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The crowd screamed, but Zoro heard her voice above it all. It was grating as if she had a megaphone right by his eardrum.

"Put your hands up, Zoro!"

He could taste the blood in his mouth, the metal taste was bitter. He felt like he was drooling. He was, and the giant plastic in his mouth did not help. Sweat poured down his face, his eyes blinked to keep the sting of the salt to a minimum.

Zoro came to the ring a bit cold, shirtless with nothing more than silk boxers and a ridiculous robe. He thought it was stupid, but Nami would not let him change. Suffice to say, he looked good. Maybe even great.

However, now he felt warm, to be exact, disgustingly hot. The lights on him made his skin shine but it blinded him. Zoro could not see the jeering crowd, only heard the muffled noise as if he had headphones on.

"Yo- what kind of shit is he on?" A spectator by Nami said.

She turned with glee and ferocity, "You know the routine- the demon effect. My man is going to rip that clown to shreds!"

"Now that's bullshit, cause ya'll don't pack heat. He's getting tossed like a fucking ragdoll."

She reached for his collar. "So sure? Want to bet on that, tough guy?"

Sanji shouted alongside Nami and screamed taunts mingled with words to coax endurance in Zoro. The kick to his head that Sanji gave him only an hour or so ago pounded, but perhaps it was the punches thrown by his opponent. Zoro managed to smirk as he watched the tiny blue haired man dance around the ring.

His opponent was a comedic entertainer, to say the least. Buggy's red gloves matched his giant red nose. Zoro hated running gags like it. Over the top showmanship was one of his pet peeves, but as stupid as Buggy looked, he was fast. His arms seemed to move at a speed of their own, and each punch was like a cut. When Zoro saw a hand, and dodged, another arm came and found contact with his gut or his jaw. Buggy had yet to knock him out, but Zoro stumbled around in the ring trying to keep the time going.

The bell rang and as they broke away, Nami entered the ring as the crowds cheered.

"You know…if you keep doing that, they're gonna think you're the scorecard girl", Zoro huffed in shaky breaths after he pulled out his reddened mouth guard.

Nami threw water on him and as she wiped his face, she leaned in. "So what? I'm off the wall, cause we're the guerilla tag team. But Zoro, don't make me a liar. I told all these people you could win."

"And they believed you? Maybe you plucked a bad seed?"

She handed him some water as he drank it greedily. "Ha, I gamble what I know I can win. So, of course, they don't believe me, cause you're fighting like shit."

She smiled and gripped his neck. "And being cocky makes you seem like easy money- the more beef the better. So why don't you stop playing with your food and knock this clown out. It's time to shake ground in the eighth round."

Zoro grinned back. "Click."

Nami faked a punch, "Pow."

They said in union, "Knocked out."

It was a silly mannerism, but it seemed appropriate and it made them both smile at their teamwork. It would become tradition, but only after they won their first fight. The thought brought joy to Nami regardless.

Nami winked as she exited the ring. "Hold it down, never give in. You keep this up and you might go home with more than just the money and new title."

Zoro shoved the mouth guard back in before he said anything he would regret.

Buggy bounced around again. He had been cocky since before the fight and talked a big game. He was known around smaller circuits, so most people came to see him fight. Nami took that knowledge with a sly smile and explicitly told Zoro to stretch the fight out. Neither man had a knockout or a win, so in the eighth round, the crowd was hungry for blood of any kind.

Zoro was not much of a showman, so Nami procured bets and raised stakes until she felt satisfied with the return. Suffice to say, Nami was never satiated and Zoro relished in ending the fight finally. Nami would moan about the possibility of more, but Zoro liked to end things as he started them – strong and with efficiency. He liked getting to the point rather than teasing it out, but, once again, Zoro would have to deal with Nami's desires.

Just as Nami screamed his name, his punch landed perfectly. Zoro felt the squish and comedic honk of Buggy's nose. Even through the gloves, he knew he had broken the man's actual nose. Buggy flew back, and the crowd rose to their feet like a wave after a whale landed.

Nami did not wait for the final count because she entered the ring and lifted Zoro's arm triumphantly as the announcer finally called the fight.

"Annnnd the winner is…Zoroooooo "The Demon" Roronoaaaaaaaa!"

Zoro spat out his mouth guard and looked at her. "That is literally the dumbest name ever."

Nami shrugged, too busy calculating her money tally to give him a proper answer. "Fits you perfectly then! We were approved for this or 'The Tiger'. And that sounded lame. They also had 'The Pirate Hunter' but how stupid does that sound?"

Zoro shook his head as Sanji tackled him. "Decent job, you giant idiot! I thought you were about to get your ass handed to you, but I guess you proved me wrong. This time."

Nami waved at the money counters and placed a hand on Zoro's face. "Good job, Zoro…this is the first of many, huh?"

Zoro let the lights heat him because he refused to believe that her touch would do that. Sanji kept quiet as he let the two interact. He knew that Zoro would not pursue anything without a guided map that told him what to do and when, but even then, the man was completely useless. Therefore, Sanji let his scheming bring them together.

"Let's grab some drinks, huh?"

Music Inspiration/Theme: "Nine Thou" (Superstars Remix)

Quick Response: Someone asked about where I found all the personality info. I literally just Googled:) There were two infographics that are for "one piece personality types" - and I went with one of them that coincided with the types I referenced before. Again, you can read each type and see if they fit the characters. I thought ENTJ & ISTP worked with Nami & Zoro. It's really fun info, and for me, I think that goes to show (perhaps more on the fandom side) that the characters are more than what we see in canon or beyond. It kinda made me feel like my OTP was backed by science, and of course, personality types are not concrete or the end all be all. Humans are very diverse and let's face it...anime/manga have some pretty amazing humans...though they are more often superhuman than not. Haha! Hope that answers your question, moi!

Side note (since I'm already here) - fight scenes/training scenes are sooooo boring to write, because it is a lot of action and I'm a visual person so writing everything down is like reading the script of Rocky as a book...not fun. Haha! So hopefully I don't bore you and please let me know if I didn't do it justice:((((