CHAPTER 2
"What do you think? What song should we do next?"
Law shrugged, palming his chin as he skipped through their little song booklet.
"Nature of the Beast?" he suggested.
"Hmm, that'd be nice if that bitch were still here," Zoro grinned as he sat back in the sofa, sighing in satisfaction.
Law chuckled lowly and went through the rest of the booklet silently.
"Zoro?"
The singer arched his neck and saw an upside down Sanji walking towards the sofa. He rolled his eyes and got up, groaning in annoyance as the guy joined him and Law.
"Where're you going?" Sanji raised an eyebrow as he watched Zoro stroll off.
"To take a shit. Do you mind?" he replied harshly.
Law peeked over his sunglasses, a grin starting to spread across his face as he watched Zoro's annoyed movements.
"Kind of? I wanted to talk to you about something important." Sanji crossed his legs and leaned back in the sofa, his arms crossed as well as he talked.
"Not interested, thanks," Zoro clicked his tongue and went to leave the room.
" 'mkay, thought you'd be interested to hear about Kuina-san. Guess I was mistaken." The blond said with an overly dramatic sigh as he got up and walked into the kitchen area of the green room.
He grabbed some mugs and filled them with steaming hot water.
"What about her?" he could hear the guy was straining himself to stay calm.
Sanji shrugged as he made tea for himself.
Law had pulled down the sunglasses and stared at Sanji with the biggest grin ever, he was most impressed by the nerve the blond had. He himself, being Zoro's righthand in band-business, wouldn't even dare bring up Kuina.
"Do you have anything in your tea, singer-san?" Sanji said, glancing over his shoulder with the most innocent of smiles.
Zoro's blood boiled. The vein in his neck was visible and if you stood close enough you could hear his teeth grind. His hands formed fists, relaxed again, and made fists again.
"Zoro – Just sit down and listen to him. He's got sugar in his tea," Law pushed the sunglasses back on his nose and leaned back in the sofa, crossing his leg over the other.
Zoro clicked his tongue again, walked over and leapt over the back of the couch, muttering things to himself.
"She's not well, Zoro," Sanji's tone had changed. Zoro looked up, suddenly being all-ear.
Sanji worked carefully, sprinkling the tea-leaves through the water. A spoon stirred the drink slowly, causing the leaves to let go of their extracts.
His one hand found the jar of sugar, the fingers of the other scooped in and let the sugar rain down through the whirling drink.
"She's been taken into hospital," Sanji said lowly, stirring the tea to make sure the sugar dissolved.
"Wh-" Zoro's eyes went wide as his mind raced to figure out what could've happened.
"She had an accident,"
"How is she-?" Zoro's voice was hoarse due to a dry throat. He dreaded the answer, but he had to know.
"I'm not sure, her father called me while you were on stage. He just asked me to tell you, he sounded quite hopeless though." Sanji said softly, his heart feeling for the man.
"But.." Zoro swallowed hard.
Him and Kuina had been friends for so long. Zoro couldn't even remember a time without her. He relaxed in the sofa, staring at his knees.
"Let's make a deal."
"Huh?"
"A deal." She said smiling.
"A deal for what?"
"Let's promise that we'll both try to become the best."
"Ehh?
"I'm gonna have the most popular band ever! I'll win every award there is to win! I'll have so much money I'll be able to buy twenty cars!"
He just stared at her determination in awe.
"But you'll have to be there too, Zoro. I can't do it alone. So let's do it together!"
He smiled, nodded.
And so, the promise was made."Zoo–ro,"
He blinked and looked up, pulled from the memory by a hot mug of tea gently being shoved in his hands.
"Drink," Sanji said gently.
Zoro cleared his throat.
"I'm going there after the show if over, I can give you a ride if you want?"
Zoro didn't answer, he just stared into the mug of tea.
"Look, I know you're worried but she's in good hands now," Sanji said, sitting down on the coffee table in front of the singer.
He just nodded a bit.
"I'll give you a ride, wait for me after the show," Sanji said, tapping the guy's knee to get his attention.
"Y-" he coughed, "Yeah,"
Sanji nodded, got up and reminded Law they were to get back to stage in a few minutes. The guitarist nodded, got up himself and gave Zoro's shoulder a compassionate squeeze before he left to get ready.
"She'll be okay, buddy," he said as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and joined Killer and Luffy in the corridor to stage.
*************
The remainder of the show went by in a blur. He sang his songs like they'd rehearsed, everything went fine. However, Zoro was everything but, and it showed. Law kept his eyes on the man as he sang, noticing the slight trembling of his hands and the way he held onto the mic-stand a little more stiffly.
As soon as he finished the last of his goodbyes to the fans in the room he rushed off stage, racing through the corridors of the venue to reach the exit.
He waited in the cold for about half an hour, impatiently pacing around, biting his lips and chewing his nails every now and again.
Finally, he showed up.
Sanji's blond hair peeked out the door,
"Ah, there you are. You ready?"
"Just get me to the hospital," Zoro hissed as he followed the guy to his car.