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You were seriously going to get yourself killed.
You were convinced this was going to be easy. You’d tricked people before, and frankly, how hard could it be to use a sword? You don’t need to pretend to be the best swordsman, just a swordsman!
It turns out using a sword is, admittedly, kind of hard.
You couldn’t count on one hand the amount of times you had nearly cut yourself, or the blade had slipped from your hands, or you ended up not slicing through anything because you messed up your swing. You try to tell yourself over and over again that you don’t need to be the best, just mediocre, but you can’t even manage that at this point. You’re going to get caught. You’ve been undercover in this group for a week now, and you’ve managed to avoid any actual swordplay so far, but you can’t keep this up for long. Not only have you not found the treasure you wanted, you’re probably going to get your head sliced off before you find even a hint of it’s location.
So here you are, in the middle of the night, trying and once again failing to make a dent on this stupid training dummy.
“You’re not holding it right.”
You nearly jump out of your skin at the sound of a man’s voice behind you. You whip around to see another mysterious swordsman who showed up a few days ago and immediately wiped the floor with several members of the group. You had no idea why he was here, considering he didn’t seem nearly as interested in mindless violence or ill-gotten gains as the rest of the people here. You couldn’t quite recall his name.
“I know what I’m doing,” you grumble, unconvincingly.
“Oh yeah?” He has a smug grin on his face, one that just screams I know more than you and we both know it. “Will you show me, then?”
This is it. You’re caught, he’s going to tell, and you’re going to get sliced to a billion little pieces. You try to keep your cool, to steady your breath and lie through your teeth as you have been all week, but something about him just cuts to your core and you break. “Please don’t tell anyone.”
He takes a step back at the panic in your voice, immediately looking unsure at the sight of your tears. “I’m not–I–Stop crying!” He says it roughly, more of a command than anything else, which only makes you cry harder.
“Please, I don’t want them to kill me! I didn’t think it’d be this hard! I just wanted some treasure, is that so wrong? Life is expensive!” Your blubber would be embarrassing if you had any coherent thoughts through your fear.
“Who said anything about killing you?” He moves forward, his hand covering your mouth and muffling your sobs and panicked words. “And seriously, stop crying. You’re being too damn loud, you’re going to get yourself caught! God, it’s a wonder you haven’t been caught already. You’re so obvious I knew from the moment I walked in you were trying to run some kind of con.”
You try to ask him how he knew immediately, but the words don’t make it through his palm.
“Stop talking. It’s fine. No one’s going to kill you.”
You think he can hear you promise? through his hand.
“Yes, I promise. Just…stop.”
He frees your mouth, and you take a deep and steadying breath.
“So why are you pretending to be a swordsman?”
“These bandits have been stealing a lot from people here, and I heard they stole a big priceless artifact from a nobleman. I figure if I get that, I can get off the island, sell it, and be set for life.”
“So you said you were a master swordsman?”
“Yeah.”
“You didn’t think about lying about anything more believable?”
“They said they needed one. And I didn’t think I’d be this bad at it.”
He closes his eyes, pondering a moment. “You do seem pretty uniquely terrible at this.”
“Wow, thanks.”
“No problem.”
You try to steady your breath, and while you do, he takes your hands in his, turning them over and glaring at them as though they were an insult.
“Why are they so soft?”
“What?”
“Your hands. They’re too soft. You don’t have a single callus.”
“Why are you saying that like it’s a bad thing?”
“It means you don’t do anything with them. It means you definitely don’t hold a sword. If anyone here were capable you’d have been out on your ass day one.”
“I don’t think most people would notice that.”
“Any decent swordsman would. You’re damn lucky I’m the only one here.”
You want to scoff, to ask him what makes him so qualified, but you know he could sound the alarm at any moment, and it’s stupid to piss off a man who holds your life in his hands. “Why haven’t you turned me in already?”
He scoffs. “Why would I?”
“They’d probably give you a reward or something. You don’t get anything out of helping me.”
“What, are you trying to convince me to do it?”
Your heart clenches, your voice raising with fear. “ No! ”
He shushes you harshly. “God, it was a joke! Be quiet!”
You shrink in on yourself, covering your mouth before he gets the chance.
He sighs. “You’re terrible at this. Why the hell did you think you could keep up this act?”
“I’ve tricked people before!”
“Did those people have swords?”
“...No.”
“Did you keep up an act for weeks at a time?”
“Well–”
“Yes or no.”
“...No.”
He pinches his forehead, muttering something under his breath about an idiot you remind him of, and you pout indignantly.
“I’m not an idiot!”
“Oh yeah? Because everything I’ve seen tonight has been pretty dumb.”
“Okay, well why are you here then, genius?”
He goes quiet, his eyes sliding away from yours.
“What, no answer?”
He mumbles something.
“What was that?”
You can barely hear the words, almost lost as he whispers them, his head tilted down in embarrassment. “I got lost.”
You can’t help the bark of a laugh that leaves you. “What?”
“I got lost! I was going to find my ship and I got turned around, so I decided to stay and see what this place was about! So what?”
“You got lost so you decided to join a group of bandits? And you’ve been here for days! Don’t you have anybody looking for you?”
“They’ll show up eventually!”
“Why didn’t you just ask for directions?”
“I don’t need directions!”
“Clearly, you do!”
You both groan in unison at the other, fighting frustration. You aren’t in much of a position to judge, but how could a person be more helpless? At least you got yourself into trouble on purpose.
“Where is your ship supposed to be docked?”
“I don’t remember exactly, it was near an opera house.”
“An…opera house?”
“Yeah?”
You cannot believe this is happening. “We don’t have one of those.”
“What?”
“There isn’t an opera house on this island. The closest one is a day’s ferry trip away. How the hell did you get here?”
“I walked.”
“That literally cannot be true! Like physically!”
“Well it is! So you must have forgotten!”
“Forgotten about the layout of the island I’ve lived my entire life on? Really?”
“God, you’re so annoying. I can’t believe I was going to help you.”
You pause. “You were going to help me? With what?”
“With swordplay! Obviously! You can’t even hold the damn thing right, you clearly need it.” He’s pouting, his lower lip jutted out like a child about to throw a tantrum. You just barely hold yourself back from telling himself that. As fun as it may be to taunt him, you really do need the help.
You can swallow your pride for the night. If everything works out, maybe you can make fun of him for this later. “...Would you still be willing to help me?”
“Why should I?”
“I can get you back to your ship. After I get the treasure, I mean.”
“I don’t need your help.”
“No offense, but you definitely do. And I kind of want to go with you anyway. I’m a little worried you’ll just walk off into the ocean if I don’t.”
He glares at you, eyes raking up and down your form, considering for a moment. He sighs. “Fine, I guess I can help.”
You feel hopeful for the first time in a while. Your new friend, who informs you his name is Zoro, seems rather skilled. Maybe this plan won’t get you killed after all!
Two days later you’re kicking yourself for daring to think that even for a second.
“How the hell are you still doing it wrong?” His hands are on your back again, adjusting your posture for the twentieth time today. “How hard can it be just to swing a sword?”
“It’s not! I’ve been swinging it this whole time!” You aggressively bring the blade down on the training dummy you two had stolen for your lessons. Zoro had thought you would need a day at most to get the basics down, but you were nearing the end of day two and making absolutely no progress.
He sighs, wrapping his arms around you, pressing his chest to your back as he adjusts your hold. You try not to blush as you ask, “What are you doing?”
“Fixing your hold. Come on, we’re going to swing it together. Clearly just telling you isn’t working, but maybe this will.” He puts his hands over yours, and you feel the heat radiating off of him. You try to focus on the movement as he guides you, but you can’t help but be distracted by the feeling of his muscles against your back. “Did you get that?”
“Huh?” You’re so grateful he can’t see your face right now. “Sorry, uh, can we do that one more time?”
Instead of making fun of you or complaining, he simply guides you through the motion again, going slow to ensure you understand every step, before repeating it again closer to a normal speed. “Did you get it?”
“I…think so. Maybe.”
He chuckles, and you can feel the rumble of his chest against your back. “Alright. Try it yourself, now.”
You do, and for once, the sword flies through the air with ease, and makes a sizable slash in the dummy. You stare for a moment, dumbfounded, before you drop the sword and whirl around to face him. “I did it!” You can’t stop yourself from throwing your arms around him.
“Wha–Hey! Don’t drop your sword!” Despite his scolding tone of voice, his arms are gentle as they wrap around you, lifting you up slightly. “...But that was good.”
Is that a hint of red at the tips of his ears?
No, of course not. It couldn’t be.
He sets you down, picking up the sword and placing it back in your hand. “Now do it again. If you can do something as simple as that, you can probably keep up the facade long enough to find your treasure.”
You do the motion ten, twenty, then thirty more times while Zoro watches on with satisfaction. “You know, I could probably make a real swordsman out of you if we had the time.”
You laugh. “Maybe you could. I don’t have anywhere to be after this. Does your ship have room for one more?”
You say it as a joke, but you can see on his face that for a moment, he genuinely considers the possibility. “It’s a big ship. You’d have to get approval from my Captain, though.”
“Do you think I could?”
“He’d love you.” He smiles fondly. “You’re just as reckless as he is. And you’d get along with everyone else, too. Nami would appreciate having someone else who knows the value of a Berry around. Usopp would love how gullible you are. And that cook…” He makes a quiet noise of disgust. “Anyway, you’d fit right in.”
You can see the affection radiating off of him as he talks about his friends. You can’t help but smile back at him. “They sound nice.”
“They have their moments.”
You sheathe your sword, rolling out your shoulders and neck. “Well, I think I only have a bit to go before I get the treasure. I’m so close I can taste it. I bet I can find it by tonight.”
“Here’s hoping. As you are now, you’d still get caught the moment you got put into a real battle. We have to find it quickly.”
You freeze, your heart pounding a little faster. “...We?”
“Yeah?” He looks at you like it’s obvious.
“You’re coming with me?”
“You thought I wouldn’t?”
“I don’t know! You never said you were going to!”
“I thought it was obvious. We’re going to go in, grab the treasure, and run like hell.”
You don’t like the way he simplifies it, but you have to admit that’s basically your entire plan. “And then I take you back to your ship?”
“It’d be hard for you to join if you didn’t.”
You can’t hide your shock. “You were serious?”
“Were you not?”
“I mean–I’d like to, but–”
“If you want to, then there’s no but. It’s settled.” He says it so easily. You wonder where he gets the confidence to speak things into existence like that, to say things as though they’re sure to happen simply because he wills it. His next words are spoken as an afterthought, as though they left his mouth before he even realized they were coming. “That’s good. I didn’t really want to let you go.”
“Huh?” Your face is definitely red now.
“Huh?” His face might be redder than yours.
“Did you–”
“No, definitely not.”
“You didn’t let me finish.”
“Doesn’t matter.” He sharply turns around. “We have a treasure to go steal.”
Well, if he isn’t going to be brave about this, you suppose you’ll have to. You wouldn’t survive the tension-filled boat ride over otherwise. “Oh, the brave swordsman is running away?”
You see his shoulders tense, and you know you got him. “I am not running away.”
“Then why aren’t you looking at me, Zoro?” You keep your voice teasing and sickly sweet.
He slowly turns, desperately avoiding your eyes.
“You still aren’t loo–”
Before you can finish your taunt, chapped lips are pressed against yours. It’s jarring and all too brief, gone before you even realize it was there. By the time you can blink, he’s backed away again, stalking off with a purpose. “Come on. We’re losing daylight.”
“That’s the wrong way.”
He turns back around without a word, rushing past you. You can’t help the goofy little grin that makes its way onto your lips. You won’t tell him, not now, but you didn’t really want to let him go quite yet either.