the adventure starts here!

chapter two

The green-haired male had never even seen these people before in his life. If asked to describe them, he'd fail magnificently. Did he have lunch with the both of them? Yes. But did he ever even make it to the lunchroom? Nope. He'd get lost and find himself sitting in the empty art classroom with his roommate who was kind enough to make his lunch every morning. (Perona didn't always do that, she just realized that Zoro never showed up at the lunchroom.) It's not like they were close anyway, they just silently agreed to take care of the other since they were obviously too weak to do it themselves. They came to this agreement separately. They're more like siblings than anything else.

Now there Zoro stood, in the small hallway leading from the door to the actual room. If he had bothered to look around then he would have notices all of the boxes pushed out of the center of the room. The old music room was no longer unused. In the center was a round table with eight chairs around it, three of them were pulled out from under the table and either holding a backpack or supporting a backpack that was leaning against it. Just before that table though, there were two people yelling at each other. One was a female with carrot-orange hair, sporting a blue and white striped shirt that had a small stain of some blue drink on it. The other character was a younger male with messy black hair. His limbs looked like they had been stretched out, giving him some odd proportions, and the redshirt he wore had a much larger blue stain on it.

"Luffy! You just ruined my shirt! This was my favorite!" The orange-haired female shouted in a rather shrill voice. Zoro almost didn't notice the small stain on the blue shirt but it was very obvious to that girl. "You owe me for this! That puts you even further in debt to me."

"I'm sorry, Nami! take it off! I'll fix it!" The boy called Luffy shouted out as he clutched at Nami's shirt. She shrieked in embarrassment, struggling to keep her shirt on as she hit the boy over the head. It was pretty evident that they were idiots, which means Zoro will fight right in. He regretted his decision, but he knew he needed to go through with this. You have to eat a few eggs to make an omelet..right? Yeah, that's not the saying. "Just take the shirt off so I can get the stain out! You'll get wet if you don't! I'm fine with dunking you underwater if that's what it comes down to."

"Let me go, Luffy!" Nami shouted, finally escaping from the black-haired boy's grasp after she delivered a 'fatal' blow to him. He fell to the floor, his hands clutching his injured head. Zoro watched on stoically, unsure whether he should interfere or not. The laughter that came from the crumpled boy made him feel uneasy, though it was obvious that Luffy had no malicious intent in anything. "Now you owe me double! Think about your actions! You're such a child!"

"I was just trying to help!" Luffy exclaimed, laughing as he stood up from the ground. He rubbed his head before finally realized there was someone else in the room and they weren't a member. "Who are you? What are you doing here? Did Ace send ya? Or are you here from Arlong Park? Nami's not going back and you'll have to kill me if you want to take her!"

"Calm down, Luffy. I'm pretty sure he's the new guy," Nami said, putting her hand on the younger boy's shoulder. "Remember? Chopper was telling us about him?" She tried to jog his memory but Luffy just glared at Zoro with blank eyes. It was obvious that he wasn't present in his mind. "Roronoa, right? I think I read about you in the paper. You're like, some kind of kendo prodigy? To be honest, I didn't even know that this district had kendo tournaments."

"You still read the newspaper?" Luffy asked, a dumbfounded look on his face. Zoro liked knowing that people knew who he was, but he wanted to be known as so much more than just some kendo prodigy. "What's kendo? It's not an eating competition, is it? Can I be in kendo?"

"It's not an...eating competition," Zoro snapped, angry that anyone would even say something like that about his beloved sport. "It's sword training for samurai." He spoke sharply, watching Luffy's black eyes widen with excitement. Immediate regret filled the green-haired male and he had a feeling that this kid was going to say something stupid.

"WOAH! SO YOU USE SWORDS?! DO YOU KILL PEOPLE?!" The shouted question made Zoro want to both facepalm and beat the shit out of this kid. How could he be so airheaded? Obviously, he was dropped as a newborn. Maybe he has some sort of mental development deficiency? Any other person would treat him differently because of that, but that's where those people are wrong.

"Look what you did," Nami remarked at the green-haired male. Her brown eyes were narrowed at him before she turned to comfort Luffy. "He doesn't use any actual swords, Luffy. Remember those bamboo fence-things we had to help the drama club move? That's what they use in kendo. They're also decked out head to toe in protective gear so there's really nothing dangerous about it." She explained, shrugging nonchalantly and attempting to make the sport sound as uninteresting as she could so that she wouldn't have to deal with Luffy obsessing over it for the next few weeks. "It's not that impressive."

"Yeah? What the hell do you know?" Zoro growled, stepping further into the dusty music room. The place had boxes and white sheets thrown over old instruments. It was in the process of being cleaned by the students that get detention. Zoro never even knew this room existed and he's gone to One Piece High for three-and-a-half years now. "It's obviously impressive enough for you to know my name. Who the fuck are you to decide what's impressive or not?"

"Hey! Don't talk to Nami like that!" Luffy shouted, stepping in front of the redhead and shielding her away from the angry man. He was brave and stupid but he wasn't about to back down. Nami has been so nice to him ever since he approached her on her first day at One Piece. He knew her whole life story, right down to the adoption. He's never had a friend that was as close to him as Nami was and he wasn't about to let some random dude come in yelling at her. "I'm really sick of bastards always yelling at her-!" He was cut off by Nami shouting that she could kick his ass if he really wanted to fight.

Zoro maintained eye contact with Luffy, not showing any emotion whatsoever. He thought it was pretty impressive that the sixteen-year-old was so quick to stand up to him. There was no hesitation, no weakness. Luffy was willing to throw hands for his...friend? That's...admirable. Huffing out an angry breath, the green-haired male took a step back. "What the hell is this place anyway? I didn't know there was an old music room here."

"Aren't you like...in your last year here? Shouldn't you know...everything?" Nami snarkily shot back, still aggravated by his little outburst. She didn't know if she could put up with this guy joining the club. "What are you even joining this club for? Was the kendo club full? Sucks to suck."

"Are you a child? What is wrong with you?" Zoro snarled, almost ready to fight this girl. He didn't care that she was a girl, equal rights. If she wants to throw hands then he's not going to back down from it. Plus, he had a feeling that she'd put up a good enough fight against him that it would be like fighting a man anyway. Not that women are weaker, he meant that as a compliment. "I'm here to join the stupid adversary club or whatever it's called!"

"Adventure club, asshole!" Nami was yelling at him now. Loud enough to alert attention from any passer-byers. Luckily there weren't any people wandering around outside of the old abandoned music room. Most people believed the place was haunted, which Luffy didn't know where he picked if for the club conference hall. However, it did make him want it even more after he found out about the rumors. The first meeting mostly consisted of Luffy trying to summon any ghosts while the other members did their best to clear a spot to sit.

"What...is going on in here?" Asked a long-nosed, curly-haired boy as he opened the door. "I can hear the yelling all the way down the hall. I swear, I get held up in history class and the whole club falls apart. What happened now? Where's Chopper and Sanji?" He didn't even stop walking when he saw the senior that will occasionally come into the library for lunch. "Oh, hey Zoro. Are you joining the club? That's cool, man," he nodded at the bewildered male. Zoro could barely recognize the guy, finding him familiar but unable to place him. Was he a fan? Perhaps someone who works at the dojo? "But where did you say Chopper and Sanji are again? It's not their turn for snack duty, is it?"

"Wait, you know Usopp? You know this guy?" Nami asked, practically ignoring his previous question. Luffy quietly informed him that Sanji and Chopper were on snack duty but only because Nami didn't want to do it. "How?"

"Yeah, he'll come into the library at lunch sometimes. I'm usually acting as a librarian around that time because I'm gonna need the volunteer hours for when I become a senior," Usopp explained, scratching his cheek before placing his backpack on the carpeted floor beside his place at the circle table. "Dean Silvers told me that it's best to start collecting hours now," It clicked in Zoro's mind now, understanding why Usopp looked familiar. He's never known the kid's name though so he didn't know he knew his. Well, he's probably heard him arguing with Perona or something like that. "Okay guys, let's get this meeting started. Visiting hours at the hospital start at seven today. What's on the agenda? Welcoming Zoro?"

"Pretty much. I think Robin wanted us to meet her at the library since Chopper wanted to check out the 'haunted' basement." Nami hummed, taking her seat at the table as well. Zoro decided to just join them, not knowing what else he could do. He needed this credit and he definitely didn't want to get kicked out. He sat his backpack on the ground beside his seat, bending down a little to make sure that the zippers were closed so no one could see into his bag. If he got caught with alcohol then he'd get expelled, which would mean he could kiss college goodbye.

"Why does Chopper do that? He always freaks out if someone's chair scrapes too loudly here." Usopp shook his head, shrugging and waiting for everyone to fall into their places. "Do they know that we have a new member? I'm not giving up my karepan and I know that they made them this time because I could smell the curry on my way here!" He pointed a finger at Zoro, this look in his eyes that sort of annoyed but also amused the kendo prodigy. "I'll fight you for it!"

Zoro scoffed at this retort, his arms crossing over his chest as he leaned back in his chair. The idea of this scrawny sixteen-year-old challenging him to a fight was laughable. No one would ever see it as a fair fight! He'd lose either way, even if he won! That wouldn't stop him from obliterating the guy though. What is stopping him though, is the fact that his father would murder him if he ever got into an actual fight that didn't involve kendo. He'd probably lose his spot in the dojo, only able to be in it as a janitor! He did not want that!

"I'll fight you if he says no," Luffy started, practically stretching over the table to put his face in front of Usopp's. "I'll fight you, Usopp. If I win, I get your karepan." Zoro watched the curly-haired male nearly jump out of his skin and he couldn't help but snicker. From his perspective, he couldn't see how crazy Luffy looked. Usopp gulped in fear, stuttering out that he was only kidding.

"I-i'm not giving you my karepan! I-i didn't eat lunch today!" Usopp defended himself, watching the look on his friend's face almost immediately go back to his usual goofy grin. Luffy shouted that he needed to be eating regularly. Just as the little argument was getting louder, the door to the music room swung open, and in came an incredibly enthusiastic kid that Zoro recognized. He's never been that energetic around him though.

"Guys! The lunch ladies were giving away bags of cotton candy!" Tony Tony Chopper shouted excitedly. How does Zoro know Chopper? Well, Chopper's in Zoro's speech and debate class, as well as his physics class. They sit at the same table in physics, but Chopper's almost never actually talked to him outside of the few times they were paired up. It's not all Chopper's fault either, Zoro doesn't really like talking so why would he talk to the youngest genius in the country?

"WHAAAA?! Were they really?! How much did you get?" Luffy exclaimed, quickly turning in his chair. Zoro was honestly shocked at how stretchy this kid was. He probably took gymnastics when he was younger...or maybe even now...?

"A bunch! I just kept grabbing armfuls!" Chopper happily shouted, showing Luffy the overflowing bag that he had carried to the room. It was indeed filled with bags of cotton candy, which Zoro would love to have some of. His dad wouldn't let him eat it if he knew, but that's another perk of being in an afterschool club; his dad doesn't have to know.

"The baking club sends their love on a silver platter," A tall blond declared as he walked into the room and kicked the door shut behind him. "Please stop sending me off with Chopper. He never carries the food and I always end up having to do it." He complained as he placed the platter of kerapans on the table.

"Well, you can pair up with our new guy. We'll just take Chopper out of the rotation and put him on cleaning duty or something," Nami shrugged, leaning against the table so she could grab a few of the kerapans. Zoro also grabbed some for himself, unable deny just how delicious the baked good smelt. "So, let's get down to it then. The club meeting is in session! Chopper, roll call!"

And with that, Zoro's very first meeting for the adventure club began.