Luffy x isakai Girl

Finally

Zoro sighed as they hugged. He was glad he was the one to talk to Misaki. Not because she was now hugging him, but because he knew his Captain wouldn't have handled it quite the same.

    Luffy would have let her take it all out on him, just like Zoro, but he wouldn't have been able to stop her short like that. Luffy just didn't have it in him to be rough with Misaki, even if she needed it. Not like that at least. He was too sweet with her, and would have let her get away with telling them not to care about her. It made him feel a lot better, knowing how quickly he nipped that in the bud.

As Misaki cleared her throat and pulled away, Zoro let his hands fall to his sides.

   "Sorry about that." She said, her grin shining brilliantly through her tears. "I think I just needed you to knock some sense into me."

   "Damn straight." He said, grinning back.

   "I know I'm not as indestructible as you guys." She paused, glancing in the direction of the rest of the crew. "But I'm stronger than I used to be."

   "Oh?" Zoro said, raising his eyebrows in interest.

  "I did some intense training while I was stranded. If that bruising was life threatening, I already would have been dead." She said.

   The words felt incredibly tough for Zoro to swallow. He frowned at her, wishing he knew how to muddle through the discomfort those words gave him. He didn't know how to convey to her why those words felt so wrong.

   "I know." She said, glancing back at him. "I'm way more aware than you think."

   "Are you?" He forced out.

   "I am." She said simply. Her eyes were steady. Calm. They conveyed a confidence he just couldn't bear to try and dismantle.

   "Well... just don't be stupid, runt."

           _____________________

    I laughed, knowing I have had my fair share of dumbass moments. "No argument there."

"You good for me to send the Captain up? I know he missed you."

"Then why did you come up after me?" I laughed.

"He'll never admit it." He said with a wry grin." "But the man was scared."

"Scared of me? Of kitten?" I said sweetly, making Zoro bark out with laughter.

"Of a kitten with its claws out!" He joked.

"Oh come on! I'm not that bad!" I said, waving him off.

"The bruises on my cheeks beg to differ." He said, rolling his eye at me.

"Yeah yeahhh. Go ahead and tell him he is safe to talk to me again." I said, looking back out to the sea.

"I'm already here." Luffy said, making me jump. He looked at Zoro apologetically. "I'll take it from here, Zoro. Sorry."

Zoro smiled and walked off confidently and triumphantly, knowing he did what he set out to do. Luffy snickered at him as he watched his green hair disappear down the stairs.

I turned to face him and he put out his hands, grasping the air like a little kid asking for a hug from their mother. I laughed and walked over, letting myself relax into his chest as I wrapped my arms around him.

"I should've taken the brunt of that." He said softly, grasping me in a tight hug.

"Nah. 'S ok. I think I needed him to knock some sense into me." I mumbled, eliciting a chuckle from him.