Finally the day came that Chopper deemed Sanji healthy enough to leave the hospital. The little doctor wasn't happy about Sanji's sudden case of insomnia, but that wasn't enough to keep him there.
Sanji felt elated though. He hadn't slept properly for almost a week now, and he could feel the weariness on his bones. But now that he was back in his old clothes, with a cigarette bit between his teeth ready to light up once he left the building, Sanji felt refreshed and keen to get out.
"Your dad called to say he was on his way to pick you up," said Chopper. "I'm actually supposed to be in another ward right now, so I won't stick around. But promise me you won't do any strenuous activities! Your stiches may be gone, but you're still recovering."
"Yeah, yeah, I promise," said Sanji, ruffling the little doctor's hair reassuringly. Chopper merely pouted though, before hugging his friend goodbye.
Sanji contemplated waiting in the room until the old man arrived, but he was too restless, itching to be out of the hospital. Instead, he crept out again and made his way to Zoro's room.
As constant as the dusk and the dawn, Koshiro was there with Zoro again. Remembering his manners this time, Sanji knocked on the door and entered.
"Ah, Sanji-kun," greeted Koshiro in his usual manner. "Welcome. The kettle's still warm. Would you like some tea?"
Sanji shook his head. "No thanks. I'm actually being discharged today, thought I'd drop by before I left."
"That's good news," Koshiro turned to Zoro. "You're friend will be leaving soon, Zoro-kun. Of course, you're welcome to visit anytime you want."
Sanji smiled. "Thanks."
A comfortable silence fell between the two, as they watched over Zoro's sleeping form. Sanji still found it jarring how different this Zoro was to the spectre that haunted him. He wondered what the young man was like before he fell into his coma. Didn't he have other friends that visited him?
"Um, sorry if this seems a little personal…" Sanji began, but the strain of the silence made the question falter on his tongue.
Koshiro gave him an encouraging smile. "Go on."
"Do you… I mean, do you have any clue at all who could've done this to Zoro? The police might not have found anyone, but… Was there someone who was a danger to him?"
The elder man's face darkened, his smile dropping to a frown.
"Why do you ask?"
"It's just… I find it hard to believe they got away with something this big. Wasn't there any witnesses? Was he being threatened before?"
Koshiro continued to stare at Sanji, his dark eyes glimmering behind round glasses.
"Sanji-kun," Koshiro's voice was low and calm. "You aren't thinking of finding the murderer yourself, are you?"
Sanji laughed, waving a hand in the air. "Nah, that would stupid. I was just… curious. Something doesn't add up is all..."
Koshiro hummed, narrowing his eyes at him. For a while, he didn't answer, making Sanji doubt whether or not he should've asked in the first place.
"Zoro was an athlete, you know," explained Koshiro when he finally spoke. "Practiced in martial arts, to be precise. I don't know if you knew this, but he's built quite a reputation from it. Such attention could also attract… other people."
Sanji nodded. That narrowed it down somewhat but not enough. He needed names.
"Did he have any rivals? Maybe... Was he being stalked by an obsessed fan? Did he have any friends he fell out with?"
A flicker of a smile danced on Koshiro's serious expression.
"I always did try to encourage him to socialise. But ever since he returned here from Japan, he devoted himself to his training. As for rivals, well… It could be anyone of his opponents."
Sanji let the silence draw out naturally. If he asked too many questions one after the other, it would definitely seem like he was more than 'just curious'.
"Geez, didn't know he competed seriously."
Koshiro chuckled. "Competed and won. He was very good. But… You can loose some matches too."
Sanji waited a beat again. There was something about the way Koshiro said that last bit.
"Who did he loose to?"
"Like I said, Zoro was very talented in his art. He gained wins more than losses, and often turned those losses into wins during rematches. But there was one man he could never beat. Zoro made him his goal, completely obsessed over beating the man. In fact… Their last match nearly cost Zoro his life."
Sanji held in a breath. That's it. This guy was a lead. If only he could get a name…
A tap on the glass startled both of them. Sanji turned to see his grumpy old man frowning at him from behind the glass. Damnit, he was so close.
"Looks like my ride's here," he mumbled, before turning back to Koshiro.
"I guess I better go."
Koshiro bowed his head. "Thank you for dropping by."
"I'll probably be back soon anyway," said Sanji, before leaving the room.
Zeff crossed his arms. "Don't tell me you were thinking of running off again, you little shrimp."
Sanji rolled his eyes. "Relax, I was just saying goodbye."
The old man's face softened at that. He glanced back into the room through the window.
"Someone you know?"
Sanji shrugged. "Sort of. Uh… It's a little complicated."
Zeff raised a brow. "Complicated?"
Sanji narrowed his eyes at him. "Whatever you're thinking of, it's not that. I'll just go grab my stuff. Stay here."
Relief washed over Sanji along with the warmth and scent of home as he entered the flat. Zeff cooked him lunch, but left him soon after to tend to the restaurant downstairs.
Sanji sat on the couch, spacing out for a good few minutes. Now that he was home, everything in his body sagged and begged for rest and sleep. But did he dare? He hadn't seen the bloodied man since they left the hospital, and the only other spectre he could feel was his mother. With a sigh, Sanji moved to his bedroom and collapsed on top of his bed. He might as well risk it.
He must've nodded off for just a few minutes, when he felt water drop on his cheeks. Sanji opened his eyes, blearily looking about his empty room. He moved a hand to his face, feeling the wetness on his skin. He inspected his hand. Blood smeared across his fingertips.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Sanji looked up. The bloodied man hung on his ceiling, pinned up by broken blades. Red seeped across the white paint, coating everything.
A knock resounded on the door.
Sanji shuddered awake. Cold sweat clung his clothes to his skin, as he gasped for breath. He glanced up at his plain ceiling. Nothing there. Moving a hand across his cheek, Sanji found it dry.
Another knock on the door grounded Sanji's mind firmly in reality. How long had he been asleep for? As he pushed himself out of bed with shaky arms and wobbled as he stood, Sanji thought 'clearly, not long enough'.
His mood lightened though, as he opened the front door and was greeted with the beautiful and radiant presence of Nami.
She beamed at him, mouth open as though she were about to say something, but her face quickly fell to a frown.
"Sorry, Did I wake you?" she said. Sanji didn't even want to know how bad he looked.
"It's fine," he answered, running a hand through his hair. "It's always a pleasure to be woken up by you, my lovely mellorine."
Nami hummed uncertainly, and Sanji decided to change the topic swiftly.
"Come in!" He said, gesturing with a flourish and opening the door wide for her. "Have you eaten? Would you like some tea? Coffee? Juice?"
Nami laughed. "I'm fine. Actually, I came here because I found some things."
Sanji watched as she sat on the couch and spilled the contents of a paper bag on to the coffee table. She fanned out sheets and sheets of paper, some of which were actual newspapers, others were print outs and photocopies. Nami picked up a sheet, briefly glanced over it and passed it to Sanji.
It was a photocopy. The headline blurted out '1 DEAD 3 OTHERS INJURED IN BOATING ACCIDENT', so Sanji's eyes wandered further down the page, to corner that Nami had circled with an orange marker.
'Teenage boy found in woods'. Sanji skimmed through the small excerpt.
'The body of a sixteen year old was found in Upper Yard on Thursday morning. Discovered by two Hikers, who thought the boy to be dead. Police and emergency team were called onto the scene to find that the teen was still alive and was rushed to hospital. The teen was later identified to be Roronoa Zoro, a young, aspiring athlete who gained recently gained a name for himself after becoming Champion of last year's Logue Town Martial Arts Tournament. Police are investigating the circumstances of the incident.'
Sanji continued to stare at the final sentence. He flipped the page over to find there was nothing on the other side.
"That's it?" he asked.
Nami nodded. "All the other papers that covered the story pretty much say the same thing. Not many followed the story as it developed, and the ones that did, only updated with Zoro's current state of coma at the hospital."
She flicked through several other papers and pulled out an actual page taken from an issue of The Transponder.
"This paper does name the hikers though. Masira and Shoujou. They're pretty easy to get a hold of," said Nami. She held up a small strip of paper with a phone number on.
"I was thinking we could go and ask them for a witness account. Maybe they can even show us the spot where they found him."
Sanji nodded, his eyes tracing over the article in his hand. Logue Town Martial Arts Tournament.
"I sort of got a lead too," he said. "From Koshiro, the old guy looking after Zoro. And this newspaper kind of backs that up. Zoro's a swordsman, a professional martial artist. There's this one guy that's kind of like Zoro's rival. Maybe we can find something out from him. He could've even been the guy who did it."
Nami's eyes widened. "That's a pretty big clue. But if the police have let him slip then he may not be the guy… Still, it's worth a shot. What's his name?"
Sanji shook his head. "I never got it. But maybe we can find out more about this tournament and the people that took part in it."
With a hum and a nod, Nami reached for her phone, but paused and glanced up at Sanji.
"Um… Would you mind if I dragged Luffy into this? He's a bit of a kung-fu geek, so he'd probably know something about the tournament."
Sanji stared at the phone in Nami's hand. He'd rather not get any more friends involved in this than necessary…
"If you can ask him without getting his interest piqued, then yeah. We'll need all the leads we can get."
Nami glanced off to the side in thought, before typing out a message on her phone. Sanji picked up the strip of paper with the phone number on. He paused to glance at all of the papers, all of the research and time and effort she'd put into getting this information.
"Thanks," he said, which had her looking up from her phone mid text. "For helping me out. I guess I owe you a lot."
Nami laughed and slapped his arm playfully. "I'm just glad you're finally accepting it."
Sanji scrunched his brows. "What?"
"Nothing," she said, then gestured to the paper in his hand. "Want me to call them up?"
"I'll do that," said Sanji, getting up to find his phone. "You got any plans tomorrow?"
She shook her head.
"I'll see if I can get them to meet us then. I might need a ride."