Musical Bear: haha yeah zeff's whole situation with the brothers isn't done, yet they'll keep on colliding until the end, and even finely tuned systems fail (usually bc of luffy haha)

Guest: we shall see!

Showihd1: the daddies fight ccontinues! Not in this chapter but in later chapters, and some of the things you mentioned will show up (oh noes) Both of the guys still flirt with potential but it'll explode soon as they continue to toe the waters ;D

Chapter Seven:

If You Go Chasing Rabbits

The next day, Nami held his hand and walked along beside him, licking delicately at her ice cream cone. He carried a bag with four meal boxes in them, and she was with him because she'd just finished making her street deliveries. Nami had been on an ice cream kick despite the wintery cold conditions, and while most of the snow had finally melted, the skies were dark with an incoming storm.

"Sanji, you guys aren't really planning on going on Saturday, are you?" she asked, stepping around a dangerous looking ice pile in the sidewalk. She was cold, but not that cold, her ice cream in perfect condition as she enjoyed it. In her heavy green jacket, her hood outlined with fake fur, the color brought out the orange in her hair and the cold left her cheeks with a soft flush. Sanji was pretty happy with his position at her side, smiling goofily because she was gorgeous and she wasn't afraid to hold his hand in front of everybody.

"Yeah. We have it mapped out," he said, looking at his watch with a grimace. "When we turn in our money for the week, Luffy will talk to Arlong. From there, what happens, happens."

"Stupid," she muttered, taking a bite off the top. "All of you are stupid."

"We just want you safe, dear."

"There's another way of going about it. I'm sure if we waited just a bit more, we'd find a solution," she said, throwing her cone away in a nearby trashcan. She reached over to adjust the purse she wore, where it bulged slightly with her White Rabbit supply. "I wish you guys weren't so damn impulsive!"

"At the end of it, us guys want to fight. There's no talking us out of it."

"Ugh, I hate that I even said anything to you at all," she said, reaching out and opening the door because his hands were full. They walked into the coffee shop, where they were immediately greeted by a polar bear in yellow overalls. She yelped in surprise and drew up against Sanji, clutching his hand tightly as she looked for any indication in that he was rabid, or some sort.

"This is Bepo," Sanji said. "Bepo, Nami."

The bear waved, and Nami waved back with some nervousness as Sanji drew her after him, going up to the counter.

"The city codes allow a bear inside such establishments?" she questioned, looking after him, noting that the tables were set up with patrons enjoying light snacks, hot drinks, and Wi-Fi. A majority of them were women, save for one guy that kept looking at the counter with an awestruck expression.

Sanji released her hand and pulled up his bag, Penguin and Shachi looking at him suspiciously from a music poster they'd marked up with a pen. Law was sitting on his usual stool near the food display, a scowl on his face as he played with a straw and a plastic top, the sound absolutely annoying everyone around him as he pushed it back and forth. His hand was still wrapped, and he looked a lot better than he did the day before. Wearing his hat low with his work uniform and salt stained sneakers that were propped up on the counter, the customers nearest him were trying to appreciate the picture, but the sound he made with the items in hand were killing ear drums within the entire shop.

"As promised, I brought your dinner," Sanji said cheerfully, as Nami smiled at the three of them, leaning on the counter with her elbows and examining what faces she could. The two baristas standing near the register wore winter hats, one with a pom-pom atop, red hair sticking out, and the other with a black hat with ear muffs. They didn't match the yellow overalls that the bear was wearing. "And this is Nami, my, um, friend from school."

"Fuck buddy?" Penguin asked, unmoving.

"Special friend?" Shachi added, leaning against the register.

Nami's smile froze, and she looked at Sanji with wide eyed horror.

"It's obvious neither of you know how to behave properly in a female's presence due to lack of game, so I'll forgive you for your ass-ery," Sanji said, ignoring their leers. Seeing that he wasn't reacting, Nami relaxed, thinking that this behavior was normal between them.

"Har, har, you're so funny."

"So these are the three losers you were talking about?" Nami asked curiously, peering up at Penguin's face because she could barely see it. All she saw was a thin nose and lips currently curled with distaste. She reached out to move his hat, but he jerked away. Shachi was wearing sunglasses, so she had no idea what his eyes were saying to her, the polarized lenses protecting whatever he hid behind them. "The ones you were trying to set up with your college friends? I say ditch the effort. There's no saving desperation."

"Hah, high school jailbait, you can't insult us. We've been weathered against such down talk through years of serious training," Shachi said, sneering at her. "Insults bounce right off us!"

"Poor things, you're part of the fedora club so it must hurt knowing no girl in her right mind would look your way," she murmured. "None of you have what it takes to capture a pretty flower like me. I'm a white rose blooming in a garden full of marigolds and mums."

"I have never worn a fedora, and I'm deathly allergic to flowers."

"Then show me your face!"

"You're not worthy of seeing my face."

"I bet you wear eyeliner. That's why you're so covered up. Emo."

"I'm not emo! That trend is long gone, girlfriend!"

"You wish I was!"

"No, I don't!"

"Then stop looking at my boobs."

"I'm not even!"

"Pervert," Nami retorted, clutching her jacket tightly and leaning against Sanji, who grinned because he knew she was only messing with him.

"I'm not looking at your boobs!" Shachi cried, then reddened when everyone looked in his direction with a start. He sank below the counter while Nami grinned victoriously, sticking her tongue out and pointing at him.

Penguin tried not to laugh, but he ended up sputtering as Shachi glared at him, crouching on the floor.

"This is the snack box," Sanji said, unloading it from the bag, twitching as the sound of straw against plastic started to grate on his nerves. He looked at Law, who seemed to not care about the irritated expressions being turned his way. "And these three are your dinners. I have exactly three sets. If you have these cleaned and ready by tomorrow when I drop off those dishes, then I can have another meal delivered to you by the next."

"I'm not going to enjoy this," Shachi said haughtily, standing up and opening up the snack box. Despite his vow, he and Penguin immediately began picking out and eating different varieties of sandwiches and sliced snack meats with crackers. "In fact, everything looks fucking disgusting."

"Hopefully dinner doesn't look like this slop. This is only fit for pigeons. I'm only eating it because I'm not a rude person," Penguin said with a mouthful of sandwiches.

"For a slave, you're not very good at your job," Shachi said with a sneer.

"I am no one's slave!" Sanji snapped, glaring at Law for that one.

"Sanji…why?" Nami asked him, clearly unable to understand their prickly attitudes. She straightened away from the counter to fiddle with her bag, adjusting the crossbody strap over her chest as she looked up at her friend.

"I feel sorry for them. I saw the state of their apartment yesterday. They're surviving on Capri-suns and cookies from the market down the street."

"Nothing beats those cookies," Shachi said, cheeks full. "Don't knock them until you try them. And this tastes like crap. Why are you poisoning us?"

Sanji looked at Law, but the older man was looking off in the other direction with an indifferent expression. Sanji stared at him with bewilderment, then felt his temper rise and burst. He leaned over the counter and snatched the straw and top from Law's hands, throwing them on the floor.

"I made a different box for you, ass. I know you hate bread," he said, pulling out a smaller box, opening it to reveal edamame, fish sausage and mayo, with a small jar of specially brewed tea packed neatly inside. Both Penguin and Shachi looked at it, then looked at Law for a reaction.

"Disgusting," Law muttered as his lip curled. "Is that a synthetic casing, or animal casing? Because both of them taste like shit. Why are you even bringing that shit in here, shit kid? Smells like ass."

"Hella ass!" Shachi and Penguin said, fighting over it. Nami watched them stretch and reach over each other as they pulled the sausage apart, eating their share with rather determined expressions.

Sanji scowled at him, wondering why the sudden change in attitude from yesterday. He then let it go because Law had always given him a hard time.

"Why do you even bother with these assholes, Sanji? What's so good about them? They're obviously ungrateful shit heads," Nami snapped, prickling at the tone and expression Law used to address her friend. "Hell with you, you good-looking bastard! What do you know about Sanji's cooking, anyway? Anybody would be delighted to have him make dinner for them! I hope you guys choke on his food."

"I hope not," Sanji said with a little bit of worry, looking at his watch. "I don't want anyone thinking it was my cooking that did them in. Anyway, save the boxes! I'll be back tomorrow to drop of tomorrow's dinner."

"How about if you don't?" Law asked.

"Please don't!" Shachi and Penguin snapped, but Nami frowned at them, because while they said one thing, their tear-filled expressions and body language said otherwise. She was amused, suddenly realizing that there was a show in front of her, and it all stemmed from the man sitting nearby, glaring at Sanji.

"Ah, I get it," she then said brightly, looking at the pair. "You followers are under some unspoken order to treat Sanji babe like shit because shit head here has threatened you with some retaliation if you make him feel good with positive responses to his hard efforts!"

"No!" they said, nodding furiously.

She clapped with delight, lightening up now that she knew what was happening.

While she stood there, Bepo walked over, examining her bag with a tilt of his head. The bear straightened, putting a paw on Nami's shoulder while looking at Law, the action startling the teen as she looked up at him with surprise.

"What's your problem?" Sanji asked Law over this exchange. "Your attitude is pissing me off."

Law flipped him off with his good hand.

Sanji felt himself unravel, blood boiling as he slammed the bag onto the counter and looked for something to throw or use as weapon. He ended up pounding on the counter with his palms instead. Nami stared at him, because she'd never seen him get so angry, unless he and Zoro were fighting with each other. "Oh, grow up! You fucking jerk!"

Law then straightened up from his stool, leaning over the counter and snatching Nami's purse from her, much to her horror.

"Give that back!" she protested, reaching after it, Sanji giving him a look of dismay as Law opened it and dumped the contents onto the floor. When all the white pills piled up at Penguin's boots, Law tossed the bag back at Nami, the teen red-faced and near tears with shame as she snatched it back.

"Jerk! What are you doing?" she hissed, trying not to cause a scene as a few customers looked their way with interest. Sanji looked horrified, hardly able to react.

Shachi crouched, picking up a couple of the pills. He examined the faint markings on the wrapping. "Hey, isn't this Arlong's stash? What are you doing with so much of it?"

"Give it back to me! That's none of your business!" she hissed, climbing onto the counter, much to the customers' curiosity, attention turned their way.

Between his fingers, Shachi crushed a pill within its packaging, shaking his head. "Sloppy. Look at the way the powder has a faint yellow sheen to it, and it's not even completely dried all the way through. This is a dirty pile. How many people were sent to the hospital this week, shitty kids?"

Hands to her red face, Nami looked to Sanji for help.

"If you're going to sell, at least sell a better product!" Law finally said, speaking up with a grumble as he sat back down, propping his feet up on the shelves nearby while Penguin hastily swept up the pile with a dustpan and hand broom. "This product is shit. Quit your boss and find somebody else to serve."

"You're horrible!"

"What's so horrible about it? You have a damn choice. Tell him to fuck off."

"No I don't!" Nami protested, eyes welling up with tears.

"You cry on my counter, you clean it up."

The tears were gone in an instant, replaced by an angry expression. "Ugh, you're such an asshole! If I don't have the money for that, he's going to kill me!"

"Then you shouldn't have gone into business with him in the first place. You knew what he was when you strolled up onto his property."

"Why are you acting like such an ass?" Sanji asked, incredulously.

"I don't appreciate kids bringing their shit into this shop. Get the fuck out."

"He's going to kill me if I don't bring back the money that should have been made off of that!" Nami growled, grabbing the napkin dispenser and throwing it at Law. He merely tilted his head to avoid impact. "Give it back!"

"How much are you expected to bring back from the sale of that?"

"It's fifty each!"

"Fifty for one?" Penguin exclaimed, Shachi looking horrified. "For that price, you can buy two from Jango, plus a dime bag. No wonder you're losing customers on this side of town!"

Shachi then snorted, dumping antibacterial goo into his hands next to the register. "Of course, Jango's supply is a little more mild, and causes hallucinations, which is why he sells a dime bag with the package. Off sets the symptoms."

"And you're supposed to sell all of this crap, the seven of you? What is the success rate of a winning battle under the influence?" Law asked her, shushing Sanji with a raised finger his direction.

"About seventy-five percent!" Nami answered, red-faced.

"Are all your buyers high schoolers? What makes Arlong's stash better than the others?"

"Mostly high schoolers, yes! Because fishmen recipes are supposed to give human bodies the strength of a fishman – "

"Have you used it yourself?"

"I don't fight."

"Then why sell something you're not even willing to take yourself?"

"She doesn't have, to, jerk!" Sanji snapped at him. "Quit making the situation worse!"

"If you're going to sell a product, shouldn't you advertise it and stand faithfully behind it, guaranteeing it's worth to interested buyers?" Law snapped back, gesturing at the two who were sipping out of their brand mugs at that moment.

"Posers," Nami said with a sneer.

"Have either of you taken it to guarantee that it works?"

"No, none of us have," Nami said, jumping down from the counter and snatching the full dustpan from Penguin's grasp. She unloaded it back into her purse, then slapped him with it. "None of us have to! None of us were pressured to do so!"

"So you're quite willing to sell a faulty product to classmates, knowing that they could overdose and die because he threatened you with death – and this is fine with your conscious?"

"No," Nami answered with frustration. "No, I hate it! I hate doing it, but he threatened to kill me and my family! What are we supposed to do against fishmen?"

"Weak. If you can't even stand up for yourself, how do you expect others to stand up for you?"

She squelched a rising sound of distress, looking at Sanji.

Sanji leapt over the counter and leaned over him with a growl. "You're taking it too far! Who the fuck are you to say shit like this? Just because you're older? Because you're a fucking expert?"

"Give me one of them," Law then ordered Nami, palm out.

"Uh, how about we not do this in the middle of a full shop?" Shachi asked, looking around them as people watched the scene play out with interest.

"Give me one!"

Nami hastily took out a pill, looking at Sanji for help. But she slapped it down into that outstretched palm, and he unwrapped it, Penguin and Shachi looking at him with utter horror.

"Not now!" Penguin exclaimed.

"How else can you verify the product's worth if you don't test it out for yourself?" Law snapped. "You're selling this to classmates at fifty a pop, and you're fine with it because Arlong said a few pretty words to you. You know that you're putting kids into the hospital just to win a damn fight, and you don't feel any guilt at all?"

"I do! Every damn day and every damn pill I sell, I feel guilt!" Nami snapped at him, feeling Penguin and Shachi leaning over her as they all watched him throw the plastic wrapping to the side. Before he could take it, she reached out and snatched it from him. "Don't! Don't eat it, you didn't even pay for it! If he thinks I've short changed him, he's going to kill me!"

"Then tell him that I did it. I'll even send you along with a business card with my personal phone number on it," he said, rising from the stool, snatching her hand and taking the pill back. He took it, much to the horror of the teens and the two men that stood with shocked expressions, and the customer that had entered the shop long ago and was drawn in to the drama playing behind the counter.

Shachi hastily whipped out a notepad from his overalls, snagging a pen from the cup nearby, ready to take notes.

"Ugh, aspirin taste, slow to dissolve, and it's caught in my throat," Law reported with a disgusted face, coughing a couple of times. Nami and Sanji hugged each other tightly, looking up at him with horror as Penguin cringed, visibly fretting. "Heart rate's accelerated only minimally, there's a slight sharpness to my vision – there's a metallic aftertaste that's only making my tongue and mouth itch. Ugh, this is disgusting. I don't even feel any acceleration of strength to any of my limbs. It's definitely just a caffeine rush."

He punched out at Penguin, who stumbled with a shocked noise, rubbing the area with a look of dismay. "There isn't any strength or speed when I react, and I'm only dizzy because I'd stood up too fast and aggravated my sensitive low blood pressure."

"'Sensitive'," Shachi scoffed, writing furiously.

"Nope. Feels like I've straight shotted Red Bull with a couple of No-Doze. There's nothing special about these pills, and you're selling them to your damn classmates!" Law ended, looking at Sanji and Nami with near black pupils and a slight twitch of his mouth. "It's no damn wonder you kids drop like flies when you take this shit! You go back to Arlong and tell him I said his stash is shit."

"Your speech is slurring, your jaw is tensing up, and when you move, it's not that coordinated," Shachi reported. "Your pupils are expanded beyond normal dilation, and you're starting to turn red, sweating. Plus, your breathing has accelerated to a pant, so maybe you should go in the back and sit down."

"I feel overly aggressive, so maybe I should."

Penguin grabbed Sanji and Nami, quickly pulling them out and away from the counter while Shachi continued writing, following after Law as he kicked the door open and walked into the back, breathing heavily while his face and neck turned red. Penguin then turned around and gave the frozen patrons of the shop a weak chuckle.

"The newest semester of med school just began, and he just received notification that there's a mid-term coming up before he's even prepared! You know how those med-school guys are – good for us, right?" he said with a wince. "We want them paying attention to detail and stressed out over their textbooks! Er, free coffee for everyone for the disturbance."

"I'll help," Nami said hastily as Sanji broke away from them and hurried to the back, watching with shocked action as Shachi dropped his notebook and hastily locked Law into a storage closet, leaning up against it as the man's drug-induced rage caused him to snarl and hit at various things around him. White faced, Sanji shut the back door behind him so that the disturbance wouldn't bother the patrons who were taking up Penguin's offer for free coffee.

Shachi reached for his notepad and pen, calling out, "What else is happening? Focus!"

"High, high levels of aggression –" the sound of things being destroyed causing both of them to cringe, " – face is numb – hands are numb – everything's numb – "

"It sounds like you're clenching your jaw! Focus! What else?" Shachi asked, writing quickly. "Try and take slower breaths! Bite into the collar of your uniform, dude! You're grinding your teeth!"

"Will he be okay?" Sanji asked, wide-eyed and worried as they heard more things crashing to the ground.

"You take note of this, kid. This is what you're selling to your friends," Shachi said with a frown in his direction. "What's your heart rate? Law? Take a count!"

"Can't!"

"Think! What else is happening to you?"

"I think I'm coming down, now. But my hands are shaking too hard. Vision's blurry. Talking is hard."

"You're slurring heavily, dude. I can barely understand you. Breathe slowly through your mouth. Sit down on the ground, back against the wall. Hands on your head," Shachi instructed, writing a few more notes. "Legs out in front of you. Count the seconds it takes for you to come down. Kid, what time is it, now?"

When Sanji told him, he winced because he was well beyond the time he should've been at the restaurant. When Zeff texted him at that moment, he bit his lip, citing traffic issues with the Uber driver.

"This was barely over three minutes," Shachi reported. "That's not very long. That's probably it's selling worth because it's quick to work and relies on more than one serving to actually work."

"Shit stash. Rate this one 1 star."

"I'm going to give it a half star because of the duration period and the onset of aggression symptoms," Shachi said, lowering his notebook. "I hope you didn't break your hand again."

"I did. I'm feeling sensation returning to all limbs. Adrenaline level has dropped well beyond normal levels."

"Get the orange juice from the fridge!" Shachi then directed Sanji, who hastily did as he asked. "What else is happening?"

"I have a stabbing headache in front, my eyes feel as if they were bulging right out of my damn skull, I'm tasting that powdery metallic taste again, mostly in my sinuses. Heart rate is returning to normal, jaw is sore, vision is blurry."

After Shachi wrote down his words, he rose up from the door, taking the orange juice that Sanji held out. When the redhead unlocked and opened the door, Law was sitting in the back of the storage room, hands on his head, looking as if he'd just run a marathon. Shachi tossed him the juice with a shake of his head, Sanji watching with worry.

Law frowned at him, his wrapped hand cradled against his chest. Holding onto the orange juice, he rose shakily from the floor as Shachi surveyed the mess of fallen shelves, broken bags of coffee, shattered mugs. With some effort, Law approached Sanji slowly, Shachi quickly reaching out and grabbing his good arm, just in case.

"This is what you're selling. On a younger body, don't you think it'd have a more terrible effect?" he asked him.

Sanji stared up at him with silent horror, unable to say anything.

"Get that stash away from that girl and get rid of it," Law then told Shachi, who nodded and quickly left the back room to comply. Law shoved the orange juice at Sanji. "Open this, punk."

Sanji did so with shaking hands, his phone ringing at that moment. He ignored it, handing the container back to him. Law took it, drinking some before dropping it with disgust. "Ugh, this stuff is going to make everything taste bad."

"This is what you do?" Sanji asked timidly. "You just take it to judge the effectiveness?"

"It's important to know your enemy."

"That star system you mentioned with Shachi, that's based on potency?" Sanji asked curiously, thinking of the one he'd taken from their apartment. They were giving Arlong's stash a half star, so the full five meant that it was a definite winner.

"We rate their worth, yes, from each manufacturer. That's nothing you should be concerned about. Stop selling this crap."

"But if I don't, Arlong will kill me and my family!" Nami said, entering the room at that moment, clutching her emptied purse. "I have to! I'm sorry it had such a bad effect on you, but I can't do anything about it!"

"Arlong is a lot of talk. He won't touch you, or your family. He's manipulating you, you unthinking cow."

"Don't call her names, you bastard, she's not a threat to you!" Sanji snapped at him, kicking his shin and making him wince. "She's scared and she was manipulated into the situation. If you have shit to say, say it to me, stop picking on her."

Law rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"Look, if you have a better suggestion, then give it to me," Nami said, glaring at him. "I'm open to ideas. I'd rather hear something smarter than what these guys plan on doing, Saturday."

"What are you doing Saturday?"

"These nimrods think that they can storm onto Arlong's property and beat them up," Nami declared, shaking her head.

Law looked at Sanji, who was frowning at her before he realized the weight of that stare Law was giving him.

"All you have to do is ask," Law told him.

"We can do this," Sanji said assuredly. "We're going to do it."

Law reached out and ensnared his hair within his good hand, dropping his juice to do it. Much to Nami's horrified expression, he shook Sanji with a frustrated growl, then shoved him away.

"Think about what Zeff told you, stupid! You think charging in on Arlong at this point in time is a smart idea? Don't you fucking get what you're doing? If you charge in to fight the fishmen for this stupid girl, it's not going to be seen as something you're doing independently! You're doing it on the behalf of Zeff!" Law snapped at him, growing furious. "You're bringing unrest into the syndicates with your pathetic action!"

"This is about Nami, not about Zeff!" Sanji snapped back. "This is has nothing to do with Zeff!"

"You're his grandson charging in on somebody else's property to cause harm on the behalf of a girl's life, and despite all his efforts in keeping you out of this world, you're running right into it! You do that, you cause Arlong's allies to reconsider Zeff's place in the world, and he has to do some fast talking to bandage the wound to keep his position. Think about it, you little shit. Think!"

"Sanji, what is he talking about?" Nami asked Sanji, looking at him with wide eyes.

"Your girlfriend doesn't know about that? You're a fucking joke."

"Shut up!"

"Look, it's none of my business if you want to charge in and play cowboy, but you obviously didn't think of the consequences that can come with it. I told you to ask me for help, I've no association with anybody out there. Since you want to go out and act a fool, then go do it. When is this supposed showdown supposed to happen?"

"Saturday morning."

Law glared at him for a few moments, then shook his head. "Get out of here, you little fuck. You piss me off. And don't ever bring that shit back here again, girl. In fact, both of you are banned from here."

"You can't ban us - !" Nami exclaimed.

"I own the place. I can, too."

"Since when?" Sanji asked.

"Fuck off. Both of you."

"Sanji, let's go, Zeff will be looking for you," Nami then said, reaching for his hand. With a huff, she dragged him towards the exit, kicking the push-bar in. "Thanks a lot, jerk! And wait til Sunday morning! When you see the paper of Arlong's demise, you'll regret saying everything that you said!"

"I'll look in the obituary section for your dumbasses," Law scoffed, crossing his arms. When they left, he growled, kicking a nearby chair.

"What was that about?" Nami asked Sanji, as they waited for their Uber a block away.

"It's…long. I'll text you. But, uh…I don't want to think about it, right now."

Nami frowned at him, but she had her arms tightly crossed over chest with apprehension. Forehead furrowed, she tightened her lips and decided to find out for herself what it all meant.

Later on that day, when Sanji took a break in Zeff's office, the older man sitting at his desk with dark looks at his bandaged hand, he saw that his phone was blowing up with angry texts from Law. Since most of them consisted of telling him that he was stupid for making such a decision, Sanji felt the pot was calling the kettle black. He texted back with such points, until he received the middle finger emoji in reply. He wanted to ask if he were okay, scared after what he'd witness earlier today, but he felt that if he did so, Law would make fun of him. So it was safer if he remained 'unconcerned'.

'You're such a shitty brat!' he texted Law with a tight frown. 'I'm doing what I feel is right!'

'It's not. Die.'

'You die! And if I see your dead body first, I'm going to write 'homo' on your forehead.'

'I'll come back from the dead and write it on yours until the day you actually die.'

'I'll follow you through the afterlife and say it until you're reincarnated.'

'When I'm reincarnated, I'll bring you back with me and you'll have it as a birthmark.'

'I'll find you again in that life and write homo on your forehead until you die.'

'I'll just repeat the entire process we've already made in this life with yours.'

'you really are a homo.'

'You are!'

'you!1!'

'YOU!1!'

"Oh my god, what am I doing?" Sanji asked himself aloud, throwing his head back in exasperation.

Zeff frowned at him from nearby, pointedly looking at his phone, so Sanji deleted all of Law's texts with a guilty look, and resumed looking at Instagram, but Doffy hadn't posted anything lately.

'I've screenshotted everything,' Law then texted him. 'I'll send them to zeff.'

'omg, y?'

'On 1 condition.'

'FINE.'

'Don't die.'

Sanji couldn't help but grin, realizing Zeff was frowning at him suspiciously. Quickly, he brought up his Instagam feed to show him a Vine of a boy racing against time, only to smack face first into a streetlamp. Zeff just stared at him until Sanji looked back down at his phone, made a screenshot of his texts, and deleted them again. He saved the screenshot to look over later in an app that was supposed to be a calculator, but actually hid private files in plain sight, just in case Zeff tried to snoop.

'G2g work.'

When he didn't receive a reply, he deleted that as well, Zeff staring at him in stiff silence.

"Who are you texting?"

"Nami," he replied quickly. "Telling her that the Uber driver she'd called was a psycho."

"Right." Zeff let it go, because the kid always smiled that goofy smile whenever Nami came up in the conversation. There was no way Sanji would behave that way with anyone else.

When Sanji texted Nami later that evening, he didn't tell her what Law had been saying to him. She chewed on a fingernail tip, lowering her phone to her lap. She then left her room, noticing that Bellemere was watching some sort of athletic game on tv, and Nojiko was watching makeup tutorials on the family computer. She grabbed her jacket and left the house, shouting, "I'm going over to Vivi's!"

Once outside, she began running, holding her phone tight against her chest.

At the coffee shop, Penguin and Shachi were battling each other with a broom and a mop, re-enacting a Star Wars scene, much to the amusement of a couple of customers sitting near the windows. The bear was enraptured by what looked like a bear documentary, and there was no sign of Law. She kicked the mop bucket at the right time, causing Penguin to fall over it, spilling dirty water everywhere while Shachi hastily caught himself and jerked away.

"Hey! Didn't you see the new sign?" he asked, pointing at the doorway. Nami turned and saw that there was a rather crude drawing of her taped to the window, causing her to shake her head. "Kids are banned!"

"I have questions. Where's the other guy?" she asked, arms crossed firmly over her chest. "I want to talk to someone that actually knows what's happening, not two losers who'd rather play with each other than with the cute girl giggling in the corner over there."

"Girl?" They said in unison, looking in the direction Nami was pointing. Sure enough, the woman in question blushed after being called out, but instead of behaving suavely, the two of them fumbled with their cleaning tools, making an even bigger mess than before.

"He went home. Thank god, because he was pissing me off. I was this close to knocking him out," Shachi said, holding index and thumb fingers just a breath apart.

"Yeah, right. Anyway, what about it, girl? Are you here to follow up with your bad stash?" Penguin asked her, sopping wet.

"Can you guys please take all that head stuff off? I'd rather look a man in the face than pervert glasses and a hat brim," she then said, walking up to a table nearest them and sitting atop of it. "It's really rude that you don't."

"We kinda don't care what high school girls think – "

"You think Sanji babe has many college girl friends?" Nami asked, waving her phone. "I'm a chick. I have way more contacts that he does. In fact, let's make a deal. I'll text one of my older friends to come over to meet you two, and you tell me how I can talk to your boss."

"Why do you want to talk to him? He doesn't want to talk to you."

"Because I'm interested in the offer he gave us, today. Now that Sanji's at work, I can actually work this stupid Arlong thing into a more manageable situation, so my friends don't get hurt."

"Wait," Shachi said, pushing Penguin's head aside as Penguin made to speak. "What's this friend look like?"

Nami held up her phone, showing off a recent photo of Robin and Boa Hancock at a recent get together. Both men blushed and looked easily agreeable when she tapped on Robin's voluptuous form. "This is my friend, Robin. She's a college babe, she's single, and she loves meeting new people. She especially loves coffee. I don't think she's heard of this place. I'm sure she'd love a spot of coffee."

"Prove it," Shachi said.

Half hour later, Robin walked into the coffee shop with an amused expression, wearing her tightest jeans and showing off her shape with a tightly belted winter jacket. Both men promptly lost coordination of themselves, Penguin overflowing an espresso cup and Shachi dropping a travel mug before a customer's outstretched hand.

Nami grinned, looking up from her Facebook as Robin looked at her with a smile, flicking her straight hair from her face. "Thanks, girl. I knew I could count on you!"

"I've never heard of this place," Robin said cheerily. "Is it new?"

Nami looked at the closest barista, but both of them were hiding behind the counter with nervous expressions, their customers looking at them with irritated frowns. "Get out from there! You're grown men! Now it's your turn to honor your part of the deal!"

" 'Deal'?" Robin repeated with that same amused smile.

"They didn't believe me in that I have such a hot, single friend," Nami stressed, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I'm trying to apply here for winter break, but in order to do that I have to talk to their boss. And they refused to get him on the line because I'm still underage."

"Ah, so you're using me as leverage? I'm game," Robin said, walking up to the line, where a flustered man stepped aside to let her stand in front of him.

Nami followed her, then leaned over the glass display, almost knocking over the candy jars. "Now, pay up!"

"Fine," Shachi muttered, digging out his phone. "But don't get mad if he doesn't answer or gives you shit. He was pretty mad this afternoon. Not even Bepo could pull him out of it."

They all watched as the bear rose from his table, head hanging. "I'm sorry."

"You can talk?" Penguin and Shachi screeched in unison, looking shocked.

Nami shifted away from the counter as the line rung on Shachi's phone. When she heard, "You have five seconds," she growled.

"Listen here, jerk, I'm back at the shop. Sanji is at work. Let's make a deal," she said quickly, annoyed that she actually listened to the warning.

"Are you playing with helium again?"

"No! This is Nami! As I said, let's make a deal. My idiot friends are intending on killing themselves on Arlong's property. You said you'd help – can you please do something to stop them?"

"I don't negotiate with terrorists."

At the sound of him hanging up, Nami growled. She redialed the number, and was annoyed when it went straight to voicemail. So she found the message option, and quickly typed out a text. After sending it, she snooped through Shachi's phone. She found his porn stash, noted a strange forum board that required a password, and pulled up his Facebook icon. She snooped through that, giggling at some of his reposts, searched and sent a friend request to herself, and wrote a few incriminating things on his Facebook timeline before Law responded.

'That's for Sanji to ask of me, IDC about the rest of you,' was all he wrote, followed by a middle finger emoji.

Nami growled, reddening before she rapidly texted, 'So should I tell zeff of their plans?'

When she heard Robin laughing, she looked over, watching as she charmed the two men with just her presence. She sneered at them, then growled impatiently, shaking the phone around. She was buying various sex toys on Shachi's Amazon app and sending them to the saved mailing address when she heard close to her, "Your boys can fight all they want. If they want to prove themselves as men, who's to stop them?"

Nami shrieked in surprise, startling everybody in the shop.

Shachi and Penguin hastily pulled away from the counter and attempted to look busy, Robin looking back at her with a puzzled expression.

"Where'd you come from?" Nami asked, looking at Law with shock. She did notice that Bepo was missing.

"Let them figure out the consequences of playing games with adults. If you continue to doubt their abilities, then do something for them yourself," Law said sternly, clad in Ninja Turtle pj pants, a black hooded sweater with the hood on, house slippers, and glasses on. He had fresh bandages wrapped around his hand, a brace in place over that, and he turned around and frowned at the two at the counter while Nami gaped at his pj pants and the flattened heels of his shoes. "What are you two doing?"

Nami's forehead then furrowed, catching sight of a flash of silver. The plain band was fitted on his pinky, but she was pretty sure it was Sanji's. She'd seen him playing with it for most of their life together that she would recognize it anywhere.

"Can you not come out to work looking like you just left the alley after a bad deal?" Shachi asked him, pulling his hat over his glasses.

"Those are mine!" Penguin cried indignantly, then looked embarrassed in admitting that out loud.

"I was just sitting in my underwear watching Netflix, I thought it was considerate to get dressed."

"Agh, don't say that out loud! What's wrong with you?"

"In whose room were you watching Netflix in if you're wearing his pants?" Nami asked, trailing after him with interest.

"You're such a creep!" Penguin cried. "I can't believe I live with you! You're always wearing my clothes!"

"That's because I love you."

"You sick, twisted pervert!"

"It's because you're the only one who does his laundry," Shachi snickered.

"Never mind that. Didn't you see the sign? You're banned from here," Law told Nami.

"I don't like rules. So, should I tell Zeff?" she asked, handing Shachi his phone back. "it shouldn't be that big of a deal, but I know he's already in trouble, I don't want him feeling even worse."

"Is this about Arlong?" Robin asked her curiously.

"Do what you want," Law told her with impatience. He looked back at the other two. "Close up. We're rolling out."

"Whoo hoo!" they cried happily, Shachi closing out the register and Penguin personally approaching customers to start shooing them out.

"Your evening hours are set from five to nine, and it's only seven thirty," Nami pointed out. "Are you going to do something about Arlong?"

"Tell your sister to stop bothering me," Law told Robin before walking away from them.

"Surly, isn't he?" Robin asked, chuckling. "Nami, what is this about?"

"Stupid Luffy, Sanji and Zoro are going to go up to Arlong on Saturday to start shit with him. Trying to cut me out of the deal Arlong has on me," Nami said with frustration. "And this guy said he'd help, but he's not helping. He's going to let it happen."

"Well, what is he?"

"He's Sanji's friend. I don't know why, but Sanji trusts him. He's been an ass the entire time. Sanji said he grew up with him. That's…that's about it – no, Sanji's also very friendly with the Donquixote brothers, and that's his parents. So he's pretty comfortable knowing what syndicates are about and I know he can help, he's just being an ass about it!"

"Father, uncle. They're not married," Law said with irritation.

"I didn't say they were, I just said 'brothers' and 'parents' in the same sentence, so unless you're Hills Have Eyes trash, then it doesn't apply to you!"

"Then don't use it in the same sentence!"

"Did anyone ever tell you how gorgeous you are, even when you're mad?" Nami then asked, grinning up at him as she played with her hair.

"I'm going to stop you right there. You're a child. Therefore, I'm not interested in anything you've got to offer."

"You're playing hard to get! That's okay, I have a lot of patience and charm, and when I'm finally your age, you're going to regret it," Nami promised. Robin smiled at her, then looked at him to see his reaction.

"Sanji thinks so highly of you. I don't know why," Law said, giving her a look of contempt. "He seems to think you're a couple."

"We're not," she said with exasperation. "We're friends! We've been friends since elementary school. I can't see him in another way. I'm more into older men, if you know what I mean."

"So are you playing with his feelings, then? Typical of a girl coming from poverty conditions – girls like you try harder to obtain things that don't belong to you in order to feel as if you have something you earned on your own. Walk out into traffic and die."

Nami stared at him with stunned insult, Robin frowning at him. Nami wasn't sure if he were being serious or playing hard to get so that he wasn't losing face in front of his friends, so she decided that it was the latter. She beamed, and Robin gave her an impatient look before gesturing at her to follow her.

"I'll continue this later, then," Nami said, digging for her phone in her purse. Once she had it out, she had the camera ready, whipping around and making her most mischievous expression as she tried to keep Law in the background. Once he turned a fraction of her way, she snapped a picture and quickly accepted Shachi's friend request. As she was doing so, she said, "If I have to go to Zeff, I'm going to Zeff. You've been absolutely no help at all, tonight. I came here to help my friends, and you've been nothing but an ass."

"Just get out of here, you're annoying."

"Good night, Robin!" Shachi and Penguin said, holding the door open for her, grinning broadly while Law frowned at them. When Nami turned to say goodbye to them, Penguin closed the door nearly on her heel and locked it. Shachi made a face at her, blowing his lips against the glass. She punched the door, the glass vibrating with ominous cracking noises and causing him to jump back.

"You make interesting friends," Robin said with a laugh. "But what's all the fuss about?"

"The guys want to beat Arlong into the ground! I keep telling them not to! They're fishmen, and Luffy's only a damn sophomore! As the strongest of the bunch, he's got great skill as a fighter, but not enough to beat Arlong! Zoro and Sanji are just as good, but they're going to get killed, Robin! So I'm trying to convince this guy to step in and save them, but I'm not having much luck."

"You wouldn't, silly," Robin said. "It's a very sensitive matter between all of them. Unfortunately, they'll have to learn the hard way what it means to start a fight with men such as Arlong. There's not much you can do about stubborn fools. You can only either support them, or walk away. What should you do?"

"I really want to tell Sanji's grandfather. But he's in so much trouble already."

"What does your heart tell you?"

"At this point, my heart is telling me that that guy back there is my newest wallpaper, and my head is telling me to tell Zeff what is happening."

"Sounds like intense conflict."

"Weren't his friends cute?"

"No.I could not see too much of their faces. They were rather rude, despite their friendly behavior."

"You have to help me out! Go out with one of them! Maybe we can double date?"

"Something tells me that he's not interested, Nami. Why don't you stick with someone your age? Like Zoro?"

"Ew, mosshead? No way. When I sit with him in study hall, he doesn't even look at the girls I point out. I even tried setting him up with a guy's sister, and all he wanted to know is if she did any martial arts. I know no girl that does martial arts. And why Zoro, not Sanji? We fool around a lot," Nami added, looking at her Facebook and seeing that everyone was responding in puzzled action to the post she'd put on Shachi's wall when she was using his phone. She screen shot the comments and the post with a laugh.

"Mm, right. I forgot," Robin said, rolling her eyes lightly. "I know you both try very hard to be in each other's atmosphere, but I don't think you put that much effort into it."

"I like Sanji, Robin, I really do. He is really attractive because he doesn't dress like the other boys, and he tries really hard to make me happy. He's got a lot of potential in bed," Nami said with a giggle. Robin knew all about the situation, as Nami had told her immediately, needing counseling from a trusted friend on whether or not she did the right thing. Robin had given her the best advice she could, but she knew Nami still had some time to mature before she realized what exactly she was looking for. "I'm honestly glad I slept with him after thinking about it. But I can't do that sort of nice, right now. I don't really want a nice guy. I want a guy that's going to take action and make me do things, or say things to me to make it a challenge. I can't wait to show Nojiko this hottie. Every time he insulted me, I felt my heart quiver."

Robin sighed, remembering when she was a teen and found a challenge in any guy that didn't return her attraction. She knew Nami had to learn the hard way, like everyone else.

"Please don't play with Sanji's emotions like this, Nami. It doesn't work in the long run. You're going to hurt him. He cares a lot about you."

"I know he does, and I feel bad for the way I think, but…ugh, you're right. I'll just have to try harder to make a relationship work with him. This guy is completely out of my reach, and Sanji's, well, he's more reliable. Argh. I'll just try harder with him. In the meantime, how do I save my friends? What do you think I should do?"

Robin thought it was funny how quickly Nami shifted topic, as if the situation regarding Arlong wasn't that big of a topic at all. It just showed the immaturity of the girl she was friends with, and it made her feel happy because that should be all the trouble that Nami should have to experience in her life. Boys, crushes, relationship drama – not drug running, syndicates and fishmen that threatened her families' lives because of her mapping skills. She asked, "What does your heart tell you to do?"

"Honestly?"

"Honestly."

"Trust the guys," she said with a sigh. "Trust the guys but…"

"Your friends?" Robin asked skeptically. "Your high school friends? Against fishmen?"

"Yep."

Robin gave a one shoulder shrug. "Then trust your heart, Nami."

Nami showed her her cellphone wallpaper. "Isn't he hot, Robin? I don't know of any guy that can wear cartoon pants like that."

"Sanji will feel hurt if you have it."

"Sanji has a photo album of Victoria Secret models on his phone upon my approval, this isn't any different."

"'Upon your approval'? Oh, Nami, you're so silly."