Disclaimer: Hey did you know this is not necessary for every chapter? Did you also know whether you put it in or not, it won't save your butt if someone wants to open a copyright claim against you? The more you know.

So, I'm glad no one lynched me and screamed 'BETRAYAL, BETRAYAL' for that last chapter. I was totally ready to deck myself in armor; but rather, the reception was extremely encouraging! Now... let's just see how long that lasts.

Enjoy, my dear readers!

Day 4, Friday

After tossing and turning all night long and going about his morning in nothing but a daze of despair, he decided to use the time during his lunch break to call his lovely Nami, seeing as she had the day off today. She always had some of the best advice. And, she was also a very patient person; because she had listened to him do nothing but lament over his very existence for the past twenty-five of those given thirty minutes.

"Oi Nami-swan whatever can I do?" Sanji wailed. "He's taken. Taken! My life is over."

He might have been acting a little overdramatic.

"I should probably just call off today huh? Make up some lame excuse why I can't go and then just avoid him until he goes away. And then, I'll just shrivel up and die from loneliness." The cook bemoaned further.

Okay, very overdramatic.

"Cut that out already." Nami exasperatedly argued. "Don't call it off. You don't know what the circumstances are for this relationship you know. Maybe there is still hope."

He frowned at those words, saying as kindly as possible, "Nami-san, I know you say everything with the best of intentions in mind, but I… do not think I could ever coerce anyone into being unfaithful. The type who does will only be unfaithful with me as well."

"I'm not saying that! I just-"

"Nami-san?" He heard a quiet voice on the other end speak up. "May I speak with him?"

"Yes, please!" Nami said, her voice becoming faint as she added, "Good luck."

There was a moment of silence and then a soft tone filtered through the line. "Sanji-kun?"

"Oh, Vivi-chan! Don't you sound just lovely today?" He exclaimed though it lacked much of his usual enthusiasm.

"Thank you Sanji-kun." She replied, polite as ever. "Now I think what Nami-san meant is that relationships can be fleeting. There might come a day where Usopp-san will break up with this boyfriend of his and then… well, you never know! You could be in his future."

"Ah, what a wonderful thought!" Sanji perked up, yet his voice weakened some, "But wouldn't it be wrong of me to stay near to him with feelings like mine?"

"Not necessarily. Sanji-kun, you've only known Usopp-san for a few days now. All your feelings for him are based on what you see on the surface. You know little to nothing about who he really is, so you don't know how much you like who he is inside. Getting closer to him will allow you to discover that answer." Vivi reasoned, sounding almost diplomatic; although, she was working on getting a degree in politics. "It's your choice whether to do it or not, but I don't think it would harm anyone to become a friend of his. But if he starts making advances towards you or your feelings become too strong to handle, that might be when it is best to break the relationship. But it might be a hard route to take if the latter becomes true, so I do fear for your heart in that case."

"Ah, you are so correct Vivi-chan! What would a foolish man like me do without you?"

"Have one less person to knock some sense into you." She giggled prettily on the other end, adding reproachfully, "Also you'll only hurt and confuse him if you blow him off, especially if he keeps returning on honest terms about being your friend. But if you really do not think you can handle being around him, you should be honest with him. You've never been the type to lie."

"Yeah… I know." He agreed, already feeling bad for having even considered it. He sighed, glancing at his watch. "Well, I have four more hours before my shift ends. I will think about it Vivi-chan. Thank you so much for the wonderful advice."

"You're welcome Sanji-kun."

And so he did – for four long, agonizing hours he rolled those simple words around his head like a bad hit song on the radio, trying to find the answer. By the time he was clocking out, he had finally decided not to go on with it and send himself through a potential emotional rollercoaster that, by the end of it, he probably couldn't keep Usopp from getting pulled into. And that would result in anything good they managed to forge in their friendship to suddenly become tainted, ensnared between hurtful arguments and his overwhelming feelings. How would that be fair to either of them?

He knew with every fiber of his being it wasn't; so there was only one thing to be done.

Mind set, he pulled off his nametag and shoved open the front door, and found the speech he had spent the better part of two hours composing in his head collapse like a soufflé as Usopp looked up at him from where he was leaning against the wall, shoulder-length curls pulled back in a cute ponytail and a gorgeously bright smile growing on his face. Shit. "Ready to go?"

He knew he'd regret it deeply several months down the road from now because if his heart was flipping like this just from a smile, what would it be doing when he actually fell hopelessly in love? But at that moment, he didn't care what the future held as long as he could keep getting smiles like this right now.

And, really, he shouldn't be surprised by his impulsive choice. He'd always been weak when it came to addictions.

"Yeah. Candy store first, right?"

"Right!" Usopp said, pushing off from the wall, following into step at his side as they walked down the street.

"I can't believe you're really eating those."

They had made it to the park, currently following a stone path through the Elm and Oak trees, r-shaped lampposts lighting the way. The sky was a cerulean blue above them, darkening more and more by the minute. It was only barely spring so the sun had already set, but the air was a moderate temperature, promising a hot summer ahead.

"What's wrong with Fairy Dust?" Usopp argued, ripping open another straw of sugar in powder form, tipping his head back and dumping the whole straw-full on his tongue.

Sanji shuddered at the very thought of the sugar rush. "Nothing, unless you're eating the entire thing in one go like that."

"But how else am I supposed to get my tongue to change colors?" Usopp argued once the candy had dissolved, sticking out his tongue. It was an impressive looking blue color. "Besides, you shouldn't be able to say anything, considering your bad habit."

He noticed the artist's line of sight was on his burning cigarette and rose it to his mouth flippantly, inhaling a drag and blowing out a smoke ring.

"You're not proving your point very well by doing awesome things like that." Usopp chuckled. "Just how long have you been smoking anyways?"

"You want the truth?"

"I'd prefer it."

Sanji flicked off some ashes. "Since I was twelve."

The other seemed surprised, but didn't reprimand him. "Bet all the other kids thought you were such a badass."

"Something like that." Sanji responded, inhaling again. As Usopp ripped open another packet, he said, "You know, I know someone a lot like you. My friend's kid brother. He eats candy all the time. Of course, he is fourteen."

"Jeez, don't make it sound like it's so sinful for a twenty-one year old to like sweets!" He complained in a whiny tone, and then mumbled mostly to himself, "Of course, you are going to be a cook, guess you would worry about that…"

"Huh, you're a year younger than me." Sanji observed quietly.

Usopp didn't respond to that beyond a quiet chuckle, saying instead, "That reminds me, I meant to ask. You said yesterday you weren't really a waiter and I thought it was strange you were working on becoming a cook and well… not cooking."

He huffed a bit, bitterly grumbling, "Yeah, well, I was a cook there. I got… temporarily demoted last week."

"Demoted?" The artist lent forward, eyes wide with curiosity. "What did you do?"

"Oi, oi, don't act like I'm some kind of criminal." Sanji shifted uncomfortably. "It wasn't that big a deal, really. I just forgot where I was and… lit up in the kitchen."

"You were smoking while cooking?!"

He shrugged his shoulders, trying to be unperturbed about it. "Yeah. I do it all the time when I'm at home. My supervisor had a fit, going on and on about health code violations and how if I wasn't his best cook he'd kick me out on my ass and shit and then sent me home and demoted me for three weeks." Usopp whistled, long and mockingly impressed, laughing when Sanji pushed his shoulder. "Oh shut up. You wouldn't be insulting me if you had tasted my cooking."

"Someone's got an ego."

"Only when it comes to my cooking." Sanji dropped the spent cigarette on the ground, smashing it under his foot. "What about you? Where do you work?"

"M-M-Me?" The younger spluttered.

"Yeah. Y-Y-You." He echoed.

The younger pressed his lips together in annoyance and looked away, kicking a rock and watching it skip across the concrete. "I don't work. Kuro says I should focus on school. He keeps telling me I never have to work really; that he'll always take care of me."

And there it was; the boyfriend. He knew he could take this chance to pry for more information but what came out of his mouth instead was, "What's wrong with not working? There's plenty of college students who would love to be in your position." A certain orange haired beauty came to mind.

"Because!" Usopp sighed, reaching up and brushing a few strands of loose hair back. "B-Because… I'm just living off of Kuro's money. He gives me a weekly allowance and says he'll buy me anything I want. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate it and it's really sweet of him. He's rich and all but sometimes I just wish I could-" He stopped then started to babble in a timid rush, "S-Sorry I'm whining. Here you are probably only making ends meet and not saying a word and I'm bitching like being fortunate is the end of the world."

Not about to refute the statement since it was true and caught off-guard from the abrupt shift, Sanji could only think to say, "It's alright."

But like yesterday, a level of discomfort had fallen over them, and he couldn't help but wrack his brain over it. Unable to see the talent in his artwork, uncertain about his studies and now this… He had seen hints of it before, but now it was becoming increasingly obvious that the other man dealt with some slight self-doubt issues. And Sanji felt puzzled by it, because he had never met someone with a lack of confidence before and wasn't sure how to handle it. All of his other friends, particularly the stupid Marimo and Luffy, were actually so full of assurance it border lined on recklessness.

So what could he do with someone so opposite of them? Should he press the other for answers or would that make him draw back even more? Should he just let it lie and pretend they hadn't said anything at all? Maybe bring it up again, later, when the tension wasn't so heated? Or should he just stay silent and let Usopp decide?

He decided to go with the last option, figuring it was probably best. But when it was obvious Usopp wasn't going to speak again as he tore open two of those powder packets and poured them down his throat at once (dear god) Sanji blurted out randomly, "Favorite color?"

Mouth full of orange and purple sugar, Usopp just stared at him with a confused expression but the message was pretty clear: 'Are you kidding?'

"Mine's blue." He pretended not to notice. "Only dark blue though. Sapphire and navy and whatnot."

There wasn't a quick response, Usopp having to swallow down two tons of candy, tongue now a shade of black, but eventually he got out, "Yellow."

He continued to shoot casual questions like that, each one chipping away the tense awkwardness until it was like a forgotten memory. Hell, it was even rather fun, and soon the other started to ask some in return. They probably cycled the park at least three times as they jabbered on about their likes and dislikes, and he ended up learning plenty about the long-nosed man. Like how his favorite animals were armadillos (explained the interesting pencil case) and he had a taste for action movies and his favorite season was summer.

And though he drank in every little tidbit of information as he was given it, it was the way Usopp seemed to animate before his eyes that was really incredible. He snickered when Sanji told him he had a fondness for jazz music; and he smirked impishly when told about Sanji's fear of spiders by replying how he used play with them and make them battle one another; and he over-dramatically grasped at his throat as he comically replied he had 'If-he-ate-another-mushroom-he'd-die disease' to Sanji's offer of making him a decent meal with the fungi. By the time they were at favorite superhero, Usopp's whole body was practically in motion as he jumped onto an empty park bench, telling a grand tale of Sogeking, the superhero he had drawn himself when he was eight, who went around destroying villains with nothing more than a slingshot.

"And when he lets it go," The artist said, pulling back invisible bands to the imaginary slingshot he 'held', before opening his fingers and letting the ammo fly towards the streetlamp he was aiming at. "The pachinko bursts open and forms into a giant phoenix made entirely of fire! It flies through the air, no one able to stop it, and it hits the gas tank head on, blasting the evil laboratory so high into the sky it goes into orbit around the planet! And that's how Sogeking saved the town from being turned into experimental mice by the evil Mr. Rat."

Sanji chortled, clapping while Usopp took a sweeping bow. When he straightened, a little flushed from excitement, the artist huffed as he realized most of his hair had slipped out of his tiny ponytail and reached back to pull it back and fix it.

And that's when he saw it.

Peeking out from the corner of Usopp's sleeve was a distinct discoloration on his skin, the reddish-purple blotch starkly contrasting with his caramel colored skin. It looked fresh, maybe only a day or two old, and extremely tender. Sanji grimaced at the sight of it. "Jeez that looks pretty bad."

"Huh?" The artist followed his line of sight, then dropped his hands quickly, frazzled hair falling everywhere as he pulled at his sleeve, laughing. "S'not as bad as it looks. My skin bruises weird. But it doesn't hurt much."

"How'd you get it?" He asked.

Usopp tittered abut, jumping from the bench and rolling the hair tie down his wrist and tugging at it, rocking on his heels. "I-It's – I'm really clumsy. Or unlucky. See I uh-" He tapered off, biting at his lip some, then met Sanji's eyes as he spoke, "When I was a kid, I loved fiddling with things. I think I got it from my mom, really. She owned this antique repair shop and she was always fixing these neat pocket watches and old, black-and-white cameras and fancy furniture and all sorts of things like that. So, I guess I picked it up from her. When I was nine, one of the houses down the street was having a yard sale and my mom gave me a quarter to spend. I bought this old remote control car that didn't work anymore."

The chemistry student was starting to move his hands again, mimicking his words, "I took that thing apart piece by piece – and there was just so much cool stuff in the mechanics of it. It felt like it was better than Christmas, looking at all those little wires that made the car go. Mom had to help a bit, but I eventually rebuilt it and got it to work again. It took me weeks but I was so… amazed at myself I think." He rubbed the back of his head. "Ever since then I've loved trying to fix stuff that's broken and building stuff from wood or clay."

His hands fell then one rose to cover his arm where the injury was as he stared off in the distance. "But I always tend to come out of any project injured somehow. Splinters, little cuts, hit my thumb with a hammer once. That's how I did this." He shrugged his shoulders, toeing at a rock. "The kitchen sink got clogged, so I told Kuro I'd fix it. I was under the sink, just trying to get the pipe loose and Merry was on the counter above me and for whatever reason she jumped down onto me. Scared the shit out of me and I kind of reflexively jerked up." He shifted body to the side. "I kind of moved like this and banged my arm real hard into the pipe. Hurt like hell. And now I have a nice set of scratches on my stomach too because Merry bolted off me when I moved."

Usopp rolled his eyes up to meet his again, rather abashed. "Kinda dumb huh?"

"No, of course not." Sanji reassured, the stiffness in the younger's shoulders seeming to melt away instantly. He started to walk down the trail again. "That's actually pretty awesome. Hah, now I know who to call whenever my stove starts acting up again."

He bounced over to his side. "That's me: Usopp, the fix-it machine!"

Ah, so there was something he was confident about. Sanji marveled at that a moment, then he realized his chance just opened to get the most important thing from any possible love interest: the seven digits. "Annnnd," He drawled out nonchalantly, "That would be so easy to do, if I had your number."

Usopp deflated unexpectedly, worrying at his lip uneasily. They had stopped walking again. "W-Wait, you want my number?"

"Well, yeah. What, you don't want to give it to me?" Sanji asked, perplexed by the other's strange behavior. Usopp opened his mouth, as if to answer, but nothing came out. So he stood there, gaping like a dead fish still strung on a hook, and he took the hint. "Yeah okay, I get it. Forget I asked." Disappointed, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and left the other behind as he ambled down the walk.

He got twenty steps before Usopp cried, "WAIT!" And then there were rapid footsteps as he ran after him, sliding a little as he skirted past and tried to stop. He wheeled his arms as he started to overbalance, so Sanji reached out and grabbed his elbow, pulling him upright. "T-Thanks. Uh, listen I didn't mean that… I just… you caught me by surprise alright?"

He raised his curly brow. "What, no one's asked for your number before?"

"N-Not… in a long time." The student admitted, head bowing in shame and Sanji wanted to kick himself again. Of course that was the case! Three days in a row coming to a restaurant alone and acting like it was something he did often despite an endearing shy nature; how much more obvious of a clue did he need?

Usopp lobbed a bottle cap down the road as he dug out the cell, mumbling, "But… if you really want mine… I guess that's okay. I got to warn you though it's a pretty special phone 'cause it's so old. It likes to cut out all the time and sometimes it won't ring."

"Against new technology or something?"

He laughed softy, running a fond thumb along the scratched cover. "My dad gave me this phone as a birthday gift. I'm not replacing it until it dies for good." He flipped it open. "S-So what's yours?"

So they traded numbers, Sanji noting the way Usopp's hands shook the entire time and not understanding why. Shortly after, the younger told him he had to go so he could feed Merry. And when he started to tell the artist he worked tomorrow as well, Usopp dodged the offer by explaining he lived too far to go when he didn't have classes.

B-But… he could feel free to call if he had time.

They parted and Sanji watched him go, mind whirling with the mystifying unknown that seemed to surround the reclusive male.