Well hey there :D sorry this chapter's a bit late - I was distracted by other things. And by other things I mean the latest episode of One Piece, which by the way was awesome. Beards 4 Life.

On a completely unrelated note to both the above and this story - did you know that the French version of "everybody/everyone" is "tout le monde", which literally translates to "all the world"?

The next morning, Sanji was asleep in the kitchen when Chopper shook him awake.

"Sanji," he said quietly, "are you awake? Are you awake now? How about now?"

Sanji blinked his eyes open and sat up slowly, stretching. "And I only just got to sleep, too . . ." he muttered. "Hey, Chopper. What time is it?"

Chopper told him.

"Damn, it's late," Sanji muttered. "I'll get started on breakfast. Are the others up?"

Chopper shook his head. "No, they're still sleeping. Well, I dunno about Nami and Robin, but the guys are asleep."

"Hm," Sanji muttered. Chopper sat at the table while the vampire cook rolled up his sleeves and started on breakfast.

"Sanji?"

"Yeah?"

"We're gonna visit this guy in the day, right?"

"Yeah . . ."

"How're you gonna get there? Sunlight hurts you, right?"

"I was thinking about that, actually," Sanji admitted, cracking some eggs into a bowl. "I could not go, I could cover myself in dishtowels again, or I could wear winter clothes."

"I'll go get the winter clothes," Chopper offered, jumping out of his seat and going for the door, leaving Sanji alone to cook breakfast.

By the time Sanji had finished cooking, Chopper had gotten him the winter clothes for later, and the others had woken and were starting to trickle into the kitchen. Luffy was the last in, a far cry from normal.

"You okay, Luffy?" Sanji asked as he served up the French toast.

Luffy grinned. "Yeah, I'm fine! I just woke up late. Gimme food, Sanji!"

"Yeah, yeah," Sanji muttered. "So does everyone want to go after breakfast?"

"I'm cool with that," Franky said, giving a thumbs-up.

"Yeah, I'm in," Zoro muttered.

Robin nodded.

"I'm fine with waiting until later," Usopp said.

"I wanna go after breakfast!" Chopper said.

"Chopper, back me up here!" Usopp complained.

"Yeah, of course!" Luffy said excitedly. "Now gimme breakfast!"

"Alright already!" Sanji snapped. "Here, happy!?"

Luffy nodded his head, his mouth now too full of bread to answer.

"By the way, Sanji," Robin said calmly, taking a small bite of toast, "did you know that your eye has been turning red every time you get angry?"

"Huh?" Sanji asked, automatically reaching up towards his visible eye. "Right, I guess it must be . . . I forgot that happens."

"It does!?" Luffy asked eagerly, leaning around to look at Sanji.

"I'm not a damn carnival, so quit staring," Sanji muttered.

"Right, so that guy from earlier said he lives here?" Zoro asked as the Strawhats stood in front of a white house.

"Must be, it's the only white house close to here," Sanji said in a muffled voice. In addition to a long-sleeved jacket and mittens, he wore a balaclava, a hat, and sunglasses, all of which did a fairly nice job of keeping the sun off his skin.

"Did I mention that you look ridiculous in that outfit, by the way?" Zoro added.

"Did I mention that I'll kick your ass if you keep saying that?" Sanji retorted. "Anyway, I'm going in."

"I think it would be wise if only two of us went," Robin said. "We're not here to attack this man, unlike the other one. Two people seem much less threatening than eight."

"You're so smart, Robin-chwan!"

"Great," Nami said. "So who's going?"

"I'd like to go," Robin said. "Sanji, is that acceptable?"

"Of course, darling~!"

"What's the signal?" Franky asked.

"Screaming," Sanji said.

The others hung a ways back while Robin and Sanji strode up to the door. Sanji knocked; a minute later the door swung open and they found themselves looking at the man from the red-haired man's photograph: Sandy hair, smooth chin, and brown eyes.

"Can I help you?" he asked cautiously.

"Yes," Robin said. "We require your assistance on a particular matter. May we come inside?"

"I suppose so," he said, stepping aside and opening the door wider. Robin walked in; Sanji stayed behind.

"Does that mean you're inviting me in?" he asked the man, just in case. The sandy-haired man nodded and Sanji stepped inside.

As the person shut the door, he said "Er, if you don't mind my asking, what's with the cover-up? It's pretty warm outside."

After checking to see that the blinds on the windows were shut, Sanji started taking off the extra clothing. "I'm . . . uh, I have sensitive skin," he said.

"Hm," the man muttered. "Well, you two sit down, and I'll get you some tea or something. I can boil up some water . . ."

"Ah, I don't drink tea," Sanji said quickly. "Water would be fine."

He nodded; Robin and Sanji sat on the couch while the sandy-haired man exited the room. He returned about ten minutes later, carrying three steaming cups. He set the tea in front of Robin and the hot water in front of Sanji, setting another hot water in front of himself. They quietly thanked him.

"So," the man said, slightly more suspiciously now, staring at them. "What did you come to me for?"

As Sanji brought the cup of water to his lips, Robin began to speak. "You see, sir, we—"

"AAAAAAAAH!"

Robin whipped around and stared in alarm as Sanji dropped his cup and clutched at his face, screaming.

"I knew it!" the sandy-haired man yelled. "A vampire, come to drain me of my blood! And you," he said, pointing at Robin, "you're one of the vampire's brides, aren't you!? Hey, vampire, have some more holy water!"

And he proceeded to stand and throw his cup of all over poor Sanji's face; his screaming intensified and he fell off the couch.

"There's more where that came from, vampire!" the man yelled. "And after I'm finished with both of you, I'll throw you out into the sun and watch you burn, just as you should!"

The other six Strawhats burst into the house, alerted by the screams. What they saw was Sanji, curled up on the floor whilst covering his face and screaming; and Robin, standing swiftly with a cold look in her eyes.

"Quatro fleurs!" she exclaimed. Two hands sprouted and shoved the man's arms together behind his back; one vanished while the other held his wrists together; and two more seized his legs, forcing the knees and ankles together, causing the man to fall down.

"Wait, was that Sanji-kun screaming?" Nami asked, confused. "Robin, I thought it was you!"

"What the hell happened!?" Usopp screamed, hiding behind Franky.

"Robin, did this guy hurt Sanji?" Luffy asked, pointing at the man she was holding down. She nodded.

Luffy sighed, approached the man, and looked down at him. "So," he said, with a little smile, "you hurt Sanji?"

The man looked up at him, clearly scared. He nodded slowly.

Luffy lifted his foot and brought it down very hard on the man's face. There was a spurt of blood from his nose; when Luffy lifted his foot, everyone could see the clear imprint of his sandal left on the man's twitching face. Robin allowed the hands to vanish.

Chopper hurried over to Sanji, whose screams were ongoing but less intense than before. "Robin, what happened?" he asked urgently.

"He gave us drinks," she explained. "Apparently they were made with holy water. I'm not entirely sure how it affects vampires, but he does sound like he's in a lot of pain."

Chopper forced Sanji's hands off of his face to get a better look. Sanji's visible eye was closed in pain and his skin was red and blistering.

"I-I think I need to treat him for burns," Chopper said uncertainly. "Can someone get cool water? Regular water?"

Franky ran down the hall, returning a moment later with a bucket full of cold water. "I found the kitchen," he explained.

Chopper changed into Heavy Point and carefully moved Sanji to the couch. "Okay, I don't have my supplies, so . . ." he turned into Walking Point and head-butted Sanji, successfully knocking him out. "That'll have to do for anesthesia."

"Is that safe?" Zoro muttered.

Everyone gathered around Sanji, concerned. Usopp handed Chopper a towel, which the doctor (now changed back into Brain Point) soaked in water and gently applied to the unconscious cook's face.

Haha, ending this chapter here, see you next week, suckers! *attempts to run away and is hit by several large rocks thrown by readers*