Adult-FanFiction.org : Anime

RUMBLE!	By : TreeStar Category: +M to R > One Piece Views: 7990 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 28
- 29
- 30
RUMBLE!

29

Promise Me

Zoro hadn�t planned for it to go as far as it had. He�d only meant to make Luffy feel a little better than a normal massage would do, and he didn�t know what to do when Luffy actually went over the edge� but when Luffy tensed and shuddered for several moments before collapsing in a heap to catch his breath, Zoro felt a solemn pride in himself. Only he could make Luffy feel and look and sound like that. Only him. And he loved it.

That was when he could no longer deny that something had drastically changed in himself.

It wasn�t right as Luffy was now, but when he was big again, if it were ever possible that he might want to pursue--

But he never would, he told himself, so why go there?

He moved the massage back up to his shoulders while Luffy came down because he wasn�t sure how the proud captain would react now that it was over. But after a few more minutes Luffy began to grope toward where he knew Zoro was, and Zoro carried him closer so that Luffy could grab his shirt and pull himself right up against him and be blocked from the chills that had finally set in again. The smaller boy had made no move to rise or speak. He just snuggled there all sated and sleepy. He even giggled a little at one point, which Zoro hoped was a good sign.

Zoro had pondered it for days, and now he finally realized just what had been missing from his life before Luffy that he had hadn�t known he�d needed so badly; Zoro had never had anyone permanent in his life to protect. He�d had friends, but never anyone that depended on him heavily. No one had considered him family since he had left to find Mihawk those years ago. Then Luffy had come walking up to him out of nowhere one day and given him a place to belong. He�d given Zoro that person that he could protect and care for.

After finding that in another person for the first time, Zoro�s captain had only made his family grow, rewarding him for being his first mate in treasures much more precious than diamonds and gold.

Now he watched that person drift to sleep cuddled over his heart, Zoro realized what Luffy was to him. A life without Luffy wasn�t really living at all. Over the last few days those feelings had strengthened, but they weren�t new. They�d always been there. He just hadn�t ever recognized them before.

He was in love with Luffy.

Zoro covered his captain back up in his robe and waited until he was sure the boy was fully asleep to climb out of the crows nest and trade places with Usopp for the rest of the night.

The long-nosed boy had grumbled at first, but then started to panic upon hearing that Luffy had gone outside, and finally consented after Chopper had drowsily looked over Luffy for a minute and given him the okay. No one asked how Luffy�s clothes had become his blanket, but perhaps that was because Luffy was Luffy and no explanation was needed or, frankly, desired.

After they�d all gone back to bed and Usopp had gone up top, Zoro had moved over to the couch opposite Sanji�s, where he was now. For the longest time he just felt and listened to Luffy sleep against him in the dark. He was so cute. Every few minutes he would snuggle a little closer and then relax again.

That might take some getting used to when he gets big again, Zoro thought with a smile.

Then sighed and closed his eyes, reality clashing with dreams.

He understood that he was in love, but instead of bringing him great resolution, it hurt. It hurt and it terrified him, because Luffy was above any normal person, destined to be greater than the rest. Zoro was destined too, he believed, but Luffy� Luffy�s soul was pure and his heart was innocent on top of it all and people like that were untouchable. How could Zoro ruin him?

But that didn�t change how he wanted Luffy. That he hoped against all hope� Because Luffy was everything to him, and Zoro wanted to give him everything�

But he would hope and want from the sidelines, and he would force himself to be satisfied there, because he would never be wanted by Luffy in the way he truly wished. Luffy enjoyed having him as his first mate and best friend, and Zoro was grateful he had even that much, because the way he felt about it was that when you truly love someone, you accept anything that�s offered like a lifeline, but you never take anything that�s not given because if you do, nothing else may ever be offered, and once that lifeline is gone� what else is there?

Best to act normal, Zoro thought to himself, He�ll let you know if he wants to talk about what happened, if he ever wants more... And if he never does� he sighed, If that's what he wants, then that's okay too.

Luffy�s friendship was more than Zoro deserved, and he would walk on water to keep it.

------------------

By the time Luffy shifted around and rubbed his eyes it was well past dawn. Instead of getting up right away, he laid still again feeling positively blissful� until the memory of the night before hit him like a wrecking ball.

Luffy froze, suddenly very awake. Last night. �It had been real, hadn�t it? That had really happened? Gods, what was he supposed to say? Do?

Luffy�s heart clenched. He knew he was in love, (and WOW, was that a new feeling!) but he didn�t know what was supposed to happen afterward. He only knew what he hoped would happen, and had no idea how to make that happen, and thinking back, he�d sort of gotten off on a rather embarrassing start.

After he�d cum the night before, he�d just fallen asleep right there like all was perfectly normal with the world. He hoped Zoro wasn�t disgusted with him�

He doubted Zoro would care about that really. Zoro understood the human body and the consequences of what he�d been doing, and he hadn�t stopped. He wouldn�t hold it against his captain. In fact Luffy truly suspected that Zoro had done what he�d done on purpose, knowing what the little pirate had needed. He suspected this because if it had been an embarrassing accident for Zoro, Luffy probably wouldn�t have woken up with him.

So how did Zoro feel? Not just about last night, but what did he feel for Luffy? Anything aside from companionship and loyalty? Did they stop at �very close nakama� for Zoro, or could there be more?

Suddenly, talking about his feelings with Zoro felt like a very scary and stupid idea.

He laid very still as the shooting range in his mind gave him nothing. It didn�t even fire blanks of ideas. It just sat there all quiet with some insects humming and deserted him in his veritable battlefield of cluelessness.

As his mind raced nowhere, it occurred to him that he was looking at his sleeve, which someone had put on him again, and noticed after some time that it wasn�t the same outfit he�d had the night before. It looked and felt the same, but it definitely wasn�t. How many of these robes had the girls made him? Maybe Robin had been bored. Or maybe� Exactly how late was it?

His tummy rumbled. No wonder he couldn�t think.

�Morning, Sencho,� Zoro greeted.

Luffy�s toes curled at the sound of Zoro�s voice. Zoro didn�t sound disgusted� He actually sounded normal. Well, as normal as he�d sounded the last couple days, which was really a little more patient than normal. Was Luffy reading too much into this?

�Hi, Zoro,� he answered carefully, pushing himself to sit up. He couldn�t look Zoro in the eyes yet.

�You hungry?� Zoro asked him.

Luffy knew that voice. Zoro was making it purposefully comforting, which was his way of letting Luffy know that he understood last night to be a natural incident, a side effect to what he was doing and nothing more than that. Zoro would never think anything of it if Luffy didn�t make it into more than it was. That was fine with Luffy. A new world had opened up to him last night, and he wanted to start pursuing it with a clean slate. Zoro wasn�t weirded out. That was good.

So Luffy was off the hook as far as that went, which was a relief, but it also didn�t leave him much to go on as far as how Zoro REALLY felt about him in general. All it told him was that Zoro was an amazing best friend, and Luffy�d already known that.

�Yeah, food sounds good. What time is it?�

�Not that late. I think we�re out of meat, though.�

Luffy pouted, and Zoro smiled. �Come on, let�s get up there before it�s all gone.�

�Yeah, and I want to see how Sanji�s doing today.�

Zoro scoffed. �Like I�d ever be lucky enough for his condition to be serious.�

�Stop that,� Luffy scolded. He poked him in the tummy and then looked up in surprise when Zoro jumped a little, but Zoro just took a deep breath and made himself very busy with making sure the blanket on the back of the couch looked nice.

Like there was nothing strange about that.

Is Zoro�?

Suspicious, Luffy poked him again, a little more to the side and a little harder.

Zoro made a little noise, and quickly gritted his teeth against it.

Luffy smiled deliciously.

Zoro almost swallowed his tongue when Luffy started scrambling wildly on his tummy. �Fuck, Luffy, NO!�

He made a few grabs to stop the boy and missed, and then he started laughing. His grabs became more desperate when Luffy wouldn�t stop and let him breathe, and he finally collapsed back on the couch, writhing around in his attempts to stop the tickling that was suddenly dominating his nervous system.

Luffy laughed as well. He�d be in for it later, but Zoro was laughing. Really laughing without holding back at all, and that made it so worth it. There is nothing better than that sound, Luffy thought as something inside of him warmed up.

Zoro went three minutes before he�d had all he could stand and fell to desperate measures to end it. �HAHAHAAA! Luffy, haha Luffy stoppit! HeheheHEHEHAHA! GodsLuffyplease!�

Though he would have loved to hear Zoro beg some more, Luffy stopped, recognizing his boundaries.

Zoro collapsed in a heap, panting for a minute before he raised his head to give his self-satisfied captain a half-hearted glare. That could have gotten torturous, but damn, he�d loved it. Zoro suddenly REALLY wanted Luffy to be big again so he could�

�I�m gonna kill you,� he panted ineffectively.

Luffy half shrugged without losing his smirk. �Worth it.�

�When you get big again, I�m so getting you back for this.�

Luffy smirked at the challenge, surprised at how it turned him on. �You can try,� he said cockily.

Zoro pushed himself up again. �I could tickle you now, but it wouldn�t be as effective. I can get to more places when you�re big.�

Luffy grinned cheekily, making Zoro poke him once in the tummy out of spite. �You are so lucky right now. Let�s go eat.�

Luffy laughed happily. �Food!�

Zoro snatched him up and then held him gently, making Luffy go �Woap!� and then smile and hug his thumb.

�Hey, Zoro?� Luffy said as they headed for the hatch. �Where did this robe come from?�

Zoro snorted a laugh. �So you noticed.�

Luffy nodded.

�I had Chopper get it from the girls� room this morning before you woke up. You were sleeping pretty hard, Sencho.�

Luffy lowered his head to hide the pink spreading over his cheeks. ��Oh. Thank you, Zoro.�

Zoro smiled.

�I need to say thank you to Robin, too,� Luffy continued. �She made another one just in case.�

Zoro look down at him. �Why do you think it was Robin and not Nami?�

�Cuz Nami�s been busy, I gave her an order and she�s really good about following orders. Hell, she made the ship fly because I asked her to. Also, Robin just notices a lot of things. She probably knew I�d need it.�

�That so,� Zoro said with a touch of irritation in his voice.

Why Robin? Zoro was the one who�d given him so much time. Robin hadn�t given him anything but clothes, and Zoro wanted to keep it that way!

Luffy was confused by the frown. What was Zoro unhappy about so suddenly? Maybe it was something he�d said or hadn�t said. Or maybe after last night Zoro didn�t think intimate touches like tickling were such a good idea right now. Luffy wished he could read Zoro�s mind.

�Luffy.� Zoro�s eyes were downcast.

�What is it?�

�Are you stretching okay again?�

Luffy looked confused until he figured out what Zoro was talking about. Oh yeah! How could I forget? He chose a target in the room and reached out to touch Usopp�s teddy bear before his arm snapped back.

�Yep!� Luffy sang, knowing Zoro would feel at ease now.

Except that Zoro�s expression didn�t change. It stayed bothered by something serious.

�Was last night the first time that happened to you?� he asked too calmly.

Luffy couldn�t bring himself to lie. ��No. When I fell into the quart of paint it was because it started to lose elasticity halfway through the launch.�

�Why didn�t you say something?�

Luffy didn�t answer, eyes downcast as he toyed nervously with his sting.

�You�ve lost your powers that keep you from getting seriously injured before, yet you still climbed up the crows nest.� Zoro stated.

Luffy wondered which of them he was diagramming the facts for.

Zoro continued. �Luffy, what you did last night�� (Luffy stopped breathing) �What you did was really dangerous. You could have died climbing up the mast alone like that.� (Luffy sighed in relief.)

Zoro took a deep breath. �I want you to promise me that you won�t endanger yourself like that again until you�re better. After that everything will be normal again, but just for now��

Luffy hesitated. Desperate times always called for desperate measures. What if another situation like the quicksand or the rat come up? There�d been no shortage of crazy happenings in these last few days--the Grand Line didn�t care whether he was in-Rumble or not.

Zoro waited for an answer one way or the other, and finally Luffy nodded like a reprimanded child. Perhaps he didn�t like it, but he wasn�t going to make this harder on Zoro than it already was. Because Zoro was perfect for him.

That was when Luffy made a choice the was contrary to most of the spontaneous choices he liked to make: he wouldn�t do anything until he knew more about how Zoro felt. There was too much at stake to say something as serious as a confession without being really sure that Zoro at least wouldn�t push him away for it, even if he didn�t want to get closer. He didn�t want to lose Zoro in any way. Nothing was worth that.

----------------

The clouds were thickening up and the wind was still, and inside the kitchen the crew could feel the rising pressure of the atmosphere.

Nami looked out of the little round window in the door. �That storm�s going to hit us tonight. It�s still a ways off, but I�d give it no later than nightfall. It�s a good thing we�ll be reaching that island soon.�

�How did Mama-turtle do last night?� Luffy asked.

�She did alright,� Chopper answered. �She�s getting as nervous as we are, though.�

�It�s gonna be a bad one, isn�t it?� Usopp asked.

�It�s starting to feel that way,� Sanji said with little expression.

Luffy kept watching Zoro as he ate his breakfast, looking for some sign of� of something that would give him some kind of hint into Zoro�s thoughts, but nothing came. Zoro was acting so normal after last night it was frustrating.

When had he stopped being able to read Zoro? Luffy had always been able to read Zoro like a book! Why was it so hard�?

�How do you feel, Luffy?� Chopper asked him so out of the blue that Luffy stopped chewing.

�What? Fine. Why?�

�Did you forget? You�re promised period is up now. It�s been five full days, you could change back at any moment now.�

Luffy froze again, this time in the middle of trying to fit a huge triangle of pancake into his mouth. He had forgotten that was today. He was in the home stretch! Almost free!

He smiled. �Oh yeah!�

The others smiled too. Some laughed at his cluelessness. Zoro�s smile was a bit forced.

They were eating a vegetarian breakfast of toast, pancakes, and sliced fruit.

Luffy ate half-heartedly, appreciating his food, but knowing it wouldn�t be able to provide him with enough energy to face a storm as he was. �Will we be able to hunt some meat before the storm hits us? The last one went on for days�� he said.

Luffy wasn�t the only person who felt like they weren�t going to get the protein they needed from it. Several others mumbled in agreement.

�I don�t know,� Nami sighed. �We�ll know have a grasp of the situation when we get there.� She got up and started clearing the table for those whom had finished their meals. Luffy wasn�t done yet. �In the mean time,� Nami said, �I think we should start

Luffy nodded. �Good idea. Go secure our valuables in bolted-down trunks so they don�t break or cause a mess. We�ve already had to deal with that once this week, and we need what we�ve got. Usopp, if you could please check the hull and the bathroom wall--make them stronger where you can. Just do your best,� Luffy smiled at him.

Usopp nodded. �Aye, Captain.� Then he left to get his tools.

�Can I batten down the hatches?� Chopper asked excitedly.

�What is it with you and battening down the hatches?� Sanji clucked his tongue in humor. �You�re always in such a rush to batten down the hatches. We only have a two hatches, anyway. We lock more doors than anything else.�

Chopper blushed lightly. �It�s the first phrase that I learned that pirates said. �Yoho� and �Batten down the hatches!��

Everyone smiled at each other. �And it�s a good phrase, too,� Luffy encouraged. �But it�s too early to batten the hatches down. We do that last.�

�Why?�

Zoro knocked on the table. �We need to be able to get in and out of all those rooms freely until the last minute, right?�

Chopper sank in his seat. �Oh yeah��

�Can you go give Usopp �advice�? I�m sure he�ll need some,� Sanji said.

�Actually,� Luffy interrupted, �you can go batten down the things inside of our room. Usopp and I usually do it, but I can�t and he�s got another job this time.�

Chopper looked a little mollified. �Can I? I�ve never seen you do it before.�

�It�s easy,� Luffy informed. �Just make sure that the water casks are tied strong enough and take down the hammocks and tie a rope around the dressers so they don�t fly open and put all those things we have lying around inside of one of those two big trunks and lock them tight, but don�t put the key back on the hook in there or you�ll never find it. Bring it in here and we�ll rubber band them all together.� Luffy, speaking a mile a minute, had started ticking things off on his fingers. �The couch cushions can stay were they are because even if they manage to come loose they can�t really hurt anything, but do make sure that the blankets and pillows are put away with the hammocks before you lock the wardrobe door. Oh! And the extra rope that we have hanging on the wall can be use to secure the-�

�I�ll go with you,� Sanji interrupted his captain�s spiel. Poor Chopper�s mouth was so far open that a lobster might have moved in and had room to start a family.

�A-Arigatou!� Chopper almost sobbed as they left the galley together.

�Make sure all the nails are tight enough to the floor and walls!� Luffy shouted after them even as the door closed.

It was quiet for a moment before Luffy shook his head and turned back to those still inside.

Zoro was looking surprised. �I didn�t realize you two had worked out such a fine a checklist,� he said over the distant sound of Robin getting her coffeemaker ready to cook.

�Trial and error,� Luffy shrugged.

�I guess I�ll go take care of our room,� Nami said, pushing herself up. �Robin, do you want to help me?�

Robin smiled and turned to follow her out. �Sure, Koukaishi-san. It�ll take several minutes for this to finish, anyway. What will you two do, Ken-san?�

Zoro hooked his fingers under the edge of the table and leaned back, stretching his arms. �I reckon I�ll get my weights put away. And someone needs to get the lounging chairs and table in off the deck.�

�You�ll be outside?� Nami asked. �Then do you want to come with us, Luffy?�

Luffy hesitated. He could use a bit of a break to think things over without Zoro around, but he didn�t really want to deal with Nami in a cleaning tizzy. �I�ll be alright,� he said after a second.

�Okay,� Nami shrugged.

�I�ll be back in to drink my coffee in a minute, Ken-san. I can sit with him then if you want to go do those things.�

Zoro glared at her. Robin smiled harder. She seemed very amused by something. That just made Zoro glare harder.

�Thanks Robin!� Luffy smiled.

Robin laughed quietly and, with a nod, followed Nami out of the room.

For a few seconds after they had closed the door behind them, Luffy turned to Zoro. �Zoro, why are you mad at Robin?�

Zoro was surprised by this question. �What? No I�m not.�

�You were glaring at her. You�ve been glaring at her.�

�Have not,� Zoro denied.

�Zoro!�

�What?�

When it became obvious this wasn�t going to get him anywhere, Luffy rolled his eyes.

Then the door flew open again, making both the men inside jump. Seeing it was only Usopp, they both relaxed again.

�Zoro!� the long-nosed boy cried. �It�s terrible. It�s huge and hairy and it tried to kill me! You have to come help me!�

�I�m not killing another spider for you, Usopp. Do it yourself.�

�The mighty Usopp-sama does not fear small spiders! This is much bigger! Not even you might be able to take it down!�

�Uh-huh,� Zoro said with the air of someone who wasn�t really listening anymore.

Usopp grew desperate. �It could hurt Luffy!� he blurted as a last resort.

�Don�t get me involved in this,� Luffy said, throwing his hands into the air.

But Zoro sighed. �Where is it?� he said resignedly after a moment.

Usopp was shocked. That had worked?

�Down in the bathroom,� he pointed theatrically.

�Alright. Come on, Luffy.�

�No, I�ll be alright. You go ahead and do it.�

The other two stopped and looked at him curiously.

�What are you talking about?� Zoro asked. �You�re coming with me.�

Luffy laughed. �It�s okay, really. It�ll be loud and you�ll both be moving around a lot and there�s not much space in there. Besides, you�ll only be a minute, right? And Robin�s coming.�

Then Luffy frowned; Zoro was glaring again.

�I�ll wait here,� he said with finality. Then his face softened when Zoro looked a little put-out. �Please, Zoro? I just need a minute.�

Zoro�s next insistence died on his lips. Luffy had been with him a lot, and even though he said he liked it, people needed space.

He's tired of me� Zoro thought to himself. Just as he�d worried, Luffy was pushing him away again. As I thought, he would never want...

Luffy watched his first mate with increasing anxiety. He wasn�t sure what thought caused the look of loss that suddenly appeared in Zoro�s eyes, but within an instant it was gone and Zoro was nodding at him.

�Okay,� the swordsman said. �Just remember what we agreed this morning, okay?�

Luffy smiled. �Yep!�

Without another word, Zoro turned and pushed Usopp out of the room in front of him, ignoring the smaller boy�s protests of �you�re just gonna leave him here?� and �is this really okay?�.

Then the door closed, and Luffy sighed. Quiet. Real quiet. Well, near quiet if one didn�t count the noise that the coffeemaker was making over on the counter.

As he sat there, Luffy closed his eyes and sighed. This love thing was hard. Really hard. He didn�t know what Zoro was thinking anymore and he was afraid to find out, at that. Zoro was giving him no clues because nothing had changed for Zoro, probably. Why would he start giving off a different vibe all of a sudden. Luffy knew his own vibe had certainly changed. For the first half of breakfast his attempted �normal� behavior had resulted in his whole crew looking at him like he was a exiled reject from the planet Zarvicknaw.

Now with Zoro away for just a few minutes, Luffy was able to breath easier. He was concerned that the signals he was giving Zoro were probably mixed--especially since he was so happy when Zoro was around--but he just didn�t know what he was supposed to say now! �Sorry I had an orgasm in your hand last night� would cover his usual direct approach, but he didn�t dare do something so stupid now. It was like gravity had stopped working just for him and now he had to learn how to fly with no help while everyone else wondered what was the matter with him.

His mind drifted back to the night before as it had been doing all morning.

And that had just been Zoro�s hands! And Zoro�s skin hadn�t even been touching his dick�

Luffy let a little moan at the visuals that followed.

I need to think about something else, he told himself.

And then it occurred to him--the coffeemaker.

This was a prime opportunity. This was what he�d been waiting for!

Luffy pushed himself to his feet and scampered to the edge of the table. The coffeemaker hummed merrily away right over there on the counter. It wouldn�t even take much of a rocket to get over to it.

Catching hold on the edge of the table, Luffy stretched himself back, gauged his trajectory, and let go with a cry of �Gomugomu no Rocket!�

He landed safely beside the coffeemaker after skidding to a stop over the counter.

The coffeemaker was really neat! It was metal and glass and made neat noises that weren�t too loud just yet. Luffy circled it twice trying to figure out what made it go.

As far as he could figure, the swirly tube thing up there connected the smaller silver beaker-like thing at the top to the larger glass-and-bronze-striped jug at the bottom, and then there were all those buttons on the pad thing in in front of the pitcher that probably controlled the heat and the time to cook the water for. Then there were all the wooden bits attached that balanced it, and the flame dial that the beaker rested over (Usopp had replaced the original bunson burner because the flame dial had worked better), to say nothing of the little gold conductor strips that connected the flame dial to the button pad to the bigger pitcher to some dial that Luffy didn�t recognize on the counter. The whole thing was secured by metal rings here and there that kept the glass from falling out in storms, and then it was all bolted to the counter to survive things like random and unexpected capsizings.

All in all it was a bizarre looking contraption and Luffy could see why most of the others had wanted to keep him away from it. It seemed complicated, and Luffy seemed the exact opposite.

Luffy decided as he rounded the bottom pitcher (that was really more of a biggish, almost egg-shaped, urn-like thing that was wider at the bottom and sealed around the swirly tube at the top like an upside down flower pot) one more time.

As he reached the side facing the wall he stopped at the little opening near the bottom and opposite the main nozzle.

It was just level with his shoulders--a round hole made for the leftover coffee that no one had finished to be poured from. All one had to do to open it was push the button on the side that made the thin metal covering slide to the side like a shouji door and out came the coffee.

Then he had an idea. An exciting idea. Luffy had a dangerous, exciting idea.

Then he remembered the promise he�d made to Zoro earlier that morning. He wasn�t to do anything to endanger himself like he had the night before.

But this wasn�t so big as climbing the mast. It wasn�t like he�d be placing himself in danger on purpose! He just wanted to see what it was like for a moment before he came back out. Judging from the scent the hot water wouldn�t be ready to come out of the swirly tube and meet with the coffee grounds to pour into the bottom container for another couple minutes or so, and the temptation was great, so he pushed to button hard, surprised by the strength it took to hold it down.

Maybe if I just go in a little, he thought, and stuck his head inside the jug.
- 28
- 29
- 30
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

RUMBLE!