Happy birthday Caff!

Usopp scratched his head, tapped his pen on the ground, and sighed, staring in frustration at the paper in front of him. He wrote something down and then crossed it out.

"Something wrong?" Zoro asked. He didn't even open his eyes, still keeping the appearance of sleeping against the railing.

"Well, yeah, but nothing you can help with," Usopp muttered.

"Why not?"

"It's math."

"Try me." Zoro opened his eyes and sat up, watching Usopp expectantly.

Usopp squinted. "Okay. So, I'm trying to figure out how many projectiles I can possibly fire in an hour. Because I'm assuming any given battle won't last more than an hour, so if I figure that out, I can save space in my bag by packing less ammunition. Though, I might pack more anyway, just to be safe."

"Right."

"I know I can fire about forty of them in thirty seconds, give or take," Usopp continued. "And I forget where to go from here. I'm trying to add but I keep making mistakes."

Zoro was silent for a moment, staring into space. Usopp rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I figured you couldn't help. I'll just keep trying and—"

"Four thousand and eight hundred."

Usopp paused. "Huh?"

"Right?" Zoro said, frowning. "Did I get it wrong?"

"I dunno, that seems like a lot," Usopp said, skeptical about Zoro's apparently random answer. "Hey, Robin!"

Robin came up the stairs. "You called?"

Usopp explained the problem. Robin stared pensively at the paper, studying the numbers and tracing them.

"That's four thousand and eight hundred," she said at last. "Though, I don't think you'll need that many. You won't be firing them non-stop for a full hour, will you?"

"Good point," Usopp said sheepishly. "But, Zoro, you got that so fast!"

Zoro furrowed his brow. "That was the answer. I just saw it. Was that fast?"

"It was really cool," Usopp said to Robin in excitement. "I asked him and he said what you said, like, right away!"

"Impressive," Robin agreed, smiling at Zoro. "I didn't know you were so savvy."

"What, you guys didn't know the answer?" Zoro said, surprised.

"Don't be rude!" Usopp exclaimed.

"I'm not!"

"Luffy—!"

Zoro slowed to a stop, glowering after Luffy, who had stolen his bandana while he was sleeping in order to play capture the flag with Usopp, Chopper, and Franky. He returned to his spot on the deck, but was unable to return to sleep, fidgeting and feeling the spot where his bandana should be.

"Something wrong?" Robin asked, having come up to the deck to water her plants. "Is your bandana missing?"

Zoro didn't look at her, taking a moment to respond. "Luffy took it."

Robin set down her watering can and left. She found Usopp desperately trying to explain the rules of the game to Luffy while Chopper and Franky waited.

"Guys," she said. They looked over. "Zoro wants his bandana back."

"But we need a flag," Luffy protested.

"It's just for a little bit," Chopper added.

"He feels uncomfortable without it," Robin explained. "Luffy, what if someone else took your hat for something like this? Or yours, Chopper?"

They frowned. "I wouldn't like that," Luffy agreed. Chopper nodded.

Robin held out her hand, and Luffy handed over the bandana.

"I'll get you a new flag in a minute," she promised. "In the meantime, learn the rules."

"Right, Luffy, as I was saying," Usopp continued.

Zoro stared at the bandana deposited into his lap. He looked up at Robin and then back down, muttering, "Thanks," before brushing it off and retying it around his arm. He fell back asleep in no time.

"Breakfast?" Zoro asked, poking his head into the kitchen.

"Pain perdu," Sanji replied, just getting his apron on. Zoro nodded and left, walking past Luffy, who was wide awake and ready to eat.

When the crew trickled in for food, Zoro stared at the pancakes and scrambled eggs on his plate as if waiting for them to turn into pain perdu. When they didn't, he looked up at Sanji and glowered.

"What?" Sanji said. "Oh, right. Sorry, everyone, we were going to have pain perdu, but someone ate the last of the bread last night."

He turned a pointed glare to Luffy, who shrugged. "Well, I was hungry, and what'm I supposed to do if the fridge is locked?"

"Ask me, dipshit!"

"You were sleeping! That would've been rude."

"Since when do you care about manners?!"

The others had started on their food already. Zoro didn't start until Luffy and Sanji had finished arguing, and even then he ate very slowly.

When Zoro finally came out to the deck for his after-breakfast nap, he found his usual spot taken by Usopp, who had sat down to tinker. He stood stock-still, staring at the spot, and was just about to move when Usopp saw him.

"Oh, shoot, this is your spot, isn't it?" he exclaimed, standing. "Sorry, go on—"

Zoro looked away and left without a word.

"Well, geez, I was trying to be nice," Usopp muttered, confused.

Zoro took his nap on the other side of the ship eventually, though it was a restless one. He woke up, ready to start training, and was on his way to the observatory when Franky interrupted him.

"Hey, bro," he said with a grin. "You seen Usopp?"

Zoro pointed to Usopp.

"Oh, thanks!" Franky playfully drummed his fingers across Zoro's shoulders and left, waving. "See you!"

Zoro was rooted to the spot, shuddering, before he managed to start moving again to get to the ropes.

He breathed slowly at the top, removed his shirt, and began training. But he hadn't even finished his first rep when panicked shouts below alerted him of an approaching pirate ship—it was time to fight.

He set his weight down and pulled his shirt back on, too frazzled to fix it so it faced forward, and tied his bandana around his head, stumbling out of the room and down to the deck. The others were already fighting, and he joined them, his movements purely muscle memory.

"Zoro, help!"

He turned towards the sound and found Usopp cowering under a joint attack. With a slash, that was taken care of.

"Moss-hair, go help Nami-san!"

Zoro looked around, vision blurring, and spotted an orange head of hair. He ran over, but stumbled to a halt when Nami's attackers were wiped out by her thunderbolt.

"I don't need help, Sanji-kun!" she yelled, too close to Zoro's face. Sanji cried an apology to her while Zoro swung his head around, searching for what to do next.

He had only just sliced down another enemy trying to board the ship when the enemy captain called for their ship to retreat. The conscious crew gathered their less-fortunate friends and headed off.

The Strawhats cheered all around Zoro as he stared into the distance, vision blurred, sheathing his swords and tying his bandana around his arm again. His hands shook; everything was too bright, and everyone's voices were indistinct and far too loud, surrounding him on all sides, leaving no escape. His backwards shirt rested over his haramaki and brushed his skin in all the wrong ways. His eyelids fluttered as he blinked slowly. He needed to . . . needed to . . .

The voices became quieter, and blurry hands waved in front of his face, making him shut his eyes in pain. His legs wobbled, but someone took his hand in their large one, holding on firmly and slowly turning it to face him another way. He blindly followed, slowing when the hand moved downwards, indicating stairs.

He heard rhythmic splashing, and could barely see in the dim light of the room they were in.

". . . Zoro? Squeeze my hand if you hear me."

It took him a moment to respond, but he clenched his hand inside his companion's. He recognized the voice as Chopper.

"Do you want to stay here? Squeeze if yes."

He paused and squeezed.

"Alone? Squeeze if yes."

Another pause, another clench.

"Want help sitting down? Squeeze if yes."

Silence.

"Okay." Chopper released his hand slowly. "If you're not back up already, someone's gonna come down here and tell you when dinner's ready. Okay?"

Zoro managed a tiny nod.

"Anything else?"

A small shake.

"Okay. Bye."

Chopper left. Zoro lowered himself against the wall and wrestled with his arms, fixing his shirt. As soon as he'd finished, he collapsed, falling into a light sleep while the waves splashed.

Zoro didn't speak for the rest of the day, but he exited the Mini-Merry Docking Room for dinner, and went to sleep in the men's quarters with everyone, who made sure to keep their voices down for his sake.

Zoro tapped the uchiko ball along the blade of his sword and wiped the powder away with a cloth. Satisfied, he slid it back into his sheath and put away his cleaning supplies, standing to stow the case in his locker.

"I'm sure I've said this before, Zoro-san, but those are marvelous blades you have," Brook remarked, falling into step with him.

"I know," Zoro said, smiling. "I rely on them as much as I do you guys."

"May I ask about them?"

"Yeah," Zoro said, stopping outside the door to the men's quarters. "This one was my first real sword. The person who gave it to me inspired me to learn the three-sword style, since before I received this I used the two-sword style, and I wanted to use this one as well. It's my oldest and dearest sword. The ones I used before these two I received at the dojo I grew up in, but they broke when I fought Hawk-Eye."

Brook leaned against the cabin wall, listening without ears.

"This one is called Kitetsu, technically Kitetsu III," Zoro continued, smiling, "and I got this one in a test of luck. It's a cursed sword, but it didn't cut my arm off when I challenged it, so it's mine now. The shopkeeper who gave me this also gave me Yubashiri, but that one broke at Enies Lobby thanks to a rusting ability one of the Marines had. After that I got Shusui from that zombie, Ryuma." He paused for breath. "The three-sword style I developed by—"

The door opened, bumping into him and startling him out of his rambling. Sanji gave him an eye-roll before going to the kitchen.

"So . . . that's it," he finished, train of thought broken, and went inside.

The Marine pushed Sanji face-first up against the alley wall. "Blackleg Sanji, is it? Your eyebrow gives you away, you know."

"Watch the face, please, ma'am," Sanji said, unable to fight back.

"You're under arrest for aiding and abetting," she said as Zoro walked by the alley and stopped, looking at them, "as well as participating in various—"

She looked at Zoro and paled, releasing Sanji. "Uh, changed my mind," she said, backing up. "You're free to go."

She ran away.

"Guess your face scared her off," Sanji remarked, dusting himself off.

"Hey!" Zoro called after her. "Weren't you gonna arrest him?"

Sanji kicked his calf. "Don't fucking taunt her!"

"What? I was just asking."

"This never happened," Sanji said as they started heading away.

"Huh?" Sanji glared at him. "Oh. Right."

"Learn to read a situation," Sanji snapped. "Honestly, you—"

He stopped and looked back. Zoro had fallen behind, examining a market stall of trinkets.

"And quit wandering off!"

"Hey!"

Zoro opened his eyes and stared at the person in the jail cell with him. They were a short redhead with glasses, and they stared at him expectantly.

"What?" he said when they didn't continue.

"What'd you get arrested for?"

"Being a pirate."

"Oh. I got arrested for homicide." The person stared at Zoro's swords, which the soldiers had foolishly left with him. "Hey, you're that pirate hunter, Roronoa Zoro, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"You're really good with those swords, then?" the person said, voice growing high with excitement. "Can you break us out?"

"Sure."

The person waited. "So . . . are you going to?"

"Yeah. I was just resting."

Zoro stood and faced the wall, preparing two swords.

"Hey!" the person exclaimed. "I have a bad sense of direction, too, but even I know the bars are over here!"

"Breaking the wall gets us out faster," Zoro pointed out, cutting the wall open without another word.

"I guess, but . . ." The person approached the hole and stared down. "It's a long way down . . ."

Zoro grabbed them around the waist and ignored the scream as he leapt from the building. He set them on the ground and wandered away.

"One hundred . . . one hundred one . . . one hundred two . . ."

"Hey, Zoro," Luffy said, poking his head through the trapdoor. "Lunch! Sanji told me to come get you."

"One hundred three . . . one hundred four . . ." Zoro didn't look away from his weighted lunges.

Luffy frowned and disappeared. A minute later Franky showed up.

"One hundred eleven . . . one hundred twelve . . ." Zoro muttered.

"Hey!" Franky yelled. "Lunchtime!"

"One hundred thirteen . . . one hundred fourteen . . ."

Franky shook his head and left. It was Nami who showed up next.

"Zoro, get your butt down here or I'm charging you for every minute you're late," she snapped.

"One hundred twenty . . . one hundred twenty one . . ."

She climbed up into the crow's nest and smacked the back of his head. He froze and turned to her, shocked.

"What?" he snapped.

"Lunch. Is ready," she hissed. "It's been ready."

"Why didn't anyone tell me?"

He toweled himself off and left, leaving Nami to stare after him, mouth agape.

Franky, knowing Zoro wasn't asleep, sat next to him on the deck. "Hey, bro. Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah." Zoro didn't open his eyes, keeping his arms folded firmly against his chest.

"I messed up. I ruined one of her maps."

"Nami's?"

"Yeah. It wasn't finished, she'd hung it out to dry, and I was holding cola and I went to look at it and . . . tripped."

"You spilled cola on her map?"

"Yeah. She grabbed it and stormed away. What do you think I should do?"

Zoro was silent for so long Franky worried he'd really fallen asleep, but then he spoke.

"If you messed up one of my swords somehow, and went to ask someone what to do while I tried to deal with the situation," he said slowly, "I'd probably be pretty pissed if you didn't even apologize."

"What?" Franky said. "We're not talking about you."

"I know. I'm trying to make sense of the situation." Zoro lifted his face to the sky but didn't open his eyes. "Go say sorry to her."

"Okay. What next?"

"Oh. Uh . . . I guess offer to help her or get new materials at some point. Let the cat out of the bag."

"Excuse me?"

"What?"

"Let the cat out of the bag? What do you mean?"

"It means use every tactic you have on hand. In this case, do whatever you can to apologize and make it up to her."

"But that's not what that . . . never mind. Got it. Thanks!" Franky grinned and stood. "You've got a weird way of going about things, but it works."

Zoro opened his eyes as Franky walked away.

"Weird?"

"What's wrong?" Sanji asked.

Zoro's face had only scrunched in disgust for a moment at the taste of his snack, so he was surprised that Sanji had caught it. "Uh . . . it's sweet," he said.

"Really? I thought it was plain enough. You want something else?"

"Dunno. You have anything else?"

"Bit of leftover ham," Sanji said, taking the plate away. "I need most of it for the stew tonight, but if you want some of that . . . ?"

"Sounds good."

Zoro rubbed his temples, wandering towards Chopper's office. He opened the door and stared at Chopper until Chopper looked up. Zoro spread his arms out. Chopper trotted outside, bit down on a Rumble Ball, and transformed into Guard Point. Zoro fell against him, closing his eyes and rubbing his fur. Luffy found them and joined them for a minute before getting bored and heading away.

When Chopper turned back, Zoro hugged him before heading away to nap.

Zoro, worn-out from a stressful day, leaned against the railing but couldn't seem to get comfortable. Chopper came upon him and Zoro looked up at him hopefully. Chopper turned big and grabbed Zoro, squeezing him in his lap. Zoro fell asleep in minutes.

"Zoro helped me with some calculations today," Robin said at dinner, smiling at him. "You were very helpful. Thank you."

"Well, since you helped Robin-chan," Sanji said, setting an extra glass of booze in front of Zoro, who nodded and took it without a word. "Need anything else?"

He shook his head and started drinking his glass down. Luffy tugged at his bandana, but a look made him stop. Zoro fixed it and went back to drinking.

"Thanks for sharing your napping spot with me, Zoro," Chopper said, waving his arms.

"I never knew you knew so much about your swords," Usopp said, shaking his head. "You talked my ear off!"

Zoro stared in alarm at his ears.

"It's a figure of speech," Usopp added. Zoro relaxed.

"Surprised we could get you away from your training for dinner," Franky said with a laugh. Zoro shrugged.

"Seconds, Sanji-san?" Brook said, holding out his plate in front of Zoro's face. Zoro closed his eyes and moved back. "Ah, forgive me, Zoro-san." Brook moved his arm out of the way. Zoro opened his eyes and slowly moved forward again.

"Zoro, we're gonna have a party tonight," Luffy announced, bouncing in his seat. "You gonna come or you gonna sleep?"

Zoro shrugged and gave him a thumbs-up. Luffy grinned. "Awesome!"

"Try not to hog all the alcohol," Nami shot at him. Zoro made a point of rolling his eyes at her before returning to his dinner, carefully prepared without a hint of sweetness.