His Fault | Monster Trio

3

After his encounter with such a strange looking man, Zoro mentally cursed at himself for having let his guard down.

By now, he was scanning the ship's perimeters to make sure no one else had invaded it.

When making sure that the coast was clear, he made his way directly to his shared bedroom to check up on Luffy.

Though the criminal pirate had made it more than clear to him that he had an encounter with his Captain, the Swordsman didn't suspect much of it.

After all, Luffy was known for his strong abilities to fight. There was no possible way that man could've defeated him.

When walking into the bedroom, at first sight, nothing was out of the ordinary. Their possessions were still intact and untouched, therefore, the intruder didn't appear to have stolen anything.

However, as the Swordsman flicked the light switch on and revealed the true mess that was lingering in the room, he had a new perspective of the criminal on his mind.

There were items tumbling onto the hardwood floor, creating an obstacle for the man to remain quiet to not awaken the rest of the crewmates who were still asleep, despite the situation they were in, unbeknownst to them.

Zoro attempted to call out to the Captain, but there was no response.

As he got closer to the bed with the brightness in the room now highlighting specific parts of the bedsheets, Zoro's facial expressions worsened with confusion as he noticed that the bed was stained with colors and odors yet to be revealed to him.

The first color that was saturated on the white sheets was a shadowy grayish coating, lingering on them like a ghost.

Yet its smell, on the other hand, couldn't be disguised as well as its color.

“What's this... Pee?” Being grossed out when discovering that the sheets had been urinated on, Zoro stepped back for a bit before finding yet another stain.

Unlike the first stain he found, this one wasn't hidden. Contrary; It was the most noticeable spot on the bed... And on the hardwood flooring too.

“Blood. Right next to Luffy's... No. That's impossible.” Having found the last remaining item of the crime scene that was now unfolding right before his eyes, Zoro finally pieced the missing pieces of the puzzle together.

His investigation lead him to a heartbreaking discovery: That shape shifter did something horrible to his Captain.

A trail of droplets of blood were leading the Swordsman to their bathroom. With no further hesitation, he twisted the doorknob and opened the door.

Behind that door was a boy, hidden behind a white towel that was covering his head, while the rest of his body remained vulnerable and trembling with fear.

In the distance, the faded sound of teeth chattering could be heard coming from his lips.

Zoro knelt down, feeling a churning in his stomach before removing the towel off of the boy, exposing himself to him.

“Luffy...” He was trapped for a moment, unsure about what to do or what was the best way to approach such a delicate situation.

And with little to no hesitation, the younger reached his arms out to the older man who desperately cradled him in his lap, apologizing to the boy.

“W...why are you apologizing?” Luffy sniffled, clenching his lower body tightly while being cleaned by the older boy.

“I shouldn't have fallen for what he was telling me. This happened-”

“Whatever happened tonight isn't your fault!” Luffy reassured the older boy, flinching again when watching him remove the towel the Captain was sitting underneath to wring it dry.

Blood splattered everywhere around the tub as Zoro carried Luffy in his arms, hugging him tightly as the boy trembled.

He separated himself from the Captain for a minute to get him changed out of his bloodied clothing he had also urinated on all over.

Finding a comfortable set of pajamas, Zoro helped Luffy get dressed and back into bed after changing the sheets.

“Tomorrow, we'll have Chopper check you out. Okay?”

“I don't want to...” The younger looked away for a moment, shutting his eyes.

“Why? He could help you out, Luffy.”

“I know he can. But... I don't want him to. Because that means everyone will find out about it.” The Swordsman raised an eyebrow at the younger boy.

“Better. This way everyone can be on guard for this to never happen agai-”

“I don't want anyone to know! A Captain being raped by a con man... How pathetic.” He laughed to himself, feeling his tears threatening to over spill again at any minute as he covered his eyes.

Zoro gently removed the boy's gentle hands away from his forehead, revealing a set of glossy eyes that were on the verge of shedding tears.

He then stared at him with a sorrowful gaze, embracing him softly to not cause the boy more physical pain.

“We'll figure this out tomorrow... Get some rest for tonight, you've been through enough, Luffy.”

Leaning his head into the center of Zoro's chest, the boy fell into a troublesome rest, gripping tightly onto the man's shirt until his grip loosened up, the moment he fell asleep.

~~~