Yawning, a certain green-head plopped onto his bed, and promptly fell deep asleep. Sanji stared.
Not only had he been unable to stop him from sleeping so abruptly and squeeze in an insult or two, but he had just been completely ignored. That really nettled him. He grumbled to himself, wondering how on earth Zoro could sleep so easily, when he realised his blanket was missing - and it was on Zoro's bed!!
BAM.
"What is it?!"
Sanji was pleased to finally have aroused a sort of reaction from Zoro. It appeared he grew quite cranky when he was woken up. He put that into his mind before saying monotonously,
"You can take a blanket from the cabinet over there. That's mine."
With that, he snatched away the sheet and grinned in triumph to himself. There was a long pause. Sanji wondered what sort of expressions were reeling through Zoro's face now. Annoyance was definitely one thing.
Hehe... that's what you get for needling me.
Sanji turned, biting hard on his cigarette to keep from smiling - only to face-fault at the fact that Zoro had somehow mysteriously managed to take a blanket from the cabinet and was now sleeping soundly with it.
"I'll kill you one day!!"
Sanji vented out his aggravation, then stopped. He frowned. Something that felt like a funny sort of jolt shot through him when he said that. Slowly, he repeated himself.
"I'll kill you one day."
Again, it sounded so familiar! When had he said it before?
Oh yeah,
He thought easily,
I told him that yesterday.
He dismissed it... for three seconds. His brow furrowed.
Huh? He came today! Then why...?
His memory was fresh, though - he was positive that he had promised to ditch Zoro into the closest whirlpool just the day before...?
Whirlpool? Whoa, whoa. Time to go to bed, young man.
However, the way the words 'I'll kill you one day' seemed to roll off his tongue like he said everyday - which he didn't, of course. In fact, strangely enough, he was as sure as the thought that he'd said those words to the green-head yesterday as the fact that he'd never said those words in his whole entire life - until now, of course. That was demented.
He tried again, though.
"...I'll kill you one day..."
That surge, again! He was sure of it this time - he'd definitely said this sometime to Zoro, but it hadn't been today. It'd been before it!
But how? I've never met him before...
Or had he? This was confusing. He was sub-conciously repeating the words over and over again.
"...I'll kill you one day... I'll kill you one day... I'll kill you one day..."
Sanji put a little 'feeling' into his words, feeling disturbed by the nagging feeling he was getting from doing this and wanting to resolve what felt unfinished by him doing this.
"I'll kill you one day... I'll kill you one day, bastard!"
That was it!! An immediate rush of recognition rushed into Sanji -- and right out of him as an MD player hit his temple, hard.
"Damn it, I'll kill you one day if you don't shut up!!"
Zoro growled, glaring at Sanji. At the crankiness, for some reason, Sanji felt a grin creeping onto his face.
"Aww, sorry. Did I wake ya up? Just rehearsing for drama."
"I didn't ask,"
Zoro muttered. Then he added,
"Rehearse a little louder, I don't think the dean quite heard you."
"Oh, ha, ha."
Sanji replied, but he secretly felt rather pleased that he had managed to stir Zoro to this point of actually getting mad at him. After all, it had been a one-sided hatred thing for a quite a while.
"Do you have to practice drama right now?"
Zoro asked with a raised eyebrow. Sanji shrugged.
"Well, I wouldn't, but I think I should since I won't have too much time this week."
Damn, that's true. I should actually be rehearsing for drama. Sanji realised with a small groan.
"Why? Your week's filled with photoshoots?"
Zoro asked. Sanji's eyes darkened, his teeth gnashing into his cigarette.
"Bloody hell, yeah. Damn manager and his stupid dumbass whims. Geez."
He glared at his feet as Zoro looked at him before commenting,
"I take it you don't like photoshoots?"
"It's a bit more than that. Then there's the dinner dance this Friday."
"Oh,"
Zoro said with a nod,
"That."
"So who're you going with?"
Sanji asked. Zoro shook his head.
"I'm not going."
The model stared at Zoro before bursting into laughter.
"You're not going?!! Didn't you make any friends yet??"
Zoro looked at him with slight annoyance, an eye twitching at the response.
"I did. It's just that I'm not going."
Sanji smirked at him.
"You mean, your friends didn't tell you?"
"Huh? Tell me what?"
"It's a compulsory dance for our year."
There was a pause as Zoro took that sentence in, his eyes widening.
"You've got to be kidding. You mean--"
"Yeah, you have to go whether you like it or not. Why don't you bring your girlfriend over if you have any?"
"I don't have one. Geez... What happens if I don't go?"
Sanji rolled his eyes, remembering the time he hadn't gone to a dinner dance.
"The reason why it's compulsory is because the dean wants us to be friendlier with each other. So he'll send a social worker to visit you since he'll proclaim you as a 'loner' if you don't show up."
"Oh shit. How long is it?"
"Well, it starts at six thirty and it ends at around midnight."
"...I hate this university."
Sanji snubbed his cigarette into an ash tray at his end table, shrugging again with a bit of a grin as he reached out to turn off the light,
"Get used to it."
"I'll talk to you again sometime this week, okay?"
Usopp said as he walked out of the university's cafeteria with Nami.
"Yeah. I'll see you then, too."
They shared a smile of relief before he waved and walked down the left passageway as Nami headed up the right towards the stairs.
Usopp was glad that they had managed to clear things up a little. At least they were back on friendly terms again. This was the first time though, he mused as he walked, that she and he had ever reacted this seriously.
He moved his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he hurried down the main entrance's steps. He wanted to stop by a convenience store to pick up a new collection of bolts, and thus had to hurry before it closed. It was nine forty-five, and the store closed at ten - so he had to run.
Passing the green lawns and stepping onto gravel, he walked quickly, passing the blue and white buildings. As tan brick buildings came into view, he noticed a huge commotion right in the middle of the street. News vans were parked randomly about as reporters and camera men stood strewn before a tall cream and marble building. He really didn't understand the media sometimes. How desperate were they just to get a story loads of other newspapers were going to publish anyways?
Shaking his head, he continued down the pavement towards the convenience store when suddenly, his heart clenched.
Man, a lot of things are happening to me today, he thought -- then his chest gave a painful *thump*, and Usopp was forced to stop walking from the pain. The glass doors of the building across swung open, and the cameras began to flash like crazy, illuminating the street with lightning-like flashes. Usopp glanced at the reporters starting to scream out questions with disgust, when the pain in his chest intensified. He winced visibly, then stopped.
He stared. A young woman with blonde hair was walking, or at least trying to walk, through the mob of reporters, and time seemed to slow down for Usopp. He caught her honey-blonde hair, violet eyes and pale complexion before she disappeared amongst the heads of reporters and cameramen, huge black cameras blocking the view.
IT WAS HER.
Time spurted forward again, and Usopp found his legs running as fast as possible towards the crowd, his hands pulling away bodies as he pushed through the mob.
Usopp-san.
Soft laughter echoed through his mind as he pushed past surprised yelps and yells.
So what story are you telling me today?
He shoved a reporter and a camera aside, ignoring their responses of anger and tried to see above the heads but failing.
I'll...
Desperately pushing, he finally reached the clear in the center of the mob, where the only protection between the girl and the reporters was what was clearly her manager, who was shouting at the reporters to back off so they could walk to their car.
I'll be waiting.
Usopp's heart was pounding loudly in his chest, his ribs aching and his throat throbbing, and his brought his eyes upwards. The girl turned to look in surprise at the sudden young man amidst all the ruckus. Her violet eyes widened, and she gasped as their eyes met in startling recognition.
His glasses slipped down his nose as she stared at him. Tears formed at the corners of her eyes, and a hand reached out towards him. He looked at her, and the pain in his chest disappated.
"U--"
"Ka--"
Suddenly, a bright white camera flash blinded Usopp, and he let out a strangled cry before he was swallowed back into the crowd of reporters. He tried to push past them again, but he was the one who was pushed back. He landed on the hard cement as he was finally pushed back out, but he stood up again, desperate for just another look at her, the pain in his chest back and knife-like as it stabbed at him.
The reporters then stopped hollering, but the cameras continued to flash. Usopp looked around, even jumping to see what was going on, when the roar of an engine seared through the air. Heart sinking, Usopp watched as a black car parted the reporters like the red sea and raced past them, its shaded windows showing nothing to ease Usopp's pain.
Even as the ache in his chest dulled into nothing, Usopp stared, continuing to stand. The convenience store stayed forgotten as the digits on his watch shone 10:02.
He had missed something. He had missed something terrible. Out of all the weird occurances today, this one has to be the only one I at least partially understand, Usopp thought. That girl was the girl from his dreams. The girl who had laughed with him, and given him something to truly want and need to protect.
He had finally found her.
Kaya.
A/N: Sorry I took so long to add another chapter - and I'm sorry it's so short - however, I'll be adding chapters more frequently now. ^^;; Thanks for the absolutely fabulous way ou people responded to this fic. It has made me so happy I can't describe it. Anyways, the next chapter... is the dinner dance. The dinner dance spans over more than one chapter, so I'll either post them all at once or just one at a time. I dunno what! ^_^;; So we'll see. Thanks again for your kind words. ^^*
Not only had he been unable to stop him from sleeping so abruptly and squeeze in an insult or two, but he had just been completely ignored. That really nettled him. He grumbled to himself, wondering how on earth Zoro could sleep so easily, when he realised his blanket was missing - and it was on Zoro's bed!!
BAM.
"What is it?!"
Sanji was pleased to finally have aroused a sort of reaction from Zoro. It appeared he grew quite cranky when he was woken up. He put that into his mind before saying monotonously,
"You can take a blanket from the cabinet over there. That's mine."
With that, he snatched away the sheet and grinned in triumph to himself. There was a long pause. Sanji wondered what sort of expressions were reeling through Zoro's face now. Annoyance was definitely one thing.
Hehe... that's what you get for needling me.
Sanji turned, biting hard on his cigarette to keep from smiling - only to face-fault at the fact that Zoro had somehow mysteriously managed to take a blanket from the cabinet and was now sleeping soundly with it.
"I'll kill you one day!!"
Sanji vented out his aggravation, then stopped. He frowned. Something that felt like a funny sort of jolt shot through him when he said that. Slowly, he repeated himself.
"I'll kill you one day."
Again, it sounded so familiar! When had he said it before?
Oh yeah,
He thought easily,
I told him that yesterday.
He dismissed it... for three seconds. His brow furrowed.
Huh? He came today! Then why...?
His memory was fresh, though - he was positive that he had promised to ditch Zoro into the closest whirlpool just the day before...?
Whirlpool? Whoa, whoa. Time to go to bed, young man.
However, the way the words 'I'll kill you one day' seemed to roll off his tongue like he said everyday - which he didn't, of course. In fact, strangely enough, he was as sure as the thought that he'd said those words to the green-head yesterday as the fact that he'd never said those words in his whole entire life - until now, of course. That was demented.
He tried again, though.
"...I'll kill you one day..."
That surge, again! He was sure of it this time - he'd definitely said this sometime to Zoro, but it hadn't been today. It'd been before it!
But how? I've never met him before...
Or had he? This was confusing. He was sub-conciously repeating the words over and over again.
"...I'll kill you one day... I'll kill you one day... I'll kill you one day..."
Sanji put a little 'feeling' into his words, feeling disturbed by the nagging feeling he was getting from doing this and wanting to resolve what felt unfinished by him doing this.
"I'll kill you one day... I'll kill you one day, bastard!"
That was it!! An immediate rush of recognition rushed into Sanji -- and right out of him as an MD player hit his temple, hard.
"Damn it, I'll kill you one day if you don't shut up!!"
Zoro growled, glaring at Sanji. At the crankiness, for some reason, Sanji felt a grin creeping onto his face.
"Aww, sorry. Did I wake ya up? Just rehearsing for drama."
"I didn't ask,"
Zoro muttered. Then he added,
"Rehearse a little louder, I don't think the dean quite heard you."
"Oh, ha, ha."
Sanji replied, but he secretly felt rather pleased that he had managed to stir Zoro to this point of actually getting mad at him. After all, it had been a one-sided hatred thing for a quite a while.
"Do you have to practice drama right now?"
Zoro asked with a raised eyebrow. Sanji shrugged.
"Well, I wouldn't, but I think I should since I won't have too much time this week."
Damn, that's true. I should actually be rehearsing for drama. Sanji realised with a small groan.
"Why? Your week's filled with photoshoots?"
Zoro asked. Sanji's eyes darkened, his teeth gnashing into his cigarette.
"Bloody hell, yeah. Damn manager and his stupid dumbass whims. Geez."
He glared at his feet as Zoro looked at him before commenting,
"I take it you don't like photoshoots?"
"It's a bit more than that. Then there's the dinner dance this Friday."
"Oh,"
Zoro said with a nod,
"That."
"So who're you going with?"
Sanji asked. Zoro shook his head.
"I'm not going."
The model stared at Zoro before bursting into laughter.
"You're not going?!! Didn't you make any friends yet??"
Zoro looked at him with slight annoyance, an eye twitching at the response.
"I did. It's just that I'm not going."
Sanji smirked at him.
"You mean, your friends didn't tell you?"
"Huh? Tell me what?"
"It's a compulsory dance for our year."
There was a pause as Zoro took that sentence in, his eyes widening.
"You've got to be kidding. You mean--"
"Yeah, you have to go whether you like it or not. Why don't you bring your girlfriend over if you have any?"
"I don't have one. Geez... What happens if I don't go?"
Sanji rolled his eyes, remembering the time he hadn't gone to a dinner dance.
"The reason why it's compulsory is because the dean wants us to be friendlier with each other. So he'll send a social worker to visit you since he'll proclaim you as a 'loner' if you don't show up."
"Oh shit. How long is it?"
"Well, it starts at six thirty and it ends at around midnight."
"...I hate this university."
Sanji snubbed his cigarette into an ash tray at his end table, shrugging again with a bit of a grin as he reached out to turn off the light,
"Get used to it."
"I'll talk to you again sometime this week, okay?"
Usopp said as he walked out of the university's cafeteria with Nami.
"Yeah. I'll see you then, too."
They shared a smile of relief before he waved and walked down the left passageway as Nami headed up the right towards the stairs.
Usopp was glad that they had managed to clear things up a little. At least they were back on friendly terms again. This was the first time though, he mused as he walked, that she and he had ever reacted this seriously.
He moved his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he hurried down the main entrance's steps. He wanted to stop by a convenience store to pick up a new collection of bolts, and thus had to hurry before it closed. It was nine forty-five, and the store closed at ten - so he had to run.
Passing the green lawns and stepping onto gravel, he walked quickly, passing the blue and white buildings. As tan brick buildings came into view, he noticed a huge commotion right in the middle of the street. News vans were parked randomly about as reporters and camera men stood strewn before a tall cream and marble building. He really didn't understand the media sometimes. How desperate were they just to get a story loads of other newspapers were going to publish anyways?
Shaking his head, he continued down the pavement towards the convenience store when suddenly, his heart clenched.
Man, a lot of things are happening to me today, he thought -- then his chest gave a painful *thump*, and Usopp was forced to stop walking from the pain. The glass doors of the building across swung open, and the cameras began to flash like crazy, illuminating the street with lightning-like flashes. Usopp glanced at the reporters starting to scream out questions with disgust, when the pain in his chest intensified. He winced visibly, then stopped.
He stared. A young woman with blonde hair was walking, or at least trying to walk, through the mob of reporters, and time seemed to slow down for Usopp. He caught her honey-blonde hair, violet eyes and pale complexion before she disappeared amongst the heads of reporters and cameramen, huge black cameras blocking the view.
IT WAS HER.
Time spurted forward again, and Usopp found his legs running as fast as possible towards the crowd, his hands pulling away bodies as he pushed through the mob.
Usopp-san.
Soft laughter echoed through his mind as he pushed past surprised yelps and yells.
So what story are you telling me today?
He shoved a reporter and a camera aside, ignoring their responses of anger and tried to see above the heads but failing.
I'll...
Desperately pushing, he finally reached the clear in the center of the mob, where the only protection between the girl and the reporters was what was clearly her manager, who was shouting at the reporters to back off so they could walk to their car.
I'll be waiting.
Usopp's heart was pounding loudly in his chest, his ribs aching and his throat throbbing, and his brought his eyes upwards. The girl turned to look in surprise at the sudden young man amidst all the ruckus. Her violet eyes widened, and she gasped as their eyes met in startling recognition.
His glasses slipped down his nose as she stared at him. Tears formed at the corners of her eyes, and a hand reached out towards him. He looked at her, and the pain in his chest disappated.
"U--"
"Ka--"
Suddenly, a bright white camera flash blinded Usopp, and he let out a strangled cry before he was swallowed back into the crowd of reporters. He tried to push past them again, but he was the one who was pushed back. He landed on the hard cement as he was finally pushed back out, but he stood up again, desperate for just another look at her, the pain in his chest back and knife-like as it stabbed at him.
The reporters then stopped hollering, but the cameras continued to flash. Usopp looked around, even jumping to see what was going on, when the roar of an engine seared through the air. Heart sinking, Usopp watched as a black car parted the reporters like the red sea and raced past them, its shaded windows showing nothing to ease Usopp's pain.
Even as the ache in his chest dulled into nothing, Usopp stared, continuing to stand. The convenience store stayed forgotten as the digits on his watch shone 10:02.
He had missed something. He had missed something terrible. Out of all the weird occurances today, this one has to be the only one I at least partially understand, Usopp thought. That girl was the girl from his dreams. The girl who had laughed with him, and given him something to truly want and need to protect.
He had finally found her.
Kaya.
A/N: Sorry I took so long to add another chapter - and I'm sorry it's so short - however, I'll be adding chapters more frequently now. ^^;; Thanks for the absolutely fabulous way ou people responded to this fic. It has made me so happy I can't describe it. Anyways, the next chapter... is the dinner dance. The dinner dance spans over more than one chapter, so I'll either post them all at once or just one at a time. I dunno what! ^_^;; So we'll see. Thanks again for your kind words. ^^*