Reedited 7/24/22

A/N: So, I'll be real here; this arc, and the next one, are gonna really change up the game. If you like Syrup Village... strap in, kiddos! You ain't seen nothing yet!


Chapter 11: Daily Life at the Baratie

Three days ago, after meeting Johnny and Yosaku, Nami brought up that to avoid becoming victim to sea-faring malnutrition, a chef must be added to the crew. The bounty hunting duo knew just the place – the Baratie, a restaurant on the sea! What the pair had failed to mention was that it was a bat-shit insane place to recruit!

Upon arriving, Hook and company had been looked down on by some Navy punkass, Hook himself was shot by said punkass' ship into the Head Chef of the Baratie's room, made to work for a year to pay off damages and injuries – of which the 'stache-braided, peg-leg fossil – had very little of – and then the young captain was dragged downstairs to see some blonde chef had beaten Cap'n Punkass a quarter to the grave, and Head Chef kicked him the rest of the way.

To cap off the first five minutes of being on this ship, an armed, half-dead man just shot a Marine... and looked like he was daring anyone to stand up for more target practice.

Hook turned to Sanji as the room stood frozen in shock, surprise, and fear. "You guys seem entirely too calm about this. Does this sort of thing happen often?"

Sanji took a drag, then exhaled, facing away from Hook to keep the smoke from his face, before turning back to address him. "Nah. Yesterday, someone tried to rob us." Rob a place like this? Hook tried to imagine the idiot who would attack a place with guys like Zeff and Sanji, but all he could envision was a grave with a headstone that read 'Too Dumb to Live.'

'That does sound about right…' Hook thought.

As Hook was occupied with morbid thoughts, the emancipated pirate sat down at a vacant table, banging the butt of his gun on the clothed wood and demanding service. The beefy chef, who had adopted a fucking creepy smile came over at once. "Welcome, squid-face."

The man didn't even look at his server, eyes distant and empty. "I'm only gonna say this once, so listen! I want food – whatever you got!"

The chef's smile became even more pinched. "Pardon, Mon – sewer ('Seriously, he doesn't hear what he's saying!?'), but can you pay?"

The resting man pointed a gun at his head. "You take lead?" he said flatly.

"No money, then?" The chef's tone was even flatter!

'Does he always insult his customers or just the ones that shoot first?' Hook thought. Out loud, he said to Sanji, "Should we do something, or-!" The question was hardly out of his mouth before the server punched his 'customer' through the chair!

Hook's jaw dropped, as Sanji calmly appraised the situation. "Patty, need help? It'd be a first."

Zeff was nearly as calm. "Patty! Don't bust my chairs! That's coming out of your pay!"

'You first!' Hook glanced at the Marine-shaped crack in the wall. As Patty dusted his hands, stating that no one eats if they can't pay, the restaurant exploded into cheers!

Underneath those cheers, the poor man's stomach growled, and Patty grinned down nastily at the beaten man. "Oh ho…what this? Are you hungry, Krieg pirate?"

The man wheezed weakly then looked up, his eyes even more distant from before. Dear God, the bastard really was starving! "T-that was just a fart…idiot. Now, gimme…some food."

Rather than expressing sympathy, Patty literally kicked the man out of the establishment. "No money, then you're no customer!" The minute the weak pirate sailed through the swinging doors, Patty bowed and implored everyone to enjoy their meals. After some applause, the whole room's atmosphere switched back to orderly and calm.

Despite himself, Hook smiled a bit, the chaos reminding him of sailing with the others. "This place is pretty fun, huh?"

As the teen walked past a table he picked up some half-eaten meal, an action that did not go unnoticed by Zeff. "And just where do you think you're going, rugrat?"

"A stroll and snack," Hookanswered back, not breaking stride. "Just take it out of my salary." Hook bit back a laugh as he heard a response that sounded like 'don't have a salary' as he exited. 'Wait…where'd Fullbody go?' Now outside, he looked out to the horizon and saw his ship was halfway to gone, his date yelling obscenities for being left behind. 'Damn. If he's not taking blame for the wall…which means I'm working here for a year. Quadruple Shit.'

Deciding to put that aside for now, the young pirate prowled around the perimeter of the wooden carp before finally finding the man near the back…and not alone. Sanji sat with his back to the railing and the sea, a seriously delicious-smelling rice dish placed on the deck. The unnamed man's intimidation had completely evaporated as he ate the meal and cried in equal intensity, clearly just happy to be alive. Sanji smiled as he flicked the remains of his smoke over the railing, then turn his head to notice his new guest. "Oh, you again. What do you want?"

"Looks like we were thinking the same thing," Hook matched his smile as he nodded to the happy diner.

Sanji just looked at Hook, before looking away. "A chef's duty is to feed those who are hungry. Just makes sense after all."

Hook sat on the deck next to the blonde-haired chef. "I agree! Which is why I want you to join my crew." As said chef gaped at the kid, Hook had already passed the bowl to the other one present, who gladly accepted it. "Here. Old guy's gonna take it outta my salary anyway."

Confused, Sanji asked, "Hold on…are you a pirate, or do you work here?"

"I'm a pirate who finds themselves in debt large enough that 'sorry' isn't gonna cut it." Hook groaned, banging his head against the railing. "I might be here for a year, before anything changes…"

Sanji, who had lit up another cancer stick, hummed as he thought of something. "The explosion this morning…why did you fire on us anyway?"

"The pink-haired asshole you beat up took a shot at me! If I didn't defend myself, he would've hurt my crew!" Hook snarled. "Just thinking about it again... if I had five minutes alone with that bastard-!"

Sanji sighed. "So, it's a case of self-defense… Sorry about that. Talk about rotten luck." He smirked as he tapped off loose ash from his cig. "Well, either you'll fit right in, or you'd better keep your head down. Chef Zeff was a famous pirate once. And everyone here is as hot-blooded as any pirate out there."

"Hm. Neat," Hook hummed, as he turned to the ocean, watching the waves.

Sanji laughed at his casual answer. "You're either very calm about that, or you already guessed it, huh?" He settled back, a cloud of tobacco exiting his lungs. "It's chaotic, but hey – it's home! Some people come just to see the cooks and pirates go at it. But then, all the waiters got scared and jumped ship."

Hook laughed at the analogy. "Hell of a long way to swim," he joked.

Sanji nodded sagely. "Yeah, but a few were really that desperate to get outta here…"

The teen chuckled at that... before realizing Sanji was not joking. Coughing to recover from the embarrassment, he quickly moved on to say, "Well, that explains why the fossil was set on me being a waiter…Geez, what a pain…" Hook crossed his arms, considering the position he was now in, before a stray thought entered his mind. "Hey! You never said if you were going to join."

"I refuse," Sanji said remorselessly. "I have a good reason to stay here."

"You don't need to ask someone permission to go, do you?" Hook teased.

Sanji rolled his eyes. "It's not about permission! The Baratie is the old man's treasure! And I…I have no right to leave it defenseless."

'Huh. He's really loyal to the head chef…' Hook thought, before blurting out, "Hey, is he your dad, or somethin'?"

Sanji seemed to freeze for a bit, then relaxed. "Might as well be. He raised me after all."

"Well... like it or not, I still want you to join!"

Sanji fixed the stubborn man with an incredulous glare. "I said no! You asked! I answered – that's the end of it!"

Hook shook his head. "It's not over 'til I say so!"

Sanji, almost nose-to-nose with the incorrigible teen, retorted, "What the hell logic is that!?"

"Excuse me…" A hoarse voice off to the side spoke up.

Hook raised his hand. "Wait one second, I'm talking to my new chef."

"YOU CAN'T JUST DECIDE THAT!" Sanji screamed, a vein on his forehead pulsing.

"My name is Gin, and I'm a Krieg pirate," the haggard, but slightly better-looking man stated as firmly as he could. "I am sorry for not introducing myself before."

Hook laughed off his overly polite gesture. "Clakakakaka! You were shoveling in between gulps of water! You were hardly able to say much!"

Gin was not easily swayed by the barb, his gaze far more focused than before. "You said you're a pirate. Tell me, what are your goals?"

Hook grinned widely. "Huge ones! I'm gonna make myself a big name! One that can't be ignored! To do that, I'll become the Pirate King!"

Gin swallowed, appearing nervous and triggered for some reason. "So…you're heading for the Grand Line – you have to be – and you're just now getting a chef?"

"Well, we don't want scurvy!" Hook jested, waving off his fidgeting...

Which was a mistake, as Gin suddenly screamed, "THIS IS NOT A JOKE!" The good humor around them swiftly keeled over. "Listen, you don't want to go to the Grand Line! The Krieg Pirates…we…" Whatever he was trying to say kept getting cut off by all his hyperventilating. Eventually, he stammered out, "T-there are safer waters in the world. You're too young to suffer so much…" Gin looked haunted, his gaze distant.

"We were…there for one week…" Hook and Sanji exchanged uneasy glances. The broken man continued in his hollow tone, "The storms sunk half the fleet…the currents kept turning us in circles…" The man sounded close to hysterics by this point, his head between his knees as he clenched his fist hard enough to break the skin. "And then, after all that…one man sunk the other half of the largest fleet in East Blue! One friggin' week was too long in that hellhole!"

As the man seemed to be reliving his trauma, Sanji, seemingly trying to hide his shaking hands, fiddled with his cig, eyeing Gin. "For a man under Don Krieg, you're a little cowardly."

Ignoring Sanji's comment, Hook snapped his fingers in front of Gin's face to get his attention. "Gin! Gin. It's okay, you're fine. You're not in the Grand Line. This is East Blue, alright? You're in East Blue. Repeat after me."

Gin didn't respond at first, but eventually, he was able to croak out, "I…I…am in…East Blue." He kept repeating it until his breathing became less labored. When his pupils finally stopped dilating, he looked straight at Hook, only mildly scared now. "Kid, you have to listen to me. The Grand Line has several names, but the one must always remember…it's known as the Pirate's Graveyard."


A short while later, Gin got in a fishing boat he procured from the Marines. He thanked both Hook and Sanji for the meal but didn't stop warning the young pirate about the Grand Line. It was a nice farewell, right up until Zeff appeared on the upper deck, Sanji commenting there were rules to not get caught feeding non-paying customers. At the same time, Sanji scooted the dishes into the ocean; no evidence, no crime. "Badass!" Hook cheered. "You're gonna be an awesome addition to the crew!"

Sanji grounded his teeth on his newly lit cigarette. "For the last time-!" Before a fight could break out, for like the twentieth time in a place like this, Zeff jumped down and dragged Hook by the ear to get started on chores.

After donning an apron with the Baratie's logo on it, Zeff looked the teen up and down. "Well, chore boy, there are three things you are qualified to do! Dishes, Floor Duty, and Orders. You do Dishes, you get them from the table, and clean them back here! Floor Duty, clean up this place from top to bottom! Orders, you go out there and write down what they ask to eat! You don't know what the dish is, ask them to describe it!" Zeff smiled in an off-putting manner. "Since I'm so nice, you can pick which chore you do. You slack off though, and I choose!"

Quickly making the decision to take orders, Hook rushed out to the floor. There were three tables that needed attention, at least as Patty (the beefy one) explained: a rowdy party of three, a party of two with a menacing aura, and a party of one who was a real alcoholic if his red eyes over the glass were any indicator. Getting shoved toward the party of three, Hook found himself among familiar faces - namely, Silk, Nami, and Ussop, shit-eating grins on the mugs. "Finally, the waiter's here!" Ussop said smugly, Nami and Silk trying to stifle their laughter. "We want to order! What took you so long!"

Smirking, Hook decided to take a page out of Patty's method of customer service. "Welcome to the Baratie, sir. Might I interest you in our special…the Buster Ball?" Ussop suddenly paled at the name of the dish.

Nami flicked the apron strings, still trying not to laugh. "So, I guess this is how you're going to pay for damages. Why not just repair the wall with your powers?"

"I've never tried before," Hook muttered. "I might have to Consume the whole ship, which might not go so well-!"

"Stop goofing off, chore boy!" Patty yelled across the room, his thick forearms crossed in displeasure. "Give them the drink specials!"

Hook rolled his eyes, readopting the 'server act.' "Well miss, for the sandwich combo, might I suggest you go soak your head? It is a very refreshing experience, I've heard." Seeing Nami caught between trying not to laugh and trying not to choke on air would be a moment Hook would remember forever.

Silk leaned on her hands. "I'm sorry we didn't come after you! Red said you'd be fine, and she is never wrong, so..."

Checking for Patty, and thankful he was nowhere in sight, Hook said, "I wish you would have come! I could've used some backup! Now I have to work here for a year!"

"A year!?" The table exclaimed, attracting a lot of attention. After a silent look between all three of them, they gave Hook dangerous smirks, as Ussop said, "All in favor of changing the flag?" Three hands went up. "It's decided!"

Ok, they were only messing with Hook…but that didn't mean he couldn't strike back! "And for dessert, you can lick all of my-!" The hairs on his neck shooting up to attention, Hook stepped sideways as a peg leg crashed through where his head had just narrowly been before. Zeff scratched his chin, a modicum of intrigue on his face. "Hm, you're learning. Guess I'd better mix it up. But more importantly-!"

"I was just saying hi to my crew!" Hook cut off Zeff before he got stuck in another no-win verbal debate. "We were all there when that cannonball came through your room. Right?"

Nami and Ussop took one look at Hook's sly smirk... and immediately guessed his intentions! Standing up, they both open their mouths-

"Yep, we all were! Watched as Hook crashed right through the wood!" And closed them just as fast to stare daggers at Silk. "What?"


Carne, the chef that had called Zeff about the tussle this morning, smacked Ussop's hand with a wooden spoon as he peeled potatoes. "You call that peeling!? That's an insult! Do better!"

Ussop muttered something unsavory, then yelped as he was popped again. "I hope the others are suffering too…"


Patty smiled with pride. "Funny thing, we never have waitresses for long, so it may seem impractical to have uniforms for them, but Chef Zeff is nothing but optimistic!"

Nami was hardly listening; if she were, she might guess the waitresses don't stay long because of the uniform! Sure, it was just a maid outfit, but it was the principle of it! At least she wasn't suffering alone-

"Wow! This is really breezy!" Silk played around with the skirt, lifting and letting it fall. "Reminds me of my job back home!" She was so busy playing with the skirt, she didn't even realize Sanji was crossing behind her…or how high she lifted the back of her skirt. The entrée never hit the ground, but Sanji sure did as he passed out with a smile!


'Ah, now all my friends are miserable,' Hook thought with a vindictive smile that scared a lot of diners and a few chefs. 'As it should be!'

Continuing his duties, he grabbed the order of drinks for the party of two…except there was now only one person there now. Sitting at the table was a really intense-looking guy, with green hair and…three swords? Said man a blank stare on his face, not unlike a lion casually watching his prey before pouncing. The look not only seemed to keep any other chefs from getting near, but any table near his was absolutely empty, leaving the entire corner of the place unpopulated. Undaunted, Hook took one step toward the table and was immediately zeroed in on by the swordsman.

'It feels like a wild animal sizing me up…' Hook thought. 'For a fight or dinner, that remains to be seen…' Shaking it off, Hook continued to approach with a casual grin. "Hey."

Zoro regarded Hook for a moment, before swiping the glasses of beer off the tray…and downing both like water. "Phew! I've been thirsty all day! Thanks for that!" His intense aura vanished completely, replaced with a much more relaxed customer.

"No problem," Hook laughed off the change of personality. "If no one said it before, welcome to the Restaurant Baratie! I'm Hook, your server, and…" Lowering his voice considerably, he added, "They're sticklers for paying customers, but if there's no evidence, they can't really charge you, can they?"

The green-haired man gave the teen a vicious grin. "Well, nice to meet you, Hook! Name's Zoro! Thanks, but don't worry about me – the witch that brought me here is paying." At the mention of his dining partner, his scowl returned. "Damn it all…getting indebted to her! Well, so long as she keeps her end of the bargain, I can be free."

'Bargain?' Hook wondered. 'What is going on here?' "Well, after you finish your business with her…I wonder if you can use those overgrown knives?" Hook gestured to his blades.

Zoro smirked, a mixture of excitement and bloodlust. "You a swordsman?"

"I have a sword or two in here. After my shift, I say we-!" The sentence was cut off by something crawling up Hook's pants leg, and stopping to sit on his shoulder. Looking there, Hook saw a monkey with a little vest and hat on...that once spotted, jumped up and bit his ear!

"Abu! Stop that! Bad monkey!" A person, a girl with purple hair dressed in a shirt, pants, and suspenders, ran over and immediately began trying to pull Abu off. Unfortunately, the monkey's teeth dug in firmly, which only hurt more! As Hook screamed, the girl said, "I am so sorry - excuse me, Zoro – I don't know what came over him! Please, this way – calming him down is easier with less stimulation!" Hook was hardly listening, the pain taking up his full attention. As she led him away from the table, the pair end up in a closet; the moment the door closed, the monkey let go-

Ka-click!

…and a pistol replaced him, cool metal now resting against Hook's ear. "Who are you, and who sent you? Talk. Now."

No longer in pain, Hook frowned at the gun up to his head. "That's really cool and all, your monkey eating a Devil Fruit to become a gun. But what else can it do? Got any tricks?"

While Hook couldn't see her face because a) she was behind him and b) it was pretty dark in the closet, he does hear her take in a sharp breath. Jabbing Hook's ear with the gun again, she snarled, "Stop playing around! Who sent you!? I will shoot you if you don't start talking!"

Undisturbed, Hook responded, "Hi, I'm Hook, your waiter. As for who sent me, Zeff himself wanted me to check on your table. I brought some drinks, but no guarantee your friend left you any." Hook paused then added, "I should warn you, there's this one guy – and if you shoot me, he will charge for damages."

Silence enveloped the room for a bit before she spoke again. "Turn around slowly. You make any moves, I won't hesitate." Hook turned slowly in place, at a snail's pace, to come face-to-face with the young lady, who now looked half uncertain about her actions. "So, you're not lying? Nobody sent you?"

Hook rolled his eyes at the accusation. "Not only did no one send me, but I also don't even know who you are. By the way, this time we're talking will also be on your bill." She fixed him with a flat 'seriously' look; Hook could only shrug. "Gotta earn a living, ya know." She looked Hook over once more before she tossed up her pistol, morphing into Abu in the air before landing on the girl's shoulder. The monkey fixed Hook with a cross look, mirroring his master.

"Okay," the girl crossed her arms and stepped closer. "I'm sorry about the gun. There are…a lot of people who are hunting me. Girl can't trust anyone these days…can I ask you to not mention this…to, like, anyone?"

"Lips are sealed – added to the bill!" Hook chuckled at the growl leveled at him from the closet's two other occupants. "You know if I'm charging you to keep your secret-!"

"That's blackmail!" Abu mimicked the accusation of his owner.

"…you could also tell me who chasing you," Hook plowed on. "I'm a bit of a badass, so…" Hook trailed off as the girl actually laughed at him. Even Abu had broken out in giggles, almost falling off of her shoulder.

When she calmed down, the mystery girl wiped a tear from her eye. "Thank you…that made me feel better, but if I want to be protected, I'll stick with the guy who literally looks like a badass." With that, she opened the door…and almost ran right into Sanji. "O-oh!"

She looked ready to say anything to avoid being in trouble…and then Sanji exploded into motion. Hook didn't quite catch everything he crooned to the put-off woman, but it could be summarized into "I think you are gorgeous and will die for you." "Ahhh~ to think, such heavenly beauty would grace my life on this day~!" Just as quickly as he turned all lovey, Sanji switched back to normal on a dime to glare murder at Hook. "Hey! Chore boy! What were you doing with this angel in there!?"

Shrugging, Hook began with a, "You see..."

"We know each other!" The girl immediately cut off Hook in the same instance. "S-seeing him again…after so many years…I couldn't control myself." To put a fine point on the blatant lie, the violette slipped her hand into Hook's, much to everyone's confusion, even Abu's.

Sanji fell to his knees in silent lament. "Ah, what a blessing and a curse~! To know an angel was out there and I never checked~! If only I were not to stay here, I would have gone to find such rare beauty – then much would have been different-!"

"You want to leave? Be my guest." Zeff spoke up, as he entered the scene. "I don't want you here anymore."

Sanji sobered up and stood to glare at the old man. "What!? I'm the sous-chef!"

"A sous-chef that fights all the men and flirts with all the women," Zeff only seemed to get started. "And you're a lousy cook that the others don't like. Why don't leave and stop being a dead weight here?"

What happened next was both too quick and not at all; Sanji grabbed the geezer and told him to never insult his cooking, cementing that he would stay. Zeff then kicked him across the room to land on Ussop, carrying a bushel of vegetables outside the kitchen for some reason.

Sanji jumped off of the flattened sniper, shouting, "YOU WON'T GET RID OF ME, CRAP-GEEZER! I'LL BE HERE UNTIL YOU DIE!"

"Then I'll live 100 years to spite you," Zeff said as he left.

It was when the event ended that Hook realized both the girl and Zoro were gone. 'Darn, where'd they go?' A groan drew Hook's attention and ended his musings. "Ussop, are you ok?" Hook asked of the pile of broken man on the ground.

"He…crushed…my potatoes…" The pile moaned.


Later that night, the crew of four were strewn over the deck of the Merry, thoroughly exhausted. Johnny and Yosaku, looking much better than this morning, look at the group in confusion. "What happened? You guys left for lunch and you only came back after dinner! What gives?"

Nami pulled herself up by the railing and shot the obvious culprit a glare. "Captain Dipshit over there got us stuck with working here until the damage is paid off!"

"No more peeling…no more…" Ussop moaned.

Hook propped himself up near the sheep head, eyes half closed from exhaustion. "It is tiring, but it has merit. At least, that's what I'll keep telling myself until I get feeling back into my arms..."

Silk sat up easily, hardly appearing winded. "Exactly, this is good training for you guys! Bussing for endurance, food running for strength, even agility!"

Yosaku blinked at that. "Agility? Oh, from dodging around those tables?"

Silk tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Actually, it was to avoid all those hands. A lot of men and some women kept sticking out their hands for service. They need to be more careful! A few almost flipped my skirt!"

Ussop and Nami shared a look; 'Someone should tell her…' they both thought.

"Not just that," Hook moved on, the idea of Silk learning what they might really have been doing a slightly frightening thought. "But besides Sanji, we have a few more hopefuls, like this Zoro fella who-!" Hook was immediately cut off when Johnny and Yosaku nearly maul him as they picked him up in unison.

"WHAT!? BIG BRO ZORO'S HERE!?" they yelled.

"Your 'big bro,' does he have grass green hair, carries three swords?" the Comboman ventured.

The guys looked at each other, then dropped the sore teen and began crying. "After so long…we had thought he was gone!" Johnny tried to wipe his eyes…

And Yosaku was not much better. "Has destiny smiled upon us!? To be reunited with our big bro!? What an incredible world!"

Silk shrugged, "Guess that's a yes."

Getting up gingerly, Hook leaned against the railing, with less wobbly legs. "He looked pretty strong. I can't wait to spar with him!"

"Don't even try!" Both brothers hollerred. Johnny cleared his throat and explained. "What we mean is Bro Zoro is crazy strong!"

Yosaku pulled a cigarette and began to look for a match. "We like you and all, Big Bro Hook, but if you fight Zoro, he'd wipe the floor with you!"

Nami plucked the cig from Yosaku's mouth to get his attention she pointed to Hook...who was shadowboxing with a look of sheer glee! "So, he's pretty strong, eh? Hehehe~"

"Stop that!" Nami chastised.

Ussop sat up with a worried expression. "You're so excited to fight, you're glowing like Silk!" ("Huh? I glow?")

Hook's devilish smile only grew larger across his face. "What? No! I'm not thinking about fighting Zoro at all!" He said as his powers began to activate.

"NO ONE BELIEVES THAT!" Everyone, save Silk, screamed.

Eager for more information, Johnny shook Hook by the shoulder for his attention. "So!? How did he seem? Why is he here? Tell us something!"

"Well, he seems grumpy, being indebted to some girl with a monkey that turns into a gun…or it might be the other way around…" Hook trailed off, not sure which would be more reasonable.

"WHAT!?" Johnny yelled in Hook's ear. "He's here with a…like a girl girl? A cute one!? What's she look like? Like on a scale of one to-eep!"

Johnny's words died a painful death under Silk and Nami's dangerous looks. "Choose your next words very carefully," Nami grounded out as Silk cracked her knuckles.

"Huh?" Johnny looked to the girls, then back to Hook.

Likewise, Hook assessed the situation and came to a sound conclusion. "I…can't help you here. Good luck!" He even included a thumbs up as encouragement.

"I'd rather you helped me!" was what Johnny yelled as two demons stalked after his retreat to the kitchen.

Yosaku cried manly tears. "Johnny, I will remember you! I will make sure Big Bro Zoro hears of your sacrifice."

Ussop dusted off his pants as he got up. "Why did Johnny sound so surprised about this Zoro guy being with a girl?"

Yosaku took a drag before answering. "He was really dedicated when we met him! He only became a bounty hunter and joined us because he needed the money. His real goal and dream is to be the strongest swordsman in the world! Of course…" The man shivered in his green jacket, "he would have to overcome an absolute monster…"

'A Dream?' Hook's eyes lit up at that. "Well, that confirms it!"

Ussop saw the gleam in his new captain's eyes and gulped nervously. Nami heard the tone in his voice and shuttered. Silk smelled an exciting announcement and smiled. "Hear it comes…"

"Zoro has to join our crew!" Hook cheered, fist raised in the air.

"WHAT!?/ARE YOU MENTAL!?" Ussop and Nami had mixed if similar opinions on the decision. "WHY WOULD WE RECRUIT A BOUNTY HUNTER WHO GOES AFTER PIRATES!?"

Not swayed by the show of bad fate, Hook held out three fingers. "Three reasons: He liked me, so he can't be all bad-!"

"Does he even know you're a pirate!?" Nami asked incredulously.

"…he can still hunt pirates…"

Ussop snorted. "Yeah, like us!"

"But more important than that," Hook threw out a winning smile, "he has a dream! He'll fit right in!"

Ussop wanted to protest…but Hook didn't laugh at his dream, either.

Nami tried to say something…but with her dream being so distant, it felt wrong to call out someone else's goal.

Silk, though, gave Hook a slap on the back hard enough to make him stumble forward! "If you like him, I like him! Still, we should probably meet him before just drawing conclusions…do you think he'll be back tomorrow?"

Hook stifled a yawn. "No clue. But I bet we can find out tomorrow…besides, I need to be at my best." Hook cracked his neck as headed for the men's quarters.

Nami looked after him with a raised eyebrow. "Your best? Are you taking this restaurant thing seriously?"

"Oh yeah! I'm gonna run circles around you slowpokes!" Hook shot back a wicked smile.

"Don't count us out!" The challenge was accepted by Ussop and Silk.

"Oh, dear God..." Nami, on the other side of things, just massaged her temples in exhaustion.

As Hook entered the quarters, he added, "Plus, I want to be ready for that spar!"

"KNOCK THAT OFF!" the whole ship, minus Silk, responded.


A/N: I just realized, so far half of this fanfic is just this arc and the next. Boy, this is gonna get wordy...