XIV.

It was a vending machine. Yup, no matter how he looked at it, bending over to glance at its side too, it was a vending machine. But not just any vending machine - oh no, a Marimo's favorite vending machine. Sanji didn't need to know Japanese to know what was inside this one. It was beer, canned beer, at your convenience.

Sanji let out a long exhale, standing straight up and looking over at Zoro. Honestly, it was only a little past noon and he wanted to get Sanji drinking? Yeah, their situation was really annoying, but it wasn't that bad yet.

"Beer? Really? The one thing you didn't get lost finding."

Zoro didn't react to that comment, only moving to point to one of the selections. "Tomodachi," he said, a bit under the weather, gesturing then to Sanji's bag.

Sanji looked toward his bag, then back at the machine. What was that supposed to mean? He wanted him to buy one or something?

"Tomo what?" Sanji couldn't even repeat it, as a native speaker Zoro said stuff too quickly.

It couldn't have been what he thought he'd heard, which was a tiny little keychain toy you had to take care of. He fucking hated that thing, it always just shat and died on him. No, that was too random and now that he thought about it, that was... to... ta... tama... Tamagotchi. That's what that shit was.

Sanji continued to watch as the shithead took a step forward, gesturing more into the bag, even moving the zipper slightly. What, was there some beer tucked in there that Sanji hadn't noticed? He cooperated for now, taking the bag off his shoulder and placing it on the ground to investigate then cocked his eyebrow when he saw. It was his Japanese to English dictionary.

What did this mean, Sanji was going to get a lesson in Japanese today? Fine, fine, whatever, he would play along. He flipped it open.

"Tomodachi," Zoro repeated. Sanji lowered his chin, repeating it softly to himself before flipping to the page.

"Friend? Is that right?" But they were talking about beer.

"Frien. So," Zoro gave a nod and a hum of approval, though his imitation wasn't perfect. "My frien," he rolled his hand, expecting Sanji to help him out. "French?"

Oh, now Sanji was understanding – somewhat. Learn a word, give a word. Sort of. There were still some bugs in this system. "Ami. Mon Ami."

Zoro nodded once more, turning back to the vending machine. He jabbed in the direction of the beer he liked. "Mon Ami."

Sanji slowly shut his book. Nope, it wasn't a culture exchange, just an idiot. Zoro's friend was beer and it wasn't Batman he was most related too, but Captain Obvious. Sanji shook his head in defeat. What had he been expecting?

"The poor human Marimo, the last of his kind, unable to reunite with his only friends. The world really is a cruel place."

Zoro snorted at that, pausing to point at another kind. "Shit," he called it. So they weren't all his friends, apparently.

It was undeniably stupid, but Sanji still couldn't help but slightly grin at it. It was sad too, since it was Zoro missing one of his favorite things when he was in charge. But even so, the whole situation was entertaining nonetheless.

"Alright, you alcoholic," Sanji began, giving another look in the direction of the park where the bus had left them. He still didn't see any signs of Usopp or Robin. It would be a shame to waste any time he could use to look around and besides, he kind of wanted to. "What to do."

Sanji bent down, putting his dictionary back in his backpack pocket before pulling it back over his shoulder. He glanced up at Zoro, who was looking around. He couldn't tell if Zoro was familiar with this area or not. Sanji wanted to figure he was, if he knew where a beer vending machine was off the top of his head, but at the same time, this was Zoro. He had no sense of direction. He could've been winging it, for all Sanji knew.

"Food." Ah, finally a good idea.

Sanji looked at what stores were accessible. He didn't really feel like, for once, only eating onigiri. It felt like a waste when he was in a new part of town. What was something he hadn't even had yet? It felt like it was so obvious, but never had it crossed his mind.

"Sushi?"

Yes. Sushi. How could Sanji live with himself if he lived in Japan for this long and returned some time soon without trying it's sushi? Granted, they weren't rich, it didn't have to be the best sushi in all of Japan - there was a documentary made about that that he thought he'd seen once - but just the idea of eating sushi while being here was enough.

"Damn Marimo, you're just full of good ideas today, aren't you?" Sanji laughed a bit, stepping back onto the sidewalk. If he were to open a sushi restaurant, where would he have it?

Zoro took lead. It was risky, but Sanji was just in one of those moods where he couldn't care less. Just so long as he remembered to take mental note what they were passing to be able to get them back.

Zoro did eventually bring them to a Sushi place that wasn't too far off. It was a bit crowded, but interesting and after approaching enough to at least peek inside, Sanji couldn't help but laugh. Japan never ceased to amaze him, really. It was a Sushi restaurant and wasn't too expensive, but had a certain special thing about it. There was a kind of conveyer belt that traveled around to the tables and were offered to customers - there was even one like a bullet train. Now that would be handy to install into the Baratie.

"That's awesome." He stepped away from the door, not wanting to appear like some kind of weird stalker peeking into the restaurant, but not entering. "But we can't eat here. It's too busy, I'd just look like some loner talking to myself. No, wait, you would." Then he added for his own defense, since he hadn't eaten in an actual public restaurant since being Zoro. "With bad manners."

Zoro stared at him for a moment before furrowing his brows, lifting his hand. Basically, translating from the body language, 'who gives a shit?'. Sanji glared. This is why he had trust issues - if that was his attitude about teaching Sanji culture, who knew what stuff he was already doing wrong.

Zoro rolled his eyes, huffed and gestured him to follow, stubbornly strolling on inside. Sanji cursed under his breath. It was a real killjoy when he started acting like that, thinking he can just yolo and do whatever he wanted because Sanji, not wanting to lose him like a kid in a supermarket, would have to follow.

Sanji took a deep breath, reminding himself that whatever happened would just look bad on Zoro, after all, before trailing in after him and sliding into the first booth that was empty. No one was paying attention to him, which wasn't too strange. People kept to themselves in Japan. He took his backpack off, putting it in the booth beside him, then shot Zoro a look.

He was smirking, sitting across from him with clear amusement. Yes, he'd gotten his way, whatever, he wasn't getting a star sticker for it. Sanji peeled his eyes from him to look at the place. It was interesting, the way it was set up, and apparently hadn't any kind of waiter to take orders. No, instead there was a touch screen at the end of the table where the conveyer belt passed. Did he just start grabbing food or something, did he have to order?

Feeling experimental, he touched the screen and watched all the options appear and their prices. Nope, this wasn't a bad place at all. Sanji would have his sushi.

"Oi." Sanji ignored Zoro, browsing the page selections. There were so many. Did they just continuously make this stuff and send it out on the belts? He was so intrigued. "Oi!"

Sanji brought his fingers back, making a fist, and turning to see what the moron wanted now. He was trying to feed their body right now, what could be more important? It was a plate, about to be taken out of sight, actually. Zoro was pointing at it hurriedly. What? Why that one? Was it that important? Not really giving it much thought, mostly to try getting the grunting man beast across from him to shut up, he grabbed the plate, setting it down in front of him. Then he stared.

What had he just grabbed? Sanji liked sushi and had it occasionally, but he'd never seen whatever this one was. Or maybe he had, but this was just the authentic version. Either way, why did he have to grab it when he didn't even know if he liked it? There would probably be an outrage if he tried putting it back on the belt too. Dammit.

"What's this?" he found himself asking, even though he wasn't expecting an answer. Why would the Marimo ever be helpful.

No, instead Zoro mimicked bringing something to his mouth, expecting Sanji to go ahead with it. It was hella suspicious, which meant there was probably some kind of mystery ingredient Sanji was going to encounter, but that was a risk he would just have to take. Even if it wasn't a cultural thing in Japan, it was a personal thing to never waste food.

Under the touch tablet he found his chopsticks, preparing himself. He hovered the chopsticks above the first piece, but flickered his eyes upward, sensing Zoro watching his every move, waiting to correct him already.

"Itadakimasu."

Sanji took it into his mouth whole, nearly snorting it the minute taste hit his tongue - wasabi. It wasn't because it was too unbearable either, more the fact that Zoro thought he would screw him over with this. It was amusing, he must've thought Sanji didn't know wasabi. He did and there was an unfortunate backstory to it he wouldn't ever be sharing. Still, even if this had been a heavy amount, it seemed Zoro's taste palette had already made this flavor its bitch so it wasn't affecting him badly and it actually complimented the sushi.

So, feeling good about it, he went in for the second one. It would seem where the first one lacked, the second made up for. Oh shit. He set the chopsticks down, hand going to mouth. Dammit, it was like he was set up. Zoro was laughing at him now, was it supposed to have two differing levels or was it a fluke? Anyway, he wouldn't let the bastard get the satisfaction of this, even if he was coughing it down - let it be known Sanji had forced worse down his throat.

Trying to breathe mostly out of his mouth and not feel the burn in his nostrils, he looked over at the tablet, studying its screen. Then in the corner he noticed a tiny little statement about something to do with the plates and a warning about the yellow ones. He checked the color of his plate - yellow. If he had to guess, it meant wasabi.

Sanji let his sinuses calm. That wasn't anything. He wiped away the water at his eyes in a single movement. Bring it on.

"Next."

Zoro was fairly pleased, muttering something to himself and shaking his head. He looked back at the conveyer belt, waiting until another certain dish came by to motion for it. Sanji, up for the challenge, reached for it. It was a surprise it wasn't a yellow plate this time, he was sure this was about to turn into some kind of wasabi endurance challenge, but at the same time he was relieved. It was bad enough to be stuck in Zoro's body, he did not want to be sick and stuck in Zoro's body.

This one looked a lot safer. Still, Sanji hovered his chopsticks above. He couldn't read the Japanese on the screen so he was just relying on instinct that the wasabi would be color coded. In the end this was another gamble. Like the first dish, now laying off to the side, he took one fully into his mouth. You only live once anyway, right?

"Shit." That was a pleasant taste. He looked down at the other one on the plate, since thankfully they came in twos. "That's good."

Zoro would actually have him eat something interesting and not for his own amusement? Well, that second part might not have been true since he was still watching. His smirk subsided into something softer.

"Oishī."

Sanji could agree, since he recognized that word. "Mm, Oishī." Then, because this was apparently a day of learning. "Délicieux."

"De- Tch." So easy to throw in the towel. Still, it made Sanji chuckle. They'd never learn anything at this rate.

When they finally did leave the sushi establishment, it was far later into the afternoon. Days just seemed to pass by quicker. Not that they hadn't arrived past noon and only had so long anyway. They trailed back toward the park and the bus stops. Still, no matter where they looked, there was no sign of Usopp or Robin.

Sanji eased back onto a bench and watched a few people pass by. He had two options here: he could go off trying to find them and risk getting lost or something happening - as something always did - or he could just opt to remain right there at the bus stop for when either they or the buses would return and he could go back home. Both plausible decisions, but each felt like such a waste considering he could be taking advantage of it. Like for instance he could be... Could be... Could be going where those people were walking away from at that tower.

Wait, had that tower been there before? Well, of course it had to be, towers didn't simply just appear out of thin air, this wasn't Minecraft. It was tall and a block away or so. It wasn't as crowded as other areas, certainly not as much as the festivities, but appeared to have an elevator to the top and an observation deck. Sanji wasn't stupid, he knew he wouldn't be able to spot Robin or Usopp from up there since they'd look like nothing more than ants. But he could visit for the hell of it.

"Oi, Marimo." Sanji cocked his head in its direction.

Zoro stared at him, then up at the tower, already understanding as it made him huff. Despite his failed attempt at disinterest, he didn't hesitate to follow Sanji there on his exploration.

As Sanji had suspected from the outside, it was surprisingly not as crowded which made little to no sense. Who wouldn't want to scale a tower for a view? It cost him a small fee, but luckily he qualified for the buy one get one free deal, ghost edition. The actual view on top was more than Sanji could have imagined.

They hadn't picked a better time to come, really. Each wall was nothing but glass, exposing them to the city while the sun was beginning to set. The light hit the tall buildings and their windows shined in reflection. It was somewhat blinding, but as Sanji approached one of the mirrored walls, the angle of the light left his eyes and he could spot the shadows of mountains off in the distance. Japan was beautiful.

This was Zoro's city and somewhere beyond this view was where they'd been all this time and he'd never even thought about it. He never thought to even give the actual land much thought, due to his personal shit storm, but when it was just him and this view, it was hard to ignore. He glanced back at the only other people up there, looking somewhere on the other side, before getting even closer to the glass to take a look at the ants below at their park festival.

"Damn," Sanji said under his breath, careful how loud he spoke.

It was probably silly, but he managed to stay there, his face close to the glass watching for a while, enough for the elevator to have left and returned with more passengers. He only moved to the other side when a mother and child were trying to wave to a ground level somebody. The backside didn't focus much on nature, just rows and rows of buildings of different sizes. Their night time lights were beginning to show.

Sanji hadn't even been paying attention to what Zoro was doing, initially, but as the sun light changed, it wasn't long until he spotted his reflection. He was standing behind Sanji, staring just as much. It was kind of uncharacteristic as Sanji had been anticipating complaints or yawns of boredom, but there weren't any. He looked at Zoro only a moment before returning his gaze to the view.

"When I see shit like this, I think I might actually miss this place when I go back." He slowly rested against one of the beams at the windows edge. "Usopp was right. I'm glad I went. Else I wouldn't have seen this."

Zoro's expression was serious and stern when Sanji's eyes looked back to his reflection. It was evident he'd been rolling something around in his thick head and had something to say, but wouldn't just yet. Whether it was because of simply bad timing or he couldn't form the words, Sanji wasn't sure, but he just knew. Unwillingly, he was becoming quite the professional Marimo interpreter. Their silence doesn't last long, however, as Zoro eventually speaks. His tone is different, evidence that the atmosphere was about to shift.

"Sanji."

Sanji could feel his mouth running dry at hearing his name from Zoro again so soon. Unconsciously he found himself slightly turning more toward the glass. His exhausted mind wanted it to be over with, he'd been toyed with about several things already, but he would stay and listen. There was no point in trying to walk off and ignore Zoro, not when they would have to share the same elevator on the way down again. That and Sanji's curiosity actually did want to hear what he would say.

"My body," Zoro started and the conversation was already bringing up what had been said the previous day.

Zoro was referring to what Sanji had said about not worrying over him doing anything with it. It was one of the few things Sanji had thought up on the spot to try to get Zoro off the subject of what he'd been feeling Sanji feel.

"You do… I don't care. What you want. But you. I care." Zoro interrupted himself with an infuriated sigh. It was so awkward and evident there wasn't a true confidence in his words. Not in the feeling behind them, but in his ability to express what it was he was trying to say the way he wanted. Wires weren't connecting just yet.

Sanji's eyes snaked to the side and he let himself take in the sight of Zoro growing more flustered. He was more irritated than embarrassed, when he shouldn't have been stressing over it so much to begin with. Sanji hadn't been expecting perfection, certainly not from the Marimo. Things had a way of playing out in the end anyway, regardless if they were expressed.

That and there was Sanji's talent, too. Even from the beginning somehow, without really noticing himself, he'd been able to understand what Zoro meant even through broken sentences or half gestures. It was a peculiar thing, but got them this far and it was the reason why Sanji could feel himself actually holding his breath while he listened and anticipated the next few words.

"The shower-" Sanji could feel his heart scrunch up, feeling unbearably too large for his empty chest. Back to that humiliating event once more. Zoro was definitely confronting what Sanji wanted him to just drop and forget. With lack of vocabulary, it was hard for him not to get straight back to it, Sanji supposed.

Sanji had remained composed up until that point when he felt it. A touch, on his shoulder, not from a stranger, but from Zoro himself. It made Sanji stand stiffer, his toes tightly curling against the bottom of his shoe. Zoro had never been able to touch him directly before, having only ever phased through. Sometimes it could've happened through clothes when he really tried, like what had happened with the yukata, but even then it wasn't like this. It hadn't been like a real hand on his shoulder, or felt surprisingly comforting and flustering enough that Sanji wasn't sure whether or not to be wary. The things Zoro then continued to do didn't help either.

"Shit!" Zoro cussed, throwing in the towel for trying to sugar coat anything.

Sanji's eyes widened when the non existent hand on his shoulder curved it's fingers into him, getting a good hold before yanking him around. He was dumbfounded and speechless. Zoro had been practicing, sure, but since when the hell could he do something like that? First accidentally clicking stuff on a computer and now pulling Sanji around with ease? Talk about a load of poltergeist shit.

Their eyes met, their faces both mimicking the same red bewilderment and loss of words. The subject had already been a certain level of dramatic, but now it had risen to new heights, probably not the expected outcome of what was happening.

Zoro released his hold on Sanji, looking at his hand just a moment as if catching up with what he'd just accomplished. It didn't last long, however, his hand taking it's place once more, his focus back to his resolve. Truly, if someone had been able to see them both there at once, in that moment, it would have looked exactly like a mediocre over dramatic exchange between two moss heads. But it somehow just fit.

"Me too." Zoro huffed out, his eyes drilling back into Sanji's. "Okay?"

When Zoro stares so intently like that, Sanji never knows what he should think. It's a wonder Zoro even could, considering it was an exact copy of his own, but in times like these it didn't feel that way at all. There were a handful of times Sanji actually felt like Zoro saw through that and could see him. Or at least, when he was trying to say cheesy stuff like that, it's what he wanted to think.

Still, what did he mean by that? Him too? If Zoro was going to these lengths just to let him know he had felt what Sanji was experiencing, there really wasn't a need.

"What?" Sanji asked out loud, but still quietly enough while still being overly conscious.

Zoro broke away from the gaze, obviously not thrilled that what he was trying to say wasn't getting through just yet. He stared off at nothing, then looked back with what seemed to be a new plan. Then, just like he'd done the previous day, he gave pats over his own heart to symbolize what Sanji had been feeling.

Sanji watched him, swallowing thickly as he did. The more obvious this was becoming about Sanji's unnecessary and not asked for boy's crush, the more nervous and rambling territory he was entering.

"Of course you felt me do that, shithead-" Sanji's explanation started coming out fast, but Zoro cut him off.

"No," Zoro groaned. Apparently this was rocket science difficulty to understand. "Me. I feel."

Well, damn asshole, okay, way to make it about yourself. Sanji clamped his mouth shut. He was giving the benefit of the doubt that he wasn't understanding Zoro properly before, but really, he had been in denial. He knew what Zoro was getting at and putting on the table. The stupid crush thing and bad timing of girly-ass stomach butterflies was a shared experience, not just the influence of one over the other.

So the feelings were mutual and lingering out on the table to grab, but there were no leads. It was probably for the best. For the time being, it was miracle enough they'd gotten this far and into understanding one another. That and circumstance wasn't their friend if they even wanted to progress. Which actually brought Sanji's mind back to the obvious things about this hell.

It wasn't bad enough that he was out of his norm by crushing on some guy whose body he inhabited, the damn ghost fucker liked him back? Seriously, this was happening? Well no, nothing was happening because it wasn't moving into anything, but still.

Sanji's face was on fire and he didn't blame Zoro for having to look off again, it was probably hard to see it controlled by a lost for words moron. It took a few more seconds, but then it dawned onto Sanji time hadn't stood still, he was just standing there, torturing the situation with silence. He cleared his throat, even ran his fingers through his hair as he took a step back in order to summon back some semblance of composure. This was unexpected, he hadn't written a speech or anything.

"I'm an idiot. We're such idiots..." he acknowledged, the first step in recovery. So much happening right before their faces and it took them even this long to notice them? "How do we keep getting into these situations?"

Since the morning Sanji woke up inside Zoro's body, their predicament never retained the same shape. Things had constantly been hurdled their way and had been fucked up and stressful and this one definitely left an impact. They'd never met in a traditional way, actually face to face as themselves, and held a legit conversation where they completely understood one another and yet, that didn't seem to matter in the slightest. Sanji didn't want to risk being a dreamer, but why the hell did he have a voice in the back of his head that was undeniably Usopp, talking about those other victims who'd blamed it on being soulmates.

Zoro seemed to be winding down and relaxing now that the cat was out of the bag. He only gave a shrug to Sanji's question.

"We're screwed."

The very manner in which Zoro said it and the fact it'd been a mantra that he had used a handful of occasions through all of this made Sanji laugh. It was so undeniably and obviously the truth when it came down to them. It could and would always sum up what had been happening to them. They needed it on T-shirts, dammit.

When Sanji stopped laughing, his face softened. So where exactly did this leave them? What choices did they have? Again, their situation was a growing buzz kill. Or, in this instance, cock block.

"France." It was like the Marimo had used more of his witchcraft and had read Sanji's mind.

But of course, shit, where was Sanji's mind running off to? Of course the answer was France. All the resolutions and answers to their prayers would be there. Things would get to be normal once more and dramatic stressful moments like this would be a thing of the past - though, that was most likely stretching it, one didn't simply get over the trauma of a green dick.

Honestly, they couldn't even begin imagining or entertaining the thought of anything until they knew how France would play out. It was a bitter thought, but remaining honest still, what would be the appeal of getting close to someone now who might never have a body to go back to?

Still, unsure of what to say, silence turned the atmosphere awkward as Sanji simply nodded in agreement. It was awkward, but not in a bad way, more in a befitting way for two morons such as themselves. Seriously, finding time to somehow begin fancying one another while all this was going down?

It made Sanji feel sort of heavy in Zoro's body, too. He was inside the body of a guy that seemingly kind of could like him. But shit! That was no reason to turn into a high school girl about it! They didn't have time to stand there and stare at rooftops in the dark. They took the next elevator ride down and headed back toward the bus stops.

To both their surprise, Usopp was already there and waiting. Unsupervised he'd made a tiny mess - his bag on the ground while he tried packing away all his purchases, that from Sanji's view seemed to suggest he out-splurged himself. It was a good thing he'd barely packed anything to begin with.

Usopp noticed them first before they had a moment to say anything and hopped to his feet. Sanji was tempted to kick his ass, having been ditched and left on the bus, but resisted the urge. It wasn't like he hadn't had an alright day out of it in the end.

The first thing Usopp did when he approached was shove candy in his face, wearing a giant grin. They were Kit-Kat's, more specifically.

"Sanji! Look at this! They've got like a dozen different flavors of Kit-Kat's."

To pat him on the head or not pat him on the head, that was the question. Instead, Sanji plucked one of the packaged candies from him and walked closer to his suitcase. This would serve as an alright compensation. Usopp nearly shrilled when he went to open it.

"You don't understand what I had to do to get these! They were the last ones and I had to fight some kid in a straw hat for them! He was crazy, swallowing everything up like a black hole-" Usopp flailed his arms about for emphasis as he spoke.

It was uncertain how, but Usopp's stories were definitely becoming more random. Respectively though, Sanji went ahead, munching his prize. Only to then, of course, want to spit it out. Seriously? Why was there even a need for a wasabi flavored Kit-Kat? He coughed, somehow managing it down, then looked around.

"Cat woman?" Zoro suggested, having noticed just what he had. He was handy in a 'one of those little guys who sit on your shoulders and say shit sometimes' way.

"That's right. Where is Robin? Wasn't she with you?" Sanji asked, looking back down at Usopp finishing his extra packing.

"Oh!" Usopp finished zipping it up and gave it a pat before looking up at him. "She was, but she had to leave to take care of some things. Wanted me to pass on her thanks for inviting her. But you'll see her back at the host club, right?"

Sanji nodded. It would have to be there, there wouldn't be much anything else Sanji would be strictly devoting his time to now. He was all around very body-sick, his own variation of being home sick.

Usopp stood back up on his feet, setting his suitcase upright with him. Attempting to act 'cool', he rested against it. "How was the day for you two?"

Sanji's eye flickered to Zoro, who was just mindlessly listening and staring until he seemed to understand the question and jumped to Sanji, in which he quickly switched to staring right at Usopp once more.

"It was," he paused for a moment, but hell it wasn't like Usopp didn't already know, Sanji couldn't lie worth shit, "interesting."

Usopp smiled, satisfied with that answer, but his expression shifted to something more sorrowful when a bus that wasn't on the transport line they used to get here pulled up. This was the part of the trip that did suck ass, the part where Sanji and his friend would part ways and Usopp would head to the airport and go back to the US and live his life.

They were both silent, staring at different things. It wasn't a normal goodbye. Real life things were scary and unpredictable and it wasn't for certain they would even see one another again. Sanji could still end up bodiless and probably die.

Usopp was bad at keeping face. His lips were quivering, he was trying to be brave and end on a good note, it seemed. But it wasn't weakness to think that. Sanji couldn't honestly say if he wasn't in the body of a grump, he wouldn't be the same.

"I'm glad you came, Usopp," Sanji said with a half smile.

Usopp looked up at him and the waterworks started. Arms outstretched, he launched himself at Sanji. It surprised both him and Zoro, but Sanji didn't push him away, instead he returned the hug. Zoro could suck it if he had complaints, this was his best friend, for fuck's sake.

"Don't stay in Japan too long, Sanji!" The words were so drenched. "If you get in a tight spot, you call. Just because you think no one else will believe you, doesn't mean you don't have friends who will do anything to help!"

Sanji clenched his teeth, pulling away from Usopp. "You little shit. Just go back home, don't worry about me, you really think I'm going to stay here much longer?" His face softened and he smiled. "Thanks."

Usopp took a step back, equally happy, but rubbing at his eyes. With a shaky hand, he moved to retrieve something from his pocket and place it back into Sanji's hand. Unexpectedly, it was Zoro's phone he had thought he lost.

"Wait, why..."

"Sorry. I took it looking for blackmail in case you weren't really Sanji. But I knew for a while it wasn't necessary."

Sanji huffed, rolling his eyes and putting the thing away. Figures, typical Usopp.

Usopp's hand went back to his suitcase, but his eyes traveled around aimlessly. "Goodbye to you too, Zoro. Lets Ouija again after you stop babysitting Sanji!"

"Oi!" What the hell was that about?

Zoro smirked, moving a bit forward. Then in one movement he gave Usopp a hearty smack to the back - but in a 'friendly' way.

"Sayonara, Pinocchio."

The chills that ran through Usopp were so obvious, his eyes growing wide. Apparently, even after trying to speak to the paranormal, Zoro's pat on the back was much too spooky. But it wasn't like there were any pillows around for an alternative.

Usopp still let out a shrill sound, his head turning exactly where Zoro was, before he grabbed his bag and hightailed it toward the bus. Sanji cocked his eyebrow, watching while he got on and vanished amongst the other passengers. Zoro looked just as perplexed.

"Do you think he heard you, too?" Sanji suggested, though he really didn't understand how Zoro's temporary ghost powers worked.

Zoro shrugged, scratching at his head. "Don't know," he sighed, then with his thumb motioned to another direction. "Home."

Yeah, going back home to the apartment was a good idea. They'd had enough 'fun' the last two days, now it was time to sleep and get back on track.

-0-

Zeff pulled his eyes away from the growing stack of journals on the hospital nightstand. He'd gone through and read them all daily to his stepson, but to no avail. The machines around them still sounded and worked, keeping Sanji's breathing in check. He'd hoped by now there would surely have been some kind of change. He'd really prayed for it, but things seemed to be just as bad as the first day.

It was hard to believe, since the cuts and bruises on Sanji were mostly gone now and he only appeared to be at rest. He didn't look to be in pain, or like he was struggling, just at ease. Maybe it was time that Zeff let him go? It was selfish to keep his body here relying on machines for his own comfort if Sanji had already moved on. Zeff's eyes were almost glazed over, he'd been sitting in the same chair for much too long, staring at the same unfortunate scene, listening to the same heart rhythms.

So much so it was impossible for him not to catch when they changed, only slightly. It had him sitting up in his seat quickly. He'd heard it, he wasn't crazy, was he? It wasn't something he had just wanted to hear? He waited, listening cautiously, and there it was once more. Relief began to wash over him. That had to be a sign, right? He didn't want to get ahead of himself…

The door to the hospital room opened, the on call doctor that night coming inside to check over some things.

"His heart beat changed," Zeff explained, gesturing to Sanji all wired up. "Isn't that enough proof he's there?"

The doctor looked over at Zeff, his expression apathetic. Then he moved to look at the results from another machine and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Black, the brain signal is still unresponsive." He turned to walk back to the door, stalling at the end of Sanji's bed. "The best course of action would be to proceed how we discussed before. It will be best in the long haul for yourself and your finances."

Finances? Zeffs face heated in rage. He didn't care about his damn finances. Money was nothing, this was Sanji, his son. He was getting sick of this bastard and his words. Next they would be in there, asking for Sanji's organs. The doctor left and Zeff fell back into his seat, his hand at his temple. This was, by no means, what was supposed to happen after they came here to pursue their dreams.