Chapter ten! :D I am really proud of my work and patience with this writing :) I am really pumped up with the idea since I like both policemen and One Piece really much! 3
This chapter turned up to be a little shorter than my earlier chapters but I hope you don't mind? :D It's still longer than my average chapter! :D And just for you to know, I will update this fanfic slower than usual because I have work to do and something to study about...but I will promise you at least one chapter / two weeks! :)
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It was Saturday morning. Sanji woke up when the first gleam of sun light peeked trough was reflected to his apartment. The gentle light danced around the room, creating beautiful pillar of light against his wall.
Sanji got off the bed quickly and went to have a smoke on his small balcony. He didn't close the door since the weather was pretty warm and it would be good to ventilate his apartment every now and then. The curtains moved in the wind which blowed straight into the apartment because of some weird air currents.
Finishing his smoke and staring to his kitchen, he decided to clean. Well, he always kept his kitchen in a good shape but he wanted it to be spotlessly clean.
He didn't get far with his cleaning, however, when his phone rang. "Yo, Sanji! Did I call in a unconvenient time?" Luffy asked politely.
"No, not at all, I was just cleaning," Sanji informed his boss. "What's up?"
"I just thought of informing you that Miss Golden Week will have these fake identity and diplomas ready for you by Monday, pass by the station to pick them up and go straight to Sabaody Park to look for work," Luffy ordered.
"Got it boss," Sanji vowed. "By the way, why do you call someone with such a name as 'Miss Golden Week'?" Sanji inquired.
"Isn't it obvious? Her identity is highly protected because some people could use her abilities to achieve wrong goals," Luffy explained and Sanji understood his point. Of course someone with an ability to make fake identities and such would be highly valued, even in the criminal world.
"By the way, should I report myself to someone over there so that they know that there is someone working undercover?" Sanji asked because he knew that usually some of the higher-ups were informed if police was working there undercover.
"No, don't tell anyone that you are a police. We don't want anyone knowing that and besides, it will be easier for you to get some information if nobody knows that you are a police," Luffy noted after a while. "I will hang up, have a nice weekend!" Luffy wished well and Sanji didn't even have time to say something to end the call.
After the call, Sanji remembered Bell-mére's files and his list and thought of informing Zoro about the current status of his investigations but he could as well tell him on Monday. He should enjoy his weekend and not be bothered by his work so much!
So what should he do? He didn't want to visit Shakky's bar again but he wanted to get out of his apartment at least for a while. Date with some beautiful woman would be nice but he knew no single woman who would go on a date with him again. They all seemed to like more of a "bad boy" than a police officer or they were too young or too old for him. Gentleman like him didn't impress women so much anymore.
He thought of calling to some old acquaintance but he had none so close he would spend time with. His former partner was too grumpy, his former boss was his former boss and he didn't know his new colleagues well enough to call them out of blue even though everyone had given him their phone numbers.
I wonder if Nami-san or Robin-san would be willing to go out with me...well, Robin is probably too old for me but Nami-san is a true beauty close to my age! But still, it would be weird to go for a date with your colleague...I should ask for someone if they would know some single women who would like to have a date with me ~
...
Nami and Usopp arrived to work almost at the same time. It was a shame they had to work Saturday shifts but they had no other option. Chopper would probably be working in his own office also.
"Good morning!" Nami greeted her partner with a wide smile.
"Morning!" Usopp returned the greeting. "Why are you so cheerful first thing in the morning?"
"I don't know!" Nami chuckled. "I just have this good feeling! It's maybe because of the weather is so nice!"
"Yeah I noticed it too," Usopp noted, smiling slighty. "You know, weather affects your behaviour pretty much!"
"How come?" Nami wondered out aloud even though she probably knew what the man was going to say next.
"I mean, when its beautiful weather, you are cheerful like a bird in the spring but when the weather is stormy, you rush into the station like a storm and order everyone around," Usopp explained simply and Nami nodded an approving nod before taking her seat and taking the first, new file from her table.
"That reminds me, do you know how the inspectors visit went?" Nami inquired and Usopp smirked slighty.
"There was none," Usopp stated with a low chuckle. "Luffy just wanted to get some work done for once so he cheated everyone."
Nami blinked before smiling slightly. "That bastard...!" Usopp couldn't disagree with him but at least some people had gotten some work done. "But he is really bad at lying...how did he do that?"
Usopp rubbed his jaw slighty. "Well, he never told a lie...it's common knowledge that the inspector of this area does his checks on Fridays...Luffy just said that 'inspector is coming on Friday', not telling which Friday," Usopp explained his realisation.
Nami went to ask if Chopper wanted to have some coffee as usual while Usopp continued working. His partner had a habit of trying to make profit with her colleagues but nobody expect Zoro seemed to mind it: everyone else preferred fresh coffee made for them for small price.
"Oh, how was your date with your wife?" Nami inquired with a warm smile on her face. Usopp had told her about the date like almost every other things.
"It was lovely!" Usopp grinned widely. "We ate well, we saw a movie and we got to spend some time together without the kids."
"It's good that you can have time together with her...Kaya is a lovely woman," Nami noted, feeling slighty envious that Kaya had such a caring husband. Well, not like she would like to marry a man with nose that long!
...
Zoro woke up around midday. During weekends, the green-haired man loved to sleep late. Well, it was not like he never dreamed of sleeping late even during the week but he knew he had to work to make a living for himself.
His apartment was on Rayleigh street only few blocks from his new partner's apartment. It was a pretty new apartment building and his apartment was on the basement floor. It was a small apartment but it was big enough for a single male without family.
The apartment was a mess. Seeing Zoro's apartment nobody could believe it was a new apartment. There were magazines and papers all over the floor and kitchen tables were full with dirty dishes. The man hadn't cleaned for only few days and it had ended up like this. Luckily the one who rented the apartment for him was an elderly woman with dementia: she always said that she would come to check the apartment, always forgetting about it.
Roronoa Zoro was simply lazy, both his free-and work time. He always found some time to do his daily training but he couldn't find the motivation to clean or do his work. Well, he was enough of a man to force himself to clean once in a week but he really had to force himself to do so.
When his former partner was still alive, she used to come and help him clean if she got a small payment for the job. Kuina was really friendly and she always helped her friends in need. It didn't matter if her friend was a male or female, poor or rich, ugly or pretty: she helped everyone.
Zoro felt slightly sorry that his partner had to die like that. She would have deserved a better and longer life.
...
It was Monday morning and Sanji went to the station to pick up his fake passport and diplomas. The station was as calm as always and the secretary greeted him like usual.
He opened the door to the office, greeting his colleagues before knocking the door of his sergeant's office.
"Come in," Luffy's voice rang out and Sanji opened the door.
"Good morning, sergeant," Sanji greeted the man politely. "You asked me to pick up those papers for me."
"Ah, that's right!" Luffy gasped, starting to dig the huge pile of papers. "Where did I leave those papers..." Sanji stared at his boss for a while, stunned that the man in front of him was really his boss. "Here they are!" Luffy cheered, offering the envelope to Sanji who grabbed it and opened it with interest.
"Carl Watson?" Sanji raised a brow after reading his fake identity's name. "Such a common name!"
"I know! But a name like that doesn't rise interest! It's too common!" Luffy smirked.
Sanji read trough his papers quickly and gave an approving nod to his sergeant. "By the way, how about Zoro?"
"I have organized a temporary partner for him," Luffy explained. "But I have to tell you that it's pretty...well, sad coincidence..." Sanji didn't understand what his sergeant meant by that but didn't ask him to explain further.
The odd silence between them was cut when they heard a shout and somebody falling of his chair. "WHAT THE...!?"
They both rushed outside and saw Franky, Brook, Nami and Usopp staring at the woman at the door with their jaw fell, and then he noticed Zoro who had fallen down from his chair.
The woman had black hair which barely reached his shoulders. She had really dark eyes and red glasses covering her eyes. She looked rather confused by the situation and the odd greeting.
"Ano, I am Tashigi, I was assigned here from G5," the woman introduced herself politely, not really sure where she should stare at.
...
"I AM NOT GOING TO WORK WITH HER!" was a shout heard from Luffy's office. Zoro had forced their chief to 'have a nice little chat' with him about his temporary partner.
"YOU WILL!" Luffy shouted back at his underling. "I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK OF HER, SHE IS AN EXCELLENT OFFICER WHO IS GOING TO WORK WITH YOU WHILE SANJI IS AWAY!"
Sanji and Tashigi looked equally confused by the situation but Sanji decided to push it out of his mind. "Please take your seat, Tashigi-san," he offered his seat to the woman who sat down with a confused look. "Would you guys mind explaining what's going on?" Sanji inquired from his colleagues who probably knew something.
"I can't believe it..."Nami sighed deeply, staring at Tashigi.
"Me either," Usopp nodded his head and looked directly at Tashigi. "Do you have a twin sister?"
Tashigi shoke his head, not understanding what was going on. Nobody dared to speak for a while, they only listened at the ruckus coming from the sergeant's office. "What does he have against me?" Tashigi asked suddenly, breaking the silence.
Sanji stared at his colleagues who stared at each other. It was Brook who decided to speak up. "You are splitting image of his former partner," Brook stated shortly. "They were really close friends regardless of their daily fights but she died just a little bit more than a month ago."
"Oh I didn't know..." Tashigi gasped. "How did she die?"
"She stumbled on stairs, hit her head and died," Sanji filled in the story and his colleagues stared at him, probably surprised that he knew about her way of death.
It took a while before Zoro stepped out of the office with an angry and sad look on his face. He stared at Tashigi and sighed deeply before walking on front of the woman and reaching out his hand. "The name is Zoro," he introduced himself almost politely.
"Tashigi," the woman introduced herself again when she grabbed the outreached hand. Even though the start of their partnership hadn't been too good, they could still try to get along.
Sanji took his chance and grabbed the woman's hand, kissing her back of the hand. "My name is Blackleg Sanji, nice to meet you even though I won't have the pleasure of working with you," Sanji introduced himself while everyone stared at him.
"A gentleman?" Franky and Brook said in a questioning tone.
"A gentleman indeed," Usopp nodded.
"I haven't seen gentleman in ages!" Nami chuckled from behind her desk.
Tashigi saw the situation was somehow awkward so she pulled her hand away, blushing slighty. "Please act like adults! This is a police station: a place where you shouldn't fool around!" she said strictly, making Zoro blink - Kuina had said the very exact words.
...
Author's note:
I thought that it was fun connecting Nami's personality with Nami's abilities with the weather :D A direct reference to the manga :3 And then, I was so into the idea of Luffy lying to them about the inspector's visit to get them do their work but then I remembered that he was really bad at lying...but problem solved, ne?