Disclaimer: One Piece (and its characters) belongs to Eiichiro Oda-sensei.

Reminder: I have no beta-reader. Any grammatical and spelling errors are solely mine.

Warning: OOC possible.

Rating: T

Note: From the 24 hours prompt request in my tumblr by mina175.

24 Hours

[17:13] | [5:13 PM]

Zoro ascended the last of the steps leading to the brick pavement in front of the apartment complex with a huff.

It's been a long and tiring day for him at the dojo. Between the upcoming kendo competition and teaching some of his juniors—which their master had forcibly entrusted to him since they are short of one instructor—it was honestly a miracle that he was able to leave as early as he did.

Zoro wearily made his way towards the building's entrance. He ran a hand across his hair as he made plans on how to spend the rest of the day.

Have a beer. Hit the shower. Have another beer and then sleep.

That sounded good enough.

He stopped short when he saw an unfamiliar figure in front of the entryway. It was a woman, with long orange-haired reminiscent of the color of the setting sun.

She was clutching a brown paper bag filled with groceries on one arm, while the other was busy digging inside the small bag resting on her hip.

Wasn't that… the girl he saw peering from one of the balconies last week during his early morning run?

He knew she was new in their neighborhood. He had never seen her before in their complex.

Zoro heard her groan loudly as he approached. It was followed by a rather exasperated 'damn it'.

"Nami you moron!" She was castigating herself. "Where is that fucking key card?!"

Nami eh?

So that was her name.

"I swear to g—"

"Need help?" He grunted, cutting her off. From the looks of it, her next sentence is gonna be filled with expletives that might even shame his vocabulary.

He wasn't trying to be friendly. But she was hogging the keycard reader and he'd very much like it if he can proceed inside without any delay than necessary.

She swiftly turned towards him. One of the oranges in her grocery bag fell out.

Zoro immediately caught it without any effort at all, earning a look of amazement from the woman in front of him.

She blinked twice, staring at him before a spark of recognition appeared behind her warm, brown eyes.

"Oh. It's you," she said rather tonelessly as her stance immediately shifted to a guarded one.

That made Zoro cocked an eyebrow at her.

Him?

She met his gaze boldly, without any hint of reticence typically seen in some people who are actually new in the area.

Or in some people who are in the presence of someone they didn't know.

That actually touch a nerve in him for reasons he couldn't fathom.

"You're the guy I saw running around in the park at the back some days ago."

"Yeah… what about it?" Zoro asked in a rather brusque manner, irked at the way she was talking to him.

"You stopped just in front of my balcony and looked straight at me."

"…"

"Yeah you did," the orange-haired woman nodded. "Then you huffed like you saw something unpleasant before sprinting off to God-knows-where." She paused and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Huh?!"

Zoro stared at her incredulously. What the hell is wrong with this woman? He can't even remember that he did something like that!

"I was running!" He blurted out rather defensively. Not that he needed to explain to her or anything.

The woman just shrugged her shoulders, grabbing the fruit from his hand to place it back on her grocery bag.

"Thought you saw something you didn't like."

He continued looking at her in disbelief. What the hell is up with this crazy witch?

Zoro felt his temper flared slightly at their short exchange.

He can feel it in his bones.

This woman will be nothing but trouble for him.

Suddenly she broke into a cheeky grin, making her pretty face light up.

Holding out her hand, she said,

"I'm Nami. What's your name?"

– The End –

R and R please.