Chapter 2

For three days, the stranger slept like a log. Sanji only occasionally checked on the man who had to be fed soup like a baby so that he wouldn't starve to death. The chef wondered why he always attracted dangerous men ever since he'd realized he was gay. He might be the ladies' man when he was working at the Baratie and always a gentleman because he was taught to respect women by Zeff. However, Sanji knew he didn't swing that way and if he was honest, the unconscious swordsman in his bed was very much every gay man's wet dream.

Still, even after going through the things the stranger had, Sanji couldn't find anything about the stranger. No name, no address, no next of kin and strangely, no phone either. Sanji didn't know where this strange man came from or what he did for a living but he was willing to bet whatever the moss-head did, it wasn't legal.

It was the dinner rush when Zeff informed Sanji that his stray had woken up. Sanji didn't spend too much time dallying in the kitchen and left operations to Patty and Carne who were more than capable of handling orders. Thankfully, it wasn't a Friday evening so things were still manageable in the kitchen.

The man had hazel eyes and Sanji caught himself staring for a while. That gaze was piercing and intense, something that made Sanji feel like a mouse looking into the eyes of a tiger.

"You're awake," he said, trying to ease the uneasy feeling he had from the moss head.

The stranger didn't reply instantly. He scrutinized Sanji from head to toe and frowned. "Where am I, curly brows?"

The chef froze as his mind tried to process what he just heard. Sanji was long aware of his unique appearance given his French heritage but hearing someone describe his curly eyebrows in such a degrading fashion when he would usually be given lovely attention for them made Sanji bristle in a bad manner. Without thinking, he strode up to the wounded man and pulled one cheek like how he would normally punish Luffy who stole other customer's food.

"You have a lot of nerve calling me that, eh? Marimo."

The swordsman groaned and caressed his abused cheek. Sanji huffed and his nostrils flared, making Zoro wonder if this was the same man who saved him a few days ago. His savior looked nothing like he imagined him to be and while the resemblance of those same warm hands and angelic blond hair were there, the man in reality behaved more like a thug.

"Marimo?"

Sanji smirked. "Your hair. I refuse to believe that's natural."

Zoro deadpanned. He heard this a few times too many. Even his adopted son, Tony Chopper, declared that having natural green hair wasn't natural. Sadly, it was was it was. Zoro wasn't too particular about being different because it idn't get in his way of what he needed to do. He had heard many people comparing his hair colour to various things but marimo was a first and Zoro decided that he liked the cook already.

"Oh? Is that a challenge now, dartboard brow?"

Sanji felt the impact of that second attack aimed at his eyebrows. This time, he raged and lifted a foot to smack that shithead as a warning. Sanji wasn't slow. In fact, he was fast and he knew he was good at what he did. After working in the kitchen with Carne and Patty for so many years, he learnt that kicking shitheads made them learn faster not to mess with him. Patty and Carne might not have stopped being dickheads to him but it certainly wasn't as bad as it used to be. Ever since Sanji came out of the closet, those guys have been giving him nothing but hell until Zeff signed him up with the Newkama Savate class where a queer queen taught him his best moves.

Zoro saw the foot being lifted and his eyes widened in surprise. Was this cook for real? He just woke up!

Rolling out of the way, ignoring how his wounds hurt, Zoro grabbed his swords. He didn't have time to unsheathe them before the cook did a turn and swung a kick towards his head. Did this stupid blonde have a grudge against his hair colour of all things? It's fucking ridiculous yet Zoro's blood thrummed with delight at the adrenaline Sanji caused.

Neither of them realized the ruckus they were causing upstairs, too caught up in the moment of finding a worthy opponent who could incite the battle lust in them. Sanji had never really met his match ever since he defeated the queer queen who taught him his fighting style. Zoro had also clearly never met someone as evenly matched against him ever since Kuina's death. It didn't help that his eyes automatically followed the blond's movements. While ever move was potentially lethal, Sanji had some kind of grace to him with his fluid dance-like movements that hypnotized Zoro. He didn't feel the pain of his wounds with the adrenaline fuelling his excitement until someone kicked down open the bedroom door and dragged them both out of the room.

"Oi! What the hell do you think you're doing? Eggplant, I sent you up to check on the moss brains and not flirt with him! I never taught you to play with your food!"

Sanji bristled at that but the flush on his face didn't make his anger very believable in Zoro's eyes.

"Oi… shitty geezer… Who said I was playing? I was merely giving him a crash course at manners. Also, don't you have work to get back to? Patty and Carne are probably burning your kitchen down now as we speak."

Zeff didn't want to admit it but Sanji was right. Those two employees of his weren't the most reliable given their attitudes. Zeff wasn't someone to judge others based on their pasts or personalities if they had the skills and worked diligently. Patty and Carne were clearly cooks with a criminal record but Zeff was the same. He took them in regardless and treated them like a shitty extended family. Sanji probably grew up this way because of Zeff's influence. Despite being gruff and prickly on the outside, Zeff knew Sanji was a softy on the inside just like him.

"I'll go down to check on them, you bring something up for him and don't fool around this time. He might be moving but that wound is still bleeding. Come down once you're done changing the bandages. Dinner rush cannot do without you and we have a new reservations from your favourite customer.

Sanji groaned when he heard that. He didn't really need to see Luffy now of all times. Sure, it wasn't a Friday evening that Sanji made Luffy agree on. That man had a black hole in place of his stomach and one Luffy was enough to make up for three times the Friday dinner rush crowd's demand. It might be a Thursday but it was a Thursday that his newest stray had finally woken up to. Sanji wished he could spare more time to get to know the mysterious swordsman but he would have to get a rain check for it.

"Dammit… I got this, now go. Luffy will probably clear out the fridge so remember to call the delivery to send more goods for tomorrow's crowd," he told Zeff who grumbled under his breath but headed downstairs again anyway.

Once Zeff was gone, Sanji turned to Zoro with a business-like mood. "Alright, let's get you changed out of it. You're still not well enough for a sower but you can manage wiping yourself down once I've changed those bandages. I'll bring dinner up later and I assume you can eat by yourself if you can hold swords. Do you have any allergies?"

Zoro blinked. Sanji probably had split personalities and while he knew the cook wasn't very sane if he could save someone despite their shady nature of injuries and start a fight with them when they first awoke, Zoro wondered if there was anything more the blond man could do to surprise him.

"No allergies, I eat anything but onigiri would be nice at this point. Preferably with sake."

Sanji clicked his tongue in annoyance. The man was a freeloader and yet he was so choosy with food. Going by the very Japanese taste, Sanji now knew where the man hailed from. Still, he never heard of Japanese people having natural green hair.

"Right. I can abide by the rice balls but no alcohol for you. You're still wounded. I'll bring up something else later. Let's get you changed, shall we?"

Zoro scowled but didn't do anything else as he let Sanji change his bandage. The wound wasn't as bad as it looked. It was merely nasty looking and if Chopper was here, Zoro would have recovered by now. Mihawk didn't go easy on him but he let him go out of respect as a swordsman.

While Sanji worked, Zoro couldn't help but notice how careful the cook was being. The man had an awkward personality of trying to kick an injured person but was being doubly gentle when changing the bandages. Seeing this made Zoro extremely convinced this man had bipolar disorder of some kind.

"Why did you save me?" he asked.

Sanji stopped working for a while and looked into those hazel eyes, clearly not expecting the question. The cook then resumed his work and busied his hands as he answered.

"I'm not the kind of person who could walk pass someone dying in front of me without doing anything even if it means that the person I save might come to bite me once they're better. It's not the first time someone I helped tried to kill me but we are Baratie, a Michelin four star restaurant built on the reputation of good food cooked by a bunch of criminals. We wouldn't have our reputation by being weak."

Hearing this made Zoro relaxed a little. Sanji didn't seem l;ike the kind who expected anything in return for his kindness and it made the swordsman feel slightly guilty for judging him so quickly.

"Zoro."

Sanji blinked. "Huh?"

The swordsman clicked his tongue and looked away, embarrassed that he was made to repeat it.

"Roronoa Zoro. My name."

When Sanji heard that, he laughed. "Nice name, marimo. I'm Sanji. Sanji Blackleg. Let's get along well."

The swordsman growled when Sanji teased him but at the bottom of his heart, Zoro was beginning to warm up to the cook. When Sanji left to prepare his meal and told Zoro to wash up, the swordsman took the chance to explore the house.

There really weren't a lot of things around and Zoro was convinced that this was a house that belonged to a civilian. It would have been bad if Sanji and Zeff were related to the mafia. Zoro didn't know which side they would be on with him on the run and Chopper still with Usopp. Zoro couldn't exactly return now until he took care of Doflamingo and Mihawk who was sent after him. Thinking about what he needed to do, Zoro decided that h would offer his services to the restaurant. Besides, Baratie didn't care about a person's past if they could employ criminals and that worked perfectly for Zoro's situation. Now, all he needed to do was convince Sanji to employ him in return for lodging and food, preferably with sake to sweeten the deal.