Let me just clarify something here, Zoro's hair is black... so far. And don't be all, 'That's not his colour!' because I am planning something. I won't tell you what, but, I think you'll like it. -laughs evilly-
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Chapter 8: The disguise?
Luffy looked around the room excitedly. A large grin was plastered on his face as he peered around. Sanji had offered for them to stay at the Baratie for a while until things cooled off. He also offered to come with them. Zoro thought this was mainly for the reason of being with his beloved Nami.
"Stay up here until all the customers are gone and then you can come down for some food. Nami, you can come down if you like." Sanji cooed. Nami gave him a smile.
"I'll stay up here I think." she replied. Sanji gushed hearts and sparkles before walking out and closing the door. Zoro snorted from where he was leaning against the wall. Nami turned.
"What?" she asked. Zoro shook his head.
"That pansy can't join us." he replied.
"Why?"
"Because look at him! He'd probably give us away for a look at some beautiful girl." Zoro replied.
"No he wouldn't."
"He can't join." Zoro said stubbornly.
"Who died and made you captain of this group?" Nami asked sarcastically. Zoro frowned and turned away. His eyes came to rest on Luffy who was gazing out of the window.
"Well, I think he would be cool to have around. I mean, did you see how hard he can kick?" Usopp cried waving his arms with excitement. Luffy spun around.
"Yeah. He was so cool when he belted that guy away from Nami!" he cried. Zoro felt a stab of jealousy. Sanji was cool, and Luffy never said Zoro was cool. Zoro closed his eyes and frowned. He shouldn't have cared what Luffy thought of him, but somehow, he did.
Luffy was special to him, there was no doubt about that. He had made the swordsman a less lonely person and even given him a reason to smile. Sanji was the one who belted someone away, who had cool moves, not him.
"Hey Zoro! Come and see this!" Luffy cried. Zoro cracked an eye open to see Luffy pointing out the window.
"No Luffy." he replied, a little colder than he had meant it to sound. Luffy paused as he shut the eye again.
"Aww, please?" Luffy whined. "It's really cool."
"No." Zoro replied again. He could almost see Luffy pouting but the picture in his mind gave him no sympathy.
"Why?" Luffy asked. Zoro opened his eyes. By rights, he wasn't usually a jealous person. It as just the fact that it was that blonde powder puff who Luffy had said was cool.
"Because I am trying to sleep Luffy. I had a fight with someone today don't you know." he replied nastily. Luffy winced at the harsh tone in his voice.
"Oh… I know that, it's just. I wanted you to see the sunset." Luffy said quietly. Zoro didn't answer, he just rolled over and went to sleep. Maybe a nap would take his mind off of the ugly feeling he was having.
Luffy watched Zoro for a moment, before walking over to the opposite wall and sitting down. He drew his knees up to his chest and balanced his chin on them. Nami glared at the sleeping form of Zoro.
What was his problem and why had he been so mean to someone who admired him? Usopp was sitting in a chair beside her. He looked over at Luffy and then got up to go to him.
"Hey Luffy. You okay?" he asked when he had sat down against the wall beside his friend.
"Mm ok." Luffy mumbled.
"I can watch the sunset with you." Usopp suggested. Luffy smiled.
"Nah. It's okay. I'm kinda tired anyway." he replied. Usopp nodded.
Why was Zoro so mean to me? What did I do? It doesn't feel very nice when he's mean to me. Luffy thought. He frowned inwardly, thinking hard. All I said was Sanji was cool. And then Luffy's smart side kicked in. He had never called Zoro cool, and maybe Zoro was grumpy because he had announced that Sanji was. That had to be it!
"Come on. You can eat downstairs now." Sanji's voice filtered in through the door, and Luffy promptly forgot his train of thought in favour of food. He jumped up, and ran after Sanji. Usopp followed behind him, Nami coming last.
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Luffy reached the table and zoomed into a chair. He grabbed a knife and fork and waited patiently. Ha! He tried to eat the food off the plate, that Sanji was balancing, before it even reached the table more like. Sanji refused to serve him until he had served Nami though and Luffy was almost drooling by the time Sanji set a plate in front of him.
"Where's the baboon?" Sanji asked when everyone was served. He looked at Luffy, who seemed to be the closest to the dark haired swordsman. Luffy was too busy eating though.
"He's asleep upstairs." Usopp supplied. Sanji shrugged and sat down at the table with them.
"Aren't you going to have some food?" Nami asked. Sanji's eye transformed into a heart.
"Ah, you care enough to ask!" he cried. Nami sighed.
"Never mind." she said. Luffy suddenly whined. Sanji looked over.
"What's your problem?" he asked. Luffy looked up, his bottom lip sticking out in a pout.
"No more." he said. Sanji got up from the table.
"I can get some more if you want…" he said slowly. Luffy brightened.
"Really?" he asked. Sanji nodded and then turned to Nami.
"If my beloved Nami wants some more!" he cried, doing some sort of weird dance that involved his arms and legs moving in a way similar to snakes… or noodles. Nami put down her fork.
"I'll have some more because Luffy wants some more." she said.
"Thanks Nami!" Luffy cried.
"You owe me kid." she replied. Luffy just grinned. So Sanji swept off, going back to the kitchen again. Usopp finished his own meal and put his fork down as well before glancing around.
"Should I go and wake Zoro?" he asked. Nami shook her head.
"He's grumpy enough normally, he's even grumpier after he's been woken up from a nap." she explained. Usopp nodded.
"Hey guys. Don't you reckon Zoro needs a disguise?" Luffy suddenly asked.
"Why?" Usopp replied.
"Cos' he gets recognized all the time. If he had a different look, he wouldn't be so easy to see. Don't you think?" Luffy explained.
"You know, the actually makes sense." Nami said. Luffy nodded.
"I have an idea."
"Does it entail meat?" Usopp asked sarcastically. Luffy blinked.
"Amazingly, no. Do you think it should?" he asked. Usopp sighed.
"No Luffy. Go on. What's your plan?" he replied. Luffy grinned.
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Zoro woke up from his nap 3 and a half hours later, feeling rather refreshed even though it was only nine o'clock that night. He yawned and stretched before getting up and walking out the door and down the stairs.
"Come on Usopp! I want to hear the rest of the story!" Luffy's voice called. Zoro looked down and saw Luffy, Nami, Sanji and Usopp all sitting around a table. Sanji seemed to be fawning over Nami, who was ignoring him as she studied a map. Luffy was pulling at Usopp's arm as he tried to get the storyteller to finish a story he had begun earlier that day. Zoro reached the table and sat down. Luffy looked up and he grinned.
"Hi Zoro!" he called. He seemed to be holding something in. Zoro's eyes narrowed.
"What are you up to?" he asked. Luffy frowned.
"Why?"
"Because you're hiding something."
"You aren't, Marimo." Sanji said. Zoro raised an eyebrow.
"What the hell does that mean? I'm not a plant and nor am I green." the swordsman replied. This time it was Sanji's turn to raise an eyebrow.
"Coulda fooled me." the chef replied before sliding a pocket mirror across the table to Zoro, who caught it and held it up. He now had short, spiky, sea foam green hair. He blinked a few times.
"Do you like it?" Luffy asked tentatively.
"What did you do!" he yelled, finally getting over his shock to say something. He raised a hand to his head and brushed it through the short locks.
"Gave you a disguise! Don't worry, if you don't like it, it's permanent." Luffy explained happily. Zoro gasped.
"Are you serious?" he yelled. "Do you know what permanent means!"
"It means it will come out when you wash it. That's what Sanji, Nami and Usopp told me." Luffy replied innocently. Dark green eyes narrowed at the three who had, up until now, been laughing their heads off. Faces paled as Zoro got up from the table.
"Luffy, permanent means it will never come out." Zoro explained. Luffy's jaw dropped.
"But, they told me!" he cried desperately as he pointed at the other three.
"Ah, Nami, Usopp, would you like to see the kitchen?" Sanji asked quickly. He wasn't one to back down, ever, but the look Zoro was giving him now, it would have been enough to make the Devil cry and the sun, hide behind a cloud just to escape the wrath that was sure to come.
"Yeah sure." Both Usopp and Nami replied before jumping up from the table. "It was Luffy's idea!" they cried and then ran out into the kitchen, leaving Luffy and Zoro alone in the room. Zoro turned to Luffy, who just grinned.
"It looks cool though." Luffy reasoned. Zoro's anger faltered.
"Are you kidding? I have a green head!" he cried. Luffy shrugged.
"It suits your eyes." the boy replied. Zoro sighed and sat down. He couldn't stay angry at Luffy.
"But, people are going to notice me more now, than they did before! No one has a green head!" and he slumped forward, head banging onto his crossed arms on the table. "I suppose I can always die it back." he said miserably. Luffy whined.
"But I like it that colour." Zoro's head shot up and he turned to look at the straw hatted boy.
"Really?" he asked. Luffy nodded earnestly. Zoro frowned.
"But…it's… green." he said slowly. Luffy shrugged once again.
"It makes you look cool. My favourite colour is green." Luffy said simply. Zoro blinked at the red shirt and rolled up jeans Luffy was wearing.
"Then why are you wearing red?" he asked. Luffy shrugged.
"Red is my favourite colour as well. So is blue, and yellow, and orange." Luffy reeled off. Zoro shook his head.
In other words, Luffy liked every colour under the sun. He looked again in the mirror and frowned. Well, it wasn't that bad, he supposed. It was different, and it would certainly stop the public from looking at him and identifying him easily.
"So… are you mad?" Luffy asked a little uneasily. Zoro sighed.
"Well, there's not much I can do about it… so, I guess I can learn to live with it." he replied. Luffy beamed.
"You're a green fugitive!" he cried punching his fists into the air. Zoro snorted.
"Idiot." he muttered. Luffy paused.
"So, why did you become a fugitive Zoro? Why are the police after you?" he asked. Zoro sighed and bent so his chin was resting on the table top. Luffy folded his arms on the table beside him, and after taking off his hat and placing it on the table top in front of him, he laid his cheek on his arms.
"When I was younger, I used to train with my swords a lot. I never stopped really." he began softly. Luffy blinked at him and Zoro took that as a que to continue. "I wandered away from home, and got lost one day and ended up just travelling around, not really staying in one place for a long time. A year ago, I travelled through a little town, much like where you lived. I stayed the night at a little girl's house, her father let me in and gave me a bed to sleep in and such. The next morning, I awoke and they were… dead. Slashed by blades. The police somehow knew I had been there and immediately pinned the blame on me. I tried to convince people I didn't do it, but no one believed me and so, the only option I had was to run." and he finished with a slow sigh.
"I believe you." Luffy said softly. Zoro looked over at the younger boy who gave him a bright smile.
"How do you know you can trust me?" Zoro asked softly. Luffy shrugged.
"I don't. But, I believe that Zoro wouldn't hurt anyone unless he had to." he replied. Zoro paused and then smiled.
"Thanks Luffy." and he reached out to gently scruff Luffy's hair. Luffy giggled and then yawned. "Bed time kid." he said as he sat back.
"Not tired." Luffy replied even as his eyes drooped and he yawned again. Zoro chuckled.
"Liar." he said. Luffy smiled and then sat up as well.
"I am not. That's Usopp." he replied and yawned again.
"Wow, three yawns and you're not tired." Zoro said sarcastically. Luffy pouted.
"Nope." and then his head dropped forward onto the table with a dull thud and he began to snore softly. Zoro shook his head and easily picking the sleeping boy up, he carried him up to the room they had been assigned by Sanji and laid Luffy on the bed and tucked him in. Zoro stepped back.
"Night Zoro." Luffy mumbled, still asleep. Zoro smiled.
"Night Luffy." he replied and then walked across the room to lay in his own bed.
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So, what did you think? Kind of mean of Nami, Usopp and Sanji to trick Luffy that way, but now, Zoro has green hair. Also, you are now aware of what has happened to Zoro to make him a fugitive, and as such, you can now try and guess how Zoro will be able to solve his little problem...