#As Oda said: “This is a matter of reading comprehension”

[mvpsychic]

"Zoro would betray the crew" "Zoro would kill anyone in the crew if Luffy asked him to do so" And if I fucking kill YOU then what?

HE MOST CERTAINLY WOULD NOT ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN WATCHING??!

How HOW can you watch this anime or read the manga and still believe Zoro could be evil and have a scheming plan all along to betray them?

He would take one look (ONE) at Choppers little shiny eyes and crumble completely if he ever were to betray them (HE WON'T, STOP THIS MADNESS AND DON'T PISS ME OFF)

He is literally DREAMING of impressing Chopper. He loves that little guy. He would never in a million years hurt him like that.

He took all of Luffy's pain for himself, and when Sanji offered to do so himself and be the sacrifice instead, what did Zoro do? knock him out. To take the burden himself.

He promises Luffy he would never lose again until achieving his dream, while acknowledging and treating Luffy's own dream as a reality. To him, the sky is blue and Luffy is, or will inevitably be, the king of the pirates. (without even knowing what Luffy's dream actually implies)

He bows his head to the same man he vowed to defeat for the sake of his captain and his crew (lets remember for a second that the reason he and everyone in the crew trained was NOT to achieve their own dreams, but to see their captain achieve his and be there to witness it).

He offered Kaido to smash his head instead of Luffy's when he knew he was not strong enough to defeat him just to buy Luffy some time.

AND LOOK AT HOW HAPPY HE IS TO SEE LUFFY AFTER, IDK, A WEEK WITHOUT SEEING EACHOTHER! how can you look at that expression and think "yeah he is a traitor and he secretly hates him and his crew so much" HUHH???

He looks at Luffy, a small brained stupid little lovable stretchy guy, with admiration. Look at that face. He would never wish REAL harm upon any of them. He wants to cut Sanji on the daily, but that doesn't really count.

He was ready to cut his feet off for their sake, and he was halfway there too! and he is always looking out for them. And just like these few examples, there's many more. So, yes, I refuse to ever engage the thought of Zoro being a traitor.

Besides, I do not believe Zoro is smart enough to pull something like that. That man is not that intelligent. "He could be deceiving us" huh? US? the readers and audience who know his every move, phrase and thought? really now?

Also, LUFFY WOULD NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS ASK ZORO TO DO SUCH A THING?? He picked his crew himself. He cherishes his crew like the treasures they are. He would die for them in a heartbeat. He is literally alive right now thanks to them (he would have lost himself after THAT otherwise). Every time a crew member "betrays him" he doesn't believe shit. He doesn't care as long as they come back to him unharmed. He wants his friends to be free, be happy, have adventures, achieve all of their dreams and eat to their hearts content.

He would rather eat every cherry pie in existence than have any of his crew members in pain, yet you believe he would go around just asking people to kill them?? you need psychological help if that's the case.

Now, anyone who genuinely believes that Zoro would ever do something like that, please don't even continue on watching the show or reading the manga, you CLEARLY are not paying attention and you are not enjoying shit.

I ask you to stop polluting this beautiful series and friendship with your nonsense.

[frywen-babbles]

Sounds of Silence pt5

A/N: TW: mentions of assault and violence, stalking

They stood awkwardly in the aisle, watching Oichi find her way through the clothing racks, picking up clothes here and there. After what felt like hours (but was probably no more than 20 minutes) Oichi wandered back to them with a huge pile of clothes in her arms and took her arm to lead her towards the fitting rooms. She looked helplessly at Mitsunari while being dragged away and Mitsunari couldn't help but follow.

Almost as soon as the door to the fitting room closed after her, Mitsunari felt his phone buzz in his pocket.

<cant u do smthng abt miss Oichi>    <I don't think anything can save us from her anymore.> <ths is way 2 much> <cant affrd it>

Mitsunari glanced at Oichi who looked like she was eagerly waiting for her to come out of the fitting room.

   <Just roll with it and maybe we’ll make it back alive.> <ur tlkng like ths is a battle or smthng lol> <fine> <shes been so nice 2 me i dnt evn know hw 2 repay>

Several pairs of pants and skirts later Oichi handed her a sleeveless dress a wide smile on her lips.

“I’m sure it’ll look amazing on you. Go on, try it on!” Oichi ushered her back to the fitting room, but it took way longer than it should have for her to come out.

<i cant>    <It can’t look that bad.>

Slowly she opened the door and stepped out. The dress looked good on her, but it wasn't what drew his attention. There were faint finger marks on her neck and bruises on her arms.

Neither he or Oichi said anything. She turned her head away from them, hugging herself, but just when she was about to step back into the fitting room Oichi reached for her.

"It's a little cold for sleeveless clothes yet, don't you think?" Oichi draped a cardigan over her shoulders and offered her a smile. A smile she returned after a few seconds before bowing at her gratefully.

"I'm sorry," she said to him, "I didn't mean for you to see this..." She bowed to him as well, but he shook his head annoyed.

"It's not your fault what he did to you. Don't apologize."

"Sorry..."

"What did I just say?"

A silent laugh lit her face up. "Sorry, sorry!" she said again before she turned to Oichi and mouthed 'thank you'. "The dress really is nice, isn't it?" she asked, turning around in front of the mirror. All he could do was nod.

Somehow, Oichi managed to get bags filled with clothes for her, the poor bodyguards rendered to shopping assistants, their arms filled with shopping bags.

They were heading outside when he noticed she wasn't following them anymore. His heart made an uncomfortable thump before he spotted her at the electronics department, fingering large headphones excitement clear on her face.

He touched her shoulder to get her attention and she jumped a little bit, a sheepish smile replacing her surprise.

"People leave me alone when they know I can't hear them," she explained and was about to say something else when her eyes fell on a display a bit further down the aisle. "No way! They have the kitty ear headphones! I've wanted them as soon as I saw them!"

"Kitty headphones? Those are so cute! Do you want them?" Mitsunari was startled when he heard Oichi's voice next to him. He had been so mesmerized by her excitement he had completely missed Oichi’s arrival.

"Ahaha, I see this is the department I should have brought you for some stress relief shopping!"

The blush colouring her cheeks was so cute Mitsunari wished he could watch it all day. And the unguarded joy in her eyes when she finally held the headphones in her hands and tried them on was something that made him smile like an idiot.

***

The apartment she managed to find was already furnished. Something Mitsunari was sure Oichi had her fingers in but thought better of telling her about it. She felt bad enough already about all the things Oichi had done for her despite the fact it hadn't even been Oichi's idea to have her stay at the Oda residence.

The more she seemed to get her life back together, the lonelier Mitsunari felt. She had dragged him here and there to do some shopping, to her apartment to help her settle in, but now that everything was finished she mostly focused on working as much as possible.

His phone buzzed in his pocket in the middle of a lecture. He glanced at it to see who the message was from.

<can u pick me up frm wrk>    <I'm at a lecture now. See you at my place in 3 hours?>

He didn't usually message anyone back but it was unusual for her to message him during the day.

<no> <now> <hes here>

He nearly dropped his phone in his haste to get up. The whole class turned to look at him when he collected his stuff and rushed out of the lecture hall.

The wait for the bus seemed like forever. And the trip didn't go any faster, the minutes ticked slowly by until he finally reached the bus stop closest to the store she worked at and ran inside.

When he found her, she was with a coworker, her face red from crying. As soon as she saw him she stood up and hugged him, burying her face on his shoulder. His first instinct was to crush her to his chest and hold her tight, but somehow that turned out as an awkward pat on her back.

Her coworker motioned he needed to get back to work and slipped out of the break room. Mitsunari pushed her away from him to get a good look at her face.

"Tell me what happened?"

"He..." she started but her hands stopped as soon as she had started. She looked at him searching his face for something.

"You can tell me," he tried to encourage her to speak.

"He has been waiting for me outside. Every now and then. For three weeks now."

"Three weeks?! And you didn't think to tell me?" Mitsunari closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm down. Now really wasn't time to lose his temper.

"I didn't want to worry you!" she tried to explain, biting her lip.

"This is exactly why I worry. You never tell me anything!" He ran his hand through his hair irritated before he continued. "So, what was different about today?"

"He came inside. He..." Her hands begun to tremble, but still, she continued. "He cornered me when I was alone. He asked 'did you think I wouldn't find you'. Here, I recorded it."

Mitsunari took her phone but looked at her sceptically.

"It translates speech into text." She held a small break before she continued. "I didn't want to read it."

He put the phone to his ear.

"-you, I know where you work. I have been very patient with you and given you plenty of time to return home now. How long do you plan to make me wait? Don't even think you can disappear. You know I'll find you no matter what, don't you? Hm, no, there's no problem, I was just talking to my wife. See you at home, darling!..." At the end of the recording, Mitsunari heard what he assumed to be her coworker's voice, asking her if she was okay.

It was clearly a threat. A threat his brain should have focused on. Instead, the words 'my wife' played in his head over and over again like an error code you couldn't get rid of no matter how hard you tried.

A touch on his arm rebooted him out of his momentary blue screen of death.

"Can you take me home?"

"No. We need to go to the police."

She shook her head, "No police. Just take me home."

Mitsunari closed the door behind him when they reached her apartment. She flopped on her bed face first and let out a deep sigh. Mitsunari sat next to her and tapped her shoulder.

"I think we need to talk," he said when she finally turned to look at him.

"Yeah..." she covered her face for a moment before she continued, "I've been meaning to ask. How did you find out my address?"

"I asked the librarians."

"And they gave it to you? Just like that?"

"No, they needed some convincing. But I told them I needed to return a book to you."

"That's like the lamest excuse ever." She sat up and crossed her legs before she continued. "Thank you for coming for me. I don't know what I would have done without you."

"You're married." It came out more like an accusation rather than a question like he had meant it to be. She stared at him her face blank.

"How did you know?" she finally asked.

"He called you his wife."

"I see." She stood up and turned her back at him. He stood up and tapped her shoulder to get her attention.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"But-"

"I'd like you to leave now." She walked to the door and held it open for him.

"What-" Mitsunari started baffled by this turn of events.

"Leave. Now." She pointed at the door and turned her eyes away from him.

Why was she being so difficult? Did she think this would change something between them? Sure, he was surprised by her being married, but nothing he'd done warranted such a cold behaviour towards him. The door slammed shut behind him leaving him alone in the hallway.

When he returned that night tired from training at the university dojo, he fell down on his bed. Maybe it would be good to retire early from time to time.

Except when he closed his eyes sleep refused to come. After an hour of twisting and turning in bed, he went to knock on Hideyoshi's door.

"Hideyoshi, can you talk?"

"Uh... sure... what is it?" Hideyoshi opened his door rubbing his eyes, a red pencil impression on his cheek. "Is this about her?"

Mitsunari didn't need to guess which 'her' Hideyoshi was referring to.

"Yes. She's married."

"She's what now?"

"I didn't realise your hearing comprehension was so terrible. She's married. To the man, she claimed to be her boyfriend."

"Uh... yeah... okay... Just... give me a moment."  Hideyoshi rubbed his eyes again and yawned, "So she's married. What's the problem?"

"Why didn't she tell me?"

"Did you ask her?"

"... No."

"Well, there you have it. It really isn't that surprising considering her situation. She might be worried people try to push her to get back together with him."

Mitsunari stared at Hideyoshi in shock. Somebody would actually do something like that? Hideyoshi let out another big yawn.

"Look, if that was it, I really need to get some sleep. Good night, Mitsunari." he closed his door and after a few minutes, Mitsunari could hear soft snores.

Two days later he was at the library, trying to concentrate on reading. But his thoughts kept going to her again and again until he picked his phone up.

   <I don't care if you're married.>

He stared at the message for a while before he pressed send. Her reply came after a few minutes.

<I know ur lying>    <I’m not. I just want to know why you were lying about it.> <i rly dnt wnt 2 tlk abt ths> <i lost my job>    <What?> <the mngr dnt wnt 2 get into trbl> <dnt wrry i found a nw 1> <and they paid me a mnth slry>    <How can they just fire you?> <mde me resgn. didnt wnt mre trble>    <I'm so sorry.>

He cringed as soon as he sent the message. How did apologies sound so bad in text.

<naaah s cool> <knew it wld happen evntually> <wanna grab some coffee tmrrw> <at tht european coffee dwnstrs>    <Yes. What time?>

He was so relieved she still wanted to see him. He hadn't even realised how worried he had been until he felt the tension leave his body.

***

The next day he hurried to the cafe after his lectures were over. She was already sitting there, headphones on her ears, her nose in a book.

He was only relieved Oichi's annoying friend and his fellow student wasn't on shift today. He didn't need her "encouragement" on his... non-date. Definitely not a date. Just two friends meeting over a cup of coffee.

He sat his cup down on the table and tapped her shoulder gently. She jumped a little bit and put her book down. Only then he noticed she had put some lip colour and his eyes were drawn to her lips. To her beautiful and very kissable lips.

"Sorry, I didn't see you at all. I was just getting at a good part." She took her headphones off and put them on the table.

"It's okay. How was your day?"

"Boring." Her phone on the table buzzed with a new message. "Except for that."

"What's 'that'?" he felt his brows furrow and he looked at her phone which buzzed with a new message.

"I ran into one of my friends and gave her my new number. Now she and my other friends keep messaging me."

"It's... nice they want to be in touch." Did that mean she didn’t need him anymore? Was that why she hadn’t been in touch for the last few days?

“I wish...” She unlocked her phone and pushed it towards him. The screen was filled with messages.

<he misses you so much how can you do this to him>

<do you have any idea how this will affect his career???>

<stop telling lies about him you cunt>

<ungrateful bitch>

His mouth felt dry as he read the hateful messages that seemed to go on forever.

“How long... how long have you received messages like this?”

She poked at her cake with a fork and sighed.

“About two weeks now. Don’t worry, it’s not a big deal.” The way she pursed her lips and the angry poke her cake received told him it was a big deal. To be betrayed by the people you thought you could trust the must hurt. Did hurt.

@masamunesmistress @you-mass-effect-my-dragon-age @han-pan @dreamfar628