Author's Note: Okay so I had to go ahead and watch Zoro's fight with Bones to have any idea about how Bones fought. That's how far behind I am in the series, but anyways, moving onward. The first half of this story was harder to write than the rest, I had fun with the hospital scene though, but I'm not a doctor and don't know anything about how it works either. This is fanfiction and that's why I'm throwing logic out the window in terms of how the hospital and blood loss work. I think I have it vaguely down though. So fact: I did some research in terms of the team's blood types. So Zoro's blood type, FX, actually means AB, which makes more sense to me now. But moving onwards, another thing was that Sanji had blood type O (written S with a negative sign), so because O negative is the universal donor, I was like, "SANJI HAS TO DONATE HIS BLOOD!" But then I checked if anyone else could donate blood, and the answer was, out of the character I've introduced and out of them all, Luffy had blood type AB, but it was positive and it never specified about Zoro's, Usopp's was O positive and Nami had just A, which meant she and Sanji could donate under the assumption Zoro's blood type was negative. So I was like, "YAY!" But anyway, I also changed Zoro's swords, well, one of his swords, for a reason which will be discovered later! The fact that three hours after posting chapter 16 I had 100 reviews is just ... Wow. I'm kinda still in shock. But anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I don't own One Piece. I can't believe in like, three weeks, I've written over 100 thousand words! As usual, thanks for the reviews will be below at the end.
Beautiful Disaster
By: Setkia
Full Summary
Sanji is the assistant cook of the world-renowned restaurant, the Baratie, the only restaurant like it in the world. He's a successful chef and flirts with the customers every chance he can get but there's a problem. It's all a facade. The cooks give a new meaning to the word "abusive", both mental and physical. The only thing keeping Sanji alive is his love for cooking and a good ol' pack of cigarettes.
Zoro Roronoa is a swordsman who suddenly has more change in his pocket than he expected and enters the Baratie by recommendation. His waiter happens to be a curly browed man with an adoration for cigarettes. An attempt speak to the head chef goes horribly wrong and he gets sucked into the crumbling world of the chef's, wondering how he can possibly save him and better yet, why does he want to save him in the first place?
WARNINGS: the following things are present in this chapter of Beautiful Disaster:
Mentions of self-harm, past abuse
Chapter 17: Sulking Like A Man
It is a truth universally acknowledged that three-sword-style swordsman with green hair did not sulk.
At least, that's what Zoro Roronoa tried to convince himself of.
He wasn't going to Partys with all of his swords, out for blood because he was sulking over his somewhat existent, not entirely well-founded feelings for Sanji. In fact, the cook didn't mean anything to him besides friendship. He hadn't had a horrible nightmare that lead toward him curling up into a little ball and trying not to blubber like a baby. Nope. Not at all.
Little known fact about Zoro Roronoa: he was the master at denial.
"Hey Makino," Zoro greeted the barmaid with a forced smile. He didn't know how Sanji did it all the time— no, do not think about Sanji, bad brain, bad!
"Afternoon Zoro," replied the young woman. "You'll be fighting tonight?"
Zoro nodded. "Are there any good people worth fighting tonight?" he asked.
Makino's smile turned into a slight frown. "Zoro, what are you doing?"
Zoro shrugged. "Just going to fight a little, I haven't done it in a while. Is it wrong?"
Makino stared at him scrutinizingly. "Zoro, what's wrong?"
"What do you mean 'what's wrong'?" Zoro let out a laugh, feeling as though it couldn't have possibly been more fake. "I'm fine. You sure you're okay?"
"Being reckless doesn't pay," Makino told him strictly. "You know that." Her eyes wandered towards Zoro's chest, as though to trace the length of the scar with her eyes, despite the fact that he wasn't shirtless.
Zoro knew. He knew probably more than anyone, but he wasn't going to tell her that. Besides, he wasn't being reckless. He was just taking his mind off things. Since taking in the cook, it seemed he was almost all Zoro thought about. Training Sanji, helping Sanji, cooking with Sanji, waking Sanji up from another nightmare, introducing Sanji to others, worrying about Sanji … kissing Sanji (once and only once. Zoro would only ever make that mistake once).
"I know Makino," he said.
Though it was brief, he felt as though his conversation with the barmaid had cooled his head just a little. That didn't mean he didn't still want to fight, it just meant that instead of going out for blood, he was thinking maybe a couple of bruises and a bashed in face. "So, can I go down?"
Makino nodded, watching Zoro with worried eyes but the swordsman didn't look back as he defended the stairs.
"Yo, Big Bro Zoro!" Johnny said with a big smile. "You finally going to fight tonight?"
"Yeah, we've been waiting for a match since forever," Yosaku said, giving Zoro a big clap on the back. He stopped suddenly, looking at Zoro in confusion. "Hey, where's Big Bro Sanji?"
"Not here," Zoro snapped. Just hearing Sanji's name did weird things to him. The reason he was here was so he could stop thinking about Sanji, so he wouldn't have to focus on anything, not to hear about the cook from his friends. "You gonna let me in?"
"Rude," Johnny said. "Is something up, Big Bro?"
"I'm fine," Zoro insisted. "Just let me in, okay?"
Johnny and Yosaku looked at each other before glancing at Zoro.
"If you say so, Big Bro," said Yosaku, letting him in.
Zoro entered the arena and looked around. There were a bunch of people here who weren't worth fighting, he knew that already. He didn't see any of his other friends around either. That was good, that meant he didn't have to be lectured by them about how irrational he was being, even if he was completely of sound mind and body to himself. Luffy would look at him with that stare he always got whenever he realized something wasn't right because of course the straw hat had to become perceptive at the worst time possible and Nami would probably press for answers while Usopp told him yet another story about that strange person he knew who was going through problems exactly like his, except his problems involved a walrus. He loved his friends, he really did, but he couldn't handle them some days.
The only person he couldn't escape when at Partys was Ace, and that was because he was always the ref for the matches. Ace was cool, Zoro was sure he could trust him to keep his mouth shut.
"Hey Ace," he said, approaching the tall man. "You think there's anyone worth fighting tonight?"
"Zoro!" Ace smiled widely. "Finally going to get back in the ring?"
"Figured it was about time," Zoro told him with a shrug. "So, who do you have for me?"
"Well, you could try Bones," said Ace. "They say he's one of the best," he added.
"Never heard of him. Who is he?"
Ace pointed towards the corner and Zoro was surprised he hadn't seen the guy earlier. He was enormous. Bigger than Patty— no, thinking about Patty meant thinking about Sanji, thinking about Sanji meant … fuck, Zoro didn't even know anymore. "How does he fight?"
"Martial artist," Ace said. "He's really tough, some even say his skin's made of steel."
"I can see that," Zoro said. "Okay, I'll fight him."
Ace nodded and blew his whistle, making the match official. With so many people, Zoro ignored the voices and instead focused on his opponent. He was large, but the larger they were, the harder they fell. He stepped into the arena and put Wado in his mouth as usual, taking his other swords out and readying his stance.
Bones smirked when he entered the ring. "You think you can beat me, little shrimp?" he asked. He let out a loud laugh. "Santoryu, eh? Haven't seen someone fight that way in a while." The man cracked his knuckles menacingly, growling as he took a step closer to Zoro. "Three swords won't be enough to save you, moss head."
Zoro grit his teeth, Wado firmly placed in his mouth. He was ready to fight. He wanted to fight. And he wanted to make Bones bleed. Just a little.
"Okay, you know the rules," Ace said, standing on top of his usual table. "You fight until one can't go on, there's no time limit, try to keep the fight inside the ring. The fight ends when one of the two can no longer go on, we, the crowd, determine whether or not the match is over. We're not aiming to kill, but other than that, no rules apply. When I blow my whistle, we start."
Zoro could vaguely hear the crowd counting down, but the only sound that reached his ears was the loud "FIGHT!" screamed in unison by the entire bar.
And fight Zoro did.
The first one to strike, no one could tell since the two fighters moved instantly. Zoro made to attack with two swords right at Bones' chest, but Bones had a strike ready for Zoro, preparing to hit him in the gut. They both took force of the impact, but Zoro had trouble standing, instead staggering for a few steps before forcing himself upright. Bones looked unaffected by Zoro.
"No swordsman's ever cut me," said Bones as though this were something to brag about. It was impressive and had Zoro been thinking straight, he might've thought to get out of the ring immediately. But of course, Zoro would never think straight. "What makes you think you can?"
"I'll be the first," Zoro said, his eyes analyzing Bones.
So the man was big, okay, he could give him that. He was big and he was buff as well. But where was his weakness? It had to be somewhere. It had been a while since Zoro had to analyze an opponent. After nearly a month of fighting against Sanji, he had learnt how to read the cook's movements perfectly to the point where he didn't even have to look to block, but that didn't mean the blond didn't keep him on his toes.
In Sanji's cast, his centre of gravity was his hips. All it took for Zoro to read Sanji's movements was to watch Sanji's hips move throughout the entire battle. So where was the centre of this man's gravity? Where did Zoro need to keep his eyes? And how did you cut someone who's skin was practically made of steel?
The big man let out a laugh that sounded beyond sinister. "We'll see about that."
Where? Where do I focus?
CRASH!
Too late. Zoro's attention hadn't been on this man and he was thrown out of the ring, into a startled couple's table. He picked himself up off the ground and wiped his face, the beer wetting his clothes. He stood back up and Bones looked down at him.
"I'll give you that you're still standing," he said, "most people would be knocked out by a blow like that, but this just means you'll suffer more." Bones picked Zoro up and Wado was left on the floor, having been dropped when Zoro had crashed into the table. He tried to grab it but Bones came even closer to his face, snarling. "Do you even know how to fight with those swords?" he asked. "They're sharp, but they seem like they're only for decoration. You call yourself a swordsman?"
Zoro kicked at Bones harshly, but the man didn't move.
"Listen to me moss head, if you know what's good for you, you'll back out now."
Surrender? The word wasn't even in Zoro's vocabulary.
Zoro pushed at Bones body, trying to wiggle his way out of the bigger man's grip. His big meaty hands just reminded him of Patty even more and that made him think of Sanji and thinking of Sanji and Patty made him even angrier, knowing what that bastard had done to his cook.
SMACK!
A nicely aimed punch hit Bones squarely in the nose. The man blinked, surprised and his grip loosened. Zoro hit the floor and grabbed Wado, ready to fight again. He was fuelled up.
"That was nothing," Zoro told him. "You gonna fight me for real this time?"
Bones turned on him.
Watch his movements.
Bones took a step back and got back into the ring, backing himself up to the edge of it so he'd have the best view of Zoro.
Read his moves.
He watched as Bones started running, the way he raised his arm. His shoulder was going straight, which meant he'd be going straight forward, right? He'd be punching Zoro. Now where exactly would he punch him?
Predict.
His elbow was going downwards, which meant that he was going to attack somewhere near Zoro's stomach, or his legs. Knowing the kind of fighter he seemed to be, he wouldn't be playing cheap tricks like he and Sanji did, grabbing at ankles. No, the man would go straight for Zoro's gut.
Calculate.
How long would it take him to get to him? What did he have to do to avoid it? If he moved right now, Bones could still change his direction and Zoro would have to start all over.
Stay.
Bones came closer, his fist raised … The shoulder was going downwards, his elbow was also going down, which meant …
Now!
Zoro jumped up and flipped over Bones, missing an underhanded punch towards his stomach. His blades brushed across the man's shoulders as he flipped, before he landed on the other side of him, in the ring.
Okay, this makes him even easier to read than Sa— easier to read than others. Now where's his weak point? I can read as much as I want, but that won't put me on the offence, that'll force me onto the defensive, which means there has to be some way to strike a weak spot. His were the junction in his knee, if you threw that off, he wouldn't be able to stand, and he leaves his upper body open whenever he attacks, plus the time it takes him to lift his foot off the ground. What about this guy? What are his weak spots?
"Impressive, ballerina," said Bones though he was clearly being sarcastic.
Watch. Don't close your eyes.
He turned back around and raised his fist again.
Shoulder's facing upward, elbow's facing up. Going for the face then.
Zoro leaned back and avoided the hit but he watched Bones even after the attack had been administered. He was slightly off balance.
The force he uses … if it doesn't hit anything, the amount of momentum he has is suddenly stopped, which means …
Zoro watched once more. Bones was going for his neck. He flipped over him again, before instead of attacking with his swords, he pushed on Bones' back as he flipped over. Bones fell forward at the sudden imbalance and crashed into another couple's table.
Was this like seeing a wrestling match? Was that the kind of date that poor brunette was being subjected to? He felt bad for her.
Zoro counted in his head once his feet touched the ground.
Zero point twenty-eight, point twenty-nine, point thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three—
Bones was back on his feet.
"Enough with the acrobatics," Bones snarled. "Time to end this!"
Shoulder's going south, elbow's north. Right. Meet him … now!
Zoro crossed his blades placed them lower on his body, protecting his stomach and half of his thighs. Bones fist tried to push against the blades, but Zoro held strong. He had to admit that Bones was strong, it was taking an effort not to skid backwards but he figured he had ruined enough dates tonight. Using his third sword, he nodded his head forward, slashing at Bones' wrist.
As the smallest droplet of crimson hit the floor, Zoro smirked. Victory.
Bones staggered back and judging from the look on his face, he was in shock that Zoro had managed to cut him. What did this guy think of him? Zoro wasn't a weakling, he could stand his own and he'd do just fine against this guy. Especially since he had figured out how to fight him properly.
Bones took a step forward and went at Zoro again.
Shoulder's north, elbow's north.
Zoro moved quickly around the man as his fist came out and struck him in the back using two of his blades. Bones wobbled but quickly regained his balance. He was learning how to recover faster. That was new. He spun around and went to kick at Zoro.
Zoro smirked.
Reading upper body movements was harder for Zoro, but form the waist down? Well, he had this one in the bag.
Zoro charged himself forwards as the foot swept over where Zoro had been and instead, he hit Bones squarely in the chest. He fell onto his back from the force and Zoro got on top of him, ready to throw a punch.
Unfortunately, he was right where Bones wanted him.
Bones punched Zoro in the jaw and his head shot back. He could feel his brain moving around in his head as the man took another punch at him. Since Zoro's legs were firmly around the man, he couldn't move when the man aimed another punch and his nose started bleeding.
Dammit, I think he broke it!
He tried to time Bones' hits, to catch his arm before it connected with his face again, but the thing about Bones was that there was no rhyme or reason to his attacks. He didn't time anything, he hit when an opportunity was there and since Zoro was currently as open as he had ever been in all his years of fighting. As a result, Zoro's face had seen better days.
Instead of waiting for timing, Zoro decided to screw strategies and instead just hit at the man before him as well. He found some pride in the fact that now the man was trying to dodge his attacks. Dodging. How come Zoro had never thought of that? It probably had something to do about a certain person whom he never dared to think of at the moment.
Zoro managed to hit Bones pretty nicely in the jaw. Bones took a moment to readjust, and Zoro took that time to grab his big, meaty arm and flip it over him.
This resulted in successfully getting the man off of him, but since Zoro was sort of stuck on the man's legs, his ground was wiped out from under him and he fell rather harshly on the wood floor.
He stood up quickly and prepared to hit again, his swords back in hand. He launched himself at the fallen Bones and began to strike at his chest various times, starting to tear through the man's shirt. With a few bruises, bleeding in a few places and one finally knock out punch from Zoro, he was declared the winner.
"Hey, Zoro," said Ace when it was over, whispering in his ear as he raised Zoro's arm in victory. "Something up?"
"Nothing," Zoro said, his breathing harsh.
"You sure? Cause that didn't look like nothing," Ace said.
"Yeah well, just cause you think something's there, doesn't mean it is," Zoro told him. "Anyone else I can fight?"
Ace looked at him. "You're pretty worn out from that fight with Bones," he said, "You sure you don't want to rest?"
"No." Resting meant he'd think. Thinking meant he'd eventually think of something in general that would link itself to the blond cook and then he'd get a headache no Tylenol could fix. He'd probably end up having a mental break down, wondering what the cook thought of him and whether or not it was worth it to say anything about the strange feeling in his chest.
"I'll fight him."
Everyone turned to see a man who carried a large sword on his back. Instantly, Zoro's eyes widened.
"Mihawk?"
"I'll fight you, Zoro Roronoa," said Mihawk. "That is, if you think you can beat me."
Mihawk … God Mihawk annoyed him to no ends. The last time he had fought against him had no ended well and knowing that, he was certain that taking him up on the challenge was pure suicide.
Dracule Mihawk, the greatest swordsman in Japan. He was undefeated and had won over a thousand competitions, including several against Zoro. He hated losing to this man, arrogant and conceited. The title of best swordsman … a man that self-absorbed surely didn't deserve it.
"You're on," Zoro told him.
"Zoro, are you sure?" Ace asked, a worry creasing his brow.
Zoro waved off Ace's concern. "This'll be nothing."
The two entered the ring and it was right before Ace blew the whistle that Zoro realized his face and ribs hurt. A lot.
"I won't bother with my sword," said Mihawk. "I'm sure this'll work just fine." He pulled out what looked like a small pocket-knife out of his cross necklace. "Now, come at me, Zoro Roronoa."
It was perhaps a battle that lasted fifteen seconds at most.
Zoro tried to fight with Sandai and Yubashiri, but they were both deflected. He jumped back and then Mihawk threw his knife at him, hitting him in the arm. It seemed to cut deep and mixed with the loss of blood from the fight with Bones, Zoro was feeling woozy. It took him about five seconds afterwards for him to fall to his knees.
Zoro pulled the knife out of his arm and threw it back at Mihawk, but it merely clattered at the man's feet instead of piercing his leg like Zoro had wished.
"Try again when you get better," said Mihawk. "I could've pierced your heart, but you weren't paying full attention, were you?" He frowned. "I don't fight half-hearted battles."
The world was spinning. It wasn't the same spinning as a hangover, but it was causing Zoro's head to hurt. Already it was pounding and he felt a horrible pain in his chest that he couldn't properly describe. He could hear the sound of high heels— no, fancy sandals, like the ones Nami wore, racing towards him. He felt a hand on his shoulder, rough and demanding.
"Zoro! Zoro, you have to keep your eyes open!" That was Luffy. What was going on?
"Baka! Are you trying to get yourself killed?" And that was Nami. A vague blur of red hair was visible in front of him, but it hurt to concentrate.
"Someone call Sanji," said Luffy.
Zoro reached out desperately to grab a hold of someone, anyone. He grabbed Nami's arm and pulled her to him. "Don't," he croaked out. Though he couldn't see straight and speaking made him nauseous, he repeated it. "Don't call Sanji."
"What are you talking about, of course we need to call Sanji!" Nami told him. "You're just disorientated, we'll just call him though. Don't worry, okay?" she said. "This way Sanji'll know and he won't have to worry when you don't turn up back at the apartment. Well, actually, he will worry either way, but—"
"Liar," Zoro choked.
"Huh?" Nami turned to him while he could vaguely see Luffy pulling out his phone, scratching his head. He probably didn't know Sanji's number.
"He won't care," Zoro said softly.
"Of course he'll care! What are you, brain damaged?" Nami shook her head and tried to hoist Zoro up, but faltered. "Usopp, help me here!"
He felt his body being lifted from the ground and though the world had stopped spinning, his vision was even more blurry. He tried to grab onto something to steady himself but Nami and Usopp were holding onto his arms so tightly it restricted his movement. He was sure if he fought hard enough, they'd have to let him go, but his footing was weak and he didn't trust himself to move without vomiting.
As they lumbered him to the hospital, there was only one thing going through his mind.
Sanji doesn't care. Not as much as I do.
His arm felt weird.
Zoro opened his eyes blearily and stared down at his left arm. There's some kind of … wire? No, tube, stuck in my arm. Why the hell is there— wait, that's an IV.
"What the fuck am I doing in the hospital?"
"Oh, you're awake!"
Zoro looked up and met Nami's eyes. "What's going on?"
Nami seemed to think for a while before answering. "You kind of … passed out from blood loss," she said. "We brought you here and you won't be able to use your arm for a while, which means no fighting either." She took a brief pause before continuing. "You were lucky, Mihawk hit pretty deep. It broke some tissue and your bone is fractured. You'll need a sling, but it isn't fatal or anything. Sanji donated some blood for you, so you'd better thank him when he gets here."
"Sanji?"
"Yeah, you know, the blond cook?" Nami shook her head. "You should've seen him. He was having a total mental break down, screaming. When they asked what your blood type was, he immediately offered his blood. I would've offered mine, but by the time I managed to tell them I could donate, Sanji had already done it." She glanced at Zoro. "Did you know … um, about his arms?"
Zoro was groggy, but he knew instantly what she meant.
Sanji's arms were covered in markings. Cuts and burns, earned from hours in the kitchen, beatings from the cooks and himself. "If you say a word about it, I'll kill you."
Nami shook her head. "It isn't my business," she said. "But Zoro?"
"Yeah?"
"There were …" She took a deep breath. "Some of the cuts … they looked recent. Like maybe a day or two old."
Zoro's eyes widened. Before he could ask about it, he heard the sound of pushing and shoving outside the door.
"Let me in!" That was Sanji. "I already told you, I'm his friend, you have to let me in! What, is it only one person at a time? He isn't that injured!" There was a huff and then, "Nami, get the fuck out of there, I need to talk to him!"
Zoro's eyes got even bigger, if it was possible. Sanji swearing at a woman? Sanji considered himself too much of a gentleman to ever do such a thing, which meant whatever he wanted to tell Zoro was urgent. Urgent enough to make him scream like that.
Nami sighed and turned to the door. "Maybe if you put out that cigarette and put away the swords—"
"I don't trust them with them!" Sanji screamed back.
Swords? Does that mean …?
The doorknob moved and then Sanji was standing before them, holding Zoro's three sheathed swords in his hand. He threw them onto the bed and grumbled. "There, Marimo. I had to fight with them for a long time to be allowed to give these back to you, so you'd better be grateful, asshole!"
"Don't throw sharp things at the ill!" Nami snapped.
"Ill?' Sanji repeated. "They were sheathed! And besides, the idiot's laughing!"
Zoro held his stomach at the scene. It was quite funny.
"I don't know how grateful I am to someone who calls me an asshole," Zoro told Sanji with a smirk. "Would you like to rephrase that?"
"No, I will fucking not," Sanji said, rolling his eyes. "Seriously, you wouldn't believe this guy was bleeding out a few hours ago." Sanji ran a finger through his hair and for a second, Zoro thought he might've seen his other eye, but the curtain of hair fell back before he could be sure.
"I'll leave you two alone," said Nami with a laugh.
The two of them stayed in silence as she left and were still quiet when the door shut.
Finally, Zoro spoke. "You shouldn't pass the chemicals of your cigarette onto the bedridden," Zoro told him.
"Fuck you," Sanji snapped, turning on him. "Do you have any idea how fucking stupid you are? Getting into a fight with someone when you weren't thinking straight! I couldn't find you in the apartment, so I figured you'd gone to Luffy's but then when I called, he didn't answer and then just when I thought you had gotten yourself lost again, I get a call from Luffy saying that I need to come to Partys and see to it that you don't die! Fuck, I'm supposed to be the suicidal one here, remember?"
"About that," Zoro said, about to lecture him on the new cuts Nami had mentioned— regardless of how stupid it would seem coming from a man who was currently in a hospital bed— when Sanji cut him off.
"No, there's nothing about it! There's nothing to say! Do you have any idea how much blood you lost? I'm still woozy from the amount of blood I had to donate, you fucking moron! Are you fucking insane? You just … Luffy said you just collapsed when he came to the bar. I spoke to Ace, what the fuck was that bastard thinking, letting you fight in your condition? No, what the fuck were you thinking, you fucking ahou?! I'll tell you what you were thinking, you weren't thinking! You should know your body, be able to tell your own condition, should know when you reach your fucking limits! You don't fucking push them until you collapse, anyone with some common sense would know that! Do you have any idea what it was like to see your body there? Just … just limp and …" Sanji stopped, unable to formulate his next sentence. He chewed on his cigarette harshly and Zoro could see it was well worn. "Are you fucking stupid? Did you think you could just pass out like that and I wouldn't care? Don't you dare pull another stunt like that, Zoro Roronoa, you have no idea how w—" Sanji stopped, biting harshly on his cigarette. It went out and he threw into the trash bin. Zoro expected Sanji to continue but instead, the cook put his fist against his mouth, as though to stop himself from talking.
"Were you … worried?" Zoro asked, holding his breath for the answer.
"Fuck no," Sanji snapped. His body seemed to lurch forward when he spoke but once he was done, he stepped back and seemed to recoil into himself.
Though Zoro was coming to terms with Sanji not liking him in the strange way that Zoro somewhat, possibly thought he felt towards the blond, he had still hoped he was important enough for the cook to worry about, even just a little.
"You sure?" he asked. The answer he was expecting, he wasn't sure. It wouldn't do good to hear the same answer that he dreaded twice, but he said it anyway.
Sanji stared out the small window at the modern Tokyo landscape. One of his hands gripped his arm. Zoro realized it was his left arm. He was holding his left arm like it was in pain. Sanji was silent, refusing to look at Zoro. Just when he thought he'd get no answer, Sanji spoke. "… No."
What?
Sanji still wouldn't look at him, but he continued. "Well, what do you think I did when I found out? Just cause you see me as a freeloader, doesn't mean that I don't give a damn about you," he said in a soft voice. "Of course I was fucking worried, Marimo."
It was so quiet, Zoro almost didn't hear it, but he did.
Maybe Sanji didn't care for him like that, maybe he'd never care for him that way, but Zoro knew that for the moment in the quiet of the hospital with the moonlight shining in through the window, in the confines of this room, right now, it was enough.
Sanji turned to him again, dropping his arm almost instantly. "Now go to bed," Sanji snapped and though he had probably taken time to compose himself, Zoro could've sworn he saw the lightest trace of red on Sanji's cheeks. "No one gets better without rest," he said.
Sanji took long strides out of the room, Zoro watching his every move. He stopped at the door, shutting off the lights. "I'll … I'll see you tomorrow."
Zoro couldn't help smiling but in the dark of the room, who could tell? "Night Curly Brow."
There was silence. Then—
"Night, Marimo."
There was the sound of the door slamming shut and then the room fell into silence.
Yeah, for now, it was enough.
Author's Note #2: Now for the thank-yous!
Sabinah (x3): As I've mentioned before, I take great joy in making people awkward. This time it was Sanji's turn to be awkward! I hope you liked him in this chapter, I thought he was absolutely adorable. I know tons of pointless games that can be played without the need of paper and just two people, but none of my friends like them cause they find them boring. Don't worry though, Sanji and Zoro have tons of other games they can play that haven't been introduced yet. If I were to ask Zoro for love advice, (because I think he'd just be the most amusing to get it from), I'd be like, "I have problems. You can't leave till you solve them!" And then he'd probably be traumatized.
Guest: Zoro didn't cry. Yet.
S.P. Tripathi: I'm really glad you liked it! Just making others feel something through writing is always my goal. Before I write the chapter, I'm just like, "What do I want to make them feel?" And sometimes I succeed and sometimes I don't, but I'm really happy when I do. Even when that emotion is to bawl your eyes out.
JustCallMeLucie: You sound like my friend, accepting that there are dickheads everywhere. For school I had to read the word in this section of a book and I just stared at it and I was like, "I won't freak out, I won't freak out" but then the character was like, "What did you just call me?" and they repeated it again and I threw the book down in the middle of class and my friends turned to me (we had free reading time) and were like, "What's going on?" And I swear my answer was, "I think I'm going to be sick." Fact: Sanji has asymmetrical eyebrows. Death the Kid would hate him.
crystalbluefox: Zoro and Sanji are both idiots, which is why we will have fun watching them run in circles and laugh at their clumsy, awkward mistakes that seem endearing to us fangirls.
minichampi: Really? I thought he was going pretty quick, in comparison to Sanji at least. See, the thing is, I like development of a relationship, where you get to learn everything about that person before you actually get into a relationship with them, instead of learning them as the relationship gets more serious. I think it's nice that way too, but I'm a sucker for development.
VictoriaLovesSmut: Okay, I wish that too, but can you honestly picture Zoro doing that?
Keitsu Han'ei: Um, Zeff kinda hasn't been around recently ... I'm still planning his entry.
Nessiebaby: So um, I have no clue who has that other fucked up eyebrow. I looked up curly eyebrows one piece and got a forum instead talking about how both of Sanji's eyebrows are screwed up. I tried! In terms of the length of a review, I really don't think there's a limit. On the mobil site, they'll give you a limited number of characters but it's like, 100000, so you can write a lot. I really wanted to do a parallel chapter and I hope I did it well! I might do more, if anyone asks.
Raigon: It's just that insecurities stop us from doing lots of things and sure, Sanji knows Zoro better then when he first kicked him, but I think Sanji's still not sure. It doesn't take much to make someone doubt themselves. That's what makes us human, so of course, as awesome as it would've been for Sanji to totally kick their asses, I think that this was more believable.
lilcutieprincess: I don't think Sanji waxes his eyebrows. I don't think he thinks there's anything wrong with them. But just imagine Sanji with normal eyebrows? It doesn't work in my head.
Muffin: You demanded, I delivered. Now I just hope you liked the delivery.
Tulula-Mate: I enjoy making my readers feel compassion and connect with the story. Besides the characters and plot, its the readers and they're reaction and enthusiasm towards a story that brings it to life.
Okay about Sanji's line from Shakespeare ... God, I felt like an English teacher when I asked you that, but it's from Romeo & Juliet, act II, scene ii, also known as the Balcony Scene (I had to rewrite the scene for school with new characters who had a physical barrier between them (like a table or something) and had a forbidden love. I did a gay story, logically. It was awesome.) In this scene, Romeo's outside Juliet's balcony and she tells him that if he weren't a Montague, she'd still love him, his name means nothing to her. To me, this basically means that whatever happens, a person is still the same person, even if their name changes or if they might look different, they're personality is still the same. Thanks to Nessiebaby, who actually answered this question.
Okay, now for the fucked up eyebrows VS green hair:
Green hair: 4
Fucked up eyebrows: 3
Close, isn't it? But anyway, now for my question: the very first sentence of this chapter was a parody on one of the most famous beginning lines of a book in English literature. So tell me, what was the name of that book, who wrote it and for bonus points, when was it published?
1st Edit: August 6th 2015
