It had been a week since the incident, and Zeff had finally come to his senses. The first thing he did was to yell at Sanji to stop moping around and bring down Zeff's own spirits, so Sanji had to be sent out by the nurses, with no choice but to go back to the La Martiniere. That old geezer. How dare he make Sanji cry tears of relief.

Franky and Co. had been working overtime, but even then Franky had told him to sit tight for three weeks. The new cold storage had already been up and running for a few days now, which was a huge relief. Usopp and Nami had redesigned the cafe, and he'd turned it into Baratie Lite. As such the staff for both places were different and worked at different shifts, so overall things were starting to get back to normal. At least, as normal as possible.

"Arson and attempt to murder," Detective Shu informed him of the charges against 'person or persons unknown'. The 'persons' weren't unknown to Sanji, but a court of law and the police would demand proof, and he didn't have any. He was more acutely aware of thisnowthan ever before, as he sat across the detective, a non-descript man with a weak sunshine. It was close to midnight. Baratie Lite had closed shutters for the day.

"So you say that you can think of no one who might have had a grudge against you or Mr. Zeff?

"Yes."

"No one at all?" The Detective didn't look convinced. "Not even a chance acquaintance? Or a restaurant owner who went out of business thanks to you?"

Sanji grit his teeth.

"None at all, Detective. We were the first to open an eatery in this locality."

Detective Shu nodded. "Then how about someone who might have apersonalgrudge? Anything along those lines?"

"Nothing that would warrant a personal attack on an unarmed old man, and nothing that Zeff couldn't handle himself."

"But you cannot be sure, Mr. Vinsmoke. One can never know how deep a hurt can go."

"Indeed," answered Sanji stiffly, and said nothing.

"Then would you please go over the events of the day, as you remember it."

Finallysomething he wouldn't have to lie about. Sanji heaved a mental sigh of relief.

"I left home at around 7 in the morning, as usual. Patty and Cairn were already here. It was Wednesday, our in-house Couple's Special day, and it needs special prepar-"

"Is it well known?" the detective interrupted.

"Yes it is well known. Wednesdays have been our Couple's Special since the time we started."

"Please go on."

Sanji continued. "The day went by smoothly. La Martiniere opens at 9 am and closes by 2 pm, Baratie opened at 4 and closes by midnight, sometimes later. That day I left early, at around 7 pm, due to a phone call, and while I was away..." His voice trailed.

"What was the nature of the phone call?"

"Pardon?"

"I meant, was it a business or a personal call," Shu clarified.

"I see. Personal."

"Who was the person who had called?"

"One of my personal acquaintances."

"And the reason for the call?"

"Personal reasons." Pat came the reply.

"What personal reasons?" The Detective pressed on.

"Reasons of a personal nature." Two could play this game.

The detective gave up first. "Please go on."

"It was while I was away that I got a phone call from Cairn saying that some people had barged in from the back entrance, attacked Zeff, and set fire to the kitchen and cold storage before escaping. The staff fought back, so did Zeff, but they were more in number and had weapons. "

"The security?"

"Shot in the right arm and right leg."

"Did anyone see how they escaped?"

"In a blue truck, according to the staff."

"And then?"

"I rushed to the hospital as soon as I got the news. Zeff was unconscious, he'd fought back but one of the bastards managed to get a solid hit on his head."

"Hmm." The detective shuffled some papers in front of him on the table. " So far everything you've said collaborates with the accounts of the staff." He put back the papers in his coat pocket and leaned forward, giving Sanji a slimy smile.

"The personal call you had received was from Charlotte Pudding, your fiance, yes?"

Sanji's jaw clenched.

"And how does that matter?" He hissed.

"Or rather, should we say," the detective continued smugly, "yourex-fiance ?"

Thunder crackled. Sanji's chair flew back and crashed against the wall just as his fist banged on the table. "How dare-"

Shu was on his feet immediately. "Please calm down, calm down and we'll be able to get somewhere."

"How dare you Snoop around?!" Sanji yelled. "This is private information!"

"Please answer the question, Mr. Sanji." The detective was quivering. Bitten off more than he could chew, had he?

"I will answer nothing. Out you go."

Sanji heaved the detective's sleeve and began to drag him towards the door.

"That'll be enough." A voice boomed towards them from the backyard door. Sanji whirled around to see a man in an overcoat, dense mist swirling around him. Maybe it was most, maybe it was smoke from the man's cigar.

"Manhandling a uniformed officer is a punishable offénce, Mr. Vinsmoke."

"So is snooping around for private information, isn't it?" Sanji growled back.

"The police aren't as stupid as you might think," the man replied icily, making his way over to where the visibly shaken detective was still firmly in Sanji's grasp. "Captain Smoker at your service."

Sanji slowly let go of the Detective's sleeve, who promptly took a few steps away from Sanji and saluted Smoker. Smoker nodded and flipped his thumb towards the back door. Without even a passing glance Detective Shu strode out, stumbling over a chair and nearly banging his face on the glass door.

"A very efficient force you have, indeed." Sanji smirked.

Smoker's jaw clenched on his cigar. Instead of retorting to the jibe he simply took his ID and flashed it at Sanji, who grunted and pulled a chair for himself.

"Let me pick up from where the good Detective left," Smoker began as he took a seat.

"That day, about 30 minutes before the attack commenced, you received a phone call from Miss Charlotte Pudding and rushed to meet her."

Sanji said nothing.

"I'll take that as a yes," Smoker went on. "So from 7 pm to about 10 on, you were with her?"

"...yes." The memories of that evening were flooding his brain now. It was taking herculean effort to appear nonchalant.

"And you believe she is completely innocent?"

"Captain." Sanji smiled, but Smoker got the impression that if he uttered a single word on that issue he'd have his face caved in.

So they stared at each other for some time in silence, Sanji waiting for the next question and Smoker contemplating his next question. The ash from his cigar plopped onto the glass table, right next to the ashtray. He made no move to clean it, nor did he move his cigar. Sanji's temple throbbed, while the mist around Smoker thickened.

Finally he stubbed his cigar and moved his chair closer to the table.

"Now I will ask you some questions to which you'll reply in a yes or no. Are we clear, Mr. Sanji?"

"How convenient." Sanji's smile didn't falter.

"Do you think that your biological family might have a hand in this?"

Sanji's smile was wiped right off his face. If the question about Pudding made him angry, this question made him bare his teeth, fists trembling in rage.

"What the fuck do you mean?"

"I'm the one asking the questions." Smoker wasn't about to back down.

"Exactly how low are you people going to stoop?" Sanji thundered, his voice echoing off the walls.

"I told you as soon as I entered, do not underestimate the police. It is in your best interests to tell me all you can."

Sanji seethed, his nails digging into his palm. How much did this bastard know? How much did they all know? Was there no end to this humiliation?

"The sooner you cooperate, the closer we'll be to finding out who hurt your father, Mr. Sanji."

Sanji's eyes widened, and he felt his anger ebb slightly, as if Smoker making it known that heknewZeff was Sanji's father somehow acted as a soothing balm to his frayed nerves.

Sanji's face was unreadable behind his bangs. Smoker had just one card up his sleeve, and he'd used it. Now to wait and watch.

"I-" began Sanji, then hesitated. Smoker waited.

"I call him Zeff." He completed, looking away.

Smoker's eyebrows rose, and for the first time since her stepped into the Cafe, he smiled.

"Endearing."

"Shut up." Sanji's scowl was back in place. "First you will tell me all you know. It's only fair that I know how much you know."

Smoker nodded and took out a sheaf of paper from his pocket.

"... The Vinsmokes are a very prominent family, formerly royalty, with interests and ventures in diverse fields from science and medicine to weapons, artillery and philanthropy. The family is headed by Mr. Vinsmoke Judge, and the businesses are handled jointly by his daughter and three sons. As everyone knows his wife died soon after giving birth to quadruplets, and one son died in childhood in a freak accident. A man of great intellect and ambition, he has the reputation of being a strict task-master, and his razor sharp business acumen has now led to a joint venture between the Germa 66 Corporation and the BM conglomerate, headed by none other than Charlotte 'Big Mom' Linlin..." Smoker stopped reading, put the paper back into his pocket, and continued.

" There are two things this article doesn't mention. One, that the fourth son isn't dead. It is you."

"Yes." Sanji spat out the word.

"And two, that Judge has been demanding that Mr. Zeff hand you over to him, legally. That is all I know."

Sanji's ears perked up. "I?"

"Yes. This is what I have come across in my private investigation. The Police only knows that Charlotte Pudding have called off the engagement." He pulled out another cigar from his pocket, lit it and took a deep drag. The mist around him had calmed down a little.

Sanji took a deep breath, as if making up his mind, and exhaled. If Smoker had uncovered so much, he'd uncover the rest too. Might as well tell him and get it out of the way.

"I was officially adopted by Zeff when I was eight. Judge did not have anyusefor a son who did not manifest weather, like his other sons did, and my mother had already passed away, so I wasn't treated too kindly." He gave a bitter smile. "So I ran away, when we had gone to Italy for a vacation. Judge had flung a glass of whiskey at my head, that was the day I decided to make a run for it. I got on a cruise ship and begged them to take me as a kitchen help, which they did, but the ship itself capsized a few weeks later, and when I woke up I'd somehow landed up at Zeff's doorstep. He took me in, seeing that I had nowhere else to go, and the rest, as they say, is history." Boy, exactly how many details was he leaving out? The abuse meted out to him, how Judge wanted him dead, and how Zeff had sacrificed his leg to protect him, a runt of a boy he didn't even know, when Judge had sent men to kill Sanji?

"The Vinsmokes didn't know about you?"

Sanji chuckled. Smoker was a smart man, it seemed.

"Sent men to kill me. Zeff drove them off, lost his leg, and Judge decided I wasn't worth the trouble, so he said he'd leave us alone provided I never showed my face to him ever again."

He paused, then continued," But now he wants to do business in Big Mom's territory, and since she does business only with family, he needed a scapegoat. He approached Zeff, who flatly refused to nullify the adoption. They threatened him, I had to step in. I told them I'd marry whoever they wanted me to, if they left Zeff and the Baratie alone. They agreed and I got engaged to Charlotte Pudding. But Big Mom came to know if it, and since Zeff is still my father in the eyes of law,Zeffand notJudgewould be 'family' for her, legally. They've tried all sorts of ways to make Zeff give in, but he didn't budge," Sanji blinked back angry tears," and now, finally, they resorted to physical violence."

"They shot the guard, but not Mr. Zeff or any of the staff."

"Yes," replied Sanji. "They could have, if they'd had the orders for that, but Judge wants to scare me and Zeff into submission, he won't go as far as outright killing any of us. He plans to make me obey him by using Zeff as a bait."

Smoker looked on, then asked," What do you think of Miss Charlotte Pudding?"

Sanji blinked, clearly caught off-guard by the question. "She's sweet," he smiled a little," though a little moody."

Completely schizo,is what Smoker had heard about her. And also that Sanji worshipped the ground which she walked on.

"Her relation with her mother?"

"Completely under her mother's thumb."

"And even then, Mr. Sanji, you refuse to see the link between her and this attack?"

Sanji's brows creased. Smoker went on.

"Charlotte Puddinghappensto be completely under her mother's control. Her motherhappensto have a problem with Zeff. Miss Puddinghappensto conveniently call you and ask to meet you on the same day as, and barely half an hour before, the attack, knowing full well that the chivalrous man you are, you will rush over to meet her, leaving the restaurant and Zeff alone. You are a smart man, Mr. Sanji, but those with eyes willfully closed aren't blind. They only need to open their eyes."

Sanji knew. He knew, but Smoker saying it all so blatantly stung harder than he'd thought it would.

"My eyes are wide open, Captain," Sanji snapped, "and for someone who belongs to this field, you sure work more on conjecture than on facts."

"Not at all," Smoker smirked, "I'm simply laying down some facts before you, much if which you've told me yourself."

"Then what are you implying?" Sanji was getting tired now.

"That Big Mom, and not Germa, may have been responsible for this attack. At the very least, there is some direct involvement on their part, and you better be on your guard because it's not just one, but two dangerous families that are hot on your heels. That is all." He pushed back his chair and offered his card. "Let me know immediately if anything else happens. I'll drop by again to keep you updated. Hopefully Mr. Zeff recovers soon."

Sanji stood up, slightly in a daze, and took his card, offering him one of his own. Smoker nodded and they shook hands, and soon Sanji was standing alone, still locked in a stupor. A loud honking outside stirred his senses, and he quickly checked his watch.

"3 am huh," he whistled. "Time to take a walk." His shoes slushed through the rainwater as he made his way out of the Cafe, locking the door behind him. A slight sense of Deja Vu settled on him. The entire while he was with the policemen, he thought he'd drown. Only towards the end did the rain let up a bit, only to come back with a vengeance when Smoker told him straight that Big Mom might be targeting Zeff. The Vinsmokes he could handle. Judge wouldn't dare, because if anything really serious happened to Zeff, he'd lose the only leverage he had over Sanji. But Big Mom?

The park bench called out to him. Time for some self-pity time huh. But it seemed someone else had the same intention as he had, for the bench was already occupied.

"Zoro!"

Zoro looked up, startled, and saw Sanji standing round the corner.

The Rain over Sanji stopped, just as Deja Vu crashed over both of them.