Instincts [Roronoa Zoro x Reader]

Chapter 5

Most of the others had quickly dispersed after meeting you, with just Luffy, Sanji, and Nami on deck with you. And soon to be another person, you noticed, raising your head to meet him.

"Zoro!" Luffy called, his hand waving enthusiastically at his direction.

"Oi, what's she doing here?" the familiar aura asked.

"I see you're not lost anymore, Zoro." You snickered.

"I was not lost!"

"Yeah?"

"Shut it you masked weirdo!" You didn't need Haki to tell that he was flustered.

"Watch it moss-head!" Sanji butted in, kicking at him. His leg was quickly blocked by a blade. "This lovely lady is our newest crew member, Miss [Y/N]-swan!"

Zoro relaxed his stance when Sanji lowered his leg to fawn over you. "Welcome aboard," he grunted.

"Show the lady some respect!" Sanji threw another kick at Zoro. While you were glad he hadn't said anything about your blindness to anyone, his protective nature around you was uncomfortable. Perhaps he was like this to every woman, but you didn't like it.

"Zoro," you called suddenly. The two looked back at you, Zoro's aura angry and Sanji's patient and adoring, despite you not calling his name. "Fight me."

Nami's and Sanji's auras radiated surprise and alarm.

"What?" Sanji sputtered in disbelief. "But—you—"

He couldn't find the words to continue without breaking his promise to not mention your blindness to anyone.

You could imagine a smile on Zoro's face as his aura gave a sense of some sort of excitement and thrill. "'Course. Can't be the world's greatest swordsman if I can't beat someone with a stick. You could even put up a better fight than this lovecook here!"

"Hold on just a moment," Nami started, not quite sure what to do. "You can't just—"

"Whoo!" Luffy yelled, absolutely not caring and instead looking forward to a fight. "Let 'em have at it. Let the others watch too!"

The noise caught the attention of some of the others once more, who continued the chain of news until everyone was on deck once again. All of them were curious to some degree to see how you, the new crew member, would do against the first mate.

"Oh no," Nami muttered, seeing you stand and wield your quarterstaff and Zoro unsheathe his three blades. "Just a friendly spar, alright?"

"Yeppers," you hummed. You watched as Zoro wielded three swords, one in each hand and another in his mouth. You constantly using Haki to sense your surroundings drained your energy, but you had plenty and it didn't matter. Zoro had caught your attention earlier and you had to show the others you were not weak. "Ready when you are."

He attacked as soon as you said those words, running towards you with his weapons. Your Haki picked up on him immediately with no trouble, allowing you to dodge his attacks. You imbued your quarterstaff with Haki to protect it while blocking.

You gave in to instincts, letting your body move on its own, dodging and weaving. Avoiding the third sword in his mouth was unfamiliar, but manageable.

When he paused for just a moment after a few swings at you, you took the chance to swing your staff down at him, avoiding his slash by vaulting above him.

Now upside down, balanced on your staff, you let go of it for a split second to drop down a few inches, avoiding another swing of Zoro's swords where you were moments ago. Your hand was now at the center of the quarterstaff, and you flipped it horizontally to whirl it around, attempting to knock Zoro off balance and return on your feet.

You managed to block his mouth's sword's swing just barely as you felt a knock on your mask.

You blocked his two other swords with your staff, then took a step back. The force he was using against your staff made him lose balance when you suddenly backed up, but he regained his posture just a quickly.

He took a deep breath, and went in for a barrage of quick slashes. Your Haki was able to keep up with him, but there was no opportunity to get in a jab or thrust while you dodged and blocked, being backed up against the other auras who watched.

There was a shout from them as Zoro advanced, pushing you back more and more into them. You couldn't know if there was a wall behind you, but if there was, you might be able to take advantage of it. The auras spread away from the two of you.

The heel of your foot hit a surface, and in that moment you dropped down to a low crouch, and thrusted your staff between your legs and against the wall to boost your tackle against Zoro, then backed up again to jab him with it.

Thinking he got you in a corner, he was caught off guard and almost fell down backwards. He managed to keep himself up as you recovered your stance after the tackle.

You made your way to the center of the onlooking auras watching the fight, holding your weapon in a defensive stance. Zoro quickly recovered from your jab, but he did not move from where he stood.

You couldn't help but think that he wasn't fighting like he usually would. He was attacking, but it was as if....

"You're holding back," you called to him, not lowering your weapon.

"What?"

A sense of panic had sparked in you, and you quickly willed it away. Did he realize you were blind?

There was no way; you didn't need eyes to fight as long as there was intention in his aura. Your surroundings hadn't gotten in the way or messed you up, either.

"You're holding back as well," he continued.

"This is a friendly spar," you said briskly. "I don't want to actually batter and bruise you."

He chuckled through the sword. "You won't."

Before you could answer or continue the fight, a blast interrupted the pause.

"Hey, um, guys?" Usopp started. "We might need to postpone this, there's Marines on the way!"

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A/N: I just noticed that since playing D&D my fight scenes have been unnecessarily detailed and long :'D