Instincts [Roronoa Zoro x Reader]

Chapter 17

Luffy's fist crashed down on the bubble man, who just barely dodged it. His expression showed one of anger towards the remaining pirate.

"Zoro!" Chopper's voice called. He landed next to him in his quadrupedal form, relieved to see him again. "Get on! Let Luffy handle this!"

Zoro grabbed hold of your body and settled you on the raccoon dog's back. His adrenaline had been coursing through him, as if infinite, but it obviously wasn't, as he was barely able to stay up still. He decided to let his captain deal with the last guy, following Chopper back.

He could also feel the intimidating Haki radiating from Luffy barely fading away as Chopper ran.

They arrived back at the Sunny quickly. Zoro slowly climbed down from Chopper's back, adjusting you on his back as he took you to his infirmary.

"Are you alright?" he asked, setting your body down horizontally and changing forms.

"Better than her," Zoro grunted. He looked down at his hands, a few burns from the acid and an arrow wound at his side but otherwise fine.

You, on the other hand, had more burns on your skin as well as deeper crossbow bolt injuries in both your leg and your abdomen.

He sighed, waiting as Chopper expertly treated his wound and burns on his hands. "Thanks."

Chopper nodded, going to you next to treat your wounds. Zoro stared at you for a while, thinking.

He muttered a curse under his breath, in frustration both at himself and you. He wasn't able to help you quickly enough. And you had jumped in, despite your very obvious leg injury, lack of a proper weapon, and knowing the damage of the crossbow. Why?

"The pirates must've used some anesthesia to knock her out," Chopper said. He put down his tools for stitching the wound and focused on bandages. "She won't be up for a while."

He heard the others coming back just as he said that. Perhaps seeing Luffy on the way, they were relieved that you were back and concerned about how you were.

"[Y/N]-swan!" the cook's infuriating voice called. Zoro almost ran into him as he opened the door, angrily shoving him back. "Get out of the way, moss-head!"

"She's being treated, curly brows!" He closed the door behind him, keeping him out. He noticed everyone else there, Luffy included. His rubber arm was stretched and wrapped around the three unconscious pirates.

"Is [Y/N] okay?" Nami asked worriedly, glancing at the door.

Zoro nodded. "Chopper's treating her right now." He turned to the three pirates. "What do we do with them?"

Sanji stopped trying to move Zoro out of the way and instead turned to the pirates. He stared at them with a dark and furious look. "They'll be getting a beating when they wake up."

Nami sighed, then held up three wanted posters with the pirates' faces on them. "I found these earlier. I think we should hand them in for the bounty," she suggested. "Apparently it's quite a hefty amount."

"These are rather strange names," Brook commented, taking a look at the papers. "150 million for Click, 246.8 million for Sizzle, and 300 million for Pop."

"Why were they after her anyway?" Franky wondered aloud.

Zoro frowned, having the same question. These were surprisingly powerful pirates despite their appearance, and he knew you were hiding something. The others didn't seem to know why they were after you, but he could tell they were also hiding something.

"Those two have devil fruits," Zoro told the others, shrugging it off for now and pointing at Sizzle and Pop. "I'll go get the seastone cuffs."

He watched as the others nodded and prepared to set sail, deciding to wait before somehow turning them in. As he brought the seastone cuffs, he noticed one of them regaining consciousness, groaning in pain.

Zoro ignored him and finished binding the pirates. He then went to the other side of the deck and sat down. He unsheathed his swords, examining them to see if the acid damaged them in any way. He huffed in relief, seeing that they were fine thanks to his Haki.

He sighed, then stared at the door to the infirmary, a concerned frown on his face. Nothing to do but wait.

<+>

You felt yourself lying on a warm surface, your Haki faintly picking up Chopper's aura running about and treating you. You could feel bandages around your arms and legs, and tighter ones around your abdomen.

You knew many people had been in the same place as you before. Your crew mates had been injured before and have been treated here.

You slowly raise yourself up, noticing your mask was still in your face. Chopper immediately became worried seeing you move.

"[Y/N]! You're not ready to get up yet!"

You ignored his words, but only sat up slightly. "Sorry to cause so much trouble," you murmured, watching Chopper hurriedly grab materials to further treat your additional wounds.

"Don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're alright." You could hear a smile in his voice, his aura having a sense of relief and no accusatory feelings towards you. He took a look at your leg and treated it skillfully with some sort of ointment, then bandaged it up. He handed you a glass of water. "Luffy took care of those pirates. You should rest now."

"Thanks." You nodded again slowly, taking the glass. You lifted your mask up slightly to drink the water down in one go, then frowned as you set the glass down. Chopper still doesn't know you're blind. If you told him now, it was like an excuse for why and how you got beaten and kidnapped. He'd think you were weak.

It was three against one, you told yourself. And you were caught by surprise. It wasn't because you were blind. You cursed under your breath, the mask muffling it completely as Chopper focused on your acid wounds. You knew there were bubbles blocking your attacks, and some of them had acid in them. You couldn't have known which ones had them, and it was difficult to avoid them. You clenched your teeth frustratedly, angry at yourself.

"I'll go get more water to treat the acid burns," Chopper announced, interrupting your thoughts. "Don't go anywhere."

His aura left, leaving you alone in the room. It wasn't for long, however, as you sensed Zoro's aura arrive.

He sat down on a chair, arms crossed as he faced you. You could feel his gaze on you, but you couldn't sense any anger from him, unless your Haki was too weak at the moment.

"Erm... thanks for saving me back there," you said. "And sorry for causing all the trouble."