REWRITTEN!
A big thanks to both Mari-chan (Scriblerier) and Mei-chan (Silvey115) for beta-reading this chapter!
Please enjoy your reading! ~^o^~
What would've happened
if we hadn't done the things we did?
Could a different path, had stopped your blood to shed on the walls?
Would my strength been enough to stop
your sufferings?
Would these alien feelings ever started to grow?
I don't know, only, tha whatever path destiny would've taken me to,
I have to find you,
Because please, my heart can't take to lose you again!
5. Chapter
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Blood in the Rain, tears in my eyes
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
The shaken young couple had told them where to find him. The woman crying constantly, as her boyfriend talked. The descriptions had put Zoro in a state of revulsion and made his feet move faster than normal, and Luffy… went off, as soon as he heard which alley.
Curiously, the place was at the opposite direction of the harbour, normally the cook wasn't the one to get himself lost, so why go in that direction?
Searching, Zoro almost misses the alley, but then recognises the boy with the strawhat shadowing the path, back turned to him, still as a statue. Calling his name, the captain doesn't even react, and as he comes closer to look over the kid's shoulder, he understands why the presence of the captains growing dark aura.
It's everywhere, literally everywhere; on the ground, the walls, even all up to the lonely streetlamp, that already had burned it to a crimson colour.
Blood.
"It doesn't have to be his." Zoro tries to comfort, though he's not sure if it's to ease the captain or himself.
The heck happened here?
Then he sees it.
Pushing pass, Zoro moves to the stack of barrels and pulls out the hidden clothes. Torn, as if ripped off the person's body. With no doubt, they belonged to the cook. The fuck they've done to him, had they really, as the couple had alluded…? The idiot would never give up without a damn stubborn bloody fight, they had to drug him beforehand if…
Zoro stops his trail of thoughts, the idea is utter unrealistic, yet not impossible. He'd heard about gangs like that, a very pathetic low way to overpower the victim.
Luffy approaches him from behind, sandals clapping against wet bloodied cobbles. He can sense his growing storming emotions, a mirage of his own high rising feelings. Zoro clutches the torn piece of fabric harder to hide the slight tremor in his hands.
"Sanji…" Luffy whispers sorrowfully, anger only a layer underneath the words.
"Where the hell did they take him?" Zoro asks, as no clue is to find in their surroundings.
Luffy takes the clothes out of his hands and stares at it. Black tuxedo and a blue shirt – it's the blond's favourite shirt. He'd often gotten his ears yelled full with bloody curses whenever he endangered it in any way, even just with a baffle of booze. If the cook saw its condition now, he would've gone berserk.
Knuckles turns white as the captain tightens the grip in the ruined clothes, shoulders trembles, before a sudden roar startles Zoro, before the kid turns sharply around and charges down the streets, the opposite direction they came from.
It takes Zoro a whole of two seconds before he registers the situation, "Oi, Luffy!" he calls and runs after him. He throws one last, disgusted look into the alley before looking forward, trying not to lose sight of their captain, charging blindly down the streets, a ray of sunlight already dancing on the younger teen's back.
-TOBD- TOBD- TOBD—
It has stopped raining. For how many days now had rained? Three days? Or was it four? He barely remembers. Townspeople slowly wakes up, greets the new day with a smile in their merry voices. The smell of baked bread sneaks out on the streets, and all the way up to him, it makes him even more hungry, even though he tries to suppress the feeling of emptiness gnawing at his insides. It won't take long time before it forgets the hunger and just gets accustomed with the empty feeling, before days after again the craving will eat him up from the inside.
A doorbell rings as the first customer arrives, ready to start the day with new baked bread and fresh milk that the milkman just has arrived with.
He'd wished to be down there, to be the customer buying that bread, maybe some local pastries to get ideas for future desserts for his lovely ladies and the others, buying some fresh milk, some butter, maybe even some flour. They were actually low on flour.
A hard slam pulls him away from the streets and back up into the dark dusty room with the shit brown curtains dancing stiffly in the wind, sneaking in from the large cracks of the boards covering the windows. A pleasureful moan echoes above him, as he feels his insides fill up with liquid, before Max pulls out and zips his pants.
"Boss been lucky to find something durable and 'fresh' as you to 'play' with." The man snickers and claps his own tummy. "There's nothing as a good fuck in the morning before breakfast, isn't that right, little whore?" With that, he walks off, arms stretching above his head as he leaves Sanji alone in the dark room, only lightened up by the ghost of sunlight.
Sanji glares at the back of the man, as he disappears behind a closing door, wanting nothing more than to rip off that thing that definite him as a manly human being. Human. Hah! That's a disgrace against the human race!
He tries, he really tries to keep his track onto the road of hatred and anger, yet, laying displayed naked on a wooden table, being used by the one fucking pervert after the other, beaten and ridiculed constantly, he can't help the growing feeling of loneliness burning and cringing his insides. A tear escapes, feeling warm against his cold skin. They hadn't even bothered to throw a blanket over him.
The heavenly smells from the bakery snuck in through one of the broken windows, making his stomach cringe in longing pain. Each morning the smell lured customers in to its wonderful bakery, and each morning it reminded Sanji about how hungry he is. He catches the tear with his rough tong, bathing his chipped lips, his throat feels dryer than Alabama desert.
When had he last got something to drink?
Water, juice, a nice cup of coffee, maybe even tea or milk, or booze, anything really. They had given him nothing to drink, nothing but – he gulps, almost gags it up at the memory of the salty, bitter… no, stop thinking about it! He felt sick remembering it. The more he fought, the more fun they seemed to have, forcing it into him.
Sanji turns as much as it's possible in his bindings, not able to hold it in him anymore, the acid burning his already pained throat, giving him an even more horrible aftertaste. He spits to get the rest of it out. It still has that milky colour with a splosh of red.
Panting, he tries to control his ragged breathing. He's shaking and it isn't only because of the cold or the vomit. No, he knows what it's from, the cold sweat only confirming it. His body is already craving another dose, another injection of blissful feeling, a mental escape from all of this. He slams his heel against the table's surface, gritting his teeth as the pain agitates him, the pain a welcoming gift to forget that other shit. He slams his other heel down, the cuts reopening and irritating the already irritated skin, he groans, wheezes to ready himself for another flood of pain – rather this than his mind giving in to the withdrawals. Biting hard at the insides of his lips, he turns his head, readies, but then catches the reflection in the damn mirror. The reflection of his own pathetic being.
Dried blood covers his body together with a lot of scratches and open gashes – they hadn't even bothered to wrap his wounds, except the larger ones covering his chest, it stings as he takes a too deep an inhale of air. Even his hair looked, as if bathed in rusty tar, glued to his face with 'clots' of dried shit. Black incircles his eyes and a hollow look ghosts the blue orbs.
Even as strong as he is, he's surprised to even be alive, but that isn't the first time he's surprised by his own duration. The beatings he survived from his non-human brothers. The hunger and unknown faith on that rock, waiting for a ship to pass by, watching sunset after sunrise, wondering for each day there went, if he ever would see the sun rise or the sun sink into the dark waters again, cursing and appreciating it for each time he was blessed and cursed by the sight. Somehow it was a comfort that the old geezer was there as well, sitting at the other side of that giant rock, though still leaving him most of the time to loneliness.
And now this.
He doesn't know when, or how, but eventually he finally falls asleep, a momentarily escape from this living nightmare.
-TOBD- TOBD- TOBD—
"Ooiii! Sanjii!"
He groans and turns onto his other side, doesn't want to deal with the ever-hungry captain just yet, he'd barely finished cleaning the whole kitchen after the huge party the idiot wanted to throw. He just wanted a few hours of sleep, not a few minutes.
"Sanjiii~!"
Someone's poking him. He groans again but eventually goes against his own need and glares up at the person who dares to wake him up. Shielding his eyes against the sun beaming over their grinning captain, the smile only widens.
"Oi, Luffy, I've barely fallen asleep." he croaks tiredly. The younger teen snickers.
"You fell asleep out on the grass again, Sanji! Tired?"
"No shit." He answers sarcastically, a yawn only confirming it. He stretches his arms, moving his stiff muscles. Luffy keeps sitting in front of him, smiling. His huge smile falters though to a smaller more serious one.
"So, where are you?"
"Idiot! What nonsense are you spouting? I'm right in front of you!" Sanji answers annoyed.
"No, Sanji… Where are you?" Luffy says seriously, his expression graver and more worried. Sanji blinks confused up at him. He moves to sit up, but a pang of pain suddenly shoots up through his spine. Moving again, he can't move his feet, his arms are suddenly caught and he can't get free. Who the fuck is holding him down? Luffy takes a deep breath above him and suddenly screames of his full lungs. "SAAAAANJIIIIII! WHERE AREE YOUUU?!"
"Fuck shit, you freaking idiot! Stop screaming like-" Sanji looks up confused, as the younger teen now looks ahead of him and not down at him. The captain gets up and calls even louder.
"SAAAANJIIIII! WHEEEREEEE AAAREEE YOOUUU?!"
Sanji blinks a couple of times as he wakes up. A dream, but not an ordinary one. He moves his head up and straightens his ears as he meant he heard someone calling his name again, this time for real. His heart almost stopped a beat as he heard the voice getting clearer and louder. Craning his neck back, he stares at the opening cracks from the boards over the window. That voice…
"SAAAANJIIIII! WHERE AAAREEE YOOOUUUU?!"
Sanji blinks, a smile cracks open. "Luffy?" His heart almost swells by the mention of his captain's name. It definitely is him! Craning his head enough, he even can see the small form of their captain, a red west and a familiar straw hat covering over messy black hair, walking down there on the streets, somewhere before the bakery underneath this apartment.
"OOOI COOK!"
"Mosshead…?" and sure it is, two seconds later comes the swordsman into view. So close, so close and yet so far, but close enough that they could hear him. Even after all that unforgiving shit he'd done to them, that evening, they still go so far to look for him.
Happiness sprouting with renewed energy, he thinks nothing of it as he calls back, of his full lung's strength. "Zoro! Luffy! ZORO! LUF- mphf?! HMM!" A hand clamps over his mouth, muffling his roars and screams. He squints and fights to get free. Damn it! He hadn't even heard him coming! The large hand presses harder over his mouth, silencing him fully as they both watches the two pirates stop up, outside of their building, listening, waiting for the next call to reach their ears. They says something to each other and looks around. 'Damn it, moss-head! You got the best hearing! For god sake, I hope you heard me! Please tell him that you heard me! Please, don't hate me too much…!' "Mm?!" He protests and fights even harder, as the hand closes over his nose as well, as he watches his two friends leave the place. 'NO! Don't go! Please don't go! I'm Here! RIGHT HERE! LUFFY! ZORO!' "HMMMM! MHMMM! NNNGH!" He tries to scream, he tries to call, but none of it helps.
He feels tears well up in his eyes. They're gone. They didn't hear him. Damn it! Shit fuck, damn hell! He squints one last time in his holds, pulls at his arms, tied up to the wall, before his body stills and gives up. He cries inwardly, he can't help it, can't help the tremor there shakes through his naked being. He can't do anything but to lay there and listen to their calls, as they goes further away. His one chance, his one hope. Gone.
The hand retreats after ensuring that he won't scream again. Sanji turns his face away, defeated, and sighs deeply. A chuckle rumbles in the room and soon his whole vision is filled with that ugly face of that orange-haired fuck-head. He yanks his head away as the man's hand caresses his jaw. Hunter chuckles once again, enjoying all of it too much. "So, you thought that they would come and save you, hmm?" he grabs his face in a fierce grip and forces him to look at him. Sanji glares, but there isn't the same strength as before. He hasn't felt this devastated, not since back then as he saw that one ship pass by out on the sea, as he sat on that rock, oblivious to his desperate calling and waving.
"Wonderful!" Hunter chuckles as he studies his face "Starting to realise some things, kid?" He runs his thumb over his cheek, feeling the salty tears he hasn't even known was there. "Excellent!"
"They'll come back." Just like that other ship, there had to be another ship coming for him, another chance.
Hunter chuckler and leans in closer, his lips almost touching his ear as he whispers, his voice husky and deep. "Why in the world, would they ever save you of all people? Hmm?" Sanji yanks his head to get free, but Hunter's grasp is firm. "Why on earth would they save you of all people? What do you think, that they would think of you, when they get to hear what a whore you've been?" Sanji freezes, Hunter smirks in satisfaction. "You're nothing else but a cheap whore! Blondie's like you are to no other use than a quick fuck! Nothing else!" Sanji looks up at him, petrified. Hunter smiles, showing his rows of white fangs. "Ya starting to crumble, ai kid?" He presses his mouth fully against his ear, sharp fangs grazing against the earlobe as he speaks "Now starts the real fun for you and I, kid."
"No…" He sounds weak in his own ears, his voice barely a whisper, he moves his head from side to side. "No…!"
"'No' what, kid?"
"I…I'm not a… not a…"
"What have ya used the last hours for? Days even? Sleeping?" Sanji gasps the air into his lungs, as he tries to control those up roaring feelings. He can't give up, shouldn't give up easily. They didn't.
He shakes his head again. "You, you ra-raped me, you freaking son of a – hah!"
"You're telling me, that you didn't like this?" Hunter says in a lustful voice as he licked the inside of his ear. Sanji moans, can't help the surge of pleasure it gives. Hunter goes further down, licks his throat and bites his Adams apple slightly.
"Stop it-!"
"You don't like this, my little whore?"
"I'm not your-"
"Oh yes you are, kid. You're mine, our little fuck-doll to play with." Hunter snickers as he climbs the table. "Whatever I want from you, I can have it. You're nothing, just a pretty boy who should lift up his ass and take it." Sanji's eyes widens as he hears the zipper. Hunter grabs him and forces him onto his stomach, reopening a lot of the barely healed wounds hidden underneath the dirty old bandages in the process, crossing his arms and legs painfully as they still are bound, making sure that he can't get free.
"No!" Sanji pulls his arms and his legs, tries to turn over, to make those ropes just burn the hell up and disappear, instead they cut deeper into his wrists and ankles, reopens the wounds and slicks the ropes with blood. His hands. His hands will be ruined if this kept on. His ankles he could hide, but his hands are his life, his everything. He can't get free without screwing them up too much. "Get the fuck off me you - !"
"Hush, hush. I got a little gift for you as well, kid." Hunter pants, rustling with something else as he sits onto his back to hold him in place. Sanji can feel the long wounds crisscrossing his chest tear open underneath the pressure. Hunter is opening his bag, pulls out a rubber band that he tightens around his arm, and Sanji doesn't need to see to know what comes next. "Since I can see that you're as persistent as ever, even though you know no one's coming for you." Fighting more perplexed in holds, Sanji watches with horror as Hunter snaps his fingers against his upper arm to lure the vein to show itself clearer, hears as the tube is pulled off the already prepared needle, before said needle comes into vision. "Hold still, ya little piece of shit, you'll feel much better very soon."
He even tries to bite him, but Hunter is fast and in one swift motion, he presses the needle through his skin, hitting the vein with practiced ease and injects that poison into his system. Sanji screams, pulls and fights for no use. Then he cries as he realises, that there's no getting out of this, as it enters his bloodstream, and all too soon he feels things clearing up, while at the same time he starts to feel drowsy and comfortable.
His body is starting to accept the drug way too fast.
His mental functioning is clouding, breathing has become harder, he feels a joy, a glee as that horrible wonderful rush heightens his adrenalin. He tries to move his limbs though he already knows it's fatal, a waste of energy and hell if he cares.
"Like it, your little whore?" Hunter says, grabbing his hair and pulls his head up. "Like that wonderful rush?"
Sanji groans and pulls his head as far away as his holds allows him to.
"Fuchk ouff." He groans tiredly.
Hunter chuckles darkly. "No. Now we'll gonna have some fun, ya little dipshit." He slides down to position himself and leans down to whisper into his ear "Way more fun."
"Noh." Sanji shakes his head tiredly. Damn it. He can't move a muscle any longer, and worst of all: he doesn't even care, just want to be over with it already.
"As if you have a saying in this." Hunter says, clearly humoured by the situation. "You're a whore, kid, a simple blond, there's for no other use than to fuck! One who's been fucked by another man! You're a faggot! Nothing else than a faggot-whore!" And then he drives right into him.
Sanji slams his head onto the table as pain erupts and he screams. Sniffling, he squeezes his eyes shut and tries not to think about it, but that damn drug made him like the abuse, like the pain and not care a damn shit in the world what was happening to him. It's making him give up, and Sanji hates it, he hates to feel this weakness, again. He hates that Hunter is right; that he is indeed starting to crumble… again…
-TOBD- TOBD- TOBD—
Zoro kicks the door open, breaking it off its hinges into the bakery. The blaring bell tears off and rolls helpless around the floor, before silencing. Luffy enters first, a ripped blue shirt in his hand, he still denies letting go of it.
A customer runs screaming out from the store, forgetting to pay the baker for her bread, there scrambles away from the counter and against the wall, as far away from the intruders as possible. The baker watches with fear, as they both walks up to the counter.
"I-I-I know who-who you a-are…!" the baker stammers, as Zoro keeps to the door, hands resting on his katanas, while Luffy closes the gab to the counter. "You, you're Straw hat Luffy, t-the captain of the group of pirates there went against the World Government! You-you were the ones who destroyed Enies Lobby and tore down Impel Down!"
"You gonna call on us to the Marines?" Zoro asks, making the baker widen his eyes, as he thumbs out Sandai Kitetsu, and pulls up his arms in surrender. He looks about ready to shit himself. From the look of it, he even know's Zoro's own horrid rumours. He didn't mind it though, but he didn't like that they even plotted him to have killed innocent women and children.
Luffy of course ignores all of this and pulls the baker up from the floor, where he had slid down to.
"Where. Is. My. Cook?" the kid asks in a dangerous low tone, clearly restraining himself from doing any harm, just yet. The baker swallows hard.
"S-s-s-sir, I-I-I d-d-don't k-know what y-y-you're ta-talking a-about!" It's almost impossible to understand him, Luffy gets him.
"WHERE IS SANJI?!" he literally bellows and grabs the baker's collar, glowing at him.
"S-s-sir, I can en-ensure you that he-he's not here. I don't know who he-"
"Baker!" Zoro then says, as he looks around the shop "We heard someone calling for us from somewhere around here," when he finally looks at the trembling man, the baker squints as he speaks. "and that was his voice we heard! Truly you must have heard something, baker!"
"I, I-" Luffy tightens his grasp, and the man doesn't even dare to look at him. Looking at Zoro instead, he takes a deep breath to calm himself, before finally looking at Luffy. "Kid…" he finally says with a heavy sigh, even Luffy catches the difference in the air, and relaxes in his posture, enough to startle the baker, but makes it easier for him to speak. Throwing one quick look at his bakery, almost as if to ensure no one beside them heard him. around. "If you want to stay alive, then you better have to leave now, before he finds out that you're here."
Luffy's calm façade crumbles again and darkens. "I am NOT leaving without Sanji!"
"This Sanji you speak of, a-are already more dead than alive by this time! And I don't think that you wish to see him in the state that he is in now! I can't let you see him like that!"
"What? What do you mean?" Luffy asks, both confused and angered. He shakes him hard. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN ABOUT THAT?! YOU'VE DONE SOMETHING TO HIM TOO?!"
"No, no! never! I, I just, I mean, we know, I mean, we've had before others like, I, I –"
"Oi, Luffy!" Zoro murmurs, to calm his fuming captain, and lays a hand on his tense shoulder. "Calm down and let him speak."
-TOBD- TOBD- TOBD—
Sanji pants hard, gasps for air. Everything hurts, outside and on the inside. He feels sick. Fatigue slowly starts to take its grasp on him again, but the drug keeps him from falling asleep, it forces him to stay awake. Head rolling to the side, he looks at the place where he last had seen his two shipmates, while Hunter's words keeps weaving into his head and stays there like a knot.
He closes his eyes and cries, he can't help it, curses the situation he's ended in. why? Why the fucking hell why?! Is he really nothing worth? He's heard it before, from his own family. Useless, worthless. He clenches his teeth and braces himself, tries not to fall into that pit of hopelessness again.
The door opens. He doesn't need to look, to know who it is. Something gets placed on a nearby table. He doesn't care what he wants to do to him now, yet a growing nervousness slowly floods from his gut. The drug is about to wear off it seems. Moving his arms to get his hands free, he winces as he feels the rope gnawing deeper into his bleeding wrists.
"Fufufu! Still trying to get free?" chuckles Hunter. Sanji ignores him, clenching his eyes, he turns his face away from his voice. Keeping his eyes closed, he tries to push himself further up with his knees, ignoring the stabbing pain from… there. Moaning in displeasure he finally manages to get his knees underneath him. He barely can feel his feet anymore, but he can feel the ropes scraping against his bones, almost tearing through his muscles and ligaments. He breathes in shivering sharp, pained gasps and leans his head up against his trembling crossed arms. Fuck it hurts, everything hurts. He's dizzy, he feels sick and oh god how much he want to just lay back down and fall asleep.
Even opening his eyes hurts, strong light has been turned on and it makes it throb behind his eyelids. Finally opening them, he almost loses his balance. Though wearing off, the drug's still affecting him. He have to be stronger than that drug. He can't give up. His friends are looking for him. If he wants to be found, to get back to the Thousand Sunny, he has to make himself visible.
As he heaves a reasonable amount of air down into his lungs, he forces his body forward, feeling every muscle protesting against the action, gritting his teeth he stretches further up, the ropes gritting against his ankles, he manages to hold back a scream. Finally, he can touch the ropes at his wrists with his mouth, and starts gnawing, ignoring the humorous sounds from the monster in the room.
"You're a rare kind," Hunter chuckles amused. "Still not giving up, even drugged and at the verge of passing out of pain?" Sanji ignores, keeps gnawing at the ropes, needs his hands to get his feet free. Even if he has to drag himself out of here. "Even after 96 hours, you believe in hope? That's rare."
Sanji can almost sense Hunter's growing wicked smile, as he walks up to him and just stands there, watching.
"You really think that you can get out of them like that?"
Sanji doesn't answer, keeps gnawing, he can feel it's helping. An animalistic growl rumbles over his head, sending chills down his spine. Sanji yelps as Hunter suddenly pulls his legs, hard, making him lay face down on the table, and holds him in place. He tries again, to get back up, back to his work.
"Lay still, kid." Hunter commands and smacks him harshly over the head, numerous times, until he's all still. He then turns him over, Sanji refuses to look at him, head throbbing, he wonders what the psycho needs with that old brown doctor bag. Before it is displayed different kinds of instruments. His eyes widen as his mind finally puts it together, and pulls the ropes again, harder and rougher. "Now now, don't get so upset all of a sudden," Hunter says as he finds what he needs from the table and bag, and turns towards him again. Laying a large hand on his leg, in a reflex Sanji kicks his other leg out towards him, panicked, the rope snaps and the foot connects to the man's jaw, a satisfied crunch fills the eerily silent room. Hunter is sent flying.
In a sea of nausea and flaming pain, Sanji pulls a smile. He readies another kick. His foot is already fucked up, it would be a miracle if it ever would heal properly again. He doesn't care, might as well use it the best he can, even if it'd snap off.
He hears movements from the door and glances for a moment. Something there looks like a wolf watches him intriguingly. Its ears move as it listens to his breathings and steps in, snout sniffing the air and frowns. Is it that creature's pet? It wouldn't surprise him. The silver-grey animal snaps its head to the side, to Hunter, but seeing that he's not getting up any time sooner, it takes yet another daring step inside, whines, as if asking Sanji's okay. It looks around, sniffs, as if it is searching for something, or someone!As its sky-blue eye lands on him again, Sanji feels a slight shiver running through him. Its other eye is closed, sealed with a long, nasty scar there runs down to its chin. Poor creature.
Suddenly the wolf runs off and at first Sanji understand what went into it, but then Hunter suddenly reappears right beside him, grabs his leg before he can even attempt to do anything, and then stabs a sharp scissor through it and into the wooden table underneath. Sanji curves his back, and screams.
Hunter pulls the scissor back out and dries the blood off in an old piece of cloth. "Behave yourself, kid, or I'll have to kill you faster than I had intended." He warns as he places the tool back onto the table and choses another one instead. "Now, Mr. Black Leg," Hunter says and turns to face him "after what I have heard you should be a cook, am I correct?"
"Jesus you're fast." Sanji teases, trying to compose himself. "Who told you? Your grandma? Or was it the old man at the nursing home who read it in the newspaper last decade?"
Hunter's lips turns down. "Cheeky again, now are we?"
Sanji chuckles darkly, he's sweating, trembling, but at least the pain already has subsided to a dull thumping. The wonder of drugs. "Damn hell 'we' are, shit-head!" he answers, sighing deeply. Even talking takes a lot of energy.
"Your friends won't be able to save you, if that's what you're hoping for, kid." The man sneers. He tries to keep his intimidating stare, but at the look of the man, he's seen through him, through his shield of confidence, nothing but a shield to hide the growing nervousness and sizzling angst. "Now. Mr. Black Leg-"
"You've already said that, dick-head!" Sanji teases, though his voice isn't free for stutters.
Hunter ignores him as he walks around the table to stand next to his left side. He can feel his shield start to crack. Hunter grabs his head and holds it still. "Now we're going to try the real fun." Hunter chuckles, as Sanji tries to get a look at what he's about to do. "What's wrong, young Mr. Black Leg? Can't see me?" Sanji freezes. He's found out! "I know about your little handicap, little friend," Hunter moves down to whisper into his ear "you're completely blind on your left eye… am I not right, Scar-face?" Sanji widens his eyes, as the man moves his bangs away from his face to reveal the gruesome part of it. He flinches as he feels something cold touching the wounded skin near his left eye. "What's up, Scar-face? Don't like not being able to see what I'm doing to you?"
"Stop, that…" Sanji winces as he feels something cut into his skin right beside his eye, a few drops of blood runs along his cheek.
When he can see the man again, as he steps away from the table, Hunter is smiling with satisfaction. "Strap him fully to the table!" He orders and suddenly two men grabs his legs while another two hurries to tie them fully to the table, making him completely immobile. When the heck did they come?
"No! Let go of me! Fucking let GO!" Sanji protests in a voice that's not suited for the chef of the 'gruesome' straw-hat crew and fights to get his freed leg free again. It connects and one of the men is sent flying. But another one hurries to grab the leg and force it back down. "Let go, I said!" he roars. Ropes tightens painfully around his shins, making sure he can't move, they does the same with his arms, leaving him completely vulnerable and exposed. He pulls, fights, forces his body up and growls in frustration. "FUCK! NO!"
"You're a chef, Mr. Black Leg," Hunter starts again after sending his men out of the room and plays with his knife "and one of the best from what I know. Now, you must work a lot with knifes, am I not right?" Sanji glares at him, not liking where all this is going. Hunter pulls a smile and points the knife at his heart. "Then, let me show you what else a knife can be used to, other than just for cooking." The knife caresses his pale blood covered chest, he finally stops far down below, too far below. Sanji holds his breat. "You know, I once was a butcher, a good learning when you want to study to a doctor grade." Sanji starts pulling the ropes harder to get free, but he can't even wriggle without the ropes leaves burn marks on his skin. He's trapped, they did their too well this time.
"No, not only there," Hunter chuckles. He shows him the knife again, turns it in his hold. Sanji can't keep his eye from it, watches it like a hawk. "We gonna have a lot more 'fun' with this little one, trust me!"
-TOBD- TOBD- TOBD—
"He steals your courage, your personality. Once they've been abducted by him they will never return back to those they once were. They'll be nothing but a wandering shadow of their earlier self." The baker looks from the one teen closest to him and to the other, still standing at the door. The baker licks his lips, grasps tight to that courage there suddenly blooms up. These two are okay, they weren't as bad as the Marines and the World Government wanted them to look like. Typical. "Then, he waits, waits for the proper time. Watches them and waits till they'd gotten well enough, when they think that they'll be free; he gives them that false hope. And then, he attacks, hunts them down, 'plays' with them like a cat playing with a mouse before it eats it, kills them slowly and painfully, coldblooded, rips their bodies apart, literally, makes them beg to end it faster. Most of them doesn't get that far though."
"What do you mean?" asks the swordsman from the door, though not looking at him, his eyes glued to the streets.
He licks his lips again, suddenly feeling very thirsty. "Most of them ends it by their own hands. They know, once marked by him, he will hunt you till the end of the world!"
The young captain stares at him intensely, as if he tries to see through if it's a lie, if only it was. "Where is he?" he then says slowly, looking more calm and pleadingly, the hand in his shirt releasing just a little.
"You can't help him, kid. He's been marked, if he's even still alive, he'll return to you sooner or later, but right now, it's too late to save him. If you interfere Hunter now, you'll only end up as the next on his list." He lays a hand on the teen's trembling hands. "You cannot save him. Believe me when I say it's impossible. I've already lost my daughter, after she tried to save her mother." At the last sentence his head drops, the memories waking up and ripping in every cell of him.
Luffy finally releases him and steps back, without saying anything, just watching him.
"Baker!" the swordsman Zoro suddenly says, now looking at the baker. His eyes are dark, yet not cold, there's a warmth in them, humbleness, understanding and seriousness. A kid his age shouldn't carry that many feelings in his heart. "He won't give up that easily you know. You better tell him now where we can find our crewmate, or he'll tear down the whole village until he finds him." he warns, nodding at his captain. The baker turns his head to look at the younger kid and almost trips over his own feet. All of a sudden, that calmness and care he had sensed before, is gone. Hate and anger darkens those innocent eyes. What has this time of age done to them? "It's not a threat, it's a warning. If someone touches or hurts any of our friends, he will tear down the area if he can't find them, and beat whoever is at fault, into a pulp." He pushes his katana slightly out from its hilt, so the shining metal is visible, a smirk playing on his lips. "I can't say that I'm any better."
"Old man, please tell me were we can find Sanji." Luffy says quietly, still with the hint of murder in his tone, his eyes never leaving him.
"I'm begging you, kid; don't throw yourself into the arms of death that easily. Please listen to me…!"
Luffy isn't looking at him now, but behind him, at the backroom, no, the mirror beside it, quizzically. Then the baker sees it as well, behind the kids, outside the bakery. A wolf. Silver-grey. It's him. As their eyes meets, the wolf turns its head at the direction of the building beside this store, then scrapes the ground, twice, as he nods in understanding, the wolf runs off. So he'd seen him? Alive? The swordsman furrows his brows, been watching the wolf from the mirrors like his captain, hands ready on his katanas, by no doubt finding the interaction quite bizarre. These kids are just as persistent as that wolf.
"Tell me baker," the ravens voice suddenly made an 180 degrees turn, eyes shining. What on earth? "That wolf spoke to you, didn't it?"
"What?"
"So cool, almost as if it understood us, it did, didn't it?"
The baker could only blink in mild amusement. This kid…
"Yosh! I've decided! Tell me where Sanji is, baker, and I'll kick this Hunter and his of his men far away from here, so they'll never bug any of you again!"
Zoro pulls a thin smile. "So, his bounty should be worth a hell of a lot? This'll be interesting!"
The baker sighs. "Well, looks like I can't stop you then. You're damn hell of the stubborn kind!" He tells them, and no sooner they're gone, the kid thanking him with a wide grin.
'Well… may God be with you then.' the baker thinks, as he watches the two teens hurry off in the direction he points out. The entrance to the apartment complex just around this corner. So he hadn't been imagining things as he'd heard screams and cries the last couple of nights, screams deafened by the awakening village.
Christian, his youngest son comes out from his hiding in the shadows, as per usual; he had heard everything of the conversation. He holds tightly to his apron and looks the same way. The green-haired teen had stared at him for most of the time, he had known where his son had been hiding, but had done nothing to show, he had said nothing at all.
The baker runs his fingers through his messy, dark hair before he pat his beloved son on his head. "Now, let's go in and take a look on those buns that you've been working on, shall we?" Christian looks up with a great smile. Things would be alright. Things would be alright again.
"Hey dad?"
"Hmm?"
"Can we make the icing green?" The baker looks surprised down at his nine-year-old son.
"Green?" Christian nods.
"Yeah, like that funny man's hair. You think he would buy some of them?" The baker can't stop laughing.
"Then what should we call those buns?" Christian thinks hard.
"Marimo-buns!" he says proudly and shows all his white teeth in a big grin.
To be continued