Author's Note: So I don't own Hetalia, Treasure Island or One Piece. I'll be dreadfully honest. This chapter wasn't exactly meant to be this long. I swear. Also, the next chapter is going to be considerably shorter than this by like, a lot. But after that, the chapters should be around this length, about maybe 7000 thousand words? This chapter is almost 9000 words. Yup, I wrote that much. This chapter was one I was really looking forward to, cause it was probably one of the most fun chapters to write. I made the kendo part of this short (and the title is in reference to the kendo match that was perhaps 500 words at most?) because I know like, nothing about kendo. I also used a lot of vocabulary words, I have a glossary, no worries though! Sorry that it's a big glossary, I wanted to sound smart. I used wikipedia a lot. I'm sorry if I offend anyone who does compete in kendo. I'm also not the best at fight scenes either, but I tried really hard! As always, I will be thanking you for reviews at the bottom and asking you a question. Well, actually, two questions this time.
Before we get to the glossary, I will explain how a kendo match works. I'm not good at doing this, I also think I butchered the sport and feel REALLY bad about it, you have no idea. I've seen Bleach in which one filler episode had a few people on a single team in kendo and they each scored a point to win. In this story's case, it's a one on one match. Now the way it works is there are 3 referees, all of whom hold two flags. One of white and one is red. When a point is awarded, that means two or more referees agree that the point was deserved. To award a point, a referee raises the flag corresponding to the colour of the ribbon worn by the scoring competitor. Kendo is a three-point match. I know that matches aren't this short, I'm just trying to lessen the horribleness of my writing kendo, to spare you all. Also, sorry for the overuse of vocabulary.
Bōgu: protective armour worn by kendo competitors, or anyone practicing kendo
Shinpan: the name of a referee for a kendo match. There are usually three of them.
Hakama: garment separated in the middle to form two wide trouser legs. If you've ever seen Inuyasha, you know what this is.
Shinai: the kind of sword people use in kendo. Basically, it's a kind of wooden sword.
Katsugi-waza: an attack technique that provides a surprise attack, by lifting the shinai over your shoulder before striking.
Tobikomi-waza: This is a technique used when one's opponent has weak kisei (spirit, vigour) or when they yield an opening under pressure. Strike quickly. This is also under shikake-waza.
Shikake-waza: I guess you could call it the technique category the katsugi-waza is under.
Datotsu-bui: point scoring targets on the body
Men-bu: the top or sides of the head protector (sho-men and sayu-men).
Oji-waza: counter-attack techniques
Nuki-waza: a type of counter-attack where after avoiding an attack, you immediately strike back. Timing is really important in this case.
Debana-waza: This technique involves striking your opponent as you realise he/she is about to strike. This is because their concentration will be on striking and their posture will have no flexibility to respond.
Hikibana-waza: Body and shinai will lose balance as you strike or when being attacked. This technique takes advantage of this to help execute a strike.
Beautiful Disaster
By: Setkia
Full Summary
Sanji is the assistant cook of the world-renowned restaurant, the Baratie, the only restaurant like it in the world. He's a successful chef and flirts with the customers every chance he can get but there's a problem. It's all a facade. The cooks give a new meaning to the word "abusive", both mental and physical. The only thing keeping Sanji alive is his love for cooking and a good ol' pack of cigarettes.
Zoro Roronoa is a swordsman who suddenly has more change in his pocket than he expected and enters the Baratie by recommendation. His waiter happens to be a curly browed man with an adoration for cigarettes. An attempt speak to the head chef goes horribly wrong and he gets sucked into the crumbling world of the chef's, wondering how he can possibly save him and better yet, why does he want to save him in the first place?
Chapter 11: Everyone Was Sword-Fighting
Zoro realized that spending almost a month and a half inside a "shitty apartment" as Sanji put it would drive anyone insane so that was the reason why the blond was now sitting in the stands as Zoro sized up his newest opponent.
Yes, Zoro had brought Sanji to a kendo match.
Zoro had learnt that Sanji had never seen a kendo match before since he didn't watch TV and the cook had concluded that kendo was a sport in which men grunted and smacked each other with wooden sticks. Zoro told him he had to see it to understand what it was like and then practically shoved the ticket to him, telling him that he was coming whether or not he wanted to so Luffy was going to pick him up at six and he'd better not be late.
Only Sanji would turn up to a kendo tournament wearing something as stylish as a suit. Idiot didn't understand that no one really cared what you looked like when the competitors were wearing bōgu. Finding the man amongst the many spectators was not hard when his blond hair stood out amongst the sea of dark, even if he wasn't wearing the suit.
His opponent, Cabaji, was known to be a rather … eccentric man who enjoyed playing tricks on his opponent before a match and often during. Today though it was almost certain he'd play fair seeing as there were over a thousand spectators and the shinpans had keen eyes, as proven by other matches they had refereed.
Before the match had begun, the man had already tried to light Zoro's hakama on fire. Zoro had decided since it was Sanji's first ever match (that he saw at least), he wouldn't mention it to anyone. It wasn't like Cabaji had succeeded anyway and Zoro wouldn't be intimidated by something that pathetic.
One of the refs raised an arm and told them they may begin.
It was perhaps two seconds before everything as over. Using the katsugi-waza manoeuvre to quickly gain a point, Zoro struck down on his opposition.
The entire crowd erupted in cheers as the three referees raised a red flag.
A direct men-bu strike so early on? This guy isn't that big of a deal, is he?
The second round started and Zoro's eyes wandered to the crowd for a brief moment. They landed on the cook, who was leaning in his seat, trying to get a better look. Baka, you're in the best seats of the house. Luffy, I'm trusting you to make sure he doesn't fall over. He seemed amazed by the competition, as though he had never seen such a fight before when Zoro remembered he hadn't.
Cabaji made an attempt at a tobikomi-waza, but he wasn't fast enough. Seriously, does this guy practice any of his shikake-waza? Zoro made a quick nuki-waza and once again, all three referees declared him the winner of another point. He leaves his datotsu-bui so open, no wonder he's easy to beat. I can understand why he uses cheap tactics to catch the other off-guard, but sideshows won't work on me.
The third and final round started.
Right when Cabaji made an attempt to use a hikibana-waza, Zoro countered with debana-waza, thus winning the match.
God, that was boring, hope Sanji didn't fall asleep.
"Zoro!"
The green-haired man turned at the sound of his name and was almost instantly enveloped by Luffy's arms as he hugged him tightly. "That was a great match!" the dark haired man said with a laugh. "Really!"
"It was short," Zoro told him. Trying not to seem too anxious, Zoro looked around. Nami was coming forth, rolling her eyes and wearing that expression that said quite clearly, "my boyfriend's an idiot, but I have no one to blame but myself", with a bouquet of flowers for Zoro. Honestly, flowers made him look so … un-masculine. If that was a word. Probably not though. Usopp was busy talking to one of the other competitors, probably saying some big-ass lie about how he was a kendo champ, back in the day and the most fearsome competitors feared the name of the Great Usopp. "Um, Luffy, where's—"
"Sanji?" Luffy finished for him.
Zoro tried not to blush. Was it that obvious he was looking for the cook?
"He's still in the stands. I think he's in shock," Luffy supplied. He gave Zoro a knowing look that the swordsman didn't even know his idiotic friend had. "You wanna see him?"
Zoro shook his head. "No, I was just—"
"Zoro, it's okay to want to talk to him," Luffy cut him off. "Me and Nami will wait, alright? And Usopp's pretty busy, talking to that big guy, he'll hardly realize you're gone."
"Nami and I," Zoro corrected. He wasn't sure why, but when he got overly-anxious, he tended to be a grammar Nazi. He didn't even like grammar and what reason did he have to be nervous? It was just Sanji!
Luffy rolled his eyes. "Okay big guy." He pat Zoro on the shoulder. "We'll be waiting, alright?"
"Yeah, sure," Zoro replied in a distracted voice.
His feet didn't seem to move fast enough, or slow enough for that matter. Each step he took was at a normal pace and yet his mind told him it was taking forever while at the same time, informing him he was walking too quickly. In actuality, his strides were his normal, relaxed ones, but his mind was on an entirely different planet.
What if Sanji hadn't liked the match? It had been brief, there was hardly any time to watch an impressive showdown. What if he turned Sanji against kendo forever? Not that it really mattered since the cook didn't seem to take much interest in Zoro's personal life in the first place, but what if he was now living with someone who had something against his career? Dammit, what the fuck was he thinking?
When he finally got into the arena again, he saw Sanji right away.
The blond was sitting on a bench, his hands on his knees, staring at the matts on which the "battle" had taken place. He seemed to be mumbling to himself, random words that weren't coherent thoughts and as Zoro approached him, he wondered if he was approaching a wild animal. Unpredictable and able to attack at any moment.
Surprisingly, it wasn't until Zoro took a seat next to Sanji and cleared his throat that the cook realized he was there.
When he did though—
SMACK!
"Fuck, you need to stop doing that!" Zoro said, holding his cheek. Wasn't that the place the insane cook had first struck him on the day at the Baratie? Well, now wasn't the time for nostalgia.
Sanji immediately jumped up from where he had been sitting and covered his mouth in surprise. "Shit, does it hurt?" he asked, his brow creasing in what Zoro hoped was concern. He did say they were friends, after all. "It's a reflex."
"Does it hurt?" Zoro repeated. "Does it hurt?" He shook his head. "Oh no, I've gotten so used to getting kicked in the face, I've developed an immunity to pain! A high tolerance towards crazy black boots striking me out of nowhere, I don't even notice anymore! Hell, I've become fucking numb to it!" The sad thing was he was telling the truth. With a sigh, he turned to Sanji. "Okay, now that you've smacked me with your foot, wanna tell me why you're here when everyone else is over there?" He gestured with his thumb towards the changing rooms, where several people whom had their matches before Zoro's were being congratulated.
"I have an uncannily horrible sense of direction?" Sanji offered.
Zoro shook his head. "Come on cook, talk."
Sanji was quiet for a while, staring around the arena once more. "I look fucking ridiculous, don't I?"
"To the average person? No. To a room filled with kendo fans? Hell yeah."
Sanji chuckled softly. "I didn't really come here willingly, you know. Your straw-hat friend dragged me here," Sanji pointed out. "Threatened me with some talk with Nami. Apparently, she can get scary at times, though I don't understand how a woman that pretty can have as sharp of a tongue as Luffy claims."
For some unknown reason there was a twinge of something in Zoro's stomach which he preferred not to name.
Zoro dug his foot into the ground, as though trying to dig a hole to China. China probably wasn't far enough though, but with its large population, maybe he'd blend in and not have to worry about hearing Sanji tell him that kendo was the bane of his existence. Who was he fucking kidding, he had green hair, there was no way anyone was going to miss that.
"They won't let me smoke in here," Sanji said with a frown.
"Second hand smoking is worse than first hand. With how much I let you smoke in my house, I won't be surprised if I die before you."
"It's not a house, it's a shit apartment," Sanji corrected him.
"How could I forget?"
There was silence and then the now-familiar sound of a lighter burning. He heard Sanji's satisfied sigh as he let out a puff of smoke. Well, there's no one around so I suppose it can't hurt, Zoro thought to himself. He waited for Sanji to say something about the match, but he seemed to be dancing around the topic.
Fuck, he hated it, didn't he?
Zoro was about to apologize for wasting Sanji's time when the blond spoke again.
"You know, when I thought I'd be leaving the house for the first time, I didn't think it'd be because I was being forced to go to some sport event." Sanji took a deep breath and Zoro stayed silent, waiting for the blond to pass judgment on Zoro's career. "They don't record the matches, do they? Like the way they'll record a basketball game and put it on TV?"
"What, you think kendo isn't worthy of being televised?" Zoro asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No, it's not that. It's just that in games like basketball or baseball, they have a couple of moments where the cameras scan the crowds, right? Do like a wave-shot or something. If that tape gets on TV …"
Zoro realized Sanji's concern. If the tape was let out to the public, that would mean that Sanji would be on it. No doubt the Baratie was wondering where the fuck he was and they probably hadn't forgotten about Zoro. To see Sanji— who stuck out like a sore thumb— at a kendo match where Zoro was competing? That couldn't just be a coincidence. The cooks could find him, couldn't they?
Zoro felt his heart race. Fuck, he had screwed up. Now the cooks were going to hunt Sanji down and find him. They were going to take him away from Zoro— wait. Why did his stomach clench at the thought? Why did he see red when he thought of Sanji being taken away from him? It didn't make sense. Zoro shook his head and instead took a deep breath, trying to clear his mind. For the first time in his life, he actually itched for a cigarette. It seemed to calm Sanji down a lot, maybe it'd work for him too? Fuck, he's rubbing off on me.
"I'm so sorry," Zoro said, launching himself into an apology when Sanji said something that surprised him.
"I think I just made a fucking fool of myself on TV."
Zoro gave him a strange look.
Were he and Sanji not thinking of the same thing? If Zoro was worrying about the cooks finding Sanji, what was Sanji thinking about? What did he mean making a fool out of himself on TV? Sure, he looked stupid in his suit and tie but that didn't mean anything, at least, not to Zoro, so what was the blond going on about?
"I think I might have actually fallen out of my seat at one point," Sanji admitted. He looked away from Zoro as he said this. "I saw the whole competition, you know. All the others who were fighting too. Your match had to be the shortest one." Sanji smirked. "Don't let it go to your head, Marimo, but you were pretty fucking incredible."
Zoro's jaw dropped.
Sanji's smirk only widened.
"Huh?"
"You're not very bright, are you?" Sanji asked. "I hate to admit it, but I think I nearly pissed myself in excitement. Luffy was the only thing stopping me from randomly jumping up and screaming. Nami stepped on my heels so I wouldn't kick him off," he added. "Smart woman, knowing I'd never hit a lady." He gave Zoro a strange look. "What are you apologizing for? That was probably the most fun I've ever had."
Zoro couldn't seem to formulate words. Instead, he merely opened and closed his mouth once more.
"I've worked at the Baratie for a long time. Since I was about nine, I think. Where I lived before that … well, they didn't really do things like take kids out to the movies. You've seen the cooks. They're not the kind of people who'll bring you to a carnival and hold your hand on the big scary rides. I've never been to anything like this before. I … I had a good time."
It took a while for Zoro to realize what had just happened.
Sanji had just revealed more about himself in the past five minutes than he had ever revealed in the four months Zoro had known him. And— was the blond blushing? His cheeks were pale to begin with and there was no denying the slightly pink colour that arose as he turned his head away.
Sanji had had fun?
Zoro couldn't help but feel accomplished.
"You have real swords, though, don't you? Like, swords besides shinais," Sanji said, breaking the silence and changing the topic. It was abrupt and sudden, but Zoro didn't practically mind. He liked talking to this Sanji, the one who was unguarded, or at least, a little less on the defensive. "Wado, that was the one you nearly killed me with the first night, right?"
"Wado Ichimonji," Zoro said softly. "Yeah."
"Where'd you get it? It looked expensive."
Zoro decided that if Sanji had decided to share a little bit of himself, Zoro could too. And what better way to let Sanji know about him than through his swords? "She was a gift, from a friend of mine." Zoro tried not to think about it too much. It had been a few years but still, the memory stung. He was getting better at remembering her without too much pain, but that didn't make living without her any easier.
"It looked a bit feminine," Sanji said. "White and all."
"You sexist?" Zoro asked.
Sanji shook his head. "Me? Never!" And while from anyone else it would've sounded sarcastic, it sounded genuine from Sanji.
"To be fair," Zoro said, "Wado belonged to my friend who was female."
Sanji stared at him. "Was?"
Zoro nodded and stared ahead of him. "She … died a while ago." He tried not to choke up on his words, but he could still feel his vision blurring slightly.
Sanji cleared his throat. "So if you have a sword like that, you have to use it somewhere, right? It looked recently used and everything. You take good care of your swords." He paused. "You don't go out killing people with them, do you?"
Zoro let out a laugh. "No, I don't. I just fight with them."
"Fight?" Sanji repeated.
"Yeah," Zoro said. "It's still pretty early, ten and all. You wanna go somewhere?"
Sanji looked at him. "You're going to let me out of the house to two different locations in one night? Is it my birthday?"
Zoro rolled his eyes. "Shut up, do you want to go or not?"
Sanji gave him a soft smile, something Zoro had never seen before. It was … refreshing? Fascinating? Surprising? It was certainly and most definitely not beautiful. Nope. No way did he find the cook looked beautiful under the stadium lights, shining off his golden hair, making him look beautifully handsome and stunning and— no. No.
"Sure."
God, was this man trying to kill him? The way he spoke this time, he kept the same baritone but the way the word slipped out of his lips almost sounded … seductive. It was strange, it was weird and Zoro didn't like to think too much about it. Instead, he held out a hand for Sanji. "Get up, we're going."
Sanji ignored his hand and stood up on his own, dusting off his pants. This showed Zoro something, whether or not he liked or believed in psychology. Maybe Sanji had opened up to him a bit more, but he still didn't trust him enough to lean on him.
"Shot gun."
Zoro was brought out of his strange psychoanalysis-daze by Sanji's words.
"What do you mean shot gun?" Zoro demanded. "It's my car!"
"And you'll get lost, which is why I'm going to find out where we're going and drive us there because you're shit when it comes to directions," Sanji declared. He ruffled Zoro's hair while the swordsman crossed his arms and his lips almost formed a pout, but didn't because Zoro Roronoa is above pouting. He didn't think about how Sanji's hands felt in his hair. Nope. Not at all.
"Luffy was your ride here— oh shit, Luffy!" Immediately, Zoro's eyes flew towards the direction of the changing rooms where Luffy, Nami and Usopp were exiting.
Luffy didn't seem upset in the least, despite the fact that Zoro had completely forgotten about his existence, which wasn't easy, considering how noisy and loud he was. He gave Zoro his giant smile and laughed. "So we're going to Partys?"
"What kind of place is it?" Sanji asked from the driver's seat as Zoro sat in the passenger seat with a frown on his face. The bastard wouldn't let him drive his own damn car! How was that fucking fair?
Luffy had given Sanji the directions to Partys, much to Zoro's chagrin. The whole point of going there was to surprise Sanji, but if the cook now knew how to get there and the name of the place, it was hardly surprising, was it? Then again, Sanji didn't get out much. Maybe it could still be a surprise?
"Not telling," Zoro replied.
"Oh don't do that."
"Do what?"
"Act like you're a kicked puppy," Sanji replied. "Pouting doesn't suit you."
"I'm not pouting!" Zoro snapped.
Sanji smirked. "Sure you aren't."
Nami and Usopp were heading to Partys in Luffy's car, which he drove in front of Sanji, which made Zoro feel as though he were obligated to drive. If all he had to do was follow the straw hat's car, it wasn't that hard to find the place. Despite the various times Zoro had been there, he had yet to manage to get there without asking Luffy for directions and then having the dark haired man guide him to the bar through the phone. It was like Zoro's memory reset itself every time he got in the car, forcing him to forget route after route. The only route he had memorized was the one to the Baratie. It was a wonder he got to his matches on time.
They turned onto a different street.
"So … you won't tell me where we're going, even if I'm driving. That could be disastrous, I could end up driving us into a wall or something. Luffy makes really jerky turns you know."
"I know," Zoro said.
"How about we play a little game?" Sanji offered.
"If you think I'm going to play I Spy, you're out of your mind."
"No, not that. Have you ever played the Yes, No, Maybe game?"
"What do you do in your spare time?" Zoro asked, giving Sanji a strange look.
"Besides watching cat memes and Hetalia? Not much. Well, I look up 500 Things To Do When Bored, but I don't know how to be orange. Who would want to be orange anyway? It's an eyesore and covering yourself in Cheetos isn't exactly favourable."
"Was this one of those things on that list?"
"No," Sanji admitted. "I come up with games on the occasion. Anyway, the Yes, No, Maybe game works like this: I ask you a yes or no question. You can't say yes, no, or maybe. You can use any other way to reply, but you can't use it twice. Whoever screws up first loses. Fair enough?"
"Why should I play?"
"Because I'm bored and it seems like it's going to take a while."
Zoro sighed. "Fine. I suppose you can start."
"Are you gay?"
"WHAT?!"
There had been no hesitation with Sanji's question, none at all. Zoro knew for sure that he was a straight as a board, but Sanji seemed to laugh at his answer.
"Okay, you can't use that response again. Your turn. Ask me a question."
"What makes you think I'm gay?" Zoro demanded.
"That's not a yes or no question," Sanji told him. "You lose, I win."
Zoro rolled his eyes. "What kind of a question is that? Are you gay?" Zoro mimicked him.
"Honestly," Sanji said with a sigh. "It's been like, four months at least. You'd think you'd get better at impersonating me, but really, I think you've gotten worse." He turned another corner. "That was question that's meant to trip up the other person, leave them baffled and allow me to win by default. Of course, it didn't work with that one customer who actually was gay …" Sanji shook his head. "Play again?"
Zoro stared at Sanji in shock, unable to fathom an answer. First Luffy accused him of being gay, now Sanji? Seriously? Did he just leak pheromones or something?
"Fine," Zoro said with a sigh finally. "Since I've got nothing better to do. Who starts?"
"Well, since I won, you start. As the loser, I'll let you have the advantage of having the first chance to make me screw up."
Zoro didn't put much thought into his question. "Are you gay?"
"Nope."
Sanji didn't even blink. "My turn. Do you have any other swords, besides Wado?"
Zoro tried not to fume too much at how unaffected Sanji seemed from his question. With gritted teeth, he said, "Definitely. Is black a colour?"
"To me it is. Is all of your hair green?"
"Perhaps. Have you ever fought in a real fight before?"
"Define the word 'fight'. Are you fluent in French?"
"More or less. Do you know any other languages besides Japanese?"
"Latin. Do you think Latin's dead?"
"Do you think Latin was ever alive?" Zoro shot back.
"Fair point. Are any of your parents French?"
"I have green hair, you think French people have green hair?"
"I've never been to France, so I don't know."
There was silence.
Then, they both started laughing.
The rest of the ride to Partys had the both of them playing Sanji's game, Yes, No, Maybe. The total score was three wins for Sanji, zero wins for Zoro. To be fair, the main reason Zoro kept losing was because he ended up running out of questions and it ended up taking him too long to answer. When the rounded the corner and Zoro finally found the street to be somewhat familiar, he felt a sense of dread in him. Did that mean the game was over?
"Okay, my turn," Sanji said. "Do you think I'm hot?"
"WHAT?!"
Sanji smirked. "You lose. You already gave me that answer when I asked you if you'd ever taken it up the ass. Is this the place?" he asked, looking up.
Partys Bar was like an old fashion pub that seemed slightly out of place amidst the modern architecture of Tokyo. Zoro had fallen in love with the place at first sight because it looked so modest and old-fashioned. Maybe Sanji was right, maybe Zoro did like things a little old school. He didn't know why, but whenever he walked into the bar he felt like he was returning to an extension of his family. It was like a big old reunion, one that didn't make him cringe when distant relatives pinched his cheeks and his annoying brat cousins asked him for the thousandth time whether or not his hair was actually green. He knew old fashioned suited him just fine, but he wasn't so sure about Sanji.
Zoro peeked at the blond out of the corner of his eye and bit his lip, anxiously awaiting his response.
"I thought you were trying to quit. Isn't this counter-productive?"
Well if that wasn't fucking vague, Zoro didn't know what was.
With a grunt, Zoro pushed open the door and got out, slamming it shut behind him. "Get out Curly Brow. Makino's going to like seeing a new face around here."
Sanji got out of the car and walked with Zoro into the bar.
The inside looked even more rustic than the exterior. It was like being thrown into the Wild West, or some kind of pirate era. There were barrels of beer and wooden tables, a pretty young lady standing behind the counter. Her grin widened when she spotted Zoro.
"Hey, Zoro, you here for a drink?"
"Trying to quit," Zoro reminded her.
"Who's your guest?" she asked, gesturing towards Sanji.
Sanji gave her a big smile and Zoro found he was back to faking it. He walked to the bar and leaned over the counter, taking Makino's hand in his. He gave her a quick kiss on the back of her hand. "Sanji," he introduced himself. "And who might you be?"
Makino raised an eyebrow at him. "You've got a charmer here, don't you?" She smiled. "I'm Makino, Partys' bartender."
Sanji nodded. "Enchanted."
"Come on, Curly Brow," Zoro said, taking Sanji's arm and pulling him away from the bar. "We aren't here for the booze." He turned to Makino and smiled. "The captain should be coming any second now, but could we go ahead, if you don't mind?"
Sanji gaped. "You have manners?"
Makino let out a light giggle. "I was shocked when I found out too, he doesn't look like the kind who uses 'please' and 'thank-you', does he?"
Sanji shook his head.
"Can we discuss my lack of manners later? He hasn't even seen anything yet," Zoro said, slightly impatient.
"And you're back to your old asshole self. Was I dreaming a few second ago?" Sanji teased.
"Shut up," Zoro snapped. "Anyway, can we, Makino?"
Makino nodded. "It's a bit crowded down there, but you should be fine. Did you bring your swords?"
"No," Zoro replied. "I'm not fighting tonight, but I thought maybe the cook would like to see what I get up to when I'm not at the gym."
Makino raised an eyebrow. "Really?" She gave Zoro a funny look, one he realized he recognized. Oh God no, not her too. "I never pictured you to go that way, but he seems to make you happy. It's been a while since you've put yourself out there, hasn't it?"
Zoro shook his head profusely. "No, I'm not— we're not …" For some reason, Zoro's tongue wouldn't work. He couldn't figure out what to say without sounding overly-flustered, which would cause the bartender to think that he was lying about the whole thing, which he wasn't. He didn't even think about it!
"Haven't seen you this tongue-tied since you got into fights with her," Makino said, this time her smile turning a tad sad. "So who'll be fighting tonight then, if not you?"
"Luffy."
Makino nodded. "Well, I think your captain's going to be a bit disappointed, we don't have that strong of a bunch tonight. You guys might've scared them all off."
Zoro rolled his eyes. "Can we go now?" he pressed, impatient.
Makino let out a laugh. "Okay, you can go down."
Zoro pulled Sanji along with him, the blond very confused as Zoro descended down the stairs of the bar towards the arena. Well, to Sanji he probably thought it was the wine cellar or something like that but boy was he in for a surprise.
It was loud down there, Zoro noted. Much louder than he remembered, but he hadn't been here in a while. It would take a while for his ears to adjust.
"Zoro, where are we going?" Sanji demanded, raising his voice at the sudden change in volume.
"We're going to watch a fight," Zoro replied.
"A fight? What are you talking about?" Sanji demanded.
Zoro stopped once they reached the bottom of the stairs where two bouncers stood with their arms crossed. They were wearing shades, though Zoro still had no idea why people insisted on wearing them indoors and were looking at a list on a clipboard. "Name?" the larger of the two asked.
"Come on, don't tell me you've forgotten me already?" Zoro teased.
"Name?" the man repeated.
"Zoro, why don't you just give them your name?" Sanji asked, confused. "They look like they want to squash us like a bug—"
"Zoro?" the smaller of the men said. "Roronoa, is that you?"
Zoro smirked as the two men looked up at him in surprise. "I haven't been gone that long, have I, boys?"
The two men's faces split into identical smiles. "Big Bro Zoro!" cried Yosaku with a big grin on his face. "You here to fight? I haven't seen you in ages!"
"Nope, not tonight's all Luffy's," Zoro said.
"And who's that?" asked Johnny, staring at Sanji strangely. "He looks a little scared."
Sanji turned bright red. "I am not, you tattooed asshole!" he shot back at Johnny.
Johnny took a step back. "Um, should we call security?"
"Aren't you security?" Zoro reminded them.
"Oh … yeah," Yosaku said. "Who's your friend, Big Bro?"
"This is—"
"I can talk for myself, bastard," Sanji snapped. He looked the two men in the eye and said, "Name's Sanji. Do you have names or am I just going to call you Dumb and Dumber?"
Johnny and Yosaku turned to each other.
"Did he just call me Dumb?" asked Yosaku.
"No, I think you're the one who he calls Dumber," said Johnny.
"Hey, you're dumber than me, dummy!" Yosaku shot back.
Sanji shook his head and Zoro could almost see him rolling his eyes in the dark light of the basement. "Never mind. You gonna let us in?" he asked the two bouncers who were still fighting with each other over who was dumber.
"Right, yeah, of course!" Yosaku said. "Come on in, Big Bro Sanji!"
Sanji stared at Yosaku strangely, but Zoro pulled him along so they entered the arena together.
"Okay," Zoro said in a loud voice over all the yelling. "You have to stick close to me, or else you'll probably get lost—"
"Shouldn't I be saying that to you?" Sanji asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You've never been here, you're easy prey," Zoro told him. "Everyone else here is at least a little scared of me, so I'll be fine, but they might pick on you, so I'd watch out. If you want to die in a mosh pit, be my guest, but don't say I didn't warn you."
"This isn't a mosh pit, idiot," Sanji told him, but Zoro noticed he didn't let go of Zoro's arm.
In the centre of the room, there was a large space that was cleared out. There were a bunch of tables that surrounded it and in the middle, there was currently two people fighting each other. Zoro knew the sight of it all was a bit overwhelming in the beginning, but he figured Sanji could adjust. That was why he had even bothered mentioning the place to him.
"Hey Zoro!"
Zoro nearly screamed when he felt Luffy wrap an arm around Zoro's shoulder. He began to lean on him and pat him on the back. "So, is there anyone good to fight around here? You offered me to fight, so it'd better be a work out."
"Your girlfriend's trying to cheat people out of their money again," Zoro told Luffy. "I'd be more concerned about keeping an eye on her than who your opponent's going to be."
Luffy shook his head. "Nah, Nami's good. I trust her."
Zoro gave him a look. "Don't you think you're a little too trusting?"
Luffy shrugged. "Maybe. Hey Sanji, how do you like it here?" he asked, turning his attention towards the blond.
Sanji was watching the fight between the two men vigorously, his eyes catching every movement. Zoro had only ever seen him show this much concentration when he was cooking. Was he really that raptured by it?
"Hey Zoro," said Sanji, his voice sounding far away. "Can I fight Luffy?"
Zoro stared at him. Does he have any idea what he just said? "Excuse me?"
"Yeah," Sanji said. "I dunno, seeing the kendo fight and watching these guys fight, I dunno, it makes me want to fight too. Kinda contagious, the energy going on around here." His eyes followed one of the men as they judo flipped the other on a table, causing it to break. "Besides, Luffy doesn't look like that much of a challenge."
"Sanji, Luffy has punches of steel," Zoro told him. "And besides, have you ever really gotten into a big fight before?"
"No, not really," Sanji replied. "But I kinda want to give it a try." He shrugged. "So can I?"
"Can you what?"
"Can I fight Luffy?"
Luffy let out a big laugh. "You think you can take me?" he asked Sanji, but he sounded good-natured about it. He was obviously teasing him but the gaze Sanji sent him made shivers run down Zoro's spine.
"No," Sanji replied. "I know I can."
The entire room seemed to hear Sanji's bold words and acted accordingly. In translation, everyone said in unison, "Oooooooooh…"
"Oh grow up!" Zoro snapped at them all.
Luffy gave Sanji a smile. "I'm game if you are."
Zoro's eyes widened. Was Luffy serious? Taking on Sanji, who couldn't handle the cooks, in a fight? This was ridiculous. "Sanji, you don't know what you're asking for," he told him. "You don't seriously want to do this." It was better to go home with all your bones in tact rather than go home in a casket. At least, that's what Zoro figured.
"Don't worry Zoro, I'll go easy on him," Luffy assured him. "So? What do you say?"
Sanji chewed on his cigarette. "I want to fight you. But no holding back."
Luffy raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that?"
Sanji nodded. "Definitely."
"Sanji, wait, you don't want to—"
"Luffy against a newcomer?" came a new voice. Zoro looked and found the source. Of course it'd be Ace. Of course Luffy's brother would be here. The dark haired man looked Sanji up and down, as though sizing him up. "I'd pay to see that!"
Nami's eyes widened. "Really? How much? 20? 30?"
Ace looked at her strangely. "It's an expression, you know."
Nami looked slightly put out by this.
"I want to see what you've got," Ace declared, directing his words towards Sanji. "Luffy, you up for it?"
Luffy nodded. "Yeah, totally!"
Sanji turned to Zoro. "We just need your permission, Mom," he teased.
Zoro scowled. "Fine, if you want to go up against Luffy, fine, but I'm not taking care of your bruises!"
Sanji put a hand on Zoro's shoulder. "Hey, you said it yourself; I kick hard. I'll be fine."
For some reason, Zoro found this very reassuring.
Sanji took off his blazer and handed it to Zoro. "Hold onto that for me, would you?"
Zoro nodded, not that he had much of a choice and he held the blazer in his hands, staring at the golden buttons. He always wondered why it was that Sanji had golden buttons on his blazer. Maybe he'd ask about it later. While he was at it, when asking about his blazer, maybe he'd ask about those three scars on his thumb too. If Sanji was still in a talking mood, that is.
The other fight ended with the smaller guy winning. Zoro figured he used aikido.
"Okay, so how does this work?" asked Sanji, stepping into the area where the previous fight had been held. Normally, Zoro knew one would roll up their sleeves before starting a fight but then he remembered what Sanji's bare arms looked like. He felt sick thinking about them, not because he was disgusted, but because of what the cooks had driven Sanji to do.
"Simple," said Ace, standing up on a table. "Your fighting arena is the area surrounded by the tables. On the occasion, the fight goes out of the ring, but try to keep it inside. We don't want to make our tab any higher, got it?" he asked, sending Sanji a wink. "You'll fight until one of you surrenders, or until you can't go on. We, the crowd, determine whether or not you can go on. If you're down for more than ten seconds, then you're out. This is meant to be a fun brawl, so please avoid aiming for the throat or any other vital regions that are required for breathing. You'll start when I blow this whistle," Ace gestured toward the whistle around his neck. "And as for the rules, it's pretty easy. Anything other than going in for a killing blow is allowed. I suppose you could say there are no rules really. Simple enough, isn't it?"
Sanji nodded.
Zoro sat at a table that allowed him a good view of the ring, watching as Sanji and Luffy stared each other down from opposing sides of the arena.
"Alright. When I blow my whistle, we start," Ace declared.
"Three," the crowd crowd said in a murmur in unison. "Two. One."
TWEET!
"FIGHT!"
Sanji walked around the ring with his hands in his pockets, the way an idiot would. Honestly, Zoro knew he wasn't ready to fight, why had he given in? Luffy reeled his arm back, ready to strike. Zoro nearly screamed out Sanji's name, to tell him to duck but when Luffy let go of his punch, Sanji leaned to the side slightly and dodged it easily.
What was that?
Luffy stared at Sanji in confusion, before shaking his head to get himself out of a daze. He took another strike at him, but Sanji dodged. His movements were graceful and quick, perfectly timed. Luffy made a lunge forwards to punch Sanji in the gut, but Sanji avoided him with ease. The dark haired man made another attempts to strike him in the back, but then Sanji did something no one was expecting.
The blond jumped, spinning in the air. One of his legs came out and struck Luffy in the face harshly.
Luffy staggered back and rubbed his face, feeling the bruise.
Where did he learn that?
Luffy didn't seem at all displeased with Sanji. In fact, he seemed overjoyed. He grinned the way only a lunatic could, before taking a step forward and trying to punch Sanji by shooting various punches at him. Sanji dodged them, but his back hit a table. The blond jumped up onto the table and then proceeded to leap-frog over Luffy so that he was standing in the ring. His hands never left his pockets.
"Is that the best you can do, Captain?" Sanji teased.
"Okay, that's it, no more going easy," Luffy declared. "You want to fight?"
"Dying to," Sanji replied with a smirk.
"AHHH!" Luffy screamed, running up to Sanji. His sudden scream distracted Sanji long enough for Luffy to punch him in the gut, forcing the blond to keel over. Luffy then grabbed his arm with his free hand and was about to do something, what, no one would know, because then Sanji's hand gripped Luffy's arm that was holding onto him and used it as leverage to flip himself over the big eyed man, his feet kicking Luffy in the head in the process. Once he was back on his feet, his hand returned back into the confines of his pants.
Luffy rubbed his head. "Ow, that hurt!"
"Kinda the point," Sanji said with a shrug. "This is a fight, isn't it?"
Luffy grinned.
He lunged himself onto the floor, grabbing the cook's ankles tightly. Sanji tried to shake him off, but the uneven distribution of weight threw him off balance and it seemed Sanji refused to fall in front of an audience. Luffy then wormed his way closer to Sanji's body and stood up, standing on Sanji's toes.
"Are we dancing now?" Sanji asked. "Because, no offence, you're not my type."
Luffy wrapped one of his legs around Sanji's, hooking at the knee joint. He gave a fierce tug forward and Sanji's balance wavered. He had to grab onto Luffy's shoulders to stop himself from falling over. Luffy laughed, using his other foot to wrap around Sanji's other ankle. He gave another fierce tug and Sanji's balance abandoned him completely and he fell to the floor.
"You're handsome Sanji," Luffy told him, "In a completely platonic way of course," he added. "But …" His eyes wander across the arena and landed on Nami. "I prefer a little danger."
"That so?" Sanji asked, sitting up using his elbows. He kicked at Luffy's feet, setting him off balance and making the dark haired man fall to the floor, face first. Sanji stood up and dusted off his pants. "How's that for danger?"
Luffy made a move to grab at Sanji's legs again, but the blond backed up and kicked at him instead, leaving a boot-shaped footprint on Luffy's forehead.
Luffy would not be beaten though. He picked himself up off the floor just as Sanji turned to Zoro, asking for a cigarette and clocked Sanji straight in the jaw.
The cook staggered back and rubbed his face, seeing blood stain his blue shirt. He frowned. "This was my favourite!"
Zoro watched Sanji, the way his eyes lit up and the way his legs moved. When Sanji dropped to the floor, laying his hands out and swept his foot above him, swiftly kicking Luffy rather harshly in the jaw, he couldn't help but watch the fire in his eyes as he stood back up and sent Luffy a glare. He looked … fuck, the cook looked sexy that way …
Zoro shook his head. Surely, he was just saying pointless things because he did not just think that about the cook. Nope, he hadn't done that. Not at all.
The fight went on, Sanji kicking smoothly and Luffy delivering a variety of punches and the occasion kick.
Sanji was right. He had never heard of savate. The way he fought was different. It was noticeably different while at the same time, one would think maybe he was just a bit rusty and was using slightly altered techniques. Another thing Zoro noticed. Other than to use them as leverage, Sanji never attacked with his hands.
Luffy jumped off a table and latched his arms around Sanji's neck, as though to get a piggy-back ride. The blond threw himself down on his shoulder onto the ground, forcing Luffy to fall with him. He squirmed and then, somehow, in a way that Zoro could not fathom, Sanji made a bridge with his body and kicked, hitting Luffy and successfully throwing Luffy off of him. Sanji stood back up, but was dragged back down by Luffy grabbing onto his knee tightly and pulling.
The two landed on the floor with a thud.
They were both bruised from attacks from each other, each one sporting battle scars. Luffy smiled while Sanji smirked. It was clear that the cook didn't want to lose and would not accept defeat at the hands of Luffy, but at the same time, Luffy seemed to want to drag the battle out, see how much Sanji had up his sleeve.
Zoro had already seen the blond do moves that could only be accomplished if the one performing them were remarkably flexible.
Sanji wiped his mouth again. There was slightly more blood on his sleeve. He was sweating and his breath was coming out heavy. God, he looked fucking se— no, he was not going down that road again. Better yet, he wouldn't even start down that road because he had never thought that in the first place.
"Your boy's doing pretty well, isn't he, Zoro?"
Zoro jumped, his eyes leaving the fight for the first time at the sound of Nami's voice. "Luffy's not doing too badly either."
"Yeah well, what can you expect from the captain of the group?" Nami asked. "I still don't know why he insisted on calling us a 'crew' and making himself captain. As far as Usopp's concerned, he's the captain of this metaphorical crew. What, does he think we're pirates or something?"
"I think Luffy might have read too much Treasure Island as a child, don't you?"
"Read?" Nami repeated.
"Good point, that book's too big for him, he probably just saw the movie a thousand times," Zoro conceded jokingly.
Nami smirked.
"What?" Zoro asked, his eyes following Sanji once more as he used a table for leverage to lift half of his body up and kick Luffy underneath the chin, forcing him to stagger back.
"Do you know what you said?" Nami asked him.
"No, what?"
Why's she grinning like she won the lottery? What did I say? Zoro tried to remember the conversation, but it was kinda of hard watching as Luffy threw Sanji onto the ground for what had to be the twentieth time tonight. Watching Treasure Island, Luffy isn't bad at fighting— oh wait.
"Your boy's doing pretty well, isn't he, Zoro?"
Your boy.
Zoro hadn't denied it.
It shouldn't have embarrassed him, but he felt a blush beginning to creep its way onto his cheeks. Sanji wasn't "his boy", whatever the hell that meant. When Nami said it was something he said, she had meant it was what he hadn't said. He hadn't denied that Sanji was his boy.
Using possessive pronouns seemed stupid to him, but then again, he used them with Wado. Wado was his sword. The king-sized bed was his bed. The shinai was his, it was his bōgu, it was his shit-apartment— no. That one wasn't right. It was their shit-apartment.
Fuck, what was he thinking?
"I think Ace might call the match off," Nami said, breaking into Zoro's thoughts. "It's almost twelve, they've been at it for hours."
"Sanji won't let them tie," Zoro told her. "He's too prideful for that."
"Sanji, eh? I thought he was Curly Brow, or Cook, or bastard, or asshole, or anything that wasn't Sanji," Nami said with a smirk.
"Why you …" Zoro couldn't find words. Instead, he bit his bottom lip and turned his attention back towards the match. "Fucking crazy woman, driving me up a wall!"
"That's what I'm here for, hon," she teased.
It took a while, but Zoro finally heard the undeniable sound of money. Of counting money. Of Nami counting money.
Zoro turned to her again to see her holding various bills in her hand, licking her finger as she flipped through them, counting under her breath.
"Why the fuck do you have money?"
Nami stopped and glared at him. "You made me lose count!"
"That doesn't answer my question Nami, why do you have money?"
"To better the Japanese economy?"
"Bullshit."
Nami rolled her eyes. "Just collecting the bets."
"The bets?" Zoro repeated. "As in gambling?" He sighed. "You're unbelievable."
"What? I figured it all out, I don't need to ask you for permission to have others place bets on who's going to win, I just need to do it. It's not like you have any control over me."
"What will Luffy say?"
Nami snorted. "He won't care, he'll just be happy we have more money for more meat."
Sadly, what she said was very true.
Against Zoro's better judgement, he eyed the money. "How much is that?"
"Well, it's at least 45," Nami said. "And the other pile's about 59," she added.
"Other pile?"
"One's for Luffy, one's for your boy."
"He's not my boy," Zoro snarled. "And by 45, do you mean hundred?"
"Hundred?" Nami laughed. "I mean thousands, Marimo."
Hearing Nami call him that made him scowl. He barely tolerated Sanji calling him it, so why should Nami get to pick fun at his hair? "So … do I even want to know which pile is for which?"
Nami smirked. "Interested?"
"Just curious."
"Well, the 59 thousand is Luffy's pile, the 45 is Sanji. The ladies seem to like him too," she added. "Something tells me he's eye-candy."
"Eye-candy?" Zoro choked out.
"Yeah, something good for the girls to see. Good-looking, good fighter, a real charmer you got there." Nami's eyes surveyed the room before they fell on someone. "I've gotta go," she told Zoro with a laugh, patting him on the shoulder. "I think Sanji's pile just got bigger!"
With that, she left. Zoro could practically see the yen signs in her eyes.
Zoro turned back to the fight to see both Sanji and Luffy lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling.
"Am I dead?" he heard Luffy say.
Zoro watched Sanji's leg extended and struck Luffy's side. "Moron, it's just the lighting."
Ace walked into the ring at that moment and picked both Sanji and Luffy up by one arm. "So, it seems like we have a tie," he said.
"WHAT?!"
Zoro had to laugh at the way Sanji immediately pulled himself out of Ace's grasp and gaped at him. "How the fuck do you call that a tie?"
"Well, you both dropped at the same time," Ace replied. "And I highly doubt you can fight with the condition you're in," he added. "So—"
"No," Sanji cut him off. "No, no, no. This is not a tie. Either he beat me, or I beat him. There has to be some way to score this so we actually have a winner. Don't give me that 'everyone's a winner' bullshit. There's winning and then there's losing. It's not a competition if there's no actual winner!"
Ace stared at Sanji in shock. Probably surprised by the amount of energy he still had after such a long fight, then he started to grin and eventually, laugh. "This is Sanji?" Ace asked Luffy.
Luffy nodded. "He's pretty awesome, right?" Luffy had a dumb smile on his face, then again, Zoro always found Luffy's expressions to be dumb.
Ace nodded. "I'm Ace," he introduce himself to Sanji. Because of course, introducing yourself after you had him and your younger brother practically fight to the death in a gruesome match that had to have lasted at least three hours is totally legit. "I'm this little squirt's brother," he said, ruffling Luffy's hair.
Sanji nodded, his breathing harsh. "I can … see the resemblance," he said through pants.
"You okay?" Ace asked, giving Sanji a worried look. "You can sit down if you want."
Sanji shook his head. "I'm fine. Zoro, give me my blazer, would you?" he asked.
Zoro stood up and walked over to him.
Sanji was tired. He was coated in sweat, soaking his shirt. Zoro briefly wondered once more why he didn't just roll up his sleeves or take off his shirt— no one would mind and if what Nami said was true, a couple of girls would probably love him for it— when he remembered once more what was stopping him. The scars. The blond's hair still managed to hide one of his blue eyes and he didn't bother to push away the strand. He was taking deep gulps of air, probably the cleanest air he had ever inhaled in a while. Watching the sweat drip down Sanji's forehead, the way his shirt clung to him— Zoro shook his head and thrusted the blazer at him, turning his head away. What was happening to him? Maybe he needed to get himself checked?
Sanji lit up a cigarette and seemed to instantly relax once more.
"Come on, let's go," he told Zoro.
Ace smiled Sanji's back as he walked away. It was like he knew Zoro would followed him. "You're welcome back any time," Ace told Sanji's retreating figure. "You can have a rematch and we'll have an official winner, that sound good to you?"
Sanji stopped and turned around, giving Ace a lazy smile that Zoro had never seen before. What was it with all these expressions he had never before witnessed? He felt his stomach churn with a sudden and rather random urge to punch Ace in the face. "If he's up for it," Sanji said, nodding towards Luffy.
Luffy gave him the thumbs up sign.
"Well, I'd better be going, we drove here in my car," Zoro said. "Nice seeing you Ace."
He was about to leave when he felt Ace's hand on his shoulder, stopping him. "Hey Zoro?"
"Yeah?"
"Take good care of him, okay?"
Zoro didn't understand, but he nodded anyway. "Yeah. Sure."
Author's Note #2: The thank-yous!
JustCallMeLucie: Quite personally, it's the awkwardness of a couple that I absolutely adore and its what makes writing them fun. Don't worry, when there's an actual sweet moment that's supposed to be sweet, not even Sanji and Zoro can screw it up. Now that you've mentioned it, you have me wondering it too. What WOULD Zoro do if he came across Sanji masturbating? I might just write a story about that, perhaps. I don't know. Maybe. Thanks for the idea! Sasuke and Naruto? As Sasuke as the uke or seme? The funny thing about all the polar opposite couples though is that they have so much in common at the same time. Naruto and Sasuke are both stubborn, hard-headed at times, determined, single-minded people. They're both orphans, they both have life goals that seem kinda strange to outsiders, they both know what loneliness is. There's more, but I can't think of them all off the top of my head.
lilcutieprincess: Yeah, I always realize all my various mistakes after posting it. I will revise them later. I tried to revise this chapter before posting since it's so long, but because it's so long, I got impatient. I know Hikaru and Kaoru are incestuous, but um... guilty pleasure? I suppose I could call it that. If you like Zero and Yuki, I have a story called Chocolate Hater, it's a three-shot, two chapters are posted if you want to check it out! Ciel and Sebastian, love them too, but it seems kind of like pedophilia. You know Black Butler was supposed to be a yaoi story, but then the editors were like, "it won't sell well that way, instead, tease the fangirls to death with moments that'll make them die of nosebleeds instead." Well, they didn't put it that way, but that's basically what they meant.
Ayamichan34 (x3): It's fine if you're not always in time with reviews, I answer them anyway and I'm glad you review! There are some cliches and tropes I like, like say ... friends with benefits, healing each other's wounds, making a bet, stuff like that, but I also like to spice things up. This is my attempt at a story of development, healing and trust. I hope I'm doing a good job so far! Yup, Taiga ... God, what can I say about her? She's just so ... I don't even know! You're right, that would probably be the best 50$ I'd ever spend too. You're probably one of the few people who tell me that in Naruto, their favourite yaoi pairing isn't Naruto and Sasuke. Though, now that you mention it, I can see Shikamaru and Neiji.
Dyola: So I looked into that story you mentioned, with the 40 chapters with no sex? And I was like, "Holy shit, it's in French!" I think when I'm more confident in my abilities to understand the French language, I will definitely give it a read. But at least tell me there's a kiss somewhere in there, right? Cause I read one story (it was a Harry Potter one) where there was no kiss until like, chapter 58.
Okay, now let's see, I think Sasuke and Naruto are a very popular yaoi pairing, which I can't deny, I do love them too. Completely and totally. But anyway, my question (and a bonus question)!
Question: I will admit I'm a fujoshi. This is a category of otaku (which I personally take to mean an obsessive person over media from Japan) which focuses on people obsessed with yaoi. Fujoshi has 3 different subcategories:
Yunoshi: Tends to prefer the seme (top, or dominant figure), however still supports the uke (bottom, or passive figure). Kainoshi: Contrary to Yanoshi, prefers uke over seme due to his cuter characteristics. Pandajoshi: Supports all types of BL couples (uke/seme or otherwise).
So allow me to ask you guys a question: what subcategory of fujoshi do you fit into?
BONUS QUESTION: last night an idea struck me for a Naruto and Sasuke story. I've come up with four chapters (plot wise) and written about 500 words as a small blurb of it, testing it out. It's called The Price of Love. Now the question is, would any of you be interested in me writing it?
1st Edit: August 6th 2015
