Sometimes he wonders if the universe has a grudge against him or something because he did not just make a stupid mistake of missing a step, slipping down a flight of stairs and landing disgracefully on his back. Oh, and should he mention that he was distracted by a certain annoying algae by his side? Cause that's what happened before he made that pathetic fall, right in front of his green-haired rival.
Like he said—pathetic.
Chopper had screamed at him to be more careful even as he fussed over his injuries and patched him up in the infirmary. The little stunt he pulled earned him a broken leg, cuts and scratches but all that is nothing major compared to the very bruised up ego he suffered.
He expected the Swordsman to laugh at him for his pathetic display but ever since the fall, the guy has never said anything to him and instead seems stricken about something.
Sanji could still remember that out of character expression he gave to him when he fell and had fallen unconscious.
~~~
"Oi Cook!! Open your eyes! Oi!"
Sanji hears a voice shouting into his ear, piercing through the dark haze that clouded his mind. He slowly stir himself awake, pain pulling every part of his body, especially on his right leg.
"Oi Cook!"
Why is the marimo screaming into his ear? And why does he sound so anxious? It's not like him at all.
"C'mon...Open your eyes..."
Sanji frowned at the odd desperation in his voice before trying to find his voice.
"...s-shut...up...a..sshole..." Sanji ground out, feeling his head pound with the effort of speaking.
He heard Zoro sigh out a breath of relief and wondered what could have shaken the Swordsman so much that he would show so much concern towards him. He was sure the fall down the stairs wasn't a serious one, just embarrassing...
He pried open his eyes with some effort, groaning as the light assaulted him, making his head pound painfully. It felt like he had a marching band trapped in his head.
The first thing he saw was the moss-head's face hovering over him. He was holding him; one arm snaked around him while the other supported his head. What was odd was the way the ape handled him.
It was careful. It was gentle. 2 words that he'd never associated with the Neanderthal.
He was holding him as though he was glass. As if a fall like that could break Sanji. The Cook wanted to scoff at that. He'd have thought the moss-head was insulting him if not for that pale, anxious expression he wore as he held the battered Cook in his arms.
Sanji didn't know what to make of that.
"Are you Okay?"
Sanji froze. Was he hearing right? Did he maybe hit his head on the way down?
This couldn't be real right now. Did the moss-head seriously just asked about his well-being? Is he showing concern to him? Him! The Cook he hates and insults at every small chance he gets.
"Oi Cook. Answer me!" He yelled.
Those words accompanied by the concern displayed on the moss-head's face made Sanji's mind whirl with too many questions that his mind just couldn't take it anymore. That, and unbeknownst to him, he actually did hit his head on his way down, though not serious, the blood loss was making him woozy and a little nauseous.
His last thought was how funny the moss-head looked when he fainted.
~~~
When he next awoke, he was on the bed in the ship's infirmary. He knew by the smell of antiseptics in the air and the familiar desk at the side where their doctor would sit. But now the chair was empty and so was the room. He briefly wondered how long was he out.
He slowly got himself up into a sitting position with some difficulty, noting that his left forearm was bandaged due to the cuts as well as his head. There is also a cast around his right leg which meant he most likely had broken it—again.
He sighed as he assessed himself for the damages and was glad that beside the broken leg, the rest of his body is fine. His head aches a little but he's sure he didn't have a concussion, just a gash near his temple, no wonder there was so much blood.
He checks the clock on the wall and found that it was close to dinner time. That means he had been sleeping the morning and whole afternoon away. He let out an annoyed groan at himself for letting his nakama go hungry. He was sure someone—most likely Usopp or his sweet Robin-Chan—had cooked lunch for the crew. He swore that he'll make it up to the crew by preparing a feast for dinner to make up for his absence during lunch.
Well, he had better start preparing soon otherwise his captain would start screaming his rubber-head off.
He heaved himself up to his feet, leaning heavily onto his left foot to take the weight off the other. He staggered a little when his head pounded but otherwise the pain feels bearable.
"You're not supposed to be up." A gruff voice spoke from his left. It startled him so badly that he jumped but quickly hissed when he accidentally leaned onto his injured foot.
"Fuck Zoro! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" He gritted out. For a guy so big and full of muscles, he sure can be stealthy when he wants to. Sanji didn't even realize he was in the room with him until he spoke up.
Zoro didn't answer but he quickly got to his feet and padded over to Sanji's side. As he got closer, Sanji could see the worry on his face; the way his lips are drawn in a straight line and his eyes were hard with anger and...fear?
Sanji frowned. Did he read that right?Fear? What could have made the one called Demon of the East show fear like this?
"What's wrong?" He asked, worry creeping into his voice. Zoro's uncharacteristic behavior making him very concern. "Is there an enemy attack? Are the others safe? Is someone hurt?" The questions came out of his mouth in a rush, worry starting to build.
If there was an enemy attack while he was unconscious, If someone's hurt because he couldn't fight.
If one of his nakama got hurt because of him...
All because he fell down a fucking flight of stairs.
He'd never forgive himself if anything happens to his crew due to his own carelessness.
His thoughts must have been shown on his face because Zoro immediately reassured him that no one was hurt and there's no enemy attack.
"Nonono...no enemy attack. Everyone's safe." He stated but he still have that stricken look, as though someone was seriously injured, or worse...dead.
"Shit." Sanji whispered when he calmed down. And then got angry when he realized that he just panicked in front of the moss-head.
"What the hell! You've could have just told me that from the start!" He growled, irritation radiating off of him in waves. He was throwing the blame on the seaweed, provoking him to a fight but instead, the Swordsman continued to stare at him with a look that Sanji couldn't understand.
The moss-head is being awfully weird today.
"Oi. Did you hit your head or something?"
He meant it as a joke or an insult (however you take it), but the response was not what he expected.
Zoro looked as though he was struck. His expression quickly turned to one of rage and...pain?
"I'm not the one who hit his head falling down a flight of fucking stairs!" Zoro yelled with such indignation that Sanji was speechless.
As Sanji stood there in shock, Zoro moved. He watched as Zoro carefully and tentatively reached out a hand towards him, softly touching the bandage wrapped around his head, slowly moving downwards to his neck where more bandages covered his skin. He haven't even noticed he had injuries on his neck as well.
Was it that serious of a fall?
He got his answer by looking at Zoro's ashen expression.
"Does it still hurt?" Zoro asked. His voice just above a whisper which was strange for Sanji to hear because the moss-head would never use this kind of gentle tone towards him.
Sanji—still stupefied at the treatment from the green-haired man—answered numbly in return. "Y-Yeah..."
He swallowed the weird lump in his throat before speaking again. "I'll be fine though. Nothing serious except for a few bruises and cuts."
"You broke your leg." The Swordsman quickly countered.
"I break my leg all the time. It'll heal in time." Sanji waves a hand dismissively. It's not the first time he broke his leg, or would it be the last. Since his fighting style are his legs, he is bound to injure them in the battle. It's just inevitable.
Of course, it's not like he's looking to get injured. But that's just how it is. A pirate's life is filled with danger and he can only count himself lucky when he got out of a fight with only scrapes.
However, he received this injury due to his own carelessness. A fucking stone slabs had taken him down and out.
He's never going to live this shame down.
He was sure the moss-head was going to mock him for it too but now seeing his expression, he wasn't sure what to think anymore.
"Damn it Cook! You almost died!" Zoro yelled, startling the Cook again but this time the blond flare up.
"The fuck? Don't just kill me off that easily!" Sanji crossed his arms and stared at the idiot across him. "A small thing like that is not enough to kill me!" He was getting furious.
Is the idiot underestimating me? Does he think I'm so weak that I'll die just by falling down a flight of stairs?! Sanji seethes.
"You don't get it! You could have died from that fall! You could've broke your neck instead of your leg! That small thing could've ended everything!" Zoro bellowed and Sanji was sure that anyone for miles could've hear their conversation. If it could be even called one.
The room was silent except for Zoro's heavy breathing as he struggled to get his emotions under control.
The damn cook just don't get it. He doesn't get how fragile life is. How a simple fall can take away even the strongest of people. How you can be fine one day and dead the next. The shitty Cook just doesn't get any of this.
And how could he? He doesn't know. Zoro never told anyone about his past. Luffy knows a little, about how much the white katana means to him and his ambition to become the greatest due to a promise from a loved one.
He never meant to be so emotional over this. He never thought the idiot love-Cook could cause such a reaction in him. But when he saw how the Cook tripped and fell, it was like the world slowed to a halt in that moment. Even as he close his eyes now, he could see it.
The look of astonishment followed by a flash of fear as he fell. The loud thud as he hit the ground and the painful grunts when he rolled a few steps down. And then what scared Zoro the most was the blood that flowed.
Zoro was never afraid of seeing blood. Hell, he's covered in it most of the time when he fights—mostly his enemy's blood and sometimes his own but he is never afraid of it. But when he saw the red fluid flow out from the Cook, he felt as though his heart stopped.
For a moment, his thoughts flash to his childhood friend—to Kuina. Was this how it was like when Koshiro found her? Was she covered in blood like this when she fell? Was she in any pain or did she pass away with a quick and painless death? He had always wondered about that but never voice it out in fear of upsetting her father, who was the one who saw her first when she fell.
He remembered how numb he felt when he hurried down the flight of stairs towards the unmoving Cook. His breath hitched when he saw how much blood was flowing out from the gash on his head and he almost panicked if not for the soft moaned the Cook made, shaking him out of his stupor.
He quickly knelt beside the Cook and carefully lifted his body up, propping him against his arms. He let out a sigh of relief he didn't know he was holding when he saw the rise and fall of his chest, indicating he is still alive and breathing.
Of course the Cook is alive. He mentally berated himself. It's not like a little fall can kill him off.
But Kuina was strong and looked what happened to her...
A soft voice whispered in him and that small pang of pain was back.
No. The Cook will live. He's different from Kuina. Everything's different now and he'd not lose anyone. He'll make sure of it. But for now, he had to get to Chopper.
Carrying the limp Cook in his arms, he rushed all the way back to the ship, it took longer than he thought considering the town is quite small but when he saw the Sunny in the distance, he breathe out another sigh of relief. The Cook is going to be safe. He'll be fine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Oi. Earth to moss-head! Quit spacing out!" Sanji yelled and snapped his fingers in front of Zoro's face to wake him up from his memories. Zoro grunted in return to state that he was back.
"So? You were saying?" Sanji prompted him to continue with his point he was trying to make previously but Zoro had enough of talking (or feeling) about this. The incident had strike too close to his heart and it hurts to think about it—about what might had happen or who he had lost.
He grunted again, not trusting his mouth to talk. He didn't want to get all emotional again. Rononoa Zoro do not do emotional.
"Cat got your tongue? Use words you shitty Swordsman!" Sanji's patience was running out and he can't help but yell. The green-haired bastard's show of concern for him was so uncharacteristic of him. It triggered something weird in Sanji, call it curiosity or whatever, but he's not going to let the moss-head get away without a proper explanation for his strange behavior.
"Nothing." He mumbled, eyes averting the blond's. He turned away from him and ran a hand over his hair with a tired sigh. "You should rest. Chopper says you might have a concussion when you hit your head so he wants you to have proper bed rest."
Sanji remained quiet while Zoro rumbled on. "Besides Brook and me, the others went off to town to pick up the rest of the supplies before we set sail."
The supplies that he was supposed to have gotten if not for the accident. This was his responsibility of being a cook and now the others has to pick up his slack because he was too clumsy to even walk down a flight of stairs.
Fuck he is so useless.
Zoro must sense the change in the Cook's mood because he turned and stared straight into his eyes. "Don't." He said sternly. "Don't blame yourself for this shit Cook. It's not your fault. It's nobody's."
The guilt in Sanji's lone, blue eye was so painful that before Zoro knew it, he had reached out with his hands to brush his fingers across his pale cheeks in reassurance. He wanted to get rid of the pain the Cook was feeling. He wanted to get rid of whatever's troubling him.
But just as the thought pass through his mind, he was woken up by what he just did. He froze. His hands in mid-air and quickly retracted, gruffly steeling his face and hurried out the infirmary door.
Meanwhile Sanji just stood there in disbelief.
What the hell just happened?!
He couldn't hide the surprise on his face because the moss-head had just defended him. Him! Of all people. Even though the Swordsman has only shown concern when he woke up till now, somewhere inside of him he was still waiting for the mockery to spill out of his uncouth mouth.
But not this! Whatever this is!
And why is this making him feel so weird?
The moss-head should be screaming at him! He should be mocking him, teasing him for being so clumsy and pathetic for that fall. He should be insulting him, provoking him into a fight like he always does! He should be the irritating, smug, neanderthal like he always is!
He shouldn't be showing concern for his rival. He shouldn't be speaking with that soft tone like one would speak to someone they hold dear. He shouldn't be staring at him with those eyes that held warmth and maybe something deeper. He shouldn't be touching him with those tender hands as though he is made of glass. He shouldn't be touching him at all.
This is not how their relationship works. They don't do talking (he bets even a actual caveman can hold a proper conversation compared to him.) They don't touch each other with such gentleness and they definitely do not hold each other in such...regards.
He needs to think. Or maybe he needs to stop thinking.
His mind was in a whirlpool of thoughts and it could be the concussion's fault but he felt nauseous. His head throb, especially at his gash and his throat felt parched.
Now he knows why Chopper ordered him to a strict bed rest. He didn't think he could cook at all like this, not unless he wants to puke all over his cooking. Oh god no.
He carefully laid himself back onto the bed, letting out a tired sigh when his head hits the pillow. The throb has eased a little thought it's still there but he could ignore it. Right now he needs rest.
