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It was originally Zoro’s intention to head to the galley for breakfast, but once again, he found himself in a supply closet. Damn Revolutionaries’ ship.
The Sunny made much more architectural sense. Even if he’d only had a month after leaving Water 7 to memorize the layout before everything went to hell in Sabaody. And then he’d barely stepped back on board before they were fighting fishmen. After picking up Law, there had been a few weeks of readjustment and ignoring everybody’s taunts (no, he did not spend all his time in the crow’s nest because it was easy to find, shut up). But he had finally, finally made it to bed three times in a row without someone guiding him…and now the ship was god-knows-where.
Not that he didn’t trust the ones who had been left on the Sunny. He wasn’t even that worried about Sanji being stuck dealing with Big Mam; more like, it was irritating that he was the only one in the ‘Monster Trio’ who had yet to challenge a Yonkou. That would have to be rectified with Kaidou, because Blackbeard and Shanks were for Luffy to deal with.
Instead, what bothered Zoro was the fact that the Strawhats had been split up for so long, when it was only supposed to be temporary. He didn’t have much justification for being uneasy, considering how they’d been training alone for two years. He admitted that this was probably the price of having nakama. He’d be stuck feeling like little puzzle pieces of him were missing, until they were all together again.
With those kinds of somber thoughts in mind, Zoro opened the galley door, having finally stumbled upon it. He was greeted by everybody else finishing breakfast. The first thing he noticed was that Luffy had changed his shirt from last night, which immediately set off warning bells in his head. It was a fact that Luffy didn’t care much for hygiene, same as Zoro; they were in the unofficial once-a-week bath club. Zoro changed his outfit when he started smelling bad. Luffy changed his outfit when someone from the crew physically yanked his clothes off.
“Oi. Luffy.”
“Hrmm?” Luffy looked up from his plate.
“Got a second?” Zoro nodded toward the hallway, glancing to see if anyone else had the same suspicions as him. As Luffy gulped down the last of his food, and Sabo’s eyes started drifting toward his brother, Robin conveniently distracted the revolutionary with the story about how she became a Strawhat. Usopp and Franky raised their eyebrows at Zoro, and when he shook his head slightly, Usopp started adding details about Sogeking to the story, with Franky quickly sobbing like an open faucet. As Zoro closed the door, Law was still pretending that he hadn’t noticed, his eyes subtly following their exit.
After the third wrong turn, Luffy took the lead to guide Zoro back to the sleeping quarters. He didn’t seem to notice how pensive Zoro had become. When they entered, Luffy was still chatting about what they were going to find at Zou, but Zoro didn’t care. Instead, he ripped Luffy’s shirt off, clamping him in place by the arms. It was a good thing that Luffy was Luffy, because any other pirate captain would have slit his throat for insubordination, if not sexual harassment. Zoro could hear Luffy shouting indignantly about what the hell was going on as he inspected his captain’s chest, then spun Luffy around. Suddenly, all he could register was the pale-red, blistering handprints that had shredded through the bandages on Luffy’s back . Like the wings of a deranged angel.
“He did this.”
Luffy twisted his neck to see what Zoro meant, and quickly ripped himself out of his grasp. “No! I mean, yeah, but Sabo didn’t mean to!” Luffy reached for his shirt, which was lying on the floor. “He probably didn’t notice what he was doing. I mean, it took me years to punch in a straight line, and Sabo’s only had his powers for a few days!”
For once, Luffy’s argument made logical sense. Yet Zoro couldn’t agree with it. There was just something about an older brother who wasn’t emotionally stable enough to avoid hurting Luffy, let alone notice he was doing so. And I left the two of them alone, Zoro internally snarled.
“It’s fine.” There was a quiet pleading in Luffy’s voice. “It’s not the first time I’ve gotten burned. Don’t tell Law, ok? I don’t need him to make it go away. Besides, it’ll heal by itself over time.”
“Why?” Zoro asked. “This is the first time I’ve heard you try to avoid getting bandaged up.”
Luffy took his time to answer, refusing to meet Zoro’s eyes. “It’s kinda like a hug.”
Zoro got a twitchy sensation in his hands. He wanted to do…something. Pat Luffy in reassurance? Punch a wall? Strangle a certain tophatted guy? He settled with gripping Wado’s hilt furiously.
He understood, he really did. Because Sabo may have eaten the Mera Mera no Mi, but there was only one man who would be automatically associated with fire. That constant sensation on Luffy’s back must have felt like his other older brother was still there. It was a sign of past attachments; with Wado in his hand, Zoro didn’t have a right to argue otherwise.
“Luffy.” He locked eyes with his reluctant Captain, wrestling with the words in his head. Is there anything you need to tell me? Anything I should say? We found each other again at Sabaody and took off from the ground running. Then there was that damn Hody, then Noah, Punk Hazard, Dressrosa, and finally we’re here, alone for a change. And I’ve come to realize that you’re the same, but at the same time, there’s something different about you and I haven’t had enough time to decide whether it’s a bad thing. “Are you ok?”
Zoro expected a grin, a ‘shishishi’ and a ‘Zoro’s worrying too much’. He expected his honest doubts to be brushed off.
Luffy must have sensed something, and instead responded with a calm stare. “I’m as good as I’ll ever be.” Like he was trying to remind the both of them. He turned around and headed for the door, likely to hunt down some more breakfast. “I’ll go on ahead.” He left Zoro behind to ponder what he’d just heard.
Only Zoro wasn’t one to ponder; he was one to act. This situation wasn’t a problem, exactly, nor was it something he knew how to deal with. So he could only console himself with Luffy’s familiar enthusiasm for food, and quickly ran to catch up, always half a step behind his captain.