EPISODE 07 : THE GIRL WITH THE SAWFISH TATTOO
( zoro's got moves )
WITH ONE WORRY gone off anjali's shoulders, she felt much more at ease now that zoro was awake.
although, it seemed as though he lacked basic strength, thanks to that giant wound on his chest. so anjali took it upon herself to help the man around (she was partially forced into it by zoro's ginormous puppy dog eyes), even going as far as helping his put on his button up.
for the latter, anjali was almost 100 percent sure zoro could manage if he really put his mind to it, but she still allowed him to rely on her. if she was honest, feeling useful at a time like this somewhat took her mind off nami's absence, so she wasn't too resentful towards the pirate hunter.
"i wasn't aware you hurt your legs too." anjali commented sourly as zoro's arm wrapped around her shoulder, body pressed to hers as he used the copper haired woman for support.
the man shrugged. "i didn't. they're just weak because i haven't used them in a while."
"right." she replied sarcastically, and sat the pirate hunter down on the deck bench.
luffy was raising the sails, staring off into the distance at baratie.
usopp was carrying in barrels of food for the journey, and the day felt brighter now that zoro had awoken. the two men had both been elated to hear of his wake, and rushed almost immediately to bombard him with hugs that were too tight for his liking.
upon seeing a familiar mop of golden hair, anjali peered at the approaching man in the distance.
"sanji, hey!" the copper haired woman waved at the blonde as he went up the steps to the going merry.
zoro scowled as the man returned her wave enthusiastically, flashing anjali a grin.
"heard you guys need a cook." he said, looking towards luffy, who was dangling off the ship, his fingers and legs tangled in the rope holding him up.
the straw hat cheered, almost falling off the rope. "yeah! yes we do!"
he climbed down and patted sanji on the shoulder. "welcome aboard!"
"why are we bringing the waiter?" zoro asked, his tone so passive aggressive that anjali felt it practically radiating off of him.
"because we can't boil water." usopp said matter-of-factly, and anjali laughed.
"speak for yourself." snickering, the woman turned to sanji who had approached them. "nice to have you onboard."
"nice to be onboard." the cook replied with a suave smile.
zoro grumbled what sounded like curses and insults under his breath.
turning his head back to look at the fish-shaped ship for a second, sanji turned and addressed the small crew.
"if you'll excuse me, gotta say my goodbyes to the old man." the blonde said, and his eyes grew misty.
anjali gestured for him to go right ahead with an understanding nod.
"what do you see in that blonde womanizing waiter anyway?" zoro said when anjali took the seat next to him.
"uh, nothing? he's a friend." anjali said with a laugh. "nothing to 'see' in him other than a member of the crew."
zoro crossed his arms. "if you say so."
"i do, so quit being a jealous idiot and try to be nice." the copper haired woman replied. "and don't go around calling people you barely met womanizers."
"how are we going to find nami anyway?" usopp asked as he finished loading the last of the barrels onto the ship.
"yeah, we don't even know where she is." zoro added.
he had discarded the topic over whether their new cook was or wasn't a womanizer and made himself comfortable against anjali's shoulder, who grumbled in protest but allowed the man to rest.
"i know someone who does." luffy grinned, and he went down into the ship.
anjali helped zoro up, and he wrapped his arm around her waist for better support, limping all the way to where luffy was at.
the copper haired woman groaned loudly when luffy pulled out a clown head from within a black sack. "not again."
buggy coughed loudly before grinning, exposing his not-so-clean teeth. "hello boys!"
he caught sight of of anjali. "oh, you're still here."
her lips twitched upwards in a snarl. "i thought arlong would've hauled you into the ocean by now."
"he was planning on it, but my dear friend straw hat saved me." buggy said with a sly smile.
great, anjali thought to herself. now we have a clown for a mascot.
"stop smiling, your teeth look like they've been through a cannon-fight." she snapped, wanting to cross her arms over her chest but couldn't due to one arm being used to support the green haired man beside her.
"oh yeah? why don't you stop hopping circles around mister pirate hunter over there and just make out like we all know you want to?" the clown shot back.
anjali's eyes widened and she looked at the blue haired pirate in disgust, flinging the closest thing to her grasp at his head — a thick, four-inch hardcover book.
"next time, you're dead, clown." she snarled, glaring at buggy as he groaned, her ears turning a deep shade of red.
"well, somebody had to say it." usopp murmured quietly to luffy, who nodded his head vigorously in agreement.
BUGGY'S LOUD AND manic yells upstairs awoke anjali from her slumber, making her jolt in alarm before realizing she didn't care about the one screaming his head off.
the woman yawned and rubbed her eyes, pulling herself out of bed and heading up to the deck to see what was going on.
zoro was holding the clown's head over the railing, dangling him over the deadly waves.
"lovely morning." anjali commented with a hum as she looked down at buggy, her smile turning devilish. "planning to take a swim, buggy?"
"zoro, buddy!" the head-man chuckled nervously, turning to glare at anjali from his peripheral vision. "honor amongst pirates, right? come on, how about i sing a nice sea shanty to pass the time?"
anjali cringed as the blue haired clown began singing off tune. "oh, there once was a girl with tangerine hair, stole my map and left me stranded somewhere. truly a crafty and crooked young lass, but you can't deny she had a spectacular —"
the rest of his words muffled into a pained grunt as zoro tossed him face-first into a barrel. anjali scowled down into the wooden prison, giving it a little kick.
"what a nutjob." anjali commented as she closed the barrel and took a seat atop it, making sure the clown wouldn't even think of escaping.
zoro huffed out a small smile, and the copper haired woman caught sight of the red staining his white bandages and seeping downwards across his chest.
"what the hell? you're bleeding." anjali said worriedly, scanning the pirate hunter with a frown.
the green haired man looked down, his face not at all alarmed at the sight of the crimson liquid.
"i'm fine." zoro replied.
anjali motioned for usopp to take care of buggy. "you're not. let's get those wounds re-bandaged before you bleed out and die on us."
with a small grumble of pretend protest, zoro followed obediently down to the kitchen, trailing behind anjali like a puppy tailed its owner.
"what am i gonna do with you?" she sighed softly as zoro took a seat on the chair, anjali rustling through cabinets in search of bandages.
"here it is." the woman said at last, turning to face the injured bounty hunter.
in silence, anjali helped zoro remove his button-up, exposing his toned arms and bandaged torso and chest.
with gentle fingers, the swordsmaster traced the spreading red stain of blood on his chest. zoro's breath hitched as he winced, exhaling shakily when anjali's fingers left his still injured skin.
"does that hurt?" she whispered softly, and he shook his head 'no', not letting his mouth open, afraid of the unmanly break of his voice that would occur at her touch.
"relax." anjali said with a small grin, her eyes refusing to meet zoro's eyes and see the flaming red overtaking his face. "i'm not gonna kill you or anything."
he took a small breath, holding it before shuddering out an exhale.
"next time, don't move around so much or your wound might reopen." the copper haired woman reprimanded as she gently unfurled the dirty bandages from zoro's skin, her fingers leaving pinpricks of heat all over his aching body.
"i can't just sit around and do nothing." the man grumbled in protest.
anjali met his eye at last, raising an eyebrow. "why not? you were pretty good at it sitting around and doing nothing even before you got injured."
zoro gave her a deadpan look. "very funny."
she giggled softly, beginning to wrap a fresh bandage around zoro's torso and chest.
"are you still thinking about nami?" he asked suddenly, making anjali pause as she was wrapping the roll around zoro's stomach and lower back.
"yeah. d'you think she meant what she said? about using us to get the map?" the woman asked.
zoro thought for a while. "i don't know. when we find her, why don't you ask?"
anjali chuckled humorlessly. "what if her answer isn't the one i want to hear?"
zoro's warm and calloused hand found her own. his big brown eyes bore into anjali's and he offered her a small smile.
"then we'll figure it out from there."
she smiled slightly. "right."
tightening the bandages, anjali quickly helped the green haired man slip on his button-up shirt, smiling proudly.
"wow, this is my finest bandage-work yet! might as well call me the ship medic!" she grinned.
zoro stepped closer, unexpectedly pulling her in and pressing a chaste kiss to her hair. "thank you, pearl."
and he limped out of the kitchen like nothing happened, accidentally almost tripping on his way out.
anjali watched him go, eyes unfocused, face blank, and ears and cheeks blazing red.
"what the. . ." she murmured as she patted away the redness to her face, ignoring the flipping of her stomach and the bubbles forming in her chest.
⚔︎ AUTHOR'S NOTE !
rlly short chapter today 😣
im so sad we're almost reaching the end of the season i actually loved writing this book😭 hopefully season 2 comes out soon so i can continue the story!!
i wanted to make this a shorter chapter bc it was more of episode 6 and the beginning of episode 7, so the next chapter could be focused on coco village/arlong park so hopefully next update will be a longer chapter!!
a lottt of cute interactions (it was like one scene but wtv) between anjali and zoro, they're finally over the hating each other phase so now i can finally write cute/flirty scenes and use lotsss of physical touch bc that's my love language fr 🎉 anyways i hate buggy but he's so real like he knows what the public wants!!
pls lmk if there are any mistakes in the spelling or anything so i can fix it !
also don't b afraid to vote or comment, i will probably (very likely) reply!!!!
happy reads!
─── ANNIE