The Blind Brawler [ Roronoa Zoro X OC]

Chapter 61: Crazy Old Cricket

I stood with my arms crossed at the head of the man's sick bed with the door to my back. Chopper and Kaori were hunched over his body as they worked diligently to nurse him back to health. The rest of the crew stood around them, just a few feet away to give them space to work.

The atmosphere in the room was grim, with a tense silence hanging over our heads. I heard the thunder of heavy footsteps running outside and getting closer. Sanji and Kaori must have heard it, too, as they both lifted their heads, alert. A scowl curled my lip, and I turned to face the door just as a pair of apes crashed into the threshold. I immediately recognised one of them as Masira, but the other one was not familiar. While Masira had maroon hair, this new ape had ridiculously long pale-green hair. Masira wore overalls and a T-shirt. The other ape wore a more decorated emerald green coat with a matching pirate hat and red pants.

Both of them seemed distressed as they shouted over each other, "Hey, Old-timer! Are you alright?!"

The sudden appearance of the two apes caused Usopp and Chopper to panic and frantically run around the room, "They've come to kill us!"

The green-haired ape scowled at us, "What in the world are you people doing here?!"

"And just what are you doing to our friend?!" Masira roared furiously.

Luffy seemed completely unimpressed and unamused by the apes' aggressive attitude, "We're trying to help, so I suggest you either lend us a hand or find someone else to bother."

I could not help but smirk at the irony of Luffy saying that. Usopp did not find it as funny, though, as he snapped at the rubber man, "Don't antagonise them, Luffy! You know what they're capable of, and now there's two of those savages to deal with!"

"They're savages!" Chopper echoed him.

The two pirates continued to babble and cry out in panic. I frowned in frustration with them before I heard sobbing from the apes and looked at them with annoyance. They were both openly crying, with tears and snot running down their faces. Their faces crumpled as they blubbered, "Thank you, guys!"

Startled, Usopp and Chopper collided with each other and fell onto the ground as they looked up at the apes, "What did they say?"

Sanji scoffed and took a drag on his cigarette, "Geez, you guys are just as annoying as ever," He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder as he glared at the apes, "If you're just gonna cry, go wait outside."

Luffy smiled warmly, "You guys must really care about the chestnut-head guy, huh?" He laughed as he walked over to them, "Guess you aren't so bad after all. Come on, let's talk outside," He waved them out of his way before walking out the door.

I frowned as he left, not trusting him to stay out of trouble. I looked over at the others. Chopper had settled down and returned to nursing the sick man with Kaori. Nami and Sanji stood off to the side. Feeling confident they had everything covered, I turned and followed Luffy outside to keep an eye on him. Usopp, surprisingly, fell in step behind me as I headed out the door.

I did not say anything to him as I looked and saw Luffy sitting on what looked like a tree stump, talking and smiling brightly with the apes. With a sigh, I turned and walked over to the wall of the house. I pulled my swords free from my haramaki and propped them up on the wall before I plopped down next to them. I crossed my legs, laced my fingers behind my head, and leaned back against the wall.

Usopp sank down beside me, draping his forearms over his knees with a sour look on his face. I glanced at him before looking back at the apes and Luffy, "Hey, Usopp. I recognise Masira, but who's the other monkey?"

The long-nosed man hummed and gave me a puzzled look, "Huh? Oh, right. You didn't actually see him before," He turned and glowered at the green ape, "That guy's the one who gave Merry a beating with his wailing. His name's Shoujou," I nodded but did not say anything in response. After a few minutes, Usopp sighed in annoyance, "Well, those three sure are getting along well, now, aren't they?"