Gyaa!! Sorry girls, for updating this so late. I kept changing the last part and still not satisfied with it, but never mind...

Um, what else? Oh, thanks for the reviews girls! You're all awesome! XOXO

Enjoy!

Chapter 11

What feelings was this?

The entire 'untangling of his legs' part had been done in less than fifteen minutes and each of the mouth-to-mouth was even much more shorter yet it felt like hours for the swordsman. They ended up having to repeat the same 'air sharing' method three times before Zoro was completely free and they both could swam for the lake's surface. Despite repeatedly trying to convince himself the opposite, the swordsman found he was slightly-repeat: slightly enjoying the moment their lips touched. He was even wished for a split second that somehow the plants would not be so easy to untangle so that they would need to do 'it' a few times more. He'd grew to like the feel of the cook's mouth on him after the first two 'kisses' and gradually began to relax on the third contact. After the last mouth contact, he felt a sudden vague feeling of lost.

No! Of course he didn't feel that way! The fact that he was reacting to the kisses was not very shocking to him since he found out that he preferred males rather than their fairer gender counterparts for quite a while even before he joined Luffy, but it was Sanji he was talking about! That guy was a swooning idiot whenever he saw a creature with boobs! There's no way he liked the guy! Hold on a sec, saying he liked him was a total exaggeration. Even if he truly enjoyed the kiss, not that he did of course, it didn't mean he'd grew certain feelings for the cook. It's just a natural reaction of a normal human being when they were kissed by another person. Even Luffy would have that kind of reactions.... right? Wait, Luffy couldn't be counted as normal; the kid was waaay beyond normal.

How about himself? Was he normal? Come to think of it, none of the crew member was really normal, didn't they?

Now wait a minute, it was out of the topic! Where was he again? Oh right; those stupid kisses-they're not even really a kiss-but why did he think about it so much? Thinking about him 'thinking' of it made his face grew redder as memories of the blonde and the feel of cold wet mouth touched his was replayed again and again in his head.

Shit, I can't get it out of my head! It must be because I almost drown down there... yup! That must be it! The green head told himself.

"Oi, you okay?" Sanji's voice interrupted Zoro's train of thoughts. His eyes studied his crew mate's face intensely. "You look sick."

"N-No, m'fine!" The green head hurriedly croaked and looked away but Sanji seemed like he was rather preoccupied by his own thought since he only nodded then lowered his eyes to the ground, much to Zoro's relief. He really had bad luck with the damn lake since they arrived just a few days ago. Come to think of it, he was almost drown twice in the same lake had Sanji hadn't helped him. That meant the cook had saved his ass two times in a row. Damn it, he felt like a total invalid.

They were both resting on the lake shore, soaking wet and slightly coughing and panting from exertion.

"...were you following me?" Asked the swordsman after a moment of silence. He knew what the answer would be since how else the cook could just suddenly appear in the last minute, but he wanted to know the reason. The cook turned his head and studied the green head for a few seconds, as if considering what to say.

"I just suddenly remembered you could also get lost underwater but I didn't know water plants were greatly attracted to you too." He said, causing Zoro to scowl. The bastard was trying to avoid giving a direct answer, but he didn't deny it.

"Any particular reason?"

"No, I just thought there might be clues to find." the blonde answered shortly. It still didn't answer why he was rather persistent about going into the water earlier. Did he know something Zoro didn't? The green head was sure Sanji would tell if it was about the crew, so it must be something else although he couldn't think of any possibilities as to why the cook would lie about it. The swordsman decided to drop it and focused on more related matter at hand. More of his time had been wasted for nothing. His first plan had failed, that meant he needed to move onto the next plan.

Fuck.

He really didn't feel like doing it, but the brat might take his non cooperative act as a reason to harm his captured friends. He didn't want that to happen. Besides, what he was asked sounded rather easy; he just needed to make Sunny think he had positive feelings towards him right? And made sure Sanji knew it. It won't be that hard with Sunny. He was already acting like a love-struck moron even without Zoro doing anything. The rather difficult part was Sanji. The bastard might laugh his lungs out to death or worst; disgusted upon knowing Zoro's sexuality. There's a big possibility that he was one of those homophobic (being a very straight guy he was) and there's no doubt he wouldn't look at the swordsman the same way, ever again.

Zoro surprised himself with how much he cared about Sanji's opinion towards him. Why would he care? They hated each other so if the cook thought less about him, it didn't really matter. It shouldn't matter to him, right?

We hate each other, period. I don't give a shit what curly brow think about me! He convinced himself. Still, he couldn't help feeling hurt imagining the cook's disgusted expression upon knowing his sexual preference. He tried to console himself by saying that it wouldn't matter either way; sooner or later the cook would eventually find it out, since there's no telling when they would be on their separate ways until all of them found one piece and reached their own dreams.

The green head stood up and began to put on his clothes. After making sure his katanas were hung safely on his waist, he turned at the silent cook. The blonde tried to light one of his soaked cigarette from his pocket and after a few failed attempts, he muttered a curse and threw it frustratedly on the ground. The swordsman had a feeling there's something stressing out the guy. Zoro had very rarely ever seen Sanji tried to fiddle with ruined cigarette; it's useless. There were a few occasions, however, when he saw the cook tried to lit a wet cigarette between his lips and it was when they're facing a very serious situations. Something was deeply bothering him.

It made him suspected that something must had happened yesterday, while Velturus took control of his body. The blonde had been acting like that since the last time Zoro talked to him on the deck the other day. He would squeezed the answers from the cook later; whether he liked it or not, but first he needed to proceed with plan B and it would need Sanji's cooperation without him knowing he was part of the scheme. Gee, that made him almost felt as bad as the orange haired scheming witch... For once, the swordsman instantly regretted calling the navigator 'witch'. He was concerned about her too, she was his nakama, even though she acted like a total bitch sometimes.

There he went again. Oh well, it couldn't be helped.

Ok, now he needed to make a logical excuse for them to go look for the other blonde.

"We should find Sunny." He began. It took a few seconds before the cook turned his attention back to the green head, his brow raised in questioning expression.

"Uh, I mean, he could've found something..." Zoro added lamely and he mentally winced at his excuse. Was that the best argument he could come up with? Again, the swordsman blamed it on his near death experience. The cook stared at the swordsman but he seemed like looking somewhere beyond him, as if he was in a trance. He didn't look like he was really listening to what Zoro was saying too.

Zoro was considering to repeat louder but then the blonde stood up and reluctantly walked passed his crew mate. He put his hands in his pants pockets and mouth sealed tightly. His pale lips looked strange without the presence of a cigarette. The swordsman just stood still, fixing his gaze at the cook; trying to guess what the other was doing but finally got the idea and quickly followed after him towards the forest in the direction they last saw Sunny was heading.

In the beginning of their walk through the forest, there was no sound besides the breeze blowing through the tree leaves and the sound of dried leaves or the crunching sound of dried tree branch under their feet. Not a single word was traded between the two pirates.

Zoro had to constantly increase his pace in order to adjust to the cook's pace. One time the swordsman almost lost the cook (not that he's worried he'd be left behind by the bastard or something) but the cook didn't even seem to hear it when he tried to call him. Luckily his blonde hair was not that hard to spot against the green surroundings and the swordsman managed to catch up to his crew mate in no time. Imagine what might happen if they ended up separated when it was only less than two hours left before sunset. It could be days before the swordsman crossed path with him or Sunny again and Zoro didn't want to imagine what the delay might bring to the others' safety.

He decided that he would not let it slip any longer. For whatever fucking reason the cook had been acting off-guard, he would have to stop it. He grabbed the cook's slumping shoulder with a firm grip and forced him to stop on his track.

"Oi, baka-cook! What the hell's your problem?" He demanded. Sanji's careless behaviour could endangered everything they had been working on to safe the crew and it pissed him off.

The reply never came out of the cook who kept his back on the green head. This irritated the swordsman's further and he attempted to get the guy to turn around and faced him.

"I'm asking, you curly br-!!" Suddenly he felt himself loosing balance and his grips on the other man's shoulders were slipping as he was yanked forward by the arm. He grunted as his still wounded shoulder crashed painfully onto the forest ground. He hadn't expected the cook to do something like this but what surprised him was what he did right after.

The cook knocked Zoro's face with his, slamming their mouths together and almost crushed their noses in the process. He took advantage of his crew mate's opened lips; which intended to let out a protest, and plunged his tongue into the hot cavern. The swordsman was frozen for a good couple of seconds, overwhelmed by his body's instant reaction while the cook raided his mouth roughly. Then the cook suddenly stopped and pulled away, leaving Zoro all flustered with embarrassment.

If the cook was aware of the fierce blush on Zoro's cheeks or the growing bulge on the other's pants, he didn't show it. Instead, he fixed his visible blue eye intently at the green head's and began to speak.

"...Zoro," He said, his voice was no more than a whisper and if their faces weren't so close apart, the swordsman would've missed it. The mention of his name made the green head tensed. He wasn't sure he'd want to hear what the cook was going to say next; the tone in Sanji's voice was... unsettling somehow.

"I.... I like you." He managed to spill out the difficult words but the dark green eyes looking back at him only blinked in response. His face was as red as Zoro himself but the cook kept his fixed gaze on the swordsman's.

"W-What?!" The green head quickly shoved the blonde off of him and scrambled away. He realised his voice sounded like an undignified squeak Usopp made and he regretted it a split second later. Why the hell's he over reacted like a school girl? But most importantly, why the hell the idiot skirt-worshipper cook suddenly said that to him? What happened to his ladies-man ego?

The swordsman quickly stood up and resumed his angry mode. His hands curled into fists and he glared daggers at the blonde standing before him. There's only one explanation to this; the cook was making fun of him. He couldn't care less if Sanji knew he's gay now, but he had never imagined the blonde would ever mock him the way he did, no matter what a jackass Sanji could be. The green head felt like someone had just kicked him hard on the chest. It's kinda hurt.

"What are you trying to pull, bastard?!" He growled angrily Zoro was a little surprised at how angry he sounded, but he didn't care. It was Sanji's problem if he had a personal vendetta with homos, but he couldn't just humiliate him and walked away with it. "Do that again and you're death."

Okay, maybe he was angrier than he should have, even though he wasn't really knew why. The fact that it was done by Sanji might be reason enough to do so.

The cook, however, seemed taken aback by his hostility and his mouth opened and closed without a word coming out. He finally managed to mutter something but the swordsman had already turned his back on him and started to trot away, refusing to listen to the cook. He didn't get far, since a hand roughly grabbed his arm and stop him soon after.

"The fuck-?" Zoro spun around and shoved the cook's hand away.

"I'm serious." said the blonde cook in firm tone. There it was again, the same tone and the look in his eye. He was dead serious, which was why it bothered Zoro a lot. He couldn't be telling the truth; he hated men, right? He hated him! There's no way the mutual loathing suddenly turned the complete opposite in a few days! And what actually made Zoro furious (now he realised it) was how much a tiny voice inside his head wished it to be true.

"Why?"

"...What?"

"Why do this?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's not funny, jackass!"

"It's not! You think I'm kidding you, baka marimo?"

".....but, I thought you like-uhh, girls."

"Yeah, so? Is it that weird I like you too?" The cook's remark made Zoro's lips went numb. His face heated up in an instant. Sanji suddenly quieted down and turned his eyes on the patch of grass around his feet. He gazed at it intently as if he had never seen a patch of grass in his entire life.

Then he nervously cleared his throat and spoke again. "D-Did you like it?"

".....like it?" Zoro looked puzzled for a moment but soon realised what the blonde was asking about. "....i-it's..... I-uh..." Shit, why does the bastard made me stutter so much?

"Zoro-kwuunnnn!!" A familiar voice suddenly called from a distance.

Ah saved by the bell.

Or not.

Sunny was practically jumping his way towards the two as the warm light of the sun shone in the background. The orange orb was hanging low in the peachy-red coloured sky, signing it was near dusk. Meaning now was his last chance to finish what he had been planning to do, no matter how much he wanted to abandon it and return the cook's feelings.

TBC

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