Transfer Student
Chapter 1
Today was just another day for sixteen year old Sanji. He woke up before dawn to help his old man prep for the restaurant that they ran together. Though he was little more tired than normal, accounting for the fact that the young blonde stayed up pretty late studying for his midterm finals. He sheepishly kneaded the dough for all the buns and pastries that the restaurant used for the day. As Sanji was practically falling asleep, he was broken from his trance by a deep, harsh voice.
"Hey, Eggplant! Either drink some coffee or get out. I don't need you slacking off or falling face first in that dough." Zeff proclaimed. Sanji grumbled at his statement but continued to knead the dough. He didn't care, he was there to work whether Zeff liked it or not.
Sanji and Zeff had a strange relationship for a father and son. They always argued and almost never agreed on anything. If you were a guest in their home you wouldn't think that they were related at all. Sanji believes it was the death of his mother that turned the old geezer sour. He couldn't blame him, life was a lot better with her around even if he was really young when it happened.
Sanji was only nine, his mother was out at a fancy dinner party with her office when a car accident happened outside. A large truck that was involved had crashed through the side of the venue and six people, including his mother, had died.
A loud crash from the kitchen had woke Sanji up in the middle of the night. When he turned to his clock he saw that it was passed midnight.
What's all that noise?
He sleepily went downstairs and found his father with his face buried in his hands. Sanji saw the object that was thrown. It was a vase full of flowers that Zeff had gotten his mother. Sanji's eyes widened with anger.
What the...?! Mom loved those flowers... Why did he do that?
"Hey! Geezer! What do you think you're doing?! Mom adored those and you just threw them away like they were nothing!" Sanji yelled. Zeff did not react to his voice. It made the boy even angrier. He marched over and tugged on the old man's sleeve.
"Are you even listening to me?!" Sanji was so furious he was shaking
"Quiet Little Eggplant." Zeff had said in the most mellow yet gruff voice Sanji had ever heard come from his mouth.
"What happened? Why did you throw them?" Sanji said in a smaller voice. Zeff didn't move for what felt like an eternity. When he finally did, he looked down at Sanji with somber eyes. His face was red and tears were streaming down his cheeks.
Sanji froze. Why is he crying? I've never seen him cry before. What's going on? Where's mom?
Mom.
Sanji felt a lump in his throat. She hadn't said goodnight to him. He always woke up when she did. She should have been home hours ago. His heart started to race.
"Geezer... Where's mom?" his voice shaking, "She didn't say goodnight to me. Where is she?" tears started to build up in his eyes.
Zeff kept still again not knowing what to do with his son. How was he supposed to to tell him? He was only nine. How could he tell the boy his mom wasn't coming home? She was gone.
A quiet sob left the old man's lungs and he scooped up Sanji into his lap holding him tight, "She's gone Eggplant. She's no longer with us."
"W-what do you mean she's gone?" Sanji said trying not to cry.
"Tonight. At her dinner party. There was an accident outside the place they were at. A truck ran through a wall and-..." he choked, "your mother wasn't the only one."
Sanji couldn't believe what he was hearing. There was no way. He had to be dreaming. Mom couldn't be gone. There were still things they were supposed to do together. She couldn't just abandon him like this. He starting sobbing into Zeff's coat.
"She made it to the Hospital. The doctors did their best but she didn't make it. I got to see her. She said she loves you and that she's sorry she couldn't do all the things that you wanted to do together. To grow up strong and be the best chef you can be." They held each other tight as they cried. Once Sanji had fallen asleep, Zeff brought him into his bedroom and for the first time since Sanji was four they slept next to each other.
Sanji grumbled again and shook his head at the thought. He hated thinking back to that night. Though almost every time he and Zeff had an argument he would think about it and they fought quite a bit. He had just realized that his hands had stopped moving and maybe Zeff was right. Though he'd never admit it. He was too tired for his own good. These midterms were killing him.
"I think I'm gonna go shower-... and lay down before school." Sanji said with a yawn.
"Yeah you do that, Brat." Zeff snapped.
"Shut up old geezer." Sanji made his way up to the apartment above the restaurant. It was nice living right above the place. The place was by no means small. It was almost like there was a whole house above it. They weren't sure what to call it so apartment became it's official name. Though Sanji would call it his house all the time. It was his home. Restaurant and all.
Once he entered the place he kicked off his shoes and walked through the entryway, under the chandelier and towards the next flight of stairs. This was the second floor of their living space but if you counted the restaurant it's the third floor of the whole building. Sometimes Sanji hated having to walk up two flights of stairs to get to his room. He always banished the thought though. It was a good workout for his legs even if it barely was one. Sanji not only fought with Zeff vocally but physically. Not that he's abusive, he's trained in Savate and him and Sanji enjoy kicking the crap out of each other all the time. Sanji might as well be trained in it as well. So these stairs were a piece of cake. More time consuming than anything.
Sanji cranked on the shower and took about ten minutes to scrub and rinse before he set his alarm and crawled back into bed. He needed the extra rest. As soon as his head hit the pillow everything went dark.
Sanji slowly rolled into class with his bag over his shoulder. He let out a big yawn before someone slammed their hands on his desk startling him.
"Wha-! Ooohhhh my beautiful Namiiiii~! Good morning! You scared me!" Sanji said with a hand over his heart. Nami was a short red-headed girl that sat in front of him in class. She rolled her eyes at Sanji and leaned in a little closer.
"Ms. Robin, Ace and Luffy are back." She uttered without a moment to spare.
"What?!"
"Yeah, they came in a few days ago. They've been getting rid of the jet lag but they're finally back in school again!" Nami said excitedly.
I guess this wasn't just another day. Their friends and their school librarian had returned from Japan.
"That's great!" another voice broke in. A blue haired girl had just sat down in her desk next to Sanji overhearing their conversation.
"Vivi!" Nami bounced happily to her friends desk.
"Good morning, Vivi~:" Sanji said with a big, dopey smile. He always swooned over the ladies. He sure did love ladies.
"Good morning, Sanji." she smiled back, "It's good to know that everyone will be back together again. They've been gone for so long now."
"Yeah, and we won't have that creepy guy as our librarian anymore." Nami scoffs, "He always gives me the heeby jeebies." She sticks her tongue out as she rubs both of her upper arms.
"I just hope they're okay. They seemed pretty devastated before they left." Sanji added.
Ms. Robin has been Ace and Luffy's neighbor for quite some time. She had babysat them since Luffy was five and Ace was eight. She was sixteen. Even after they were "too old" to babysit they constantly went next door to Robin's. They enjoyed her company and she enjoyed theirs.
A couple of months ago she entered the courtyard during their lunch break whiter than a ghost. Ms. Robin was always so composed and she always lit up any room with her soft, sweet smile. Something was definitely wrong. Ace and Luffy immediately got up and approached her. Sanji remembered how Ace and Luffy's composes changed from whatever she had told them. They held each other tightly for a few moments and the brothers walked back to their table with their heads low to the ground.
After a few moments Ace broke the silence, "Ms. Robin wants us to go to Japan with her. She said she'd pay for everything and offered to teach us while we were there too. We'd be there for a while. She told us to think about it. We would be leaving next week." More silence.
"But...why?" Nami whispered, "I know you guys are close and all...but why would you go to Japan with her?"
"W-we're not supposed to say." Ace uttered quietly, looking down at his hands.
"You know how Robin has her family come out here every other summer?" Luffy cuts in before anyone else could speak.
"Luffy! We aren't supposed to say anything!" Ace yelled but Luffy continued, "Something bad has happened. We're close to her cousin. He's around our age. He needs us."
No one knew about the younger cousin and how close the brothers were to him. After some time Ace spoke again, "I'm not sure I want to go. We don't know how long we'll be gone and we'll be away from our family and-"
"I'm going. He's nakama." Luffy interrupts.
"Nakama?" Sanji asks.
"It's a word he taught us. It basically means friends chosen as family." Ace explained. He sat there with a puzzled look for some time before his eyes went wide, "That's right...he's nakama. Alright, Luffy! I'm going too!"
"I'd kick your ass if you didn't." Luffy chortled.
"Like you could." Ace reminded him.
Sanji, Nami and Vivi sat in silence remembering the day Ms. Robin had passed the news. A loud voice brought them back to reality, "GUYSGUYSGUYS! DID YOU HEAR?! Ace and Luffy are back!" They looked up to see their long-nosed, curly haired friend run into the classroom.
"Good morning, Usopp. We know, Nami just told us." Vivi said with a gentle smile, "Kaya and Tony must be ecstatic."
"I hate how you're the only one that can call Chopper, Tony. What makes you so special?" Nami grumbled.
"I don't know?" Vivi shrugged. Both of the girls broke into a giggling fit.
"Should we go or should we wait until lunch and meet at the usual spot?" Usopp declared.
"The bell is about to ring. Luffy is all the way in the freshman win and Ace is n the junior. It would take us way too long to get to both of them. We should probably wait." Sanji proclaimed.
"Good idea." Usopp said taking his seat in front of Vivi. He turns around, "Hey...do you think they'll tell us?"
"Probably not. It's a private family matter. I'm dying to know too though." Sanji says running his hand through is hair.
The day had felt like it was dragging on forever. The four of them could barely contain themselves in their seats. They kept looking up at each other and then the clock and at the door. Hoping that some off chance someone would come and whisk them away to their friends.
They had gathered their things before the bell rang. Once it did, they all jumped out of their seats and sprinted towards the courtyard. The run there felt like miles. They busted through the doors all out of breath to look upon their friends waiting for them at the table. Chopper, Kaya, Marco and Sabo were already there. Right behind them were Ace and Luffy.
Ace. Luffy. They were back.
"Ace! Luffy!" the four of them said in unison. They tackled everyone onto the ground creating a dog pile in the grass, rolling around and laughing together like they used to.
"Everyone! You're all here now!" Luffy said between laughs, "I'm so happy!"
"We're happy too! It's so great that you guys are back now." Vivi added.
They sat together, ate lunch and caught up with each other as much as they could in their short lunch break. Ace and Luffy took turns telling stories about their trip to Japan. Though so far they hadn't mentioned anything about the reason why they went or about their friend that they went to. None of them wanted to pry but they were all dying to know. Sanji braved up and asked, "So...how's your friend?" Ace and Luffy looked at him, at each other and then back at him again.
Luffy laughs and puts a big smile on his face, "He's great! He's moving here next semester!" Sanji can't help but notice that Ace doesn't seem nearly as ecstatic as Luffy is about their friend moving here. He decides whether or not he should say anything. He decides yes, "Hey, Ace. You don't seem too excited about your friend coming here."
Ace snaps his head at Sanji, "Uh...well.." he pauses, "he's not exactly happy about coming here."
"He'll enjoy it. I'll make him." Luffy says putting his fist in the air.
"Why wouldn't he want to come?" Chopper asks.
"He doesn't want to leave his kendo instructor behind." Ace says.
"Behind? What do you mean behind?" Usopp asks.
"Ah-...we've said too much." Ace replies.
"So what's his name? You never told us." Vivi addressed.
"Zoro! Don't be startled if he gives you a weird look if you call him that though. In Japan when you don't know someone very well you call them by their last name. He's used to being called Roronoa." Luffy explains.
"Also he doesn't take to people very quickly. So don't be bothered if he rejects you in the beginning." Ace adds.
"Zoro Roronoa? What an interesting name." Vivi beamed.
The bell rang and they all had to go back to class. Sanji couldn't help but think about how mysterious this situation was. Ms. Robin had suddenly took Ace and Luffy away from them for two months to Japan and returning to find out that her young cousin would be moving to the states and going to school with them. He decided to try to not think about it too much. If he was meant to know he would know.
Sanji had invited everyone over after he put in his hours at the restaurant. He cooked for them, watched movies and played video games until late into the night. He was surprised that Zeff hadn't kicked them out earlier. Sanji thought it was probably what he could barely call his soft spot showing, knowing that his friends were back after such a long trip.
After everyone had left, Sanji went up to his room to study for a little bit before bed. These damn midterms getting in his way. They were coming up quick too. They were next week. He started thinking about how lucky Ace and Luffy were to have had Ms. Robin teach them while they were in Japan.
"Lucky bastards...they get to have such a beautiful flower help them and here I am pulling my hair out trying to make sure I don't screw up. AGH!" Sanji slammed his head on his desk. Too much happened today for him to really concentrate. He was stressed and excited all at the same time. He decided that it was no use studying and to try and go to sleep.
As he's lying in bed he starts to think about the mysterious friend of the brothers that's coming next semester. He thinks back to what Ace had said to them, about how he doesn't take to people very quickly. Usually he wouldn't even want to deal with a person like that but since he was a mutual friend he might not have a choice.
"Oh well." he muttered to himself. No sense in worrying about it now. There was more than half a semester before he showed up. Sanji closed his eyes and slowly drifted to sleep.