"Unless someone needs me," Sanji said, everyone having calmed down at last, "I'm tired, so I think I'll rest a bit. If someone could wake me up when it's time for dinner, that'd be great."

"We could go out to dinner again," Franky offered. "It's not a big deal."

"Thanks," Sanji said gratefully. He lay in the coffin (which was slightly longer than he was tall), crossed his arms over his chest, and quickly fell asleep.

Usopp pulled the lid over the sleeping vampire, knelt, and clapped his hands together as though praying. "Rest in peace, dear Sanji," he whispered.

Zoro smacked him. "He's not dead, Usopp."

"Isn't he, though?" Robin remarked. "He doesn't have a heartbeat, so I believe that he is technically dead."

Chopper whimpered.

Later that night, the crew returned to Cabeza's house and thanked him once again for allowing them to stay. They retreated to the basement and Luffy yanked the lid off of the coffin. Sanji slowly sat up and stretched.

"Best sleep I've had in ages," he muttered. "We need one of these things for the Sunny."

"You mean a coffin?" Chopper asked.

"Yeah," Sanji said.

"Hey, Sanji?" Usopp said. "I'm really sorry about you being a vampire and all."

Sanji looked at Usopp, surprised. "Uh, thanks. It's not your fault, so—"

"I guess it must suck," Usopp continued.

Sanji glared at him.

"I mean," Usopp went on, smirking, "I bet it really bites."

Chopper and Luffy giggled.

"It must be a real pain in the neck—"

"Usopp," Sanji said calmly. "You have just woken up a vampire. Do you really want to make the vampire angry by cracking dumb jokes? Or would you rather keep quiet and lessen your chances of losing blood?"

Usopp paled and stopped talking, backing up a few steps.

"That's what I thought," Sanji said, rising and stepping out of the coffin. "Well, I'm headed out. Does anyone wanna come with?"

"That depends," Nami said. "If someone does come with you, what are the chances that you'd take their blood?"

Sanji shrugged. "Zero percent if it's you or Robin-chwan, Nami-swan. As for the others . . ." he paused. "Well, the only ones here I can really drink from are Luffy and Usopp."

"What?" Usopp whimpered.

"Look, it's simple," Sanji said. "Nami-swan and Robin-chwan are obviously out; Franky, your blood probably has way too much metal in it to be healthy; moss-head, you're moss-head, that's just disgusting, I wouldn't even consider that; Chopper, you're a reindeer, so you don't count (no offense); therefore it has to be you two." He pointed to Luffy and Usopp.

"Good," Zoro muttered. "I don't want anyone taking my blood, much less a shitty cook like you."

Sanji glared at him.

"I'll do it again!" Luffy offered eagerly.

"I took some from you last night," Sanji reminded him. "I don't think it's good to do it two days in a row."

"That's right," Chopper agreed. "Luffy, you're not allowed to be drunk from for another day."

Luffy pouted.

"In other words," Robin said, "what you're saying is that if any one of us is to be drunk from tonight, it must be Usopp."

Usopp whimpered. "W-Why me!?"

"You're coming with me, Usopp," Sanji said. "I'll need you if no one else is out."

"W-What!? Guys, back me up here!"

"We believe in you, Bro Usopp," Franky said, clapping Usopp on the back with an unnaturally large hand.

"You're so brave!" Chopper exclaimed, staring up at Usopp with sparkling eyes.

"That's not what I meant when I said 'back me up'!" Usopp protested.

Sanji grabbed him by the arm and dragged him away. "C'mon, Mr. Detective, we're going."

Usopp let out a kind of high-pitched whine, not unlike one that an otter would make.

"Hey, there's someone!" Usopp pointed towards something again.

"No, that's a trash can," Sanji said, peering into the darkness. Usopp sighed.

"Why is no one else up . . . ?" he mumbled.

"Hang on," Sanji said. "Usopp, stop for a minute."

Usopp stopped. "What?"

"Sh," Sanji snapped. A moment of silence later, he nodded and said "Yep, that's what I thought. I can hear your heartbeat."

". . . Okay . . ." Usopp mumbled. "You just keep finding new ways to be creepy."

"I can be creepier," Sanji offered. He cleared his throat and said in a hoarse voice "The vampire strides alongside the hapless human and the poor thing is unaware that it will soon be the vampire's next meal . . . the vampire leads the human into an alley . . . the poor human is then frozen to the ground by the vampire's powers, unable to move or speak . . . the vampire approaches the human slowly, his eyes glowing red, and he—"

"St-Stop!" Usopp whimpered.

Sanji laughed. "Well, part of that was true; there's no one else awake at this time, so . . ."

Usopp backed away slowly. "You know what, I think I'm gonna go back to the house, I mean I'm sure you can find someone else to drink from—"

"Hold still," Sanji commanded, and Usopp froze.

"That isn't fair," he mumbled.

"Life isn't damn fair," Sanji said calmly. "Just accept it, Usopp."

Usopp sighed. "J-Just be gentle with me . . . I'm delicate . . ."

Sanji led Usopp into an alley and he faced him. He ordered Usopp to hold still and to not speak. With one hand, he held Usopp's shoulder; with the other, he tilted the head to the opposite side; finally, he bit down and drank.

Some time later, he removed his mouth, closed the wounds, and released his hold on Usopp. Usopp blinked, then shivered and said "T-That was traumatizing . . . never again . . ."

"You feel okay?" Sanji asked. "Luffy fainted the other night, so . . ."

"H-He did?" Usopp asked, swaying where he stood.

Sanji nodded. "I don't think he would have if he'd had something to eat recently, or at least some sleep . . . and then he tried to run off . . . hey, are you okay?"

Usopp blinked slowly, still swaying slightly. "I . . . uh . . ."

Sanji sighed. "Sit down and wait here." Usopp slumped against a wall while Sanji strode off into the darkness. He came back a few minutes later with a tall glass of juice, which he shoved at Usopp. "Drink this," he ordered.

Usopp took the glass with both hands and slowly sipped it. Soon he had finished it off; he looked up at Sanji and muttered "Thanks."

"No problem," Sanji said, sitting next to him. "Sorry if I took too much."

Usopp scowled. Then he frowned and looked at the glass. "Where did you—"

"There's a restaurant around the corner," Sanji explained. "It's closed, but I left some money on the counter, so it should be fine."

Usopp nodded. "Okay . . ." he set the glass down and stood up. "I thi—whoa—"

He stumbled and fell to his knees. Sanji rolled his eyes and stood as well, first helping Usopp to his feet then throwing one of Usopp's arms over his shoulders.

"I'm taking you back," he said, "and you're going straight to bed."

"Okay," Usopp mumbled.