Straw Hat Luffy: The Black Fist

Chapter 14: Good Soup

Chapter 14: Good Soup

"Like this?", said Luffy, blankly looking at Zoro and Sanji and smashing the door against the entrance.

"NO! DON'T FORCE IT LIKE THAT YOU'RE GONNA BREAK THE DOOR IN HALF!", the two boys screamed simultaneously. "FLIP IT AROUND! DON'T JUST KEEP TRYING TO FORCE IT IN!".

"You said to force it in?", Luffy asked turning toward the door and the entrance. He didn't think it would work but they said to do it so... Heave ho!

The sound of the door spitting it half echoed through the restaurant and the other patrons couldn't help but watch the spectacle in shock. He had just forced the door through the entrance... The wrong way!

Luffy looked between the piece of door he held in his hands and the two other pieces on the ground. Looked like he was right. He knew it wouldn't work! A groan came from the ground in front of him and he looked down to see a person crawling toward the entrance of the restaurant. The man didn't look great, his eyes were bloodshot and his skin was pale.

"What the hell, Luffy!", Sanji's voice came from the entrance behind the boy, "You broke the damn door! We said DON'T for...". He halted in his tirade as his eyes landed on a figure crawling on the dock of the Baratie.

Zoro stayed quiet, eyeing the crawling bag of bones as he walked past Sanji to stand beside Luffy. What? It was an apt description!

He was a middle-aged man with black hair and a scruffy beard. His body was small and his clothes were in tatters. He only had on a pair of ripped black trousers and a similarly ripped white tank top. He looked unharmed for the most part other than his emaciated body, which was more than likely from lack of food. "Please.", the man begged, "I don't have any money but I'm starving.". A coughing fit overtook him and he waited a moment for it to subside. "Please.", the man continued, "It feels like I'm dying.".

Sanji softly shouldered past Luffy and Zoro to kneel before the man on the ground. "Can you make it to the back of the restaurant?", he asked softly, "If you can, I can promise you something delicious to eat. Free of charge.". He smiled a comforting smile, "No one deserves to know what it feels like to starve.".

Luffy and Zoro's eyes widened slightly at the blond's words as they both came to the same startling realization. For him to be able to say that...

The man on the ground sniffled as his eyes began to water, "Thank you, young man. Thank you so much.", he cried. "I believe I can make it to the back on my own.", he groaned, beginning to crawl once again.

Sanji turned and the two boys eyed him as he walked toward them. They glanced at each other as he passed and the same thought went through their heads. There was a lot more to the chef than met the eye.

The twirly-browed teen brushed past the other two boys and through the entrance, toward the kitchen. He had work to do.

Luffy and Zoro looked away from Sanji's retreating form and back to the man crawling on the wooden planks of the boat restaurant. They nodded to each other. Luffy dropped the piece of the door he was holding and took his place on one side of the man, Zoro on the other. Carefully, they lifted him to his feet and the man sighed as he let some of his weight be carried by the two strong young men. "No need for you to crawl all the way there, old man", Luffy smiled as they walked him to where Sanji had directed.

A tick mark formed on the 'old man's head, "Old?! You damn brat I'm on-". A coughing fit overtook him and interrupted his raging.

"Woah there, old man. Take it easy. We got it from here.", the green-haired swordsman said evenly, not noticing the man's building anger.