Chapter Twenty Five

Plans

It became great day for a certain orange-haired navigator as soon as they got back to the hotel from the resort she and her friends were in yesterday. She had already made plans on what activities she would do to spend her day with the green-headed swordsman accompanying her, hoping he would cooperate with everything she had decided for the day. But then, as soon as they arrived at the hotel, Zoro went to sleep which ultimately ruined her mood even if she already beaten him for it. She had no choice but to give him a few minutes of rest which turned into hours, causing her to be more pissed and to increase his debt even without his concern. To calm her nerves down, she decided to pull out her mapping materials and draw the map of the island. After a few minutes, while in the middle of her work, her Den-Den Mushi rang.

"Hello?" Nami answered.

"Oi, Nami!" Luffy's voice echoed from the other line.

"Luffy?" She asked in a confused tone.

"Usopp and I found a buffet restaurant while exploring! Let's eat lunch together with the others! I already told them about it and they're on their way! Shishishishi~!" Her captain lively invited her.

She gazed at the wall clock as she realized it was almost lunch time and said "Sure. Wait, how much does it cost?"

"I don't know." Luffy answered. "Do you know?" He asked their sniper who was with him.

"One thousand Beli per head." The long-nosed man answered.

Nami's eyes widened and exclaimed "What?! That's too expensive!"

"Come on, Nami~! We wanted to try it out~! Aren't you hungry~?" Their captain whined.

"Do you even have money with you?"

"Nope! I spent it to get a small bronze dog statue! It looks so cool, Nami! You should see it!"

"Whaat?! You idiot!" She yelled.

"So you're going, right?" Luff asked, ignoring her anger.

"Fine! I guess I'll just add it to your debts. What's the name of the restaurant and where is it?"

"Where are we again, Usopp?" Luffy asked in the background.

"Idiot! I kept on telling you, All You Can Eat Buffet at 5th avenue near the Cut n' Style Salon!" Usopp yelled at Luffy on the other line.

"Oh yeah! Shishishishi~!" Luffy laughed before telling his navigator "Nami, we're at the 5th buffet style cut, near the salon n' eat avenue! We'll wait for you guys, okay?! I'm so excited! Shishishishi~!"

"You never get it right!" Usopp shouted as he hit Luffy's head on the other line.

"Okay, we'll meet you there in ten minutes or so."

"Okay! Say hi to Zoro for me!" Their captain said before hanging up.

"Was that Luffy?" The green-headed swordsman asked as he just woke up from all the noise the call made.

"He invited us for lunch at a buffet restaurant." She explained as she gathered her things and prepared for departure.

"Everyone's going?" He asked while stretching.

"I think so, why?"

"Nothing."

Zoro and Nami headed straight to the location Usopp had mentioned previously but they had to reroute directions occasionally because the green-headed swordsman kept on turning the wrong way. Luckily, it didn't take too long for them to reach their destination. As soon as the restaurant was visible from their sight, they both saw the others near the entrance.

The green-headed swordsman quickly searched for a certain archaeologist from afar and realized neither her nor her partner was present. Where could she be? Were they just late or not coming at all? Luckily for him, he didn't need to ask her whereabouts because he knew Nami would be curious enough to look for her.

"Nami-Swan~!" Sanji exhilaratingly cheered for her name as he saw the apple of his eye.

"Shut up, Ero-Cook. You're too noisy." The green-headed man ordered, annoyed.

"Hah? Did you say something, Shitty Marimo?" The cook responded.

"Zoro! I missed you!" Luffy jumped at his first mate and hugged him tightly.

"Ah, Nami-San… May I see your panties?" The skeleton asked the orange-haired woman in the background.

"What the— Luffy get off of me! We just saw each other this morning!" Zoro complained aggravatingly as he pushed his captain off of him.

"No." Nami declined as she punched the Brook's skull.

"Shishishishi~! Oh yeah!" The captain laughed.

"By the way, where is Alex and Robin?" The question Zoro was waiting for finally came out of Nami's lips.

"They are inside the res— Oh, there they are now." Lassy announced as he pointed at Alex and Robin from the entrance.

"Is everyone here? Everything's set." Robin smiled as she noticed the green-headed swordsman staring at her.

"Yosh! Let's go eat! I'm hungry!" Luffy cheered.

A few minutes later…

"Damn… Where's our freaking table? I thought it was somewhere here?" Zoro grunted as he kept on walking around the restaurant, trying to find where they were seated as he held a plate full of delicacies. Surprisingly, he managed to find Robin standing in front of a table full of different varieties of cooked vegetables. The green-headed swordsman closely observed her as he pretended to be choosing what food he would take, hoping she would go back to their table. But then, Robin sensed that someone was following her and quickly gazed behind her, only to find Zoro was near her.

"Oh Zoro, how long have you been standing there?" She asked with a smile and gazed at his slightly anxious face.

"I just got here. I was— I was trying to get some of these." He took some of the dish that was unknown to him.

"Is that so? I didn't know you eat bitter gourd." She raised a brow while taking a few piece of food from the table as she saw him picking a bitter gourd dish.

"I wanted to try it…" He lied, even though he had no idea what the dish was and how bitter it tasted like. "By the way…" He scratched the back of his head.

"Hm?"

"A-Are you… are you free tonight?" He asked as he looked away from her.

"Hm… I don't know. I think I already have plans tonight with someone. I have to confirm it first with him if we're going." She uttered at she held her chin.

"Tch! Why did I even ask her that? She definitely has plans with that bastard already." He irritatingly scolded himself as he was about to leave but Robin spoke again.

"Zoro."

"What do you want?" He answered coldly.

"Are we still going to see each other tonight?" Robin asked with a smile.

"No, you have already plans, remember?" He raised a brow as he got a little confused.

"Yes, plans with you."

"I don't get it."

"We see each other every night, am I correct?"

"Tch! Stop messing with me."

"You're such a hot-headed guy, Zoro. Lighten up." She moved closer and observed before lightly brushing her lips on his, causing him to blush.

"Yohohohoho~!" Brook's laughter echoed across the room and caught the attention of the two.

"Why are you laughing, Brook?" Chopper asked as he took a piece of sushi from the buffet table.

"Oh nothing, Chopper-San. I was just excited to be fattened up after this buffet! Ah… but I have no stomach to fatten up~! Yohohoho~!" He joked. "I'm having butterflies inside my stomach, even if I have no stomach to begin with! Yohohoho~" He thought in his skull.

"I thought he saw us." Zoro sighed.

"I'll see you tonight then?" She asked.

"Yeah." He smiled.

"By the way, do you know where our table is? I can't find it." Robin asked and gazed everywhere.

"Eh? I thought you know? That's why I followed you in the first place." He raised a brow as he couldn't believe what she just said.

She just stared at him, trying not to let out her mirth.

"Tch! Don't you even dare say a goddamn word. Just lead the fucking way." He blushed as looked away with a scowling face.

The raven-haired archaeologist couldn't help but to chuckle as she showed him the way. She was glad that it was her that he was able to find. Seeing such an adorable sight of him getting embarrassed always made her smile.

Later that night…

Zoro opened his able eye and gently lifted himself to see whether Nami was sleeping or not. Her eyes were already closed and a few minutes had already passed since she had lain down, so he decided to get up from the floor quietly and take his stuff. It was already past nine o'clock and Robin must've been waiting outside. It took him quite a while to make sure Nami was already asleep because she went to bed before nine. The green-headed swordsman quietly tip-toed to the door and was almost near it but he suddenly froze from Nami's voice.

"Where are you going?" The orange-haired roommate asked as she rubbed her eye.

"Shit!" He cursed in his head as he tried to think of an excuse. "I'm just going to look around. Go back to sleep."

"In the middle of the night? Lassy said you shouldn't go out without a partner."

"I can take care of myself."

"Ugh. Just go back to bed." She commanded and covered herself with the comforter.

"Yeah, right."

"Oh come on! You're not getting out of this room!" She ordered as she sat up on the bed.

"And why should I listen to you?"

"I am not risking losing a partner and having to end up being a hostage in that castle. Now go back to bed or I'll increase you debt again!"

"I don't care."

"Ugh! Fine, fine, fine! I'll go with you!" She gave up and got out of the bed to get her jacket.

"What?! No way, I'm going out myself." He opened the door and was about to shut it but Nami quickly got a hold of the doorknob.

The orange-haired female insisted as she forcedly opened the door while demanding: "I said I'm coming with you! What is wrong with y—

Her words were cut as she found someone standing in the corridor of the hotel and Zoro felt everything they carefully tried to hide spill as soon as Nami called out the name:

"Robin?"

YOOOO! Sorry for the very late update! College was sucking the life out of me and I have little time to work on the story. Sooooooooo~ How was this chapter? Ikr, it's nothing much but the ending is just! Emerged. XD Okay, Imma let you review now. Review please! ^_^