AN: One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda!
Hope everyone's had a good week! XD Sorry this is a little late – I got a little sidetracked writing an essay :P
(Just in case, 'scald' - typically a term for a bad burn caused by hot water - is also (Scottish?) slang for 'giving someone a serious telling off' - thanks for the heads up! Sorry mina!)
Chapter Two – Life's Disappointments
Zoro stood at the school gates, waiting for his friends. He'd had an actual free period, his attendance having noticeably improved in all his classes, much to the joy of his teachers. Sadly, his attendance to the Principal's office had also increased, but at least he was turning up, right? He'd actually answered all his questions in Maths and gotten most of his pieces for his rabbit hutch made in Woodwork, he'd just fallen asleep in English and hadn't made it passed the tree at lunch and missed P.E., which, if he was honest, he did regret. P.E. had been the only compulsory course for sixth year and his attendance was actually pretty good – it was the highlight of his week, or at least, it had been until three months ago.
Zoro sighed, wishing he hadn't missed his opportunity to work out at the school gym. Even if they didn't have any heavy enough weights for him, it was still at least a chance to work out during school hours. He stared at the school entrance, wondering where the others were. He froze as his eyes met with the sight of a tall woman dressed in a green and white horizontal striped dress that came down to her mid-thigh. He smirked, watching her descend the steps towards him, smiling as she spotted him by the gates. She was smiling at him, and she was wearing his colours. If that wasn't a sign, he didn't know what was.
He shook his head, wondering what the hell he was thinking. She was his teacher, and it wouldn't surprise him if she was married, or at least had a boyfriend. She was just being a good teacher and encouraging him to turn up by being nice – he was just reading her wrong. How old was she anyway? There was no way she'd be interested in a kid like him, even if she had pointed out he was an 'older sixth year'. In fact, she was probably just trying to guilt trip him into coming to class.
That of course didn't stop a small part of him being glad that he'd been kept back a year, considering Nami had told him that 'Miss Nico' had just started at their school that very year. She was actually the Witch's registration teacher. Zoro of course didn't believe in God, but he did believe in fate. Maybe this was just fate trying to get him interested in something other than training before he finished high school? Zoro couldn't deny that he was at least curious about the woman in front of him.
"Good afternoon, Zoro-san! I didn't think I would see you today since I didn't have your class – did you turn up to all your classes again?" She smiled, Zoro looking away guiltily.
"Most...I fell asleep at lunch and no-one woke me." Zoro replied rubbing his neck awkwardly, feeling his ears burning as she laughed at his guilty expression, "nice dress."
"Thank you, Zoro-san! It's a very lovely colour, isn't it?" Zoro smirked as he met her eyes, wondering if she'd actually meant to say that his hair was a 'lovely colour', or if it was a coincidence her dress was the same shade.
"So you like green then?" He asked, pulling himself up to his full height.
"I do actually, but you may have noticed my favourite would be purple," she smiled as she turned to walk out of the gate, looking back at him over her shoulder.
Zoro grinned goofily as he watched her walking away. She liked green. Girls don't like green, but she does. He'd even found out her favourite colour, not that he needed to know it, but he knew it now and he definitely wasn't going to complain. She'd even looked back at him as she was walking away – that was supposed to be a good sign right?
What was he thinking? He was doing it again! What did she do to him? He didn't care about girls. He never showed girls any attention. He didn't need the hassle of showing interest in girls. But she wasn't a girl. She was a woman. Robin was a woman. But she was still female! He didn't need that hassle – they were all the same.
Zoro glanced at the entrance of the school, his friends still nowhere to be seen. He looked out through the gates, quickly finding the woman dressed boldly in his colours. He could at least be polite and offer to walk her home, right? She obviously didn't have a car. In fact, if he brought his car tomorrow, he did have History last, he could offer her a lift home when they finished for the day. What would be wrong with that? If he was lucky it would rain, and then it would seem perfectly normal for him to bring his car – who would stand at a bus stop getting wet when they could just use their car?
Zoro started to walk after her, leaving his missing friends behind as he decided to follow her home – he could at least find out if she lived in the same direction as him. He rounded the corner at the end of the street and found her standing at the bus stop directly in front of him. She smiled at him as she continued to talk to someone on her phone. Zoro stood next to her, glancing at the screen of the bus tracker at the stop. The bus to his was due in three minutes – at least it wouldn't look like he'd been trying to follow her if he got on the bus home.
He glanced at her as she sighed, pushing her mobile into her handbag. What had that been about? She hadn't seemed very happy, so who had she been talking to? She was always smiling and laughing. He thought back to his last class with her, thinking about what she was always like when she spoke to the class. She always smiled as she taught them, and she had a habit of laughing at him, and she usually seemed pretty happy when she was reading whatever it was that she read as they did their work.
Of course, there had been a few classes when she'd looked concerned when he'd glanced up at her, not that he did that too often in case she noticed. She'd keep glancing at her bag for some reason instead of focusing on her book. Maybe she'd been waiting to hear from someone? Maybe that was who she'd been talking to just now?
The bus pulled up and he realised he'd stood in silence, not even saying a word to her, while they'd waited on the bus. He went to step forward, only to find Robin stepping forward at the same time. He grinned at her as she laughed once they'd each gotten past their momentary surprise. He motioned for her to get on first, quickly being reminded of how well her dress fitted her as he followed her on. He paid the driver for his ticket and glanced up the bus, his eyes meeting with hers as she smiled at him, gesturing to the adjacent seat.
Zoro grinned back at her as he realised she was inviting him to sit with her. It wasn't just all in his head. His teacher did like his company. Maybe she was wearing his colours on purpose after all? No, he wasn't supposed to see her today – she'd just chosen to wear them anyway. Maybe she couldn't make it through a day at that school without the sight of that shade of green? Maybe he could tease her for a change?
"Not getting the school bus, Zoro-san?" Zoro looked round at her, slightly confused.
"Love-Cook's being irritating again," he lied hoping she didn't notice, "and I don't always get the school bus anyway – this one's quicker and I've got homework due tomorrow."
"I know you do, Zoro-san – I gave you it." Zoro silently cursed as he looked away blushing slightly, "Do you need any help? I have no plans for the evening."
Zoro turned to look at her, trying to hide his surprise. He grinned and shook his head. She was inviting him over to hers. What kind of teacher invited her pupils to her house to study? Maybe it wasn't to study? Damn he needed to get his head back on straight. Of course it was to help with homework. She would want him to hand in his homework, not distract him so that he didn't. Then again, maybe she wanted to scald him?
An image of Robin, standing next to her desk, tapping a cane against her hand as she bit her lip with a teasing looking in her eyes appeared in Zoro's head and his face turned red. What the hell was that? He wanted her to smack him with a cane now? When did he become that kind of guy?! And teachers haven't used canes in years! He heard a giggle next to him and remembered the grown woman sitting next to him, his face getting even redder.
"I'll manage," he grunted out, not trusting himself to say anymore.
"I shall expect it on my desk at the beginning of the double period tomorrow then, Zoro-san," she smiled as Zoro nodded, "but you may wish to get your blood pressure checked – you seem to spend an awful lot of time with pink cheeks and ears. It is very cute, but high blood pressure can be a killer."
Zoro's head landed on the chair in front of him, earning another giggle from Robin. She'd noticed him blushing. He wanted to go hide from the embarrassment. He wasn't the type of guy that got embarrassed easily, and here this woman was teasing him because he was constantly blushing, to the point where she thought he was cute. A smirk twitched at the sides of the mouth. Nico Robin was wearing his colours and thought he was cute.
He banged his head off of the chair again. She thought he was cute. He was a tall, muscular guy – he wasn't cute! But she was taller, and she kept making him blush. Maybe he was just another cute pupil to her? He groaned as he thought about all the weird thoughts she'd unknowingly put in his head. He felt a hand on his shoulder and opened his right eye to glance at her from his current position. He registered the concerned expression across her face and sat back, throwing his hands behind his head as he did so, placing them on the back of his neck, and smiled at her. She hadn't done anything wrong, and she was alright for a woman.
"I'm fine. I've just been lecturing myself lately for a lot of stupid things that I normally leave to Love-Cook." He told her, the thought of stretching out his right arm along the back of her seat crossing his mind as he looked back at her.
"Ah, so you've been suffering from interesting thoughts too, Zoro-san?" Robin smiled, the concern gone completely.
Zoro's face flushed, wondering if she meant she'd been having them, or if she meant she knew Sanji constantly had them. She had to mean the latter, right? She wouldn't be having thoughts about him? Maybe she really was a green girl? That was crazy – she was a woman, not a stupid high school girl acting on a whim. She was wearing his colours? And she had been the one to suggest that he sat next to her?
She was his teacher. She was being polite. She'd been put in a situation where she either had to ignore him or acknowledge him, she'd chosen the latter to be polite. She wasn't one of the green girls, but that didn't mean she wasn't a green woman, right? She could of course have a boyfriend or a husband with green hair, or more likely, it was a pure fluke and she just liked the dress.
Zoro sighed in relief as the bus approached his stop. He stood up, shouldering his bag as he pressed the bell. He walked to the front of the bus, not daring to glance at the teacher who'd more than likely be smiling at him as he got off the bus. He stepped off and paused, taking a deep breath before turning to wave goodbye to her. Her laughter met his ears as he found himself faced with her, standing directly behind him. His face flushed again and he cursed under his breath. She was getting off at the same stop. He smiled awkwardly at her before turning and stepping forward to let her off of the bus.
He started walking, unsure what to say as she continued alongside him. He reached the start of the path that led up his front garden and turned to explain that that was him home, only to find her already halfway across the road. He watched as she walked up the garden path of the house directly opposite his, looking through her handbag. He smirked as she pulled out keys and put them into the lock. He gave her a small wave as she turned to smile at him before disappearing into her own house. She lived across from him.
Perfect.
Zoro lay down on his bed, his History homework lying finished on his desk. It was eleven o'clock at night and his foster father was shouting up the stairs to tell him he should have been to sleep an hour ago if he didn't want to be tired tomorrow. Sleeping was his pastime, he didn't need to be in bed at a certain time as far as he was concerned. He smiled goofily as he realised it was Friday the next day. That meant it was almost Saturday, which meant he could go help his foster father at the dojo.
He turned over onto his back, his head upside down as he looked up at the sky out of his window. Something moved at the edge of his vision and he flipped back onto his stomach, looking out the window. There was a light on across the street. Zoro got up and walked over to his window, quickly noticing a car parked in the driveway. He looked back at the window, watching as Robin walked in front of the window, quickly followed by a tall guy taking off his shirt. She had a damn husband. Of course she did.
When he woke up the next morning he wasn't surprised that it wasn't raining, and he wasn't surprised when she was dropped off at the school by a big guy with long black hair and a scar across his face.
He'd fallen for a married woman.
Hope you liked this chapter! ^_^ Quick heads up for next week – I've got a meeting next Tuesday, so since I know I won't be able to post, I'll post a day early ;D So, if you're enjoying this story, you're in luck because you only have to wait until Monday for the next chapter! ;P
YukiHannah87, hehe, glad you found that funny! XD Hope you liked this chapter, and I managed to get that one-shot written for you, so it'll be posted on Sunday! ^_^
DangoCorn-chwwwwannnn! XD Hope this one was just as funny! And, I appear to be adding more complications ;P Poor Zoro...but we're only 4 months into the school year soooo 3;D
megaME, I'm so happy that you're already loving it! XD Hope this week was up to scratch with blushing Zoro! ;P Of course I'll continue – I can't let you down! XD
'Guest' and 'Guest', if you're not the same person, I am seriously impressed by how similar your requests are! XD I like writing some angst, so I'll see what I can do! ^_^ Glad you enjoyed the last chapter ^_^ Hopefully you liked this one too! ^_^ And don't worry, I'll be updating Ch3 a day early! ^_^
'Guest', thank you! ^_^ Hope this was soon enough – it's usually weekly! ^_^ Next week's will be up a day early though! ^_^
Today:
His Sixth Year Crush Ch2 – One Piece (Zorobin)
Friday:
Conceit and Crudity Ch4 – Fairy Tail (GaLe/Gajevy & others)
Sunday:
Another Dancer – One Piece (Zorobin); one-shot request for YukiHannah87
Monday:
His Sixth Year Crush Ch3 - One Piece (Zorobin)
