Hey, I know. I'm just plain lazy. Plus, school is being really harsh on me as well. Thanks for the reviews!

I don't own One Piece.

Small sweat drops began to build up on the crease of the young kendo captain's forehead. "124, 125, 126…" he chanted inside of head as he lifted each weight on either hand. The pleasant sunshine from the window warmed his skin to a comfortable temperature while a cool breeze from the open door caused him to shiver blissfully.

"ZORO!" a shrill voice shrieked, breaking the calm atmosphere of the kendo clubroom.

"Errrrr," he growled under his breath, recognizing the annoying hyper voice coming from the entrance of the room. The young girl's cry caused other members to look between the cheerful young girl and their strong and serious captain disbelievingly. Whispers and low chuckles filled the room and the green-headed captain whipped his head towards the crowd of men, a dark, evil aura growing from him, causing them all to grow nervous.

"Everyone!" they all jumped at his words, " Stay after practice and clean!" he smirked evilly.

"WHAAATTTT!"

"Should I make it after practice tomorrow as well?" He threatened.

" No, sir!" They all yelped, quickly getting back to their practice group. He smiled victoriously. He then remembered about a certain person who was the cause of him punishing the gossiping high schoolers. He turned his head towards to sliding door, hoping, praying that she went home afterwards.

All he got was a admiring, sparkling gaze directed towards him. "Zoro!" Lucy said running up to him," You see? I came, just like I promised!" She ran to him with outstretched arms, acting as if they were long-lost friends. "That was so cool. I mean. You were so cool!" But, unfortunately, what she got was two fingers to the head, defying her the chance to get even momentarily close to hugging him.

She opened her eyes, noticing that she did not come into contact with anything, she pushed her lips out into a pout' "Awwww, Zoro! Why are you being so mean?"

"What do you me-" he started to say before he was distracted by all the envied looks that was being directed at him. He sighed deeply before continuing. "Look, how about you stay over there, okay?" he jabbed his thumb towards the door, "Don't bother me right now while I'm practicing. You may watch, but that's all." The young man explained slowly to Lucy.

" 'Kay!" she agreed, realizing that she wouldn't get any better than what was offered.

Zoro watch her as she ran to the entrance and sat down very nonchalantly.

"Um, Zoro-san?" a soft voice spoke making Zoro turn his head towards the speaker. He saw that it was one of the members of the club. The young teen seemed to cower at Zoro's gaze. "Um, well," he paused," Could you possibly give me the honor of sparring with you?" he asked, quickly looking down at his feet. Zoro grinned, always excited to fight with a fellow swordsman.

"Of course."

"Really?" the man said in confusion.

"Yeah, come on, lets get ready," he told him before yelling to the other members," We are going to have a match! Clear the floor!"

"Yes, sir!" they quickly sprinted toward the walls to watch the sparring between the captain and a lower member.

Lucy, who was contently watch the events unfold, tapped the young man, who looked like a junior, on the shoulder and asked, "Zoro's going to win, right?"

"Are you kidding!" the teen said with disbelief, "Of course! Zoro might not be the best captain out there but man; he sure is a strong swordsman. I've never seen him lose a fight," he boasted confidently.

"Really!" she said with sparkles in her eyes as she watched Zoro easily pair all of his opponent's attacks. But she wasn't watching the amazing fight; she was looking at the green-haired man's face. His smile grew bigger with excitement after every attack. He did not seem to care if his opponent was not much of a challenge; he only seemed to be the happiest when fighting head to head (sword to sword) with a swordsman.

She started to smile at the young man, who was so dedicated that he took on anyone. Her smile continued to grow as she started to cheer on the fight including in others.

With a final blow, the fight was over. The opponent seemed to accept this fact, knowing that he could not win against the captain's 3-sword style.

"Yay! You won, Zoro!" Lucy cried.

"You were doubtful?"

"Well, no actually." She grinned.

He gave a soft smile and said over his shoulder as he turned around "Remember, stay on the sidelines."

"Haaiii."

He picked up his weights and was about to proceed to exercising again but something caught his eye.

There Lucy was, with her wide, childish grin, talking to two members.

What were there names again? He shrugged and was about to go ignore it but was confused at first to see Lucy start to look uncomfortable and kept on shaking her head at the boys.

Something started to pull at his chest, a deep, sickening feeling that forced him to walk towards them. As he grew closer he could pick up faint parts of their conversation. Do you…hang out… after practice?

He felt rage building up inside of him. He was confused, for he was unknown to the reason why.

"So, what do you say?" the boys asked, smirking. Lucy opened her mouth to object but had a strong arm flown over her shoulder. She yelped in surprise as she got pulled towards a firm, but warm chest. When she glanced up at the stranger, she sighed with relief. Zoro had come as her "savior". She started to blush as she saw that his arm was clearly slung around her. Her conscious wanted to push the hand away, but she soon fought it off, enjoying the feeling.

"Excuse me," Zoro interrupted, " But don't you guys have better things to do rather than flirting with girls?" His smile was sweet, but a dangerous, dark aura was being emitted off of him, which made the two boys start to sweat bullets.

"Ummm, never mind," they squeaked and quickly dashed away.

"Thank you," Lucy softly said.

Zoro eyes widened. Is that really the same loud girl? Then he jumped back realizing that he unconsciously put his arm around her. "Sorry," he muttered, apologizing.

She didn't answer, her hands on her face while her head was shadowed. "Eh? What's wrong?" Zoro asked.

"Ano," she began, " Do you know why my face feels so warm?" she looked up innocently.

Then, all of his remaining anger towards the two boys had disappeared. It was instead replaced by a grin.

He put his hand on her head and gently started to ruffle it.

"Don't worry about it," he whispered, walking away.

To be continued…

XD I loved writing this chapter! I think I might have rushed it. Please review!