Multicolour
Words
Chapter 8
By
GunslingerBlok
Disclaimer: Oda-san still owns everything.
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It was still early when Zoro woke up, probably around half past six. He looked around the room and saw Ace had already left, which was strange. Ace never got out of bed before Zoro did, let alone out of the room. The freshman tried to stretch but felt something heavy clinging onto him. He looked down and saw a peacefully sleeping Luffy, his hands tighly grasping on to Zoro's shirt. And then everything from the day, and especially night before, came back.
It took him a while to get to boy to let go of his shirt, without waking him up. He kinda liked the kid this way; silent, peaceful and far from awake. Zoro slowly got out of his bed and made his way to the closet, as silent as possible. Without making a noise, he got dressed. He'd take a shower tonight. Upon leaving the room, he took a last glance at Luffy, still asleep. The green haired teen felt a smile creep unto his face, but closed the door before it would actually show.
The cafeteria was almost empty, as it was too early for most students to even be awake. There weren't even classes today, but he promised himself he'd go to the library this morning to work on a project.
It didn't take him long to find Ace, sitting by himself in the corner of the cafeteria, as there was nobody else there. Zoro first went to the kitchen, though, to get some coffee. But to his horror he noticed that damn love cook already being present.
"Coffee." Zoro grunted. Sanji didn't respond. The cook wasn't even looking at him. He was glaring at Ace, sitting far away from him. "Hey, love cook." The freshman waved his hand in front of Sanji, making the blond snap out of his thoughts.
"What?" Sanji muttered, but, unlike usual, it didn't sound hateful at all. Somehow, this worried Zoro.
"Coffee." Zoro repeated. He looked at Ace as Sanji was pouring some coffee in a large mug. "What's wrong between the two of you?"
"None of your business." Sanji responded. "Sugar?"
"Black." Zoro took the mug from the cook and glanced at him. No hateful words, no deadly looks. Wow, this felt awkward. "Maybe not, but why won't you just go talk to your boyfriend?"
"He ain't my boyfriend." Sanji mumbled. "Boyfriends don't flirt with other people."
"What, Ace flirted with someone?" Zoro felt like laughing, but restrained himself. Ace wasn't the kind of person to flirt with anyone, boyfriend or no boyfriend.
"Like you wouldn't know!" Sanji suddenly hissed. "Just go!" With that he closed the shutters.
"Whatever." Zoro mumbled, as he made his way trough the large room to get to Ace. "Hey, you left the room early today." But Ace didn't respond. He just sighed deeply and didn't even seem to notice Zoro.
"What is it, 'ignore-Zoro-day' or something?" Zoro said annoyed. "HEY, Ace-san!"
"Hm?" With sleepy eyes the pyromaniac looked at Zoro. "Ah, Zoro-kun."
"What is going on with you and that love cook?" The freshman asked. "Both of you are acting weird."
"Why? What's wrong with Sanji-kun?" Ace asked.
"So you guys didn't have a fight?" Zoro sighed. "Now I don't even want to know what's going on with him. But you, if you aren't having a fight with him, then why are you so depressed?"
Suddenly, a grumpy and almost hateful look appeared on Ace's face. It was something Zoro had never seen with his roommate, and it made him feel really uncomfortable.
"I don't know." Ace muttered trough clenched teeth. "But I think it's best if you leave me alone for now."
"Okay, chill…" Zoro said. He took his mug of coffee and left his roommate. As soon as he left, the depressed and worried look returned to Ace's face. What was going on with the world today?
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Back in his room, Zoro found Luffy still asleep. He walked to the bed and sat down on the floor next to it. The kid looked so different when asleep. When awake he always wore that big grin of his, that symbol of eternal happiness. When asleep, there was a small smirk on his face. It was still a happy face, though.
That happy smirk soon turned into a grimace, an almost painful look. The boy started to mumble things, things that sounded familiar to Zoro.
"Hnngg… Don't take… him… leave alone… C…Crocodile… stop… experiments… Robin…" Luffy turned around in his sleep, facing away from Zoro. "You're… hurting… Z… NO!" The teenager woke up with a shock, almost falling from the bed as he sat up fast.
"Whoa, Luffy, calm down." Zoro grabbed the boy's shoulders as he tried to look in his eyes, but Luffy wouldn't sit still. He had his eyes closed and was screaming as hard as he could. Zoro desperately tried to calm the boy down, but nothing worked. Nothing, but perhaps one thing.
The freshman leaned forward, wrapping his strong arms around the slender figure of his friend while resting his chin on the boy's shoulder. He held him tightly, making sure Luffy wouldn't move anymore. He kept on screaming, though.
"LUFFY!" Zoro yelled. "LUFFY, CALM DOWN!" But Luffy kept screaming, not showing any signs of calming down. Meanwhile, Zoro started feeling weak. He felt drained, like he had no energy left at all. His strong arms, still wrapped around Luffy, lost their strength and the raven haired boy started wiggling again. "Just… calm down… please…" After that, everything went black and the last thing he remembered was hitting the floor.
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"I told him to go to the doctor, but he didn't go!"
"Ace-san, calm down. He'll be fine."
"How can you be so sure? He fainted, again! And Luffy, why did he faint? Why did they both faint?"
"Lack of sleep?"
A grunt. "Believe me, they've had plenty of sleep."
"Then why are you so grumpy about that?"
"I am not grumpy, I'm just utterly concerned, that's all!"
"Can you 'be concerned' somewhere else? I'm trying to get some rest here." Zoro mumbled.
"Zoro-kun! You're awake!" Vivi leaned forward, looking at the freshman. "How are you feeling? Are you okay? We were so worried!"
"I'm fine, Vivi-san." Zoro sat up, slowly opening his eyes to let them get used to the light. "What did I hear about Luffy fainting?"
"We found you two both passed out. Luffy on the bed, you on the floor. What happened?" Sanji inquired as he entered the room. He still looked grumpy, but did his best to cover it up.
"I'm not su… wait." The green haired teen closed his eyes for a moment, sorting his thoughts. "Luffy, he was acting weird. He was sleeping, when suddenly he woke up and started screaming. I tried to calm him down but when I touched him… it was so strange… Like my energy was getting sucked out. I lost my strength, everything went black and I guess I fainted." He looked up, looking at Ace, Vivi and Sanji. "Where is he now?"
"He woke up a couple of hours ago. Since he needed to rest, I asked Usopp-kun if he could stay at Kaya-chan's house, so he's there now." Ace sighed deeply and whispered, more to himself than anyone else; "Why is this all happening now. Could it have something to do with you coming to this university?"
"You okay?" Zoro asked. Ace shook his head and smiled, letting his friend now that everything was alright.
"Come on, Zoro-kun," Vivi said. "I'll bring you to the nurse's office."
"What? Oh God no, I don't want to go visit that nurse at all!" Zoro grumbled, but before he could protest, Ace and Vivi had dragged him out of bed and into the hallways. Sanji just grinned as the green haired teen was literally dragged over the floor to the hallway.
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The nurse's office wasn't what you would expect when visiting a nurse's office. Instead of the white walls you would expect in any doctor's office, or something alike, the walls of the small room Zoro was sitting in on this very moment were a soft blue colour. The furniture, as far as you could call that single worn-down chair and the bed furniture, were coloured an awfull shade of pink that didn't fit the colour of the walls at all. But nobody seemed bothered by it. Except Zoro, that is.
Vivi and Ace were still there. Vivi was seated in the waiting room while Ace was pacing in circles, which was quite hard, as there were medical instruments standing everywhere and a small sink unit stuffed in the corner of the room, in addition to the 'furniture'. The pyromaniac was mumbling things, more to himself than to anyone else. Vivi was pretending to casually look around, like she wasn't bothered by what had happened, betraying herself by throwing worried glares at Zoro every once in a while.
Zoro was lying on the bed. Which was extremely comfortable, he noticed. He felt kinda nice at this moment, if you ignored the thrusting headache he had and perhaps the horrible pain in his back from lying on the floor for so long. But he knew the nice feeling would be over when the nurse would enter the room. Zoro sighed.
Said nurse entered the room almost immediately after Zoro's sigh.
"I had expected you a lot sooner, mister Roronoa." Nurse Doublefinger said. "Didn't you promise to visit me yesterday?"
"Yes… yes I did." Zoro said slowly. "But I had other things to… do." Weird. He couldn't think clearly.
"Yes, I noticed. Fainting next to your bed in the early morning…" Nurse Doublefinger said, while flipping trough a set of papers she was holding in her hands. She put them down on the small sink unit. "Have you fainted before, mister Roronoa?"
"No." Zoro answered. "Yes." He immediately corrected after seeing Ace throwing death glares at him.
"And when was the last time you fainted?" Doublefinger asked, bending over to Zoro and taking out a small flashlight from the pocket of her white labcoat. While shining with the flashlight in one of his eyes, she bent over even more, examining the reaction of his pupils.
"I don't know, a couple of days ago?" Zoro sighed.
"Fainting twice in such a small period of time…" Doublefinger mumbled. "Isn't… healthy…"
"Yes, I am aware of that, so I was dragged here to see you." Zoro grumbled. "I mean, came here of my own free will, of course." He corrected. This time Vivi was sending him death glares. Women, and gay narcolaptic pyromaniacs for that matter, could be scary sometimes.
"I'm sorry, of course you are aware of that…" Doublefinger stood up straight again, turning around to face Ace. "I have to do a physical exam, so I have to ask you to leave. You can wait outside the room."
"Of course, nurse." Ace answered immediately. He grabbed Vivi's wrist and dragged her, quite quickly, out of the room. After the door closed, nurse Doublefinger faced Zoro again.
"Please take of your shirt," She said, before turning around again and taking a black stethoscope from the sink unit. "I need to listen to your heart…" She turned around once again to face Zoro, but froze when she saw the naked torso of the man.
"Where did you get that scar?" Doublefinger whispered.
Zoro looked down at his chest, where the large scar, that went diagonal from shoulder to hip, looked back at him. "Not sure. I've had it as long as I can remember.
"But it's still so… clear." Doublefinger mumbled. She walked to Zoro and bend over again to examine the scar. "If you got it at a very young age, it's possible you wouldn't remember, but then the scar wouldn't be so clear…"
"Look, I hardly remember anything before my 9th birthday, okay? I probably got it before that." Zoro sighed.
"Possible…" Doublefinger sighed. "Right, but that isn't really important now, is it?" She grabbed the stethoscope again.
A couple of tests later Zoro was free to go again.
"I don't see any physical problems, so I guess I can't hold you here any longer." Nurse Doublefinger smiled. "But please let me know if something like this happens again."
"Yeah, yeah…" Zoro opened the door of the nurse's office. When leaving the room though, he noticed he was standing on something. Something soft. Zoro looked down to see he was in fact standing on one of Ace's legs. "Vivi-chan…"
"Oh, he fell asleep again." Vivi sighed exhausted, sitting against a wall. "I tried dragging him away from the door, but he's too heavy for me!"
"I guess we need to bring him back to the room, then…" Zoro said.
"You could lay him down on the bed here." Nurse Doublefinger offered.
"That's okay," Zoro scooped Ace up, bridal style. Whoa, Ace was pretty heavy indeed. "The room isn't that far away."
"Well, be careful. You've had a rough night." With that Nurse Doublefinger closed the door of the office.
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Back in the room Zoro had a hard time lying Ace down on his bed. In the two-minute walk from the nurse's office to the room Ace had grabbed Zoro's shirt and apperantly wasn't planning on letting go any time soon. But after a long struggle and Zoro's shirt almost ripping, the green haired freshman managed to get away from Ace's strong grip.
"Well… That was awkward." He sighed, stepping away from the bed. Vivi just nodded.
"I have some things to do," She said. "So I'll be leaving now. Get some rest, Zoro-san."
"Yeah yeah." Zoro grumbled. "Bye Vivi-chan."
After Vivi left and the door closed behind her, Zoro sat down on his bed. He probably should've asked the nurse for some painkillers; the headache was only getting worse. He was also worried about Luffy. The kid had acted so strange, something Zoro had never seen. Zoro didn't have a way to contact Luffy either, as the boy didn't have a cellphone and Zoro didn't have Kaya's number or address.
"Maybe I should wake up Ace-san and ask him…" Zoro mumbled to no one in particular. But before he could stand up and wake the pyromaniac, there was a knock on the door.
"Mister Portugas, I would like to have a word with you." A low voice said from the other side of the door. Wait, that voice sounded familiar… Another knock sounded.
"Yeah yeah, I'm coming." Zoro yelled. He walked to the door and placed his hand on the door handle.
"Wait Zoro-san!" Ace, barely awake, reached out to Zoro, trying to stop him from opening the door. But he was too late. Zoro had already turned the door handle, and whoever it was on the other side, kicked the door open, rushed in and grapped the green haired student around his neck, lifting him up in the air.
Zoro was right; he had recognized the voice. It belonged to the large black man, that Mr. 1 guy.
"My my, what do we have here," The man, who was at least one head larger than Zoro, said. "Miss Doublefinger was right."
"What… the… ghh!" Zoro couldn't breath. His face turned a dangerous shade of purple as he tried kicking Mr. 1 with all his power. But no matter where he kicked, or how hard, the man didn't flinch. Was this guy made of metal, or what?
"Wait, leave him alone!" Ace jumped from the bed, grabbing one of Mr. 1's broad arms. "He has nothing to do with this, let him go!"
Mr. 1 looked at Ace's pleading face, like he was considering the request. Then he let go. "Only because we might need him."
Zoro fell on the floor, his legs unable to carry him. He coughed, grasping his chest, as he tried to catch his breath. Ace knelt beside him. After almost a minute, Zoro managed to mumble something. "Doublefinger?"
"Yes," Mr. 1 grinned. "The lovely nurse you visited barely ten minutes ago. Our way of exchanging information is fast."
"Wh… what… 'o-our' way?" Zoro coughed.
"I'm surprised. I thought you would have told him everything by now…" Mr. 1 said, looking at Ace.
"I was waiting for the right moment." Ace sighed.
"Ace…" Zoro grumbled, grabbing Ace's shoulder. "What the fuck… is going… on…"
"He's getting impatient." Mr. 1 said, before Ace could answer Zoro's question.
"I know." Ace stood again, barely reaching Mr. 1's shoulder. "But he won't go with you."
"Where is he!?" Mr. 1, losing his own patience, grabbed Ace's black t-shirt and lifted him in the air. "Do not underestimate my authority. I am allowed to hurt you!"
"If it saves Luffy, then I'm fine with it." Ace said, though he was struggling to get free.
"Very well, then I wil-" But Mr.1 didn't finish his sentence, as the shining blade of a katana was pushed under his chin.
"Sendai Kitetsu wants blood," Zoro said, holding Sendai Kitetsu in one hand and another unsheathed sword with a white handle in the other. "And I'm not afraid to give it to him."
"Hm, the cursed sword, the third Kitetsu…" Mr. 1 said. He looked at Ace, then at Zoro, the swords and Ace again. After that, he let go.
"We thought the boy wouldn't be here…" Mr. 1 said. "I came just to be sure… Mister Portugas, time is running out." The large man turned around and left the room.
It stayed silent in the room for a couple of minutes. Eventually the silence was broken by a loud sigh from Ace.
"Are you gonna talk on your own, or do I need to ask you again?" Zoro asked, sheathing his swords.
"I am so sorry you had to be dragged in all of this, Zoro-san." Ace sighed again.
"Not what I asked."
"I know, just thought I'd let you know."
"Continue."
"That man, Mr. 1, he's after Luffy. Well, no, the man he works for is after Luffy."
"Why? And how does he know me?" Zoro sat down on his bed, resting against the wall. His throat was hurting.
"He heard about you from nurse Doublefinger," Ace said. "They're after Luffy, and eventually you too, because of something that happened in the past."
"The past?"
"You and Luffy… You've known each other for years. You grew up together."
"Wait, what!?" Zoro jumped up. "How? Wouldn't I remember someone like Luffy?" Of course he would remember someone as weird as Luffy. Right?
"You don't understand." Ace rubbed his eyes. God, how he wanted to sleep… "Something happened that made you lose your memory. And Luffy's memory too."
"You mean, Luffy can't remember much from before his eight birthday either?" Zoro asked.
"His sixth birthday, actually. He's two years younger than you are and you lost your memories at the same time."
"How?"
"A special technique developed by Baroque Works… So you wouldn't testify against them."
"What? Ace-san, the more you say, the less I understa-" Before Zoro could finish, there was another knock on the door. Immediately zoro jumped up, unsheathing the sword with the white handle, Wadou Ichimonji. Ace stood up too, but slower. Even his body was exhausted.
"Who is it?" He yelled.
"It's me, Luffy, open the door! I got something awesome to tell!"
Zoro let out the breath he was holding and quickly put his sword away. He remembered what had happened last time Luffy got his swords. Meanwhile, Ace had opened the door.
Next to Luffy, who had the most illuminating smile ever in the history of Luffy-smiles, was standing an older man. He was probably about thirty years old, with red hair that reached his ears. He had a stubbly beard and three similar scars going over his left eye. Being dressed in simple jeans and a baggy blue t-shirt, with black short sleeves and the word 'king' across his chest in white letters, Zoro immediately noticed he was missing his left arm.
"Shanks!" Ace said as soon as he had opened the door. "Shanks, you're back!"
"Yes, yes I am." Shanks smiled. He and Ace hugged, Ace being too stunned to say anything intelligent.
"Usopp and I were waling near the station when we ran into him!" Luffy chirped. "Isn't it awesome?"
"Y-yes, awesome…" Ace mumbled. "Look, Luffy, we have to talk. But after I talked to Shanks first. Private."
"Is something going on, Ace?" Shanks asked.
"Yes, so Zoro-kun, could you please take Luffy to the cafeteria for some lunch?" Ace asked.
"Sure," Zoro answered. "But after that, we talk. C'mon kid."
"W-wait! I wanna talk to Shanks!" Luffy exclaimed. "I wanna hear all about his adventures!"
"It's okay, Luffy." Shanks said. "Why don't you come by for dinner tonight? I'll tell you everything you want to hear then, okay?"
"But Shanks can't cook!" Luffy pouted.
"Then I'll learn how to cook." Shanks answered smiling. "Please, Luffy? I'll see you later, okay?"
"Fine." Luffy said, walking to the door with an angry face. "C'mon Zoro! Sanji's making macaroni!"
"How'd you know?" Zoro followed. Just before Ace closed the door, Luffy could be heard saying 'I can smell it!'. He smiled a little.
"So what is going on?" Shanks asked, sitting down on Zoro's bed. "It's unlike you to be so serious, and to not introduce me to the boy with the cactus head."
"Baroque Works." Ace sat down as well.
"Ah. They surfaced?"
"Yeah. They're after Luffy again. And Zoro-kun."
"Cactus head is Roronoa Zoro? They met again?"
"I never imagined this would happen… And their meeting actually triggered some memories! Zoro-kun is starting to remember things!"
"And Luffy?"
"Not sure… He doesn't really talk about his dreams. They're mostly about meat anyway…" Ace sighed.
"They dream their memories?"
"Yes…"
"What now?"
"Not sure… Baroque Works can't kidnap them again. They know they're being watched. Mr. 1, he has been visiting me, trying to get me to give Luffy to them. Luffy can't decide on his own yet, as he's a minor."
"And Zoro-kun?"
"He barely knows what's going on. Just before you arrived, Mr. 1 was here again. Zoro-kun was here as well…" Ace closed his eyes, burying his face in his hands. "Zoro-kun can take care of himself, but Luffy…"
Shanks stood again and started walking up and down the room. It stayed silent for a while.
"You have to take him…" Ace suddenly whispered.
"What?"
"Take him with you, Shanks! You're going travelling again, right?" Ace jumped up, grabbed Shanks' shoulders and looked at him with begging eyes. "He has to go away, far away from this town! And I don't trust anyone enough but you!"
"Ace, hold on!" Shanks interrupted him. "Ace… I… We aren't going travelling again. They cut us down. Something about us spending too much money on sake…" Shanks grinned sheepishly.
"B-But…"
"Ace, I can't take Luffy somewhere I'm not going."
"I see." Ace sat down again, feeling defeated. "Then I have no other choice…"
"And that is?"
"Though they are being watched, they know there are moments Luffy is unprotected…" Ace sighed. "He needs protection, twenty-four-seven."
"What are you saying?" Shanks asked carefully.
"I don't have enough money to move out of town, so I'll just have to protect him myself. I-I'll quite university and… move in with Nojiko, Nami and Luffy."
"Ace, you can't quite university! It's your future!" Shanks protested. "And what are you planning on doing; following him around everywhere?"
"If I have to, then yes." Ace buried his face in his hands again. Shanks sat down next to him, unsure what to do.
"I don't know what to do…."
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On the other side of the door, Luffy pushed himself away from the wood that separated him from his brother. He stared at the spot he had placed his ear earlier to eavesdrop and felt tears welling up.
"Luffy…" Zoro places his hands on the boy's shoulder. "Let's go get something to eat…"
"Yeah…"
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S-SO SORRY! First I don't update for months and now I post a chapter that is so short! I really am sorry guys, and I still love this story :3 I'll try to update soon again, promise! I STILL LOVE ARE MY READERS! Cookies for everyone, haha!
And some exta cookies for DigitalDreamer, who betaread this chapter, even after such a long time of inactivity :D
Please review so I know Multicolour Words is still being read.