Chapter 2 : Blood
Sanji's heart was beating madly in his chest.
The body he had found was laying on its side, with the young man's face half buried in a bloodied pile of dirt and decomposing leaves. Handprints slid down the wall from where the man had attempted to climb it, only to fail and collapse into a pool of blood.
Sanji carefully inched closer to the body, his own heartbeat almost deafening as he listened for any sign of life from the other man. There was a bleeding wound at the man's chest, his shirt was torn up and soaked in rapidly congealing blood, making it hard to gauge the nature of the injury.
Sanji reached out to touch the man, terrified of feeling the telltale cold of death on the other man's skin. His hand hovered in the air right above the man's shoulder. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know. What if this guy was dead? Then what would he do? Sanji swallowed thickly to regain his voice.
"H-hey, are you alive? "
Sanji wasn't sure if he was expecting an answer. The rational part of his brain was screaming at him to call the cops or an ambulance, but his body was moving on its own. Some sort of morbid curiosity and twisted human nature drove him to reach out and touch what could very well be the first dead body he'd ever seen up close.
When Sanji's fingertips made contact with the man's neck, the reassuring warmth travelled up his hand and Sanji let go of a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He could see slow, labored breathing rustle the leaves by the man's mouth and feel the man's skin twitch under his touch.
He was alive!
"It's okay, I'll call you an ambulance right now." Sanji assured the guy , who let out a muffled groan.
The cook had barely managed to wrestle the phone from his pocket and pressed the first two numbers for emergency services when the man's blood stained hand rose from the ground. Reaching out and latching onto Sanji's hand. The man's massive bloodied hands held onto Sanji's phone in a vice like grip, obscuring the screen completely.
Sanji glanced at the man who rightfully should be dead, or at the very least unconscious, and was met with the most intense gaze he'd ever seen. The green haired man was staring at him with unseeing half-lidded eyes so dark Sanji couldn't see were the pupil met iris. Excitement travelled up Sanji's spine like a cold hand, making the hair at the back of his head rise.
Those were not the eyes of a dying man.
The air around them was thick with tension, Sanji's senses set to overdrive and his adrenaline flooded brain started cataloguing the details.
He could feel the other man's blood soak into his bandages. His phone was burrowing into his palm from the pressure, making his palm ache slightly. Sanji was utterly transfixed as the man's lips moved, fresh blood staining the corner of the green haired man's mouth.
"no… Ambulance…" The man said slowly, his voice as demanding as it could be while almost inaudible. Sanji's hand was free from the vice like grip and suddenly time caught up with the world springing into motion around them. The man groaned in pain; attempting to stand up with a shuffle of blood soaked limbs.
" You need to see a doctor! You look like shit!" Sanji watched nervously as the man's muscles twitched and bulged, blood dripping from his chest as he managed to get halfway up from the ground before his arms seemed to buckle in pain.
"No. No doctors." The man somehow managed to gurgle with a spit of blood and determined look on his face. His voice was strained and husky, blood dripping from the man's mouth and into the rapidly congealing puddle on the ground.
Sanji sighed as he looked around the alley. There was a chance that the person who stabbed this guy would come back to finish him off and Sanji really didn't want to get caught in the middle of that. He had things to do and the ladies of the world would weep if he got a stupid looking scar on his face.
Sanji secured the man's arm over his shoulder, turning back to the wall he'd jumped earlier. The man hissed in pain, white knuckled grip on that white sword. Sanji felt bloodied hands grip onto his upper arm, thick fingers clutching down painfully as Sanji hoisted him to his feet.
He'd take this guy back to his place and hide him there while he waited for an ambulance. The green haired guy was heavy and his breathing was ragged and weak. He really did look like shit; Sanji wasn't sure he was going to handle jumping over this wall.
"Hey, we're climbing over this wall, do you think-" Sanji's question cut off when the guy collapsed, pulling Sanji down with him. Sanji grit his teeth and pulled the guy closer, somehow managing to get him partially onto his back. He could feel the blood soak into the back of his nice jacket. This guy better put out for the dry cleaning bill.
With great effort, Sanji managed to get the heavy man over the wall, trying to jolt him as little as possible as he landed in front of his apartment. The people passing by didn't glance in his direction as Sanji got his keys and unlocked the front door. His hand was covered in warm blood and the keys kept slipping in his grip.
Sanji grit his teeth, forcing the key into its home while trying to prevent the blood-soaked stranger from falling off his back. The key turned and clicked as Sanji shouldered the door open, stumbling into the living room and dropping the unconscious man down on his sofa.
He got up and locked his door, realizing he'd been trailing bloody footprints over his floor. Sanji cursed to himself and kicked off his shoes, worrying at his lower lip when he noticed the man was bleeding again.
What had he been thinking? Sanji rushed to the bathroom, grabbing one of his dark blue towels and rushing back into the living room. He'd MOVED this guy, without knowing anything about other injuries or exactly how bad this guy was cut up! He could have killed him!
Sanji kneeled beside the couch, pressing the towel against the man's chest to try to stop the bleeding. Finally his first-aid knowledge was kicking in. Sanji began to panic, seeing someone grievously injured had jumbled head up. It was completely normal to lose some common sense when you were put in a serious situation like this.
Sanji kept the pressure consistent as he reached for his phone, going over everything he was planning on telling the emergency staff. His name and address came first. Then he would have to tell them exactly what was going on, that he'd found a guy who'd been stabbed, or shot, or both?…
Sanji frowned when he realized he wasn't sure WHAT exactly had happened to this man. He had assumed he'd been stabbed, but that was just because the man was clutching a sword. He could have been shot too. When the bleeding had mostly stopped, Sanji ran off to the kitchen to get a washcloth, bowl of warm water, first aid kit and a garbage bag.
He had to know how bad the wound was, both to be able to explain it via phone, but also because his curiosity was killing him. He kneeled by the couch, gingerly pulling at the neck of the man's shirt.
The shirt had been white once, but had now merged into a thick layer of congealing blood on the man's chest. Using the scissors from the first aid kit, Sanji cut the shirt down the middle, pulling as carefully as he could on the cloth and watching in morbid fascination as it peeled off the man with a dripping layer of blood.
When Sanji managed to get down to the middle of the man's body, where he assumed the wound was located, the shirt peeled off almost completely, dangling in rags in Sanji's fingers. The blond stared, watching the finely cut vertical sliced fabric in shock.
He pulled down the bizarre, blood-soaked haramaki, managing to slip it off the man's hips and pull it down his legs. He tossed the horribly dirty and unfashionable cloth into the garbage bag, turning back to the man's sticky shirt. He pulled at the bottom of the fabric, arching a brow in confusion when it came off easily, apparently already cut down at the man's hip.
The shirt was in tatters, so Sanji cut both sleeves open, pulling the shirt free from the guy's body as carefully as he could before tossing it into the bag. Sanji took the wet washcloth, dabbing at the outline of the blood and wiping off the hardening flakes carefully. Sanji moved his hand in synch with the steady rising and falling of the other man's chest.
The man seemed to be sleeping, his breathing was heavy and regular and he appeared relatively stable. His skin was a little less pale now that his bleeding had stopped. Slowly and thoroughly Sanji worked his way around the man's chest, being as careful as possible not to accidentally rub in any pieces of debris that might be lodged in the wound.
As Sanji ran the rapidly reddening washcloth along the man's shoulder, he could see the man's back arch slightly in pain. The blond paused his hand and waited for the other man's body to relax again, wringing the bloody washcloth into the bowl of water. He held the man still with his bandaged hand as he dabbed carefully at the spot just below the man's collarbone.
His curled eyebrows raised when he saw a relatively deep gash trailing down to the pectoral. It didn't look very serious, in fact it only looked about a fingertip deep. Maybe it was just bleeding a lot? Sanji trailed the edges of the wound, his eyes widening with each new rapidly deepening inch.
When Sanji had reached the other end of the wound, he fell indignantly onto his behind as he stared in wide eyed horror at the man occupying his couch. He had a deep slash trailing from his left shoulder and diagonally down to his right hip. It was a rather unreal sight, it didn't look like anything a person should survive getting. It looked like someone attempted to spill all his guts at once.
Sanji fumbled for his phone, sitting up to trail the other edge of the gaping slash with the washcloth as he shakily attempted to dial emergency services. Sanji paused when he glanced up at the man's slightly pained expression.
Sanji grimaced in frustration, lighting himself a cigarette as he kept cleaning the man's wound with slightly trembling hands. This was bad. He should have called the ambulance right away. Who cared what the hell the damn Marimo-head wanted? No doctors? Anyone who would say no to doctors with their torso carved up like this was insane.
Or had a good reason.
Sanji refused to linger on this possibility. He should call an ambulance as soon as he'd secured the bastard's place among the living. It was hard to get medical assistance after the majority of local doctors were hired by that Wapol bastard.
Sanji flicked the ashes off his cigarette into an ashtray on the table. For someone who'd lost this much blood; the damn Marimo looked stable enough. The blond finished cleaning up the area around his wound, closing the gash the best he could with butterfly bandages and gauze. It took almost three packs of butterfly bandages to close the entire slash, bringing the perfectly smooth edges together like a disturbing fleshy puzzle.
Sanji's cell phone was lying on the coffee table, still waiting with two out of three numbers dialed for emergency services. Sanji wiped the blood of the floor, stuffing his jacket into the bag of bloodied clothes and tossing it into the small laundry room as he went to get a blanket.
He threw it over the sleeping man on his couch and killed off his cigarette, reaching for his phone when the doorbell rang. The sound seemed to echo in the apartment, disturbing the injured stranger enough to cause him to let out a soft snore as his head lulled tiredly on the armrest.
Sanji closed his phone and tossed it back onto the coffee table. He couldn't remember how long it had been since someone rang his doorbell. He was usually at work at this time of day, so it could be that someone rang his doorbell all the time while he was out.
When the blond wrenched the door open, he was greeted by a bare chest and the smell of cigars. Sanji took a step back to assess the man standing in his doorway. He had no idea what a male stripper dressed as a police officer was doing at his apartment.
"I'm sorry, you must have the wrong house." Sanji said awkwardly, getting ready to close the door again. "I didn't order a stripp-"
"Captain Smoker, East Blue police force." The man interrupted, flashing his very real badge in Sanji's face with a scowl. "Are you Sanji?"
"Yeah?" Sanji said hesitantly as the officer barged into this apartment, looking around with a scrutinizing glare at his interior. Sanji was mentally freaking out. What if that police officer was looking for that injured guy? What if Sanji was sheltering a criminal!?
"Who's this?" Smoker asked dismissively, glaring at the green haired man snoring softly on the couch.
"Just a friend." Sanji lied with ease, keeping his face as neutral as possible as the police officer stared him down. "He sometimes gets to crash here after his night shift. Try not to wake him up, he's a grump." Sanji waved it off, silently praying that the police officer wasn't looking for the man he brought into his home.
Captain smoker arched a virtually non-existent eyebrow at that, giving the man one last glance before storming over to Sanji. "We had a man by the name of Fullbody down at our police station earlier; claiming that a waiter by the name of Sanji attacked him during lunch."
"I'm not a waiter and I didn't attack-" Sanji felt his temper start rising, that damn critic bastard Fullbody! How DARE he accuse him of physical assault! He'd practically BEGGED him to kick his ass!
"Naturally we went to the scene and the owner told us that it had been in self defense, given the circumstances that Fullbody apparently threw a table over and stepped on your hand consequently making you unable to work for the remains of the day." Smoker said slowly, looking down at the bandages on Sanji's hand. "I need to confirm the injury."
"Yeah, he crushed it into glass laying on the floor." Sanji raised his hand, realizing a second too late that his bandages were partially soaked in the stranger's blood from before. Sanji's heart was beating at a million miles per hour as the police officer grabbed his wrists, turning it roughly as he examined the bandages.
"It looks bad. You should change the bandages." The older man said in a gruff tone, pulling a notebook from his unzipped jacket and a giving Sanji an impatient glare. "Go on. I need to see the wound itself."
Sanji unwound his bandages; holding out his hand to show the officer the medium sized gash in his palm. It was crusted over with blood, but after cleaning the marimo's wound, Sanji wasn't sure he could call his cut an injury with a straight face.
"Hmm. Looks like there is no serious damage done to any nerves." The police officer said casually, checking something off on his list. "It looks much worse than Fullbody's busted lip and bump. Unless you want to press charges we'll call it self-defense and drop it."
Sanji DID want to sue that bastard Fullbody; if only to show him up for having the nerve to go to the police after what he had done. Court took time and money though, two things Sanji didn't have too much of.
It was also very likely that even if he had all evidence and such, a corrupted man like Fullbody wasn't likely to play by the rules, so taking it to court could get very ugly very fast. especially with the justice system as corrupted as it was right now.
"No, I don't have time for that sort of shit." Sanji waved off the notion, he was getting a bit tense. There was still blood on the bottom of his shoes and he was sure that given the time the police officer would notice. "Do I have to fill in some statement or something?"
"Normally, yes." Smoker said dismissively, shrugging as he turned to the door. "Today I'm not in the mood for the extra paperwork; so unless you specifically WANT to come to the station and give a statement-"
"No." Sanji blurted out as he prepared to close the door. Smoker paused at the abruptness of Sanji's tone and gave him a suspicious glare from the doorway. Sanji caught himself with an awkward grimace, hoping that his white-knuckled grip on the door handle was hidden from view.
"I mean; no thank you. I really would rather just spend my surprise afternoon off at home." Sanji explained as calmly as he could with the panic rising in his chest. Smoker held eye contact for a few silent seconds before trailing his eyes over Sanji's living room.
"Alright, enjoy it." Smoker nodded, dusting off his unzipped jacket as he walked out of Sanji's apartment and to the police car occupying the sidewalk. Sanji closed the door, lingering at the window to watch the police officer leave.
Smoker opened the driver's door and paused. Turning around and looking to Sanji's apartment again. Sanji's breath hitched as he withdrew slightly, staying out of sight as he watched the police officer shutting his car door again, walking slowly towards the blood stained concrete wall at the end of the alley.
Sanji watched in horror as the man's eyes narrowed at the stain, hand resting on the gun holder at his hip. Sanji's heart felt like it was about to beat out of his chest. If that police officer found the puddle of blood, he'd probably come back to ask Sanji about it.
If he did that, Sanji would have to explain why he lied about the man on his couch. It wasn't looking good for him, worst case scenario they'd make him a suspect. He might go to jail! He was too good looking to go to jail!
Sanji held his breath, mentally screaming in panic and trying to get his body to move. He had to tell, he had to come out and confess bringing the injured man inside and hope they wouldn't make him a part of this. He hadn't done anything wrong!
Smoker paused his walk and frowned when a cat jumped onto the half wall, carrying a dead bird in its mouth. The cat gave Smoker a contemptuous look, crunching down on its prey and staring at the police officer as it spilled it's innards and blood all over the concrete.
Sanji's nose wrinkled in disgust at the sight and Smoker mumbled something obscene about cats and as he holstered his gun and turned back to his car. Sanji waited with his heart thundering in his chest, watching as the police officer rolled down the windows and drove off at borderline illegal speed.
Sanji watched the police car disappear in the direction of the Grand Line district, his blood practically fizzing in his veins. He was so screwed. He was SO done for. If he took this guy to a hospital now, they'd find out he lied when he claimed to know him.
If they found out he lied, they probably wouldn't believe what really happened either. Sanji collapsed on his chair, staring at the sleeping man on his couch with contempt. He was trapped. If he dropped this guy off somewhere remote for someone else to find, Smoker would be able to track his whereabouts to here.
If this guy died, Sanji might be locked up for murder. Thankfully the bastard didn't seem to be at the verge of death. A bit pale perhaps and his brow was furrowed in pain, but he hadn't been spilling his guts out earlier and his breathing was regular. Sanji walked over to take the guy's pulse, relieved to find it steadily beating under the warm skin.
Damn this Marimo! For all he knew this guy could be a killer! Some sort of crazy serial killer who went around slicing people up with that sword. Sanji lit himself another cigarette, attempting to get the sword out of the other man's grip now that his fists weren't clenched as hard in pain.
A slight struggle later, Sanji managed to peel the man's fingers off the white sheath. Sanji placed the sword on the coffee table, patting down the man's pockets in hopes of finding something with an ID on it. Sanji noted that this man did not have a phone on him; a bit strange for a person roughly his age.
All he found was a beaten up wallet stuffed with receipts and approximately 10.000 Beri in cash. Sanji made sure not to touch any of the money, trying to avoid getting his fingerprints on anything hard to wipe off.
If there was still cash in this guy's wallet, he could assume he hadn't been mugged. Sanji scratched his head as he fished a few convenience store receipts out of the wallet and pulled out what he assumed was an ID.
It was a credit card! Sanji excitedly flipped it over, hoping to at least catch this guy's name so he could see if he had any family he could dump him on. Sadly, the credit card was one of those new kind that didn't have any ID on it, but required a pin to use at all times.
Sanji wiped the card off and put it back in the wallet, looking thoughtfully at the receipts on the table and wondering if he should stuff them back in there too. The blond did a quick search to see if there was anything important on them, something that the man had to use later like a dry cleaner or phone numbers scribbled on one of them.
Sadly they were mostly receipts from convenience stores, tallying up the cost of cheap microwave lunches and occasionally alcohol from liquor stores. Sanji frowned in disgust at the man's dietary habits as he serviced his cigarette and compared the notes. Most of them came from the same convenience store; maybe this guy lived close by it?
The blond groaned in confusion, he wasn't sure what to do. He WANTED to get this guy out of his life as soon as possible, but to do so he would potentially have to leave him ALONE in his apartment while he checked out the convenience store. A dilemma.
The man was still sleeping; seeming completely out of it as he snored on the couch. Sanji killed off his cigarette in the overflowing ashtray, taking a deep breath and did a round of his house to collect and hide all expensive electronics. He really didn't expect the guy to be able to find and haul everything out of the apartment in his condition in less than an hour; but he wasn't taking any chances.
He wasn't going to be able to avoid leaving this guy alone forever, even if he didn't go anywhere today he still had work tomorrow. Sanji shook his head and put on his shoes, cursing when he remembered they still had blood on them and went to the bathroom to rinse it off.
"Hey.
I'm the guy who saved your ass. If you wake up, get the fuck out of my house and don't break anything.
That's all I want in return.
p.s I have nothing worth stealing. "
Sanji left the note folded on the coffee table in direct line of sight from the couch, right next to the guy's sword. He locked his front door as he left, the anxious knot in his stomach tightening as he headed for the convenience store the other man frequented. Hopefully when he got back that giant pain in his ass would be gone from his life forever.
When he reached the end of his street, Sanji panicked turned around and started jogging back to his apartment. He shouldn't leave this guy alone in his house. He should just call the cops. If he explained it all, he would probably get out of this whole mess within a couple of hours.
Sanji stopped his jogging, pausing and looking at the slight distance to his alley. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair, groaning in annoyance as fear started creeping through his mind. What if the police wouldn't believe him though? He could go to prison, he REALLY didn't want to get locked up just because he helped some guy he found half dead in an alley.
Most of the police force was corrupted anyway. They might just pin it on him to close the case as soon as possible.
The fifth cigarette of the hour was lit as the blond turned on his heel again, resuming the walk down to the convenience store. He should just find this guy's family or friends and dump him on their doorstep, or explain what happened and hope they were nice enough to NOT assume he stabbed the moss-head himself.
Sanji growled in frustration, he had no idea if this guy even HAD a family. He didn't DRESS like he had a woman in his life, he was wearing a fucking haramaki for crying out loud! He'd never seen anyone under 60 years old wear a haramaki in his life!
He didn't seem to be much older than Sanji and judging by all the microwave meals he'd been buying he wasn't living with his parents. Sanji grumbled when he made a turn and crossed the road. The traffic was slow at this side of the East Blue district, especially at this time of day.
There was only one other person out on the sidewalk, a beautiful raven haired woman was standing directly across the street and looking right at him. Her hair was perfectly sleek and shoulder length, brushing against the collar of her elegant black dress. Sanji swooned and smiled his widest, getting a small mysterious smile in return. Maybe this was karma!
He helped some smelly bastard in an alley and as a reward he gets to meet this lovely older woman! Oh mellorine! Sanji was so blinded by the woman's radiant beauty he forgot to look both ways before he bounced onto the street.
Horns blared as a car appeared around the corner, flooring the breaks to avoid driving into the love sick chef. Sanji jumped backwards, crashing back to reality when the middle aged man shook his fist out the window of his pickup. Sanji frowned at the man, raising his hand apologetically and turned back towards the woman.
She was completely gone. Disappeared into thin air like a beautiful angel! Sanji crossed the second half of the street without incident, looking frantically for any sign of the mature-beauty. Sanji sighed in disappointment when he saw no sign of her down the street or up it.
How strange. Sanji decided to bury the memory of their short and perfect encounter deep in his heart and get back to work. He had mossy-bastard to get rid of.
The convenience store he was looking for was small and nuzzled tightly in between a bakery and a shoe-shop. Sanji double checked the receipt to make sure this was the right place before he passed the street. The bakery itself seemed to be a part of the convenience store, sharing the same name and adorable shell-logo; 'Shell Town' was painted over the window in big friendly letters.
The street had the same nice feeling as the area around the Baratie did before the hotel construction began. It would be nice if some of these areas managed to stay this way. East blue was the peaceful suburban part of the city after all.
It was hard to believe that half-dead guy from the alley used to frequent a place like this. Sanji couldn't keep down a laugh when he imagined the green-haired bastard sitting on one of those pink collapsible chairs outside the bakery.
Sanji stopped on front of the store, picking up a couple of abandoned plates and coffee mugs from one of the white round tables and brought them inside with him. The moment he stepped inside, a tiny golden bell chimed happily and Sanji was certain he was in the wrong place.
TO BE CONTINUED.
okay! I'll be trying to keep up a relatively fast update schedule for this story. I'm not promising anything, but I'm aiming for approximately 2 chapters (4.500 words) a week. Maybe 1 every three days.
I could really use a beta on this, but because of my goal of fast updates on this one I'm not sure there are many volunteers for it. I could try to keep one chapter ahead though.
How about it? Any takers? PM me if you would like to be a beta for this story. Someone with plenty of free time and good punctuation/grammar would be ideal!
Please tell me what you think of the story so far! The pacing is a little slow because this is a marathon, not a sprint. I still don't want it to be boring to read, so please let me know if you think the pacing is killing the flow.
-BBB