Chapter Text
Cannibalism is the act of one person eating the flesh of another human being. The most degrading and damaging form of disposing of a body. Even the act of consensually eating another person can and will cause extreme psychological damage; it's considered a mental illness. Who would even consider such an act?
That's the question everyone had on their minds: a sudden surge in people disappearing and showing up chopped up with chunks of meat missing out of their bodies. The idea of cannibalism was up in the air, but it was heavily theorized. The case was starting to go cold; some butcher was on the run, and yet no one seemed to catch them.
So there Zoro sat, thinking, in a large office room with glass surrounding the room. Sitting down in one of the many chairs surrounding the room with only a couple of people who had been asked politely to join them for a meeting. The reason for the meeting was not told to the people in the room, but a rumor of an FBI agent loomed around the office.
If it was true, Zoro knew he wouldn't be happy. A fed taking over the case wasn't what he needed after scrounging up the files.
"Good morning, folks."
A voice boomed as he entered the room. A man, maybe in his 40s, with a rather scruffy face, tired eyes, short black hair, and a scar under his right eye. Dressed in a suit, a lazily tied tie, an unironed red buttoned shirt, and black dress pants. He looked rough.
"As I'm sure you've heard, I and my team will be taking over the butcher case, and I wanted to formally introduce myself to those I'm working with."
Fuck, it was a fed.
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy. I have carefully watched you all throughout work, and I've picked you all to be my leads."
Zoro was shocked, to say the least; the idea of *him* being picked for a lead position was surprising, but that slight happiness was cut short by remembering it was still Monkey's team he was working with. A few of the picks made sense, all but him.
The truth was Zoro had been trying to climb his way to the top for ages but was always held back for whatever reason; maybe it was a mix-up.
The meeting went by much slower than Zoro had expected, as everyone was passed a file about the case, and the man explained so far what they had and what could be speculated. Any leads, connections, any little information they had, and then it was over. As the man left, confusion entered the room. Unsure how or where to move from here, all they could do was look through the file on their own time. Zoro was the last to leave the office, finding Luffy already in a vacant office room building his file, looking through various papers with a slightly annoyed expression on his face.
Zoro was slow to enter his office, hesitating on asking if there was any mistake with picking him of all people. Feet moving slowly and carefully, knocking on the doorframe before finally speaking up.
"Excuse me, sir?"
Luffy looked up, the same annoyed expression slowly forming a small smile.
"Ah, Mister Roronoa, just the person I needed; please come in."
Zoro hesitated but took a seat in his office, sitting in the newly arranged chair in front of his desk.
"I feel like there has been a mistake with your choices of people."
Luffy's smile disappeared quickly as he continued to speak.
"I'm sorry in what way?"
"I shouldn't be a lead."
Luffy's face continued to shift uncomfortably as he let out a quick sigh.
"I've seen how you work, and you deserve this position. If you are doubting my ability to build a team, I advise you to leave now."
Luffy's voice was stern, slightly aggressive, and unwilling to the recommended change. Zoro didn't speak anymore but rather nodded, submitting to the choice quickly.
"Now if we can move on, I would like to be able to go over this with you."
"Ah, of course."
"Tell me what we know." Luffy replied quickly, fixing his expression to a much more neutral one.
"Well, we have found several bodies' worth of limbs, all with slices of meat taken out of the bodies, speculating that it could be cannibalism."
Luffy leaned into his chair, folding his fingers in front of his face as he watched Zoro as he flipped through the case.
"So far we are unable to make a connection between the victims; all seem to be quite random, but we are working on finding anything we can."
Zoro paused, closing it before looking up, making eye contact with Luffy, who looked a way Zoro couldn't quite identify. His eyes stared through him completely.
"The forensic team is still sifting through the bodies to see if we can find any extra hair, skin scrapings, or teeth marks, but so far we have nothing."
"Ah well, that's okay." Luffy dismissed, leaning forward to flip through his own copy of the case. "Hopefully we can turn things around and put this all behind us."
An uncomfortable silence fell over the room, Zoro staring at Luffy with an intense look.
"Why did you pick me for a lead?"
Luffy looked up, with the same annoyed expression as before.
"No, I picked you for the lead. I plan on keeping you at my side for this case, Roronoa."
Luffy pushed back into his chair, folding his arms.
"I would like to be able to get started, but it's going to be hard if you are just going to question my decision. Are you up for this task?"
"Yes, sir."
"Please, just call me Luffy."
Zoro waited before responding again, a long moment of silence that crushed Zoro under its weight, like a boulder rolling off his shoulders.
"Okay, Luffy.”