Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.
Author's note: AU, warning for OOC, Valentine's tradition in Japan.
Not a flashback chapter.
Zoro walked to his classroom, ignoring the other students. A couple of girls tried approaching him, but they got too shy and instead turned around. He didn't care, it didn't matter. Finally he got to his classroom, and even from the outside, he could hear Sanji doing his mellorine dance.
Love. It annoyed him. It was nothing but a bunch of chemicals working at the brain to produce a feeling akin to what drugs do. She had explained it to him with that face, a small smile gracing her lips, sprouting random facts as if they were the day's gossip. She like doing that, no matter how morbid or gross the factoids were, much to the annoyance of the easily queasy Usopp. Chopper admired her casualty in talking about those things, but he was still a kid. A genius kid, like her, she had helped him adjust, after he had been moved up, and before she had to move up. She loved history, he loved medicine, but they were both prodigies and it made a connection.
He sat on his chair, ignoring the chatter around the classroom. Sanji was handing out chocolates to every girl he could reach, even Tashigi. Even if it was supposed to be the other way around, Sanji didn't care. It was Valentine's and he wanted to show his 'love for all womankind'. He'd be repeating that spiel on White Day. No one really took him seriously with his effort, except maybe Vivi. Zoro watched as he flourished the student council representative with praises, as she stammered a thanks to him. She glowed red before handing him his own box of chocolates, much to the aspiring chef's delight.
"Ne Zoro"
He turned to look at his best friend, Luffy, who was currently buried behind boxes upon boxes of chocolates.
"Hammock caught me before I could get in class" the raven haired boy said with a wide smile, dropping the boxes of chocolates to the floor. He had his signature straw hat on, and Zoro could see a lip mark on his cheek. He opened a box, and quickly finished it, before opening another "She really knows good chocolate!"
"You do know she likes you" Zoro said, watching his friend stuff himself more and more, his stomach getting slightly plumper.
Luffy was too busy ingesting the sweet stuff to notice, much to Zoro's annoyance.
"So Hancock got to you first" It was Nami, and she was pissed.
Zoro leaned back to watch the show. It was known that Hancock liked Luffy, and it was obvious that Nami liked Luffy, but the straw hat boy was not as dense as people thought. Only Zoro knew that he really liked Nami, too.
"Yeah" he said, nonchalantly, finishing another box "I tried getting her off me, but at least I got chocolates. She must have spent so much on this. "
He smiled wide at Nami. That smile did it. Nami threw another box at him "Well I made those" she said, before walking off to her seat.
Luffy gingerly took the box, and then slipped it inside his bag, all the while finishing another set of the expensive chocolates.
"Shishishi" he laughed "I got Nami's chocolates."
"Why don't you just tell her you like her" Zoro said, his hands on the back of his head "Might as well get it over with."
"Shishishishi" Luffy laughed again "I am, planning to do it on White Day."
Zoro smirked, tugging down Luffy's straw hat so it covered his eyes "Good luck on that." He closed his eyes, leaning back, waiting for the sounds to drown out. White day.
Advance thanks for the readers and reviewers!