chapter two of the double update. how rad right

tHIS ONE is kind of long and BUILDING UP SOME STUFF so that's COOL ih op e it isn't too bad i am very tired

If there was ever a time Luffy wished he knew where Mystery-Guy lived, it was now.

Pillowing his head on the table and whining, quite loudly, so all his friends could take notice, it was then Luffy decided that chorus was hell and he was stuck as a soloist in it.

"So, you can't find someone who plays the piano well enough in time for this…event or competition or whatever, and Brook can't do it because he's your teacher?" Nami questioned as she watched Luffy wallow in his misery and woe. "That's stupid." She added.

"It's very stupid!" Luffy shot up then, looking considerably angrier. "I have to do this for a competition, for our JUDGEMENT and all that important stuff, and our pianist just left! And Brook has to conduct and lead us all!"

"And there's nobody at all?" Usopp piped up, tilting his head.

"Not anyone that can learn all of our music fast enough. They'd have to be as skilled as our last pianist. And that guy was playing for years! So many of them! He was so good, but he just HAD to get sick." Luffy threw his hands in the air, rolling his eyes before slamming them back down on the table. "I'm upset."

Before Nami and Usopp could get a word in, Sanji slid right into a chair by Luffy smoothly.

"So, you need someone to play piano?" He asked, and Luffy immediately recognized him trying to put on the ~cool guy~ attitude, as Sanji brushed a hand through his hair and grinned in a way that would make any person attracted to him swoon.

Unfortunately for Sanji, Luffy wasn't interested, and Nami and Usopp were dating.

"Yeah, I do. Like really bad. Do you know someone?" Luffy looked hopeful, smiling all of the sudden. "Please tell me you know someone!"

"Well I," Sanji leaned forward, tossing a glance and smile at Nami before looking at Luffy. "Do happen to know a certain piano player, who you've met. Green hair…tall…a giant piece of shit…"

Luffy blinked, and Sanji could visibly see him trying to put the pieces together for this one, trying to make the connection as to who this "Giant piece of shit" was.

"Oh! You mean Zoro!" Luffy made a fist and slapped it down on his open palm, nodding. "Wait, he plays piano?"

"He doesn't fucking stop. It kills me. Don't worry, I'll have him over by tomorrow for your next practice, whether he likes it or not!"

The next day, as Sanji promised, He arrived in the chorus room after school with a certain mosshead, looking generally pissed off at the world and like he had just rolled off the couch from a long nap. He had his hands shoved in the pockets of his black sweatpants, and the shirt he wore was old and gray, worn out with age, the sleeves rolled up to make it look like a tank top instead of a t-shirt.

"I fucking hate you, you know?" Zoro grumbled as they sat down and waited for Luffy and whoever else to arrive. "I was having a really good nap."

"You'll thank me one day, I'm sure." Sanji shrugged as he lit a cigarette, "Besides, it's not like you had classes or something later. And you seemed pretty keen on helping the kid before…"

"There's a difference, he was cold and alone and I wasn't about to abandon him or some shit!" Zoro snapped, crossing his arms. "This is fucking charity work!"

"And you're one charitable guy, remember that one time you had to take care of all those babies just because you couldn't say no to them? Those kids who helped you? Because I do. It was hilarious."

Zoro couldn't even get in a retort before the door literally slammed open, and in tumbled Luffy, who was looking worn out and panting heavily. Zoro sat up straighter, paying much more attention now. As he did this, however, he instantly wished he looked better than…this, because with the way that Luffy looked? There was no way Zoro could even compare in any sort of way.

Even though he had obviously just been rushing and running his way here, his hair looked perfectly as the natural wavy curls he had framed his face just right, and the school uniform he wore fitted him all too well. Lace up boots with red pants rolled up to his knees and a dark blue button up that wasn't tucked in, the first two buttons undone, a worn strawhat hanging off his neck by a string.

Zoro wanted to sink back into his seat. Fuck this.

Luffy turned and smiled at the two of them, and Zoro felt his heart stop. How had he not noticed this before?! Why is it that he had to find himself in this situation now, even when he barely knew him?

"Sanji, Zoro! I'm late, sorry! I had to run back and then run here to grab my bag because I almost forgot something really really important!" Luffy set his bag down on a table nearby and dug around to the bottom, pulling out two articles of clothing, both of which seemed far too big. "Ta-daa! It's Zoro's clothes!"

Luffy smiled again and handed the clothes off to Zoro. Zoro then knew, he was totally fucking screwed, all because Luffy was actually gorgeous and currently reminding Zoro of how gay he really is.

"Well, I'm not needed here. Text me when you're done with this, Marimo. " Sanji stood up, bidding goodbye to Luffy and heading out while Zoro silently screamed for him to come back because he cannot be in this situation alone, he cannot just be left alone with a cute guy and expect to come out of it perfectly fine.

"We can't waste any time, Zoro! I'm gonna give you the music, you look over it, and then you can play and I'll listen! Got it?" Luffy explained quickly, digging around in his bag again before he pulled out some somewhat-crumpled music sheets for a song called "Ocean Guide". "This is our main song, I sing it."

Zoro took the music and glanced over it. It was pretty simple, easily done for him honestly. Wordlessly, he got up and started toward the piano, trying to shove down the excitement of getting to play something other than the wads of music shoved under his bed. Sitting down and tapping some of the keys experimentally just to get the feel of it down, he placed the music on the stand, and began to play the song.

Sight-reading was always one of his strong points, especially for simple songs, even if he had never heard it before.

Letting his fingers dance over the piano keys with ease as he fell into his natural element, he let himself go. He could only focus on the song and music and the notes in front of him, nothing else. The song was decidedly beautiful, slow and calming, almost like a lullaby.

About halfway through the song, he barely noticed Luffy was singing. His voice was light and high, but peaceful. Zoro guessed he was probably a natural-born singer with a fucking gigantic lung capacity, and he didn't take kindly to the thought that whispered to him, "His voice is beautiful." Because it was.

But he wasn't about to admit that.

The song ended and Luffy opened his eyes, having closed them through the impromptu performance, and turned to look at Zoro, giving him two thumbs up and a "Nice, Zoro!"

Zoro just grinned. "My pleasure."

And at that moment, Zoro had no idea what struck him, but he felt like he needed to tell text-guy about this. Pulling out his phone and unlocking it as Luffy wandered off to find more music in the room so they could continue, he unlocked his phone and typed out his message.

(3:35 PM)

People who sing are pretty impressive.

Pocketing his phone and leaving it at that, he was content to continue tapping at piano keys, until he heard it.

The sound of an airhorn blaring from Luffy's pocket. Just seconds after he had sent his message. Zoro watched curiously as Luffy visibly brightened when he saw who had messaged him, eagerly and quickly replying back. From here, Zoro couldn't read the recipient's name.

In his pocket, his phone vibrated.

haha yeah i went there. also yeah i do'nt know how chorus works, i was in band.

hope this chapter wasn't too bad, i'm really tired, hope yall liked it aaaaaaaaaaaand i've got some other fics in mind i might be starting soon? this guy right here might be on it's last legs, as you can tell by the BUILD UP RIGHT THERE

anyway. have a good day