Chapter Text
Wrong... but also right.
Zoro allowed himself to be yanked through the halls by his now-female captain. This was how things had always been, since the day had had met Luffy. Wherever his captain went, he followed. If they were separated, Luffy would force them back together or Zoro would fight his way back. This had been decided all the way back in Shells Town.
But as familiar as this was, it was just as foreign. He had become accustomed to Luffy's tight grip, but Lucy's fingers hung loose around his wrist. She seemed focused, which wasn't completely out of character for Luffy but did take much more effort. Little things were just off about how she spoke: her accent, her mannerisms, even the way her mouth moved.
When they reached their destination Lucy was still grinning. "See? Homeroom." She leaned against the door frame. "Shishishi, if it wasn't for me, you'd never get anywhere."
Zoro rubbed the back of his neck in thought. "Right..." He allowed Lucy to pull him into the classroom and steer him towards the back where their seats apparently were and tried to make sense of what was going on. The shit cook seemed adamant that they were in some kind of parallel world and while it sounded ridiculously insane, it was the only explanation.
The question was, why?
Zoro had brushed with death so many times that he was under no illusions; he had died at Luffy's execution only moments after the captain himself. The details were fuzzy and it was hard to discern how exactly he had met his end. Maybe it was a formidable foe, maybe some punk Marine had gotten lucky. Who knew?
And who cared at this point? The real question was, did Luffy- Lucy, whatever!- remember? She didn't seem like she did. Luffy had always been a terrible liar so it wasn't likely Lucy was faking it. But then why were he and Sanji here? Luffy was the one who had died first, why were they the ones saved?
It made Luffy's execution sting even more. Even after death, he continued to fail his captain.
Lucy seemed blissfully unaware of his inner turmoil. She scribbled in her notebook, an incredibly crude drawing of- what a damn minute. "Is that supposed to be me?" Zoro demanded, glaring at her.
She gave him a toothy grin. "Of course!" she said proudly. "It looks just like Zoro!" If he hadn't been convinced she was Luffy, he definitely was now. Only he would make something so dumb and have the nerve to show it off.
Zoro bopped her on the head almost involuntarily. "Dumbass," he hissed.
Lucy laughed, crumbling up the paper and throwing it away. "Are you giving me a ride after swim still?" she asked.
He grunted. "Whatever," he muttered before her words actually ended up hitting him. Luffy and swimming didn't go together, ever. "Wait, swim?"
She frowned, poking his forehead. "Did you forget?" she asked, as if he was the moron. Luffy had done that often too, usually earning him a whack to the head. "I have practice today. The captain can't miss practice!"
Zoro frowned, trying to make sense of it all. Waking up in another world? Weird, but whatever. His captain suddenly a girl? Still the same idiotic captain he had always known. But Luffy swimming for sport? That was perhaps the most outlandish thing he had heard all day. He couldn't count how many times he had launched himself into the ocean after Luffy had somehow managed to fall in. Now he was supposed to wait around while Lucy drifted around like it was nothing?
How was he going to sit through that?
~~~
Sanji looked as perplexed as he felt. "You're kidding."
Zoro leaned up against some random locker. "I wish I was," he replied. He had finally escaped Lucy after homeroom as they had different classes after that, not that he had gone. Why would he care about whatever dumb class he had next? He hadn't gone to school in his entire life! Not unless he counted Sensei's dojo. "I don't think I can watch."
Sanji shrugged. "You are a basket case when it comes to Luffy," he agreed. "I'll go instead and then you can take her home after."
Zoro was about to nod, but a shadow crossed his face as he remembered that Luffy was now a girl and would be wearing a bathing suit. He glared at the shit cook and hit him upside the head. "Not a chance in hell you perv."
The blond rubbed his sore head and glared back. "I wasn't thinking like that, jackass!" he shouted.
Zoro gave him a blank look. "You expect me to believe that?" He had watched years of this bastard try his best to get into Nami's pants. If that love cook tried anything with Lucy, he would cut his hands off. Nami and Robin could handle themselves, but Luffy- Lucy- was too innocent. She could easily get taken advantage of.
(He wasn't making that up either. Luffy never had any idea when a woman would flirt with him, which had become often for some reason, leading Zoro to pulling him away.)
Sanji glared at him for a moment more before lighting his cigarette. "Whatever," he scoffed, taking a drag. "Watch Lucy flail around in the water, see if I care."
Zoro groaned. "Fine," he relented. As much as he didn't trust Sanji not to try anything, he really, really didn't want to see his captain in water. He just couldn't, not after watching Luffy die. "Just keep your hands to yourself."
Sanji raised a critical eyebrow. "You're one to talk."
He was instantly defensive. "The hell is that supposed to mean?"
The shit cook grinned. "You aren't discreet," he answered. "You think I haven't seen you ogling our captain, Mosshead? Poor innocent Luffy was completely unaware that his first mate had such a big crush on him."
Zoro's cheeks burned at the accusation. "The hell are you talking about?" he demanded. He hadn't ogled his captain and he sure as hell didn't have a crush on him! What was Curly-brows going on about? "Don't spout nonsense like that, idiot!"
Sanji kicked him in the side as the bell rang. "Pipe down," he warned. Other students filed out into the hallway around him. Fortunately, no one seemed to notice them. "You're making a ruckus."
Zoro growled at him, but did as he said. There was nothing to be done about it now anyway. If the idiot cook wanted to think that way, he wouldn't stop him. It wasn't true.
It wasn't.