Chapter 2

Katsumi continued to stand behind the bartender as the three walked by. It seemed that she'd gone unnoticed. She breathed a sigh of relief, walking out from behind the bar. The reindeer turned around and looked up at Katsumi. As she looked back and smiled, it suddenly started freaking out and rushed towards the long nosed man's side.

"Did that reindeer just…scream?" Katsumi wondered aloud. She brushed it off and continued to walk back towards the tables to take orders. Ten minutes later she came by the kitchen door, hearing loud yelling. 'Dammit…those guys. What the hell are they yelling about?' she asked herself. Katsumi walked into the kitchen to find the blond man yelling at one of the sous chefs about what seemed to be food. She approached the two, orders in hand. "Here," she said. "Give these to Mason-san." She handed the small stack of orders to the sous chef and jerked her thumb in the direction of a man who was slaving over a hot stove. "And you," the girl said while poking the angry man with her index finger, "Who the hell do you think you are, coming into this kitchen and yelling at the employees? Don't you have any damn manners?"

"Miss, I wouldn't do that if I were you. This guy's a bit…well, how would you say it?" the long nosed man said to the reindeer. The other man turned around before the reindeer even had a chance to reply. At first his face was that of anger, but he then got an odd look on his face. His nose erupted with blood and he was shot seven feet back into a pile of potatoes. The reindeer's eyes grew wide, giving what Katsumi assumed was a scream and trotted over to the man's side quickly.

"Sanji! Are you all right?" the reindeer cried. Katsumi screamed a bit.

"The r-reindeer…it tal-talked." The long nosed man looked over at her, grinning a bit. "What, so this is normal? A talking reindeer? …Man, you gotta be kidding me."

"He's a Devil Fruit user." Katsumi's eyes grew wide. The man put his hand out. "Name's Usopp." She smiled nervously, shaking his hand and laughing uneasily. He smelled of gunpowder; what did this guy do for a living? "That reindeer over there ate the Hito-Hito Fruit, and now he can talk to humans. He can also translate what animals are saying; it's pretty useful."

"Uh-huh…" she said, almost as if she didn't believe him. "And what's with Mr. Nosebleed over there?" Usopp laughed.

"He's been on an island for two years. When we went into town, he practically fainted from all of the girls he saw. Something about finally being able to see 'real girls' or something." The man who was called Sanji stood up and wobbled a bit.

"Are you going to be all right?" the reindeer asked worriedly. "You lost quite a bit of blood there." Sanji smiled, taking a cigarette out of his pocket and lighting it.

"I'll be fine Chopper." He inhaled, blowing out a puff of smoke.

"Hey! No smoking in the kitchen, idiot," Katsumi said to him. He smiled at her, his eyes turning into hearts. Sanji bent down on one knee and took her hand, kissing it. Katsumi blushed, pulling it away.

"It's wonderful to make your acquaintance, Mademoiselle," he said. His eyes were still hearts. The smell of seafood and cigarette smoke suddenly wafted into Katsumi's nose, along with the faint scent of cologne. "May I ask your name?"

"It's Ka-Katsumi," she said. Sanji stood up, taking her hand.

"Ah~ such a beautiful name for a beautiful girl." Katsumi blushed again. She thought back to when she had first seen these three and took back her comment; they were definitely not normal. She pulled her hand back.

"Aren't you here to pick up ale or something?" she said, taking the cigarette out of Sanji's mouth and putting it out on the floor. "Get it and leave, we've got things to take care of." Sanji looked like his heart was sinking in an ocean of rejection. Katsumi sighed. "And what were you yelling at that sous chef for?"

"He wasted food," Sanji said, actually getting serious for the first time in their first meeting. "I can't stand food being wasted. That fourth-rate sous chef over there could have used the rest of this fish's body to make a very delectable meal." He pointed to the trash can with his thumb, showing what was left of a tuna. Sanji turned back to Katsumi, his eyes turning into hearts again.

"What is with him?" she asked Usopp. "Is he a cook or something? And he's pretty perverted too…"

"Love Cook," he said. "That's what we call him." Usopp shook his head. "Come on, Sanji; we've got to get that ale and bring it back to the ship before they leave." Katsumi nodded; now here was a smart and understanding guy. She began to walk towards the back of the kitchen, towards the giant fridge.

"Here, the barrels of ale are back here. They're 500 Beri a piece." Chopper and Usopp walked into the fridge; suddenly the reindeer transformed into a giant monster-like creature. "What…the hell?" Katsumi shook her head, continuing. "How many are you guys taking?" she asked Sanji.

"We're taking…five? Would five be enough for him?" Sanji called to Usopp.

"I think so!" he called to his friend as he lifted one barrel. "Chopper, you take two, all right?" Chopper nodded, taking two heavy barrels and walking out of the kitchen. "Sanji you take one too!" He nodded, walking over to the entrance and pushed one out of the fridge. "How much will that be all together?" Usopp asked Katsumi.

"That's going to be…2500 Beri," she said and held out her hand. Katsumi smiled, waiting for the money expectantly. Usopp dug into his pockets, frowning.

"Man this ale is expensive! That bastard better pay me back for this," he said and handed Katsumi the money. She smiled sweetly.

"Thank you~ very much!" she said, causing Sanji to swoon again. "Now that you've got your ale, scram. You can't stay in the kitchen forever." Chopper and Usopp nodded, heading out the back door. Sanji hesitated, putting the barrel back down and taking Katsumi's hand once more.

"I hope we meet again, cherie. Until then, goodbye," he said and bowed. Sanji exited behind his friends. Katsumi shook her head and walked towards the door to the dining room; there were hungry people expecting to be fed. Suddenly there was the feel of a small box under her right foot; she looked down and lifted her foot to reveal a box of cigarettes with the name King Ground on it.

"Cigarettes…? Ah these must belong to the perverted chef," she said with a laugh. She placed them in her back pocket, taking the food and walking into the dining room with the platters of food. Once they were all delivered, Katsumi decided that she'd pay this goofy guy-Sanji, was it?-a visit to deliver his cigarettes back. She notified the owners that she was going on break and walked out the door. Katsumi set out expecting to find him easily, but it was going to be much more difficult than she thought. She asked around, looked in different pubs to see if Sanji and the others were there but to no avail. Suddenly someone approached her from behind, placing their hand on her shoulder. Katsumi turned around to find a redhead staring her in the face.

"You're looking for Sanji-kun?" the girl asked her. "What for? He didn't do anything to you, did he?" Katsumi looked at the girl, puzzled.

"What…? No, nothing like that. I just wanted to return his cigarettes to him. Do you know where I can find this guy?" The redhead smiled, nodding.

"Yeah. He should be back at the ship with the others. Here, I'll go with you," the girl said. She began to walk in the opposite direction that Katsumi was heading. "This way; I'll show you where the ship is." Katsumi nodded slowly, walking behind this girl. Why was she so friendly? And to a stranger, nonetheless. Still she seemed reliable and all, so Katsumi decided to follow her.

"Oh, I never got your name," Katsumi said. "My name is Katsumi Tachibana." The redhead smiled, pulling Katsumi close to her.

"I'm Nami," she whispered. "But don't let anyone know all right?" She smiled. "Come on, let's go." Katsumi followed, wondering why the girl wanted her identity to be kept a secret.

A/N: And so chapter two comes to a close! I'm pretty proud of this chapter especially since it's the longest one I've wrote so far. I hope Sanji, Usopp, Chopper and Nami weren't out of character or anything; I made sure to have references up in my Internet browser so I could get all the info I needed.

I hope you liked it! R&R, please and thank you! ;)