Chapter 5: The New Chore Boy
Oh my god all the fav and follows and it's only been a day! *squeals*
I decided to give you this chapter before I go to the beach for the week. I might be able to update there, but if not, enjoy this!
Enter, the Straw Hats!
I woke up to a loud crash. Another afternoon nap ruined. I don't know why I even bother anymore with how rowdy this place gets. I get up and decide to head to the kitchen; the smell of food usually helped keep me awake for the rest of the day and however late into the night we had to go.
As I walked down the hall towards the stairs I saw a bunch of chefs dragging a kid towards Zeff's room. I guess that kid was the source of the crash. I couldn't get a good look at him so I just went on my way; Zeff would take care of him no problem like he always did.
I trot down the stairs when I hear the unmistakable sound of tiny running feet.
"There it is!"
"Haha! You're mine Pikachu!"
On instinct I do a backflip just as two small bodies tackle the spot where I was standing. I land and take off running; holding back is not an option for these two! Without hesitation the two boys spring up and give chase. The regular customers and chefs all move accordingly as we zoom by while newcomers get the surprise of their lives. I'm gonna kill whoever came up with this rumor. Catch the mouse, get a prize!
I run by Sanji and I can see him laughing at me. I swear if he's the culprit, even he won't be spared from my wrath. I eventually zoom up the stairs and into the kitchen, expertly avoiding the feet of the other chefs inside until I get to the back wall. I lean against it and sigh in relief; home free.
I wait a few minutes before exiting the kitchen and find Sanji heading back down the stairs, a bottle of wine in his hand. I follow him down and stick to his side; if I stuck with a chef or stayed in the kitchen, the kids knew not to mess with me. Sanji walks to a table and pours the wine for a couple, a pretty blonde lady and a pink haired guy who, for some reason had iron around his knuckles. I swear, the weirdos that walk into this place never fail to entertain me.
The couple sips their wine and the man smiles and holds up his hand. "This flavor…" he smells the glass. "And the aroma...it's the unmistakable scent of the soil of Meeko from the northland; littered with plenty of body and just a tad sour!"
I frown. This guy was starting to weird me out. He goes on and names the wine and everyone is staring at him with impressive looks. Was guessing wine names that big a deal? It's just wine people...
The guy looks up at Sanji, "Tell me waiter, am I right?"
Sanji nearly slams the bottle on the table and takes off the towel. "Nope. Not even close, sir." I cover my mouth with my paw to hide a snicker. The look on this guy's face is hilarious! Sanji grips the man's wrist and places a spoon in his hand. "Now eat up, this dish is best when hot." Sanji turns and leaves with me following. "And my name's Sanji, I'm the Sous chef." he adds. "All the waiters ran off as of yesterday."
I sigh silently as we ascend the stairs; you would think that those waiters would be used to all the scuffles in this place. But they should have known what they were getting into when they applied for the job.
"What an asshole…" Sanji mutters. I look up at him and suddenly smile knowingly. He looks down at me and smirks, "I had a feeling that guy knew nothing about wine when he ordered a specific flavor."
I laugh and follow him into the kitchen. That certainly made up for being chased by little brats again; I needed a good laugh. I watch as Sanji prepares another dish and follow him back outside, glancing around for anymore potential chasers. I sigh in relief; it seems that the kids from earlier have left and the only kids left were older and most likely, mature enough to keep from seeing me as a moving target.
I finally break from Sanji and wander around the restaurant, making sure no one has any trouble. I notice someone has finished their drink and see another chef nearby. I tug on his pant leg causing him to look down at me. "What is it?" he asks.
"Pika." I point to the customer with the empty glass. The chef gives me a smile and walks over to the table to attend him. I'm not just a guard dog; I also alert the chefs around if a customer needs something.
For a few minutes, I wander around, sometimes accompanying Sanji or letting some customers pet me. The petting is annoying because it really hammers in the whole pet thing, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel good.
I'm trotting next to Sanji when a loud familiar voice is heard. "Hey waiter! Get over here!"
Sanji and I stop and turn towards the voice. It's the guy who was obsessed with wine. Sanji and I walk over and I try not to shudder from the presence Sanji is giving off. His patience is already wearing thin with this guy. "I thought I already told you." Sanji says lowly. "I'm not a waiter." His eyes then fall on Wine Guy's date and he leans towards her. "What an irresistible beauty you are." he says coolly, placing his hand on hers. "Would you care to join me elsewhere for a glass of wine?"
Normally I would roll my eyes but I realize that he's actually holding back. He's normally much more, uh...flamboyant around girls; this time he was actually acting pretty suave and tame. I notice Wine Guy's eyes narrow; ah, I get it, he's intentionally pissing the guy off. This oughta be good.
Wine Guy slams his hand on the table, "What is this?" he demands, pointing at his soup. "Is Bug Soup on the menu today or did you make it just for me?"
"Bug Soup?" Sanji asks. I smell sabotage.
"That's right, what's this bug doing there, waiter?" Wait, I know this one! The punchline is 'the backstroke', right?
"Well honestly, I'm not sure, but he looks like he's floating." Sanji says. "Then again, it looks like it could be drowning." I have to cover both my paws to hide my laugh this time; that was ten times funnier! I stop laughing as Wine Guy roars and splits the whole table in half with his fist. His date stands up abruptly and everyone is silent.
My eyes go to the floor where the soup has spilled and Sanji kneels over it silently; oh boy, that guy was gonna get it now. "You could have eaten it if you had taken the bug out." Sanji growls. "It took three whole days to make this soup and you wasted it."
Rule number one around Sanji: never ever waste food if you value your life.
I wince as Wine guy steps on Sanji's hand, yelling at him. He even throws his date to the ground for trying to reason with him. "I'm the customer here; I'm paying you!" Now that guy was as good as dead, and honestly, I was looking forward to it. A jerk like that didn't deserve to get off easy, and Sanji would give him the kick he needed, literally.
A split second later, Sanji is holding the guy up by the neck, blood dripping from his face. Woven like a quilt. I smirk while everyone else stares in horror; Sanji always knew how to treat the bad customers.
"Dammit Sanji, not again!" I groan and roll my eyes as Patty approaches him. "What are you doing to our customer?"
Sanji simply glances at him. "Who wants to know, you shitty cook?" he retorts. Oh boy, here we go…
Patty starts his inevitable 'customers are our lifeblood' speech and I just want to rip my ears off. But Sanji answers, probably shutting out the whole speech beforehand like me. "He was disrespectful to the food and the cooks." he says, letting Wine guy drop. "So I simply taught him a lesson." I cross my front paws and nod firmly, agreeing wholeheartedly. That guy was a jerk, who cares if he was with the military or Marines or whatever.
Wine Guy speaks up again. "I'll shut you down." he says dangerously. "You hear me; you're finished!"
Oh dear…
"Then maybe I should just finish you off first." Sanji answers. I grab onto his ankle as the rest of the cooks struggle to hold him back while he yells and swears at Wine Guy. If looks could kill, Wine Guy would be long dead; actually Sanji would be a mass murderer if that was true.
My ears twitch as there's another crash and two bodies fall through the ceiling. Geez, how much more abuse could this old place take? I look and realize that it's Zeff and some other kid wearing a straw hat; wasn't that the same kid who was responsible for the earlier crash? Zeff and the straw hat kid start yelling when one of the chefs point out Sanji who's still being held back. I can already smell the argument brewing, pun intended.
"Sanji, you idiot; you're on another rampage?" Zeff demands.
"Shut it old man!" Sanji retorts. Of course, Sanji's actions get him a good pegleg to the face, but Wine Guy gets a kick too so I'd say that justice has been served.
Zeff then looks at me. "Rodent; show this man out if he causes any more trouble." I grin evilly and face him, sparks flying from my cheeks. Wine guy stares at me, trembling under my gaze. I'm almost hoping that he causes more trouble; I'm itching to rain lightning on this punk!
Just then another guy appears in the doorway, I think he's a Marine, since it says that on his hat. He yells something about someone escaping, someone from a crew by a guy named Don Kreig? I listen as everyone mutters fearfully; I pick up phrases like how fearsome he was and how dangerous. The Marine tries to say something else but a gunshot rings out making me flinch and he falls down dead.
A thin man that actually looks exhausted and injured slowly enters the restaurant. So this guy was a pirate? I look up at Sanji but he doesn't seem too worried. For some reason, his confidence helps me to keep from being scared too. If I know that Sanji isn't scared, then I shouldn't be either; it was reassuring.
The pirate sits down and asks for food so Patty goes right up to take his order with that big creepy smile. "Hello you damn crook!" I shudder; his face can be super scary sometimes. "Might I ask how you're paying for your meal?"
The pirate responds by holding his pistol to Patty's face. Typical. "Will a bullet be enough?" he asks, but Patty isn't threatened at all.
"So you don't have any money." he states and immediately crushes the pirate's chair. I roll my eyes along with Zeff; we were gonna run out of chairs at this rate. I frown as I hear the pirate's stomach grumble loudly; boy, the guy must really be hungry. I can't help but feel a little guilty as Patty blatantly refuses to give the pirate any food. I thought Zeff's policy was that if someone's hungry then they're a customer. I don't remember him saying that payment always applied.
I look up as Sanji suddenly walks off so I follow. He goes into the kitchen, pulls out a knife, and gathers necessary ingredients. I sigh; I should have known that Sanji would go soft on that guy, but I can't help but smile slightly. As usual, the food smells great and Sanji brings it out of the kitchen. I follow him towards the back door where Patty had thrown the guy out.
I make to follow him but he sticks his foot out, blocking my path. "Keep watch for me, would ya?" he asks. I look up at him and nod. I turn and place myself a few yards from the door, keeping an eye out for anyone suspicious. If they were caught, that pirate wouldn't get any food.
I wasn't worried about Sanji being fired, it was clear that he would stay here for life if he wanted. If he and Zeff didn't have the special relationship that they did, he would have been fired a long time ago.
After a while, all the chefs are back in the kitchen and making no move to check on the pirate they just threw out. I guess it was safe to leave my post. I wandered through the restaurant for a while, nothing really exciting happening until I spy Sanji heading to his room. Odd; shouldn't he be cooking with the others?
I follow him and watch as he sits on his bed, staring at the open window as he takes a long drag, very deep in thought. He doesn't notice my presence until I jump onto the bed next to him. "Pikachu?" I ask.
"Don't worry, the pirate ate and left." he says without looking at me.
I give him a slight frown. 'That's not what I'm asking, stupid.' I tap his leg lightly; I'm not leaving until I get a straight answer.
Sanji smirks and looks at me directly. "Can't get anything past you, can I?" he looks back at the wall. "The Chore Boy in the straw hat asked me to join his pirate crew." he states simply. "The kid's a pirate; who knew, right?"
My ears perk up in surprise. So Chore Boy was a pirate, huh? That would explain the way he acted. A crash was heard from the kitchen followed by Chore Boy's yells, punctuating my thoughts. But still, he had asked Sanji to join his crew?
Sanji sees the question in my gaze and sighs. "I turned him down, of course." he says. "I can't leave this place, not yet."
I frown even more. I can barely hear the conflict in his voice. Sanji wants to leave, I know it; how else is he going to find the All Blue if he stays in a restaurant for the rest of his life? It's clear to me that Zeff is what's holding him back. He still feels obligated to him. I don't blame him for feeling that way, but there's only so much you can do to repay a debt that probably can't even be repaid in the first place.
I wanted Sanji to chase his dreams; I loved the way he lit up whenever he talked about the All Blue and traveling the sea. But only he could decide that, there was no way I could force him. 'I wish I could speak your language.'
Sanji gets up after a few more moments of silence. "C'mon Pika-chan." he says. "We've got work to do."
I jump on his shoulder and we exit the room. Sanji and I can hear the crashes still coming from the kitchen so we smartly decide to avoid it. Sanji goes around taking orders while I wander around to entertain the kids or younger guests. At some point in time, I'm snickering from my perch on Sanji's shoulder at a customer while Sanji flirts with the man's girlfriend when there's a loud crash followed by laughter and yelling.
Sanji and I look up to see Chore Boy on the ground with three people laughing loudly at him. "Aren't they quaint?" he mutters to me. "I wonder if that's the rest of his crew."
"Pika?" So those guys were pirates too? There's a guy with swords and green hair, a guy with a long nose, and a red haired girl- Oh no...
I smack my face as Sanji puts down the bottle of wine he's pouring, brings out a flower and begins flirting with the red haired girl. I jump off his shoulder with a loud irritated sigh; I should be used to this, but his timing was ridiculous. I face him in surprise as he suddenly blurts out that he would gladly become a pirate if it meant sailing with her, but an obstacle stood in his way.
As if on cue, I hear a peg leg behind us. "And that obstacle would be me, right?"
I turn and face Zeff as Sanji (thankfully) snaps out of his love-induced daze. "Shitty geezer…" he mutters.
"This is an opportunity you don't want to pass up Sanji." Zeff says. "Why not become a pirate and sail with them." Sanji whirls around and my eyes widen. Was he serious right now, or was I hallucinating? "I have no need to keep you here."
I swore my jaw dropped to the floor. Was this seriously happening? Zeff was actually throwing Sanji out? Sanji?
Sanji was apparently thinking the same thing and he wasn't happy at all. "What's that supposed to mean, old man?" he asks dangerously. Oh boy, it was about to go down, I could already tell.
I listen as Zeff begins to list off all the reasons. "You fight with customers all the time, you flirt with any woman under eighty who comes in here," Well, that was true, no point in denying that… "And you're a terrible chef." I bristle at that. That was a flat out lie! Sanji's food was the best and everyone knew it! I didn't care that he was the Boss, I wouldn't let him insult Sanji's food like that!
I hear snickering and I look up to see that it belonged to all the other chefs. I could feel my blood starting to boil as I grit my teeth and stared up at them. "Pika-chan." I heard Sanji say to me softly, warning lacing his tone.
I flinch slightly as I realize that I'm on all fours and sparks were flying dangerously from my cheeks. I was on the verge of electrocuting the whole restaurant. My anger could really get the better of me sometimes...but that didn't mean that these guys didn't deserve it right now! I growl softly as I stop my electricity and Zeff smirks down at me. He better be grateful that I was doing what Sanji said for now.
Sanji slowly walks towards Zeff, a dangerous glare in his eyes. Lets just say I'm not the only one who hates it when someone trashes Sanji's cooking. "I'll let everything else you said slide, but I won't let you insult my cooking!" he snaps grabbing Zeff by the collar. "I'm staying here and that's final! Got it you old geezer?"
Well, this wasn't going to end well. I cringed as Zeff throws Sanji across the room and he lands on the pirates' table with a loud crash. The pirates managed to save their food, but the table toppled over easily. I knew he was fine, he took abuse like this on a daily basis, but I still go over to his side regardless.
"I don't care what you say…" Sanji says softly. "I'm not leaving until you're dead and gone!"
Zeff scoffs and walks away. "Please, I've got a hundred years left in me to kick your ass." he retorts.
A small smile pulls at my face as I sigh along with Sanji. "Always has to have the last laugh."
"Pika…" I agree. But still, that argument was definitely more serious than the others they'd had. I knew that deep down Zeff cared for Sanji, like he was his son, so why was he so keen to throw him out all of a sudden?
Chore Boy suddenly appears and places his hand on Sanji's shoulder. "See? He said it's cool, now you can join my crew!"
"Shut up!" Sanji yells. Boy, this kid was really keen on getting Sanji to join up.
I roll my eyes as Sanji readjusts the table and starts flirting with the red haired girl pirate again. I swear, if there's a girl around, this guy can't stay serious for more than three seconds.
"Ooh, what are you?"
My eyes widen as something wraps around my tail. I let out a cry, catching Sanji's attention as I'm lifted into the air by Chore Boy. He brings me close to his face, examining me at an uncomfortably close level. "Are you some kind of rat?" he asks.
I let out a growl and Sanji's eyes widen. "Uh, I wouldn't do that if I were you..." he warns.
However, it's too late; I have to let out the anger from earlier somehow. Without thinking twice, I let loose, unleashing my fury on Chore Boy and the swordsman next to him. Once I'm done, Swordsman falls to the floor twitching but...wait a minute, how is Chore Boy still holding me?! He grins down at me; he doesn't have a scratch on him! How was this possible?!
"You're a weird rat!" he comments as if nothing happened. I give him a sharp glare but he finally lets go of me.
"What the hell was that?!" I jump as the swordsman gets up and glares daggers at me. However, I make it clear that I'm not in the mood to be messed with. 'Don't try anything with those swords of yours buddy!'
Sanji laughs, "That's just what you get for grabbing Pika-chan's tail." I turn away stiffly to prove my point and head on my way. This whole day has just been one disaster after another and I needed a break.
I can't help but snicker as Sanji drags Chore Boy to another part of the restaurant. Zeff and Sanji were gonna work that kid to the bone and I have a feeling it will be quite enjoyable to watch.
And thus, the Baratie arc is now in full swing!
Also, I'm gonna bring this up now while I'm thinking about it; I only plan to do a handful of the movies. They're technically non-canon so it really doesn't matter if I include them or not, but they're a lot of fun and Pika-chan's involvement could make some cool scenes. So far, 'Strong World' and 'Film Z' are definitely on the to-do list, so if you want to see Pika-chan in any movies from Clockwork Island (Movie 2) onward, speak up now!
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