Chương 433: Obsession
"Hmm, you don't look too bad," Law hummed as he studied Zoro's organs that had been conveniently removed from his body with Law's devil fruit power. "A lot of concerned scar tissue here and there, though."
"How long is this going to take?" Zoro asked, wearing a frown and drumming his fingers on the operating table.
"It'll take as long as it takes," Law answered, seeming to be in no rush at all to finish.
"What if the whale comes back before you're done? Hurry it up," Zoro complained.
"Franky-ya will handle it, then. It's not like you did much to it," Law shot back.
Zoro grumbled, but what could he do about it? Law literally had his heart in the palm of his hand.
"... Do you think a whale could learn haki?" Zoro asked out of nowhere.
"Trying to make excuses for losing?" Law asked, making Zoro grind his teeth.
"It dodged my slash; and even though it still got caught along the side, I didn't even see any blood," Zoro said.
"Maybe you shouldn't telegraph your attacks so much? The old man did say it was smart," Law prodded at Zoro's liver causing him to grimace. "You might have underestimated its toughness, too."
"I put more than enough into it. Enough to slice through stone like butter even after factoring in the water resistance," Zoro huffed, a bit annoyed to have his capabilities doubted.
"There. That'll hold you over for now, but you can't be taking that sonar attack again or you might actually kick the bucket this time," Law said, stuffing Zoro's organs back into their places.
Zoro was a bit of an idiot, but he wasn't that stupid. Next time, he'd go all out and cut that whale into little pieces. Then he would use its blubber to burn a wooden effigy of the whale, symbolically killing it a second time. Then he would grind its bones to dust and scatter them across Alabasta's desert, never to be recognised as what they once were. Then he would-
"Zoro-ya," Law snapped his fingers in front of his face.
"Huh?" Zoro blinked at him.
"I said you should go get some rest," Law repeated, though Zoro hadn't heard him the first time.
"Right. I'll do that," Zoro got up and walked out of the operating room.
Law hadn't expected that response; rather, he had expected more resistance to his suggestion. Chopper had given him a brief rundown of the Straw Hats' overall health and temperament in regards to medical advice, and Zoro was supposed to be a particularly stubborn patient.
Law didn't think it was overly strange, though. Zoro had never been one to pass up a chance to nap in the time that Law had known him; and he wasn't about to complain about a cooperative patient, either.
Zoro didn't go take a nap, however. In fact, he didn't even really remember Law telling him to, not even the second time when he was listening.
Instead, he headed straight up to the top deck.
"Zoro! Did Law give you the okay?" Usopp perked up when Zoro opened the door.
"Yeah," Zoro answered simply.
"See, old man! I told you he was tough!" Usopp seemed to think this was a great victory.
"Aye, ye did," Baha agreed curtly, keeping his gaze upon the water.
Zoro walked over to Baha and squatted next to him, his own eyes keeping close watch on the water as well.
"Did ye get a good look at 'im, lad?" Baha asked him.
"Yeah," Zoro answered. "That whale is evil."
"Aye," Baha concurred. "He'll either be the death of us, or we the death of 'im 'fore the week is out. Likely even 'fore then."
"Yeah," Zoro agreed.
"Uh…" Usopp naturally found this behavior to be extremely odd. He inched towards the door that led to the deck below slowly, as if he was scared to attract attention to himself, before darting the last half of the distance.
Neither Zoro or Baha took notice of his antics.
Usopp let out a breath of relief and wondered if he was being silly. It was probably just that this whole whale business had him on edge; had everyone on edge, really.
Still, Usopp decided to mention it to the others. It was better to say something and be wrong than to keep quiet and be right.
"Hey, guys? I think something is up with Zoro. He's acting weird," Usopp said.
"Weird how?" Franky asked.
"Like, I don't know… Like Baha? He seems eager to fight the whale again, but with more of a… personal stake, if that makes sense?" Usopp tried to sum up the strangeness, but was having difficulty finding the right words.
"Well, he did just lose to it. Zoro doesn't like losing, does he?" Franky rationalized.
"Sure, but…" Usopp had to agree with that.
"He's been acting differently ever since we met back up on Sabaody anyways. He used to joke around more, two years ago; but now he's mister brooding and serious all of the time and hardly ever goofs off with the rest of us," Franky said.
"That's true, but he was always a bit serious. Right now, I don't know, he's giving me a weird feeling, a tingle down my spine," Usopp explained.
"Well, we can go have a chat with him," Robin suggested reasonably.
"I suppose…" Usopp didn't look keen on the idea.
"Or I could go by myself," Robin raised an eyebrow at him.
"No, no we can go together," Usopp said, putting up a brave front.
"Right now," Robin said.
"Right now?" Usopp deflated a bit. "Can I have, like, half an hour to psyche myself up for it?"
"No," Robin spun him around and pushed him back towards the stars to the top deck. "We should check up on our friend."
Usopp took quick, deep breaths to calm himself as they went. It didn't really help and, if anything, it only made him more nervous.
When they reached the top deck, Zoro and Baha were still right where they were when Usopp left. Usopp didn't know if that made him feel better or not.
"Zoro? Usopp is worried about you," Robin spoke gently.
Zoro didn't give any sign of having heard her. Usopp gulped and said," Y-yeah, Zoro. You've been kind of out of it since Franky fished you out of the water…"
"It's no use," Baha said.
"What did you do to Zoro?" Robin's tone was calm, but Usopp could hear the threat beneath it.
"Me? I didn't do anythin'," Baha said, unperturbed. "Yer friend has just seen the truth. That the whale must die for us to live. No other way about it."
Robin frowned. She leaned down to whisper to Usopp. "Do you think we should throw him into the ocean, just in case?"
Usopp opened his mouth to agree instantly, but hesitated. He didn't think he could actually stomach killing an old man just because he might have done something to Zoro. Even if that old man was really creeping him out right now.
"I was just joking, Usopp," Robin said.
"Oh…" Usopp blushed.
"No one else is acting strangely, like Zoro is," Robin said, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "I have a hypothesis, but I'm not very sure about it. Let's go talk to Law."
Usopp nodded. He didn't want to stick around the two crazy people by himself, anyways.
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