Politically Correct Ch.16
Exciting Things Happening in My Life Include (but are not limited to):
Graduating from University in less than a month.
Moving to Japan not long after for the next 1-5 years (Placement as of yet unknown)
Title: Politically Correct
Rating: T
Word Count: 2,893
Pairing: Zoro x Sanji
Summary: AU set in the San Francisco Bay Area Nami has decided that she's tired of Sanji constantly chasing after girls only to be taken advantage of & decides to take a more active role in Sanji committing to a Real Relationship.
Disclaimer: One Piece = Eiichiro Oda =/= me.
Notes: That line in french means 'But of course!' I have made a conscious effort to not have all of Sanji's exclamations be in the little French I know, but well, am occasionally failing.
[Previous Chapters]
jifjifjifjifjifjifjifjifjifjif
Sanji hadn’t been surprised when he had found two suited-up men standing at his door.
He hadn’t been surprised when they had refused to answer his inquiries regarding their destination.
He also hadn’t been surprised when they’d pulled out guns after he had refused to take a single step until the men had divulged some information regarding the auction.
Sanji hadn’t been surprised. But he had been disappointed.
Sanji set his foot back down and stepped over the beaten and unconscious body now sprawled on the floor in front of him. He locked eyes with the remaining suit-clad goon a few feet away sitting on the floor with his back pressed to the wall, chest heaving with each breath. Sanji squatted in front of the man and took a moment to blow a decent-sized cloud of smoke his would-be kidnapper’s face. The man coughed, clutching at his sides in pain before taking a long look down the dimly lit hallway of Sanji’s apartment complex.
Sanji leaned forward and scowled. “You know, I was looking forward to this. For the chance to meet my ‘imposter’.” He crushed his cigarette on the floor. “Instead,” Sanji stood up and dusted himself off, “they send two completely incompetent fucks to pick me up.” He jabbed the elevator’s call button and waited for the familiar ding of the lift’s arrival. Sanji looked back at the broken man on the floor. “The fuck are you waiting for? Aren’t you supposed to be chauffeuring me to that bullshit charity auction?” He stepped into the elevator and pushed the close door button. “Don’t forget to grab your friend on the way to the stairs.”
XXXXXXXX
Zoro stared up at the wooden planks of the Franky House ceiling. He had snapped awake just a few minutes before, hands gripping his swords and muscles tensed to react, before relaxing at the sight of Franky standing by the lit screen of Nami’s laptop. His bulky friend had a slight frown on his face, arms crossed and a steaming mug of (what smelled like) coffee clutched in one hand. Zoro hadn’t bothered to get up and ask Franky about his progress with Nami’s laptop; he knew that his friend would inform him if and when anything of interest was found.
Usopp, apparently, did not.
“Hey, Franky, have you found anything yet?”
Zoro let out a low sigh before slipping out of the confines of the top bank he had hidden himself away in and stretched his arms above his head as he strolled out into the open expanse of the barely lit Franky House work room. Usopp was perched on a stool peering at the glowing screen over Franky’s shoulder. They both glanced up at Zoro as he let out a loud yawn.
“What time is it?”
Franky’s eyes flicked back to the screen, “nearly three in the morning.” The corners of his mouth quirked up as he glimpsed Zoro rolling his shoulders back before rubbing at his neck. “You know, as a man, I understand the call of the seas and the attraction of sleeping in the bunks of a newly built ship, what with the smell of freshly cut lumber, but did you really have to choose the one bunk that didn’t have the bedding installed yet?”
Zoro made his way over to the kitchen area and poured a cup of the dark bitter coffee for himself. “It’s really not that much different from camping. A flat surface is a flat surface.” Zoro proceeded to settle himself on the floor, back against the wall. Franky honestly couldn’t tell whether Zoro was stubbornly emphasizing his point or if the swordsman simply couldn’t be bothered to pull up his own chair.
“What’s Nami doing with all these encrypted files on her laptop anyways?” Franky’s attention turned back to the screen, nearly poking his cheek on Usopp’s nose as his curious friend inched closer, chin nearly resting on Franky’s shoulder.
“I have no idea, bro. But the fact that it’s file-system level encryption and not full disk encryption means we’ve got to deal with the possibility of multiple recovery encryption keys instead of just the one.” Franky absentmindedly rubbed at his chin. “Which also means a cold boot attack won’t be particularly helpful…”
Usopp snaked an arm around Franky to reach the mousepad and clicked through the various files and folders open on the screen. “At first I thought Nami was just extremely thorough in protecting some of her clients’ files, but a lot of the encrypted data is behind a completely different partition.”
Zoro narrowed his eyes at them from where he sat. “I may not understand exactly what the hell you guys are talking about, but it sounds an awful lot like this whole thing could just be the fallout from Nami doing stupid shit with other people’s money… again.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Franky and Usopp swiveled their heads towards a hammock hanging forgotten in a darkened corner of the room. Zoro didn’t bother. He had noticed Luffy’s still form in the mesh of ropes when he had first entered the room. “What matters is that Nami and Vivi could need our help.” Luffy’s voice wasn’t particularly loud or aggressive, but it still rang out firm and steady. Even with the ever present straw hat covering his face.
“You just don’t want to lose out on all the free buffets Vivi funds.” Luffy rolled out of the hammock and onto the floor, a large smile breaking out on his face as he looked at Zoro.
“Do you think she’ll throw a Glad-You-Saved-Us! party when we find them?” Usopp joined in.
“Hey, Zoro, tell Sanji to start cooking now, so the party can start as soon as we pick up Nami and Vivi.”
“Luffy, you do realize they’re missing, right? It’s not like we’re just waiting for them to finish shopping so we can ‘pick them up’ at the mall… or something.”
Zoro let the sound of Usopp and Luffy’s relaxed conversation wash over him. It was completely out of place given just how serious the circumstances were, but simply listening to the steady and familiar vocal tones was its own odd, yet effective, form of meditation.
Until Franky’s voice cut through with a clear:
“Speaking of Sanji, what’s he up to? It’s just, I noticed he wasn’t with you guys when you first brought the laptop over and hasn’t shown up since.”
Zoro cracked his eyes open at the silence that followed. His three friends were all looking at him expectantly. He rolled his eyes before shutting them once more. “I’m not his fucking babysitter.”
They all grinned at Zoro knowingly and turned back to once again busy themselves with endless waiting and not-quite sleep.
XXXXXXXXXXX
As soon as the (stereotypically nondescript) black sedan had turned towards the Bay Bridge, Sanji had been sure that he was being taken out of the city. So he had been pleasantly surprised when his bruised chauffeurs had gotten off at the exit for Treasure Island before reaching the other side of the bay.
It took Sanji another moment to make the connection from Treasure Island to CP9 Studios and ultimately to “Vivi.” He looked out the window and waited a minute to confirm that they were indeed heading in the direction of the studio. Sanji tugged on his seatbelt until it clicked and let it retract to lock tight against his torso. Sanji had checked how much of his mobility would be restricted when he had first slid into the car. Luckily, the backseat was just roomy enough that, at the right angle, Sanji could slip both legs between the two front seats with relatively little restriction. Sanji checked the windows once more and saw that they had almost reached the particular tight curve of road he had been waiting for. Just as Goon no.1 (currently driving) began to lift his foot from the gas pedal to ease their way around the curve, Sanji reached forward, unbuckling the seatbelts of the two men in front of him, before thrusting his legs between the seats and slamming them down on the man’s knee, forcing his foot back against the pedal with a surprised shout. Sanji fought his reflex to tense and brace himself against the door and, instead, willed his limbs limp to minimize any injuries as the car flew off the road and slammed into the solid wall of a nearby warehouse.
Sanji slowly opened his eyes and assessed the resulting damage.
He turned his head, curled his fingers, and wiggled his toes. Alright. Not paralyzed. Good sign. He unbuckled his own seatbelt and carefully pulled his legs back from between the seats. Sanji reached over to the door, released the lock, and tried to push it open.
It didn’t move.
He gave it another shove before going to the other door and failing to open it as well. Sanji turned back to the front cab (glaring at the lit child safety lock indicator on the dash) and pulled the passenger seat lever, giving it room to recline all the way back. Sanji clambered over Goon no.2, who let out a pained moan as Sanji’s knee pressed on his stomach (Not dead, then.) and tried the passenger-side door. It creaked open.
Sanji stepped out of the car and quickly dusted himself off, noting with smug satisfaction that he had gotten away virtually unharmed. He stuck his head back into the car to look at the two bloodied (but breathing) men inside. “The ride was lovely, but I think I’ll walk from here.” He flashed them a smile. “I’ll also be taking your phones, thanks so much.” Sanji leaned in a bit closer. “Also, I recommend that you make a hospital visit your first priority. Because,” his voice lowered an octave, “if I see either of you two again, I will shove my foot so far down your throat you’ll be shitting shoes in the morning.” They shrunk into their seats, shakily nodding their heads to show understanding.
Sanji shut the door and did a few quick stretches before getting his bearing (good thing I’m not that ugly marimo, otherwise I’d be fucked) and sprinting off in the direction which he remembered the studio to be.
“Don’t worry Namiii~ and Viiiivii~ Your Prince Charming is on his way!”
XXXXXXXXXXX
The sun still wasn’t shining the second time Zoro snapped awake. He was still on the floor of the work room, but this time it was the snap of Robin’s heels against the floor that had roused him.
“Good morning, Zoro. Glad you’re awake. It’s currently half past four and Usopp and Franky should be back with breakfast soon enough.” Robin sat herself at one of the work desks where she began flipping through a folder she had been carrying.
Luffy popped out from under one of the sturdy wooden tables in the room clutching a backpack and added “And then we’re going to go and get Nami, Vivi, and Sanji so they won’t be late for the party.”
Zoro stretched his jaw with a large yawn and raised his eyebrow at Luffy. “Would this be the Yay-We’re-Not-Dead party? Because, we might need to change the name if they can’t make it.”
“Actually, it was ‘Glad-You-Saved-Us’.” Usopp called from the other side of the room, arms loaded with steaming IHOP bags and closely followed by Franky. “Though, I guess your point still stands. ‘Glad-You-Tried-To-Save-Us’ doesn’t quite have that same congratulatory ring to it.”
They set the food down on the table and Zoro’s stomach gave an impatient rumble at the first smell of bacon. “I assume someone found something? We have some idea of their whereabouts?”
“Yep!” Franky strolled over to Robin and gave her a proud kiss. “Robin found Nami’s encryption keys in a case hidden in Sanji’s apartment.”
Robin smiled at Zoro and said, “It seems Nami was looking into the finances of the studio in charge of the movie Vivi agreed to do a cameo in and some of the numbers didn’t add up. There was a lot more money allocated to this movie than there should have been, even if the cast were to be completely made up of A-list Hollywood stars, this budget would still be outrageous.” She turned back to the papers in her hand. “Turns out, Nami was able to trace a majority of the larger deposits back to an account based in Alabasta. Specifically, a shell corporation with strong connections to Baroque Works.”
Zoro dragged one of the work stools over to the table and sat down in front of the food. “So, what… the whole movie deal was a plot to kidnap Vivi, but Nami got too close and they took her too?” Zoro shoveled a forkful of bacon and eggs into his mouth. There was something he had missed and he could feel it nagging in a corner of his mind.
Robin put down the folder and frowned. “That seems to be the working theory. She obviously realized she had found something of importance, which is probably why she hid her keys at Sanji’s, but CP9 studios hadn’t actually done anything wrong so bringing it to the attention of the authorities would only have alerted them to her… less than legal procurement of private information.”
Luffy furrowed his brows and swallowed a fruit-laden pancake. “If she was in trouble, why didn’t she tell us?”
Robin gave him a sad smile. “Nami’s past didn’t really lend itself in teaching her how to trust people. Sanji’s one of her closest friends and I doubt he even knew she was stashing things in his apartment.”
Zoro abruptly stopped mid-bite and put his fork back on his plate. “Sanji. Earlier, Luffy, you said that we had to get Nami, Vivi, and Sanji. Did that idiot cook get himself nabbed as well?”
“Well, no one’s seen him since yesterday, we haven’t been able to get a hold of him on his phone, and no one is at his apartment. However,” Robin poured herself a cup of grapefruit juice before finishing, “there was an oddly uninformative charity auction invitation lying open on his desk that had the word ‘charity’ scratched out and replaced with ‘human’. So, either Sanji was expressing his political sentiments or there’s another facet to this whole ordeal that he’s managed to uncover.”
Zoro shook his head and resumed eating. “Y’know, my life used to have some semblance of normal.”
Usopp snorted. “Oh, you must be using the archaic definition of ‘normal’. The one that includes being a swordsman in the twenty-first century and battling a mercenary assassin.”
Zoro pushed away his empty styrofoam container and grinned at Usopp. “Well, it had a lot less foreign royalty, human trafficking, and shadowy organizations.” He ignored the way his subconscious finished the list with leggy blondes and ocean-eyed cooks. Instead, he went with, “I bet that fucking dumb-ass rushed off on his white horse and deliberately didn’t call for backup.”
Franky clapped a hand on Zoro’s back. “It’s alright, bro, I’m sure Sanji can take care of himself well enough until we get there. He’s a tough one.” He flashed his white teeth and winked.
Zoro was afraid he’d go blind. “I’m not worried about the damn cook getting hurt. I’m worried the damn cook is going to actually find the girls and get them back to safety before we have a chance to get there.” Everyone turned to him with confusion in their eyes. “Can you imagine the cloud of smug that’ll be surrounding the guy if he succeeds? I’d rather NOT have to deal with his internationally renowned ability to gloat.”
Usopp stroked his chin in mock contemplation. “You know, I think I might just agree with you. Unless, of course, I’m expected to take part in the Not Letting Sanji Save The Girls By Himself. I think I should stay here and start setting up for the party.”
A loud rendition of Beethoven’s Fifth interrupted Zoro’s almost response. They all turned to look at Robin as she put her phone on speaker.
[ Robin, my love~! I knew you’d pick up on the first ring. ]
“Sanji? Are you alright?”
[ Mais bien sûr! Actually, I’ve practically got the gorgeous Nami and Vivi here with me, but I think I’ll be needing a… lift. ]
Zoro wouldn’t admit that he felt relieved and decided to fake a disappointed groan instead. Robin ignored him. “And ‘here’ being Treasure Island, I presume?”
[ Oh~ of course I should’ve known that you’d have figured that out yourself, being the delightfully clever lady that you are, but you might want to use a boat to get here. The main roads are a tad, um, inconvenient at the moment. ]
They could hear muffled shouting and footsteps in the background of the call.
[ Right! It seems I have a few guests to attend to, but do be careful. ]
The shouting had gotten louder.
[ And make sure you don’t let go of the marimo’s hand or else we’ll be having to rescue him too. ]
The line immediately went dead.
Robin placed a soft hand on Zoro’s arm. “How sweet. It sounds like he misses you.” Zoro stood up and grabbed his boots.
Franky reached for his own phone. “Well then, I guess I’ll call Brook.”
[ Chapter 17 ]
Graduating from University in less than a month.
Moving to Japan not long after for the next 1-5 years (Placement as of yet unknown)
Title: Politically Correct
Rating: T
Word Count: 2,893
Pairing: Zoro x Sanji
Summary: AU set in the San Francisco Bay Area Nami has decided that she's tired of Sanji constantly chasing after girls only to be taken advantage of & decides to take a more active role in Sanji committing to a Real Relationship.
Disclaimer: One Piece = Eiichiro Oda =/= me.
Notes: That line in french means 'But of course!' I have made a conscious effort to not have all of Sanji's exclamations be in the little French I know, but well, am occasionally failing.
[Previous Chapters]
jifjifjifjifjifjifjifjifjifjif
Sanji hadn’t been surprised when he had found two suited-up men standing at his door.
He hadn’t been surprised when they had refused to answer his inquiries regarding their destination.
He also hadn’t been surprised when they’d pulled out guns after he had refused to take a single step until the men had divulged some information regarding the auction.
Sanji hadn’t been surprised. But he had been disappointed.
Sanji set his foot back down and stepped over the beaten and unconscious body now sprawled on the floor in front of him. He locked eyes with the remaining suit-clad goon a few feet away sitting on the floor with his back pressed to the wall, chest heaving with each breath. Sanji squatted in front of the man and took a moment to blow a decent-sized cloud of smoke his would-be kidnapper’s face. The man coughed, clutching at his sides in pain before taking a long look down the dimly lit hallway of Sanji’s apartment complex.
Sanji leaned forward and scowled. “You know, I was looking forward to this. For the chance to meet my ‘imposter’.” He crushed his cigarette on the floor. “Instead,” Sanji stood up and dusted himself off, “they send two completely incompetent fucks to pick me up.” He jabbed the elevator’s call button and waited for the familiar ding of the lift’s arrival. Sanji looked back at the broken man on the floor. “The fuck are you waiting for? Aren’t you supposed to be chauffeuring me to that bullshit charity auction?” He stepped into the elevator and pushed the close door button. “Don’t forget to grab your friend on the way to the stairs.”
XXXXXXXX
Zoro stared up at the wooden planks of the Franky House ceiling. He had snapped awake just a few minutes before, hands gripping his swords and muscles tensed to react, before relaxing at the sight of Franky standing by the lit screen of Nami’s laptop. His bulky friend had a slight frown on his face, arms crossed and a steaming mug of (what smelled like) coffee clutched in one hand. Zoro hadn’t bothered to get up and ask Franky about his progress with Nami’s laptop; he knew that his friend would inform him if and when anything of interest was found.
Usopp, apparently, did not.
“Hey, Franky, have you found anything yet?”
Zoro let out a low sigh before slipping out of the confines of the top bank he had hidden himself away in and stretched his arms above his head as he strolled out into the open expanse of the barely lit Franky House work room. Usopp was perched on a stool peering at the glowing screen over Franky’s shoulder. They both glanced up at Zoro as he let out a loud yawn.
“What time is it?”
Franky’s eyes flicked back to the screen, “nearly three in the morning.” The corners of his mouth quirked up as he glimpsed Zoro rolling his shoulders back before rubbing at his neck. “You know, as a man, I understand the call of the seas and the attraction of sleeping in the bunks of a newly built ship, what with the smell of freshly cut lumber, but did you really have to choose the one bunk that didn’t have the bedding installed yet?”
Zoro made his way over to the kitchen area and poured a cup of the dark bitter coffee for himself. “It’s really not that much different from camping. A flat surface is a flat surface.” Zoro proceeded to settle himself on the floor, back against the wall. Franky honestly couldn’t tell whether Zoro was stubbornly emphasizing his point or if the swordsman simply couldn’t be bothered to pull up his own chair.
“What’s Nami doing with all these encrypted files on her laptop anyways?” Franky’s attention turned back to the screen, nearly poking his cheek on Usopp’s nose as his curious friend inched closer, chin nearly resting on Franky’s shoulder.
“I have no idea, bro. But the fact that it’s file-system level encryption and not full disk encryption means we’ve got to deal with the possibility of multiple recovery encryption keys instead of just the one.” Franky absentmindedly rubbed at his chin. “Which also means a cold boot attack won’t be particularly helpful…”
Usopp snaked an arm around Franky to reach the mousepad and clicked through the various files and folders open on the screen. “At first I thought Nami was just extremely thorough in protecting some of her clients’ files, but a lot of the encrypted data is behind a completely different partition.”
Zoro narrowed his eyes at them from where he sat. “I may not understand exactly what the hell you guys are talking about, but it sounds an awful lot like this whole thing could just be the fallout from Nami doing stupid shit with other people’s money… again.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Franky and Usopp swiveled their heads towards a hammock hanging forgotten in a darkened corner of the room. Zoro didn’t bother. He had noticed Luffy’s still form in the mesh of ropes when he had first entered the room. “What matters is that Nami and Vivi could need our help.” Luffy’s voice wasn’t particularly loud or aggressive, but it still rang out firm and steady. Even with the ever present straw hat covering his face.
“You just don’t want to lose out on all the free buffets Vivi funds.” Luffy rolled out of the hammock and onto the floor, a large smile breaking out on his face as he looked at Zoro.
“Do you think she’ll throw a Glad-You-Saved-Us! party when we find them?” Usopp joined in.
“Hey, Zoro, tell Sanji to start cooking now, so the party can start as soon as we pick up Nami and Vivi.”
“Luffy, you do realize they’re missing, right? It’s not like we’re just waiting for them to finish shopping so we can ‘pick them up’ at the mall… or something.”
Zoro let the sound of Usopp and Luffy’s relaxed conversation wash over him. It was completely out of place given just how serious the circumstances were, but simply listening to the steady and familiar vocal tones was its own odd, yet effective, form of meditation.
Until Franky’s voice cut through with a clear:
“Speaking of Sanji, what’s he up to? It’s just, I noticed he wasn’t with you guys when you first brought the laptop over and hasn’t shown up since.”
Zoro cracked his eyes open at the silence that followed. His three friends were all looking at him expectantly. He rolled his eyes before shutting them once more. “I’m not his fucking babysitter.”
They all grinned at Zoro knowingly and turned back to once again busy themselves with endless waiting and not-quite sleep.
XXXXXXXXXXX
As soon as the (stereotypically nondescript) black sedan had turned towards the Bay Bridge, Sanji had been sure that he was being taken out of the city. So he had been pleasantly surprised when his bruised chauffeurs had gotten off at the exit for Treasure Island before reaching the other side of the bay.
It took Sanji another moment to make the connection from Treasure Island to CP9 Studios and ultimately to “Vivi.” He looked out the window and waited a minute to confirm that they were indeed heading in the direction of the studio. Sanji tugged on his seatbelt until it clicked and let it retract to lock tight against his torso. Sanji had checked how much of his mobility would be restricted when he had first slid into the car. Luckily, the backseat was just roomy enough that, at the right angle, Sanji could slip both legs between the two front seats with relatively little restriction. Sanji checked the windows once more and saw that they had almost reached the particular tight curve of road he had been waiting for. Just as Goon no.1 (currently driving) began to lift his foot from the gas pedal to ease their way around the curve, Sanji reached forward, unbuckling the seatbelts of the two men in front of him, before thrusting his legs between the seats and slamming them down on the man’s knee, forcing his foot back against the pedal with a surprised shout. Sanji fought his reflex to tense and brace himself against the door and, instead, willed his limbs limp to minimize any injuries as the car flew off the road and slammed into the solid wall of a nearby warehouse.
Sanji slowly opened his eyes and assessed the resulting damage.
He turned his head, curled his fingers, and wiggled his toes. Alright. Not paralyzed. Good sign. He unbuckled his own seatbelt and carefully pulled his legs back from between the seats. Sanji reached over to the door, released the lock, and tried to push it open.
It didn’t move.
He gave it another shove before going to the other door and failing to open it as well. Sanji turned back to the front cab (glaring at the lit child safety lock indicator on the dash) and pulled the passenger seat lever, giving it room to recline all the way back. Sanji clambered over Goon no.2, who let out a pained moan as Sanji’s knee pressed on his stomach (Not dead, then.) and tried the passenger-side door. It creaked open.
Sanji stepped out of the car and quickly dusted himself off, noting with smug satisfaction that he had gotten away virtually unharmed. He stuck his head back into the car to look at the two bloodied (but breathing) men inside. “The ride was lovely, but I think I’ll walk from here.” He flashed them a smile. “I’ll also be taking your phones, thanks so much.” Sanji leaned in a bit closer. “Also, I recommend that you make a hospital visit your first priority. Because,” his voice lowered an octave, “if I see either of you two again, I will shove my foot so far down your throat you’ll be shitting shoes in the morning.” They shrunk into their seats, shakily nodding their heads to show understanding.
Sanji shut the door and did a few quick stretches before getting his bearing (good thing I’m not that ugly marimo, otherwise I’d be fucked) and sprinting off in the direction which he remembered the studio to be.
“Don’t worry Namiii~ and Viiiivii~ Your Prince Charming is on his way!”
XXXXXXXXXXX
The sun still wasn’t shining the second time Zoro snapped awake. He was still on the floor of the work room, but this time it was the snap of Robin’s heels against the floor that had roused him.
“Good morning, Zoro. Glad you’re awake. It’s currently half past four and Usopp and Franky should be back with breakfast soon enough.” Robin sat herself at one of the work desks where she began flipping through a folder she had been carrying.
Luffy popped out from under one of the sturdy wooden tables in the room clutching a backpack and added “And then we’re going to go and get Nami, Vivi, and Sanji so they won’t be late for the party.”
Zoro stretched his jaw with a large yawn and raised his eyebrow at Luffy. “Would this be the Yay-We’re-Not-Dead party? Because, we might need to change the name if they can’t make it.”
“Actually, it was ‘Glad-You-Saved-Us’.” Usopp called from the other side of the room, arms loaded with steaming IHOP bags and closely followed by Franky. “Though, I guess your point still stands. ‘Glad-You-Tried-To-Save-Us’ doesn’t quite have that same congratulatory ring to it.”
They set the food down on the table and Zoro’s stomach gave an impatient rumble at the first smell of bacon. “I assume someone found something? We have some idea of their whereabouts?”
“Yep!” Franky strolled over to Robin and gave her a proud kiss. “Robin found Nami’s encryption keys in a case hidden in Sanji’s apartment.”
Robin smiled at Zoro and said, “It seems Nami was looking into the finances of the studio in charge of the movie Vivi agreed to do a cameo in and some of the numbers didn’t add up. There was a lot more money allocated to this movie than there should have been, even if the cast were to be completely made up of A-list Hollywood stars, this budget would still be outrageous.” She turned back to the papers in her hand. “Turns out, Nami was able to trace a majority of the larger deposits back to an account based in Alabasta. Specifically, a shell corporation with strong connections to Baroque Works.”
Zoro dragged one of the work stools over to the table and sat down in front of the food. “So, what… the whole movie deal was a plot to kidnap Vivi, but Nami got too close and they took her too?” Zoro shoveled a forkful of bacon and eggs into his mouth. There was something he had missed and he could feel it nagging in a corner of his mind.
Robin put down the folder and frowned. “That seems to be the working theory. She obviously realized she had found something of importance, which is probably why she hid her keys at Sanji’s, but CP9 studios hadn’t actually done anything wrong so bringing it to the attention of the authorities would only have alerted them to her… less than legal procurement of private information.”
Luffy furrowed his brows and swallowed a fruit-laden pancake. “If she was in trouble, why didn’t she tell us?”
Robin gave him a sad smile. “Nami’s past didn’t really lend itself in teaching her how to trust people. Sanji’s one of her closest friends and I doubt he even knew she was stashing things in his apartment.”
Zoro abruptly stopped mid-bite and put his fork back on his plate. “Sanji. Earlier, Luffy, you said that we had to get Nami, Vivi, and Sanji. Did that idiot cook get himself nabbed as well?”
“Well, no one’s seen him since yesterday, we haven’t been able to get a hold of him on his phone, and no one is at his apartment. However,” Robin poured herself a cup of grapefruit juice before finishing, “there was an oddly uninformative charity auction invitation lying open on his desk that had the word ‘charity’ scratched out and replaced with ‘human’. So, either Sanji was expressing his political sentiments or there’s another facet to this whole ordeal that he’s managed to uncover.”
Zoro shook his head and resumed eating. “Y’know, my life used to have some semblance of normal.”
Usopp snorted. “Oh, you must be using the archaic definition of ‘normal’. The one that includes being a swordsman in the twenty-first century and battling a mercenary assassin.”
Zoro pushed away his empty styrofoam container and grinned at Usopp. “Well, it had a lot less foreign royalty, human trafficking, and shadowy organizations.” He ignored the way his subconscious finished the list with leggy blondes and ocean-eyed cooks. Instead, he went with, “I bet that fucking dumb-ass rushed off on his white horse and deliberately didn’t call for backup.”
Franky clapped a hand on Zoro’s back. “It’s alright, bro, I’m sure Sanji can take care of himself well enough until we get there. He’s a tough one.” He flashed his white teeth and winked.
Zoro was afraid he’d go blind. “I’m not worried about the damn cook getting hurt. I’m worried the damn cook is going to actually find the girls and get them back to safety before we have a chance to get there.” Everyone turned to him with confusion in their eyes. “Can you imagine the cloud of smug that’ll be surrounding the guy if he succeeds? I’d rather NOT have to deal with his internationally renowned ability to gloat.”
Usopp stroked his chin in mock contemplation. “You know, I think I might just agree with you. Unless, of course, I’m expected to take part in the Not Letting Sanji Save The Girls By Himself. I think I should stay here and start setting up for the party.”
A loud rendition of Beethoven’s Fifth interrupted Zoro’s almost response. They all turned to look at Robin as she put her phone on speaker.
[ Robin, my love~! I knew you’d pick up on the first ring. ]
“Sanji? Are you alright?”
[ Mais bien sûr! Actually, I’ve practically got the gorgeous Nami and Vivi here with me, but I think I’ll be needing a… lift. ]
Zoro wouldn’t admit that he felt relieved and decided to fake a disappointed groan instead. Robin ignored him. “And ‘here’ being Treasure Island, I presume?”
[ Oh~ of course I should’ve known that you’d have figured that out yourself, being the delightfully clever lady that you are, but you might want to use a boat to get here. The main roads are a tad, um, inconvenient at the moment. ]
They could hear muffled shouting and footsteps in the background of the call.
[ Right! It seems I have a few guests to attend to, but do be careful. ]
The shouting had gotten louder.
[ And make sure you don’t let go of the marimo’s hand or else we’ll be having to rescue him too. ]
The line immediately went dead.
Robin placed a soft hand on Zoro’s arm. “How sweet. It sounds like he misses you.” Zoro stood up and grabbed his boots.
Franky reached for his own phone. “Well then, I guess I’ll call Brook.”
[ Chapter 17 ]