His Fault | Monster Trio

27

~Flashback~

"Zoro! Sanji!"

"Where is he! Where did he go!"

"He left. He's probably long gone by now, don't worry."

"Huh?"

"W-what do you mean he left? What happened after I left the aquarium?"

"I fought with him... That's all..."

"Luffy, did he do something? Are you-"

"I'm okay. He won't ever lay a hand on me again, no matter how many times I see him, from now on."

"You might be the real Luffy, but I know something happened in this room. You don't sound normal to me at all..."

~~~

Later on that night, after their terrifying search party for Luffy came to an end, Zoro was having a drink or two with Franky, down by their bar.

The Cook still had many doubts lingering on his mind, as the look on Luffy's reddened eyes didn't fade from his memory.

Why were they even red to begin with? He never wins a fight with bloodshot eyes, even if he were to cry out of joy.

"Maybe it was just the dust in the Aquarium. Franky just needs to do a little more cleaning."

But what about the boy's pale complexion? Why was he so cold to the touch?

"It must've been the Aquarium again. Even I myself felt cold back there."

Then if everything had a proper explanation, why... Just why didn't one minor detail come to place to solve Sanji's mystery case.

"Cold skin, red eyes, but the third thing. That's the only thing that doesn't fall into place for me." He carefully thought everything out.

"Paper... The paper, of course!"

He snapped out of his train of thought, remembering he might or might not have seen Luffy toss something aside, just as he and Zoro entered the Aquarium.

Pacing impatiently down the corridors of the ship, Sanji made his way back out onto the deck where he sneakily rushed back into the Aquarium.

Coming across many dark and blinding tanks filled with beautiful fish of all sorts of species, the man tried to find the fish tank that Luffy was sitting behind.

Within the visuals his memory unveiled, the Cook could see a colorful group of betta fish surrounding every corner within a long tube tank.

Soon enough, Sanji spotted a large tubular shaped fish tank, overbrimming with beautiful, betta splendens flourishing within it.

He quickly commenced a mini scavenger hunt, in hopes of finding the infamous piece of paper that kept on infiltrating his mind, plaguing him with unhelpful thoughts.

"Where.. Where... Where could you be."

His eyes targeted every possible clue they could find: Including the very food they feed the fishes.

And no matter what, the spaces Sanji filled left no evidence of any note, whatsoever.

The man searched for such a long time, he was starting to believe that his mind had been playing tricks on him when he saw his Captain disposing of the piece of paper he had been searching for all along.

"This is pointless! It's getting darker out, if someone hears me in here, it'll raise suspicions and that's the last thing I need." He grunted.

Lowering his head, the man stopped searching around the Aquarium, and ultimately, admitted to defeat.

Dragging the bottom of his shoes against the slippery marble floor, Sanji made a new discovery: Something was stuck to his leather black loafers.

Lifting his shoes up, he found what he had been looking for all along.

"The paper!"

Before he could take a moment to relax and officially put an end to his investigation, the Cook took a closer look at the paper.

There was nothing written on the front, neither was there something written on the back.

Clinging to the plain piece of paper in his hand, Sanji could barely hold onto it without being dragged around the Aquarium.

"Is there a magnet attached to this?" He jokingly spoke to himself.

The culinarian man's hand flinched when someone held it, snatching the paper away from his grip as if it were a ticking time bomb.

"I must've lost it when you and Zoro came here to get me, nishi-shi!"

A dark haired boy with a light straw hat giggled with an odd noise emitting from his voice.

Discarding the sound he had made, Sanji stared directly at the boy, questioning him about the paper.

"Oh, this? I got a little bored when I was in here before and started to doodle on random pieces of paper I found lying around. I think they're Nami's, but don't tell her about it. She'll get mad at me." The boy smiled.

But his story was far from convincing to the older man. If anything, he was almost certain that Luffy was hiding something.

"Luffy, this isn't any regular piece of paper, is it?" He raised an eyebrow at the younger.

"No, it is. See?" The boy waved the small paper in the air, using a rather tight grip on it.

"Then draw on it." Sanji looked down at a pocket in his suit where he tends to keep a handkerchief within.

On this occasion, he happened to have a pen with him.

"Here." Handing the inked pen to the young boy, Luffy shook his head at him.

"I already drew enough today. Plus, I'm reeeeally sleepy." Luffy insisted, letting out a long yawn.

"Before you go to sleep, why don't you draw one thing on here. Just- Just one. Then, you can sleep all you want." Sanji requested.

"One thing can be anything, right?"

"Anything." The man nodded at his Captain, who appeared to be a bit weak while standing up.

Sanji couldn't help but to notice how shaky his hands were after he took the pen in between his thumb and index finger.

To his surprise, when he pressed the pen against the paper, the ink wouldn't come out.

"It won't write." The young man stated, preparing to let go of the pen.

"It should be able to write, it's a new pen. Try pressing it with a little more force."

Following Sanji's directions, Luffy attempted to doodle on the paper again.

"It won't write." He repeated, with less enthusiasm than before.

"That's impossible. Look, I can even draw on it using my own hand as a paper." Sanji took the pen in his hands, scribbling a heart on the left side of his palm.

"I can't write." Luffy gritted his teeth, letting his hand go limp on either end of his figure.

"That's new..."

Luffy started breathing heavily, clenching his fist in front of the older man.

His unexpected actions made Sanji grow concerned.

"Hey, you alright?"

"Get away from me! Get away!!"

Without warning, Luffy's legs soon gave out from underneath him, making him descend to the ground.

The atmosphere grew dense within the Aquarium as his body was suspended in the air by a pair of gentle hands.

"Landing on the floor would hurt less than being in your grip right now, Sanji..."

~~~