Chapter 1 - PrologueAuthor's Note: This fanfic idea came to me while I was thinking about how Sanji gets medical treatment far less often than Zoro, and how often Sanji seems to break bones and then never have them be a problem later on. It was originally only going to be this one chapter, but then I got an idea of an entire story I could make with this as the starting point, so here we are.

Time set: Pre-Whole Cake Island

POV Chopper

Chopper exited the infirmary, having just finished treating Zoro's injuries from their last confrontation, and headed straight to the galley to escape the sweltering heat of the summer island they were sailing away from.

Chopper didn't necessarily enjoy spending his time not working in the infirmary, as the smells of antiseptic and medicine were harsh on his sensitive nose. However, as he watched Sanji, preparing a post-battle meal to replenish everyone's strength, he noticed something off about the way he was walking.

He seemed to be trying to hold his torso as still as possible, and occasionally hissed in pain. "Sanji", he inquired, "is something wrong? Are you hurt?" Why wouldn't Sanji just tell him if he had gotten injured?

"Uh, yeah..." Sanji replied, "you wanna treat it?"

"Of course!" Chopper replied heatedly, and ushered Sanji to the infirmary. After setting a couple of broken ribs, Chopper asked Sanji "Why didn't you say anything?! You're supposed to come to me if you got seriously injured!"

"I am?" Sanji asked, a confused look on his face. "Of course you are, idiot!"

"I... guess I never really thought about it that way before. My, uh..." Sanji paused, a conflicted look in his eyes. He breathed in deeply, and then out, and continued, "my sister used to patch me up when I got hurt, but really only at her convenience. Everything always ended up fine either way, so I didn't ever think about actually... asking someone to tend my injuries. Didn't want to bother you with it."

"You wouldn't be bothering me, Sanji, it's my job! How would you feel if someone was really hungry, but didn't want to bother you so they just went hungry?"

"I'd track them down and force food down their throat if I had to", Sanji replied immediately. And then a look of realization came over his face. "Oh... you must feel the same way, huh? Never really thought about it like that, an injured person is the same to you as a starving one is to me, isn't it?" He suddenly look rather sheepish, as he said "Sorry about that, I'll make sure to come to you if I get injured."

"How many bones have you broken without telling me, exactly? It doesn't seem like you have any poorly healed bones, but that doesn't really make sense if you've been letting them heal without being set."

"Poorly healed? What do you mean?" Sanji asked, genuinely confused. Chopper wondered how someone who broke bones so often could understand so little, but answered anyways.

"If your bones aren't set properly, they can fail to heal altogether or heal crooked, but like I said, that doesn't really seem to have happened. You must be really lucky or something."

"Oh." Sanji said, and then, more bewildered, "Oh."

POV Sanji

Sanji looked down at his hands, realizing for the first time that the way he healed wasn't normal. If it wasn't normal, there's only one thing it could be. Judge. He wasn't as normal as he thought he was. They had never been told exactly what had been modified, or in Sanji's case, had been attempted to be modified. The thought that he had more of those genetic modifications than his eyebrows and facial hair filled him with horror and disgust. He wished there was some way to pull his bones out of his body and replace them with ones that functioned like a regular fucking person. He knew it was irrational, that certainly that unnatural healing had been immensely vital to his crew's survival plenty of times in ways that he hadn't even realized, but he couldn't stomach the idea of being like his brothers in any way. Even worse, he couldn't stomach the small, sick part of himself that said I'm not a failure? Not a dud?

That shameful part of him that would never stop looking for Judge's approval, that begged for proof that his existence wasn't just a cruel joke by some twisted deity who had decided to make his life hell for a few laughs.

Sanji suddenly realized he'd been glaring at his hands for minutes, Chopper just watching with a worried look in his eyes.

"Sanji? Is something wrong? Did you... realize something?" he asked.

"N-no, nothing. I'm just lucky I guess, haha. Well, I gotta go, still have food to prepare." Sanji said hurriedly, and then all but ran out of the infirmary.

What did this mean? If he had unnatural healing, what else did he have? What if more starting developing over time? The possibilities made Sanji feel sick.