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one-piecee · 2 years

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#ONEPIECE1049

Woo. Okay. Lots of different reactions to this chapter, but let's just dive in-

Chapter title: The world you wish for

First off, might be interesting to mention that on the cover page we see Yonji and Niji inside Mont d'Or s books, but someone lit them on fire so they're able to escape now... who could it? Perhaps Ichiji, I mean he does have the fire powers doesn't he? Oh well-

So in this chapter, we kind of get a glimpse on Kaido's past!! Some information we got:

At ten years old, Kaido was considered to be the strongest soldier of the Vodka Kingdom [Note how Kaido is from the Vodka Kingdom, and he's always drinking? Oda thinks he's so funny]

Also, this might have already been stated but I never caught on but 44 years ago, he was 15 years old which makes him 59 now!

3. He was given to the Navy at 13 years old as collateral, or "Celestial Tribute" to ensure that the Vodka Kingdom could have a place at the Reverie.

4. He got his first bounty at 13 years old with 70 Million Berries

5. We previously got some information about his captures, and apparently he gets captured by the Navy so he could get some food and then escapes. This man is completely unhinged, he got captured 18 times by the Navy simply to get food.

6. Approached by Whitebeard when he was 15 years old (who was part of Rocks' pirate crew at the time) and told that Rocks is interested in him - he really was such a big name already at 15 that he got noticed and recruited by the most powerful pirate crew.

7. Then we get to God's Valley and of course get no extra information except-

STOP. SLEEPING. ON. GARP'S. NAME.

This is not new information per se, but I just want to reiterate it because everyone is always sleeping on Garp's name! Sure he teamed up with Rogers to do it but this was the strongest pirate crew at the time. Rocks. Whitebeard. Big Mom. Kaido.

8. There's some weird old lady in his past that seems to spur a lot of things on for him...

Might be his mother? She looks sort of familiar, a little Yamato-esque I'm not going to lie, and they look similar. I wonder if we'll find out who she is because she seems relevant. I mean, this is what she tells Kaido-

[Edit: I completely forgot about this lady but thanks to @danwhobrowses i was reminded: "the old lady is Kurozumi Higurashi, the old lady who pushed Orochi to plot against the Kozuki and gave him his DF, she had Bon Clay's DF before Kaido killed her for posing as Momo and distracting Oden"

If you study history, humans have always resorted to brutality to solve the world's problems. But then again, humans are just like any other animal. "Survival of the fittest" is our true nature.

Seems to shape much of Kaido's own views because he goes around to later tell his crew:

Let's show all those "peace-loving nobles" the hell-ish reality of war!! One's worth can only truly be gauged in battle!! Where everyone is equal and anarchy reigns free.

Kaido is just obsessed with fights, and proving your worth in battle. It's shown a lot in his past too, he was the strongest soldier in his kingdom by the age of 10, sold to the navy by the age of 13 because of his strength and ever since has never been defeated. He is obsessed with the idea of looking for someone who can defeat him - because he thinks whoever defeats him will be Joy Boy.

Remember I mentioned some chapters ago that Kaido believes that he is Joy Boy? Well, clearly that's not the case. When he said "So you couldn't be Joy Boy either?" to Luffy he wasn't referring to himself, but to everyone to go up against him and fail to defeat him.

He's been waiting patiently for that man to appear. 20 years ago he found out that Oden was waiting for Joy Boy in Wano and believed he would appear, so he resided himself in Wano to wait for Joy Boy. Another interesting question: King was waiting for Joy Boy? For what reason?

Anyways!! So back to the present!!

So Luffy is punching Kaido right, and Kaido asks

What kind of world do you want to make?

A world where my friends can eat as much as they want-

That's my kind of world!!!

And Kaido falling down after this, and after he expresses the fact that whoever defeats him will be Joy Boy - King saying "I don't think he'll ever appear"

And the lanterns coming up:

Please vanquish the scary dragon.

Restore the Kozuki clan.

Here's my thing now. This dragon is clearly not Kaido, it's Momo (after saving Onigashima and Onigashima landing safely!) Luffy is falling. Where's Kaido? It seems like he's done (seeing the lanterns and the emotional impact) but is he really?

My reaction to this is: I'm okay with it either way. If he' defeated or not. And I understand that some people wanted more from Kaido, and more from his flashback - but the hate? Saying Wano is trash if this is it? That's all agenda talk. Shut up, this was a great chapter. Luffy did so much.

Break next week, this is gonna be a tough two weeks.

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manhunter4art · 2 years

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my first Yamato drawing ever :') had to make sure my first was a good one

#yamato fanart #one piece #one piece fanart #one piece wano #wano kingdom #yamato #one piece anime spoilers #one piece yamato

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loudestcloud · 1 year

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#one piece #One piece luffy #straw hat luffy #monky d luffy #luffy #monkey d. luffy #op dressrosa #one piece wano #wano kingdom #luffy wano #wano country #luffytaro #stag horn beetle #miyama stag

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n0valunosis · 2 months

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Tobiroppo men because I love them

#fandom #art #one piece #fanart #tobi roppo #flying six #page one #who's who #sasaki #wano arc #one piece wano #wano kuni #one piece fanart #beast pirates #animal kingdom pirates #illistration #procreate

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bobauthorman · 2 years

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At the end of Dressrosa, Jack is introduced as this total maniac with an insatiable bloodlust and absolutely no impulse control, willing to go up against Navy admirals without heed for consequence.

But in Wano, he shows himself to be more cautious and insightful than that. Why is that? It’s a question that has baffled me. Until one day, the answer came to me.

If your boss was the World’s Strongest Creature and prone to going on drunken rampages at the drop of a hat, anyone else would be less dangerous by comparison.

#One Piece #Eiichiro Oda #Jack the Drought #Kaido of the Beasts #manga #Wano country #Dressrosa #Beasts Pirates #Animal Kingdom Pirates #Chapter 801 #chapter 922 #Meta #analysis #One Piece analysis

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oharas-demon · 1 year

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Queen is really out here breaking the Geneva Protocol

#one piece #one piece spoilers #queen #queen the plague #animal kingdom pirates #beast pirates #Wano #Wano spoilers #Wano act 3 #pickle talks

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danwhobrowses · 2 years

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One Piece Chapter 1050 - Initial Thoughts

After another tediously long break we're here

50 chapters since Roof Piece started, and now we're back on Wano's floor

The raid on Onigashima might be over, but the Wano arc is still not done

Spoilers for the chapter, support the Official Release too!

Starting with the cover story and of course it's Reiju and Ichiji. Mans got no qualms throttling a kid with a knife but I'd rather have had Baeju front an centre. Told you it wasn't Blackbeard though

We pick up where we left off, Kaido crashing through the ground, even reverting to his human form

Excuse Oda but 'Hole made by *Law', he made the hole with his monster Shock Wille BM is simply falling through it

Nice touch though that Kaido only has one horn

I do wonder about those cracks though, it may destroy the waterfall entirely and make Wano easier to access for the WG ships

Yamato is on scene to catch Luffy too

Aha, title card revised, I guess that means Kaido is officially out

We also get some more flashing back with the festival as Toko and Hitetsu release their balloons

Yasu being a good dad and even eating the SMILE so Toko won't be ostracized is bittersweet, as is Hitetsu telling Toko that their dad let themselves die for a rebellion to continue

Knowing the message, Toko changes their message from 'wanting to see' Yasu to thanking him, which just hits you a little in the heart

We don't say it enough, but the festival panels have been wonderfully drawn, I hope somewhere Megumi Ishitani is rubbing her hands together in hopes of working these shots into the anime too

From the dome roof, Nekomamushi (moved pretty fast there) announces victory, as well as revealing that Momo was the pink dragon to the Samurai and that he pulled the island to safety

Oh hey Inu's alive, tbf we hadn't seen him since he beat Jack so I was thinking he might've died from overdoing Su Long

Raizo's still working though, meanwhile Kawamatsu and Denjiro have the luxury of not having to do much after fighting Kaido

Aw Bepo, and I guess aw Killer but I guess that's more non-physical

Yeah eat shit Apoo! Tell Morgans everything!

Marco you little stoic pineapple, I guess this is like a wednesday for him back in the day

No Carrot though which I'm sad about, girl's birthday was yesterday let the rabbit have her friends and be happy

No rest for Chopper though; Usopp and Franky have arrived with the wounded, boy could use some more doctors *looks directly at Law, his crew, and Marco*

Interesting, it seems through Momo's dialogue that Zunesha was to be used to open Wano's borders, but now Momo's decided against it - which to be honest is fair, but the structural integrity of the waterfall may make that border thing more difficult. He should at least issue a less stringent rule towards wanting to leave the country though

The remaining members of Kaido's crew still attack though (oh god if the waterfall breaks then Big Mom's force could come in too! Can't knock them off a waterfall if there is none!) being in denial about Kaido's defeat

Yamato though starts using his rank, telling them to honour the fact that Momo saved all their asses from Onigashima. I'm surprised they took it really, Kaido has never offered such honour, but I guess they don't wanna face Yamato (or Franky who Brook needs to hold back)

The ground rumbles though as Babanuki witnesses an underwater volcanic eruption, caused by Big Mom and Kaido's plummet

The scariest part of all of this though is that I don't think that would even kill them, if anything the eruption (which should really be a class A disaster for Wano with that much ash and magma) is probably gonna spit them out of the ocean

Luffy gets the win card too

Oh so you see and hear THAT do ya? Not the giant island that has been hurtling towards you or the gigantic clash of a flaming dragon and giant fist?

Momo comes to the flower capital to calm things, but of course everyone thinks he's Kaido

After Momo reassures everyone he decides to change back, leaving the dramatic smoke for the figures of the past to emerge

Of course, everyone sees 'Komurasaki' first, proceeding to simping (I mean, I still don't think she's top 10 but okay) and then 'Kyoshiro' without his hair

And we cliffhang on Denjiro announcing the next shogun of Wano

So it was indeed the end, no twist in the tale. And while I've said it before I'm fine with it.

People do invest too much stake into fan theories sometimes; would it have been cool to see ghosts or Zoro kill Kaido? Sure, but it would've also been cool to see Tashigi in Wano, and for Drake and Hawkins to fight alongside the supernova, and for Kaido to take particular interest in Chopper for his zoan army before fighting against the entire straw hat crew, sometimes the story just doesn't go that way and in this case, Kaido getting up one more time wasn't in it.

And let's not act like Kaido lost to 'just a big punch', he was slammed down by a Conqueror's Coated, Awakened Mythical Zoan punch the size of a small island coated in Ryou, and then it seems the eruption finished it. Given how much Kaido had survived up to this point it's fine, it's not like Luffy does much else anyway, his key attack is Punch, next people will be asking Zoro to win a fight without cutting.

And it still worth noting that he's going to have to wake up, I sincerely doubt that he and Big Mom are dead, so it does matter what their next moves are. Especially Big Mom's, the territory is likely lost for Kaido but BM has her crew still at full strength, does she sting or extract? Can even pick up some surviving scraps from Kaido's crew, and a Poneglyph if she's extra sneaky.

But yeah, this was a 'nice' chapter, one where you feel the dust starting to settle. Of course, more stuff can still happen; the volcanoes should be a problem but who knows in One Piece, Zunesha and the WG are at the back door, there's a lot of dead but a lot of living, Wano's leadership is going to change and Kaido's crew will likely need to tuck their tails between their legs. Then of course there's Zoro, Kiku and Kin'emon to deal with, and we haven't seen if Sanji survived his episode carrying Osome, Robin and Jinbe were absent from this chapter - as was Carrot, and Wanda, and Caribou, and Shinobu... - and outside of the fact that we're gonna have one hell of a rager, there feels like more is left to discover in Wano itself.

Like I said, the raid is over, but the Wano arc's not done yet.

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lv3ser · 1 year

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I love how the animal kingdom pirates are all just fucked up little guys. mans has the torso of a gorilla growing out of his wrist and he’s just. happy with it. these guys are so fucked up and they’re grateful for the opportunity

#animal kingdom pirates #one piece #one piece wano #op wano

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soupcrouton · 1 year

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Good morning it is 2 am and i have finished whole cake island . Dear god

#just like 13 more eps of levely arc and then... WANO KINGDOM!!!!!!#my god. dear god. i cant wait to see zoro again #op liveblog

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eroguron0nsense · 2 months

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Perhaps my brain isn't braining or I'm assigning undue significance to this but I kinda feel like One Piece seemed to shift more toward exploring what real familial love means or looks like after the timeskip? We get Ace's death, the postwar arc, and Luffy coming to the conclusion that despite having lost both of his brothers, he's still got the Straw Hats and he can move forward with his ragtag crew of siblings, Team Mom and Dad, and an eccentric skeleton Uncle, and then right after that, we get several arcs defined overwhelmingly by either the destruction or salvation of various families.

One of the main inciting incidents–if not the inciting incident–of all the political intrigue inherent to the Fishman Island arc is the assassination of Otohime and its ramifications for Shirahoshi and the entire Ryugu Kingdom (not to mention Luffy trying really fucking hard to imitate Ace and be a big brother to Shirahoshi and Surume as a means of processing his own loss).

Dressrossa's where we first see a true perversion of all the lovely found family tropes that have long been established in One Piece (villains have destroyed families but few if any are depicted as having one in the same way Luffy does; pre-time skip villains are more likely to be loners or self-interested tyrants and their followers aren't really referred to as "family"), giving us self fashioned patriarch in Doffy who completed the destruction of his bio family and spent the rest of his life building a grotesque, failed imitation of it through manipulating and indoctrinating a group of followers he doesn't truly care for, only to be brought down by a combination of his brother's final actions, the little boy Cora saved and loved, the bonds of the Riku family he brutalized, the brothers of the guy whose devil fruit he acquired and tried to entrap his enemies with, and an actual Found Family Crew who genuinely love each other and are willing to sacrifice for each other in a way Doffy cannot possibly understand.

The entirety of WCI involves almost every conceivable permutation of multiple families plotting against, exploiting, abusing, and defiantly loving each other, from Judge discarding any hope he ever had of having an actual family that could love him by literally stripping away their ability to do so in the name of facism/conquest, to Chiffon betraying her abusive mom for her loving husband and in-laws, to Linlin being failed by every parental figure in her life and constructing the most bizarre, fundamentally horrifying political/military structure out of her army of bio children.

Wano's main villain is also an abusive father and tyrannical crew leader, and that does, in fact, contribute to his eventual downfall, but more to the point, the arc opens and closes with the initial destruction and eventual restoration of the Kozuki family in Momo, Hiyori, and Sukiyaki, Luffy's kinship with Momo and Tama, circling back to reminders of Ace yet again (for the third arc so far) and Hiyori literally closing out the arc mirroring her father's catchphrase/dying words (and to a lesser extent, plot fuelled by the destruction of the Kurozumi clan). By the time we end what I personally consider to be Part 2 of One Piece, Luffy's family has picked up another uncle, he's been confronted repeatedly with the spectre of his brother and come out stronger for it (also filling the big brother role for multiple characters), he's reunited with Sabo, and has confronted and defeated multiple villains who act as the antithesis to everything One Piece has told us so far about the joy and love and unity that the Straw Hats and their friends and true families exemplify. And by the time he tells everyone his real dream and shares what he'd previously only told Ace, Sabo, and Shanks, it feels like we've finally gotten some closure for Marineford

#one piece #monkey d luffy #portgas d ace #marineford #donquixote doflamingo #straw hat pirates #kaido one piece #charlotte linlin #fishman island #flame emperor sabo

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saisaixchan · 10 months

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Re: the One Piece poll

Guys OP has a s literal army of trans characters, it's actually a plot point, there's literally so fucking many trans and NB and genderfluid people in OP its kind of fucking insane

There's Bon Clay/Bentham from as early as Alabasta in March of 2000, 3 years after the initial publication of OP

Bon's powers let him transform into other people, and he's the only member of a bad guy group with male/female partners who doesn't have a female partner bc he's both the male AND female partner in his rank

He doesn't need one bc he's both

Bon is also consistently one of the best characters who helps Luffy, and who deeply respects the bonds of friendship, and he deeply admires Ivankov (next in the list)

Plus, Bon Clay is only one of two in the villain group to become good guys and befriends the main characters

There's fucking Ivankov, Queen of Kammabakka Kingdom an island full of drag queens and trans people, with his hormone powers that lets him trans all the genders for himself and everyone around him (aka the Newkama in Impel Down- a literal army of trans people who help Luffy break out of prison so he can save his brother)

AND he's the second in command of the Revolutionary Army, a group actively against the World Government that controls the entire globe, and is fighting against it's corrupt politics and ideals, such as allowing slavery for the higher classes, fighting the racism against Fishman it's held up for centuries, and all that stuff

Ivankov is one of the most important characters in the series in regards to the world politics and the fight for freedom against the oppression of the WG, and he works with what are unambiguously the Good Guys in the world, who are headed by Luffy's father

There's Okiku in Wano, who its 100% trans and even gets the horny Sanji treatment

(which is kinda important bc there was some Bad Trans/Queer rep earlier in the series involving Sanji running from drag queens who were harassing him and for a while Sanji was pretty transphobic and it was a whole thing, but Oda seems to have learned or educated himself by this point, so yay)

Plus Okiku is a super strong samurai, fucking powerful girl go off, and everyone treats her as one of the girls and she's the best tbh she deserves the world

She's so sweet and kind and strong af and is just as much a warrior as the rest of her group

Plus there's Yamato

Who, to be very clear, is not CONFIRMED as trans, but has a lot of gender fuckery going on that he belongs on this list imo, come to your own conclusions ig

Yamato is 100% confirmed as the biological daughter of Kaido, which is backed up in several other sources and even a colorspread with only biological women, but everyone in the story itself refers to him as he/him, Including Luffy who calls him by Yama-guy/Yamao

(something Luffy only does for men- he calls Ivankov and other more genderfluid or femme leaning queer folks by -chan)

and Yamato calls himself the Son of Kaido multiple times

Yamato saw someone be so awesome that he wanted to emulate that person and become them-

but as an apparently separate decision, he decided he also wanted to be a man, too! Not just because of Kozuki Oden, but because holy fuck look at that gender, I want that for myself!!!

His identity as Kozuki Oden and his identity as Son of Kaido seem to be separate things, bc Kaido, Kaido's forces, Luffy (our main character who helps us understand how to treat situations), and everyone else around him at least acknowledges that Yamato, is, in fact, the SON of Kaido, and everyone, regardless of which side they're on in the war, respects that and treats it as fact

Meanwhile, absolutely no one treats Yamato like he's actually Kozuki Oden

And there's no sign of Yamato being forced to become a man because Kaido wanted a son- 1), he was called Oni Princess fairly consistently as a child by Kaido's forces, and 2) he only became known as Son of Kaido after Yamato himself decided he wanted to become a man

Yamato has refused everything forced on him by his father, and has run away, hid, and fought back at every moment he could, and his gender and pronouns were the only real decision of his own that have been respected as all his other freedoms were taken from him

(Which doesn't say much about his horrible father- Kaido was guided by an incredibly strong female pirate at a young age, and he has plenty of strong women among his crew. Kaido doesn't care about what gender his kid is, or gender at all)

So yeah while Yamato is not confirmed in the text as trans like many other characters are in much more obvious ways, and several sources confirm that he's biologically female, he still goes by Son and he/him by the other characters and by his own choice, so make of that what you will

Please enjoy this spread of Yamato in the Men's bath (he refused to join the women's bc no mixed bathing), and Okiku in the women's

Anyway yeah op has tons of trans, genderqueer, and genderfluid representation in it, it might not look it but it's been there since basically March of 2000 when Bon Clay was first introduced and it hasn't stopped since

#one piece #op #long post #bon clay #ivankov #imporio ivankov #okiku #o kiku #o-kiku #yamato #yamato one piece #trans rep #queer rep

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zonigiri · 1 year

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𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐈 𝐃𝐎 𝐈𝐒 𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐔𝐑𝐄

pairing: wano!zoro x reader

summary: unfortunately, you have a crush on zoro and zoro is in love with someone else and so, cue: pining (or so you think)

wc: 3.3k

cw: fluff + reader smokes + potentially inaccurate wano arc details because I haven’t caught up with the manga but i had to get this out sorry!!

a/n: i had to get this out of my head and i haven’t written anything in a while and so reqs/ideas/feedback on asks are welcome!

Clinking glasses, boisterous laughter and sounds of revelry filled the air. The kingdom of Wano was celebrating the end of Kaido’s reign and of the ill-famed prophecy coming to fruition after two long decades. As always, your crew was in the centre of the limelight. Luffy was predictably surrounded by piles of empty plates on one side and plates loaded with food on the other. Ussopp and Chopper were merry-making, Robin, Nami and Franky were engaged in conversation with Yamato-kun and Tsuru-san, Brook was playing with some children and you couldn’t see Sanji anywhere. Probably escorting some damsel in distress somewhere, was your best bet. And in a corner of the room, surrounded by Kin’e’mon, Duke Dogstorm and Cat Viper was Zoro – all of them going through barrels of sake like running water. With the burden of Kaido off everyone’s shoulders, everyone felt lighter, freer. So why was there a heaviness in your heart?

You excused yourself from the people around you and you went outside the room to take a deep breath. Maybe looking at the stars would remind you again how insignificant your troubles were. You chastised yourself for feeling the way you did when there were people that had lost their loved ones in the war and in the years preceding it, and once again you wished that matters of the heart could be reigned over by logic. You’d carried a thing of sake with you and there were strains of faint music coming in from somewhere and so you took unladylike sips while staring up at the stars in the sky, willing all other thoughts out of your brain.

“Oi, what are you doing out here?,” a familiar gruff voice rang out behind you. Jolted out of your thoughts and nearly choking on the sake, your eyes widened as you turned around to find Zoro. However, before you could get a word in, he spoke again, and your chest felt heavy again.

“Shitty-cook was looking for you.” Oh. It was probably too much to have expected Zoro to notice your absence and come find out in the middle of a banquet with free-flowing sake. You should’ve known better.

As if right on cue, another familiar voice filled with half-hearted anger and pure annoyance called out from a distance. “Oi Marimo, where the hell have you been? Hiyori-chan’s been looking for you all night, how dare you keep a lady waiting?” Your heart lurched again hearing Hiyori’s name and as Zoro turned around to face Sanji, Sanji spotted you. His tone changed immediately as he called out to you this time, sweetly and with no trace of earlier frustration, “Hellooo YN-chan, didn’t see you there! Are you enjoying the party? Was mosshead over here, bothering you?”

“Haaa?!”

You let out a little laugh and a wave, with a smile you hoped was convincing enough, the same time as Zoro let out an accusatory curse.

“Hey, Sanji! I’m alright thanks, I was looking for you actually. Can I have a cigarette?”

“Of course, anything for you!” Sanji trips over himself trying to get out his pack of cigarettes and insists on lighting it for you. Having completed it, he turns around to see Zoro still standing there, staring at the two of you. “You stupid Marimo, didn’t I tell you Hiyori-chan’s waiting for you? Don’t you have any manners? I can’t believe she would pick you over me. She’s the most beautiful woman in the whole country, why would she even want a brute like you?! Don’t keep her waiting, you ill-mannered animal!” Sanji all but kicks Zoro, as if sending him flying to Hiyori’s feet might make up for however long she’s been waiting. For a second it looks like Zoro and Sanji are going to butt heads for the nth time but Zoro simply twists his face into a scowl, decides against it and walks off, grumbling under his breath. You turn back to rest your elbows on the parapet as you watch the smoke billow away into the night sky.

“So, Zoro and Hiyori, huh?,” you say with a little laugh.

Sanji lets out a scoff, takes a drag as if to compose himself, and then speaks, “Can you believe it?”

You don’t answer him and the two of you finish your cigarettes in silence afterwards. You offer Sanji your remaining sake and he graciously accepts. The two of you walk back to the banquet hall and instinctively your eyes scan the room for Zoro – he is nowhere to be found. And then, cautiously and against your best interests, you scan the room for Hiyori – she is nowhere to be found either. You can feel the bile rising in your chest as you scan the room a third time, this time for signs of either of them, but nothing. Putting two plus two together, you walk into the room with a heavier heart than you’d left. Walking over to the banquet table, you grab two bottles of sake and go join the group nearest to you. Chopper was putting chopsticks up his nose and the entire group was in splits – it was easy to pretend you were having fun too.

Back on the ship, you try your best to give Zoro as wide a berth as possible and hope it goes unnoticed. In your defense, it’s nothing obvious – it’s not like you’re walking the other way when you see him. You didn’t really want to either. Your heart might have been hurting but even then, you couldn’t deny how good he looked doing push-ups on the deck of the Sunny. Well into his 500’s, brazenly shirtless, and sweat glistening like molten gold on his brown skin in the sunlight. Had you not been bothered about giving him some space, you likely would’ve been staring at him shamelessly and Robin would’ve passed a cheeky comment about flies going into your open mouth. With a heavy sigh, and a slightly heavier heart, you go back to the book you were reading.

Days pass like this, with you toeing a thin line doing your best to keep your distance while trying to not make it obvious to anyone. This was just a passing crush and from past experience you’d learned that the best, and probably only way, to deal with it was to bide your time and let it fade away on its own. You only wondered how long it would take this time, because there was a limit to the pangs of pain you could tolerate.

You were sitting in the crow’s nest, knees to your chest and cradling the book you were reading when a movement drew your attention to the door. Zoro walked in with weights and set them down on the floor next to you.

“Should I- do you need the room?” you asked getting ready to get up, hoping simultaneously he’d say yes and no to appease the two splits your heart was in.

“Stay,” he grunted under his breath and he turned around and began setting up his equipment.

Long ago the two of you had come to an agreement to tolerate, and allow, only each other in this little sacred space the two of you had managed to create for yourselves on the Sunny. You reading in silence while Zoro worked out nearby was a near-natural occurrence for the two of you and naturally it often led to small talk, casual conversation and eventually playful banter. You’d spent nights up here on watch, drinking from the secret alcohol stash that Zoro and you had hidden away underneath the floorboards. The more you thought about all the memories you have of the two of you in the room where you were, the more the awkwardness of the present moment was stifling, closing in your heart and squeezing it in desperation. It was too far gone now, there was no escape. If you left now, it would make it even more obvious so all you could hope for was that Zoro hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary. Although with the way you’d tried to leave earlier… Zoro was an idiot but unfortunately, the bastard could be observant when he wanted to. It was all you could do to stare into the book in your hands, boring your eyes into the words on the page and registering none of them.

Wordlessly you slid back into place, watching him curiously as he arranged the weights on the racks with his back to you. Thanks to your efforts, you had never been alone with him ever since you’d left Wano. You’d made it a point to always stay on the deck, with others in company and sight, to prevent yourself from the exact situation that you were in right now. You knew Zoro liked to train in the crow’s nest, but it was also your favourite place to read a book for similar reasons – it was quiet and far away from the chaos that the deck was almost always prone to.

Speaking of the devil, Zoro's voice cuts through the room, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Dunno, you’ve seemed a little out of it ever since we left Wano.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know, we haven’t- you haven’t come up to the crow’s nest to read or anything,”

“Oh.” Your heart flutters a little at the fact that he noticed, but the rational part of your brain shuts it down. That’s what a friend does. He cares about you, just not the way you do about him. “I uh- I wanted to give you some space.”

It was Zoro’s turn to look confused. “Hah? Why?”

“I thought you might need some time to get over….” your voice dies down as the confusion in Zoro’s eyes increases. “Get over what?” The pure obliviousness almost makes you question yourself but for the sake of your sanity, you decide to press on. “Over Okiku-san?” you say softly. You see his eyes soften at the mention of her name.

“Oh. Yeah, I visited her grave with Kin’e’mon before we left.” You nodded understandingly. “If that’s what you’re worried about, I’m fine.”

“Do you miss her?”

“Miss her? I only knew her for a week.”

“Then… do you miss Hiyori-san?”

“Haaah?! How do you know about that? Did someone tell you? I bet it was Brook he has awful fucking timing. Just like that morning….” Zoro grumbled under his breath.

Your heart sinks a little as you recall he’s referring to the night that they slept together. You remember feeling devastated when Brook was telling you and Nami and you had to do everything in your power to act like it was scandalizing gossip and not like it felt like your heart was like a rock dropping rapidly into the sea. And it was happening again.

“No one told me, I just… guessed. I’m sorry,” you say softly, trying to stop tears from falling.

“What for?”

“It must suck to leave someone you love behind.” A pause and then you offered honestly, “I don’t know if I could do it.”

“Who did I leave behind?”

“Hiyori-san?”

You could see the gears in his brain turning as he tried to put the pieces together, “And who do I love?”

“Hiyori-san….?”

“Where the hell did you get that from?!”

“From you?!" Zoro continued to stare at you like you were spouting nonsense and so you added in your defense, "I thought she confessed to you on the night of the banquet!”

“She did,” but before you could say anything Zoro spoke again, "But I turned her down.”

“Oh. So it was Okiku-chan then?”

“Haaa?! Where are you getting any of this from?! You’ve been acting strangely ever since we left Wano and now you keep fuckin’ talking about me being with people I haven’t ever thought about that way. Do you think I’m like ero-cook over there, who falls in love with every single girl he meets? Is that really what you think of me?”

“No,” you whisper, tears threatening to spill any moment now. You’d never seen Zoro this annoyed, and never at you. Zoro turns around and starts putting his weights back, his back to you. “Forget it, I just wanted to see if you’re okay but I don’t know what’s wrong with you.”

Your heart sank to your knees and all the arguments you'd been using to not confess to him suddenly fell away. All that was left was your need to explain to Zoro that you'd never meant to piss him off, only to try and know who he liked because you liked him. You spoke before you realized you were doing it, and before you knew it the words had already left your wobbly lips in a shaky whisper.

“Zoro, I’m sorry. I like you.”

Hearing your trembling voice, Zoro turned around and walked over to stand a few steps away from you. You could feel his eyes on you and you’re sure he had questions, but you were also sure there were tears in your eyes; and so you were staring holes into the ground because the last thing you wanted now was for Zoro to see you cry.

Zoro’s voice was softer when he spoke, “I like you too. Are you alright? You know you can talk to me if something’s bothering you, right?” He didn’t know what was going on and your sudden change in behaviour only confused him even further.

Incredulous, you looked up to face him, brimming tears now forgotten. You wondered if you should let it pass since your tortured confession was wildly misunderstood by the swordsman who really had moss for brains at times but now that you’d come out and said it, you figured you might as well get it over and done with. It had taken you months to get this far, and the part of you that was sick playing pretend just wanted to let it all go to flames and see where the pieces fell in the aftermath. You weren’t sure if you could handle another day of acting like Zoro was just a friend to you and another night of going to bed wondering what it would be like if you had the courage to tell him how you felt.

“Zoro no, I like you," gathering courage you started tentatively with a shaky breath and hoped that this time the confession would go through. "I was, I was upset because Brook told us about Hiyori and you and then Luffy told us about Okiku-san and then she died the night of the fight and then- it was all a lot to process and- and I was jealous. And hurt. And I didn’t know how to handle it so I thought avoiding you would help because I didn’t know what else to do. I’m sorry, please don’t be mad at me.”

Your voice went back to a wobbly whisper by the end, and so you missed the way Zoro was looking at you. You’d looked up briefly at some point during your long-winded defense but you'd gone back to the comfort of staring at the ground, talking about this was hard enough. Was it because you'd seen the way Zoro's eyes had widened? Possibly, but you were shaking with nervousness and there was only so much you could admit to on a day when all you were planning to do was finish your book, really. Hearing you talk, his expression had gone through shock, mild distaste at hearing you thought he liked Okiku which immediately changed to a smirk as soon as he heard you say you were jealous. Right now, there was only half a smirk on his face because he was fighting a smile that was threatening to show up.

“Stupid woman, why didn’t you tell me?”

“What?”

“That you liked me." Your head shot up at that and all you could do was stare wordlessly at him as he continued, each next word causing another heartbeat to miss, leaving you with an anxiousness you felt bubbling in the depths of your chest. "Could’ve avoided all these tears if you’d told me earlier. ‘Cause I like you too.”

Your eyes widened hearing him and all of a sudden your brain went blank. All the questions you had for him disappeared and all you could do was look at Zoro wordlessly as he continued to speak.

“I turned Hiyori down because I told her I like someone else, have liked, for a long time now. It’s you, dummy. I like you. Now, will you stop crying? You’re kinda ruining the moment here.”

He gently flicked your forehead and you smacked his arm out of reflex with an offended squawk. A grin broke out on Zoro’s face, “There we go, that’s my girl. Glad to have you back, princess.”

A watery smile made its way onto your face but you were still trying to process what you'd just heard.

“You turned down Hiyori-san… for me? She’s the oiran," your voice faltered as you re-realized the reality.

“Yeah, so?"

"She's the most beautiful girl in all of Wano."

"Yeah well, I think you're prettier." Your eyes widened at his words, tears long halted, as you looked up at him in awe. Like you couldn’t believe the moment you're in is real. Zoro's hands cup your face, his face inches away from yours, as he asks under his breath, "Can I- can I kiss you?"

You nod as if in a daze and you feel his lips on yours immediately afterwards, hungry and hot. His other hand grabs your waist and pulls you closer to him in a single jerk and then he digs his fingers into the skin of your waist, holding you so tight it would've hurt had you been focusing on that instead of drinking his gasps and little groans in. Breaking away from the kiss and looking into Zoro's eyes, you saw a searing look in there that would've buckled your knees had he not been holding you. Tiptoeing, you pressed a shorter, chaste kiss onto his lips and hoped Zoro could feel what you were trying to say: thank you, thank you.

Pulling away, you make yourself comfortable in Zoro's hold, looping your arms around his neck and when you speak there's a twinkle in your eyes, "So… you had a crush on me, huh? That's embarrassing."

"Oi! You said you liked me first!"

You throw your head back and laugh, because yeah he's got you there but you've got him now so you can't be a sore loser. Not today, anyway.

BONUS:

It's late at night and you're lying next to Zoro on the deck, staring up at the sky. The remainder of the day was spent skirting around each other, sharing furtive glances and shy smiles when others weren't looking. Telling others hadn't come up yet but you'd be lying if you said you hadn't been thinking about what this meant for the both of you. With that thought still lingering, you piped up.

"Soo, does this mean we're dating?"

"Nope."

"What?! Why not?" you cried out in indignation and propped yourself up on your elbows to turn to him, offense painted all over your face.

"You still have to ask me out," Zoro pointed out.

"I confessed to you!"

"Exactly, that's why you have to ask me out."

"You-" The logic didn't make any sense but you of all people knew it was futile to argue with Zoro when he'd made up his mind. So you lay back down with a sigh, "Fine. Fine. Roronoa Zoro, will you be my boyfriend?"

You turn to him after you finish your question, staring into his eyes with only a slight glare, loving annoyance pricking your tone but you both know it's harmless. Zoro matches your stare with his own and doesn't speak but leans in closer towards you to close the gap with a kiss he hopes answers your question: a resounding yes. But just in case you hadn't received the message, he mumbles it softly against your lips, "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to say yes."

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