Our last sail

54. The sick captain (2)

"Luffy": talk

"Sabo": whisper

"ACE": shout

"Gomu Gomu no": the skill's name

'idiot': thinking

<Joyboy>: voice of all things

-Into the story-

Something was wrong. Zoro had noticed ever since lunch that their captain was nowhere to be found. At first, they all thought that Luffy might not want to eat, as he looked exhausted when he excused himself and went to his room. However, Luffy didn't even show up for dinner, skipping two meals in a day?! Was the Red Line going to be torn down today?! Never in his whole life could he expect this to happen, since Luffy always had a lot of passion when it came to eating.

Without the presence of the captain, their dinner was quite dreary. Usually the crew had to protect their meal not to be stolen by those nasty rubber hands; however, this time it was so peaceful that they couldn't get used to it. Usopp then gave out a long sigh while playing with his food, not finding an appetite, and so did the others.

"Argh! I can't stand it anymore! At least someone should do something?!" Nami said frustratingly.

"I also feel concerned for Luffy", Vivi said, with a hand holding her face.

"How dare that shitty captain make the two beautiful ladies worried? I'll kick him senseless once he shows up" Sanji said while biting his nail.

"Sanji, don't make things more complicated, will you?!" Usopp scolded, making the blond cook to feel shocked and go sulking at the corner.

"Usopp-kun is mad at me! Usopp-kun is mad at me!..." Sanji mumbled those words repeatedly, while letting his tears drop and wet the floor.

The crew was so fed up with Sanji's antics, so they left him be, while Vivi and Karoo could only sweatdrop. Looking at the worried faces of everyone inside the room, the vice-captain then came to the conclusion that he would stop waiting for the captain, so he quickly ate his meal, much to the others' surprise and confusion. Once he finished, Zoro swept the rice that was still on his face, then took his swords and walked straight to the door.

"Zoro?" Nami called out.

"I'll go check on Luffy" Zoro said, then walked out.

The path to the captain's quarter wasn't long, but Zoro couldn't put away the bad feeling in his mind. Soon the swordsman faced the wooden door of the captain's room, he then slowly turned the door knot and took a peek inside. The room was pitch-dark, with the moonlight being the only source to light the room. However, his focus was on the figure that was lying on a messy bed. Luffy seemed to be in some kind of unknown pain. Zoro then tried to approach Luffy, but he suddenly sensed the captain activated his Haki, and something went wrong, making him in even more pain.

"Oi, Luffy! Can you hear me?!" Zoro asked, while walking closer to the captain.

Sadly, the captain didn't seem to hear his call. Not only that, Luffy had started to shiver, despite the room wasn't that cold. Zoro then tried to ask Luffy a few more times before the crew all came up to the room. Perhaps they had either sensed the previous Haki, or their worry had increased, so they decided to go check. Who knew?

"What's wrong with him?! Luffy?!" Nami called out in worry.

"He seemed to be sick, and in a lot of pain" Zoro explained, while sitting at the edge of the bed.

"L-Luffy's...... Sick?!" Usopp exclaimed in shock.

"Sanji, could you please make some nutrient soup for Luffy if he wakes up?" Nami said.