This is for smexygecko, or who I like to call Gecko-san. Happy Birthday and I hope you enjoyed this. There was actually a manga that's something similar to this, but mine is more of the saying 'good things come to those who wait' sort of deal. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this and have a great day!

Worth the Wait

There are the rumored stories about a few students having a crush on their teachers and there are rare situations that there is a teacher dating a student, and the even rarer and mostly unheard of is the marriage between them.

Well, this is not one of those kinds of rumors.

My name is Roronoa Zoro, I'm twenty-two years old and returning back Japan to be a P.E. teacher for my old high school. I was in America for four years learning to be a teacher and fitness related teachings.

But there were other schools who wanted me, but I turned them down. My old high school would be my only choice for one reason: Monkey-sensei.

I wouldn't say I had a crush on my teacher, nor did we date. But our friendship was definitely a popular rumor for those who wanted to humiliate me and wanted him fired. I still remember the first time we met and how he had given me something that the other teachers didn't.

It was almost five years when the new school session started, I was a senior then, but I was on the road to failing the school all together. Up until my freshmen year I was at the top of my class in middle school, even kicked ass on my exit exam. But afterward it was disappointment after another with my teachers. I just stopped caring about the school deal.

But my senior year was the beginning of one young teacher in the school.

~*#Flashback: Almost Five Years – Senior Year#*~

I was late, as usual, for my last class of the day. I saw all my classes as a waste of time, had been since freshmen year. Why the school hadn't kicked me out was beyond me, but I went in and saw that the teacher was just starting roll.

"Oh! A bit late?" He said. "That's okay! It's the first day of school, so I'll let this go for now."

He struck me as this kid who should be a freshman, not a teacher. He was half a head shorter than I was, boyish face with a scar under his left eye, black hair that seemed to have a mind of its own but still controlled in some way, and he had this attitude that's similar to a kid's.

"I'm Monkey-sensei, age twenty-two. I'm the new teacher here. Nice to meet you."

"Roronoa Zoro, age eighteen, senior of this school."

"Roronoa…" He said as he checked the roll call list and marked me as 'here'. "Here you are! Please take a seat!"

He seemed so naïve at that time and most of the seniors knew it.

I usually wouldn't care about helping out teachers, since I didn't care about school overall. I have a choice not to come, but since the school has yet to kick me out I figured I would piss the board off by coming in and act like a damn virus that is giving the system some hell to get rid of.

"Yosha! Since everyone is here, we'll go over what we're going to be learning through the year." He said with that smile that I immediately started to feel annoyed by.

^*^

This went on for a week before the teacher bullying started to rise. No one knew who was doing it or why, but Monkey-sensei was the target of the latest bullying. Many teachers pinned the students, and they were right, but they didn't know who was doing it, therefore couldn't do anything about it.

But he just continued teaching even when the students harassed him about the set up rumors and some posters that posted up that showed suggestive and horrible things about him that would get him kicked out of school if not for the repeated trick. But he kept smiling and laughing it off like he didn't see or hear any of that kind of thing.

I thought he didn't care, but it turns out that I was wrong.

^*^

One day I forgot a book back in his class, and it was a book that I loaned from another student and I went back to get it. Before I entered the class, the door was open and the hallways were bare from any life, allowing me to peek in without disruption. I saw him sitting at a desk, holding up the latest poster of him in a crudest way possible and he looked tired and worn out, and on the verge of crying.

From that point I saw a guy putting on a cheerful face to hide the pain.

"Monkey-sensei?" I said, but I didn't mean to grab his attention.

He looked up at me, shocked to see that I was there to witness him almost breaking. "Roronoa-san! What are you still doing here?"

"I left a book here."

"Oh…" He looked startled before relaxing. "Sorry you had to see that." He said as he put the poster in his pocket.

I didn't say anything as I went to my desk and grabbed the stupid book and was on my way out of the room when he said something in a small smile.

"Have a good day, Zoro. I'll see you tomorrow."

I didn't say anything as I walked out of the room and was going to head out to the entrance of the building to get out when I heard someone in the computer room. Turns out I found the students that were bullying Monkey-sensei and I recognized all of them from the classroom. But I didn't report it. It wasn't my business what they do and I didn't owe my teacher anything.

That changed when he stopped me one day after class.

^*^

"Roronoa-san, can I have a word with you?"

I didn't like to be stopped by teachers, but since this was my last class and I didn't have anything better to do, so I stayed.

"I shouldn't be telling you this, but the teachers and I were in a meeting regarding you."

"If you weren't suppose to tell me then don't bother. I know what they're talking about, and I could care less that I'm failing in this school."

"Well, then you're going to hate me when I tell you that I looked through your school records, and that you seemed promising in your middle school days."

"If you want to know what happened, then you're wasting your breath."

"I actually figured you'd say that. That's why I was wondering if you would like to stay after class for an hour and I'll help tutor you."

"Tutor me?"

"Yeah. Since it seems all the teachers gave up on you, I decided to help you out as much as I can."

"You're just wasting your time with me." I said as I got up. "You'll just end up like all the others."

"Wanna bet?" He said with that damned smile.

I looked at him as if he was insane. "Don't you mean 'what do you mean' or 'it'll be good for you'?"

"Nope!" He said. "So, what are you going to bet?"

"Bet?"

"If we do this tutoring thing and you improve your grades on all your tests and exams, then I'll help you figure out a great college in America. But if that doesn't happen, what will it be?"

I thought about it and came up with the most devastating one for any teacher. "If you can't do that, then you quit teaching."

He smiled as if it was a daring game. "Deal!" He said as he held out his hand, which I didn't shake. "Come on, your part of the bet won't happen unless you shake my hand."

"You said 'deal'."

"Only one of us did."

He was annoying and I shook his hand. "Deal."

The next day the posters were at their worst yet and I heard some of the teachers say that they're going to let him go so that the posters would stop. But since I made that damn deal, I wasn't going to back down on it. I tipped the office in secret and the next day the bullying finally stopped and the students kicked out of the school for good.

^*^

For a whole month I stayed after school with Monkey-sensei and slowly I was starting to see improvements in my study habit. When test time rolled around, I looked at my tests and thought about our deal and many times I thought about purposely writing the wrong answers, but my pride and being a man to keep my end of the deal made me write down what I know and few weeks later would find out that I have indeed improved on my grades.

One day, close to mid-terms, Monkey-sensei had to cancel our tutoring session for a meeting and I was allowed to leave to go home that day.

At this point I still didn't care about him other than my teacher, but as I made my way out to the entrance, I saw some guys I knew from a while back and I knew what they wanted.

"Hey Demon, our boss wants to have a word with you." Said the right hand lackey of the group.

I followed wordlessly and fought that night.

When I went back to school the next day, there was no surprise that there would be a rumor about me going around from last night's fight. It was the same like all the others since I entered high school, but this time Monkey-sensei got the word from it and held me in class to talk about it.

"Just what is going on?" He asked me straightforwardly.

"Just like you heard all day." I responded, and usually it was enough for the teachers.

"I want to hear it from you." He said as he had a serious look on him that he rarely has on. It was a bit intimidating if I really cared.

"Why do you care?"

"Because I'm your teacher, it's my job to know what's going on with my students."

"Then bother them."

"They don't need me." He said. "You don't see it, but you need something and I'm trying to find out what that is so that I can at least point it out to you. Right now you're too difficult to read."

"Why the hell do you care?"

"Because I do."

"You're not paid to do that you know."

He stuck out his tongue at me, a childish move if you ask me. "So? I make crappy pay anyway, but I like to teach. It makes me happy." He said with a smile. "If I'm going to work for little pay, I may as well do it with what I love to do."

"What are you? Twelve?" I asked him. "There's no way you can make a decent living for yourself by doing this."

"You may be right, but I don't care for that as much as long as I know that I helped at least one student."

"Why me? Besides my records and all that, why me?"

He leaned back on the desk with an easy smile on his face. "Because from the moment you walked through that door that first day, I knew that if I helped you succeed in this school, despite all the teachers calling me crazy, than everyone else is just too easy for me to take my attention."

At that point I didn't understand his logic or why he continued to talk to me, but I was starting to think that I can trust him.

That trust started to grow after he found out the truth of my past.

^*^

While my scores were getting better, the teachers believed that it was a miracle that one young teacher was doing this. I was doing it so that he would, eventually, leave me the hell alone and I would get out of this deal.

When mid-terms were finally over and break started, I returned home, which no one greeted me or to tell how well I'm doing. Those days were long gone and wasted my life.

I lived alone since freshmen year, my father used to be here until he left me just like that. My whole life I would dedicate my studying to make him proud of me, learning to balance sports and studying at such an early age and working to keep up with his debts on his drinking. Then when I returned home after the first day of my freshmen year, he was just gone. I waited for him for a week before realizing that I was on my own. I was trapped in the apartment that he left behind and no one noticed that he was gone or that I was on my own.

I learned to adjust to the new life not long after that and learned that I could make more money to pay the rent by fighting and stealing their money from their wallets. I quit my job and did poorly at school, seeing that I have no one to impress anymore.

Then the son of a bitch decided to arrive at my prison to meet my parents to tell them just how great a job I did at school. Sometimes I wonder if he was supposed to be a middle school teacher. But when he saw that no one was home, he decided that he was going to stay until they come. But of course it didn't take him long to figure out what was going on, which was pretty damn amazing seeing how naïve he looks most of the time.

"Zoro… how long have you been on your own?" He asked.

"None of your business."

"Then I'm a nosey teacher and I'm making it my business."

"You're unreal…" I said with a glare. "I never asked you to come to this place, much less tutor me!"

"Tutoring is one thing, but abandonment is another thing."

"Who cares? I'm already considered an adult. There's no reason to hand me to the child services."

"You're right. That's a stupid thing to do when my student is already old enough to take care of himself." He said as he crossed his arms and held that serious look once more. "But this is still unacceptable! Surely the other teachers would've seen what was wrong!"

"They never cared." I said. "Nor did I tell them when they asked me. I never wanted their help!"

He sat down and looked at me. "Tell me what happened, from the beginning."

"You never give up do you?"

"Did the other teachers do that? Just give up when you clearly need someone to listen?"

"I. Don't. Need. Help!"

"So you say." He said as we held a staring contest.

I couldn't believe this guy and I tried to think up any way to get him out. But even when I was thinking that, I also knew that there was no way that I was going to get rid of him.

He sat there, showing that he wasn't going to walk out from my sight like the other teachers did. He even watched me with those eyes that just studied me for any sign of weakness that I would show somehow.

I was going to be physical when he smiled.

"I saw the mid-term results of your test today. I actually wasn't suppose to look, but I just wanted to know so badly so I can tell you in person. But you made it to the top five as far as I can tell. I'm really proud of you, I even have teachers ask me how I did it. You know what I told them? I told them that they can kiss my ass for being such stupid teachers. Thinking about themselves and not their students, no matter how much trouble they are." He laughed. "You should've seen their faces! They were so funny!"

I couldn't explain it, but I felt happy to hear him say that he was proud of me to get a good test result. But I still felt bitter about what happened in the past. "Then it's good for you. Being a teacher seeing a student results from their class means you're doing a good job, isn't it?"

"Well, that's only a small portion of it, but the real deal is the student's hard work and dedication." He said. "Students with different personalities come and go. There will be students that gives hell and some are a god send. Then there are students that seemed to be the children of the underworld lord himself, raising hell wherever they go." He fell on the ground and just laid there. "But it's the benefit of the student that makes this job worthwhile." He looked at me from where he laid down. "You've learned from what we've done in tutoring, right?"

I nodded.

"Then you're doing a great job with hardly anything I can teach you." He closed his eyes and just relaxed on the floor as if he was at home. "So, you still want to continue?"

"Eh?"

He smiled that damned smile of his. "We never set a date on our deal."

That's when it hit me. We never did set a dead line on how long the bet was going to be. "You son of a bitch."

He stuck out his tongue at me, again! "Well you had a choice to not do your best and call it quits on the deal whenever you get a test."

"I never back down on a deal nor do I quit on a deal!"

"But you quit on school after someone just up and left, leaving you behind."

He got me on there. "What would you know!? You probably had a great life always had your family around and never had to face this kind of crap!"

He just looked at me from where he was laying there and sighed. "I never knew my parents, and my brother is missing for a few years now." He said. "You're right, I don't know what it's like to have someone that you're suppose to rely on just walk out on you without a reason other than they can't handle being a parent." He got up to sit upright. "But then, your parent sticked around until you entered high school, right? Usually that's a point of no return, but it looks like they found and outing then and took it without once thinking of you."

"I never existed to him."

He stopped prodding at that point and yawned. "Mind if I stay here for the night? My place is too far."

"Then why the hell did you come here!?"

"Like I told you. To tell you the good news."

"Couldn't you have just called!?"

"That's boring."

"You're insane! Besides teachers aren't supposed to stay over in their student's homes for any reason!"

"Only if they're suspected of molesting their students, but I'm not into that."

"It doesn't matter if you're into that or not, it's just not right for a teacher to stay over like it's no big deal!"

"Then don't think of me as a teacher." He said with that stupid smile. "I'm human too you know. And we're not at school so there's no reason to stay as student and teacher. With that said, I'm Luffy."

"You're not insane, you're out of your damn mind." I said, not believing just how easily he just took this.

"Yeah, I get that a lot."

"Why are you a teacher then!?"

"My own reasons." He said with that stupid childish action.

"I can't take you seriously!" I pointed at him. "How can you be my teacher when you act like a damn kid!?"

He shrugged. "You had a choice to change teachers and blow off the tests, making your end of the deal happen and I wouldn't teach again." He said. "Plus you had a choice to not stay after class, flip me off and go on your way, but you didn't do that either."

He had me there and he smiled again.

"Why is that, Zoro-kun?"

I glared. "Okay! First of all, don't you dare call me '-kun' like you know me on casual ground. And second, I'm a man of my word so I had to do that stupid tutoring thing because that was our deal to see if your teaching methods did anything."

"But I only did five percent of the actual work, it was you who took the whole mile of it."

I knew I was losing this pointless argument-conversation, and pretty soon I ended up making dinner for the two of us and he did stay over that night.

The whole break was nothing but studying with him, coming over to his apartment or he'll come to mine, and getting a decent job to pay off the rent instead of fighting all the time. I still fought but not as much since I started working.

^*^

And when school started up again, I've started to notice the students acting differently around me. I started to clean up my clothes a bit and was now clean from any use and what not. I guess I just looked approachable to them but still didn't bother me. Even the teachers took notice of my slight change as I participated a bit more in the classroom.

I wasn't sure about the stupid changes that were practically demanded from Monkey-sensei, but at the same time it felt okay knowing that he didn't give up on me and making me a better person.

But then one day I was just walking out of Monkey-sensei's class and forgot my book for my math class. I went back only to overhear a girl asking something of him.

"Monkey-sensei…?"

"Hm?"

"Do you tutor after school?"

"Sometimes, why? Do you need help as well?"

She made a sound that means a 'yes'.

"On what subject?"

"English…"

"Oh! Then you and Roronoa-san should stay after class. That way I can help and the both of you can help each other out."

"Oh…"

"What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing…"

"Okay, if that's all you can go home."

"Hai…"

I took this opportunity to enter the classroom and explained my reason, grabbed the book and walked out with Monkey-sensei.

"Monkey-sensei, I couldn't help but overhear that you're taking another student to tutor."

"You heard that?"

I nodded.

"Well, I am a teacher and I know her teacher is on leave because of an accident, and the temp isn't really helpful. Do you mind?"

"Oh, no. I was just wondering because I don't remember her in any of my classes."

He smiled. "Okay. I know you can help her out on some things as well, since you're improving on English lately."

"I don't know."

"I do. You're going to be great, Roronoa-san. I wouldn't take in another student if I didn't have someone else to help me out."

I didn't know what to say at that, but I felt a sense a pride that I haven't before. And this new tutoring thing went on for a few weeks until the female student showed improvement. I thought it was okay for awhile before she stopped me one day.

^*^

"Roronoa-san!"

"Eh? What is it?"

"Uh, you and Monkey-sensei are pretty close, right?"

"As far as teacher and student go."

"So you must know a few things about him, right?"

"Like what exactly?"

"Teachers usually like to eat in their rooms. So what is his favorite food?"

"Nearly anything from what I could tell."

"Oh…" She seemed troubled, but she didn't fool me.

"Do you have a crush on him or something?"

"Please don't tell!" She said as her face was beet red.

"None of my business." I said as I started to not like her. "But you do realize that you can get him in trouble if you do go through with it. Not to mention that you would be seen as a slut."

She seemed shocked when I told her this. "I haven't thought about that! Oh! You're right! If I tried to make him his favorite food as a way of thanking him, it would send the wrong message!"

"So you weren't going to say anything?"

She shook her head. "I would never have the courage to… He's just so different from the other teachers and so kind and lively. It's just impossible not to like."

I sighed. "Really? I don't think it's impossible. But that's just me."

"You're right… maybe I'm too much of a romantic to even believe in something like that." She giggled. "Well, Mother always says it's okay to have a fantasy as long as you don't plan on making it a reality."

That poor girl turned out okay in the end, married a guy who had a crush on her for awhile and opened up a ramen shop since they're both crazy cooks. But that didn't stop the other students from coming in and asking for assistance. Even though Monkey-sensei said that I would be a great help to him, being the first one tutored and keeping up with my grades, but it seemed that the other students were always after him. And that just pissed me off.

^*^

This went on for a month before testing was coming up and the room was packed with desperate students. I helped out as much as I can while Monkey-sensei did his part as well. That was until the board called him into the meeting room to discuss the sudden tutoring club as they called it.

And of course he had to be honest of how it started, minus the parts where he went to my place and I to his, and they were going to let it continue, but in a different class setting. So we moved to the library to do our tutoring. And when it was over I was tired and wanted nothing more than to go home, but he seemed to have other plans for me.

"Oh! Zoro-kun!"

I gave him a look, since he insisted on calling me by that, and responded. "What?"

"Today is your birthday, wanna go somewhere to celebrate?"

"Huh? My birthday?"

"Don't tell me you forgot your own birthday?"

I shrugged. "What's there to celebrate? It's clear that I wasn't liked very much to exist."

"I like you."

"You better be careful what you say around here, Monkey-sensei."

"I know, but I'm saying that I'm happy you're born." He said with that smile that annoyed the hell out of me before now becoming something that I wanted to see when it was just us. "And since today is your day, I wanted to know where you want to go."

"Wouldn't that be considered a date?"

He pouted childishly. "Jeeze! Have I tried to hit on you?"

"No… But the way you act around me would give an indication that you are."

He sighed. "I wanted to thank you somehow on your special day and it's an educational and social issue!"

"You honestly think people would take it lightly?"

"You act like an old man for crying out loud! If anything, they would think you're the teacher and I'm the student!"

He had a point there, but I wasn't going to let him win this time. "Even if it was to thank me and treating me for my day of birth, just seeing us together in a public setting can immediately terminate your license to teach."

He sighed as he leaned back on his desk. "Then what should we do?"

"Easy, we go on like nothing happened, wake up and do it all over again."

He didn't seem to like the idea at all but he seemed to see the reason of it and sighed. "Okay… It's boring but it makes a lot of sense."

I won that one out of everything he managed to talk his way through. But it was short lived as he followed me home.

"You're pushing it…" I said as he brought in take out from a nearby ramen shop.

"I know, but I just can't ignore this day like you would."

That bastard really knows how to get things around so that he can do what he wants. But it was the best birthday I've ever had, and I have to thank him for it.

^*^

After awhile it was going okay. I was getting to the 'B' range in my grades and the tutoring thing started to feel natural to me. That was until a new teacher arrived when another teacher had an accident and couldn't return to class for a year. She was the favorite of most of the guys in the school, but it was clear that she had her beady eyes on Monkey-san, and that was when I started to feel a type of hatred that even that one girl couldn't create.

"You must be Monkey-sensei." She said one day while we were doing our tutoring club.

"Hai. Who are you?"

"Alvida-sensei!" Chorused all the guys in our group.

I've only seen her a few times, but never really caught my attention, and by the looks of it she made quite a few enemies with the females in the group as well.

"Oh, you're the new teacher everyone has been talking about."

"And I've heard a lot of great things about you. It must be hard tutoring all these students."

"No, not really. It's just the same as teaching my students in my regular hour class."

She laughed and it made my ears want to bleed. "You really are quite a teacher for being so young."

"Well that's my advantage. Because I'm young I'm able to connect with my students better because I'm not that much older than them."

It was true, being nineteen and he was still twenty-two going onto twenty-three, making him only four years older than me.

"My, my… I bet you got many young high school girls mistaking you as a student then."

"Yeah that happened to me for a few days, but everyone knows me now."

I had to hold in my laugh as I saw her fruitlessly trying to flirt with him, but he responded so casually and simply that it was making the girls in the group seem less hostile towards her, seeing that she wasn't the talk about beauty at school if she couldn't get him to like her as well.

"You must be really popular then."

"Ah! I guess, but I know there are some students that don't like me, but that's okay too. You can't please everybody."

I could see that she was losing her patience and I wanted to laugh out loud right then and there at how stupid she is.

"Well, surely you've been asked out by accident once or twice?"

She was really pushing it. She should know that dating was downright forbidden in school and worse are the teacher and student dating.

"Nope, not one." He said so plainly that she almost dropped to the ground and one girl had to cover up her giggle.

"My, my… you really are a hard case to crack."

"Huh? What are you talking about? And I'm trying to teach here."

"I'm sorry, I better talk to you another time. What day are you free?"

"I tutor everyday and I'm tutor on my day off as well."

She had the most priceless look I've ever seen and I cursed myself for not bringing a camera with me. It was hilarious.

"Well… I guess I'll see you around…"

"Yeah, bye!" He said as she left, clearly showing disappointment, and once she left, the girls laughed and I chuckled along with them. "Na? What's so funny?" And he doesn't have a damn clue!

But she tried again during lunch, which was my only time with him to just talk about stupid crap and just taking it easy while we're on our lunch break.

"Oh… you tutor at lunch as well?"

"Oh, no, this is Roronoa-san, he's a student but he helps me out with the tutor club."

"Oh… How do you do?"

"I'm well, Alvida-sensei."

"Is there something you would like to talk about?" He asked as he took a huge bite of his sandwich, much like a kid would do.

"No… it's nothing important." She said as she exited out of the room.

"Huh? That was weird."

"You honestly don't see it, do you?"

"Huh? See what?"

"She's been trying to ask you out." I said, figuring that he should know what she really wants. But for some reason I just don't like the idea of Monkey-sensei going around with anyone else, but I also knew that it was stupid to think like that.

"Oh? Is that so? Well that's too bad."

"Huh?"

"I'm not interested in her."

"Oh?" I felt relieved, strangely enough.

"Yeah. In fact, I was never really interested in girls growing up."

"Are you telling me that you're gay?"

"Nah! Just saying that I was never really into the whole dating thing. Seems weird to me."

I couldn't help but laugh at that. "You serious? You're twenty-two years old and you haven't dated once?"

"Nope." He said simply. "Dating just some weird ritual that makes guys act all funny and girls are twice as scary."

He was a riot and I couldn't stop laughing. I felt so relieved that it's hard to describe in words alone. And I didn't really care at that point why I felt that way, all I knew that I felt good that I heard that.

But it all donned on me when another teacher, Lucci-sensei, came up to Monkey-sensei and asked him to go out for coffee. Normally that wasn't a problem, it was just coffee, but then I kept seeing Lucci-sensei coming around and talking to him and he would talk to him for a long time while I tried to focus on helping the others in our tutoring club. Then all of a sudden Lucci-sensei was part of the club and I kept quiet about it, finding no reason why I didn't like him.

That's when I saw it. Lucci-sensei had an arm around Monkey-sensei as he was going over the latest test scores and moving in closer than he needed to be to look at it. But what really got my blood boiling was the way he kept looking at him! I knew he was after Monkey-sensei, and I didn't give a damn why I felt this way, but I wanted him out of the club and out of the picture.

But I still kept quiet about it until one day at lunch when Lucci-sensei was in the classroom talking to Monkey-sensei. That was the last straw. I didn't have a reason why he should go away, and I figured that I wasn't needed anymore. So I stopped coming to the tutoring club and lunch with him.

^*^

I continued to study for the next three weeks, but even studying reminded me of him and it became difficult for me to get a problem done that would usually take hardly any time for me. I didn't understand why I was getting upset about it and why I loathe the thought of having him in my mind, but it was all I could do for those weeks and it was making me bitter, just like before. That was before he came to visit.

"Zoro-kun!" He called as he let himself in, since he had a spare.

"What?" I said as I stared at the same page for a damn hour, but I was a bit surprised to hear him after those few weeks.

"Zoro, what's going on? How come you don't come to the tutoring club anymore?"

"Why would you need me there for? You got Lucci-sensei to help you."

"Huh? Lucci-sensei? But he asked to help out, so I did."

"Yeah… I just figured that I don't need tutoring help anymore, and Lucci-sensei can teach them better than I would. Since I'm still a student myself."

"Zoro, just because another teacher is helping out doesn't mean your presence there isn't needed anymore."

"What does it matter? I'm going to out of that school in a few months and I have to have time to study."

There was a pause between us before he broke the silence. "Do you need help with your studying?"

"I got it, thanks."

"Okay…" He said sadly as I heard him walk towards the door when I sighed.

"However I am having a hell of a time with this word problem." I said as I looked back to see him looking at me. "Usually I would solve this in a minute, but this stupid question is taking me an hour and I don't understand what it is."

He smiled as he walked over and sat down next to me. "Let's see if we beat this thing to its functions." He said as he seems to be happy to be doing this again.

And I felt better now that we were back where we started. Pretty soon he stayed the night once again and this time I didn't complain as he just plopped down on the couch I bought a while back because the old one was, well… not what it used to be, though it made a good fire.

But as I tucked him in that's when I began to notice some things that I haven't noticed, but always seen. He did look attractive in a shota-ish way by how child-like he looked, his hair that I thought had a brunette hue to it when the light hit it now show a blue hue in the moon light, and looking at him now and thinking back to everything we've been through I couldn't help but feel differently about him as I left him to his dreaming.

^*^

The next few days continued like it never happened; only this time the feeling never left and the hatred I feel towards Lucci-sensei seemed to get worse. Then one day Lucci-sensei mentioned Monkey-sensei out of the library to talk to him in private and I didn't see them for about ten minutes before I heard Monkey-sensei yell at Lucci-sensei to get lost and came back to the library without the other. No one wanted to ask what happened but I was going to after the club ended for the day. When it did, I didn't hesitate to ask.

"What happened earlier?"

"Lucci-sensei being an ass! That's what!" He said as he seemed to be puffing smoke out of his nose.

"Okay… I'll won't ask more than that."

"I mean! That guy had the nerve to hang around me all weird for these past few weeks and then suddenly asks me out on a date like I owe him something! That asshole!"

"How shallow…" I said as I was inwardly relieved that he wasn't going to date that creep.

"I mean! I told you how I feel about dating, right."

"You did."

"This is what I don't like about dating. Someone goes up and asks another for a date and hope they say yes. If the person says no, then they can either be a psycho that will want you dead than date anyone else, keep hounding until they hear yes, or be drastic and try to kill themselves! What's the point in that?"

"No idea…" I said, wondering how on earth he heard all that crazy stuff. But it was still light out and I figured that it would be okay to do something that I was against with at first. "Hey, Monkey-sensei. Is it okay if we grab a bite to eat somewhere?"

"Yeah! I'm starving!" He said, seeming to forget about the danger of having a teacher and student going out and about. "Where do you have in mind?"

It wasn't like a date, but if we're careful it wouldn't look like one. "How about that burger place near the time square."

"The one that looks like it's been there awhile?"

"Yeah… That one."

"I've always wanted to try that place!" He said as he was practically jumping in place.

"Okay, okay, no need to act like a damn puppy!"

He just laughed but he stopped jumping.

^*^

The next few days were going well until there were posters being handed out of us just being together. Both of us took a beating with verbal harassments from the students, mostly guys. I had to keep myself from punching them to a pulp, but I couldn't imagine what Monkey-sensei was holding up. When I entered his class, the guys were doing cat calls and whispered suggestive stuff that we never even done on school grounds or anywhere. Even the girls are starting to question about it as they think they got two and two together. Then it wasn't long until the board called us up and demanded an explanation.

It was long and difficult as we told our sides of the story to the board, minus the home visits and about my past, and it looked like it was heading nowhere as we were dismissed. We had to report to them the next day as they talk it over. We had to cancel the club for the next few days as we stopped seeing each other until the meeting the next day.

We were off the hook for now and the ugly rumor stopped soon after, but it didn't help much with the other students, since they're now trying to find the truth between us.

There was nothing going on, but that didn't mean that what I feel for him wasn't proof that it was all pretend.

^*^

When graduation finally came, I planned to leave out of Japan to go to school in New York soon afterwards.

Luffy was going to take me to the airport and I'm on my own from there. He said he had a friend there that would help me get settled once I get there and help me out if I needed it.

"Good luck out there, Zoro."

"Thanks, you too with teaching."

"It's been one hell of a year for us, huh?"

I laughed. "Hai! It has." I said as I looked at him. "Thanks for everything, Luffy."

"I guess we're no longer student and teacher now, huh?"

"It's a bit awkward…"

"You'll get over it."

"You're right." I said as we reached to the airport.

"Here we are. Don't get lost now!"

"Shut up!" I said as I made it out of the car and got my luggage out. I wanted to say something to him, but I figured it wasn't appropriate and just said "Later" and went into the airport

It's been four years since then.

~*#End of Flashback: Present Day#*~

Since then I tried out dating some people in college, but it never really felt right. Even 'done it' once, but it was just a onetime thing. I held a job and did okay in my classes. I immediately wanted to be a teacher, but I wanted to do physical education because the P.E. teachers back in my day were a bit on the pervert scale. But since I was sure that what I feel about Monkey-san is real, there wasn't going to be a problem with the female students in the class. I was going to treat them the same as the guys and that was that.

All was left was to tell him how I feel, since I'm no longer a student, therefore it was fair game. But there were times I feel that I would be rejected, and that this was all for nothing. Well, if it does come to that, I would be outside most of the time.

*^*

I went up to the school and into the office where the teachers would usually meet. Some teachers recognized me and were happy to see that I've come back as a teacher. But I didn't see the one I really wanted to meet.

"Zoro?"

I turned to see the man I've wanted to see for the past four years.

Monkey D. Luffy, age twenty-six, and still looks the same as before.

"Hey, Luffy." I said, feeling great to say his name again after so long, but our meeting was short lived as the start of class was near.

"It's great to see you again!" He said.

"Same."

"We better get to class then." He said with a bit of a laugh.

"Luffy, do you have time after school?"

"Hai, I do. They shortened the tutoring club to only three days a week! Can you believe that!?"

I laughed, believing it. "Hai. Well… I have something to tell you."

"Okay, I'll see you after school then."

-After School: Park-

"How was your first day?" He asked as we walked down to the park that was near the school.

"It was good. But it looks like I have some students that are a bit wary of me."

"They'll get over it once they find out that you're not that kind of teacher."

"Hai…" I said as we were into the city and heading towards the ocean. "You don't mind walking this far out?"

"My car is still being fixed, so it's okay. And besides I haven't seen you in so long! It's great to spend time with you again."

"Yeah… I missed having you around too. No one to annoy me."

"Oi!" He said with a laugh.

*^*

Once we reached to the pier, and no one was around, we just stared out into the ocean for awhile before I gathered up my wits and just went with it.

"Luffy, there's something I've been meaning to tell you."

"Huh?"

"There's no easier way to say it, but… even after four years being in America I can't shake this feeling off. You were always on my mind and there hasn't been a day when I don't remember the things you've done for me." I sighed as I tried to find better words to describe. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that… even though we were teacher and student, a lot of times it didn't feel that way but I was realistic and that allowed me to make sure you kept your job and I would still have you…" I was just spouting out crap and I thought I wasn't going anywhere when I felt a hand on mine. I looked up to see him and just saw that smile.

"Keep going." He said with such an understanding attitude.

"Monkey D. Luffy… I…" I started to say before my mouth became dry and I forgot what to say, so my mind decided to go with an alternative. "I was wondering if you like to go on a date with me…"

That… sounded really stupid. But he smiled and held my hand tightly as he laughed.

"Didn't I tell you how I feel about dating?"

I messed up and all I could do was look away and glare at the ocean. "Yeah… I remember…" I managed to breathe out when I felt a hand on my face and turned my head to face him.

"But with you, I'll make an exception." He said gently as he kissed me.

It was unexpected and I figured I was dreaming, but if it was I didn't want to wake up. When he parted away from me, his hand was still on my face and looked at me in the eyes.

"I've been meaning to tell you that I love you too." He said with a smile so gentle that I wanted to kiss him. "These four years have been hell for me since you left. I always expected to see you wandering around the school or the streets. I even went over by your old apartment thinking you were there, but I kept reminding myself that you were in America and that I've done my job as a teacher." He laughed a little. "Thinking back on it, whenever you mentioned that you're the student and I'm the teacher, you reminded me that even though you look older I have to be careful about what I do and say around you." He looked out at the ocean. "I won't lie to you, there were times when we were together that I haven't thought about kissing you, especially when you fell asleep, but I didn't because I didn't want to break anything that has been built. But having you near me and hearing your voice was just enough for me for that year that we've been together. He looked at me again with that gentle smile. I've tutored a lot of students, but there's only one student that I fell in love with."

I heard all that I needed to hear and kissed him.

My name is Roronoa Zoro, age twenty-two, new P.E. teacher, and now, after four years of waiting, the boyfriend and lover of Monkey D. Luffy, age twenty-six, currently a teacher and tutor club supervisor.

Sometimes it's worth the wait.

Longest one-shot I've ever done... Hoped you enjoyed it!