And here is the next chapter! Like always, thanks to everyone who has pre-read, read and reviewed :)
This chapter requires some explanation in advance. (Please don't drop out ^^;)
First of all, this chapter describes Ace's trail. I've based it on the Dutch justice system (as I am Dutch :P), which means there is no jury. The judge passes judgement. As there is more than one year of prison demanded, there are three judges in this case. I hope the rest explains itself in the chapter.
I had trouble writing this chapter, but it had to be done. It's not exactly like the Dutch law system (I'm no law student ^^;) but I hope you can follow.
Please enjoy ^^
Hot as Fire
Chapter 8
Zoro yawned and stretched himself. The sun shone through a crack in the curtain. Smiling he opened his eyes. Things had turned out great last night. Sure, he didn't wake up where he had hoped – in Sanji's bed – but at least he was in the blonde's house. He hadn't seen him in weeks and still they picked up where they left off. They had fought, but the night had ended in an amicable, almost romantic way, when Sanji's head had rested on Zoro's stomach.
The green haired man yawned again and got up to pee. After searching the floor for the bathroom without success, he decided to try his luck upstairs. He didn't have to look far; when he reached the top of the stairs, he almost got a door slammed in his face and Sanji walked out of the bathroom wearing a bathrobe. His hair was still damp from the shower. "Oh, good morning," the cook said a little surprised. He hadn't expect Zoro to wait in front of the door.
"Morning." Fortunately, this time Sanji didn't sound distantly as he had the morning after Vivi's wedding. Then again, Zoro hadn't done anything this time to make the blonde feel uncomfortable, unless he had done something in his sleep. Which he assumed he hadn't.
Sanji left for his bedroom as Zoro relieved himself in the bathroom. When the swordsman got out, he noticed that the door of the blonde's bedroom wasn't entirely closed. He couldn't resist the urge to peek. The chef had discarded his robe and stood fully naked in the room, his back turned to Zoro. Sanji bent forward to get clean underwear, giving the other man a nice view of his bare ass. He went on getting dressed, unaware of the eyes roaming his body.
Zoro sighed, trying not to think of what he could do with the limber blonde, when said man turned around suddenly and came towards the door. Hastily Zoro made his way to the stairs and started descending them. Sanji opened the door, his shirt still hanging open. "Oi, I forgot. Do you want to take a shower?" Nothing indicated that he had noticed Zoro peeking.
When the swordsman nodded, the chef said: "Hold on," and disappeared into his bedroom again, to come back holding a towel. "There you go. The bathroom is the door behind you."
"I know, I just got out of it," Zoro said confused.
"I didn't want you to get lost on the way," Sanji teased and walked away while buttoning up his shirt.
When the green haired man came back down, the blonde had already cleared up his improvised bed and was setting the table for breakfast. Breathing in the delicious smells that filled the room, Zoro heard his stomach rumble.
"You're in luck, breakfast is just about ready." Sanji had obviously noticed the sound too. He placed a dish full of scrambled eggs and bacon on the table and Zoro had a hard time not to drool. This morning was just getting better and better.
Sanji watched him loading his plate and eat with relish. The blonde was smoking his first cigarette of the day and sipping his coffee. "I think you spend too much time with Luffy," he said amused, leaning with his head on his hand.
The swordsman looked up. "'s Good, Cook," he said with his mouth full.
"I know." But still the chef smiled slightly.
When he was done eating, Zoro leaned back in his seat. "Oi, Cook," he said musing. When Sanji looked at him curiously, he continued: "You gonna go to the trial?"
The blonde nodded.
"You gonna testify?"
This time he shook his head.
Zoro frowned. "Why not? You don't even know him and you don't think he did it."
Sanji seemed a bit uncomfortable. "I don't wanna say."
"Why not?"
"'Cause it's embarrassing, okay?!"
The swordsman raised his eyebrows. "How can it possibly be more embarrassing than when you saw me jack off?"
The blonde's cheeks flushed, seeing the image of the swordsman pleasuring himself vividly before his mind's eye. "So that's how it's gonna be? Every time you make an ass of yourself, I have to tell something embarrassing?"
"If you want the same treatment."
"I haven't done anything embar–" Abruptly he stopped, remembering the night he had met Zoro. "Fine, if you want to know so badly…" he muttered. "Ace's lawyer didn't think it was a good idea, because it might look like I am… a previous lover of Ace or something." He didn't dare to look at the swordsman.
Said man let the words slowly sink in, playing with a coaster. "But… You're straight."
"You don't have to tell me that!" At this point Sanji's face had the colour of a tomato. "But apparently, that's not allowed anymore!"
"I'm sure Robin has something up her sleeve, why she doesn't want you on the stand," Zoro said soothing. "I don't trust that woman."
"Don't you say that! Robin is beautiful and mysterious. She doesn't have some evil agenda!"
The swordsman rolled his eyes. "You know she's married, right? And it seems her husband is a strapping fellow."
"I'm not trying to woo her, moron. But that doesn't mean I'll allow you to speak ill of her."
Zoro sighed and decided to let it go. It was no use anyway. Every time they talked about a woman, Sanji's eyes practically got the shape of hearts and he would do anything to defend them. Even when all they did was use him for their own benefit.
Yes, there wasn't a doubt in the world that the cook liked women. But how could he ever be truly happy in a relationship that was so unequal? Even when the girl had the best intentions, the blonde would grovel, lower himself to please her every whim. Maybe Sanji had convinced himself that was what he wanted, but he wouldn't fool Zoro.
If only the cook gave him a chance… If Sanji was dating him, they would be equals. They were equally strong, equally competitive… They fit together perfectly. If only the chef realised that.
A smirk appeared on his face. There was only one thing to it. He would have to turn the cook.
The courtroom was already pretty full when Sanji arrived. It seemed a lot of people were interested in this case. There were probably victims of other arson cases here as well, even though Ace was only charged with the burning down of the Baratie. At least for now. The defendant was already brought into the courtroom.
It didn't take the cook long to spot a green head of hair. Luffy and Nami were sitting next to Zoro when the blonde approached them. Disappointed Nami was sitting next to the aisle and he couldn't sit next to her, he took a seat on the other side of the swordsman. Luffy looked at him with a large grin on his face, which made him cautious.
Nami leaned over the boy to Sanji, who had to take slow, deep breaths not to get a bloody nose when he got sight of her cleavage. "I promised him that you would cook for him if he behaved," she explained.
"Anything for you, my beautiful Nami-swan~!"
Zoro rolled his eyes at this. He placed his elbow in the crook of Sanji's neck, who was leaning over him in order to talk to the orange haired girl, forcing the blonde's head down, practically in his lap. That earned him a sharp kick in the shin, but it didn't prevent the dirty thoughts coming to his mind. After all, how close had the cook's mouth been to his…
He reminded himself he was in a courtroom and at that moment the judges, the honourable Sengoku, Tsuru and Dalmatian, were announced. They checked the factual information about the defendant and explained his rights, like he wasn't obligated to answer questions. Sanji followed the procedure with interest. This was the first time he was in a courtroom like this and he had to pay close attention to keep track of everything.
The public prosecutor announced who was being charged with what. A sentence of three years of prison was demanded, for damaging property. Sanji felt Zoro tense next to him. He squeezed the man's leg soothingly and leaned forward, whispering: "Don't you think that public prosecutor is quite scary looking?"
The swordsman nodded slowly. The prosecutor looked very stern. His curly black hair was tied back in a ponytail. He had a well maintained goatee and stared down on the people in the courtroom with a frown. There was no guessing in what he was thinking.
First the judges asked Ace some questions. The man declared himself innocent, but the question where he was at the time of the fire he didn't answer. "Idiot," Zoro muttered.
The first person that was called as a witness turned out to be Marco. He would serve as expert. The arson inspector was wearing a suit this time, looking rather different then when Sanji had met him. The chef noticed that Ace, who was sitting up front, whispered something to his lawyer. He couldn't see if Robin answered him.
Marco explained at the request of the prosecutor how he thought the fire had started and at what time. Based on his findings the arson inspector determined the fire had started around three in the morning. Petrol had been poured around the Baratie, which had been lit. Sanji let his mind wander during the explanation, having heard it already. He started to pay attention though when it was Robin's turn to ask questions. Those weren't about his job as arson inspector.
"Do you know the defendant, Mr Fenwick?"
Marco sat up straight, but the public prosecutor objected to this, saying Marco served as an expert, not a witness. Judge Sengoku consulted the other judges, but then said: "Answer the question, Mr Fenwick."
The arson inspector seemed to choose his words carefully, before he said: "Define know. Yes, we work in the same building, but I haven't spoken to him before."
"Why's that?" the lawyer asked.
Marco shrugged, his usual boring expression on his face. "You can't talk to everyone, can you?"
The prosecutor objected again. "What's the point of this interrogation?"
"Come to the point, Ms Nico," the judges agreed.
"Very well. Mr Fenwick, despite never talking to my client, Mr Portgas is rather popular at the fire station. Have you ever heard stories about him?"
A smile appeared on Marco's face. "Of course. He is considered on of the bravest firemen, having never backed down. He has saved numerous children from a certain death in the flames. I've seen him train as well. He works really hard, always. But well, I suppose his hot body is already evidence of that–"
His answer threw the public into a turmoil. Sanji snickered and mumbled: "I knew it!" The judges however weren't happy with Marco's reply. Annoyed Sengoku beat with his gavel to get the people quiet and snarled to the arson inspector: "Mr Fenwick! I will not have these outrageous flirtations in my courtroom!"
The arson inspector had already gotten over the shock of what he had blurted out and had gone back to his usual bored expression. "I apologise, Your Honours."
Robin smiled like she had foreseen all this and said: "No further questions."
It was too bad Sanji couldn't see Ace's face. He wondered how the black haired man would react to Marco's public flirtations.
"What did you know?" Zoro asked him softly.
Sanji looked at the arson inspector, who was leaving the witness stand. Then he leaned to the green haired man and whispered, afraid to be reprimanded by the judge: "I'll tell you later."
The swordsman's breath quickened. He wondered if the cook breathed in his ear on purpose.
The next witness was the arresting officer. Sanji had met him, it was the same man who had accompanied him with the identity parade a few weeks ago.
"Inspector Momonga, could you please describe how you came to arrest the defendant?" the public prosecutor asked.
Momonga brushed his moustache. "We received an anonymous phone call tipping us to pay Mr Portgas a visit. In the garage we found several jerry cans of petrol. Mr Monkey, the defendant's brother who lives in the same house, had an alibi, contrary to Mr Portgas. The defendant has as well a history of starting small fires when he was younger."
Robin rose after the public prosecutor was finished with his questions. "Inspector Momonga, the small fires my client has supposedly started, is he ever been charged for that?"
"No, they have been discarded as actions of a rascal. But they have been recorded in his file."
Robin nodded. "And have you ever found out who gave you the anonymous tip?"
"We did not. But a few days later an eyewitness reported to the police. Mr Portgas refuses to answer where he was at the time, only drawing suspicion on himself."
"But other than that, was my client co-operative?"
"He was. The only question he didn't want to answer was his own whereabouts," the inspector answered.
Zeff was the third witness to testify. He answered gruffly some questions about the Baratie, how long he had owned the restaurant and what the place had meant to him. He also explained he had not been in town the night of the fire and that his head chef had taken care of things. Sanji snorted at that. He hadn't expected the old fart to call him his son, or even adoptive son, but still.
But even though the restaurant owner was the victim, he couldn't say he had ever seen Ace's face before, not even as a costumer or hanging outside the building. The public prosecutor left it at that and Robin didn't have any questions. As Zeff made his way out of the courtroom, he and Sanji exchanged a short look.
Next to answer questions was another expert, a psychologist this time. Kalifa Bubble was a blond woman, with oval glasses, which she pushed up every now and then. Sanji was of course overwhelmed by her beauty, only Zoro was sure he saw a sly smile on the prosecutor's face. But when he told the chef that, the blonde said it was nonsense and a lady like Kalifa would never have ulterior motives. He did agree however that the prosecutor might not be completely trustworthy.
"Ms Bubble, have you had sessions with the defendant?" judge Dalmatian asked.
Kalifa pushed up her glasses. "That's sexual harassment."
Sengoku sighed. "It is not, Ms Bubble. Have you spoken to Mr Portgas and come to your conclusions as a psychologist?"
"I have."
The prosecutor took over. "I'll cut right to the chase. Do you think the defendant Mr Portgas is capable of arson?"
"Mr Portgas had revealed to me his motives to join the fire brigade. He decided to become a fireman after he lost a friend of his by fire when he was a child. Many pyromaniacs have gotten a fascination with fire after a traumatic experience caused by fire." She stroked a lock of hair behind her ear.
"So, do you think he is the pyromaniac?" the prosecutor asked.
She pushed up her glasses. "I think it's highly probable."
"Liar!"
It took both Zoro and Nami to restrain the furious Luffy. Sengoku hammered impatiently on his desk. "Sir, behave yourself or I'll have you removed!"
Nami whispered something in the boy's ear – probably about food – and he seemed to calm down. Reluctantly he sat down again.
The judge gestured the prosecutor to continue, but he said to Robin: "Your witness."
Robin rose and walked over to the psychologist. Nothing could be read of her face. "Ms Bubble, this information my client had revealed to you, it was during a session, was it not?"
"Yes."
"And isn't it true that as a psychologist you are bound by professional secrecy?"
"Yes."
"Then haven't you violated this by repeating something that was brought to your knowledge in confidence?"
Kalifa was taken aback. "Well, if it's to protect the majority–"
"So you are to decide what is for the good of the majority?" Robin accused.
The prosecutor objected to that and the lawyer withdrew the question, but she had made her point. Kalifa's authority as a psychologist had been shaken and the judges seemed to think so too. With a triumphant smile Robin sat down.
Zoro smirked. "Ace has one hell of a lawyer." His grin disappeared however when the next witness came to the stand. The colour drained from his face. Even Ace, who's appearance had been quite relaxed during the trial, became tense.
"Do you know him?" Sanji asked the swordsman. He had noticed how pale the man had gotten suddenly and he was starting to get worried. When Zoro didn't answer him, he placed his hand on the green haired man's knee and didn't pull back when his friend grasped it. Luffy had a very serious look on his face. Something was definitely wrong.
"Mr Akainu," the public prosecutor started with a sly smile on his face. "You claim to have seen the pyromaniac burn down the Baratie. Do you recognise the defendant as the arsonist?"
Zoro squeezed Sanji's hand and the latter feared it would break if the eyewitness didn't respond soon. However, he would have preferred the man didn't when he stated Ace was the person he had seen.
The prosecutor continued. "Mr Akainu, could you please name the time the fire started?"
"It was about three o'clock at night."
"That is the same time the arson inspector named," the prosecutor said triumphant.
Next it was Robin's turn to ask questions. "Mr Akainu, you claim to have seen my client at the time of the fire at the burned down restaurant, correct?"
"Objection! This question was already answered," the public prosecutor said.
Judge Tsuru nodded. "Proceed, Ms Nico."
"Of course. Mr Fenwick explained to us that the fire started in the ally behind the restaurant. What were you doing there, Mr Akainu?"
"It's a shortcut to my house."
"I see. Are you aware that the ally doesn't have lampposts? How were you able to see the arsonist well enough to point him out in this courtroom?"
"I had a pocket torch." The eyewitness didn't hesitate.
"But you weren't spotted by the arsonist?" Robin inquired.
"Apparently not."
Before Robin could ask the next question however, the messenger came in and whispered something to her. She nodded and asked permission to approach the bench, quickly followed by the public persecutor. After some consultation, Sengoku announced that they would adjourn the court for an hour to confer.
Wondering what it could be all about, Sanji followed the audience out of the courtroom. He took the unexpected break to have a smoke. Outside he was addressed by an odd looking fellow. He had seen the man in the courtroom. Well, it was hard to miss him with his large, light blue quiff, his Hawaiian shirt and shorts.
"You're Sanji, right?" the man asked him, holding out an enormous hand, which the blonde took hesitantly.
"I am," he said carefully, not sure what the man could want from him.
"That's SUPERR! I'm Franky. My wife told me you kindly invited us over for dinner. I'm SUPERRR sorry we couldn't make it until now. It's mostly my fault, being too busy with my contractor job… But that's all done now."
Sanji just nodded. So this was Robin's husband? Well, Zoro had been right to call him a strapping fellow; the man was huge, and very muscled. Still, it was hard to understand what a beautiful woman like Robin would want with a man like Franky…
But suddenly he had an idea. "Wait, did you say you were a contractor?"
"Heh, not just any contractor. I'm SUPERRR!"
"You better be. I'm sure Robin has told you that my restaurant burned down? Well, we have found a new place for it, but the contractor we'd hired was an idiot. Zeff, the owner, kicked him out. Literally. So we need a new one. If you're any good…"
"Like I said, I'm SUPERRR. I'll stop by tomorrow at nine to look at the place, if that's okay, Sanji-bro."
"That would be great. See you tomorrow then." After shaking hands with the odd contractor, who even struck a pose, he went inside again.
There he found Nami, Luffy and Zoro looking rather depressed. "You guys okay?" he asked with his eyebrows raised.
"That damn Akainu! He's lying in his teeth." Angry the swordsman hit the wall with his fist.
"Who is that guy then? Does he know Ace?"
"Ace has frustrated his plans a couple of times when he was younger," Nami explained. "But Akainu is a sly dog, so nothing could be proven. Now he's trying to get rid of Ace as revenge. And Akainu is a very respected man in the business world, so they will probably believe him."
"If that idiot only said where he were that night," Zoro fumed. "You sure you have no idea, Luffy?"
The boy shrugged. "All I know is that he wasn't home that night, and he wasn't working. But he is away a lot."
"What do you guys think happened just now?" Sanji asked. "Why would the judges, the prosecutor and Robin confer?"
"Beats me," the green haired man said. "But it better be something good. Otherwise Ace is going to prison."
About an hour later the court was in session again. Judge Sengoku cleared his throat. "It appears we have a surprise witness. Despite the fact that this is highly unorthodox, we will allow it. Ms Nico has stated to have no further questions for Mr Akainu, therefore we will continue with the next witness, who is an eyewitness as well."
The public prosecutor didn't look very happy. The sly smile was wiped off his face. Sanji poked Zoro in the ribs. The swordsman nodded and grinned.
The doors of the courtroom opened and a very muscular man entered. He had a gruff face and grey-green hair, reminding Sanji of Zoro. He nudged his neighbour again and whispered: "Family?" He got a deadly look in response.
After the witness had taken his seat, judge Sengoku asked him to state his name and profession. "Smoker, captain on the police force," came the gruff reply.
Robin stood up. "Do you know the whereabouts of the defendant on the night of the burn down of the Baratie?"
Sanji could hear Zoro holding his breath.
"Yes. He was with me."
Again the public was stirred up and had to be silenced by Sengoku's hammer.
Robin smiled. "When did you meet?"
"He came to my house around two in the morning on the night in question. He stayed till after five. During that time he didn't leave my sight. My neighbours can vouch for that."
"Why did you wait until now to testify?"
"I like my privacy. That brat… Mr Portgas and myself have an agreement not to talk about what we do at night. He has stuck to that till the very end, as you all have witnessed. I only heard today that they had found an eyewitness, as I was being buried in work. But though what Mr Portgas and I have can hardly be described as a relationship, the brat doesn't deserve to go to prison for it."
Robin smiled slightly. "Then what is it you have, Mr Smoker?"
"Call it stress relieving. We're not in love or anything. The boy might be an idiot, but he is an innocent idiot."
Sanji was already smoking his third cigarette to calm his nerves. He didn't know why he was this anxious. Ace had declared at the end of the trial he had indeed been with Smoker on the night of the fire. He hadn't talked because of their agreement.
But still, it was a respected business man's word against that of a police officer. Also the closing speech of the public prosecutor had been quite convincing. For everyone in the courtroom it was obvious one of the eyewitnesses was lying and the prosecutor had tried to convince the judges it was Smoker. He had cast doubt upon the police captain by bringing up his tendency to carry out his own judgement, not following the rules. The public prosecutor also mentioned casually there had been no fires ever since Ace had been arrested.
The judges had already been consulting for over an hour.
Zoro had been pacing up and down the whole time, even after Nami had yelled at him to sit still. Luffy on the other hand was unusually calm.
Finally there was announced that a judgement would be passed. After the doors of the courtroom had been closed again, Sengoku cleared his throat. "Will the defendant please rise?"
Ace did as he was bid, together with Robin.
"Like many, we as judges don't like being fooled. And we feel like that is exactly what has happened in this case. There were not one, but two eyewitnesses who claim to have seen the defendant in the night of the fire in two different places. Not even a man as fit as Mr Portgas would be able to pull that off. This trial was also an unusual one, as Captain Smoker only showed up at the last moment."
The court was completely silent, one could have heard a pin drop. Sengoku continued: "Not even the arresting officer seemed convinced about whether or not the defendant is guilty. Despite his not always acting according to the book, Captain Smoker is known to be a reliable cop, who wouldn't meddle in unless he believed something was off. Therefore, after hearing all these witnesses, we find the defendant not guilty."
Zoro didn't hear what else the judge had to say. With a grin he pulled Sanji into a hug, ignoring the blonde's struggles and pleads for air.
Slowly the courtroom became empty and a guard undid Ace's handcuffs. Luffy bounced to his brother and hugged him, while Sanji, Zoro and Nami followed him.
"Hey guys," the freckled man greeted them grinning. "Glad you could make it."
"You're an idiot, you know that?" Zoro burst out. "Why the hell did you wait so long before telling where you fucking were–"
"Were fucking," Ace corrected him with a wink.
The green haired man was taking aback for a moment, but then exploded again. His friend waited patiently until he was done ranting and then said: "I missed you too." After giving Zoro a pat on the shoulder he looked at Sanji. "And only the thought of you could keep me going," he said dramatically. "You've changed your hair style. I like it."
Inadvertently the blonde fiddled with his goatee and watched Zoro from the corner of his eye. The green haired man kept silent however.
"Smokey!"
Turning around Sanji saw Captain Smoker approach.
"Thanks for getting me out of jail," Ace said smiling.
"Yeah, yeah. This is the last time I'm getting you out of trouble, brat." With that, Smoker walked away again.
"How the hell did you end up with an old guy like him?" Zoro asked.
"He's not that old," Ace defended him. "He's thirty-four. He just looks older, 'cause he's a bit grumpy. And I did not 'end up with him'." The freckled man looked at his brother who had taken the judge's seat, playing with the hammer and wasn't listening anymore. "Like he said, we're just fuck buddies. We met after a fire, I gave him a blow job in an ally… Well, that's how it started."
"You could have gone to jail! Why the hell didn't you say something?"
Ace looked at his friend and sighed. "It's a pride thing, Zoro. You of all people should get that."
The green haired man grumbled something, but the freckled man already changed the subject. "Thanks for taking care of my little bro. All of you." He bowed deep, surprising Sanji with his politeness. The other two seemed to be a bit more accustomed to his behaviour.
An officer came for Ace, saying he could get his possessions back. The freckled man followed him after he'd told his friends Robin's husband was getting his van, so they all could go celebrate the good outcome of the trial. They should wait outside the courthouse.
While Ace was gone, Sanji explained to Zoro and Nami – Luffy was distracted by something interesting again – what he knew about Marco as he had promised to do. In front of the court Ace joined them again as they waited for Franky and Robin.
"By the way, where is that hot arson inspector?" the black haired man asked eagerly while scanning the crowd outside.
Zoro rolled his eyes. "He's gone home already. Besides, didn't you just got your ass saved by your lover?"
"Fuck buddy." Ace pouted. "And he was making a pass at me. How can I ignore that?"
"So you like him?" Sanji asked a little hopeful. After all, he liked Marco and the arson inspector obviously had a thing for Ace.
The black haired man snickered. "What can I say? He's blond and has a really nice ass. But that doesn't mean I don't like yours anymore," he added with a wink.
The blonde rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure. Go after his, please." He put an unlit cigarette in his mouth and patted his pants in search of his lighter. Oddly enough he couldn't find it. "What the hell? Were did I put that shitty thing?" he mumbled.
"Did you loose something?" Ace asked.
"My lighter. Does anyone of you have one? It seems I've misplaced mine," he sighed.
"Zoro, you have one, right?" The black haired man looked at his friend.
"What the hell do you do with a lighter?" Sanji asked with a raised curly eyebrow.
"Open beer bottles." The swordsman tried to see if the lighter worked.
"Barbarian," the blonde mumbled, but still leaned in with his cigarette between his lips.
Holding his breath Zoro watched Sanji light his cigarette to the flame of his lighter without taking it out of his mouth. The chef straightened and exhaled contently. "Thanks."
The green haired man was still staring as he nodded, and swallowed a few times to get rid of his dry mouth.
When Sanji exhaled, Nami suddenly started to cough. It sounded exaggerated to Zoro, as she spent a lot of time in smoky bars. The blonde didn't know that though and quickly apologised: "I'm so sorry, my beautiful flower, I'm smoking all over you. I'll go stand over there."
After the chef had taken his distance, Nami immediately stopped coughing and took something out of her purse. "Pay up," she said to Ace.
His eyebrows raised, Zoro watched how the snickering freckled man handed the orange haired girl some money and she gave him something silver and square. "Why the hell do you have Sanji's lighter?" the swordsman asked in a hushed tone.
The girl shrugged. "He said he'd pay me if I got it for him." She nodded at Ace.
The green haired man looked at his friend. "Well?"
"'Cause I knew he would lean in like that," Ace snickered. "He let me lit his cigarette once. And admit it, you thought it was hot too."
Zoro couldn't deny that, but mumbled: "A girl had a hand in his pocket and the idiot doesn't even notice it."
~ To be continued
So, a bit of an Ace-chapter this time. Judging by your reviews nobody thought Ace was guilty anyway and I need his meddling in the rest of the story :P So, Ace is back, yay! :D Next time more Zoro and Sanji ;)
The public prosecutor was Rob Lucci, for those who hadn't guessed that. :P
I have some bad news (for you :P) From Thursday on I will be on holiday for six weeks, in which I won't be able to update. But fear not, I will continue after I get back. I can't stop if there's no ZoSan :P
And to make it up to you a little, I have a litte surprise. Those of you who have read my profile already know I'm planning to write the MarcoAce side of this story. Well, before I leave I will upload the first chapter of that story :D It's called Reborn in Fire. The first chapter occurs before the first chapter of Hot as Fire. You don't have to read this story to understand RiF, or the other way around. I hope you will like it :)
In the meantime, enjoy and please review ^^ I will update again after 22 August.