Title: Top Secret
Words: 468
Pairing: None
Rating: G
Notes: The mystery of what was in Usopp's bag? Well, a mystery it is no longer.
Chopper was not over it. He doubted he would ever be over IT.
But he was trying, so hard, to forget. His odds of ever sleeping nightmare free again rather depended on that.
The problem was that seeing the bag always brought thoughts of IT all rushing back to the front of his mind. And seeing Usopp meant seeing the bag. And he really liked seeing Usopp.
But all in all, he'd been doing not bad with the forgetting thing. Until today, that is.
One look at the sky upon leaving the galley after breakfast had had Nami ushering the boys to their room, citing that she was not having a bunch of dripping idiots ruining yet another set of maps.
Zoro had settled in for one of his naps after he'd finished huffing while Sanji'd pulled out his inventory sheets to plan the next week's meals.
This had cut Luffy's sources of entertainment in half. And led to Usopp's impromptu origami lesson.
A growing pile of paper cranes later, Usopp had needed to search for a source of paper to replace the sketch book he and Luffy had torn through. And when his hands had exited his bag, IT was among the items in his grasp.
Things still might have been ok if Sanji hadn't chosen that moment to finish his inventory and decided that watching them was suitable entertainment. And started rifling through the stack of magazines that Luffy hadn't even been glancing at before he'd torn into them. And smirking.
"Oi, Long-nose. You been holding out on us?"
Usopp looked up from the paper he was currently folding to glance questioningly at Sanji. And the issue of Bathing Suit Beauties of the Grand Line he held. And flushed. Until his face had given Luffy's shirt a run for its money.
"That must have been mixed in with the things I bought in Loguetown."
"Sure."
"Just look at the date, Cook." Perfect, now Zoro had added himself to the conversation. "Even you couldn't have been buying mags like that sixty years ago."
Chopper completely blanked out Sanji's surely scathing retort, too busy watching the pages flip by with an ever growing horror. He needed to be stopped. Now.
Digging himself out from the ever growing pile of Luffy's misshapen cranes, Chopper was on his hooves and across the room in an instant. Tearing the magazine from Sanji's hand and dodging around Zoro's legs, he was soon up the latter and out into the rain.
His fur was matted in a second as he slip-stumbled his way to the railing. Not pausing for breath, Chopper pitched IT overboard and watched the waves swallow up his nightmare.
Maybe he'd never fully forget. But he'd sure as hell never let anyone else see Dr. Kureha in that way. Ever.
Thank you kindly to everyone who has taken the time to read and review.