Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece…yet
Stuck On You
Chapter 1
It was an unusually normal day on the infamous ship of the Straw-hat crew. There were no marines chasing after them, no pirates to pick fights with the crew, and even the weather seemed to accommodate to the tranquil atmosphere. The Going Merry drifted on placid waves, heading towards no particular direction, and allowing itself to be pushed onward by the tide.
The steady rocking of the ship pulled the young pirates into a state of indolence and peace. After the struggle in Skypeia, saving another world from destruction by another egotistical villain with twisted beliefs, the crew felt a well deserved rest…except for Luffy.
Luffy, like always, made a miraculously fast recovery and after a feast enough for a whole village, the captain was back on his feet, pumping with endless energy. It was nearly impossible for the boy to stand still for longer than a minute and within moments after Chopper declared him healed; he was running all around the deck with Usopp and Chopper following his lead. The silence of the ship had been broken by the shrieks of laughter and crash of items being knocked over. It was only a matter of time before a certain orange haired navigator lost her self control…
"WILL YOU GUYS SHUT UP! FOR ONCE I HAVE SOME PEACE AND QUIET TO WORK ON MY MAPS BUT THEN YOU GUYS HAVE TO CAUSE A RUCKUS AND LOOK!," Nami screeched, furiously waving a half drawn map with a noticeable ink blob in the centre, "LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO!!"
Usopp and Chopper backed away and cowered in the corner, they were smart enough to not say anything. Unfortunately, the oblivious captain wasn't so clever. "Is the map supposed to look like that? What's that dark spot over here?" Luffy frowned slightly, scratching his head, as he observed the map critically.
"IT WAS YOU, YOU IDIOT!"
Luffy laughed, "Oh, that's supposed to be me?! Awesome! But Nami, maybe you should take some art lessons from Usopp or something. That doesn't look like me at all!"
It took both Usopp and a human form Chopper to hold back the raging orange haired navigator from strangling the ignorant straw-hat captain.
But before Nami could jump Luffy, who was still laughing at the scene before him, a well delivered kick sent the rubber man flying.
"Idiot. You should know better than to anger a woman," Sanji scolded, but not too harshly. He didn't want the others to notice his odd behaviour. It was hard for him to penalize Luffy especially when he was grinning at him. "Apologize to Nami-san,"
Luffy sat up, and grinned sheepishly, as if he just hadn't been sent flying across the ship, "Sorry, Nami,"
Nami wasn't immune to Luffy's childlike charm and she couldn't stay mad at him for long. The young orange haired girl gave him one last glare before leaving with a huff. Chopper and Usopp visibly relaxed as the danger passed, but just in case, they ran off to a safe hiding place where Usopp promised the unveiling of his new invention.
Sanji kneeled down in front of his captain, ruffling his hair, "You okay?" He didn't have to worry about anyone watching this time. "Come on, I have something for you."
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"MEAT!" Luffy cried out in joy, snatching the plate from Sanji's hands and gobbling up the food, all in a matter of seconds. "Thanks Sanji!" he mumbled with his mouth full and face covered in bits of food, grinning happily.
The love cook smiled at him from across the dining table, his eyes never leaving his captain's face. Sanji stood up slightly leaning across the table and cleaned up Luffy's face with a clean napkin. Suddenly he paused, taking in every inch of Luffy. The raven haired pirate looked back at him with curious eyes, unsure of the blonde chef's intentions.
"Sanji? What-"
"Adorable," he whispered, a smile on his face, "Absolutely adorable," Sanji slowly bent down, as he tilted Luffy's chin up, nearly closing the distance between them….
"What the hell do you think you're doing, you shitty cook?"
Zoro knew that stupid ero-cook would try something like this when he caught Sanji luring Luffy into the kitchen with the promises of food. The swordsman's eyes narrowed at the sight before him. The stupid bastard was dangerously close to a wide eyed Luffy. He'd be damned if he let curly eyebrows take Luffy's first kiss.
Sanji sighed before dropping his hands from the enticingly soft skin, and standing upright in an intimidating stance. He'd been so close too. But the annoying algae head had to go and ruin the moment.
Sanji took out and lit a cigarette. Taking as long as he could, he took a long drag before smirking, "I don't think it's any of your business, bastard,"
Zoro clenched his teeth, fighting the urge to kill the man in front of him. "The hell it –"
"Hey, Zoro! You want some meat? Sanji made a lot and it's really really good!" Luffy exclaimed, waving a drumstick in the air, as if to tempt the swordsman. The captain seemed to not notice the tense atmosphere in the kitchen or what Sanji was about to do before Zoro came in. Maybe Zoro was jealous that Sanji didn't make anything for him to eat?
The two men standing immediately relaxed at the sound of his voice, their eyes softening as they both turned their attention on the raven haired boy. They silently agreed that Luffy shouldn't be a part of this fight, although he was the reason for it.
"Luffy, why don't you go out on the deck to eat?" Zoro suggested casually, using a much gentler tone with the younger boy. "I think I saw something shiny outside," He'd learned to lie quite well with Usopp around.
"OOH!"
And with that, Luffy dashed excitedly to search for the non-existent shiny thing with arms filled with meat. With Sanji's fond chuckle following him out the kitchen.
But with Luffy gone, the tense moment had returned, and the two remaining turned to glare at each other. The lean blonde gave one last puff and tapped his right shoe threateningly twice on the floor boards, making two heavy thuds. The green haired pirate gripped two swords at his side, one in each hand, "Pretty cheap of you to bait Luffy with food,"
"At least I'm doing something. By the rate you're going, you'll remain a virgin for life. I'll do you a favour and make it short for you,"
Zoro smirked, "Bring it on, bastard,"
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Luffy happily munched on his meat as he sat on his favourite spot, Merry's head. It had been a good day for him. Although there weren't any adventures to make the day interesting, he had woken up to smiling faces and the knowledge that his nakama were all safe. Best of all, he had meat and soon – after he'd finished a couple more plates – he would continue his search and he would have meat AND a new shiny thing!
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Two huddled figures hovered over a strange looking hunk of metal between them. One, an eagerly watching young reindeer and the other, a long nosed brunette, with eyes focused on the task at hand. And with one last careful brush stroke, he completed drawing his brand logo– a skull with a long nose and curly hair, topped with a hat similar to his own. The two held their breaths before jumping up in joy.
"Finally, after weeks of working off sweat, tears and blood, I have finished my greatest invention of all time. Behold, the Great Captain Usopp Gum Gum Shooting Machine!" the long nosed sniper proudly announced, already forgetting that he was supposed to be quiet. "This baby can stop the enemies in their tracks! All run in fear at the sight of this powerful machine! Even the seven gods would be powerless against it!"
Chopper, who had been patiently and faithfully watching Usopp put the final touches on his machine, was looking at Usopp in awe with stars in his eyes. "That's amazing, Usopp! What does it do? Is it really that powerful?"
"Of course! I'm not just bragging, you know. Why don't I show you just how great it is?"
Usopp took a deep breath, as if preparing himself for a great moment. He slowly rolled up his sleeves, and dramatically drew up his hands. Chopper continued to watch in excitement, not knowing what to expect next.
The sniper of the straw hat crew threw one arm in the air, a finger straight and sharply pointing to the skies, and dramatically pressed down on the start button…
The machine erupted into violent tremors and steam started blowing out. Chopper and Usopp shrank back in fear. Without warning, dozens of balls of pink goo shot out in random directions at the speed of a bullet. They flew across the ship, some fortunately hitting the floor of the deck or the walls.
One had landed on the cover of Robin's history book that she was reading, which had blocked her from getting hit. Robin merely continued reading with an amused look on her face. At the short time she had been part of the straw gat crew, she was getting used to these chaotic moments.
But not everyone came out unharmed
"Luffy, watch out!" Chopper yelled out. The reindeer watched in horror as one pink menace was hurling towards his captain.
"Eh?" Luffy had just turned to see a huge pink ball of gum whip past him, and knocking the plate of meat out off his hands into the depths of the ocean.
Luffy's eyes nearly came out of its sockets as he saw his food getting farther and farther away from his mouth. The straw hat pirate hurled himself towards his falling plate of food and stretched his arm to catch it. But in his hand was only an empty plate.
Luffy's jaw dropped to the ground as he saw the remains of his food, slowly, but surely being swallowed by the gentle waves. "My meat!"
His mourning was short lived though, when another ball of pink whizzed past him, reminding him that he had someone to blame. Luffy angrily turned towards the machine and pointed at it accusingly, "You made me drop my meat!"
No one ever messed with the straw hat captain's food and lived to talk about it.
Luffy, with eyes shining in determination, swung his outstretched arms behind him, preparing for the deadly bazooka attack that had won him many battles before. His arms shot out from behind him towards the still-shooting machine. But before he could even lay a hand on it, two pink bullets hit both his hands. The impact was harder than he had expected, making him stumble and lose his balance.
He called out for help; hopefully Zoro or Sanji would come after him soon. Luffy was falling backwards, following the fate of his unfinished meat, towards the blue waters.
But fate must have favoured this future pirate king, when two different hands caught one each of his sticky, pink hands just in time. Luffy's feet hovered above the water's surface with his long rubber arms stretched above him. The straw hat pirate laughed, he didn't need to see the two who had saved him. He could recognize the warmth and strength of these two different hands.
"Damn it, Luffy! Do you have to fall every hour of the day?" Zoro sighed in exasperation. But he was relieved all the same. His heart settled once more. One of his worst fears was seeing Luffy fall overboard and him not being able to make it there in time.
"No one asked you to help. I can do it myself." The chef said coolly. Sanji hadn't forgotten the unfinished fight in the kitchen. His stomach was still sore from the stupid marimo's punch, he was sure to pay him back for that. The instance they heard Luffy's cry, the two had stopped their kicks and punches in mid air, and turned away from each other, eyes in the direction of the cry. The two cursed themselves simultaneously and ran out the door. They had barely made it in time, but thankfully Luffy had stretched out his arms.
"As his first mate, it's my job to rescue the captain." Zoro's eyes flashed threateningly.
"You're going to use that excuse one again? It's getting really old,"
"You're just – "
He didn't get to finish his sentence as a body rocketed towards them, knocking both off their feet. "Thanks, you guys! I thought I was going to drown again!" Luffy laughed, as he lay his head on their chests with a carefree grin on his face.
Zoro raised his eyebrow and smiled down at the boy on his lap, saying nothing. Sanji merely grinned.
"Usopp? Is it over??" Chopper asked fearfully. The machine had come to a halt, finally settling down with one last jolt. The doctor and the sniper had been safe from the attack of the Great Captain Usopp Gum Gum Shooting Machine and both stood frozen as they gaped at the sight before them.
"WHAT IS THIS THING ON MY SHIRT?!"
"Oh no…." Usopp was already fearing for his life. He just hoped he would die a quick and painless death. Oh, how the world would mourn for the loss of a great warrior of the sea. How would Kaya and his villagers take his news? The sniper hung his head in grief.
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To be continued...
By the way, do you want Zoro or Sanji to kiss Luffy first? Let me know, and if you have any suggestions, please tell me…