the cleanest boys' bathroom!

chapter six

Thursday came faster than Zoro wanted it to. It wasn't because he didn't want to go to the next adventure club meeting, but because he still hasn't been able to prepare a speech for Friday's debate. He'll take the 'F' if it comes down to it, but he knows his dad will get upset about it. It's not like it'll really mess with his grades anyway; It'll be the first 'F' that he's received in Rowing's class so it won't drastically drop his grade.

As the green-haired male entered his second-period class, he noticed a familiar face. Now, Zoro's not that great with remembering things, especially names and faces, but this kid was someone he couldn't really forget. The fluffy brown hair and the big brown eyes were all typical features of this fifteen-year-old, but the ice pack on his swollen cheek was different. In fact, there were a lot of injuries on the little boy and Zoro was starting to notice them the longer he looked at Chopper. "What the hell?" He grumbled to himself, suddenly forgetting all about his struggle to please his father. "Chopper? What...happened?" The words came out slowly as he tossed his bag onto the desk next to the beaten-up kid.

"Oh, hey, Zoro," the freshman forced a smile before shrugging. "And if you're talking about all this?" He motioned to his face, earning a nod from the senior. "Don't worry about it. The nurse took care of me already so it's all good. Actually…" Chopper looked up at Zoro with wide, doe eyes. "Since you're being nice to me, would you mind helping me change this bandage on my arm after class? If not, I'll do it by myself."

"I guess," Zoro nodded, taking a seat at the desk he had claimed as his own for this class period. Since lunch was next, he figured there wasn't an issue in helping Chopper out, despite the fact that they didn't really get along yesterday. It just felt wrong for him to leave the kid to do it all by himself. Plus, Perona'll come to find him if she thinks he got lost. "Are you gonna tell me who did that?"

"Wouldn't that be the same as me crying to my mommy about it? You told me that makes me not a man or something like that, right?" Chopper asked, prompting Zoro to get frustrated with himself and also this kid. Clearly, he was offering his help so why is Chopper being like this? "I can deal with it on my own. It's not the first time that it's happened…" The brown-haired boy confessed quietly, looking down at the notebook on his desk. "Things like this have been happening to me for as long as I can remember. I never really fit in anywhere because people either want to use me or...beat me up?"

"What the hell? And you haven't told anybody?" Zoro asked, ignoring the bell that signaled the start of the class period. Rowing stood at the front of the room by the chalkboard but Zoro still faced Chopper. The little boy just shrugged and nodded, not really saying much because he didn't want to get yelled at by the teacher. "Chopper, that's not being a man."

"Roronoa, stop talking so I can begin the lesson," Rowing spoke sharply, his eyes narrowed at the green-haired senior. "Unlike you, some of the kids here want to learn." That irked Zoro but he kept his retort to himself. If he caused any problems then his grade would definitely plummet, and that would not be good for him. "Now, as I was saying. Your speeches on climate change are due tomorrow…" his boring words droned on, entering one ear and then exiting through the other. Zoro didn't pay attention in this class ever, and it shocked him that some people could.

Chopper didn't like the look on Zoro's face, so he turned towards him to confront him. "I don't get it. One minute, you're calling me a baby pretty much, and then you're wanting me to tell you what's going on? That's more bipolar than Sanji when women are involved." He whispered, capturing the senior's attention relatively easily. It's not hard, this class is honestly so boring.

"It's different," Zoro whispered back, irritated by how childish this was right now. Why couldn't Chopper just tell him what happened? It's not like Zoro was going to run out of class and beat somebody up! "You know what? Forget it. If you don't want to tell me then I don't want to know. I'll help you after class." He grumbled out, leaning back in his desk chair as he realized now would be a great time to take a nap.

"Well...it's just some upperclassmen that I refused to cheat for. Things like this happen wherever I go because everyone always wants to use me for my brains. I'm not the smartest kid around but I know what I'm doing, so I get forced to do a lot of people's homework or get beaten up. Getting beaten up is a lot easier to deal with sometimes because I really believe that giving in and doing their homework will make me feel less proud of myself academically," Chopper sighed, glancing up at the front board and opening his notebook to start taking notes. His hand still held the ice pack to his bruised cheek, but he continued telling Zoro his life story as he wrote what was on the board. "Just thinking about it makes me feel like a loser. It's like signing myself up for constant mental abuse, which is a lot worse than physical abuse. Sure, I can complete someone else's homework but what if they get rewarded for that? What if they get credited with my success? Even worse, if I get caught doing other kids' work then I'll get expelled. I'd never be able to become a doctor like I want. I'd just become a gifted kid burnout who's forced to live with my parents while I write fanfiction. I wouldn't even be able to make money from it because it's fanfiction!" After the short venting, Chopper glanced over at Zoro. "You understand...Zoro? Zoro?!" His whisper-yelling startled the older male awake.

"Huh? What?" Chopper groaned when he realized that he had spent that whole time talking to himself while Zoro slept in the most uncomfortable position ever. Shaking his head, Chopper just gave up and placed his forehead against the cold desk. Zoro was confused but didn't say anything, watching the freshman place his ice pack aside and just close his eyes. If he was going to sleep as well, why'd he wake Zoro up? Oh well, no sense in wasting time asking him when he could be going back to sleep!

"Here, take this and dampen it before cleaning the scrape. I also have some ointment here that I have to put on before you bandage it up again but I'll put that on by myself. It'd be a little weird having you do it." Chopper nervously chuckled as he handed some paper towels to his green-haired upperclassman. Zoro just nodded, taking the items from him and turning towards the sink. They two were in the boys' restroom, which was a relatively nice space. Since the kids spent a lot of time in here, skipping class, they tended to keep it cleaner than average. Any other restroom around the school was gross and probably broken, but not this one! It was perfect for people who didn't want to use it.

"How the hell did you even get this anyway?" Zoro grunted, unwrapping the bleeding wound. It wasn't that bad, obviously not being a cut from a switchblade or anything like that. It really just looked like a scrape, which Chopper probably got from being shoved on the ground or something. It was messed up that he was being bullied like this but Chopper said there was nothing that could be done about it. He didn't like the bullying but he didn't want to get expelled either so he'd just deal with it. "Did they shove you around or somethin'?"

"Yeah…" Chopper mumbled, shrugging slightly before sighing. Tears welled in his large eyes and if Zoro was anyone else then he would have felt bad for it. "I don't really know-" he was cut off as someone came into the restroom, whistling. Of course, it had to be someone that they knew. When Usopp realized that there were two other people in the restroom already, he didn't realize who they were.

"My bad, guys! Didn't mean to walk in on-wait! Chopper? Zoro?! What the hell happened?! Zoro, did you beat Chopper up!?" His shouting made the kendo prodigy want to facepalm as he angrily dabbed at Chopper's injury. "I thought Robin talked to you about this! You said you weren't going to beat him up! Chopper, blink once if he's holding you hostage and is trying to kill you!" Unable to stop himself, Chopper blinked at the mention of the action. This made Usopp screech and nearly leap out of his own skin. "Eeeeek! Never fear, the Great Usopp is here! I'll protect you, young man!" The curly-haired male didn't move from his spot near the door, clearly shaking in his shoes. "From afar, of course! It's much too dangerous to get too close to that monster! Zoro! Stop what you're doing and let him go!"

"I'm not doing anything!" Zoro snapped at the annoying sophomore who shrugged and dropped his whole 'hero' act. Chopper was in awe of Usopp's actions up until this point. His friend was willing to 'save' him from someone he knew was stronger than him? What an awesome guy! Until he gave up.

"Welp, I tried my best, Chopper. I gotta take a leak now so...I'm just gonna...go," Usopp motioned to the urinals before heading over towards it. Zoro was still helping Chopper, washing his hands after he was finished cleaning the wound and then helping Chopper with the antibacterial ointment that he needed. As Zoro glanced up in the mirror at himself, he noticed that Usopp was practically naked in the background, having completely removed his overalls to use the urinal.

"Usopp! What the hell, man?! There are people in here!" Zoro shouted, quickly covering his and Chopper's eyes. Chopper complained about how he couldn't see where he needed to put the ointment and Usopp just shouted that he was in the restroom for a reason!

"What do you want me to do?! I'm wearing overalls! Do you know how hectic they are to piss in?! This is a restroom, ya know?!" He shouted as he finished peeing and started pulling his overalls back on over his underwear and shirt. "You act like it's such a big deal, It's not like I was entirely naked or anything."

"Woah...Usopp is brave…" Chopper muttered after Zoro pulled his hand away from his face. The green-haired male shook his head and just looked at Chopper in disbelief. Usopp rinsed his hands off and then joined the pair and asked Chopper to tell him what happened, which he did.

"Damn, again? You should probably tell the dean about this or something," The curly-haired male said and Chopper shrugged. Zoro raised an eyebrow, confused by what Usopp said. Did every single one of Chopper's friends know about what was happening? How come they weren't doing anything about it? Usopp noticed the brooding look on Zoro's face and he couldn't tell it apart from his usual face but he figured that he was thinking about what he had said. "The whole club knows about the bullying except for Luffy. He's not in the know because he's never asked about it. He probably just thinks that Chopper is clumsy or something. Nami, Sanji, and I have all tried to do something about it but these guys never stop. If we put an end to them then new ones just show up. There's always someone willing to bully others into submission and Chopper's a natural target."

Zoro didn't say anything, the gears already turning in his head. The look on his face was unreadable but he wasn't about to share his thoughts with these kids. Without saying anything, he left the restroom and then realized that he didn't know which way to turn to get to the art room. Deciding to just go right, he started off in the wrong direction and he was none the wiser.