Surprises

A fanfiction addition by Velkyn Karma

Note: I'm on the final stretch for writing a big fic...it's so close to done now, yay! In the meantime...I...I found this in my story folder the other day. Apparently I wrote it while I was working on Mindshattered. And then I forgot about it. Oops. But it's still relatively decent so you can have it!

The Original Note: People wanted more of these. So uh...I wrote another. 'Cause why not, right? I just needed to come up with an idea is all. But don't expect these to update on a regular basis, only when the inspiration hits.

Summary: It's Sanji's turn to be surprised by a crew mate. Set pre-Grand Line.

Disclaimer: I do not own, or pretend to own, One Piece or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Eiichiro Oda. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

Sanji hasn't been with the crew for long, barely more than a week, when he makes his unexpected discovery.

In the aftermath of the Arlong incident, and the wonderful Nami-san's re-introduction to the crew (and himself, of course), things are quiet as they sail towards the Grand Line. As quiet as this crew gets, anyway, Sanji admits to himself, but that's fine for him; it gives him time to figure out this crew's eating habits and nutritional needs before they're really in a dangerous situation. Cooking for a crew is a little different than cooking in a restaurant, after all. There, people order specifically what they want, and leave. Here, Sanji is responsible for everything nutrition related, and has to plan his meals accordingly.

But he's still not sure what is needed yet, which means the first week or two is bound to be little more than experimentation while cooking standard (but still exceptional) meals for the crew. Nobody complains (he's that good at what he does) and everyone seems to enjoy his meals. He's already learned a few things about each of them and adjusted accordingly; who pokes which vegetable around until he forces them to eat it, which ones guzzle far more liquor than is probably good for their liver (marimo), which foods cause not just generic 'good' reactions but genuinely cause their faces to light up.

He thinks he's starting to get it all figured out, which is why he's damn surprised when, a week later, Usopp of all people catches him by surprise.

They've stopped at an island to restock on supplies, and Sanji makes a delightful discovery: this island is well-known for its stock of excellent shellfish. They have shrimps, lobsters, clams, the works, and Sanji recognizes their quality instantly, because even the crap-geezer used to buy from them when a special seafood dish was in the works. Sanji does not hesitate to make his purchase (he's quite partial to seafood himself) and that night he serves a variety of shellfish dishes. Luffy inhales it; marimo doesn't seem to notice the food either; Nami-san tells him he's done a good job, which sets his heart all aflutter. Usopp looks nervous and pokes it around on his plate for a bit, which Sanji takes notice of, but considering they were discussing marine activity in the area at the time Sanji is hardly surprised their sniper is having another fit of panic. He hasn't known the kid for long, and yet he already knows Usopp is a harmless liar and a bit of a coward. He ignores it for a bit, but when everyone else is done and Usopp still hasn't finished he chastises their sniper about wasting food and warns him to eat it all, and Usopp, with a little squeak of nerves, does as he's told.

Sanji thinks nothing more of it.

That is, at least, until everyone turns in early a few hours later. Sanji is on first watch, and paces the deck absently smoking, not expecting anything terribly eventful to happen tonight; this port is calm, and there are no hunters. Which is why he is more than a little shocked to spot Usopp clambering suddenly up the ladder from the mens' quarters, only to stumble to the side of the Merry and start losing the contents of his stomach.

Sanji is more than a little perplexed by this. He doubts Usopp has a hangover, because while Usopp does sometimes drink alcohol he's never been a terribly heavy drinker like the marimo or even Nami-san. And anyway, he hadn't had anything but water at dinner.

He dutifully trots over to see if the sniper is okay, thinking maybe he's gotten a stomach bug (pesky little bastards). But when he inquires he is a little surprised to find that Usopp actually squeaks and shrinks away from him by half an inch before turning back to the rail and throwing up again.

Sanji winces and turns away, not really wanting to see the undigested remains of his poor seafood dinner gone to waste.

Then something in his brain clicks, and he manages to—bewilderingly—put two and to together. "Usopp," he says, raising his one visible eyebrow in surprise, "You're not allergic to shellfish, are you?"

Usopp gives him a pathetic look, and seems to cringe. "I th-think so," he says, rather shakily. The Merry gives a tiny swell underfoot, and he groans and leans forward over the rail again, ready to empty his stomach once more.

Sanji can't help but blink at this. Allergies are a rather foreign thing to him, he admits to himself honestly. He's never had any food allergies. Neither had the crap-geezer, or any of the cooks on the Baratie. He supposes it's a cook thing. It's rather hard to taste-test one's work when one can't eat it, after all.

He's never encountered any allergy problems with their clientele, either. But then, Sanji supposes, most of the customers were probably smart enough to order foods they could actually eat, and he's only ever cooked the foods those customers requested.

Not so on the Merry. Here, as a Straw Hat, he was the one that decided what the others ate, and he hated seeing food wasted. With a jolt of surprise that may possibly have had a little guilt in it as well, Sanji realizes that Usopp had been reluctant to eat the shellfish dinner to begin with, and he made him eat it anyway.

Oops.

But it wasn't entirely his fault, he decides, and says defensively, "If you're allergic to them, why did you eat them?"

"You t-told me to," Usopp says. "And you're k-kinda scary when it comes to f-food, Sanji." His voice is still shaky, and his body is trembling from post-vomiting stress, but he seems to have stopped throwing up at least.

Sanji is a little hurt by this. "I'm not going to make you eat something if it makes you sick, Usopp," he says, and pointedly adds, "It all went to waste in the end anyway," and jerks his head in the general direction of over-the-rail.

Usopp winces at this and seems to shrink a little further into himself. "But, Sanji," he says, and he definitely sounds nervous now, "the first time we ever even saw you, you beat a marine lieutenant bloody because he wasted a little soup. I had a full plate of food." And at Sanji's disgruntled expression he adds hastily, "B-besides, I wasn't, y'know, totally sure if it was the shellfish, I got sick twice before after eating it back home but it could've been something else, and I didn't want to make you mad..." and he trails off with another squeak.

Sanji sighs in exasperation and chucks his only half-finished cigarette over the edge of the ship into the ocean, because he's not really enjoying it anymore. Usopp looks very nervous now, like he's considering whether or not he ought to run.

Sanji is still more than a little offended by this. He supposes that he is still the new guy, though, and Usopp has seen him even less than the others since he left the Baratie earlier. In fact, Sanji realizes, most of what Usopp has seen of him has consisted so far of him beating the shit out of people that made him mad, and his continual spats with the marimo probably don't help either, so he guesses he's not making a terribly good impression of himself.

So he sighs, and says, "Look, Usopp. I don't like it when people waste food, because food is vital to living, so it's disrespectful and wrong to treat it like it's expendable. But that doesn't mean I'm going to force you to eat a meal that's going to make you sick." He looks the sniper squarely in the eye and finishes with, "If you thought you might be allergic to it, you should've just told me. I'm sure one of the others would've been more than willing to clear your plate for you." Which mostly meant Luffy, but they didn't really need to say that, since they both already knew it.

Usopp looks chastened, and hangs his head. "Sorry...I didn't think...I just didn't want you to get angry at me—"

"That's another thing," Sanji adds. "You're my friend, Usopp. I'm not going to beat you bloody and senseless over dinner. I'd probably be pissed if you refused to eat for no reason, but that doesn't mean I'll really attack you over it."

"You attack Zoro all the time for silly things," Usopp counters, but he looks a little sheepish now.

Sanji rolls his eyes. "Marimo always starts it. And anyway, I'd never actually beat him to near death, Luffy'd be upset with me if I did." And at Usopp's wide-eyed expression, he adds, "I'm kidding, geez! Marimo is nakama too, even if he's a lazy, stupid, shitty swordsman."

"Sorry," Usopp mutters again.

Sanji waves a hand, as if waving off the apology. "It's party my fault too, you know. I've been with the restaurant so long I didn't even think to check if anyone had specific food allergies. I'll have to be more careful in the future." He considers, then asks, "Any others?"

"Huh?"

"Allergies. For you. That you know about. While you're here." He gestures absently.

"Um...no, I don't think so, none that I can remember." And then he offers another sheepish grin. "But I won't be afraid to tell you next time, if I do remember anything."

"Good," Sanji says, and promptly drags the sniper into his small (but his) galley to make him some tea to calm his stomach.

True to his word, Usopp is far less nervous at dinners after that. And every time Sanji prepares a dinner of shrimps, lobsters, or clams for the crew, he always prepares something smaller for Usopp alone, so he can have dinner with the crew without endangering his stomach.

When Luffy asks, pouting, why the sniper gets special treatment, Sanji and Usopp usually exchange glances before the cook puts foot through his captain's face.

Partly inspired by food mishaps of my own. I used to be able to eat shrimp all the time and loved it. Then I developed an unexpected food allergy to it, and get sick every time I have anything shellfish-based now. Funnily enough, while I loathe the taste of fish, I can still eat that with no problems.

(I realize Usopp is probably not actually allergic to shellfish, but it was an interesting thought for me all the same).

Also inspired by my crazy family, which had the you will clean everything off your plate so help me God attitude, and there are just some days when forcing yourself to eat a full meal is like torture. But you do it, 'cause your parents are scarier. Or in this case Sanji, who is fully capable of breaking your neck in about two seconds if you piss him off. I'd be terrified of him too if I was a guy!

~VelkynKarma