𝓑𝓮𝓪𝓾𝓽𝔂 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓑𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓽| 𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒄𝒆

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉ℯ𝓇 11

Silence.

There was complete utter silence amongst them as they journeyed to the marine base. Not even the chirp of a bird but the sways of the whistling breeze.

Carried by their ankles, Zoro dragged a fainted Johnny and Yosaku, leaving a trail in their wake. He grunted in annoyance at dragging the dead weight, yet his friends weren't necessarily to blame for passing out. The green swordsman shifted his eyes to the silver-haired woman, strolling ahead of them a few paces away. His cheeks heated up as previous events resurfaced in his mind; he may not understand what her plan was in the first place, but her methods were definitely unorthodox, out of the blue, or to simply put it, they were unplanned. But out of all things she would have in mind, why did it have to include him in such a manner?

Zoro's gaze lingered on her as she kept her eyes ahead of the road. The red hue on his face spread to his neck as he gritted his teeth in embarrassment at the thought. A hot night together, seriously?! Out of all things she could come up with!? Ever since meeting her, Rue was unexpected, making it difficult to predict her next move. He noted that she was a quick thinker, thinking on her feet in ways he had never foreseen. His mind kept playing with the image of her playing the part in action. He shivered as his thoughts lingered on her glistening pouted lips, bashful ocean eyes shining under the light's caress shaded by silver lashes as she focused her gaze on the glass of beer.

Like the others at the bar, he was lost, under a spell, as she dipped a single finger in the alcohol. Her voice was as sweet as a melody, her movement graceful, and no one could look away. The liquid slowly travelling down her delicate fingers as she slowly brought them to her lips─

Zoro tossed his friends with such force at a nearby tree that they scrambled awake and alerted to the possible danger ahead. Quickly in a fighting stance, a large bump grew at the top of the heads of the duo of swordsmen. Realizing there was no threat, they glared at a flustered Zoro for tossing them like trash.

"You jerk!" They both yelled out with sharp teeth as they pointed a finger at him.

Ignoring their complaints, Zoro matched his pace with Rue while the other two trailed behind them silently. Though they kept their eyes elsewhere, not even taking a single glance at the woman. From the corner of his eyes, her expression was blank as usual, but the small furrow of her brow told him that she was deep in thought. The woman he met yesterday was completely different from the one today. She didn't speak much; even when she did speak, she wouldn't reveal much about anything.

Especially things concerning herself.

A woman full of secrets, a chest that wouldn't open no matter how he tried to pry it open. Even if asked straightforwardly, she would reply with a simple smile and speak in code. Don't get him started on the smiling; this woman would do nothing but tug her lips upwards at everything in sight. He was surprised that her face wasn't sore from repeatedly smiling all the time. He furrowed his brow at the thought; she kept her smile even when insults were hurled her way. Her lack of defense was weak, so weak she allowed someone to harm her. He squeezed the sheath of his word as he replayed the slap Rue received at the bar. However, to his surprise, he hadn't anticipated that Rue would immediately respond with a blow to the blond's face.

Unexpected indeed. Everything she did was unexpected.

"Uh, Roronoa?" Zoro raised a brow as they were back to last name basis, but pushed at the back of his mind. He hummed to indicate he was listening; thus, Rue continued, "Is something wrong?"

He blinked. Was he staring for too long?

"I was just thinking," He replied, gazing at the sunny skies. Then, he looked back at her and crossed his arms with a playful smirk, spreading his features, "How you put on quite a show back there."