The Blind Brawler [ Roronoa Zoro X OC]

Chapter 75: Keep Him Busy

I sat beside Kaori, feeling useless as I watched her grimace in her sleep. The rest of the crew seemed a little less lively than normal, but they still moved around and prepared for the night.

They talked to each other excitedly about plans for finding the City of Gold tomorrow. No one really spoke to me, which was not unusual since I typically kept to myself on the ship. However, it definitely felt different today as the air around Kaori and me felt heavy.

Nami seemed to be growing frustrated with the tension as she walked up to me with a frown. She crossed her arms as she stood over me and spoke callously, "Zoro, are you just gonna sit there and mope all evening or are you gonna help us out?"

I scowled up at her, annoyed with her tone, "What the hell do you need me for? Can't you see I'm busy?"

She waved her hand dismissively at me, "Yeah, real busy sitting around and making everyone else miserable. Why don't you go help Chopper gather plants for food and medicine?" My scowl only deepened as I looked from her to my injured girlfriend, still sleeping. Nami's voice softened a bit as she continued, "Kaori will be fine. You shouldn't blame yourself for what happened."

I tensed at that and glared at her, "Oh, what do you know?"

She glared right back as she leaned forward, "It's written all over your face. Instead of wallowing in unnecessary guilt and self-pity, try doing something productive instead."

I bowed my head and grimaced. Before I could snap back at her or argue, Robin's voice cut smoothly into the conversation, "There's no need to worry. I can watch over Miss Brawler and the Sky Knight."

My grimace only deepened at her words. I cast a last glance at Kaori before I abruptly stood, grasping the hilt of one of my swords to steady them from the swift movement, "Fine. Let's go, Chopper."

I started to storm towards the forest as the young reindeer stammered behind me, "O-okay..."

Before he could follow me, I heard Nami stop him, "Hey, Chopper, try to keep him occupied, okay? He needs a distraction from his thoughts."

I huffed in frustration as I stomped into the underbrush. The sound of Chopper's hooves quickly caught up to me before he trotted alongside me. For a bit, we just stumbled through the underbrush until we came across a thin trail through the trees. Chopper suggested following it as it could be a path animals use to go to a water source.

We walked in silence for a moment as he simply kept his eyes on the ground. For a moment, I thought he might be uncomfortable because of me, and an uneasy guilt started to gnaw at me. However, he abruptly darted to the side of the game trail and knelt down by a strange, almost spiky plant.

I frowned slightly as I watched him harvest the plant with a determined look on his face, "What'd you find, Chopper?"

He turned to me with a smile as he held up the strange, green spike, "It's an aloe plant! This plant naturally produces a gel that contains compounds used to reduce inflammation and prevent infection for first and second-degree burns. It can also help with blood circulation to help the healing process and moisturise the damaged skin."

I raised an eyebrow as I took the plant from him and looked it over. Sure enough, at the base of the thick leaf was a clear gel seeping out of the broken stem. My mind wandered back to Kaori's bandaged hands and shoulder, "This can treat burns?"

The young doctor looked excited, "Yeah! It's a natural medicine. You don't even need to process it! Pure aloe vera is actually incredibly potent and can be better than the treated topical burn ointments if you have a good source of it. Who knew we'd find something like this on Sky Island?"