Straight Forward
Chapter 1: Failure
Sanji stood stooped on the upper deck, arms resting atop the wooden railing, a cigarette hanging limply from his lips. His eyes followed their little red-headed passenger as she made her way towards the idiot swordsman with a bottle in her hand.
The cook couldn't help but roll his eyes. He still wasn't entirely sure it had been a good idea to let her aboard their ship. Their captain, on the other hand, had believed her claim of being Shanks' daughter right away and immediately swore to take her to him. Most of his fellow crewmembers had been floored. How could they even be sure she was telling the truth? The shoulder-length, deep red hair was the only connection and even that may have been faked. Besides, how long would it even take them to find Shanks?
"Luffy, it might take months, even years to find him," Nami had said.
The captain had shrugged and laughed, "So? That's where we're heading anyway. Let's help her out." And so it had happened that they had gained an extra person aboard the Thousand Sunny, Shiloh Catling, the possible daughter of "Red-Haired" Shanks.
Despite the rest of the crew's trepidation, they had to admit she didn't look very threatening. She was small and slight in build, and young in appearance. Too young, even, for Sanji to flirt with.
The cook watched as Shiloh and Zoro seemed to chat down below. She had assured them that she was not a child, though she certainly looked like one. However, Sanji could admit that he saw traces of womanhood if he looked hard enough; curved hips even on her slight frame, the perkiness of small breasts, and the swaying way she walked. Still, somehow he found himself uninterested, preferring the womanliness of Nami and Robin. He had realized that she wasn't his type, and subsequently he realized he had a type.
Shiloh had been with them for about a month. The girl had proved helpful, always offering assistance and never complaining about the work they would give her to do. They had come to see her as a sort of cabin girl, one that didn't need or ask for much in return except to be allowed to temporarily live on their ship. She had however, formed an attachment, an attachment that Nami and Robin giggled at and the all the men except Sanji seemed oblivious to. Shiloh had formed a strange attachment to none other than Roronoa Zoro.
The fact that Zoro himself couldn't see this made Sanji think him even more of an idiot. The cook swore that the swordsman had metal between his ears instead of brains. Though he supposed Shiloh wasn't very obvious in her actions, at least not enough for someone like Zoro to notice. Sanji and the ladies, on the other hand, had.
It was easy to miss considering how helpful Shiloh was on a regular basis. It was also easy to miss because she was amiable in speech with every single one of them. She hadn't changed her actions or speech towards Zoro, but she had begun seeking him out during the times she had nothing to do, rather than watering flowers with Robin or tending to Nami's tangerines like she had done the first week or two. Sanji had noticed the gentle smiles on her face whenever Zoro thanked her for bringing his plate to him during meals. He noticed the blush that would coat her cheeks whenever he caught her staring at the swordsman when he trained. He even noticed the way she would brush a lock of hair behind her ears whenever Zoro spoke directly to her. As a total romantic, it annoyed Sanji to no end that the muscle head hadn't taken notice.
"Stupid oblivious bastard."
Gaze travelling downwards once more, he noticed Zoro begin to walk away from Shiloh. Apparently they had finished talking. He had been so lost in thought that he had forgot to eavesdrop. The cook made to push himself off the railing but froze when Shiloh's voice stopped him.
"Wait."
She was speaking to Zoro, but Sanji froze as well. Curiously, he leaned even further down the railing than he previously had been.
"What are you doing?" The blond nearly jumped out of his skin. He grabbed Usopp by the collar and pulled him down, both of them crouched behind the bars of the railing.
"Shh!" Sanji let go of Usopp's collar in favor of turning the other's head towards the direction of the pair down below.
Zoro had turned to face the redhead, a passive expression on his face. "What is it?"
Shiloh smiled. "I have a question." Sanji let go of Usopp in favor of gripping the rails. Was she going to ask if he liked her? Because he was pretty sure that Zoro didn't even know what that meant.
"What are you guys doing?"
Grabbing the small reindeer, both Sanji and Usopp let out an urgent "shh!" and pointed downwards.
Before Chopper could make another sound, a gentle voice from behind the trio asked, "Oh my. Is the little one confessing?"
Sanji would never in a million years even think of roughly handling Robin the same way he had done with Usopp and Chopper, so instead, with hearts in his eyes he tilted his head to look up at her and replied, "You're so wonderfully perceptive, Robin-chwaaan!"
Nami peeked out from behind the raven-haired woman and stuck her tongue out. "Ugh, God. I don't know if I'm rooting for Shy or completely disappointed with her tastes."
"You don't think Zoro would be good to her?" Robin asked with a smile.
"It's not that," Nami replied with a sigh. "I don't think Zoro would even know what to do. And even if he did, just look at them. They wouldn't even make a cute couple. She doesn't even come up to his shoulders. He's more likely to throw her across the ship just because he can than hold her in his arms."
Sanji decided it wouldn't be a good idea to tell his beloved Nami-swan that Luffy had done exactly that a few weeks ago. Thankfully Shiloh had been caught by Franky. Their captain had gotten an earful from a furious Sanji himself, and a lecture about being gentler with women. Then he had had to lecture Shiloh about behaving like a woman when she had asked Luffy to do it again. "You're probably right, Nami-san," Sanji agreed. "Put their heads together and you get a holly bush."
The four of them laughed quietly together while Chopper alternated between looking at them and looking at Shiloh and Zoro below. The doctor blinked a few times and then shushed them when Zoro walked a little closer to Shiloh and asked again, "What is it?"
The group on the upper deck held their breaths. "Do you think he'll get to see her panties?"
Brook landed on the hard wood with a loud thud that somehow went unnoticed by Zoro and Shiloh. The musician sat up and rubbed at the bump Nami had given him.
Sanji bit the cigarette in his mouth in anticipation. He really wanted to yell at them to get on with it, but under no circumstance did he want to get discovered spying on them. It was a wonder the pair below hadn't noticed the six of them up there already.
His eyes widened as Shiloh smiled. It was going to happen. She was going to ask him to be her lover and she would either get rejected and cry and leave the ship forever and search for her father on her own or she and Zoro would become the most awkward, unromantic, dumbass couple that ever existed and the rest of them would have to live with the pair and their strange, creepy, mushy romance. Could Zoro even be mushy? Sanji shuddered. The others behind him leaned forward, pushing him, Usopp, and Chopper into the railing in their effort to hear better. He could practically feel their hearts pounding in their chests. It was happening.
"Who is the weaker man? The quitter or the failure?"
Zoro stared. "What?"
What?
The thoughts of everyone surrounding him screamed in Sanji's head. "WHAT?!"
Robin began to walk away, her hand placed over her mouth to stifle the giggles she suddenly became engulfed with. Usopp shook his head, an incredibly large frown spread across his face. He placed the very confused Chopper under his arm and began walking away, grumbling something about hopeless idiots. Nami took his place besides Sanji. Her face looked incredibly unimpressed as she faced him. "I don't even know why I expected anything different."
Sanji nodded numbly. "Me either." Yet neither of them moved from where they were, opting instead to finish eavesdropping. The cook figured they might as well, considering they had come this far already, whatever that meant.
Zoro's look of confusion must've amused the redhead below because she laughed and repeated, "Who is the weaker man, the quitter or the failure?"
The swordsman's expression changed from quizzical to thoughtful. He stayed silent but his eyes remained on Shiloh's. "The quitter," he replied firmly.
Shiloh's smile grew. "That's what I thought." Sanji raised his brows at the conversation the two were having. A faint inkling of where the girl was going with this began to latch onto him. Maybe they hadn't been so far off base after all. Nami must have reached the same understanding because her exasperated expression had changed smoothed into interest.
Zoro frowned. "Why do you ask?"
"Zoro," Shiloh paused before rolling back her shoulders and standing a little straighter. "Zoro, I really like you."
"What?"
…What?
"WHAT?!" Suddenly, not only the previous five, but the whole crew was on the upper deck, squashing Sanji and Nami against the railing as they leaned forward in disbelief.
Zoro surely heard the yelling so Sanji was expecting a glare sent in their direction, but the swordsman's gaze stayed on the girl standing before him. Shiloh had undoubtedly heard them as well, but she didn't turn. "I like you. As in, I'm interested in you."
"You wanna fight…?"
"Oh for…" Sanji just about jumped over the railing to kick some sense into the swordsman's thick skull. He resisted, however, because he heard Shiloh laughing.
"No! Not like that!" She moved closer to Zoro, cheeks slightly pink. He didn't move away, but he didn't look entirely at ease either. In fact, Sanji could swear his hand was twitching towards one of his swords. "I want to get to know you better. Maybe be more than just friends one day."
Sanji knew Zoro better than Shiloh did. She, after all, had only met them a month ago. So Sanji knew that once comprehension dawned, Zoro would refuse her. Despite the interest they all had in what was going on, they all knew the true outcome. Zoro was married to his dream. He would never take a woman because it would interfere with a special promise made so long ago, and in his single-mindedness, he couldn't do both. He couldn't race towards fulfilling his promise and simultaneously keep a woman happy. What woman would be happy being in second place to a memory? The strange stillness in the air told Sanji that the rest of the crew (except maybe Luffy and Chopper) had suddenly had the same thought he did. He allowed himself a moment of sadness for the little redhead.
The response they had been expecting cut the air. "I can't do that." Zoro turned his head to look anywhere but at Shiloh. "Sorry…"
The girl blinked up at him before taking a step back. Sanji hoped she wouldn't cry. If she began to cry he'd have to beat the crap out of the swordsman and he didn't particularly want to since he knew Zoro, in that instance, would not fight back. A small giggle caught him off guard.
Shiloh smiled. "I knew you were going to say that."
Sanji turned to Nami, who sighed exasperatedly and shrugged. The rest of the crew just stood, confusion thickening the air. The only one not present was Luffy, who had gotten bored and walked down to the lower deck, passing right by Zoro and Shiloh without a word.
The redhead began to walk away, hands casually behind her head. "It's okay, you know. I understand." She paused and looked up at where the crew stood and the deck and winked. Sanji couldn't help but shake his head. A bubble of hope was growing in his chest, despite his effort to keep it away. His mind told him not to root for the impulsive little idiot but his heart was already two steps ahead.
Red hair blew in the wind as Shiloh turned to give Zoro a grin full of challenge and intent. "It's a good thing I'm not a quitter."
Sanji couldn't help but laugh at the bewildered look on Zoro's face. The swordsman turned at the sound and yelled, "How long have you assholes been up there?!"
"Long enough, you stupid moss!"
With a growl, Zoro made his way towards the upper deck with one sword out, as the others scattered and roared with laughter.
A/N
It's been a long time since I've written any fan fiction, like 5-6 years. I apologize for any strangeness or OOC-ness. I'm still trying to get a feel for these lovely One Piece characters. Constructive criticism is appreciated, as long as it's kind! Thanks for reading!