Clouds came later that day, blanketing the sky and blocking out the sunlight. Sanji was able to go outside now without anything burning, so he went into town, wanting to quench his thirst. It would be easy, right? He just had to find a lady and—

No! It was his first time drinking from someone! What if he accidentally hurt her?

But then again, drinking from a man wasn't exactly an appealing option.

He scratched his head and looked up suddenly. He was in front of a hospital.

Perfect.

The secretary, a woman whose age could probably rival Dr. Kureha's, looked up as Sanji entered.

"Good afternoon, madam," he said. "I was wondering if I could purchase some blood."

She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. "What d'you need blood for, son? You don't look like a doctor to me."

"Our ship's doctor said that he needs to have some in storage for emergencies," he lied.

She raised an eyebrow and muttered something that he didn't catch. "What type?"

"Er . . . B negative."

She disappeared through a door for a moment, returning with the bag. It was stored in a different bag as well, a plastic sack. He paid her and left quickly.

Okay, he thought. I'll find an alley or something to drink this in. I can't have anyone finding out, especially not my friends, and especially not Nami-swan or—

"Sanji?"

He looked up to see Robin in front of him. "Robin-chwan~! My darling, how are you~?"

"I'm just fine, thanks." She peered into the bag he was carrying and raised her eyebrows. She looked at him.

"Would you mind explaining why you have a bag of blood with you?"

"Ah, well . . . I thought it would help Chopper out in case of a transfusion!" he scratched the back of his neck, beating himself up inside for lying to his lady crewmember.

"I see . . . strange thing to think about, but considerate all the same. By the way, the ship is in the other direction."

"Ah, right . . ."

"I was heading that way anyway," she continued, taking the plastic bag from him. "I'll take it to the ship."

"No, no!" he exclaimed quickly. "I mean . . . Robin-chwan, carrying blood is no job for a delicate lady such as yourself!"

"I'm hardly delicate," she retorted gently. "And I mean no offense, but I've probably seen more blood in my lifetime than you have."

And she walked off with the bag in her hand.

He stared after her. He briefly considered running after her and convincing her to hand it over, but that would just make her suspicious.

The wizened secretary looked up as Sanji entered for the second time that day. "Back again, son?" she asked.

"Er, yes . . ." he said. "Sorry, I got the wrong type. It was B positive that our doctor needed."

She raised an eyebrow and went to retrieve the bag, handing it to him with some suspicion. He paid her again and left, this time looking around to make sure that no one he knew was around.

Surreptitiously moving into an alley, he went behind a building, glanced around one last time, and opened the bag, throwing away the sack.

The blood smelled heavenly. He cautiously raised the bag to his lips and took a sip.

It tasted wonderful, just like it smelled, with a slight lingering taste of zinc. He drank it slowly, wiping his lips when he had finished. He looked at the bag and tossed it into a trash can behind him.

As he approached the ship, he heard Usopp saying "Okay, everyone, get in there . . ."

"Where's Sanji-kun? We need him here too."

"I'll go find him! Everyone should be in this photo!"

Photo? Oh, Usopp wanted to take a group photo. He opened his mouth, about to call them, but then thought of something.

He didn't show up in a mirror, so there was a good chance he wouldn't show up in a photograph, either. And if the others saw that . . .

The horrifying vision of Nami and Robin running away from him flashed through his mind again. He shivered and started away from the ship, but—

"Sanji! There you are!"

He froze and turned to see Luffy waving at him over the side of the Sunny. "We're taking a group photo! Come on!"

He reluctantly walked back to the ship, not seeing any way he could refuse without seeming suspicious. Luffy jumped down from the ship.

"Where've you been? Hey, what's that on your mouth?"

"What . . . ?"

"There's something red on the corner . . ."

"Oh," said Sanji, quickly wiping it off, "they had some . . . tomato sauce samples somewhere in town."

"What!? Food!?"

Usopp called down "Hey, what's going on? Get up here, you two!"

Luffy sighed, grabbed Sanji, and stretched his arm up, bringing them both up. The others were in a group, clearly posing for the photo.

Luffy dragged Sanji to a place next to Nami and sat himself between the cook and Zoro. "Go on, Usopp, take the picture!"

Usopp lifted the camera up, but before he could press the button, Sanji thought fast and said quickly "Wait, Usopp, don't you want to be in the picture too? Maybe I'd better take it."

Usopp thought. "Uh . . . sure, okay, if you don't mind not being in it . . ."

He handed the camera to Sanji and positioned himself where Sanji had been. Sanji raised the camera and pressed the button. The photo came out nicely.

"Are we done?" Luffy asked, fidgeting. Without waiting for an answer, he jumped off the ship and yelled "Sanji, where was that food you had?"

Sanji pointed in a random direction.

"Thanks!" Luffy ran off in the direction Sanji had indicated.

The clouds were beginning to clear up, letting rays of sunlight shine through. Sanji hurried inside, claiming that he was going to start on dinner.