Rika's Tavern —
"Burp~" Zoro rubbed his stomach with a satisfied look. "I'm stuffed. Haven't eaten in three weeks… this is my limit."
Most of what Zoro had eaten, however, were sweet rice balls made by Rika. And if you're wondering why she made so many, you only need to look at the culprit — Lock.
A few minutes earlier—
"How'd you make so many rice balls? All of these… You made them yourself?" Zoro asked, pointing to the mountain of rice balls in front of him.
"Yeah. When we were leaving the execution ground, didn't you say they were delicious and told me to make more for you?"
Rika tilted her head in mild confusion but answered earnestly.
"I did say they were good," Zoro admitted, "but I didn't tell you to make this many. Who's the idiot spreading rumors?"
Zoro glanced at Luffy, still busy eating, then at Lock, who immediately looked away and started whistling.
"… This guy."
Zoro sighed, deciding not to make a fuss. Instead, he picked up one of the rice balls and bit in—
Gaba gaba—
"Big brother, why are you crying?" Rika asked, seeing tears spill from Zoro's eyes.
"That's because your rice balls are so delicious, Rika. And you made them just for him. He's so moved he can't help it," Lock cut in smoothly before Zoro could speak.
"Really?" Rika beamed, eyes curving into crescents.
Zoro's tears were, of course, from the overwhelming sweetness, but he still gave a small nod.
"That's great! I was worried I put too much sugar this time. I thought maybe you wouldn't like them~" she said brightly.
Then she added with a little giggle, "Seems long-haired big brother was right — you do like sweet rice balls."
Zoro wanted to glare at Lock for setting him up, but… an idea formed.
"Are they that good, Zoro?" Luffy asked, snatching one off Zoro's plate and popping it in his mouth.
Gaba gaba—
Halfway through chewing, Luffy's eyes shot wide open, pupils shrinking, the corners of his eyes twitching.
His lips formed a perfect "O," eyebrows knotting into a deep 川 shape.
His cheeks puffed slightly from the sugar overload, and his chin jutted forward like he was trying to physically swallow the sweetness.
In short, he looked constipated.
"What's wrong, Straw Hat big brother?" Rika asked, puzzled.
"Not good!" Zoro lunged forward just as Luffy looked ready to spit it out.
Before Luffy could, Zoro clamped a hand over his mouth, tilted his chin back toward the ceiling, pried his jaw open, and helped him swallow the rice ball.
Gollum—
Once Luffy had gulped it down, Zoro released him.
Pff—
Luffy collapsed onto the floor, tongue lolling. "So thirsty… water… I need water…"
Coby rushed over with a glass. "Mr. Luffy, are you alright?"
Gulu gulu— "Ah~" Luffy sighed in relief. "Saved…"
He glanced between Zoro — still eating and crying — and Rika, watching with pride. Yeah… I know why he's crying. This stuff's lethal.
Lock wandered over, patted Zoro's shoulder, and grinned. "You're welcome."
"What a great opportunity," Zoro muttered — then immediately shoved a rice ball into Lock's mouth before he could react.
Ham—
Caught off guard, Lock choked down the bite. Zoro leaned in and whispered, "Don't spit it out, Lock. Rika would be sad." Then he smirked.
Damn it, careless. Fine… It's just one. If Zoro can eat a pile of these, I can handle one.
Gaba gaba—
A second later, Lock's eyes went wide.
The sweetness slammed into his brain like a cannonball. Even his teeth seemed to recoil.
Tongue: "Brother Teeth, I'm losing it here! Help!"
Teeth: "Brother Throat, I can't chew this anymore — your problem now."
Throat: "You're sending me this unchewed? Are you trying to kill me?"
Tongue and Teeth ignored him and shoved the rice ball down.
Throat: "Fine. Death by sugar, it is."
"Cursed magic — Loss of Taste!" Lock muttered mentally, cutting off his taste buds to avoid suffering. After swallowing, he purified the curse away.
He had to admit — Zoro's taste buds were terrifying.
With Lock "sharing" the joy, Zoro happily polished off the rest, now laughing through his tears.
Later, after the meal—
"By the way, how many others have you recruited?" Zoro asked. "You said you were gathering crewmates. You wanna be Pirate King, so I figured there'd be a bunch."
"Nope. Just you and Lock," Luffy said between bites of chicken.
"…Huh?" Zoro stared between the two of them. "So in other words—"
"Yep," Luffy said cheerfully. "Just the three of us."
Zoro's jaw dropped. "We're calling ourselves a pirate crew with just three people?!"
"What's the problem? We're strong!" Luffy said matter-of-factly.
Lock chuckled. "He's right. The three of us can look down on the world."
To be fair, Lock thought, I could probably look down on the pirate world all by myself.
Zoro blinked at him. "You've got more guts than Luffy. But… y'know, maybe one day we actually could look down on the world."
A slow grin spread across his face. "Yeah. Maybe we will."
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A/N: Please Leave A Comment Or Drop A Powerstone It'll mean alot to me...