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Chapter 60

The beauty's features

Sanji blew the smoke out from his cigarette, which dispersed in curls over the valley he was gazing at. The landscape of the island adjoining the one the crew had just left contrasted with its neighbor. Only just a few hundred meters from each other, yet everything was separating them.

While the previous one was swarming with robbers right in the middle of the city and notorious criminals whose greed they themselves had witnessed, this one was calm and rural. The same spring climate was prevailing there but the panorama he was observing at the beginning of the afternoon on the village below was breathtaking. Angie hadn't lied to the captain despite their doubts: this island was a real treasure, at least regarding its environment.

After they had stormed out from the young woman's club, Nami had ordered to set sail and since the Log-Pose hadn't yet recharged, they had headed by observation for the nearby island. Having noticed its tranquility, the straw hat crew had ventured on the coast the next day and quickly spotted a small village in the shade of a high hill. At the top, an old monastery used to welcome tourists and Franky, Nami, Robin, Chopper and Brook were currently visiting it.

The cook had meanwhile decided to enjoy the landscape and a well-deserved cigarette after climbing the hill and his other crewmates were wandering in the monastery garden a few steps away from him.

"With these glasses, he looks like a different person!" Luffy suddenly wondered.

"If you add a pan, they can't get it wrong", Zoro stepped in.

"Ooooh!" the sniper and captain said around him.

Sanji casually glanced at his friends before feeling his eyes widen at the scene taking place in front of him. His cigarette butt slipped out of his mouth and he jumped towards them.

"What are you doing, you dipshits?!"

The cook darkly looked at the bulletin board right by the garden in front of which his crewmates were standing and where several dozens of wanted posters were displayed. Including his own, now decked out in a pair of glasses and a… saucepan? The cook turned to the swordsman who was still holding the black marker that had been used to commit his crime, hardly suppressing his anger. Indifferent to the twitching of his features, this one shrugged.

"Usopp wanted to see what you'd look like with glasses but we didn't recognize you. I added the pan."

As Sanji was staring at him, speechless, he frowned.

"'Cause you're a cook. Pan means cook", he explained, tapping his drawing with the marker to make him understand his reasoning.

Sanji blankly stared at him for a second more before exploding and tearing out the poster to make confetti out of it.

"I'm not asking you to show me your mental age with your stupid drawings! That guy on that poster isn't even me!" he yelled, pale with fury.

"I admit that the drawing isn't top-quality but it's necessarily you they wanted to depict", Usopp muttered, examining another poster of the cook a few inches from his previous counterpart, now in pieces.

"Those bastards!"

The blond destroyed in a flash all the posters with his name under the studied gaze of his crewmates.

"I don't know what you seek", the sniper grumbled, watching the blond set the last scraps of paper on fire before trying to bury the ashes. "If you're not recognizable, you won't be in trouble, that's pretty interesting."

"But I wanna be famous!" Sanji belched. "I want everyone to know that the best cook in Grand Line will be the one who discovers All Blue!"

The sniper sighed as he was now watching his friend carefully check that not a single poster had escaped the book burning. Finally, Luffy approached him, eyes shining.

"Sanji, let's draw your own wanted poster!"

His cook suspended his moves for a moment before a determined expression lit his face.

"Finally a good idea, Captain! You, gimme that."

He snatched the marker from the fencer's fingers and threw it to the gunner, who frowned.

"Usopp, draw several front, profile and three-quarters sketches. I'll choose the best and we'll send it to the Marines! I'll finally have a wanted poster to match my beauty and my personality!"

"Uh, okay. I guess they'll be surprised but why not…"

Sanji dutifully examined the three portraits selected from each category that laid out in front of him. Usopp had pinned them to the bulletin board so that they were easily compared and visible for his three crewmates.

"The one in profile isn't the best", the sniper admitted. "On the one hand, we can't see your face because of your hair and on the other hand, it looks like a snail. I must say I'm not a professional illustrator…"

"At least, the darts eyebrow is now recognizable", Zoro commented, deadpan.

"I like that one!" Luffy pointed out, showing the three-quarters sketch.

"So do I", the cook agreed.

"Doesn't look like a wanted poster!" the captain added, laughing.

In fact, the cook's pose was more like a photo shoot like the one of the straw hat navigator on her own wanted poster.

"Cook, that's gonna give ideas to a lot of people, I'd advise against it", the swordsman said.

"What you mean?" the blond growled.

"Looks like you wanna tease anything that moves", he calmly clarified.

Sanji stared at him in annoyance.

"You've got a dirty mind; I think about the ladies for my part! Giving them something to fantasize about when they come across my wanted poster…"

"You forget that among Marine, bounty hunters and pirates, there are more men and they're the one who watch wanted posters the most. But if you don't mind…"

With these words, the cook brutally fixed again the drawing to carefully examine it in this new light. Yes, he had opened a little the collar of his shirt to show off his chest, women loved finely muscular men. And it was true that he was looking at the illustrator with a determined air and… a flirtatious smile. To encourage young women to imagine him at their side.

Sanji suppressed a cry and tore off the three-quarters portrait.

"We forget that one! Usopp, get rid of all the drafts of this copy and make sure you destroy them!"

Zoro then watched stoically the sudden hysteria of the blond who was gathering all the loose papers as if his life was depending on it. At this sight, the sniper sighed and Luffy burst out laughing.

"That one then!"

The straw hat boy pointed out the full-face poster and Sanji resigned himself.

"It's the most classic but I guess that's the most identifiable…"

"Hey, you over there!"

The four friends turned to the monastery and saw a large squad of Marines approaching them, a Commodore at the front. Behind the troop, Sanji saw their crewmates on the doorstep trying to wave at them to warn them, but it was too late.

Before they could move, they had their backs to the bulletin board, the Marines cutting the road.

"Your heads look familiar", the Commodore said, approaching and examining them from head to toe.

"I'm Luffy!" the captain exclaimed immediately, and Usopp nudged him in the ribs to silence him.

The chief officer narrowed his eyes and tried to see the bulletin board that Sanji was trying to hide as best he could.

"Luffy… As Straw Hat Luffy?" the Marine finally asked.

"No, no! It's a coincidence!" the sniper tried to step in with a poor smile.

"Yeah, that's me! And I'm gonna be the Pirate King!" the latter yet replied with a dazzling smile.

"Interesting", the Commodore said, all smiles in his turn.

Zoro tensed up and his fingers brushed his blades as Usopp was biting his lips to keep from crying, cursing his captain for ten generations.

"There's a lot of portraits of that guy!" an officer suddenly said, turning up beside them.

The sniper gasped when he noticed that his drawing sheets had flown away and Sanji's head was now showing all over the floor.

"Weird, this poster must be recent. I've never seen it", the Commodore noted, examining it.

Sanji then noted that their other crewmates were discreetly running away from the door of the monastery and he felt relieved. The number of Marines was still important and knowing the girls out of danger was a significant element for him.

"Four members of such a famous crew, I'm lucky", the Commodore was delighted.

The blond returned his attention to his enemy who was looking at them with a big contemptuous smile. The fool.

"I'm glad you know how to use your eyes, big boy", he replied, lighting up a cigarette. "But now if you don't mind, we're gonna get the hell outta here."

Yet at these words, the Commodore waved his hand and the four friends were pointed by various weapons.

"I have sea stone weapons, nets and tasers", he explained confidently. "I advise you to go st-"

"Gum-Gum Hammer!"

The captain twisted both his arms around the Marine chief, instantly preventing him from moving. The straw hat boy then clung to him and gave him his biggest smile before spinning him around as he unrolled his arms. The Commodore collapsed to the ground, his heart in his mouth, and Zoro took the opportunity to draw in a flash.

"Santoryu. Streaming Wolf Swords."

His attack allowed him to dodge the volley of shots fired in his direction and counterattack, repelling about twenty soldiers. Sanji then prepared his foot and positioned himself on the opposite side while Usopp was flattening himself to the ground in panic.

"Parage Shot."

The officers too close to him took a series of kicks in the face, the cook rearranging their faces with his legs.

"That's what you get for referring to wanted posters!" he growled, increasing the power of his attacks and leaving the Marines disfigured.

"Fog Tempo!"

The blond's heart leaped in his chest and he pulled his cigarette butt out of his mouth at the sound of that voice. He then deftly ducked to avoid a blow from a soldier in his direction who believe him to be distracted and at the same time, he noticed that a dense fog was now forming around them instead of the blue sky a few seconds earlier.

"I got it, Nami-san."

The cook threw away his cigarette and quickly grabbed the sniper who was crawling on the ground to put him back on his feet before turning to his captain and his first mate who were still giving out many blows despite the increasingly reduced visibility.

"Let's get outta here, idiots!" he barked. "Nami-san and Robin-chan are waiting for us on the Sunny."

Luffy nodded while dodging a shot.

"Let's go!"

He started running down the hill towards the village and Usopp dashed behind him, praying not to take a stray bullet. Sanji then grabbed the swordsman's arm who was threatening to go in the wrong direction and they sank into the fog in their turn, which made them disappear entirely.

"Luffy, hurry up, now is not the time!" Sanji yelled at him.

The Marine soldiers had quickly understood the crew's strategy and they had started to pursue them as best they could. Arrived at the village, the sky was clear again and Usopp had entered by the back door of the first building but Luffy had been attracted by a food stall by the side of the street and he was already handing a note to the shopkeeper for ten steaming skewers.

His cook turned off hard to get him back, the sound of their enemies running closer. He violently grabbed him by the neck and the captain was thrown inside their makeshift shelter, his skewers in his hands.

"Where are we?" Zoro growled while his crewmates were catching their breaths.

Moist air was hanging around and Usopp wrinkled his nose.

"It smells like the pool", Luffy noted, loudly chewing.

"Yes but the air is salty", the sniper noticed, still out of breath. "Maybe sea bathing?"

Suddenly, a characteristic sound of boots was heard outside and the doorknob moved.

"We gotta move, no matter where we are", the blond decided.

The four friends took a random staircase and Sanji quickly realized they were indeed in a sea bathing establishment. They even ended up entering directly at the level of the pools and without slowing down, they began to slalom between the towels.

"Thatch cho good", the straw hat boy said, swallowing another skewer of meat behind his cook.

"Stop eating and fucking move, they're gonna see us!"

Sanji grabbed Luffy by the arm and readied himself to pick up the pace when his gaze was stopped by the sight of dozens of half-naked bodies offended by their presence. Obviously, these sea bathing were reserved for women.

"Ohhhh my God, I must be in heaven!" the blond swooned, visibly softening.

"Sanji, what you doing?" his captain worried as his cook was holding him too close to the water's edge.

"Ladies, I am your humble servant!"

"Ahhh!"

The straw hat boy fell into the water while the cook was throwing himself at the feet of the girl closest to him, a blissful smile on his face.

"Dammit, Luffy!"

Zoro threw his swords to the sniper, who almost fell flat on his face catching them, and dived into the pool to save his captain who was sinking like a rock. He then hoisted him on to the edge while glaring at his partner.

"Idiot cook! Fucking watch out!"

"Shut up, marimo head!" the blond grinded.

"Guys, we shouldn't stay here", Usopp reminded them as he was helping Luffy spit out all the water from his lungs.

The swordsman came out of the pool to remove his soggy tee-shirt with annoyance. He was wringing it out when a general admiring cry rose in the air. The four boys looked up in disbelief and saw that all the young ladies around were literally drooling in front of the fencer's shiny pecs.

"You're so brave!"

"You saved your friends, that's so nice!"

"How strong you are; do you train often?"

Zoro frowned as the young women were hungrily coming closer to him. He wasn't against a few compliments but right now, he was sensing that the fan club could get out of hand.

"I gotta go", he mumbled.

"Oh, don't be in such a hurry! Don't you wanna rest a little?"

"Are you a tourist? I can show you around the city!"

"The swimming pool is forbidden to men but for you, we can make an exception…"

Usopp turned his head at the sound of a door slamming and verged on panic at the figures on the other side of the glass.

"The Marines! We're screwed!" he cried out.

Seeing the swordsman tense up in his turn, a young woman pushed him back into the pool before joining him in the middle of other girls while others were throwing Sanji, Luffy and Usopp behind a small refreshment counter.

"Ladies, good evening", the Commodore said, briskly entering. "We're looking for four dangerous crimin-"

"Oh, Commodore, show some respect!" a dark-haired woman got indignant. "It's a women's pool here!"

"I'm sorry but-"

"Don't you think we'd have seen if four men had turned up here?" another added.

"Believe me, they wouldn't have lasted long", a third sneered.

The officer stepped back in front of the popular discontent before quickly running his eye over the surrounding area and not detecting anything suspicious, he bowed.

"I apologize for the inconvenience, ladies."

At this point, he walked away to turn back, his soldiers behind him.

As soon as they were completely gone, Zoro emerged from the pool, suffocating. He then swam to the edge and leaned against it to catch his breath.

"Handsome prince of the seas, are you sure you don't wanna stay?" the young woman who had pushed him into the water tempted him.

The swordsman swiftly hoisted himself out of the pool and joined his crewmates who had come out of their hiding place, relieved. The bathers then approached the group to surround them.

"It's really nice to have helped us!" the captain thanked them enthusiastically.

"Yes, we couldn't have done it without you!" Usopp nodded as he was returning his blades to their owner.

"You're lucky to have such a handsome friend", a little redhead noted. "Usually, men who enter here have a hard time."

"Your heart is only matched by your beauty!" the cook fluttered, although no young lady was looking at him.

"Take my towel if you wanna dry yourself", a beautiful blonde then offered to the fencer.

"Thanks."

Zoro rubbed his back and hair and all the young women let out another cry of admiration.

"His hair is too sexy!" one of them swooned.

"With his swords on his belt, nothing's more manly!"

"And his grouchy look is simply irresistible…"

"Okay, can we go now?" Sanji growled, definitely annoyed to be ignored in favor of the fencer.

Zoro gave him an amused look before a huge smile took place on his lips. He had a unique opportunity to steal the spotlight from the blond with his precious women. In shock, Sanji then saw him shake his hair casually, sending the last droplets flying in all directions around him. These landed along his neck and chest, sliding lazily down his body to his abs.

The young women followed the course of the drops of water with wide eyes and short breaths, to the great displeasure of the cook who was beginning to feel tingling of jealousy in addition to those of disappointment at the idea of being so invisible for these beautiful creatures.

"Yeah… We can go now", the fencer calmly said after a few more moments letting himself be devoured by hungry eyes.

He then returned her towel to the trembling blonde, slipped on his tee-shirt and strode across the rest of the pool, his friends following him while the staring never left him.

The swordsman was even fortunate enough not to take the wrong direction and once outside, his friends noticed that they finally seemed to be safe.

"Wow, I didn't know you were such a hit with girls", the sniper pointed out to him as they were heading for the coast to find the Sunny.

"Yeah, that's really useful!" Luffy agreed, delighted with how the situation had turned out.

The cook remained silent behind them and just took a cigarette out of his pack. Yet the fencer smirked at him and the blond tried not to see it, busy lighting his cigarette butt.

"Still upset, cook?" the swordsman taunted him with a predatory smile.

As soon as they had got back on the Sunny, Nami had maneuvered to make the ship disappear on the other side of the island while remaining in the magnetic zone so that the Log-Pose would finish recharging. As the evening progressed, Franky had volunteered to stay on watch and initiate their next destination as soon as possible. The other crewmembers quickly gone to bed, the fencer had slipped into the kitchen in search of his partner who was finishing the dishes.

This one shrugged in a sign of indifference to his question and wanted to grab his cloth to wipe the edge of the sink when Zoro stopped him so that he was facing him.

"Don't be a sore loser", he whispered, putting his lips on his neck. "Not my fault if I'm better looking than you and these girls noticed…"

"You're not better looking than me and I'm not a sore loser", the cook growled, trying to get free.

"Yes, you are. Sore loser."

The fencer ran his hands down his chest through the fabric of the shirt as he continued his kisses but Sanji was refusing to reply to his attentions.

"You're gonna let me take advantage of your body without saying anything?" he whispered again in his ear as his fingers were unbuttoning his garment.

"What difference does it make? You're used to snap your fingers to get whoever you want in your bed, don't you?" the blond sharply replied.

"Jealous cook", the swordsman sneered.

"As if I could be jealous because of a cactus head like yours!" Sanji denied, angrily putting down his cloth. "I'm just surprised these young ladies had fallen for it…"

"I'll bet you are…"

Zoro grabbed his partner's hips then kissed him hard, his tongue crossing the sulky border of the cook's lips. He quickly deepened his kiss by tightening his grip on his waist and smirked when he felt Sanji finally answer him. Impatient, he took off his now open shirt completely and avidly stroked his stomach.

"You want us to go in the shower?" he asked breathlessly. "It'll bring you back memories…"

"Idiot… If you think you're… that handsome, y-you're wrong", the blond stammered against his skin, sensitive in spite of himself to his caresses.

"Okay, let's do it here then."

"Here?"

Sanji straightened slightly, surprised, but Zoro greedily pinned him against the luckily cleared table.

"Been a long time. Reminds me of our first time…"

The cook felt a shiver rise up his spine at the sound of the swordsman's husky voice before shuddering intensely as the man put his powerful hands on either side of his hips on the wooden surface. Zoro leaned sharply to better reclaim his mouth while rubbing against him, deliciously exciting their crotches.

Sanji grabbed his lover's shoulders to better settle comfortably and strongly returned his kiss to the swordsman for the first time in their exchange as his legs were wrapping around his waist. The fencer then quickly increased his pelvis motions, snatching pleasant sounds from the blond in his arms.

Finally, the cook let go of his resentment as the swordsman was resting his mouth against his chest while he himself plunged his fingers into his lover's green hair, devilishly sexy as a young woman had pointed out earlier…

Zoro raised his head, his breath short, and swallowed as best he could.

That damned cook was fucking handsome.

It still hurt a little to admit it, but he hadn't denied it for a long time. His white skin and finely muscled body were attracting him like a magnet. He whished he'd never left that goddamn kitchen.

Seeing him run out of breath a little more under him with each one of his thrusts only confirmed this reality. His parted lips under his moans were echoing with his own. His cheeks flushed with effort and pleasure were emptying all logical thought from his head. His eyes draped in desire were encouraging him to redouble his intensity. His whole body was calling him to unrestrained lust.

At the height of the sensation, Zoro noticed his lover's muscles were tensing up violently around him, pulling him in his turn into a devastating and liberating whirlwind. Catching his breath against his shoulder he had bitten, the swordsman couldn't help but fix his gaze on his and a shiver ran through him.

He had finally made the right choice. How had he managed to hesitate a few days before? As if he wanted someone else to be able to enjoy this languid body and the incredible feeling of being at the origin of his pleasure. As if he could imagine that something else would make him feel even a tenth of the emotion the blond was sending him when he was only looking at him. As if this challenge could slip through his hands.

He'd rather die.

He slowly straightened up and pulled out, leaving his partner still panting on the table. He resisted the urge to kiss his forehead, a gesture a little too tender for his liking but instead, he leaned again and passionately kissed his still swollen lips before really catching his breath, his forehead resting against his.

Yes, Sanji was handsome, but he wasn't ready to say it aloud. At least, not with words.

I know the scene in the sea bathing is almost cartoonish but sometimes the manga is kind of a cartoon too in my opinion. I really enjoyed writing it so I hope you had fun too anyway.