Grand Line University.

Written for a Prompt by caelumxiv on Tumblr :

Zoro and Sanji are students starting university/college. They've never met and end up having to share a room in their dorm.

I'm actually no good with these AUs. We'll see how this works out; good practice anyway!

When Sanji got off the bus, he was sure he'd gotten the wrong bus stop.

Sure, the bus-monitor had said "Grand Line", he'd checked three times before he left the bus with his bags. The GPS Marker flashing on the screen of his smart phone cheerfully tried to assure him that yes, this was the "Grand Line".

Even IF the large university gate looming over Sanji's head like the legs of a giant read in thick metallic letters "GRAND LINE", he could still barely believe he was looking at the place he was going to spend the next few years of his life.

A few people bumped shoulders with him as Sanji stood still and took in every detail of the enormous school building in front of him. Towers, fields, large carved pillars, and a parking space for what seemed to be an army of teachers and students greeted Sanji in the cloudy afternoon.

This was it. He'd finally done it. He'd left the Baratie and set off for the Grand Line. Sanji inhaled deeply, shouldering his bag before he pulled out the handle of his suitcase on wheels. He felt super aware of the noise the wheels were making as he dragged the suitcase practically containing his entire life down the pavement along with all the other people.

After less than a minute of walking, the blond came to a split in the road: three ways to go, one of them leading straight ahead to what seemed to be the main building. Most of the people around him paused for a second, looked at maps or simply strolled knowingly down one of the three paths.

Sanji had no idea which way he should go; the campus was huge. He should ask for directions, maybe if he found someone relatively older looking he might luck out and find someone on staff or a senior. Sanji started looking around, trying to find a friendly face in the crowd. There weren't too many of them.

There was a guy who looked like he was really into metal, talking to a blond friend wearing a strange Daft Punk-style helmet of some sort. A few strange people littered the crowd, but if Sanji was going to start a conversation with a stranger, he'd prefer it to be a lovely lady~

As Sanji glanced around, he saw a rather tall tattooed man with a strange hat and dark bags under his eyes give some lovely ladies vague directions. Right, looked like he found a senior to ask.

Sanji straightened his back, putting on his best polite smile as he headed for the lanky man. He didn't manage to get all the way over to him before he noticed there was a thick line of red brick in the pavement under his feet, separating the fork in the road and the pavement leading towards it.

There was a large metal info-board in the center, covered in the same bizarre carvings as the gate.

Sanji walked over, standing on the red line and looking over the text that seemed to have remained unchanged for years. The skies rumbled above him, occasional drops of rain splattering on his head and jacket. A few drops of water raced down the plastic shielding over the text, momentarily obscuring Sanji's vision.

"-Red Line-"

"Those who cross the Red Line have entered the Grand Line where only those with spirit and strength can survive."

How dramatic, it was just a school. Sanji snorted to himself, looking back up at the intimidating building. Sure, it was one of the most difficult schools in the world where anything and everything was taught. But this was what he was here for. This was the first step towards his dream.

Below the text there was a map of the campus. Sanji grabbed his phone to take a picture of it, crouching down to read the directions. He felt a little relieved not having to ask directions. He didn´t want to make a fool out of himself right off the bat.

He'd lay low for a few days until he found out how to impress the cutest girls, then he'd set 'plan love prince' into action. Sanji grinned at the idea as he straightened his posture, saving the pictures on his phone.

To get to the dorms, he'd have to take the path to the right. The middle one lead to the main office and classrooms, the left one lead to more classes, the nurse's office, mess hall, gym and other places Sanji was not planning on visiting any time soon.

It was raining rather hard and the blond realized his suitcase might get soaked through, ruining all his shirts if he didn't hurry it up. Sanji pocketed his phone and turned around, yanking his bag onto its wheels and setting the course for the dormitory.

Huh. The suitcase seemed much heavier when it was wet.

"O-OI! WAIT!"

Sanji's suitcase was suddenly yanked backwards, taking the confused blond with it. Sanji barely managed to catch his balance, almost falling face first into a large puddle of mud. The puddle rippled from the rain and Sanji stared at his reflection, listening to the soft laughter of people around him.

Sanji's temper flared and his head snapped up, yanking on his suitcase as he glared at the offender.

It was a man that seemed to be around his age, similar height but much broader looking. He couldn't see much of him though; the bastard was wearing a large black hooded sweater and no jacket. He was wearing the hood up to shelter himself from the rain so Sanji couldn't see anything but dark eyes and a large frown.

"What the fuck was that for, you shitty bastard!?" Sanji hissed in anger, taking a step closer to the man who had completely broken his cool and made a fool out of him in front of all the lovely ladies.

"-I'M- not the bastard here." The man argued back in an infuriatingly calm tone. Sanji had hoped he'd back off or apologize or something, but there was a determined look on the bastard's face Sanji instantly hated. What was the deal with those three stupid earrings? Was he some sort of punk?

"Yes you are! Pulling on my bag and trying to trip me-" Sanji hissed, his hair slowly getting soaked as he fished a packet of cigarettes from his pocket.

"I wasn't trying to trip you, your bag's wheels got tangled in mine!" The man crouched down and picked up his own beaten old sport's bag, untangling it from the wheels of Sanji's luggage. It was soaked and there were slight muddy drag marks on the bottom. The man was carrying another one on his shoulder, but that one was thinner and looked well taken care of. "If you didn't notice you were dragging my bag along with you, you should be paying more attention, stupid curly brow!"

"C-CURLY BROW?" Sanji practically shrieked in outrage. There were people laughing at him now, lovely ladies gently giggling into their hands while they huddled under patterned umbrellas. He probably looked so stupid to them right now.

"Yes. Curly brow." The man gestured to Sanji's eyebrow, the frown on his face not budging. Sanji glared at him, taking in details of this guy's stature. They were a similar height, but judging from the large hoodie and wide pants tucked into those massive boots, this guy was overweight.

Sanji frowned, he could kick the fat bastard halfway across campus if he wanted to. But he shouldn't; starting a fight right in front of the school before the first day had even begun wasn't a good way to start the semester. He'd have to be the bigger man here.

"You shouldn't leave your trashy bag lying in the dirt, and if you have a problem, try asking a person before you try to trip them." Sanji said in a venomous tone, shielding his cigarette from the rain as he lit it. He glared at the hooded man, water dripping from his own blond hair. He was soaked. Completely soaked and all of the clothes he had at the top of his bag were probably soaked too. His shirts were going to wrinkle up.

And it was all this bastard's fault.

"I hope you're in this school to work on your social skills. You need to." Sanji frowned, grabbing hold of his bag and setting off, cigarette smoke trailing after him as he stomped through puddles on his way to the dorm. "Damn Neanderthal."

The front hall of the dorm was large and well lit, air-conditioning murmuring in the strain of fighting the cold from the rain. Sanji made his way to the information desk at the back, gasping in awe at the beautiful woman sitting at the desk: long blond hair, perfect make up and glasses sitting elegantly on her nose. She was wearing all black and looked much too professional to be a dorm-receptionist. This place was high class! Oh how Sanji's heart soared when she looked up at him. Perhaps all the staff of this school were beautiful women?

"Oh! The heavens must have opened and sent me an angel, since I have such luck to meet such a-"

"That's sexual harassment." The woman said simply before Sanji even managed to finish his sentence. He paused, wondering if she was able to read his mind as he cleared his throat. He was overly conscious about the state of his clothes, his hair was a mess and he was dripping all over the sleek marble floor. This looked more like a hotel than a dorm, and right now, he didn't feel like he belonged.

There was an awkward pause as Sanji regained his confidence, trying a less flirty method this time. "Excuse me my lovely madam, I got this pass I am supposed to turn in at this desk?" Sanji handed the lovely woman a slightly damp letter, watching as her perfectly manicured fingers pulled out a paper and scanned it into a computer.

"Ah. Sanji, am I right?" The woman asked with a stern smile that Sanji wouldn't be able to mistake as a real one even if he was drunken out of his mind.

"Yes. That's me. Nice to make your acquaintance, Ms-?"

"I am Ms. Kalifa, the desk attendant during daylight hours." Kalifa droned in a completely monotone voice. She stood up, pulling a key and a card out of a slot in the wall behind her desk.

Sanji did his best not to admire her behind as she walked, knowing full well what sort of accusations it might get him. He busied himself with looking at the puddle rapidly forming around his feet. Lightning crackled outside the dorm, various people shrieking as they ducked for cover inside the hall.

"Your keys," Kalifa said softly, handing him three neatly folded papers, a key and a magnetic card. "Instructions and a map of the dorm are in there. You can take the elevator to the second floor where your dorm is." she pointed to the papers, adjusting her glasses carefully with the tip of her finger as she took her seat.

"Thank you so much, my beautiful-"

"That's sexual harassment."

Sanji took the hint and stepped back, dragging away his suitcase as he unfolded the papers. He stepped into the roomy elevator and pressed the '2' button, reading over the brochures.

One was titled "Welcome to the Grand Line", another one seemed to be a map of campus like the one he took a picture of earlier and another one was a map of the dorm. The elevator let out a cheerful 'ding', prompting the bond to step out and drag his suitcase over the light brown carpet.

Sanji paused, putting down his bag as he unfolded the dorm map. The dorm was huge, at least five floors and the size of a hotel. Each dorm section had a specific name. The blond glanced up at the large bronze sign suspended above the hallway to the right of the elevator.

"Merry."

Sanji grumbled as he looked over his keycard, flipping it over and searching for a room number of some sort. The window opposite the elevator looked over the track field behind the school. The view was mostly obscured with long streaks of rain training down the glass.

"Sunny?" Sanji mumbled, running a finger over the emblazed letter on the plastic card. "2-C". Above the hallway to the left was another large bronze sign, hanging in a chain from the ceiling just like the "Merry" one.

The blond made his way down the 'Sunny' hallway, doors on either side of him as he inspected the bronze signs nailed into each door.

"2-A..." Sanji mumbled, passing by the yellow-wooden door. There were two name slots on all the doors. Sanji's grimaced slightly at that. He had a roommate? "2-B... 2-C!" Sanji pulled out his key, wondering with a nervous knot in his stomach if his roommate had already arrived.

He highly doubted that the school would mix genders in a room, so it was safe to assume that his roommate was male. Sanji's skin tingled anxiously. He would prefer to share a living space with a lovely lady, but a handsome man would also be appreciated.

Not that Sanji dreamt of some sort of romance-novel-style fairytale here. He only wanted the ladies after all. He did know how to appreciate a good looking man, and he might have had a crush or two on an actor or a cute guy working at a flower shop, but he'd never acted on any of that, of course he wouldn't! It was just appreciating the view. His heart belonged to the ladies of the world after all!

The lock accepted the key as he turned it; he was definitely in the right place then. The door swung open without a creak, revealing a room that looked more like a studio-apartment. It was slightly bigger than the one Sanji had been living in on top of the Baratie, and had a nice light-wooden theme.

It looked very homely.

Sanji stepped inside, locking the door behind him as he dropped his bag against a wall and walked around his new home. The main living space had two queen sized beds, complete with hospital white sheets and matching curtains covering the only window in the room.

There was a small kitchen in the corner not consisting of much, but it had all the necessary appliances for cooking. A single cupboard for plates and glasses, a counter containing a drawer for cutlery and a cabinet for dry ingredients, a small stove with an oven and a fridge that reached Sanji's shoulders.

It wasn't much, but he had a kitchen. He'd specifically asked for one on his application to the dorms. Sanji relaxed as he sat down at the small table in the center of the room, one of the two chairs creaking appreciatively under his weight.

The blond leant backwards, stretching out his legs and closing his eyes, allowing the stress and concerns to drip out of his body as he breathed in the silence of his new apartment. His new life. The first step towards his dream.

Water from his hair dripped down onto the carpet, a small puddle forming at the back of the chair. Sanji jumped from his seat when he realized it, grabbing his bag and unzipping it to find a towel. Everything at the top of his bag was damp; damn it.

Sanji decided to claim the bed to the left of the room and proceeded to prop up his bag against the bed as he decided to shower to chase away the chill in his bones. He'd take a quick shower, then go online and maybe tell Zeff he'd managed to get here safely. Hopefully his roommate would have arrived by then.

The bathroom was small, barely fitting the toilet, sink, and shower. There was a small shelf at the back of the room to hold towels and such. Sanji's brow furrowed when he realized he'd have to share the only drawer with his roommate's grooming products.

The shower was warm and despite seeming small, it was bigger than he'd assumed. Might even fit two people if they got REALLY close and- No. Not going there. He didn't have time to take care of the 'repercussions'. Taking his mind off the concept, the blond finished shampooing and conditioning his hair thoroughly before he got out and dressed.

He felt like a new man after a shower; the dry clothes warmed him up from the inside out and he contemplated sneaking a cigarette by the window before his roommate arrived. Even as he flipped through the pages of the house rules and brochure, he couldn't see any rules about smoking in the handbook.

He was about to light himself a cigarette when he heard the lock to the door click and twist. He could hear soft cursing on the other side of the door. The nervous knot in his stomach tightened, twisting and turning as he watched the lock slide to the side.

What if his roommate was all gross and a total slob? What if it was someone stuck up he wouldn't get along with? Sanji supposed he could ask for a transfer to another room, but then he might lose the kitchen. Sanji put on his best 'nice-to-meet-you' smile and tried to convince himself that he could really get along with anyone.

The door handle lowered and the door swung open. Sanji stood still, staring at the man who tossed his soaked bag onto the carpet with a splat of mud and water. The man was dripping wet, looking like someone pushed him into a swimming pool or the ocean.

The hooded punk Sanji had argued with before groaned in relief, closing and locking the door before he turned around to look the room over. The black hoodie was completely soaked, trails of water running along the man's slack jaw line as he stared at the blond standing in the center of the room.

"No. Fucking. Way." Sanji breathed between gritted teeth. THIS GUY? REALLY? He could have handled ANYONE but him! The other guy didn't seem happy to see him either, his slack jaw snapping up into a frown.

"Damn curly brow," The man breathed in a slightly begging tone, putting down his smaller bag. "What are you doing here? Don't say it's your room too-"

"That's MY line!" Sanji hissed, sitting down on the bed he'd claimed before. "I came here first. If you have a issue with this, you're the one who needs to ask for a room change!" Sanji huffed, yanking the window open and lighting himself a cigarette, not giving a damn if his shitty 'roommate' was against it or not.

The man grimaced, turning on his heel and storming out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Sanji's nose wrinkled at the puddle on the floor. The mud was going to stick to the carpet damn it. Stupid Neanderthal.

Sanji was half way through claiming the larger closet in the room as his own when his reluctant roommate returned. He frowned at him, eyeing the slowly drying hoodie with contempt as he spread his shirt out onto a hanger. He gave it a soft dusting to get the creases out and eyed the other man who started untying his shoes.

"Got a new room?" Sanji asked with an arch of his curled brow, receiving nothing but a scowl from under the shadow of the hood. His stomach tightened again when the other man kicked his shoes off into the corner, far away from Sanji's much nicer dress shoes.

"When hell freezes over apparently." The man grumbled, yanking his bag open and rummaging around a pile of clothes stuffed inside like rags. "The bitch at the front desk said that all rooms are full. I'm not getting a new room unless someone quits or another room wants an exchange."

"Don't speak about her like that!" Sanji hissed, itching to give the guy a good kick in the head. "She's a beautiful lady and should be treated with nothing but care and respect!"

"Yeah yeah, just stop talking. I'm sure someone else will also want to exchange rooms tomorrow morning." The man grumbled, yanking off his soaked hoodie as he spoke. The clingy black fabric pulled on the equally wet shirt he was wearing underneath; the white shirt looked practically glued to the other man.

Sanji couldn't help but stare. He had been expecting a slightly overweight man from the folds in the fabric around his waist. It turned out he couldn't have been more wrong. Without the baggy hoodie, the bastard stripping with slight difficulty in the room looked like he belonged in some wonderfully twisted mix of fitness and porn magazines.

If the distracting valley disappearing down the front of those baggy pants hadn't been enough, the translucent white shirt clung to his chest and abs, creasing in between the valley of muscles and obscuring just enough of the view to set Sanji's imagination running wild.

The sweater slipped off the man's head, falling onto his bag with a soaked splatter. When the guy looked back up at Sanji, he was frowning in annoyance, wet green hair half slicked and half ruffled from the drag of the sweater.

"What are you staring at, curly brow?"

"My name is SANJI." Sanji grumbled, scowling at the other man as he took his seat at the table. He crossed his legs, trying not to commit every detail of that scene to memory. "Your sweater is going to soak up the entire floor. You should toss it in the sink."

"Or maybe you can just mind your own business." The man so politely pointed out as he wrung water from his shirt onto the already soaked sweatshirt below.

Sanji grumbled, turning back to his clothes to try to distract himself from what a massive bastard this guy was. He probably snored too. Sanji was not looking forward to the night.

Three earrings clattered brightly as he took both his bags and made his way over to the other bed in the room. Sanji watched in horror as the green haired man tossed himself onto the clean sheets, still wearing damp clothes.

"Do you have a name or should I start referring to you as moss-brain?" Sanji asked, not too comfortable with the awkward silence in the room.

"It's not moss, you curly-bastard." The man's green hair was soaking through the fabric of the pillow as he gave a massive yawn. "I'm Roronoa Zoro."

The name sounded familiar yet Sanji couldn't place where he'd heard it before. Strange, he was usually very good with names, female names mostly, but this one was screaming at him from the back of his mind. He shook it off, continuing to put away his clothes in a nice neat orderly pile.

Maybe he should play nice? This guy didn't seem to be a complete asshole all the time, and if he was going to get another roommate tomorrow, he wouldn't want this guy to spread stories about him or anything that might hurt his reputation in the school.

Besides, the moss brain wasn't bad looking in a certain light and at a certain angle. Maybe they had just started off on the wrong foot. Sanji cleared his throat slightly, avoiding eye contact as he finished putting away his last shirt.

"I was thinking about making myself some pasta bolognaise for dinner. Have you eaten-" Sanji began only to be interrupted by a loud throaty snore from the other side of the room. Zoro was asleep. Before dinnertime. Wearing all his damp clothes. Laying on top of the covers. Without unpacking his wet luggage.

The blond pinched the bridge of his nose, praying to whatever higher power there might be that tonight would be the only night he'd have to spend in the company of this Marimo bastard.

END?

Special thanks to caelumxiv for the prompt idea AND for beta-ing this story!

If you would like to send me a prompt for a story, you can do it on my Tumblr! go to .com and I'll see what I can do!