Archive of Our Own

Sanji thinks he’s not a sentimental person. Okay, maybe he did cry a little when Zeff officially adopted him, or when his sister came to visit him after years of separation, or when— But no, he’s definitely not a crybaby.

When Zeff’s car pulls into the parking lot of his university, Sanji thinks about how he’s not at a sentimental person at all, and sniffles and turns his head towards the side, trying not to let the tears in his eyes fall.

“I’m sure she’d be so proud of you, Eggplant.” Zeff’s voice cuts through the silence in the car, “You’re nothing but her pride.”

Sanji says nothing and nods. He wipes his nose with the back of his hand, takes a deep breath, and steps out of the car.

The weather is in favour of the graduates this year. The sun hangs high up in a cloudless clear sky. Cotton clouds hover overhead and paint the sky pretty shades of white.

It’s about a ten-minute walk from the parking lot to the auditorium, where the ceremony will be held. Sanji walks with Zeff in silence.

Along the way, Sanji sees pairs and groups of people laughing and strolling along or taking pictures with bright smiles. He has to avert his eyes to stop the sinking feeling in his stomach.

After what feels like a decade, they arrive at the reception and Sanji gives his name and student ID to the overly enthusiastic staff, who asks how his day was and if Sanji’s as excited as he looks. After a very awkward and futile attempt at small talk, she hands him a name card and wishes him the best. Walking away from the counter and turning the card in his hand, Sanji smiles sombrely to himself. His card reads:

He stares at his surname, and wishes for the hundredth time today that the owner of the surname was there at his graduation ceremony.

He proceeds to head to where the staff pointed at, where the graduation gowns and caps are to be picked up, and hands his name card to the beaming staff.

It must have been the trick of the sunlight, but Sanji swears he sees a twinkle of tears in his father’s eyes when he sees him approaching wearing his full graduation attire. He has never seen his father shed a tear.

“Eggplant,” Zeff says, his voice raspy as he takes in Sanji’s attire. Sanji’s eyes sting at the unwavering pride and love in his father’s eyes. No, he's not a sentimental person.

‧₊˚ ⋅ ⚔︎‧₊˚𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅

The university’s auditorium is packed with students, parents and friends, the crowd a constant stream of noise in Sanji’s ears. He has never been afraid of socializing, it’s rather the opposite. He’s always been a social butterfly, keen to make new friends with a bright smile and charm them with light conversation, and he’s always especially courteous to women due to years of Zeff’s insistence on such attitude towards the ladies.

His extroverted personality did make him a bunch of friends who made polite conversations with him during regular seminars. But Sanji keeps the few genuine friendships he has close to his heart, namely Gin, Patty and Carne, who hung out with Sanji outside of classes during the three years of their university life.

With a sigh, Sanji makes his way towards the rows of seats on his right, and shakes off the thought of his friends, refusing to add more candidates to his list of “people he wants to see at graduation but failed to”.

He hesitantly stops at his row to discover every seat except his own has already been occupied, and he silently curses at his seat being at the second furthest in the row. Meekly apologising to the seated graduates who have to stand up and move out of his way, he slowly inches his way to his seat that feels like on the other end of the universe.

His day can’t be more fucked up.

After what feels like a decade he plops down on his seat with a sigh of relief, and with a frustrated puff straightens his wrinkled graduation robe. When he’s done fixing his attire he sheepishly peeks at the graduate next to him out of the corner of his eye.

The graduate on his right is a man with hair so curly that his graduation cap is just barely balancing on top of his head. His silver curls bounce along with his laugh as he teases his black-haired companion next to him, to which the latter blushes in embarrassment and bites back at his playful teasing. As much as Sanji wants to be polite and make small talk with them, he’d hate to interrupt their animated conversation.

And so he meekly turns his focus towards the student on his left.

The man on his left has his arms crossed in front of his chest, an intimidating scowl etched on his face. His body language, no, his entire being and existence is telling Sanji that he’d rather be anywhere else on earth than be here.

Taking in the man’s countenance Sanji immediately diminishes any thought of conversing with him, refusing to make his day even worse by provoking a grumpy-looking brute. He has had his fair share of dealing with irritating customers at the Baratie and he’s definitely not doing the same at his graduation. But before he turns away, the scowling man does something that catches his attention.

Grumbling under his breath the man takes off his graduation cap and frowns, then proceeds to thumb at the seams of the cap. Sanji then witnesses the most vibrant green hair he has ever seen in his life unveiling on the man’s head, and he has to suppress the urge to gape at it. His gaze moves downwards and stops at the man’s ear, where three golden earrings dangle on his earlobe and sway with the man’s movement. What an interesting choice of accessory, Sanji thinks. Then, idly, he thinks about how the grass outside his campus canteen will no doubt be overshadowed by the colour of his hair. An amused huff slips out of him before he can help it.

The green-haired man pauses at the intense scrutiny of his cap, and turns towards Sanji, his eyebrow raised at his reaction. Sanji freezes for a fraction of a second before hurriedly schooling his expression into a neutral one.

“The hell you laughing at?”

Oh, that fucking tone. Sanji wishes he could just kick that annoying face in until the man could feel it in the back of his head.

“Nothing,” Sanji deadpans and meets the man’s gaze straight on, “I just… thought of something funny.”

The doubt in the man’s expression tells Sanji how bad of a lie that was, but before he can say anything to defend himself, the green-haired man’s gaze turns to the upper part of his face and focuses intently on there.

The stranger mumbles something under his breath, rushed and slurred, and Sanji leans towards the man puzzledly.

“I’m sorry?”

“I said,” The other man seems to hesitate a little before repeating, “Did you do this for graduation?” He says pointing at his own eyebrow.

It took a second for Sanji to realise what he’s talking about.

“Wha— It’s— I’m born with this!” Sanji’s face burns and feels like he's going to implode.

“I mean— I just thought— you drew it on specifically for graduation and there must be a reason behind, like for a dare or something. I didn’t mean to—” The man stammers and seems to be as embarrassed as Sanji for a whole different reason, and Sanji can’t help but feel relieved at how the awkward silence surrounding them dissipates after this ridiculous conversation.

“Says the guy with the blinding neon green hair.” Sanji bites back with a smirk.

“What did you fucking say about my hair?” The man’s embarrassment is replaced by a grimace, though there’s no heat to his words, just playful irk.

Before Sanji realises, the two of them are bickering with their foreheads butted against each other. The other man seems to notice the same and jerks back with a start, the earlier scowl and frustration gone, replaced by reluctant embarrassment.

“Look, I’m sorry if I offended you. I… didn’t mean to upset you.” The man grumbles.

“It’s fine.” Sanji lets out a hearty laugh and brushes it off, and the other man visibly relaxes. “I’m just caught off guard by your question— It’s not every day that someone asks about my eyebrows like that, in fact, you’re the first one who asked so bluntly, Mosshead.”

“Mosshead?” The man scoffs incredulously at the nickname, “I have a name! Curlybrows!”

“What are you, five?”

They bicker again until they both burst into laughter at the ridicule of their conversation. It feels so good to have a person who speaks without a care in the world, who speaks their mind without a careful filter constantly sweetening their words. Sanji has had a bit too many overly polite and modest conversations throughout his university life and to be honest, extroverted as he is, he’s already dreading the idea of having the same conversations all over again when he gets a new job. The bantering between him and Zoro brings comfort in him that he doesn’t know he craved in a social context, an unfiltered flow of back and forth that resembles a conversation between reunited old friends.

“I just realised I haven’t asked your name,” Sanji says, after they have quieted down from their heated squabble.

“Guess.” The green-haired man’s gives him a lopsided grin.

“Guess?” Sanji says, “How on earth will I guess your name?”

“Just take a wild guess. Any name.” The stranger shrugs.

“Uh— I don’t know… Uh, Tyson?” Sanji says, then immediately grimaces at his own guess.

The other man bursts into laughter upon hearing his answer, and Sanji felt his face heating at his reaction. “You— you said a wild guess—”

“No, no, it’s okay, Curly. It’s just… Tyson? Really?”

“I swear to god I will kick you so hard you’d forget your own name.” Sanji fakes wrapping his hands around the other man’s neck, trying to shut the man up.

“Okay, okay, I’ll guess yours now.” The man says after his laughter subsides, “You look like a Vincent to me.”

Sanji frowns at the name at first, then he tilts his head in thought, then reluctantly admits, “I mean, I see it.”

“Yeah?”

“But no, that’s not my name.” Sanji smiles, a genuine one. He can’t believe despite all the depressing thoughts that haunted him for the whole morning, this man makes him smile from the bottom of his heart minutes after they first talked.

The stranger stares at Sanji with an unknown emotion in his grey eyes.

“Then what’s your name?” The man asks quietly.

Sanji holds up his name card and gestures for the man to hold it. He accepts it and thrusts his own into Sanji’s hand.

“Roro—” Sanji tries, “Roro—noa… Zoro?

“Roronoa.”

“Your name is Roronoa? That’s quite a first name.”

The man shakes his head. “Roronoa is my last name. Zoro’s my first name. I don’t like it when people call me 'Zoro Roronoa'. It doesn’t sit right with me. So I made a request for them to read my name as surname-before-last-name. I’m Japanese, so.”

“I see, Zoro.” Sanji tried saying the stranger, no, Zoro’s name, and finds its syllables a pleasant roll off his tongue. “It’s really nice to meet you, Zoro. I’m Sanji.” Sanji gives him a warm smile.

“Likewise.” Zoro mumbles and looks away, causing an annoyance to spark in Sanji. He’s just trying to be nice but that stupid Mosshead can’t be nice for one second and just have to look away like he’s stung. Rude.

Before he can make a sharp remark on Zoro’s impertinence, a voice booms somewhere behind them. “Zoro!”

The green-haired man glances towards the source of the voice, and Sanji stares as a boy with a Straw Hat bounces towards them, wearing a black button-up with… red shorts. Sanji gapes at the boy’s compelling choice of fashion.

“Hey man!!” The boy screeches to a halt in front of Zoro, “How are you feeling?? Are you excited? You’re graduating! Oh my god!”

“I’m good, Luffy,” Sanji notices the way Zoro’s expression visibly softens at the boy’s appearance, “Has everyone arrived?”

“Yes!” The boy answers, “We’re all dressed up. Oh!!! You look so cool in a graduation robe!!!”

“Thanks man,” Zoro beams at the boy and gestures towards Sanji, “By the way, this is Curly.”

“You made a new friend?? That’s awesome!” The boy named Luffy shrieks, and smiles the brightest smile that Sanji has ever seen, “Hi! I’m Luffy. What’s your name?”

Sanji chuckles at the boyish charm the boy radiates. “I’m Sanji.”

“If you’re Zoro’s new friend you’re automatically our friend now! You should join our after party!!”

Sanji blinks and shakes his head, “Oh, I’d hate to intrude—”

“NO, you have to join us. The more the merrier!” Luffy interrupts, his yelling attracting a few cautious glances from the students overhearing them, “We’re gonna hang out at my place and Usopp’s gonna drive us all there. Can’t wait to have you with us!”

“I—” Sanji opens his mouth to reject the enthusiastic boy yet again, but the boy’s already bouncing his way back to his seat. Sanji heaves a sigh, but finds himself surprisingly in a good mood despite the boy’s blatant disregard for his rejection.

“You don’t have to come if you don’t want to, you know.” Zoro mumbles at Sanji apologetically, “Luffy’s like that. He likes making friends all the time and he won’t let go of you once he’s decided you’re one of his friends.”

“No, he’s very amiable, I like him.” Sanji chuckles, his sentiments towards the vibrant boy genuine. “Haven’t had anyone claiming me as their friend like this for a very long time. I kinda liked that.”

“I know, he’s the best.” Zoro grins and quickly turns to him and says, “Look, I know you’ve got your own friends or family to celebrate with, so you don't have to feel like you need to accept it.”

“I’d love to join you guys. I don’t have friends coming to my graduation anyway.” Sanji says, carefully masking his disappointment. “None of them could make it.”

Zoro’s eyes widen, his brows furrowed in disbelief. “You don’t have friends at your graduation?”

Sanji tries to swallow the lump in his throat and shrugs. He really doesn’t need any more reminders of their absence. “My friends from uni all graduated last year. Patty and Carne are busy working at their restaurant, and Gin’s on vacation. They all have their own things to do. I was supposed to graduate the same time as them, but my mother has— had, a chronic illness and she hadn’t been well the last couple of years, and she had been staying in the hospital since she fell ill. I— I was aware her days weren’t long… She passed away two weeks before my graduation last year. I had to defer to fly back to France.”

Zoro stares at Sanji in shock, then turns back to look straight ahead of him. “God, I’m sorry for your loss. I can’t imagine how it feels to be alone at your own graduation.”

Sanji sighs. He isn’t aware that he’s wringing his hands in his lap, an unconscious gesture that he does when he’s deep in thought and anxious. He’s so preoccupied by his emotions that he misses the way Zoro’s right hand twitches at his side, as if longing to grab something.

“It’s… lonely.” Sanji admits, “I’ve got my dad though. But I do wish I’ve got friends to celebrate with me.”

Zoro swallows. “In that case... You should join us. Only if you want to. Luffy and my other friends, they're all good people. We’ve known each other since forever. We’re like family. And like Luffy said, I— We’d love to have you at our after party.”

“Thanks Moss. I think I'll join. It sounds really fun.” Sanji throws a sullen but thankful smile to his new friend, oblivious to the way Zoro splutters, blushes and turns away. “I’ll just let my dad know later.”

“G—good.” The green-haired man grumbles, crossing his arms and huffs, sliding down his seat in relief. He then suddenly straightens and pulls out his phone in haste and unlocks it quickly.

“What are you doing?” Sanji asks, confused.

“Nothing. Just texting Luffy.” Zoro answers a beat too quickly, his thumbs flying on his keyboard.

“Ah.” Sanji pushes down the tiny disappointment in his chest seeing Zoro preferring texting Luffy over talking to him. But before he can turn back to face the front, Zoro sticks his phone into his pocket as fast as he fished it out, and pays his full attention to Sanji again.

Expecting the other man to have something else to say, Sanji blinks at Zoro. “What?”

Zoro blinks back at Sanji. “Uh—” He scratches the back of his head, and Sanji suppresses a smile at how the other man’s action resembles a panicked and lost bear, “I— Uh—”

A gruff voice reverberates within the auditorium, dragging Sanji’s attention to the podium. A man stands tall and proud behind the microphone. “Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the 20xx graduation ceremony. My name is Monkey D. Garp, head of student engagement here at One Piece University. First, may I take this opportunity to welcome you to today’s graduation ceremony.”

He pauses, and the auditorium roars with applause.

“God, speeches. This is hell.” Zoro’s voice cut through the clapping and Sanji huffs a laugh.

“Don’t vex, Mosshead. It’s gonna be over before you know it.” He soothes, unable to suppress the quirk of his lips.

The ceremony begins with a bunch of speakers taking turns to make long and flowery speeches congratulating the graduates, and throughout the process, Sanji has to keep digging his elbow into his new friend’s side after discovering the man’s ability to immediately fall asleep as soon as the speaker opens their mouth.

After the speeches that last what feels like forever, the speaker announces that they will move on to the presentation of the graduates.

Sanji and Zoro’s seats are in the middle of the auditorium, which gives them plenty of time before they have to step on stage.

Sanji can’t differentiate the feelings in his chest — there's giddy excitement but at the same time, there's also an inexplicable nervousness.

“Are you okay?” Zoro asks him, his grey eyes gentle and lands on his hands. Sanji realises that his hands are fidgeting again so he drops them.

“I’m fine. Just a bit nervous.” Sanji averts his gaze in embarrassment, “I don’t even know what I’m nervous about. I guess I just haven’t been on a stage in a while. With so many people watching. It’s… It’s nerve-wracking.”

“It’s gonna be okay. It’s only gonna take like 5 seconds and you’re off stage.” Zoro says stiffly, and Sanji has a fleeting suspicion that the man has never comforted anyone in his whole life. “Besides, uh— I’llberightbehindyousodon’tworry.”

Sanji smiles at the way the man rushes the words near the end. It’s cute. “Thanks man, really appreciate that.”

Zoro grunts in acknowledgement and turns to look at the students in the first row rising from their seats. Sanji feels the weight of something lifted off his chest, and the nervousness dissipates just a bit.

It’s surprising how this man he has just met brings him comfort that he suspects even Gin can’t provide. The green-haired man has a quality to him that seems to calm people around him despite his menacing appearance. It isn’t only the words that bring comfort to Sanji, it’s rather the unwavering calmness and assertiveness that ground him and reassure him that, despite his friends’ absence, despite the loss of his mother and despite her not being able to witness his achievements, that he is going to be okay.

It's soon their turn, and they rise alongside the students in his row to line up at the side of the auditorium.

Sanji and Zoro are the last two students in their row and Sanji can’t help but frown at the way his heart thuds in his chest every time another student walks off stage.

What is he so nervous about?

He doesn’t want to move on, Sanji realises. Once he walks onto that stage and accepts his certificate, his university life is truly over. He doesn’t want to put his uni days behind. He thinks about all the times he, Gin, Carne and Patty would hang out at their favourite cafe and laugh at stupid jokes, how they’d get ridiculous flavours of boba from the boba place just down the road, and how they’d fall asleep together in the library overnight revising for their exams. He also thinks of the polite but nice conversations he had with classmates in seminars, or even the monotonic voices of the professors that always put him to sleep. He isn’t ready to move on in his life, to become a lifeless, boring adult.

“Curls.”

Zoro’s leans into Sanji’s space. With a firm hand placed on his shoulder, that silly nickname sparks something inside Sanji.

Maybe, it’s okay. Zoro’s gentle eyes promises something new, something to look forward to, something exciting in the future. The promise of great friends like Luffy, the promise of a deep friendship, and the promise to stay by Sanji’s side. It elicits an excitement in Sanji. An excitement for what comes next after he walks off that stage.

Why and how does Zoro do such wonders to Sanji’s anxiety?

“I’m okay.” Sanji cups his own hand over Zoro’s. “I’m okay.” He repeats, telling himself so.

After a nerve-wracking five minutes, Sanji finally steps onto the stairs leading up to the stage, halting as the names of the students before him are announced.

“Hijikata Toshirou!”

Applause and shouts roar from the audience.

“Sakata Gintoki!”

Applause and even more shouts.

It’s Sanji’s turn. He takes a deep breath. It doesn’t matter if it’s only Zeff that cheers for him. It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t hear his cheers from wherever he’s seated.

“Sanji Black!”

He tips his graduation cap, walks forward with his head held high and his steps sturdy— And almost trips over when a burst of screaming and cheering erupts from the middle of the auditorium.

The fuck?

He turns his head in confusion towards the source of the cheers, just to find a group of four to five people cheering and waving their fists in the air. He then recognizes the leading voice of the shouts as Luffy, and spots the boy jumping up and down screaming Sanji’s name.

A swell of affection bursts in Sanji’s chest.

What a bunch of weird, kind-hearted people. He thinks and takes in a juddering breath, refusing to cry in front of the cameras and the audience. Luffy has just known him for a fleeting moment, yet his cheers are the loudest ones echoing in the auditorium.

He stops in front of the principal and receives his certificate with a nod and a grateful smile. He then walks off the stage feeling happier than he has ever been.

“Roronoa Zoro!”

Sanji turns and shouts alongside the same screams and shouts he heard a minute ago. Sanji stays where he is until after the cheers die and Zoro walks down the stage.

“Curly.” Zoro jogs to catch up with him.

“Moss.” Sanji holds out his fist and says, breathlessly, “We did it.”

“Technically, you did it a year ago. But we did it indeed.” Zoro bumps his fist against Sanji’s, their grins mirroring each other. They begin to walk back to their seats on the other end of the auditorium.

“Did you like that bit?” Zoro says, bumping his shoulder against Sanji’s.

“What bit?” Puzzled, Sanji frowns. The green-haired man only arches his eyebrow and nods his head towards the stage.

Sanji’s eyes widen. “That was your doing?!”

Zoro laughs, a full-belly-genuine one, “I told Luffy to tell my friends to do it.”

“So that’s why you were texting him.” Sanji thinks about how a while ago Zoro was typing frantically on his phone and putting it away in a panic. It was to prepare this surprise for him. He stops at his tracks. Beside him, Zoro stops as well.

“You didn’t have to.” Sanji finds himself unable to contain the giddy smile that spreads along his cheeks so hard that it’s straining.

Zoro avoids his eyes again, for some reason. “I— I just thought it’d make you happy. It’s hard to imagine seeing you up there alone— Wait, no, I meant— I know your dad’s here, but—”

Before he knows what he’s doing, Sanji steps in and wraps his arms around Zoro’s shoulder, muffling the other man’s rambling into his shoulder. Zoro’s earrings chimes against his cheeks, a pleasant sound that Sanji finds himself relishing.

“Thank you, Zoro. That’s really sweet. I really appreciate it.”

Zoro’s body against him is stiff and rigid, but when Sanji starts to think he has crossed a line (they had just met for the first time an hour ago, for god’s sake!), the other man relaxes and puts his arms around Sanji’s waist, meek and careful.

“Don’t worry about it, Curly.” Zoro mumbles against his shoulder, his arms slightly tightening around him, “Anything for you…”

‧₊˚ ⋅ ⚔︎‧₊˚𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅

“What’s the best module, in your opinion?” Sanji asks after they return to their seats.

“Hmm. Probably ‘Queer Literature and Sexuality’.” Zoro answers after a thoughtful pause.

“Oh, Iva!” Sanji exclaims, “As annoying and obnoxious as they can be, they do pick out the best books for the module.”

“You took that module too?” Zoro’s asks, “I took it in year 2. You?”

“Year 3. Wait, that means we both took it last year. But I haven’t seen you before… I would definitely remember you with that vibrant green hair of yours.” Sanji says with a scoff. “We probably had different classes.”

Zoro slowly nods. “Right. My class was at 9 in the morning.”

“Mine was at 2. We just missed out each other. Wait, you know what?” Sanji chuckles, “I applied for the one at 9 at first, but then it clashed with one of my other modules, so I had to change it. We could have crossed paths so much earlier!”

“Oh.” Zoro says, and for some reason, there’s a sudden understanding in his voice, and something similar to disappointment evident in his expression.

But then Sanji thinks he’s reading too much into it and shakes off the thought. “What’s your favourite novel from the module?”

“I really liked Trumpet by Jackie Kay. It’s a great story.”

“Oh, that one’s good.” Sanji tilts his head in thought, “I really enjoyed reading The Picture of Dorian Gray. Thank god Iva put this book on the list. It’s now one of my favourite books of all time. Oscar Wilde is magical.”

“His writing is out of this world. The ending’s perfect.” Zoro agrees, “So? Which one’s your favourite module?”

“’The Girl in the Book’.”

“Didn’t take that one. What’s it about?”

“Basically studying books from women writers. It’s absolutely wonderful to read works by beautiful lady writers!” Sanji perks, “I took it in Year 2 and I read Little Women for the first time in that module. I ended up writing my dissertation on it.”

“What’s Little Women about?” Zoro asks.

“There’re these four sisters, and the novel takes place after the American Civil War. The novel covers almost their entire lives, with a pre time-skip storyline that focuses on when they’re children and one post time-skip one when they’re adults. Everyone likes Laurie but I don’t. Who goes after one’s sister after being rejected? But, hear me out. Louisa May Alcott never intended for Jo to be married to anyone. She's meant to be an independent woman unbounded by marriage, but the American society at that time compelled Alcott to give Jo a 'happy ending' by marrying her to that professor. Which is ridiculous because—" Then Sanji pauses, "I'm rambling, aren't I? Sorry."

"No, no, go on." Zoro grins, his expression open and honest.

Sanji smiles. "But the novel’s really nice, made me dream about having a good and healthy relationship with one’s siblings.”

“You—” Zoro starts and immediately bites his lips. Sanji’s heart warms at the other man’s consideration on the possible sensitivity of this topic, and nods encouragingly at him, signalling him to continue the question.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” Zoro says tentatively and Sanji nods, “You’re… not on good terms with your siblings?”

“You can say so, yes.”

In the back of his mind, Sanji wonders how this man manages to make himself confess this side of himself in such a short period of time. Even Gin and his other friends never knew about his familial complications throughout the three years they have known each other. “I never had the best relationship with my biological family except my mum and my sister. My mum divorced the scum that is my biological father and got me out of that miserable household, then met my dad soon after, and remarried. My adoptive dad, he’s— a much better dad than my biological father ever was. He was there for me all along.”

Zoro looks at him, his gaze kind and tender, warm like a silken quilt draped across Sanji's shoulders.

“My… sperm donor,” Sanji scoffs as Zoro chokes back a laugh, “He doesn’t deserve me calling him my dad. He’s always been favouriting my brothers over me. I've always been a failure to him and he’d remind me every day how a failure I am for not being as accomplished as my brothers are. They’re all 'smart', as he’d say, since they’re small, that they're either getting good grades at school or they're really good at sports. While I like… books. Reading.”

“It doesn’t make you any less smart or less accomplished that you like literature. You know that, right?” Zoro intercepts, traces of anger evident in his tone. Sanji knows that anger isn't directed at him.

“I knew that when I grew up.” Sanji says, “But I’ve always felt like the failure he paints me to be for the longest time. But then my mother would encourage me to read on, and she’d even read with me and listen to me ramble on about my favourite books. And my sister would also sneak books into my room after my sperm donor threw away all my books. When my mum divorced him and took me with her, I was finally allowed to freely read. She was the best mum in the world.”

“I’m sure she’d be very proud of you.” Zoro’s voice drops to a soft rumble, his tone comforting but not pitying, “I never believed in heaven or whatever religious shit people believe in, but I’m sure she’s somewhere watching you right now, and is very proud you’ve done this.”

“Thanks, Mosshead.” Sanji gives Zoro a rueful smile.

The two fall into comfortable silence.

“Hey, Mossy.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you have a dream?”

“A dream?”

“Something you want to ultimately do or achieve. Do you have something like that?”

“I do have an ultimate goal in life.” Zoro straightens up visibly, “I want to be the kendo world champion.”

“That’s— Big.” Sanji exclaims in surprise, “You’d have to play in the Olympics then.”

“Yes.” Zoro’s eyes sharpen in determination, “The current world champion is actually my dad.”

“Your dad— Your dad is a kendo world champion?” Sanji’s gasps. "That's crazy."

“Yes,” Zoro shrugs nonchalantly like he didn’t just say something appalling like he’s Mackenyu’s stunt double, “And I’m gonna beat him one day. It’s just a matter of when.”

“You’re really confident.” Sanji says.

“I'm not being confident. I just know I will become the kendo world champion one day.” Zoro flashes Sanji a grin and Sanji feels his own widen, “So it’s not technically a dream; it’s just a goal. A goal I’m going to achieve.”

“Huh.” Sanji huffs in amusement. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a person having that much trust in themselves."

“I know what I’m worth, that’s all.” The green-haired man, no, swordsman says, “How about you? You have one?”

“I want to open my own bookshop cafe.” Sanji says.

“That sounds really cozy.” Zoro says, with a touch of genuine awe, “I’ve always loved bookshop cafes. Reading while drinking a cup of black coffee? Heaven.”

“I should’ve known you’re a black coffee guy.” Sanji chuckles, “I bet you hate sweets.”

“I do.” Zoro scrunches up his face in disgust, and Sanji thinks, unhelpfully, how that gesture is annoyingly endearing. “Have you thought about what you’d name your bookshop?”

Sanji pauses. Zoro looks at him curiously.

After telling his friends about the name of his future bookshop, Gin has asked him why. Sanji had immediately replied that it was because blue is his favourite colour. It’s not necessarily a lie, but it’s not the truth either.

“Have you heard about the All Blue?”

For some reason, Zoro only returns his stare and says nothing. Then after a beat, he says, “No.”

“It’s a sea of miracles.” Sanji says, “It’s right in the middle of the world, where every single kind of fish gather in one ocean. Even the rare kinds, fish that has never been discovered, are said to be there. No one’s has ever found the All Blue. It’s a myth but I believe in it. And I’m going to find it one day.”

Zoro stares at him like he’s dumbfounded. Sanji sighs and waves his hand, “I know, I know, it’s silly to—”

“No. I don’t think it’s silly.” Zoro immediately clarifies, his voice peculiarly gruff, “I know you can find it. You will find it.”

He doesn’t know why he gave into the impulse of telling Zoro the true reason behind the naming, but he realises he doesn’t regret the decision because Zoro’s answer is so, so sincere. Like he truly, from the bottom of his heart, believes that Sanji will one day find the sea of miracles that originates from a mere myth.

“Therefore,” Sanji resists the sudden urge to tear up. “I’m gonna name my bookshop All Blue.” He whispers and swallows the lump in his throat, hoping the Zoro can’t hear the tremor in his voice.

“Good.” Zoro says, his gaze steady, unwavering, “And I’m gonna be your first customer.”

In Sanji’s vision of his dream, it has always been him alone on the ship when he discovers the All Blue, and it has always been him alone in the bookshop cafe brewing coffee. But in that instant, his vision changes. As his own golden hair flows in the All Blue’s chilling breeze, and as his own hands fondle the coffee machine, a green-haired man appears by his side, his golden earrings twinkling in the sunlight and his calloused hands delicately taking the cup of coffee from Sanji’s grip. It’s a fleeting image, yet it’s embedded into Sanji’s mind like a nail to the board, and he can’t help but believe it’s going to happen one day. The thought startles him, but he surprisingly doesn’t hate it.

“And I’m gonna watch you beat your dad.”

‧₊˚ ⋅ ⚔︎‧₊˚𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅

The ceremony ends with a thundering applause, and the students and guests are instructed to leave the auditorium following the teaching staff’s departure. The graduates are to gather at the quad area at the centre of the university for the collective cap toss photos. Sanji has no idea where Zeff is but he’s currently in no rush looking for his father.

Zoro and Sanji follow the moving crowd and go down a flight of stairs, thanking the person opening the door for them, and walk out onto the lawn outside the auditorium.

“Are you gonna meet up with Luffy and your friends now?” Sanji asks.

“I’m gonna meet them at the quad.” Zoro waves his phone, “They’ve just texted me to meet them there.”

Sanji nods in understanding. He then gasps dramatically. “Look, Mosshead, we’re stepping on your blood relatives!” He spreads his arms and gracefully twirls around the lawn, snickering when Zoro rolls his eyes at the offending remark.

“For god's sake, shut up.”

“Damn, your hair somehow got even greener under the sun. Why did you choose to dye this colour?”

Zoro scowls at the grass underneath his feet.

“This is my natural hair colour. Yeah, yeah, Curly, laugh all you want—”

“So these really are your blood relations. This is the best thing I’ve ever known since hearing the myth of the All Blue!”

“Can we just stop insulting each other’s appearances?” Zoro deadpans, “I mean, not that I’m afraid, but I can come up with a lot more insults about your stupid eyebrows than you can my hair. Dartboard Brow.”

Sanji’s smile freezes. “Dart— Oh, it’s on, you damn Cactus Head!”

“Fuck you, Curlicue!”

“No, fuck you, Mossball!”

“Still moss? You lack creativity!”

“Idiot swordsman!”

“Stupid cook!”

“Green brute!”

“Pretty brows!”

“That’s not an insult, you idiot!” Sanji sneers.

Zoro halts as he realises something, and he turns red as a tomato. He then stomps ahead without acknowledging Sanji.

“Admit it, I won.” Sanji coos, grinning at Zoro with the air of a victorious soldier, “Sore loser.”

“You’re in your twenties, grow up.”

“Says the one who started the whole—” Sanji halts, “Mosshead.”

“Hm?” The other man seems to have unconsciously accepted the distasteful nickname Sanji gave him, and hums absentmindedly.

The ongoing trail goes around a tiny slope that unnecessarily elongates their walk, so Sanji points at the slope and wiggles his curly eyebrows at Zoro.

“Should we just walk down this slope?” Sanji suggests, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

Zoro gives him a thoughtful pause and shrugs. “Yeah, why not?” Then he huffs a soft laugh when Sanji yelps in excitement, “You’re not gonna slip in these dress shoes, are you?”

“Mosshead, I wear dress shoes for work. It’s the dress code of the restaurant I work in.”

Zoro blinks at him. “Oh.”

“My dad owns a restaurant. I’m his sous chef.” Sanji says and peeks at the the slope, assessing its altitude.

Zoro sounds flummoxed. “You can cook? You’re a cook—”

Sanji holds out a hand between them. Zoro halts and looks down at it. Then he looks back up, his expression dumbstruck.

“C’mon, don’t give me that toxic masculinity bullshit.” Sanji rolls his eyes when the other man makes no move to take his hand, “Men can hold hands without being anything less than men. Come on now.”

Zoro grumbles something under his breath but complies, his calloused fingers hesitantly wrapping around Sanji’s. The other man’s hand is clammy to the touch, and when their hands come into contact the green-haired man turns still as a rock. Sanji chuckles at the blazing sun overhead and squeezes his palm, “I’m not complaining, but you're a human furnace. You’re sweating buckets.”

Zoro flinches at the comment and looks pointedly away, the hint of pink at the tip of his ears slowly spreading along to his neck, the colour a stark shade against his bronze skin. Sanji wonders briefly how a person with such a high body temperature survives summer where they are.

“On three.” Sanji says and tugs on Zoro’s hand. Zoro nods.

“One. Two. Three!”

Both men start down the slope tentatively, their hands clasped together to maintain their balance. The slope is steeper than Sanji thought it looks like, but they manage to move down step by step.

Sanji chuckles. “This is gonna save so much ti—”

His dress shoes slip on a particular patch of wet grass, and before he knows it his right foot gives out under him, and then his left foot follows. Zoro tightens his grip on Sanji’s hand and tries yanking him back upright in a futile attempt. Sanji lands on his bottom with a yelp.

Dumbfounded, he sits on the grass for a few seconds and stares ahead, shocked by his fall. In his trance, he feels Zoro letting go of his hand, and in a second a concerned hair of moss comes into his vision.

“Oh my god Curls, are you okay?” Zoro drops down to a squat in front of him, his voice laced with worry and his grey eyes hurriedly raking over Sanji from top to bottom, checking for any injuries. His hands dart out and hover above Sanji, seemingly hesitant to touch him.

Sanji feels a burst of emotion in his chest. It’s a mingle of multiple emotions, and none of those negative — surprise, affection, endearment, awe, and, most of all, something sweet and sticky and thrilling that Sanji can’t quite put his finger on. It feels like honey.

Sanji blinks.

What the fuck?

This man has only known him for half a day, and he has brought nothing but happiness to Sanji. This morning Sanji had been miserable, a hefty rock of melancholy weighing on his mind constantly as he got himself ready for the day, accompanied by the sinking feeling in his stomach as he watched fellow graduates hanging around the campus with their own friends. But then Zoro appeared, making him laugh and being kind and thoughtful and gentle as he is… He’s a beam of light in the dark. A lone star in a pitch-dark sky. A pearl in the deepest depths of the ocean. And Sanji thinks he might be—

He bursts into laughter.

He has just fallen on his butt in front of half of the graduates and guests, possibly messing up his expensive suit and making an absolute fool of himself, but instead, he is reciting poetry in his head and shit- he’s fallen in love. This might just be the most ridiculous day in his life.

Zoro starts at his sudden outburst, then his shoulders visibly relax at Sanji’s laughter and he grins at him.

“You okay?” Zoro asks, sighing in relief.

“Yes. My bum hurts.” Sanji says and extends a hand. “Ugh. Everyone’s staring. Help me up.”

Zoro pulls him to his feet without much effort and Sanji has to suppress a blush at the show of strength, but his blush of embarrassment from falling has probably masked that.

They both straighten up carefully and their eyes meet. They simultaneously burst into another fit of laughter.

“That might be—” Sanji heaves, tears prickling his eyes, “Hands down one of the most embarrassing moments in my life, god!”

“Hey, you suggested it. You have no one to blame but yourself.” Zoro says when he finally suppresses his laughter, “I’m so holdings this against you. This is peak blackmail material.”

“You little shit.” Sanji kicks at Zoro’s side.

Zoro dodges, flashing a wolfish grin at him that does horrible, horrible things to Sanji’s insides. “Race you to the quad.” He dashes forward without waiting for his response.

“Stop— you cheater— Zoro, the quad’s this way!”

Despite Zoro’s head-start, Sanji wins. They then spend the rest of their walk into the quad arguing how Sanji would’ve definitely lost the race if Zoro hadn’t gotten distracted. Sanji then reminds Zoro that he was lost, not distracted, and it’s entirely his own fault.

Throughout the three years of his university life, Sanji has never been in here, as there was no necessity for him to be in this area of campus. But now he gapes at the scenery it unveils. The setting sun shines into the quad, painting the square in a golden glow. On the other end of the quad, there are two flights of stairs in the middle, and half of them are already occupied by standing graduates. A member of staff points Zoro and Sanji towards the stairs and they follow the trails of graduates and move onto the staircase.

Zoro settles onto a space that’s yet to be occupied, and Sanji follows to stand next to him. Beneath them, the guests are slowly filing into the quad, and upon entering, family members and friends wave enthusiastically at the graduates on the stairs. Sanji looks around for the familiar hunching figure of Zeff but to no avail.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Sanji notices Zoro waving at someone beneath them. Following the trail of his gaze, his eyes land on the striking straw hat in the middle of the crowd. The exuberant boy is jumping up and down, using his whole body to wave at Zoro, and next to him are five young people, who Sanji recognizes as the same people who cheered for him when he was on stage. Luffy’s smile widens when he catches Sanji’s eyes and proceeds to wave to him with even more enthusiasm.

“That’s Nami right next to Luffy, the red head.” Zoro says, his words soft as he points at his friends one by one, “And the guy with the afro is Usopp, the kid with the brown curls is Chopper, and the girl with blue hair is Vivi.”

“I can’t wait to meet them.” Sanji says, his eyes raking over every person’s features, matching their faces to their names, carefully committing them to memory.

“They’re really cool and kind people. They’re gonna love you.” Zoro says, then quickly adds, “Um, I meant— Luffy would, especially. The second he knows you can cook? He’s not letting you go. His stomach’s a bottomless pit.”

Sanji chuckles. At the same time, the photographer calls for their attention and reminds graduates to be ready for the photos. They’re going to take one photo with their caps on, then they’re going to take one as they throw their caps into the air. After the first photo, Sanji takes his own cap off and holds it in his hand. On his side, Zoro also takes off his cap and runs a hand through his spiky, messy hair. Sanji’s eyes are helplessly drawn to the motion, his stomach doing weird flips at the weirdly attractive gesture.

“I bet I’m gonna throw mine higher than yours.” Zoro says.

“You're so gonna lose.” Sanji replies.

“Are we all ready? Everyone throws the caps on three, okay?” The photographer shouts and hunches to put his eye level to the viewfinder of the camera, “One… Two… Three!”

Sanji throws his cap as high as he can and watches it reaching its peak. His eyes track his and Zoro’s caps in the flood of caps— Fuck, Zoro’s is higher than his.

“See? See?” Zoro shouts over the cheers of other graduates, with a wide smile on his face that makes him look so much younger than he is, “Mine’s higher!”

“Fine.” Sanji chuckles, affection threatening to burst open his chest, “You won.”

The graduates scramble to pick up their own graduation caps scattered across the stairs. Sanji’s cap landed on the boot of the graduate in front of him, who stands one step lower than him, so he mumbles an apology and crouches down to pick it up.

Unexpectedly, the graduate in front of him also turns and bends down to pick up Sanji’s cap, which causes their heads to bump. Sanji yelps and clutches the side of his head. Trying to blink away the pain in his temple, he quickly apologizes to the graduate in front of him.

“God, I’m so sorry!”

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it.” The graduate says and holds up Sanji’s cap, “This is yours, right?”

It takes half a second for Sanji to realise the man in front of him is the one who sat two seats away from him during the ceremony, the one who was constantly teased by the man with silver curls who sat next to Sanji. Sanji blinks at the man. The black-haired man’s voice bares an uncanny resemblance to Zoro’s, and for a split second, Sanji thinks it’s Zoro who’s talking to him.

“Well? Are you gonna take this?” The man raises his eyebrow, and then grins at Sanji in amusement. “You hit your head that hard?”

“Yes, no, sorry.” Sanji snaps back to himself and accepts his cap with a nod. “Thanks, man.”

“No worries.” The man says. Then the man’s eyes flicks to Sanji’s left, and his smile widens.

Sanji turns to find Zoro glaring at the man, his lips reduced to a thin line.

The man turns back to the front with an air of amusement. At the same time, the graduates begin to move down the steps. The black-haired man’s companion curls an arm around his neck and coos, “Hijikata-kun~~”

“Stay away, Yorozuya. You’re annoying.”

The two walk down the steps, shoulder to shoulder, and keep bantering back and forth. Sanji feels a weird sense of familiarity watching the two, and he realises he and Zoro do the exact same, just without their casual intimacy. Soon the two men are out of hearing distance.

“What were you glowering at him for? That’s rude.” Sanji elbows Zoro, whose eyes still follow the dark-haired man’s figure.

Snapping out of his trance, Zoro recovers with a blush.

“I wasn’t glowering. It’s just what my face looks like.” He grumbles and moves down the steps, his steps heavy and frantic, stomping down the stairs with an air of annoyance.

Sanji frowns in confusion but follows. The blush has spread to the back of Zoro’s neck, the crimson shade peeking above his collar. His body temperature must be abnormally high, Sanji thinks. Maybe he should ask him to see a doctor sometime.

‧₊˚ ⋅ ⚔︎‧₊˚𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅

“I still haven’t seen my old man.” Sanji frowns and fishes out his phone, punching in the familiar number.

“He must be here, don’t worry. I’ll look for him with you.” Zoro replies, watching Sanji as he raises the phone to his ear.

“Where the hell are you?” Sanji snaps when Zeff picks up the phone, his dress shoe tapping impatiently against the grass lawn.

“I’m already in the quad. I was watching you taking those photos. Now you’re back down I don’t see you, Eggplant.”

“Ugh, you stay where you are, don’t move. Tell me what you’re seeing—” Sanji starts walking until his eyes land on a familiar figure, “Geezer!”

Sanji waves at Zeff, who turns at his voice. A bright smile lights up the older man’s face and he starts making his way towards him.

As the old man nears him, Sanji starts a little jog towards Zeff and jumps onto him, wrapping his arms around his father’s shoulders and his legs around his waist, wrapping the older man into a tight embrace.

“Geezer, I did it!” Sanji buries his face into his father’s hair.

“Sanji.” Zeff says, his voice hoarse, “I’m so proud of you.”

The hug lasts a few moments longer, father and son both refusing to let go. In the twenty-one years of his life, Sanji and Zeff have never been openly affectionate with each other, let alone have physical contact like hugs. The dynamic between the two is usually limited to grunts of affirmation, harsh words and, only occasionally, pats on the backs. When Sanji was small, he had always thought Zeff was invincible, his broad shoulders capable of bearing anything life throws upon him. But now those shoulders are trembling, so he tightens his arms protectively around his father until the trembling stops and the sobs racking the older man’s body subside.

Sanji lets go of Zeff and finds Zoro standing at a respectful distance, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

Zeff sniffles and straightens up, then raises an eyebrow when he notices Zoro. Close as he is to Sanji, he knows every one of his friends due to their visits to the Baratie and hangouts at their place. Sanji clears his throat. For some reason, he feels nervous at the idea of introducing Zoro to him.

“I made a new friend today.” Sanji says meekly as Zoro approaches them. “We sat next to each other during the ceremony.”

“Right.” Zeff hums, his gaze calculating and accessing, “Your name, brat?”

“Zoro, sir.” Zoro says, and Sanji can’t help but sigh at the unconsciously straightened back of his new friend and his rushed reply. Zeff does have the ability to intimidate people with his piercing glares upon first meeting.

“You got a job?” Zeff narrows his eyes at the younger man.

“Geezer, stop interrogating my friends!” As Zoro opens his mouth to reply, Sanji cuts in exasperatedly. “Last time you did it, Gin almost bolted out of Baratie because of your line of questioning. Stop trying to scare my friends off."

“Just have to make sure they’re worthy.” Zeff grunts and shoots Zoro a glare, and Sanji watches Zoro, for some reason, blushes and squirms under the man’s pinning gaze.

“They’re friends, not suitors!” Sanji buries his face into his hands and is pretty sure his face is currently the same shade of red as Zoro’s. His secretly growing affection for the green-haired man doesn’t help with the situation at all.

“You never know.” Zeff says, crossing his arms across his chest.

“You can’t seriously imply—” Sanji shrieks incredulously.

“Zoro!”

The gorgeous redhead Sanji saw from a while ago calls from a distance. The squad waves at them and approaches the three.

Nami pulls Zoro into a hug. “Congratulations, dumbass!”

Zoro returns the hug with a tender smile.

After letting go of Zoro, Nami turns to Sanji with a tiny smile. “And you must be Sanji.”

“And you must be the beautiful Nami.” Sanji gently takes her hand and holds the back of it against his lips.

Nami raises her eyebrow in surprise. “There’s no need for such formality, Sanji-kun.”

“For such a beauty like you, this touch of courtesy is definitely needed!” Sanji insists, and begins to whirl around her in a pink tornado with hearts in his eyes.

Nami chuckles at the ridiculous gesture. Her expression then turns smug when her gaze turns to Zoro, whose expression darkens at Sanji’s swooning. She winks at him and mouths an unapologetic “sorry”, earning a scowl from the swordsman. The whole interaction goes unnoticed by Sanji.

Soon, Zoro’s friends are all introduced to Sanji. Luffy, who is two years younger than Zoro, is in his freshman year at Grand Line University studying physical education; Usopp, who’s the same age as Luffy studies woodworking and furniture design at the same University as him; Nami studies climate science in One Piece University; Vivi studies sustainable agriculture; and Chopper studies biochemistry in the same university as Nami and Vivi.

“Sanjiiiiiiiii. You are joining our after party, right? Right? Please tell us you’re coming!” Luffy stares at Sanji with his large, brown eyes, which reminds Sanji of a pleading puppy. “It’s no fun if you don’t come!”

“You literally just met me.” Sanji chuckles and says without any real protest, his fondness towards the boy threatening to overflow, “But I guess I will.” He turns to Zeff and raises an eyebrow, silently asking if he has any protests.

Zeff grunts. “Of course you can, Eggplant. But,” He sighs begrudgingly, “This was meant to be a surprise, but we’ve got some celebration for you in Baratie so you’ve got to come back home with me first. You can join the brats afterwards.”

Sanji gasps. “You shitty geezer—”

“Yay!!! So Sanji’s coming to our party!” Luffy yells, his lengthy limbs flailing in delight.

“I’m gonna bring some brownies over. If you guys like those.” Sanji winks at the energetic boy.

“You can make food?” Sanji swears he sees the boy’s eyeballs popping out of their sockets, then he’s suddenly wrapped up in a suffocating hug, “You’re the best! You’re my best friend now! You have to make me lots and lots and food!”

“Let the man breathe, geez.” Zoro sighs and forcefully separates them.

“Let’s go, Eggplant.” Zeff grumbles, and with a subtle nod towards Zoro and his friends, turns to walk away.

Sanji turns to bid his new friends goodbye, thanking them for inviting him to the party. His farewell with Zoro is left until the last. Sanji’s heart is heavy with unspoken gratitude towards his new friend, but it would take too much time to thank him in full so he says nothing. He doubts his words could convey the true depths of his gratitude anyway. The two stare at each other for a moment too long, their gazes communicating the words they don’t have time to utter.

“I can’t believe I haven’t asked you this, but can I have your number?” Zoro says eventually.

Sanji’s heart stutters in his chest.

“I mean, so I could text you… in case you couldn’t find your way to the party.” Zoro adds, scratching the back of his neck.

Sanji swallows, mentally slapping himself. “Yes, yes, of course.” What the hell has he been thinking? Of course Zoro needs his number to contact him for the after-party.

He enters his number into Zoro’s contacts and hands his phone back to him. He initially sets his contact name as “Sanji”, but then changes it to “Curls”. He thinks Zoro will like the nickname better.

“I’ll see you tonight then.” Zoro says, his grey eyes heavy with something Sanji cannot decipher.

“See you tonight.” Sanji says. He hesitates for a moment, then wraps Zoro into a quick hug, and lets go.

He then turns to tread after his father, his graduation cape flowing behind him, his heart so full yet so much lighter than ever.

‧₊˚ ⋅ ⚔︎‧₊˚𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅