Chapter 1
The school bell rang softly but loud enough for every little 8-10 year old kid to hear that school was starting. Everyone said goodbye to their parents or whoever dropped them of for their new term start at the One Piece Junior School. I don't like this place; the blonde hair covered some of his face as he got pushed from behind towards the gate entrance. "Stop daydreaming Sanji and get going!" The blonde turned to face the older blonde man, trying not to show his worried feelings over this completely new area.
The older man furrowed his eyebrows and started to get irritated; it showed since his mustache twitched in frustration. "Just go! If something goes wrong just deal with it like a man!" He shouted angrily as he had started to walk away from the school grounds. Sanji let out a quiet and worried sigh as he slowly made his way inside the building. He looked around, feeling stupid and lost.
"Hi there what's your name?" A female had walked to him and kneeled down by his side.
Sanji bit his lip a bit and looked down, "S-Sanji…" He said shakily and the woman smiled at him. "Ah you just moved here right? I'll show you to class" She let out her hand towards Sanji, waiting for any response.
Sanji grabbed her hand in embarrassment and was led down the hallway and inside a room, he gulped when the class got quiet and everyone stared at him for making entrance. Some girls started giggling when a slight blush crept onto his face and he looked down in even more embarrassment.
After some time, the teacher had introduced Sanji and placed him next to, Does this guy grow grass on his head?, the blonde thought as he slightly looked at the boy next to him who seemed to have fallen asleep and was now snoring slightly. The teacher had told the kids to make a little project by drawing something they liked or one of their family members. The green haired kid seemed to have drawn a stick or something at least in Sanjis eyes but when he looked closer it looked more like a sword.
"What are you staring at?" The voice almost made Sanji jump out of his seat and he immediately looked away. "N-Nothing" He said in a shaky voice, apparently the green haired kid had woken up and was now looking over towards the blonde. He raised an eyebrow when he saw Sanji almost jump out of his seat and looked away; he made a slight frown and looked down at the blondes still white paper.
He blinked slowly, "You still haven't drawn anything", he commented slightly which gained Sanjis attention and he looked at the green haired kid again.
"U-um I… I don't know what to draw" He answered in a quiet tone that the other almost didn't catch.
The other made a chuckle that sounded like a snort or something before he spoke, "Just draw your dad or something" He said dryly.
Sanji blinked slowly at his white paper, "I… Don't have a dad" He looked down again at his feet beneath his bench. That earned a surprised look from the other.
"Why?" He asked, trying not to sound too interested.
Sanji looked back at the green haired boy, why was he asking why?
Sanji looked down again, "My mom and dad died in an accident on the ocean when I was born… my uncle took care of me while they were away and then… he got too hear the boat they were on had sunk" He looked deeply down now, biting his lip and trying not to cry or sound like he was close to.
The green haired boys eyes where wide open before they lowered slightly when the blonde was finished talking, he stood up and walked over to Sanjis side who looked up a bit confused as he felt the others hand on his head stroking his hair.
He got even more surprised when the other suddenly hugged him close and stayed like that, the blonde was glad that no one was watching, "I'll take care of you…Sanji" the blonde got even more stunned and confused. He felt the tears wanting to build up in his eyes but managed to keep them there.
"T-Thank you…um?" He didn't even know the others name and that made it even more awkward.
"Zoro" The boy moved away and grinned happily at Sanji who blinked.
The school hours have ended quickly and Sanji was now standing by the entrance gate waiting for Zeff to come pick him up. He had ended up playing with Zoro all day, they had fought and exchanged insults but they quickly forgave each other and started playing again like nothing happened. The feeling and memories made the blonde smile shyly, Zoro wasn't all that bad and neither of the other classmates where mean or anything like he'd expected them to be.
He looked up at the sky when he suddenly felt like it was getting darker and he was right, soon raindrops started to fall down from the sky and he blinked as he slowly turned irritated. Where the hell was that old man of his?
"You're not going home?" Sanji looked over his shoulder at the raven haired girl behind him and he melted, "Soon Robin-chwan!" He smiled and happily spun around to face her fully. She giggled at the strange behavior from the blonde. Robin had walked up to Sanji earlier during the day at lunch when the grass-head had been busy taking care of other business. They had talked and Robin was such a sweet and kind girl that he could melt through the floor. Zoro had later noticed that annoying flirting of Sanjis and commented on which started a small fight that Robin had to end.
"You're waiting for someone?" She asked and walked up beside him and took up her umbrella, Sanji nodded. "My uncle should come any time now" He said and smiled at the raven haired girl.
"Well hope he comes so you won't catch a cold" She smiled and opened her umbrella and started walking. "See you tomorrow Sanji-san!" She waved and turned to continue walking. Sanji was glad to have someone care for him to the difference from other old and irritating uncles; he pouted.
He hold himself with his arms starting to freeze slightly and shaking slightly, Oh that old geezer!, he thought angrily and greeted his teeth when he suddenly saw a shape with an umbrella walking towards him. He sighed and ran up to said man who looked down at the younger.
"Finally you're so slow old man!" Sanji shouted and glared angrily up at Zeff who just laughed.
"To difference from some kids I have work to take care of" He snorted, "Come on let's go" He said and started walking back the way he came with Sanji by his side. He also noticed when they have walked for a while that the young blonde was shivering. He didn't care much about until they reached their home behind the restaurant that Zeff worked at; he took of his jacket, shoes and put away the umbrella. "Go put on some dry cloths and meet me in the kitchen Sanji" Zeff said and walked off.
Sanji took of his shoes and walked upstairs to his room to change cloths, he felt weird as he was done and walked down towards the kitchen where he saw Zeff chopping some vegetables. He sat down by the table in silence, what did the older want?
Zeff poured down the chopped vegetables in a pot that was boiling on the stove and stir it. "How was it at the new school?" He asked calmly and looked over his shoulder towards Sanji.
Sanji smiled shyly, "Better than I thought actually". Zeff made a snort and turned back to the pot, he was happy on the inside though that nothing had gone wrong. He took out a bowl and filled it with the soup and walked over to put on the table in front of Sanji. "It's not dinner yet" The younger blonde looked up at the other man.
"You seem to start catching a cold, eat and you should be fine" Zeff said it in such a soft tone and it stunned Sanji a bit, the both of them almost had some kind of evil comment towards one another but now, Zeff seemed to actually care for Sanjis health.
Sanji smiled, "Thanks" He slowly ate the soup and Zeff made a grunt and disappeared out in his restaurant.
Sanji took the grunt as a "Welcome" and smiled more as he ate in silence. When he was finished he moved to the sink to wash his plate and dry it before he put it back in one of the cabinets. When that was done he headed upstairs again to his room to do some homework they had gotten home from their teacher. It wasn't that hard and he finished up pretty quick. He glanced at the clock to see it was half past five in the evening.
Around six it was time for his training, eat dinner with the other workers and Zeff before heading off to bed.
The years in junior school flew by quickly and everything had gone so well which made Sanji very happy to be a part of that school. It was now the day before he would finish his final year in junior grades. He admitted he was nervous even though he knew deep inside it would go well, the older man had been almost irritated to death because Sanji ran around finding his stuff to wear and more.
His mustache twitched in annoyance, "Stop running around already you egg-plant!" Zeff shouted which made Sanji stop in his tracks. "Sorry I can't help it" Sanji laughed nervously and rubbed the back off his head.
After the ceremony, Sanji and his friends were invited to his friend Luffys house for a small party with games, food and charades with more. They all had a great time except for a certain green haired who kept himself out of conversation during the whole evening. No one else but Sanji noticed this and it worried him a bit, the both of them had not even exchanged a single insult during the whole time.
The young blonde decided to gather some courage and walked over and sat down beside his now 14 year old green haired friend who didn't seem to notice his presence. They were around 8-9 years old when they first met but he got to know that Zoro was a year older than him because he had to redo a year in school. Sanji sighed in silence when the other didn't spoke or even looked at him.
"Oi mossy, what's wrong you've been so quiet?" He asked but still no response from Zoro, he seemed to be in another universe or something according to Sanji.
Sanji got an idea and stood up to walk to the kitchen where the others were eating, they asked of course if he and Zoro were going to join them and Sanji smiled and said soon. He grabbed a plate with him and walked back to sit beside Zoro, waving the plates in front of the green haired boys face who snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Sanji then the plate filled with Onigiri (risebolls).
Zoro grunted at the grin Sanji made before he took the plate and started eating, "So, what's wrong with you marimo?" Sanji asked carefully. Zoro finished his plate and put it on the table, sighing slightly.
He seemed deeply bothered by something.
"Zoro?" Sanji was getting more worried now. Zoro looked at him and noticed the concerned look which stung a bit in his chest.
"I'm…moving away for a while" Zoro said silently, looking down at the floor then back at Sanji who looked at him with stunned wide eyes. What had he just heard?
It was silence for a moment before Zoro got concerned about Sanji being so quiet and staring at him.
"Sanji?" He asked, "Oi Love-Cook, earth to Love-Cook!" He said in a louder tone but still didn't get any response. He turned even more worried now. "Oi! Sanji!" He shouted which made the cook snap out of his stunned position. Zoro was glad that no one else had heard him shout.
"W-Why are you moving away!" Sanji shot back at Zoro who frowned at the yelling in his face.
"I have no choice…" He said in a quiet voice. Sanji looked down at his feet, why was his heart aching so badly?
"I and my father's cousin are moving away because of his job… not our whole lives but maybe some years…" He looked more at Sanji but the blonde had fixed his gaze on his feet, not wanting to face the marimo no matter what.
"I've wanted to tell you…but it was hard I didn't know what to say" Sanji kept quiet which started to upset Zoro.
"You're not being fair with your silence stupid curly curly eyebrow" Zoro said softly but a bit angry, the blonde could hear it even how much his friend tried to hide it. He lifted his legs up on the couch and hugged them slightly, still looking away.
"Oi…" Zoro grabbed Sanjis shoulders and turned him so their gaze met. Zoro kept a firm grip when Sanji tried to struggle away, the blonde felt ashamed of looking at Zoro, not because he was moving but because he was nearly on the edge of crying.
When Sanji didn't find a way out from Zoros grip he closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to see the others face which made Zoro a bit more frustrated. "Sanji…" He said in almost a whisper, but the blonde still didn't dare to even move. He tried his hardest to not start crying, shaking or scream because he was so depressed over this news.
Sanji widened his eyes suddenly, tears where now building up in his eyes and flowed down his cheek when he felt a pair of moist lips connected with his. He saw Zoro so close but his eyes where closed then opened half way. The stayed like that for a while before Zoro parted and moves back slightly, Sanji almost felt a whimper in his throat but swallowed it.
"Have I got your attention now "?" eyebrow?" Zoro asked and felt a bit more relieved when Sanji relaxed and looked back at him. Sanji had though to go over the thing that just happened in his head for a while before he was fully back.
Zoro sighed slightly, pulled Sanji into a hug and held him tight, "I'll be back in five years… I promise" Zoro hugged the blonde even tighter.
Sanji digged his head down in Zoro's shoulder and took a firm grip of his light green shirt, shit he felt like he was going to die. "I was… going to ask for a request" Zoro continued after a while and moved away, still having Sanji in his embrace but looked deeply into his one visible blue eye.
Zoro turned a bit serious but kept his calm voice, "Could you… um" He kept eye contact with Sanji but apparently had a problem to get out the question in words. "Would you… sleep at my place tonight?" Zoro looked away slightly when the question had been asked.
Sanji blinked a couple of times to see if he had heard right.
"I'm… I'm leaving the morning after tomorrow and…" Zoro paused for a moment, "And I… Wanted to spend some last hours with…you" Sanji saw a slight flush creep upon Zoros cheeks.
Oh my how will this end?, Sanji was on his way, walking home, too freaking Zoros house with the marimo himself! He pinched himself some times to see if this was a dream or something but it wasn't. Zoro just blinked at the blonde and frowned in confusion.
"Why do you keep pinching yourself?" Sanji looked at him and then away, "N-No reason!" He said a bit too fast and felt a blush build up on his cheeks. He had never been home to Zoroz place since they first became friends, they had always been at his or Robins house because the green haired male always made a lame excuse on not to be in his home. And now? Yeah, now Zoro had himself invited Sanji to spend the night and the next day in his house.
Zoro snorted softly and resumed concentrating on going the right way home, since Sanji had never been to his house the blonde didn't know the way so Zoro had to be really careful not to get lost on the way.
When they arrived to a crossroad after some time Zoro stopped, looking in one direction and then the other feeling the panic build in his head.
Sanji stopped and was quiet before he started to wonder why they'd stop in the first place. He was about to ask the other but when he saw how annoyed yet panicked Zoro looked he stayed silent and waited. Sanji could hear some muttering from his green haired friend but couldn't hear which words it was he was saying. He sighed after a while, "Oi marimo" Zoro froze.
"Have you forgotten were you live or something?" Sanji pulled out a cigarette from his back pocket and lighted it, Zoro turned towards him nervously but raised an eyebrow.
"Since when did you start smoking ero-cook?"
"Half a year ago, calms my nerves, so?"
"So what?"
Sanji grinned and his one visible eyebrow twitched in annoyance, "We're lost right?"
Zoro blushed madly not only in embarrassment but because that when that eyebrow twitched like that it was to freaking cute. He looked away and Sanji tilted his head to such a strange action from the green haired man.
"Oi marimo I asked a question" Sanji said a bit more annoyed but kept his voice steady. Zoro wanted to go through the ground.
"Yeah cook… I'm lost so WHAT!" He turned his shouting towards Sanji who almost jumped from the sudden voice change, he almost got scared. He backed away slightly from Zoro but kept his gaze on said man.
Zoro rubbed the back of his head, "I'm sorry Sanji… I didn't mean to yell at you just…" He looked down, feeling badly ashamed of himself for his bad sense of direction and for yelling at the blonde for no reason.
Sanji sighed and smiled slightly, "It's alright but" He paused and Zoro looked up at him.
"How will we get to your place if we're lost?" Zoro sighed and dug down in his pocket picking up his cell phone. "I'll call my care taker, see if you can find a street sign to where we are" Zoro said and dialed the number; Sanji did as told and started to look around. He walked around the corner and Zoro followed behind him as he talked in the phone. Care taker? Strange word choice, Sanji shrugged the thought away and kept looking. "Oh?" Sanji looked up and saw a sign on one of the buildings, he looked back at Zoro, "We're on Merry street on the south" Sanji said, Zoro nodded and repeated the said address in the phone before he shut it down.
"Well?" Sanji asked and looked at Zoro. "He's on his way here, will take 15 minutes or so" Zoro said quietly. Sanji sighed in relief and leaned back against a nearby wall, taking a long drag from his smoke and slowly breathed it out.
Zoro took a quick glance at the blonde in silence, he knew smoking wasn't good for the health but it seemed to fit perfectly with said man. He kept his gaze on him for a long moment, his sight getting softer and not even noticing said blonde was looking back at him. Sanji just chuckled and let the marimo stare at him; it felt kind of nice to get this attention from the other even though it also was a bit weird, especially since people who passed by looked awkwardly at Zoro. Sanji just giggled.
"Oi marimo people will think you're some kind of perverted stalker if you keep staring like that" Zoro snapped and looked around, noticing the people who quickly turned their heads away and started walking again, Zoro looked away feeling embarrassed again.
Sanji kept on laughing quietly, "What's so funny "?" eyebrow!" Zoro said in annoyance as he turned towards Sanji, Such a sweet laugh!, Zoro felt like the cook when he was over Robin in school. Soon I will start calling him-, "You okay marimo?" Sanji kept laughing slightly.
"Yes curly-chwan!" There was a long silence. Zoro felt his face heating up from the words, Fuck! I wasn't supposed to say that out loud!
Sanji blinked before he burst out in even more laughter, "C-Curly-chwan?" He held his stomach and bended forward, the pain grow in his gut from laughing so hard and his eyes got teary.
Zoro snorted in annoyance which made Sanji laugh more, "Stop laughing idiot!"
"S-Sorry I… I can't!" Sanji knelt down slightly and held his stomach trying to calm down.
"If you tell anyone about this I'll kill you!" Sanji managed to calm down and stand up again, he put out his cigarette but still giggling slightly, He just called me Curly-chwan, annoying but cute, He thought.
After around twenty minutes of awkward silence a car stopped in front of them by the side walk, the driver waved down the window and Sanji was a bit stunned by who it was.
"There you guys are" The raven haired man pointed out and unlocked the car doors when Zoro walked up to him followed by the blonde. They both sat down in the back seat, the car was neither big nor small but the size was enough for the two youngsters' thighs to rub against each other. Both felt they faces heating up slightly.
The car started again and ride down the road towards Zoros house. Sanji leant closer to Zoro which almost made said man jump.
"You didn't say your "Care taker" was Dracule Mihawk" Sanji whispered and leaned back in his seat. Zoro blinked and looked at Sanji. "You know who he is?" Sanji made a "well –duh" look towards Zoro.
"My uncle watches his old championship fights on TV all the time" He said quietly but bowed his head slightly when he noticed said man looked at him in the mirror. He looked down slightly; he didn't feel like he was worth such a presence or too look at him.
Zoro was about to spoke but got interrupted, "I just need to stop at the store quickly" He paused and parked the car in a free parking lot. "You need anything Zoro?" He looked over his shoulder at them.
Zoro shook his head, "We'll be fine I bought stuff yesterday" and with that the raven haired man left the car.
Yesterday? Sanji thought to himself.
"Hey, you alright?" Zoro looked at Sanji who seemed to be lost in thought and he sighed heavy.
The words kept going around in the blondes head, yesterday? He bought stuff yesterday for today or was it something else? Is it because of me? Sanji started to feel dizzy because of all the thoughts in his head.
The way home was quiet; Zoro didn't know what to say except for that he kept getting frustrated over how smooth and warm Sanjis thigh felt against his own but he didn't dare to say it out loud. He had embarrassed himself enough for one day thank you very much. He looked towards the blonde who still seemed to be in deep thought about something, was it something Zoro had said that made the other act this way? He tried to think it through but couldn't come up with anything so he decided to keep quiet about that as well.
The silence got more awkward now, the both youngsters sat on Zoros couch in his room and none of them knew what to say or do. This is exactly why Zoro didn't invite people over especially not alone because it would get awkward and weird but he wanted so badly to spend some last hours with the blonde cook before he left.
Sanji also sat quiet and recalling everything that had happened during the day, he was surprised but happy he had been invited over but now he had other questions that nagged on his mind. He recalled more and more from the day and things started to get a bit clear in his mind.
Zoro had kissed Sanji earlier that day, and now Sanji started remember more that this last year had been very not normal, yes they had fights and insults but Zoro had come closer to Sanji all the time.
Zoro had hugged him the morning before the ceremony, Zoro had put one arm around his waist during the ceremony, Zoro had held his hand on the way home to Sanjis for the graduation party, Zoro had hugged him again on the couch AND kissed him. Sanji widened his eyes which said man noticed and now looked at the blonde.
He…
"Sanji?"
He likes…
"Oi" Zoro tried to make contact.
Sanji blushed, HE LIKES ME! HE FUCKING LIKES ME! WHAT THE HELL! Is this just me? He covered his mouth with his hand. He has been acting strange, not fighting as much as we used to and making those weird moves on me…Oh my god! HE HAS BEEN FLIRTING WITH ME!
Zoro made a last effort to get Sanjis attention, "Curly-chwan?"
Sanji blinked out from his mad thoughts and looked at Zoro who grinned now, "Finally I've been trying to-"
"Stop calling me that moss-head!"
"Oi You do it all the time to Robin!"
"It's not the same bastard!"
"Of course it is idiot!"
They both paused for breath and glared at each other.
Sanji thought the words through in his head while they were silent, Wait a second!
"You're calling me a girl moss-head!"
Zoro grinned which made the blonde more furious and jumped the green haired male so they fell of the couch. Sanji had in mind that it would startle the other but Zoro only kept grinning widely. The fuck's wrong with this guy!
"Hey" Sanjis attention went to the man underneath him.
"This was a new position" Zoro teased and the blondes face flushed madly as he quickly moved away to sit on the floor some inches away. Zoro sat up and looked at the other, he wasn't grinning anymore but he felt happy. He moved a bit closer and tugged at Sanjis blue shirt to get his attention without picking another fight.
Sanji looked towards Zoro but not in the eye, his gaze was fixed on the floor instead.
Zoro blinked slowly, he put his hands on both sides of the blondes cheeks and pulled him to look him back in the eye. He smiled shyly at Sanjis flushed cheeks; they were redder than tomatoes.
"W-What's so funny?" Sanji asked and blinked slightly, Zoro just smiled more.
"I'll definitely come back for you Curly-chwan" Zoro grinned happily.
Sanji rolled his eyes at his new "nickname" but sighed and smiled shyly as well, Guess this can't be helped.