Disclaimer: One Piece does not belong to me.
This One-Shot, is based on the events of the Saga of Whole Cake and Wano. Something i want to make clear is that i'm not up to date on the manga , (i know many things about the serie and manga, but i'm not an expert either). This fanfic is based after the facts in which the team Zoro arrives to Wano in company with Kin'emon and. Momonosuke.
Anyway, to the fanfic.
PD:This fics translates to "gods protect him"
PD2: Participate in #marimocookweek with day 2: Memories and/ or Secrets-Revelations (late, I know: c)
"Zorojuro!"
The gale whipped his face, and Roronoa felt his trembling bite as he frowned fiercely.
"Hey, Zorojuro!"
Kin'emon's screams were distant and unusual, shouting them away as the night grew brighter with the full moon.
" Zoro-
"What's the matter with you, Kin'emon?"
The thick voice rose in the silence, and the samurai leaned on his knees with his tongue across the floor as if he had embarked on a race from North Blue to South Blue. Zoro let him take a breath, while he put his hands in the folds of his yukata, chewing wheat.
"You already finished with the enemy? I came running thinking you were in trouble."
Zorojuro smiled, and Kin'emon highlighted the enemy's slanted body and the Sandai Kitetsu katana covered in blood.
"I do not take even 5 seconds. " Mutter the haired-green "Finged one of my attacks, but I pierced his sword as soon as I had the chance."
Kin'emon swallowed salive, sweating cold; the enemy was not ordinary, and without Roronoa discovering it he had defeated a renowned samurai whose master, a daimyō(1), was one of the most influential feudal lords of the country of Wano Kuni.
"Anyway, did you get some information?"
Zorojuro spat out the wheat and grabbed a canteen made of gourd from his hip, which he then empwoyed to his lips until it slid down his neck like a thirsty barbarian.
"Yes, it seems that the shōgu- Zoro-dono, what are you doing?!"
The outlaw Zoro looked at him with his one eye, raising an eyebrow in reproach.
"What?"
It was not strange that he called him for the dono, but for a while he did not do it, more or less after declaring a rōnin(2) and incidentally a samurai without honor that he was supposed to commit seppuku(3)
"Are you going to holster your sword like that? To stain with blood?" Zoro did not answer him, he just made the mistake of doing it " You can not! You will spoil it!"
And immediately afterwards snatched the katana and approached the enemy, rubbing the sharp edgings on his skin.
"To clean the blood of the sword should be made with silk or the skin of the enemy, if not a dishonorable act."
Zorojuro sighed, even surprised to be to amazed, and only let him do it even if it seemed ridiculous. Kin'emon was the vassal of the Kozuki family, a samurai, and he was Roronoa Zoro, a covered swordsman with only one objective.
He could be called bushidō (4), he could have trained in a dōjō and have the sword of the famous Ryuma, but he was not a samurai, he did not behave like a samurai, he did not have the stupid ideology that he was prepared to die, let alone that he had to commit suicide in the face of an act that stained his proud.
His path had been decided long ago, and he did not have the enormous desire to pay for his sins even when Wano Kuni saw him as a barbarous and delinquent stranger.
"Hm, Zorojuro?"
His jaw was breaking from the cold while the black haired man wiped his sword with eager rapidity, and the silence that housed the place only made him want to chew more wheat, waiting for food that maybe and only if they were lucky, would be a plate of cold rice.
" Yes?"
" Have you had... Information about Luffy-dono or Sanji-dono since we left Zou? I feel like we have not seen them in years and I'm worried about not knowing anything about them."
Something squeezed his chest at the mention of some of the names that Kin'emon's tongue had released, and crossed his arms, wrinkling his forehead more than usual.
"I don´t know."
The vassal of the Kozuki family returned his gleaming sword, and the singing of the crickets became more acute when the moon at its summit illuminated its massive body.
"He is cold? Why do not we take refuge in the forest? Usopp, Robin and Franky-dono should be waiting for us."
He got up and went to a tree waiting for Zorojuro to follow him, but the hair-green had his eyes closed and his arms crossed over his open chest, which he had not dared to cuddle, even though his teeth will chastise him one by one.
"I'll stay up all night" I murmur dryly "You can go if you want."
Kin'emon snorted, somewhat aware of what was happening, and went up to the corpse throwing it aside while remembering that maybe dig a grave was not wrong.
"Are you worried about Sanji-d-
"No."
The immediate response was made sincerely, and I would have believed it if it was not because Zorojuro was known to be an idiot.
"He with Luffy, I should not worry."
Now he was beginning to doubt, because Roronoa was not lying when he named his captain's name in some of his prayers, but his years as a samurai had told him something wise, or perhaps an ignorant one, whatever it was.
"You know what I said that time, no? That the-
"But I do not believe in the Kin'emon Gods" he interrupted coarsely, his eyes closed. "And he's not-
"But I remember your words" He cut it, calm "and he can not believe how someone like you, so exuberant and brave, can be minimized like that, before a male figure."
Of course he did not understand, but Zorojuro remembered that very well, as if it had been recorded in his blood or in his retinas. Roronoa's bravery began to waver at the encouragement of companionship and friendship, and now her very nature could not be forgotten.
"All this, every day you stay awake until dawn. Is there a reason?"
The vivid memories seemed to drag them away since he had arrived at Wano, and he could be guilty of his own weakness, while he opened his eyes looking at the sunset that would soon be warm.
"Because it is golden" Whisper " Simply because it is golden."
After the adventure in Punk Hazard Kin'emon traveled with them in the Sunny, on the way to Dressrosa by his old friend Kanjuro and entrusted with the Alliance of the Mugiwaras with the Pirates Heart.
Between so much rubbing and changing cultures, Usopp and Chopper became interested in the culture of Wano Kuni, and inevitably Roronoa had been dragged into this.
"Kin'emo-san, Kin'emon -san! Tell us more about the samurai and the nin-nin!"
Chopper sat on the grass floor with Zoro beside him in a bad mood, and then Usopp it move closer with a fishing rod, looking at Kin'emon's serious features at his request.
"Do you really want to be told about the path of the samurai?"
The first to answer was the reindeer, because Zoro had been distracted for a while, scrutinize the door that led to the kitchen.
"The way of the samurai is complicated, and few men actually become it" He began, closing his eyes " A samurai has passion to death, the virtue of compassion, courage and intelligence, is a devout man in body and soul to his daimyō and-
"If he talks about intelligence, then Zoro is not."
Laughter broke out in the place, and although Zoro was listening, he did not dare to say a word.
"Hey Zoro... You will not be angry... Or will you?" I asked Usoop, fearing a little for his life, and the green haired man down his look brown slowly
"Chopper" I call, ignoring the sniper of the band "Can you go to the kitchen for a moment? It´s very quiet."
The reindeer felt intimidated, but then the green-hair features softened like silk, and the gentle touch of his masculine gaze made him nod firmly, before running up.
"Well, as I say" Clear one's throat the samurai "He takes good care of his words and shows manhood and honor through his scars, is able to protect what he wants, who he wants, and has deep loyalty to death" Exhaled Kin 'emon "That is a true samurai."
When he finished speaking, there was a thud, and then Chopper came out of the kitchen, alarmed, while a bad feeling ran through Roronoa's entire body.
"Sanji... He's sick."
It was nothing serious, something called Smallpox and the faded skin of the cook stained with red dots from his forehead to the palms of his feet, all over his body.
"And Sanji? How is Sanji?"
Luffy in the company of Nami, Usopp, Brook and Kin'emon were the first to ask each morning, when the sun touched the horizon line.
"Not very well, his fever has not gone down and he's still sweating more than usual." The declarations only i introduce more weight on the crew "But on the next island we get to, I can get what I need for medicine."
The last thing managed to lift the spirits of the group, and while Robin took care of Momonosuke and Franky sailed, Luffy felt that emotion of arriving quickly to an island, worried about his Nakama.
"Eh, and Zoro? You've seen him?"
Chopper nodded slowly to the door of his office, and Zoro's snores echoed throughout the ship.
The next morning there was a problem, and as Luffy loved the problems drag Law to his side. But then the enemy became difficult (because of Caesar) and while Sanji remained at home with the reindeer in his care, the blonde he raised his blurred gaze and took Chopper's hoof, which took his pulse, with brief desperation.
The reindeer trembled, his dry, broken voice hit him like a fist full of spikes, and the blue-eyes exhaled a breath so hot that it boiled his fur
"A-a-and the g-guys? "
Tony did not want to talk, the critical situation had been silenced at the hands of Luffy, and Sanji was the least suited to know what was happening outside that room.
"L-Let me" I murmur "Le-Let me go with them..."
Bedridden with an uncharacteristic lassitude, he felt the blisters on his skin like needle´s lacerating his body, and his hands tingled anxiously to rub his nails over the scabs, with an itch that only made him sick.
"Of course not! It is my duty as a doctor not to let you go!"
"B-But…
The rectitude of his behavior had a name and a reason, but before saying it, Momonosuke, who was not on the battlefield and just kept glued to the door, entered the middle of the discussion and prostrated himself next to Sanji , seeing his blue eyes as vibrant as the streetlamps in the middle of the night.
"Momo, it's contagious! " Stopped Chopper "If you get closer you may-
"Father once told me …" Hissed, clear for the blonde "That the love between two men was something pleasant and unpleasant at the same time..."
Tony felt his small body immobilize, and the blond focused on his words, with the small shadow of momo on his retina.
"But when I asked why, he told me that the basic principle was to give your life for the other" The blonde remained sessile for a moment, but he nodded slowly "B-but if you gave up your life... T-there would be nothing to give after... A-and…"
Maybe seeing him so sick and weak he sting the fiber sensitive, and when he felt the spicy eyes stopped talking and Sanji in his weakness smiled slightly raised his blue stars.
"You're wrong" He reasoned "There's still something left."
Momo began to cry more loudly, and Sanji straightened delicately at the complaints of Dr. Tony.
"It may be that my ineptitude and imprudence will lead me to death, but I know that my dreams will never be forgotten. He will take my soul with him, and he will have the fucking cook all his life, even in memory and heart, for all five (5) seas."
Time later, the spots on his body had disappeared, and Roronoa had his hand held gently, before the watchful eye of Kin'emon.
"You're not really a samurai " he said, crossing his arms. " Even Sanji-dono looks more like you, did not he purify himself by sacrificing his life? Thanks to the Gods he is alive!"
" I do not believe in the gods, Kin'emon." I murmured the green-hair, like a bravado intended with intent...
Sanji's warm fingers between his were discovered for the samurai as a key weakness, but before saying anything, Zoro spoke first.
"However, we must not pray to the God of chickenpox, because all the Gods protect it."
The dark haired man was surprised at his words, but fell before the intimacy of the lovers, and Zoro under his head to kissing the dry lips of Sanji, like the sharp heat of the morning.
Kin'emon accompanied him all the time, and stayed there with the fierce cold until the dawn began to settle between the west.
The pangs of sunlight pecked Zorojuro's dark skin, and his chest was protected by soft, warm caresses, like two snowy hands that he remembered so fondly.
"I'm not worried " he said "I'm not worried…"
The sky cleared, and each ray of light illuminated its scars, the swords encased, its green hair and the flayed enemy.
"Come on, it's not like I do not know you devote all your wet nights to Sanji-dono."
Her cheeks turned red, her blush was born to her red neck, and Kin'emon escaped the death of the ferocious Zorojuro, hiding in the forest victim of the tremors of laughter.
(1) He was the most powerful feudal sovereign from the tenth to the nineteenth century in the history of Japan.
(2) He was a samurai without a master during the feudal period of Japan.
(3) It is a ritual of Japanese suicide by unraveling. It is part of the ethical part of the samurai.
(4) It is a strict and particular ethical code to which many samurai (or bushi) gave their lives, which demanded loyalty and honor until death.
(5) There are 5 seas in One Piece: South blue, North blue, West blue, East blue and the Grand Line.
This one-shot is strongly inspired by the book Hagakure (Hidden Leaves) that relates the life of the samurai (ethics and values) and his (homosexual) relationships with others. Several things proposed here are compiled in ancient books that spoke of pure love among samurai´s, if you want to take a look you can look for it, because I have the Spanish version.
What a pity if it was not understend, this fic is aimed at a public in Spanish, and some concepts may not have been clear, I want to give credits to Sofy and Omu, who were my beta/readers this time.
Anyway, thanks for reading, a hug.