𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐄 • Roronoa Zoro

chapter twenty-five

Everyone figured they'd stay behind at the village after Arlong Park. Help to repair things. But Miura was feeling tired, and she figured they had all the help they needed with the crew and the villagers.

"I think I'm just gonna retreat to the ship for the rest of the day," she told Zoro.

"Well I'll come with you."

"You don't have to. Plus, they might get mad if both of us run off together."

"I want to. Plus, I think they have enough on their hands, they won't even notice we're gone."

Miura smiled at how adamant he was about spending time with her, and took her hand in his as the two snuck off into the tangerine grove.

"You know, this village is really pretty," she said.

"Pretty? It's been burnt to the ground."

She hit Zoro in the chest. "Don't be arrogant! You can just tell how pretty it was. All the tangerines, and the trees. Plus, the houses were cute before Arlong decided to... but that's over! And we're celebrating tonight."

"Speaking of celebrating, don't you think you should change?"

"I will. It's still light out, we have plenty of time." The two got to the dock, boarding the ship, "Right now, I just wanna chill."

They went down to Miura's cabin. She turned around to look at Zoro, who was holding his chest.

"You okay?" She asked. He said nothing, so she began to unbutton his shirt, his bandage slightly bloody. "We should probably change that."

"Too bad we don't have a medic," Zoro said.

"I can do it."

"You can?"

"I'm not a perfect fighter you know, Zoro."

"Seems almost impossible for you to be imperfect at anything."

Miura smiled. "I was alone, I've had a few injuries in my time. I have to be able to bandage up a wound, or else I would've died from some weird pirate infection. Gross."

"I hate the thought of you alone."

"Good job I'm not anymore, then, isn't it?"

Miura went out into the kitchen, grabbing the medical supplies from the draw and walking back into her cabin. Zoro pulled his shirt off, and she slowly took off the bandage.

"What happened to pulling it off quick?"

"Whoever came up with that is a dirty liar. It hurts way more. Slow and steady wins the race and ends up in less pain."

"I'm in a lot of pain."

"Because you got slashed with Yoru. Anyone would be. But you'd be in a lot more if I ripped this off quick, trust me."

She finally got the bandage off, Taking out some tissue to clean up. He winced in pain.

"Talk to me," Miura said, attempting to distract him from the pain.

"Did you ever get hurt with Yoru?"

"Yeah. But not by Mihawk." She put down the tissue and took out some rubbing alcohol, arguably the most painful part of the process. With her free hand, she grabbed Zoro's, allowing him to squeeze it.

"What happened?"

"Mihawk was very protective over Yoru, wouldn't even let me touch her. One day, though, he left her unsupervised while he went to fish. I picked her up. She's heavy. Started messing around with her, thinking I could be just like Mihawk, but ended up slicing myself right in the stomach." She lifted her shirt up, showing Zoro a pretty big scar. "I was fifteen at the time."

"How is it that all of the scars you have are self inflicted?"

Miura coughed. She knew he was talking about her eyebrow and stomach. "Better than letting other people hurt me. Plus, they're not that bad."

"I don't know, that one on your eyebrow was pretty scary. For a second, I thought you were gonna lose your eye."

"Oh, please. If either of us was gonna lose our eye, it'd be you, you get yourself into way more trouble!"

"As if."

The two laughed, and it was finally time for Miura to bandage him up. She wrapped them around his chest, smiling at her work.

He looked up at her, but she didn't look him in the eyes. She traced her fingers down his torso, feeling his abs. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him smirked as he stood up, grabbing his waist and pressing his lips against hers.

She stumbled back as her hands found the back of his neck, forcing his face as close to hers as possible. "Wait," she said, pushing him off of her. She pulled her shirt over her head and threw it down to the floor as his eyes scanned her body. Now they were both shirtless. "It's only fair."

She pulled him back in, and she pushed her backwards until she hit the wall. They continued to make out, his hands making his way to her thighs as she jumped up and he carried her over to the bed. He lay on top of her, her legs wrapped around his waist as their tongues explored eachother's mouths, he hands rubbing his back.

They pulled apart for just a second, breathless. "Zoro," Miura whispered.

"Yeah?"

"I don't think we should-"

"I get it. We're not going to. Don't worry."

She nodded, leaning back into him, but being interrupted by footsteps running down the stairs. Zoro quickly got off of her and she ran to put her shirt on, and the two exited.

"Hey, guys, everything okay?" Miura asked.

"As okay as it can be," Nami nodded.

"Hey, Zoro, why are you shirtless?" Usopp asked.

"I- Um- Miura was changing my bandage."

"Was she now? Is that why her shirts on backwards?"

Miura's eyes widened in shock as she looked down at her shirt. "Oh, wow. Has it always been backwards? Well, it's must've been, not like I've taken it off!"

"Mhm..."

After the awkwardness, they went about their day on the ship. In the kitchen, Sanji approached Zoro.

"Seems like you didn't need to worry about our 'flirting' in the end."

Zoro rolled his eyes. "Don't talk to me unless I ask what's for dinner."