Win You on a Bet

Summary: Zoro makes a bet with Ussopp that he can seduce any man or woman. Then a certain foul-mouthed chef walks into the bar and poses a challenge.

In the meantime Law attempts to escape his shady past and Luffy can't stop himself from being his curious self. (Modern AU, ZoSan and LawLuffy)

Author's Note: This started out as a one shot but then developed into a long and detailed story with a lot of buildup and an intricate plot. The main focus will be Zoro and Sanji's relationship and Luffy and Law's in the later chapters but there will be a lot more going on.

Chapter 1: Usopp the Matchmaker

Zoro liked his job as a bartender. The pay was nice, his colleagues were awesome and the owners of the bar – a blue haired man with a penchant for Cola and wearing shorts named Franky and his mysterious fiancée Robin were the best bosses one could ask for.

His favourite perk, however, was the supply of free booze which Franky didn't mind and the ability to hit on any woman or man who visited.

Zoro wasn't one of those prudes who thought sex was something reserved for after marriage, a gift wrapped with the promise of love and tender and all those fairytales for children.

"When you find the right woman or man, like I did, you'll change your opinion on that." Usopp would reassure him but Roronoa would just roll his eyes and class the statement under the lies column that his friend was notorious for.

Zoro looked good and he knew it, others seemed to notice as well and when he saw something he liked, he wasn't one to shy away. More often than not he'd spend the night with a beautiful girl or a hot guy, gender meant little to him.

"Name any guy or chick that walks in, and I'll be able to seduce him or her." he found himself saying one day to Usopp, thin lips stretched into a trademark smirk.

"Oh, come on, Zoro!" the other man groaned in annoyance, "You're good but you're not that good."

Speaking of Usopp, he was the bar's DJ whom Roronoa often shared shifts with. He was short and lean, a big afro always messily tucked under his baseball hat. He had big black eyes which shined with mirth and mischief and a rather long nose which everyone attributed to his questionable honesty.

"Oh, really?" Zoro cocked an eyebrow then turned around to send a flirtatious look at one of the girls seating nearby. She was an athletic noirette, smooth black hair wrapped in a bun, a few strands falling messily over her face and adding some effortless charm he found attractive.

She was wearing a police uniform, name tag reading "Tashigi" over her ample chest. Zoro smirked, already picturing some alternative uses of the handcuffs she had over her belt.

Tashigi blushed under his gaze, a wave of crimson covering her slightly tan cheeks.

"See that?" he turned to Usopp, who only shook his head.

"Fine, fine, we get it; you're some sort of damn sex magnet." He mumbled, a fleck of jealousy flashing through his eyes.

"You should just be glad I'm not into blondes." Zoro teased, the mental image of Kaya, Usopp's fiancé, appearing before his eyes.

"Hey! That was uncalled for!" the DJ protested although he knew the other was only messing around, Zoro was the very definition of loyalty and although he had an abnormally high sex drive, he knew he wasn't one to even glance in the direction of someone else's partner.

"And, besides I bet one day someone will walk in this bar and give you a hard time getting into their pants." He added, watching Zoro roll his eyes.

"Yeah, I would like to see when that day comes." He huffed, heading towards Tashigi's table where she was accompanied by an older police woman with milky pink hair. The possibility of threesome immediately caught his attention.

"How may I help you?" he asked in a husky voice, watching the faint blush spread down Tashigi's elegant neck and plunge into her ample cleavage.

xxx

The next evening Zoro walked into the bar with a smug smile and Usopp already knew what had happened during the night.

"Well, someone got laid!" Franky joked, loud laughter booming through the spacious room.

Franky was well over six foot tall, shoulders broader even than Zoro's and posing a threat to anyone who dared thinking about messing with some of the clients or the staff. There were days when he willingly played bouncer himself, especially on the occasion when some of the others were on leave.

His hair was dyed a peculiar shade of light blue that rose more than a few eyebrows and shaped in a different do every day. Zoro liked Franky, despite the weird look and maybe partially because of it – he'd always had an easier time blending in with the weirdos and rejects rather than the bores that society called normal.

"I saw you walk out with that nice police lady last night," Franky went on, offering him a playful wink, "Tell me did you finally pay for all the trouble you've been causing to society?"

Zoro could only laugh at the remark, a low, throaty laugh which was pleasant to the ear, another weapon in his arsenal of seduction.

"Oh, she really punished me for all my wrong doings." He smirked, recalling the night he spent with Tashigi, who as it turned out was in for some fun after a long day in the police station. She was shy at first but soon worked past it and they enjoyed quite a memorable night.

"Oooh, man don't make me dream!" Franky whined, throwing his hand theatrically in the air.

"Robin still not home?"

"Nah, she's currently in Italy at some weird conference about you know…whatever history thingy they're doing."

Zoro chuckled; he had a hard time understanding all the stuff Robin did as well. Still, he had a great amount of respect for her; she was the most intelligent woman he'd ever met, strong and independent with the darkest sense of humour he'd ever seen – what was there not to like?

"Are we expecting lots of clients today?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow.

He didn't mind a big inflow, he was never one to shy away from work and the more people, the better of a chance he had for going home with someone.

Franky raised his shoulders, not able to give a definite answer when Nami, the bar's accountant, walked in with a confident strut.

"There better be a lot of clients," she pointed out, lips curved into a pout, "Or you won't have high profits. Which would mean I'm out."

"Oh, come on, Nami-sis, don't be like that!" Franky protested as the other was surely one of the best, if not the best accountant in town.

"You know me; I only work for the highest pay." She smirked, offering them a wink.

Nami was petite and slim but she still had curves in all the right places. Long ginger hair gracefully fell to her waist in soft waves and completed her overall model like looks. Her eyes were a beautiful deep brown colour, accentuated by some perfectly shaped eyebrows. Her long, spindly legs were yet another asset in her arsenal and Zoro had on occasion wondered what they'd do together if she wasn't such a witch to him. Not to mention, she was gay and smitten with the daughter of one of their suppliers, a blue haired transfer student from Egypt, named Vivi.

So, Nami was definitely out of the picture in the bedroom department but she was still a close friend, when she wasn't giving him a lecture on proper behaviour that is.

"You know, I'm kinda worried about that new restaurant on the other side of the street." The woman mused, twirling a lock of her fierce hair between her slender fingers as she took a look out of the window.

Zoro took a peek as well; he hadn't paid much attention to the place.

It appeared to be some sort of fancy new French restaurant, titled, "Tout Bleu". Roronoa frowned; he didn't like the looks of it. It was fancy and shiny, the windows polished to perfection. It seemed like one of those expensive places where hipsters liked to go and take pictures of their damn omelets while they smelled expensive wines and listened to indie music.

Just the thought of it made him cringe, he hated everything overly complex and extravagant. He was a simple man who lived a simple life and had fun, everything else was false pretence to him.

"I hope they don't steal clients from us." Franky spoke out after a minute or so of studying the peculiar place which somewhat contrasted against the rest of the street which was full of your average industrial buildings and cheap bars.

"Normally people who visit bars don't go to fancy-pants kinda places, don't you think?" Zoro argued, perhaps putting a little bit of unnecessary spite behind the words.

"Yeah, well let's hope you're right." Nami reasoned as she logged into the computer to check whatever accountant stuff there was to check which Roronoa honestly had no interest in.

xxx

Three days passed without much happening. The new restaurant had a grand opening with balloons and music and all but overall there was no outflow of clients for Puzzles, the bar where they all worked.

Then just as, Zoro was in the process of taking the number of a gorgeous girl, Luffy all but barged into the bar.

„Oi, Zoro! Ace! Come over here!" he shouted unceremoniously, waving his hands. From the corner of his eye Zoro could see Ace, Luffy's older brother and his colleague, rolling his eyes.

Still, they knew Luffy wouldn't let it go so they both headed his direction; glad there weren't too many clients that evening since it was Tuesday, a slow night.

„What now? " Zoro asked, recalling the many, many times the other had barged into the bar, demanding it was an emergency, only for it to turn out he was just hungry or bored or more often than not, a combination of both.

Still, no matter how crazy the occasion, Zoro always found himself following him, no matter what. Luffy was his best friend since high school, one of those people that become such an intrinsic part of your life that sometimes you wonder how you lived before you met them. The other was only a year younger but had started school earlier, so they shared the same classes and nearly made the entire school go down during their infamous adventures together.

„Zoro, Ace, you just won't believe what happened!" the shorter man shouted over enthusiastically, big black eyes filled with excitement.

Luffy was a good few inches shorter than Zoro and leaner, somewhat on the skinny side. He had a tan face, marred only by a peculiar scar under his right eye that till this day Roronoa had no idea how he got. His hair was a smooth and black, slightly longer than the norm, framing his face nicely. His most emblematic feature was his trademark smile that spread from ear to ear and gave him the appearance that he was much younger.

„What happened? Did you piss off gramps again? " Ace inquired, raising a black eyebrow.

"Nah! I went to this new restaurant on the other street and you just won't believe it! " Luffy exclaimed, voice laced with excitement.

"Just tell us, we have a job to do."

„Well, I was you know…looking at the food and stuff and I was so hungry but I knew we couldn't afford it since it's fancy and stuff and then this skinny blonde guy came out, he looked really-"

"Luffy," Ace interrupted, eyeing the incoming customers impatiently, „Just hurry up please."

"So, this guy asked me if I was hungry and I said yes and he, he gave me food! Like for free!" the shorter man all but shouted, trademark smile laying over his chapped lips.

"Really? This sounds strange but still really cool." Ace replied, somewhat shocked by the other's story. He knew Luffy would never lie, especially not to him but it still sounded strange that a fancy restaurant would hand out food for free to strangers.

"Huh, that can't be good for business." Zoro mused, taking a peek at the restaurant at the other street. It still looked just as pretentious as it did the other day. He glared at the white, blue and red coloured balloons before shaking his head and returning his attention to his best friend.

"Well, he was kinda rude and said I ate like a pig and bothered the „fine ladies around" but still he gave me free food!" the noirette insisted, a dreamy expression painted over his face as he recalled the occurrence.

"He must be into charity or something." Ace concluded, ready to leave the story at that and head for one of the tables.

"And the food was delicious! It was the best meat I have ever eaten!" Luffy rambled, contentment evident behind his eyes, "It was even better than Makino's!"

"Just don't tell her that." Ace smirked.

"Anyway, I invited the guy over for free drinks!" Luffy admitted without a care in the world.

"You did what!?" Zoro and Ace cried in unison, shaking their heads.

This was typical behaviour for the shorter man who had a very hard time understanding the meaning of responsibility.

"What, I had to offer him something in return," Luffy argued in defence with a sheepish grin.

"You could have offered him to clean after dinner or something." Ace chided, sending his younger brother a stern look which lasted only a few seconds since he could never be angry at him, even when the other was beyond careless (which was his default state).

"Ugh, just go talk to Franky about it cause I sure as hell am not paying for his drinks." Zoro grumbled and Luffy only gave him an enthusiastic nod before dashing off to get the boss.

xxx

The evening proved to be a slow one as expected and in the end it was Zoro, Perona and Usopp sitting leisurely on the stools by the bar, stifling yawns.

„Hey, how is that bet you had going on?" Perona inquired with a smirk, turning to face her colleagues.

She was good looking, short and curvy, smooth pale skin complemented nicely by her cotton candy pink hair. Her natural colour was a dark blonde but Zoro knew she loathed it with a passion as it was dull and never suited her personality. She was somewhat of a misfit that stood out in the crowd of normality and he liked that, he got easily bored from normal people anyway.

Perona was a Goth or whatever that was called, Zoro wasn't sure since he never understood those trends people were into. She wore mostly black clothes, short skirts and stockings which accentuated her legs and ample hips and sometimes gathered unwanted attention (which he easily dealt with by smashing some perverts' heads into the wall).

„Ugh, so far Zoro is winning." Usopp, better known as DJ Brave Warrior whined, throwing one hand in the air, he had always had a flare for drama.

„I've lost count of the people he's challenged me to hook up with." Zoro shrugged, nonchalant confidence oozing through his voice.

„Don't be so smug!" Usopp huffed, „Maybe tonight someone you can't bring home will walk in!"

„Huh, I would like to see that happen." He retorted, lazy smirk spreading over his lips.

Perona chuckled, her unique laughter echoing through the half empty bar, „You guys are so fun to work with! It's cute when you argue!"

xxx

Another half an hour of boredom rolled by and the bar was already almost empty, safe for one table where a peculiar red headed man roared with laughter and demanded yet another glass of whiskey.

Then, when Zoro was already half asleep, the door creaked open and some blonde stranger walked in. Roronoa raised an eyebrow, he hadn't met him before which was strange since most people who stopped by were either regulars or some tourists coming over in large and noisy groups, searching for some cheap fun away from home.

This guy didn't look like a tourist though . He was a few inches shorter than Zoro and considerably less muscular. Still, he appeared to be in good shape underneath his pristine dark blue suit. Even Roronoa could tell the clothes were expensive and high quality, dark colours contrasting against pale skin. His hair was a sandy shade of blonde and longer than most, apparently well taken care of.

He headed towards the counter, his every step exuding confidence.

"Good evening," he greeted in a slightly accented voice and Zoro wondered where he could be from, „This is kind of weird, but this guy, uh – Luffy – told me to drop by once by shift was over at the Tout Blue."

"Oh, so you're the guy Luffy was boasting about!" Usopp exclaimed, recalling the story from earlier. He'd heard every word since Luffy wasn't one to speak quietly.

"Yeah, he seemed really hungry so I made him a little something." The stranger shrugged.

"He said it was really good," the DJ pointed out while Zoro observed their chat, not bothering to participate, „I'm Usopp by the way."

"Sanji Vinsmoke." The chef replied, stretching out a hand.

Zoro was hit by the smell of sea cuisine, of foreign spices, mixed in with some expensive cologne when the other turned to greet him.

"Roronoa Zoro." He introduced himself, offering a handshake and being surprised by the strength behind the other's seemingly delicate hands.

"Nice to meet you." Sanji replied with a forced smile that didn't reach his eyes, „Is Luffy still around?"

"Nah, he left with Ace when he got a little too sleepy, like fifteen minutes ago. He waited for you but in the end decided you may not show up since it got pretty late." Usopp replied.

"Oh, " the cook muttered, apparently feeling a little awkward with the situation.

"Still, you should have a free drink as Luffy promised." Usopp exclaimed, although Zoro could have happily used the awkward situation as an excuse for the other to leave.

He'd just met the guy but he already didn't like him. The cook appeared to be pompous and overly confident and judging by the lavish suit and the gold plated watch on his skinny wrist, probably spoiled. Certainly not a combination that he was a fan of.

"That's not necessary." Sanji insisted, apparently ready to leave much to Roronoa's relief.

"But Franky, uh, I mean the boss, insisted. He was really touched by your story, even shed a few tears."

"Really?" the blonde chuckled, raising an eyebrow at the peculiar detail.

Zoro took a minute to study the chef, noticing the odd curly eyebrows that the other had tried to hide underneath his glossy bangs. They were a few shades darker than his hair and curled in some sort of unimaginable pattern, despite his obvious effort to tame them. He didn't like the eyebrows, they seemed strange and somewhat mismatched with his overall put together look.

Otherwise, Sanji looked fine, nothing out of the ordinary.

His eyes were a light blue shade, one that Zoro had seen countless times in America and during the impromptu Euro-trip he and Luffy went on after high school. Still the emotion behind them spoke of confidence, bordering arrogance even, something Roronoa didn't appreciate even if he himself was often accused of such qualities.

"So what would you like to drink?" Zoro inquired as Usopp's phone rang, the screen flashing „Kaya" and he was suddenly left alone with the pompous cook.

"Do you have white wine? An older record would do best. You know like maybe 2008 at least?" Sanji inquired with a small pout and Zoro couldn't help but huff.

He knew being mean to customers was wrong as Nami and Franky had reminded him more than a few thousand times but then again he was serving the other for free so maybe a little jab wasn't all that much of a sin.

"Is there something wrong?" the chef demanded, hands over his hips and annoyance practically pouring from his voice.

"Nothing's wrong." Roronoa grumbled under his breath.

He'd already decided – he did not like the guy. Who in their right mind ordered a bottle of old wine in a bar? At one in the night? Who in the world did he think he was?

He took a bottle of ordinary wine from the shelf and unceremoniously poured it into a plain glass.

"Here, princess," he offered, pushing the glass of wine in front of Sanji who stared at the it, almost as if the drink was an insult to him.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sir," he jabbed in, his temper already rising, „But we are all out of older records of wine. No 2008, I'm afraid. This is from like…a few months ago, no one orders wine anyway."

Sanji met his gaze, fury written behind the light blue irises. His fingers curled around the glass and he took a small, calculated sip.

"It will do." He mumbled, voice mockingly sweet.

Zoro only huffed and turned around, not wanting to look at the other's annoying face. He busied himself returning the bottles to their places, something he normally never bothered to do.

At that moment Perona returned from taking the last order from Table 5, opting for the bill.

"What is such a gorgeous lady doing in a place like this?" he heard Sanji cry out and turned to see what looked an awful lot like hot pink hearts dancing in the other's eyes.

"Doing my job," Perona replied dryly. She was tired of people hitting on her, already having heard every line imaginable in the one year she was working in Puzzles.

Not to mention, she knew her boyfriend the infamous Dracule Mihawk, who was coincidentally Zoro's mentor in swords fighting, would not enjoy the other's unnecessary compliments.

"Oh, those gracious hands of yours, shouldn't have to do any work!" Sanji cooed dramatically but the pink-haired girl only rolled her eyes.

Roronoa decided - Vinsmoke had the world's worst flirting abilities.

"I have a boyfriend." She pointed out, cutting him off.

The chef was caught off guard by her remark, pink hearts disappearing from his eyes and being replaced by crimson spots which covered his pale cheeks.

"I…uh, of course, I mean such a beautiful lady like you-" he began mumbling, unable to form a coherent sentence.

Zoro snickered, sending Perona a grateful look, "Just shut up and save whatever dignity you have left, curly-brow."

Sanji's embarrassment transformed into anger as he sent a death glare in Zoro's direction.

"I don't know what dignity a man who dyes his hair green, could have, marimo." He deadpanned.

"Hey, watch the fuck what you're saying, ero-cook!" Roronoa all but screamed, leaning heavily on the counter, always ready for a fight.

His swords were at home but judging by the other's skinny figure, he wouldn't need them. Not to even mention he was more than capable in a fist fight, having participated in such more times than he could count (by age thirteen).

„Or what, you algae?" Sanji shot back, leaning in closer as well, their noses only an inch apart.

„Or I'll make you shut up, you pretentious asshole." He roared, pulling the other's shirt into his fist.

The other's eyes went wide, almost as if he couldn't believe someone had the audacity to touch him. Zoro smirked, he would teach him all better.

"Guys, what on Earth are you doing!?" Usopp shirked, having returned from his chat with Kaya over the phone.

"Zoro, how many times do I have to tell you not to fight in the bar? With clients, nonetheless?!"

"You know how Franky gets when you ruin the counter or break bottles in someone's head." Perona huffed but her remark went unnoticed.

"He ain't paying, he's not a client. " Zoro grumbled under his nose, his one remaining steel grey eye never leaving the other's face.

"Oh, I will pay!" Sanji sneered, digging into his pocket and all but throwing a few banknotes, more than sufficient to pay for the wine, over the counter.

"That's not necessary!" Usopp urged, stepping in to break apart the fight, even though he was slightly shaking, "Come on, let's just close up and leave."

"Without killing anyone." Perona added, glancing at Zoro.

"Fine." He gave up in the end, not wanting to deal with her lectures or worse Franky's and Nami's anger over another fight in the bar and the possible ruined furniture.

He let go of the cook who gave him another death glare before fixing his now crumpled white shirt.

"I'll be going then," Sanji declared, standing up to leave.

"Usopp, Perona, it was nice meeting you," he said, offering a small nod to the DJ and a lavish smile to the pink haired girl, "too bad you have to work with this stupid baboon." He added, voice filled with venom.

Zoro merely huffed, silently contemplating how some night he might accidentally run into the poor skinny chef and teach him a few lessons.

With the blonde gone, Usopp let out a huge sigh of relief for having avoided yet another fight.
"Children will tell grand tales of the brave Ussopp, master of diplomacy!" he claimed but his colleagues merely rolled their eyes, having become used to his peculiar self-praise a long time ago.

"More like tall tales," Perona smirked.

"Yeah, yeah, maybe you should try working for the CIA, talking criminals out of bad stuff." Roronoa grumbled under his breath, opting to get his leather jacket from the hanger and leave.

He was still pissed off at the arrogant chef with the unnaturally curly brows but a nice ride home on his motorcycle seemed like a good idea and worked to somewhat dampened his anger.

„That was so not cool, you have to learn to control you temper!" Perona chimed in, smacking Zoro over the shoulder, "Even if the other guy is a jerk." She added, before he could protest.

She went to check the register one last time while he put on his leather jacket and Usopp approached him with a devious smirk. Zoro didn't like the looks of it, it seemed like those times when the DJ had one of his crazy ideas that usually led to trouble, much like Luffy's „genius" ideas or as a matter of fact, his own.
Indeed Usopp had one hell of an idea, one that could maybe lead to Zoro getting into yet another fight, having the bar half destroyed and his ass getting kicked by Franky because of it. Still, he was the bravest man in New York, he wasn't one to give up on an idea, even it was a bad one.

„Hey, Zoro" he began, a small smile tugging at the corners of his full lips.

„Oi, what do you want?" the bartender grumbled.

„You know how you said you can get any guy or girl that walks into this bar," He began, voice dripping with amusement, „Well I challenge you to get that Sanji-guy."

Author's Note: What did you think of Zoro's cocky attitude? I absolutely adore cocky marimo and love it when the manga/anime shows just that!

And the tension between Zoro and Sanji – there will be a lot of it because I honestly adore their banter and love/hate relationship! And isn't Usopp a great matchmaker without even realizing it?

Please review, feedback serves as a huge motivation for me!