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Day 5, Family.
To begin the morning of the straw hats crew, they all wake up at the sound of Sanji’s call resonating from the kitchen (or perhaps even from the mere aromas dispersing on the ship). Admittedly, Sanji ached for a good rest on the ship or a simple break for at least one hour at most.
Unfortunately for him, most of the crew had already woken up from daily morning calls from Sanji, while leaving a certain deep-sleeper swordsman out because of his interval night shifts.
Although it’s clear to say the swordsman worked his ass off most often during his night responsibilities, Sanji was definitely up late at night for just as late Zoro would. As the rest of the straw hats tumble down from their hammocks, (mostly caused by Luffy’s hasty descent from his own bed.
Meanwhile, Sanji was seated on the bar stool chairs, where he would later lay his head against the dampness of the counter. His hand travelled over his right and grabbed the bottle of water to keep him upright. Despite puffing in his cigarette outside of the kitchen and taking a long drag out of it, he breathed out a yawn of exasperation.
Even with noticeable signs of discomfort and lack of energy, Luffy still nagged him with his happy-go-lucky mood.
“Sanji, did you make meat this time?? You know, cereals were good, but your slabs are meat are just amazing! The pancakes were fine, especially the gooey-thing you-..”
“That’s maple syrup, Luffy.” Sanji cut him off, rubbing his eyes while slumping his shoulders against the rails of the galley. Continuously overlooking Sanji’s diminished attitude, Luffy resumed on his prattling and bothering.
Correspondingly, the crew started filing up inside of the kitchen, while taking quick glimpses of Sanji’s overworked figure. Robin stops in her tracks the moment she viewed the obvious fatigue in his eyes.
“Luffy, you can talk to Sanji-san later. Let’s eat breakfast first, its essence smells good.” She chuckled softly while patting the back of the jumping boy. At the same time, Luffy heaved in dejection but acknowledged Robin’s words carefully. He paused but hesitantly agreed to what she had implied and followed her straight into the kitchen.
The wise archaeologist gave Sanji a quick wink, before following after Luffy to let Sanji enjoy his time alone. Besides the intensity in volume echoing from the kitchen, the twirly-browed chef gradually flops on the floorboards of the galley while puffing out a cloud of smoke.
Zoro awoken shortly after he had fallen face-first on the dampened floor of the Eagle's Nest. In brief, he stretched his body out before climbing down the stairs of the mass. Then, he meets up with the chef that remains unmoving on the ground upstairs.
"Hey idiot, what's up with you?" The swordsman asked nonchalantly while folding his arms in a stern manner.
"Breakfast is in the kitchen.." Sanji muttered under his breath while he sunk further against the rails. He completely ignores Zoro's question while making an effort to maintain conscientious.
"Eh..? Whatever." Zoro rolled his eyes, although he knew there was a peculiar vibe emitting from the chef. Just through Sanji's laid-back and monotone voice, it had proven enough to Zoro that he was definitely going through something unmentioned.
Regardless of whatever the cook might be going through, the green-headed man comes to a conclusion to just leave him alone as he took his smoke break. With a shrug of his shoulders, the man pushed the door open as it immediately swings close again.
Leaving Sanji just with him and his thoughts, he tries to lessen his the anxiety bolstered up in his chest by crumpling up his finished cigar in his hand and taking another one from him pocket. Between the flicking of his lighter, to the point where his cigarette ignites a fire, the chef shut his eyes while curling his body slightly in a fetal position. In a matter of seconds. his body loosens and relaxes against the soft gushes of wind blowing in his direction as he instantly falls asleep.
In the meantime, the rest of the crew find themselves in a bit of a quiet, and peaceful space in the kitchen. Robin sipped a cup of her tea while beginning to wash some of the dirty, and empty dishes as to lessen the chores for Sanji. Underneath the tables, Usopp and Luffy flung cards across the table while Chopper resentfully grabbed each individual card that fell on the floor.
On the other hand, Franky started a pep talk with Brook as he began sweeping the floors with his bony, skeleton arm-span. As for Jimbei, Zoro, and Nami, the two men were asked (impolitely) to organize the cupboards in the kitchen and to keep the tables tidy and spotless.
Surprisingly, they all contributed well according to the list of responsibilities Sanji was urged to do each day, and this experience definitely proved exhaustion to some. Despite such a disorganized manner the kitchen was left in after the crew had finished eating their breakfasts, most of them remained silent and accepted the chores given to them.
As the ginger-haired navigator finally reaches the edge of Luffy and Usopp's good-for-nothing asses slacking around in the dining table, she jabbed at their jaws while knocking them out with a blow to the head, as per usual. The two were out cold lying on the grimy floorboards of the kitchen.
Brook reached his arms out while kneeling slightly at Luffy and Usopp's motionless bodies lying on the uncleaned ground. His jaw lowered into clear disgust while his eye sockets lowered slightly at the sight. Holding the back of their heads, he shot the two upright against the bar stools while he resumed on his duties.
Nami leans her head against the archaeologist's shoulder while her gaze averted to the ceiling of the kitchen. Her body was well-rested against the body of her fellow female crew mate and she felt heavily understood by having a gender of her own allow her to take a pause against her body.
After all, these two were dealing with the most troublemaking, and bothersome crews in their knowledge. While the men carried on with each of their assigned roles in terms of chores, Zoro catches Nami easing up with Robin while the black-haired woman leaned back against the ginger. Caught in a sudden wrath, he stormed over to the two while his fists were clenched and his figure was toughened and unforgiving.
"Hey sea witch, what the hell are you doing?!"
"Don't even start, swordsman!! I have to take care of your disorderly and inconsiderate bullshit all the time, so cut me some slack!!" Nami slowly raised her fists threateningly at him, her voice deep in fury. Conflicted by Nami's unchanging attitude around the green-headed man, Zoro took a step back in bitterness and proceeded with organizing the cupboards.
Above all, the straw hats were mainly awaiting for the blonde-haired chef's reaction, as it would definitely be a breath of satisfaction and relief. When the sudden footsteps coming from the galley come to an abrupt stop in front of the door, a loud yawn is withdrawn from the chef's mouth as his hand inches forward towards the door knob.
With the women waking up from their slumber - pleasantly surprised by the men's job well-done cleaning up after themselves - the door officially extends outward and the shadow of a thinner-framed man appeared in the heavy shadows of light.
Sanji's eyes widen in shock as he releases his pent-up emotions into a small gasp behind his hand. He freezes in his tracks as he looks around the kitchen all tidy and assembled out as they should. The chef could almost jump in joy with his figure still stiff in the light and his eyes remaining unblinking at the sight of such a polished kitchen.
"I-.. when-.." He stutters, barely starting his question.
"Sanji-kun! Robin figured you were exhausted from all the heavy load we've been giving you, so we'd like to say thank you for putting in the effort!!" Nami smiled widely as she stood up and ran towards Sanji's stunned body. She gave him a tight squeeze before loosening up and sighing against his skin.
Sanji couldn't help but blush heatedly as the room temperature began to elevate between the distance of both Nami and Sanji. In the heat of the moment, Sanji wore a flustered and awkward grin on his face while his cheeks lifted in joy and pleasance.
His eyes were darting from every point of the room and towards each crew mate that took part in such a gathering. Either way, he enjoyed this family circle, and was glad to be recognized through his actions.