Sanji Kitetsu Chapter 27
"Look, I'm sorry, but at least tell me where to put your boyfriend." Nami-san taps a delicate finger on Sanji's sheath. The cursed blade has spent the last minutes of his human transformation tidying up the kitchen as much as he could, but he ran out of time before he could get to the structural damage.
"1843, 1844, 1845..." The moss head counts faster under his breath as he continues his finger pushups, completely ignoring the navigator. For once, Sanji can't seem to find the strength to yell at his master on behalf of the lady.
"Like I said, I just wanted to see if Usopp was making up stories again about you dating the guy. I didn't know-"
"1851, 1852, 1853..."
"Please! I need to get back upstairs to help Usopp fix the hole your boyfriend made in the kitchen wall." Nami huffs. "OK fine, it was mostly my fault, but considering the way you threatened me that day, I'd say we're even."
"He's not my boyfriend." The swordsman grits out between pushes. It's the truth, but Sanji still rolls his inner eyes at the effort to make it clear.
"Sword then, whatever. Your sword. I'll leave it here with your other swords, OK?"
That seems to catch enough of the man's attention to stop him from his training. He pauses and glares at Sanji's hilt for a few seconds.
"Take him to Carmen. Grab her a new flask of my blood from Chopper too. Tell her she's allowed to give him two doses a day for training purposes and nothing else." He commands and is counting again.
Wait, you're just sending me away like that? Sanji panics.
He's not exactly sure what has led to this. Sure, he kicked the man, but he restrained enough power to prevent any real damage. A swordsman of Zoro's caliber should be able to tell at first glance. Besides, he's Zoro's sword. Made the pledge and everything. How could he send him away? Didn't he just talk about Sanji not being able to survive half a day without him watching? Not true, but still, that was what, less than an hour ago?
You're the one who would rather be with anyone else but me. His master speeds up, not sparing him another look.
When have I ever said that?
You might as well have said it ten times a day. You accuse me of not knowing what you want. Well I know EXACTLY what y-
Nami reaches the top of the staircase and shuts the door behind her. Sanji is now out of hearing range of the moss head's telepathic rambling. Before long he is left leaning on the kitchen table as the navigator joins the repair team.
"Well?" Usopp asks, keeping his hammering steady.
"Sulking. He did deny the relationship though, and he told me to give the sword to Carmen."
"Out of spite, so I win." The long nose pointedly holds out a hand, and Nami begrudgingly digs in her bra.
"Are you sure we should be betting on this?" Vivi asks coyly, shifting to grab another plank.
"Vivi's right. It's terrible. We shouldn't gamble over Zoro's misery."
"Nu-uh, you can't back out now! I won fair and square!" Usopp beckons.
"I can't believe he's that far gone though. Have you ever seen him this worked up about anything else?" The navigator hands over a handful of coins with a pout.
"Only Mihawk, but this is his sword we're talking about, and did you see the blond?" The sharpshooter lowers his voice to a whisper.
"Guys, you do remember that his sword can hear you, right?" Carmen warns from the kitchen counter where she's doing dinner preparations. That's all the reminder they need to work in silence for the remainder of the repair session.
Sanji hasn't been listening though. He's busy going over the recent events in his head. He's not in the wrong, is he? Sure, he might've over-reacted a bit with the kick, but the moss head had it coming, with all the talking and decision making on his behalf the last few days, as if he owns the blond... Well technically speaking he does...
And Sanji is a tad bit sorry for side-stepping that question about what he wants. He could tell his master genuinely wanted to learn why he was upset about it, but it's not his fault that what he wants at the moment is too vague to put into words. It's only a feeling that something's been out of place, missing for a long time. Besides, the question caught him by surprise.
Not to mention the inexcusable act of cutting up the flask! The shithead should know about Sanji's medication shortage situation better than anyone else, having almost passed out giving blood just two days ago. How dare he waste his own blood like that?!
And now he has sent Sanji away as if Sanji is the unreasonable one!
"Right?" Sanji asks, looking more for confirmation than truth. He's sitting at the empty kitchen table across from Carmen with almost empty cups of hot chocolate in their hands. It's now long past dinner time. Most of the crew have gone to bed. The shitty swordsman hasn't shown up for dinner, but at least he doesn't seem to be wasting the food Carmen sent him.
"I'm guessing today would be your counselling session instead of my training session." Carmen yawns and picks up the cups.
The blond's face heats up with guilt as he realizes that he just spent almost the entire half hour talking about his own shit. He catches up to the lady and reaches for the cups.
"I'm so sorry! Let me at least wash these."
"No, I get it. You have a lot on your mind right now. We can train when you're ready." The redhead pulls the cups out of his reach and catches him as he falls back into sword form.