Instincts [Roronoa Zoro x Reader]

Chapter 6

"Come on, now?" Luffy huffed.

Zoro sighed, disappointed as well, but relaxed his stance in front of you. The others immediately went to their station to either help get away or protect the ship.

"We'll finish this another time," Zoro called to you before heading to starboard. There were cannons firing from at least three Marine ships on that side.

As he jumped and cut the cannonballs in halves, he glanced back to see what you were doing.

"[Y/N]!" Nami's voice called from the helm. "Can you go help Franky fill the Cola tanks?"

You nodded and followed Franky to the back of the ship.

Zoro thought back on the spar with you. You were good with that stick, but it seemed... off. You were barely attacking at all, only dodging and blocking. The attacks you did do were strong and powerful, as Zoro could still feel the jabs from earlier.

Zoro jumped on one cannonball to the next, cutting them behind him as he went. Even if you weren't a swordswoman, you held your own against him. That alone had his respect.

His eye spotted Nami getting ready for the Coup de Burst, and he quickly landed back on deck.

A moment later, the Sunny launched into the air, fueled by Cola's carbonation.

<+>

You had followed Franky's aura to the back of the ship, then down a ladder, into some sort of compartment with a lot of barrels. Your ears could hear the swishing and sizzling of Cola surrounding you.

You handed him the barrels offhandedly without a word, as you didn't know where or how to put them.

Three barrels later, Franky gave you a thumbs up and a "SUPER", then told you to go back up to see "something that only the Thousand Sunny could do".

"It's ready!" Franky yelled to Nami at the helm. You saw her aura pull what seemed like a lever, and, copying the other auras' movements, you held on to the ship's railing.

You could feel the ship flying, somehow, according to Franky, fueled by the Cola barrels the two of you had put in.

The sounds of cannons and shouts faded away and replaced by the rush of wind. The mass of auras faded away as well, getting smaller and smaller underneath you.

"That," Franky announced, "was the Coup de Burst!"

You felt the ship land with a large splash moments later, far and away from Marines.

"Amazing," you said honestly, having no other words.

"It was a good thing we just restocked!"

You had high expectations for Franky and this ship based on what you had heard from Luffy, and this had already blown you away, pun intended. You had yet to explore the ship, and you could not wait to see more.

"You're an amazing shipwright," you said to Franky. "Can you show me around?"

"Of course!"

The other auras seemed to have settled down after that fight then flight. You hadn't finished that spar with Zoro, but you figured it could wait until later, as he seemed to be fighting with Sanji again about getting in his way anyhow.

Plus, as much as you'd hate to admit it, constantly using Observation Haki drained a lot of your energy. You could hold it up for longer than most others due to your excessive training, but it wasn't forever and it wasn't always a large radius.

You'll take a break when you can, keeping your Haki off or low and a smaller area around you.

Franky began taking you through the ship's interior designs and features, and even some history, bubbling with excitement.

There were multiple levels and rooms, as well as unique features that Franky liked showing off. The others greeted you in whichever room you were exploring, and Nami and Robin happily made room for you in the girls' quarters.

Despite the size and complexity of the ship, you managed to get a good mental image of the layout and dimensions thanks to Franky's unintentional descriptiveness.

"Dinner!" Sanji's voice called.

It was late already? You couldn't tell how dark it was, but you supposed you were a bit hungry. However, you didn't follow Franky to the dining room. The others trailed not far behind him, auras hungry, especially Luffy's.

"[Y/N]-swan!" Sanji cooed from the doorway. "Are you not going to eat?"

"I'll eat later," you said, hand gesturing to your mask. You let out an awkward laugh. "Bit... uncomfy still."

"That's alright!" Sanji's aura was still apologetic. "Want me to bring something out for you?"

"No, thanks. I'll come get something later myself." You saw him nod hesitantly, then walk back in, and you soon heard shouting from the crew because of what you could assume was Luffy stealing their food.

You chuckled to yourself, then realized that there was someone missing. You could only sense eight out of nine auras in the dining room. You spread your Haki, and found that Zoro's was up at the crow's nest.

You headed towards the area under him, feeling for the ropes surrounding the mast, climbing them, and then the ladder.

"Zoro," you called, popping your head in. He was asleep on the bench, arms behind his head and swords beside him.

You felt a few objects on the floor with your quarterstaff, knowing there was training equipment up here.

"Zoro," you called again. His aura shifted, then he let out a grunt as he looked over to you.

"What?" he grumbled.

"Dinner."

"Later." He stretched for a moment, then slumped back in a resting position again. He glanced at you from his spot when you didn't leave. "You want to finish that fight?"

"Nah. The reason I challenged you in the first place was to make an impression on the others," you admitted. "And you were strong." You sat down across from him, nudging the equipment over. "But it's been a long day and I'm tired."

He grunted in acknowledgment. "Have you eaten?"

"Nope. I don't like eating in front of people."

"What, you're that insecure?" he asked jokingly. You could hear a smirk in his voice.

You shrugged. "You could say that."

The two of you sat in silence. Sighing, you started to relax and take in everything that happened today. You've finally joined the crew. You reunited with Luffy, met the others, sparred with Zoro, escaped from Marines, and explored the ship.

"The others won't care what you look like under that mask," Zoro said suddenly. "I sure don't."

"Because you haven't seen my face."

"I'm sure you've got a normal face under that mask."

You couldn't sense any curiosity in his aura. Just... assurance. You chuckled a bit.

"You said almost the same exact words as Sanji," you pointed out half-heartedly, attempting to change the subject. "You tryna flirt or something?"

"Don't compare me with that ero-cook!" he scoffed. His angry aura stiffened for a moment, then relaxed a bit. "I'm just stating what I think."

You laughed. "Thanks. I'm just glad none of you are all over me asking questions."