𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐄 // 𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐌𝐎𝐊𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐉𝐈 𝐗 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴏ

Four in the afternoon sharp, a knock was heard on the door of the Roronoa family's (which only consists of only two members) estate, a bunch of men standing there, waiting to be let inside. A maid, hearing the sound, rushes to welcome the guests, who happened to be the members of Luffy D. Monkey's Strawhat club. A smile makes its way to the raven haired boy's face as the grand, wooden door opens before them, the maid greeting the guests with a warm smile, motioning for them to go inside.

The Strawhats enter the huge house, and take in the sight even though most of them have already seen the interior, the paleness of the white walls only being broken by a few old paintings and the blooming flowers in the vases on the brown, wooden cupboards.
"I see you all made it in time!" Zoro, their host for the afternoon, appears on the top of the huge stairs in the middle of the main hall, his extremely dark blue, almost black suit creating a nice contrast to his white surroundings, making the swordsman stand out more.

"Zoro!" Luffy shouts, his signature smile gracing his lips as he runs towards the swordsman. The other members follow closely behind, glad to see Zoro, though they meet almost every day.
"Follow me, the meeting room is this way." He starts making his way back to the plain, white stairs leading upstairs after a warm welcome towards his guests. He did not want to admit it, but they were more than guests to him. These people were likely the only ones he would ever call his friends.

The group follows Zoro, taking in the sight of the estate. Unlike the main hall, the corridor's walls were a lot darker colour, a very deep shade of blue, paintings, along with katanas adorning the wall in some places, likely only being there for decor, though they might have been used in real combat years ago. They represented the past of the Roronoa family, known for their skills in swordsmanship, Zoro, three katanas on his side at all times, being the perfect example.

While Zoro led the others to the meeting room (though he might have taken a few wrong turns), Y/N was downstairs in the kitchen, making tea for the members. She mixed the different little herbs, the water boiling while she crumbled the somewhat dried leaves on the wooden table in the kitchen's center

Zoro opens the door of the meeting room, allowing his friends to enter and take their place in the cushioned, red chairs around the circular table.
"Okay, so like I said earlier, I have BIG news!" Luffy starts the conversation. "Ace arrived in town a few days ago, and I got to meet him!"
"How wonderful, Luffy-san!" Brook, the eldest member offers him a warm smile.
"Yes, but here comes the important part!"

A few days ago
"Hey, Luffy!" Ace greets his distant cousin, who was suprised at the sight of Ace at his doorstep. He flies into the older man's arm, a huge smile on his face.

"You know old man Roger, right?" He says as they walk trough Luffy's home, out to the gardens to have a chat, after all they barely talk with each other.
"Yes, has something happened to him?"
"He passed away last week due to an illness. But I actually find it pleasing that he is gone, I did not posses a liking to him, being the trashy, absent father he was. Still, I will have to be the one to carry on his name. But, here are the news: So, I was sitting next to his death bed, though I was forced to do so, and with his dying words, he told me something. He said he had a big treasure, hidden somewhere around this city, he hid it there during his travels before he had fallen ill. Whoever finds it first, will aquire the money and everything else he hid. And since he was a Marquess, I believe that he had a lot of money." Ace explains, and looks down at his cousin, the younger boy's eyes shining at the news.
"Wooah! So cool!" He jumps around in joy, knowing that he has a chance in finding it.
"I told you this because I want you to be my rival, Luffy. So gather your club, along with even more rivals, and make this treasure hunt as interesting as possible!" Ace declares, resting his hand on Luffy's shoulder.
"Everybody needs to know about this!"
"Absolutely! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a treasure to find. Goodbye, Luffy! See you soon." He walks out the estate.

"A TREASURE?!" Usopp exlaims, rising from his seat.
"Yes! We just need to tell everybody about it!" Luffy smiles.
"As far as I know, there will be a ball held soon, I believe you received an invitation too." Zoro cuts in, remembering the letter Y/N received this morning. He'll have to attend it anyway, so why not have some fun, too? Because Luffy declaring a treasure hunt among big, greedy lords sure does sound like fun.
"You? Invited? To a ball?" The newest member of the club questions, not really believeing that someone would actually invite Zoro, the cold-hearted swordsman to such an event.
"Stop acting like you know so much about me, you damn curly-browed man!" Zoro raises his voice, offended by the blonde's words.
"It's not curly-browed man, it is Sanji!" The other counters. "I just don't get why anyone would ask a man like you to an event like this! You would most certainly scare the ladies away."
"I had no intention of going there!" He angrily replies. "I-"
"Because you would get lost on your way there, if you went alone." A new, feminine voice cuts in, making the members look up.
"Oh, it is just you." Zoro looks away from the blonde, noticing his sisters presence, and seemingly letting her remark slip this time.
"Ooh, Y/N!" Luffy's lips curl into a teethy smile at the sight of the familiar face.

The members seem to somewhat cheer up while Y/N makes her way towards the table, though there was one exception among them.

Sanji's eyes widen as he looks up at the person who disturbed the bickering between him and the green haired man, only to be met with the sight of a beautiful, young woman entering. He absolutely did not expect it, but it was not like he minded her appearance. It was almost like the world had slowed down around him, he could have sworn that an angel was standing in front of him.

He watched as Y/N's delicate hands carefully placed each cup down in front of his newfound friends, the hot tea's scent filling the room. He can't help but stare at her, his mouth slightly agape, though he did not seem to notice it. His eyes were fixed on her form, the way her h/c hair flowed behind her, a strand sticking out and smoothed over her collarbone, making the duke notice how her dress exposed a good amount of her chest. He could feel the heat rushing to his face, and slightly shook his head in an attempt to get rid of the thoughts appearing in his mind. She was indeed quite an attractive lady.  

Y/N goes around the table, placing each cup down in front of the members. She notices that Zoro was right, the Strawhats really had a new member, not to mention that he was a duke. She could feel his gaze on her, his almost half-lidded eyes never leaving her face. Y/N looks over to the new member, hoping he won't notice it while she gets closer to him. She could smell the smoke from the cigarette hangig low between his lips, though none of the members seemed to care about it. I should open the windows after they leave, I do not want the room to smell like cigarettes forever.
"Pleasure to meet you, your grace." She says, handing Sanji his tea.
"I cannot believe such an angel of yourself has spoken to me, it is my pleasure to meet you!" He quickly gets up from his seat, kneeling at Y/N's feet, one of his hands extended towards the lady while he grins.

Y/N's eyes widen in suprise, trying to figure out how to reply. The duke himself saying these?! Is he serious?!
"I-" she tries to reply, trying to find the right words, but before she can finish, her brother cuts in.
"Hey! What are you thinking, damned curly brow?!" He shouts, making Sanji stand up.
"I think I'll just leave." Y/N quietly informs the others, rushing out the room before chaos unfolds.

The two arguing men look up, hearing as the door creaks.
"Look what you have done, you mosshead! You scared her away!" Sanji angrily points at the door.
"It was your womanizing behaviour that did!"
"I believe we have more important matters to discuss." Jimbei interferes, being the wise man he is. Zoro and Sanji share a look between each other, one that says 'we will continue this later'.