Chapter 11
“Do you think she got eaten by that thing?” You hear someone say.
“Nah, I didn’t find her body in there.” You hear another voice say.
Were they looking for you?
You turned around, and sprinted back to the beach.
“Wait, I think I hear something.” You heard someone say behind you.
About after five minutes of running, you reached the beach. You looked around, and found two pairs of footprints in the sand.
“Are you sure it’s her?” You heard the voice say.
“Why do you care about her anyways?”
“I could ask the same to you.”
The sound of footsteps came to a halt, and so was the conversation. You slowly turned around, to find Zoro and Sanji standing on the sand. staring at you.
“Hey! We’ve been looking for you!” Sanji called.
You couldn’t force yourself to answer.
Where was the rest of the crew? Are they here too? Why were they after you? Why did they come looking for you? ...Did they...sneak off the ship?
Millions of questions swarmed in your head.
“Why are you here?” You called as they started walking towards you.
“Well, I couldn’t leave you alone on this dull looking island, there could be dangers that await you.” Zoro said.
“We, you mean ‘we.’” Sanji corrected.
“Where’s the rest of your crew?” You asked.
“Oh, we aren’t part of their crew anymore,” Sanji said.
“What about Nami? You seemed to have a thing for her…” You said.
“How do you know?” Zoro asked suspiciously.
“Uh...well, because on the Going--uh, ship...he was really angry at Luffy for eating Nami’s food...so yea...” You said.
“How do you know our names...if you are from another world?” Zoro asked, raising an eyebrow.
He had you stumped on that question.
You let out a very long sigh, trying to think of something quick before the sighing ended.
“Well, I did...kinda...eat a Devil Fruit, and it gives me the ability to teleport to places and read people's names, but I don’t have full control of my powers yet...so I sometimes teleport to a random place...which is how I ended on your ship.” You half lied.
“You...are...the worst liar I've ever met…” Zoro said.
“If you ate a Devil Fruit, it usually grants you a power that you can control, and...you said you were from another world, how could you have possibly eaten a Devil Fruit if you are from another world?”
He had you stumped again. You didn’t know what else to say. If you lied again, he'd probably see through it...again.
You purposefully waited for another thirty seconds, before saying, “Why did you abandon your crew, and follow me instead? I thought family was more important than some stranger…” You asked instead.
This time they were the ones who were stumped.
You weren’t sure why you didn’t want to tell them the truth behind all the teleportation thingy, it could’ve been that you didn’t want them to think you’re such a weirdo...but...why did you care?
“Well, uh, first of all, they aren’t my family, I went on adventures with the crew simply because I had nowhere to go or stay. I was going to quit being a pirate anyways.” Zoro finally spoke.
Oh how the tables have changed.
"Really? If you went on adventures with your crew--"
"The crew" Zoro corrected.
"Whatever, if you went on adventures with the crew, you have to had a fun time with them, right? But you didn't even hesitate to leave them behind in order to follow me onto this horrible island! Is there something behind...whatever that was, that you would like to explain?"
Two drops of sweat formed on Zoro’s forehead.
"Ah, well, no. The adventures were quite boring. So that was why I left them to follow you, thinking that you might go on fun adventures when I'm stuck on the damn ship."
"Wow I didn't realize you were so selfish and cruel..." You sarcastically replied, knowing that Zoro lied.
“Well, anyways, second...Sanji thought he should--”
“Okay! I bet we are all hungry right now, let’s go find something to eat, shall we?” Sanji asked, obviously not wanting Zoro to finish his sentence.
“Oo! How about that creature I caught?” Zoro asked, looking relieved that he had another subject to go on, but Sanji looked more insulted than relieved.
“What do you mean ‘you caught?’ I was the one who spotted it first, and caught it.” Sanji argued.
“I caught it, and that’s that. You can’t change anything about it, ‘cause it happened.” Zoro argued back.
“Well, if I replay the scene in my head, I was the one who caught it first.”
It was actually nice...this time...to see them argue on something pointless. It seemed that the One Piece world was way better than the My Hero World. The characters actually seemed to be acting like themselves...kind of…
They walked back into the forest, leaving you alone.
You stood there, looking like an idiot. Where were you supposed to go? Were you supposed to follow them?
“What are you waiting for, y/n-chan?” Sanji poked his head out of the trees.
“You can just call me y/n.” You said, not used to the nickname as you followed him.
...=`<0.0>`=...
You followed Zoro and Sanji to a blank space in the woods. Zoro gathered logs, sticks, and rocks for a bonfire, as Sanji prepared the food. You offered to help, but they declined. Once all the food and the fire were prepared, the shy had already turned dark blue, indicating that night was near.
The two rivals did some arguing on who should sit next to you, but you insisted on sitting alone, so they sat on the log opposite from you.
You took a thick stick from your side, and stabbed it into a large piece of raw meat, and placed it near the fire to cook. Zoro and Sanji did the same.
“Soooo...can you tell us more about...the world that you came from?” Zoro asked as Sanji looked at you with huge heart eyes, flared nostrils, and a dreamy smile.
“Uh, well, it’s pretty boring,” You said, looking down, and not wanting them to know any more about you.
“Huh? Really? Someone as pretty as you couldn’t have possibly come from a boring world.” Zoro said.
Right after those words left his mouth, you felt your face grow extremely warm and red, and you looked up to find an astonished Sanji and a blushing Zoro that looked anywhere but your eyes.
“Uh...that’s not what I meant, I meant that...uhh...someone uh, as brave as you shouldn’t have come from a boring world...does that make sense?” Zoro quickly added after he realized what had slipped out his mouth.
You blushed deeper.
“Uh, you think I’m brave?” You asked, looking down at your...sandals? When was the last time you put on sandals?
You looked at your clothes, you were wearing a lavender Hawaiian gown, decorated with light pink flowers.
You felt like an idiot not noticing that your clothes had changed from your pajamas to a Hawaiian gown sooner.
“Well, I mean, yea, you just...like asked Nami to drop you off at a nearby island, and still insisted on hopping off board even though the island didn’t look so inviting.” Zoro said.
“Uh, well, it’s not a big deal...but why did you decide to come?” You said, remembering he didn't answer your question from earlier.
“Simply because I cannot have a poor girl hop off onto a horrible-looking island.” Sanji said, but you were very aware how he used “I” instead of “we.”
You looked at Zoro, who continued to look anywhere but your eyes.
“So...what’s your reason for following me?” You asked.
There was a painful pause, and the tension in the air was intense.
“No reason.”
Sanji looked at Zoro like he grew antlers.
“What do you mean ‘no reason?’” Sanji asked, as the same question spawned in your head at the same time.
Zoro shrugged.
“Oh, I see, is it because y/n-chan’s beauty has amazed you too?” Sanji teased, flashing a bright smile at you. You smiled back
“Maybe,” Zoro answered quietly.
Never have you seen Sanji’s smile ever drop that quickly, but you believed you were just as surprised as he was.
“WHAT?!” Both Sanji and you cried.
“Why am I not surprised…” Sanji said, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Well, I definitely am. Why are you not surprised?” You asked Sanji.
"Are You kidding? You are like the most beautiful lady I've ever seen in the whole entire world!" Sanji exclaimed.
Those words coming out of his mouth didn't sound special, since he'd been saying similar things to...basically all women.
“Well, I’m not sure yet.” Zoro said.
Sanji gave him a death stare, then sighed.
“Of course you aren’t. You are always clueless, and always will be. You get lost without a map so easily! And even with a map, you'd still never find your destination.” Sanji sighed again.
You couldn’t help but to agree with what he said.
“Yea, well, you can’t even lay a hand on a woman! Even if they are enemies! I bet you would probably just give up and let them win! Literally, no one is like that except you.” Zoro argued.
“Uh, well, imma go to bed.” You said, wanting to leave before it got any worse.
Both heads turned to you.
“I shall sleep with you tonight,” Sanji said, starting to float over to you with heart-shaped eyes.
Zoro quickly sat up and extended his arm out to stop Sanji from getting any closer to you.
“No, I will.” Zoro said, looking at his shoes.
“Who said it would be you?”
“Well, who said it would be you?”
“You are not a good bodyguard...at all, if some WOMAN comes and tries to take her away and kill her, you can’t even do anything about it, other than sit there helplessly and watch her get taken away.” Zoro said. He went a little too far with that one.
Sanji sank onto the ground, staring at the dry dirt.
“Enemies or not, I promised myself that I would never hurt a lady.” Sanji said.
“See? I was right, being said, I shall--”
“No, I’ll sleep by myself.” You interrupted.
“No, that is far too dangerous for you.” Zoro said sternly.
It felt weird, since Zoro just said he had feelings for you--kind of. He hasn’t admitted it, but he did sorta give it away. But you knew he liked you, and you didn’t know how to react to that. He was handsome. You had to admit. But you reminded yourself this was not the world you were supposed to be in.
“I’m serious, I can handle myself.” You said.
“No, I’m not letting you do that.” He argued.
You glanced at Sanji, who was still sitting on the probably-most-uncomfortable-ground-to-sit-on, still staring at the dirt. Shame filled his eyes. Immediately, you felt horrible and sorry for him.
“You can sleep with me if you want,” You asked Sanji, sliding down on the uncomfortable dirt.
“No, I believe Zoro should.” Sanji said, but the fog of shame that clouded his eyes was clearer than it was.
“See? Even he said it him--”
“No, it's alright, you can sleep next to me, I don’t mind. Zoro can take care of himself, he’s really strong, equally strong as you. Plus, there aren’t many female kidnappers, so really, no need to worry.” You assured him.
Sanji brightened up immediately, but Zoro raised a suspicious brow.
“Alright, so first of all, I'm like, ten times stronger than he is, and second, how do you know there aren’t many female kidnappers?” Zoro asked.
“Who cares about that? Y/n must be really tired right now. Just let her sleep.” He said after seeing you "fake" yawn.
You nodded.
“Whatever, but it isn’t over yet. We will talk about this tomorrow.” Zoro said, as you laid down on the extremely uncomfortable dirt.
Zoro sat himself under a tree, wrapping his arms around his three swords.
Sanji poured a bucket of water over the fire, and you were immediately greeted by a strong, cold wind.
You shivered.
Yeah, it was impossible for you to sleep.
Then, you felt something cover you, its warmth traveled through your whole body.
“You can sleep with that for tonight. It's cold.” You hear Sanji say.
“What about you?” You asked, concerned.
“I have enough clothes on me to prevent a cold, so I think I should be fine. You should worry more about yourself, y/n. You are, afterall, wearing a gown.” He pointed out.
You felt a rush of happiness from his words, loving how deeply he cares about you. You didn’t respond, and pretended to sleep.
You heard him sigh, and lay down next to you. You heard long and deep breaths shortly after that, indicating that he was asleep.
You didn’t move, you didn’t want to move, and you couldn’t move. You were afraid that he’ll wake up.
After about 10 minutes or so, you couldn’t stand it anymore. The position that you were in had gotten uncomfortable. You turned to your back.
Millions of stars twinkled in the dark night sky, the wind gently whistled, and the trees swayed. Everything about the view was perfect. The moon was so round and so bright, it seemed to light up the sky. It was amazing, the island looked less intimidating at night than it was during daytime.
You counted the stars, trying not to recount any stars. It was impossible to get through them all, but you couldn’t do anything else at the moment. You were definitely not sleeping.
You lifted your arm and pointed at the dark night sky, and continued to count.
After counting to 300, you gave up.
Suddenly, very suddenly, everything went black. Had you finally decided to sleep? But you couldn’t sleep...were you even asleep?
Then, you heard someone snap from a distance, and it echoed...and everything went quiet. The wind stopped whistling, and the trees stopped rustling. You felt yourself on a very VERY soft cotton. Where were you?
You didn’t care, you wanted to sleep. After a long, and exhausting day, all you wanted to do was to sleep. But why? A second ago you were counting the stars, and didn't feel like sleeping?
Suddenly, a bright, white light just had to ruin the peace. You felt yourself fall through the cotton. The white light continued stabbing your eyes, even though your eyes were closed shut. You wanted to scream, but you didn’t have the energy to scream, or yell, or shout for help, or to think.
All the light and falling had finally come to a halt. You were laying on something springy, but also soft, the quietness was peaceful, and there were no sounds, no light, no falling, you felt safe.
You fell asleep.