Author's Note: Yup, another chapter in the same day! I spoil you rotten, don't I? But I swear, last update this week until say Saturday? I don't own One Piece and yes, this chapter is even more remarkably short. Don't ask me why, just expect short chapters.
Speechless
By: Setkia
Full Summary
Sanji is a cook at the Baratie who, for a reason not fully understood by all the other cooks, has not spoken a word in three years. He goes through his life normally, communicating through paper and pen. He hasn't felt the urge to speak since he's decided he would never speak again. Things change though when one day, while taking out the trash, he accidentally runs into the "Demon the Streets".
Roronoa Zoro, the "Demon of the Streets" is a mystery but he's feared by everyone who hears his name. He's on the run from the police with a wanted poster and a big prize if he's found and captured. With an accidental wrong turn, he encounters a strange man with long legs and blond hair. Zoro learnt pretty early on that in his line of work, you don't get attached to people and yet somehow this cook is working his way through his barriers.
PART ONE: BATTLE SCARS
III
Convincing the taxi driver Marimo was not dead but drunk was rather easy to Sanji's great joy. A simple drinking action and the man was convinced, no words needed. Of course, now he thought the Marimo was an alcoholic, but such is life. Of course, explaining the blood was a bit more complicated. Convincing the driver that the green-haired man was a rowdy drunk who liked to start bar fights, which were the cause of his blood stained clothes was harder. Sanji was pretty sure the cab driver still thought the crimson clothes were the result of a botched assassination attempt.
When Roronoa Zoro woke up, his head of spiky hair was in Sanji's lap, some blood leaking into his pants.
Almost immediately, he bolted up and checked his haramaki. How he was so active even with those wounds was beyond him. Thankfully, Sanji knew that in the small area of the cab there was no way he could possibly be hit by him. Instead of striking him though, Marimo was checking to make sure he still had all of his swords. His fingers lingered a tad longer on the white katana.
"Where are we going?"
And now the ungrateful bastard was asking questions in that obnoxiously loud voice of his again.
Once the cab driver realized that Sanji wasn't going to tell him, he leaned back and handed Roronoa a sheet of paper Sanji had given him.
Marimo squinted for a moment, tilting the paper slightly but relaxed visibly when he realized they weren't going to the hospital.
"Isn't this kidnap?"
Sanji had officially decided it. He preferred the Marimo quiet and asleep. He almost looked cute that way.
If he was going to survive the car ride, he was going to need a cigarette. Sanji drew his lighter out of his inner coat pocket.
"Hey! You can't smoke in here!" the driver yelled, spotting Sanji's nicotine from his rear-view mirror.
Sanji sighed, about to put it away when—
"It's a free country!" snapped Roronoa Zoro "Do you have no spine? You're going to let that shitty cab driver tell you when you're allowed your tobacco? You work at a fancy class restaurant, don't you? You make millions more than he does."
Sanji stared, speechless. He wouldn't have been able to speak even if he wanted to.
"Oi! You even listening to me? Light your joint, you want to smoke don't you? Or am I just defending human rights because I've suddenly become a pot-head?" He nodded at Sanji. "Well?"
Sanji had never lit a cigarette faster in his life.
About thirty seconds later, the Marimo was rolling down the window.
Sanji raised an eyebrow at him.
"If you want a cancer stick, that's your business but I'm not going to suffocate myself so you can give yourself double pneumonia."
Sanji shut his eyes. A ten minutes drive from the Baratie to his home. Three minutes and this would all be over.
Except Sanji had one problem.
Sure, he was fascinated by the moss-head swordsman who carried a "cursed blade" and he wanted to know the stories of his scars. Yes, the man was wounded and hungry, not to mention stubborn. Of course he decided no one should go hungry (his stomach lurched at an unpleasant memory), and so he had the Marimo in a cab with him, heading for Sanji's apartment. There was just one problem.
Sanji had no fucking idea what to do next.
It wasn't so much he couldn't think of a reasonable ending to this impromptu encounter. Rather, he hadn't even thought to come up with a plan and shit, the cab was pulling up to the front of the apartment.
He decided to do what he had done after knocking out the Marimo.
Wing it.
Sanji handed his money to the cab driver who clicked his tongue at the still burning cigarette in Sanji's mouth. He made a beckoning gesture to the Marimo whose brow furrowed.
Hesitantly the swordsman got out of the taxi.
Sanji checked his small mailbox in the nearly empty lobby and collected the bills. He went into the elevator to see the Marimo pause.
"In there?" he asked.
Sanji rolled his eyes.
The green-haired man took a small step forward. Almost too quickly he jumped into the elevator and pressed his back against the wall, breathing deeply.
Sanji pressed five.
The ride was silent, horrible elevator music playing. When the elevator doors opened again, Sanji went straight to his door. He unlocked it and waited impatiently for the tanned man to follow.
Sanji went about his usual routine as though there wasn't another man standing there awkwardly. He got a glass of water, flipped though his bills and took off his blazer in that order.
"What do you want?" asked the swordsman.
Sanji simply rolled up his sleeves and started to make stir-fry.
"Look, I'm not hungry or anything—"
His stomach rumbled. Very loudly.
"Fine, I'm a little hungry," he conceded. "That doesn't make it your job to feed me. I'm not a charity case."
Sanji poured the soya.
"Are you even listening to me? Don't just do whatever you want. Acknowledge me when I'm talking to you! Bastard, are you deaf?"
Sanji flinched at his raised tone.
The room fell into silence for a moment when realization dawned in Roronoa Zoro's eyes.
"You … you can't speak."
Author's Note #2: The thank-yous!
SmAc: Actually, it was hard to change their personalities to being bastards. I mean after I rewatched Sanji's parting the Baratie scene again I felt like crying (if you'd remember, maybe it was in my author note for chapter 5 or something) so I'm really happy they're not complete bastards anymore!
Aj the human: I'm not sure if you wanted to admit that to me, or if that slipped out by accident but I appreciate your honesty and desire to share (I think? I'm still not sure if you intended to share that tidbit about yourself), and your grammar was fine. I think. I even screw up occasionally.
bronze andromeda shun: Yeah, I was explaining the new story to my friend who originally got me to watch One Piece and I was like, "so yeah, Sanji's there, wondering what if this guy's yakuza or something like that and then his stomach growls and Sanji's like, 'well, I have to help him now!'". So I think Sanji's selfless nature is more often portrayed, which I intend to keep in here as well, because it just makes me feel great about him and everything and I just find that his desire to feed others, based on his original backstory makes it so that he has to, and that's who he is as a person, he can't watch someone go hungry, not after experiencing it himself but I don't think it's displayed enough, but it's WHO HE IS so I had to put it in there. If you've ever read any of my other work for One Piece (well, it's really only one other story and two short stories) you'll know I like to try and balance out fluff and angst so that there's tons of angst, but an equal amount of fluff thrown in there too.
lilcutieprincess: I have brought you over to my new story! I hope it doesn't pale in comparison to Beautiful Disaster, especially since I was talking with my friend today and compared it to Portal and was like, "What if it's like Portal 2? Everyone wanted it to come out, everyone was psyched and then it just totally failed them! WHAT IF I'M A ONE HIT WONDER?!" Also, you have to tell me this woman theory being the reason he can't speak. I HAVE TO KNOW IT NOW!
Okay now question time: I have mentioned before in Beautiful Disaster author's notes (if you bother to read them, they take up 1/3 of my word count,) I really like the pairing of Smoker and Ace. And of the idea of Ace totally dominating Smoker. So, are you guys up for another yaoi couple in here of Smoker and Ace? This would be the first time I put Smoker in here because I now feel comfortable with his character (loved when he told the government to eat shit, it made my day, I'm still smiling about it and it's been three weeks) and he's already been mentioned (see chapter 1). So would you look forward to Smoker and Ace? Please tell me!
