"Heard you got yourself into a fight," he said, resting one arm gingerly over his crossed legs. "What were you doing now? I bet it was something stupid." His other hand was lifted to his lips, lightly holding a cigarette to them. It was unlit as of yet. He had the manners not to smoke in a school nurse's office.

"It was a duel," argued the man in the bed, wishing he wasn't on strict orders not to move. If he hadn't been given said instructions, he would have turned and faced away from his stupid clubmate by now. "It's my fault."

"I'd say so," Sanji murmured. "I come back from a lovely vacation back home to find you've gone and got yourself sliced up." He was, of course, referring to his recent holiday back to France. "Good job, mosshead."

"If you've only come here to taunt me, you can just leave," Zoro muttered dryly. "I don't need this from you." He was sore, and tired, and he was hardly pleased that the large wound down his chest had opened earlier. He'd nearly scared his Home Economics teacher to death when his shirt had started to bleed red.

"Tell me, who'd you fight this time?" Sanji carried on, tutting quietly.

"You wouldn't know him. He's too high-level for some loser cook like you." Even with an aching wound and a faint head, Zoro carried on with his quips toward the blond.

"Uh huh," grunted Sanji, dryly. "Here's me trying to be 'considerate', and you're still an asshole. Thanks for that."

"Ugh," muttered Zoro. "Dracule Mihawk," he answered. "Toughest guy in my Kendo class."

"You got gutted like a fish with a bamboo sword?" Sanji murmured. "Somehow I find that believable, considering who I'm talking to."

"You calling me weak!?" Zoro grunted, trying to sit up. Sanji quickly put a hand to his shoulder, and kept him laying down.

"Just returning the banter, moss-for-brains. Lay down."

"Shut up," Zoro muttered. "We used some real swords. Shut up."

"You already told me to shut up," he remarked, sighing quietly. "Why'd you do something as stupid as that?"

The young man sneered. "You wouldn't understand." Sanji just grunted in mild irritation.

"You should be staying home until this heals more, alright?" he murmured, huffing and flicking his light blue eyes in the direction of the door. It was closed, and most probably locked. He couldn't remember if he'd turned the little lock on the handle, but he assumed he had.

"I can't go home," Zoro growled quietly, narrowing his already beady eyes at the student beside him. "You know that."

"I've been away," grunted Sanji. "You can't expect me to know everything."

"You shouldn't have left, swirly-brow," Zoro said dryly. "I got kicked out of the house. Foster parents think I'm doing drugs, or drinking, or both."

"If you're doing any of those things, I'll kick you in the face," Sanji murmured.

"I'm not that stupid. You say that, yet you've got a cigarette in your mouth right now."

"It's a coping method," he retorted. "Well, since you can't go home, you're welcome to live at my place."

"Then I'd have to see you every day," he snarled half-heartedly. "I'd rather live on the street."

Sanji removed the unlit cigarette from his mouth and grit his teeth."We have to see each other every day, dumbass, we go to the same school. Besides, you need some good food if you're ever going to heal."

"I can heal on my own," snapped Zoro, getting indignant at this supposedly implied dig at his pride. "I don't need you or your food to get better."

"You're not going to starve on the street if I have any say about it!" Sanji had raised his voice, and gone so far as to stand up in the heat of his frustration. "Stop being such a stubborn dumbass, dumbass!" Zoro grunted and bit his tongue, laying back down properly, hands resting at his sides.

"Fucksake, mosshead," Sanji cursed quietly, wearily, as he slowly sat back down and pulled his chair in a little closer. "You could've died." It was incredibly slowly that his soft, pale hands found their way to Zoro's, and once there, they remained steady. "Don't do stupid shit like that again, especially by yourself."

"You sound like a mother hen," Zoro remarked, staring at his clubmate with narrowed eyes. "Nah, I wouldn't have died. I'm not the strongest yet."

"You're not allowed to die when you're the strongest, either," Sanji grunted, feeling pressured under Zoro's rather hollow black gaze. "So shut up."

"I told you to shut up first."

"Ugh, you're an idiot," Sanji grunted. "I'm glad you're alive, you piece of shit bastard!" he growled, perhaps holding a bit too tightly onto Zoro's tanned hand.

"Hmmph," Zoro said quietly, looking down at Sanji's hands, which would normally never dare to touch someone or something as ragged and unruly as he. Perhaps he was making an exception. "Yeah.. You too, I guess." It was the closest to affectionate words he could manage at this point.

"I'm going to have to start looking after you seriously," Sanji mumbled. "Don't take that like I'm saying you can't look after yourself, alright? I just.." he trailed off, losing his words.

At that moment, the door was brashly thrown open, and a raven-haired young man charged in. Sanji didn't have time to move his hands from Zoro's, and it would look suspicious if he just suddenly yanked them away now. "Sanji! You're back!" loudly cried their club captain, an audacious young man by the name of Luffy. "How was your trip?! Did you bring back any French meat?!"

"Sorry, Captain, they wouldn't let me take it on the plane," he remarked, glancing once to the bubbly young man, and then returning his eyes to his weary friend-come-rival.

"Aw, that sucks," whined Luffy, eyes now catching on his green-haired friend. "Hey, Zoro, what happened? Your wound bust open or somethin'?"

"Yeah, actually," he murmured. "During Home Economics."

"You taking cooking classes now?" remarked Sanji snidely. "Wanting to challenge me?"

"I'll let you have that one," Zoro grunted, glaring at him as if trying to tell him with just a gaze that they were probably going to be an fervent topic of conversation amongst the gossipy members of the Strawhats club. "I have better things to do than stand around a kitchen all day."

"Excuse you?" growled Sanji, lightly digging his nails into the top of Zoro's hand. "I make art in that kitchen."

"Yeah? You wanna fight?!" Zoro exclaimed. Sanji, in void of retorting a quick and violent 'yes', grunted and smacked Zoro's wrist.

"When you've healed."

"You guys feeling sick or something?" Luffy asked, laughing cheerfully and plopping himself on at the end of Zoro's bed. "Gee."

"We're fine," answered Sanji quickly. "Hey, how about you invite everyone around to my place tonight?" he asked, a small smile curling up the corners of his mouth. "I'll cook up a real nice feast for everyone, especially my lovely Nami!" he hummed, voice wavering dopily at the mention of their female clubmate.

It was Zoro's turn, and he lightly squeezed Sanji's hand, not in affection, but to remind him that he was right there, and that Sanji shouldn't have been getting so excited about the girl.

"Sounds good," chuckled the captain, clapping his hands together twice. "Make sure you do lots of meat! And do the stuff with the nice sauce you did last time!"

"Sure," he hummed quietly, still bearing a smile while digging his thumb and index finger into one of the pressure points on Zoro's hand, between his palm and thumb. Zoro noticeably cringed, and made a slight expression of discomfort. "Besides, we should be eating well to celebrate the start of our mossheaded idiot's recovery."


HOLY CRAP

i wrote something that waSNT hetalia... holy crap its a miracle

its not rochu so its my other otp, zosan. oh boy.