Work Text:
News article:
BREAKING NEWS: Emperor of the Sea Monkey D. Luffy, captain of the infamous Straw Hat Pirates was caught in a bar kissing world renown bounty hunter, Pirate Hunter Zoro.
Pirate Hunter Zoro is known to have defeated a number of highly influential criminals among the likes of King the Wildfire, former first mate of the Beast Pirates, Shiryu of the Rain, former titanic captain of the Blackbeard Pirates, and former Warlord and World's Strongest Swordsman Hawkeye Mihawk.
Pirate Hunter Zoro rose to fame alongside renown pirates such as Eustass 'Captain' Kid, the Surgeon of Death Trafalgar Law, and Strawhat Luffy, all members of the Worst Generation. His devastating three-sword-style earned him a place among the Worst Generation, despite not being a pirate himself.
Similarly, Yonko Strawhat Luffy has risen to fame for challenging and defeating three of the former Warlords respectively, is known to have raided and escaped all three government facilities; Ennies Lobby, Impel Down, and the former Marineford, and, to continue this pattern of threes, he has aided in the defeat of three of the former yonkos, Big Mom, King of the Beasts Kaido and Blackbeard Teach.
Many were waiting in high anticipation for Pirate Hunter Zoro to challenge the youngest emperor in history next and were shocked to receive news of Strawhat Luffy and Pirate Hunter Zoro caught in a battle of neither blades nor fists, but tongues.
Witness 'A' who claims to have seen it first-hand in a bar on Fubuki Island describes the encounter below:
"I felt a weird tension in the air so knowing something was up I took a look around the room and nearly s*at my pants when I saw not only the Pirate Hunter sitting across the room but Strawhat as well. They were, what I assumed at the time, giving each other the stink eye, but in hindsight they might’ve been flirting instead.
“I kept my eye on ‘em cause I didn’t want any trouble so I noticed when Strawhat got up to go somewhere and suddenly Pirate Hunter was following after him. I thought to myself I better get out of here these two look like they gonna duke it out but just as I was about to get up Pirate Hunter Zoro grabbed Strawhat and pushed him against the wall. They glared at each other real long standing ways too close and then Pirate Hunter swooped in and kissed Strawhat on the lips. Right then and there I swore off alcohol for good.”
Witness ‘A’ claims that the aforementioned pair clearly had something already going on because they “had that look in their eye.”
Cavendish of the White Horse, a captain of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, seems to differ in opinion as when shown the then unreleased photo depicted above and asked to comment on the relationship between Pirate Hunter Zoro and Yonko Strawhat Luffy, he replied with “wtf” looking somewhat disturbed.
So the question remains, is this merely a one time spur of the moment bar fling or is it perhaps the revelation of a secret relationship finally come to light? After some extensive digging, journalists here at the World Economy Newspaper were stumped at their findings. Multiple accounts were uncovered where Strawhat Luffy and Pirate Hunter Zoro appeared at the same places but no known accounts confirm, save for one, that they actually crossed paths with each other. The one single account where they were confirmed to have run into each other is in a small marine base in the East Blue, before Strawhat even had his first bounty, where Pirate Hunter Zoro was allegedly captured and detained. Various eyewitness reports stated that Strawhat was responsible for Pirate Hunter’s escape and some even claim that Strawhat saved his life.
Other strange occurrences are highlighted by Pirate Hunter’s impressive list of defeated opponents, many of which were often involved with Strawhat’s own opponents, namely King the Wildfire and Shiryu of the Rain, both of whose captain later fell to Strawhat’s fists. Others like Daz Bones, also known as Mr. One of the former secretive Baroque Works, and Pica, former 'Spade' executive of the Donquixote Pirates, were both from crews that later fell to Strawhat as well.
Is this all just some big coincidence or is there more behind it?
Some here at the World Economy Newspaper speculate that Pirate Hunter may even be a secret ally of the Straw Hat Pirates, his loyalty perhaps earned by Strawhat as recompense for saving his life all those years ago. A loyalty, that later turned to affection.
However not everyone is convinced, as Pirate Hunter is notoriously a loner who likes swords and fighting and booze and not much else. They find it hard to believe that he would suddenly develop interest in something as outgoing as romance. Yet, the truth is in the pudding, as the saying goes, because Pirate Hunter was in fact caught on photo doing something as “outgoing as romance,” in a bar, with Yonko Strawhat Luffy.
Is this simply a one-time fling or is it a secret relationship years in the making?
Stay tuned to find out.
Ace closed the morning newspaper looking straight ahead into the abyss. “Wtf did I just read?”