Transfer Student
Chapter 2
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"Aaaaggghhhh! I'm so glad midterms are finally over!" Sanji yells rubbing his hands on his head.
"This calls for a celebration!" Nami cheers.
"We should get together tonight." Kaya suggests.
"After that mess I need a good night out." Usopp says covering his face.
"Oh, hush I'm sure you did fine." Chopper assured, "You're one of the smartest in our group."
"Would be the smartest if Mr. I skipped a grade didn't show up. Wait let me rephrase that, Mr. I should have skipped THREE grades!" Usopp pokes his small, wavy-haired friend in the chest. Chopper was about to retaliate when they heard loud footsteps and a distant yell coming their way.
"SSAAANNNNJJJIIIIIIIII!" Luffy came running at full speed. His voice was barely an indication he was coming. He tackled Sanji almost as soon as they heard it.
"Dammit! You shitty ball of energy! You're lucky I have good balance. You could have knocked me on my face! What do you want?!"
"Can you cook? Plllleeeaaaassseeeee?!" Luffy whined rubbing his face into Sanji's back.
"Okay okay! I'll tell Zeff you guys are coming over tonight." Sanji said trying to pull Luffy off of him.
"Great we have plans now." Vivi expresses, "Hey, Luffy. Where's Ace?" she points out.
"Ace is with Marco and Sabo. He never wants to hang out anymore." Luffy pouts while still on Sanji's back. They were all wondering why Ace had been so distant since they got back. He almost never ate lunch with them and was always with Marco and Sabo. Sabo would hang out with them when Marco wasn't around. Him, Ace and Luffy called each other brothers but for some reason Marco didn't like their group. Ace and Sabo never wanted him to feel left out so they would only hang out with Marco sometimes but it was happening a lot more often than normal and they weren't around anymore. Except for Ace and Luffy's first day back, otherwise they weren't there. Sanji always said that Marco must think they're "too mature" for them. Ace and Sabo must be starting to think the same thing.
"What a lame ass." Sanji groaned, "WOULD YOU GET OFF OF ME?!" he grabbed Luffy's wrists trying to pry him off. Luffy's grip was too tight for Sanji to break free. Man he hates how strong this kid is.
"Nope. I'm comfy." Luffy said holding onto Sanji tighter. Sanji gave in and let the boy ride on his back, "I don't wanna go home. Can I hang in your room?"
"Not by yourself you're not. Can someone please come over with him so he doesn't destroy my place while I'm working?" Sanji looks around with pleading eyes.
"I can come now." Vivi responds.
"I can too." Nami said smacking Sanji's shoulder, "If you guys aren't busy come with us." Chopper, Usopp and Kaya look at her and nod.
"Let's get snacks first!" Luffy bounces while momentarily knocking Sanji off balance.
Nami pulls Luffy's cheek down so he's eye level with her, "We can't idiot. Sanji has to go straight to work and you'd take your sweet time picking out everything." Stretching his cheek even more.
"Here. I'll give you guys the key to my back door." Sanji digs through his pockets, "Just make sure you don't lose it and I swear I will kick your asses if anything is out of place when I come up!" his voice noticeably goes higher, "Except you my dears~! I could never lay a hand on a lady~!"
Nami takes the key from his hand and pokes him in the nose with it, "You forget I'm going with them. I'll make sure I keep them in line." She says with a smirk creeping across her face.
They approached an intersection where one way led to the restaurant and the other to the small mart. They waved to each other and parted ways for the moment. Sanji realized that he was running late and started jogging towards the restaurant. As he got closer to the coast he saw the restaurants sign. Baratie. Finally he was there and just in time too. He ran as quickly as he could upstairs to drop off his bag and to change. He reached the kitchen and washed his hands, pulled out his knives and collected his ingredients for his specially made soup.
He was about to start prepping when he heard quite an annoying voice, "It's about time you showed up you damn brat." Zeff boomed.
Sanji wasn't about to put up with the old mans crap today, "Look geezer, I showed up on time. Now let's get to work. I'm not dealing with your grumpy ass today."
"If you're here early you're on time. If you're on time, you're late." Zeff clarifies.
"I'm three minutes early. That's plenty of time to wash my hands and get my knives. I even collected all my ingredients for my soup." Sanji says while cockily holding out his arms to show off everything laid out at his station.
"You're one hell of a slacker if you think that being here three minutes before your shift starts is early." Sanji and Zeff were at a standoff of glares before Patty, another chef, broke in, "How about you both stop being idiots, shut your traps and get back to work!"
Sanji and Zeff both turned to him and yelled, "Piss off!"
"Like father like son! And you ass hats say people don't think you're related! We can't go one day without either of you tearing at each others throats!" Patty yells dropping what he was doing.
"If you can't run your mouth without moving your hands too then shut your trap and get to it!" Zeff snaps.
"And you're the one to talk? You dropped everything just to pester the boy. You even stopped him from what he was doing!" Patty retaliates.
"It's not like you to defend Sanji, Patty," Zeff starts to walk over to Patty, probably to kick him, when a tall, blonde girl wearing the most beautiful blue dress busts through the kitchen doors, "Zeff! Zeff! We have a problem!" Zeff stops to look at her, "What is it Conis?" he says, crossing his arms.
Sanji noticed that she looked very worried. It wasn't like her to be like this, she usually could keep her head straight in any sort of situation. She takes a deep breath before speaking again, "One of the waiters just walked out. We're short staffed now. I tried calling some of the others and they're either not picking up or they can't come in. Usually this wouldn't be such a big deal but we are full to the brim with reservations and who knows how many walk ins we're going to have. We honestly should have scheduled a couple extra people tonight. Five people on wait staff just isn't going to cut it."
Zeff face hardens. This really is a bad situation they're in. He ponders for a moment before turning to Sanji. "Eggplant, we need you on wait staff."
"What?!" Sanji fumes, he could feel his face getting hot. No way he was going to serve tables. He was here to cook, not to bend to every whim of customers, "You can't be serious?!"
"Oh, I'm serious. Put on a smock and go wait some tables, brat." Zeff says, glaring at him. Sanji couldn't believe that Zeff was trying to get him to wait for the night.
"I'm here to cook you damn geezer! I'm not here to do anything else!" Sanji snaps at him.
"You're going out there whether you like it or not. Besides we don't need you in here." Zeff says in a mellow tone. Sanji was furious now. He clenched his fists together, trying not to shake. Sanji was so tired of Zeff's crap. This wasn't the first time that he made Sanji go be a waiter. He hated doing it and that's why he thinks the geezer sends him out there, just to piss him off.
"You'll do it whether you like it or not. Now get out there or I'm not paying you!" Zeff growls at him. Sanji snaps and runs at the geezer sending out a kick. Zeff easily blocks it with his peg leg and they glare into each others eyes, "What gives you the right to tell me what to do?" Sanji says shaking.
"I'm your father and your boss! Now do as your told, Brat!" Zeff pushes with his peg leg and knocks Sanji off balance. He spins around sending out a kick and knocking Sanji into the side of the cabinets, "Now get your string bean ass out there before you really piss me off!"
Why the hell did that stupid old man always have to treat Sanji like crap. He never did anything wrong and he's getting yelled at and getting kicked around like he was nothing. Sanji never understood why their relationship was like this. He couldn't stand it at times and right now he was too angry to fight back. Sanji sits up, wipes the blood trickling from his mouth and spits. He stands and without a single word, storms into the waiters station, puts on an apron and charges into the dining area.
"Luffy! Would you hurry up and pick what you want already? We've been here for twenty minutes!" Nami yells smacking Luffy on top of his head.
Luffy whines, "But Naaammiiii, they're all so gooooddd. I want them all." he sits down crossed legged, arms intertwined and pouts.
Nami smacks her hand across her forehead and slowly slides it down her face, "Luffy...Sanji is going to cook. There's no need to buy all of them."
"Then I have to pick out the best one." he huffs turning his head.
Nami takes a few steps towards Luffy with a fist ready for another hit when Usopp steps between them, "I'll buy some of the ones that you want."
Luffy jumps from his sitting position clapping, "Really?!" Usopp nods at him. Luffy bites his shirt as tears of joy start streaming down his face, "Thank you so much Usopp!"
Nami grabs her head with both of her hands, "I can't believe I'm friends with these idiots."
Vivi puts a hand on Nami's shoulder and smiles, "Life just wouldn't be as exciting without them." Nami looks at her and sighs, "Yeah you're right. Can we please go now?" when she turns, Luffy and Usopp have already paid for their snacks and headed out the door with Kaya and Chopper chasing after them.
Nami stomps her foot and throws her fists in the air, "You have GOT to be kidding me!" she runs out the door with Vivi close behind, "IDIOTS! I HAVE THE KEY! WAIT UP!" Nami starts to sprint towards them. Vivi laughs with a hand over her mouth running a bit faster to catch up to her friends.
Sanji angrily stomps up the stairs to his apartment. What the hell gave the right to that old geezer to tell him to get out of his kitchen. It was Sanji's kitchen too! His food was just as good as that bastards, "Shitty geezer and his shitty cooks and his shitty kitchen and this shitty restaurant! The only good thing about this shitty place is watching the shitty sunrise over that shitty ocean every god damn shitty morning!" Sanji stops halfway up the steps and lets out a scream. He was tired of being treated like a child. The blonde wanted nothing more than to stick his foot up Zeff's ass and a cigarette between his lips. He's not sure when and how he picked up the habit but he knew he needed one badly. Sanji let out a sigh before continuing up the rest of the stairs.
He opened the door and he could hear laughter and yelling coming from the back of the apartment. Sanji feels a warm smile growing on his face before kicking off his shoes and heads towards the clamor. His friends were in his sun room playing cards. The whole back wall was covered in windows that led to a deck outside. Looking upon the view of his closest friends and the ocean in the background put Sanji at peace again. Seeing his two favorite things in one place relaxed him, making him forget about what made him so angry.
Sanji soaked in the scene, studying each and every one of their joyful faces. They were having so much fun that no one noticed that he was there. A huge smirk stretched across his face, "Don't have too much fun without me." Everyone turned their heads and looked up at Sanji.
"Oh! Sanji!" Luffy said with a wide grin.
"We didn't even notice you were there." Kaya admitted rubbing the back of her head.
Sanji chuckled, "It's okay. You guys seem to be having a pretty intense card game." he says leaning over the table, "What are you guys playing?"
"Rummy." Nami responds, "Luffy decided to pick up almost all of the discard pile. I needed some of those cards!" Luffy laughs and sticks his tongue out at her, she sends a growl back his way.
Sanji couldn't hold in his laugh. It's when they're all together like this that he really appreciates their company and how life would be so different without them. He couldn't believe how lucky he was to have friends like these.
"Hey, Sanji. Quit looking at us like that. You look like you're about to confess to someone." Usopp said laying his cards face down.
"I'm just happy you guys are here is all. That old shit geezer decided to try and ruin my day. Didn't work out so well for him!" Sanji beams.
"I was wondering why you came up so early. Anything particular happen?" Chopper asks with a worried look.
Sanji let out a sigh, "Just his usual crap, but then he decided to stick me on wait staff again. One of the waiters walked out so I had to deal with it. After a while I noticed that the food was taking a lot longer than normal. They were short one person in the kitchen with me being out there, so I went back and tried to help out. He didn't like it and told me to get out." he was getting angry again just thinking about it. He let's out a groan and crosses his arms hoping they would drop they would drop it.
"That's not good, but let's not bother him about it. He's away from it now. No need to remind him about it anymore." Vivi says gently.
"Ooohhhh Vivi you know how to get straight to my heart." Sanji bubbled posing with one hand on his chest and the other towards Vivi. She puts her hand in front of her mouth and lets out a tender giggle. He smiles back at her, "Well all of you can finish up your card game. I'm going to go have a smoke then get to cooking."
"Yay! Food!" Luffy cheers. As usual Sanji was in a run for his money. Even with all the consumed snacks scattered across the table and floor he knew he would have to make a feast for his friends. As scrawny as Luffy was he was a bottomless pit. No one knew where the kid packed it away. The food must turn straight into energy, which must be why he's bouncing off of the walls half the time. It was the only logical explanation. He hopes Zeff will bring some leftovers up from the restaurant. If he did, Sanji wouldn't have to spend most of the evening cooking.
Not that it was a big deal to him though. Sanji loved to cook. It was his passion and his dream to own his own little coastline restaurant. And what's better than doing what you love for the people that you love? It was easy to converse with everyone too while they were there. His kitchen was open and connected to the sun room. Even if he wasn't directly part of their games he could still be a part of the fun.
Sanji stepped out onto the deck and leaned forward on the rail staring out at the ocean. He lit up a cigarette and took a long, slow drag. It felt like heaven hitting his lungs. The smoke was a huge stress reliever for him, especially today. After his midterms and the shitty geezer up his ass all afternoon it was nice feeling the familiar ghostly mist hug his lungs.
As he was about to take another drag, he hears the door slide open and someone step onto the deck. Not moving an inch he continued to smoke his cigarette. He knew exactly who she was by the sound of her footsteps. She patted a hand on his shoulder before leaning against the rail next to him.
"You know those are bad for you, right?" Nami states putting her face into her hand.
Ignoring her, Sanji exhales the remainder of smoke in his lungs, "Not going to finish your card game?"
"Nah, I know when I'm going to lose. Plus I wanted to check up on you. I know how stressed out you were about midterms." She says turning to him.
Sanji stood upright running a hand through his hair, "Well we'll just have to wait and see how well I did. No point in worrying about it now. Damage is done." he says letting out a sigh. He turns his back towards the railing and leans on it with his elbows. Looking up at the sky he takes another drag from his cigarette.
"You do realize that if you fail two of them they'll make you do the extra credit, right? Nami asks raising an eyebrow. Of course he knew that. Everyone did. The last thing he wanted to do was run a stupid obstacle course in less than three minutes with that jackass of a gym teacher.
"Oh, I know. Why do you think I studied so hard?" Sanji scoffs. He was a bit disappointed that Nami didn't seem to believe in him. It was almost like she knew he was going to fail.
"Well if you spent less time cooking for the Baratie you'd be able to do your homework properly." Nami suggests.
Sanji was starting to get irritated. Why was she saying this to him? And what good is algebra going to do in the kitchen? What good does reading a book, analyzing and writing a paper on it going to help him as a chef? He's at a loss for words. She was practically berating him! His face started to get hot with anger and he sees that Nami notices.
"Ah-...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...to seem like I was putting you down. I mean. Okay. Well, Vivi an I were talking...and after all this. After high school. If we're all still friends, we thought that it'd be cool if we all went to the same university. I know it seems childish but I really want to do that. We talked to a couple of the others and they want to as well. We were thinking Grand Line University." She stammers through her words hoping to get out of offending him.
Sanji thought for a moment. Grand Line University was further south from where they were currently at, in the deeper parts of the city. It was about a forty-five minute from here, only twenty if you took the train. If he got his own place near campus he could still work here at the Baratie if he wanted to. But his mind goes back to where the conversation started. It was a very prestigious school. He realizes what Nami is trying to tell him. She wants him to start working harder in school and not worry so much about the restaurant so they can all stay together. He sighs knowing she has a point, he doesn't work nearly as hard in school as he does in the kitchen.
Sanji turns to her, "So...the whole point of this conversation is basically to tell me to get my ass in gear so we can all go to the same school?"
She stands with wide eyes for a moment and then a smirk starts to stretch across her face, "You know it."
"Sounds good to me!" Sanji smiles at her. She laughs putting her hand on his shoulder, "Man you really had me there for a second. I thought you were actually mad. Almost thought you were going to yell at me and tell me to leave."
"I could never do that to my beautiful flower." he says taking her hand into his.
She rolls her eyes, tears her hand away and pokes him in the chest, "This means from now on you don't take nearly as many hours at the restaurant and we get to help you study. Deal?" she says extending out her hand.
Sanji takes her hand, "Deal."
Once Sanji had finished his cigarette they headed back inside only to see Luffy cheering about his victory in rummy and everyone else sulking in defeat. Nami goes to sit with everyone at the table and Sanji goes to the kitchen to start cooking. He searches the cupboards to decide what to make. Something filling that he can make a lot of easily. As he searches, he decides to make a pasta with Alfredo sauce and shrimp. For sides, he makes a salad, mashed potatoes and green beans. For desert he makes chocolate fudge brownies. As his hands swiftly move through the steps he hears his friends laughter and looks up to see their smiling faces. He quietly thanked them for being there to himself and went back to cooking.
When the food was finished, Sanji called everyone up to grab a plate and serve them. One by one they got their food and went outside to sit on the deck. The sky was looking slightly red with the sun setting over the skyline of the city. They talked about their teachers and school and all the shows that they watched together. Upcoming events that they wanted to go to and they already started planning their annual summer trip. After some time Luffy begged for more food. Sanji got up and went inside to get some more food for him when Zeff walked into the kitchen with leftovers from the Baratie. They exchanged glares as he handed the food to Sanji. Sanji heads back outside and hands the food to Luffy.
"Hey, Sanji?" Luffy says taking the food from him.
"What's up?" Sanji says looking down at Luffy.
"Do you think I could take some food home with me?" He asks.
Sanji was taken aback at Luffy's question. Luffy never takes food home, he always finished it there, "You're not going to eat all of it now?" Sanji asks raising his curly eyebrow.
Luffy shakes his head, "No, I want to take some home with me tonight. Is that okay?"
Everyone looked at each other confused, it was a very strange request from their friend. Sanji nods and goes back inside to pack up the rest of the food for Luffy. There was probably only a little more than a serving of each dish left. He wondered why Luffy didn't just eat it, but then he realizes that he must be bringing some home to Ace. Sanji goes back out onto the deck and sees that Luffy is already almost finished with the leftovers Zeff gave him. Sanji hands the food to Luffy and he thanks him. Luffy quickly finishes up the rest of his food and says goodbye to everyone and leaves.
"What was all that about?" Nami says confused.
"That was very strange. I wonder why he just left like that." Usopp states scratching his head.
"Luffy sure is a strange kid. What's even weirder is that he skipped desert." Sanji says lighting up a cigarette.
"Do you think he forgot?" Chopper asks tilting his head.
"Probably not. He must have a good reason. Speaking of desert, I will get that passed out!" Sanji replies smiling. He heads back inside just in time for the brownies to be pulled out of the oven.
Luffy walks as quickly as he can to the train station, he only had a few minutes before the next train would leave. If he didn't make it he'd have to wait another twenty minutes before he could get home and the food would get cold. Running down the steps of the station, he heads towards his trains platform. Luffy runs his pass over the censor and gets on the train in time with a few seconds to spare.
He takes a seat and pats the bag of food on his lap, "I hope he likes it." Luffy says to himself with a grin across his face. When Luffy's train came to a stop he quickly got off and jogged the rest of the way home. Once he reached his house, instead of going into his, he ran next door and to Robin's and rang her doorbell.
He hears the deadbolt unlock and when the door opened he looked upon Robin's smiling face, "Why, hello Luffy. What brings you here?"
Luffy holds out the bag of food, "Has he eaten yet?"
Robin sighs and shakes her head leaning against the door frame, "No, he's being stubborn again today. He hasn't eaten since this morning, I'm glad you're here. I know you can always get him to eat. Your brother is inside already, come on in." she steps to the side and motions for him to walk past her.
Luffy and Robin walk into the kitchen to put the food on a plate. With how quick Luffy got there, the food was still warm and they didn't even have to heat it up.
"It smells delicious. I take it Sanji made it?" she asks handing the plate of food to Luffy.
Luffy nods, "Yeah! I made sure I didn't eat all of it so I could bring some over."
Robin lets out a gentle laugh, "How kind of you. They're in the living room watching a movie. I'll leave you boys alone."
As Luffy heads over to the living room with the food, he can hear that Naked Gun is playing on the TV and hears Ace's chuckle. When Luffy walks in, he sees Ace sitting on one end of the couch and their green haired friend fast asleep and wrapped up in a blanket with his head in Ace's lap.
Ace doesn't notice Luffy right away but when he does he quickly looks down at their friend and back up to Luffy. He puts his hand behind his head, "Oh, hey Luffy. I thought you were at Sanji's." he says nervously.
Luffy's eyes narrow at Ace, "I was. Are you and Zoro a thing now? I doubt it, I thought I told you it was a bad idea to let him do stuff like this. You're going to fuck with your feelings." he says gesturing at them.
Ace sighs, "Yeah I know. I can't help it though, he's just too cute." Ace runs a hand through Zoro's hair, "I don't think I can ever back off knowing I could have a chance with him too."
Luffy walks over and sets the plate on the coffee table, "Yeah, but he specifically told you he doesn't feel that way about you. You're too much like a brother to him. This here, to him this is being brotherly. For you it's something more. You really can't let him do stuff like this, you'll keep hurting yourself."
Ace sure hated when Luffy talked like this, as much as he was a bumbling idiot when he got serious he would get serious and a majority of the time he was right. Ace ignores his advice and shrugs, "Feelings can change. What have you got there?" he nods his head towards the plate of food.
"Oh, that? Sanji made it! I thought Zoro would like some." Luffy kneels down in front of the couch and starts poking Zoro in the forehead, "Hey. Zoro. Hey. Zoro. Wake up. I have food. It's good food. You'll like it."
Zoro slowly stirs awake, eyes blinking, "Nandeshou?" he rolls onto his back groaning.
"Zoro, you're speaking Japanese. I don't understand." Luffy says poking him again.
Zoro groans again and turns his head towards Luffy, "What do you want?" he says switching languages.
Luffy smiles and grabs the plate, holding it out to him, "I brought you food. It's good food. My friend made it, I know you'll like it." he repeats himself nudging the plate closer to Zoro's face.
Zoro stares at the plate, scowls and looks back up at the ceiling, "I'm not hungry."
Luffy gets up and leans over Zoro frowning at him, "Come on, it's really good and Robin told me you haven't eaten since this morning." Zoro and Luffy stare at each other before Luffy's face changes to a pleading expression, "You have to eat something. Please?"
Zoro's face softens before he tries to sit up, hissing with pain through his teeth. Ace puts his hand on his back helping him up the rest of the way. Once he was facing Luffy he takes the plate out of his hand and put it in his lap. Luffy always felt so victorious when he could get Zoro to listen to him, which was all the time. He wouldn't listen to anyone else but Zoro would always listen to Luffy. He puts a big smile on his face but that quickly changes when the blanket Zoro was wrapped in drops, revealing his bandaged wrapped torso. He hated seeing that. He hated seeing his best friend in pain. He hated knowing Zoro was hurting more on the inside than he was on the outside. Luffy was going to make sure that Zoro would be happy again no matter what.
"Are you hurting at all? Luffy asks concerned.
Zoro looks up at him, "Yeah but it's a lot better than before. I don't need to use my crutches nearly as much but if I walk too long I can't hold myself up without them."
Luffy takes a seat next to him, "Well it's good that you're improving. Now eat!"
Zoro laughs through his nose before taking the fork in his hand, "Itadakimasu." he says before taking a bite. Luffy laughs and doesn't think Zoro will break from his culture at all. Zoro glares at Luffy knowing what he was thinking and chews his food. His eyes widened, "Oishii! Luffy this is delicious. Where did you get it from?" Zoro says turning to him.
A grin stretches across Luffy's face and he laughs, "My friend made it. I'll introduce you to him when you get back into school." Luffy sees Zoro tense for a moment before taking another bite. The grin on Luffy's face leaves, "You don't have to be nervous you know?"
Zoro puts his fork down and looks at Luffy, "I can't help it. Your schooling is so different from mine and even though I'm good at English I don't know how easy it will be learning in it." he lets out a sigh before starting to eat again.
"We'll help you in any way that we can." Ace says putting a hand onto Zoro's shoulder.
"Thanks guys. It means a lot." he says with a smile slightly forming on the corners of his mouth.
While Zoro finished eating, the movie ended and they picked out another one to play. Halfway through the movie the three of them fell asleep piled together on the couch. Robin came in and smiled at the site of them. She laid a blanket over them, turned off the TV and the lights and headed to bed.
"Oh, Shit!"
It was the first day back after midterms and Sanji was already running late. The old geezer told him to take the morning off and he managed to sleep past his alarm. Sanji took a shower and got ready as quickly as he could. There was no way he was going to show up to school without showering even if it did take a big chunk out of his time. He had to make sure he looked good for the ladies. The young blonde swiftly went down the stairs into the kitchen, made himself toast, cut through the Baratie and sprinted out the door. As he was running to the station, he thought about how at this moment it seemed like he was a typical anime character running late to school with a piece of toast in his mouth. He chuckled at the thought as he turned the corner into the station.
Sanji weaved through groups of people to get to his platform. As he approached the ticket censor he could hear the announcement over the intercom that the train was about to depart. He slid his pass over the censor, squeezed through the bars and the doors closed just as he entered the train. Sanji let out a noise that was somewhere between a groan and a sigh, "Phew. Made it." Barely. He took a seat and relaxed. It was times like these he wished one of his friends lived close to him. He would never run late unless they were too. Ace, Luffy and Vivi got to walk with each other and so did Nami, Usopp, Kaya and Chopper. But here he was on his own completely out of breath. At first he regrets taking a shower, after all that running he was a sweaty mess but then he catches his reflection in the window of the train and sees his hair looking perfect. He smirks and leans back into his seat.
Sanji starts to doze off when he hears that his stop is approaching. He sits up to stretch and when he stands to wait by the doors, he sees that Luffy and Vivi are waiting for him up ahead. They lived only a few blocks away from the station and even though it wasn't on their way to school, they would sometimes wait for Sanji and walk the rest of the way together. They waved to him as the train slowed to a stop.
The doors open and Sanji steps out, "Morning guys. Didn't expect to see you here."
Luffy bounces up and down with excitement as Sanji approaches them. When Sanji starts to flirt with Vivi, Luffy slowly sneaks behind him. Once he's right behind Sanji, he sticks out his tongue ready to pounce. When Sanji leans in to kiss Vivi on her hand, Luffy jumps on his back, "SSAANNJJIIII!"
Sanji almost falls over as the energetic boy lands on top of him, "Why you little-! Ugh! I swear I'm gonna kill you one of these days!" Even though Luffy does this almost every time they walk together, Sanji just can't get used to it. He secretly enjoyed it though, he liked the boys energy and how attached he can be to him.
Up until high school, Sanji was alone. He didn't have a lot of friends and the ones he had, he considered more of acquaintances. He didn't care for them, they never hung out outside of school and he found them quite annoying. The only thing he constantly did in relation to people was flirt with the girls but as the same with anyone else he never got close to them.
On the first day of high school, his usual plans of keeping to himself had changed. Just like they were today, Usopp, Nami, Vivi and himself were in the same class. Sanji of course got his flirting in with Nami and Vivi until Usopp came into class. Both of the girls ignored his advances while they talked to Usopp instead. Sanji was irritated that these beauties were ignoring him to talk to the long nosed kid. What he didn't expect was for the other boy to start talking to him and that he actually liked him. He was funny and kind and not annoying. Okay, he was annoying but not the same kind of annoying as his old "friends" from middle school.
Sanji took quite a liking to them and they started to ask him to hang out after school. That's when he met all the others and the more he hung out with them the happier he got. He had actual friends now. Whenever Luffy would jump on top of him like this, he'd get a warm feeling inside him. Finally knowing what it's like to have real friends and have people care about you so much was great. He thought back to the conversation he had with Nami on his deck. In that moment he realized how much he wanted to be with all of them and go to college together. Sanji didn't want anything to change.
The blonde quietly laughed to himself and shook his head. He felt like he was being such a sap lately. Vivi looked at him a little confused but he just smiled at her and told her that his mind was just drifting. She smiles back at him and they continue to walk to school with Luffy still on his back.
When they entered the school, Luffy leaped off of Sanji and they parted ways to go to their correct wings. Sanji and Vivi entered their classroom and Usopp and Nami were already at their desks. They said their hello's before sitting down.
Nami turns around to them, "Are you guys nervous?"
"Yeah. I really can't wait any longer to know what I got on my midterms. The stress of not knowing if you failed or passed is killing me." Usopp says while putting his face in his hands.
Nami hits Usopp on his head, "How many times do we have to tell you that you're the last person that's going to fail?"
Usopp rubs the top of his head, "I know, I know but can't a guy be worried? Just even a little bit?"
Nami shakes her head and turns to Sanji and Vivi, "I bet we all did fine. No worries!"
The bell rang and Ms. Monet came to the front of the class with a stack of papers. As usual Sanji gleamed over her long, wavy blonde hair and sharp eyes that peered through glasses. He felt so lucky to have a beautiful woman as his teacher. She put her papers on her desk and stood at the front of the room, "Okay, everyone! I will be simultaneously taking attendance and passing out your midterm results. When I call your name please come to the front and take your papers." she moves back to her desk and starts calling everyone up one by one. Once everyone had sat down she announced that they were allowed ten minutes to look over their results.
Ms. Monet loved to see the reactions of her students faces. The ones gleaming were always great but she really enjoyed seeing the people that failed. It was easier to pick on them for answers in class in hopes that embarrassing them would make them want to work harder. It almost always worked for her. A lot of other teachers don't agree with her style but she could almost always get a failing students butt in gear with it. So she always ignored the "advice" the other staff would try and give her. She scans across the classroom and sees her two star students gleaming over their results.
"Oh, thank god." Usopp lets out a big breath.
"We told you that you would be fine. I did great as well." Vivi says smiling.
"Vivi you're way too calm about things sometimes and it freaks me out." Usopp says turning around to face her.
"Why worry over something that you know you did great on?" Vivi giggles at Usopp.
"You're not normal." Usopp says poking her forehead.
Vivi scoffs at Usopp and turns to Nami, "How did you do?"
Nami sighs, "Not as great as I wanted to but I passed. I'll just have to study harder for finals." Nami gives Usopp and Vivi a thumbs up. A dark grin creeps across Ms. Monet's face when the three of them turn around to talk to Sanji.
Sanji had an expression on his face that looked like he had just seen someone die. The three of them looked at Sanji worried and Nami was the first one to speak, "Sanji...? How did you do." Sanji just stared at his paper and didn't move. They sat there in silence waiting for him to answer. After some time he clenched his fists around the papers and slammed his head on his desk, "I failed two tests. I'm going to have to run the obstacle course." Nami gasped, Vivi clenched her jaw and Usopp let out a small squeak. They felt no envy for their friend, he'd be having to deal with the worst teacher in the school and with how he was they weren't even sure if Sanji was going to be able to pass the course. All they could do was hope for the best.
Sanji picks up his head and looks at his friends, "This sucks."