Author's Note: Now, we begin the Restaurant Row Arc! Fans of Toriko will see some shoutouts to that anime. And, now, back to this fanfic.
Disclaimer: Eichiiro Oda owns One Piece.
Ch. 8: "Restaurant Row of Food and Fights."
One sunny afternoon, the Capricorn Pirates were exploring the island they just docked at.
"I wonder what new crew member we will find at this island," Yuki-Rin wondered to herself.
"Hopefully, a chef," Kazuma said.
"Sorry, Hatori, but, your cooking sucks," Heathcliffe apologized. Hatori sighed.
"I know, but, what can you do?" Hatori asked everyone as they walked onto a street labeled "Restaurant Row".
"Hey, look, a restaurant row. Maybe we can find our chef here," Hana pointed out as a watermelon narrowly missed her head.
"And maybe I can attend a cooking class while we're at it," Hatori added sarcastically before slipping on a banana peel and landing face-first into a cake that was dropped on the ground.
"Wow… That cake looks so good, it's not a lie," Isabella commented as Hatori got up from the ground.
"What's up with this island? It seems like people are fighting and playing with their food rather than eating it," Hatori asked everybody as he cleaned cake off of his glasses.
"I have the feeling that this restaurant row is the name of the island," Yuki-Rin guessed.
"Well, we're definitely in the right place if we want a chef," Kazuma commented as a block of cheese sailed toward his head. Without saying a word, Kazuma unsheathed his nodachi and sliced the cheese cube into little cheese cubes. The bystanders watching it gasped in awe as children who were playing in the streets started grabbing the cheese cubes.
"No way… That boy is powerful," A chef commented.
"He should come and work for Sun-Ni!" A large, tan, and muscular man with a large mustache said as he grabbed Kazuma by the arm.
"Wait… Where are you taking me?" Kazuma asked the large man.
"Sun-Ni is taking you to his noodle house, where you will learn to be master noodle chef!" The large man – apparently named Suni-Ni – answered.
"Woah, woah, woah. Just because you run a noodle house does not mean you can grab random boys off of the street and force them to work for you," Heathcliffe pointed out.
"He's right," Kazuma agreed as got himself free from Sun-Ni's grasp and got his nodachi out. When Kazuma raised his nodachi to try and make a strike onto Sun-Ni, Sun-Ni got out a cleaver and blocked the hit.
"Here at Restaurant Row, we pride ourselves on three things: Food, our many eateries, and fighting!" Sun-Ni explained as he swung his cleaver down. Kazuma jumped out of the way.
"I don't think I want to eat HIS restaurant," Yuki-Rin said to Hana as she pointed to Sun-Ni, who took another swung of his cleaver. Kazuma rolled out of the way to dodge the attack, and he put the hilt of his nodachi to Sun-Ni's hip.
"Sun-Ni sees that you have experience," Sun-Ni noted.
"Yep. My dad taught me all about fighting, swords, and what it takes to be a man," Kazuma said with a nod, which was a subtle single for the Capricorn Pirates to help him out.
"Needle Storm!" Matsu yelled before she threw barrage after barrage of needles at Sun-Ni. When all was said and done, Sun-Ni was on the ground.
"You win. Care to have some noodles at Sun-Ni's Noodle House?" Sun-Ni weakly asked the Capricorn Pirates, who were already walking away.
"Thank for the offer, but I don't want noodles today!" Kazuma called back. When they were at a safe distance away from Sun-Ni, the Capricorn Pirates began to look over their decisions.
"So, where should we eat?" Yuki-Rin asked everyone.
"Anywhere BUT where that weirdo was," Kazuma stated.
"I want junk food," Heathcliffe said.
"Heathcliffe, you've had nothing but junk food ever since we left Baleeira Porto," Hatori stated.
"Duly noted," Heathcliffe said before he pulled out a bag of chips from nowhere and began eating from it.
"How about we eat somewhere nice on the water?" Kartik suggested.
"Of course we should, my handsome knight in shining armor!" Karin agreed. Kartik just sighed.
"We should have Scandinavian food. You know, like lutefisk, Swedish meatballs, surstromming –" Z.G. listed off before Maki-chan cut him off.
"No. I wish I could forget "Lutefisk Days", but I can't," Maki-chan said with a shudder.
"We should go to a pub. It'll remind me of me home," Molly said.
"Well, since we can't decide, how about we let Yuki-Rin decide?" Kazuma suggested.
"Me?" Yuki-Rin asked everyone as she pointed to her.
"Yeah, you! You're such a good captain, that we should let you take the load off and pick where we eat!" Kazuma explained as he put his arm around Yuki-Rin.
"Well… I want teriyaki ramen, pork gyoza, teriyaki chicken, spring rolls, rice, and anpan," Yuki-Rin explained.
"Are you crazy? We can drop you off at that weirdo's place so you can battle him for a free meal!" Kazuma offered.
"No, Kazuma. Hell, even I said that I wouldn't want to eat there," Yuki-Rin explained as they continued walking. However, something caught Yuki-Rin's eye, and they stopped.
"Guys… We are so going to eat here!" Yuki-Rin said as she pointed to a restaurant. Unlike most of the other restaurants the Capricorn Pirates have seen during their time on Restaurant Row, this one stood out. It was two stories, large, and in a similar design to a cabin, with wooden beams and large windows. Hanging from the large balcony was a sign that said "Seiji and Sebastian's".
"What made you decide on that place, Yuki-Rin?" Hana asked her captain.
"The building looked beautiful," Yuki-Rin answered. Hana facepalmed.
"Well… it does look nice," Aria said.
"Yeah, let's eat! I'm hungry!" Kazuma said. Hana sighed.
"Oh, alright, we'll eat at the place Yuki-Rin picked based on appearance," Hana said as they entered the restaurant. The waiting/reception area was just as beautiful as the outside – The same dark wood used outside was used as the wood paneling on the walls inside. A bulletin board decorated with various family pictures, wanted posters of famous pirates, and various other odds and ends was hung up over a purple couch that was parallel to various gumball machines and even a test-your-strength machine.
"Wow! I know when I've picked the right place when there are wanted posters of the Eleven Supernovas hanging on the wall!" Yuki-Rin gushed as she looked at the wanted posters of all Eleven Supernovas, especially the one for Trafalgar Law.
"Hard to believe that our captain can be such a fangirl when it comes to the Supernovas," Heathcliffe commented.
"Yeah. You should've seen her in elementary school. She had an entire wall dedicated to Supernovas and their bounty posters," Hana explained.
"No way! Did she have posters for Monkey D. Luffy and Roronoa Zoro by any chance?" Heathcliffe asked Hana.
"I don't know. Aria and I left our home island around the time Jewelry Bonney got arrested. My guess is that Yuki-Rin was devastated when she heard the news," Hana explained.
"I WAS devastated when I found out that Akainu had arrested Bonney! In fact, my mom grounded me for mourning over her arrest!" Yuki-Rin answered.
"Can I help you?"
The Capricorn Pirates turned back to see what appeared to be a host or owner of the restaurant. He had black hair held in a red bandana, black eyes, and tanned skin. He wore a pair of orange swim trunks, despite the fact he was working at a restaurant.
"Yeah, we would like a table for fourteen, Yuki-Rin answered.
If Yuki-Rin liked the outside and reception area of the restaurant, she definitely loved the inside (or at least the first floor, where the Capricorn Pirates were now seated). Despite the somewhat dim lighting, the mood of the restaurant was very cheerful and upbeat. There was a disco ball hanging from the ceiling, the bar table was a surfboard supported by wooden posts, DenDen Mushis were at every table, a beach ball was being thrown around, various costumes (such as a maid costume and a samurai costume) were framed up on the wall, and there was even a fireplace in the room.
"Can I take your order?" A cheerful, blonde-haired, blue-eyed waitress wearing a white dress shirt, a black jumper, and black, ankle-height, high-heeled boots asked the Capricorn Pirates.
"Hmm… What should we have?" Kazuma asked everybody as he looked at the menu.
"I dunno… There's so much food!" Daisuke answered.
"How about we take one of everything?" Yuki-Rin suggested. The waitress nodded.
"Alright, then. Are you sure you guys want that much food?" The waitress asked the Capricorn Pirates.
"Go ahead! We're the pirates who, while visiting an action-packed island like this, like their meals large and with plenty of food! This isn't a snack time, it's a freaking meal! We… Are paying customers!" Daisuke explained. Everyone cheered as the waitress got out a camera.
"Say 'cheese'," The waitress instructed.
"Cheese!" Daisuke said as he gave his cheesiest grin ever as the waitress took a picture. When it was developed a few seconds later, everyone could see that not only did Daisuke look pretty stupid, but Heathcliffe photo bombed.
"Why am I in your picture?" Heathcliffe asked Daisuke, who was signing the photo for the waitress.
"You were in the right place at the right time, bro," Daisuke answered as he gave the waitress the picture.
"Thank you very much. We will hang this photo up on our Wall of People who Made Epic Speeches so the world can see you in your finest," The waitress explained. She started to walk away, but Yuki-Rin stopped her.
"Hold it! Who is your best chef here?" Yuki-Rin asked the waiter.
"That would be Sebastian. Why do you ask?" The waitress asked Yuki-Rin.
"A-ha! With a name like 'Sebastian', he must be a good cook!" Yuki-Rin thought to herself. "We're looking for a chef for our crew."
"Alright. I'll have him see you when he's on his break," The waitress explained before she walked away.
"Yuki-Rin… Thank you for not hiring that Sun-Ni guy as our chef!" Kazuma thanked Yuki-Rin as manly tears streamed down his face.
"The pleasure is all mine," Yuki-Rin said with a smile. However, the fun seemed short lived, as dishes were heard breaking in the background.
"Not again!"
Ending Note: I'm still taking SBS Questions! Send them in!
Does anybody see what crew members of mine are like the Straw Hats? Give me your anwsers in reviews and PMs!
Oh, and review as always. No flames, though. All flames will be used to re-create the Going Merry's viking funeral.