Part 10 - Who ordered sushi? 25/??

So, compared to Yosaku and Johnny, Zoro seemed like a real gentleman. And she wasn't going to sleep with him —not even in her thoughts!— but the famous pirate hunter turned out to be quite different from what she had imagined. Behind the mask of a brutal killer was a perfectly ordinary guy, kind and a bit awkward with women. He didn't know how to give compliments or seduce, which made him even more charming in her eyes. Surprisingly innocent. Nojiko had no regrets.

"No, don't even touch those guys; you might catch something," Nami shot a scathing look at the mentioned guys.

She was long used to their behavior, but this time they had outdone themselves. Nami hadn't even suspected this was possible until recently. Not after several memorable incidents with brothel workers. All of them. 'To fuck millions at once' was a phrase that perfectly described the guys. Nami had never imagined that such a phrase could be taken literally.

"Hey, I protest!" Yosaku immediately perked up. "I don't catch anything, none at all! Johnny is a different story…"

"Get lost!" Johnny snapped awake. "I have a dragon's immune system, so nothing sticks to me… at least for more than a couple of minutes."

At that moment, Nami's pot of water boiled over, and the conversation ended abruptly. However, when dinner was ready and everyone sat down at the table, the topic came up again. Yosaku and Johnny couldn't just ignore the fact that Zoro had managed to bring someone to his bed for the first time they could remember. The fact that Zoro might have been the one brought to bed, rather than the other way around, never crossed their minds. In fact, the topic of Zoro's and Nojiko's relationship became the most popular subject of conversation in the following days. It might have died down on its own, but the constantly disappearing swordsman and girl unwittingly fueled interest. Moreover, Zoro's behavior was so out of character that even Nami occasionally commented on it. Over time, other topics emerged:

"Where do you keep going every night?" Nojiko asked one day.

They were outside, where Nojiko had enlisted all the "Pirate Hunters" to help with the tangerine grove. Nami had no objection since she had grown up among these trees, and they reminded her of her late mother. The guys weren't asked, and despite Nami being assigned as the main person among them by Luffy, and Zoro being the most significant among them, he had turned out to be, if not a complete pushover, then certainly a budding genius. Having never been in a long-term relationship and always sticking to one-night stands, Zoro was easily manipulated by Nojiko after just a few days. Though Nojiko also had no experience with long-term relationships —having had only a couple herself— she was confident and knew how to handle men.

"What do you mean?" Nami asked, puzzled.

Nojiko's question was unexpected for everyone.

"In the literal sense. You all keep disappearing somewhere, or did you think I wouldn't notice? Although if it were just this pair," Nojiko gestured towards Johnny and Yosaku, "I wouldn't have asked, but you and Zoro always disappear at night too. Since Zoro sleeps with me, believe me, I know when I'm alone."

"Well… it's not exactly a big secret… we just go training."

"Training?" Nojiko asked skeptically.

"Of course, or do you think we don't need it?" Nami raised an eyebrow.

"Do you need to? I thought you were already the strongest! And definitely the strongest in East Blue!"

"That's the problem. Only in East Blue. Our captain wants to become the Pirate King, so being the strongest in the weakest sea isn't such an outstanding achievement. That's why we're training to become even stronger."

"And when do you sleep then? Honestly, I don't even remember seeing you sleep."

"Don't worry, we do sleep, just not too often and not for long... at least lately" Nami seemed reluctant to discuss the topic.

Nojiko, picking up on Nami's reluctance, became even more interested:

"And why is that?"

"Well… the reason is actually a bit silly" Nami, along with the surrounding guys, including Zoro, seemed embarrassed. "I won't go into details… Actually, it's better if Zoro explains it to you; he knows much more about it than I do," it was clear she was passing the responsibility to Zoro.

Zoro didn't bother to clarify what he was supposed to explain. Even though he had learned to "communicate" with Luffy without words—often just using glances—he understood the other members of their small family almost as well as his captain. So Zoro began to explain without further elaboration, though his voice lacked enthusiasm:

"First, you need to know that every living creature in the world emits a unique 'voice' by which it can be recognized."

"Like an aura?" Nojiko frowned.

"Aura, 'voice', presence, or emission, the name doesn't matter much. The point is that every living thing is a source of this 'voice,' and every person can hear it… animals might be able to too, but I'm not sure about that."

"And how does this 'voice' relate to your problem with sleep?" Nojiko asked, confused. "Or do you hear too many 'voices,' and they disturb your sleep?"

"No, actually, only I can clearly hear these 'voices' among those present now," Zoro shook his head. "And I can only hear them when I concentrate… No, that's not quite right. Everyone hears them all the time, but without specific skills, no one can, so to speak, decipher what these 'voices' are saying. Johnny, Yosaku, and Nami have been learning this skill long enough to get close to breaking the barrier where they, like me, will understand what they're 'hearing'. The problem is, even though they still can't fully understand, they hear these 'voices' much better than most people."

"Still not clear… So how does all this relate to your sleep problem?"

"Directly. As I said, every living thing emits a unique 'voice' but the volume of these 'voices' varies. If you compare, for example, you and me, my 'voice' next to yours would be like a blaring fire alarm next to a toy whistle. Now imagine living next to such a blaring fire alarm for a year or two, and then it's suddenly turned off."

Nojiko, being Nami's sister and not lacking in intelligence, quickly grasped where Zoro was going with this.

"Your captain," Nojiko nodded, "he left you, and now you… pff!"

"Nojiko!" Nami exclaimed when she saw her sister suddenly double over, struggling to suppress her laughter. "Don't you dare laugh!"

Naturally, this request had the opposite effect:

"Ha-ha-ha!" Unable to hold it in, Nojiko fell to her knees, laughing loudly.

"That's why I didn't want to tell you!"

"But admit it, Nami, it's really funny!" Nojiko, holding her stomach and barely able to speak through her laughter, continued. "The mighty conquerors of Fishmen Island are afraid to sleep without their captain! Ha-ha-ha!

"…The most frustrating thing is that it's hard to argue with that" Nami said, clearly embarrassed.

"Ha-ha-ha!" Nojiko couldn't stop laughing, much to the embarrassment of her sister and the surrounding guys.

"Have you calmed down?" Nami grumbled after a few minutes.

"Oh, come on!" Nojiko grinned as she got to her feet. "If you were in my place, you wouldn't have been able to hold it in either. You should see yourselves from the outside… So, it means you have trouble sleeping because you no longer hear your captain's loud 'voice,' am I right?