The constant ticking of the clock had become nothing more then simple back ground noise as the young man sat at his desk, his hands flying over different keyboards as his eyes flickered between three different computer screens. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he saw a decline in the finacial screen, going to it he deposited a low amount of his own personal funds into the account and nodded as the decline resloved. Sighing for what felt like the millionth time in less then five minutes he looked up at the clock on his wall and frowned, it was already almost six in the evening. Pushing away from the desk he went into the kitchen and began to pull things out of the fridge and cabinets to put together a small meal. The pork cutluts he friend in shallow oil til they were tender and crispy, the spinach he wilted lightly and paired it with cherry tomatos and balsamic vinagar, the final touch were the mashed potatoes that he laced with cheese. Once the food was done he went about setting the small table in the middle of the apartment knowing his room mate would be back any moment, and almost as if summoned the woman entered through the door with a very sour look on her face. She was dressed in her work uniform and was brushing snow from her orange hair almost violently.
"Should I ask?" His voice echoed down the hall to her and frowned more. "If you really want, but I could really use a drink before I get into it. Dinner smells great as usual by the way."
He watched as she slung her boots off and let them bounce off the wall leaving small dents the repairman would have to fix yet again, good thing Ussop was a good friend of her's. She stood on her tip toes and reached over the fridge only to come back empty handed and he could see her temper flare to life more.
"Nami, what the hell happened? You look ready to kill someone."
"My higher ups. They're a bunch of bull headed, wrinkled, old piss ants that don't have the balls to do what needs to be done."
He blinked at her choice of words but said nothing as she continued.
"They sent the Northern divesion to Arlong Park."
He ducked as she threw the empty bottle of what he guessed was the liqour she had been looking for against the wall and shattered it. "Nami..."
"My sister was in that unit dammit! Arlong and his fucking rebles showed no mercy, they all died! No doubt painful deaths..."
He walked over and put his hand on her shoulder feeling it tremble, what he wouldn't give to gather his friend to him for a hug and comfort her...but he couldn't. He squeezed her shoulder, feeling the pad in her uniform jacket more then her actual shoulder, and moved away. He made plates for the both of them before pulled the chair out for her. She shed her jacket and threw it on the couch a few feet away before sinking into her seat, they said a small thanks for the food before digging in. They were quiet for the most part and as the meal came to close she suddenly pointed her fork in his direction.
"Have you been holed up in that damn office of your's again?"
"Nami, we're not having this conversation."
"The hell we aren't! I keep telling you need to get out of this apartment and live your life! C'mon Sanji, you're the best chef in the city and you can't even run the places you own! You run them from behind a computer screen, that's no life!"
"And what do you think I should do Nami? Go out into the world, infect god knows how many people? Create more monsters?"
"That wasn't your fault!"
"I can't risk it!"
He slammed his fist down onto the table rattling the silverware and plates, his thin brows pulled together in a pain filled frown making her next words die in her throat. She sighed and linked her fingers together under her chin as she looked across the table at her friend. He had been like this since she had met him so many years ago; he was distant and closed off from everyone. He rarely went out side of the aparment other then the fire escape when he wanted some fresh air. He avoided social events of any kind like they would kill him and she could honestly say there wasn't a day that went by anymore when he wasn't locked in his office, looking obsessibly over those computer screens, keeping track of his life. Closing her eyes she could still remember the night they met, he was living in a cardboard box under a bridge, the neighborhood had been abandoned years before due to a massive flood. He could have easily squatted in one of the large house up and down the roads but seemed to think that living in squallor was something he deserved. After seeing him that first night during her normal scouting route she returned everynight; sometimes she took him fresh water, or food. After almost a month she finally managed to get him to talk to her and after almost a year, he finally opened up. It took him so long til he finally trusted her with his secret, one she would take to her grave; it was a horrible burden on him to feel the way he felt. The scrapping of his chair on the floor brought her back from her thoughts of the past as he gathered the dishes and began to wash them, auto pilot she called it, he did it without even thinking. She got up and went to stand next to him to help when he pulled away before her arm could brush against his, his face turning pale as he took another step away from her before turning and walking away back into his office where he promptly shut the door closing hiself off from the world once again.
Sanji leaned his back against the door and wiped the thin sheen of sweat from his forehead, that had been close, too close. He hated that Nami had done nothing short of forcing him to move in with her. She had begged, pleaded, even tried to bribe him with the prospect of sleeping with her; and while she was a beautiful woman his preferences leaned towards the other side of the scale. She was sweet when she wanted to be and generous for the most part, she had opened her home up to him and while he was thankful beyond words he was also terrified that one day, whether he meant to or not, he would hurt her. The prospect of that scared him more then anything, the thought of her ending up like him just because he got careless was gut wrenching. Sighing he pulled a pack of ciggarettes from the back pocket of his pants and opened the window; stepping out onto the fire escape he sat down on one of the cold steel steps and lit the potent stick between his teeth. He could see his breath as he inhaled and exhaled but, the cold didn't even bother him. He couldn't feel the chill as the snow slowly began to drift down from the black sky heavier then before, he didn't feel the freezing wind as it howled between the buildings. Goosebumps rose across his skin as he looked up seeing a small peek of a half moon behins a patch of clouds and just like that it was gone from sight. His blue eyes closed lazily as he leaned his weight onto his elbows on the step behind him. The nicotine filled his lungs as he inhaled and exhaled over and over, the bright red cherry of the burning ciggarette getting closer and closer to his face, his finger tips tingled with the chemical and his head swam for only a moment telling him that the nicotine had made it into his system. When the cheery was almost touching the filter he plukced it from between his lips and put it out in a small pile of snow watching and listening with mild interest as it sizzled an steamed before dying. Taking a deep breath of the cold air he climbed back into the office room through the window and closed it shut tightly behind him. Sitting back down in the chair he went back to his life, his boring...uneventful...careful life.
Frowning from the adjacent rooftop a broad man crossed his arms over his chest, a grunt of annoyance leaving him as his assosiate sat cross legged behind him on the phone with his employers. He growled and turned on the woman with a deep scowl.
"I can handle this myself, I don't need you or your morons fucking it up for me."
She tucked a jet black strand of hair behind her ear before pinning him with a pair of pale blue eyes that made his shift uncomfortably. "How long have you been after this particualr target Roanoa?"
"None of your goddamn bussiness."
"I see, so should I cancle the order to have that woman released upon his death? Or, is the mighty Roanoa Zoro up to the task?"
"I said I can handle it, devil woman."
Her eyes narrowed dangerously and while the man had the confidence he could kill her and not bat an eye lash there was a life on the line that mattered to him and he would prefer not the risk it. After a moment she shut the phone off and closed her eyes and took a deep breath before looking back at the man, her gaze softened. "Forgive me Zoro, I have to play my part."
"You don't have to do it so well Robin...is she alive? Is Vivi alive?"
"Franky is looking after her personally. I can assure you, my husband will not allow harm to come to her while the agreement stands."
He 'tsked' loudly. "A mob member with an honor code...who would have thought."
She smiled a tiny smile, barely visible before she spoke, her voice chilling and calulating. "As rare as finding a demon for hire Mr. Roanoa."
He glared back at her before picking up a pair of binoculars and looking across the street at his target, how could this person be the one? How could this petite blonde be the source of it all? What he couldn't wrap his mind around was the fact that man never left the building, he closed himself off and even when his room mate was around he barely spent any time with the woman. It was completely mind boggling, but not unordianry for the man; first time he had found the blonde pain in the ass was in Canada, a small fight had broken out on a skating rink causing it to split and give the thin man enough of a distraction to disappear on him. He managed to track him down again years ago, completely cut off from any form of civilization, in the middle of Africa of all places...and Zoro hated the unbearable heat. He grit his teeth just remembering that stupid fuck up. He had managed to get his target cornered and just like that, as if an act of god, a goddamn lion pride decided he would make a good meal and attacked him. Once again he hand managed to lose track of the man until only a year ago he finally found him, in a city of all places...and he still limited his human contact. Frowning he sat down on the ledge of the building and watched his target til nearly dawn, he was confused as to why this man was deemed so dangerous yet still made no attempt to cause any kind of trouble...it rubbed him the wrong way and he wanted all the information before he took any action. The only kink in that plan were the people who had hired him to take this man out in the first place, after his second failure they took security measures to make sure he didn't fail again by taking his best friends fiance'. Ace had all but paid Zoro himself to do anything to get her back; so here he sat, in the cold and snow, watching a puney, self absorbed, annyoing, wannabe chef play house with a woman from the local military unit. It made no sense to him, but then again...it didn't have to, all he had to was kill him.