-Tangled Web-
A role-play/joint-fic by Digitaldreamer and Constable Remington
Chapter Seventeen: Secret Plans and Pirate Treasure

Woot, I'm back from camping. Ummm…huzzah? Yes, I know you're thrilled. No, you're not really. But I'm sure you're thrilled that there's finally a new TW chapter, right? Right?

Yeah yeah, I'm just kidding myself.

For those of you whom care, Noelle and I made LiveJournals for Luffy and Zoro in TW. Zoro's is santoryuu, and Luffy's is Luffy, only with underscores between each letter. Enjoy them, though I'm not sure we'll update them very often.

Um..yes. Go on and read, my little buffalos!

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"I swear," Zoro muttered as he ushered Luffy into the door. "It's like I can't take you anywhere." Still, he was grinning, amused with the tiny adventure. At least none of it had gotten on him.

"It wasn't my fault!" Luffy insisted as he came inside, scratching his head. "The Pepsi moved so I would hit it or…something!"

"Sure, sure," Zoro answered, reaching up to ruffle his hair. "You should get some sleep. First day of school tomorrow and everything..."

Luffy pouted. "But Zoro, it's still light outside! We only had lunch a few hours ago!" He pointed out, folding his arms.

The man sighed. "So trying to get you to nap isn't going to work." He grinned some. "Alright, alright." He shuffled into the living room, lying the bag with Luffy's uniform in it across the couch and flopping down beside it.

"Yosh!" Luffy cheered, bounding into the living room and hopping onto Zoro's lap. "I'm sitting here!" He declared with a grin.

"You're--" Zoro stared down at the boy in his lap, eyes slightly wide, a blush over his cheeks. "...wonderful. Just don't let anyone see you, I guess."

And of course, since Zoro had said that fate felt the need to ensure someone witnessed Luffy sitting on Zoro's lap. Thus, Nami chose that exact moment to remember that she left her magazine in the living room and enter.

She paused at the doorway, blinking. Then a large grin spread across her face. "Well, well, looks like someone got a little close while they were out?"

Zoro just stared at her with steady, level eyes. A strong arm wrapped itself around Luffy's waist, pulling him into Zoro's chest. "That's right," he remarked coolly. "You have a problem?"

Getting angry hadn't worked. Zoro would just take a new approach.

Nami's grin widened considerably as she stepped into the room, snatching her magazine from one of the chairs before plopping into it. "Oh, not at all. Not at all. I'm glad you've finally accepted your gay side Zoro, it was getting a bit frustrating trying to get you out of denial." She said cheerfully.

Luffy was oblivious to this entire conversation, he had discovered the remote and was currently flipping through channels at warp speed. Who cared if anything was actually on TV? Pressing the buttons was fun!

Nami could think what she wanted. Zoro was too busy staring at Luffy. "Kid, you're giving me a headache," he remarked dully, pulling the remote away from the boy's fingers.

"Awwww…" Luffy's face fell as he whined, making a mad grab for the remote so he could continue his pressing of the buttons. Then he noticed that Cardcaptor Sakura seemed to be on again, so he relaxed in the older man's arms with his eyes completely glued to the screen.

Then Usopp rushed in, waving a DVD case in the air. "Yes! My Naruto DVD finally came in!" He cheered, rushing over to the TV set and switching it so he could use the DVD player.

"Hey! I was watching Sakura!" Luffy cried, waving his arms.

Usopp rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on Luffy, you already saw that episode." He said as he turned around, eyes suddenly widening as he noted where Luffy was sitting. "Zoro…Luffy…whaaaa?"

Luffy was apparently oblivious to Usopp's shock as he continued to pout. "I don't care! I wanna watch it again!" He declared, folding his arms and looking quite a bit like a little kid.

Zoro sighed, then stared up at Usopp with eyes that clearly read death. "I know where you sleep," he remarked lowly, before looking to Luffy. "C'mon, let Usopp watch his show, he's been waiting to see it or whatever." Zoro didn't really care, but he didn't want to sit through another episode of Cardcaptor Sakura.

Usopp yelped, immediately turning back to the DVD player and popping his beloved disk into it. "Y-you'll like it Luffy! It's about NINJAS!"

Luffy immediately perked up. "NINJAS? SO COOL!" he cried, voice filled with awe.

The long-nosed teen nodded in agreement, selecting "play all" and flopping down on the floor with his back against the couch leg.

Meanwhile, Nami happened to notice the bag with Luffy's school uniform and grabbed it. She whipped out the uniform and held it in front of her, frowning. "Awww, you didn't get him the girl's one?"

"Please, he's a boy," Zoro replied pointedly. "Besides, they would have kicked him out of school for wearing the girl's uniform."

Nami pouted. "So what? He'd look cuter in the girl's uniform!" She declared. "Besides, we all know you know you love it." She added with a mischievous grin.

Zoro just scoffed. "Whatever," he answered lowly. As long as he could keep his temper in control and act as if it didn't bother him, maybe Nami would leave him alone about the damn thing.

Nami cackled, having no other comments on the matter as she stuffed the uniform back into the bag.

"So cool…" Luffy mumbled, eyes glued to the screen. Apparently he was so absorbed by the amazing-ness that was Naruto that he'd missed the short conversation.

Zoro sighed. He didn't really think it was that great.

Vivi peered in from the kitchen, and, seeing that Zoro and Luffy had gotten home, grinned to herself. Now was perfect! "Roronoa-san," her soft voice called, and Zoro quickly looked up.

"Yeah?"

Stepping into the living room, Vivi leaned against the doorframe. "Would you mind terribly to go and take out the trash?"

"Oh..." Zoro grabbed Luffy's middle and scooted him over on the couch. "Nah, that's fine." He stood, moving past the TV and out into the kitchen, then, after a few moments, Vivi heard the sound of the screen door open and close and she was convinced that Zoro was outside. She quickly moved into the room, grinning.

"Everyone, I don't know if you know, but Zoro's birthday is Tuesday," she explained. "I want to have a surprise party for him. He should have a little fun."

Luffy's attention was immediately diverted from the TV at the sound of the swordsman's name. His eyes widened as he looked at Vivi and bounced on the couch. "Zoro's birthday is on Tuesday?"

At the exact same time both Usopp and Nami turned to stare at the blue-haired girl. "Zoro actually has a birthday?" they both cried at the same time. The swordsman had been at the boarding house for several years, and as far as either knew Zoro never had a birthday.

Vivi nodded. "I found out when the school mailed his semester schedule to him," she said deviously. "He can't keep everything a secret!" She seemed overjoyed with herself. "So of course, I think he would be surprised if we were to do something special."

The orange-haired girl grinned, nodding in approval. "You read this in his mail? Wow Vivi, I'm impressed. And here I thought you weren't capable of snooping. It seems there's hope for you yet!" she said brightly.

"Yosh! Surprise party for Zoro!" Luffy cheered, bouncing up and down on the couch.

Usopp punched his fist into the air. "Woot! Party!" Then he frowned. "But this is Zoro we're talking about. Would he really want a party?"

Nami rolled her eyes. "He'll love it. Besides, someone's gotta force the anti-social moron to be social with someone other than Luffy for once in his life."

"Surprise party for Zoro! YOSH!" Luffy continued to cheer, doing some sort of odd dance.

Zoro, meanwhile, had taken the trash out into the alleyway, tossing the bag into the large metal dumpster beside the house. He was beginning to head back in when he heard the sound of a footstep behind him and he froze. He was not alone.

"Roronoa Zoro?" A cheery, female voice came from behind the swordsman.

"That's me," Zoro said quietly, not turning around. "And who are you?"

"Miss Valentine's Day," the voice replied with a laugh. "I don't suppose you'll get around to actually turning around to face one of your superiors any time soon?"

He quickly rounded on her, eyes taking her in fully, careful to watch her every move. He didn't trust anyone the damn company sent to him.

She smirked at him, twirling her umbrella over her shoulder as she watched him through light blue eyes. "So…you're one of Saga Corp's greatest mercenaries? The demon, Roronoa Zoro?" She grinned. "I can see why they like you. Shame you're not a full Baroque Works agent, I'm sure the boss would have far better jobs for you than these simple missions."

The woman giggled, playing with one of her orange slice earrings. "But you're just high on the food chain of Saga's company...such a shame that we own them now, ne?" she murmured, checking the top of one of the trashcans to ensure it wasn't too dirty before seating herself upon it.

He rolled his eyes. Zoro didn't want to be any further into this than he already was unless it meant helping to fulfill his dream -- but Baroque Works had nothing to do with defeating Mihawk, and that was final. "I'm only in this for the money," he answered gruffly. "I don't want fame. Not this way."

Miss Valentines Day stared at him for a moment before rolling her eyes and kicking her heels in the air as she spoke. "Just for the money? Oh, you're no fun!" she huffed.

"...And the joy of the kill," he added with a strange sort of grin. Zoro's eyes flashed, only for a second, with an insatiable fire, before they quelled. "So what do they want me to do now?"

The blonde smiled at this, reaching up under her hat and pulling out a small envelope. She handed it to Zoro, shaking her head. "Just a body guard mission this time. Lucky you, you get to escort an ugly man to some out-of-the-way warehouse and make sure no one tries to take his ugly, sadly important head."

The man sighed, snatching the envelope away and tucking it into his pocket. "I told them not to give me these shitty missions any more," he murmured. "I hope someone does try to come after the guy."

Miss Valentine's Day laughed again. "Well, we'll see now won't we?" she said, hopping off of the trashcan and dusting off her skirt. "Now then, if you'll excuse me, I have other things to get to," she said with a cheery wave, heading out of the alleyway.

Zoro grunted a reply and stepped quickly back into the house.

The moment Zoro re-entered the living room Luffy had tackled him at the waist, babbling happily. At the same moment Usopp stopped cheering and Nami's eyes widened considerably.

Zoro blinked down at Luffy, trying to shake him off. "What's your deal?" he asked, an eyebrow raised.

Luffy grinned. "WE'RE GONNA HAVE A-"

Nami was instantly out of her chair and across the room, covering Luffy's mouth and attempting to tug him off of the swordsman. "-A…um…Naruto…watching party!" The orange-haired senior finished, laughing nervously before shooting a death glare at Luffy.

"Y-yeah! L-Luffy's really excited about it because he…um…thinks it'll teach him to become a ninja! W-wanna watch it with us?" Usopp stuttered as he rushed over and added to the effort of attempting to remove Luffy from Zoro's waist.

Vivi laughed a little. Luffy really didn't understand the meaning of "surprise". Zoro, however, was confused.

"Ah... whatever, I'll watch." He shrugged. "There's nothing else to do."

Nami frowned. No, that wouldn't work either. They still had to plan things! But it wasn't like she could just tell Zoro to leave after Usopp had asked him to stay. Stupid Usopp.

"Yosh! Naruto watching party!" Luffy cheered, releasing Zoro.

"Y-yeah! Naruto watching party…yes!" Nami said with a half-hearted laugh. "Um..I'll go make some popcorn! Come on Luffy, Usopp, Vivi you three can help!" She said, grabbing both boys by the ears and yanking them into the kitchen before they could protest.

Zoro raised an eyebrow as the group all left into the kitchen, but he just sighed and lounged on the couch, grabbing the remote and flipping to an action channel.

"Nami! I wanna watch Naruto!" Luffy whined.

"Yeah Nami, what's the big idea?" Usopp demanded, tapping his foot.

The orange-haired senior glared at them both. "Alright, first of all. This a SURPRISE party!" she hissed, glaring at Luffy.

"I know!" Luffy cried, waving his arms.

"Then why were you just about to tell him?"

"…You mean I wasn't supposed to?"

"NO!"

"…Oh." Luffy blinked.

Nami sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Look Luffy, this is a surprise party. That means Zoro can't know about it, alright? That way, when he walks into it he'll be hopefully happily surprised."

"Actually, he's more likely to be tempted to slice everything to bits if it's a very large party," Usopp commented, but Nami just glared at him.

"So we'll do it on Tuesday..." Vivi frowned. "Luffy, maybe you could get him to stay away from the house after school long enough for us to get everything ready?"

Luffy nodded, grinning. "Yeah, sure! We can go to the park or something, it'll be fun!"

Usopp grinned as well. "Great! And while you're gone we'll do the decorations and stuff!"

Nami smiled. "I'm sure we can work together to get Sanji-kun to bake a cake," she said, glancing at Vivi.

"Of course!" Vivi smiled. "He should be home from work soon, I think, so we'll ask him, then."

The orange-haired senior smiled, clapping her hands together. "Okay then! I think we're set."

"YOSH! This is going to be the best party ever!" Luffy cheered, doing a sort of dance around the kitchen. Then suddenly his eyes widened. "ACK! This is in two days? I GOTTA GET ZORO A PRESENT!" He cried, running around and waving his arms.

Usopp laughed. "That's right! Won't it be kind of hard? I mean, from the looks of things you two haven't really been apart for longer than a few minutes since Thursday."

Luffy stuck his tongue out at him. "I'll find a way to get him a present in secret! It'll be the best birthday present ever, too!"

"Whatever you say," Usopp said, shaking his head. "Just don't tip him off while trying to get away from him to make or buy something, ne?"

The boy blinked. "'Tip him off'?" He repeated.

Nami sighed. "Don't let him know we're throwing him a party. It's a surprise, remember?" She walked over to Luffy, looking him in the eyes and waving her finger in front of his nose. "Now listen to me Luffy. You cannot tell Zoro about this party, not one thing! The smallest thing could tip him off, so promise me you won't tell him one single thing?"

Luffy blinked again, then beamed. "I promise!"

"Good." Nami sighed.

"Who are we not telling anything about?" came a deep voice from outside the screen door, and Sanji swung in, cigarette in his mouth, looking devious.

Vivi looked up and waved enthusiastically. "Welcome home, Sanji-san! We were just talking about--" her voice took a quieter tone, and the blonde man leaned in to better hear it. "Zoro's birthday. It's Tuesday, so we're throwing a surprise party for him."

Sanji blinked, eyes widening. "Whaaat? You mean the Marimo HAS a birthday!" Sanji was confused. This meant the idiot had parents, which meant he had a childhood. Sanji wasn't sure why he found the idea simultaneously hilarious and mortifying.

"Nami-san and I were hoping you could make a cake," Vivi suggested.

Sanji made a face. On one hand, it was a cake for the Marimo. On the other, it was a favour for Nami-san and Vivi-chan.

Decisions, decisions.

But Sanji looked over Nami's face, and Vivi's pleading eyes, and he exploded into a frenzy that involved him dancing around the kitchen in glee.

"ANYTHING FOR MY MELLORINE!" he shouted happily, arms waving pathetically in the air.

Nami beamed, clasping her hands just beneath her chin. "Oh! Thank you Sanji-kun!"

Luffy blinked, cocking his head to the side as he watched Sanji dance. He didn't get it, really. But oh well! Zoro's birthday was on Tuesday and they were gonna have a party and now there would definitely be cake and it was going to be the best birthday party EVER!

…Now the boy would just have to come up with a present to get the swordsman…

…..This could be harder than he thought.

Ah well, he would think of something. Not only would he think of something, that something would be the best birthday present EVER!

With this thought Luffy cheered and began dancing around the kitchen as well. "This is gonna be the best party ever! Zoro will love it!" he cried happily.

"Yosh!" Usopp agreed, punching his fist into the air as he gave in to his excitement and joined Luffy in his dance.

It certainly would have been an interesting scene for anyone to walk in on, that was for sure.

"Don't tell me you guys are actually trying to build a fire to cook over in there," Zoro called from the living room. "The hell is taking so long!"

Luffy opened his mouth, about to tell the truth, but he managed to stop himself by covering his own mouth. Meanwhile, Usopp quickly spun a tale.

"O-of course not! We just…um…the cabinet came alive and ate the bag we got out, we're getting more now!" He declared.

Nami sighed, shaking her head. Why did she live with these crazies again? Oh yeah, it cost less money. "Luffy broke the first bag of popcorn we got out!" She laughed nervously, whacking Luffy over the head. He yelped, holding his head and glaring at her as she continued to speak.

"Stupid Luffy! We just finished cleaning up and we're just getting another bag! It shouldn't be much longer!" She laughed again, digging out another bag of popcorn.

Zoro sighed, standing from the couch. He didn't like this part of the action movie, anyway -- why did the star always have to get so cheesy and romantic with his counterpart?

Irritating.

He moved into the kitchen, raising an eyebrow. "And I'm really supposed to believe it takes all of you to make a bag of popcorn."

Nami nodded quickly, grinning nervously. "Of course it does. Because…um…"

"Because we wanted to show Luffy the magic of the microwave!" Usopp finished for her, popping open the microwave. Luffy gasped in amazement.

Nami blinked at him. "…'The magic of the microwave'?" she repeated.

Usopp nodded. "Well, yeah. Because he…um…forgot what they were. What with the amnesia and all."

Luffy blinked. "I did?" Usopp and Nami glared at him. "I mean…yeah! Wow, so cool!" he cried, trying and failing to look amazed by the microwave.

Zoro wasn't convinced, but didn't care. He noticed that Sanji was home, but he said nothing, instead turning with a grunt and heading back towards the living room.

Weirdos.

Usopp and Nami stared after him for a moment, then both sighed in relief. Luffy just stood there, blinking for a few seconds before speaking.

"Do we get popcorn now?"

Nami nodded, opening the package and putting it into the microwave. She pressed the button and then turned back to Usopp.

"Well, this is great. Now he'll be suspicious," Usopp muttered.

"It's not like you were being very secretive about it," Nami replied. "We need to do something to distract him and make him conveniently forget this weirdness…a distraction of some sort…"

Both looked at Luffy, whom was drooling at the bag of popcorn in the microwave.

Usopp immediately wildly pointed towards the living room. "LOOK LUFFY! Zoro has something shiny! Go hug him and maybe he'll give it to you!"

Luffy turned to stare at Usopp with wide eyes for a moment before charging into the living room. With the battle cry of "SHINY!", he tackled the swordsman, arms latching around his waist.

Zoro cried out in an 'oof!' as Luffy hit him, his back hitting tight against the couch. "What the hell!" he cried, eyes wide.

The boy grinned up at Zoro, arms still tight around his waist. "Usopp says you have something shiny!"

Making a face, Zoro reached up to push his hand into the pocket, recovering a few lightweight, silver coins. "What, you want these?"

Luffy nodded, pulling one of his arms away from Zoro's waist so he could hold out his hand. "Shiny!" he repeated, still grinning.

Zoro sighed. Usopp had probably just wanted Luffy to leave them alone. Dumping the coins into Luffy's hand, he rustled the boy's hair.

"Yay! I have shiny stuff from Zoro!" Luffy cheered, jingling the coins. "I'll treasure em' forever and ever and ever!" Then he gasped. "They could be my pirate treasure!"

Scoffing a little, Zoro nodded. "Alright, sure. Your pirate treasure." He didn't mind parting with the coins. It wasn't even enough to buy a soda from a vending machine.

Luffy beamed. "Yosh! I have pirate treasure!" he cheered, squeezing Zoro's waist. He watched the swordsman for a few moments before scooching himself forward a bit. He then planted a quick peck on the older man's cheek. "Thank you Zoro!"

Shocked, Zoro pulled away a bit, staring at him. Luffy had obviously found nothing wrong with that, and Zoro just looked away. "Yeah, you're welcome."

The boy just continued to grin, sitting up and punching his fists into the air. "WOOT! I've got pirate treasure!"

"Pirate treasure, hm?" Robin spoke from the doorway, leaning against the frame.

Luffy turned so he could grin and wave at her over the back of the couch. "Oh, hi Robin! Yup, Zoro gave me pirate treasure!" He said, displaying his coins for her to see.

Robin glanced down at the coins before chuckling. "I see. I don't suppose you'd like to add anything to your 'treasure'?" She asked, walking into the room with her hands behind her back.

The boy gasped, bouncing up and down on Zoro's stomach now. "You got me more treasure?"

The woman laughed again. "Well, I suppose if one wanted to call it that…" She withdrew an old, battered and worn straw hat. The edges were a bit mangled and messy, and the red ribbon was faded and a bit frayed. Clearly it had been through a lot before arriving in the hands of Nico Robin.

Luffy's eyes widened. "Wow! A hat! How cool!" he cried, reaching out to snatch it from her hands and place it on his head. He turned to Zoro, grinning from ear to ear. "Look Zoro! Isn't it cool?"

Zoro watched Robin with a cool gaze, wondering how long she had been there. At the presentation of the hat however, he raised an eyebrow, making a face at Luffy.

"It's..." he paused. "Weird." Zoro looked up at Robin. "Where did you get something like that? It looks like a piece of junk."

"It is NOT a piece of junk, it's my treasure!" Luffy immediately protested, sticking out his tongue.

Robin chuckled. "It is rather beat up, isn't it? I was out of town today and I found it in the park where I stopped. I probably should have just left it or thrown it away, but I felt as if it belonged somewhere. So I brought it home and decided to give it to you."

Luffy smiled, taking off the hat and looking down at it. Robin was right, it did just have a feeling to it, like it belonged to someone important and was meant to be treasured. It just gave off this aura, a feeling of warmth and comfort, love and pride. Like whoever owned it was with him simply through the raggedy hat. And whoever the owner was, they were watching him.

"Shanks? You're giving me your old hat?"

There was warm laughter, and a large hand reached down to ruffle his hair. "Yeah. Ben and I have to go away for awhile, so I figured I'd leave this with you until I get back so you don't miss me so much. So, you take good care of it and you'd better give it back when I come back, you hear?"

"…How long are you gonna be gone?"

"Don't know. Just think of this hat as a way for me to always be with you, alright? I'm always watching you, so stick with Ace and don't let old Kuro kick you around, okay?"

More laughter. "Okay! I'll take care of it for you!"

Distantly there was the thought that he shouldn't keep the hat, whoever its owner was must have loved it very much. But it just felt so right in his hands, so perfect. Almost as if its former owner were telling him "It's okay, it's yours now."

Luffy laughed again, placing the hat back on his head. "I'll take good care of it!"

Zoro made a bit of a face, but the longer he looked at Luffy in the ridiculous hat, the more the image grew on him. "Yeah, alright," he remarked faintly. "It suits you, anyway." He grinned. "You're both weird."

Once again Luffy continued to laugh, patting the hat. "And proud of it!" he chirped, beaming down at Zoro.

---

To be continued…

Well, wasn't that fluffy? I hope the return of the hat has made a few people happy, as it has certainly brightened my day!

Um…reviews!

KairiQueen: Well, I hope you liked what Robin gave Luffy! And I like the kissing too…they should kiss more often.

Kai: Um…was that enough fluff for you?

goggle head girl: Well hey, at least you're not as rabid as them, ne?

Mai Hayami: Hmmm…probably not all of the One Piece characters, but quite a few I'd imagine. We'll see how things go. I'm sorry I update too fast.

Angel of the Mirror: Heh, you read this while your friend was sleeping over? Hope you didn't wake her…

AlibisDragon: Smart or cruel? The world may never know.

poxmaker: Well, I suppose it depends on the person ne? Luffy and Zoro don't like having their spines crushed. As for the person in Luffy's head, people have been referring to it as a Yami because that's what their guess is. A Yami is a term from YuuGiOh, basically the darker half of your personality. I'm not saying that it is a Yami, and I'm not saying it isn't. Nor will I say if it's an experiment of the corporation or not, maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I'm happy people are guessing, but I'm not going to tell anyone if they're right or not. After all, that would be telling.

KuroKame: Yes, those girls are scary. I think everyone knows a few people like them…scaaary.

MeraNova: Right, the comfier the better!

Pink Feline: Fun and interesting reading, eh? Glad you think it is. I'll definitely keep the chapters coming if people keep reading and reviewing.

Dark Angel Kira: Bed time story, eh? Um..well, that's good…I guess…

Katiiey: Thank you.

Miya: Heh. I was going to have the girls do that, actually, but they had done enough costumer harassment as it was. I don't think they wanted to be sued.

Raikou Ikazuchi: Well, I would have Smoker as a teacher and Ace as his assistant, (Damnit, that's such a great idea too) but we've already got roles for them all set up, and I'm afraid neither of them shall be in the school. How sad.

Xeora: Sweet! Too bad your gifts aren't real, I would have so much fun with them.

Icy Sapphire15: Oh yes, Luffy can eat even faster. He can eat faster than the speed of light if he wants to!

Love is for Fools: I want to meet the shop girls too, they amuse me.

WhiteTigeress666: Zoro and Luffy kissing should be a new form of currency. Ten kisses for a candy bar.

queen of the world: Yes, he does have a special dance for everything. XP Yosh! Now I can choose the flavor? Awesome! I choose blue raspberry!

YuugiLover3: Oh don't worry about not reviewing! I'm happy whenever you review, even if you miss a chapter or two!

Griffingurl: Yus, Luffy does indeed have a dance for everything. He's special like that.

Hasuko: You're right, those girls would make very interesting torture devices…hmmm…forget the rack; they'd work so much better.

Firebirdy: Wow, your first time reading an OP AU? Glad ours could be the one to introduce you, I suppose. You check back everyday? Wow, I feel special. As for it becoming steamy, well, we'll see.

twilights-aura: There you go, I updated for you!

Akuma Memento Mori: Yes, girls are scary. Yes they are.

LoOkYiTsSpAm: Heh, ZoLu stories are my favorite too. I was sad there weren't very many here, which is the main reason why I posted this. There's a bit too much ZoSan for my liking, personally. As for Luffy's fighting, you'll get that really soon!

TreeStar: Luffy isn't into cross-dressing. But he's not not into it either. He just doesn't care, really. As long as the skirt is comfortable, he wouldn't care.

And not everyone is so accepting of Zoro and Luffy being together. So far, we've just met some quirky characters. There are others that won't be so happy about it, just wait on it. And the girls don't make everyone who comes in kiss, just the really cute guys whom they already suspect of such things. They're fangirls basically, let them be. And Zoro's not exactly happy with people constantly making assumptions about his personal life, in case you haven't noticed. He's just gotten to the point where he's sick of arguing, because no matter what he says it just seems to fuel the fire in this case.

koku-kirin: Wow, we reeled someone in with our review number? Um…wow. Well, glad you like the fic!

Next Chapter: House-hold wide game of hide-and-go-seek, ready set go! Luffy seems to believe that he's an ESPN ninja. What is an ESPN ninja? Read to find out!