GROWING PAINS / zoro.

SIXTEEN / park renovation, straw hat style.

"that i am, sanji." she grinned, and turned her gaze back to the oncoming fishmen.

her eyes slackened into a glare as she stopped a fishman from cloaking out her throat.

"down." she commanded, easily bringing the creature to its knees as she used her dagger to injure his arms and legs.

"since when could you do that?!" usopp shrieked as he dodged a fishman, using anjali as a shield.

she stopped the opponent easily, hitting his neck with the blunt end of her dagger.

anjali grinned in response to the sharpshooter's question, rasing a slightly bloody finger to her lips. usopp didn't get to ask any more questions because he and anjali were split apart, and he was forced to climb up a small rocky path to shoot down fishmen.

anjali and sanji ended up back to back, surrounded by a circle of arlong's lackeys.

"wow, i'm impressed." the cook remarked as the copper haired woman disarmed and knocked out three fishmen at once using the blunt end of her dagger and a weird pole she had stolen from one of the creatures.

"i have been told that i'm rather impressive." anjali said suavely, before the two were also separated by another hoard of fishmen.

"fucking fishmen." anjali cursed loudly, searching the crowd for a black bandana and an eggshell white sword.

she found zoro perched up on a rock in the middle of the pool (river? whatever it was), hands gripping at his chest as he faltered slightly.

the fishmen opened up a path for her — not willingly, of course. anjali had to either force them out of her way or knock them unconscious. killing was not an option for her. she'd leave that to the others.

"need some help, big boy?" the woman asked as she hopped onto the rock, barely able to balance herself.

there was hardly any room for two on there. zoro looked up at her outstretched hand, and he took it gratefully.

"looks like the big bad pirate hunter is having trouble defeating some fishmen." anjali teased lightly, helping the green haired man off of the small stone and back onto firm, full ground.

"i got distracted." he grumbled, and his cheeks flushed red as he remembered anjali's lips on his cheek.

"by what? their blinding beauty?" she laughed to herself.

the woman paused when she felt something nearing, and turned to halt the fishman about to use a sharpened stick to impale anjali's chest.

the creature fell to the floor in a writhing mess, body crumpling into itself.

"we're kinda busy here." anjali snarled, finally taking her eyes off him and turning back to zoro. "you were saying?"

he looked at her in awe, shaking his head. "nothing."

just that eight-year-old roronoa zoro's crush on kumar anjali definitely never left.

"cute, but focus." she patted his cheek gently. she threw a dagger behind zoro, landing it right in the leg of an oncoming fishman. "you're too distracted."

"this is your fault." he said with a grumble, slapping away the red pooling into his face.

"what? i'm busting my ass over here saving you from all these attacks because you're off in lala land thinking about whatever —"

anjali winced as the dagger she had thrown at the fishmen ripped the skin on her shoulder. "fuck! stupid fishmen!"

she angrily picked up the dagger that had torn her skin, launching it into the belly of the nearest fishman, one hand cupping her injury to stop the bleeding.