Man, I'm getting really familiar with this room. I opened up my eyes, already knowing I was in the infirmary. My stomach hurt, and my head especially hurt too. Luffy leaned over and kissed me on the cheek, knowing I was awake.
"Did I win?" I chuckled, already knowing the answer.
"You got a couple good shots in." Luffy admitted.
"Mmm. I don't know if it was good enough."
"She certainly thought so."
"Oh?"
Luffy stood up straight, puffing out his chest in an attempt to mimic Hancock. "Tell Misaki she has my respect." He said, throwing one hand on his hip and the other in the air as he dramatically waved and turned away. I giggled at his silliness and lifted my hand, squeezing the air. He smiled and relaxed as he sat down, placing his hand in mine.
"I'm sorry." I said, making him wince.
"You have ZERO reason to be sorry."
"I do have a reason. I was upset. I was mad. But even when I'm mad, I should stop and listen. I needed to trust you and listen to what you had to say, not storm off and throw a tantrum."
"I'm sorry, that's the Misaki way." He laughed. "You need space when you're upset, or else you flip out worse. I just feel bad Zoro was on the receiving end this time."
"Oh my God, ZORO!" I said, sitting up a little too quickly. I winced and grabbed at my stomach, noticing the bandages that Chopper probably put on me. "I have to apologize to him."
"Take it easy, Misaki. He knows you didn't mean it." Luffy said, squeezing my hand a little. "Well, some of it."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, looking up at him.
"Well, apparently, you told him to butt out of our relationship. He took that to heart."
"Shit, poor Zoro." I muttered.
"I feel bad too." Luffy said, biting his lip. "Especially considering I wouldn't have even gotten up if it weren't for him."
"God, I'm so sorry." I said, letting go of him and throwing my hands over my face.
"Stop apologizing to me!" Luffy said, getting annoyed now. "I was too upset to move but not cause of you! It was because of... well... I was worried what happened would shatter our trust."
"What happened? Between you and Hancock? What did I see?" I was calm and collected. Being able to take out my anger on Hancock actually helped a lot. It made me let go of it.
Luffy chewed on the inside of his cheek and looked at the door. "She tried to kiss me. I told her you were my partner and she grabbed my face and tried to kiss me." He looked back at me. "But I turned my head and she missed my lips."
I took a deep breath. "I believe you." Even if Hancock hadn't said anything, I would have believed him in an instant.
"I shouldn't have even gotten a kiss on the cheek, Misaki. I should have seen that coming. I've got advanced observation haki for fuck's sake."
"Well obviously you didn't get a vision, or else she wouldn't have even gotten a kiss on the cheek." I said plainly, looking away. It hurt to think about, but at least she didn't actually kiss him. "I trust you, Luffy. I trust that you didn't want that to happen."
"Do you?" He asked, grabbing my face so that I had to look at him. "You mean it?!"
"I have no right to be jealous or mad, anyways."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Luffy said, squishing my face a little.
"Zowo." I said, wishing he wasn't squishing my face so hard. I was trying to be serious damn it.
"What? Because of something I said was ok? That I started? Bullshit, Misaki. We talked about boundaries. This was out of bounds. You had every right to be jealous and mad."
I blinked at him, wondering when he started getting so damn mature. Was he always like this?
"I would be mad if you went out of bounds!" Luffy declared, letting go of my face. "Don't you ever say that you have no right to be jealous. You can feel anything you want to feel!"
"Hey. So about boundaries." I said quietly. "Zoro did kiss me on top of the head while you were dealing with Hancock."
"I know. He told me." Luffy said, chuckling. "He just wanted to help make you feel better. He didn't mean it like that."
"How do you do that?" I asked. "Be so cool with Zoro being.. so... I dunno... so... comfortable with me?"
"He is my vice captain." He shrugged. "I just trust him."
"Is it just that?" I asked, genuinely curious. Luffy tilted his head at me, unsure what I was getting at. "Like, are you like... curious?"
Luffy burst out laughing and patted my arm. "No, no... I guess it kinda looks that way if you think about it too much, huh?" He grinned at me, raising his eyebrows knowingly. "I just know he could use an outlet. And you guys are so close, I just... I dunno. It just didn't feel wrong to me."
"You're a weirdo, you know that?" I said, eyeing him curiously.
"You love me though!" He chuckled.
"Does that make me weird too?"
"I think so!"
"Well this weirdo has yet another confession." I said, biting my lip.
"Oh?"
"I called Kid."
"Jaggy? Why?"
"I just... I needed a more neutral party to talk to. About some of this."
"He isn't very neutral." Luffy said, his smile falling to a frown.
"Yeah, well, I knew if he defended you, it wasn't because he was loyal or anything."
Luffy pondered that for a moment and then sighed. "Ok, that's fair. So did he defend me?"
"He actually did." I said. Luffy grinned.
"I knew he wasn't a bad guy."
"You always know." I laughed. "But I also want to say..."
"Yes?"
"I wanted to talk to him... and it made me feel better to talk to him."
"Oh... is that a problem?"
"I think it could be... depends on what you think... so I wanted to be honest with you and tell you about it."
"Do you like him?" Luffy asked. His voice conveyed nothing but sheer curiosity.
"I like talking to him." I admitted. "Say the word and I won't."
"Misaki, have you ever told me to stop talking to Hancock?"
"Well... no... but I don't think that's the same thing." I said, biting my lip. "It's not like you like her like that."
"Well, is he gonna force a kiss on you?" Luffy pondered, tapping my arm lightly.
"I highly doubt it. He even said he would never when he gave me a scenario to help with the Hancock thing."
"Would you ever kiss him?"
"Not so long as you and I are together." I teased, making him tap my arm harder.
"Oi!"
"What?! We'll always be together so what does it matter?" I laughed. Luffy gave me his sunshine smile, making my heart skip a beat.
"Always?" He said, so sweetly it made me melt.
"Always." I smiled. "No matter how mad we could get at each other." I put my pinky out and he smiled, linking his pinky with mine.
"No matter how hurt." He said.
"No matter how far we might be from each other." I said. "Or how comfortable we might be with other people." Luffy raised his eyebrows at me and chuckled.
"No matter what?"
"No matter what. We will be together." I said. Luffy leaned forward and kissed me, our pinkies still linked in our promise to each other.
"And no matter what, we're gonna trust each other, right?" Luffy said as he pulled away.
"And forgive each other."
"Even if there is nothing to forgive." Luffy said, breathing a sigh of relief.
"That's right." I said, smiling.
"I love you, you know that?"
"I love you too, Lu."
"And I trust you."
"I trust you too. I shouldn't have —."
"Wait!" He said putting his hand up. "Don't. It'll never end."
I laughed, snatching his hand and leaning in for another kiss. I could feel my heart swell as our lips touched, making me swoon. As I pulled away, he pressed his forehead into mine. "That's fair. Let's just move on, then."
A soft knock could be heard from the other side of the door. I recognized it.
"Oh yeah." Luffy said. "I forgot." He walked over and let Zoro in.
"You guys done figuring it out?" Zoro said. He looked a little uncomfortable. It was weird, seeing him like that, his shoulders hunched and his eye darting around.
"Yeah, it's your turn, now." Luffy said, leaning against the wall and yawning lackadaisically.
"Hey." Zoro said, sitting on the chair next to the bed. He leaned his arm on the bed and looked at me, waiting. I took a deep breath.
"Zoro, I'm sorry." I said. His eye stayed steady, firm. "I shouldn't have lashed out at you like that. I didn't mean it."
"Well, runt, I'm just glad you didn't kill yourself fighting against Boa. But we should really talk about what you said to me."
"No, that's what I mean! It's ok for you to butt in! I mean it! You were just trying to help."
"I really think it's about more than that." He said softly. Oh, so this is where he's going with this.
"N-no. Zoro. It's fine." I said, trying not to stutter.
"Damn." Luffy muttered. "You called it, Zoro,"
"Can we all stop being cryptic?"
"You're uncomfortable." Zoro said.
"I'm really not!" I said, sitting up to look at the both of them. "I was just mad. And it didn't help when you said I wasn't in the position to be jealous."
"No. You're right. I should have never said that." Zoro said, clicking his tongue and nudging me. I looked down and he had his hand open, waiting for me to grab it. I looked at Luffy and he smiled at me, so I took Zoro's hand.
"I don't like doing anything without checking in first." I admitted. "And I'm definitely more comfortable with little things. Like us all falling to sleep together. That was nice."
"But." Zoro said, making me wince.
"But...." I sighed. I didn't want to say it. I didn't want to hurt him. I looked at him and let a little hm escape my throat.
"Look whose being cryptic now." Zoro teased.
"Well... that was my comfort zone." I sighed. "I like the sweet, mellow, mostly platonic stuff."
"That's ok, Misaki." Zoro said, glancing at Luffy, who nodded at him. "You aren't doing anything wrong." He brushed the hair out of my face and took a short breath. "Is it ok to just give you a kiss on the cheek?"
I just looked at him. My expression was soft as it flit between Luffy and Zoro. Luffy was relaxed, and looking the other direction, as if being there was only to bring me comfort. I realized that he wasn't asking Luffy. He was asking me. I nodded and he cupped his hand on the other side of my face and leaned over, tilting his head as he pressed his lips against my cheek. His lips were soft, and something about the way he did it felt more intimate than a kiss on the lips. It made my face tingle and something flip in my stomach. As he leaned away, he took a breath.
"There. That's it. No more. Not unless you bring it up again later." Zoro said, making me pout. "What's with that look?"
"Just remember I still like cuddle puddles." I pouted. Both of them laughed and Luffy strode over.
"I bet it would be way more comfortable on a bed than a couch, just saying."
"Chopper would be mad, I feel like." I laughed.
"Who cares?!" Luffy said, crawling over me to get on the other side of the bed. "Come on, Zoro."
Zoro looked at me and raised his eyebrows. I smiled and reached out to him, clutching the air like an idiot kid that wanted a hug. Zoro chuckled and piled into the bed with us. I hugged into him, happy to still get this side of things. The infirmary bed was definitely not built for three people, no matter how small I was. I laid half into Luffy as Zoro snuggled half on me, careful not to lay too heavily on the parts of me that were battered and bruised. Luffy nuzzled and kissed at my cheek while Zoro just sighed happily against my chest. I sighed, feeling warm and cozy and safe. This. Yes. I like this.