The Blind Brawler [ Roronoa Zoro X OC]

Chapter 17

A thunderous crash woke me as someone knocked down the door to the pub. Thinking we were under attack, I leapt to my feet, only to immediately regret it. A pain ripped through my head and down my limbs, causing me to stagger.

The man who broke down the door yelled at me and I recognized the voice of my captain, "Kaori, you're up? Good! We need to get out of here right now!" He ran forward and grabbed Sanji and Usopp, knocking down a wall to drag them out. He screamed at me as I stood rooted to the spot, "Come on!"

"L-Luffy?" My ears were ringing and I felt as though my head was underwater. Everything hurt and my stomach was turning. I felt a hand grasp my wrist and yanked me forward. Stunned I scrambled to keep on my feet as the person who had my arm sprinted through the town, dragging me along.

"Sorry, Kaori," The swordsman spoke as he led me around a sharp turn, "But if anything counts as an emergency, this is it!"

My mind was racing to make sense of the situation as my body fought to keep up with the pirate's pace, "What's going on? Are the townsfolk making their attack?"

"We'll talk later, right now we need to get back to the ship," He replied. I was annoyed that he brushed off my question, but given the circumstances, I could not argue with him. My head was still pounding and my ears were ringing, but I trudged onward, allowing Zoro to lead me back to the Going Merry. I heard the splash of the tide on the shore and knew we were getting close, "Get ready to jump!"

"Wait, what?!" I yelled back at him in shock.

"Now!" Panicked, I leapt up as hard as I could. He jumped with me and he steadied our landing on the deck of the caravel, "You alright?" I weakly nodded as he helped me sit down, "Sit tight, I'll explain everything soon. Right now, I've gotta hoist up the anchor."

He took off before I could answer him. I slouched down, holding my head in my hands as if that would help fight off my hangover. Luffy was not far behind us with Sanji and Usopp in tow, "Hey, I got 'em!"

The swordsman answered, "Bring 'em up! We're ready to go."

The voice of the navigator reached me as she began yelling up to us. As Zoro responded to her, I put my hands over my ears to try and block out their voices. Every sound made my skull feel like it was going to be ripped apart.

Zoro and Luffy rushed to follow Nami's orders and the ship began to sway as we set sail. Usopp and Sanji woke up as we made our departure and began to blubber about not wanting to leave yet. The navigator shut them up somehow, dampening some of the pain from my tender ears.

I felt, rather than heard, the sound of the swordsman's footsteps as he approached me. His hand grasped mine and pulled it away from my ear, pressing a cold glass into my palm, "Here, drink this. It's just water so it won't stop the pain, but it'll help rehydrate you."

I mumbled a quick thanks before I slowly sipped at the drink. Every drop hit my stomach like ice and I had to let it settle before I could take another drink. He sat down next to me and waited until I was coherent enough to talk. I kept my voice low so I would not hurt my ears, "So you gonna tell me what the hell that was all about?"

He chuckled, "Sorry, that was probably the worst way to start your first hangover, huh?" When I scowled at him he sighed, "The townsfolk were part of Baroque Works. I already dealt with them, so we don't have to worry about that. Unfortunately, we've got bigger problems now. The boss of the company wants Nami, Luffy, and me dead and Luffy got us roped into helping the princess, who is also wanted by Baroque Works."

"Hold on a second," I stopped him before he could continue. My mind was swimming with questions, "What are you talking about? What is Baroque works? What princess?! You're not making any sense,"