Zoro sat up quickly, his heart raced at the loud screaming that echoed in his ears.
This again.
He sighed heavily and grumbled to himself, laying back into bed and pulling a pillow over his face.
He knew that it would be to no avail— and it wasn't. The screaming only continued, followed by a few crashes and thudding, similar to that of someone being chased.
He threw the pillow on the floor and internally thanked himself for showering the night before after waking up from his nap.
He figured he'd be woken up again and that there would either be no energy to bathe, or that he would be in too bad of a mood. The latter of course equaled both.
Zoro stumbled around his room still feeling the ache of sleep on his eyes and body as he searched for any clean clothes. Once he found everything he slowly pulled off what he was wearing and replaced it with the newfound clothing.
He yawned harshly and rubbed his eyes, walking out into the living room and sliding on his boots. With that he found himself out the door and across the hall, knocking at Luffy's apartment.
He wasn't even sure why he decided to head there— frankly he didn't decide at all. There was no thought process or any decision made. It was as if his feet moved on their own to that domain. One moment he was heading through the apartment to get a drink and the next he was across the hall. At least that's what he wanted to do.
The commotion inside did not cease but he did happen to catch a very cut-off, "Just come in!", and he didn't need more of an invitation than that.
When he opened the door he wasn't completely sure what he was seeing.
It appeared that Nami was sitting on top of Luffy who was pinned to the floor. Her hands were around his neck and he was likely struggling to breathe based on how he was trying so hard to free himself.
Cowering behind the couch was Usopp who Zoro truly believed was about to piss his pants.
And then to the side of Nami and Luffy were the remnants and scraps of… orange peels?
"Uhhh, I can come back later but I think it should be said that he's likely not able to breathe." Zoro closed the door behind him and stood there, unsure that he should involve himself or not. There's no way she was actually cutting off his airway completely— right?
"Duh, that's kind of the whole point, isn't it?" Nami snapped back and Zoro could only imagine the ferocity her gaze must have held.
Luffy was gasping now and he desperately pounded his hands on the floor.
Zoro decided then might have been the best time to step in so he quickly leaned forward and wrapped his arms around the girl's side. "Okay, that's enough of that, I think the man has likely learned his lesson, whatever it may have been" He yanked her away from his body and held her close as she tried to fight free.
"To hell he did!" She struggled against his arms and dug her nails into his skin.
Luffy instantly broke into coughing and turned over to his side as he brought his hands to his neck. "You tried to kill me in my own home!"
"Isn't the first time and it sure as hell won't be the last!" She growled and Zoro was heavily regretting coming over there.
"You KNOW better and yet you still ate my tangerines! Bellamere's tangerines! How many times have I told you to get your own damn tangerines!!!"
Ussop peaked over the couch at the scene and Luffy slowly brought himself to his feet.
Zoro could not believe that he almost witnessed a murder over god damn oranges. What the hell was wrong with everyone living here?
They continued to bicker until Luffy finally apologized and Nami presumably found him as a lost cost.
Zoro let go of the woman and she stomped over to the couch, plopping down and crossing her arms. She closed her eyes and clearly did not want to interact with anyone any further.
Usopp crawled out from his hiding spot and moved over to the window front while Luffy sat down nearby.
The room was filled with awkward silent tension and Zoro couldn't understand why Nami didn't just leave at that point. And now it was ruined so horribly that it would be extremely awkward if he left himself.
He sighed and sat down on the floor across from the other two and rubbed his face.
"Why the hell are you here again?" Nami spat the words out in annoyance.
"I dunno, just needed something to do I guess…" Zoro muttered somewhat and leaned back against his hands. And look where that brought me.
Luffy and Usopp said nothing and Zoro could only assume they were fearful of Nami snapping at them.
Only a few moments later was there a knock at the door, followed by someone entering before Zoro could even look over.
And now he was absolutely regretting coming over today.
Letting himself in was that damn swirly-browed pervert. He was carrying a few shopping bags filled with food and he started out the entire interaction with, "Oh, Nami my dear, sorry I'm so late—," before he noticed Zoro on the ground and cut the niceties short.
His face quickly turned sour and Zoro saw that he nearly dropped the bags and cigarette carton he was carrying.
And now his own expression was turning sour.
"What the hell is this guy doing here?" The blonde weirdo took his eyes off of Zoro and scanned the room expectantly for an answer.
"That's Zoro. He's our newest friend. Zoro, that's Sanji. He's also a friend of ours." Luffy smiled and rose to his feet, moving over to where Sanji was standing.
Zoro looked up at Sanji, feeling a bit cocky then himself. He was annoyed that this jerk had to be a part of this group, but he felt empowered to already be a known member now himself. What could he do or say about it?
Sanji made a "Tch", and grumbled something that Zoro couldn't catch before pulling the shopping bags away from Luffy's praying hands and moving into the connected kitchen.
"I'll come back to that later. I don't have time to deal with the help when Nami has been waiting ever so patiently for a hand prepared breakfast by mwah."
Zoro couldn't believe the crap that was spouting from this freak's mouth.
Nami didn't even offer an inch and continued to bolster her pissed off state on the couch while Usopp seemed to pretend like he wasn't even there. Meanwhile Luffy was getting in the way of Sanji's attempts at starting a meal and he continuously had to shoo him away.
Frankly he wanted to leave at this point, but coupled with his hunger and headache he figured it would be better to eat here where the food was being made already. The thought of trying to feint off the dizziness with the short but painful walk into his own apartment and then try to scramble up some really shitty and non-filling crap was not appealing.
No one but Luffy and Sanji spoke as he began to prepare the meal while trying hard to fein off Luffy who was being extremely stubborn.
Every 20 seconds the guy would try to snatch ingredients to snack on or would pester Sanji with all kinds of questions while getting underfoot.
Sanji would simply push him away or snap an insult and Zoro was a bit surprised at the patience he held. If he were in his shoes he likely would have kicked the kid's ass already and he was sure Nami would have done the same.
Ages seemed to pass and eventually Ussop spoke up saying, "C'mon, are you almost done yet?"
"The rest of you are lucky to be having any part of this. And personally I wouldn't be feeding that jerk over there at all, but I took a vow so as much as I don't want to waste such delicacies on you losers, I have no choice. So shut up and be thankful." Sanji didn't even turn to look at them and kept a skillful hand at the stove
"Oi, are you trying to pick a fight Tinkerbell?" Zoro looked over from where he sat, an irritated look on his face. Where did this pompous brat get off?
"Yeah, what he said!" Usopp chirped from his own spot across the way.
Nami still said nothing and refused to look at any of them while Luffy chuckled at the insult which earned a kick in the shin.
"Ow! Sanji, that hurt you know!" Luffy furrowed his brow and pouted.
"I don't understand why you guys let a stray in. It blows my mind how low your standards are for friends Luffy." Sanji turned off the stove and seemingly began to finish what he had been preparing.
"Funny, I was thinking the same thing." Zoro smirked to himself and stared at the back of Sanji's head. He said nothing in reply but Zoro could imagine the irritated expression he must have held.
"See, now you just had that one coming Sanji. Really, it says a lot about you as well." Usopp pointed out, crossing his arms.
"Well in any case, aside from Nami, I would be the best out of the bunch here." He began to plate the food, all his visual concentration on just that.
"Well I like you all equally!" Luffy smiled and put his hands behind his head. He walked back out into the living area and plopped onto the floor.
"Is that so? You've just met that moss-head." Sanji moved into the area now carrying out a dish for everyone. He passed them to each person, not really paying much attention to them void for Nami as he sat down next to her with his own meal.
"Yup! I like him a lot. Zoro is pretty cool, just give him a chance." Luffy giggled before quickly diving into his food without even giving it a glance.
Zoro grinned slightly, amused at the easy trust given out. He ignored Sanji's annoying speech to Nami about how he prepared this breakfast just for her and gazed at his own plate.
He'd never let him know but he was thoroughly impressed with the meal he created. He wasn't sure of everything present but the basis was a typical egg, sausage and bacon breakfast— only with the additives and presentation of a five star restaurant. It was the kind of food you only ever saw in photos or movies. Nothing you'd ever expect to eat in real life.
And when he took his first bite it was easily the best food he had ever tasted in his life. He figured then that Sanji must have been a professional cook or something along the line. It couldn't have been just passion and making meals for these clowns.
Everyone's breakfast was quickly devoured and Luffy was soon begging for more. Sanji would tell him that he made no extra and Luffy would pout before asking again, as if the food were going to come out of the air.
Sanji even collected the dishes and hand washed them all himself along with all the cooking material.
It seemed that this was likely routine around here and Zoro couldn't help but think that it would be something he could get used to. If he ignored the person behind the meals, he would gladly eat them everyday.
Once Sanji finished the cleanup he moved back to the couch with Nami. He pulled a cigarette from his pack and lit it between his lips, inhaling and exhaling before crossing his legs and looking to Zoro's direction.
"So who are you anyway? What do we all know about you?"
Zoro looked up at the question. He wasn't sure why there was a sudden interrogation.
"All I know is that he's the new guy that collects swords." Nami slumped back into the cushions, finally putting input into the group conversations.
"I've already told you that I don't collect swords." Zoro grumbled.
"Then what do you do with them? You don't collect them but you just have them? Sounds really sketchy to me." Sanji continued to puff off the cigarette.
"Nooooo, he's a samurai!" Luffy called out excitedly.
"A samurai? I thought that was just a joke!" Usopp looked over, an intrigued look on his face.
"Look damn it, I was practically raised in a dojo where I learned Kendo. When I was old enough I took on actual swordsmanship for myself. And now I've taken over in my master's place as a teacher, but outside of work I am better than a bamboo sword."
"Woaaaahhh, that's so cool!!!" Luffy leaned closer to Zoro, excitement sparkling in his eyes.
"Tch, it's not that impressive. Anyone can learn to use a sword." Sanji didn't even look at him when he spoke now.
"Anyone can learn to use a sword but not everyone can be skilled. Think of it the same way you would cooking." Zoro tried to put it in a simpler way that would be understandable.
"He's right. Anyone can draw but not everyone can be as artistically talented as I am." Nami shrugged. "Natural talent and practice play a big part in these things. Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you're great at it."
Sanji had nothing to say to that and the room was silent again before Zoro decided to speak this time.
"And what about all of you? What do you all do for a living?"
"Sanji is a chef at a well known restaurant nearby. Usopp works at a toy shop downtown and I'm a freelance artist that also creates designs in my sister's tattoo shop." Nami answered.
"And you Luffy?" Zoro looked over at the boy.
"Oh, you see when my brother's dad died, he left a TON of money in the inheritance for him. So when I turned 18 and moved out he set it up so that the both of us could comfortably live off the wealth without having to work or do anything like that."
Now Zoro had questions.
Why did he refer to him as his 'brother's dad'? How much money could he have left to where they could both go their whole lives without having to ever lift a finger?
"It's crazy right? That this idiot while having no direct access to it himself— is a millionaire at 18 and never had to do squat for it while the rest of us work away." Sanji put out his cigarette on the ashtray at the coffee table.
"I must have misheard that. How much money?" Zoro stared at them all, obviously believing what he said to have been a joke. But they all stayed straight-faced and the words were spoken with seriousness.
"Yup. Ace's dad was involved in some weird stuff but he managed to leave behind the fortune for him by putting my grandfather in charge of it all." Luffy laid back on the floor and closed his eyes.
So now the annoying neighbor across the hall that he managed so quickly to befriend was actually an heir to some million dollar scheme. And he was just sitting here in a one bedroom apartment playing Mario kart and stealing his neighbors tangerines?
"Woah woah woah, hold on. I'm still confused about the family bit." Zoro was struggling to process this. He shouldn't have second guessed himself, Luffy was most definitely an immature idiot.
"Okay, so Ace's parents died but his father knew my grandpa and they had some kind of history so my grandpa took Ace in but he was too busy to raise him himself, so he knew this woman named Dadan and they also had some history so he stuck Ace with her and then my parents weren't around when I was born and grandpa was back in the same spot so he stuck me with Dadan and Ace and she raised us as our adoptive mother. Grandpa of course would visit us growing up but Ace and I became brothers through that."
Zoro struggled to keep up with the story since Luffy didn't skip a beat so he had to play it over in his head a few times before completely understanding.
"The story gets crazier if you can believe that." Usopp piped up.
"Yeah, so I don't really know anything about my mom but my dad is basically some kind of world class criminal, on the run. Grandpa works for the government which I'm not really a fan of and he was super strict on Ace and I growing up. We got into a lot of trouble. I'm not really sure why he gave us to Dadan considering she's an ex-con. But she's a great mom and has always been super supportive of Ace and I. Technically this place is Ace's but he kinda gave it to me cause he's never home. He travels the world with his friend Marco." Luffy laughed as if his life story wasn't something out of a movie.
Zoro looked around the room at everyone else, but only received the same shrug.
"And why aren't you traveling the world?" Zoro looked over the kid, now engrossed in the whole tale.
"I turned 18 not too long ago and I didn't have such cool friends to go with until I moved into here. I've asked them all to go with me but they all say they aren't ready." Luffy grumbled and put his hands behind his head again.
Zoro looked back to the group again.
"Hey, don't look at us. We all have lives of our own you know." Usopp crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall.
"Yeah, why should we uproot our own lives just cause this idiot asked us to? Now just isn't a good time, we've all told him the same thing— that he needs to be patient." Sanji looked down at Luffy.
"And now that you're one of us there's no escaping. You're a part of it now Zoro. One day you'll be on the one way ticket across the world with us. Unfortunately it's not for you or any of us to decide. Luffy is quite stubborn." Nami grumbled and rested her cheek against her hand.
"Yup!" Luffy laughed and looked over at Zoro with a grin.
It took one day and one morning with Luffy and now his future was somehow being decided for him?
He supposed that he was the one that thought about watching Luffy conquer the world but this was just unreal.
He stared back at Luffy in curiosity who just smiled before jumping into a new conversation with the group.
He didn't understand him at all.
But for some reason his heart was telling him that it would be worth his while to get to know all he could about the kid.