Never before had Sanji endured such low temperatures. Never before had he seen his own breath materialize before his eyes, in blurry wisps of white cloud, or felt his teeth gnash against each other so compulsively. The sun had officially set, and through the towering canopy above, Sanji could still spot small glimpses of the indigo night sky. It felt as though the closer they got to their destination, the more varied in appearance the plantation around them became, with some growing leaves the size of a grown adult, and some shaped as if a messy scribble had come to life.
As the truck began its steady ascent up a sharp bank, Sanji couldn't help but cringe as his body slumped heavily into the guard next to him. It elicited a low growl and a tighter grip around the barrel of the man's gun. Sanji daren't look up from the spot between his feet, knowing full well that every other occupant in the vehicle was glaring at him with deep disdain. It seemed as though he'd entered into a bubble in which the only rule was to despise his very existence.
As much as he would've preferred to spend his journey toward his dream destination in quiet, wondrous peace, he could at least somewhat relate to their unabated displeasure for him. They were now in charge of escorting a complete stranger who had intruded on their daily duties, spouting wildly about earning a place at their prestigious institute, and being granted such a position after showing off his underwhelming parlor trick, that wouldn't even impress a child.
Of course they hated him, if Sanji had been in their position, he would have hated him. And yet here he was. Perhaps the reason their commander had changed his tune so quickly, was because it hadn't been the first time someone had tried to beg their way into the academy. Perhaps, it had been a daily occurrence for them to have their patrols interrupted by shit-scared escapees, foaming at the mouth, pleading for their sympathies, begging them to take them in, despite them having no traits to speak of.
Sanji looked away from his appointed spot on the floor, and instead focused on his twiddling thumbs. But it still didn't explain the guard's apparent hatred of him. Wouldn't they be glad to find someone who subverted their expectations, to find someone who finally told the truth. That was to say if his baseless speculations were correct, though probably not, given his extreme case of "overly active imagination syndrome", he was apparently prone to in school.
He filled his lungs with dewy forest air and exhaled heavily, stewing over his excessive thoughts. Maybe along with his shitty trait, they also weren't big fans of his hair either. For the longest time, there had always been a prevailing sense of superstition surrounding civilians born with blonde hair. For those who believed in such things, it was a symbol of rebellion, a challenge to authority, and an assurance that bad luck would surely befall both you, and those around you. Course not as many people believed in that claim as much as they used to, though it would be a perfect way to explain all the bullshit he'd had to put up with over the years.
Sanji peered down at his knees to find that they had begun knocking against each other, in an attempt to counteract the cold, and he started rubbing his shoulders. He'd hoped they were close...he was unsure if he could stand the cold for much longer.
He felt something tap against his shoulder, and he turned to the nearest guard, who still looked stoic and grumpy. He then heard a whispered, "Psst hey!" from behind, and he craned his neck round to look. What he found was an extremely burly, herculean man, pacing alongside the moving truck, his gun relaxed against a huge, bulky shoulder, and an outstretched arm, gripping onto a jacket.
"Hey man, you look like you need this more than me." The man, who appeared to be in his late thirties, lifted away his narrow sunglasses as he spoke. Sanji couldn't help but take a few seconds to process not just the kind gesture, but also the older man's strange trait mutations; which had manifested itself into three pointed chins and blue hair.
Swallowing his disbelief, and struggling to properly convey his sheer gratitude, Sanji reached for the much needed jacket. "Th-thankyou...I...urr...thanks..."
He encased himself inside the ridiculously large jacket, and his body welcomed the new source of warmth. He turned to face the stranger again, unable to comprehend how he hadn't noticed him before, given his huge size and stature. It was no surprise to Sanji that the cold appeared to have no effect on him; his enormous muscles and body mass probably saw to that.
"I urr I guess I'm still used to Meridium air conditioning," he said, sheepishly.
The man laughed heartily, oblivious to the opposite sentiment shared by his fellow guards. He looked to be the oldest out of all of them, and he carried himself with an experienced confidence. "Yeahhhh I remember my first time outside the shards, man that shit was cold! If someone had spilled hot coffee on me, I probably woulda thanked them!"
Sanji laughed, thankful for the break in an otherwise intense atmosphere, and he swivelled round in his seat to properly face the guy, "Yeah, yeah that doesn't sound too bad at all."
He couldn't help but notice the guard next to him huff impatiently, and force the other passengers to move up a space, preferring just the tiniest bit of distance between him and Sanji.
"Ahh don't take any mind of them! They're not used to people getting accepted so urr… well on the spot like you! Not that that's an excuse! I mean you got it in, right?! At the risk of your own life, I might add! You've got as much reason to be here as they do."
Sanji was taken aback by the man's heartfelt offering. Compared to the rest of the group, he was acting more like a lifelong friend, than any stranger Sanji had ever come across.
"Right...urr my name's Sanji by the way," Sanji said, tentatively reaching his hand over the barrier. The man grabbed Sanji's hand vigorously, and shook it with enough force to leave him feeling dizzy.
"Name's Franky! Us guys don't get to see much of you guys but, if you ever do see me around, don't hesitate to come up and talk. First week or so is always the worst, no matter how tough you think you are- first it's finding out where to eat, then it's finding your classes then- ahh what I mean to say is just, don't go keeping all that stuff to yourself now, got it?!"
"R-right! I will t-thank you Franky," Sanji said, his mouth strung up into a beaming smile.
The truck surged forward as it reached the top of the hill, and adjusted itself onto a path indented with tire tracks. Sanji was quick to notice the new presence of artificial light up ahead, and his growing sense of anticipation almost skyrocketed. Soon he would be entering through the gates of Dressrosa Academy, and although it was under some very, very, unfortunate circumstances, he'd soon be able to call his dream a reality.
"Now, urr I hope you don't mind me saying this but…" Franky began saying, pulling Sanji out of his dream bubble,"...they ain't exactly gonna let you off so easy for starting halfway through the year, that's for sure. Ohhhh man I do not envy the amount of catching up you'll have to do, my dude!"
Sanji's shoulders slumped heavily, and his nose wrinkled, realising that no matter what kind of life-changing situation you were in, you still had to deal with homework. "Oh...really?"
"Yeah- but hey don't worry about it, you got a sick trait, you'll catch up to the rest in no time!"
Sanji shifted slightly as he heard multiple scoffs coming from the guards, "I urr...I don't really know about that."
Franky made a shooing gesture, "Ahh don't worry about them, they're just jealous. Look if the chief's impressed then so am I. 'Sides telekinesis is just one of those traits where, y'know anything is possible. You just think up an answer to your problem and BOOM! Problemo solved."
"Teleki...whatsis?"
"Telekinesis. That's...what your trait is right? The ability to move stuff with your brain? Or...is it just small rocks?"
"Uh no- I mean well that's the extent of it so far but yeah- I can move other stuff as well."
"Guess that's it then! Ya know come to think of it, all this time I've been here, I don't ever recall seeing someone with just your bog-standard telekinesis trait, student or otherwise...guess that makes you one of a kind huh?"
One of a kind? Was that possible? Sanji hated jumping to conclusions, but he too couldn't recall ever hearing about someone who had the same trait as him. Although, being able to lift a fork for no more than five seconds, was really not something to write home about. But if you wanted to place him in a category, then yes, technically, his trait could still be classed as...telekinesis.
And if that was truly the case, then perhaps that was the reason why the Commander had agreed so readily. Surely, someone who held such a high rank as him, would have knowledge about the kind of traits that they would have to deal with. But that obviously changed quite a few things, Sanji pondered. If what Franky had said was true, perhaps he really was the first to possess this sort of trait. Perhaps it wasn't so useless after all.
"And at least it makes a changed from another water based trait! Not sure how many more of those "my soul flows like the river" types I could take, ya know what I mean?"
"Right...so urr how about you Franky, what's your trait- if you don't mind me asking."
"Well I'm pretty much just known as the dude with unbreakable skin. You try shooting me, stabbing me, you wanna blow off my face with a damn grenade, that's always a fun one, and it ain't gonna have any effect on me whatsoever! Not even a scratch."
"Wait so like...nothing can penetrate your skin?"
"Ew don't say it like that bro! It's more like...urr...it's...you know what, that is a pretty good way of putting it."
Sanji chuckled, "Either way it sounds really cool."
"Yeahhhh, y'know it only took one bullet to the head for the scouts to just start losing their shit, and start shoving a bunch of papers in my face. Next thing I know, I'm sat in Dressrosa Academy, next to a guy who can pull sand out of his ass. Not literally like- I mean he can control sand, but he could probably do the other thing just as well."
"...Still that's pretty amazing...it's pretty much the scenario you can think of if you have a trait…"
"Yeahhhh I've known other guys who ain't been so lucky...and lately it's been-wait what am I doing, all this talking and monologuing and conversating, and I completely forgot about this being your first time!"
"Huh?"
Franky flicked his sunglasses back on and looked up, lifting up his hand in a sweeping motion. "Breathe it all in dude. This is what you've been waiting for, right?"
Sanji looked up. And not even the encumbering darkness could hinder his overwhelming awe at the sight of the magnificent building which stood before him.
It was just like he'd imagined...it was just as magnificent and...magical as he'd imagined. The architecture couldn't have been further away from the soulless designs that had infected the buildings of Meridium. No valueless precious stone to be seen, no minimal design meant to blot out unique thoughts, and promote assimilation. Though Sanji couldn't recognise any of the materials that had been used, it was easy to tell straight away that they had been sourced from the very earth is stood upon.
The upper half of the building appeared to be built from light brown panels, lined together to form sweeping, breathtaking shapes, and sat upon a foundation of dark brown units, stacked on top of one another, in a compact pattern. Running along the breadth of the building, and indented into the glossy courtyard, were panels decorated with beautiful markings, composed of colour combinations, Sanji never even thought possible.
It was a work of art, and not the kind that Meridium deemed to match their standards of conformity. It explained why the word, why even the concept of art existed. It had been made for the very purpose of taking someone's breath away.
Sanji swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat, and rubbed at his tingling nose. How could a damn building make him teary eyed? The thought made him laugh compulsively, and his smile refused to fade away. Images of the many drawings he had once created as a child came gushing forth; drawings of a magnificent castle, and an exotic paradise. Even the strange, yet elegant plantation adorning the courtyard's decorative pools, was a big enough reminder of the inconceivable distance between him, and the suffocating confines of the shards.
"Wow…" Sanji uttered under his breath. He sat there slack-jawed, taking in every minute detail, and in comparison, the guards around him simply kept their heads down, incapable of engaging, or comprehending Sanji's awe.
"Y'know you get used to seeing it so many times, but even now I still gotta admit...she really is a beauty huh?" Franky said, looking up at not just his school, but also his home.
Sanji was still too swept up in his own emotions to respond. He was well aware that, despite only making it this far as part of some elaborate plan, he believed that he was there for a reason. Why shouldn't he feel good about achieving his dream? In a way Shanks had allowed him this favour. But obviously this didn't come without a price. Soon he would have to start giving some serious thought into where the hell he should even begin with this "investigation". But for the time being, he would surrender to his self-indulgent desires, and simply enjoy the moment.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
After almost falling flat on his face due to a miscalculated step, Sanji barely had time to return Franky's jacket, and say his farewells, before being dragged away by the overbearing commander, towards some unknown location. He didn't mind though, it was better to know where the hell he was supposed to go, rather than bewilderingly wonder around the academy. It was late, and he was sure both the commander and his patrol were just as tired from today's events as he was. But only slightly.
"This way," the commander grumbled, taking a hard right past a too brightly lit corner, opening onto a long winding hallway.
The interior wasn't as breathtaking as the outside, and it even reminded Sanji of the buildings built before his time, the one's that Meridium were in the process of demolishing. Brown carpets, and yellow paint, metal door knobs attached to manual doors. A prioritization of function over appearances. Not that Sanji minded, it was still a plus in his books.
After rounding a few more corners and walking the length of a couple more hallways, the commander finally stopped at a door Sanji thought they'd passed about ten times. As the door was wrenched open, Sanji peered into the dark room. It's only light source appeared to be coming from a desk lamp, sat upon an old, light brown desk, occupied by a woman in her late fifties, rifling through a magazine that Sanji swore had been banned in Meridium about five years ago.
She peered up over her white, cat eye glasses, evidently annoyed by the fact that they'd just interrupted her reading time, and took a deliberately drawn out puff from her smouldering cigarette. Clearly they had entered a space entirely dedicated to just her, as the various works of art dotted around her office space, bore a great resemblance to her choice both in clothing, and in hair dye. Even in the darkness, Sanji had to strain his eyes when taking in the screaming purples and greens sewn into her floral dress.
"What the hell d'you want this time of night? I've told you before about interrupting my reading hour," she said, her voice deep and husky, no doubt from years of smoking.
Diamante flipped the light switch on at the wall, and the resulting glare from the florescent light, caused both Sanji and the woman to squint and shield their eyes. Blinking away the accumulating white blotches, he came to realise that they had entered some kind of medical office; complete with first aid kit, a hospital bed, and some other unfamiliar medical equipment. So this was the academy's resident nurse, he thought.
"Jora, we both know you finish at midnight, besides this is a more pressing matter than just your average sprained knee," Diamante said.
Jora raised her eyebrows at this, and arose from her chair, flicking the remainder of her cigarette into a coffee mug. Diamante pushed an unwilling Sanji closer toward the eccentric woman.
"Say hello to our newest student, fresh from the shards," Diamante announced, slapping Sanji's shoulder twice for emphasis, before stepping back.
Jora looked over at Diamante questioningly, before lifting up one of Sanji's wrists, peering down at the various cuts and bruises he'd managed to acquire throughout the first half of the day.
"What's that supposed to mean? I thought the recruitment team were still on their two year break, last time I checked," she said, as she began listening to his chest with a stethoscope.
"Well we found him while out on patrol, says he managed to escape and came straight here-"
"Let the boy answer for himself Diamante!" Jora snapped, as she roughly yanked at Sanji's ear, using an otoscope to peer in.
"Um I urr I wasn't willing to wait any longer Miss-ah!" Sanji was taken off guard by Jora's heavy manhandling of his mouth, not knowing how to react as she rummaged around, poking at his gums and teeth, with newly gloved fingers.
"Clean enough," she announced, as she pulled away from his mouth harshly, "you were saying?"
Sanji rubbed at his aching jaw, "I urr I know it's against the rules, and I know it's out of the ordinary, but...I risked my life trying to escape the shards, all for the chance to come here…it means everything to me. Please just...don't turn me away."
Jora looked over at Diamante, who was stuck leaning against the open door. He simply nodded and Jora sighed. "It's not my place to say yes or no, I'm just the one in charge of processing. If our resident stick-up-his-own-arse commander says you can stay, then you can stay."
Jora reached inside one of the desk drawers, to unveil a more sophisticated looking syringe gun, prompting Sanji to back away slightly as she approached him with it in hand, "Urr what's- what's that?"
"S'nothing to worry about love, every student who comes through these doors has to give a blood sample, you shouldn't be any different. Come on don't be such an infant," she said, gesturing for him to expose his right arm.
He cringed as he carried out her request, wincing slightly as he felt the tiny needle penetrate into his skin, and as well when he saw the blood shoot up into the clear vial, filling it to the brim. Jora then extracted it from the gun with a click, and shook it slightly, before stashing it away in some refrigeration unit.
She then held out her hand expectantly, clicking her fingers with haste. "ID card? You did at least have the good sense to bring it with you, before throwing all caution to the wind?"
Sanji reached into his back pocket, pulling out the only thing of value he'd managed to carry with him beyond the shard: a small card containing any and all information about him. His credit score, his contact details, even his place of birth. Anything which Meridium deemed worth knowing was on that card, and every citizen is issued with one the minute you are brought kicking and screaming into this world.
Each copy is encased within a hard plastic cover, and attached to a handy dandy keychain, as a means to prevent misplacement, which usually resulted in an arrest for gross negligence, and potential treason against the government. Sanji warily handed it over to Jora, well aware of the fact that by now, his card had probably been wiped clean of any data.
"Urr just so you know-" Sanji started to explain, but was interrupted when Jora snatched the card away immediately, and started swiping it through a vintage Grade II Meridium© scanner.
"Bloody thing's on the fritz again," Jora complained, when the scanner displayed the word, "UNREAD", in bright green letters. She sighed, and tried slamming the worn out equipment a couple times, in an attempt to restore it to its full functioning capacity.
"Useless old...look we'll just get you to fill in these papers when you get the chance, and then we can transfer the details onto another card, I'm sure we've got a couple spare lying around here somewhere..." she said distractedly, rummaging through a stack of files in a nearby cabinet.
She handed over a small bunch of papers, held together with a paperclip, along with his card. "You ought to hang on to that, you never know it might come in handy one day," she said taking a swift glance down at the card, "Sanji."
He took it and shoved it inside his back pocket, folding the papers sheepishly. That was it? He thought Shanks had said that the security here was tight. They were seriously willing to blame the card rejection on just the equipment failure? And what about the flimsy excuse he'd given? Wanting to enroll at the academy because it "means everything to him". It was the truth, but still...if this was the type of reception he'd expect to find going forward, then this whole 'spy' operation he had going on might end up being a complete cinch.
"Have you thought about what you'll say to him? Even for him this is a little…" Jora said, looking over at Diamante.
"It'll be fine," he answered gruffly, looking out of place and uncomfortable in such a motherly environment, "besides I already know what he'll say."
Jora raised an eyebrow mockingly, and made a face directed at only herself. She swiftly raised both of Sanji's arms, took a quick overall inspection, and retrieved a measuring tape from one of her pockets, snapping it tautly.
"Right then young man," she announced. "How about some measurements?"
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Ten minutes later, and Sanji was trailing after a repurposed training bot, instructed by Diamante to escort him toward his sleeping quarters. They had moved on from the older, more outdated style of the first building, and had entered into a luxurious, expansive hall, filled with holographic bubbles, white pristine walls, and round-edged furniture, cast in a thrumming blue light. Sanji had to squint every so often just to readjust his range of view, as the floating sphere became easily submerged within the dark, unknown background.
They were travelling along the perimeter of the huge open space, rhythmically passing by dozens of strange cubical shaped rooms, each occupied by a fast asleep individual. In fact 90% of the space within the room had been taken up by these cubicles, linked together back to back, extending from one end of the room, right the way over to the other. If Sanji had to guess, there must have been over a hundred of them.
It was...pretty weird. He figured that this type of arrangement worked just fine for some kind of office space. But this was where the students slept? What was even stranger was the fact that not only were the partitions no more than seven feet high, but that they had no doors attached, just two gaps on either side, leading on to the next cubicle, then the next, then the next, etc.
All you had to do was poke your head round the corner, and there one of your eight out of-god-knows how many neighbours, would just be sitting there, staring right back at you. There was just no privacy. Which certainly wasn't gonna end well for him.
The escort bot took a sharp right turn, and just floated straight on through someone's bedroom without remiss or pause.
"Hey, hey, wait..." Sanji whispered, rushing forward to see where it had gone. He stopped just before the entrance to the cubicle, and motioned for the bot to wait when it turned to face him.
It stared at him blankly, and displayed an upward facing arrow on its monitor/face. Then it turned back around and continued on, incapable of explaining why it was totally okay to intrude on someone's personal space, whilst they were sleeping. Sanji huffed and cautiously tiptoed across the cubicle floor, paying mind to each and every sound his shoes made.
"Sorry...sorry…" he whispered, as he passed through each abode, attempting to avoid several personal belongings strewn across the floor, as he tiptoed his way further, and further into the maze of cubicles.
"Please maintain a distance of at least 1.5 metres for an optimum escort," the bot droned in its lifeless voice.
"Shhit- yeah yeah I got it…" Sanji complained, as he ducked and swerved between various personalised decor.
Soon however, the inevitability of combining near complete darkness with a concentrated focus on what was ahead, culminated in a clumsy impact with a protruding chair leg, causing Sanji to land squarely on his face.
"Ahhhh fuck…" he seethed, whilst rubbing at his throbbing nose. The eruption of pain however, quickly subsided, and was instead replaced by total shock and fear, when he felt someone's hand lunge and grip around his throat. It wasn't a constricting hold, but it was enough to have his body freeze up, and beg his muscles to keep absolutely still.
He looked up, and saw a man of his age staring down at him with fierce black eyes, wordlessly threatening him not to move an inch. Wearing just black khaki's and...army boots, the man gave off more of a soldier vibe than that of a student. His three golden earrings shimmered against the dark offset of the room, not a provision of comfort, but rather of total and complete dread. And clouded under the blue light filter, it was hard to tell what colour his hair was. Blue, green? Whatever it was, it must have been part of his trait mutation.
"We don't know you," he said, his voice deep and lacking of emotion. His face was mere centimetres from Sanji's, menacing and foreboding. Planted against the floor, it was difficult to tell whether he could out maneuver himself from the man's hold.
"Look pal, this is just a mistake, okay? I was just trying to find my room, no harm done," Sanji whispered. To this, the man cocked his head to the side, and released his grip on Sanji just slightly.
"I don't want any trouble alright, it's my first night here and I have no idea what's-" Sanji stopped dead in his tracks, when he heard an annoyed moan coming from the bed in the far corner of the cubicle. Both Sanji and the man above him looked over to see another man...the same man, throw off the covers and rise, with apparent regret, to a sitting position.
"Who in the fuck thinks it's a good idea to wake me up in the middle of the goddamn night?" he grumbled, rubbing away the sleep from his eyes.
"Wha…" Sanji managed to choke out, as he looked back and forth between the man currently gripping onto his neck, and the man swearing to himself from across the room. They were identical...it was like an exact replica of the same man. And not in the sense that they were twins. The hair, the earrings, the clothes, or rather lack thereof. Nothing looked out of place, nothing was placed slightly to the left, or slightly to the right. It was a perfect copy.
After expressing his anger at being woken up, the other man looked over at Sanji, a dark expression cast over his lethargic face. After a few moments of consideration, he finally rose from the bed and said the word: "Retract". This prompted the man above him to lift his hand away from his throat, walk over to his doppleganger, and...merge into him. Sanji rubbed his eyes, trying to decipher whether or not what he just saw really was based in this reality. Did they just...fuse together?
"What's wrong with you? I've seen way freakier traits that mine y'know?" the man said nonchalantly, folding his arms and rolling his shoulders back in a show of dominance, and sobriety.
"I urr…" Sanji muttered as he hoisted himself back on his feet, using a nearby desk for support, "I'm kind of new here so...I've just never seen-"
"Sir please do not disengage with your personal escort bot, please maintain a distance of at least 1.5 metres," the bot instructed, hovering back over toward Sanji.
"Yeah I got it!" Sanji shouted back, a tad louder than he would have preferred. He wasn't too surprised when he heard a chorus of shushes erupt around him, and his embarrassment levels were soon set to reach critical mass.
"Sorry I- look I'm really sorry about waking you it's just that I'm new here, and I just really don't know where I'm going…"
"That's great and all but I'm still trying to figure out the part where that's my problem. Or is that your trait, you can make people give a shit about something they clearly don't? Cause if it is it ain't working very well."
Sanji's next line of questioning was suddenly thrown completely out the window, and he was left feeling slightly stunned by the man's incredibly rude attitude. "Aright I get it, you're pissed off, I'll just...leave you to it."
He turned to leave, convinced more by his lack of sleep, and weary limbs, than by a pointless urge to start petty arguments.
"Yeah good luck finding out how to walk like a normal human being...fucking newbies…"
Ah...fuck it.
Instead he turned on his heel, and marched straight up to the jackass who still had his arms crossed, trying to look down on him despite their similarity in height.
"Alright you know what shithead, I have had it up to here with people treating me like I'm worth less than fucking dogshit, so why don't you make another one of your copies and literally go fuck yourself!"
The man continued to stare at him, with tired, unamused eyes. "You done?"
Sanji had always made it a point not to indulge in his fiery, verbal tirades that had become somewhat of a bad habit. All it ever did was make things worse for him. But when all the right pressure points had been hit, and when he was on his last remaining ounce of patience, he couldn't help but let all his accumulated anger out on this one man stood before him.
"Ohhh no I am far from fucking done alright you-" he paused briefly when another chorus of shushes erupted again. "You have no idea what I have been through today, and I bet you any amount of credits, that you wouldn't have lasted five fucking seconds, if you had to put up with the kinda shit I have gone through!"
"Oh you poor poor thing, wait there while I go re-tune my violin."
"Ohhh sure it's so easy for you to just stand there with your chest puffed out, pretending you're god's gift to humanity! Hey you remembered the shirt, but who the fuck wears boots to bed!? I mean really? Really? You couldn't have sprung for a fucking army knife while you were at it, just so you can be ready to take out the next person who dare enter your humble abode?!"
This, of all things, seemed to cause something to snap within the irate stranger, and he grabbed two handfuls of Sanji's shirt, and snarled into his face, "Y'know what you've convinced me, you really are new here, otherwise you'd know not to start shit with me. When other people see me coming, they know better than to keep walking. They see the whites of my eyes, and they know it'd be better just to turn around!"
Sanji didn't back down however, enjoying the fact that he'd managed to get a rise out of the seemingly stoic man. "Ohh sure that's great, resorting to threats when you have no counter argument, brav-fucking-o!"
The man promptly let go of Sanji's shirt taking a step back, and holding his clenched fists behind his back, a display he'd often seen when the soldiers back in Meridium didn't get their way.
"You know what I'm glad you were able to show how much of an asshole you were, in so little time, cause now I know not to interact with you ever again, so thank you, thank you, and fuck you, and goodbye forever, I hope."
And without uttering another word, Sanji made a swift retreat from the cubicle, hastily following after the overworked bot, determined not to give any more thought toward the asshole than he deserved.
He spent the rest of the journey soothing his bitter rage, clenching and unclenching his clammy fists, trying to revert back to the child-like splendor he was experiencing just a moment ago. It wasn't long before the bot finally came to a stand-still outside of a random cubicle, and announced proudly, "Welcome to your quarters!"
It barely had time to wait for Sanji, before whizzing straight past him, zooming back the way it came, probably thankful for the fact that it was finally rid of him.
He peered in to the empty cubicle, thankful at least, that he had been provided with a freshly made bed, but not much else. There was desk, and a chair, a floating bar to hang clothes from, and boxes for storage. It wasn't much, but the fact that it was in the academy, made it priceless. He couldn't wait any longer, and he wearily made his way over to the bed, and slumped down onto it with a FWUMP!
He melted into the soft, cool mattress, and lazily kicked off his shoes, paying no mind to where they landed. It was a perfect time to reflect on the day's events. Perfect, but not right. For him it was easier to succumb to his lack of sleep, his lack of energy, or even his lack of shits. It had all finally worn down on him, and he was glad he'd decided to focus on the positives, rather than the negatives, before falling asleep. Sure he'd met some assholes, but he'd also met some pretty nice people too. Jora seemed like a nice lady, and Franky well, he was probably the nicest person he'd ever met, period. Which category Shanks fell into was...up for debate.
He spent his last remaining thought on wishing for all the worst forms of karma on that complete asshole of a man from before. He prophesized that nothing good would ever come to him, and for those who around him. And for those pour souls, they had his deepest of sympathies.
