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When Roronoa first arrived at his island, the feeling Mihawk had about that was annoyance. He hated it that his own private retreat was being invaded by him, and by the ghost girl. The story they gave about having been transported over by Kuma might make sense, but that was where it ended.
He kept silent, and gritted his teeth, especially when Roronoa Zoro asked him to take him on as his apprentice. He had seen what the man would be capable of in a few years. It wasn’t that far-fetched to know that he would be able to be defeated by this very same man at one point in their lives. Knowing that he would be teaching him, and looking on as he progressed helped in some regard. Maybe not with his annoyance, but it did with his boredom.
Grinning as he told the younger man to go and deal with the gorillas outside first, once he managed to defeat them he would take him on. Roronoa hadn’t been pleased with that, but had done as asked. He more than likely swallowed his pride and left, getting up at the crack of dawn to take on the monkeys.
Except that he had looked exceedingly more tired, tired enough that he wasn’t paying attention to everything and had almost lost an eye because of that. One of these days he would lose one, which was something that wouldn’t do.
Stretching out his observation haki, Mihawk found that Zoro was still in his room. He didn’t seem to have left it, and wasn’t moving around to get ready. Something that struck him as odd.
Sighing, he got up out of his chair to go and look at Zoro. Now that he thought about it; Perona hadn’t been around today either. Part of him was wondering if they were getting closer, if there was something going on between the two of them. He didn’t mention the feelings that brought along. It had been a long time since he had felt something like jealousy welling up in him.
“One more reason not to have others over on my island again. Maybe a good thing that Shanks hasn’t been able to find this yet. I’d never have a moment of peace.”
Making his way up the stairs and towards the room Zoro had chosen as his own, he knocked, frowning when he didn’t receive an answer.
“Roronoa?”
When he didn’t get an answer, he knocked once more, opening the door when he didn’t receive a reply.
The first thing he noticed was Perona standing in the room. Looking very much like she was caught with her hand in the cookie jar. The second thing was Zoro laying on the bed with one eye covered, shivering as sweat beaded on his forehead.
Perone sighed, “I knew you’d find out eventually. I told him to go and look for you, but he refused.”
Looking at the man on the bed, she added, “He wanted to sleep with that wound yesterday and got a fever throughout the night. I think it’s infected.”
With that, she turned and made her way out of the room. Looking back once to see locked eyes with a Mihawk and smile softly. Nodding once, she closed the door behind her, leaving him alone with an obviously ill Zoro.
“Whatever did you do to yourself?”
Taking a step closer, Mihawk got the gauze off of one eye. Seeing that it was bisected and as such not usable anymore. Frowning, he went about cleaning the wound. He did have some experience with infections in or around wounds from a sword. But this was without a doubt the worst one he had seen. Looking around the room for material Perona had left behind, he washed his hands before going about dressing the wound again. Leaving for a moment to get an antibiotic ointment he had laying around. This had to be something to look out for, and to get a doctor involved once it became clear it wouldn’t get better.
Once the wound was dressed, he wondered what could have made Zoro so unfocused that he lost an eye. Shaking his head, he made himself comfortable in the chair Perona no doubt had used, intending to keep an eye on the other swordsman while he recovered.
Zoro woke up to pain still being present in his eye, he was well aware that this wouldn’t be one of those ailments that would disappear overnight. Groaning, he tried to look around his room. He was sure that Perona had been here the night before.
Only, she wasn’t right now, instead Mihawk was sleeping in the chair Perona had taken last night. The other swordsman was resting his head back, sleeping if the soft noises coming from him were any indication. Touching his eye, he felt a bandage over it, grimacing as he did so.
Wanting to keep quiet, he tried to move without too much noise. Something which was rendered moot when a coughing fit took over. It had been that coughing that made him lose sleep and get his eye cut out. Pressing a hand over his lips, he tried to keep it down.
Looking up when a hand patted him on the back as a glass of water was hovered in front of him. Looking at the arm holding it, he found golden eyes looking at him. Something in them tells him to take the glass and drink it.
“Sorry for waking you.”
Mihawk shook his head, “It doesn’t matter. How long have you been having that cough?”
Scowling, Zoro shook his head, “About a week, I thought it would go over.”
Shaking his head, he looked on as Mihawk went to the fireplace that was in the room. Getting a fire going fast enough that Zoro believed the man to hold a fire natured devil fruit. Looking on, he found that he was warmer soon enough.
“Thank you.”
Mihawk shook his head, “It gets chilly here in the evening. I’m used to it, but I guess that you aren’t.”
At Zoro’s scowl he added, “There is nothing wrong with that, just know that we aren’t all the same. You should know better than this, learn to listen to your body, it tells you things for a reason you know.”
As he approached Zoro again, a finger ran across the gauze over his eye, “You could have avoided losing this.”
Shrugging, Zoro looked at the older man, “I’ll manage. I know what I am keeping in mind to reach as a goal. And something like this won’t stop me from reaching it.”
Mihawk nodded, “That’s a good mindset, still, don’t lose sight of other things. Your goal is a worthy one, but you mustn't lose sight of other things to consider.”
Looking Zoro over, he added, “I doubt your captain would like it if you’re not able to join him again. Strawhat looks to be a captain that values his nakama above everything else.”
Zoro nodded at that, Luffy was indeed that kind of captain. He loved his nakama and saw all of them as his family in a way that some of them hadn’t had in a long time. Looking at Mihawk, and thinking about Perona, Zoro couldn’t help but think that maybe he found some others that he could call his family. It wasn’t something that he lost sight of, the way that Mihawk did welcome them into his home even when he obviously loved his solitude. He was also there when it counted, and he appreciated that.
After several days in bed, Zoro was allowed to get up again. Given that he took it easy. He found that he was forced to do that, as Mihawk seemed to have caught whatever bug it was that he had at first. In his mind the least thing he could do was make the man feel better.
The glances they exchanged didn’t go unnoticed. It felt weird to have these feelings for his rival, but they had been striving for the same title at one point in their lives. Mihawk already had the title, while Zoro was trying to get to it. So it wasn’t that strage.
His promise to Luffy, and his prospect at seeing the crew again was what made him leave after pressing close to his rival turned lover. They would run into each other again, he was sure of that.