"L-Luffy! Get off me, I'll eat lunch with you, okay?! I'll eat lunch with you every damn day as long as you STOP HUGGING ME!" Sanji shoved at the raven-haired boy who'd all but strangled him the second he spotted him heating up his food at the school's microwave, Luffy smiled brightly and finally pulled off when Sanji threatened him with the one foot he was able to free. Luffy grabbed him by his wrist and dragged him to the homeroom, laughing the whole way while Sanji struggled in his grip. The other students wandering the hallways seemed to almost jump out of Luffy's way. I guess they would all be used to Luffy running around like this every day.

Sanji blew kisses at the beautiful ladies that he and the monkey boy passed on their way to the home room. Shouting back compliments and giving them his biggest 'lady-killer' smile he could muster. It wasn't working so well. It never did. Then again, it's hard to flirt when you've got a rug rat on your arm. But he didn't mind that women didn't want to go out with him. That's not why he complimented them anyway.

"Hey guys! I brought Sanji with me again!" Luffy announced happily as they burst into the homeroom. Zoro was in the same spot, just staring out the window. Sanji noticed though that he had brought food this time. A couple of handmade rice balls sat on his desk next to a can of mountain dew.

Sanji took his seat next to Zoro and pulled out his own lunch. He'd had the same damn thing for days now and he really wasn't looking forward to eating it, but he didn't really have a choice. He sighed and pulled out his spiced rice and freshly microwaved stew, glaring at it before digging in his spoon.

"So! Luffy, when are we going to go for dinner? I'm really excited to try out this new place you were telling us all about." Chopper asked from his spot sitting on Usopp's desk.

"Seven. That okay with everybody?" Luffy asked as he looked around the group. Everybody either smiled or nodded. Zoro just gave a thumbs up and grabbed one of his rice balls, his eyes never leaving the window. Zoro took a large bite of it and smiled to himself, closing his eyes and obviously enjoying his meal.

"SANJI! You should share your food with me!" Luffy whined, leaning over and reaching a hand out to grab Sanji's cup of stew. Sanji slapped his hand away and Luffy recoiled with a yelp, rubbing his hand and blowing at the spot where Sanji hit him. It's my own damn food and even if I don't really WANT to eat it, it's not like I'm going to give in to your damn whims you greedy pig.

"Eat your own damn food you bastard! Your school bag is practically bursting with how much you have packed in there!"

"Wow Sanji, I'm impressed. You've only been here a day and you're already starting to adapt to Luffy's ways." Usopp rested his elbow on the back of his chair as he turned his head to look at Sanji.

"Yeah well, it's not hard to get used to telling this guy to fuck off!" Sanji stressed his last two words as he shoved Luffy away from his food again.

"So, Sanji, where are you from? I mean, I'm pretty sure I can guess from the accent." Nami sat at a chair situated in between Usopp and Luffy's desk, leaning forward and waiting for the blonds answer.

"The country of love my dear~! I am from France." Zoro huffed a laugh and Sanji turned to glare at him, he raised one of his fists and waved it in his direction.

"You got something you want to say Mosshead?!"

"Nope." Zoro dismissed, his eyes not leaving his window. What could be so damn interesting outside? Sanji continued to glare at Zoro, but getting no response, he turned back to his beautiful Nami.

"Why'd you move here? Did you come here with your family? Did your dad get a job over here or something? Come on, spill it cause I don't get it, I mean, why would a total 'ladies man' like you want to leave the 'country of love'?" Nami continued her questions and everybody turned their heads to look at the blond, awaiting his answer. Zoro, however, didn't look the least bit interested.

"Th-That's a lot of questions my sweet~." Sanji laughed nervously and looked around at the expectant faces surrounding him. There should be absolutely no reason that he shouldn't be able to answer that, at least not in their view. He couldn't be angry at Nami, she didn't know what she was asking but… but he'd only known them for a damn day, he could just tell them that he wasn't ready to tell them yet. That would be a lie though, he felt more comfortable around them than he's felt around anybody for a while.

"Eh… erm… well- I really like your... uh- food."

"You like the… food?" Usopp raised an eyebrow and stared at the blond boy.

"Yup, always wanted to try your famous maple syrup and pancakes." Sanji said slightly sarcastically.

"You went through all the trouble of transferring to another school, another country… for syrup? Ha, got sick of eating snails and crepes all day long? I got ya, our food is pretty amazing after all. I once travelled all the way to BC on foot just so I could try some of their world famous salmon!"

"Really?!" Chopper piped in happily, his eyes were huge with excitement and curiosity and his knuckles were turning white with how hard he was gripping the edge of the desk he was sitting on.

"Oh yeah, totally. It took me nearly a month but it was worth it when I got there and met up with one of my distant relatives, Gregory Vegter, who happened to own the most famous restaurant in all of BC! He was having some trouble though, sadly, a new place had just opened up across the way and was taking away all of his business so do you know what I did?"

"What?!" Chopper smiled widely from ear to ear, short brown hair falling loosely in front of his face.

"Why I rolled up my sleeves and got to cooking the best salmon in the whole damn country! People came from all across the world just to try them! Showed Gregory how to make it himself before I walked all the way home again!"

"Wow Usopp! You're amazing!" Luffy giggled happily as he sung his feet back and forth on his chair. Sanji leaned over so he was close enough to Zoro to whisper without having to worry too much of being heard by the others in the group.

"Do they actually believe this crap?"

"Oh yeah, they eat It up. They're pretty easily fooled and Usopp loves it. So, sometimes, you gotta reign him in, like this!" Zoro punched Usopp in the back of the head, affectively silencing him.

"Quit lying to them asshole!"

"WHAT?! Usopp, you were lying?! You can't lie to the captain!" Luffy shouted and jumped to tackle Usopp out of his chair, the big-nosed teen jumping out of the way and running in circles around the classroom as the self-appointed 'captain' chased him.

"Come back here Usopp! You're gonna get it for lying!" Well at least I can eat my lunch while he's distracted with chasing him around.

*BRRRRRRRRRRR*

Sanji packed away his thermos and the empty Tupperware container that used to hold the spiced rice.

"Guess I gotta come up with a better excuse as to why I came here… At least something better than 'I like the food'." Sanji grumbled to himself as he walked down the hallway to his next classroom. Math. Yay. And he had it with the rest of the group too. He could only hope that they would be too engrossed in their homework to continue their conversation from lunch. What am I gonna tell them?

They would eventually find out that he lives on his own, so there's no point in telling them that he came here with his family. He could say that he came here for the school, Sabaody High was one of the most prestigious school's in Toronto. Then again, the education in Europe always tended to be higher quality, it wouldn't be worth it to go through all the trouble of transferring to a different country just to be able to say you went to a certain high school. Maybe he came to visit some family in the area and they convinced him to stay? That's a bit of a long shot… Maybe he could tell them that he just loved Canadian culture? Well that seemed to make the most sense out of all other things.

Sanji groaned as he entered his math classroom, the class wasn't required to become a chef, but it was always nice to have a few academic courses under your belt. Not like he had many choices left anyway. Nami, Usopp, and Chopper were also in the class. Though he guessed the main reason they all took it was so they could have a class together which ended up looking good on a resumé.

"Oi, Sanji. Do you know how to do question twelve?" Usopp whispered to the blond, leaning over his chair and cupping a hand over his mouth.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I already learned most of this back home." Sanji turned his paper so Usopp could see what was written on it and used the tip of his pencil to point out the more important parts.

"If you've already learned this, why did you take this class?"

"Nami my swan, you are quite beautiful but you ask a lot of questions." Sanji laughed as he smiled at her and she smiled back innocently. He could tell though that she wouldn't back down from her constant inquiries so he sighed before answering.

"There weren't many classes left and it was either this or art, and art doesn't help me much." Nami held up her hands in false surrender and nodded, turning back to her own work. Sanji spent the rest of class helping Nami and Usopp with whatever they didn't understand. Chopper didn't need much, if any, help considering how smart he was for a thirteen, year old. The language classrooms were close to the math classrooms, so Sanji was there before the second bell rang. The Mosshead wasn't there yet and Sanji took his seat in front of his, half tempted to sit down in Zoro's chair just to piss him off. Zoro arrived soon after, seemingly permanent scowl still etched into his face. Sanji tried to imagine him smiling. It wasn't a pretty site and Sanji quickly erased it from his mind.

Sanji turned around to see Zoro putting on his glasses and pulling out his textbook. He had received all his textbooks for his classes yesterday. He mostly got the really shitty ones that nobody else wanted. The ones with the broken spines, tattered and torn with use. Mustaches and dicks drawn on the faces of almost every person in the book and the answers to all the multiple choice questions were already circled. Most likely false answers mixed in with true ones just to fuck with the next guy that got that book. The books with the ripped up corners, gone soft and disintegrated from being thrown around in bedrooms, backpacks and lockers and all the information that was of practically no use was highlighted. There was also always that one book that was different from the rest. The old book with a cover in sepia instead of the bright blues, greens, and reds that they use in printing now. There was only ever one or two of them, always slightly smaller than the new ones, just in case a class was overstocked and they didn't have enough textbooks for everybody. They usually had practically the same information, it was just a lot harder to find.

Sanji thumbed through his old Japanese textbook, noticing how it stopped speaking in English near the end and going completely into Japanese. At least he could be sure that he should be learning a lot in his class. He recognized much of the symbols, they were a bit hard to put into words though. Sanji took out his pencil and paper when he saw the teacher beginning to write notes up on the board and copied them down, making sure to keep them as organized as possible for when he went over them at home.

*BRRRRRRRRRRR*

Sanji was so excited when the bell rang that he practically jumped out of his seat. He would have ran down the halls if he wasn't afraid of getting stopped by a damned teacher and lectured about hall safety. When he got to the final stretch of the last hallway leading to the front door, he said 'fuck it!' and started running. He burst through the front doors, breathing in the fresh, cool air around him. He practically drank it in as he stood there. His hair ruffled softly by the breeze and he smiled gently. He looked around him at the softly swaying thinner trees that decorated the front lawn of the school. It was still too close to winter for the cherry blossom trees to start turning their light shade of baby pink.

It was one of the things he actually liked about the school. It was beautiful. It was a huge school too. Built high, three stories. The building was older looking. Built with red bricks and white trim, vines creeping up the sides in some areas. The roof was flat and a small building sat on the top, just big enough for about three people to fit in. Sanji was sure that it wasn't really a building, more of just the entrance to the roof. It would probably be a good spot to go and smoke, as long as he could find the way there. Oh fuck, right, I can smoke now!

Sanji exited the school grounds and pulled the pack out of his pocket. He removed one of the cigarettes and stuck it in his mouth, setting it ablaze with his lighter. He sucked on the stick and breathed in deeply. His lungs burned in the best sort of way, it was familiar and he welcomed it with open arms. He remembered the first time Zeff caught him smoking. He expected to get chewed out, he expected the old man to kick him right in the side of the head. But he didn't. He sat on the sidewalk next to the restaurant, taking a slow drag from his cigarette when the old man walked out the door. They had been closing up and Sanji thought he had more time before Zeff would be coming outside to drive the both of them home. It had been a stressful day at work and he really needed a smoke. A customer had threatened to have the restaurant shut down and made a huge scene in front of all the customers. There had been no reason for him to be so mad, he was just an asshole.

Sanji was half way through his smoke when Zeff had walked out, starring down at him with that permanent scowl still plastered to his face. Sanji had begun to stutter as he tried to explain himself. He knew better than to lie or give bullshit excuses. Zeff always saw through them. Zeff didn't seem angry though. He just looked at the blond before opening his mouth. "I'm not gonna tell you it'll kill ya cause ya knew that when ya picked it up. But it'll ruin your sense of taste." Zeff mussed Sanji's hair and jumped into their beat up old car, waving him in for the ride home. Sanji tried not to smoke too much around the old man after that, Zeff never complained when he did, but Sanji knew he would worry.

Sanji kicked at a rock near his shoe before he started on his way home. He noticed that, in the time he had taken getting lost in his own thoughts, Zoro had caught up to him. He wasn't looking for him of course, but it's hard not to spot him in a crowd with that bright, green hair. Sanji watched him out of the corner of his eye as he continued forward. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and frowned. Most likely checking directions before he remembered the thing was dead. Sanji turned away, not wanting to see Zoro's vein attempts to find his way. If the Mosshead followed him, he followed him. Sanji wasn't gonna stop him, but he wasn't gonna help him again either. Nope. Not gonna do it.

Zoro turned left towards downtown and Sanji slapped the palm of his hand to his face.

"JUST follow me already you dumbass!"

Zoro whipped around and his scowl deepened. He looked away from the blond and furrowed his brows as he considered his options. He closed his eyes, breathing in deeply and turning back to Sanji. He walked proudly and stopped right behind the cook, refusing to look him in the eye. Sanji noticed that Zoro had taken off his glasses again and looked at him questioningly.

"Why do you keep taking off your glasses when class gets out? I'm guessing you can't see shit without them. Maybe that's why you keep getting lost."

"I can see fine dart brow! Probably better than you can with that mop of hair in front of your face." Sanji grimaced and pulled at a few of the longer strands hanging in front of his face.

"Heh, you're just jealous that I look like a Greek god whilst you haven't even showered in so long that you've started growing mold."

"Fuck, can we just go, I'd love to stay and fight with you and tell you everything that's wrong with that sentence, but Kuina is gonna kill me if I'm late." Sanji rolled his eyes and turned in the direction of his house.

"Does the little plant brain have a curfew? How cute." Sanji thought back to yesterday when he had seen Zoro yelling at the girl who dropped him off an hour before class. She had reminded him of the police officer that was living with Zeff. She was a family friend and the old man needed somebody to look after him while Sanji was gone. Tashigi was her name. She had glasses, kinda like Zoro's, thin rimmed and simple, but pink.

Sanji took another drag of his smoke before nodding his head in the direction of their apartments. Zoro followed quietly behind him. Sanji attempted to continue their conversation out of boredom.

"So, how does a Mosshead such as yourself share the same genes as that lovely lady you call sister?"

"We don't. m' adopted, kinda." Zoro mumbled so softly that Sanji almost didn't hear.

"Oh? Well then I guess it's okay if I try and make a move on her?" Sanji attempted to rile up the sulky looking teenager.

"Okay, A. You're not her type, like, at all. B. Even if you were, she's still my sister, I wouldn't let her make a bad decision like you. And C. Why does it matter if we're actually related or not?"

"A. I'm everybody's type. B. You're insults wound me deeply. And C. I wouldn't want to make a move on somebody that shares the same gene pool as you, can't risk having kids with green hair." Sanji felt his heart tug a little at the direction this conversation was taking. So the Mosshead was also adopted, kinda. What the fuck did he mean by that? He also realized how wrong it already felt to even talk about making a move on Zoro's sister. You don't fuck your friend's siblings, that and Sanji would never be able to hang out with Zoro after making a fool out of himself in front of the guys sister… did that make Zoro his friend? Sanji shuddered a little at the thought.

Sanji realized he'd made it to the apartment buildings and turned to Zoro, bowing sarcastically and waving at the buildings.

"Behold! Your shitty ass house! Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go." Sanji made to leave the complex and Zoro turned to look curiously at him.

"But I thought you lived right there." Zoro thumbed towards Sanji's apartment and the blond nodded. "Then where are you going?"

"Well, to work, where did you think shithead? Just needed to make sure nobody picked your lost ass off the street." Zoro scowled. Sanji waved his hand in the air as he walked away, tugging his bag further up his shoulder and smirking over his shoulder. "See you at seven."