-sigh- let's just get on with the chapter, shall we?

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Chapter 10

Zoro turned the bike into the drive and parked it before turning it off. He sighed. They had gotten home from their little trip before the others had got home from school. Or at least, he couldn't see any cars there. Luffy grinned, feeling sneaky, and ninja like.

"So, will they think we were sick then?" he asked. Zoro nodded as he slid from the bike.

"Mhm. Now, let's get inside." he commented. Luffy grinned and jumped off the bike as well.

"Okay!" and then he snickered before following Zoro inside. Zoro paused as he walked in, took off his jacket and threw it onto the rack before sticking his hands in his pockets and moving to the stairs. Luffy had just shut the door when Zoro heard the sound of a car outside. His eyes widened.

"Shit… Get upstairs and into your room Luffy!" Zoro ordered and ran up the stairs. Luffy blinked and then ran towards the stairs and up them as well, racing for his room.

"Whaaaaaaa!" he cried as he ran, panicking and laughing at the same time. Zoro raced to his own room, almost grinning as he threw himself on his bed and pulled the covers up over him, wriggling around until he was comfortable. Luffy dived into his own bed from halfway into the room, and pulled the covers up over himself. There was the sound of a door being opened rather viciously and then Nami's voice.

"I can't believe they skipped school today. They are gonna owe me a hell of a lot!" she said nastily. Nami was obviously very ticked off.

"Of course they are! It was probably Marimo's fault. Heh, hey Nami…" and then Sanji's voice was cut off. It seemed he had chosen to whisper whatever it was, into Nami's ear. Upstairs, Zoro frowned underneath his covers and mouthed,

"My fault?" and he frowned some more. Luffy giggled in his room. Usopp walked in downstairs after the first two, and he was a little scared of Nami's behaviour, to say the least.

"W-well… maybe they're just…errr, sick." he suggested, but only earned himself a death glare from Nami, "B-but! That c-could be wrong I guess!" he cried and laughed nervously before running for the lounge room.

"Ah, they're not sick." Sanji said, interrupting the silence after a while, "They're doing exactly what I said to Nami." and he laughed darkly before heading for the kitchen. Zoro blinked upstairs.

"What the hell?" he muttered, "What's he talkin-" and then realization dawned upon him and his eyes widened before he frowned, "That bastard!" Zoro clapped his hands over his mouth. Sanji, in the kitchen, looked up at the ceiling and then shrugged. Nami hummed a little before shrugging.

"I think I will go and have a look." she said and then headed for the stairs. Luffy snorted and giggled even harder under his sheets in his room. Zoro looked over sharply as he heard both Luffy's giggling and Nami's soft steps on the stairs. He hissed softly as Luffy giggled again.

Luffy is gonna ruin everything! He thought viciously as he pulled the covers further up and almost over his face. Sanji was humming downstairs as he prepared some afternoon snacks. Nami paused on the stairs as she heard the giggling and then she smirked rather evilly. Luffy was trying to hold it back, and he even bit the covers to try and stop himself, but it was just no use.

"And why exactly did you two skip classes today?" she called out, "Sanji had a pretty good explanation." and she smirked harder. Zoro bit into the sheets as well, just dying to make a remark, but he just had to keep quiet. It wasn't worth getting yelled at, and then getting assigned all the jobs in the house for a week. Luffy perked up at the sound of Sanji's name.

"Sanji??? FOOD!!!" he yelled and jumped out of his bed.

"And here I was, actually beginning to think you two were sick. Hmm, I'm so stupid." she said sarcastically as she put a hand on her hip. Luffy paused in his run to the door.

"Oops…" he muttered, biting his lip. Zoro slapped a hand to his forehead.

Perhaps I can still fool her into thinking I'm sick at least… He thought. As though she had heard him, Nami eyed the door and then made for it. She opened it and then walked in. She eyed him in the bed for a minute and raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms as she did so.

"Care to explain?" she asked before leaning against the door frame. Zoro peeked over the edge of his covers and glared.

"I wasn't feeling crash hot so I stayed home, and Luffy can't drive himself and it's not exactly next door, so he stayed home as well. Happy?" he growled and glared some more. Nami sighed and walked in further, checking him up and down with her eyes as she did so.

"You don't look so sick to me." Nami muttered and then smiled, "Oooh, but of course you could have been doing what Sanji-kun said." and she snickered nastily. Luffy picked that moment to run past the doorway and down the stairs with a loud battlecry of 'FOOOOOD!'. Zoro frowned.

"I do not care, and nor do I want to know what Sanji-kun said. If I feel sick, then I feel damn well sick. Now go away." he growled, putting a sarcastic emphasis on Nami's nickname for Sanji.

"Fine. But don't forget you have to buy Luffy some new school books." and she waved nonchalantly before walking out. Luffy came running back up the stairs, this time with a battle cry of 'ZOROOOO!'. Zoro sighed.

"Whatever Nami." he muttered before looking up as he heard Luffy cry out his name. Nami disappeared with a final smirk before Luffy skidded into the room.

"Did she believe you?" he asked as he grinned wildly. Zoro waited until Nami's footsteps had faded before he nodded.

"I think so. But, if you hang around, she isn't. And, I have to stay here and keep up the sick thing, so, you're gonna have to sneak food up to me…" and he paused, " please?" Chopper appeared out of nowhere with a loud meow that made Zoro jump. The cat was hungry as well, and it made this very obvious as it continued winding itself around Luffy's legs and meowing pitifully up at it's owner. Luffy blinked.

"OKAY!!!" he cried and then looked down at Chopper, "Nehe, he's hungry too!" and he picked up the cat before racing back towards the stairs and towards the kitchen. Zoro sighed and lay back again. Downstairs, Sanji was watching the door carefully in case Luffy reappears.

"Stupid, hyperactive little bastard. Obviously isn't sick." Sanji growled as he continued in his preparation of the food. Luffy skidded around the corner, slipping on the floor. The cat in his arms gave a frightened squeak and then Luffy corrected himself, twisting around and looking into the kitchen where Sanji was. The chef looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"Sanjiii! Chopper is hungry! And Zoro! And me!" Luffy yelled, grinning brightly. Usopp chose that moment to walk in. Sanji groaned. This place was becoming a regular freeway! He began chopping furiously at some vegetables, his hands moving at lightning speed.

"Hey Luffy, you missed a whole lot of important things at school today." Usopp commented as he buried his head in the fridge and looked for a drink. He finally pulled out a can of coke and turned around again.

"Whaaa… I did?" Luffy asked as Chopper jumped out of his arms.

"Yeah, we had Pizza day and the Great Usopp-sama got the top grade in his art class." and Usopp puffed his chest out proudly. Sanji smirked as he threw the vegies into a fry pan. Luffy's eyes swam with tears.

"YOU HAD PIZZA DAY???" he whined and pouted desperately. He really liked Pizza… but spending the day with Zoro had been awesome. But Pizza… Zoro, or Pizza? Which was better? Luffy grinned to himself as he came up with the answer. MEAT! That was the best thing in his world! Sanji looked up as Luffy whined.

"Yep. It was good too." he said. Luffy pouted again. His triumphant thought was now lost.

"UWHAAAA! That's not fair!" Luffy cried, feeling very miserable indeed. In fact, he felt so miserable, that he fell to the floor and began crying. Usopp looked down and raised an eyebrow. Sanji was trying to hold back laughter. Nami walked in with a 'grow up' look on her face.

"That's what you get for skipping school." she commented before pausing at the bench, and leaning over it, "Sanji-kun? Is dinner ready yet?" she asked sweetly. Sanji grinned up at her, his eyes glittering wildly and one could almost see the swirls and hearts floating off of him.

"It is ready my wonderful, lovely, fantastic, beautiful-"

"Alright, alright. I get it. Thankyou." she said, cutting Sanji off as she rubbed a hand against the side of her head and closed her eyes. Sanji bowed slightly and went back to getting the plates ready for the food to be put out on. Luffy jumped up as soon as he had heard the food was ready.

"FOOOOD!!" he cried, "Oh, and Chopper wants food too!" Nami nodded and went to the cupboard, grabbing out a can of cat food, opening it and then setting down a small plate on the floor. Chopper bounced over and began eating it immediately, almost as enthusiastic about his food as his master was.

"And why isn't Zoro coming?" Nami asked as she washed her hands in the sink. Sanji moved out of the room with the plates and Luffy watched him go with wide eyes, and drool coming out of the side of his mouth. As soon as Sanji was out of sight though, Luffy looked back at Nami.

"He's pretending he's sick!" he announced and grinned proudly. Zoro heard the comment from upstairs and felt his plan go bye bye.

"Oh shit…" he muttered and jumped out of his bed, and ran over to his door before slamming it, "Not that I'm… afraid or anything… but, I like my privacy…" and he looked around a little nervously, "Oh shit…" Sanji walked back in.

"Pretending?! I knew it!" the chef cried.

"HA! I knew it!" Nami said as well. Sanji grinned at her. Luffy tilted his head and laughed at the cheery voices.

"But he said to bring him some food, so I'm gonna do that now." and he grabbed his and Zoro's plate of food before running out and up the stairs again, "Zoro!!" Zoro heard Luffy and frowned. He really didn't want to speak to the kid now.

"Well… Zoro's got Luffy trained." Sanji commented as he leaned on the bench, letting his weight rest on his hip. Nami snickered, and Usopp eyed the pair of them, not liking the tone in either of their voices. Luffy opened Zoro's door with his elbow and then ran into the room, holding the plates triumphantly in the air as he did so. Zoro glared at Luffy from the bed and then sighed.

"Thanks Luffy." and he shook his head, "Not hungry now though. The money used to buy my share of the food, belongs to Nami now." and he shook his head again. Today, was a dramatic day for Zoro. He glared at Luffy again.

"Not hungry?" Luffy gasped, as if Zoro had just used a horribly bad set of swear words, "Are you sure?" and he sat down on the floor, "It's only gonna be worse if you lie."

"Luffy!" Zoro growled, debating whether he should continue or just let the matter rest. He decided he was going to continue, just to get it out of his system, "You've told me this before. But this time, it wouldn't have been worse!" and he glared again.

"But! If you lie, it's gonna ball up and then when someone finds out about it, it's just going to hurt even more." Luffy replied, shaking his finger as if he was talking to a young child. He paused for a moment after hearing his own words and then he frowned, "I'm sorry Zoro." and he bowed his head. Zoro sighed.

"Don't worry about it Luffy. I'm tired, so, can you go? I wanna sleep." and he flipped his legs onto the bed and lay down, burying his face in his pillow. Luffy pouted.

"Does that mean I can have the food?" he asked, tilting his head. Zoro groaned in an irritated fashion.

"Yes! Get out!" he yelled, his voice muffled.

"Okay! Thanks Zoro!" and he took the plates and walked out, closing the door behind him. Zoro sighed again.

"Fucking hell I'm sick of this…" he muttered.

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It was late, real late. The moon was directly over a small house and outside, a pair of eyes and a wide smile were waiting for a certain young boy. Luffy sat up with a gasp and looked at his clock. The dial read 23:55. Luffy rubbed a hand over his face.

"That means…" and he yawned and frowned. He didn't want to go out there, but he knew who was waiting. He knew he had to do it. He sat up from his bed and sighed, wrapping his arms around his legs. This was saddening, and frightening, but Luffy wouldn't turn away.

He buried his face in his knees and blew out a deep breath. Outside, the click of boots could be heard on the pavement and Luffy turned to his window. Looking out, he saw a black billowing cloak, floating behind a wide shouldered figure. Luffy frowned.

"Stupid…" he muttered.

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Yeah, I'm sorry this chappie was so short, but, Shiru and I have some stuff planned for the next chappie, don't we shiru? And I wanna rp it now. -grin- more fun that way. he he he.