Chapter 5 - Where Did The Party Go?
The following night, Zoro is getting ready for the party at the D brothers' house and for once he's taking more care in deciding what to wear. He wants to wear something that'll impress the blond, but he's finding it difficult. The green-haired teen checks his phone once more, looking at the text from the person of interest; Meet me at 8.
Zoro, in the end, quickly throws on a black pair of jeans, black combat boots, and the nice white shirt Sanji had given him for his birthday. As he heads for the door he grabs his black leather jacket and puts it on as he leaves.
Surprisingly, even though he's half an hour late, he's the first one to get to the park he's arranged to meet Sanji in, and so he sits at an unoccupied bench while he waits. For the first few minutes, Zoro keeps a look out for the blond, getting more nervous as time passes. He knows this isn't a date, but he can't help feeling like this is something that they'd do if they were dating. He's gone over scenarios is his head before, about waiting for the blond to finish his shift so that he could take the cook out for dinner. Other times it would be the cinema or any other place that Sanji would want to go to. It confuses him, because sometimes he can clearly imagine taking the cook out, and doing things that couples are apparently supposed to do, but other times he can't imagine that he and the cook would ever be like that. Not just because they aren't dating, but because it just isn't them, not with each other anyway. If it was Sanji and a girl from their classes, or even with another guy, he can see those things happening, as a matter of fact, he has, and it makes his blood boil at how sickening those thoughts are. Zoro knows that what he's read and watched in those sappy romances, that it's not what he wants, and it's not how things really play out either, but if he had a chance with the cook, he'd make a few exceptions, but only a few, as he knows how sappy the blond can be sometimes.
A few drops of rain land on the swordsman's head, and he curses as it suddenly turns into a downpour. Zoro groans as he tries to get some coverage from one of the trees in the park, but he is completely soaked by the time he gets there.
Sighing, he runs his fingers through his hair and looks up in surprise when the rain stops as suddenly as it started, only to find a black umbrella hovering over his head.
"Idiot, it said on the news it was going to rain. Why aren't you at least wearing a coat?"
"I'm wearing a jacket..." Zoro mumbles as he glances over to Sanji.
The blond is, as usual, wearing one of his posh, expensive suits, with a pair of dress shoes and is wearing a light blue dress shirt under his jacket.
"Yeah, one without a hood," Sanji scoffs, "what are even wearing, you look like an idiot."
"Yeah, well so do you, cook. And what are you giving me that umbrella for? I thought you didn't like getting your suit wet?"
The blond rolls his eyes, "I'm not giving it to you, dumbass. We'll have to share it. Now hurry up and start moving, I'm getting wet here," Sanji says as he steps a little closer to Zoro so that he's under the cover of the umbrella more.
They start making their way to Luffy's, both standing close to each other with the umbrella above them. The blond bites his lip as he constantly brushes shoulders with Zoro as they both try to stay under the cover while walking. The journey is quiet, besides the sound of the pouring rain hitting the streets and the umbrella above their heads, and as the sky is slowly darkening, the street lights are starting to turn on. The wind starts to pick up, and causes Sanji to tighten his grip on the handle of the umbrella.
As they get closer to Luffy's house, only a few blocks away, a huge gust of wind hits them, and the blond almost loses his grip on his umbrella. As they battle through the wind and rain, Zoro quickly grabs onto the handle when the wind threatens to blow it away, and in the brief moment he makes a grab for it, his hand wraps around Sanji's as well as the handle of the umbrella.
The swordsman blushes brightly and as soon as they have control again against the wind he quickly pulls his hand away and mumbles his apologies.
"S-sorry, I was trying to... t-the wind..."
"I-it's fine... I know..."
Sanji is in a similar state to Zoro, stuttering and red faced, and not just because of the cold and the harsh wind. The blond just can't shake off the feeling that even though it's cold, Zoro's hand felt warm around his own.
Once they arrive at the party, Sanji closes his umbrella and puts it away as Luffy and their other friends greet them happily, inviting them inside quickly.
"I'm so glad you could make it~," Luffy says happily with a wide grin on his face.
"No problem, Luffy. We wouldn't miss any of your or Ace's parties," Sanji replies as he follows the energetic younger teen into the living room. The blond frowns when he sees a certain redhead sitting on one of the sofas, and drinking cider.
"Luffy, what is he doing here?"
"Eh...? Oh, you mean Kid. Law invited him, along with Bonney and Killer. Isn't it great? Now we have even more people at the party~."
"He invited his ex to your party?" Zoro asks, his blood already starting to boil. What the hell is he doing, messing with Sanji like this?
The blond ignores them as he calmly bypasses Kid and heads into the kitchen. Zoro frowns and is about to follow, until Luffy places his hand on his shoulder.
"It's fine Zoro. It's the same as Nami and the others being here. They're just friends now, just like Nami and Sanji."
The swordsman nods, and greets Ace as he walks over. Nami joins them and suggests that Zoro gets out of his wet clothes and borrow some of Ace's while his own clothes are put in the tumble dryer. He agrees and goes to change upstairs, before making his way into the kitchen. Sanji is still in there, drinking alone, and the swordsman proceeds to throw his wet clothes into the tumble dryer, then crouches down to get a closer look at the buttons and stares at it as he tries to figure out how to use it. Zoro manages to turn it on, but that's as far as he gets. He glances around to see that the blond is still standing there by the kitchen table.
"Oi cook, why aren't you mad about this?"
"Why? Because I find your inability to use a tumble dryer quite amusing," Sanji replies with a smirk.
Zoro rolls his eyes, "not that, you ero-cook. I mean about Kid. You obviously didn't know he was going to be here."
The blond makes his way over and simply presses one of the buttons on the tumble dryer and it instantly starts its cycle.
"Just leave it, marimo. My ex's are here too, Nami, Ace, Keimi, Vivi... It's exactly the same."
Zoro gets up from crouching on the floor, and glares at the blond, "no it's not. You're still friends with your ex's, Law's last few relationships ended because he was still carrying on with Kid, what if he's doing the same to you?"
"Shut up! There's nothing like that going on this time, and what's it got to do with you anyway?"
"I'm not the one you should be getting angry with."
The blond sighs and he rolls his eyes, "I'm fine with it, moss-head... Do you want a drink?"
"Sure..."
Zoro accepts the drink then follows Sanji into the living after the blond has grabbed himself another bottle.
Music is playing, and a few small talk conversations are held until Law turns up, causing the swordsman to frown as the doctor passionately kisses Sanji in front of them all, and then proceeds to have the blond on his lap for most of the night.
As the night goes on, they end up talking about Zoro's kendo tournament which is coming up in two months' time.
"Oi, guys~ we should all go and cheer Zoro on together~," Luffy beams.
"Ah, I can't go..."
"Hm, why not Sanji?" Nami asks the blond.
"My cooking exam is on the first day of the tournament. Maybe if the shitty swordsman somehow manages to make it through to the second day, I can make it~," Sanji teases.
Zoro rolls his eyes and smirks, "of course I'll get through. I kick your ass all the time."
"Oi! I win in our fights as much as you do!"
Law whispers something into the blond's ear which makes Sanji blush and stay quiet while a few of the party guests mumble apologies to Zoro as they explain why they can't watch him at his kendo tournament.
Half an hour later, they start a drinking game, though a few of them including Luffy and Chopper stick to soft non-alcoholic drinks.
Bonney grins as she picks up her bottle, "never have I ever~ had sex with someone~"
Nami, Vivi, and most of the guys, apart from Luffy, Chopper, Zoro and Usopp, take a sip of their drinks.
"Zoro~," Nami purrs, "so you're a virgin~?"
"Yeah, and? I'm going to get another drink..."
"Aww~ don't be such a grump~ It's not something to be ashamed off~."
Zoro rolls his eyes, "I know. I'm just getting another drink," the swordsman says as he goes into the kitchen and grabs another bottle of beer. As he opens the bottle, he notices that the tumble dryer has finished so he takes his clothes out. Zoro walks through the living room, and notices that a few over people have wandered off, then he heads for the stairs. Once he's upstairs, he glances around the hallway and tries to remember which room is Ace's so that he can put the other's clothes back once he's changed.
Instead, he ends up finding the bathroom, so decides to go in. Closing the door behind him, he locks the door then proceeds to take off the borrowed clothes before putting on his own, which are not only dry, but comfortably warm, back on. Unlocking the door, he leaves the bathroom, carrying Ace's clothes, and tries to find the older D brother's bedroom.
The swordsman frowns when he has no clue as to where it is, and reckons that Ace and Luffy must have changed the rooms around again while he's been in the bathroom. Still in search for the right room, he opens and closes the door to the other rooms to check them, and is not at all surprised to find Law and Kid with their tongues down each other's throats in one of the guest rooms. Though he's not surprised, that doesn't mean he's any less angry about it, Law's making out with an ex while his boyfriend is just downstairs… Sanji is just downstairs…. And Zoro is fuming.
"What the hell are you doing?!" the swordsman growls as he makes his way across the room, dropping Ace's clothes in the process, grabbing Law by his shirt with both of his hands and yanking him forward once the older man has torn himself away from Kid.
"This is none of your business, Roronoa-Ya."
"Of course it is! You're dating my best friend!"
"Keep your voice down," Law hisses as he grips Zoro's wrist and gets the swordsman's hands off of him.
"Why should I? I'm going to tell the cook about this right now!"
Zoro makes his way towards the door, but Kid is already there and blocking his path, levelling the glare directed his way.
"Move out of my way."
"I think… no I know, you should listen to Law," the redhead replies, not budging even an inch from the doorway.
"And why should I listen to the likes of you two?" the swordsman growls.
"Because, Roronoa-Ya," Law speaks, turning Zoro's attention back to him, "who would he believe more, me, his boyfriend, or you, some jealous kid who wants Sanji to himself?"
Those words hit Zoro like a bucket full of ice water, and his eyes widen as the words roll off Law's tongue so smoothly. Zoro is rendered speechless as he backs away slowly. How does he know that? If Law can figure it out or if someone else told him… then how many others know about this? …. Why is he even cheating on Sanji?
With all those questions and more running through his mind, the only thing that the swordsman can tell is that this is definitely not the first time Law has cheated on the cook, if the sparkle in the older man's eyes is anything to go by. He seems too relaxed to even be bothered by this situation at all.
Law sighs and rolls his eyes as he walks closer to Zoro.
"Look, I don't care what you or anyone else thinks about me. But what about you, Roronoa-Ya, do others opinions of yourself matter to you? What about Sanji's?-"
"-That has got nothing to do with you.-"
"-The way I see it, when Sanji finds out, he's not going to believe you, and if he does…. well either way, the one he is going to hate the most, is you."
Zoro laughs bitterly and glares at the man in front of him, "what the hell would he hate me for? You're the one cheating on him."
"That's true…. However, I bet that if you tell him, he's not going to believe you. He knows that you hate me, and whether or not he knows the real reason for that I'm not sure... But to him, he'll just see your hatred for me and come to the conclusion that you are just trying to break us up. If on the off chance that he does believe you, well, he'll be angrier at you for telling him. People always seem to hate the messenger more in these types of situations. Whatever the case, it obviously won't sit too well with him. And deep down, you know that too. So if I were you, Roronoa-Ya, I'd keep my mouth shut."
The swordsman frowns and looks back and fore between the other two people currently in the room with him while he's conflicted on what to do. Without saying a word, Kid moves from in front of the door and opens it for him. Silently, Zoro picks up Ace's crumpled clothes that had dropped to the floor, and leaves the room. Once he's found the older D brother's room, he puts the borrowed clothes onto the bed and makes his way back downstairs.
As he reaches the doorway to the living room, he notices that Law and Kid have made their way back down too, but what has his blood starting to boil once more with rage is that Law has a drunken Sanji on his lap and is making out with the cook mere minutes after having another guy's tongue down his throat. Feeling angry and fed up, the swordsman leaves without saying a word to anyone and makes his way home. It takes him several hours by himself, even though it should have only taken him at around one hour tops, and when he does get home, he heads straight to his home gym to train, without even checking to see if Koshiro is home, and not at all caring that it is way past two in the morning.
Half an hour into his training, his phone buzzes with a text alert, so he stops what he's doing, then picks up his phone from where he had placed it on the windowsill. Zoro is surprised to find that it's the blond cook, that he has been so torn up about for the last few hours, who has messaged him. The text is a little hard to read, as Sanji is most probably still drunk, but none the less, it's easy to understand even with the spelling mistakes and the occasional added letters that are completely unnecessary.
Shitcook: Oiiiii u shtty mmarimoo! What yu leave earlly 4?
The swordsman rolls his eyes, surprised that Sanji even realised he'd left in the first place, or even felt the need to text him about it either, and he quickly types out his reply before hitting send: None of your business, cook. Are you still at the party?
Grabbing a bottle of water he'd gotten before training, Zoro leans against the wall by the window, and downs half of the drink. His phone chimes with another text alert and he instantly opens up a new message from Sanji.
Shitcook: Nooope. At Laws he's inthe shower, Mihht join hiim ;D
He frowns at the text, and decides not to reply, until another message from Sanji comes through.
Shitcook: Come tothe Baratie 4 luchh tomorrrrow. Night marimooo x
"Idiot….," Zoro mumbles quietly to himself, with a smile on his face as he replies to the blond once more before leaving his training and heading to bed: I'll be there. Night cook.