Warnings: Child abuse/violence, language

Disclaimer: Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece, not me!

2: Green

"You stupid son!"

SMASH!

"Why can't you just pay attention in school for once? Why do you have to fight with every-" SLAP "-single-" PUNCH "-person-" SMACK "-you see?!"

He didn't say anything. It was pointless to correct the drunk man in front of him. He was just helping that kid out and besides, the one he beat up was being annoying and arrogant, two things he did not like.

KICK!

"Are you even listening to me, you ungrateful little shit?!"

The green haired youth was roughly shoved to the ground and kicked in the face.

"Why don't you just get lost somewhere and never come back?!"

The man who claimed to be his father – even though Zoro would never accept him – left the room. Zoro for once took his advice.

He got lost and never returned.

Zoro slowly opened his eyes at the memory, waking from an unsatisfying sleep. The fourteen year old sighed and stood up, stretching as he took in his surroundings. No one had found him in the small alleyway he had shoved himself into to avoid the police. For some reason, he decided to call the police on him.

Zoro refused to get caught and return to that hell.

Zoro opened the zipper of his jacket and looked at the inside pocket, checking its contents and sighing in relief that it was still there.

All one hundred dollars.

Maybe that was why that man called the police. He wanted his money back, even though a majority of it had been spent by now. He used to have one thousand dollars, but that was three months ago, January, right after he left.

Zoro grinned slightly at the thought of it – that man storming around the house in rage, unable to find the money earned through drunken gambling. He probably didn't even realize Zoro was gone for a few days and only then would it click in the bastard's brainless head.

Zoro looked up as a drop of water landed on his head. The sky above was overcast and he could see the beginnings of an awful storm. Sighing, he huddled further into himself and sat back down in the doorway, putting the money back and holding three swords protectively to his chest.

One belonged to his best friend who died when they were young, struck by a drunk driver. They had both been kendo prodigies and were going to be the best of the best, but her death almost shattered that dream. He had been crushed, he had wanted to become the best with her. Only after her dad talked sense into him did he reaffirm his dream. Her father then gave him her sword, entrusting it to him.

But, soon after that, her dad moved away due to financial reasons, taking his dojo with him, leaving him with a father who slowly became alcoholic after the death of his mother by cancer. He had a picture of his dead friend, Kuina, and his mother in a separate pocket, and he swore that if he lost either, he would probably cry, and he never cried.

That was just how much it meant to him though. Their encouragements from years ago still played in his head. Now, he just hoped they were there for his adventure into the unknown world.

No one who noticed the boy offered him any help as he became drenched in the rain, clutching his swords tighter, his mom and friend's words close to his heart.

AN: Yo! I know this is short, but the chapters for this story will all be relatively short.

The Voice of all Things: Thanks! I'm curious about it too :)

MegDBrew: I hope you liked it!

scatteredPhilosopher: Most of my stories end up dark. It's like I can't write anything NOT dark. This one will have dark undertones, that's for sure, that's only the beginning. Don't really know about what's next. I'm glad you liked it! :)

Trafalgar-Sev: Thanks! I always thought that they would be orphans, or similar harsh situations, in an AU that plays as close as possible to their OP situations. Ah, that makes me happy though. I'm concerned about writing those to too OoC, so I'm glad you thought they weren't. Yep, that's the plan! But each individual chapter will focus on a different character throughout. I'm so glad you liked it, I hope you like this chapter too :)

Thanks for the reviews, you guys! Thank you so much for reading as well! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a review! :)