Steady, As She Goes (ZoSan)

Chapter 10; Thorn in my Side

Dark sky shrouded the aircraft as it made its way across the expansive ocean far below. After take off, Zoro had managed to approach Sanji long enough to offer the blond a change of clothes and access to the large bathroom near the rear of the plane. The blond took his time as Zoro used the reprieve to properly go through his bags and sort out everything they needed.

Money, passports, and other miscellaneous documents were all stored in a compact container which he shoved to the bottom of his rucksack; pocketing a decent amount of Yen to hopefully cover them until they reached Tokyo. He added his spare ammunition and weapons, before topping it all off with a change of clothes, discarding everything else he didn't need back into the duffel bag as he had no wish to lug around a bulky item once they landed. It would be best for them to blend in as much as possible until they got into the city.

Sanji exited the bathroom sometime later looking much cleaner – the ash scrubbed from his face and the minor injuries from the shrapnel tidied as well. The spare jeans and button up Zoro had grabbed for the man fit almost perfectly and Zoro forcibly glanced away before the blond could catch him staring.

Before Zoro could get a chance to say anything upon the blond's return, Sanji was taking a seat near the opposite corner of the plane and gazing out the window irritably. Zoro couldn't blame him, and while he was relieved he didn't have to talk about their situation anymore, he felt that he still owed the blond something - considering the ordeal he had gotten him into.

A moment of debate had him deciding against it and he pushed himself to his feet, grabbing his own change of clothes and the first aid kit before heading into the bathroom. Locking the door behind himself as he made his way over to the small mirror installed above the metal sink.

Shucking off his jacket, he turned it over to see how bad the damage was from the explosion - leather managing to absorb most of the shrapnel he had taken while covering Sanji. Shifting to get a look at his back he found the white shirt stained a dark pink in several places where the debris had managed to penetrate a bit deeper than he thought.

Steeling himself for the real reason he had sought out solitude, he glanced down at the large piece of wood that had gotten lodged in his hip. Jacket thankfully hiding it from Sanji, the injury had made itself plaintively known after the adrenaline of the incident had worn off a couple hours later.

Unlooping his belt, he folded it in half and placed it between his teeth. Biting down on it and giving a steady exhale through his nose, he took a firm grip on the fragment and pulled. Teeth crunched into the belt, the leather muffling his pained groan as his other arm reached out to the sink in support. Reeling from the wave of pain flaring up his side, breathing becoming heavier while bile stung the back of his throat. The belt fell to the floor with a clatter a few moments later, once he knew he would no longer be needing it to muffle any more cries.

Gasping, he dropped the bloody piece of wood into the sink, taking a few moments to recover before reaching down to grab the hem of the blood stained shirt, carefully removing it. He found himself wincing in agony as several of the shards clung to the fabric , getting pulled out while the pulsing, sharp jab in his side left him breathless. The bloody shirt hit the floor with a wet slop as he glanced down to his hip to see the damage.