He had forgotten. Sandai Kitetsu came whistling down, cleaving his enemy in half. His crewmates, as well as the marines they were fighting, froze.

"Demon," the captain breathed in horror, screeching for a retreat. The marines scrambled back onto their ship, and took off as fast as they could. The Straw Hats remained frozen until the enemy ship had dissapeared into the horizon.

Luffy finally looked Zoro in the eye. By this time, Zoro had realised the gravity of his mishap.

"You killed him," Luffy said, the brim of his hat casting a shadow over his face.

Zoro began shaking. He looked down and saw he was bathed in blood. His enemy, the nameless marine, was still in two parts on the ground. He looked away, unable to face his mistake. It was unspoken rule in the crew. They never, ever, mutilated, or killed unless absolutely necessary. Zoro had done both.

"I didn't mean to," Zoro stuttered. He felt woozy, and his head was light.

"You did mean to," said Luffy, his voice steady. Nami choked on a sob. Even Robin, who was particularly fond of gore, looked uncomfortable.

"You wouldn't have done it if you didn't mean to," said Luffy. Zoro felt suffocated and claustrophobic. He could feel the crew's disgust and mortification pressing into him.

"You're a demon," Luffy spat.

The deck of the Sunny caved, and Zoro fell through it. The two halves of the body tumbled down with him, and they were all plunged into darkness. Zoro screamed as he was shot down into what seemed like oblivion.

"Zoro! ZORO!" Sanji shook the man. Zoro woke up, his mouth agape in a half-finished scream.

"What the hell?" Sanji spluttered, his face red with exhaustion.

"I'm a demon!" Zoro clutched his head, slamming it into the floor of the crow's nest.

"Stop it!" Sanji exclaimed, restraining the swordsman, who was whirling around, looking for his swords.

"NO! Let me go!" Zoro cried, wrenching away from Sanji's grip and tearing towards the rack of bokken. He grabbed the first one he saw, and slammed it on his wrist. He heard a cracking sound, and heaved a sigh of relief when he found that it was indeed broken.

"Stop it, Marimo!" Sanji yelled, careening over to Zoro and forcing him to the floor.

"The other one," Zoro panted desperately, "let me break the other one."

"Enough already!" Sanji planted a knee in his back. He slammed his fist into Zoro's temple, and Zoro's vision blurred before fading to black.

When he came to, his head and wrist were aching. He heard Chopper grinding some herbs, and realised he was in the medical office. He struggled to sit up, unable to use his left wrist.

"Zoro!" Chopper gasped, rushing over to his bedside. He changed swiftly into a more humanoid form, and helped Zoro into a more comfortable position.

"What happened?" Chopper asked, worriedly, "Sanji said you went nuts! Did you break your own wrist? Is your head okay?"

"No, no, no, no," Zoro shook his head, clutching at the sheets of the bed. They were much too clean, much too soft, and much too pure for a demon like him.

"Zoro?" Chopper asked slowly and tentatively, "What happened?"

"I-I cut him," Zoro mumbled, clutching his forehead.

"Zoro," Chopper said softly, "please be more specific."

"I cut him in half," Zoro panted, "and then Luffy- no! Luffy!"

Zoro broke into a sweat. He was a monster, a complete monster. Why in the world would Luffy want him on this ship?

"Who did you cut?" asked Chopper.

"A-a marine," Zoro heaved, his head pounding.

"When?"

Zoro paused. How long had it been… Since he had last cleaved someone in half? His mind began spinning backwards. Days, weeks, months, and years passed until he finally settled on the last time he'd shed so much of a single person's blood.

"16. I was 16 years old."

"Chopper!" Luffy came barreling through the door.

"Luffy!" Chopper protested, grabbing the captain and preventing him from reaching Zoro.

"But he's finally up!" Luffy whined, "I was worried!"

Zoro looked at his captain in awe.

"You're not upset with me?" Zoro asked, blinking several times.

"No?" said Luffy, confused. "Why would I be?"

"You wouldn't be," Zoro realised blurrily. He had met Luffy when he was 19. Three years after he'd stopped mutilating his targets.

"Luffy," Zoro began. "If I told you, that I was a demon, and that I wasn't safe to be around, would you still want me in the crew?"

Luffy tilted his head.

"Yeah? Half of us are basically demons already," he added, stretching out his cheek for emphasis. "And you wouldn't ever hurt any of us."

"And If I cut up an enemy into lots of bits and pieces, would you mind?"

Luffy frowned.

"I trust your judgement," he said, furrowing his eyebrows. "I don't think you would do something like that unless you had to."

"No," Zoro replied, chewing on his lip, "I won't do that.

"Good," Luffy said, smiling widely at him.

A.N.: So. I was writing, and my computer crashed. I lost half of this one-shot, and nearly all of ObscureWriter's birthday shot. I've, as you can see, re-written it, but unfortunately I am 2 days late on Zoro's one-shot, and will probably be 3 days late on ObscureWriter's request shot. I feel horrid, but lesson learnt: save my work every 15 minutes or so.

I honestly feel like Zoro has to break down sometimes, doing what he does. It's not pretty, and it's probably awful to deal with. As well, dealing with his demonic side can't be fun either. Granted, he tends to embrace it, but there must be times when he isn't so keen to welcome Asura with open arms. Perhaps he'd like to feel human sometimes?

(And, on a more minor note, to address a Guest's comment concerning the use of the word 'nakama': I am aware of the definition of the word in Japanese. But I've chosen to use it because it does have a meaning contextually in One Piece that deviates from the dictionary definition. The bond between a pirate and their crew in does not, in my humble opinion, translate well as simply "comrade" or "companion". Thus, I will be continuing to use the word throughout.)