IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!!

Something has been brought to my attention recently… It seems that this story and Splatter Fall's "Concuss" bear some really really striking resemblances… I hope I have not made any of you angry by thinking that I was copying Splatter Fall's work.

I, in no way, had any intention of stealing material from that story. In fact, the whole inspiration for this story came from Splatter Fall's "Concuss", so I would never think of copying it! In fact, you should all go and read their work; the Zoro/Sanji stuff is always excellent.

So, I'm sorry Splatter Fall, and everyone else who may think that I had copied material. But I had no intention of doing so, and I hope you can still enjoy the story nonetheless.

Thanks for your patience.

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"1,503… 1,504…1,504… Damn…" Zoro grunted, letting the weights that he had been constantly working with that morning drop to the floor of the crow's nest with a loud thud. He put a hand up to his head, gritting his teeth in disgust.

Normally, Roronoa Zoro was considered an absolute demon. Even his crew members sometimes doubted how human he really was. He was able to do extremely excruciating workouts that even the strongest body builder in the world wouldn't even think of, and was generally unstoppable when it came to his training. He was strong enough to lift a house, for crying out loud!

So why did his head hurt so damn bad?!

Nothing like this had ever come up before with the swordsman, and he was quite at a loss of what to do about it. It took a while for the realization to descend upon the Marimo:

He had a headache.

"What the hell…" He seethed, standing up from his sitting position and pulling his trademark white shirt back over his head. He had no idea what spurred the stupid thing, and didn't even care to know, "Well, whatever," He finally dismissed the annoying little prick at the side of his head, "Nothing a nap won't cure…"

Coming down the crow's nest, the swordsman settled into his usually spot on the deck, leaning up against the railing, with his swords protectively at his side. Of course, no one seemed to mind nor even care that he was going to sleep since it was almost ritual anyway.

Zoro went through his usual process of selective hearing, tuning out the loud and childish laughter that undoubtedly came from his captain. It sounded like Usopp and Franky were yelling at him about something too; that wouldn't surprise him. Luffy was always screwing something or other up. But his crew's shenanigans didn't even bother him; even when the shit cook came prancing out of the kitchen with drinks for the two girls enjoying themselves on a higher level of the deck, practically standing in a puddle of his own drool.

Zoro wished he would just go and drown in that freakin' puddle…

No, what really annoyed Zoro was the fact that he couldn't sleep. What a thought: Roronoa Zoro couldn't sleep?! Every time he closed his eyes, allowing calmness to settle around him, a little needle would stick him in the side of his head, just significant enough to keep him from nodding off.

He growled inwardly at the stupid little pain, sitting up and crossing his arms, trying to think of some other way around this. He was already pretty pissed off that he couldn't take his nap… Then, just to make matters worse, Sanji came prancing back in the direction of the kitchen, though his gaze was still locked on Robin and Nami.

"I hope you enjoy those drink Nami-swaaaan and Robin-chwa-"

The cook was cut off when the back of his head made contact with the grassy deck. Jumping up to his feet and rubbing the back of his head with a hand, his accusing glare automatically lowered to the owner of the pair of legs that tripped him.

Zoro would've laughed hard at the sight of the curly-brow eating it, but the little jab that continuously prodded his head barely allowed him a chuckle. What, now he couldn't even laugh at the shit cook's expense?! This day was becoming worse and worse.

"What the hell you friggin' Marimo!!" Sanji yelled, "Keep your ugly legs to yourself!!"

Zoro scoffed, glaring back at the cook, "You're one to talk, curly-brow. Your chicken legs are so skinny that if someone even poked them wrong they would break off!"

"You wanna start something you shitty swordsman?!" Sanji fumed, taking out his cigarette so he could blow out the smoke in a huff.

You-" Zoro flinched a little as the pain in his head seemed to get worse. He clenched his teeth in frustration, trying to stop the shitty pain from continuing, "… Pfft. No. It's not worth it."

Sanji's only visible eyebrow rose an inch, then he smirked almost in victory, "What?? You scared, moss-for-brains?"

Zoro clenched his fists. Ooh, that bastard had done it! "Why would I be scared of you?! I just… I don't feel like it! That better, you bastard?"

Now Sanji just looked annoyed, "You don't feel like fighting??" He made it sound like the sentence he said was a complete lie.

"I…" Zoro let some breath escape from his mouth with a hiss. He made sure no one else on the ship was listening, which they weren't. He didn't want to admit this; especially to Sanji. But the stupid pounding in his head left him with not much energy for arguing, "I… Have a headache…" He murmured.

Sanji looked at him like he had something gross on his face, "YOU have a HEDACHE???"

"Yes…" Zoro hissed unwillingly, wishing Sanji wouldn't make such a damn fuss about it.

"Are you shitting me??"

"Why would I?" He shot a spiteful glare in the cook's direction.

"Well, hell, why don't you get something from Chopper?"

Part of Zoro was actually amused that the cook was offering him advice. Like he needed it, "Are you crazy?? Do you know what he'd do if I admitted to him that I had a headache?! He would lock me up in that damn infirmary until we reached the end of the Grand Line!"

Sanji shrugged in agreement, seeing the truth in Zoro's words. Chopper would freak out if he knew… But still, he still couldn't believe what the Marimo had said. The great Roronoa Zoro had a headache?? And one that bothered him enough to keep him from fighting?? Fighting with him no less.

Well, it was just a headache after all… It would go away in time.

…………………………………………….

Dinner that night was hell for Zoro.

Not only had his headache not gone away, but it had increasing to the point of turning every sound and movement around him into a stabbing pain that almost mimicked the beat of his own heart.

It was a typical StrawHat dinner. Loud and long. Mostly loud. And Zoro found himself not even being able to eat all of Sanji's food, which was a huge surprise. Even though he hated the blond, his cooking was heavenly. So when the swordsman got up from the table three-quarters of the way through the meal, everyone noticed that something was off.

Sanji, who had been watching Zoro throughout dinner and noticing whenever the man gritted his teeth or held his head seemingly unassumingly, quickly dismissed everyone's curiosity.

"Keh, that shitty Marimo doesn't know what the hell he's doing. The heat has probably gotten to his dumb head. But we're not wasting food, so somebody eat his."

Sanji barely finished his sentence before Luffy stretched across the table and snatched Zoro's food, shoving it down his throat before anyone had time to blink. Usopp and Nami quickly yelled at him for being too spontaneous, which wasn't surprising. Soon, the loud hum of conversation made its way back into the kitchen, and Sanji took that opportunity to sneak out of the galley and onto the deck, where he noticed the swordsman clenching onto the railing of the Sunny with a vice grip.

"Oi…" The cook started, descending down the stairs casually.

Zoro took his hand off the railing, glancing at Sanji, "What do you want?" He suddenly winced in pain and staggered to the side.

Alarmed, Sanji ran up and caught Zoro before he fell completely off balance. He steadied the man with his hand for a moment before he was swatted away.

Sanji's brow furrowed, "… How bad is that headache of yours?"

"Bad enough," Zoro grunted.

Sanji noticed drips of sweat working their way down his face, and he reached into his pocket for a cigarette. As he lit it, Zoro spoke up again:

"… Why'd you come out here anyway, cook?"

"Just wanted to get some fresh air," Sanji said casually, taking a puff of his cigarette before walking back up the stairs, "I hope you weren't planning on going back and eating the rest of that food."

From behind him, Sanji heard Zoro chuckle without humor.

……………………………………….

After all of the dishes were taken care of, Sanji moved out to the deck, seeing Chopper. He tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hm?" The blue-nosed reindeer looked up at him curiously, "What is it Sanji?"

"Could I talk with you somewhere else Chopper?" The cook asked.

"… O-Okay…"

……………………………………….

It only seemed like minutes after dinner was done that they were all filing into their quarters to go to sleep. Zoro rued this; it would be one hell of a night for him. He doubted if he would get any sleep at all. His headache was so bad that it had even progressed to the level of almost making him feel nauseous.

He was the last to enter the men's quarters, wanting to put it off as long as he could. With a pained sigh, he started heading to the stairs, his head pounding with ever step.

"Oi, Marimo."

"Hm?" Zoro looked up just in time to see a small cylindrical bottle tossed down at him. Slightly alarmed, but not off-guard, he caught the bottle effortlessly, looking at it at first with confusion. Then he looked up to who had thrown this at him.

Sanji looked back down at him nonchalantly, "Those are for pain relief," He explained.

It took Zoro a moment to process what Sanji had told him. He looked at the bottle again, then back up at the Cook, "How did you-"

"I told Chopper I had a little headache," He shrugged, taking his cigarette out of his mouth momentarily, "Take two."

Zoro's mouth twitched in a half-smirk as he opened the small bottle and picked out two pills, swallowing them without drinking anything with them. He was extremely desperate at this point, and as much as he didn't like to think it… He was thankful.

He sat down cross-legged on the deck, "How long till the effects??"

"Twenty to thirty minutes I guess."

Zoro scowled. That was too long for him. His thoughts were jarred as he saw Sanji sit down across from him.

"What are-"

"Someone's gotta make sure you don't kill yourself because of the wait time, right?" He smirked at the swordsman.

Zoro returned the smirk, leaning back, "… Thanks."