His Fault | Monster Trio

10

Resting his elbows over the wooden rails of his ship, Luffy hunched over, breathing in the pure iodine from the vast, salty oceans they would travel across, every day, on the Sunny.

While this helped put the young man at ease for awhile, the markings left on his body were a constant reminder of what had been done to him, and that made him feel remorseful towards himself.

With not a single clue on who his abuser could have been, Luffy had no one else to blame but himself.

His eyes welled up with the intentions of making tears stream down to his cheeks.

However, that action was left incomplete, for the Captain took precautions in order to minimize shedding another tear in front of anyone ever again, even when no one was around.

"How are you feeling?" Zoro asked, placing his arm over Luffy's shoulder.

"I'm good!" Luffy's answer was faster than the inquiry his first mate had for him, making him seem tense.

Thinking nothing of his automatic response, the Swordsman stood by the young man's side, placing his hand beneath his lover's head.

His gentle movements felt peaceful enough to make Luffy yawn as he snuggled his head behind Zoro's chest, intertwining hands with the man as they stared at the beautiful sunset scenery in front of them.

Tender tones of warm pastel pinks and shades of red coated the sky above the couple who were there to witness every stage and color combination the sunset went through as the day announced its departure to welcome a new night for everyone.

"I've always despised this about the Fall: The day ends too quickly." Luffy admitted, staring ahead into the night that would soon dawn on them.

"Yeah... At least it's not difficult to sleep at night. Summer heat in the Sunny can be a handful. Right?"

Zoro tried making Smalltalk with Luffy, but his mind was far gone, and no one could tell what he was thinking, even if that person was a man that has known Luffy for two years.

"It's almost dinnertime, Captain." The mention of food immediately made a gentle smile of excitement grow across Luffy's face.

"Are you hungry yet?"

Looking back at the younger, Zoro smiled fondly at him as he watched him rub his tummy in a circular motion with a small pout on his lips.

"Hm.. What's with that face, huh?" Placing his palms over the boy's cheeks, a concerning look appeared on Zoro's face, altering his expression.

"You still have that fever. Let's go back inside." Nodding at the older man, the brunette followed him back into the ship.

There, they saw a few of their friends scattered around and attending to different tasks.

"He's so red!! Oi oi... Do you feel sick?" Usopp commented from the moment Luffy walked into the dining room.

"I'm-" A yelp unintentionally escaped from Luffy's parted lips as his conversation was interrupted by an uncomfortable sensation he experienced after sitting down.

The feeling was so foreign to his body, that he didn't know how to react towards it: Was it pain? Discomfort? Or just a regular sensation everyone else goes trough when sitting.

The young boy was unsure. But one thing he was certain of, was that he didn't want to make his pain seem obvious.

"Usopp, could you hand me the salt?" His friend reached his hand out to Luffy, successfully delivering a small glass jar of salt, right at the center of his palm.

"I think you should leave one of those masks on overnight, look at how shiny it left my face!"

"HEY, I REACHED IT FIRST, CHOPPER!"

"DON'T BE GREEDY, I WANT SOME TOO!!!"

"Is it this mask, Nami?"

"Hey Eyebrows, serve us food! We're starving!"

"Oh, screw off. I only take orders from-"

"Awww, he's right, Sanji-kun. I haven't eaten anything since this morning."

"COMING RIGHT UP, NAMI-SWAN ~ !"

Among such a pandemonium of noise around his surroundings, Luffy didn't hear a single word being spoken.

Whether it was a conversation his friends were having in small groups, or a sentence directed towards him, the boy was completely sedated within the void of his distraught memories.

Robin was tempted to ask Luffy if something was troubling him, however, as soon as the boy picked up his fork, he ate non-stop.

This visual response prove to Robin that the Captain was more than alright.

She carried on eating her meal, pushing any irrelevant thoughts out of her head for the rest of the night.

Little did she know, that the direful images she built in her head of what Luffy was thinking about weren't meaningless at all.

"Don't you want desert, Luffy?" Sanji asked after he spotted his Captain walking away.

"Yup! I'll be right back!!" He promised, rushing down the hallway as fast as he could.

Seeing how long Zoro was left staring back at him, Robin viewed the details on how the man was sitting.

She could tell that he was tempted to follow behind Luffy, given the way his right leg was sticking outside from beneath the table.

Standing up from the chair she was sat on, the woman moved over to an empty chair beside Zoro, oppose to sitting on the one her Captain uses, in case he returned faster than she estimated he would.

"Luffy's been leaving the table earlier lately." She spoke to the younger man, observing his riddled complexion.

"I know." He replied, eating slower than before.

Not wanting to dive into a conversation Zoro wasn't willing to sustain, Robin refrained from asking him complicated questions.

Oppose to that, she pushed her chair back to walk away while bumping into someone on her way up.

"Sorry, I was just heading back to my seat."

"Your desert is served, Robin-chan. Enjoy it!!" Sanji's eyes lit up as Robin smiled at him.

Using his peripheral vision, Zoro gave Sanji a quick glance as he narrowed his head downwards to stare at a plate.

"Going somewhere?" The Swordsman asked, watching as Sanji's steps came to a halt, momentarily.

"Crème brûlée is not a dish best served cold. I saw him go by just now, so I'll just let him know it's on the table."

"Let who know what, huh, swirly brow?" Sanji rolled his eyes at Zoro, taking a few steps back.

"The Captain of this ship, who else?" He then took his leave, making his way towards Luffy's room.

"That's him, alright. Luffy, you-" Hearing the sound of his Captain's voice from within the empty room that he was in, Sanji grew curious as to who Luffy was talking to.

“I wonder how they would react if I disappeared.”

The door slowly opened, revealing a shocked Sanji and a petrified Luffy as they met face-to-face with each other.

"What did you say just now?"

"Sanji..."

~~~