The Blind Brawler [ Roronoa Zoro X OC]

Chapter 8

I was lying in bed when I heard the door open. I was careful not to move, hoping the intruder would think me asleep and leave.

The heavy tread of boots crossed the floor, stopping next to the bed, "Please don't notice. Please don't notice. Please don't notice."

A sharp pain shot through my ear and I yelped. I turned to punch my assailant, but he stepped back just out of reach. Bitter, I rubbed the side of my head, "Would you stop flicking my ear?! That hurts!"

"Then stop pretending to be asleep every time I come in here," Zoro snickered.

"Stop coming in here and I won't pretend to be asleep," I sneered back.

"If you really wanted me gone, you could just have me banned from the hospital wing," I could hear the smirk in his voice.

It had been like this for the past two days. At least one of the Strawhats would come to bother me, despite my threats and aggressive attitude toward them. The swordsman was right that I could have easily had the girls deny their entry to the hospital wing. I had proven as much when I banned the chef from visiting me. His flirting had begun to really make me uncomfortable. As for the other four pirates, I was beginning to enjoy their company, though I would never admit it.

The navigator, Nami, seemed nice enough, although her attitude frustrated me a bit. She was the only woman on her crew, so she was probably just happy to talk to another girl for a change. When we talked, it was mostly surface-level small talk, teasing her crewmates whether they were there to defend themselves or not and asking about the island's trades. She was surprisingly very interested in Sekio's economy, but I figured it must be some kind of quirk of hers.

Usopp was the sharpshooter and storyteller of the crew. He often thought up ridiculous tales almost immediately, his enthusiasm was certainly contagious. At one point, he mentioned how he used to tell someone named Kaya stories all the time, but when I asked him about it, he quickly changed the subject, laughing nervously.

Luffy was certainly a card. His childish demeanour and laid-back attitude did not scream captain to me. If anything, I was wondering how any of his crew members could take him seriously. It was even harder for me to believe a guy like him could have a bounty of thirty million berries on his head. His goofy antics were amusing, although the nurses were quickly getting exhausted of him. Admittedly, I was getting exhausted of his antics as well, but only because of his constant begging for me to be a part of his crew.

Zoro and I shared many beliefs as far as honour and goals go. We both strive to be the best and we both want our names known all over the world. He once told me that while my white hair is odd; his hair is odder still being green, though I do not much understand or even care for color.

The cot squeaked and shifted as he sat down and added his weight to the edge, "So how are you feeling?"

"Like the internal bleeding finally stopped," I said bitterly. Since I see things by feeling them, I have a better grasp on the state of my body. Sometimes, if I lay still, I can feel my body healing and my muscles expanding and contracting as I breathe. It helps with meditating or lulling myself to sleep.

"You said you felt a fracture beginning to close up in your lower ribs yesterday, right?" Zoro finds my abilities impressive, unlike other people who think I am a freak. He sometimes questions me on how it feels to sense every detail inside and out. One time he asked if I could teach him to do it, but I had no idea where to start, let alone if it was possible to teach someone with sight.

"Yeah, it's, uh," I paused to trace my fingers across the bandages under my shirt. I inwardly flinched when I crossed the bruised flesh around the tender bone. I applied the slightest bit of pressure, heightening the pain and highlighting every detail of the wound, "It's healing up nicely," I told him.