"You kissed Misaki?!?!" Usopp said, smacking Zoro on the back of the head. "Why would you do something like that?!"
"It was a long time ago, you know!" Zoro snapped, his arms crossed and a vein bulging on his neck.
"I had the same reaction." Nami said, shrugging.
"You knew?!" Jimbei said.
"I only recently found out."
"You know what? If it weren't for me, Luffy may not have ever taken the next step with Misaki! Then she may not have decided to stay! You should be thanking me!"
"I don't know, Zoro, that seems like a stretch." Robin said, a dark aura emanating from her. It made Zoro sweat. Her annoyance was actually palpable.
"Luffy and I worked this out ages ago." Zoro said, closing his eyes and turning away in a huff. He was tired of repeating himself. He would kill for his Captain. In fact, he killed his feelings for Misaki. For his Captain. He wasn't allowed to embrace his feelings — and he was ok with that. What he wasn't ok with was the constant badgering he was having to deal with all of a sudden. He just wanted to let it stay buried.
____________________
"Hey M'" Luffy said, sauntering in and plopping next to me on my bed. "So this is where you were hiding."
"What?" I said, looking up at him.
"You know, if you're gonna hide, you should really pick a better place than your room."
"I'm not hiding." I said, rolling my eyes before looking at my lap.
"Sulking then."
"I..." I puffed out my cheeks. "I'm not sulking."
"Mhmm."
"What reason would I have to hide and sulk?" I sighed.
"M'..." Luffy said, grabbing my face and making me look at him. "It's ok that you have a crush. You're allowed."
"W-what?! How did you—?" My eyes widened. "Who told you?!"
Luffy laughed, plopping a kiss on my lips as I reeled at his laid back reaction.
"Misaki, I knew you were crushing on him the moment you pulled your scarf up over your nose!" He then poked my nose lightly with his finger and then laughed again, making me gasp in shock.
"What do you mean?!"
"Exactly what I said! Were you listening to me?!" He said, drawing his eyebrows together in jest.
"You knew all along?!"
"Yeah! I thought it was funny! Even a little cute!"
"I thought you would be furious!"
"Nawww! It's no big deal! It's not like you can help it!"
"You're not jealous?!"
"Well..." he paused, tapping his chin as he thought about what to say. "A little bit. But I can't really help it, so I just embraced it!",
"Embraced it?!"
"Yeah! It's something I can't control! Just like how you can't control having a crush!"
"You're cracked!" I said, a little annoyed. I stressed out so hard just for him to be fine?!
"Let me ask you a question." Luffy said, a little more serious. I relaxed a little, my voice dropping a little as I responded.
"Ok..."
"Do you love me?" He asked.
"You know I do." I said, my heart racing a little as I spoke.
"Do you think you can stop?"
"Never!" I burst out, not even thinking first.
"Atta girl!" Luffy chuckled. He then ran his hand through my hair, letting his fingers linger at the tips of it. "Knowing that, would you act on that crush and try to kiss Law?" I automatically crinkled my nose, making him laugh. "And Zoro. You gonna go kiss him later?"
"Now you're pushing it, Lu." I rolled my eyes, making Luffy laugh.
"See? I got nothin' to worry about! I trust you!"
"Luffy! I don't want to have a crush on someone else!"
"Sorry you can't be as perfect as I am." He said nonchalantly, making me smack his arm. He laughed and waved me off.
"Be serious!"
"I don't wanna be!"
"Luffy, come on!"
"And I don't want you to be!" Luffy said, laughing. He jumped up, throwing his hands in the air as he continued. "I want you to have fun! I want you to be free! Embrace your feelings! Be free, Damn it!" He said, giving my shoulder a little push.
I laughed, snatching his shirt and bringing him down into a kiss. He laced his fingers in my hair and pulled me into a deeper kiss before breaking away from me.
"That's my girl." He chuckled, pressing his forehead against mine. "We've been way too serious, lately. But I shouldn't have messed with you. I just wanted you to relax. I'm sorry."
"Messed with me?" I said, pulling away and tilting my head.
"Oops," Luffy grimaced, "Guess you hadn't figured that out, huh?"
"Wait — EXCUSE ME?!" I said, jumping up. "You knew?! And yet you smushed us together like friggin stuffed animals?!"
Luffy laughed as my face grew red in frustration.
"You're an ass!" I said, clenching my fists.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He laughed. "But your face was so cute!"
I sighed and shook my head. What a troll.
"I guess it's ok... but... I'm not the only one who deserves an apology." I said, giving him a knowing look.
Luffy sighed. "Yeahhh, you're right."
"Damn straight I am."
"I promise I'll deal with it." Luffy said, flinching. "Especially since I sort of slipped up and mentioned it to the whole crew."
"Luffy, come on!"
"I didn't mean to! I'm surprised I didn't slip up sooner! I don't do the whole lying thing!"
"No, you just like trolling people."
"Name one time I've ever —!"
"— LITERALLY TODAY!"
"Oh yeah." He said, snickering. "Well, I'll deal with it, don't worry."
"You mean it? Cause if you are gonna play it cool with Traffy then you gotta stop being so possessive when it comes to Zoro!"
Luffy flinched and looked away. "I know. I know. I feel really bad about it."
"You should! Zoro wanted to bury that whole thing and never bring it up again, and now you're suddenly throwing it in his face when he was just being a good friend!"
"Yeah, I know." He said, plopping back down on the bed and putting his hands over his face. "I've been an ass."
"Hey. Question." I said, dropping next to him.
"Hm?"
"Do you love me?" I asked. Luffy picked his head up and grinned at me.
"You know I do." He echoed.
"Do you love Zoro." I asked. Luffy smiled bigger.
"You're right. He is my friend. I'll go make it right."
________________________
"Hey guys, you should go get ready! I bet Sanji is almost done cooking dinner." Luffy said, rejoining the crew on the deck.
Everybody got up and headed back to their respective rooms. Nami and Robin snatched Misaki back up — probably to gossip. Zoro, on the other hand stayed where he was, his arms crossed in a huff. Luffy plopped down next to him and looked up at the sky.
"I'm an ass." Luffy said plainly.
"At least you can admit it, Captain." Zoro said, his eyes closed.
"Sorry I got jealous."
"Hm."
"And I'm sorry I slipped up in front of the crew."
"I'm sorry I kissed Misaki." Zoro said. "I don't think I ever said sorry, come to think of it."
"There's nothing to be sorry about. We weren't together." Luffy said, still looking at the sky. "Even if you knew I liked her. It's not like I was doing anything about it at the time."
"Yeah but... still..." Zoro said, finally looking at Luffy. Luffy's face was soft as he stared up at the clouds, a small smile brimming at the edge of his lips. Zoro smiled back, realizing it was over. He could finally put the guilt from that day behind him.
"I'm sorry you have to bury your feelings." Luffy said, finally looking at Zoro. "I want you to be free too. I don't care if you have feelings for her — I trust you."
"That's all I needed to hear, Captain. That's really all I needed to hear."