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Nami's hands were shaking. She tried to pick up a glass of water, but it immediately began to rattle violently, and Robin's hand stopped her from the attempt. Her friend took the glass herself and gave the girl, who was in a pre-hysterical state, a drink.
When Sanji and Luffy had their fight, Nami never wanted to see the guy again. Everyone sitting in the kitchen now probably felt the same.
Before this, their friend had never truly come into conflict with Luffy. Sure, there had been minor scuffles and arguments, but no one could have even imagined such an egregious case before. The guys had fought in the parking lot, and the topic of their argument was as simple as pie — the blond's upcoming wedding.
Luffy tried to talk him out of it; Sanji yelled that he didn't understand anything. Luffy said they would be on his side; Sanji said there was no "his side" anymore. Luffy said his bride wasn't who she claimed to be; Sanji hit him.
And so, step by step, it led to an incredible conflict. And now their crew was sitting in the kitchen, while the so-called cook was at his wedding. Everyone was silent; Chopper occasionally adjusted the bandages on Luffy.
Zoro clenched his jaw and stared straight ahead, frowning. Franky was typing something on his phone, Usopp tried to calmly drink his tea, ignoring his friend's bandaged head. They didn't know how to act.
"He'll come back," Luffy said insistently.
"Luffy, please," Nami sighed, trying to fight back tears.
Robin turned on the TV. There, among all the channels, was one very important broadcast. It had caused an explosion in the news cycle, an uproar in the media and across all stock markets. The wedding between the Vinsmoke family and Big Mom's child was an incredible event. And not because the Empress of the food industry herself had decided to marry off her child — she did that steadily once a year. No, all attention was riveted on the family of aristocrats, owners of a huge military and medical business, who had never been in the public eye until now.
Every reporter was trying to get as many shots as possible of the heirs to such a vast empire. Photos of the father were on every magazine cover; he was the face of the whole seriousness of the situation. Against the backdrop of such hype, the groom himself stood out sharply, yet he seemed to go unnoticed. He was a ghost at his own wedding.
"How happy he looks. As if nothing happened," Zoro almost hissed.
"His eyes are filled with tears," Robin objected. "What are you talking about?"
"I don't see anyone from his family," Chopper noted. "Not Zeff, not anyone. Did Sanji not even invite them?"
"But we didn't get the invitations either," Usopp muttered.
Luffy was darker than a thundercloud. He bit his lip and lowered his head. Nami wanted to support him, but at that moment she needed comfort herself. The footage of the fight kept flashing in her head, causing tremors and panic.
When a scream came from the screen, everyone turned. Pudding — that was the bride's name — was yelling something at Sanji, and then threw her bouquet at him. A moment later, the ring landed right in the guy's face. Big Mom was screaming at Judge, who was laughing. The other brothers and sister were also wiping tears of laughter.
"What is happening?" Brook asked.
Robin reached for the remote and turned up the volume. But apart from the screams and commotion, they couldn't hear anything.
"'The Scam of the Century: Big Mom's daughter, seeking an inheritance, was nearly engaged to a Vinsmoke when it was revealed at the last moment that he wasn't actually in the will,'" Franky read the headline of an article on his phone.
Usopp whistled.
"Serves him right," Zoro said.
Robin, however, was looking strangely at the screen. It could be said she was worried. Nami was too, but she couldn't forgive the guy. Her emotions were boiling, and the girl simply didn't understand what she was feeling. Probably everyone present felt the same, because no matter how angry Zoro was, how sad Luffy was, or how anxious Usopp was, they all kept stealing glances at the screen.
"Maybe this will knock some sense into him," Zoro said, taking a sip of his beer.
"So we're waiting for him on his knees on the doorstep in an hour?" Usopp asked.
"Just like you did back then?" Chopper clarified.
"I thought we weren't bringing that up anymore."
But there was no message, no call, no knock. They were really waiting. Especially Luffy, who practically flew to the door when it opened. But it was Sabo and Vivi, who were alarmed by the boy's appearance and behavior.
The clock was ticking. Vivi talked about her day at work, filling the silence. Sabo made two coffees, one of which he gave to Robin. She had taken the day off, but despite that, she looked very tired. They were all counting down the minutes until Sanji would appear at their house and start begging for forgiveness. They all imagined how they would first pretend to refuse, and then rush into his arms.
They all flinched when Zeff called Nami.
Sanji wasn't answering his phone. He wasn't at home. His door was open. And the last person who saw him said he got on bus number fifteen. The man sounded frightened, and his question of whether Sanji was with them sounded more like a plea.
Many didn't understand what that meant. Only Usopp and Robin turned pale. The latter even had to be given a sedative, as she dropped her coffee cup on the floor and jumped up from her seat.
"Number fifteen..." the girl was gasping for air. "Number fifteen is the only bus that goes to the mountain ridge."
"The tourist spot?" Zoro asked with a smirk. "Did he decide to go on a honeymoon without the wife right after the wedding?"
"It's the only bus that passes by the Lzh Gorge," Usopp answered. "Robin, try to breathe evenly, you'll give yourself a panic attack like that."
Sabo kept glancing worriedly at the girl while Vivi rubbed her shoulders. This was out of character for Robin. A woman like her always stood firm and hid her feelings, and only once in their memory had she looked so broken and frightened.
"Lzh Gorge?" Nami was surprised, feeling an inexplicable fear rising to her heart. "It sounds familiar..."
"We need to go, now," Robin surged to her feet, but Franky held her back.
He carefully sat her back down and said, almost in a whisper:
"Lzh Gorge... He wouldn't do that."
"After everything that happened to him?" Usopp frowned. "I can't think of a better option if I were in his place."
"What are you talking about?" Luffy asked, completely in the dark.
There were several like him. Nami and Brook exchanged quick glances, clearly not understanding why such panic had started. Chopper was reading the instructions for the sedative, but he also pricked up his ears. They felt like schoolchildren in a lesson where everyone had done their homework, but they hadn't even been told it was assigned.
"The Lzh Gorge is famous for..." Sabo slowly exhaled, and then his voice became even, as if he were addressing a congress. "...people ending their lives there. It's one of the most popular spots. They find about ten or fifteen bodies at the foot of it per year. We even wanted to close that stop, but those who want to say goodbye to life can walk a couple of kilometers up or down the road, while the elderly from the nearby village cannot. So, it was decided to put up a few banners and a helpline number there. But the number of people hasn't decreased."
Nami felt something inside her snap. The blood drained from her face, and air stopped reaching her lungs. Zoro's smirk, which had been there until that moment, vanished without a trace and was replaced by pursed lips. Chopper dropped the instructions and looked at his friends with tears in his eyes.
"No," Luffy muttered. "Sanji wouldn't do that! Shishishi, he's strong. It's Sanji we're talking about!"
There was a strange note in his voice. Sabo walked over to his brother and put a hand on his shoulder. The younger one looked up, and the blond shook his head, after which the boy stopped forcing his smile and lowered his head. A heavy sigh was heard, after which the silence in the room could be cut with a knife.
"We need to go there," Sabo said.
"Isn't that Sanji's choice?" Zoro retorted roughly. "If he decided, then so be it. He's the one who gave up on us. And he's giving up on everything himself."
"I also gave up once, but that doesn't mean it was my true will or the right decision," Robin replied. "And if Sanji is still sitting there, we have a chance to get there in time and stop him."
"If he went there, and this isn't just a mix-up," said Vivi, who was squeezing Nami's hand in her palm.
How desperately they all hoped at that moment that this suggestion was actually true
When their cars arrived, it was already dark. Night always fell faster in the mountains, so the red and blue lights stood out sharply on the lonely road. The car with the flashing beacon was the only thing illuminating the area. The lamp right above the bus stop, for some reason, wasn't on.
Zeff was sitting by the roadside, while Sora cried on his shoulder. He seemed to have aged ten years, clinging to his wife as if she were a life vest. They were silent. No one spoke. In the mountain silence, only the trill of crickets and the rustling of grass underfoot could be heard.
Nami's heart sank again, and she felt like falling after it, but Zoro caught her in time. They took a cautious step closer to the parents, but they didn't even notice them. They were in their own world, and their appearance was the answer to all the questions the crew wanted to ask.
Robin had disappeared. She had gone closer to the police officers and melted into the night. A bad feeling clung to the group, especially Sabo, who had been in similar situations more than once. The man was biting the inside of his cheek until it hurt, because Sanji had been his friend, too. They had spent a lot of time together; the chef had stayed over at their place many times after movie nights or gatherings until dawn. Even though he smoked, setting a bad example for his brother, and had an unhealthy obsession with women, that guy was one of the kindest people Sabo had ever known. And in his line of work, in politics, such a trait was a breath of fresh air in a burning room.
When Robin returned, she was silent. The girl simply sat down on the roadside, and then tears streamed down her cheeks. She stared ahead with empty eyes, not uttering a word.
"What happened?" Franky asked, though everyone had a guess.
"They found his shoe," Robin said. "But not him."
She began to tremble. Franky sat down beside her and hugged her. He pulled her close to his chest, and tears welled in his eyes, too.
"He took off his shoes?" Luffy asked. "Why?"
"Suicides leave their shoes near the site... so they aren't listed as missing persons," Usopp sank down to the ground. "So friends and family don't cling to false hopes."
"What does that all mean?" Luffy asked, as if his brain was rejecting this information.
"Sanji is gone," Robin said, burying her face in Franky's vest.
This news, though it had flickered in the back of everyone's mind, knocked the crew off their feet. Usopp began to sob uncontrollably, and Nami finally passed out in Zoro's arms. The swordsman himself bit his cheek painfully, trying to hold himself together.
"No. Sanji wouldn't do that," Luffy stated. "He'll come back."
Robin lifted her gaze to the boy. There wasn't a trace of his usual smile on his face. Sabo was also watching his younger brother and shook his head. Their family already had one mentally ill person; he knew what to do if Luffy continued to deny the obvious.
"We found his belongings," a voice came from behind them. "His phone and keys were next to his bag."
As the sun began to rise, the mountains were incredibly beautiful. Pink kissed the bluish sky, allowing bright rays to illuminate all the trees around. The air temperature was low, forcing everyone to bundle up in their clothes to stay warm. Birds sang around them, and nature was waking up.
"No body was found," a police officer said, offering a glimmer of false hope to those present.
"Does that mean he could be out there somewhere?" Sanji's sister asked, her voice thick with pain.
She was wrapped in a blanket. Her eyes were red from crying, and her hands were clenched on the fabric, her knuckles white. The police officer bit his lip and looked away. Koby, who had come at Luffy's request, sighed.
"More likely, wild animals carried him off. We'll do everything we can to find him."
The girl frowned and lowered her head. The man patted his partner on the shoulder and asked him to take her home. He nodded and, comfortingly putting an arm around her shoulders, led the lady to the car. Inside it, people were already asleep. Usopp and Chopper were settled in the back seats, trapped in a restless sleep. They woke at every sound, hoping for good news or that everything that had happened was a joke or a dream. But alas, their hopes were never realized.
The officer looked at the remaining crew, then let his gaze drift aside. Three other cars with people were still there. He had tried to convince them to go home during the night, but they all refused, saying they wouldn't sleep until Sanji was found. But now the sun was up, the search operation was being called off, there was no body, and consequently, there was no point in waiting. So he approached the still-awake Sabo and hinted that it was time for them to accept it and go home.
The blond looked at him with an empty gaze but rose from the ground and stretched. His face didn't show his true emotions, but he was a politician, and the officer wasn't surprised by this ability to hide pain. The man thanked him, woke Luffy by shaking his shoulder, and headed towards his parents' car.
The officer was lucky that among the suicide victim's acquaintances was such a responsible person; otherwise, he couldn't imagine how he would tell each of them that there was no more point in waiting.
Sanji had killed himself, and everyone just had to live with that now.
For the first time, the kitchen at Luffy's place was so quiet. Ace stood by the window, staring at nothing, while Sabo placed a coffee pot on the table. No one dared to break the unspoken silence, and only occasionally did a car pass by the window, disrupting the ringing emptiness.
"Maybe it really was the best way out for him," Usopp said, sighing.
"How can you say that?!" Nami almost shouted, her eyes swollen from tears.
"What would you have done in his situation? He loved her so much he went against Luffy!"
"I would have done anything, but I certainly wouldn't have gone to the canyon!"
Nami clutched her head. Vivi pulled her close, trying to calm her. She herself was under so much sedative that she had long since stopped feeling anything.
"Where else was he supposed to go?!" Usopp's voice rose to a shout. "To his friends?! His family?! His job?! Where was he welcome?!"
"Anywhere but ending his life," Zoro said, putting an end to the argument.
Usopp was breathing heavily. Ace patted him on the shoulder and then handed him a bottle of beer. Sabo snatched it away, shook his fist at his brother, and reached for a sedative instead.
"I would have run to my mother," Robin admitted, swallowing a lump in her throat.
She had managed to calm down, but a gnawing emptiness in her chest made it hard to breathe.
"Too bad he couldn't," Sabo sighed and took a sip of coffee. "And the other part of his family only noticed he was missing thanks to his sister. And even then, it was hours later."
"What do you mean?" asked Brook, who was completely drunk.
"He didn't tell you?"
From the look in his brother's eyes, Sabo realized he had broached a topic that shouldn't have been revealed yet. The people sitting before him weren't ready to hear it, but it was too late to backtrack. Especially given Zoro's narrowed eyes watching him from across the room.
"People in certain circles know," Sabo sighed. "That Sanji was being blackmailed into that marriage. If anything had gone wrong, the Vinsmokes would have killed Zeff and Sora. So Sanji's hands were literally tied. One step out of line, and he'd be standing before two coffins containing his parents."
The pain reflected in Nami's and Luffy's eyes was indescribable. The blond wanted to go to his brother and comfort him, but he knew Luffy needed time. Everyone here needed time, because Sabo was sure many still didn't fully grasp what had happened. Their psyches must have blocked the realization to protect themselves from such a blow. After all, Sanji had been too dear to all of them to end up dying by his own will.
"Even so. If I couldn't go to my family, I'd go to my friends," Ace said. "I still can't understand, after so many years of friendship and everything we've been through, why he didn't even call Luffy. A simple 'Hey, Luf, I feel so bad I'm about to jump off a cliff' would have been enough."
"Because we fought," Luffy answered.
Ace turned to him.
"Before the wedding. We argued and fought."
"I see," his older brother sighed. "So that's why you're all bandaged up. He got you good."
Ace lowered his head, then walked over to the kettle. He poured himself a mug and sat down on a chair.
"Then I have no more questions. He lost his job too, right?"
Nami nodded.
"Yeah," Ace nodded. "In his place, I'd have hanged myself."
"Ace," Sabo's cold voice cut through the air.
They were treading on dangerous ground. With two people in the kitchen paralyzed by pills, one dead drunk, and the others so depressed that a mass psychosis could break out at any moment, they couldn't discuss such things.
"What?" But Ace didn't get it. "No lover, no family, no friends, no life's work he'd probably been slaving over since he was 12. And on top of that, everyone saw your humiliation and knows about it. I honestly can't see any other way out."
"Have you taken your pills?" Sabo asked pointedly.
"Don't worry. There won't be a second suicide tonight."
Sabo gave him a stern look, opened the cupboard, and placed the antidepressants on the table. Ace rolled his eyes but picked them up. After that, they all fell silent again.
"He could have gone to apologize and tried to set things right," said Zoro, who, to everyone's surprise, was sober.
"A person in that state isn't capable of making the right choice," Robin sighed. "Remember me."
"Or me," Ace added, sending a chill down Luffy's spine.
His brother is going to finish him off, Sabo thought, and slammed his mug loudly on the table. He needed to get everyone to go to sleep, so the pain would ease just a little for each of them. He himself wanted to bury himself in bed, away from all eyes, and finally shed his tears. But for the sake of his brothers, he could endure a little longer.
"He'll come back," Luffy's confident voice rang out. "I know he will."
"Yeah, Luffy. He'll come back," Ace ruffled his hair.
No one believed him. But they had no other option left except hope.