CAPTAIN | r. zoro
synopsis: the captain of the hockey team really gets on your nerves.
authors note: hi! i'm back from the dead to offer this fic! i saw a tik tok and got inspired. it was a sports au of hockey player zoro and I was obsessed and wrote this! hope you guys like :) might write a part two since I really like this pairing. also was thinking of doing a series where all the one peice characters play different kinds of sports :)
cw: sports au!, hockey player zoro, not proofread, slightly suggestive
wc: 3.5k
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You would venture to say you're a pretty reasonable person. You never got angry easily, or upset. You kept it together pretty well usually.
Usually.
Today… Well, today was an exception. Actually it was always an exception when Rorona Zoro was in the rink. He was one of those rowdy hockey players that you would mostly ignore. You worked at the ice rink on weekends and most of the time you got lucky. The players would either be at away games or out partying on weekends. But not Roronoa Zoro. If you could say one nice thing about him it was that he is dedicated to his craft. You had the displeasure of being stuck talking with him and a few of his hockey buddies one day. Who knew this one day would taint the rest of the times you saw him.
His hockey friends were desperate, you’d think they’d never talked to a human woman before in their life the way they pounced on you. Asking you tons of questions about your life, if you had someone, who was your type, did you fancy anyone. By the time they were done asking you felt as though it was an interrogation. You were about to tell them you had to get back to work when suddenly Zoro spoke first.
“Leave the girl alone.” He’d walked out of the showers, his green hair damp and messy. “She clearly doesn’t like being interrogated.” He grumbles. The rest of the team sighs but they listen to the green haired man, leaving you be. You watch as they head back towards the showers, letting out a sigh of relief.
“Thanks.” You had said, he shrugged.
“You should learn to speak up for yourself, rink girl.” He says and before you can respond he’s gone back towards the locker room.
Asshole.
After that you didn’t even spare him a glance, let alone a moment of your time. When he’d check in you’d slide the clipboard over to him not even looking up. It was a bit petty but you felt slightly vindictive towards him. Maybe not entirely towards him but also the company he keeps. His other hockey friends are atrocious to be around. They stare and ask for your number and try to eat lunch with you and just bother you relentlessly. Also despite them all claiming to have interest in you they call you rink girl because of Zoro even though your name is on a tag on the front of your shirt.
Days like today were no different. Once again two of the players were at your desk, asking about your day and pretending to care.
“Still no guy?” The blond one asks, you never learned their names since they didn’t care to learn yours. You clicked your pen, you had paperwork to do and were in a particularly bad mood.
“Still no girl?” You snap, the blond one pouts but the brunette one snorts a laugh.
“I see why Captain likes you so much.” The blond one mutters under his breath. You barely hear it, your brows furrowing.
“What?”
“Dude… shut up.” The brunette intercepts, knocking the blond in the back of the head. The familiar ding of the front door sounded as Zoro entered the building. “Oh shit… let’s go, hurry!” The blond gasps, you watch the two players practically sprint and trip over each other to get away from your desk. You furrow your brows as Zoro clears his throat. It makes you jump.
“Jesus!” You gasp.
“No, it’s Roronoa.” He says as he watches you place a hand over your heart, the other grabbing the clipboard for him to sign.
“Ha-ha.” You mock, sliding it to him. For the first time in a while you look at him. It’s cold out so he’s bundled up slightly, his cheeks lightly dusted pink from the cold. He’s almost… handsome? You never really noticed. You can’t look away… well until his eyes meet yours. You look away quickly as he clicks the pen and places it on the clipboard, sliding it back to you. When you reach to grab it back your fingers just barely grace his hand. He’s warm, despite just being out in the cold. You clear your throat, pulling your hand away quickly, busying yourself with your paperwork again.
“Hey,” He says as your hand pauses and you slowly look up at him. He looks at you for a moment, as though he’s trying to read something on your face.
“What?” You ask, slightly concerned that he’s lingering at your desk more than usual.
“I saw those two idiots talking to you.” He says and you're not sure if it’s a question or a statement so you nod your head. His jaw tenses as he sighs heavily. “Are they bothering you?” He asks. You stare at him for a moment, trying to read his face to know whether or not he was messing with you. He was infinitely serious.
“No. I can take care of myself.” You say with a tad bit of venom in your voice. He nods his head, the look in his eyes unreadable.
“Good.” He says and with that walks towards the locker room without another word. You watch him go, very confused.
A few hours pass as you walk back to your desk after lunch. The players are leaving for the day, some of them wave at you and you wave back halfheartedly. When the blond and brunette from earlier today pass they walk past you like wounded dogs, very clearly avoiding looking in your direction. Zoro isn’t with him curiously and as it gets later you see he’s the only one who hasn’t checked out and since the rink is closing soon you sigh and hop up from your chair. You walk into the locker room first, silence fills as you poke your head around the corner. Sure enough his locker is open and full of his stuff. You make your way towards the rink you know he’s in there before you even catch sight of him. You hear the sound of his hockey stick smacking against the puck sending it flying through the air, it swishes into the net with ease. A perfect shot. He hasn’t noticed you watching as he sails across the ice to retrieve the puck and set up again for another drill. He’d gotten much better in the months he practiced here. He played like a possessed man, much different from the person you watched practice months and months ago. Not that you knew anything about hockey but there was a reason this man was the captain.
“Enjoying yourself?” Zoro calls out to you. You jump again for the second time again, blowing out a breath, holding your heart again. “Someone’s jumpy.” He mumbles as he lines up a shot, sending it sailing down the ice into the goal. You clear your throat.
“We close in six minutes.” You call out to him coldly, turning.
“Hey,” He calls out to you. You're not sure why but you pause, turning as he skates to you, the only thing shielding him from you was a thick piece of acrylic glass that spanned the entirety of the ring. “You play?” He asks as you furrow your brows.
“Hockey?” You ask, looking up at him. Was he always this damn tall? He nods his head, reaching up and wiping sweat from his brow. You scoff, slightly amused.
“No.” You answer and his eyes travel from your own down your body then slowly, agonizingly slowly back to your eyes. You're blushing by the time he meets your eyes again.
“Think you can block me?” He asks and you stare at him incredulously, it takes you a long moment to answer.
“W-what?” You question, he cocks his head, smirking down at you.
“I said… Do you think you could block me?”
“I heard you.” You sigh. “And no… I don’t think I could block you.”
“Why not?” He asks, leaning against the glass.
“B-because you're like eight foot tall and hundreds of pounds.”
“Ouch… you make me sound like a monster.” He tsks, still with that grin on his lips.
“You are… you're huge.” You say and a second later your words cause you to blush and look away.
“Uh huh.” Zoro hummed, laughing slightly. You swallow, clearing your throat. “Put on some skates, Y/n, if you can’t guard me I’ll need a goalie.”
“We’re closing, in fact we're probably closed already.” You say as he shrugs his shoulders.
“Hmm… didn’t take you for the scared type.” He says, slowly skating towards the puck.
“I…” You stutter, scoffing a laugh. “Am not scared.” You finish as he shoots you a look, a challenging one. It was stupid really. Stupid that you found yourself sliding into skates and sailing right towards him in the rink. “Fuck,” You curse, not able to stop as you practically crash right into him. But it’s more like hitting a damn wall, he barely budges and grabs you before you can go down. “Sorry.” You breathe out, his hands are on your hips, stabilizing you, your hands on his shoulders trying to keep your balance.
“You can’t even skate?”
“I just haven’t done it in a long time.” You say feeling a rush of something entirely out of your control when his hands slowly let you go. “I’m fine,” You say, testing the waters as you skate around a tad bit. He watches you like a hawk and when it looks like you're about to go down he’s there in seconds, those big hands back on your hips.
“I think it’s safe to say I’ve won this game before we even started.” He says with a slight laugh as he slides off his jacket. You shake your head vehemently.
“Nuh uh! I just-- need to warm up, that’s all.” You say, staring at the ground as your hands grip his forearms.
“Here,” He says, placing his jacket on your shoulders, it smells like him, like something warm and woodsy. You slide your arms through the sleeves. “Look up,” He says. A moment later your eyes find his, something sparks between you, your stomach doing a flip. “Don’t stare at your feet as you skate.” He directs as you nod your head, not trusting yourself to speak and not mess up your words. Slowly he starts skating backwards, holding you as you keep up with his pace. Slowly you fall back into your old routine, able to skate on your own.
“See… told ya’.” You say a bit cockily, almost falling again but catching yourself. Zoro smiles softly, shaking his head. You could crash looking at the smile alone. You force yourself to look away. “So… how do we play?” You ask as Zoro grabs and tosses his stick to you, you catch it with ease.
“We’ll play for five minutes, if you can score one goal on me you win.”
“I thought I was gonna play goalie?” You ask.
“I’d rather me get hit with pucks than you.” He says, warmth spreads through you at that, so you don’t answer him. He reaches and zips up your jacket before skating towards the goal. He turns to face you, crouching slightly, nodding his head to you. Game on, you guessed.
You skated a few feet before hitting the puck hard. It sails and misses the goal by at least a couple feet. Zoro laughs.
“You’re trying right? That wasn’t even anywhere close.” He mocks as you skate to grab the puck.
“I don’t even know if I’m holding his damned thing right!” You call out, shaking his stick at him.
“You’re not.” he says and you huff.
You hit the puck again and again and again. A few times you made it close to Zoro but he just batted it away with ease. You weren’t sure how much time passed before you were hitting the puck again, missing, the force of the hit making you lose your balance and slam onto the ice. You lay sprawled out on the ice as Zoro skates over quickly to your side. You took the opportunity to hit the puck where you laid and slowly it glided into the goal.
“She shoots! She scores!” You cheer from the ground as Zoro scoffs a heartily laugh, his cheeks dusted that same pink from earlier.
“That was a dirty play.” He grins, looming above you.
“It was a play all the same right? Is that five points? I don’t know anything about hockey.” You skirk as Zoro lends you a hand, you take it.
“It’s one point.” He laughs, pulling you easily to your feet.
“One point…” You trail off. “I slammed into the ground for one point.” You say and Zoro breathes out a laugh, nodding his head. “What do I win for beating the captain? Bragging rights?”
“You can’t utter a word of this to my team.” He says in a mock serious tone as a smirk grows on your lips.
“You can’t tell me that, Roronoa, I’m the captain now.” You say as Zoro raises a brow, his cheeks going even more pink.
“Is that right?” He asks, his voice a rasp. You notice than how close you two are standing, you're still holding his hands, the warmth of them radiating through you.
“That’s right.” You confirm, keeping a well placed poker face.
“Got another round in you?” He asks as you shake your head.
“Y/N! Is that you?” Your boss called as you heard the door being pushed open. Your heart drops in your chest, the alarm showing on your face. “What’re you doing?” Your boss asks as you stutter out a sorry.
“She was helping me clean up, sir, sorry for keeping her.” Zoro calls out to your boss. Your boss buys Zoro’s words.
“Well hurry up, I need to get home for dinner.” Your boss says, walking back out of the rink. You blow out a breath, skating towards the exit, Zoro just behind you.
“Jesus… thanks.” You blow out, heart still in your throat.
“No worries.” He says just behind you.
You plop down on the bench, leaning to untie your skates. Zoro sits beside you quietly, doing the same. It's a little awkward now, especially after all that oblivious flirting you were doing. This wasn’t something you couldn't see coming.
Just last week you didn’t even like looking at this guy, now you found yourself liking looking at him. A complete turn around. Not entirely unwelcomed though.
When you finally kicked off your skates, you sat up just as Zoro reached over, warm fingers on your chin and turned your face gently towards him and pressed his lips to your own. You gasped, taken off guard, eyes wide. A spark shot through you like nothing you’d ever felt before. His fingers on your chin slid until he was gently cupping your cheek, his other hand coming up and doing the same thing on the other side of your face. He kissed you gently. Slowly your eyes fluttered closed, your hand reaching up and falling short, as you knotted it in the front of his t-shirt, pulling him by it closer to you.
“I really fucking like you.” He mumbles against your lips in between kisses, you kiss him hard at his words. Ghosted over your lips causing a shiver to track down your spine. All the pent up emotions you harbored came spilling out as you somehow ended up in his lap, the moment grew intense, a groan escaping his lips that your lips muffled. His hands found purchase on your ass as he stood, taking you with him, carrying you with one hand to press your back into the acrylic glass around the rink. One of your hands slides around the back of Zoro’s neck, tangling in his hair. Zoro makes a sound you didn’t think was possible for him to make, something that had your stomach bottoming out and your fingers barely tugging at his hair, a soft sort of whimper escaping his lips. His kisses then turn hungry, almost feverish. He’s burying his lips in yours, forgetting to breathe, his hands tightening around you, completely lost in the moment. Someone clears their throat, startling you both as Zoro lets you down. Your boss stands there, hands on his hips, a look of embarrassment on his face.
“Sir, I was helping him.” “She was helping me.” Zoro and you speak at the same time. Your boss raises his head, shaking his head as you nod your head in understanding leaving with your boss.
You were reprimanded but ultimately he let you keep your job. Yay. It was your first infraction and he said to keep it professional which you agreed with and apologized vehemently. You probably apologized hundreds of times in a five minute conversation. Your boss asked not to talk about it again and you were completely fine with that. You gathered up your stuff and pushed out into the cold winter night. The cold hitting your warm cheeks and cooling you off. You didn’t have a moment alone to think about what had just transpired.
“Y/n…” Zoro called out as you crossed the parking lot. He waved as you blushed. “I’m so sorry… you didn’t get fired did you?”
“No... What was that?” You asked as you got closer.
“What?”
“Why’d you kiss me? I-- I sort of thought you hated me.” You confront.
“What? I don’t-- I don’t hate you.” Zoro shakes his head.
“You sure? I mean-- you were an asshole to me that one time… saying I needed to learn to take care of myself and that stupid fucking nickname? Rink girl? All your teammates call me that by the way.” You say, all of it sort of falling out like word vomit. Zoro raises his chin slightly, looking down at you.
“They call you that?” He asks, his voice level as you sigh.
“Yes! They do!”
“I’ll fix that.” He promises as you stare at him. This whole night was just strange.
“Why’d you kiss me?” You ask again. Zoro’s eyes soften.
“I told you already.” He says as you shake your head.
“You didn’t tell me anything? We barely talked before today.”
“I said I like you. I said I really fucking like you.” He reiterated. You remember him saying that. The heat and warmth spread like a wildfire after hearing it again.
“Why?” You ask as Zoro sort of cocks his head.
“Why?” He echoes as you raise your brows, nodding your head imploring for an answer. “Because you're pretty. You’re funny and I like the way you ignored me all the time.” He admits as you laugh despite yourself.
“What? Y-you like that I ignore you?”
“I did. I like this way better.” He motions to you and him talking. You raise your head.
“Okay…” You say skeptically, you find your mind trailing back to the kiss and it brings a blush to your cheek. You clear your throat. “How long?”
“Hmm?”
“How long have you liked me?” Zoro looks like he’s thinking about it for a moment.
“The first day I met you probably.” He says nonchalantly. You laugh.
“Yeah… sure.” You roll your eyes. He steps closer to you.
“I mean it. You introduced yourself and said I had green hair, not that you liked it, you just said I had it.” You remembered that, your lips part in surprise because he remembered it too.
“It’s uncommon.” You say and Zoro smiles warmly down at you.
“Still don’t know if you like it or not.” He grins as your eyes bounce to it.
“I like it.” You say and see a soft blush form on Zoro’s cheeks. “Why were you such an asshole to me that day?”
“I-- am sorry about that. I was more angry with my teammates for annoying you. I wanted you to know that you could speak up for yourself, that you could just tell them to shut up but-- I’m sorry.”
“And Rink girl?”
“Poor attempt at flirting…” He says. You start laughing, shaking your head.
“The poorest attempt. But… your words did make me speak up for myself more, so…” You relent. Zoro smiles softly. You can’t help it, you pull him against your lips. That smile was too much. You needed it pressed against your lips. His hands slid around your hips.
“Christ, Y/n… go home!” Your boss grumbles as you startle, Zoro’s hands stay planted on you as you shoot an apologetic look at you boss.
“Sorry, sir.” You say as he waves you off, slipping into his car and driving away. You start laughing, your hand coming up to cover your mouth.
“You are going to get me fired.” You grumble as Zoro presses his mouth to yours again as though he couldn’t wait another damn second, walking you back until your back is pressed against his car. He lifts you with ease, setting you on the hood as the car’s alarm sets off.
“Fucking hell!” Zoro hissed, fumbling for his keys. You dissolved into laughter.
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┈ ✧.* 𝓇𝑜𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑒
╰┈➤ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ summary﹕you meet luffy's older brother, ace, during breakfast with your crew. and, after an unfortunate day of classes, you and nami go for a night out on the town, meeting a strange older woman.
╰┈➤ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ pairing﹕one piece x fem!reader
┈ ✧.* chapters﹕[i] [ii] [iii] [iv]
╰┈➤ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ w/c﹕3.6k
┈ ✧.* chapter iii﹕a barside discussion
“Ace!” Luffy shrieked, running across the cafeteria to tackle his older brother.
“Now’s your chance, Nami,” you whispered to the ginger.
A grin spread across her face as she turned to you, wagging a chastising finger.
“First rule of snagging a sugar daddy, my dear,” she jokingly scolded, “is making them come to you. I’ll let Luffy drag him over here, then I’ll pounce.”
“You’re one scary chick,” Zoro commented, mouth stuffed with rice.
“Is that any way to talk to a woman?!” Sanji snarled, slamming his fists down on the table.
“Thank you, Sanji,” Nami huffed, “and I prefer ‘opportunistic,’ for your information!”
You tuned out their tiny scuffle and instead began paying attention to the real fight in front of you, if you could even call it a fight.
Luffy was currently laying on the floor, having been thrown to the ground by his older brother, who was currently yelling at him, after his attempted bear hug. Maybe that’s how they showed affection in their family? The price of their medical bills during childhood might be the real terror in this situation, however.
Nami’s plan for Luffy bringing Ace over was almost correct, being that Ace was the one dragging Luffy over, having him draped over his shoulder.
“Well, well, these must be your friends, aye Luf?” he said, shaking Luffy by his ankle and throwing him to the ground
“Yep!” Luffy yelled, easily shaking off the sudden drop. “That’s Zoro, and that’s Sanji, and that’s Us—”
“And I’m Nami!” Nami interjected, stretching her hand out to shake. “I heard you’re quite the hockey player for Grand Line! Got any sponsorships lined up? Any brand deals?”
“Huh? I mean, yeah, occasionally. I usually blow it all in a week, though, so I’m kinda skint right now,” Ace said sheepishly.
Immediately Nami’s shoulders drooped as her expression fell flat, sinking back into her seat.
“So much for that,” she muttered, resting her chin on her hand, a scowl on her face.
You saw Vivi gingerly patting her back in an attempt to console her, though you weren’t sure she really understood why Nami was upset.
“And who’s this cutie?” Ace asked, clearly with flirtatious intentions in mind.
Interested in what might transpire, you looked up, only to see him looking straight at you.
“Oh, uh, I’m ____,” you stammered, trying to maintain eye contact.
“Ace,” he smirked, “though you probably already knew that.”
“Yeah, Luffy mentioned you in conversation already.”
“He mentioned me, huh? How much do ya know?” he questioned, raising a playful eyebrow.
“Just that you play hockey here and your major, I think,” you answered honestly, trying to recollect your prior conversations with Luffy.
“Sweet! I can still be the mysterious bad boy,” he celebrated aloud before turning back to you. “Well, ya got any interest in hockey? Thinkin’ about watching me play?”
“I don’t know much about hockey…” you admitted, hoping it wouldn’t hurt his feelings.
Ace let out a barking laugh at that, surprising those at the table.
“All the more reason to come!” he said, grabbing a pen from his bag and scratching something down on a napkin.
“Here,” he offered the napkin to you, “if you have any questions, feel free to text me. Our next game is a week from now. I hope to see you then!”
“Hey!” Luffy pouted, poking Ace’s shoulder. “____ was my friend first!”
“Sorry, Luf!” Ace ruffled his younger brother’s hair. “Ya gotta call dibs on that kind of stuff, ya know?”
Luffy just gave him a puzzled look in response, clearly not gaining the meaning of Ace’s words.
“It was nice meeting you all,” Ace smiled, “you guys are all more than welcome to come to my game, but I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for you,” he said, giving you a wink.
“And now I’m off! See ya, Luf!”
Ace shoved a wet finger into Luffy’s ear, earning a shriek from his little brother as he sprinted away from your table, burning rubber with each step.
A moment of silence washed over your table, except for Luffy who was still upset over being wet-willied. Vivi was the first to break it, raising her hand as if to ask a question.
“Are all siblings like this?” she asked, genuine befuddlement crossing her face.
“Nope,” a unanimous decision by the group, it seemed.
Luffy climbed back up to the table, slouching in his spot and looking right up at you.
“Don’t be friends with him, ____!” Luffy demanded. “He doesn’t brush his teeth!”
“Is that the best insult you could come up with?” Usopp questioned.
“I’m not leaving, if that’s what you’re worried about, Luffy,” you reassured, “the smooth words from a jock won’t win me over that easily.”
Luffy seemed to feel a bit better after your words, a smile slowly rising from his prior frown.
Ace’s words might have enchanted any poor college student looking for a whirlwind romance, but you were aware this wasn’t a chick flick. Although he did seem nice, and you didn’t doubt that his offer was somewhat genuine, you knew he probably just wanted to get in your pants. But you had tests to study for and labs to complete, you couldn’t be bothered with that part of college. At least not yet.
“We should probably get going,” Sanji sighed, standing up from his seat, “we all have classes, right?”
Nami groaned, “Don’t remind me, I already wanna go back to bed.”
“Shit, you’re right, Sanji,” you jumped out of your seat, throwing your bag over your shoulder, “mine starts in ten minutes…”
“Get your ass going, then,” Zoro mumbled, grabbing his bowl of rice.
“Alright, I’ll see you guys later, wish me luck!”
“Bye, ____!” Luffy waved excitedly.
You waved back at all of them, sprinting out to the building in which your next class was held. It was your chemistry lab, a rather dreaded topic. You weren’t sure what struck more fear into your heart, the fact it was for chemistry or that fact that it was a lab. Either way, you weren’t looking forward to this class.
It only took five minutes for you to arrive, giving you some time to look around at the lab. It wasn’t remarkable, definitely a step up from high school ‘labs,’ but no award winning experiments would be taking place here. Just enough for some college students to learn about chemical properties and processes.
Your classmates seemed rather unexceptional as well, but that might just be because you’ve been hanging around your strange friends so much. You’ve grown fond of that strangeness, and seeing the people around you act so normal felt dull in comparison. But that wasn’t their fault, you supposed.
There was one person that stood out to you, however. He looked older than the students here, maybe two or three years older than you? He had a leopard thing going on, with spots on his pants and weird hat. Judging by the lab coat he wore over his jacket, he definitely wasn’t a student for this class. Or maybe he was, and was just a total tryhard. But who were you to judge?
“Good morning, everyone,” the professor spoke, moving to stand directly in front of the class. “I’ll be your lab instructor for this semester. Today you’ll be calculating the density of…”
You quickly tuned your professor out, already knowing what the lab was about. Wasn’t that the purpose of the lab manual? If you read that, you’d probably be fine, right?
“You will have a lab assistant for this semester,” he gestured to Mr. Leopard Print, encouraging him to speak.
The man raised an acknowledging hand, “My name is Law, I’m a biochemistry major and junior here at Grand Line.”
Well, that explained the bags under his eyes. Would that be you in two years?
“Feel free to ask him or myself any questions while working on this lab,” he instructed.
And with that, you got to work. It wasn’t hard, you were basically just running back and forth between the scale and your station, writing down numbers and prepping for the next step.
You were, however, having a hard remembering how to read a graduated cylinder. Obviously you were reading from the meniscus, but were you rounding to one decimal place or two? You weren’t listening to the professor’s instructions, but you doubted that they mentioned it during their short lecture. Besides, it wasn’t a difficult question, or at least you didn’t think it was. Asking for help couldn’t hurt.
“Um, excuse me, Law?” you asked politely, turning to the lab assistant.
He glanced and moved towards you, giving your station a quick once-over.
“Sorry, but am I supposed to round to the first or second decimal place? I know it has the tenths place on it, but do I round to that or—”
“Two decimal places for the graduated cylinder,” he quickly responded, crouching down next to you to read your graduated cylinder. “Around 65.14 mL, I would say.”
“Oh, thanks,” you said, watching him stand back up.
Jeez, he really was tall, huh?
You marked the number down on your worksheet, continuing on with your lab. It wasn’t hard work by any means, but given a two hour time constraint you figured you could take your time. You’d rather be the last one done than have bad data, knowing how it would screw you over during calculations.
And the last person you were, rinsing off your lab equipment as the second-to-last student exited the lab, leaving you alone with your professor and lab assistant.
“I’ll have to go compile the class data, but you’re free to leave, Law.” The professor stood, grabbing his clipboard and walking into an adjacent room.
Law nodded, tugging off his lab coat and slinging his bag over his shoulder, turning to you.
“You done?” Law gruffly gestured to your station, only clean beakers resting on top.
“Yeah, I just have to put these away. If you need to leave, you can, don’t worry about me.”
In response, Law dangled a pair of keys in front of you before crossing his arms.
“Sorry, gotta lock the lab up before I go,” he grunted, cracking his neck, “maybe you’ll keep this in mind for next lab.”
You flushed, embarrassed for wasting his time, hurriedly packing away your notebook and stuffing the glassware inside the drawer.
“Sorry,” you muttered, grabbing your bag and quickly leaving the lab—and Law—behind.
Your next classes were uneventful, and even more boring than your lab. Nobody to catch your eye, only people to compare answers with. Why couldn’t Luffy or Nami switch their majors? You didn’t even have a single class with Chopper, which made sense considering his premed goals, but shouldn’t your classes have collided at least once?
After finishing up your homework, you decided to shoot a text to Nami, knowing that Vivi was probably video-chatting with her dad right now. There was no way you were going to end your night on such a boring note, especially not after being totally embarrassed at your lab. And so, your fingers tapped on Nami’s name in your phone.
| You: hey nam, u free rn?
| Read 7:38 PM
| Nami: yea just got done w class! ♡
| Nami: need somethin sweetie? ;)
You chuckled at her seemingly flirtatious texts, sending another one her way.
| You: been feeling a little lonely without you baby ;(
| You: wanna hang?
| Nami: name a time and a place and i’ll be there bay bee!
| You: heard about a place called shakky’s rip-off bar?
| Nami: only if you pay!! ♡♡♡
| You: anything for u bbg
| Nami: meet u there asap!
And with that you tucked your phone away and made your way downtown to Shakky’s Rip-Off Bar.
The bar itself wasn’t anything special, judging from pictures you’d seen online. It was pretty simplistic, no side-rooms or flashy decorations, just a bar in the middle and some cushioned chairs and couches on the side. This wasn’t bad by any means, in fact, it made it the ideal area for a college hangout.
After a short walk downtown you reached Sabaody Street, walking down the sidewalk to get to the bar. Sabaody Street would best be considered a tourist attraction, at least if Red Line received any tourism. It had plenty of overpriced eateries, cafés to small restaurants between each business, which were also extremely overpriced for their services. It made Shakky’s Bar seem out of place, but you hadn’t seen its prices yet, not able to find them online. You could only cross your fingers and pray—
“Hey, babe!” a voice whistled. “Come over here and I’ll show you a good time!”
You immediately stopped in your tracks, throwing a sneer at your catcaller. Behind you, parked in front of a bar, was a gang of bikers. They looked a little older than you, varying from your age to at least four years older.
“A good time?” you scoffed, gesturing at his leather getup. “I don’t need drinks from some gimp who can’t find his dommy mommy.”
His expression faltered to shock, clearly not having thought you would snap back as quick as you did.
Before he could respond, you turned and walked away, catching a glimpse of fiery red hair exiting the bar before you stomped down the street and towards Shakky’s.
“Piece of shit,” you grumbled, shoving open the door to the bar, night ruined before you could even try to salvage it.
You glanced around the bar, spotting Nami sitting up at the bar, ordering from the bartender.
“You got here quick, Nam,” you greeted with a sigh, slinking down beside her.
The ginger faced you, instantly sensing your sour mood.
“Somethin’ happen, ____?” Nami pried.
You frowned, placing your hand on your chin and looking up at the bartender, “Could I get a water, please?”
The bartender nodded, filling you up a glass before stepping away briefly to polish some glasses.
“Just met a catcaller on my way here,” you admitted, taking a sip.
Nami’s face contorted to surprise for only a second before morphing to one of pure rage, standing up from the bar stool.
“Where at?! Are they close? I’ll make sure to turn their face inside out!” she barked, clenching the edge of the bar.
You quickly placed a hand on Nami’s back, ushering her back to her seat.
“Calm down, Nami,” you coaxed, “I gave him a piece of my mind already, I’d rather not watch my friend take on a gaggle of bikers…”
Nami slumped back into her chair, taking a swig of her mimosa.
“Well, I for one think I could take them out,” she pouted.
“And I would be careful with that attitude of yours,” the bartender interrupted. “You never know who you’re picking a fight with, and with the amount of gangs stumbling around in this city, your odds of pissing off the wrong people are pretty high.”
The two of you stared at the older woman, slightly surprised by her unorthodox wisdom.
“...Are you, like, a gang member?” you whispered, earning a dirty look from Nami.
“She wouldn’t tell us if she was,” Nami chided, “and besides, I’ve been involved in gang activity already, I don’t need a speech about it.”
The bartender laughed softly, setting her glass and cloth down next to her.
“No, I suppose I wouldn’t,” she confessed, “but as a bartender I do know a little more than even the average grunt. Let’s just say that liquor loosens lips, yeah?”
You and Nami nodded slowly at her words.
“Name’s Shakky; I’m the owner of this here bar. Now, I know you young college kids can be impressionable, and with these gangs,” she lit up a cigarette, “only bad things can come about. Stick to your studies, and keep out of these silly squabbles.”
Nami's eyes shined, “Oh yeah? And what have you learned about these gangs, Ms. Shakky? Any rich ones?”
“Mrs. Shakky,” she corrected. “And they all make a substantial amount of money, from what I’ve been told.”
You listened to Nami and Shakky discuss the earnings of gangs, the former clearly looking for an easy cash cow. But you had your own questions.
“Are any of them affiliated with Grand Line?” you asked, fiddling with your glass.
Shakky went quiet for a second before answering, “Yes and no. I wouldn’t say one gang is solely within Grand Line University, but some members may happen to be enrolled. Whitebeard’s gang, for example, is assembled of many different individuals from all walks of life,” she took a drag of her cigarette, “whereas Mama’s gang are all from the same circle, so to speak.”
“Like, from the same neighborhood?” you questioned, raising an eyebrow.
“I suppose that’s one way to look at it,” Shakky nodded, “but it would be more accurate to say that they’re from the same womb.”
“So they’re literally a family?”
“Literally a family.”
“Where do they attend school?” You paused. “If they attend school, I guess.”
Shakky put out her cigarette, “The more esteemed members of Mama’s gang attend the Mary Geoiose Institute, but some choose a more active life in the gang.”
“I really can’t believe you’re just a bartender,” Nami interrupted.
“We all have a past, don’t we?”
“Alright, alright,” Nami put her hands up jokingly, “we’ll take the tab now,”
“It’s on the house,” Shakky smiled, grabbing your glasses. “You gave me time to reminisce, and I consider that payment enough.”
“Sweet!” Nami cheered, grabbing her purse.
“Thanks so much, Shakky.” You passed a twenty dollar bill across the counter, only for Shakky to pass it back.
“Keep it, sweetheart, I doubt college is cheap,” she set the glasses in a sink, “just make sure to come by again, yeah?”
“Yeah,” you smiled, giving her a little wave before leaving.
You and Nami exited the bar, walking back down Sabaody Street. Despite the late hour, the street was bustling, nightlife in full action. The two of you passed by the dreaded bar where the bikers once stood, except now only one knocked-over bike remained, joined by a blaring ambulance.
“Oh jeez, what happened there?” Nami asked, rubbing her shoulder in concern.
“For once in my life,” you sighed, “I don’t wanna know.”
“Well, then neither do I!” Nami announced, carefully taking your hand as you walked back to your shared dorm.
The two of you approached your dorm room, gently knocking on the door before slowly opening it.
“Vivi…?” you whispered, peeking into your shared dorm.
Laying on the bottom bunk of the bed, sprawled out in blissful sleep was Vivi. You turned to Nami and placed a finger over your lips, instructing her to be silent.
Sneaking in on your tiptoes, you and Nami quietly put on your pajamas, using the light of your phones to move around.
“Goodnight, Nami,” you mouthed, crawling into your bed.
“Night,” she smiled, giving you a tiny wave from the top of her bunk.
The moment your head hit your pillows, you went out like a light, drifting off to sleep without hesitation.
“That bitch,” the leather-wearing biker spat. “The next time I see her fuckin’ face, I’ll make sure she doesn’t say no.”
“What the hell are ya makin’ a ruckus for?” a booming voice entered.
Exiting the bar was a massive young man, flaming red hair crowning the top of his head, a pair of goggles keeping any stray hairs from escaping. Following behind him was a similarly huge man, long, fluffy blonde hair flowing behind him and reaching down to his lower back, plain t-shirt barely keeping his muscles contained.
“C-Captain Kidd!” The biker quickly stood at attention. “Y-you shoulda seen this chick, actin’ like she was hot shit! When I catch her sorry ass, I’m gonna—”
“Hot shit, huh? What’d she do, spit on your mom?” Kidd barked, approaching the man.
“W-well, no, she—”
“She turned down your ass, didn’t she?” Kidd took another step towards him. “And now here you are, cryin’ and pissin’ yourself over it.”
“I-I just—”
Without another word, Kidd swung his arm up and punched his man straight in the face, knocking him flat to the ground, unconscious.
“Let’s go, fuckers!” he shouted, swinging a leg over his bike.
“Should we call an ambulance or something, Kidd?” the blonde asked, walking over to his own neon blue bike.
“The hell? Do I look like a charity?” he snarled. “We’re gettin’ outta here. Come on, fuck faces!”
Kidd pulled down his goggles and started up his bike, rushing out of the parking lot, followed by his gang of bikers.
“Some broad thinkin’ she’s hot shit, huh?” Kidd laughed to himself, “can’t believe I missed out on the action…”
The blonde pulled up beside Kidd, “I can’t ride forever tonight, Kidd, and I know you can’t either. We have classes, remember?”
“Come on, Killer,” he rolled his eyes, “live a little, why don’t ya?”
“You’re the one paying for the classes. Why attend Grand Line if you’re not even gonna show up?”
Kidd bit his cheek and grumbled, “Fine, we can quit it,”
“Alright, motherfuckers!” Kidd roared. “Fuck off home now! Don’t let me see your asses tonight again!”
Immediately the gang dispersed, each taking their own road home. Only two members were left following Kidd, in addition to Killer.
“Glad you saw reason, Kidd,” Killer grunted.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Kidd snarled, staring straight ahead at the road. “Don’t expect anything else from me. I’m not a fuckin’ charity.”
tag list: @sylum , @dimplewonie
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