Chapter Text
プルルル purururu
“What do you want, Glasses?”
Roronoa Zoro answered with a not-so-friendly voice. He didn’t seem to be asleep, so she must not have hindered him. Perhaps he didn’t want to talk to her? Well, the odds were high. The swordsman always seemed to despise her, but, in a similar way, she never made an effort to show her best side.
I don’t know. I guess I just wanted to talk to someone , she thought.
“Why did you decide to become a pirate?”
Tashigi was able to notice a little hesitation in his sudden silence. First of all, she was sure he wasn’t expecting a call in the middle of the night; second of all, he didn’t expect it to be a call from her; and lastly, he wasn’t expecting this question at all. But after the nasty day she had, she just didn’t care.
And it wasn’t like he cared either.
Since she gave Roronoa the den den mushi when they were investigating KAGERO, Tashigi has been desperately trying to get it back and maybe find where the crew was hiding. So these somewhat unexpected calls became a routine between them for the past few months.
Smoker had no idea she had given this communication snail, and Tashigi hoped it stayed that way. It had been two months since that happened, and so far all of her attempts have been unsuccessful—the Strawhats refused to return it and always managed to flee from her sight.
But the only thing she didn’t expect was the snail to be in possession of the swordsman Roronoa Zoro.
Tashigi believed that this could only have been Nami’s idea. Zoro didn’t look like a person who would like to have a den den mushi near him, much less be someone who would like to talk to her . Nami always likes to upset Roronoa and there would have been no better way , she thought. The last time they met, for some reason, Nami and Nico Robin arranged for the pirate to stay close to her all night during a celebration that reminded her very much of what happened at Punk Hazard.
The situation was almost the same again.
Pirates saving the day. The Navy always a step behind. The Strawhat pirates victorious once again. And Tashigi didn’t know what else to do with them. Deep down, she knew that even Smoker had no idea what to do.
Monkey D. Luffy messed up the whole concept that the world—and she—had about pirates and their villainy. And consequently, Roronoa messed up the whole concept she had about justice and freedom.
So, today I just wanted to chat as Tashigi and Roronoa.
Tashigi spent the whole evening avoiding that thought at all costs and tried to convince herself that he was the only person who might be available because… It just had been a very bad day, and quite frankly, Tashigi didn’t have many people to call a friend.
So what harm would it do to be selfish just for today ?
“For Luffy,” he answered after a while in silence. The answer was short and firm, leaving no room for any kind of inquiry. But inquiring was what she did.
“ Strawhat ?”
“Yes. Look, Captain Glasses, I don’t have that crazy sense of justice and all that prejudice like you have. Things aren’t always black and white for me, woman. Luffy saved my life and gave me a chance to achieve my goal. In return, I’d join him. Simple as that.”
Crazy sense of justice and all that prejudice, you say…
“But you used to hunt pirates…"
"Yes. But Luffy ain’t just any pirate. I know you know that. Even Smokey knows it. The Navy likes to hunt us, and I understand why, but you need to get it out of your head that everyone is the same. I’m sure we did a lot more for people in one year than the Navy did in five.”
Tashigi wanted to yell at him. She wanted to rage and spit in his face about how wrong he was, how unfair and prejudiced he was being, but no sound came out.
Because he’s right.
Because she lived all her life seeing black and white. And Vergo’s betrayal simply stained the paper that was her conscience.
Except… what the hell was she doing? How weak was she still to the point of having to depend on a group of misfits to effectively solve problems that the Navy has been trying to solve for years? How much more would this bunch still rub in her face that she was not able to do her job properly?
She really wanted to yell at him. She wanted to yell at everyone. She wanted to shout at Admirals, Vice-Admirals, marines, and the like. She wanted to yell at herself and ask why are you so weak why are you so weak why are you so weak.
“The weak don’t get to choose how they die.”
Trafalgar Law’s words still hurt her to this day. They hurt a lot. It crushed her to know the truth that she was no match for him. She was no match for Roronoa. It hurt that if it were necessary to battle against either to save some innocent life, she’d be defeated and that life could be lost.
It hurt to know she was weak.
But that pain never stopped Tashigi from moving forward and always pushing herself to exhaustion. Nobody knew how much she trained, how much she studied, how much time she devoted to her own improvement. Just as no one knew how much she cried every time she was unable to win.
How much she cried every time she crossed blades with Roronoa and lost.
“I know. You guys are… different. I… have always known. Since Alabasta,” she admitted, her voice low enough, the shame written all over it.
“Anyway. Did you just call to ask that, woman? If not, I’m already warning you we’re not returning the snail. The witch said it was good to keep it since we don’t have one.”
“That’s not why I called. I just… needed to talk to someone.”
“Haa? And that person had to be me? You didn’t have anyone else?” Roronoa snorted, the annoyance plain in his tone.
Of course… how silly of me. No one wants to hear you, Tashigi.
“I see. I’m sorry, Roronoa. I didn’t want to bother.” She gave an empty laugh and continued. “I’ll call another time to convince you all to return it to me! See you!
"O–oi…”
“Good night.” She didn’t wait for his answer and hung up without remorse. Roronoa didn’t return the call either, which confirmed her suspicions—she had really bothered him.
I just wanted to talk a bit…
Another day on a field mission and yet another failure for the captain’s collection. Another confrontation with pirates that resulted in tragedy and another shitty day for her. The feeling of helplessness was one of the worst, especially if it tended to be your fault.
Tashigi knew that she’d always get on her feet every time she fell, but there were times when she found it incredibly difficult. And at those times, she wished she could have someone to turn to, but … that wasn’t the case. Or maybe she went to the wrong person.
Why resort to Roronoa Zoro of all people?
She didn’t call again for two months.