---------------- Chapter 1 / Luffy
Blue dull eyes stared out over grey murky waters as they crashed harmlessly along the soggy sand pull it to a smooth coating of gloss cover due to the early morning sun shining down on the wet surface. It made the plain grains of sand look bright and shiny never letting one guess how rough and dirty they truly where. Sanji felt a lot like that right now. Dirty and rough with a shiny gloss over himself to hide from the rest of the world. After all whenever the rest of the world found out what was under his shine they treated him like the dirt he was. He didn't blame them though not really. Just wished things to be different then hated himself a little more for thinking on such silly ideas and not being able to be man enough to face the truth of the world.
Sanji fell back onto his elbows letting them sink a bit into the cool sand as his bare feet dug his toes a bit deeper in it. He should have taken a shower before he left last night. Sanji could still feel and smell that man on him but he had wanted to leave with out waking him, and maybe a bit to punish himself as well. He deserved every single awful moment. After all selling ones soul to the devil was not sups to be an enjoyable experience. At the memory of a few hours ago Sanji shut his eyes tightly feeling the burning pressure build making his eyes want to spill once more. He felt as if his soul was shattering and didn't know how longer he could go on like this. Being that man's prized whore, one of his number one men, his dog for fights; it was all just getting too much.
On that last thought of fights he ran his hand down to his gut and prodded a bit which made him winced softly. There under his untucked pin stripped shirt of black and dark purple was a bandage protecting his stitches from where he had been almost gutted and came close to dying mainly due to the poison the hook had came with. Oddly enough he had not got it in the main arena of Water 7 but after the fights from a sore loser in the parking lot. Not that, that shitty Croc had been the one he had been fighting, just one of his goons but clearly the bastard was upset on his losing bets that came with the outcome.
Water 7 Arena was in the heart of the city Grand Line and where all gang wars were taken but of course they where not called such. No the government did not promote gangs but for 7 they did give special privileges and called the leaders monarchs of the world. Friends to the police department if you will, that helped to keep smaller gangs either in nonexistence or under control of thumb. These Monarchs the government could also tax more on their ever so productive businesses of be it drugs, sex, weapons, gambling, fighting, or even slave trade which was all legal in this day and age true but there was laws around them that often got broke but was over looked for the 7 Monarchs. Of course there where a few, 3 to be exact other powerful gangs that stood out of the government's control and one of them had been around before new laws passed that seemed to pimp out the great cities. The rest of the world in many places after the earthquakes and floods in 2012 where near inhabitable even after 70 years or so. So Grand Line was now the focus of the world and Water 7 Arena is where leaders of the world came for entertainment as well to try and gain more social status and power. The 3 older gangs leaders where known as the worlds Emperors and so powerful the government still today could not go against them with out fear of a world war breaking out. All they could do was put enough pressure on them to keep most of there fights to the Arena and that is only because they agreed to it seeing as none of them are wanting to cause unnecessary damage to the cities and civilians. After all most of what is fought over is area; land space of course.
One of the most important things in the world today was land since there was now so little of it that could be used and securely built on. Even a piece of paper saying you owned the area didn't mean shit if you didn't have a strong enough dog (aka fighter) on hand to fight for it, and if you were not backed by either one of the Monarchs, Emperors or were government owned you where screwed six ways to Sunday. Fuck that was what put Sanji in this whole mess to start with.
Not wishing to dwell on these thoughts anymore Sanji opened his eyes as he sat up straight once more and let his hand fall away from his hidden wound to where his black business suit jacket lay in the sand. The jacket matched his black designer slacks he wore and went well with the shiny well polished black dress shoes that where currently laying next to his jacket on the sand with his white socks tucked safely inside the shoes.
In a mechanical like actions Sanji pulled out a pack of cigarettes along with this silver zippo lighter and fired up a smoke. Once securing the cancer stick in his mouth he tucked his things back neatly in place of his jacket as he let the cigarette hang limply between his rosy pink lips taking a pull from the cigarette now and then letting the smoke trickle out the other corner of his mouth. His sad eyes once again gazed out to the ocean before him. He was most likely on someone's privet property since it seemed like there was no such thing as public beaches anymore but Sanji really didn't give a flying fuck. He missed the smell of the sea and since he could not go back to that one place he use to call home or anywhere near it, he was of late making due with other beach front areas.
Behind him he could see a large white mansion and a few yards from it what he was guessing was an oversized guest house? Then of course at the shore there was a dock where currently only one ship was docked but it was a good sized one and due to the green lawn on the deck of it Sanji was betting it was a residential boat home maybe being rented out by whoever lived in the mansion, who knows but lawns were most common on residential boats now days, people wanting to give off that illusion of dry land to make it more desirable. Looking closer he could see trees planted that looked from here like tangerines were growing from them. A vegetable garden would have been more practical but everyone had different taste clearly.
Looking over the well built ship got him to notice at once when a young man emerged from one of the doors swing it open with a loud thump to the wall and stretched his arms above his head which on top of that head sat a straw hat with raven black hair under it. In his hands he held a fishing pole and tackle box. The guy wore simple rolled up jean shorts that looked like they had seen better days and a bright red vest with common tan saddles on his feet. Well that was not what he was expecting a man who lived in such high class area to wear, so with curiosity as he smoked his cigarette he went on to watch what the guy did next.
The guy seemed to be bundle of energy as he slid down the rail of the stairs on the ship then sprang off as if he had springs in his ass. A brief hint of a smile tugged at Sanji's lips at the thought of the fun that could be had if a person did have such impossible abilities. Then once again Sanji was simply just watching the young man as the guy hoped over the railing of his ship and once his feet hit on the wooden dock the guy was looking right back at Sanji now with confusion written on his face. Suddenly then as if the idea just hit the guy and he had decided to on the spur of the moment go with it, the guy called out, "Ohayou!" Greeting to Sanji as if they where best of friends and was now waving his arms for Sanji to come over to where he was.
He was not sure why but Sanji got up and picked up his coat jacket and shoes and started to walk across the sand to the dock. In processes of this action Sanji pulled his spent cigarette from his lips and flicked it out to land on that smooth wet sand before a wave came crashing up to remove the trash and repair what little damage it had did to the smooth surface. Till once again no one could be the wiser that anything had been there. As Sanji's bare feet touched the wooden dock his hands itched to light another cigarette but he held off for the time being not sure what motive this guy had called him over for.
Once Sanji stopped in front of the man he spoke up, "Hey there I'm Luffy." he proudly stated then went on to ask, "You one of Kaya's friends?" Luffy seemed to think this was already the answer.
Sanji tilted his head to the side letting his golden blond hair hang even more in his face then it already was. "Nope." He replied in a simple one word response.
Luffy shifted his fishing pole into his other hand so he held both it and the tackle box now in one hand and he used his free hand to scratch the back of his neck. "Oh. Well whose friend are you then?"
Getting the idea that too much thinking might be a strain on the guy Sanji just fest up to the truth. "No ones. I'm Sanji and am simply…" A playful smirk came to his lips, "…I'm simply on an adventure letting my feet take me to wherever but when I saw the sunrise I thought I would pause to enjoy it." He said in a carefree way now just waiting for the guy to start bitching at him. Let him though Sanji thought. Maybe a good fight would be just the thing he needed to get him out of this funk. Sanji was not sure if this guy could fight but over the last year Sanji had learned allot was not what as it seemed to be.
To Sanji's surprise however Luffy gave him this bright smile that he could not help but smile back at for a moment till the guy opened his mouth again that is. "Then you can be my friend! Adventures are always great but a guy like you should be careful." Luffy then added which got Sanji's right curly brow to raise in question that it resembled. "Oi! What do you mean a guy like me?" Sanji retorted letting the friend statement slip for now.
Luffy laughed. "You know. Wearing that kind of clothing just walking around wherever can be dangerous. You could get beat up and robbed. Any idiot knows that."
Sanji felt a vein stress on his temple as he was clearly being insulted and now used one of his fingers to poke in the guy's chest. "It does not matter what a person wears they could get robbed at any time even for just walking down the street and I will have you know I can take care of my self."
This Luffy guy seemed to only find Sanji's words funny and laughed once again. "I guess that's true. Hey do you fish?"
Sanji blinking and taking a few moments to try and shift gears to this knew question "Huh I use too...?"
"Eh? Really?"
"Oh yeah a bit, was not bad at it just spent more time cooking them then catching them."
"Sugoiiiiii! You're a cook!" Lights seemed to shine from behind Luffy's dark brown eyes. Then at once the guy asked, "Will you cook for me? Your good at it right?"
"Tsh I'm only the best." Sanji could not help but reply his pride getting the better of him.
"Yosh! Then you will be my cook!" Luffy laid a hand to his arm to try and pull him to ship.
"W-what?! Now wait a damn minute here just don't go deciding that for yourself!" Sanji tried pulling himself from the guy's grip but for a little shit he had an iron grip.
Something seemed to finally sink in however as Luffy stopped and turned back to look at Sanji with a pout now. "Eh? You mean you won't cook for me?"
"Of course not! I don't cook anymore anyways." And finally Sanji was able to pull himself from Luffy's grip.
"That's too bad. Why not, if you're really the best?" Luffy now started to try and pull his poll from his tackle box but somehow in the course of there talking the line had gotten tangled on the handle of the box.
The answer to the question far more then the question itself pissed Sanji off and not wishing to talk about this nor even think about it he let his anger lash out "That's none of your damn business!" he huffed holding to his shoes and jacket a little tighter.
"Well you're the one who said you cooked." Luffy simply replied as he kept on struggling with his poll and now seemed to think it was a good idea to add in a foot to try and help him to separate the tackle box from the poll.
"Tsh." Sanji childishly replied back as he fished out a cigarette and quickly lighted it. After a long drag he then added. "I simply don't do it anymore. That's all you need to know."
"Nah. If you're really the best cook then I wanna try your food." The simple statement had Sanji blushing for some reason and not wishing to show it he quickly looked away and started to puff away on his cigarette.
"Oof!" The guy then ended up smacking himself really hard in the face with his poll as it finally came free and with only on one foot made the guy tumble backwards right off the end of the dock. It was the sound of the splash that got Sanji's head whipping around.
Moving to the edge of the dock he looked down at Luffy and frowned as he watched the guy swinging his arms up wildly splashing about and gurgling on the salty water. "Oi!" Sanji called down to him. "Come on, stop messing around!" Surly this guy would not be so stupid to live on a ship and not know how to swim. Sanji watched the guy go under the water and a large amount of bubbles surface as he realized …shit Luffy is such an idiot! With out another thought Sanji spit out his cigarette to the sea and tossed his shoes and coat to the deck all at once then jumped off diving head first.
The salty waters where cold and murky making things hard see. A bit of panic came over Sanji when he did not right away see the guy the few seconds he kept turning his head which of course seemed like hours. Deeper he then swam till he touched the bottom and once again looked around. After a few more moments that seemed like more hours he finally spotted Luffy a few feet away having must have been carried by the current and hanging over some seaweed. Sanji's strong legs kicked hard making him get to the guy faster then most could have but with a cost he had yet to realize due to the surging adrenaline with in him at the moment. Quickly he grabbed onto Luffy and hauled him up to the surface. Breaking the surface of the water Sanji gasped in a breath of air and looked over the guy he held in his arms. Close up and like this so vulnerable Luffy looked younger holding a boyish charm about him but what robbed Sanji of his admiration for the other man's beauty was that he was looking a bit blue in the face and was not breathing. With out any more haste Sanji swam to the shore and lay Luffy on his back as waves softly crashed around them as Sanji bent over the young man he was now more tempted to think of as a boy. "Luffy?! Luffy can you hear me?!" He called yet got no reply. Trying to remember the CPR class he took ages ago Sanji took his hands placing one on top of the other and pushed down on the boy's chest and counted out then tilted Luffy's head back and lowered his lips to the boys about to puff in air but before there lips could even meet Sanji surprisingly got a face full of sea water as Luffy spit up in his face. To relieved to be annoyed Sanji sat back and winced at the burning stinging pain the movement caused with in his gut. Seeing as the boy was fine now Sanji looked down at himself pressing a hand to where he knew this pain was coming from.
Luffy blinked rapidly as he coughed up the last bit of sea water from his lungs and sat up this bring him very close to his rescuer. As if nothing life threatening had happened he laughed, "Thanks! I thought I was gunna die!" Seeing the small smile play across the blond's lips made Luffy feel even better but his laugher came to a stop when Sanji was unable to mask all the pain he was in, as pain flashed for a moment clearly on Sanji's face when he tried to get up and stumbled some. At once Luffy was to his feet helping to steady the other man he now owed his life to. "Oi! Sanji what's wrong?" He asked with true concern for his new friend.
The Sanji now having both hands pushing on one side of his gut simply smiled, "Its nothing really am fine." And let one hand go to wave off Luffy but at once Luffy seized the hand by the blonde's wrist as a bright red liquid caught his attention.
Normally happy eyes set now in a hard pressed frown. "You're bleeding." The words came out a little louder then a whisper. At once Luffy felt responsible for this. Sanji had rescued him and gotten hurt for it. "Come on to my ship and I will call a doctor that's a friend of mine to come help fix you."
A protest of a frown came to Sanji's face but seemed to die there as he looked down at himself and seemed to think better of it. Luffy helped Sanji to the dock pausing only to get the guys coat and shoes which he seemed to want but Luffy left his poll and tackle box there on the deck.