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Binge eating disorder is characterized by compulsively eating large amounts of food in a short period of time. But like everything in the world, there are two sides to every coin. Just as there are people who have episodes of binge eating, there are people who can't eat anything at all.
People who spend a week on a diet of water and a packet of biscuits have nothing to do with aesthetic issues or anything like that. In the case of aesthetics, the person develops Anorexia or Bulimia, which are characterized by eating and then vomiting the food or not eating at all, but that wasn't what happened to the cook of the next pirate king's crew.
Unlike people with Anorexia or Bulimia, the cook had no obsession with his body. On the contrary, he thought he was handsome enough and didn't care who disagreed. He simply didn't eat. I didn't feel hungry, I didn't know why, I simply didn't feel it.
His brain told him to eat, his stomach warned him that he needed to eat, his body gave signals that it needed strength... but no hunger. No appetite. When he sat down at the table to eat, he couldn't; he spent more time talking or fidgeting with his food than actually eating. In any case, he always ended up handing his plate to the straw hat boy, Luffy.
At a certain point, he just gave up trying, he got used to not eating. He didn't even try to seek help; what would he say to the reindeer? "I don't know why I don't eat? I know I have to eat, but I don't want to." So he preferred to just accept it.
Besides, it wasn't even that bad. It was always temporary, sometimes lasting three days, a week, two months... it changed each time. When it ended, it simply went back to normal, nothing more. I had no reason to start or end it... it just happened.
That was already routine for the blond, just another normal day. The only unusual thing about his day was having his daily kitchen cleaning interrupted by the swordsman, Roronoa Zoro.
"What do you want, you idiot marimo?" Ten minutes had passed since the swordsman had stood in the doorway watching the cook wash the dishes.
"How many days?" Zoro said bluntly. Direct, straightforward, and precise, just like the cuts of his katanas.
"How many days what?" Sanji sighed, starting to dry the glasses and placing them on the shelves.
"How many days have you gone without eating?" The instant he finished speaking, the kitchen was invaded by the sound of breaking glass; Sanji had let a glass shatter on the floor.
"Shit..." He knelt down to pick up the shards, imagining all sorts of things coming from Zoro, except that question. No one had ever noticed, and if they had, they hadn't cared enough to say anything. But then the most unlikely person in the world notices and cares. Unexpected, to say the least.
"Aren't you going to answer?" Zoro asked, bending down to pick up the shards of glass.
"I don't know what you're talking about..." The cook looked away, as if doing so would miraculously make the swordsman give up. He knew it was a foolish hope; the swordsman had never given up on anything.
"Seriously, today you only drank a glass of water, yesterday too, and before that, a slice of cake..."
"You're staring at me too much, are you interested?" Sanji's voice was sharp, perhaps even a little malicious.
"Sanji... please. How many days?" That made the cook go on alert and swallow hard; it had been a good few months since he'd heard his name come out of the swordsman's mouth.
"Two days since I've eaten anything..." He replied through gritted teeth, getting up with the shards of glass in his hands, his hands bleeding. In his anxiety at the question, he didn't even notice he was squeezing the shards of glass tightly.
"And you don't eat properly?"
"Two weeks... Why do you want to know? That's none of your business, Zoro. Don't meddle in my life and I won't meddle in yours." And with that, the blond man left the kitchen with the shards of glass on the counter and his hand bleeding.
Normally, the swordsman's mind was occupied with "drinks and swords," but it had been two days since their conversation, and he could only think about that. In those two days, they hadn't spoken, there hadn't been any fights, insults... nothing. He saw that the cook ate an onigiri and nothing else; his hand was bandaged.
He probably told the doctor that he dropped a glass and cut himself cleaning it up, a partial lie. And as for himself, the swordsman is angry. Very angry with himself.
Not for a second did he think that his companion would be right in saying that it wasn't his problem, they were companions after all. But he didn't know what to do to help, he didn't even know what the problem was. He thought about talking to Robin about it, but gave up on the idea imagining how angry the blond would be if he found out. But honestly, he didn't know what to do, he wanted to talk to the blond but didn't even know what to say. The blond seemed fine, in general he wasn't depressed or anything.
Problematic cook... that's what the swordsman thought. But one thing he was sure of, he had to do something. Now, what would he do? When someone is upset, what would the other members of the crew do? Luffy would joke around, Nami would give gifts, Robin would give advice and so on... each Straw Hat had their own way of cheering people up. Finally, Sanji, he was making a drink and giving good advice.
Yes... that was a good start, he would make tea for the blond. Today was the perfect day for that, the day Sanji was watching the ship. The plan was perfect, he would go to the kitchen and make tea, get some biscuits, a blanket, take everything to the crow's nest and Sanji would open up to him and tell him everything that happened. The plan had some small problems: He didn't know how to make tea, he didn't know where the biscuits were kept and he didn't know how to get the blond to talk... otherwise, it was a great plan. At least he knew where the blankets were kept.
The result, he arrived at the crow's nest with tea that looked more like lukewarm water, a stale biscuit, two blankets and a good intention.
As soon as Zoro arrived at the crow's nest he was faced with a sight that he could only describe as dazzling. Sanji was staring at the sky with a cigarette between his lips, the smoke coming out of his mouth and dissipating in the wind. The cook's dress shirt was slightly open and the sleeves rolled up, but his pants were perfectly creased and fitted. The night breeze made his blond hair fly in a disorderly fashion, making his two eyes visible. The dark blue tone of the night made Sanji's eyes seem even brighter, as if they monopolized all the stars there.
"Seaweed Brain... did you come to have a pajama party?" Sanji asked without even looking in the swordsman's direction.
"Sit down." Zoro ordered as he spread a blanket on the ground.
"I'm not in the mood for a picnic... go to sleep or drink, just stop bothering me." Sanji said irritably, finally looking at Zoro. His expression softened as soon as he saw what the swordsman was carrying, but he soon frowned again.
"Cook, sit down."
"And why, moss-head?"
"Because I'm asking you nicely, Sanji." Sanji's pupils dilated and he gave in.
"You've been saying my name too much this week, grass." He grumbled, sitting down.
"Here. This too." Zoro hands the cup and the plate of biscuits to the cook and then throws the blanket over his shoulders, finally sitting down next to him.
"What is this, dirty water?"
Sanji shook the cup, trying to identify what it contained. The water was murky with a brownish color and small black dots floating in it. He didn't dare to smell it to try to figure it out by the aroma.
"It's tea... I just don't know what kind."
"Sure... and now?"
"I don't know... I've only thought up to this point." He shrugs, he had thought he would finish the plan on the way to the crow's nest. Spoiler alert: he didn't.
An awkward silence stretched between the two. Sanji stared at the sky and wondered what the swordsman wanted to talk about. He already imagined it would be about his diet, but what exactly? That wasn't his business. Would he ask if it would hinder the cook's strength in fights? If that were the case, Sanji would feel more offended than anything. He would never do something that could harm his crew.
"Are you going to improvise?" Sanji brings the cup to his mouth and grimaces; it tasted like dirty water.
"I will... Look, you know you have to eat to stay alive, right?" The other nodded. "Then why aren't you eating?"
"Why would I tell you that?" He shrank back a little, putting the cup and plate aside.
"I owe you a favor, anything." That was all he had to offer, nothing more and nothing less. His tone sounded desperate, because he was.
"It's tempting... anything?"
"Anything." He confirmed once more, now losing his patience. "And then, why?"
"I don't know... I just don't want to. When I think about eating, my stomach churns and all the desire to eat goes away... I don't know why, I don't know what to do..." The blond spoke with a faltering voice while squeezing his arm tightly. "It's desperate."
"Sanji..."
"I try, but I look at the food and I can't. When I put the food in my mouth it's like chewing gum... Zoro, I don't know what to do." By this point he was already crying, but it wasn't a loud cry, it was a silent and desperate cry.
The swordsman's reaction was quick and immediate, hugging the cook tightly.
"It's okay... we'll figure it out." That simple phrase made the blond cry even more, he had spent so much time keeping it to himself, afraid of what other people would say after hearing those words.
Sanji completely lost track of time in that hug. He just focused on crying. At a certain point he didn't even know why he was crying, he was just letting all the feelings flow.
"I really don't know what's wrong with me." Sanji finally said, pulling away from the hug, but not enough to get out of Zoro's arms.
"There's nothing wrong with you, idiot." Zoro retorted. "You're just going through a difficult phase and we'll solve it together."
A few more seconds of silence stretched out, but this time it was Zoro who was staring at the sky. He went to the crow's nest hoping to get answers about why the cook wasn't okay, but discovered that not even Sanji himself knew why. He looked away from the sky and began to look down, and he met the blond staring at him with eyes brighter than all the stars combined.
"Zoro..." Sanji spoke in a weak voice, almost a whisper.
"Yes?"
"Can I stay here a little longer?" - He asked, sinking deeper into the embrace, wanting to enjoy the comfortable moment a little longer. He felt safe there... it was good.
"You can stay as long as you want." - The swordsman replied, hugging him tighter.
And so the night passed, eventually they ended up sleeping embraced in the crow's nest. Tea and biscuits were eaten for breakfast; incidentally, the blond made a point of complimenting the tea to the green-haired man.
Had Sanji improved? Yes and no, sometimes he still feels aversion just at the idea of touching food, but now he had a marimo to help him. Sometimes we just need someone to support us, and Sanji had found his.