When Chopper returned and saw Sanji trying to make his way out the door with Zoro, the little guy had been nothing short of a ball of complete and absolute fury.
Sanji found himself on house arrest for two more days, kept put in that tiny little office. The sheets of the bed turned from soft and welcoming to itchy and cold. The air in the room was stagnant. Zoro had left the day Sanji woke up to go meet with 'The Witch', as the thief had called her. Leaving Sanji with little company.
"That just can't be possible."
"Well, that's just how it is." Chopper replied, filing a large stack of papers away. Sanji drummed his fingers impatiently on his chest.
"You can't just be born with a blue nose, there has to be some explanation, some kind of genetic mutation or whatever." He reasoned. Chopper wrinkled his nose and sighed.
"You have no idea how many times I've been over this with people. There seriously isn't any explanation, it just is."
"Everything has an explanation…" Sanji mused quietly, twirling tufts of his blond hair in between his long fingers while he listened to the muffled sounds of the bustling city outside.
He knew he should be more shocked and in complete disbelief, but for some reason, he found all of this easy to swallow. A world made and run by thieves, an underground city hidden from the rest of the world.
Chopper had explained to Sanji that even though the city was ungoverned and essentially a free market, there was a binding set of rules that were not to be broken: doing so made you an outcast, you were banished from the city. Apparently not every city had them, making this an ideal place.
Though the rules were odd, they seemed to make sense in their own weird logical way.
For example, anything was game to be stolen. Except in the city. It was a city without robbery, even though it was made up of thieves.
The inter-workings of this bizarre place were not much of Sanji's concern, but there was one thing that had been plaguing Sanji's mind for the past few days: how he was allowed in the city.
"Only thieves are let in here right?" Said Sanji. Chopper looked up from some papers he was writing on.
"Well yes, that's why it is a city of thieves."
"Zoro said every time you return, you have to present something you've stolen, like proof that you're still a thief."
"That's correct. There are hired guards that wait just inside every entrance. You show them what you stole and they let you in." Chopper replied. "I actually have a friend who works occasionally as a guard. Funny guy, he loves to tell stories of the stuff people bring in. Some thieves take it very seriously, others not so much."
"What kind of things do people normally bring in?"
"Oh simple stuff, wallets, a necklace, a purse, a candy bar… Usually it's just little tokens." Chopper explained. "Though some people turn it into a joke. That friend of mine, he's seen it all. One time, he said a guy brought in a stolen tiger from the zoo! Can you believe that?"
"That's crazy!" Sanji laughed, regretting the action slightly as pain seized his sides. He picked at the bandages with disinterest, looking back up to Chopper. "What kind of things do you normally bring in?"
The doctor waved his hand. "I try not to take things that will be missed. A dollar from a tip jar, a jacket left at a table at a restaurant. Little things. I'm not much of a thief."
"And yet you live in thief city." Sanji mused, causing Chopper to give a small chuckle. "Hey, do you know what Zoro said I stole?"
Chopper's brows furrowed and his eyes glanced to the side, he placed a hand at his chin as he thought.
"No…. I don't think he ever mentioned it."
"Could he have just made it up?" Sanji asked. Chopper's eyes grew wide.
"Oh no, he would be in so much trouble it he did that! No, it had to be something you actually stole, and it would have to be worth it too: first time entrance, it needs to show you're more than a petty thief on the streets."
"But I didn't steal anything!"
Sanji flopped back down against his pillow, giving a slight cough as the air was forced out of his lungs, which reminded him of how much he wanted a smoke. He pulled out a cigarette from the pack in his pocket and placed it in his mouth. It was a little arrangement he had with the young doctor: he wasn't allowed to actually smoke, but he was allowed to just hold it in his mouth.
He chewed on the filter, rolling the cig back and forth with his tongue. It was comforting, but he missed the calming sensation actual nicotine and smoke gave him.
Later that afternoon, Chopper had to check on Sanji's wound. It was the first time he was actually going to see the damage.
When Chopper had changed the dressings the previous day, Sanji held a hand over his eyes. He wasn't ready to see it, and was afraid the scar would make things suddenly too real and send him into a panic attack.
"You ready?" Chopper asked quietly, scissors in his hand. Taking a deep breath, Sanji nodded, biting the inside of his cheek. He worked to steady his trembling hands as Chopper snipped the soft cotton and began to slowly pull away the bandages.
The area was horribly bruised, a mural of purples and ugly yellows against pale skin that hurt as bad as it looked. The wound itself was gnarled and pink, but the stiches were elegant and effective, holding the aching hole closed.
Sanji reached out and just ghosted a fingers against the bullet entrance, grazing one of the black stiches. His body reacted angrily, making him flinch his hand back, before returning to rub slightly at the edge of the bruising.
"It's actually not that bad." Chopper said as he began to apply a cold antiseptic to the stiches, making Sanji shudder and recoil. "You're lucky the bullet didn't fragment, there's no shrapnel can cause a lot of damage too."
Sanji just hummed in response, still in awe of the sight on his belly, the hole a few inches and to the right of his navel.
"You know Zoro saved you, right?" Chopper said hastily, like he just pulled the comment from the clouds.
"What?" Sanji replied dumbly, looking up from the scarred tissue.
"I know it probably feels like Zoro kidnapped you… And this is all really crazy… But he saved your life. Those men who shot you would have taken you away, and who knows what would have happened to you." Chopper said softly, finishing applying some kind of salve to the stiches. "He stopped you from bleeding out too. It wasn't necessarily a short trip here, he had to have given you constant attention to make sure you didn't die."
"You're right about all of this being really crazy, but I kind of understand."
"So…. You're not mad at Zoro?" Chopper offered meekly.
"Mad?"
"I was just talking with him earlier, he was saying how he was worried about you being mad and blaming him and stuff. He's a good person, I didn't want you to think… Please don't tell him!"
Chopper pulled out a long strip of bandages from a drawer and began reapplying them to the wound.
"I have no idea what kind of person he is, I barely know him. But I don't blame him for what happened, it wasn't related to him." Sanji mauled the filter of a new cigarette, thinking back to the moss head. He'd never in his wildest dreams imagined that taking home the unconscious pick pocket in an alley would have led to this. Maybe he should have followed Law's advice.
"I should thank you, by the way." Chopper said happily, putting the finishing touches on the bandages. "You helped prevent a really serious infection in his eye, gave him shelter and food in a storm. Zoro… Tends to be more of a loner, he avoids help when he can."
"You know about all that?" Sanji asked cautiously, reclining back in his bed. Chopper nodded.
"Zoro told me about it." Chopper bit his lip for a moment then continued. "He's not… Accustomed to kindness like that. It means a lot to him."
"Oh." Was all Sanji could say, uncertain about how that made him feel. He laced his fingers, tracing circles on his palms with his thumbs. He wasn't used to acts of kindness being recognized, he preferred they go unnoticed.
An awkward silence fell over the room. Chopper messed with random reports on his desk anxiously. Sanji bit down on the filter of the abused unlit cig and pretended he was actually smoking it.
Ending the stillness, the office door was ungracefully flung open and a young man paraded in.
"Heyyyyy Chopper! So I kinda cut me knee and if you could check it out that'd be really cool!" He yelled. The teen's presence was demanding but the attention was easily given, there was something that just radiated off the cheerful kid that was strangely welcoming. He flopped down into a chair, a massive grin plastered on his face despite the waterfall of blood streaming down his right leg.
"Luffy! You better not have been climbing on the West Bridge again!" Chopper exclaimed, quickly going to Luffy's side
"Nah, Ace dared me to climb up to his apartment window and I fell half way up!"
"THAT'S JUST AS BAD!" The young doctor screeched, quickly washing away the blood and working to clot the cut. Luffy just laughed and laughed until Sanji caught his attention. The boy tilted his head to the side, lips in a pout.
"Who're you?"
"I'm Sanji." Luffy's face completely lit up, he jumped to his feet despite Chopper's complaints.
"OH IT'S YOU! You're that guy Zoro brought back!" He pointed a finger accusingly at Sanji, jumping over to him. "He said you're a cook, right? Right?"
"Uh, yeah I am-"
"Oh man this is so awesome! Chopper, is Sanji all better now?"
"I suppose most of the wound is healed-"
"Sanji you're coming over to my house tonight and you're making everyone dinner. Chopper you're invited too!" Chopper smacked Luffy on the top of his hat wearing head.
"That's too strenuous of work from him right now!"
"Actually, I think I'll be fine. I'd really like to get back into the kitchen, you know, find something that feels a little normal." Sanji cut in quickly, standing up to prove that he indeed okay. "I won't do anything to difficult, I promise."
"Yosh, that settles it! Let's go Sanji!" Luffy spun on heel to get to the door, only to be caught by Chopper and tossed back into his chair. Chopper was surprisingly strong for such a little guy.
"I haven't even covered your cut yet you moron!"
The moment Luffy was bandaged up he ready to go, pulling on Sanji's arm to try to lead him. Sanji dug in his heels, not wanting to leave the office half naked. Luffy shrugged and said no one would care, they could pick up some clothes for Sanji on the way to Luffy's home, since Sanji's clothes were stained with blood.
Luffy finally managed to pull a reluctant Sanji out the door and into the city. The bouncing boy was right, no one batted an eye at Sanji's disgruntled appearance.
There were no cars, just simple yet clean streets full of people walking or bicycling around. The city was warm despite being underground, the air wasn't even that stale: it reminded Sanji of a gigantic shopping mall.
"So what kinda clothes do you wanna get?" Luffy asked offhandedly as they strolled down the road.
"I normally wear dress shirts and ties, but I doubt we'll find anything like-"
"Oh like those?" Luffy asked happily, grabbing Sanji's by the crook of his elbow and dragging him over to a shop with sharply dressed mannequins in the display. Before he knew what was happening Sanji was pulled into the store.
Sanji looked at each outfit in disbelief, they looked like they were plucked right out of Armani's closet in Italy, the prices reflecting them accordingly.
"L-Luffy I can't afford this!" Luffy turned his attention from changing the mannequin's poses to Sanji.
"It's cool, I got it: it can be payment for tonight!"
Sanji's mouth fell open slightly, there was no way this kid could afford any of this.
"Oh oh Sanji you should get this one!" Luffy thrust a shirt into his face, his vision blurred with a mass of pink. The shirt was a soft pink, the cut crisp and clean.
"Pink?" He asked critically. Sanji wouldn't say he disliked the color, but he'd never consciously kept the color in his wardrobe.
"Yes yes yes. Ah, a pink tie too!" Luffy began rummaging through a rack of nice silk ties. Sanji shrugged, he didn't mind that much, after all Luffy was buying for him.
The shop keeper eyed Sanji up and down, eyes raised skeptically. Luffy looked at the price tag and then jammed his hand into his shorts pocket, pulling out one of the thickest wads of cash Sanji had ever seen. The grinning boy thumbed through several hundreds before tossing the cash onto the counter.
Luffy crammed the money back into his pocket as he ushered Sanji into a back room to get changed. The shirt fit almost perfectly, slipping onto Sanji's lean figure nicely, and he couldn't help think that the pink made his hair appear a pleasant golden shade.
He walked out of the small dressing room still knotting his tie, taking more confident steps now that he was fully clothed. Sanji rolled up the sleeved to his elbows and smoothed imaginary wrinkles.
"You look perfect! Yosh this is going to be so freakin sweet!" Luffy yelled. Sanji quirked an eyebrow at that, but let it be, and continued to follow the energetic boy up to a large metal bridge, long and elegant suspensions hung above.
"So, what did you have in mind for dinner?" Sanji asked. Luffy's eyes grew wide with his smile.
"Meat. All kinds of meat."
"Just meat? That's not much of a meal." Sanji remarked. "I take it that you really really like meat." He joked. Luffy nodded vigorously.
"Hell yeah, meat is the best!"
"Well then, would you mind taking me to a store or market? I'll be needing to buy some ingredients, unless you have them all at home. Oh, and how many am I cooking for tonight?" Sanji stuck his hands in his pocket, admiring the size of the square they just walked onto.
"Uhhh…. Let's see, I texted Nami, Usopp, aaaand…." Luffy continued on in his head, counting on his fingers as he mouthed each name to himself. "Seven! Seven people. Wait, eight including me!"
The square opened up into an impressive market, carts lined the area selling everything from fruit to bread to rich deserts to the most bizarre looking fish Sanji had ever seen.
"So everyone here is a thief?"
"Duh. It's the city of thieves." They passed a cart with glistening red apples, each stacked and aligned faultlessly, the sweet aroma of the fruit lingered in the area. Sanji turned his attention to an approaching cart filled with stands of lovely looking cuts and whole meats.
"So all these vendors are thieves. Are their goods stolen?"
"Eh, some of them are. Some are just thieves on the side to being farmers or bakers and just liked the market here better than the outside world." Sanji inspected several large rack before motioning to the owner that he'd be taking two, pointing to the most tender and fine looking. As the man pulled down Sanji's choices, Sanji noticed that the man was missing a finger. Sanji couldn't help but wonder if it was a workplace accident or if it was related to his work as a thief.
It amazed Sanji how comfortable he was in this world. Here he was, completely surrounded by criminals, some of the riff raff of society. Well, now that he thought about it, Sanji was technically one of them now.
He stopped by several other stands, picking up ingredients to make a kick ass stew. Each time, Luffy would pull out that ridiculous wad of cash and picked up the groceries. People seemed to know who Luffy was, too; they coward oh so slightly away from his gaze and the money that he placed down.
As they walked, Sanji's belly began to ache a bit, the shifting from each step was agitating but nothing beyond uncomfortable. It was more of a constant reminder that Sanji had a whole blown through him, which was a weird thought to be carrying around with you.
The lights around them actually began to dim, creating a dusky atmosphere in the city. Some street lights remained on, the ceiling began to disappear, giving the illusion of a night sky. The pair approached a neighborhood setting, more homes and less shops.
Luffy rambled about a cool monster vs movie he had watched yesterday as they climbed several flights of stairs: Sanji's pace was much slower than Luffy's, having to stop once or twice to catch his breath. At the top of the stairs, they reached stretch of concrete that walked along the homes to their right and displayed the glimmering lights of the city life below.
"Alright, this is it!" Luffy suddenly exclaimed, interrupting his own story, extending his arms skyward to display the front of the white house before them. The home was built into the side of the canyon, like many of the buildings in the city, most of the house was tucked away. Over the top of the large front door, a smiling wooden ram's head looked down on them.
After shoving a rusted looking key into the door lock, Luffy kicked open the door happily.
"Shoe's off, Usopp's rule not mine." Sanji did as he was told, toeing off his nice black dress shoes while Luffy flung off his sandals. "GUYS I'M HOOOOOOME."
The place was relatively clean, it had a certain homey warmth that drew you in, Sanji enjoyed the feeling of the smooth hard wood floors beneath his feet. He could hear conversation and laughter down the hallway, a few greetings aimed Luffy's way.
The hallway opened up into a spacious carpeted living room, a small fire burning in a cobblestone fireplace, a large potted orange tree rested in the corner. Several other people were already in the room, sitting on the cozy looking couches, one of whom Sanji knew: the damn moss head. Luffy raised his hands to his mouth to announce,
"Guys, meet Mr. Pink!"