Sanji had had a rough few days. He had become a vampire, suffered from lack of sleep and sustenance, and had almost killed a man.

"Ouch!" he hissed as the knife slipped and sliced into his finger.

Well, add another thing to the list.

He studied the cut. It was thin, but fairly deep. He started sucking on it, as was habit for him.

When he took it out, though, the cut had closed completely. Not even a scar was left.

He stared at it in surprise. Realizing something, he lifted the knife and carefully ran it along his middle finger. The cut was slightly shallower than the last one. He licked his index finger on the opposite hand and ran the saliva-coated thing along the incision.

The cut closed before his eyes.

"Healing spit?" he muttered. "The book didn't say anything about that."

And speaking of the book . . . didn't it say he could shape-shift?

Sanji put the knife down and thought. Turning into a toad was incredibly unappealing; a bat wouldn't be too bad, but a cat . . . a cat would probably be the best, now that he thought about it, what with their flexibility and jumping abilities.

He was just trying to figure out how to go about actually changing his form when the door opened. Shying away from the light that poured in, Sanji saw Robin and Usopp enter. Usopp had a hand behind his back like he was concealing something.

"Robin-chwan!" Sanji cried. "Do you need something, love~?"

Usopp scowled. "What if I need something?"

"Oh, Usopp. Hi."

"No, Sanji, I don't need anything," Robin said in reply. "Usopp and I just wanted to talk to you about something."

"I'd love to talk to you, Robin-chwan!" Sanji came around the counter and pulled up two chairs. After Usopp glared at him, he reluctantly took out a chair for him as well.

"So what do you want to talk about, love?" Sanji asked cheerfully. "Plans for our future?"

"Not exactly," she said. "I notice you're looking awfully tired, Sanji."

"Well, yes," he said, looking down. "You know, I'm sick . . ."

"And this is the illness that makes you exhausted essentially all the time?"

"Yes . . . ?" he said, looking at her quizzically.

"I see," she said. "Then it must have been quite a chore to get up in the middle of the night and go stroll around town."

Sanji froze. "Oh shit that's right," he hissed. "Er—I-I mean . . ."

"You're not actually sick, are you?" Usopp asked.

"W-Well," Sanji muttered. "I—uh—"

"Why don't we cut to the chase," Robin said. "You're not actually sick, correct? Usopp and I put it together yesterday. We know, Sanji."

Sanji stared at her in horror. The terrible image of Robin and Nami running from him in terror flashed through his mind again.

"You're a vampire, Sanji, yes?"

Sanji tried for an unbelieving laugh. "C-Come on, Robin-chwan! How could I be a vampire? That's stretching it a bit far, don't you think so?"

"Oh?" Usopp asked. He took out the hand from behind his back and brandished something at Sanji—a cross.

Sanji almost instantly felt repulsed by the thing. He quickly scooted back in his chair and leaned as far away as possible.

"Put that thing away," he snarled. Usopp set the cross out of sight, and Sanji tentatively moved back to where he was. Usopp then gave the cook a triumphant grin.

"The idea that I'm a vampire is just ridiculous," he said, sticking to this. "How could I be a vampire?"

"I dunno how, but you are," Usopp insisted.

"Sanji, please," Robin said. "You have a nocturnal sleeping pattern, you're avoiding sunlight, you flinched from the cross, and you haven't eaten regular food for the past few days . . . not only that, but last night . . ."

"Last night?" Sanji asked nervously.

"Last night, I followed you into town and saw you drink from that man."

Sanji looked horrified. He put his head in his hands and looked down.

"Conclusion: You are a vampire," Usopp said. "Right?"

Not looking up, Sanji nodded.

"Sanji," Robin said, touching his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

He looked up and seemed very upset. "Why aren't you running, Robin-chwan? I'm a vampire! I almost killed a man!"

"Is that what you were worried about?" she asked, surprised, yet feeling that she shouldn't have been surprised. "Sanji, I'm not afraid of you."

"Y-You're not?" he asked, feeling a heavy weight being lifted.

She shook her head. "You're still you. Just because you've changed your diet and sleeping patterns, it doesn't make you a monster. And I know that you would never intentionally kill someone for food."

Sanji had a brief flashback to his time spent on the rock in the middle of nowhere with the old geezer, then shook it off.

"Robin-chwan . . ." he said, almost crying from relief. "Thank you!"

"What about me!?" Usopp exclaimed. "Don't you care what I think, Sanji-kun!?"

"Not really," Sanji said indifferently.

Usopp seemed very hurt.

"We should probably tell Chopper," Robin said after a moment. "He's been covering for you, hasn't he?"

"Yeah, he has," Sanji admitted. "But don't blame him; I asked him to do it."

Usopp went to the door, opened it, and stuck his head out. "Chopper!" he yelled. "We need you in the kitchen!"

A second later the tiny reindeer came running in. "What is it? Is someone hurt—?"

He stopped when he saw Robin and Sanji seated together. "What's going on?"

Sanji didn't beat around the bush. "They know, Chopper."

"What?" Chopper squeaked. "You mean—"

"Yep."

"You told them?"

"They figured it out," Sanji said, shrugging.

"Oh . . ." Chopper looked at Usopp and Robin. "Wow, you guys are really smart!"

"Uh . . ." Sanji said suddenly. "Actually . . . now that you two know . . ."

Usopp and Robin looked at him curiously.

"Um, there's something I probably should tell you, Usopp."

"What is it?" Usopp asked.

"Well . . . you remember that dream you had the other night? Where you saw me and I asked you to come with me?"

"Uh-huh . . ." Usopp said, confused.

"That . . . wasn't a dream."

"What?"

Sanji sighed guiltily. "Did you know that vampires can erase the memory of being drunk from?"

Usopp's eyes widened comically. "W-What—Sanji! Did you t-take my blood!? What the hell!"

"I know you don't remember, but I did apologize before I did it," Sanji said quickly. "And I gave you a bigger breakfast the next morning."

Usopp groaned and rubbed his neck. "I feel violated . . ."

"Sorry," said Sanji again with another shrug. "I didn't have much choice."

"Sanji," Robin said. "You realize that we'll need to tell the others about this."

Sanji looked at her. "Why?"

"You couldn't even keep the secret kept when just two had the knowledge," she pointed out. "Now that half the crew knows, it's going to come out eventually. I think it would be best if we just told them right away."

Sanji sighed. "You're probably right, Robin-chwan . . . but what about Nami-swan? What if she thinks I'm a monster?"

Robin smiled. "I think that Nami-chan will be scared or nervous at first, but she'll soon get over it."

"Thank goodness," he sighed. "Er, I think we should tell them after lunch."

"Ooh, when's lunch?" Chopper asked.

"Half an hour."

"Yay!"