Moy Mell 19

"<i>What?!</i>"

"I'm stepping down as the head of your security team." Zoro squared his shoulders in front of the shocked and angry demon cat. 

"Why? Are you bored of the job? I mean, uh..." Elly flailed about, her tail swishing rapidly back and forth in high agitation. "Why?" 

"I'm not doing my job properly."

"You can't get everything perfect, Zoro - yesterday turned out somewhat okay in the end. I mean, you trained the guys that ..."

"<i>No.</i>" He stood, pulling his chair back at the breakfast table. "Aizawa Shota is taking over. I'm stepping down."

"I - I won't let you!" Her face was flushed and her ears laid back so far into her hair that they couldn't even be seen. "Zoro..."

"This is the one time you can't pull rank as my boss, cat. As your head bodyguard, my final act is to step down. You can't stop me."

She banged her fist on the table as he walked to the door. "You're not allowed to just leave like this! Damn it, you coward!"

He paused, but didn't turn back and continued on, pushing it open and disappearing into the foyer. The heavy wood banged shut. As the door closed, Sanji cautiously stuck his head in from his room on the side. He had heard what was said and was shocked. She gasped so softly that the cook didn't hear what she said at all, but sounded so sad that he immediately tried to comfort her. He placed a concerned hand on her shoulder and she reared up, eyes blurring in a frightening way he recognized all too well.

"Ack! Sweetie, it's me, it's okay - "

"No it's <i>not</i>," she snarled. 

"Maybe he'll calm down. It's not the end of the world, even so, right? He just won't be here as much." He winced, hearing the problem as soon as it was out of his mouth.

Elly did, too, and it struck her hard. Her hands unballed and she scratched the counter in distress instead. Sanji noticed but prudently didn't say anything. "He won't be here."

"Nooo, I guess not." He watched her eyes carefully, relieved to see her irises were still there, a faint lavender color, but visible. Applying a different tactic, he tried to salvage something from the situation. "But I'll be here with you." The color evaporated in a sudden blaze of unholy light. Sanji yelped, scrambling backwards.

"This is your fault! If that bitch hadn't wanted to get rid of me this might not have happened!"

"Oh. Well... I did encourage her. I'm sorry." He hung his head.

"I don't want to date you anymore." 

He choked, but stayed as quiet and still as he could. "If that's what you want."

"Does it matter what I want anymore?!" She ran out of the room and they heard the elevator doors open. 

Sanji sank against the kitchen counter, sliding down to the floor as his eyes streamed tears. He had expected as much since she had attacked him that night. He knew he had been rejected then. But it still hurt, and seeing her in this state was maybe even worse. 

"Hey." Chris had been nearby and he offered the chef a hand. He grasped his arm tightly, helping the man pull himself to his feet again. "Sucks. But leave her be, and eventually things will be okay again. Trust me. I've been around."

Sanji patted at his suit jacket looking for his cigarettes. "I'm going for a smoke," he grunted when he felt the outline of the box. 

"Good idea. I'm shadowing." They nodded at each other and went their separate ways. Chris couldn't go into the elevator, but he would stand by it until she came up again. He dragged a comfortable chair up and prepared to wait.

When the elevator stopped, Elly got out on Zoro's side. He was nowhere to be found, so she tapped lightly on his bedroom door. It opened instantly, and she saw to her dismay that he had managed to empty his room out when she wasn't paying attention. 

Not only that, but a stack of boxes, neatly marked with their content lists, were sitting by the bed. They had Aizawa's name on them. She backed up, her hands pressing to her mouth and her eyes wide. She could still smell his musk and steel scent in the room, and what finally caused the tears to flow was the undeniable fact that this room would soon smell like another.

Elly raced into the elevator and into her suite of rooms. She pelted as fast as she could to her bedroom, her vision doubling, stumbling into the doorframe as she went and bruising herself. She barely felt it at the time and flung herself on her bed to wail into her pillow. 

Everything was wrong, wrong, <i>wrong</i>!