Chapter 10

When they arrived on deck Sanji looked behind himself to the stairs to see Franky pop his head up. He gave Sanji a thumbs up before disappearing. Sanji set the box of books down on deck. He lifted the bags out of Mezumi's hands and set them next to the box. A confused expression replaced the bright smile from before.

"Mezumi-chan there is something you need to see." He started on his way down the stairs. Her brows connected as she followed him. Leaving the last step of the stair case she looked up to the small hallway to see her fellow crew mates waiting for her.

"What..." Luffy interrupted her.

"Surprise!"

"What exactly is the surprise?" Franky pointed his thumb at the door next to him.

"We wanted you to have a place to call your own just like everyone else. So I built you one." Her face was blank as she opened the door. Her heart swelled at the sight before her.

Franky painted the room green. The exact color of her eyes. To the right side sat a large wooden desk and chair. In the left hand corner was a soft arm chair she could easily sit in for hours without feeling sore. Her favorite part was the book shelves. Every available space on the left and right walls were covered in empty book shelves. Looking down, she saw a soft green carpet.

"I saw how much you liked walking on the grass outside in your bare feet so I made you the next best thing. I also noticed you with a new book every time you were reading on deck. I figured you could start building your own collection of books. I also padded the walls so you won't hear all the noise from my workshop or Usopp's factory."

"I love it! I didn't think this day could get any better. But this... this is just perfect."

"Mezumi-chan that wasn't the last thing we wanted to show you today." Usopp chimed in interrupting her. He stepped forward and handed her a leather casing with leather straps hanging loose on it. At the top of the case she could see a shiny piece of metal sticking out. Pulling it out she saw it was just a cylinder of silvery metal about an inch and a half in diameter and nearly two feet long.

"It's a stick." She drew the words out carefully. She wasn't sure what it was supposed to be. Usopp explained when her saw her perplexed expression.

"I thought it would always be useful to have a tool or a weapon on hand. So I found this piece of titanium in town today. I thought, with your powers, it would be easy to change it's shape to any thing that suited your need. It is one of the strongest metals and it's very light. I made the holder for it to wrap around your leg. So it should be really easy to reach for it."

She stared at Usopp. She could hardly believe how much thought he put into such a simple design. She wasn't prone to touching people. She had never been the instigator when it came to engaging someone else in a physical display of affection. Her entire life had been spent attempting to avoid the villagers in her home town. Still, she found herself lunging at Usopp to hug him, startling everyone. She held her new weapon in her right had and she hugged him tight. He returned her hug after a moment as if it was an after thought. She detached from him slowly.

"Thank you Usopp. It's wonderful." She bent down and tightened the straps around her ankle and calf. She turned to Franky and hugged him too. She felt like a child when she couldn't wrap her arms around him. He squeezed her back gently.

"Thank you aniki. I can't think of anything that would make this room better." She ducked down to hug Chopper.

"If you hadn't healed me, I wouldn't be here right now. Thank you." She hugged Robin lightly.

"You were the first person to ever teach me anything. Thank you for everything." She hugged Nami next.

"Thank you for taking me shopping today." She quickly latched onto Zoro tightly so he couldn't throw her off. To her surprise he returned her gesture with a brief one armed hug.

"I'm sorry we tortured you today. I know you are a nice guy under that cool facade." Before she could fully turn to Luffy, she was engulfed in his own hug. Her arms were pinned to her sides as he lifted her up. She let out a choked sound trying to let him know she couldn't breathe. Thankfully, Nami hit him over the head and he let go. Breathing in a much needed lung full of air, she turned to Luffy.

"Thank you for letting me join Luffy." She left Sanji for last on purpose. "Sanji can you help me carry my books in here?"

"Of course Mezumi-chan." His heart sunk when he realized he wouldn't be getting a hug like everyone else. He turned around with a frown to retrieve the box from the upper deck. She followed him to grab the bags of books he couldn't carry. Everyone had cleared out of the hallway by the time they descended the stairs again. He nudged the door open with his foot and set the box on her desk. He turned around and saw her placing the extra bags onto the chair in the corner. He was about to walk out, dejected, when he heard her speak.

"Sanji." The last and only time she had said his name without the suffix was when she was too weak from her sickness. His gaze flicked back to her. She approached him slowly. She knew that if she hugged him alone it would mean so much more than when she hugged everyone else. She slipped her arms around him and laid her head on his chest. She closed her eyes savoring the moment. Sanji wrapped his arms around her tightly, resting his chin on top of her head.

"I wanted to thank you for everything. You have changed my life so much for the better. I can't thank you enough for everything you have done for me. Thank you so much Sanji." She turned her head and stood on her toes to give him a quick peck on his jaw. Sanji was surprised to say the least. He didn't think she would be so forward with him. He had never been so flustered around a woman in his life. She let go of him much too soon for his liking. He wasn't sure what to say. He was reduced to looking at her while attempting to find the words he needed.

"We are really glad you joined us." Those were not the words he was looking for. It sounded more like he was expressing his thanks on the crew's behalf. His face darkened and he looked away, embarrassed. Mezumi looked down, dejected. Twice now she had been forward with him and he did nothing.

"If you will excuse me I need to put away my books. You should get started on dinner." She wanted him out. He could do nothing but oblige. He stopped at the door.

"Mezumi-chan I enjoyed spending time with you alone today. I would like to do it again sometime." He retreated with the left side of his face tingling from her kiss.

Mezumi wanted to scream. Sanji was so frustrating. He kept giving her mixed messages. He took her out saying it was not a date. But he said he wouldn't mind dating her. Although now she realized he only took her out to town to distract her. 'Still, I kissed him! I kissed him and he did nothing, nothing at all! Then he turns right around and said he would love to spend more time with me alone.' She placed each book roughly onto a book shelf. She filled up about half of the right wall with books. It had taken her a good 15 minutes to get this far. She wasn't sure what to do next. Give up or try harder? She sighed. She new she wouldn't do either. She would just keep going like nothing happened. She wasn't sure of Sanji's feelings for her. Until he made himself clear she was going to pretend that nothing happened between them just now. She put away the last book with much less force than before.

She needed to name her new weapon. She didn't want to keep referring to it as 'titanium stick'. It needed to be full of meaning. Nothing from her past would do. The past was gone and it deserved to stay there. She pulled out the object in question. 'I could name it after what I desire from my future.' She smiled as she thought of a name. Happiness and hope in one name. 'Kouki'. It also had a double meaning of light, radiance and shine. She thought it perfect to describe both the physical object and the new start it represented for her. She slid Kouki back into it's sheath. She took one last look around her new room. She sighed happily and headed up to dinner.