Maybe it shouldn't have taken him this long to realize that not all Okama were the same, but looking around the most recent master of okama kenpo's loft style appartment sipping the frankly excellent earl grey blend Sanji found himself admitting that maybe some of them might be somewhat alright. For instance, the middle aged home owner had not once tried to convince Sanji to wear anything pink and frilly.
There was also a distinct lack of pink in the appartment, which was a nice change of pace.
"So, are you missing an eye or are just amblyopic?", the man asked rounding the kitchen counter and sitting down opposite of the blond cook. Something that Sanji greatly appreciated because that way it was harder to look at the man's ill fitting lingerie.
"My eye's fine, I'm not amba… whatever you said", Sanji said.
"No? Why do you wear your hair like that, then?", the man challenged, leaning further over the counter.
"That's none of your business", Sanji said, hoping the mostly dim light in the appartment would hide the blush creeping up his cheeks. The old okama really didn't need to know about Sanji's mismatched eyebrows.
"Well how long have you worn your hair like that? 'Cause chances are you are amblyopic", the man challenged.
"I don't know, since I was little… what the hell does ambly… whatever, mean?"
"It's a condition where, if an eyes vision is obstructed it doesn't learn to see properly so it turns practically blind", the man explained, leaning back again.
"I don't have that!", Sanji protested immediately.
"Really? Care to prove that?"
"I don't have to prove it, I know that you're wrong", Sanji insisted, putting his teacup down and crossing his arms.
"Well if you're so convinced, why back down from the challenge? Are you scared?"
"I'm not scared of any shitty okama! Especially not one that's not even committed enough to wear the right shoes", Sanji said. He jumped up from his seat and pointed at the okama's feet which were covered in frankly hideous work boots.
"Okay then, sit down over there", the man instructed, pointing at a chair at one wall of the room. Sanji stared at it in suspicion until the man pushed some buttons and a glowing square with letters lit up at the opposite wall. One of those eye tests, then.
"Why do you even have that in your living room? Are you some kind of doctor?", Sanji asked, perplexed.
"Because I am Kamabakka kingdom's premiere ophthalmologist!", the guy said proudly and did a dramatic pose which caused some fabric to dislodge from where it was previously covering things that really should've remained covered.
Sanji quickly averted his eyes and went over to the chair, glad for the excuse not to look at the man and have to face his hairy… best not to think about it.
"Okay, so now what?", he asked in a bored tone.
"Now you cover your right eye, open the left and read the letters aloud.
"This is a waste of time, you know", Sanji said as he pushed up his fringe, careful not to expose the eyebrow spiraling towards his nose. "My eye is perfectly fine." He covered his right eye with his palm and blinked a few times to adjust to the light coming into his left. Contrary to popular belief he could actually see through his hair a bit, but it was much more shaded and dimmed.
"Ready?", the ophthalmologist asked and Sanji nodded. Another click of the button made four rows of letters appear and Sanji focused his attention on those.
"T, O, Z, M", Sanji recited in a bored tone, before switching to the next row.
"L…" There he faltered. The next letter wasn't quite as clear, the lines bleeding into each other, but he could still make an educated guess. "F, B, O", he finished.
"Uh huh. And the next?"
"Uh… P… H…. C… P…" he hazarded, unhappy at his own low progress. But really, he was sitting so far away from the glowing wall and the letters were tiny.
"Now with the other eye."
Sanji let his curtain of hair fall back over his left eye and put his palm over it for good measure, before opening he opened his right.
And stared.
Because now all the letters were perfectly clear, and really not that small at all.
The ophthalmologist had evidently noticed Sanji's astonishment. His tone was smug when he asked, "Care to try again?"
"T, O, Z, M", he read the first line, and then switched to the second, which was smaller but not by that much. "L, P, E, D" and then the third which was smaller again but still nicely legible. "R, E, C, F… that's not what I said the first time, is it?"
"No. You got closer than I expected, but that was still abysmal", the okama diagnosed. "Those are not even close to the most difficult tables I have. And I suspect you wouldn't even see there's letters on those with your left."
"Well… shit", Sanji said, leaning back in the chair and running a hand through his hair. "So… that's because of my hairstyle? Really? That sounds so stupid."
"Pretty much. An eye develops amblyopia when it doesn't get enough input during childhood. As you're growing up your eyes learn how to see properly. When one doesn't get that opportunity it just won't be able to do it." The man came over, carrying the cup of tea Sanji had been drinking from earlier and handed it to him.
"So, what, do I need glasses, or…?" Sanji accepted the cup and took a sip from it absently.
"That's not gonna do much to help. The problem isn't the eye itself, but the fact that it can't talk to your brain properly. The brain doesn't know how to process the information that eye collects because it never learned how."
"So you're saying my brain is broken? Great", Sanji groaned. He found he was now enjoying the tea much less than he had when he'd arrived.
"Well, you didn't even notice it, so it's probably not gonna be a huge problem for you", the man said somewhat sympathetically.
"No, screw that, how do I fix this?", Sanji suddenly jumped up, facing the man. "This can be fixed, right?" Because accepting this new found weakness just would not do. Especially if he'd aquired it for such a stupid reason.
"That depends, I guess. How old are you?" The man said appraisingly, looking at Sanji with a raised eyebrow.
"20", Sanji answered immediately. Saying it out loud always gave him a strange mix of feelings. On the one hand he felt like lamenting that he'd been separated from his nakama for nearly a year, now, but on the other it also meant that their reunion was growing closer. Ah, to bask in the loveliness of Robin-chwan and Nami-swan again! To cook in his own kitchen again! And… also seeing the other idiots.
"Then you're pretty much stuck like that. Vision develops until around 18, so doing something now is not going to make a difference."
"Fuck that, what would you do if I was younger?", Sanji demanded. He'd be damned if he let something as arbitrary as age hold him back from rectifying this.
The opthalmologist looked a bit taken aback at Sanji's sudden enthusiasm. "Well, the standard method is to cover the good eye in order to force the other one to pick up the slack and learn to see for itself."
"Really? That's it?" Seemed like an awfully easy solution to something being wrong with the brain.
"Simple, but effective. The affected eye might not make it to a hundred percent, but it's been proven to help a lot. But, as I said, it's not likely to help at all at your age. You'd just be walking around not seeing stuff."
"Let me worry about that. I'll definitely fix this", Sanji said, impassioned. He
"Really, now?", the man said, chuckling. "I'm not sure if your determination is admirable or stupid. But I like it."
"I… don't really care about your opinion", Sanji said, unimpressed.
"No, I don't suppose so. But you do care about the attack cuisine recipe that Iva-san entrusted me with, don't you?"
"Of course, that's the only reason I'm here", Sanji said. That much should be obvious.
"Well then how about a wager? If you come back here, and read that table correctly with your left eye, then I'm giving it to you", the opthalmologist declared. "And don't even think about memorizing it, I have loads of these. So what do say? Do we have a deal?"
He extended his hand towards Sanji who grabbed it without hesitation and shook it. "Deal."
He would definitely win this. If his stupid eye and his brain didn't like talking to each other, they were just going to have to learn to get along. Because he would not tolerate such a stupid bit of weakness, especially not if it could be reversed. And it could be, he was convinced of it. As if being two years too old for something would ever be a deterrent for any straw hat pirate.
The next morning Sanji parted his hair on the left side for the first time in his life.
A/N: I'd actually wanted to try to do a drabble, but apparently I am incapable of writing under a thousand words.
This is an actual medical condition and learning about it I was wondering if Sanji had it and it just turned into a theory as to why he wears his hair differently now.
Anyway thanks for reading and let me know what you think!