Just a little one-shot for you guys since I haven't been able to update in such a LONG time. Also, I want to try out a new type of style, so tell me if you like it or not! ^^ It's Easter and I was just thinking that you might want something to read when your family is screaming at you or each other about how messy the house is or how the ham isn't the same as last year like my family is. Also, I have a stupid cold that makes me feel like a balloon... it's actually kind of fun since I don't get colds like this often. XD

Anyhow, this story is in an AU where Sanji is a vampire and Zoro is the manager of a convenience store that Sanji works nights at to cover up his identity as a vampire. Some things happen and Zoro suspects the blonde to be a demon of some sort, but that's not entirely the case. The swordsman confronts him about it and Sanji has no choice but to clear his name, but he dirties it in another way at the same time. Will Zoro accept him as he is or push him away like everyone else?

^^ Hope you enjoy.

Happy Easter!

~!~

Sanji POV

I walked down the empty streets after a nice meal at the Baratie, my favorite restaurant and home. The other vampires there tend to make fun of me for not killing my victims, but I just can't bring myself to take another person's life so easily while they are under my spell. It doesn't make a difference if a few people die. That's why I don't try to stop any of the other vampires from killing people.

The Baratie is full of vampires. Staff, live-in's, and even the customers are all vampires. There's a special seal on the restaurant that makes it look like an abandoned house to humans. If a human manages to make it through the barrier without getting turned around, they're usually met with a gigantic restaurant that wasn't there at first. That is, if they make it that far. By then, the vampires that spend most of their day there have already picked the poor soul out from the rest of us and killed them without a second thought.

I work part time at a convenience store during the night so that people don't get suspicious of me living in a gorgeous apartment that only someone with a steady income could afford. I've lived for years though, so the cash has just built up over time and I don't even need to keep a job. It's just that people become suspicious if you say that you inherited all kinds of money from your dead relatives. The manager of the convenience store I work at is kind of a nut job though.

He keeps all these swords hidden in a back room and three in his office. Sometimes I find him polishing the swords instead of taking inventory or organizing bills like a manager should be doing. We don't get along at all, but there is just a little bit of acknowledgment and respect between us. I find myself looking up to him sometimes, like when someone tries to steal something from the store and he stops them and asks them a simply question.

Why?

After they tell him the reason, he sometimes lets them off the hook. Like the one time when a boy in his early teens tried to steal some bagels from the store. The manager asked him that one question and he said something about how he had a sick sister who was starving and he didn't have money. He proceeded to tell us on how his parents had abandoned his sister and tried to leave her to die because she was sickly and weak. Apparently, the kid had ran away from home to tend to his sister in the old house the day after they left her to find his sister in worse condition and hungry.

Like always, the manager dragged me along to cook for the kids and feed them while he tried to call his one friend who was a doctor. The doctor managed to make it to the specified place, even with the bad directions of my manager, and helped the girl. She was fixed by the young... man, boy... he was only twelve. They had gone back to their parents all healthy and full, thanks to me and the doctor, Chopper, and no thanks to my manager who proceeded to punch and scream at their parents for leaving them alone. I had to hold him back that day or he would have done worse. That day had surprised me in two ways. One, Chopper was only twelve and two, my manager wasn't as damn stubborn and shitty as I had originally thought.

His name...

Zoro.

~!~

Zoro POV

I sit in my office watching the door on a cold, dark night. I'm currently waiting for him to walk through that door. Sometimes, I get so used to him being here that I am actually starting to get a little lonely without him here. There's just something about him though that feels... different. Other people call me odd, but he just goes with the flow of things.

When I was little, I was abandoned by my parents and placed in an adoption center. At the adoption center I met with a little girl that took care of me like a brother. She taught me how to use a sword and I became a swordsman on the side. Someone adopted me and then died soon after, I was eighteen by then. I inherited his convenience store and then I got the news...

Kuina had died.

Ever since then, I haven't opened up to anyone else. It was probably my fault that she had died that one night. I was talking to her over the phone about how I had missed the center, the swords... her. She said something about bringing her favorite sword to me the next day. On her way to my new... empty... house, she wasn't watching where she was going and was hit by a car. Now, I blame myself for getting too close to her, just like with my parents. I got to close and they disappeared from my life.

~!~

Normal POV

Sanji walked down the street without a care in the world. It was pitch black outside, but he could see more than the average person. He lived in a city of crime without even caring. People were almost always mugged on the streets, except for a few privileged few. Those privileged few were all vampires.

He opened the door to the familiar convenience store. His mint green haired manager sat in the back practically glaring at the door, like always, waiting for the blonde employee and customers within the next few minutes.

Sanji relieved a hyper raven from the cash register. He always wondered why the manager kept an airhead like that around considering the theft rate went up when he was there. The raven, Luffy, nearly bounced and bounded out of the store screaming for meat before disappearing into the darkened street outside.

Nights in the store were far less crowded and mellow than during the day. Sanji had managed one day shift, with the help of an elder's blood, when he first became a cashier and had hated it for all the noise and rude people. During the night hours, there were far less people and they were the mellow night owls he had grown up to love. Vampires sometimes even stopped by to pick up something to snack on for parties and such while he was working the register.

~!~

"Oi, Blondie, you're two seconds late." Zoro growled from the office.

"Tch, picky moss head." Sanji snarled back defiantly, the mint head was just too precise sometimes.

"What did you call me?" Zoro poked his head out of the office with a deep scowl.

"Nothing." Sanji waved it off as he set up the cash register and checked to make sure that they gained money during the day instead of losing it.

~!~

Sanji POV

I watched the clock tick as I was starting to drift off into boredom. Bringing a magazine to read was the right thing to do, but I should have brought about a hundred more. At the beginning of the night, I had whipped out my cooking magazine to see just what I could find that would make a good meal when put together and after ten minutes I had managed to put together about twenty meals and had leafed through the whole magazine.

Zoro had snaked his way out of the office carrying three brooms and disappeared to the back of the store while glimpsing at me while glaring daggers like he was up to something. I'm not sure exactly why he would want three brooms, but whatever. I caught a glimpse of him sweeping the floor a few times and wondered if he was training for some National Sweeping Competition or something.

It was weird.

The door chimes jingled while I was digging around under the register for something to do and when I looked up I saw the fleeting figure of someone walking back the isles. There was a mirror up in the corner that was angled so that I could watch what the customers were doing in the isles and I looked up to see the man approaching Zoro. They talked about something quick and the next thing I knew, he had a hold of the moss's shirt and was baring his...

fangs.

The light in my mind clicked and the next thing I knew, I was at the guy's side with a hand on his forearm. I let my eyes flash their true hue and the man slowly lowered the idiot to the ground with nothing but a small smirk. He spoke old English, making it hard for normal people to understand the context of his sentences, and apologized. Before I could confront him anymore, he was gone.

I turned to see Zoro staring at me like I had been hit by a bus. It was then that I realized that just my face made a 'killer' put his prey down and apologize before running off. There was a second of hesitation and I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Zoro huffed a word under his breath and that's all it took for my eyes to widen and me to run off into the night as well.

Demon...

~!~

Zoro POV

I watched the retreating figure of my blonde cashier. There's no justification for what had slipped past my lips. My mind whirred as I tried to process the whole ordeal over again. A man with fangs and a grip that could crunch steel had attacked me and told me that I would become his next meal. The blonde stepped in and with a gentle place of his hands and what I could assume as an icy stare from those deep blue eyes he managed to make the man gently put me down and apologize, as well as leave the store entirely.

I should have never said that word...

After a few seconds of processing, I slipped into my office and grabbed my swords before heading out after the blonde. I locked the store and turned around to see... darkness. Letting my mind wander to the hurt expression in those blue eyes, I followed the color in my mind.

Most people would say that I wandered around the town for about an hour before eventually seeing the slightest glimpse of him, but that's not true. I followed what I would consider my 'light' that I usually follow when I want to talk to someone. It involves following them at a steady pace, not running ahead blindly like Luffy does.

~!~

Normal POV

Zoro walked around in what seemed like aimless circles. He noticed a glimpse of black clothing before someone stepped out onto the path he was taking. The person had a nose that kind of looked like a blade and he was so pale he was starting to turn a bluish hue.

He took a few steps forward, showing razor sharp teeth and elongated canines. Zoro placed a hand on one of his katana and took a defensive stance. There was the brief smell of cigarettes and the wind whipping past as the odd man took a lung forward only to be stopped.

~!~

Zoro POV

I smelled the briefest whiff of cigarette smoke and felt the wind whip past me as I watched the 'fish' man lung forward with a speed that shouldn't be possible. Just before I could grab a hold of my katana and unsheathe it, he was already upon me. My body froze before the man's gaze, like chains of titanium were holding me down. Then I smelled it again...

cigarettes.

Long thin legs dropped down in front of me and crouched. A cigarette balanced delicately between thin, firm lips. The black clothing concealing everything but the dim light of the burning cigarette and beach blonde hair. As my limbs started to move again, my stomach jumped into my throat. His thin, long legs stretched out and slammed into the 'fish' man with a roundabout kick, effectively reversing the momentum and sending the man crashing into a brick building with enough force to crack the bricks.

I looked at the distance between me and the 'fish' man, then back at my cashier. Throwing someone that far was impossible, let alone kicking someone the same length. He turned ever so slightly, showing his one eye ever so slightly. It was no longer the deep blue I was used to seeing and my breath caught in my throat. His eye was now a dark scarlet color that seemed to bore through me.

"Shitty swordsman, can't even pull the blade out in time." He sounded pained.

"Shut up shit cook! Dropping out of nowhere like that, gave me a fucking heart attack." I sneered, trying to cover up my nervousness and...

no...

Roronoa Zoro is not afraid.

Never...

~!~

Sanji POV

I look back at the ball of moss. If I hadn't been walking past earlier and happen to notice him walking around aimlessly towards Arlong Park, he'd have been dead by now. My kind don't think twice before stuffing themselves with poor wanderers in the night. He looks like he had been under the tranquility effect that our eyes have on humans.

My head whips back around as I hear the crunch of bricks. I made it just in time to see a part of the brick wall being hurtled towards me and I break it with a swift downward kick. Zoro makes an odd noise and I see Arlong trying to slip past me.

I move my body with an inhuman twist and nick Arlong in the side, sending him back into the bricks. Turning, I see Zoro standing there stiff as a rail and unhappy as hell. If I was just some random human that didn't know anything about one of my employees who happens to be a monster, I would have already shit myself and ran off crying for the nearest young lady to hug me. I give him points for staying right where he was at least.

~!~

Zoro POV

Shit...

I watch as the bricks shower the sidewalk. Mere seconds had passed and the 'fish' man was already back to the brick wall. The brick wall that had been thrown at the blonde was nearly obliterated and dust clouds puffed around him, making it harder to see. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of several eyes of the same scarlet hue that the 'fish' man and my blonde cashier had.

He turned on his heel in one swift movement, letting me get a good view of his deep scarlet orbs. Next thing I knew, my hand was being yanked along. I could tell that he was pacing himself because his extremely long legs were taking slower steps than mine. My lungs started to burn as he just kept on dragging me down winding paths and narrow alleys.

Something that sounded like claws scraping against rooftops echoed down the empty alleyway that we were running through. The shit cook dragged me into an abandoned warehouse before dragging heavy machinery in front of the door, effectively blocking it. Questions ran through my head as I heaved big gulps of oxygen. My blonde cashier was doing the same, but he probably wasn't nearly as tired as I was. What exactly was he?

An angel...?

A demon...?

Vampire...?

Which one?

I spoke before thinking. Not the worst thing I've done.

"What was that all about?" I heaved.

"You probably don't want to know." He averted his gaze to the other side of the warehouse.

"I think I deserve to know since I was attacked by that... that thing." I bit back, the word that I had said earlier replaying through my mind.

"Fine... but I'm not going to sugarcoat it for your delicate moss brain." The blonde barked back, obviously offended by my choice of words.

~!~

Sanji POV

I thought and thought about where to start with what I was about to tell the shit head. My mind buzzed with all of the possible outcomes and what could happen. There was no way in hell I chose to be like this, but I coped with it. Where the hell should I start?

"Well?" The moss head sounded impatient and nervous. Great, just great.

"That was... a... vampire." I'll just start with the obvious.

"No shit." He didn't sound impressed. "Why the hell did he attack me?"

"Blood, shit for brains." Wow, just... wow. How dense could he be?

"Oh. How did you get there so fast?"

Here it goes... "I was walking by and noticed you."

"No... What I mean is, how did you get between us so fast? He was moving far faster than any human." He had a damn good poker face for a shit for brains.

"I was nearby..." I don't want to answer him so I avoid his eyes for just a second and he starts to give me a questioning look.

"Explain why your eyes had turned the same color as his earlier." That damn moss was demanding.

I felt my stomach flop and I wanted to run and hide. I've been trying to keep him in the dark when it came to the reasons for me not showing up at work and any cuts I had gotten healing fast. Not to mention the fact that I seemed to always be around at night but never during the day, or how I avoid day shifts like the plague. I just didn't want to hurt him like all the other people I had seen disappear from my life over the years due to me being an immortal with a family of killers.

"That's because..." My voice cracked a bit so I stopped. It hurt more than being impaled by metal spikes and bullets.

"Spit it out already." His voice held zero hostility, but there wasn't any comfort within it at all either.

"I... I..." I felt the all too familiar sting behind my eyes and the tightening of my throat. I was about to cry. Why? I don't know...

~!~

Zoro POV

I watch as the blonde before me starts to shatter like a dropped vase. His deep blue eyes start to tear up and water. My stomach jumps up to my throat as I watch him break. I was used to his coldness towards the world except for when someone was starving. But even then, there was still an underlying coldness that I could always pick out. It was always as if he was hiding something from everyone. Now I know.

"I... I... I... I..." He seems to choke on the last few words and I can't help but feel hurt when the tears start streaming down his face.

His legs shake and give out under him, letting him slide slowly to the floor. I walk over with a stoic mask and catch him before he can hit the floor completely. He grabs my shirt gently and cried into it as we slide the rest of the way down to the floor. My usually stoic, icy, blonde cashier is now crying into my chest with weak sobs.

"Shh..." I coo at him quietly, my voice sounding louder than it should be. "It's okay..."

"I... I..." The blonde chokes into my chest as he struggles to get it all out.

"Sanji..." Calling his voice stops what he was about to say and he hiccups ever so slightly. "It's okay... you don't have to tell me..." I've already figured it out.

One large deep blue eye looks up at me, brimming with tears. "But... I..."

"Shh... I don't mind..." I coo comfortingly into his hair as he starts to hiccup some more.

"R-really?" Sanji looks back up at me with that sad expression and it makes my stomach flop and my chest hurt. What the hell did he do to me over the last few months?

I don't know...

Nor do I even care.

I pull him closer to me as I rest my head on his. "Really." I repeat. He snuggles closer to my chest and I feel him sniffle and I smile. He's trying his hardest to stop crying. For my sake. "I don't mind at all." I say reassuringly. I don't even know what I'm doing anymore.

All I know is that...

I don't want him to cry anymore.

~!~

Author's POV xD

So, how did you think I did? If you liked the new style that I tried for mostly first person point of views then either PM me or just leave it under the reviews so that I know how to do first person stories and one-shot fillers like this when I can't update for a long time. T.T

I'm currently using a stationary computer in my bedroom, but it won't read my USB!

My dad had built the computer for me and told me that he switched the wiring around a bit the last time he checked it but it still won't read my USB, yet the wireless mouse and wired keyboard work... as well as my digital drawing tablet (with some difficulties, but it still works!). Oh well, I'll figure something out sooner or later. :P

I hope you enjoyed the filler! I might write another one in a week or two if I can't figure out how to get my files off my USB...

T/T