Chapter Text
Zoro trained nonstop for the entire day and night.
He skipped his meals, completely ignoring the pervy cook's indignant banging on the hatch door, telling him food was ready. He even skipped his naps entirely. It was obvious whose face his mind would conjure once he dared to close his eyes, so he'd rather not do it at all. Better to exercise until his own body begged for mercy and his bones reached their breaking point.
He climbed down the hatch the next day, way after breakfast. It was after he began experiencing alcohol withdrawal, and the only thing more irritating than the constant image of Venus writhing underneath him was not being drunk enough to forget her.
Everyone was gathering near the brig. Sanji was puffing smoke from his cigarette, his dreamy gaze fixed on Nami who was frowning at the log pose around her wrist. Robin was cozying up to Franky in the corner—the latter was flexing his bionic pecs that whirred upon command, while Luffy was munching on something he just stole from the kitchen. Chopper was showing something to Usopp, and Brook and Jinbe seemed to be swapping old stories of their pasts. The sails rustled lazily against the breeze, the straw hat on their jolly roger barely crinkling. The heavens was so crystal blue you could practically glimpse Skypiea Island all the way from here. On any other day, this was his perfect setting to take an undisturbed, extensive nap against the mast. But not today.
Zoro took another furtive glance at the crew. Good. Nobody seemed to be paying attention or even noticed his arrival. If he could just sneak quietly behind them into the galley and grabbed one or two bottles—
"Hey, muscle-brain!"
It was Nami's voice this time. Cursing 'fucking witch' under his breath, Zoro's head snapped at her direction. "What?" he barked.
"You happen to know if there's a shopping center in this miserable dump of an island?"
As a matter of fact he did know. Venus's tavern was smack dab in the middle of a busy (by the island's standards anyway) pedestrian intersection with shops and stalls lining up along the streets. The imagery of those was so vivid in his mind he wondered why the fuck had his brain never done the same to any other place before.
"No," he lied.
"Bullshit." Nami sneered. "Anyway. Since my log pose is still stuck for the next several hours, some of us are heading to the swamp village to restock. And since you've wasted too much time getting lost into some girl's pants, you're given the honor of carrying our stuff."
"I'm not going." Zoro spat. "Go find someone else to be your pack mule."
Nami stepped forward, cornering Zoro. Her cloying, saccharine smile made Zoro shiver. It worked exactly the same way as how those brightly colored animals in the wild hid their true venomous nature: a danger sign.
"Need I remind you that you still owe me five hundred thousand Berries from that bet you lost in Zou?" She batted her eyelashes, her voice teeth-rotting sweet. "And need I also remind you that the interest goes triple each time you refuse my request?"
Zoro's functional eye twitched. "Alright, alright! Fucking hell."
And so with no added coaxing necessary, Nami, Robin, Sanji (who salivated at the thought of finding "feisty island women" Robin mentioned about), Luffy (who wanted to prove to himself that giant caymans tasted better than chicken), and a very reluctant, very irate Zoro sauntered into the very place the swordsman had sworn not to return to.
Gashiro Village, to put it in the nicest way possible, was a pesthole. Nami scrunched her nose as the smell of rotten eggs combined with decaying plant matter filled her lungs. "People actually live here?" she looked around, eyebrows disappearing into her tangerine hair.
"You'd be surprised of what places like these have to offer, Nami," Robin glided beside her, surveying the marshes behind her sunglasses. "Swamps tend to hold a lot of secrets."
Despite the ploppy soils and half-submerged logs, the center of the village was actually pretty decent. Sanji brightened when he saw a vendor (a young woman, no less) selling fresh softshell crabturtles rarely found in other parts of the Grand Line. Luffy was walking away with a mouthful of eel-beaver meat kebabs. Robin had wandered off alone somewhere. Nami was haggling the hell out of a handbag made from crocodile leather, the seller looking like he was a second from passing out from her stare alone.
But Zoro's gaze were locked on one place. Right at the intersection. One of the only buildings that didn't look like it was sinking into the mud.
The Drunken Porthole.
And there it was. That annoying itch. That persistent urge in his muscles to go back to that place just to see her again. He should've known the hours of grueling training yesterday was a complete waste of time.
He grunted, his fists clenching. His self-restraint screamed at him to turn his head away and run goddamnit when the front window of the bar shattered with a deafening crash.
A few feet from where he stood, glass rained onto the sidewalk as if in slow motion. Chunks of wood hit the pavement. The waft of crushed drywall and spilled beer drifted out through the opening.
He heard voices. Men shouting. Furniture breaking. Then—her voice. Barely audible, but unmistakable.
Zoro's pulse jumped.
His legs were already rushing toward the broken glass before his mind could catch up.
*
Grabbing the cracked counter for support, Venus pushed herself back to her feet. She barely felt the sting on her lower lip from when she got struck good a moment ago.
She counted twelve men. Their colorful kimonos and top knots looked more out of place than a flock of flamingos around a quagmire. She recognized the attire from one of grandpa's old paintings, the one that hung inside the dusty attic since he passed away. The one that made grandpa always change the subject.
Why the hell are these Wano men doing here?
Wiping a bit of blood from her chin, Venus scanned the damage they'd made. Broken pints and crushed bottles. Puddles of spilled liquor pooling on the wooden floor. Smashed chairs, overturned tables, some with splintered legs and snapped surfaces. And of course, the freaking windows.
"I just had them replaced last week, you assholes," she spat.
Her eyes quickly darted at the stash of Motsuru sake on the top of the shelf. Good. Still unharmed. At least for now.
The biggest and ugliest of them—the same one who had hit her moments ago, gripped her chin with one hand, his thick fingers clamping down on the bone of her jawline. Must be the leader, Venus thought. He dragged her head forward until their faces were close.
"Save your quips, missy." The leader hissed. His putrid breath made Venus wince. "This is the last time I'm gon' repeat myself. Where do you keep the star artifacts?"
Venus stared at him blankly. "I have no idea what the hell you're talking about," she said, her voice muffled from the pressure of his grip. "But I do have several ideas on maintaining basic oral hygiene."
Another backhand blow cracked against her cheek. The impact jerked her head sideways. She tasted copper once more, her vision blurring. Before she could regain her composure, the man yanked her shoulder close.
"You keep playin' dumb, I keep givin' you what you deserve." He bared his decaying teeth. A foul purplish tongue poked out to lick his lips as he surveyed Venus from head to toe. His gaze darkened when it stopped at her chest. "...Or better yet, you gon' give me what I deserve."
"She said she didn't know."
The voice cut through the room, quiet and lethal like a well-honed blade.
"Maybe I should carve you a new ear to help you hear better?"
Every head turned toward the doorway.
Zoro stood there, leaning against the doorframe because of course he only strolled past by accident. Nobody needed to know how he'd hid behind the door for almost a minute to make sure he would chime in at exactly the right moment.
Venus's split lips parted in surprise, before they melted into a triumphant smirk. "Oh, you guys are so screwed," she grinned, but flinched again as her assaulter all but crushed her shoulder.
"You! Zorojuro!" The hideous man seethed at Zoro, hatred dripping from his tone. "You have no business being here!"
"I could ask you the same thing." Zoro took a deliberate step closer. "What are a group of Wano hunters doing so far away from the Flower Capital?"
Venus blinked. Wano hunters?
"Don't think what you and your ragtag pirate crew did in Wanokuni absolve you from your crime of murdering our magistrate. You are still a wanted criminal!" The man barked. Finally, he released his grip, but not before shoving Venus backward against the counter.
Zoro tilted his head, frowning. "You mean that guy who'd been killing people to steal their swords? The street slasher?" he said. "Tch. Filth like him was a good riddance."
"He was my cousin!" The man shouted. "And I, Toyama Yatsu, will make you pay!"
With a furious roar, Yatsu lunged, sword drawn. The rest of his underlings followed suit, unsheathing their swords in unison.
Venus swore that Zoro barely moved. She only caught a flash of light from his waist before two of his attackers collapsed with their throats slit.
Holy shit, Venus thought, breathless. So this is the power of the world's most dangerous Pirate Hunter.
But it wasn't the right time to be impressed. Three other thugs charged forward. Swish. The two blades in Zoro's hands met their ribs, while the one between his teeth clashed with the sword that attacked him from behind. Clang. Zoro dropped low, letting his attacker stumble and crash onto his peers. He jumped, and cut all of them down with a single blow.
Another attack came from his left. Without turning, Zoro sliced his stomach open. A fountain of blood spurted out of the fallen body.
Venus whipped her head away and retched. Nothing came out.
The rest of the fight was a blur of motion, splatters of guts, and cries of pain as Venus reached to find some bearings. The smell of spilled alcohol mixed with blood hit the air—a pungent, fermented metallic odor that made her stomach turn once more. Bar fights and drunken brawls were almost a daily routine at the Drunken Porthole. But a sword battle with this level of gore? Yeah, she had to accept that she was never built for shit like this.
Venus ducked under the service counter, tucking herself between supply casks and the heavy wooden door that leads to the storeroom. She groaned at the nasty bruise spreading across her shoulder, before gingerly touching her cheek. It felt thick, tight, and already swelling. This gonna hurt like a bitch tomorrow, she grimaced. If there is a tomorrow, that is.
She glanced at the storeroom door, where she kept her first aid kit. If she could just make a run for it, she could shelter herself and treat her wounds until everything was over. Surely the Wano hunters or whatever they were called were too busy fighting Zoro to—
"Where do you think you're goin'?" A rough voice made her freeze. The cold of steel pinned her in place, as Yatsu pressed the flat of his blade against her neck. Venus cursed. So he's been hiding behind the casks this entire time?
"You're comin' with me, harlot!" he snarled, wrenching Venus up. "I'll find a use for ya and that smart mouth o' yours."
Dragged over the counter, Venus didn't even have the time to gasp when a sword zipped through the air and missed the man's ear only by an inch.
And punched through one of the Motsuru bottles with a dull crunch.
The bottle shattered, spraying jagged chunks of ceramic and a heavy gush of liquid outward. Venus groaned. That was a waste of fifty five thousand Berries worth of sake. Combined with the one she practically gave away in exchange for a night with Zoro, she wouldn't be surprised if her grandfather cursed her from beyond the grave.
Startled, Yatsu stepped back and pulled Venus flushed against his chest, wrapping his forearm around her in a firm chokehold. Venus coughed, sputtering for air. Her nails dug into his arm in a desperate attempt to make him loosen the pressure. It was futile. She tried hard to keep her breathing steady and keep her mind sound, although it was damn near impossible—especially with the tip of his sword pressing against the side of her neck. One wrong move and he'd lop her head clean off her shoulders.
A pair of heavy black boots thudded against the surface of the counter. Zoro loomed, his right-hand sword aimed at the man's forehead.
"Let her go."
The katana hilt between Zoro's teeth stifled his speech, but the pure murder on his face said it all. His muted green robes were painted by spatters of blood. Not a drop of it was his, Venus would bet.
The Wano hunter leader scoffed. "This wench is your weakness? Interesting."
Zoro didn't answer. The steely gray of his eye was fixed on her assaulter's face. Calm and calculating.
"And eye for an eye... Isn't that what people say in this part o' the sea? You took my cousin's life, you'll pay it with hers. It's how we do it in Wanokuni." A malicious grin spread across Yatsu's face. "But you should've known that, Zorojuro."
The leader's blade cut a fraction of skin, dangerously close to her artery. Venus clenched her jaw to keep herself from flinching as a small trickle of blood seeped through. Zoro's hand tightened around his sword.
"If that's what you want, then I'll trade hers with mine."
He lowered the sword in his hand. Venus's jaw dropped. The fuck?
Yatsu let out a cruel laughter. "Thought you'd never be this soft."
Zoro stayed deadpan.
"Just let her go, and you're free to have me."
Yatsu's eyes narrowed. Time stretched painfully slow. Venus resisted the urge to wiggle free. Because frankly, she'd rather die than to have a stranger die for her for nothing. Well, Zoro did gain an intimate knowledge of her body and her pleasure spots, but still. A stranger.
Her lungs almost forgot to work. And then finally, finally, the leader's grip loosened just a little.
But it was enough.
It was a split second decision, the only thing she could think of. With one hand pushing Yatsu's sword wrist away, she dropped to her full body weight. At the same time, she drove her elbow as hard as she could into his assaulter's ribs.
Yatsu yelped. His sword rose as he tumbled backward. Venus collapsed downward, crouching low and dove under the counter before the leader could react.
That was all the opening Zoro needed. He swung his sword, but Yatsu recovered quickly. He dodged, and Zoro's blade smashed against the shelves. The rack jolted. Some of the Motsuru bottles tipped and rolled off the edge, then smashed against the counter lip and the floor. Liquid pooled, soaking through the wood. At least another two hundred Berries wasted.
"Not the fucking sake!" Venus lamented, peering from under the counter.
Zoro snatched his left-hand sword free from the destroyed sake bottle with a growl. "I'm saving your life, you ungrateful woman!"
The Wano hunter leader roared as he jumped and slashed at Zoro's chest. Zoro stepped back at the right time. He threw a hasty glance at Venus's direction. "Stay low," he hissed, kicking a barrel to shield her.
Using the counter edge to brace his stance, he parried the leader's attacks with his two swords, angling his opponent onto the rack. His body tumbled backward and crashed with the shelves. The structure shook. Nails popped out. Brackets cracked.
As the shelves collapsed, bringing down her entire stock, Venus rued the day she decided not to replace that damn rusty thing with something sturdier. She thought keeping the old rack made her bar look more... quaint. Well, the joke was on her now.
Her grandfather would so come back from the dead to tear her a new one.
But the fight wasn't over for the two men. Yatsu arose from the rubble, his face contorted in pure rage. Debris flew from him as he surged forward. Zoro ran to the center of the bar. Yatsu followed. He lunged, but not at Zoro. His katana sliced a decorative brass sign, one of Motsuru's most prized possessions. Zoro was forced to deflect the falling object. Yatsu tore at Zoro's leg. The green-haired swordsman acted quick. He tilted his head downward and used his mouth-blade to avert the attack. Yatsu then kicked a heavy oak table, using it as a temporary barricade. Zoro slashed through them. The table turned into four flying chunks of wood in an instant.
Venus, with full knowledge of her recklessness, crawled out of the nook Zoro had told her to hide in. Her fingers frantically picked on pieces of ceramics and splinters of glass. But there were barely any liquors or half-decent flasks left to salvage. Might as well none.
She turned her head at the two fighting men, teeth grinding so hard they could light a fire.
Zoro and Yatsu moved all over the room. Their blades clashed and sliced into furniture. Floorboards. Pillars. Some of the support beams were crushed. Dust rained down. Parts of the ceilings started to sag. It was a miracle the place was still standing.
Yatsu drove his sword forward. Zoro managed to hold him off with the crossing of his two blades. It was a test of force and willpower between the two of them, veins bulging and eyes popping and muscles straining. Yatsu sneered, pushing his heel forward. "I got you now, Zorojuro! You are no match against my strength!"
Cursing, Zoro lunged, swaying his mouth-blade. Yatsu roared and somersaulted back. The sword missed decapitating him by that much. Zoro grunted. He rushed forward and skidded on some spilled umeshu. His swing became too wide, too far from Yatsu's chest. Yatsu barked a short, taunting laughter.
Except Zoro only pretended to slip. He spun around, parried Yatsu's blade upward. His right leg swiped at Yatsu's distracted feet. The Wano hunter leader stumbled backward with a yelp.
Zoro delivered the final slash across the throat.
Yatsu gave out a sickening gurgle, thrashing, his hands clutching at his carotid artery as if it would do him any good. Zoro watched, chin tilted up, eye colder than ice.
And then Yatsu stopped making sounds.
Zoro flicked the excess blood off his swords. He sheathed them back into their scabbards, securing them firmly around his waist. A chunk of the ceilings crumbled in the background.
"Venus?"
Hearing the sound of her name from him was jarring after everything that transpired in the past couple of days. She'd heard it whispered in the silence of the night, between the creaking of her bed, followed by a gasp of "Fuck, that's it—". Hell, it was all that she could hear in the morning after the one night stand, even. But now, it did nothing except making her blood boil.
Venus stomped toward the green-haired swordsman, shards of glass and splinters of wood crunching beneath her soles. For a split second, relief flashed across his face.
"I can't believe you just did all that!" she snapped.
The relief slipped into a scowl.
"Tch. That's what you're going with?"
"What, you expected a 'thank you'?" Venus snorted.
Zoro crossed his arms. "You could at least say it before whining."
"Ugh, fine, I'm alive. Great! I had no idea that saving me was synonymous with destroying my livelihood! "
Venus flailed her arms at what used to be the Drunken Porthole around her.
"Twelve men! Twelve! You couldn't have lured them outside? You had to demolish my building too?"
A vein throbbed at Zoro's temple. "Listen to me you insufferable woman," he thundered. "I'm not one to stand around and negotiate with idiots. You're still breathing. Be thankful for it!"
Venus's hands balled at her sides, her knuckles turning white. Tremble cloaked her from head to toe. "You—" Her voice shook. "You have no idea—"
She tried to shove at Zoro's chest.
Emphasis on 'tried to'.
Because as soon as she stepped forward, her foot caught on Yatsu's lifeless body. Her hands instinctively grabbed the front of Zoro's robe for balance. Zoro's weight shifted forward, one arm stretched to catch her.
But his own foot lost traction on the slippery floor.
They landed in a tangle, almost an embrace. Venus was on her back. Zoro angled downward, hovering inches above. One forearm and knee bracing on the side of her body to avoid crushing her.
The moment froze.
Both were staring at each other, all flushed skin and dilated pupils and heavy breathing. Both were equally too stunned to jump apart.
And that was when they heard a wail coming from the doorway.
Their heads turned.
To Zoro's utter horror, Luffy, Nami, Sanji, and Robin were standing at the entrance. The identical shock on their faces said it all.
Of course it was Sanji who wailed out his despair. Robin flashed her signature knowing smile. Luffy broke into a wide grin but his blank stare spelled out his lack of understanding of what he was seeing.
Nami, meanwhile, raised an eyebrow.
"Well, well. Looks like we were missing a hell of a party," she said.
Zoro immediately wanted to wipe that impish smirk off her face.
Along with maybe himself from the face of the earth.