Day 18 of the Zosan Christmas Exchange hosted by the wonderful and amazing kumiko-sama-chan! Thank you for this great event and all your hard work!
It's funny, I told myself to take this opportunity to practice writing angst but instead I produced piece of college AU fluff. Huh.
"Oi, take the damn flier, shit head."
Zoro, as a general rule, did not accept any sort of flier from students on campus. His bag, binders, and folders were already a disorganized mess, it took more time than he would have liked to admit to find the right homework assignment for the day in all the mess, and the last thing he needed was more paper contributing to the hazardous pile. Because, everyone knew, if you accepted one flier, at the end of the day you ended up with at least ten more.
It wasn't like Zoro thought whatever was on the fliers was pointless and stupid, he was sure it meant something to whoever it was passing the papers out, but the green haired college student figured that if something really pertained to him he would hear about it from Nami or Vivi from whatever student committee they were on. Like the time the fitness center's bathrooms and locker rooms had been renovated. Zoro had been particularly happy about that turn out, especially considering the last time he had taken a shower after practice he was sure the mold in the corner had moved toward him.
Avoiding taking fliers was relatively simple. Zoro was already an intimidating person with his height, broad shoulders, heavy muscles, and harsh glare, and most people tended to back down after just one look. But just to make certain Zoro always walked around campus with the largest pair of headphones he owned covering his ears. Even if he wasn't listening to music half of the time, people tended to let those with headphones plugged in walk away flyer free.
Of course, there were the people who would just thrust a flyer into Zoro's hands and walk away before the man could do or say anything. Zoro didn't mind those too much usually because they didn't happen all that often.
But this was the first time someone had actually called him out and stood in his way for not taking a stupid piece of paper.
The blond asshole was scowling behind his cigarette, the bright blue flier extended toward Zoro and, at this point, wrinked from the blond's tight grip.
Zoro glanced at his annoying road block and removed his headphones.
"You're in my way," Zoro said. "Move."
"Not until you take the damn flier." The blond sneered at the other student, his lips shaping around his lit cigarette.
Zoro growled and snatched the paper from the other man's grip. It was way too cold to deal with the blond's attitude out in the open and he was already a few minutes late to his next class. The smug look on the other man's face only made Zoro's scowl deepen and he shoved the blond aside to walk past. He made a show of crumpling the paper into a ball and throwing it into the nearest trash can.
/
The next time Zoro saw the blond the weather had dropped to even colder degrees. None of Zoro's winter clothes stood an actual chance against the cold winds and heavy snow fall. Zoro knew he was particularly lucky in that he had a higher resistance to the cold than most people, but he still made it a point to stay indoors as much as possible.
So when Zoro saw the blond blocking the pathway to his next class again, the green-haired student seethed. The other man looked comfortably warm in comparison to Zoro, standing casually in the winter weather with another cigarette and a stack of papers. They were bright pink this time.
When the blond noticed Zoro walking his way, his expression brightened.
"Move." Zoro demanded when they got closer.
"Would you like a flier?" the blond asked innocently, holding out one of the papers to him. "I only ask because I happened to notice that you lost your last one."
Zoro had to give the blond some credit for being so bold. Very rarely did strangers feel the need to speak so boldly and rudely to someone like Zoro. The blond was also most likely such a scrawny thing beneath his thick winter clothes that Zoro could probably knock him down with no problem. All bark and no bite, no doubt.
"Move." Zoro repeated, eyes narrowing dangerously.
"What's your rush?" The blond gave him a slow, lazy smile, the perfect image of relaxed.
"It's freezing."
"Really? I'm quite warm."
Zoro yanked the pink flier from the blond's hand and stuffed it carelessly into his bag. His day was made a little better when he noticed the blond drop his cigarette when Zoro pushed passed him to his next class.
/
"Oh! Zoro, I didn't know you cared about the culinary department."
Usually Zoro would ignore his lab partner's insistent chatter but it was the sight of the pink paper and his open bag in Perona's hands that made him react.
"Hey! Don't go through other people's things!" Zoro snatched back his bag and the paper from the girl's grasp, leaving her with an exaggerated pout.
"You're no fun! You go through my things!"
Zoro didn't think it was worth the effort to correct her in saying she usually shared everything of her's to him (much to his chagrin, he never wanted Perona to share her taste in erotica novels with him again). Rolling his eyes instead, Zoro glanced down at the pink flier that had definitely seen better days. After the encounter with the blond, Zoro had completely forgotten about the paper, never even taking the time to empty it from his backpack let alone read it over.
It was an advertisement promoting a school event. HELP THE CULINARY DEPARTMENT THIS CHRISTMAS, it read. A charity event for the department to prepare and distribute food to the homeless, looking for volunteers who could help set up, cook, and clean.
"Did you get that from Sanji?" Perona suddenly asked, reading over his shoulder. "He's the president of that committee. He's always passing those out."
"The blond one?" Zoro asked, pushing her out of his personal space. "The one with the stupid curly eyebrow?"
"Yeah! Well, actually," Perona paused in thought for a moment before speaking again. "There are two blonds that sorta look alike but Sanji's the cute one."
Zoro went back to tuning her out after that.
/
The third time Zoro ran into the blond (ran into Sanji, as Perona so happily pointed out), he thought he was safe from the annoying bastard's persistent attitude. He was proven wrong when Sanji stood his ground and held out another flier toward him.
Zoro frowned. "I already got one."
Sanji licked his lips and Zoro couldn't help but notice how empty the blond's mouth seemed without a cigarette dangling from them. The green-haired man snapped out of his daze when the blond suddenly smirked.
"Yeah, but this one goes with your hair. Very festive."
Zoro glanced down at the paper noticing that it was now a deep red color.
Zoro managed to make it to his next class flier free but only because Sanji had been laughing too hard to hand him one.
/
"So are you gonna go?" Perona asked him during their next lab.
Zoro ignored her in favor of his school work.
"Zoro," the pink haired girl whined, draping herself across his desk and covering his workbook.
"What the hell are you doing?" Zoro growled, pushing her off roughly. Perona allowed herself to be moved, landing steadily back on her feet before glaring at her partner. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot in annoyance.
"Are you going to the culinary's charity event?"
"How do you even remember that?"
"Why are you avoiding the question?"
"Why are you bothering me? Do your work."
Perona made a noise of exasperation before stomping her way over to her own desk. Zoro shivered when the cold wind came in through their classroom's open window. He decided that he'd buy a thicker coat after class got out.
/
The fourth time Zoro saw Sanji, his classes had been cancelled due to bad weather. The wind was howling and the snow was piling on thick. The sky was dark and gloomy with the sun shrouded by gray clouds despite it being the middle of the day. Zoro was insanely glad that he had taken the time to buy the warmer coat.
The only reason Zoro was even on campus to begin with was because he had stupidly forgotten to pick up the textbook he needed for that week's homework. The brisk walk from his car to the school's bookstore had shown the grounds to be relatively empty of students and faculty with those still outside racing their way indoors and out of the cold.
So it was a bit of a surprise when he came across the annoying, flier obsessed blond in his usual spot with another stack of papers. What was even more confusing was the man's attire. The idiot was dressed in only a collared shirt and jeans, clothes that couldn't even begin to handle the crap weather they were having. Zoro narrowed his eyes, what the fuck was the bastard doing? Trying to freeze himself to death?
Against his better judgement Zoro jogged over to Sanji, ignoring the way the other man broke out into a bright grin when he noticed his presence.
"Couldn't get enough of my artistic talent?" Sanji asked as he presented another one of his fliers to Zoro (they were a deep green this time, Zoro noticed).
The green-haired student pushed Sanji's hand aside, studying him carefully. It was small but the blond was definitely shaking, there was a slight tremor in his hand and the short contact Zoro had with his skin proved the other student was freezing.
Zoro huffed out a breath.
"Dumbass, what are you doing out in this weather?"
Sanji's sunny look dropped and he raised a curly eyebrow at Zoro as if he were the slow one of the two. He made a motion to the stack of papers held tightly in his hands.
"What does it look like, moss head?" Sanji deadpanned. "The same thing I've been doing for the past few weeks."
Zoro growled at the insult and the blond's arrogant attitude. He had half a mind to leave other student alone to freeze in the snow but he forced himself to stay put.
"Idiot," He spat out. "You got a death wish? Where's your coat?"
All too suddenly Sanji's expression morphed. His eyes turned dopey and a stupidly wide smile spread across his face. In what appeared to be excitement, the blond danced in place, his body wiggling and his hands clutching at his chest as if to still his beating heart.
"Oh, she was beautiful," Sanji cooed, his voice taking a ridiculously high tone. "Even when shivering from the cold she was lovely. I just had to offer her my coat! A woman as refined as her couldn't walk in such weather without the proper attire."
Zoro made a note that Sanji had failed to actually mention if he knew the name of the woman he lent his coat to and if he was ever going to actually get it back. Zoro tsked and rolled his eyes. The guy was such a moron.
"Just go home," the green-haired student said, already turning to head back to his own car.
"Can't," he heard the blond mutter. "Gotta make sure these get passed out."
Zoro glanced back at the other student whose love sick expression was gone and replaced with a determined look. His blue eyes traveled from Zoro's figure to the fliers in his hand, looking at the papers as if they were the most important things in the world. Hell, Zoro thought as he studied the other man's face, they probably were.
Before Zoro knew it he was moving back toward Sanji, shedding his thick winter coat as he went. Before the blond do or say anything, Zoro threw the article of clothing over the blond's shoulders, making sure that it wrapped around the other student's form. Zoro couldn't help but notice how the jacket was slightly too big for the blond around the sholders, making him seem more fragile than he actually was.
Sanji gave Zoro a confused look, opening his mouth to no doubt protest the action but Zoro turned around and walked as quickly as he could back to his car. He was heading back home anyway, he didn't need the coat as much as the blond apparently did. All the way home he tried to tell himself that the flush on his face was from the cold.
/
"So are you gonna go?"
"Screw off, Perona."
/
Zoro doesn't see Sanji the next week.
He doesn't quite understand why he's disappointed that the annoying idiot isn't at his usual post to block Zoro's path, he chalks it up to the fact that if he doesn't see Sanji then he can't get his coat back.
Instead there's a short student with messy brown hair and a young, round face passing out the bright blue fliers. He politely asks Zoro if he wants one.
The green-haired student takes one but for some reason it feels wrong.
Another couple of days pass before Zoro actually sees Sanji again, surprisingly not on his way to class. Instead the blond sought him out, walking up to the table where Zoro was eating lunch and dropping his heavy coat onto the table unceremoniously.
Glancing up from his food, Zoro was shocked to find the blond's face a heated red as he ground hard on the end of his unlit cigarette. After a moment of tense silence, Sanji spoke.
"Thanks," he mumbled, not quite meeting the other man's eyes. Seemingly satisfied with his message the blond marched away, never once looking back to Zoro.
Later Zoro would find the small bag of cookies in one of the coat's pockets with a tag that read, "Merry Christmas, asshole."
/
The next time they meet it's the last day of the semester, just a couple more days till Christmas and the culinary department's charity event. Finals had been an exhausting affair, keeping Zoro up at odd hours of the night to absorb and memorize as much information that was humanly possible. It was at times like these where Zoro was glad for Perona's companionship. The girl could stay wide awake late into the night with no problems and had a special talent for keeping up all of those around her with her obnoxious voice. It really was quite helpful.
Having finished up the last of his exams, Zoro trudged his way in the direction of his car, fully intending to take a long nap to make up for the many hours of sleep he lost.
The sight of Sanji in his path again made something in Zoro's chest warm and Zoro smirked when he saw the paper held in the blond's hand. He could play this game one last time.
Sanji held out the paper toward Zoro when the green-haired student got close enough. A smile of his own was playing at his lips, his eyes dancing in amusement as he watched Zoro.
"Last chance," Sanji said, shaking the paper a bit. "You gonna go?"
Zoro snatched the paper from his grip. "We'll see."
It was only after his long nap that Zoro read over the flier Sanji had given him that day. Scanning it over, Zoro grinned broadly and reached for his cell phone. Maybe he'd go to the charity event after all.
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