AN:Whew, first chapter went out smoothly. I'm still a little bit scared that this might turn out bad. Readers don't be afraid to correct me. Angst, angst, angst.

Oh and by the way, this time, it's from Zoro's point of view but on the same day as the first chapter. I felt it was indispensable to go over both characterizations. Okay everyone, hopefully this chapter is to your liking. ^^

Zoro cleared his state of mind as the sun began to rise. The crimson colors cracked through his closed eyelids as he concentrated on the sound of his breathing.

Hah.. Hoo.. He breathed in and out evenly, allowing the oxygen to freely travel down to his abdomen region then up again.

However, his concentration shattered when a certain black haired girl intercepted his thoughts. He cursed at himself for being easily distracted and sidetracked. So for now, he would call it quits and find something edible.

What should I eat?

He searched around his kitchen, rampaging through the refrigerator and the wooden cabinets. Zoro sighed when all he found were ramen packets. Being unable to cook, and with the lack of money, he was stuck with either takeouts or simple food like this. Zoro poured water from the hot water dispenser and waited couple of minutes before digging in.

He stood by his favorable spot, next to the balcony door where he could see the sun rising to its peak.

"Hey, Kuina?"

"Yeah?"

"Let's battle."

"Alright"

The two picked up their bamboo swords with complete ease. Kuina picked up one while Zoro picked up three, placing one in his mouth.

There was a moment of silence; a moment in which they stared each other down. Tonight, Kuina made the first move. Zoro saw the way her shoulder shifted to the side as her feet jolted away from the spot. He lifted his swords above his head as she struck fiercely down, and the bamboo sticks made a crackling sound when they met. She quickly stepped back, calculating Zoro and rationalizing her next move. Speed was her forte after all; with a flick of her wrist, she aimed for his waist, speedily swishing from side to side. And almost sluggishly, Zoro stepped aside; however, Kuina rotated herself around before knocking him down with a jab to his side with her elbows.

Kuina's bamboo swords dug into the earth next to his head. Her short black strands tickled his nose and their light pants mingled together.

"What is this, your ten-thousandth win?" Zoro asked with a playful grin, fingers reaching forward to touch the ends of her hair.

Kuina glared at him, and hurriedly pulled herself off of him. "Stop it. I know that you let me win."

"What?" He got on one knee before pulling himself off the ground, brushing the dirt off of his clothes.

The cropped haired woman crossed her arms over her chest "I told you to stop treating me like a girl. Treat me like one of your guy opponents."

"Kuina. If I had treated you like a 'girl', I think I would have been dead by now." He chuckled afterwards.

"Yeah?"

Zoro reached forward to brush her hair out of her face, gently brushing against the tip of her ear. Only towards her were his actions considered gentle. "You're the biggest competition next to Mihawk, why would I go easy on you? Don't take me for a dumbass."

That comment was meant to bring a smile to her face, but her frown deepened. "You realize it right, Zoro?" He remained silent, so she took a heavy breath before continuing, "Remember when we were kids?"

"When we made the promise to be the greatest swordsman?"

"Exactly."

Huh?

"Exactly that. Man. Swordsman, Zoro."

Zoro recalled Kuina's secret confession of wanting to be a boy. How a man's body was more capable than a woman's. And how she began to praise Zoro's younger self for being born as a certain gender, which obviously enraged into him. He didn't want to believe that gender was a factor that mattered, because he wanted to believe hard work was the only thing that resulted in success.

"Zoro, I know it's going to be you who's going to be the best." She said. "I'm so disgraceful. Lately, the kids we grew up with, even they are starting to surpass me. You have been able to beat me with ease for awhile now. No matter how much I train, you are stronger. No matter how much I strain my self, you will always be stronger. It is never enough for me." Her voice was full of anger and grief, and her gaze shifted to the ground. "Perhaps my father was right. A woman will never be able to beat a man."

That was a huge slap in the face.

"Kuina, I'm going to be honest with you," he began. "You will never be stronger than me."

Kuina's eyes flashed with rage, but Zoro quickly intercepted before she was able to speak. "But you are still my biggest competition, know why? You don't have the strength, but you still have the speed, technique, and reflexes. Do you think strength is the only thing that matters in swordsmanship? By hearing you say this, do you realize how fucking stupid I feel right now? I trained myself all this time just to beat you. So now, hearing you say that, I feel like I'm doing this for no reason."

An uncomfortable silence played out. Zoro had to turn away because his face was heating up.

Kuina plumped down on the ground before laughing hysterically, clutching her own stomach. "Zoro, you said almost the exact same thing when we were kids. You never grow up, do you?"

The swordsman stepped back, with a red face. "Shut up!"

"Come here, my never growing Peterpan." She reached forward to grab his shirt before pulling him into a deep kiss, which he acquiesced into pretty damn quickly. "I'll be your Wendy forever."

After finishing up his ramen, Zoro looked into his closet to see if any of his clothes were formal enough. The problem was, every one of his clothes were tattered as though he had just stole all of them from couple of hobos outside of his building.

He needed help.

Zoro dialed in his friend's number, worried that he was still asleep. After couple of rings, the other side picked up, answering. "Hello?"

"Ace? I need your help."

"I knew it! I knew that you would prepare last minute and come to me for help. What do you need? Clothes, styling, and professional help?" His tone of voice was full of eager and sarcasm.

"Shut up. Just get here."

"Alright. I'll be there in ten minutes." Zoro heard a gruffly voice in the background asking Ace where he was going. "Go back to sleep, Marco. I'm gonna go over to Zoro's."

Marco? "Why is he-?" He paused, "I know I should mind my own business but I thought you were straight?"

"Hah, best joke I heard all day." The other man chuckled a bit, "I never said I was straight Zoro, I just said I wouldn't fuck guys."

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"Nah, I'm the one getting fucked in this relationship."

"Okay. Way too much information. I don't know why I asked."

"I don't know why I told you." Few seconds of silence. "But if you ever happen to turn gay anytime soon, you can come to me for advice."

"Hell no to both."

"Haha, I'm just fucking with you, you already have a girlfriend. Lucky fucker, she's a beauty."

"I thought you were gay."

"I never said that either."

"Ugh, never mind. Just get here as fast as possible."

"Will try," Ace replied before hanging up.

Zoro threw his phone on top of the couch. He reached for his remote control and turned on the TV. There were some music videos being shown and critics commenting on them. He widely yawned before changing the channel, surfing around for a Spanish network, for who knows what reasons.

Not even five minutes passed before the door was being harshly knocked.

"Hey," Ace waved, with a wide grin on his face. "I got your stuff." He pushed forward a bag that had a fine suit and a pair of black shoes, brands presumably Zoro could never even dream of in his lifetime. Ace and his brother were really well off after all.

Zoro stepped aside to allow his freckled friend to march in. "Well, look at you! You look like a hobo!" Ace exclaimed before cracking up, holding his stomach in his hand. His index finger was pointing at Zoro's shitty appearance, who was still wearing his sleeping gears.

"Thanks." Zoro grumbled out, sarcastically. He rolled his eyes as he always did when Ace was around.

"Now go and get dressed. I don't know if you can pull off a nice suit like this, though." He thought out loud while observing the suit he brought over. An ironed black suit with a midnight blue collared shirt inside. "I never saw you in a suit before. This is going to be interesting..." He handed over the suit but held back the tie. "Now go and change, little Zoro." He pushed Zoro into the bathroom.

"Don't you call me 'little', you stupid firebug!" He shouted before the bathroom door slammed behind him.

He held up the collard shirt that was folded delicately underneath the suit. Since he and Ace had a similar body type, the shirt was very fitting on him. When he pulled it on over his head, the nice cool fabric felt prickly on his skin. And it accented the compacted muscles he had beneath the shirt. He purposely did not button the very top button because he did not like the feeling of restriction around his neck. He pulled on the dark black suit over the blue shirt and strangely, the combination made him look quite refined.

As soon as he walked out, Ace, who was stretched out on his couch, whistled. "Woah, man. You don't look like a bum anymore."

"Shut it Porgas before I shove my fist up your ass." He threatened.

Ace held up both of his hands. "Hey, man. Just because I came out my closet does not mean I'm into that."

The green haired man groaned. The freckled man laughed at his friend.

"I don't think you need a tie, to be honest." Ace held his chin with his thumb and forefinger, observing his friend with intensity. "I think you can do without. The overwhelming formal look isn't for you, as I thought." He grinned. "Now, go on, you bastard. I'm going to throw a party here while you're gone." Ace swished over to his side and reached for the remote at the edge of the couch- with his feet.

"I'm going to go pick up Kuina, don't make a bigger mess than this." Zoro told Ace. He fully trusted Ace enough to leave him inside of his house.

He waved his hand, gesturing for Zoro to leave already.

"Yeah yeah, enough with your nagging and go have fun already." Ace threw Zoro another smile over his shoulder.

Zoro smirked back.

Zoro was awfully peeved. He had turned left when his GPS told him the opposite and he continued with these directional mistakes.

The irritation grew along with the number of streets he was passing by. He squinted his eyes at his GPS and tried to figure out what this small mechanic was trying to tell him. "Make a U-turn," it continued to say. Did that mean he had to turn around? But if he went back, then he would go back to his own house... so...

In the midst of his thoughts, a flash of blonde hair swayed in front of his car and a loud thud was heard, causing him to hit the breaks alarmingly.

Did I just.. hit someone?

His heart began thumping loudly in his ears and his hands began to become clammy with cold sweat.

Shit!

Zoro stepped out of his car and almost tripped over empty air, his heart pounding in his ears. He swished his head around and saw that the street light was green, and the walking light was red.

Then why did this idiot walk? He wondered silently.

He walked towards the crowd. He heard old ladies commenting about a poor young blond man who injured his hands. So to confirm it with his own eyes, he pushed through the horde of people and saw the man on the ground, left hand clutching his right hand. He wasn't bleeding or anything but his hands were an array of unusual colors. The blond attempted to push himself up, but stumbled a bit. Some people in the crowd questioned if he needed help or not, but the blond did not respond to any of them. Zoro stepped forward, wondering why in the hell his day was making a U-turn by itself. He crouched and placed an arm around the blond, gently raising him up with his own hand on his chest. "Are you alright?" He asked the stranger.

The man was silent initially but when his eyes met Zoro's own, fury began to lash.

"Asshole, did you do this to me?" The swordsman realized that this man had a deep shade of blue eyes. But simultaneously, his eyes were lit with fire, anguish in his features. "Fucker, answer me!"

After this, the conversation dissipated inside his head. He realized that there were still people surrounding them, whispering among themselves. He saw the blond yelling, his bangs hiding half of his face. He realized that he was answering mechanically to the furious blond, whose maddened featured only became more distinct with every word Zoro said.

"It's not like that." He told the blonde, tired of the argument, with nothing getting through the other man.

The blond murmured something before walking away, with a saddened expression, the fire in his eyes extinguishing.

Zoro called after him because it was partially his fault for ruining both of their days. And the blond's hands were in a bad form. They were swollen, green and yellow, and hardly fit into the stranger's pockets when he walked away coolly. "Hey, come back!" But the blond continued to walk and the cars were beeping behind him, so he acquiesced and slammed the car doors after he adjusted into his seats again.

Zoro drove to Kuina's place quietly; actually listening to the annoying GPS for once.

When he reached the dojo, his tensed up muscles relaxed immediately. His home was right there, waiting for him. But even better, his lover, Kuina, was waiting for him.

A wooden house, a flat foundation made of packed earth and stones.

The tatami mats laid out in front of the sliding doors reminded him of the times when he and Kuina used to eat watermelons during summertime due to the hot temperature. However, tonight, the only person occupying that spot was none other than Koshiro, his sensei and Kuina's father.

His shoe stepped over the sediments of gravel and trailed along the platform of red bricks. He walked over towards Koshiro. "Hello, Sensei." He greeted with a respectful bow.

Koshirou looked up from his novel. He smiled kindly at Zoro and adjusted his round glasses with his index finger, pushing it a bit higher, and spoke in Japanese. "Good afternoon, Zoro." His smile deepened. "You're here to pick up my daughter for a date, is that right?"

Zoro grunted, "Sensei, you're embarrassing us again."

Koshirou laughed light-heartedly, "I'm just glad you guys are happy."

Zoro took another bow before walking away, searching for a fair lady with black hair. He immediately took notice of her, next to a bare tree. However, she didn't take any notice of him. Her eyes were closed and although the wind playful ruffled her hair, her concentration never faltered. Her right foot stepped forward as she struck the sword down, precisely and gracefully, almost as if she was cutting the wind. "Hey, Zoro." She greeted after breathing out evenly, her eyes still closed.

The swordsman grinned. He could never surprise her.

Kuina ran her fingers through her black strands, sweat streaking down the side of her forehead. She met Zoro's eyes with a familiar challenging expression, with a curve of her lips. "Let's duel."

Zoro almost laughed. "In my suit?" He sarcastically asked at the most unexpected, or kind of expected, request.

"Why not? You're just taking me out to eat right? We have a few more hours to spare before dinnertime, let's just train a bit." Kuina said bluntly.

"Good point." He grabbed two bamboo swords nearby, in the basket that had all the bamboo swords inside, and met Kuina's challenging eyes. He started the fight this time and the two became two contrasting forces colliding against each other, yet moved alongside with another like two dancing partners. And by the time the sun lowered its gaze, so much that its blaze turned red, the two became a hot sweating mess. And Zoro couldn't help but to think that Kuina's face was so beautiful underneath the fervent glow of the dying sky.

Zoro leaned on her shoulder, the two resting against the bare tree. "Kuina, today was supposed to be a date." He whispered.

"Zoro, a date is when two people spend a day together and that's exactly what we did."

"We didn't exactly spend it together, we actually fought each other."

"Ah, but my little student, we still spent time together and we both like fighting. So everything's good."

"Bastard," Zoro growled out. "My suit is covered in my sweat because of you."

"I'll go put on one of my fancy dresses then." She told him with a playful smirk as she stood up, dusting herself. "Race you to the dojo?"

"I'll beat ya."

"You wish."

When they reached the place, Zoro couldn't help but to think the place as average.

The restaurant was turquoise and had three levels. The word "Baratie" was written on the second level and the place looked like it was meant to be at the sea, which was a silly thought because restaurants were not boats. They were places above ground.

When Zoro stepped inside the restaurant with his companion, the interior designing of the place surprised him a little, because it appeared unexpectedly high class. Everyone was wearing nice clothes like Kuina and he as well, and walking alongside a beautiful woman was intimidating too, especially in a high class restaurant such as this. Kuina, a tomboy, strangely matched the extravagant red dress she wore. And Zoro noted, that some guys were turning to glimpse at his companion, walking in with those high heels of hers.

The waiters guided them to their seats, next to the windows, in between the tables of large parties.

Kuina looked awfully composed while flipping through the menu. Zoro couldn't help but to absorb that calm look of hers. If she wanted, she could have any man from this room- rich or not. Though she had been lanky and awkward in the past, as soon as she had turned sixteen, streams of boys began to line up behind her. But of course, she had rejected a load of those boys, waiting patiently for Zoro to realize his true feelings for her.

Zoro grinned. How could he not have realized?

"I'm going to the bathroom," he announced.

She glanced up, "Alright, be back soon." Zoro noticed that she had a bit of makeup on, emphasizing her full lips and long lashes. She really did not need makeup, but Zoro certainly did not mind. He only minded other guys noticing her.

He headed to the bathroom, behind the blue curtains, near the staircase where the waiters strolled to and from. And after a cool splash of water on his face, he headed back to the table to find Kuina being hit on by a blond waiter.

She had a look that screamed, "Help me."

Zoro watched Kuina's expression switching quickly, an array of overwhelming emotions visibly showing. He stepped forward, calmly stating, "Hey waiter, don't be flirting with my girlfriend." He had slight humor in his tone, because he did not want to start anything in this fancy restaurant.

He walked leisurely toward the two. But after two steps, he stopped.

Zoro had stopped in his tracks because the blue fire in the other man's eye had been impossible to forget.