Beast of Shadows

》One《

Sanji swirled out of the kitchen with a platter of food, delivering it to the assigned table. He had been at work for over nine hours already, the sun beginning to set on the restaurant.

"Oi Eggplant, your shift was over an hour ago. Go home." Zeff groused as the blond whirled back into the kitchen.

"You should be thanking me old fart." Sanji snapped, crossing his arms like a child. Zeff eyed the 21-year-old man with a scowl.

"You're always here, don't you have anything else to do?" The elder chef asked gruffly, a flash of concern in his dark gaze.

"Nope. Now if you'll excuse me..." Sanji drawled, moving to step past Zeff, who wasn't having it.

"I don't think so. You're taking a few days off Eggplant." The old man snorted, herding the blond further toward the back.

"What about the restaurant?" Sanji dug his heels into the ground hesitantly, Zeff snorted and continued pushing him along.

"We'll survive without you." He quipped, shoving Sanji out into the back alley. Zeff took Sanji's jacket off the nearby hook and tossed it at the blond.

"But-"

"Come in tomorrow and I'll send you to the hospital, goodnight Eggplant." With that, Zeff slammed the door with a resounding bang. Sanji turned toward the mouth of the alley with a dumbfounded expression, numbly making his way out and toward home. Few people passed him, mostly couples due to it being a Friday night.

Loneliness washed over him as they walked by with joyful smiles and lovesick eyes. The soft sound of chiming bells and two crimson pools pushing to the front of his mind as he marched along. He absentmindedly raised a hand to tug on the small chain around his neck, pulling it free from his suit collar to peer at the silent bell. He shook the chain and the gold bell moved, but no ringing, or any sound for that matter, came from it.

With a sigh at it's usual silence, he tucked it back in and stuffed his hands into his pockets. The blond kicked a stray rock, turning onto his street and digging his keys out of his jacket as he jogged up the steps. He unlocked the door as his phone chimed, walking in as he patted his pockets down for the electronic. Sanji pranced up the stairs to the second floor as he tapped at his screen.

It was a dating site that his two closest friends pushed him to download, a girl named Heather had apparently matched with him and had texted a greeting. Giddiness pooled in his gut as he quickly unlocked his apartment door and shoved in, thumbs flying across his keyboard to reply. Just to make sure he didn't make any mistakes or sound too forward, he read it over three times before hitting send.

With that done, Sanji toed off his fancy shoes and meandered further into his home. Instinctively going into the kitchen to whip up a quick dinner. A chime brought his attention back to his phone, which sat innocently upon a nearby counter. He closed his nearly-empty fridge to snatch up the electronic, Heather had already responded to his text. He opened the chat and smiled, satisfied with her sweet reply. He typed out a more flirty comment about her profile info and sent it without thinking twice. His eyes turned back to the kitchen to pull out some cooking supplies.

Heather didn't text back until after he had already had a simple dinner consisting of a turkey melt. He was currently lounging on his couch, watching a cooking show while he mentally critiqued the chef moving about the colorful screen. She had said thanks and asked him about his cooking career, Sanji liked her boldness to start a topic to exchange texts about. It had him wondering what she was like in real life, he replied that he grew up cooking and waited.

After a few peaceful minutes of back-and-forth inquires, Sanji sent her a sweet 'goodnight' as he switched off his TV. The room plunged into darkness, but Sanji easily navigated to his room from years of practice. He flipped on his blinding room light and squinted, wasting no time before stripping to yank on a soft pair of sweatpants and a white, cotton T-shirt.