The Nightmares of a Swordsman | Zosan

☆ Chapter 1 ☆

"You're pathetic." said a small girl, with dark blue hair, big black eyes, wearing a white top and long green skirt.

"You swore to protect everyone, but you couldn't even protect me. What now? Are you gonna lose your silly little strawhat crew too?" she asked, looking at a small boy with short green hair, small black eyes, dark green shirt and pants, with a light green belt wrapped around his waist.

"N-No! I wasn't able to protect you, but I know that I'll be able to protect them. I've grown much stronger than I was before. I train everyday, focused on building my physique, skills and abilities!" the boy yelled at the small girl.

"Let's be honest, Zoro. Will you even be able to save Sanji?" The girl had a serious look on her face.

"If you couldn't save your first crush, what makes you think that you can save your second? It's pathetic how you think you're so strong, yet you're just as weak as I could remember. Hahahah, you're easily forgettable, so it would be better if you just died instead." the small girl smiled.

Time: 1pm
Location: The Crows Nest

HUFF PUFF

We see a tall man with green hair, a scar on his left eye, green robe and haramaki, red bandana and three swords holding his chest inhaling deeply in and out.

Roronoa Zoro

He had just woken up from a terrible nightmare, one he has had many nights but it has never escalated to where the small girl he onced loved, told him that dying was a better option than protecting.

Tears started to form in Zoro's eyes, the words the girl said this time, truly had a hard impact on him.

"Fuck!..." he thought to himself.

He knew that once he started crying, he wouldn't be able to control it. He wanted to hug someone, finally talk to someone about why he's been sleeping more than usual. Well, it wasn't really sleeping, it was short lived naps every hour or so.

Zoro stood up, trying his best to not show his face, and started walking towards the kitchen. He wanted his crush to help him out, because half of the time, their relationship was filled with bickering, fights, slurs and hatred, so it would be easier if he could rant to Sanji more than anyone else.

After all, "Sanji doesn't care about him," he thought.

For some people, it's easier to open up to someone who doesn't care nor have any interest in you at all, than to open up to someone who would show love and affection towards you.

Eventually, Zoro got out of the crows nest, but what he wasn't expecting was for the entire crew to be outside, doing their own little fun activities. Though, if he was to start crying, they wouldn't be able to see it because of how big the ship is and how far apart they are.

"There you are," he thought.

He spotted a blond, curly brow, small black eyed person, wearing a yellow and dark blue suit.

Vinsmoke Sanji

The whole crew turns their attention to Zoro, since he just got out of training, they were planning on asking him to join them in a game of cards or truth or dare.

Zoro walks up to Sanji with his head down. It was normal for Sanji and Zoro to walk up to each other and argue, making little bickers towards each other from time to time, but you could tell something was off.

Sanji was carrying a plate of Onigiri to give Zoro since he had missed lunch, when suddenly Zoro walked incredibly close to Sanji and rested his head on his chest. Shocked, Sanji dropped the plate of onigiri, as Zoro wrapped his hands around Sanji.

"M-Marimo?" Sanji questioned, but immediately heard the sad sobs and felt his shirt begin to soak with the swordsman's tears.

Zoro gripped the back of Sanji's shirt tightly, trying his best to hide his emotions from the whole crew. While everyone looked at them confused because Zoro was suddenly hugging Sanji, Sanji was incredibly worried as he was the only one feeling this deep dark aruma around him and hearing his sad sobs.

Sanji waved at the crew, signalling to leave them alone and not to bother Zoro. Luckily, they understood the signal, and went on doing their own activities.

Zoro's legs began to cave in, he dropped his body weight to the floor and was on his knees. Sanji held him, also on his knees, and hugged him with one arm, while stroking his hair with the other. Sanji could only continuously stroke his hair, as Zoro's head was still in his shirt, hearing his soft sobs and feeling his wet tears imprint through his shirt.

"Hey, let's go to my cabin and talk about this. I'm sure you don't want to cause much more confusion as you did just now towards the crew." Sanji said, pulling Zoro up with him.

Zoro didn't reply, instead, he followed Sanji to his cabin with his head down and tears still scrolling down his cheeks.

Once they arrived at Sanji's cabin, Sanji locked the door, so that there wouldn't be any disturbances and surprisingly, hugged Zoro tightly.

"I've never seen you like this before Marimo. I've noticed that you haven't been coming down to eat much, and you've been spending more time than usual in the crows nest." Sanji said with concern in his tone.

"You've also been taking more naps, which I can't tell if you haven't been sleeping well or if you've just been overworking yourself with exercises. Marimo, what's going on in that brain of yours?" Sanji questioned, but he was only answered with Zoro returning the hug that Sanji gave him, as he tightened his grip on his back.

Sanji was still concerned, but was willing to wait until Zoro had calmed down a bit, to get a full confession about what's bothering him.