An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: One Piece (Anime & Manga)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates & Usopp
Characters: Usopp (One Piece), Calico Yorki, Rumbar Pirates (One Piece)
Additional Tags: Usopp-centric (One Piece), Role Reversal, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Minor Character Death, Canonical Character Death, Character Study, Angst
Summary:
Usopp is a very sane, rational person; he wants an adventure, but he also doesn’t want to die. Those two activities just somehow overlap a lot more than he expects.
So when he hears a rumor about the mysterious Revive-Revive Fruit that could keep a man alive forever, well, it sounds like the perfect remedy to each and every one of his problems.
I think in the same way there's a 90/10 rule with horror and comedy (horror works best when it's 90% horror and 10% comedy and vice versa) there's a 90/10 rule for some relationships in fiction that's like. Wholesome and fucked up. A good friendship is at its most compelling when it's also 10% a bit fucked up. Fucked up relationship is at its most compelling when there's at least 10% of something actually sweet and substantive within. Do you get me
It takes some effort to force Zoro to stay fucking still. Zoro struggles under him, and Sanji practically straddles the man to keep him on the ice. Holding the front of Zoro’s jersey between white-knuckled fists, Sanji shakes him until Zoro meets his eyes directly.
“Zoro,” Sanji starts, then swallows thickly. Tears prick in the corners of his eyes and he doesn’t even try to hide it, not with his hands occupied.
More fanart for Double Overtime by @sinelanguage. It's good stuff.
Is it weird for me to send you an ask meme when I don’t follow you? I just got your one piece body swap on my dash and loved it so now I want to read something else you write. No pressure though, obviously! I was thinking 31? Or 28? Could be fun too
One moment, Zoro’s taking a nap on the deck of the Merry, enjoying the midday sun, and the next he’s– well, he’s taking a nap on the deck of the Merry, enjoying the midday sun.
He doesn’t really notice anything’s changed, other than how his receding sunspot on deck is suddenly large enough for his whole body again. He stretches out across the deck and tries to chase the feeling of the warm sun on his skin. It’s better right now, somehow, and he doesn’t bother understanding why.
This is the best nap of his life; he’s not going to question it.
“Hey, who let a cat on board?” comes a grating voice, interrupting his perfect nap. Zoro blinks awake, focusing on the deck. It’s somehow in higher focus than normal, though the colors are off. “And why is it green?”
Footsteps echo off the deck floor, each step louder than normal. He recognizes the familiar footsteps of the whole crew, but why do they sound so loud today?
Then, something grabs him by the back of the neck, pulling at his skin. He thinks the enemy is pulling his skin off, but somehow it stretches more than normal. Zoro yelps, but the sound is unfamiliar to his own ears.
That’s not– that’s not a human noise. That’s a meow.
He’s hanging in the air, limbs flailing in front of him. His nap is properly interrupted, and Zoro flails in front of himself in protest, but everything feels weird and unfamiliar. He tries to grab for his swords, but he doesn’t have hands to hold them. From what he can see of his forearms, they’re covered in a thick green fur, and Zoro reels at the sight.
“Why’re you glaring at me? I bet it snuck on board at the last port when you were trying to flirt with the shopkeeper! I didn’t have anything to do with it!”
The person holding him scoffs. “I dunno. Even if you don’t know shit, out of all the options, you’re the one who’ll fold first.”
Oh, great. That confirms it; the person holding him is the cook. Zoro squirms some more, but it’s all futile.
“Hey! Sanji! I’m not that easy of a target, I’ll have you know I’ve held out under torture for longer, for days. Years, even, before folding and admitting to my crimes–”
“--Usopp. Did you let the cat on board?”
“No, absolutely not,” Usopp replies immediately. “I’ve really got no idea where it came from.”
Zoro has a bad feeling about this.
There’s no way. There’s no way the cat they’re both referring to is him. He tries to protest, but all that comes out of his mouth are yowls and growls, all incomprehensible to his own ears. He kicks forward, he stretches outward, and he’s met with the sight of four, furry paws.
Shit.
“That’s not a cat! That’s Zoro!” Chopper exclaims. Zoro meows again, and Chopper makes another shocked noise, looking up at him with wide, watery eyes. “Zoro! Is that really you?! Are you okay?!”
Zoro feels the hairs– fur?!-- on his spine raise. Chopper makes another shocked gasp.
“Oh, no, Zoro, what happened to you?!”
“What?! That’s– that’s Zoro?!” Usopp exclaims. “But he’s so– he’s so tiny! And fluffy!”
He can’t help himself; Zoro growls, and yup, it’s definitely a cat’s growl coming from his own throat. What the hell. He’s a cat now? He doesn’t want to be a cat.
“Hah, is marimo angry with me?” Sanji taunts, and Zoro feels his tail stand on end. “Wow, you really are expressive like this, huh?”
Expressive? Whatever. He’s going to claw the cook’s face off– he has claws, right? If he’s a cat he has to have claws. With one last determined growl at Sanji, Zoro eyes his hands– well, his paws– and wiggles his cat toes.
“Aw, Zoro is cute like that,” Nami coos. “Maybe we can keep him around like this forever.”
Sanji shakes him. “Cute?! Nami-san, you can’t think he’s cute! He’s just some overgrown furball!”
“I dunno, Sanji, he’s really fluffy,” Usopp argues. “Look at his tail, it’s all puffed out.”
The three of them continue debating, and Zoro opts to ignore the noise. Instead of listening, he stretches his paws like he’s stretching out his own fingers. It takes a moment and a couple of stretches, but sure enough he’s able to unsheath his claws. There’s ten of them, all sharp and pointed.
He unsheaths the claws again and again, watching as the sharp point retracts again and again. Perfect; being a cat is great, actually. Sharp teeth and blades in his hands, what more could he want?
“-and he’s not that fluffy, I’ve seen fluffier cats,” the cook argues. What’s he going off about again? Sanji brings Zoro closer to his face, his one visible eye scrutinizing him. “And look, even as a cat his forehead’s too big.”
Oh, right. He’s going off about how he’s an ugly cat or something.
Unbothered, Zoro glares at Sanji, then experimentally stretches one paw out to see how close he is to the cook now. He’s definitely in arm’s distance now. No better time to try out his claws.
With Sanji still examining him, Zoro reaches one paw out experimentally to touch his face. The cook’s face feels warm under his paw pads, and his face pulls into shock, mouth agape. Then, knowing just how much distance is between him and the cook, Zoro pulls his paw back and unsheaths his claws.
“No, no, no you stupid furball–”
Slashing forward, Zoro catches one claw in Sanji’s nose with his claw. The claw tears into flesh easily, leaving a long, clean cut down the side of Sanji’s face. With an undignified help, the cook finally lets go of his scruff, and with an instinct he doesn’t understand, Zoro falls to the ground and lands on all four paws.
He pauses, back arched in shock as he tries to regain his balance on the deck.
“Wow! I heard cats could land upright, but I’ve never actually seen a cat do it,” Nami says.
“That’s not what’s important here! He just cut my face up, stupid mossball!”
“Cats falling upright is a natural reflex. It seems that Swordsman-san’s transformation into a cat has given him the same instincts as one,” Robin says, ignoring the cook’s warbling entirely. “How curious. I’ve read about cats’ ability to land upright, but I’ve never known how high they could fall before gravity does them in.”
There’s a cackle behind him; Zoro’s back arches further, all his fur sticking on end. He has a bad feeling about this.
One rubber hand grabs him around his middle, and Zoro yelps– yowls?-- eyes widening as he’s pulled into the air again. He’s starting to resent being this small and carryable; he’d rather be a cat that couldn’t be tossed around like a ragdoll.
“Wanna find out?” Luffy asks, and Zoro can’t contain his yowl in protest.
Usopp makes an incomprehensible protest. “Luffy, you idiot, you can’t just toss him in the air!”
There’s a loud laugh echoing across the deck. “I toss Zoro all the time! He’ll be fine!”
“He’s a cat now! You don’t know if he’ll be fine!”
“Aw, but Robin just said he’d be fine–”
Zoro is still hanging in the air by Luffy’s rubber hand, desperately clawing at the skin he can find. He is not getting tossed, not when he’s like this.
“Robin said she didn’t know his limits, not that he’d be fine! Moron!”
Suddenly, Zoro’s snatched away from Luffy’s hands by something equally furry. He growls, the sound coming out involuntarily from his throat.
“Aw, you’re upsetting him!” Chopper says. “He’s scared, don’t throw him in the air!”
What? He’s not scared. He’s not even that upset. Stupid cat body unable to hide his stupid emotional reactions– he growls again, and he can’t figure out how to make it stop.
“I can translate for him, and he doesn’t want to be thrown in the air!”
“Yeah, we can all see that,” Nami says. “Wow, who knew Zoro’d be such a fluffy, expressive cat.”
Zoro growls loudly, pauses, then tries to growl quieter. Damn it, why can’t he control this?!
“And he doesn’t like being a cat either, so you better figure out why it happened!” Chopper says. Zoro growls again. “And he doesn’t like me knowing what he’s saying–”
Chopper pets his head, as if that would calm him down. He growls again, stretching his paws outward.
“-so stop being mean! And don’t throw him in the air!”
“Well, too bad for him, we all can see what he’s thinking,” Usopp says. “And I think he likes having his head pet. Wow, he really is just like a cat, huh?”
That’s not true. Zoro’s not enjoying Chopper petting his head, and he doesn’t even enjoy when Chopper scratches behind his ears. Still, despite his internal protests, Zoro has never felt something as relaxing in his entire life. He melts, and suddenly there’s an involuntary rumble from his throat, reverberating through his entire tiny cat body.
“Oh, he’s purring! That means he’s happy,” Chopper explains, and Zoro tries to figure out how to turn that off.
He’s got to get a handle on this stupid cat thing if he wants to maintain some shred of dignity.
Still, when Chopper scratches behind his ear again, the rumbling continues without his permission.
“Aw. Are you sure we can’t keep him like this?” Nami asks. “It’s not like Zoro’s very helpful on the deck anyway. At least this way he can catch mice for us.”
“H-hey! We’re not going to let that shithead kill mice, I’m sure the mice haven’t done anything to deserve that–”
“He’d be an accomplished mouser, with his experience hunting pirates and his natural cat instincts. I’m sure he’ll be useful, Cook-san.”
“That’s not the point!”
Whatever; he’ll let the idiots continue arguing. Zoro closes his eyes, stretches out, and tries to find the sun again. If he’s going to be stuck as a cat, he’ll let the rest of the crew figure out the solution for him. It’s not like he could do anything useful; he's a cat.
The sun feels awfully good on his fur, though, especially as Chopper holds him. Zoro huffs. They’ll solve his problem eventually. For now, he’ll enjoy the best nap of his life.
Usopp is fifteen when the Rumbar Pirates beg and plead to recruit him to their ranks, on their hands and knees and everything. And while Usopp’s a way better and more accomplished pirate captain than any of them, he’s moved by their pleas. He agrees to join their crew, if only to make sure a bunch of rookie pirates don’t get lost at sea. It’s his duty as a great warrior of the sea to protect the weak; he can’t say no to a pirate crew in need.
Well, no. That’s not exactly right.
Usopp is fifteen when he sneaks onto a pirate ship docked at the Syrup Village shipyard, falls asleep in the supply room, and wakes up half a world away with no way to get back home. When the Rumbar Pirates find him cowering beneath the deck, Usopp begs and pleads on his hands and knees to not be thrown overboard.
And for some reason, Captain Yorki accepts, welcoming him to the crew with open arms.
Usopp’s been their chore boy ever since, and while he can’t say he minds, it does leave him feeling wanting. He wanted to be a Great Warrior of the Sea, not mopping the decks every evening and hiding under them at any sniff of danger. He wanted more out of an adventure than that, but– well. For now, all he has are his own lies.
If anyone asks about why Usopp’s traveling with them, Usopp tells them a new lie each and every time. Every time he tells his story at port, one of his crewmates will call his bluff with a guffaw and a laugh, but he doesn’t mind. Somehow that’s easier to handle than admitting he accidentally joined a pirate crew, and they pitied him enough to keep him on as their chore boy.
He’s not a bad chore boy, the Rumbar Pirates seem satisfied enough with his duties, and they even invite him to every music night and egg him on into telling stories. And they’re stories of his own grand adventures that he’s never had, and they all listen, but it’s not exactly what Usopp wants.
Usopp wants an adventure he can be proud to wax on about, but it’s always just out of reach because of his own weak knees and weaker heart. He’s a very sane, rational person; he wants an adventure, but he also doesn’t want to die. Those two activities just overlap a lot more than he expected, that’s all.
So when he hears a rumor about a mysterious devil fruit that could keep a man alive forever, well. It sounds like the perfect remedy to each and every one of Usopp’s problems.
It takes him a while to track down the rumor. Everyone he asks has a slightly different idea of who has the devil fruit and where they’ve hid it; an old pirate buried it on the island long ago, a witch high in the mountains hoards it for herself one day but is too afraid to eat it, a lone Marine ate the fruit by accident and now haunts the tunnels under the village. Usopp’s sure to throw his own theories into the mix, just to act as a red herring for anyone else looking for the fruit, but none of them pan out to be right.
After digging useless holes around the entire island, trekking up an entire mountain side, and nearly scaring himself to death in the tunnels under the village, Usopp finds himself at his wit’s end. Every single rumor turned out to be false, every single lead useless.
By twilight, Usopp’s sure he’s never going to find the Revive-Revive fruit. Grumbling to himself, he sits on the beach and throws stones into the water, enjoying the angry plopping noise they make.
“Stupid Revive-Revive fruit,” he mutters, bringing his knees to his chest. “What was I thinking? If no one else found it, why’d I be the first?”
He throws one more stone into the ocean; now that his mission is a complete failure, he needs to find his way back to the Rumbar Pirates before they leave him here.
Examining the coastline, Usopp’s really gone way too far from town. He’s on the other side of the mountain, the steep cliffs impossible to climb over. He’ll need to go the long way around unless he finds another option here, and he really doesn’t want to go through the tunnels again.
Just under the cliffside, if Usopp watches closely, he thinks he sees a cave. The tide ebbs and flows around it, and by the way the water moves Usopp is sure that there’s something there. If that cave goes straight through the mountain, he’ll be back to the Rumbar Pirates in no time.
Usopp wouldn’t normally enter a mysterious cave on the cliffside, but he’s desperate. He needs to get back before the sun sets, and he’s pretty sure this stupid cave is the only way to do it.
The swim over is easy enough, even if the water is starting to cool. He has to battle against the tides to make it into the cave without being tossed into the coast line, but when he does enter he’s met with a small, cool cave, with a large pocket of air and a large alcove above water.
Scrambling onto the land in the cave, Usopp realizes with disappointment that the cave goes nowhere. This isn’t the secret tunnel to the other side of the island, this is a complete dead end. All he can see are harsh, gray cave walls, barely dried and slippery, and a sandy shore.
There’s a bright red X drawn in the center of the room, which is odd, but…
…but considering the rumors had a witch in the mountains, a man in the tunnels, and a buried pirate treasure, treasure buried in a cave under the mountain side seems awfully suspicious.
Is this it?! Did Usopp accidentally find it?! He almost can’t believe it; after his entire failed trek around the island, did he actually find the Revive-Revive fruit?!
With his bare hands, Usopp digs and digs until, sure enough, his fingernails hit metal. The chest he finds is old and worn, and it takes a couple of tugs for Usopp to unbury it properly.
When he opens it, his heart beating loudly in his ears, he sees it: the Revive-Revive fruit. The answer to all his problems.
Without even second guessing himself, Usopp surges forward and shoves the thing in his mouth. It tastes awful, but he’s sure to eat every last bite of the fruit. He doesn’t feel any different, he mostly just feels sick to his stomach.
He’s done it. He’s conquered death itself, he’s conquered fear, he’s going to be a proper Rumbar Pirate and he’s going to be a proper Warrior of the Sea. No one can stop him now, not even Death himself. Death quakes before his power, even if he doesn’t feel any different than normal.
Cackling to himself, Usopp preens at his newfound power. Then, he looks out to the exit to the cave, the exit that’s completely under sea water.
Oh.
Oh.
His heart sinks; Devil Fruit users can’t swim, can they? Is he trapped here? Is he trapped here until he dies?
He’d thought eating a Devil Fruit that brought him back from the dead would mean he’d have no reason to be afraid of anything anymore. Yet here he is, alone in a cave, paralyzed at the sound of the crashing waves just outside. What good is the Revive-Revive Fruit if he could still drown?
He wanted– well, he wanted to be more than what he is, an accidental chore boy on an accidental adventure, but now he’s just an accidental chore boy, trapped in a cave for all eternity because he didn’t think long enough to eat the Devil Fruit after swimming through the ocean.
“No, no, no,” Usopp mutters, pacing alone in a cave. This one random cave, his eternal resting place. “I’m going to die. Wait– no, I can’t die. I’m never going to die. I’m going to not-die here forever.”
Panic claws at him relentlessly. It’s a familiar feeling, but what’s unfamiliar is his total and utter helplessness. There’s nothing he can do. The cave walls are impenetrable, the sand beneath his feet leads nowhere, and the water is out of the question. Oh, why didn’t he just wait?
Tears streaming down his face, Usopp does the only remaining thing he can do.
“HELP ME,” he yells, with all the air in his lungs. “CAPTAIN YORKI! HELP ME!”
It feels like hours of yelling, pleading, until there’s a sudden splash in the water. Jolting up, Usopp holds the chest he found high up over his head to prepare and strike.
“You don’t want to eat me! I can’t die!” Usopp proclaims, then throws the chest into the water, missing the mark entirely.
It’s a good thing he does, because when Usopp’s gaze finally focuses, he sees Captain Yorki staring up at him.
“C-Captain?!” Usopp says, falling to his knees. “I– I– what are you doing here?!”
Captain Yorki pulls himself out of the water, onto the sand shores. He frowns at Usopp, looking remarkably serious for how light-hearted he typically is, then shakes the water out of his hair.
“You woke up the whole island with your yelling, kid,” Captain Yorki says. “And any of us could recognize your sorry yell from leagues away.”
Usopp’s so relieved he doesn’t even feel admonished. The Captain’s here, the Captain’s going to save him–
“--what the hell are you doing in a cave, Usopp? Normally you’re the only bastard I can trust to not get into trouble.”
–the Captain doesn’t know he ate a Devil Fruit.
“Um, I–” Usopp starts. His voice sounds weak and raspy from all the yelling. “W-well, I saw a hapless creature in need, of course, a–” he tries to imagine why he’d end up in a cave. “--a whale! A baby whale, lost from its herd, and I, uh–”
“Usopp,” Captain Yorki says.
“There’s no whale,” Usopp says. “I…”
He got into all this trouble for a Devil Fruit, and he doesn’t even want to admit it. He’s put the Rumbar Pirates through an awful lot of trouble, hasn’t he?
Captain Yorki sits down next to him, his own feet still in the water.
“Let me tell you a story for once,” he say. “About how the Rumbar Pirates lost their chore boy on a terrifying island, and had to go on a wild goose chase to find him. All the townspeople kept telling us about how he’d been asking around about a treasure on the island. Something about a devil fruit, and a witch in a cave, and a skeletal musician.”
Usopp huffs; the skeletal musician was one of his red herrings.
“The story that worried them the most was the one about their chore boy looking for a Devil Fruit rumored to be on the island. Especially when he never showed up, not even after sunset.”
“I’d never eat a devil fruit,” Usopp tries. By the Captain’s critical look, he doesn’t quite believe him.
“And then the yelling started,” he continues, ignoring Usopp. “Everywhere on the island we could hear our chore boy’s pathetic cries, and we couldn’t sail off without him, so–”
There’s no way that’s true. There’s no– he’s not even really a Rumbar Pirate.
“You wouldn’t set sail without me?” Usopp interrupts. “You’d have stayed until I showed up?”
Another long look, then Captain Yorki ruffles Usopp’s hair. “Of course we would’ve,” he confirms. “Can’t leave behind a kid who’d risk his life for a baby whale, lost from its herd, eh?”
Usopp sniffs. “You know that’s not real, right?” He scrubs at his eyes with the base of his palm, but he doesn’t seem to be able to wipe away his tears. “I made it up.”
Laughing loudly, Yorki smiles wide, looking way too amused. “Of course you made it up! We all know you make everything up. There’s nothing better for a crew of musicians than an excellent storyteller.”
“You didn’t have to eat a Devil Fruit for that,” he says. “We’d have looked around for you, anyway. Can’t leave our own liar behind.”
Usopp swallows thickly; he didn’t know they actually, really didn’t mind having him along. He just thought– well, he didn’t know what he thought. Maybe that they’d leave him behind for the next chore boy they found.
“You’ve got yourself in an awful pickle here, though,” Captain Yorki says, looking out to the exit of the cave, frowning. “You’ll need to hold your breath. It won’t be pleasant. Is that going to be a problem?”
Of course it’ll be a problem. Usopp’s knees feel weak under him; what were the effects of sea water on Devil Fruit users? Something horrible he’s sure. Something painful and terrible and sickening and sure to kill him before he’s left.
Captain Yorki waits patiently, feet kicking in the water.
Usopp sucks in one breath, steadying himself. “Of course it’s not a problem!” he proclaims, tears in his eyes. “I’ve held my breath for longer than that! I’ve held my breath for years! I’ve…”
He hasn’t done any of that. He hasn’t done anything of much value yet, really. But if he sticks around with the Rumbar Pirates for a little longer, maybe he will.
This is not how Sanji expected this island adventure to go down.
When the Sunny ported at an idyllic spring island in the middle of an annual festival dedicated to romance, Sanji thought he was in a dream. Everywhere he looked there was a romantic vignette, from the secluded benches with perfect cliffside views off the water to the countless intimate restaurants with oceanside seating. There were food stalls up and down the island’s main road, all selling unique specialities the likes of which Sanji had never seen before.
There’s never been an island that appealed to Sanji more specifically than this. It's perfect.
And yet he doesn’t get to experience the perfect night of romance with one of the lovely women on the island. No, instead he’s stuck with Luffy.
As soon as they port, Luffy drags him around by the arm and says they’re going on an adventure today, and despite Sanji’s very loud and desperate protests Sanji’s along for the ride. Everyone else on the crew had already left, leaving him the only one to make sure Luffy didn’t either piss off someone important or eat something inedible.
And despite Sanji’s best efforts, Luffy still eats something inedible. It’s a pastry from a shop that forbad Devil Fruit users from buying anything, and yet Luffy still did. The pastry makes him wrinkle up like a salted snail, and the only cure is apparently a goodnight’s sleep.
What a damn joke.
And so instead of enjoying the festival, sampling the cuisine, romancing the women of the island, Sanji drags a half-catatonic Luffy to the nearest inn so he could sleep off his mistake.
“So, what? Typical suite?” The inn clerk says, bored. He pages through a book in front of him, not even looking Sanji in the eyes.
Maybe fighting the inn clerk would make him feel better, but no. He’s on a mission here. Sanji takes one deep breath in and one long breath out.
“One typical suite,” he grits out, throwing a handful of Berri on the counter. Luffy almost falls off his shoulder as he does. “For whatever room you have that’s already set up, I don’t care as long as it’s available now.”
The clerk shuffles through his desk without even looking away from his book, fumbling around until he plucks out a small key with a large pink heart keychain with Room 15 engraved on the front. It chimes loudly as Sanji grabs the thing and shoves it into his pocket.
“Thanks,” Sanji says. The clerk simply grunts.
Dragging around an ungrateful Luffy, Sanji ignores any and all protests on his mission to find the room. Each of the doors are brightly colored with little hearts engraved around the side, and it doesn’t take him long to find Room 15.
The door opens easily, creaking up slowly. Shoving Luffy inside, he flops on the ground as Sanji shuts the door behind him. He locks it for good measure, shoves the key as deep into his pocket as he can considering how large the heart keychain is, and takes a look at the room.
The room is lit only by candlelight, soft flames make the pastels of the walls and decor glow. Despite the obnoxious size of the keychain, the theming of the room is remarkably subtle by comparison; it’s a normal inn with dark wood furnishings and soft floral touches, and one tall, floor to ceiling window with an unobstructed view of the ocean. The smell’s subtle, too, a soft seabreeze with a hint of floral.
Okay, fine. Things are looking up for him, he and Luffy can get a goodnight’s sleep, Sanji can wake up early in the morning, and he can explore the island to his heart’s content. A romantic breakfast isn’t as ideal as a romantic dinner, but he’ll take what he can get. He looks around the room for the beds, and–
With a jolt, Sanji realizes that there’s only one bed.
That makes a remarkable amount of sense. Of course. Of course this is a typical suite on the island of romance. It’s perfect and lovely and he’s here with Luffy. It makes Sanji want to cry on the floor and drown in a puddle of his own tears.
“Hey, Sanji,” Luffy calls from the floor; he still links wrinkly, but at least he’s talking again. “Sanji, where are we? What happened to the food? And the festival? We were having so much fun.”
“You ate poison, dumbass,” Sanji says. He picks Luffy up by the scruff and sets him down on the edge of the bed, watching as he practically melts into it. Before he has the chance to crush it, Sanji takes off Luffy’s hat and sets it on the dresser. “You need to sleep it off.”
“That’s so lame,” Luffy says, flopping down on the bed. He tries uselessly to grab at Sanji, he’s still wrinkly and weak. “I wanted to do the whole festival.”
So had Sanji; in retrospect, Luffy dragging him around did mean he got to experience as much of the island’s food as possible. Every booth had its own specialty, from freshly seared meats to delicate pastries, and Luffy made sure to drag him along to every single one of them. That was somewhat unusual in itself; Sanji expected him to stay by the barbeque and eat the island’s entire stock of meat, but instead they got the full sample of the island.
Including the mysterious pastry that somehow took Luffy out of commission.
“You’ll have time in the morning, as long as you don’t eat anything stupid again,” he says. He takes off Luffy’s shoes then shoves him further up the bed so he’s not hanging half off of it. “What even possessed you to eat that thing? There were plenty of warning signs saying Devil Fruit users shouldn’t buy them.”
“But I wanted to try everything with you,” Luffy complains. “Isn’t that what you wanted to do?”
Sanji snorts. “Yeah, well, unlike you, I didn’t turn into a snail after eating a croissant.”
The noise of complaint Luffy makes is as passionate as it is pathetic.
Sanji could probably leave Luffy now; he’s fine. He’s probably fine, Sanji doesn’t need to babysit him all night. He can enjoy himself on the island himself, like he planned on.
Luffy tries to hold himself up by his forearms, then falls back down onto the bed with a pathetic groan. He looks truly miserable, his hair mussed unevenly and his skin still wrinkly. He's like a fish set out to dry.
No, there’s no way Sanji could just leave him here. With a dejected sigh, he starts taking off his shoes, and then his tie, setting them together with Luffy’s hat on the dresser. They don’t have actual sleepwear, so just that will have to do.
“Get under the covers and scoot over,” Sanji says. “We’ll finish the festival in the morning, okay?”
With a hum of agreement, Luffy squirms around the bed until he’s halfway under the covers. He doesn’t seem to be able to manage much more, pouting up at Sanji with his cheek pressed into the bed, one leg fully over the covers and the other just over them.
“Idiot,” Sanji grumbles again, scooting himself in bed right beside Luffy, trying to get the entire bedspread over them both. “You can’t pout, this is your damn fault.”
As soon as Sanji’s horizontal under the covers, Luffy whines and clings to him as much as he’s able to. It amounts to one arm over Sanji’s chest and his nose pressed into his shoulder, his legs still not fully under the covers with how much he’s squirming.
“But you had fun, right?” Luffy asks, his breath hot against Sanji’s shoulder. “You liked the, uh…” he struggles; Sanji can feel him frowning. “You liked the fruit things. The lemon dragon one.”
“The dragon fruit tart with lemon curd,” he says. He did like those best; the flavor profile was unusual, and he bought a second one just to examine how the baker flavored the tart crust itself with lemon zest, just subtle enough to compliment the curd. “Yeah, I liked those best.”
He’s expecting Luffy to go on, but instead he doesn’t. Then, there’s a loud snore in his ear, and Sanji realizes he’s fallen fast asleep.
Well, he’s not sneaking away now. So much for Sanji’s adventure on the island of romance; the place offered so much promise, too. Each of the food stalls he and Luffy visited were perfect, and if Luffy hadn’t been taken out of commission, they’d have toured the entire island before nightfall.
Despite Luffy’s typical reckless adventure, he’d even taken the time to bundle up their snacks to some of the better lookout points, too. His mouth watered the whole time, like he was ready to pounce, but grumbled and dragged Sanji up to one of the benches with a view of the water. They’d eaten their tarts, there, Sanji chattering the whole time about how this island had the perfect conditions for fruit trees.
It was, frankly, nice. Sanji wished he’d gotten his perfect date, but really, he’d have just done everything Luffy took him on today.
The soft sound of the waves outside is barely audible over the sound of Sanji’s heart in his own throat. That wasn’t– that wasn’t Luffy’s ideal adventure, Luffy had taken him on Sanji’s perfect adventure, from going to every single food cart to trying everything he could, even if he didn’t like it, up to and including a pastry that made him wrinkle up.
This was a date, wasn’t it? And Sanji didn't mind. Actually, he rather enjoyed it, up until Luffy took himself out of commission. He’d been so disappointed about the night ending, he hadn’t even thought about the details before.
Luffy mumbles something incomprehensible in his sleep, pressing up further into Sanji. Sanji can’t seem to calm down, his face heating as he realizes Luffy essentially took him on a date, and Sanji booked them a room in what amounts to a romantic honeymoon suite.
“Shit.” Luffy grumbles beside him, holding him closer. “Oh, no,” Sanji says. He just went on a romantic date? With Luffy? “What the hell.”
He hadn’t minded the date. He really hadn’t minded the date, and Sanji has a bad feeling that the thought is going to keep him up all night, and ruin his chances of a date with anyone other than Luffy in the morning.
Groaning, he tries to force his eyes closed, listening to the gentle sound of waves and Luffy’s considerably less gentle snoring. Then, in a moment of pure curiosity and self indulgence, Sanji puts one hand on Luffy’s head, carding his fingers through his hair. He makes a satisfied sigh, and Sanji’s heart races without his permission.
Oh, no.
This is not how Sanji expected this island adventure to go.
Reiju knew to expect something off. A simple footnote in her mission file warned her about this possibility. Expect visions of other realities. Likely Devil Fruit user. Can cause lasting damage, prepare for powerful foes. She hadn’t asked any additional questions on the matter; any question would run the risk of being read as fear, so she’s learned to handle her concerns privately.
So instead, she’d prepared to run into a version of herself. That in itself wasn’t hard; antidotes, disguises, and the like should be enough to handle herself. At her worst, she expected to deal with a worse version of Niji; emotionless and cruel but clever enough to punish her in interesting ways.
She certainly hadn’t expected this.
“You’ve been looking at the menu for quite some time, ma’am,” says a version of herself. Her bright pink hair is the same, as are the eyebrows. It’s definitely Reiju herself, as shocking as it is to see herself dressed as a simple waitress. “Do you have questions about anything? Would you like to start with an appetizer, a drink?”
The only preparation that’s been helpful has been her disguise. The alternate Reiju is regarding her like she would any other customer, apparently, with sweet politeness and fraying patience. Her smile is strained, and her eyes keep darting back to the kitchens.
“Oh, I’ll have whatever you recommend,” Reiju says with a smile, pushing her menu across the table. “The chef’s special.”
Alternate Reiju’s eyebrow twitches, emotions plain and unexpected on her face for just a moment. “I see,” she says slowly, like she’s getting a handle on herself. “Thanks for taking both of our precious time to come to that conclusion. I’ll let the chef know.”
Then, she snatches up the menu and turns back to the kitchen, her heels clicking loudly on the floor as she does.
She’s irritable and impatient, her own mask failing easily like she's never learned to properly maintain it. Reiju tries to place her age– maybe seventeen at best. She’s always been much better at shielding her reactions, though, even as a child. This version of herself is oddly easy to read, considerably less on guard than she should be.
How strange.
Reiju only stopped at this restaurant to collect some intel unrelated to the potential Devil Fruit user and their alternate reality powers, but she seems to have walked straight into the vision itself. She watches herself take orders from nearby tables, and she watches as her polite, masked expression falters just a little, each and every time.
She’s never faltered like that herself; she hasn’t been given the chance to. And yet here alternate Reiju is, showing her emotions at the mere irritation of customers. Like her only worries these days are irritating customers, rather than– well, rather than acting as the perfect, cruel crown princess of Germa.
Reiju had prepared for a monster, but instead, she’s faced with a girl.
A girl who is shrinking on her job. Reiju watches as her alternate self keeps favoring going back to one table in particular, a group of young Marine recruits. There’s one of them she keeps picking on in particular, seeming to delight in riling her up until her face is red and her glasses falling off her face.
It takes a yell from the kitchen for her to move, and she walks away with a self-satisfied smug grin that only fades when she hurries back to the kitchen for another order.
Her alternate self is happy, Reiju realizes. Despite the annoyance at acting as a waitress, she’s unguarded in a way that Reiju herself never is. There’s a light laugh from the kitchens, when Reiju barely recognizes as her own, the sound being so unfamiliar to her.
It’s almost like looking at an entirely different person. If it weren’t for the bright pink hair and recognizable eyebrows, Reiju wouldn’t even recognize herself. Is this what she’d be like, if she hadn’t been raised in Germa?
She can’t help but frown. Seeing herself with a chance is worse than seeing herself as a monster. Reiju would have much rather fought someone with the disposition of her brothers, at least that would be satisfying.
Instead, she’s left feeling completely carved out; she’s watching a better version of herself lead a life she hadn’t ever thought about ever having.
She's long since accepted her lot in life; to a vision of something else playing out in front of her like this is cruel.
After considerably longer than expected, alternate Reiju arrives with her chef’s special. It’s a warm stew, something that her own mother would have made when Reiju was much younger. It so strongly resembles it that Reiju has a bad idea that she knows who’s in the kitchen.
She doesn’t want to see. She doesn’t want to confirm it.
“Oh, I haven’t had a dish like this since I was in the North Blue,” Reiju says. “Are you and the chef from there?”
There’s a flicker of something more recognizable on alternate Reiju’s face; fear. Now that’s finally familiar.
“No, the chef’s not from the North Blue,” she says. “We're from–” Her alternate self pauses, hands fidgeting on the table. “Not the North Blue.”
Lying is a skill this Reiju has never had to practice. It makes her unexpectedly jealous.
“That’s a shame,” Reiju says. She pauses, watching her alternate self freeze up. “Could you give me compliments to the chef, regardless?”
“Of course,” she says in a rush. Fear still marks her expression, looking Reiju up and down. “I’ll– I’ll go inform the chef. Enjoy your meal.”
Then, she scurries away, her heels clattering as she does.
The dish is filling, but Reiju can’t bring herself to finish it. There’s a life she needs to go back to, one that is considerably less kind. If this vision isn’t going to be a threat, she needs to cut this short.
And, if she's honest with herself, she needs to cut this short before she's attempted to take a page out of her alternate self's book.
Picking herself up, she leaves a bundle of Berri on the table, pushes her chair in, and walks out without confirming any more information on the life she could’ve had.
The Grand Line is a mysterious place; Usopp really shouldn’t be surprised when he wakes up feeling out of sorts. He’s woken up in weirder ways than having an empty, ravenous appetite; this is nothing. He must’ve eaten something weird the night before, leaving his stomach an empty, bottomless pit. Perfectly fine.
Usopp tries to pick himself up out of his hammock, and his foot doesn’t hit the ground. That’s weird; his hammock is closest to the ground. He stretches a bit more, then a bit more, and still, nothing.
Then, Usopp stretches out way too far, way farther than should be physically possible, until his foot hits the floor. His leg feels like absolute jello. His heart rackets in his chest.
That’s not fine.
His chin warbling, he looks over the edge of his hammock until he sees one long leg stretching all the way from the top bunk down to the floor.
“Luffy,” he says. Luffy’s voice comes out of his mouth. Oh, no. “Luffy, what did you do?!”
“Eh, what do you mean, what did I do?” That’s not Luffy’s voice; that’s not even his own voice. “I’m– wait, woah! Why am I so tiny?! Why do I sound so weird?!”
“Hey, Chopper, quit freaking out,” comes Usopp’s own voice. “Wait– what? Why do I sound like Usopp?”
There’s a loud thunk; Usopp watches in horror as his own body hits the floor. Usopp’s body picks himself up off the ground, shoves his hands in his pockets, and peers around the room with a critical derision that looks alien on his face.
“What the hell?” he asks. “Usopp, you shithead, what did you do?!”
“I didn’t do anything!” Usopp yells, his voice still sounding like Luffy. “Who are you?! Is that you, Sanji?!”
“How curious. The Grand Line is a mysterious place, isn’t it?” says Zoro, sounding way too damn calm for Zoro. Who the hell is he swapped with? “It seems like we’ve all swapped bodies.”
The noise the crew makes is as loud as it is confusing.
By the time they all get out of bed and onto the deck, Zoro– well, Robin, who swapped with Zoro– explains that they must’ve passed by some mysterious mist that swapped them all around, just like an old story she read. She assured them that they would all be fine, they just needed to wait it out until the effect faded.
If only it were that simple.
Instead, the entire crew is caught in the mess of being swapped with each other. Chopper-as-Sanji tries to chase down and lecture Sanji-as-Usopp down for his clear and obvious nicotine withdrawal symptoms, Nami-as-Robin sprouts way too many limbs all at once and almost turns the Merry over, and Luffy-as-Chopper tries to steal Chopper’s rumble balls while he’s otherwise occupied.
Usopp tries, he really tries to grab Luffy before he grabs the rumble balls, but his arms refuse to listen. They stretch out like limp snakes, his fingers wiggling on the deck helplessly.
“This is the worst,” Usopp complains. He tries to bring Luffy’s arm back to him but he manages to get it stuck, looped around the mast. “How long did Robin say this would last?!”
“I don’t know what you’re all complaining about, this is great!” Robin– well, Nami– says. She’s using several of Robin’s arms to unfurl the sails and steer the ship, gleeful as she sits perched on the top deck. “I don’t need any of you to steer the ship now!”
“Oh great, then you can just boss Robin around instead of us next time,” says Zoro-as-Nami.
“What, so you can just laze around all day?! Oh, right, that's what you already do!” Nami-as-Robin counters, trying to hit Zoro in the face. She miscalculates, uses the wrong arm, and hits herself in the back of her head. “Ow ow ow! Oh, this is all your fault, Zoro! I can’t believe you’re stuck in my body!”
“Hey! I don’t like it any more than you do!”
There's a low whine on deck, like the sound of a tea kettle.
“Shut up! You should be glad you swapped with Nami-san, you– you shitty- you-” Zoro-as-Nami turns to face Sanji-as-Usopp, and Sanji's face contorts through a series of rapid emotions before settling on abject horror. “I can’t even yell at you like this!”
“This is a disaster,” Usopp mutters, watching Sanji’s ongoing breakdown. “At least everything is somewhat under control now.”
Robin-as-Zoro is the only sane one, Usopp decides. Everyone else is a weck.
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. If we run into any trouble, none of us will be able to fight, will we?” says Zoro– no, says Robin. She smiles, and it looks absolutely horrifying on Zoro’s face. “What an interesting way to go.”
Usopp turns to face her. Robin-as-Zoro smiles at him sweetly again, as sweet as a deadly poison.
No, he’s changed his mind. This is a disaster for absolutely everyone involved; they’re going to be lucky to make it the next hour, much less the next day. They’re all going to die.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: One Piece (Anime & Manga)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Roronoa Zoro & Tony Tony Chopper, Roronoa Zoro & Sanji
Characters: Roronoa Zoro, Tony Tony Chopper, Sanji (One Piece)
Additional Tags: Angst, Post-Wano Arc (One Piece), Death Pact, Bittersweet Ending
Summary:
as with the last long fic I wrote, I have some extended author's notes on the fic haha. posting them to Tumblr was fun the last time, so without further ado:
Hockey Details
I went into this set up being like ‘i know a reverse sweep isn’t likely but it IS dramatic so i’ll do it’ and then i watched in awe/horror as the Panther’s 3-0 lead shrunk down to 3-3 and the oilers were set to pull of a reverse sweep (and spoil the end of my fanfic.). The oilers ALMOST did it but whiffed it at the end. Still, wild timing for me. We’re living in one of Connor McDavid’s failed timeloops.
I have a like, novice level understanding of hockey but a huge amount of enthusiasm. A time loop was the best plot to get around that– i only have to focus on one hockey match rather than the logistics of an entire season or more. There’s still a lot more i could do if i understood the game more, but hey, i was here for the fights and i provided for myself.
The Baratie Steelheads and the Syrup Village Sockeyes aren’t the most fitting names for the both (types of salmon), but they are names that were on the Seattle Kraken’s original team name shortlist, so it was an easter egg for myself.
Sanji’s entire contract thing is definitely over the top plot contrivance, but there’s a certain amount of over the top required when adapting his backstory. The Steelheads leaving Baratie is inspired by the poor Arizona Coyotes being relocated. RIP to the Coyotes, coolest jerseys in the league squandered by poor management
Most the fights were actually based on hockey clips from twitter lol. thanks for the insp hockey
Character Details
I didn’t include all the character details for the strawhats, primarily because it’s Sanji’s POV and he’s mostly focused on zoro. But, for the list, with more details about characters with less screentime lol:
Luffy: Captain, Center. I think he’s pretty versatile and also sometimes plays LW/RW, but he’s primarily the Strawhats center and captain, with a huge near-elastic reach
Zoro: Defenseman, though a particularly offensive d-man and an enforcer. Roughly, this is basically an unofficial role for the guy who starts fights with people who make dirty plays.
Nami: Technically the social media manager of the team, acts more like the team’s overall manager. Team manager kind of seems like a lazy spot to put her in, but i like to think she’s a travel enthusiast and expenses it all on the company card lol
Usopp: LW/RW, and one of the top scorers when he’s backed up properly. Pretty underrated when initially being recruited, but shines under the Pirates’ strategy
Sanji: LW, and a pest. Basically he annoys people into fighting him HAHA. the perfect role for him. I wanted him to be LW primarily for the whole pirate king’s wings energy
Vivi: owner of the alabasta ducks! And a former olympic figure skater. Her and nami have a complicated on again / off again relationship, which mostly comes up whenever there’s a Ducks vs Pirates game (and they either get together / break up)
Chopper: ok, chopper was a complicated decision. I was caught between him being a gentle giant of a defenseman VS him being team doctor, but in the end decided that doctor required less justification
Robin: Robin was difficult to fit in. I ended up deciding on her being the Pirates local commentator. Commentator is fun at the least because there’s a lot of context/history/etc of the players on the ice you need to know to be good at the job, and i think she’d be HILARIOUS
Franky: Goalie! Franky fits well as goalie, first of all because of how beefy goalie equipment is, and second of all because a goalie with a big personality is quite fun. There’s something extremely fitting about him doing the ‘super’ move with leg guards
Brook is the Pirates DJ! What Else. i think he picks great songs for the stadium. zoro tells him to use mamma mia as sanji’s song and sanji nearly sends him into an early grave.
Jinbe: coach He was initially the goalie in a very early draft, but coach makes sense in terms of how he’d be able to support the team and his general level headedness. There’s a lot of clips of Paul Maurice, the Panther’s current coach, having this absolutely chill energy about him that’d work so well
Plotting/Planning Thoughts
I decided on ‘Double Overtime’ as the title pretty quickly, just because it’s (a) a hockey term and (b) a fun way to describe two people (double) caught in a time loop (overtime). The emphasis on double overtime as a win condition came after the title
I decided on ‘Mamma Mia’ and ‘Waterloo’ as the main song insp for these early on. Mamma Mia itself is this good mix of an upbeat song that’s just a bit sad and just a bit ominous, and the lyrics can be fun for a time loop (‘here I go again’). Waterloo was always the credits song (‘i feel like i win when I lose’ come on now)
I decided that I’d post in early June like the actual Stanley Cups, and 6/6 was decided on as the in-date and IRL start of the time loop because it’s Germa Day (66): something kind of poetic about Germa fucking up their perfect win on Germa day
Time Loop Win Condition
The time loop win condition! Zoro was always going to win and Sanji was always going to lose, but the details took a bit to figure out. I knew it was going to incorporate (a) him trusting Zoro and reaching out for help (impossible task for him), (b) him wanting to play hockey on a team that doesn’t hate him, (c) remix of Sanji’s Baratie arc, and (d) the concept of double overtime.
There was a lot of changing around on what exactly Sanji would be able to do; initial drafts actually had him coming out pretty clean from the double overtime deal (saving the Baratie) but that didn’t feel earned, I liked the kind of bittersweet selfish sacrifice of letting the team go, otherwise it’d feel a bit too contrived. this is already a late reveal loophole— it wouldn’t feel earned without that tinge of regret
In the end i liked what I went with, though I think I could’ve built up a little bit more before hand, and had a bit more emotional consequence to Baratie’s relocation. But ive written like, FIVE separate sad zeff phone calls in the last few months, i decided i had Enough. I had to Limit Myself. Only one sad zeff phone call this time for me ok
things to do differently
Look at me!!! Finishing a fic before i post!!! This was good actually, and meant the pacing was better than what i did with my last long fic lmao. Still had some issues imo, but considerably stronger on keeping scenes regularly paced. I should always do this.
IMO after reread (after it being finished for weeks) i think one of the weaker points is just really sanji’s apology– zoro figures out the duel time loop deal fairly fast (benefit of relying on other people) and folds pretty easily. I mean he’s unfortunately smitten but it doesn’t change the fact that he was hurt. There’s a specific degree of pulled punches I do sometimes with emotional moments that I’d like to get better at, but live and learn lol
Intermission
Hey i had a lot of notes on zoro’s POV the entire time loop. and also a lot of thoughts on the fade to black scene of my T rated fanfic. There were three main points I wanted to explore with Zoro’s POV
First: there’s a fun contrast with Zoro (VS Sanji) both feeling utterly alone as the lone person in the time loop and having an actual support network. Sanji talks to basically Iva, Zoro, and Reiju only during his loop, and all of them he keeps at arm’s length, but Zoro is both deadset on winning for his team, and lets his team helps him. Sanji is meanwhile stewing in his own anger alone, despite knowing he’s not the only person stuck there
Second: Zoro is way more of a time loop speedrunner. He has the timeline down pat. He thinks about the details of the game. He’s shaving off minutes of conversations. Sanji doesn’t plan as much, primarily because Zoro’s an unknown that shakes up the loop too much.
Third: the hookup lol. i liked the idea of their hookup being good but limited emotionally due to how closed off and testy sanji still is about the time loop– in the end an extension of him refusing to show zoro his own injuries. There is that enticing flash of vulnerability at the end, but then Zoro’s back to square one.
One of the first times i’ve written not like, funny porn for Z/S (which is my default), so look at me. Varying the porn i guess. congrats
epilogue
I have a lot of thoughts on an extended epilogue HAHA. i felt bad adding a secret sad smut chapter but not having the chance to do the opposite; i had one going but i spent like 4k on a luffy recruitment scene and decided… another time…
Zoro is smug about the whole ‘you only get to touch the stanley cup if you WIN!!!’ thing and uses it as an excuse to be the one to touch sanji in the pwp, since he never got the chance in the loop.
I also think luffy takes the stanley cup into the middle of the ocean, gives the one piece speech as usopp livestreams, and tosses it into the sea. Zoro and sanji have to save it (this is how it’s revealed sanji is somehow being traded to the pirates)
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