Zoro took another swig of the second last bottle of wine. It was dead in the night, and the only sounds were from the gentle waves... And the frequent snoring and mumbling of his crew mates.

He gulped a couple of mouthfuls of wine down and wondered, How did it turn out like this...?

What was supposed to be a small celebratory party turned into what seemed like a massacre on the ship.

Earlier in the morning, the crew stumbled upon an island which was rich with food and treasure. It was the perfect time to stock up on and replenish their food supply, and the treasure was a bonus, even though Luffy didn't think so. He thought both were bonuses.

Thus, Nami instructed Franky to dock their ship near the shore while the rest of them went separate ways to look for food.

After that, just as they were about to leave for their initial destination, a pirate ship no smaller than the Sunny Go arrived and attacked them, trying to take the treasure and food that the Straw Hats got first.

All in all, it was a long series of events in the day, so by night, Nami decided to set up a little party for everyone to rest and have fun.

Well, having fun was their original plan, until the moment Franky and Robin came out of the kitchen with the bottles of wine that they took from the island, and set it on the table.

Before anyone had any time to react, Nami exclaimed, "Since we all worked hard today, let's have a little competition to see who can last longer before we're knocked out!"

"That made absolutely no sense! And you just want to compete with Zoro, don't you?! Geez! What about Chopper? He's underage," Usopp shouted back, picking up Chopper and shoving him into Nami's face.

"Don't worry! I prepared some juice for him," Sanji set a tray of non-alcoholic drinks on the wooden table that Franky made. "So don't you worry, Nami-swan! It's all in place!" He assured the navigator in a sweet voice.

"I'm the one who's worrying..." Usopp sighed and put Chopper down.

"Yohohoho~ There, there! It's very rare that we get to enjoy ourselves like this!" Brook said as he took out his electric guitar. "So let's drink to our hearts' content!"

He strummed the guitar once and added, "Though I have no heart! Yohohohoho!"

"Hey, Hey, is there any meat?" Luffy jumped over to Sanji. "I'm hungry!"

"Of course! I'll take it out, so just hold on for a while," Sanji zoomed into the kitchen.

Zoro, being Zoro, sat against the railings and enjoyed his bottle of wine, all the while listening to the chatter among his crew mates.

"Don't you want to participate in the competition?" Smiling, Robin appeared out of nowhere beside him in a swirl of flower petals.

Zoro exhaled sharply, almost like chuckle, and replied, "I'll wait for Nami to finish off the rest. Besides, this wine here is delicious. I don't want to gulp it all down at one go." He took another swig, enjoying its premium taste.

Robin chuckled a little in reply, before saying, "Today is your birthday, isn't it?"

"Eh? How did you know?" The bottle of wine stopping in midair for a second before it continued on its route.

"It's a secret. But anyway, I don't think you'll want them to find out, right?"

"... Yeah, it's not that big of a deal."

"As expected. Nonetheless, happy birthday," Robin said before she joined the rest in the drinking competition.

It was supposed to be a drinking competition, and once Nami defeated the last person still standing, Zoro joined in. However, the moment Zoro took another bottle of wine, it was already over for Nami.

It took her about three more barrels of wine before she, too, was knocked out.

"Argh... No more..." Nami whined in her drunken slumber as she rolled over to her side.

"Hmph, you're ten years too early to be competing against me," Zoro muttered before he opened a new bottle of wine.

He gulped it down and the fresh and different taste of newly opened wine filled his mouth.

He looked around him. It really looked like a massacre happened. Everyone was dead drunk and all of them were already in a deep slumber. Luffy was still holding onto the last piece of meat, though.

Chopper couldn't keep up with the pace, and ended up getting consumed by sleep.

Robin, on the other hand, was sleeping soundly against Franky, who seemed as if he broke down and is on prolonged standby mode.

Brook and Usopp was pushing and shoving each other in their sleep every now and then.

As for Sanji, he was lying in a corner, and breathing harder than he should be. He caught Zoro's eye and Zoro stared at him, waiting for movement.

After a while, he decided to just forget it and drink the night away. It was pretty peaceful for a change, and he liked it. A night sky blanketing them, and the sea snoring beneath them, it was lovely.

However, he could not help but wonder if the cook was alright. Usually, when someone is drunk and asleep, it wouldn't be this bad.

Zoro put the empty bottle of wine on the table and walked over to Sanji quietly. He squatted and listened. His back was facing him, so he couldn't see his face. He waited, and just before he was about to turn and walk away, Sanji rolled over onto his back.

Ah, he turned over.

What he saw surprised him. Sanji's face was all red and he was breathing way too hard for a sleeping drunk.

"Oi, cook," Zoro called out. "What's wrong?"

Sanji painfully opened his eyes. "Zoro...?"

"What, are you so drunk that you became a little blind?" Zoro mocked.

"Shut up..."

"What's wrong?" He asked again, concern unusually clouding his voice.

"Nothing..."

"It doesn't look like nothing. You're panting."

"Haha, what? Are you actually drunk?" Sanji mocked in return.

"Dammit, shut up! I was just being concerned," Zoro looked away in frustration. He was on the verge of giving up on this guy. Why did I ever bothered about him anyway?

"Concerned? Wow... That's pretty rare," Sanji said.

Zoro didn't say anything, but it was obvious that he was getting more worried just by looking at the blond struggling to speak. He placed a hand on the cook's forehead and Sanji groaned a little at the sudden contact.

"Hey, you're burning up," Zoro said, frowning. "It's probably a fever. It's not good to sleep out here."

"It's not a fever..."

"Get up."

"I told you... It's nothing," Sanji persisted.

"I guess I have no choice," Zoro said as he prepared to scoop him up in his arms. But the moment he touched Sanji's legs, Sanji pulled away.

"It's nothing," Sanji repeated. "It's not a fever."

"You're turning red and you're burning hot, how can it not be a fever?" Zoro said, louder this time. He tried again, putting an arm under Sanji's legs. However, Sanji flinched.

"Don't... Don't touch me," Sanji mumbled.

"What?"

"I said, don't touch me," Sanji repeated.

"What are you, a girl?" Zoro sighed. "Never mind. Can you walk on your own?"

Sanji was silent for a while before he said, "It's not a fever, really."

"Then what is it? You tell me!" Zoro was starting to get annoyed.

Silence.

"You've never seen me drunk before, right?" Sanji said all of a sudden.

"Huh?"

"I can't... Hold my liquor that well. And, when I get drunk, I..." Sanji stopped.

"You what?" Zoro urged.

Sanji looked away, unwilling to say another word.

"Hey..." Zoro placed a hand on his shoulder, pulling Sanji to face him.

Sanji twitched, and pushed his hand away, but he looked over at Zoro for an instant, and that was it. It gave him away.

Zoro's eyes wandered along his body, all the while keeping what he just saw in his mind, and that was when it all fell into place.

"Hey... Don't tell me," Zoro said slowly. "You're... The aroused kind of drunk."