He hadn't been planning to bump into Sanji out in town but fate once again played it's part.
The blonde looked up from his phone before a smile came to his face.
"Hey!"
He walked over to join him on the bridge.
"Where are you going?"
Before Zoro could answer they were interrupted.
"Hey guys!"
It was Usopp.
He offered a smile before turning back to Sanji.
"To the bakery; I lost a bet with your sister so now I owe her some of that fluffy bread stuff."
"Wait why did you even bet that?! Zeff and the other chefs make tons every morning, she could eat some of that, I can't believe she's making you go buy some!"
He smirked.
"Woah, slow down there a little Sanji." Usopp commented.
And Zoro could only watch the blonde's expression change.
"Does my voice sound weird?"
"Well I mean yeah."
"Usopp!" Zoro scolded.
"Wait what did I do?! That's why he uses signs right, you know, rather than talking."
"You should go." Sanji stated firmly.
Usopp seemed taken aback but nodded regardless.
"Okay, sorry if I upset you."
And with that he was off.
There was silence for a few seconds.
"Hey, curly brows."
The blonde shot him a look.
"Your voice is fine; don't give a crap about what he thinks."
He was clearly angry and his guess was only confirmed by the fact Sanji immediately grabbed his packet of cigarettes from his pocket and lit one up.
"What bet did you lose?"
Zoro smiled, glad to hear him talk.
"Who could do the most push-ups." He admitted painfully.
Sanji burst out laughing.
"Oh I bet that hurt to admit."
Yes it did...
He nodded.
"How the fuck did my scrawny ass sister beat you in something like that?"
"I was hospitalised at the start of the week, I think that's a pretty good excuse."
The blonde looked at him.
"Is it though?..."
Zoro shook his head.
"I hate myself." He teased.
Curly brows giggled.
"You lost to Reiju." Sanji mocked in a sing-song voice.
"Okay I get the point."
Reaching down beside the bridge the blonde picked up a small bag and held it out to him before taking another drag of his cigarette.
"Here."
He furrowed an eyebrow.
"What's this?"
"Present."
"Why did you get me a present?"
"Oh just open the fucking thing will ya?"
Zoro did.
Inside was a two-stack bento box.
"You made me food?"
"Yup." Sanji nodded. "I was talking to Reiju and apparently our resident samaritan over here gave her your onigiri; considering your recent dehydration slash malnutrition fiasco I thought I'd make you something that wasn't ramen or rice, considering those as the only two things I've ever seen you eat."
Zoro was still.
The blonde furrowed an eyebrow.
"Hey, you okay?" He asked. "It's really not a big deal."
But he was almost tearful from the gesture.
Zoro turned to Sanji and smiled.
"Thank you."
The cook smiled too.
"No problem."
He took another drag.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Can you cook?"
"Not really."
"So what can you make?"
"Well like you said before, rice and ramen."
"Is that it? That's real sad, dude."
Zoro couldn't help but feel like he was being mocked.
"Yeah well not all of us-."
'We starved for a while as kids'
He took a breath to calm down.
The blonde's expression changed too.
"Were they the only things you had around?" His tone was much softer.
"Sorta', there was other stuff too but…"
If you say the words 'they would have killed me if I touched it' then he's going to start pitying you.
"…I wouldn't have known how to cook any of it anyway though so it didn't really matter. Rayleigh's showed me how to make some stuff but I'm still not great."
"I can teach you how if you want?"
"What, like how to cook?" Zoro furrowed an eyebrow.
"No, how to ride a donkey… of course how to cook!"
He smirked.
"You don't have to do that."
"Meh, I want to, I think it'll be fun to be able to boss you around."
He rolled his eye.
"Sure, whatever."
"Cool!"
"And I wasn't malnourished; I just hadn't eaten for a few days while I was out there."
"Same thing."
"It really isn't."
The conversation seemed to die down as the cook turned back to looking out at the stream, the cherry blossoms falling overhead. Zoro couldn't help but smile at how picturesque the place looked. It was nice to be home after so many years away, he'd missed the place.
A small squeak came from Sanji's lips but considering the blonde didn't look like he was talking he just guessed it was a mistake.
And then he saw his hand shaking and immediately his concern rose.
Zoro tapped Sanji on the shoulder.
'OKAY YOU?'
His eyes tracked over the signs but he only sharply turned away after them.
And the shakes got worse.
"I … you."
For the first time he truly couldn't hear what he'd said.
"You what sorry?" Zoro hated to ask again.
The cook's eyes widened a little and he only seemed to get worse.
"A-a-I ….ke you."
He felt worse than crap.
Sanji looked defeated as he turned and walked off.
"Sanji, wait!"
But he didn't.
Reiju was nearly knocked off her feet as her little brother tore past her down the corridor to his room. She watched from the doorway as he flung himself on the bed and buried his head under the pillow.
Sanji?
Grabbing her phone from her pocket she shot him a text.
'Are you okay? What happened?'
The reply was almost immediate.
'I told Zoro I liked him'
Reiju's eyes shot wide.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!"
Her phone vibrated once again.
'But he didn't understand me'
Ohhhh Zorooooooo.
'Can we talk with you not hiding under your pillow? For me? xx'
Her brother obliged a few seconds later with damp eyes and a broken expression.
She took a seat on the edge of his bed.
"Soooo… when the hell did these feelings start? You were just telling me the other day about how you told him you didn't even want to be friends yet, a lot seems to have changed pretty quickly."
"I was lying."
"Why?"
"Because…"
I have a strong guess why.
"Is it because of Zeff?"
Sanji didn't reply.
Bingo.
"So it doesn't have anything to do with what he did back then?"
"I don't care about that stuff, Reiju!"
"Okay okay, chill, I was just asking."
'SORRY'
"It's fine." She shook her head. "Is there anything else?..."
He nodded.
"Zoro told me he doesn't like girls."
"Well that's good."
"But he shut me down pretty hard when I tried to ask him if he was gay."
"It takes some people longer than others to work out who they are."
"I know I just… I don't know."
Reiju smiled softly.
"He cares about you, Sanji."
"Just because he feels guilty for what he did."
"That's not true at all. Zoro isn't exactly complicated, what you see is what you get with him and my god is that kid easy to read. I swear, he practically glows when he talks about you, that's not very het."
Her little brother laughed.
"So don't get all down like he rejected you; like you told me, he didn't understand what you said so all you need to do is ask him again."
"I know…"
She reached out to ruffle his hair.
"It's completely normal to be worried, Sanji."
"I just… don't want him to leave too, I mean… I can talk to him, just as much as I can with you and Zeff."
"Hey I've told that kid to his face that he's a fucking try hard, he never fails to commit. He wants to be your friend and I swear, he isn't going to take no for an answer, especially not after he took you to his special place."
Sanji smirked.
"His what?"
She chuckled.
"Nah he didn't call it that, I just made that up, but it's plain as day that all that kendo stuff means a lot to him. He holds onto it despite whatever's happening around him so the fact that he allowed you in says a lot.
"You think so?"
Reiju nodded with a smile.
"Now come on, I'm not gonna' let you sulk away in here all night, what do you want to eat?"
"Nothing you've cooked." He teased.
She gasped in fake offence.
"You little brat!"
"Welcome to the Zoro helpline set up to help dumbfucks named Zoro." Reiju proclaimed as she answered the call.
"What?"
"Press one for 'help me Reiju, I've been a dumbfuck and I need to make things right', press two to consent to me punching you in the damn face for being a dumbfuck, or press three for 'I'm messing your little brother around because I'm a total prick'."
His eye widened.
"No, no, no, I'm not doing that; I promise on my life I'm not doing that!" He fumbled to reassure. "Is this because I couldn't understand him earlier? Reiju I need to know if he's alright, he was shaking real bad when he left, I'm worried about him."
"Well, like I said, you're a dumbfuck."
"Yes I think we've established that."
"I can't really say anything more than just talk to him at school tomorrow, and try to fucking listen better next time, yeah?"
"Yeah I know…" He sighed. "I am really sorry."
"I know you are, Zoro, so does Sanji."
"Thanks, Reiju."
"I didn't do anything."
"Still, thank you. Oh and thank your brother again for the bentos, they were really good."
"Goodnight, sword freak."
He smirked.
"Goodnight, onigiri stealer."
The elder sister burst into laughter before he hung up.