" OI! Everyone! Food is ready!" Sanji yelled out from the kitchen balcony, instantly summoning the crew to the kitchen.
"AAH! IT LOOKS DELISHIOUS!" Luffy exclaimed as he entered the kitchen, stars in his eyes and drool on his lips at the sight of the stuffed table.
"It really does! You've out done yourself, Sanji-kun!" Nami exclaimed as she took her seat next to Robin.
"AAH! NAMI-SWAAAN!" Sanji wiggled around in joy "hearing you say that makes me so HAPPY!"
The last one to enter the kitchen was Zoro. He did so with no comments on the beautiful food, but took his seat quietly.
what the hell? Sanji frowned at the sight of Zoro's disinterested face. I spent hours on this you asshole! you better compliment it! Sanji took his seat, watching Zoro's expression carefully.
The crew started eating heartily, lavishing Sanji with compliments on how delicious it all was. Everyone but Zoro, that sat quietly and barely ate.
what?! He's barely eating at all! NAMI-SWAN has eaten more than he has! what is his problem?
"OI! Marimo! Do you have some ISSUE with the food?" Sanji spat out at Zoro, who looked up at Sanji with a rather empty look. "If you aren't gonna eat, get the hell out of the kitchen! you can take watch or something..." Sanji spat out, feeling a tad unappreciated, assumed that Zoro would resume his eating.
To his surprise, Zoro stood up. "thank you for the meal" He said low, before he left the kitchen. leaving Sanji absolutely dumbfounded at the table.
"W-WHAT THE HELL IS HIS PROBLEM!?" Sanji yelled over the table, standing up and getting ready to kick Zoro into next week.
Usopp grabbed Sanji's waist and pulled him down. "Take it easy Sanji! He probably just had a big lunch or something..."
"Like hell that matters! If he doesn't like the food, he needs to at LEAST tell me what is wrong with it!" Sanji was outraged, and a little hurt. what was that? why doesn't he like my food anymore?
"there, there Sanji-kun. take it easy. I'm sure it's nothing important." Nami waved casually at Sanji. "It's nothing to worry about, he did eat after all" Nami's voice calmed the chef, and Sanji instantly jumped to his feet to refill Nami's glass.
Sanji tried to relax, after all Nami was right. Zoro DID eat. but only about three mouthfulls... he barely drank anything either... not like Sanji had been counting or anything... stupid marimo.
Later that night, Sanji woke up to a movement in the sleeping cabin. carefully opening his eye only a crack, he could see Zoro leave the cabin. what could he be doing? Sanji noticed that Zoro wasn't wearing anything but his pants, and didn't even bother putting on his shoes. So he was apparently not planning on staying upstairs...
could he be planning on getting a midnight snack!? Sanji feigned sleep, outraged. He's probably going to stuff his face, and he's doing it behind my back so I won't know he likes my food! Deciding in an instant, Sanji got out of bed as silently as he could, following the swordsman.
Sanji had to use all his willpower not to get a cigarette, but he knew the smoke would give him away. I'll walk in on you eating! that will shut you up!
Sanji smiled in delight at the humiliation the Swordsman would face as he walked in on his midnight snack. Putting his hands in his pockets, he climbed the stairs silently, Grinning victoriously.
He stuck his head out of the doorway, looking around to see if Zoro was already inside the kitchen. He didn't notice the swordsman anywhere, so he entered to grassy deck, breathing in the cold, still night air.
It was so cold and calm outside and not an enemy in sight. Brook was probably bored up in the crow's nest, nothing ever happened while he was on night watch. nothing but the sound of the waves and wind blowing in the mast. and those retching noises...
Retching noises?
Sanji walked hurriedly to the back of the ship, only to see Zoro half overboard. His muscular body pale and glistening with sweat in the moonlight.
"Z-Zoro?" Sanji's eyes were open in light horror when he realized, Zoro was throwing up into the ocean. "W-what is the meaning of this!? Shitty swordsman!" Sanji stormed the upper deck, heading towards the swordsman.
Zoro looked to the side, noticing Sanji's outraged face before he turned back over the edge of the ship, clearing the contents of his stomach into the ocean. "C-crap cook... why are you..." Zoro coughed slightly. "why are you... awake?"
"Why the hell does it matter?! Why are you throwing up? Are you sick!?" Sanji waved his arms fanatically around "what the hell is going on!?"
Brook walked towards them. "what is going on gentlemen?" Brook said with his normal calm tone.
"n-nothing at all..." Zoro grunted as he turned away from the edge of the ship.
"You look like death." Brook said as he looked Zoro over. "but then again, so do I. YOHOHOHOHO! SKULL JOOOOOOOKE!"
"cut the crap Brook!" Sanji said, concern apparent in his voice. "Go and wake up Chopper! hurry!"
"D-don't bother him. I'll be fine... I feel much better now, I just have to sleep for a bit..." Zoro argued, standing up. "Don't wake up Chopper, I'll be fine."
Sanji watched the swordsman walk slowly back down to the sleeping quarters. A bad feeling curled around in the bottom of Sanji's stomach like a snake. Zoro could take such extreme amount of pain, why did he look this sick? Sanji had never seen Zoro sick before, never this pale and sweaty.
"-ook-san?... Cook-san?" Brook was shaking Sanji's shoulder.
"huh? Oh, Brook, what is it?" Sanji turned his attention to Brook with an almost audible clunk.
"Are you alright?" Brook asked, some concern in his voice. "you look very concerned..."
Sanji fished up his cigarettes, lighting one with a slightly trembling hand. "I've never seen Zoro sick before. It's just a little unnerving..." Sanji exhaled a puff of smoke.
"Ah. I see... of course you would worry, you two seem to be very good friends." Brook noted casually, sipping his tea.
"W-what?!" Sanji turned to Brook apprehensively. "we're not FRIENDS! He's just an annoying Marimo who always gets lost and into trouble!"
Brook waved his hand apologetically, "I'm so sorry! You two just always seemed to get along so well!"
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?" Sanji frowned, a little awkward at Brook's statement.
"Well... you two are always so close, and always arguing." Brook sipped his tea.
"like I said... HOW does that make us look friendly?" Sanji was getting pissed off, and that blush was returning again for some reason.
"Well, you just seemed to trust each other perfectly, and..." Brook went silent for a moment. "... and I saw the whole incident at Thriller bark..."
The cigarette dropped out of Sanji's mouth, he had an expression like Brook had just slapped him with a wet towel. "w-what incident...?"
"I'm sorry, I wasn't able to move at the time. So I couldn't assist." Brook put down his teacup. "you were very brave, offering your life in exchange for his like that..."
Sanji felt like he had to throw up as well, his head was light and his face was burning in embarrassment. "D-DON'T MISUNDERSTAND! I just... just..."
"you have nothing to worry about. My lips are sealed." Brook said sincerely. "but then again... I don't have any lips. YOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO! Skull JOOOOOOOOOKE!"
Sanji picked up his cigarette, he had hoped no one in the crew knew about this other than Zoro. He had even hoped that Zoro had forgotten about it. Hot blush rushed his face, making his cheeks and ears feel on fire, the blood gushing in his veins. "I... I'm going back to bed..." The cook turned on his heel, heading back to the sleeping cabins.
Sanji was deep in thought as he stepped down on the grassy deck of the Sunny, attempting to smoke the rest of his cigarette, he turned to the door, only to see Zoro half collapsed in the staircase.
"O-OI! ZORO!" Sanji ran to the stairs, pulling the swordsman out onto the deck. "what happened? You look horrible!" He lay the swordsman flat on his back in the grass, putting a hand on Zoro's forehead.
"What is the problem?" Brook asked from the upper deck.
"Brook! Go get Chopper! now! Hurry!" Sanji ordered the musician, looking back at Zoro. "He's burning up."
The skeleton jumped down to the lower deck, running down into the cabins to find the little doctor.
"Oi... Zoro..." Sanji took Zoro's pulse, "Wake up Zoro, Chopper is on his way..." Placing his ear against Zoro's scarred chest, he could hear the rapid heartbeat of the swordsman. "Oi! ZORO!" Sanji was genuinely worried now, raising Zoro's head slightly, trying to get some kind of response. "Get yourself together Zoro!"
"Sanji!" Chopper yelled out as he ascended the stairs. "What happened?!"
Sanji had never felt as relieved to see Chopper. "I don't know! He was throwing up earlier, and then he collapsed!"
"R-REALLY!?" Chopper yelled in terror, before going into doctor mode. "Did he complain about some specific kind of pain?"
" No, He never complains about any kind of pain..." Sanji moved a little, giving Chopper space. "But his heartbeat is really fast, and he seems to have a fever."
"I see." Chopper was in that overly serious doctor mode. "This isn't good. We need to get him to the infirmary, but if it's some kind of poison, then it could spread if we move him too much..."
Brook crouched next to them, "is there something I can do to assist?" the skeleton asked, worried about his newfound shipmate.
Chopper was busy taking Zoro's temperature. "Please go get some cold water and a towel Brook."
Brook ran off to the kitchen to get the water, and Sanji watched Chopper take Zoro's pulse. "Sanji, can you please hold his head higher up than his chest?" Chopper asked, his tone of voice strictly professional.
"o-okay..." Sanji moved to Zoro's head, using both hands to raise it gently off the ground. "like this?"
" a little more, and keep it like that." Chopper said as he used a stethoscope to listen to Zoro's breathing and heartbeat.
Swallowing a slight portion of his pride, Sanji moved over, resting Zoro's head on his lap. "He better not puke on me..."
Brook returned shortly, holding a bowl with cold water and a towel. "Here you go Doctor." the skeleton got down on his knees, and started dabbing Zoro's sweaty brow with the towel.
"It's so unusual, Zoro never gets sick, only injured." Chopper stated plainly. "Not even a cold."
"He was acting strange at dinner" Sanji stated, looking Chopper right in the eyes. "He barely ate, and didn't drink much either."
Chopper thought for a moment, before be moved the stethoscope down to Zoro's lowest set of abs. "could it be..." Chopper's eyes opened wide. "Food poisoning! Zoro has ingested something poisonous!" the little deer yelled out, taking on his larger, humanoid form.
"Don´t talk shit!" Sanji yelled out. "I would never feed him anything poisonous!"
Chopper started to gather the swordsman up to take him to the infirmary. "I know it wasn' t you Sanji!" Chopper called out, "please grab Zoro's other arm, I need to get him some antidote"
Sanji grabbed Zoro's muscular arm, wrapping it across his shoulders as he helped Chopper carry the heavy man into the infirmary.
"how could he have gotten food poisoning?! I would never allow anything to-" Sanji paused mid line, prompting Chopper to look at him. "what if it was that meat he bought himself today?"
Chopper turned to Brook. "Brook, please go down into the cabins and see if Luffy is also sick"
"It shall be done!" Brook ran downstairs, seeing if his captain was also suffering.
"If the meat was the source of the poisoning, then Luffy should have it too." Chopper added, searching for the proper medicine.
If I had just made him something to eat, this wouldn't be happening... Sanji couldn't help but grit his teeth in frustration. How the hell could Zoro be in danger over something he ate? The man practically had a skin of steel! and he could be rendered unconscious by some poison?
Chopper injected Zoro with a purple liquid, took a blood sample and walked back to the table. "Please keep an eye on him and tell me if his breathing regulates" Then Chopper was looking through his books.
Sanji sat besides the sickbed. What was this horrible feeling in his stomach? He had often seen Zoro unconscious and suffering, it had never really bothered him before. He always knew Zoro could walk it off. He had also seen Luffy unconscious, and Nami almost dead from that Kestia virus.
It's because it's food related. that has to be it. That's why that horrible feeling was tearing him up from the inside. He felt like he was going to explode, seeing Zoro in so much pain from eating something, it made him want to set something on fire.
Sanji slowly changed the wet cloth out for a fresh one, telling chopper that the fever seemed to be dropping. Chopper only answered with a 'Humm' and kept looking through books.
The cook lighted himself a cigarette, smoking while he kept tabs on the Swordsman's pulse. by accident, some of the cold ashes fell from the tip of the tobacco, only to land on Zoro's sweaty chest. The cook absent mindedly brought the towel from Zoro's forehead, running it across the Swordsman's chest to clean up the ashes. He could feel the long scar under the towel as he wiped off the sweat and ashes, and remembered the first time he exchanged words with the swordsman.
"It was back at the Baratie..." Sanji said absent mindedly. "He told me he was ready to die for his dream to become the greatest swordsman, and I called him a moron for risking his life like that." Sanji exhaled smoke at the ceiling. "I still remember what he said that day. " Sanji's eyes settled on the massive scar across Zoro's chest. The scar he witnessed Zoro earn in a battle against the world's greatest swordsman.
"what did he say?" Chopper asked, Jumping down from the chair to inject some more antidote. The young doctor looked at Sanji, excited to hear a story from before he joined the straw hats. "Tell me Sanji, what did he say?"
"He said that only he had the right to call himself an idiot." Sanji wet the cloth again, wiping the sweat of Zoro's neck and chest. "After that, I made it my personal sport to call him an idiot."
Brook entered the infirmary, "Luffy is feeling fine, he doesn't seem to be sick at all!" He said in a rather serious tone, panting with lungs he didn't really have.
"Then it can't be the meat. Luffy ate the same meat, isn't that right Sanji?" Chopper turned to Sanji, listening to Zoro's heartbeat again.
"Yes, Zoro said that he got the meat for free from a vendor who happened to be a fan of our crew." Sanji furrowed his brow as he tried to remember the events of the day.
"did he say something about the meat? like, was his any different from Luffy's?" Chopper asked again, taking Zoro's temperature with a serious expression.
"H...he said... that is was 'really good' " Sanji spat our bitterly as he killed off his cigarette in an ashtray. His attention drawn again as Zoro suddenly gasped out in pain, his body curling in on itself painfully as he attempted to throw up again. The thermometer fell on the floor, and Zoro's face clenched up painfully.
"OI! CHOPPER! He's throwing up again!" Sanji grabbed Zoro's shoulders, trying to keep the massive man from falling off the table. He watched as nothing but saliva and some clean fluid fell on the floor, and Zoro's body became paler.
Chopper quickly ran over, pulling Zoro's eyes open, looking at his pupils.
"Oi! CHOPPER!? WHAT IS GOING ON!?" Sanji was frantic with worry, Zoro's body wasn't loosening again like it should after he threw up. "Why didn't he just puke and calm down again!?"
"It must be because he doesn't have anything left to puke!" Chopper said, watching worriedly as Zoro's body slowly relaxed again. Pain apparent on the swordsman's face, his breathing started calming.
"nothing left to puke?" Sanji paled as well, lighting himself a cigarette. "Then I'll make him something to puke. Even if It'll be a waste of food..."
"Sanji, Zoro's body is in a very, very, vulnerable state right now. He needs something easily digested, and full of energy and water. He needs to drink water or he'll dehydrate. We also need to be able to feed him."
"Soup it is." Sanji was gone out the door, leaving Brook to take his place as the one to watch over the swordsman. He was the cook. It was his job to make the food. Sanji swore on his honor as a chef, that he'd make Zoro the most nutritious, easily digestible, easily fed soup he had ever made. Sanji pulled off his tie and rolled up his sleeves. Time to get serious.
_
Woo! Some Sanji care! Gotta love that love-cook!
What do you think so far? Lovin' hatin'?
Gonna upload the next chapter pretty soon!