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These five people were the stupidest people he had ever met. No, more like the second stupidest after a certain cook with curly eyebrows, he was still way out of their league.
Zoro grumbled. Not because he was currently surrounded by five people in kimonos who seemingly wanted to rob him but more because he thought about the shitty cook again. It had only been about two weeks in which he hadn't seen the bastard. Two damn weeks and still the number of times he thought about the cook is in the double digits. Actually, the times he thought about the cook should have decreased over time, not gotten even more, right?
"Do we have to repeat ourselves!? Give us all the money you got!" shouted one of the men from the group still standing around him. They were in an empty alley at night, that's the only thing Zoro could give them credit for. His three magnificent swords were on full display and although it was common practice on the Samurai Island to carry a sword, it still should have deterred them. Then at least they would have gotten out of this situation in one piece.
Maybe he should have left the town already but his sake was almost empty and he knew a shop nearby that sold acceptable ones.
"No, I still need that to buy sake," Zoro replied in a flat tone. So far he hadn't even really looked at the attackers, but his hand had been on his swords ever since he heard their footsteps. These people were just desperate citizens, none of them appeared to be trained in haki in the slightest and they seemed to have only mastered the basics of sword fighting.
The first attack was predictable even without observation haki. A screaming man rushed towards him with his sword raised, whereupon Zoro drew his and brought the man to the ground with one swing of the back of his sword. They were wearing shabby clothes and probably wanted to buy food with his money. Still, only the worst kind of people resort to inflicting suffering on others when they are in need, so they deserve every blow that would follow.
The four frightened people looked at him in fear for a moment before they all attacked at once. Sighing, he also knocked them to the ground with a short blow, after which they wouldn't wake up for another few hours. When he looked at them lying on the ground, he saw that one of the attackers was a woman.
If the ero-cook had seen him knocking down a woman, he would have immediately started a fight because in his world nobody should harm a lady.
Fuck.
That was number 23 on his I-thought-about-Sanji checklist that he now kept making every day. Maybe he should stop counting them, then the number of times he sees the cook's face would surely decrease.
He put Wado Ichimonji back into his sheath until he heard a quiet click that indicated a successful fight, even if this couldn't really be called a fight.
It had been a long time since he had had a really hard fight but knowing Luffy he would surely get one on Wano, so he should save his strength until he finally meets his captain again. Hopefully, it wouldn't take long until they finally arrived on Wano, in his opinion their group had already collected enough information. What if they came back without the cook? No, that was Luffy they were talking about, the most stubborn captain- no person he knew. Zoro would never doubt that he would arrive on Wano with the cook.
And that was number... How much? Fuck it, the checklist sucks anyway.
As if nothing had happened, he walked over the people lying on the floor and continued his way to the shop to buy more sake. He grabbed his last half-full bottle and emptied it in one gulp.
When Sanji finally stands in front of him again, Zoro will simply treat him as usual, pretending that none of this ever happened. As if he hadn't just run away, left his crew behind to marry one of Big Mom's daughters. He had been stupid enough to do this for the crew, to save them when they didn't need saving. For this, he had left Zor- the crew behind him.
Zoro shook his empty sake bottle and quickened his pace slightly.
It was normal for Zoro to be devastated when he heard the news, after all, Sanji was still a nakama despite all their arguments and fights. He definitely would have felt exactly the same way if anyone else had left.
Shit, maybe it would be better if Sanji wouldn't come back with Luffy, then Zoro could concentrate more on... Absolutely everything where Sanji was around. Yes, the cook can go away and marry the oh-so-great girl of his dreams, whom he's been dreaming about ever since he first met him. Zoro would absolutely go without the Ero cook.
Suddenly, he smelled smoke just before he could reach the store. He immediately turned towards the smell that could only come from a cigarette. So far, Zoro hadn't seen a single one of them on this isolated island.
Zoro immediately turned to the alley where the smell came from, completely forgetting his previous destination. He found himself on another street that was a little bigger than the one he was attacked on. It was probably completely overcrowded during the day but at that hour there were only a few people to be seen and they all looked like they were about to fall asleep.
The closer he got to the smell, the more he recognized the smell. He had smelled it for almost his entire journey on the ship, something like that you don't forget from one day to the next. Especially because this smell was directly related to a certain person.
"Yes Brook, I think I have everything to get to the ruins of Odin castle without having to worry about food. In fact, I have more than enough to please the nice ladies we have traveling with us-"
There he stood, leaning against a wall with his shoulder with a cigarette in his hand. He was turned away from Zoro, but he could still see a small communication snail in his hands. He briefly stopped his conversation with the skeleton to take a drag from his cigarette and then continued the conversation.
So far, he didn't seem to have noticed Zoro, at least his back was still turned towards him. Zoro took two steps back before stopping abruptly. It's ridiculous to run away from Sanji, it would be like giving in to him which Zoro would never do, after all the cook was his rival.
Sanji said goodbye to the skeleton and put the snail back in his pocket. He was very noticeable among the people wearing kimonos as he still wore regular black tight pants with a gray shirt. The groceries he had apparently come here for were on the floor next to him.
Apparently, he knew exactly where to go compared to Zoro who, to be honest, had no idea where to go next. Of course, he wasn't lost, just exploring the area and the island was way too big anyway.
Zoro took a few steps towards the cook, who still seemed to be puffing on his cigarette. He felt nervous, his skin prickled, and his steps were more unsteady than they were when he first practiced with the sword. He gripped his Wado Ichimonji tightly as he approached the other man, hoping that from the outside he seemed emotionless and bored as always.
When Sanji turned to him he was only a few steps away from the other man. He saw Sanji's eyes widen and his cigarette fell to the ground. Without breaking eye contact, Zoro stepped on it to make sure it didn't burn the wooden house next to them down. Just as Sanji was about to open his mouth, Zoro raised his hand and punched Sanji in the face.
It hit him harder than planned, no actually none of this was planned at all. Fuck, what was he thinking? Maybe he was known for impulsive actions, not as much as his captain but still enough. But this was a reaction completely driven purely by emotion. It was hard to breathe, not because this punch was too exhausting but because all the emotions coming back at him drowned him.
Sanji staggered back a few steps and pressed his hand against the spot on his cheek Zoro had hit.
The feeling of regret and satisfaction flooded through Zoro at the same time. Fuck, what happened to the determination to treat the cook as usual as if nothing happened? Just one look on Sanji's face made Zoro throw everything overboard. All the meditation he did so he could finally forget his feelings.
Before he could react he felt a blow on his head. It was Sanji's foot who had jumped up and rammed a foot into his green hair, so much so that Zoro sank into the ground a little.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU MOSSBRAIN?" Sanji shouted after taking a few steps back.
"No, what went wrong with you?!" Zoro shouted back as he stepped towards Sanji out of the small hatch that Sanji's kick had left behind. He ran one of his hands over the spot Sanji had just kicked.
"You attacked me first and I just avenged myself, asshole!"
"That's not what I'm talking about and you fucking know it, eyebrows!"
Suddenly Sanji stopped, his back pressed against one of the many empty shops. His expression changed from anger to one more tinged with shame.
"Running away without telling m- the crew, or at least the captain!?" Zoro continued. His heart began to beat faster, all the pain he had felt at the first news of Sanji's disappearance came back to him.
"Off to marry one of your oh-so-amazing ladies of dreams, huh?"
"I did it for you, the crew, and you know it stupid Mosshead!"
"You have no right to decide this for us! I should have punched you even harder to get this into your brain you shitty cook! What on earth gave you the idea that sacrificing yourself would be the best plan we can come up with? It feels as if you have only waited for a chance to escape from me- I mean us,” Zoro yelled, grabbing Sanji to pull him closer to him, his back only touching the wall slightly. Sanji's eyes filled with sadness, which almost immediately made Zoro lose all of the pain he had felt over the past two weeks and made him immediately want to take back everything he had ever said.
"You always say how much you hate me, it must have been your heaven on earth while I was away. Are you so angry because I didn't stay away or what? Because I decided to come back? "
He immediately slumped back against the wall as Zoro let go of his shirt. Zoro's eyes widened, but he didn't dare take a step back from the other man. Too afraid that he would just run away, all just to never have to see that hurt, betrayed look on Sanji's face again.
"N-no, I never meant- No, it's good that you came with the others," Zoro stammered. He wanted Sanji to know that he didn't want him to leave again. That he had hoped every day that the others would achieve their mission. That he hadn't spent a minute without thinking about him. His real reason why he was so hurt when he heard the news of Sanji leaving to marry. Why he wanted to never see him again and yet it was eating him from the inside out, the desire to finally see him again.
"Oh yeah, that's right. Luffy can't become King of the Pirates without me, that's why you want me in the crew," Sanji said with a little laugh, but he didn't sound happy in the slightest.
"Be careful, Mossy, otherwise I might misunderstand and think that you don't hate me," he murmured, trying to slide past Zoro to the left while trying to push him away a little with his hand on Zoro's shoulder. However, Zoro slammed his hand against the wall that Sanji had been leaning against the whole time, took another step forward, and locked him in between him and the wall. Of course, Sanji could still get out of the situation but instead of trying any further, he leaned back against the wall and stared wide-eyed at Zoro with his exposed eye.
Sanji shouldn't misunderstand what Zoro had said. Until now there had been no reason for Zoro to be so direct with the cook, but now there was the possibility that if Zoro didn't take this chance and let Sanji go, he would never come back. The last two weeks had proven this to him.
"Sanji, I missed you," Zoro said in a firm voice, as if he was stating a solid fact, like he was saying that the sky was blue. Because he was absolutely sure about this and Sanji had to realize that. He didn't want Sanji to run away again. He couldn't bear to see Sanji turn his back on him, not without making sure Sanji knew this.
Zoro didn't know when it started. Maybe it had always been a part of his life that he always repressed deep inside him. But it was still something inevitable. Luffy would become King of the Pirates, Zoro would become the best swordsman in the world, he and Sanji were equals and he loved Sanji.
He loved the rivalry between them, he didn't want to destroy it over such a small feeling. He didn't need the extra attention that Sanji gave the ladies, he didn't need Sanji singing his praises to him like he does for Nami and Robin. He had always told himself what they had was perfect, that it was enough, and that it would always stay that way.
But even though he didn't need any of those things from Sanji, he needed... Sanji.
"Not a day has gone by that I haven't thought about you."
"What?" Sanji uttered in disbelief. His breathing was heavy and the hand that was still on Zoro's shoulder tightened but it didn't make any attempt to push Zoro away, rather Zoro felt a slight pull towards Sanji.
Zoro raised his hand and placed it on Sanji's cheek where he had punched him just a few minutes ago. Normally, they were exactly as tall as the other but with Sanji leaning against the wall he had to look down a little.
"Please don't ever leave me again. Not like that. Not without any explanation. Not... To marry someone else."
Below him, Sanji began to smile, still slightly shocked.
"If you had said that to me about two weeks earlier, we could have saved ourselves a lot of trouble, Zoro," he said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Zoro opened his mouth to defend himself as Sanji's hand slowly slid from his shoulder to his neck.
After all, he had many reasons why he couldn't suddenly blurt all this out without thinking. There's the fact that they fought almost constantly with other crews thanks to their captain. Then there was the fact that he didn't want to jeopardize their rivalry, but that was thrown out the window within two weeks without Sanji in his life just to make sure that Sanji finally knew the truth. But there is no way anyway that Sanji could ever, in any universe, feel the same way as...
His thoughts were interrupted when he was suddenly pulled forward against Sanji's lips into a kiss. When had both of Sanji's hands wrapped around his neck?
It took Zoro a second to close his eyes and lean into the kiss. He took the hand that was still propped against the wall to run through Sanji's blonde hair, something he had never been allowed to do in those almost three years, and leaned his entire weight against Sanji.
Since Zoro's mouth was still slightly open, Sanji licked his mouth almost playfully, whereupon Zoro immediately opened his mouth wider and deepened their kiss. Sanji still tasted like his cigarettes, Zoro probably still tasted like the sake he had drunk not long before. It was perfect.
Zoro finally pulled Sanji back using his tight grip on his hair to look at him in shock.
Sanji started laughing and said, "I would never have dared to think that my feelings were reciprocated."
"What the hell am I supposed to say? I had given up the first day I saw you, " Zoro murmured against Sanji's neck, where he placed a chaste kiss.
“Still didn't stop me from falling for you. “
"Did you know that today was the first time you said my name in all those years we've known each other?" Sanji asked playfully while Zoro pulled away from him to look him in the eyes again.
"Sanji," he said simply, feeling Sanji beginning to tremble slightly.
"Sanji, I love you."
"I love you too Zoro, so long that I've lost count."
Zoro felt happiness flood through him. He leaned forward again to rest his forehead on Sanji's shoulder and wrapped his arms around Sanji's waist.
"You know, at some point we have to go back to the others, right?”
"Just a little more," he murmured into Sanji's shoulder and relaxed completely under Sanji's hands, which lightly stroked his short hair.
“Wait, so you hit me because you were jealous? “
“Shut up, Curly. “