His Fault | Monster Trio

6

Pacing down the dark corridors within the Sunny, Luffy sighed after making it to his bedroom.

His first instinct was to reach for the wooden arch connected to the end of his bed, holding onto it for support to sit down on the edge of the mattress.

"What's wrong? Are you in pain?" The Swordsman asked with caution, sitting beside the smaller boy as he nodded in response.

"I couldn't sit for too long."

"We should talk to Chopper about that. It could be a broken rib." Judging by the way the younger breathlessly held his sides as he sat down, Zoro concluded that he had fractured a rib.

"It's not my rib... Case? Rib.. Cave?"

"Cage." Zoro politely corrected, staring at Luffy with a soft sympathetic look on his face.

"He's so out of it." His lover thought in silence, mourning Luffy's cheerful attitude, to welcome and accept the current moods he would be showing him along with the rest of the crew, for God knows how long.

"It's not that. The pain is somewhere else." The younger indicated, wrapping his arms around his own waist.

"Like where?" He asked, regarding where Luffy's pain was located within.

A deafening silence lingered throughout the room.

Luffy's facial expressions worsened as he hunched over.

"Lower..." Was all he was able to admit before the overwhelming feeling of embarrassment took over him and silenced his voice.

Comprehending part of what he was trying to explain, Zoro apologized to Luffy for giving him a hard time when asking.

"Chopper finished having his breakfast. He's in his office now, I could ask him to-" Zoro raised his eyebrows as Luffy immediately shook his head and started to tremble.

"NO...Not, I mean. It's not necessary." The boy rephrased himself to avoid seeking help through Chopper.

"I'll just tell him you have a headache or something so that he could give me pain killers for you. How does that sound?"

Unable to deny the Swordsman's offer, Luffy nodded. The look on his face was an invisible cry for help that his lover was well aware of.

Despite being made of rubber, there was only so much the young man's body could take before the elasticity that protects him ends up being torn apart, leaving him susceptible to pain that only medication or treatment could heal.

Which in this case, is what unfortunately happened to him.

"You should at least finish eating your breakfast, brown eyes. Drinking medicine on an empty stomach could give you gastritis." Zoro spoke, using a nickname he gave Luffy awhile ago.

"Okay."

Patting down on his stomach, the Captain realized how hungry he had become and put on a brave face to mask  the emotions he feared letting out, even in front of Zoro, to head back to the dining room.

Being lead back outside, everyone was still sitting down at the large table that was even more crowded than before when the last two Strawhats sat down at the table.

Looking around him, Luffy's bravery threatened to disintegrate upon noticing Sanji was sat down this time, after having made breakfast for everyone, at last.

"Enjoy your meal, everybody." His voice announced.

"Thanks for the food!"

The crew respectfully responded, including Luffy, who spoke with less formality as he normally would.

Deepening the crease in between his thin eyebrows, thoughts began to culminate in the back of the Captain's distraught mind, bringing him back to the presence he truly lives in.

"I already pestered Zoro about this, the last thing I wanna do is make a fool out of myself in front of the others as well."

His gaze shifted to everyone in the dining table for a moment, then he reverted his attention towards the  silver fork he was gripping onto with a clenched fist.

"I have to get stronger... I won't let him make a fool out of me this way, ever again."

Munching down on his meal, Luffy ceased to loosen his grip against the utensil he was slowly starting to bend with the amount of force he had on it.

Suddenly, the long fork with sharp prongs grew shorter and shorter until it disappeared within his hand after the young man squeezed it tight enough to cause its shape to become disfigured.

"They'll never know, I won't show it!"

~~~