Disclaimer: One Piece? Still not mine. But this story is.
Enjoy.
Ch 3. Recluse Samurai
"Yum, this meat is good Sanji! You're the best!" Luffy praised the cook.
"Aw! As always, cook-bro's dinner makes me feel energized! I'm pretty SUPER this week too!" Franky posed his signature pose.
"Thank you captain, and it would be better if you didn't steal the food the night before."
"Sanji, what seasoning is this? It's pretty spicy," Usopp asked him, trying to grab a drink "I think this level of spiciness is good for my new Tabasco Bomber. Can I have some of it?"
"Don't play with food, you ungrateful kid." Nami scolded him.
"You tell him Nami-swan! I can't believe there are still people who waste food." Sanji agreed.
"And for something as barbaric as that." Nami continued.
"Hey it's not barbaric at all! It's pretty cool. Who knows if I'll save Nami with this one day." Usopp replied, still trying to convince Sanji to let him experiment on some of the cook's herbs.
"As if Nami-san could be saved by things like those," Sanji said "Besides if Nami-swan is ever in trouble I'll be there to save her, isn't that right, Nami-swann~ ?" Sanji swooned with a heart for his eye.
"Oi love-cook, more booze!" Zoro ordered.
"Take it out yourself oaf. I don't take orders from you," Sanji retorted and the next second, he turned to Robin while doing his love hurricane "Robin-chwannn, do you want more drink?"
"Geh stupid love-cook," Zoro cursed, just to earn profanities as response from the cook. He walked to the fridge and found a bottle that said L'Heure Blanche on the side.
"Oi marimo, that one is expensive. I was saving that for Nami-san and Robin-chan," Sanji stopped him from drinking the beverage.
"Ahh? Next time you fetch it for me then, shitty cook," Zoro didn't care and tried to open the bottle.
"I'm not your damn slave, grassland bastard," Sanji raised his voice, starting to lose patience.
"It's okay Sanji-kun, let him have it," Nami stopped the bickering men before the argument became a full-blown fight.
"Yes Nami-swann! You're so generous today," Sanji instantly stopped confronting Zoro now that Nami had spoken.
Zoro just snorted as he lifted the bottle, trying to chug down the booze before Nami stopped him too.
"Wait a minute Zoro. Who says you could have all of it. Share some with me, will ya?" Nami said to Zoro in an ordering tone. "Give the bottle to me first and I'll give you some."
Zoro scowled at her, as if trying to protect the bottle from an attacker, but he gave Nami the booze anyway because he was just too lazy to argue with her.
Nami poured the drink into a small cup and gave it to Zoro. "That's yours and this…," Nami tapped the bottle "…is mine."
Zoro looked at his cup with a bemused look. He should have seen it coming.
"What's wrong Zoro? I think I'm already generous enough to even let you have some of this expensive booze," Nami said innocently. A vein popped at Zoro's temple.
"Don't give me that damn tone, you damn witch," cussed Zoro, but he drank the liquid anyway. Zoro then turned away and exited the kitchen without saying anything.
"Oi Zoro, don't forget it's your turn on watch duty tonight!" Franky shouted, but the door had closed behind him.
"Geez... what's wrong with him? I was just teasing him," Nami said in an annoyed tone, feeling rejected.
"Don't mind him Nami-swan, he is an anti-social anyway," Sanji commented.
"Hey, hey, Sanji, don't badmouth Zoro like that!" Luffy stood up for his first mate while chewing his dinner. "Zoro isn't anti-social, he's just stupid!"
"And who's the one badmouthing him now?" Usopp slapped him, "It can't be helped, Sanji. Zoro is a type of guy that wouldn't show any weaknesses, you should have known that."
"He can only socialize with people if there's booze involved! I wonder if it's the condition for talking in his family." Sanji said while blowing into his spoon, trying to cool his soup down a little.
"… now that you mention it Sanji-san. I've already heard all of your stories with your own parents involved, except for Zoro-san's" Brook asked the older member of the crew, "Perhaps I missed out something? Care for a retelling? Yohohohoho."
Suddenly the room fell silent, each of the crew is trying to recall any event that involves Zoro's parents, but no avail.
Usopp squinted his eyes, trying to remember anything, "Now that you mention it Brook. I have no memory of him talking about his family. Families, parents, siblings, nothing! Actually, I don't know anything about him! Besides that he is trying to become the best swordsman in the world."
"Fufufu, that's our swordsman-san." Robin chirped in.
"Zoro's so cool!" Chopper admired him with glinting eyes.
"Your idea of cool is wrong!" Usopp retorted. "Now that I think about it, I realize he is really suspicious now! What if Zoro is actually a spy? What if he's been targeting me since I was born?" Usopp started to panic for no reason, "Shit! I let my guard down! I've been revealing all my cards to an enemy as long as I can remember! NOOOOOO!" Usopp yelled.
"EHHH REALLY? NO WAY! I TRUST ZORO, USOPP! WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW?" Chopper took part in Usopp's surreal fantasy.
"Calm down, idiots. There's no way that brainless marimo is a spy," Sanji stopped their hysterical fits.
"Wow, Zoro-niichan is SUPER suspicious! Even you're not as mysterious as him, Nico Robin." Franky grinned while making his way to the fridge, trying to find some cola. Robin replied Franky's exclamation with a giggle.
"Did he tell anything to you Nami-san? You've been with him the longest, right?" Robin asked Nami.
"Eh? Wh-why would he tell that to me?" Nami flustered, not expecting that kind of question. "All I know is that he got his sword from a girl."
"WHAT? That moss-head was given a present from a beautiful girl?" Sanji raised his voice in disbelief.
"Ooohhh, is it a present? A parting present from his lover, I suppose?" Usopp commented, all excited now because he knew something new about Zoro.
"Yohohoho it must be nice to be young!"
"No!" Nami denied, half yelling. Her voice sounded unnecessarily high-pitched. What am I yelling for? Idiot! Nami cursed herself for her sudden emotional outburst and tried to evade from the shame, "T-The sword is a memento from his late childhood friend. That girl had been beating his ass day after day. When she beat him for the 2001st time, they… WHY AM I EXPLAINING ALL OF THIS? ASK HIM YOURSELF!" Nami realized after she had almost done with the summary. Her face
"Ah Nami, come on. I want to know the rest of the story!" Chopper disappointed because he was so eager to hear more. Usopp and Franky joined to complain.
"No! And it's Luffy who's been the longest with him. He surely knows the story too! Come on Luffy, tell them the rest of the story." Nami tried to evade further questioning.
"Gnob, I gnow gnodhin' (Nope, I know nothing) shishishi." Luffy stated that he too didn't know anything about his first mate while munching his dinner away. Robin let out a small laugh now while the rest of the crew just frozen in disbelief.
"So, even the captain doesn't know anything huh? He really is a recluse." Sanji concluded.
"That makes you the only one that knows something about him Nami." Usopp informed her. "How do you know anyway?"
"I don't know! I think I'll just add to his debt instead," Nami said, still pretty much flustered. She tried to cover her embarrassment by spouting nonsensical debt.
"Speaking of debt, Nami," Robin spoke, "I heard in the town that the next Island is a casino island."
Nami's eyes were gleaming as money entered the conversation, "Really, Robin? Yosh! Now I'm all excited for the next island!"
"Yohohohohoho so have I heard too," Brook joined the discussion while sipping his tea. He then put a mysterious tone in his speech, trying to tell another tale to his friends "And what's more… there is a rumor that the next island is… haunted. GYAAAA GHOSTS!" Brook screamed out of the blue, startling all of the other strawhats, only Luffy who laughed uncontrollably and Robin who giggled at her friend's antics were unaffected.
"I thought I saw a ghost here while I was telling you guys the story," Brook panted with face paler than white, if possible.
"WHY'RE YOU THE ONE WHO'S GETTING SCARED? YOU'RE THE ONE WHO TELL US THAT CRAP!" Usopp and Sanji snapped in unison.
"Don't do that again Brook! I really thought there are ghosts in this ship!" Chopper wailed, snot running from his blue nose.
"Nishishishishi. Hey! I wonder if we'll find another talking skeleton?" Luffy asked hopefully with glittering eyes.
"No." Everybody answered simultaneously. Luffy disappointed, he was really eager to have another talking skeleton as his crew.
Late night in the crow's nest, Zoro had trained for almost 2 hours now. He was lifting ridiculously huge dumbbells. Suddenly, the door opened and a red-haired beauty emerged from the doorframe. Her beauty was magnified with her turquoise nightgown, which revealed good portion of her cleavage.
"Eww… it reeks sweat here." Nami stated.
"Don't come up here then." Zoro replied coldly.
But Nami walked closer to where the swordsman was. She stopped walking just a few feet from Zoro. With both hands kept behind her, she just stood there, watching the movement of the guy in front of her.
"Oi Nami, what are you doing? You'll get hit."
"Are you planning on hitting me with those weights, Zoro?" Nami asked him, still maintaining the poker face.
"Of course not, you fool. What kind of question is that?" Zoro asked her back, both annoyed and confused by the sudden question. He had stopped lifting the dumbbells as soon as she asked him, not wanting to hit her with those huge dumbbells accidentally. "What are you doing here anyway?"
Nami gave him a huge smile "Here." Nami handed him a bottle. Zoro recognized the bottle as it had a label with L'Heure Blanche printed on it. His eyes squinted on her, suspicious of her behavior tonight.
"Just take it Zoro, don't glare like that." Nami said, half-ordering. "I thought you would like to drink some more."
"I have no idea why you are so damn generous today, Oh loan shark lady." Zoro mocked her, slightly grinning. He took the bottle from her hand.
"It's all my pleasure, my dearest, longest, most loyal debtor." Nami replied in a similar tone.
Zoro walked towards the couch, Nami followed him. He sat on the couch and poured the liquid to a mug near him. Zoro handed the mug to her and she took it as she sat beside him. Then she took a sip on the cold liquid.
"Good, isn't it?" She asked him.
"It's not bad." Zoro gulped the booze again. "I've drank better."
"Really? Sanji-kun said this is the most famous rum in north blue. They can use this for cooking or making cakes. And of course it's also tasty when you drink it like this." Nami explained it to him. "This is a drink from his hometown and apparently it's famous enough that it's even sold here, on New World."
"Then it's too bad, the best rum from his hometown pales in comparison to a sake from east blue."
"East blue? Where did you drink it?" Nami asked him, interested to find out more about a good beverage recommended by her fellow drinker. She believed that Zoro always had good taste when it's coming to booze. Moreover, the "best" sake Zoro had drunk came from someplace near her village. She was definitely putting that booze on her bucket list.
Zoro just stared at the window, eyes looking far to the night sky as if he didn't want to tell anybody about the boozemaker. Nami wondered what's wrong with him for suddenly spacing out like that. Finally Zoro opened his mouth.
"My hometown." There was an interval longer than 5 seconds before Zoro decided to add more to the information. "Actually it's my mother we're talking about." Zoro told her.
"Your mother?" Nami surprised, she didn't expect Zoro's mother would took part in their little chat. "You have a mother too?" Nami stated the obvious. Embarrassed at her comment, Nami turned her face away from Zoro, hoping it could help hiding her embarrassment.
"How do you think I was born, huh?" Zoro plainly retorted at her stupid comment. "Geez Nami, have you been losing your edge? All your questions are dumb lately." Zoro asked her jokingly.
"Shut up. You look like ossan. It's hard imagining you as someone's child all right." Nami defended herself. She just got a sipping sound as a reply.
"Now that I think about it Zoro," Nami started a conversation again, grabbing his attention. "I've known you for the longest right? Yet I know nothing about your family."
Zoro stared at her, looked puzzled. "So? What's your point?"
Nami twitched, "My point is, I want to hear more about your family Zoro! "
"I have nothing to tell you woman." He huffed.
As expected, Nami thought. She tried to find a reason to hear more about his family and came up with an idea.
"Nojiko told me you've heard the story about Bellemere-san, then it's only fair that I hear about your mother." Nami stated. "Come on~ tell me will ya?
"No. And for the record, I didn't hear that story, I was asleep back then." Zoro denied her. He lied, he can always hear everything even though he was asleep. Even if Zoro didn't hear it back in Kokoyashi village, he would still have known the story thanks to Usopp's habit of telling new crewmates about everyone's past, but with an altered story with the liar become the hero instead.
"Don't lie Zoro. I know you could hear everything even though you're asleep. Don't pretend like you've never heard about my past." Nami saw through his lie immediately.
Zoro just sat there with back against the couch, head thrown back. His eye was gazing at the night sky while he sipped the drink once again. "I don't think my story will amuse you."
"I doubt that. I'm always interested in family stories, and what's more it's yours!" Nami said excitedly as she tried to convince Zoro to tell more on his story.
"Why me? If you want to hear family stories, just go to Usopp! I'm sure he's more than pleased to tell stories about a royal families of a gallant sniper king from who-knows-where. Or maybe that love cook would gladly to tell you stories of his past. Go bother them instead of me." Zoro tried to drive her out. "Besides you already know about my mother, that's enough."
Nami looked at him with annoyance. He really is an anti-social, she thought.
Zoro sipped the booze again. But this time he was interrupted by a sharp jab to his right side.
"Ow!" Zoro groaned, spitting some of the drink he had in his mouth. "What the hell Nami?" Zoro cursed while rubbing his sides.
"Driving people away is not good, Zoro-kun~. Especially the ones who want to befriend you. Didn't your mom tell you that?" Nami smirked playfully.
"Crazy witch, I just can't understand how your brain works! First you didn't give your booze then you gave it to me. Then you're trying to pry my past and the next thing you do is hitting me in the ribs!" Zoro exclaimed, slightly irritated because of the sudden jab.
"I just want to hear more about your mother Zoroo~. Is it too much to ask?" Nami asked him in a manner that would surely put normal men under her charm. She leaned closer to him with body nearly touching him, "Please?"
Zoro clenched his fists, trying to fight back the urge to throw her out of the window. He still maintained a calm face somehow, "Listen Nami, I don't know why you're so interested in my past, but…"
"We realized you're the only one in this ship who never tells anyone about his family." Nami cut him, slowly backing away from Zoro. Her voice sounded serious now. She combed her long hair backwards and tried to tie it into a ponytail, "Even Franky and Brook had told everyone about their family."
"I feel no need in telling everyone about my past, Nami. They don't need to know, and neither does you." Zoro said.
"But we want to know Zoro! After we realized it, suddenly it feels like you've never trusted us as your nakama. Even Usopp started to doubt you as a spy!" Nami defended her request.
Zoro remained silent. He didn't take a sip on his booze anymore. Nami waited for him to start talking, but there was no sign of Zoro would start talking anytime soon.
She sighed, "I hope you'd be more open about yourself with your nakama, Zoro. I guess it's impossible." Nami stood up, indicating that she's going to leave. "Well, good night Zoro. It's fun talking to you." Nami said with a hint of sarcasm in her word and walked to the exit.
Zoro sighed, eye fixated on her back. Deciding that sharing a little story from the past wouldn't hurt, even though the memory was tough to recall, he finally gave in, "Fine, I'll tell you."
Nami stopped walking. She turned her body again, facing Zoro with a bright smile upon her face, "Finally! Our recluse ossan swordsman is opening up!" Nami approached him, attempting to sit back in the couch, while Zoro just rambled about not being neither recluse nor ossan.
A/N. I tried to use a GinTama-esque title before posting this, but it's too long :( Anyways, R&R please!