I keep telling myself that I'll respond to reviews in the A/N, but I keep forgetting. I'm typing this before writing the chapter so I don't forget :U
I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE ALL ENJOYING THE GLIMPSES OF LUFFY AND SABO! None this chapter, but there will be plenty more in the future~ I hope the ship hasn't made too many people turn their noses up, but I understand people not liking it as much as I do
Chapter 6: My Captain
He had to be hearing things. "You want to be my Pirate captain…?" As funny as that would be, he didn't think that was a change that was safe to make. What happens in East Blue shouldn't change much in the long run, but Zoro had pride that wouldn't let him take direct orders from a First Mate.
Thankfully, it didn't seem like that was what Zoro had in mind. "Hell no! I'm not going to be a damn Pirate unless you can beat me into it!" The man took a breath, and both ignored how his legs started to wobble. "You're strong. You're strong but you're out here, in the East, trying to recruit. If you can't go to the Grandline alone at your level, I'd… probably need a partner to get me in. Just until I'm strong enough on my own!"
Well that was a change. Was seeing someone obviously outclass a Marine Captain that much of an eye opener? He'd been overconfident til he challenged Mihawk before, where he realized just how big the difference between Grandline and Four Blue was. Then again, Zoro had the best instincts he knew, and in neither life had Luffy been this strong; maybe he could feel the tight lid the pirate had on his willpower.
Ah, Zoro was testing himself. Fighting someone obviously powerful, who would seemingly put their life on the line for yours, was probably the best and safest way he'd found since becoming the best swordsman in East Blue.
He had no reason to say 'no', did he? "Yeah, sure. But first, you need a meal and a nap." There was a brief glare shot in his direction, before Zoro looked to the ground, admitting, if only to himself, that he was far too weak to fight anyone at the moment. Luffy huffed, moving over to him and standing at his side, quietly lending his shoulder with a half shrug. "Ririka should have something ready for you."
They moved only a handful of steps before, with a tired sigh, Zoro's heavy hand pushed down on his shoulder. Luffy wondered what Sanji would think, seeing Zoro the way he is now, starving for the safety of a young child and her mother. Maybe when they all get together they could swap stories!
While Luffy hummed contentedly, casually strolling along with the swordsman, Zoro was staring at his junior - he was younger, right? - trying to figure him out. Experimentally he pushed a little more of his weight down on his shoulder, but he didn't even blink at the increase, continuing to walk with light, springing steps. Where was this kid from? Did Luffy just train as much as he did? What was his motivation?
"Oi, how'd a kid like you get so strong?"
Luffy blinked out of his thoughts, the vague image of Brooke crying over Nami's story fading as he looked to Zoro. "Well, I'm older than you, first." The Pirate ignored the incredulous grunt in favor of thinking. His least favorite activity, honestly. "I've been to the Grandline before, and had a lot of training there." The simplest answer he could give.
"You went alone?" When Luffy shook his head in negative, Zoro's brow furrowed. "Where are the people you were with before?"
He didn't want to tell the man that his crew died. Zoro's faith and trust in him was too small and fragile at this point to come clean about how they hadn't been strong enough. So he went with the next best honest answer. "They're generally pretty busy in the New World, trying to overturn the Government and all."
Zoro nodded. That made sense… "Wait, what?"
Luffy just laughed, stopping when he reached Ririka's bar. Standing by the door was Coby, talking to one of the Marines. When the pink haired boy noticed him, his face turned from thoughtful and relieved, to elated.
"Luffy!" He nodded to the Marine, who nodded slightly back and entered the bar. "You did it! And- and Morgan was the only bad one!" Apparently, he'd been worried it was the whole base. Luffy couldn't help but smile at how happy Coby was. "Ah… Roronoa Zoro…"
Oh, right. "They got the food ready, right?"
-.-.-.-.-
It was such a pain eating slowly. Usually he ate fast enough that most of his body couldn't keep up and he just expanded thanks to his rubber powers, but if he wanted to keep his powers private - he had fun thinking of it as a secret weapon - he'd have to eat the same amount over more time. He'd always been a big eater for his size, but it's not his fault so many devil fruits never let you feel full. Ace and Sabo's fires came to mind.
Still, the plates quickly stacked up along with Zoro's, matched evenly by how much sake the swordsman was ingesting. Soon, however, Zoro stopped eating, and Luffy just kept going. Three plates and Zoro stopped, but 5, 6, 8, 10…
Fork hanging out of his mouth and hands tearing at another lamb shank, Luffy snickered at the look on the man across from him's face. "Go take a nap, I'll wake you up for our fight when I'm done." He was grateful Ririka was treating, since he was sure he'd be back to broke in a matter of days if he paid for all his meals. He'd pay for supplies though; no reason to put her in the poor house.
Zoro eyed him, watching how he continued to eat with gusto, no end in sight, before nodding. "You're not going to chicken out, are you?" He taunted with a crooked grin that would be intimidating to anyone else.
"As my oldest brother always said at the worst times: 'I never run from a fight'." Zoro snorted in amusement, and Luffy grinned.
"Sounds like someone I could drink with." With a small wave, Zoro made his way to Ririka to ask about a place to sleep. Luffy vaguely noticed Coby scooting closer to Luffy at the table, having been safely seated in the middle of the two men, while he watched the swordsman get dragged off by the barmaid to the stairs.
His pink haired friend leaned over the table to see Luffy's face better. "You and Zoro are going to fight? After all of this?" Luffy didn't see what the problem was. Zoro was a physical person, and he was better with swords than he was with words. "But didn't you just save him…?"
"It's kind of a pride thing." Luffy answered. It was the easiest way to say it, even if pride was only a small part of it. For some reason, real swordsmen seemed capable of learning about someone's character based on the way they fight, something Luffy found so cool since he was told that. "Besides, we'll be traveling together no matter what happens. What, you think he can beat me?" The Pirate teased with a smile, waving his fork up and down in front of Coby's face.
"Please don't get cocky Luffy! I know you're strong, but so is Zoro!" Luffy snorted. He knew it was true, in comparison to anyone else here, but it seemed reputation intimidated Coby more than what he'd seen of his new (first, wasn't he?) friend. Understandable, he supposed; people always think the higher the bounty or amazing the story, the stronger the subject.
"Coby, if I fought Zoro the way he is now, at my own best, I could stand still for hours and he couldn't scratch me." Sticking out his arm, he let his Armament tinge his fingers that shiny black. "Remember this? I can cover all of myself in this, and Zoro can't touch me without also using Haki." Or enough force, but only maybe Sanji at his angriest right now could make him feel anything through it. That wasn't to say Zoro wasn't strong, but Luffy was to used to blades. Heck, he'd broken knives with his teeth the first time around. No Haki needed.
He was far more used to blunt objects hurting now than swords… and how backwards was that for the rubberman?
"..." Coby looked down at those black fingers thoughtfully, what he was thinking a complete mystery to Luffy. "You have to win, so you better not be overestimating yourself, Luffy. How are you going to be King if you lose here?" He looked up again, and Luffy's eyes widened at the fire in them. "If I'm going to be an Admiral someday, there's no one else I want to be the top Pirate I'm after!"
His face quickly turned red, and Luffy laughed, taking his hand back to continue eating. "And there's no one I want more hunting me down. You'll make a great Marine, Coby; I'm looking forward to seeing you in the papers!"
And he really was. He didn't really read most things the news coo sent, but at least he flipped through it to get everyone off his back. He hoped to mark Coby's progress in Water 7 again, and he hoped even more that nothing had changed to keep Coby from being trained by Garp and showing up there.
Stuffing another chunk of meat between his teeth, Luffy hummed and wiped his hands clean with a napkin. Slightly sticky hands ruffled pink hair, and he pushed back from the table, standing and scuffing his toes on the ground. "I said we'd spar when I got back, right?"
The groan he got in response made him laugh, but he couldn't deny the proud feeling in his chest when the boy got up to follow him to the back of the bar anyways.
-.-.-.-.-.-
Like last time, Luffy had just dodged and swept his feet where he could, trying to build Coby's stamina. They didn't stop until the younger was laid out flat on the ground, and Luffy laughed at him before going off to wake Zoro. It wasn't the longest nap, but it could have been worse. At least he had a nap at all.
Instead of the back of the bar - where Coby honestly was probably still laying - they went back to the courtyard, and both men had to hold back a laugh at the sight of the top half of the Morgan statue toppled to the ground. Obviously the Marines still in the building were having the times of their lives.
Standing across from one another, three swords drawn, and fists raised, the two men took a moment to size one another up. If anyone were to look in, they'd probably think the kid with the straw hat dangling from a string around his neck was doomed. Blades against bare hands, skinny brat against well built man, Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro against some nameless wannabe pirate… Luffy snickered.
"Whenever you're ready, Zoro." Taking that as his cue, the swordsman immediately dashed forward, swinging one blade up diagonally across Luffy's torso. Or he would have, if Luffy hadn't seen it coming and sidestepped.
Eyes narrowed, Zoro continued in a relentless assult, yet every time he attacked, Luffy seemed to already know what he was doing before even he did. Neck, shoulder, shoulder, sweep, shoulder check, cross horizontal swipe, chest, neck, stab… Every single one dodged. Luffy thought maybe this fight was more than a little unfair.
He knew the man's style like he knew his own powers; occasionally there's a new discovery, but all in all, Luffy knew it inside out. He didn't need Observation Haki to see the next move coming. The downside to Zoro fighting him seriously, and he was if the solid swing inches from slicing his neck open were any indication, was finding an opening.
The issue was that the blades gave him extra reach, and using three as efficiently as he did left few weakpoints. By the time Luffy, at a normal speed, could get in and throw a punch, the weakpoint would be recovered and his strike would do him more harm then good. Since he didn't want to move fast enough for the impact to break bone, and he didn't want to accidentally break one of the man's swords, this made everything that much more difficult.
Not to mention, a large part of his admittedly weak focus was directed to not reflexively using any form of Haki.
A stinging pain blossomed in Luffy's cheek, and his hand absently rose to feel it, eyeing Zoro as his expression went from frustrated, to triumphant, to baffled. "How are you not bleeding?" For a moment Luffy blinked at the man incomprehensibly, before realization dawned on him.
He'd been doing it for so long it'd become instinct to turn his blood to rubber when wounded. Something Sabo had come up with back when they first started to work together, and with how often Luffy got injured, it had saved him from bleeding out countless times. "Ah, that Devil Fruit of mine. I'm trying not to use it until we hit the Grandline, but habits, I guess…" The next time his fingers came away from the wound, they were stained red. "There we go! Okay, let's keep going."
Luffy fell back into a loose stance, ready to get back to dodging, but instead of Zoro charging in again like last time, he eyed the Pirate. The cut on his face was bleeding sluggishly, nowhere near enough for a head wound, and it had been made clear the brat was holding at least one of his powers back. What else was he hiding?
"Are you trying to make a fool or me, or are you just that strong?" He demanded from around the hilt in his mouth, eyes narrowed with suspicion. Sure, the kid didn't look very strong, with his thin, wiry frame, and the only scar on his body being a poorly stitched line across his face, but there was just something nagging at the back of his mind. Like something was tapping his shoulder but he couldn't see anything there.
"Zoro, if I wanted to make a fool of you, I'd lay you flat on the ground without even doing anything." And the kid had the nerve to just grin, like it was something completely normal for him.
Zoro stared. A bluff. It had to be a bluff. How could anyone win without doing anything? It was laughable, ridiculous! Did he honestly expect anyone to believe that? And yet…
"Show me."
Luffy relaxed his shoulders, pulling one hand back to slide his hat on. That cheeky grin stayed in place, and the thought that he was going to pull something out of his hat quickly evaporated from Zoro's mind. "You sure? You might be pretty tired after."
His grin only widened, a little too far to be normal, when the man nodded. Sliding the straw over his eyes, blocking Zoro from his view, Luffy focused entirely on the tight lid he had on his Haki. He couldn't just pop the lid; using Conqueror's Haki of that magnitude might cause any nearby civilian… issues. Unconscious for way too long issues.
While Luffy focused, Zoro scowled. Was it a bluff to buy time? Was there something he needed to do, but the relentless assault of three blades occupied him too much to do it? He'd been unpredictable so far, but somehow he didn't think lying was something the man was fond of. Still, if this was a fight, he shouldn't just let him do whatever he needed to do.
He charged forward, but as he did, Luffy sighed a heavy breath, and with it, a considerable weight pushed down on his shoulders. Zoro had to stop, and adjust to the weight, but before he could, it increased. "What the hell…?" It just kept pushing, harder and harder, and he couldn't move.
Sweat broke on his brow. He couldn't describe the feeling as just… weight. It was easy to pass it off as such, but when the 'weight' was pressing down on his chest, making his stomach heavy, pushing against his shoulders, and… almost challenging something inside of him, there was no way to just call it weight. He felt like he was being tested.
Tests, however, weren't supposed to get harder the longer you faced it. Suddenly the weight doubled, and Zoro's legs couldn't keep him up. He hit the ground, face down, and almost instantly, the feeling was gone.
"Ah, too much, too much!" He could hear the Pirate berate himself quietly. 'Too much'. Too much, but not all of it? He had more of that strange power? "Hey, Zoro, you're still conscious, right?"
"Was that your Devil Fruit or something?" He grumbled, pushing himself up from the ground with wobbling arms. So he could knock people out with that. Give the kid a head start in any fight and he'd dominate the world. Suddenly the claim of Pirate King didn't seem so absurd.
"Nope!" Luffy grinned, watching Zoro tiredly pull himself into a seated position. He knew Zoro wasn't as 100%, but that just made him even more gleeful. He'd withstood a large chunk of his Haki, even now, at the start with no experience with it. It just went to show how much potential the man had. "That was the force of my Will power!"
Zoro paused in sheathing his blades. "... Yeah, okay." He was sure he'd hear some even stranger things in the future, even if this trumped all he'd heard so far. "Your Will, okay, I'm… going to take a nap." After a brief struggle with himself, during which Luffy nodded and stood next to his slumped, seated figure, he decided he had nothing to lose. "Wake me when we leave… Captain."
Luffy's grin split his face and he snickered, holding back his bellowing laugh so Zoro could sleep. The official Pirate Captain tried to figure out what to do next, and once the idea came, he pushed the man's shoulder so he could lay back. "I'm gonna be a bit, First Mate." He had a boat "reward" to ask the Marines about.
I'm too far behind to respond to everyone but can I just say that I'm SO glad none of you seem to mind that Luffy's smarter now? Haaaa I actually did the math on how old Luffy is, and I won't tell in an AN, but it turns out he's still immature for his age, so I don't feel too bad about anything ooc.
I'm sorry to everyone who wanted a serious fight, but Zoro is still in the stage where he can't hold a candle to Mihawk, and Luffy doesn't want to hurt his best friend ^u^' Hopefully you all will get some better scenes with the two fighting, what with how I'm going to do this.
You know what I'm suddenly really excited for? Drum Island
Eyanami: I'm glad to see you theorizing, but I ain't sayin' nothin'! We'll have to wait for the far off end of the 'Third Timeline' section~ Also, your English is A+, friend!