Before he could even get the chance to question if what he witnessed was true or a trick of the light, Franky spun around with Luffy in his arms, finding the silhouette of a man standing in front of them.
The Cyborg immediately identified who the man was and reacted to his words with a heavy heart, finding it hard to believe that such a cold-blooded threat could come out of a man who he considered a younger brother.
"Sanji? Is that really you, man? No way.. What did you do to yourself?"
He asked, casually approaching the man.
Seeing this, Sanji raised his leg in the air and stood in a fighting stance, willing to harm anyone or anything that posed as a threat to him or his Captain.
"That's not the right answer to the question I gave you before, bikini bastard. Just what on earth happened in here?"
The masked man spoke, answering Franky's question with a question of his own which lead to more confusion from the Shipwright.
"I just did what you asked. When Luffy woke up, he started-"
Franky stopped talking when Luffy interrupted his speech with a sorrowful sniffle.
"Going like that. He started gasping for air like crazy! It scared the living daylights outta me, man. I've never seen him this way before."
His explanation was a perfect description of Luffy's current state, so Sanji knew that the person who was holding Luffy in his arms was, indeed, Franky.
Because of this, he nodded his head and
held his arms out to the blue haired Cyborg.
"I'll take care of him from here. I told him not to watch that damn scary movie."
Sanji sighed in an annoyed manner, waiting for Franky to pass Luffy onto his arms.
"Just what type of movie did you watch?"
The Shipwright questioned, wiggling his eyebrows at the Cook who was currently carrying Luffy back to his bed.
Franky continued walking behind him until Sanji turned around to face him.
"What type? One of the scariest you'll ever see."
There was no expression to be seen, as the mysterious man had a black mask over his face, covering his mouth. Yet in his eyes and in his voice, Franky captured a hint of sarcasm at the end of his sentence.
"In fact, I'd say that the movie he watched was a living nightmare for the actor to endure."
"Really? Why do you say that? Were there realistic acting scenes?"
Franky asked, interested in the details of the movie that Sanji was describing to him.
Sanji's vision then drifted off to Luffy, yet Franky didn't realize this since the man had a set of dark sunglasses over his face.
He stared at the brunette for what felt like forever, seeing how lifeless his facial expressions were as he focused on the roof above his head, often forgetting to blink in the midst of emphasizing on the thoughts that lingered on his mind.
Thoughts that were impossible for Sanji to read, yet easy for him to understand clearly, without an explanation.
He could sense the anguish behind Luffy's eyes, even though the young man wasn't showing any signs of being injured.
"Yeah.. At the end of the movie, it even states that it was based off on a true story."
The man told Franky, keeping his eyes set on his Captain in a respectful manner, hoping that he would be able to cover up for the way Luffy reacted to Franky after he was startled by him.
"What was the movie called?"
After asking this, Sanji looked back at his friend and walked outside with him, insisting that he needed to let the Captain rest.
"I'll have to find it later on. I forgot what it was called, since I fell asleep halfway through the whole thing. Luffy ended up watching most of it on his own."
The Cook lied, wrapping his arm around the Shipwright's shoulder while escorting him out of Luffy's bedroom.
"Dang, so that's why he reacted to me that way. He must've mistook me for some kind of monster that he saw in the movie, poor little dude. I feel bad for him."
The emotional Cyborg man felt his eyes welling up after he remembered how vulnerable his Captain looked when he carried him in his arms.
"He'll be fine, don't sweat it. And thanks for watching him for us, Franky. Just don't tell anyone about this... Luffy might feel embarrassed."
Sanji said, making it clear to Franky that what happened back at the Captain's bedroom would remain a secret in between the three of them.
"Understood. Need me to help ya' out with something else?" Franky responded.
"Not for now, but I'll let you know. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask me. I'd be glad to return the favor you did for me, back there."
Sanji spoke through his black mask, smiling behind it.
"I wasn't gonna ask, but I'm dying to know, man. When did you change your look?"
Franky asked, sounding more enthusiastic than before.
"My look? This is just my stealth black suit. I don't use it often but... Drastic times calls for drastic measures, you know?"
Sanji divulged, letting out a casual laugh.
"Does the suit include a wig?"
Franky's inquiry felt odd to the Cook, so he questioned him on the matter.
"No, it doesn't. And even if it would, I certainly wouldn't wear something as ridiculous as that!"
The Cook laughed, once again.
"Then what's up with your hair? You look like a totally different person, Sanji. It suits you, though! It looks suuuuper-"
"What?"
Sanji asked after he failed to understand what the older man was referring to when he spoke about his hair.
"My... Hair? But I haven't..."
He left Franky behind to find the bathroom that was closest to them, at the time.
Assuring himself that no one was inside of it, Sanji walked right in and turned the lights on.
As soon as he did that, he turned to face a large mirror that was mounted on the wall.
The man in the reflection wasn't even the shadow of what Sanji looked like.
His dark sunglasses fell into the sink after he got a closer look at himself in the mirror, nervously guiding his hands up to his face.
His normal pale blue eyes that were dim had gone through an unexpected change and were now a renewed tone of electric blue.
The color was vibrant, very intense, and almost blinding to stare at.
So much that Sanji himself had to look away for a second to process the fact that his eye color was even brighter now.
But his eyes weren't the biggest of his concerns, at the moment.
He glided his hands over the top of his head to feel through his strands of hair, wondering two different things.
"Who the hell am I? And... Why is my hair so dark!?"
~~~
