Work Text:
The ship rocked gently along the waves, everyone in the crew out on the deck while the sun heated their backs. A few groans came from Chopper, Luffy and Usopp, who all begged their beloved cook for ice and cold water. Luffy also had the audacity to beg for ice cream, to which Sanji hit him on the head and yelled how the captain had stuffed his face with all the ice cream they had on the first heated summer day.
Nami had declared a few weeks ago that the next island to be approached is a summer island, with extreme heat yet lots of useful supplies for most of the crew. The sky was as clear as the sea surrounding them and their small ship, making room for the overly large sun to burst right through without any struggle whatsoever. It made the furry doctor of the crew sob and hide away in the shade.
Sanji chuckled at the sight, before walking off to fetch some sweet treats for everyone. Cotton candy for Chopper, lollipops he put in the fridge to try and make them as cold as can be for Usopp, Cola for Franky — since that's all he ever really wanted — nothing for Brook, because he couldn't even consume anything with his skeleton body and for Nami and Robin he made exquisite cold deserts from whatever he could find and cook up. Luffy would eat anything, so Sanji just dumped a bunch of meat on a large tray.
Everyone was given their food, thankful for having such a caring cook on board. But, not everyone had a treat to eat. Turning to walk towards the small square patch of grass with a tree sprouting delicious tangerines, Zoro was deep in sleep as the cook approached. If the swordsman wanted a snack, he'd have to wake up to have it.
"Oi, wake up, marimo!" Sanji yelled, toeing at the sleeping man's thigh, his newly lit cigarette from a few minutes ago wobbling between Sanji's lips, almost falling out. Zoro groaned, opening one eye to look up at the cook poking at his thigh, before slouching further down the tree's bark and closing his eye back down, attempting to go to sleep again. He mumbled incoherent words towards the blonde, which seemed to have pissed him off, as Zoro earned a kick to the side of the head.
The kick woke the moss-head right back up, jumping up almost immediately with his swords, clutching the hilt of two of them, Wado and Enma, while staring daggers at the chef. But, just as Zoro was about to pull them out, a high-pitched scream came from behind them. It was hard to decipher who it was, because it could've been Chopper or Usopp given it wasn’t as high as Nami’s and Robin never screams, although it was soon confirmed to be Chopper once Sanji turned to the source of the scream — or was it a yelp?
Sprawled out on the deck, a red-haired man slowly rose up, shuffling to comfortably sit on the wooden floorboards of the ship. He wore a long cape that was black on the inside and white on the outside, which covered most of his upper body, although a large '66' in yellow was plastered on the front of a red shirt, just peaking out from behind the cape. Sanji knew that outfit. It was a raid suit.
Not only was it a raid suit, it was Ichiji’s raid suit. And it was being worn by Ichiji himself. But… why was he here? All the way out at sea, instead of back at Germa Kingdom? Sanji looked Ichiji thoroughly up and down, noticing a large hole in the side of his shirt, where there were small cuts on his slightly tan skin. They looked like they were healing from a recent fight. A very recent fight. With who, Sanji had no clue.
“It… really is you!” Sanji launched himself towards his brother, wrapping his arms so tightly around the redhead’s neck it was a surprise he wasn’t decapitated. Then again, they are superhuman — or whatever Judge had called them. Ichiji let out a small cough, a string of blood seeping out between his bloodied lips. Whoever it was Ichiji had been fighting, the damage must’ve been terrifyingly bad and painful.
When Sanji pulled back, hands resting on Ichiji’s shoulders, the cook studied the other man’s face, seeing how dried up tear streaks had tighten his skin slightly, and blood that trickled down to the end of his chin started ‘plipping’ onto the oak floorboards. Everyone just stood and stared, Sanji biting back a smile, because he couldn’t smile yet — not when his brother needed help, immediately. That’s when Chopper ushered forward, noticing how Sanji had acted upon meeting the new addition to the ship’s deck, and attempting to drag Ichiji to the infirmary.
Ichiji smiled softly, ignoring how painful it felt. Fuck, his siblings didn’t hold back in that fight, doing whatever it took to keep Ichiji from escaping Germa. “It really is me. I’m… free now,” Ichiji tried chuckling, only to turn it into a grunt of pain, hand flying to the side with the hole in his shirt. Finally, he allowed himself to be dragged away by the reindeer, answers to infinite questions slowly muffling before fading from Sanji’s ears completely.
Zoro stood there, watching the red-haired man leave with Chopper, his gaze pausing on the infirmary’s closed door before turning to the cook. He wanted — no, needed — to know who that was. And why Sanji had reacted that way. Before he could, Nami had already made her way to the blonde, questioning him while Luffy and the other crew members gathered round, waiting to hear the story. Zoro decided to as well, although he didn’t gather with them, just listened and stood where he was.
“He’s… my brother,” a few gasps left the crew’s mouths, “back when I was younger, he — Ichiji — and my sister Reiju always stood up for me whenever my other two siblings picked on me, calling me names and sometimes getting violent. Ichiji… really did care for me, and I felt almost bad leaving them.” He sighed, looking down at his feet, a smile twitching on his face. Memories from his past with Ichiji and Reiju flooded back, making his smile stretch and become more visible. He missed them so much, and now one of them were finally reunited with him. But, in one of the worst ways possible.
So, his name is Ichiji, Zoro thought, his eyes finding their way back to the infirmary door, which opened almost as soon as he looked. Ichiji came walking out, shirtless with his cape and ripped shirt in his hands, Chopper coming out after him, looking slightly concerned but also shocked. Surely the injuries weren’t that bad? It was rare to see the reindeer so… what was the word… traumatised? Or, just whatever could describe his expression now.
Once the pair returned to the crew, everyone greeted Sanji’s brother properly, Franky screaming something about ‘super’ at whatever Ichiji was saying to them, or he was just saying it because he always introduced himself with ‘super’ before ‘Franky’ to people. Meanwhile, Chopper was frowning and pulling the crew members that weren’t busied with Ichiji — Robin, Sanji and Zoro — to the side, giving them all looks before speaking.
“He’s… not human.” Stated the little doctor, causing Zoro and Robin to widen their eyes in surprise, Robin parting her lips slightly. But Sanji just looked away, unsurprised. It was bound to happen. Chopper must’ve done an x-ray or something on Ichiji to take a look at the wounds, seeing if his ribs were broken or anything. “Well,” Chopper began again, “he is sort-of human. But… his wounds are healing ten times faster than the average human body. Sanji, do you know why?” The three stared at the cook, waiting. For an answer, an expression, anything. Sanji sighed.
Shrugging, the blonde looked back at Ichiji, then back at Chopper. “Our genes were modified while we were in the womb. Our bastard of a father wanted to make ‘perfect soldiers’ for Germa, faltering our genes so we’d come out as superhumans. But…” he paused, looking at Zoro and Robin, then continuing, “to try and stop it, my mother poisoned herself, hoping it would fix us. Make us normal. It only worked on me and Ichiji, we gained emotions but still capable of some abilities like instant regeneration.
“It mostly worked on me, causing me to become weak as a child, my brothers often picking on me for it. Reiju and Ichiji played along, because if they didn’t, Hell, I don’t even know what would happen. But, that’s the summary of it. I can’t really… Anyway, it doesn’t matter now, it’s in the past.” Sanji finished, turning and walking back towards the rest of the crew quickly, giving a quick word to Ichiji before walking off and up the steps, probably to make food to distract himself.
Zoro, Robin and Chopper exchanged glances, but eventually they all silently walked back towards where everyone except Sanji were now slowly separating to go do their own things, the heat of the upcoming island now coming back to their memory, making them all sigh and groan. On the other hand, Ichiji stood there, looking around. Probably wondering what to do or where to go. Maybe both, but Zoro went up to the man just so then he wouldn’t look like a lost puppy waiting for its mother.
When he approached, the redhead turned to him almost immediately, sighing to himself before turning to fully face Zoro. They both shared a nod of greeting, before falling back into silence. It felt awkward for some reason and Zoro didn’t like it. But at the same time, didn’t mind it. It felt nice, peaceful, slightly less awkward as he stared off out to sea. Ichiji did the same for a minute, before looking down at the white and black cape and red shirt in his hand, clenching his fist, causing them to crinkle.
“Blasted raid suit,” he mumbled, throwing them to the floor in front of him, looking back out to sea then turning his gaze to Zoro, smiling, “hey, you.” Zoro snapped out of his zoned out stare, giving Ichiji a look of confusion. “What’s your name?” The question hung uninterrupted in the air between the two men. Zoro’s face heated up. Why? Hah, don’t ask Zoro. He doesn’t know why himself, because it was just a question from a stupid, strawberry-headed, hot, idiotic man with the same curled brows as the cook.
Before Zoro answered, he stared at the man next to him for a moment, really taking in his facial features. The only thing he couldn’t really take in is what colour and shape his eyes are, due to them being hidden behind red-filtered glasses. But he bet they were just as beautiful as Ichiji himself. The redhead had a strong yet soft jawline, thin, nude pink lips that seemed as gentle as the overlapping of the waves when it turned into a smile. Damn. He looked as beautiful as the sea itself, and Zoro wouldn’t doubt that Ichiji would look even more beautiful when he’s older. Right now, he looked around the same age as the cook, maybe slightly older. Perhaps or year or two older.
“Zoro. Roronoa Zoro.” Came the reply. Ichiji smiled wider, which made Zoro’s heart beat ten times faster than when he first laid eyes on the man. It felt so surreal, this feeling that all of a sudden came bubbling up inside Zoro. Looking at the man now, Zoro swore the wind was purposely blowing Ichiji’s hair to the side, before slowing down and allowing the red locks to fall in front of his face. That made Ichiji laugh slightly, pushing his hair back with his free hand. The laughter, that was the final sound. Zoro knew what he was feeling.
Love.
Suddenly, Zoro pulled Ichiji towards him by his wrist, letting their lips connect instantly, his eyes searching deeply, trying to look past the glasses and somehow see the colour of the eyes that had zoomed in closer. Then, he let his eyes close, not caring if anyone saw, only caring about this moment. With Ichiji, his lips being warmed by the strawberry-haired male. Once it had been a good few seconds, he pulled back, his gaze holding on Ichiji’s lips before moving up to his hidden eyes.
Ichiji froze, before moving a hand up to cover his mouth as his face heated up the same colour as his hair. The other hand went to curl up against where his heart would be. This moment was something Zoro wanted stored in his memory for ever. But he knew this most likely wouldn’t last, because Ichiji probably had somewhere else he needed to go, instead of staying here on the ship. A soft giggle came from beside the two men, which cracked the tension significantly. Zoro turned to the laugh, Ichiji facing the other way immediately to calm himself.
Robin stood there, holding a plate of food. She offered it to Zoro, saying how she had insisted delivering the food for Sanji, who needed a moment to process things. It made sense, because who would want to talk about how their siblings and him had their genes modified? Not to mention the fact one of his brothers had suddenly crash-landed on their ship! Other than that, though, Robin had said Sanji was perfectly fine despite being so shocked at the sudden reunion, if it could be called that.
Well, at least they both knew Sanji was doing fine. Ichiji turned around as Robin was walking away, to go back to where Franky was showing Usopp and Luffy some random ‘super’ dance moves he made up. Zoro watched her go and gently press a hand to the cyborg’s large bicep, pushing a soft kiss against his cheek. The gesture made the swordsman wonder, could he be like that with Ichiji? Did Ichiji even feel what Zoro felt? Was the love mutual? Maybe it wasn’t since they only just met around three hours ago now. Oh, how time really does fly, especially when you’re in love.
“Ichiji,” Zoro began, catching Ichiji’s attention almost instantly. For some reason, that made Zoro want to straight up tell the man he loves him, deeply. It was embarrassing, almost, falling in love at first sight. Hopefully, though, Ichiji had some form of love, like Sanji has for women, but for men instead. Even if he didn’t over exaggerate it, the swordsman hoped that was kind-of true. Oh well, here it goes.
“I love you.”
Silence.
Awkward, uninterrupted silence.
Then, Ichiji stepped forward, carefully so, his hand itching to reach up and graze the green-haired man’s cheek. And that’s exactly what he did. He reached up, hesitantly, sliding his soft hand against the warmth of the tanned man’s cheek and smiled. Smiled that same, gentle, perfect smile that made Zoro’s heart skip a beat. Just as the swordsman thought it couldn’t get any more perfect, Ichiji closed their distance, bringing their lips together in an affectionate kiss. It felt intimate, like this was meant to happen. Almost like… fate.
“Thank you.”
Then they kissed again. A tad bit more desperately, less carefully. More openly and hungrily.
All Zoro could think was how much he needed this. Wanted it. Craved it.
So, who knew where these small kisses would take them.