His Fault | Monster Trio

9

"Did it hurt where I touched you just now?" Chopper asked, retreated his stethoscope away from Luffy's back to stare at him with concern.

"Chopper, what's going on?" Zoro stopped his tracks when staring at Luffy. His shorts were being crumbled beneath his fists, the tighter he grasped onto them.

"Nothing, I'm just finishing his examine. I hadn't found anything wrong until now..." Placing his stethoscope down, Chopper guided his hands towards Luffy's lower back.

After the boy jolted twice during the time he was using his diaphragm tip against a certain area beneath his waist, Chopper began to wonder what was causing him so much pain.

Seconds later, a shooting pain invaded Luffy's waist when Chopper accidentally squeezed down on it.

"OW!!" Luffy's own scream startled him and made him cover his mouth out of embarrassment while Chopper raised an eyebrow at him with concern.

"That's the same spot I had placed my diaphragm tip before..." Upon rolling his shirt up, Zoro and Chopper were shocked at the younger boy's back.

The bruises against his lower back sculptured a pair of hands on the poor young man's back, along with fingernail imprints and thick scratch marks that littered his body.

Following the trail of markings as well as the many multicolored bruises he found along the way with his eyes, Chopper realized that they grew darker and more painful looking while reaching a place he didn't even think about examining throughout the entire checkup he have his Captain.

"Luffy, could you take your pants off for a moment?" Not thinking much about Chopper's odd question, the boy looked behind him and Zoro.

"Is the door locked, guys?" He asked, feeling slightly self conscious about showing the bottom half of his body to anyone else aside from Zoro and Chopper.

"I'll go lock it. Do you want me to stay outside again?" Zoro asked, wanting to make sure Luffy wasn't feeling uncomfortable.

The younger shook his head, indicating that he could remain within the room, secretly hoping he wouldn't leave at all, the entire time he was being examined.

"Alright. The door's locked, Captain." Zoro spoke from afar, remaining a few steps away to give Chopper the space he needed.

Chopper's eyes widened with terror from the moment Luffy's khakis fell to his ankles, revealing to him larger bruises and what would appear to be teeth marks.

"WHAT HAPPENED HERE? Zoro, what did you do to Luffy!?" Chopper misjudged the Swordsman, remembering the amount of times he used to leave love bites on Luffy's skin.

"Chopper, wait." Luffy raised his hand at the deer before he continued to question Zoro.

"Zoro did nothing to me." He truthfully confessed, keeping his head down.

"Who did this to you then?" A bittersweet taste lingered on Luffy's tongue, knowing that the more questions Chopper asked, the closer he was to discovering the truth.

And to hide it, Luffy was willing to make up any lie he could possibly think of.

"I fell in the shower last night."

"So that's the loud noise we heard in our sleep..." Chopper's answer made it difficult for Luffy to maintain the cheery character he was trying to be in front of him.

"Chopper, what do you mean "we heard". What did you hear last night, and who else heard it." He grinded his teeth, tempted to clench his fists again.

"I... I asked Robin if I could sleep in her bed because I was scared of the banging I heard. It was a loud banging against the walls. What were you two doing last night?"

Luffy gulped, unable to think of the right answer to give Chopper.

There was a silent hopelessness cast upon on his perturbing facial expressions that matched a mix of arsenic and other shadowy grey storm clouds who teamed up to make the sky feel gloomy and dim.

"We were sleeping at that hour." The Captain lied, knowing Chopper would believe him no matter what terrible and unbelievable lie he would conjure up in that moment.

In reality, the doctor was barely able to hear what the boy was saying, given that he had focused his attention on the bruises Luffy had all over him.

"Weird... What I heard sounded scarier at the same time. But, I might have just been dreaming it."

"Yeah, probably." Luffy quickly responded, before Chopper could think back to what he was actually hearing last night.

"I'll give you this ointment. It has special herbal medicine that soothes pain from bruises. It won't make them disappear, but it does help make the pain go away."

Luffy nodded, feeling his hands tremble as he held onto a small plastic tube, eagerly waiting for his doctor to leave his room.

"Be careful the next time you shower, Luffy."

"I will. Thanks, Chopper." Turning his back away, Chopper left Luffy's bedroom, allowing the brunette to breathe easier.

"Wanna get some fresh air outside?" Zoro suggested, taking pity on the Captain who looked at him with such a disoriented look on his face.

"Sure." Luffy's weight shifted to one side the moment he stood up, hunching over.

The Swordsman gently held onto his waist, helping him walk around the ship while the younger struggled to take a few steps forward without limping.

"I'll do anything to get out of that room for awhile..."

~~~