-Tangled Web-
A role-play/joint-fic by Digitaldreamer and Constable Remington
Chapter three: Teasing and the Incident of the iPod

Well, here we are, chapter three of Tangled Web. Also known as the origin of the iPod Incident, but none of you know what I'm talking about save for a select few anyway.

I've noticed a lot of you have picked up mess-ups that I tend to miss while glancing over the chapter. Damn you nitpickers! No, not really. Really, I'm very thankful for your helpful little pokes and nudges and yells of "You missed a letter!", keep them coming. Any criticism is loved, as it helps me improve. (Constable doesn't need it, she's awesome enough I say.)

Well, now that Constable is acting as beta reader (Why didn't I think of this before? God, I'm an idiot.) hopefully you guys will have less to pick at and make me feel terrible about. X3

I've been doing Nami rather terribly, I've noticed, thank you for pointing that out TreeStar! I'll be sure to work on playing her better. ;;

I can't help but cackle insanely at all you readers' curiosity! Being the one behind the scenes constructing all of this for a change rocks so hard! I'm very happy that you'll all enjoy reading this as much as I'm enjoying writing it with Constable.

So enough of my rantings, eh? Enjoy the chapter!

The soft blue hue of dawn peeked through the shades and lightened Zoro's room, casting shadows over the two sleeping forms under the covers. The room had a fairly peaceful air to it, filled only with the sound of deep breathing.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!

The peaceful airwas broken by a loud series of beeps coming from the alarm clock on the bedside table, the time 5:00 am flashing on it's digital face in glaring red numbers.

Luffy groaned, peeking his head up and over Zoro to stare blankly at the thing making the loud noise. He then groaned, as the motion caused quite a bit of pain, and flopped back down onto the bed, gripping the covers and pressing his face into Zoro's chest as if that would make things better somehow.

The loud alarm woke Zoro, breaking him from his deep, dark dreams into a peaceful, sunny morning that was all too unwelcome by the man. His own groan of irritation matched Luffy's, and he was about to lift an arm to silence the damn thing when he felt sudden warmth get closer and push suddenly into his body. His eyes snapped open and he nearly fell off the bed, his arms wrapping quickly around the closest thing there was the steady himself -- Luffy. The man stayed right where he was, however. He looked surprised, and lay there like that strangely for a minute or two before he finally pried his arms away from the boy and reached over, turning off the alarm.

Luffy remained pressed against Zoro for a few more moments before finally pulling away and blinking up at Zoro groggily. "Mweeeee?" He mumbled sleepily.

Raising an eyebrow towards the kid, he sighed, slightly wriggling away from him. "Yeah, good morning to you, too," he answered. Pulling away from Luffy, Zoro stood from the bed, stretching, and went to his dresser to grab his wrinkled uniform.

Luffy groaned and pressed his face into the pillow. "…So tired…hurts….wanna sleep…" He whimpered.

"So go back to sleep," Zoro responded shortly, trying to smooth the cloth with his hands. "No one's keeping you. It's not like you have to go to school or anything." He sighed, glancing towards the door. "I, on the other hand, need a shower."

"…School?" Luffy repeated, picking his head up from the pillow to blink at Zoro. "So you're not staying here?"

He snorted, shaking his head. "What, you forgot about school, too? I've still got a few more months of pure torture 'til I finally graduate." He leaned towards the door. "You gonna be okay on your own?"

The boy looked a bit crest-fallen at the idea of Zoro leaving, but then he smiled. "Yeah, sure, I'll be fine." He chirped. Then he frowned. "So I'm gonna be all by myself here?" He scratched the back of his head and then grinned again.

"I know! I'll make something cool while you're all gone to thank you for taking care of me! It'll be cool!" He babbled as he made as if to get up, then yelped at the pain the motion caused.

Zoro was almost instantly beside him again; face frowning, firmly leaning over him and holding him, by his thin shoulders, to the mattress. "You just stay right here," he said gently. "You don't need to be jostling around and hurting your wounds." He pulled away, looking warily down at him. "You need to stay in bed today. None of this... getting up while no one's home. Alright?"

Luffy pouted at Zoro for a moment, then sighed and focused on a loose string in the comforter. "…Kay."

"Good." Zoro didn't need to spend his whole day (especially that history test-- fuck!) wondering if the house was in shambles. He moved back towards the door, unlatching the lock and pulling it open a bit. He gazed evenly at the boy. "I'll be back for my things in a few minutes," he said. "I don't want you to have moved from that spot." And with that, he was out the door and down the hall.

The good thing about getting up so early, Zoro noted to himself, was that he was the first to use the shower. Not only was he certain to have hot water, but he didn't have to wait for anyone to get out, either. He swung open the bathroom door and began to run the hot water, shutting the door behind him and pulling off his clothes.

Luffy stared at the door as it closed behind Zoro, hearing his footsteps go quieter as he went down the hall.

"I don't want you to have moved from that spot." Zoro's words echoed in his head. Luffy frowned. On one hand, that command was just asking to be disobeyed. It was as if Zoro's words were a flashing neon sign saying "MOVE". Besides, it might be amusing, and it was just moving after all. On the other hand, if he moved Zoro might not be very happy, and Luffy wasn't exactly sure what would happen if he did move. It could be not so bad, or it could be bad.

To move or not to move. Hmmm…

Climbing into the shower, Zoro stood under the warm water, letting it all wash down him. It felt nice on his stiff joints, and he lingered a moment under the downpour before grabbing for the soap to actually scrub himself down. Some shampoo that wasn't his sat on the shelf, and he quickly used it, lathering his short hair and washing it all out. He sighed in the warm steam of the shower, before finally forcing himself to climb out and turn the water off, pulling a towel from the rack. Zoro rubbed at his hair, drying it, before drying his body down and flinging the towel back against the rack, frowning at his school uniform. He pulled it on grudgingly, fixing up all the buttons, and ran a hand through his damp hair, opening the bathroom door and glancing down the hall.

Move.

Don't move.

Move.

Don't move.

Luffy frowned, fiddling with the loose string from the comforter in his lap. It's so boring just sitting here...and there's a bunch of interesting stuff that I could get to if I just moved…and I'm sure I'm healed up enough by now…yeah…it didn't hurt too bad when I sat up. And it's not like Zoro would mind if I moved just a little...besides, he never said what would happen if I moved…alright, that's it, I'm moving.

The boy's face immediately split into a grin and he rolled sideways off of the mattress, biting back a yelp as he hit the carpet with a thump. He lay there for a few moments; face scrunched up in pain, then gave a slightly pained grin and reached up to grab the side of the bed and pull himself into a sitting position. He let out a sharp breath as he sat up, teeth clenching as his various bruises and gashes protested against the strain. However, once this passed to a dull ache the boy grinned triumphantly.

Yes! He had moved! He gave himself a mental pat on the back and then glanced around. Luffy let out an 'Oooohhh!' and grabbed the nearest thing; a black iPod mini. Of course, Luffy didn't know it was an iPod mini, to him it just looked like a black rectangular thing with a white cord coming from it.

After looking at it a moment Luffy decided it probably wasn't edible, but it did have buttons that looked like they would be fun to press, and the white cord thing had these two little circle things that looked like they would be fun to put in his ears. So Luffy put the little white circular things in his ears (after several unsuccessful tries, in which he either missed his ear entirely somehow or the white circle things fell out) and stared down at the buttons.

After experimenting with several, he happened to glance at the screen and gasped. There were words on the screen! GASP! Luffy had no idea what the words meant, what the hell was a "Linkin Park" anyway? He shrugged and pressed a button, and it took him to a second list. Luffy stared blankly at the list for a moment, then sighed.

"This is boring!" He whined, pressing a button that looked a bit like a triangle and two lines to see if that would do anything.

Suddenly LOUD music blared from the white things in his ears, along with someone screaming VERY loudly. Luffy let out a loud cry of surprise, tearing white circle things that were blaring the loud noise into his ears and tossing the black box of mystery a few feet away. The boy hugged his knees and stared at the infernal black box, eyes wide.

Hearing Luffy's loud cry, Zoro quickly darted down the hall and swung open the door to his room just in time to see his iPod fly across the room and, thankfully, land safely in his chair. "What the fuck?" he asked aloud, and his eyes traveled across the room to rest on Luffy, who was very obviously out-of-bed, and cowering on Zoro's floor. Raising an eyebrow, Zoro walked fully into the room, shutting the door oddly behind him. He stared down at Luffy, unsure, at first, what to say. Finally, he got down on one knee in front of the boy, staring at him with the most disturbed expression on his face. "...Do I need to call a babysitter?" he asked slowly, reaching behind him to grab his iPod from the chair and flick it off, setting it back where it had been.

Luffy shook his head rapidly, eyes still wide.

"Good. Because I don't know one." And then, in one swift movement, he had picked Luffy up like an infant in his arms, and was sliding him carefully back down in the bed. "Stay put," he said firmly. "It's only for your own good." He glanced around the room before finding his bookbag. "I should be back around four. Don't get into any trouble. If you get hungry, Sanji should be around for a while; he's working nights this week."

Luffy nodded, falling back against the pillow, tired out from his little adventure. "…Kay." Okay, so Zoro had been right, moving had definitely been a bad idea, judging from the throbbing pain going through his whole body now. He fiddled with the loose string from the comforter for a few moments in silence, then spoke. "Sorry, Zoro."

Glancing back at him, Zoro stopped for a moment, before his face quickly became annoyed and he looked away. "It's... it's okay. It's fine. Just... yeah. It's fine. Just sleep. See you." He quickly rushed out the door, closing it behind him.

Sighing, he shook his head, making his way down the hall and staircase, following a scent of cooking breakfast that was slowly getting stronger and stronger the closer he got. Finally, he had arrived in the kitchen. Sanji was already busy, and Zoro briefly wondered if the blonde had gotten up even earlier than him. Looking up as Zoro entered, Sanji grinned, his smile bordering dangerously on a smirk, and Zoro only returned his gaze warily, unsure what to say.

"So? You came to ask for tips?" Sanji spoke, going back to his pan. Zoro raised an eyebrow, completely lost.

"...what?" he finally interjected, but Sanji's grin only widened.

"I'm glad you finally found somebody, Marimo," the cook softly elaborated, letting out a short laugh, and Zoro felt like he wanted to push Sanji's head against the stove burner.

Usopp walked down the stairs as Sanji spoke, and he immediately burst into fits of laughter, leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen. He was clad in his school uniform as well, frizzy hair pulled into a ponytail and a pencil placed behind one ear.

"H-he, he has a point Zoro." The junior said with a grin as he caught his breath. "You just found him in an alleyway all beaten up? Sounds pretty suspicious to me." He said, making a point to hurry over to the table to get something solid between him and Zoro's wrath should it come in physical form.

Sanji laughed loudly at this, shooting Zoro a winning grin. Zoro, meanwhile, was seething, his hands clenching into fists.

"The hell are you trying to get at?" he growled, glaring from Sanji to Usopp and back.

But no one answered him, until Sanji gave a light cough, which, to Zoro, sounded an awful lot like "rape!"

His face went red and he wished to god he had his katana, but unfortunately, they all lie upstairs, in the room with Luffy.

...Luffy.

Growling, the man turned on his heel, shouting a loud "Fuck you!" as a parting message and slamming the front door on his way out.

Robin's head snapped up from where she had just been unlocking her black BMW to see what the loud noise came from. She rose an eyebrow. "My my, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." She commented.

She stood, leaning against her car. "Where are you going at this early?" She asked, glancing at her watch. "It's only around five thirty-five, school doesn't start for another two hours and ten minutes."

Zoro stared at her silently for a few moments, trying to decide if he had the patience to deal with her. Deciding it'd be better to try and talk than to try and ignore her, and crossed his arms over his chest and glared. "Anywhere but here," he answered flatly, unabashed by her usually vexing attitude. "Anywhere where I can get away from those idiots."

Robin propped her elbow on the top of her car, placing her chin on her palm. "But aren't most people idiots anyway? By your attitude they all are, so it's going to be rather hard to find an idiot-free zone."

"Well then," he growled to her, face still rather pink from before, "I'd like to find a place not full of idiots who are accusing me of rape." Which really wasn't the first, or even last thing he had ever wanted to say to his history teacher.

Robin chuckled. "They're just teasing, Swordsman-san." She said with a shake of her head. "You really take things far too seriously sometimes."

"That doesn't change the fact that I'd rather not hear it," he spoke, irritated, and his grip tightened around the schoolbag in his hand. It was still dark outside, and he sighed, glancing back towards the house. Really, he could have stayed in his room a bit longer...

"So? I know you; you can be selectively deaf when you want to be." Robin pointed out. "At least, that's the case when you're in my class."

He glanced to her, eyebrow raising at the remark. "Well, you can't say the Oval Office catches my attention, sensei." The last word was rather sarcastic, and he grinned-- no, smirked back at her.

Robin chuckled again. "Oh, I can't imagine why." She replied, mostly being sarcastic as she full well knew by now that Zoro just wasn't the type to care for history.

Zoro glanced back towards the front door. Maybe he'd go back in and check on Luffy, make sure he hadn't gotten into any trouble. Zoro nearly moved forward at the thought, but scowled suddenly, holding himself back. Why did he care so much about this kid?

Still... something was bothering him, especially as he looked at Robin. He had forgotten something... but what?

"Fucking history book," he growled suddenly, going back inside without another word of explanation. He went quickly past the kitchen, not even giving Sanji the time to yell any kind of deflamatory remark his way before he was up the stairs and suddenly back in his room.

Luffy, staying true to his word, lay fast asleep on Zoro's bed. He curled up into a sort of ball, both hands lying next to his head on the pillow, black hair sticking in all directions. His breathing was slow and even, the comforter rising and falling with his chest.

Zoro instantly saw the need to be quiet, gently closing the door behind him. He cautiously tiptoed into the room, setting down his school bag. Two whole hours he still had before school started... the empty space in the bed beside Luffy was actually looking rather appealing, and, trying not to wake the boy, Zoro slid down beside him, sighing and thinking about nothing very important.

His eyes slid shut of their own accord, still rather exhausted from the restless sleep he had had the night before. His original plan had been to lie there for a bit and rest before getting up and walking to school, but it felt so warm and soft, much more so than usual... And before Zoro could stop himself, he had fallen fast asleep, curling close beside Luffy.

One hour and forty minutes later, there was a loud banging on Zoro's door. "ZORO! ZORO!" Nami's irritated voice was muffled a bit by the wood of the door, but still clear enough for one to grasp the murderous intent behind her words. "GET UP! SCHOOL STARTS IN THIRTY MINUTES! DO YOU WANT TO GET IN-SCHOOL SUSPENSION FOR BEING LATE AGAIN?"

No, he thought, very unwillingly breaking back into the world of the living. i What I want to do is wring your irritating little neck.

Groggy, Zoro sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. "I hear you, I hear you already!" he yelled back. Damnit. Why couldn't Nami have just left him alone! He could have just slept right through school. That would have been perfectly fine with him...

The orange-haired girl rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Well, hurry up!" She called, beginning to walk away. Then she suddenly rushed back to Zoro's door. "Oh, and you owe me ten bucks for waking you up!" She added, then headed down the stairs.

Cursing loudly, the man jumped up from the bed, casting one final glance at Luffy before he grabbed up his bag and rushed down the stairs and out the door.

To be continued..

And now, reviews!

KuroKame: Well, you're one of my favorite authors, so to me getting a review from you is a very big deal. This is breathtakingly good? (in shock) Wow, thank you so much for your uplifting comments. Indeed, we should be happy with what we get. X3 I am very happy with what I get.

KairiQueen: There, there's the iPod thing! Are you going to leave a review that actually has to do with what's been written now? Ah, I'm just kidding. There's the part you've been waiting for, I hope you're happy.

Kaaera: Nope, this exactly from the RP. There aren't any changes at all, I just copy what I think would be the right amount for a chapter, put it in a new document and add authors notes. That's it. Glad you think the fic is interesting.

TreeStar: Glad you like the fic so far. Thank you so much for pointing out the Nami thing, I was doing so terribly with her. Hopefully I'm doing a bit better now.

Actually, the last chapter wasn't really for Luffy to meet all the other characters. ;; It was mostly to establish that he remembers absolutely nothing. He will establish his relationships with the other characters too, but not for a bit.

Actually, most of them are exactly the age for being in high school. Ussop's seventeen and a junior, he's mostly an art student and designs things around the school. He also runs his own webcomic, which is actually a mini-plot point later on. Nami's eighteen, so she's in her senior year and class president. Good for her. Vivi's also a junior, her father actually owns the boarding house, she just pretty much runs it since her father's busy running the Alabasta Oasis bottled water company. Zoro's nineteen and technically should be graduated, but he slept through all of his classes as a freshman so he's graduating a year late. Sanji isn't in high school; he's graduated and works at a restaurant called All Blue. They are all at the ages they're supposed to be in this fic; therefore technically most of them are not too old to be in high school. Close to graduating from it, but not out yet. And I just gave you a ton of info that I was saving for a few more chapters but eh, whatever.

As for the Robin thing….shhhhhhhhhhhh, you weren't supposed to notice the plot point there! Yes, we do know this shouldn't work, yet it does. But it's a plot point, and if I explained it I'd be giving away several twists. So you get no answers. But yes, we do know this shouldn't work.

Thank you for pointing things out though. Also, thank you very much for catching the Nami thing again. Glad you think the fic is promising.

Griever5: o.o Wow, you caught a mistake that I didn't. Good job! I'm glad that we've got the character's personalities right…that's a very good thing. Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Katiiey: Sha ha ha! The questions, the questions…and this chapter did nothing to solve them! Sha ha ha! Glad you like the fic.

night-chan: O.O Holy crap, we got a review from someone from Germany! Sweet! Your English is very good. Yes, there will definitely be many funny situations! Yes there will be! I'm so glad that you like this fic.

Everyone who didn't review: You made Chopper cry. X3 Nah, not really. I'm glad you're reading this fic, even if I don't know you are.

Review! Every time someone reads this chapter and doesn't review, a puppy dies. Please, think of the puppies.