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Fighting and arguing were commonplace between Zoro and Sanji. It wasn’t a normal day without it. Which is why the rest of the crew realized something was wrong when they were completely avoiding each other. Even at dinner time, Zoro’d take his food and leave. And Sanji, as much as he valued eating dinner with everybody, let him go.
Something had happened and neither of them were breaking. Nami and Usopp had taken it upon themselves to get to the bottom of this, to restore normalcy, however annoying it may have been.
So the detective duo planned to stake out in the kitchen, watching Sanji go about his daily chores. If they wanted info, Sanji may be their best bet.
Sanji’s day started early in the morning, waking up shortly before Brook and heading to the kitchen. When Usopp heard him wake, he scrambled to get up and wake Nami so their investigation could commence.
Casually, they strolled into the kitchen, seating themselves at the table. And normally, when Nami or Robin would enter the same room as Sanji, he would make a huge deal out of it. His pupils turned into hearts, his voice pitched three octaves higher, swirling around them in a flurry of love, dedicated to serving their every need.
But that’s not what happened when Nami entered. All she got was a low ‘Good Morning’ and a slight smile. Red flag number one; Usopp mentally made note of it.
They watched him closely, eyes flicking away every time Sanji would glance back at them. Usopp and Nami rarely woke up early enough to see Sanji preparing breakfast, but they had seen him make lunch and dinner numerous times. Every time, he’d be cherry, peppy, and generally happy to go about cooking for his nakama.
Red flag number two, Nami spotted this one. Sanji seemed so slow this morning. Cracking eggs at a snail’s pace, whisking them without the vigor he usually carried. Something must have been seriously up for Sanji to not even be interested in cooking.
Usopp and Nami exchanged worried glances. Whatever happened between Zoro and Sanji, must have been serious. Serious enough that it completely sucked the joy out of Sanji.
Minutes passed as they continued to observe Sanji. Breakfast was coming along well, but their investigation wasn’t. While they had spotted numerous things off, none pointed to the reason for the stalemate. When Zoro woke up, they’d move on to watching him.
“Do you two need something?” Sanji broke the silence, turning around to look at him.
“Oh, uh..” Usopp sputtered. “No, nothing. Nothing.”
“Is something wrong, Sanji?” Nami interjected, covering Usopp’s mouth with her hand. “You haven’t been yourself lately.”
“Oh, Nami..” Sanji sighed wistfully, resting his chin on his hand. “Just an argument with Zoro is all. Nothing big.”
Just from that, Nami could tell he was lying. Maybe not about the argument part, but about the severity of it.
“Are you sure?” Usopp joined in, pulling Nami’s hand off his mouth.
“I’m sure. We’ll get over it in a few days,” Sanji said, glancing back at the food he had cooking on the stove before promptly returning to it.
Well, it had already been a few days, and they still weren’t talking. It was starting to worry Nami and Usopp a little. They had gotten used to their bickering and then gotten used to the occasional PDA. And then it just disappeared one day, leaving them questioning what the hell had happened. Sanji and Zoro would bounce back pretty quickly after an argument, usually because they were about stupid, pointless things. They’d argue just out of boredom, something to pass the time.
So this argument must have been real.
Nami and Usopp decided to find Zoro because he was probably awake by now. They exchanged a glance, nodding to each other before getting up and heading out to the deck. As they expected, Zoro was on the grass, already lifting weights.
Red flag number three. Usopp whispered it to Nami. The first thing Zoro would do in the morning would be to head to the kitchen, get something to drink, and talk to Sanji while he waited for breakfast. It was a routine they had become accustomed to seeing. But instead, Zoro was already lifting weights, starting out at an intense 150 pounds.
Nami and Usopp plopped themselves down on the steps, across the deck from Zoro. They watched him, observing his mannerisms and behavior closely. He seemed angry, a scowl deepening his features, the way he lifted his weights was hurried and sharp.
“Should we talk to him?” Nami asked in a hushed whisper, turning to Usopp.
“Maybe,” he nodded back before clearing his throat in preparation to call out to Zoro. But Nami stopped him.
“Wait, wait. What are we gonna ask? He probably won’t give us a better answer if we ask him the same thing we asked Sanji.”
“Damn, you’re right,” Usopp said with a sigh. He tapped his chin as he thought. But Nami came up with something before him.
“Do you think he’d give us an answer if we just asked what he and Sanji were fighting about?”
“Doubtful. But it's worth a shot,” he rose to his feet, cracking his knuckles. “Better talk to him, man-to-man.”
Nami just rolled her eyes, giving him a light shove. “Just go.”
Usopp chuckled, glancing back at her one more time before heading over to Zoro. He puffed his chest up, because he found it necessary, for whatever reason. When he stood just a foot or two away from Zoro, he cleared his throat. The swordsman looked up at him and cocked an eyebrow.
“Yeah? Whatda’ need?” He questioned, though his weightlifting remained relentless.
“Ooh, nothing. Just.. Heard you had a fight with Sanji is all. Wanted to know what it was about,” Usopp said, trying to sound casual.
“Hm..” Zoro grunted. “Just something stupid. Shitty cook was upset at me for something,” he shrugged, setting the weight down next to him.
“What’s he upset about?” Usopp prodded, glancing back at Nami for a moment.
“Dunno. Haven’t been able to hang out with him too much, so that’s probably what.”
Finally! Finally, they got an answer! It was a little vague, but maybe with some brainstorming, he and Nami could get the two back together.
“You two should make up,” Usopp continued. “It’s not healthy to fight like this.”
Zoro just rolled his eyes. “I’ll make up with him when he apologizes first. Just leavin’ me hanging like that… Tch….” He scoffed, rising to his feet.
Usopp frowned. He knew that Sanji would say the exact same thing. And that wouldn’t get anything done. The situation might have been out of their hands, as much as they wanted to help. Zoro picked up his weights, retreating back into the workout room to put them away. Usopp defeatedly trudged back to Nami, plopping down next to her.
“Any luck?” Nami perked up.
“Sanji’s mad at Zoro cuz he won’t hang out with him,” Usopp shrugged. “But I don’t think there’s much we can do to help them.”
“That was starting to be my thought,” she sighed, leaning back on her palms. “What do we do now?”
“Leave it up to them to figure out, I guess.”
Hours had passed, the day had gone by, and Sanji was winding down.
He pulled a towel from the closet, slung it over his shoulder, and entering the shower room. Instantly, the steam wafted out, hitting him in the face. As it cleared, he spotted a familiar green-haired swordsman sitting in the bath.
Zoro glanced over to see who had entered, only to sigh and turn away upon realizing it was Sanji.
“Marimo,” Sanji acknowledged.
“Cook,” Zoro answered right back, a hint of anger in his voice.
“I’m not here to chat,” he said, unbuttoning his shirt and undoing his tie.
“Neither am I,” Zoro responded simply.
“Good.”
The two went quiet for a long time. Sanji just worked on getting undressed, folding his clothes in a neat pile. When his pants hit the floor, he replaced them with the towel he had grabbed. The whole time, Zoro was facing the opposite direction, not bothering to even grant Sanji another look.
Sanji stepped into the bath a few feet away from Zoro, trying to keep the awkwardness as minimal as possible.
When Sanji got comfortable, Zoro began speaking.
“Why’re you really mad at me? You never bothered to tell me before storming off.”
Sanji just clicked his tongue. “Thought it was obvious. You keep ignoring me.”
“I am n—”
“You are, though!” Sanji growled. “Every time I ask you if you wanna hang out or go do something, you turn me down.”
“I’m busy,” Zoro said when he could finally get a word in.
“You can’t possibly be busy every time I ask. I mean, come on! What are you even doing?” Sanji looked over at him. He was trying to contain his anger a little, not really in the mood for a shower brawl. But it was proving difficult.
“Working out, helping Franky, talking with Luffy. I have a life outside of you, you know.”
“Oh my God,” Sanji sighed, rubbing at the space between his eyes. “So do I. And yet I still find time for you. Can you not do the same for me?”
Zoro parroted his sigh, sinking a little further into the water. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe he just needed to budget his time better. Because on a normal day, he’d work out, chat with Luffy, take a couple naps, and then the whole day would have passed. Something had to change, but he hated to admit he was wrong, especially to Sanji.
“Fffine…….” He grumbled. “I… I’m sorry,” he admitted.
Sanji, with a wicked smirk forming, spoke up. “Hm? What was that?”
Zoro bit back his insults. “I’m sorry…”
“One more time?”
“You fucking bastard,” Zoro groaned, reaching over and hooking an arm around Sanji’s waist. He waited a short few seconds, giving Sanji time to resist. When he didn’t, he pressed his lips to Sanji’s in a rough kiss. Sanji melted into it, letting his eyes close, arms snaking around Zoro’s back. They pushed into the bruising kiss for who knows how long. All they knew was that it felt damn good.
When they pulled away, Sanji’s eyes fluttered open, getting a good look at Zoro’s flushed face. And he chuckled, planting his head against Zoro’s forehead.
“Don’t laugh,” Zoro said, the grin forming on his face betraying his words.
“You’re just stupid is all,” Sanji playfully responded.
“Whatever you say, cook.”