Part 11 - Sanji 20/21

The reaction to Luffy's words was entirely predictable. Johnny, Yosaku, and Zoro simultaneously picked up their jaws and then, in unison, dashed inside the restaurant, hastily closing the doors behind them, leaving Luffy alone with... what had just a moment ago been called "Nami." As soon as the doors were shut, the floating restaurant "Baratie" began to shake from the tremendous impacts being delivered to one of its fins. Unfortunately, whether the doors were closed or not, they still let the sounds from outside through, so Luffy's pained screams and desperate calls for help were clearly audible to everyone present. After a few minutes, he suddenly fell silent, but the shaking continued for another long ten minutes.

It was only natural that, after such an event, Johnny, Yosaku, Zoro, and Nami's behavior quickly returned to, if not normal, then at least something close to it. While they continued to stay close to Luffy, they at least stopped clinging to him all the time. It was clear that Luffy had aimed for exactly this outcome with his words. Nevertheless, the departure from Baratie was still delayed.

Initially, they had planned to leave just two days after the banquet, but, as was evident, the plans remained just plans. No, they weren't canceled; it just sort of happened on its own without any particular reason. Nothing was preventing the Straw Hats from leaving in two days, and even Sanji couldn't avoid it, though he didn't yet realize it, which didn't stop him from suspecting it. The guy had been trying to come up with convincing arguments — admittedly, rather unsuccessfully — as to why he couldn't leave with everyone to the Grand Line right now. To his credit, Sanji knew Luffy well enough to see that any compelling arguments, which someone else would consider solid and indisputable, didn't seem to be such to Luffy. Frankly, Sanji, without realizing it, knew Luffy so well that, again, without admitting it, somewhere in the back of his mind, he had long been figuring out what to take with him on the journey.

One cannot spend two years with Luffy without understanding a few things.

For example, the fact that if Luffy decides something, he always, always gets what he wants. Or, if Luffy makes a serious decision, the only things that can change it are either Luffy's own death or the End of the World... and from the perspective of those who know him, the latter seems far more likely than the former. What's the point? Well, the point is that Luffy decided to take Sanji into their crew over a year ago. In other words, Luffy made a serious decision. Consequently, subconsciously — or, more accurately, quite consciously, but stubbornly refusing to admit it — Sanji knew that the chances of avoiding departure to the Grand Line were about as slim as the End of the World occurring in the next few days. Not to mention that Sanji himself very much wanted to go to the Grand Line, but that damn feeling of guilt towards Zeff kept him in Baratie more firmly than an anchor chain as thick as a grown man's arm... although, perhaps, not the best comparison, considering Sanji could tear such a chain without much trouble.

Now, why did the departure not happen in two days?

It didn't happen for one simple reason: everyone suddenly became so lazy that the whole crew eagerly and unanimously abandoned their own plans and continued to enjoy life. Being a pirate is great! Correction. Being a rich pirate is great!

The Straw Hats lingered at Baratie for almost three weeks, during which Usopp, being the weakest among all the Straw Hats, became the only one in the crew who trained daily to exhaustion... Not that he had much choice. Meanwhile, the others, including Zoro (!!!), essentially spent three weeks lounging around under beach umbrellas, stuffing themselves with various culinary masterpieces from Sanji and Zeff.

Perhaps this period of inactivity became one of the longest in the memory of all crew members. Moreover, it was completely spontaneous, with no apparent reason. Additionally, Luffy seemed physically incapable of staying in one place for too long, but not this time... Maybe it was because of Nami?

After the first three days of natural siege of her occupied cabin — this time, the girl wasn't going to give up, despite the fact that her opponent was Luffy himself — Nami decided to be smarter. She simply locked herself in the cabin almost from lunchtime, as soon as Luffy left the ship. It was clear that it ended with the hatch being broken, as, unlike Nami, who had no chance of breaking the hatch reinforced with Haki, Luffy didn't even notice the obstacle of the sliding bolt. However, the broken hatch deprived Luffy of the ability to lock it from Nami.

Naturally, no one was willing to give up the cabin, so they spent the night together. Nothing unusual. In the "Wooden Box," the whole crew practically slept on top of each other due to the lack of space. However, the next day, the broken bolt was repaired, but no one bothered to lock it, so the guy and the girl spent the night together again. And then another, and another, and… after a week, Johnny couldn't stand his curiosity any longer and spent the night with a glass pressed against the bulkhead, but to no avail. No compromising evidence. After a few more similar nights, with a jealous Sanji also present, Johnny's curiosity completely overpowered his common sense, so he made the mistake of seeking help from Zoro. Why not? Zoro had Observation Haki, so he could find out what was happening in the neighboring cabin. Fortunately for Johnny, Yosaku knew him too well, so he managed to drag his friend away before Zoro decided how exactly he would kill him. First, chop off his arms and legs, and then the head? Or better to cut off the head right away? Or maybe finely chop him?

In the end, Johnny's curiosity remained unsatisfied, and Sanji's jealousy was not extinguished. Although, apart from the shared cabin, the relationship between Luffy and Nami, on the surface, didn't change one bit. And although logic suggested that one couldn't just calmly sleep with such a girl, Johnny's certainty in his conclusions didn't increase at all. If someone else had been in Luffy's place, there would have been no question; everything would have looked exactly as it seemed from the outside. Luffy? The very first time he came with them to a brothel — just for fun, not with any particular goal like they did — Luffy spent the whole night playing chess with the brothel's owner… To be fair, Zoro, who joined them, spent the same night emptying the minibar in the most expensive room. And every subsequent time they visited this brothel, Luffy played chess with the owner, and Zoro, if he didn't stay on "The Thing", would drink the alcohol alone or, at most, watch Luffy and the owner play… while still drinking the pre-brought alcohol.

Besides everything else, during this long period of doing nothing, the reason for the suspicious absence of Patty and Carne was revealed. In the crew's memory, this pair usually only disappeared for a couple of days — typically to replenish the restaurant's supplies — but this time they had been missing for almost ten days… They might have been gone even longer, but from the time Luffy arrived at the restaurant and the appearance of Patty and Carne, exactly ten days had passed. During these ten days, the entire restaurant staff, including Zeff and Sanji, maintained a stubborn silence… Or, to be honest, with the exception of Zeff and Sanji, the restaurant staff was completely inept at lying about the reason for the prolonged absence of two of the best chefs at "Barati." Fortunately, Zeff and Sanji were wise enough not to attempt to lie, so before Johnny's curiosity took over again and Luffy got seriously concerned with discovering the truth, they were promised a little surprise.

In reality, the surprise turned out to be very big… at least in terms of size.

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