Horo-Horo Samurai

Chapter 7: Leak of Changes

Zoro stepped out of the bathroom, nestled in the corner of what was now becoming a new home for him. He glanced at his bed, making certain it was made or else Perona was sure to come in and scold to do so anyway, at least that's what he imagined last night when she carried a candle in her hands before the doorway of his room, donning her patched up night gown and a new night cap made from layered scraps of sheets. He had said his good nights in return though making certain it was quick and casual, anything greater would send him to bed red faced-Perona had that irritating ability to make him review everything he said and did in her presence.

The swordsman walked over to the chair next to the dresser, the one his caretaker pulled up to the side of the bed when he was restrained due to his injuries, and picked up the shirt, slipping an arm through one sleeve before noticing the girl standing in front of his room. "Oh!" Perona quickly muttered out. It was clear by the direction her feet were pointing in she was simply passing by. Zoro, eyes lit and face stuck in a grimace, hurried his other arm through the last sleeve and almost considered buttoning it up for the first time in his life. Perona seemed just as bothered, showing it with a small mouth and quivering pair of eyebrows. "Breakfast is almost ready," she said, those eyebrows were now lowering in a stern position. "so hurry up or it's going to get cold!"

"Yeah...I'll be down there." he replied, not moving until she left the scene with-no matter how calmly she tried to walk normally-a rather awkward silence humming in the air. Zoro didn't want to imagine the reasons she had stopped to stare at him, it might even remind him of why he seemed to stare at her so often. Closing the door as he left the chambers he began his stroll down the darkened halls, the candles standing in their holders now unlit as morning light somehow slipped into every crevice and corner of the castle. He was used to the scene, a fact that sent a chill of discomfort down his chest. Getting back to the crew was his biggest priority yet nothing had been towards that goal, not that anything could be accomplished.

Arriving here bloodied and phenomenally sore, he had to recover for a number of days and working towards making the castle more inhabitable for both him and Perona was essential to survival. Beyond that there was the issue of repaying his debt to the princess of ghosts, without her he would have died there. Putting aside whatever malevolent motive pushed her to do that, he was grateful. He just wished that during those moments by himself, doing chores or trying to let the night send him off to sleep, instead of thinking up ways to leave this island he couldn't help but ponder about Perona. "Damn girl..." he muttered out, rubbing the top of his rough head.

The staircase popped into his sight and as he headed towards it something caught the corner of his eyes. He turned his gaze to see a room with the door wide open, the only one in the entire hallway. Taking a step inside, he could see a gathering of mist simply hovering in mid air. "A bit high for mist isn't it?" he asked himself, the back of his mind trying to figure out how mist could sneak into a castle without a trail or trace. Suddenly it froze, like it was shocked to see him! "What the hell?"

"Zoro!!" Perona cried out. "Help!!!"

"Perona!" he cried out, reflexively gripping onto his sword. He ran out of the room and headed into the kitchen as quickly as he could, shoving the door open with his free arm. "What's going on? Are you okay?"

"T-there's a cockroach in here!" she blubbered out, retreating out of the kitchen. "Watch out! It flies!"

"I'll handle it." he said, pulling out a single wooden blade from its sheath. It was slightly difficult pulling it out due to its curced shape, especially with the special sheath required to hold it. But even without his regular swords the swordsman felt surprisingly pumped up, grinning with an eagerness. "Been a while since I've had a good fight. Bring it on roach." The enemy flew out of the sink and headed towards them, luring a shriek out of the princess. Zoro quickly spun his sword over his head and then held it tightly behind his back. "Lion's...." he lunged towards the beast. Perona watched with awe, squeezing her hands together as he headed in the direction of the monster. "Song!"

It's body, now divided in half, fell to the ground. "Yeah!" Perona cheered out, running up to her hero. "You killed it!"

"It was nothing." he said, trying to ignore the satisfaction he felt from the battle. Then a jolt of realization charged up his face. "Wait...what's up with this unusually serious situation?! It's just a damn roach! I thought you were hurt or something!"

Perona would have fussed back but she was too happy, relived the bug's threatening presence had been rid of, too impressed by the sword technique executed. "What a wonderful servant," she playfully said as she returned to the counter. "Worried about your master's safety. Was your heart pumping in fear?"

"Shut up." Clothing his sword with its sheath first, Zoro went to his usual chair across the spacious table, which coincidentally gave him a good view of Perona as she finished up on breakfast. He positioned the chair so he could sit sideways and look at the wall, sneaking a few peeks at her as he pretended to not care. Her pale face was always the first thing he noticed-a flame in the dark-and this morning she seemed particularly cheerful. The bandages were still on her fingers from the sword she crafted for him yet she managed to handle the leaves and seasoning gracefully like a puppeteers' fingers.

It took less time for her to prepare the recipe today, she was improving vastly which Perona found through Zoro's lit eyes and the utterance of "This is pretty good" or an ever so quiet moan. "He seems pretty bashful," she wondered to herself, sliding a peek herself at him occasionally during a bite from her fork. It was enough to leak a smile on her face. "Stupid monkey."

Zoro finished first but spent time on his drink, allowing Perona time to clear her plate. When both were finished he picked up his dishes and she took them to the sink to wash. "So what are you going to do now?" she asked as the faucet began to pour out water, worried she might be interfering with a preexisting training schedule.

"I'm going outside to work out and train. I'll do whatever chores you want when I'm done."

"Every servant needs a outlet."

"Okay..."

"I'll fix some tea for you later. So hurry up and get out."

Zoro didn't know why that made him smile but he went along with it. "Sure." He headed out of the castle, reviewing what just happened and what was said, it became a habit during his stay on the habit. All he could figure was that Perona was just being nice, a trait he was surprised she had in her. Their first encounter at Thriller Bark didn't find him exactly in the most eager mood to make new friends or think about how his enemy acted. Whiny, selfish, and weird, her good side managed to shine through. The least he would admit, she intrigued him. Definitely an interesting person he would tell others, doubtlessly in an nervous manner that would make it all seem like a fraction of what he meant.

Meditation would relax his thoughts so he started that first once he crossed the gates and found the old tree stump that was already his favorite spot. The mist was hovering around as usual but he had already forgotten about the incident in the open room, the odd movement, almost conscious awareness of it was now sealed off to the back of his head. With only a turn he could have seen it watching him from behind, a foggy eye forming in the clouded air, matching the mist in color and substance and straining to fully perceive the swordsman.

Perona dried off the last cup and set it to the side on the counter, reaching out for the teapot in the cabinet over the sink afterwards. She filled it with water before placing it over a small grill, lighting a small bundle of wood scraps underneath it. Any tea they had would have to be made from whatever plants Zoro had gathered. This was one of her few attempts to make tea from scratch so she searched the fridge and simply grabbed what was green, tossing it into the water. "This should be good enough," she said as she stirred the heated water with a spoon. A scent began to rise. "Smells minty too."

Once she was done she placed it on the tray along with the dishes and headed out the kitchen carefully, bracing herself for the sight she would see as she met up with Zoro during his training session. He seemed much more different from what she expected, his strength was earned and he seemed to enjoy working hard towards it. Like a plot twist in a book, he showed a kind side that was unexpected as well. All this sprinkled over the course of a few days she felt a trust develop between them both, it was quite surprising to outgrow the initial fears she had when the swordsman first landed on the island.

Walking outside into the mist, hearing a faint groan-which she prayed was him-a small spark of fright bit at her bones still, just a small mosquito's prick. She was honest to herself and mentally confessed, it sort of excited her and continued towards the noise. The gaps in the mist showed her snippets of what the man was doing. "Is he doing push-ups vertically?"

Going further, she found his training spot and nearly gasped as she found the special view of his torso that she had received. He was doing vertical push-ups with just one hand and the other kept behind his back, that alone made her excited like a kid at a circus watching acrobats flip through the air but a side of her she had forgotten noticed something else. His muscled form. It made her forget the groans he did every time he straighten his arm and the sweat no longer became an issue. "Wow..."

She had seen big men before but Zoro was different, his personality was much different. The awkward blend of awe sunk it and she decided, at least her body did, to stay perfectly still and watch. Besides, she was afraid she might interrupt him. Zoro kept counting to himself, reminding himself to breathe as he lifted himself up each time. It took a few more push ups before he noticed the minty aroma in the air. Lowering his head to the ground and looking upwards he saw Perona standing there looking back at him. Her sudden appearance scared the crap out of him. "Shit!" he growled, his focus sapped into the quick shock and the balance in his arm was lost. The swordsman called out her name before falling on his neck. "Damnit!"

Perona left her trance and quickly placed the tray down on the stump before running towards him. "Geez! What the hell is wrong with you?" she fussed. "You better be careful when you do this kind of stuff or you're going to get yourself killed dumbass!" Perona kept a hand behind his back, helping him up. She wasn't sure if the other should be placed on his chest or not and decided to leave it free in the air.

"Shut up..." he whispered as he rose up, rubbing his neck. "I'm alright, I'm alright."

"Is your neck broken? What happened anyway?"

"My neck's fine. I guess I just saw something pretty scary," he said.

"How dare you speak about your master like that! You better apologize right now!"

He could sense the negative hollow brewing in her hand. She probably wasn't as much of a short temper person as he imagined but she was clearly upset, probably scared. He let out a little laugh and said, "Sorry".

"T-that's more like it." Sliding her hand off his back, she got up, brushed her skirt and sat at the tree stump. "Hurry up and get off the ground, I brought tea."

"Yeah, yeah." Flicking the dirt and grass off of his pants and torso first, he then sat on the tree stump next to her-the tray between them-and wiped himself down with the ragged towel she had made for him. Once he was dry again he picked up the cup of tea and noticed the smell, drinking it anyway. Perona drank hers of course, watching him drink as she did, seeing that grimace on his face from the first taste.

"Do you like it?" she asked, trying to make herself sound more adult, more stern.

"Not really, too sweet and too minty for my tastes," he said.

"What's wrong with sweets? Don't tell me you don't eat candy either."

"I don't."

"You're monster! What kind of soulless creature doesn't enjoy the taste of candy?!"

"You're right. I am a monster." And he took another drink.

"Well, if it's too sweet what kind of tea do you like?" She wasn't sure if she should continue with her sentence but relaxed her body and loosened her anxiety. "Maybe...I could make a different recipe."

"I don't really like tea. How about some booze?"

"Booze?" She held her cup with both hands and leaned forward, furrowing her brow. "That's so low class."

"I'm a low class kind of guy."

Perona stared at him, his content expression and a feeling that some hidden hope inside her was crushed. "Well, I'll see what I can do. I guess you're not exactly a lord or prince after all."

"You mad?" he asked with a chuckle. She rose back up and stared into her cup.

"Nope. It makes you more interesting. I guess I have a lot of work to do on you if you're going to be any servant of mine. Tuxedos, some gel for your hair, a bow, top hat, gloves, and...pfffttt horo horo horo!!"

"What the heck are you laughing at?" he said, finding a few laughs escaping him as well as he looked at her covering her mouth. That laugh was definitely infectious and especially with that sweetness in the tone, that innocent sense of pure fun you found in a happy child.

"You would look so stupid in that sort of a get up! Can't you imagine that?" She started patting his arm roughly, laughing some more. "Maybe you should be a salary man or a politician! Horo horo horo horo horo!! Can you imagine yourself dressed up like that?! All drunk with a tie on your head and a green hangover! Horo horo horo!!"

Zoro couldn't stop his own laughter anymore as light as it was. Everything was infected with the mood she emitted and he found himself amused simply because she was. "What is so damn funny about that?" he asked. "You're losing your mind."

"I don't know! I feel like I have to make that outfit for you now, just to see how dumb you'll look! Wait, why are you laughing?"

"What? It's because you're laughing so damn much I can't control myself."

"You're so stupid." she merrily said. "And put a shirt on! You're making me all agitated." She might as well tell him that now before she would find herself gazing at him like a pile of treasure. Luckily, he seemed in such a lightened up mood that he didn't question her.

"Sorry about that," he said, bending down to pick up his shirt off the ground. He slipped it on along with his pair of boots. "But you're one to talk, every time I see your eyes I can't stop looking at them. They're really amazing and good looking." Well, he wasn't one for poetic description.

The laughter then quickly faded. Perona wiped the wetness from the edges of her eyes before understanding what he had just said. "Wait...what? You think...my eyes are amazing?"

Zoro was still bent over, putting on his last boot, cursing he allowed the mood to take over his mouth. "Shit...I let that slip out!"

"And pretty?" she asked, quite curious.

"No way I can take that back huh?" he said, feeling more blood rush to his face than when he was doing vertical push ups. He stretched out his arms and stood up. "Well, I'm done. Thanks for the tea," he loudly announced. "I better go gather supplies or something. We need more wood right? For dinner and fire!"

"Zoro, are you saying....my eyes are beautiful?"

"Holy shit! I've messed up big time!" He didn't dare turn around now. Lying and saying they were funny looking or something wouldn't work, that feminine tingle in her voice, the one that sweetly sang every word in just the right way that could weaken a man, was playing on repeat in his mind and still playing in the air. The fact that she used his first name struck his chords like harp strings. The swordsman was finding himself in a symphony of romance. "I swear if this place starts turning pink and rosy I'm leaving this place..."

For now he needed a counter attack, anything to get her as riled up as she got him. He was silent for a minute but Perona didn't seem to mind, a special compliment was special no matter when she heard it. "Oh...oh yeah...didn't you say me without my shirt on bothered you?"

Perona's body tightened and her face began to glow pink. "W-w-w-well, that's not the question I asked. Are my eyes beautiful or not? A true man should admit he likes something if he likes it."

"A girl shouldn't be fishing for compliments so much." He knew he was digging a deeper grave, his dumbass mouth was taking over. He felt like blaming her for the current state of stupidity he was now in but it wouldn't be right, it was his slip of tongue. For now all he could hope for was evading the demanding question as much as he could.

"It's a girl's job to fish for compliments, especially when the fish just jump on the boat for you!"

"Word play?!" Zoro fussed.

"Funny isn't it? I'm as funny as my eyes are beautiful so you better be in stitches Roronoa Zoro!"

"Maybe I should take my shirt off. Let's see who'll be the one in stitches."

"That doesn't even make sense you big, sweaty ape!"

"God, what a childish argument I got myself into," Zoro thought to himself.

"What an idiot! Making me fuss like this. He better not take his shirt off either!" Perona thought to herself. "Fine, be an idiot." She grabbed the tray and turned her back towards him. "I know I'm pretty whether or not you say so. Hurry up and get back to the castle, there's work to be done."

"Yeah, sure. Sorry about the eye thing."

"It's okay. I'm sorry for fussing."

The two stopped in there tracks. "Wait, why am I apologizing?" Perona asked herself.

"Did we just casually apologize to each other?" Zoro asked himself. He hardly ever apologized to his crew mates unless he was severely at fault or if he caused some serious accident. He couldn't count the times he argued with Sanji and never apologized for a single bruise or hit to the face. Perona furrowed her brows again, things were just getting too chaotic for her. She hated being so uncomfortable and being caught doing weird things in front of someone, she never acted like this with anyone besides her parents and the irritation seemed to turn the good moments bad. That alone aggravated her even more and complicated the mess inside her head she had to sort out.

"Just hurry up and get back to the castle." she said, walking ahead.

"Sure thing. Let me just get my sword."

Once she found herself deep enough in the mist to not be seen by Zoro she picked up the pace and made it past the gates and into the castle. She stood in the hallway, leaving the argument behind her and replacing it with a quivering smile climbing up both cheeks, a rich red an inch or two above. "He thinks my eyes are pretty," she told herself. "Why does that make me so happy? What a good servant!"

Zoro grinned once he couldn't see Perona past the screen of mist. "Heh, so she thinks I look good without my shirt on huh? First time hearing someone say that and feeling good about it." He started walking when the mist began to shift in the opposite direction. "What the? Did this mist just change?" The cloudy eye returned and this time he spotted it though he wasn't exactly sure what to make of it. Reaching for his wooden sword, he kept his hand on it and crept closer to it. "Is that an eye?" It didn't blink or move so he doubted what was before him.

"Hurry up you stupid samurai!!" Perona yelled out from the gate.

Zoro turned in the direction of her voice and yelled back, "I'm coming woman!!" The eye blinked just then and vanished, blending back into the mist, just before Zoro could look back, burying a small sense of uncertainty in the swordsman as he returned to Perona's side, the two of them oddly enough happy and talking normally once again.

What does this mist want? Is it perverted and forming eyes under Perona's skirt?! Or is it a Zoro fan and watching him work out? What kind of dirty mist monster have I created? Do I deserve the next breath of air I'll be receiving?!

AN: The mist...it's alive!!! After the last chapter I had a lot of trouble figuring out where to go from there. There was a lot to do but no structure or method of doing it. I nearly made Perona too nice! That would have been bad.

Oh, and I think I need to say something. Just so everybody knows, this fanfic will not involve Zoro and Perona actually meeting up with the Straw Hats. If it did I would have to make up stories for what happened to everyone else, the situation with Luffy, results of certain battles and whatever. This mist story I've created is enough to handle for me, this story is a mere non-canon perspective on Zoro's stay on Kuraigana Island with Perona. So be disappointed now and happy later. Yeah!