An idea that randomly rushed to my head after thinking about updating Hitojichi… Merry Christmas! :D
Nami had really outdone herself this time.
Zoro stood awkwardly in the midst of dozens of well-dressed rich folks, in a trim black tuxedo-looking outfit and an unfitting top hat, tugging uncomfortably at his collar.
Why, his mind was screaming desperately. Get out. Just get out right now.
The story went back to a few days before, when Usopp had been taken captive by the Marines (imagine that). Zoro had actually voted that they leave Usopp with them, but Luffy's insistence led to Nami's frustration, and she demanded that they go get Usopp so they could get on with their lives. Instead of barging onto the ship and beating the crap out of everyone on it, as Luffy suggested, Nami happened to have been reading the post and pointed out that this marine captain was a rich one and was hosting a private dinner-and-dancing party for select marine guests at a nearby port island. Nami's suggestion was that they creeped into the town on the opposite side of the ports and furled their sails to distract the townspeople for awhile. Then they'd drop off one of the guys, who would casually make his way onto the marine ship with an ingoing group, find Usopp, and break him out.
Sanji had brought up the issue of formal dress. Nami had agreed that Sanji would immediately be recognizable. He had fought against the marine captain head-on yesterday and before they had departed, the marine had sworn vengeance on him. Sanji couldn't make it onboard without attracting the attention of the man- or flirting with the females aboard the ship. Chopper was too hairy, Franky was too tall and stood out too much, and Luffy was too… Luffy… Brook… well, Brook's reasons were given…. Suddenly all eyes were on Zoro. The next thing he knew, he was in a large ballroom on a marine ship, in his regular black pants and boots, Sanji's jacket, and Brook's hat to cover his hair. His earrings he had taken out for once, and of course he had ditched the bandana, his sash and his three swords. So he felt awkward.
"Prisoners," he muttered to himself. "They'd be… in the bottom of the ship. Stairs, stairs…"
"Excuse me," said a female voice from behind him. Zoro froze. Kuina…? He turned quickly to find himself face-to-face with not Kuina, but her pesky marine look-alike. Nooo! Tashigi smiled up at him innocently. Her dress was a simple turquoise color, her glasses gone to who-knows-where, and her hair had grown nearly to her shoulders. All the same, Zoro remembered her eyes. Of all the people… he sighed heavily.
"Are you Captain Himura?" Tashigi seemed very interested in the said guy. Zoro coughed and shook his head, backing up a little. Tashigi followed him. "Oh, you're not? Who are you, then?"
"I'm…" Zoro tried to disguise his voice. "I'm… Ensign… Iwata…"
"Ensign Iwata? Oh. I'm Ensign Tashigi. Have we met?"
"Uh, no. Maybe. Katana contest a few years back?"
"You fight with katana too?"
Why does she choose to mingle with me, of all people! Looking for a distraction, he heard the music slow down. Perfect, he thought. I can pull that old trick, dance, twirl her around and be gone…
"Let's dance," he said, grabbing her hand. Tashigi blushed but let him take her to the dance floor as the song began. Zoro expected to be stepped on a lot when he first offered his hand, but actually Tashigi proved to be much better at dancing than walking. Tashigi, in the meantime, was amazed at this handsome stranger's skill, and awed at the way he danced so gracefully with such a hard face.
"Ensign Iwata, whose troop are you stationed under?"
"Um," Zoro thought. "Captain Himura." Tashigi's grip tightened on his hand. "Really?" she breathed. "So you've seen his Meitou in action?" Zoro couldn't believe it. That's why she was so interested in this Captain Himura.
"Sure," he said, waving it off. "Loads of times."
"What's it like?" Tashigi asked. Zoro, annoyed, threw out his best adjective.
"Awesome." Tashigi nodded and just as Zoro twirled her and stepped away, she tripped over who-knows-what and fell right at his feet again. It's like I attract her, he panicked as a few people giggled. She stood up and tilted her head to the side. "Don't you want to finish the dance?" she asked.
"Um," Zoro said. "No. I've got to go. Do you, uh, know where the prisoners are?"
"Maybe," Tashigi said, raising her eyebrow. "Why so interested?"
"I, er, heard they caught a Mugiwara yesterday," he said, trying to keep the conversation casual. Tashigi's eyes widened. Crap.
"Which one?" she asked hurriedly. Zoro stepped back. "Uh…" Tashigi followed him, backing him up finally into a doorway which led down another corridor. "Um, I don't know," he said. "Rumor has it… is all…"
"Are you interested in them, too?" Tashigi asked. Smirking a little, Zoro let himself have a little fun. "Yeah," he said. "I'm looking for that jerk Roronoa Zoro. Beat the crap out of my last year. It's so on if that's him down there. Ever heard of him?" Tashigi's eyes sparkled. She nodded.
"Isn't he awful!" she demanded.
"The worst," Zoro said, biting back a laugh.
"Come on," Tashigi said immediately, grabbing him by the sleeve. "I'll take you there." She began to lead him down the corridor and through a few more hallways, obviously very skilled in navigating around marine ships. Zoro held his hat on with his free hand, nervously debating on what to do. Before he could decide, they were standing in the dungeons.
"Oh, you're right," Tashigi said, a little disappointed, as she saw Usopp's sleeping figure snoring loudly on the ground. She watched Zoro as he nervously looked around for keys of some sort, or anything. "Ensign Iwata, what are you looking for?"
"Hm?" Zoro asked. "Um, just curious… about… the walls… and… the ceiling… I heard they were… well-built… yeah…"
"You're not very good at lying," Tashigi said. Zoro froze. "Were you hoping it was Zoro?"
"Yeah," Zoro sighed in relief. "Darn. Maybe next time." He scratched the back of his head while Tashigi looked down at Usopp. "It's a shame," she said slowly. "Those Mugiwara pirates aren't all that bad." Zoro finally located the keys on the wall behind him and backed up a little, trying to work them off the loop silently.
"I mean, I saw them liberate the kingdom of Arabasta…" Zoro's fingers slipped and he caught his breath for a moment before successfully sliding the keys off their loop. Now he turned sideways to pretend to be interested in Tashigi's story, casually leaning against the bars of Usopp's cell and working the key into the lock.
"And… I don't know; they just seem like pretty good people, on the inside. It really makes me question my sense of justi-…"
CHERK! The lock clicked loudly, with a screech of rusted iron. Usopp stirred. Zoro tensed and Tashigi blinked, looking down at the cell door. Trying to think fast, Zoro grabbed Tashigi's shoulder and pulled her in for a rough kiss. Usopp, you'd better wake up and get the heck out of here while I can still stall her.
Usopp woke to see a nicely-dressed couple just making out in front of his cell. Confused, he looked to the door to see a key sticking there haphazardly. He stood up and pushed on the door curiously and it flew open, the sudden gust of air knocking off the man's hat. Tashigi's eyes opened at the sound of the rusty door moving and she broke the kiss, pushing Zoro away with a shriek.
"Go, Usopp, go!" Zoro yelled desperately, shooing him up the stairs. Usopp, dazed, bolted up the staircase and headed for the exit. Zoro grabbed Brook's hat and began his own mad dash up the stairs. Tashigi, shocked, stood in silence for a moment and put her fingers to her lips, blushing.
"RORONOA!" the haunting yell echoed in Zoro's ears as he scrambled to get out of there, trying to keep track of Usopp through the twisted hallways.
"Who was that girl!" Usopp yelled as they ran.
"Don't worry about it!" Zoro yelled back. They dashed right down the gangplank and off the boat, hurrying around to where the Thousand Sunny was waiting. Only a few moments behind, Tashigi tore through the ballroom yelling, "Commodore Smoker, the Mugiwaras!"
"What?" Smoker growled. He sighed and turned his back to the officer he had been talking to. "Nice meeting you," he muttered, and then he materialized into smoke and rushed out the door after his subordinate.
"Go, now!" Zoro demanded as he and Usopp clambered up on deck. He threw the top hat at Brook and shrugged off Sanji's jacket onto the deck. "It's Smoker; we'd better get out of here."
"Already on it!" Luffy yelled from above, unfurling the sails. The wind picked up and they sped away from the island, leaving Smoker and Tashigi standing dumbfounded on the beach.
"Well… they're gone again," Tashigi sighed.
"No problem," Smoker said. "We'll catch them if we leave right away. It's an endless cycle, isn't it? Go get on the ship. I'm going to go alert the captain that we're leaving."
"I think he got that," Tashigi smiled weakly.
"I know, but it's for the sake of being polite." Smoker walked off, leaving Tashigi staring at the direction in which the Mugiwaras had sailed. The warmth of Ensign Iwata's kiss was still on her lips, but it was Zoro's voice in her ears.
Thinking back, she realized that the topics they had touched on over the night weren't so farfetched that Zoro wouldn't be interested in them (save the whole "Zoro's a jerk" part). Maybe they did have something in common after all. Tashigi sighed, feeling a strange warmth in her. Was it meant to be, then? She didn't know. Maybe one day Zoro would reveal himself as someone to love… until then, she'd settle for Ensign Iwata.