And about halfway through the fight, he noticed the sudden change in the chef. It was as if he suddenly got a whole new air around him... an air Zoro recognized from fellow swordsmen. Interested in this odd change, Zoro pushed himself a little harder than Chopper would have liked and tried to finish his fight quickly.
And for about three minutes, Zoro could have sworn that the cook was no longer a martial artist, but a swordsman robbed of his sword. The way he moved swiftly between the enemies, and seemingly predicting where they'd swing their swords with scary accuracy was something Zoro had spent years learning and perfecting (and even then, he still knew that there was room to improve). But the weirdest part about it wasn't the movements themselves, no, it was the cook. His eyes were less focused than usual, his mind seeming far away, as if he'd surrendered his body to instinct and muscle memory alone. A fact which was odd considering the style the cook had been developing for nearly a decade if he remembered correctly. But it worked against the swordsmen. It worked so well.
At some point the strawhats used coup de burst and as if a magic spell had been cast, they felt at peace. And while they were all exhausted, Zoro found that he was feeling more amused than anything else. There was so much to his rival. So many things that Zoro was sure that each strawhat had their own little thing they knew about him that no one else had noticed. Zoro was sure this was a thing because sometimes the cook would do something odd, but there'd always be one person who looked like it was the most natural thing in the world. But the absolute best thing was that the cook still had no clue. Maybe some day someone would tell him, but for now, it didn't seem like an issue.
(A voice far back in his mind whispered tales of the time Sanji had been all too ready to die for all of them)
Right now, at this moment, Zoro had a theory he wanted to test out. He went to the kitchen where the cook was working on dinner. There was more food than usual, but it was to be expected after the spectacle that had ended not even an hour ago. Zoro lingered by the door for a while, taking in the fine blade work their chef was currently displaying as he did something as simple as chop vegetables. As the chef seemed to be moving on to a new task, Zoro called out to him.
"Catch!" He all but yelled, and the cook's lightning fast reactions had him spin on his heel and he caught the sword thrown at him with finesse. And that's when Zoro knew for sure. This stupid ass swirly brow – who always spoke of never using his hands in battle because he was a chef – was, most definitely, a former swordsman. There was no doubt in Zoro's mind. How it had come about, Zoro would maybe never know, but he had a good guess on why the cook had stopped. A part of Zoro wanted to demand an answer as to why someone like the cook, who was clearly skilled with a blade, had thrown his gifts away just to cook... but Zoro knew damn well that the chef prided his cooking over any of his abilities (though Zoro was really beginning to suspect that this had something to do with the fact that the cook didn't really believe that he had any other talents). In the end he just smiled to himself for no apparent reason.
"What the hell was that about?" The cook asked. He was probably struggling to sound annoyed, but his tiredness was dominating his words. He walked over to Zoro and carefully handed him back the sword. A gesture which Zoro was surprised by since the chef rarely cared for his prized swords... though maybe that was the point. They weren't important to the cook, but they were to Zoro.
"You seem tired," Zoro said in a teasing tone because his pride would allow him nothing else, "Need help?"
Maybe the cook had gotten used to Zoro's weird mood lately because he only looked confused for five seconds this time until he eventually instructed him to set the table. When dinner rolled around, they somehow found something to argue over and seemed to forget their fatigue as they fought for the first time in days.
Yeah, rivals were a funny thing. Zoro hated the cook, and he didn't hesitate at letting him know that. And still, he cared about him. Got worried when he was working too hard or when he seemed like he was having a bad day. Admired his skills and talents, even the ones Zoro really wouldn't have cared about had anyone else possessed the same abilities. Like speaking weird languages. Or making omelettes. Zoro wanted to be as far away from him as possible, yet he knew, when push came to shove, the cook would always have his back, just as he had his.
And he knew that the cook had secrets, and he knew that when the right time came about, those secrets would be no more...
If only Zoro could have predicted just how those secrets came out in the light, then maybe he would have been less reluctant to tell Sanji just how important he was.
I really enjoyed writing this, especially the ending and the beginning, those were a lot of fun :)
If you enjoyed the story, please fave it and leave a little cheeky review. And feel free to tell me how you liked Zoro's side of the story, since I hopefully made it quite different. As I said by the end of the original story, I imagined most of the original from Zoro's point of view, so this was actually the story I had in mind when I wrote the original two-shot :)