Guardian of the Destined (As You Wish)

Twenty-Eight: Cook-off

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Sanji was waiting patiently for the other cooks to finish. The ingredients left behind, however, were already enough to cook a healthier and fuller meal than what they were preparing.

What a pity.

They were actually competent enough, but here they were trying to impress Luffy and himself. Luffy is easily impressionable. Cook up a decent meal and he'd be head over heels with it. Him? Not so much.

They apparently take them for two chefs from marine H.Q. Heh. Lucky.

Moving on, they finished at a impressive speed...well, impressive to someone else. Not him.

That woman, Jessica, she's quite a rose among these uncut grasses. Cute and stern, almost like Nami-san! But she doesn't notice how wrong these chefs are going about things!

Luffy drooled at the meals prepared, but was shoved away by the rose named Jessica. Sanji's visible eye looked over the leftovers, and filled a bowl of useable greens, and inspected the bones, bits of meat still clinging on.

Setting down the greens, he picked up two chopping knives he had prepared beforehand, eves shadowed.

"What a waste..." He muttered. 'Food still ready to be eaten, only to be wasted like it had no worth.."

He fell into the familiar rhythm of cooking, ignoring the wondering murmurs of the chefs and soldiers alike.

Once he finished preparation, the knives blurred, pulverizing both guts and bones left into paste.

Cries of disbelief resounded throughout. By then, however, Sanji's attention was captured with his cooking.

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Nami and Zoro pushed open the doors to the cafeteria, expecting chaos, only to find chaos of a different kind. All the marines were found staring at something which Zoro and Nami assumed was the kitchen.

They'd already guessed what was going on. Sanji or Luffy were at the center of attention.

With Zoro's strength, he and Nami were able to squeeze in and see what was going on. As expected, Sanji was cooking. There was already a banquet worth of meals on one table. It was a cook off, they remembered.

Sanji was expertly mixing, chopping, boiling, and rolling what seemed to be the ingredients the other chefs ignored, all the while giving a monologue of his actions. The two grinned as the blonde chef did what he did best. Looking around, they found Luffy eying the other prepared meals. Everyone else, entranced by Sanji's culinary expertise, hadn't noticed, as Luffy began counting plate after plate.

The fact that The rubber man had already eaten fifteen platefuls in under half a minute didn't surprise them nearly as much as the fact that Luffy can count that high.

"Cuisine à la Carte!"

They redirected their attention to Sanji as he finished with a flourish, a meal for 100 neatly prepared on a table, not a single seasoning or drop of sauce out of place. Perfectly healthy, perfectly delicious.

There was a shocked silence as everyone stared, even Luffy had paused. But the present Strawhats weren't surprised at all. Pride filled them, even Zoro. He'd already respected the guy, but the way he'd just shown these marine chefs up was just too good.

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Sanji looked around, finally out of his cooking daze, picking up an all to familiar scent.

Out of his peripheral vision, he saw locks or orange hair and green, and had to restrain himself from both swooning and insulting his two respective  nakama. He finished his speech, lighting a cigarette.

Staring between the two sets of courses (though one was oddly smaller in quantity than the other), it was an easy pick for the marines, clambering off the the table with Sanji's course. Once one taste makes it's way onto their tongue, they barely had enough time to verbally express their opinion over the speed in which they ate.

Jessica wondered then what they would do with the other course. 'We really didn't think this th--'

"86! 87!"

She turned to the now familiar voice of the second chef(?) who was eating the other hundred servings. Two other marines were beside him, an orange haired girl (Jessica commends the girl for her bravery) and the tanned one. Both had a plate in their hands and she notices that other chef, Sanji, was it? Was making his way to them as well.

Before she could even think of the four knowing each other, a young recruit gave her a plate.

"It's really good, M'am!" They smiled brightly before returning into the crowded table.

Jessica took a tentative bite.

Damn. It was good.