Warnings: bullies

Disclaimer: Eiichiro Oda owns everything related to One Piece. I own my words and story plot.

17. Kindness Unrewarded

Sanji had never truly believed in receiving a reward or praise for doing something good. A small thanks was enough for him, something he craved to hear his brothers say for a long time. They never gave it to him, though, and he doubted they ever would.

He thought he deserved a thank you for this, too.

Sanji had been walking down a bridge in an empty park. There were only a few other children there, playing and shouting loudly in joy. He had ignored them for the most part, until their shouts changed.

"Help! Please, help!"

Sanji walked over to the bridge's wall and climbed on top of it to see what was wrong. When he looked down, he saw that in the river was one of the children, struggling to swim but unable to. Her friends were chasing her on the side of the river, but they weren't fast enough.

Without thinking, Sanji jumped down from the bridge. It took all of his strength to swim back up to the surface and then he had to find the girl. The waves crashed against his face and he coughed. It was freezing. The water shoved him under, and he resurfaced with a gasp. When the girl cried, he swam to her as fast as his limps would allow. When he reached her, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to his chest, telling her to calm down as he swam against the current. He tried to cut across to reach the ground, but he was losing energy. The water crashed against him, stealing his breath and vision at an alarming rate. He couldn't keep this up. Right when he was about to reach land, his strength gave out. He cursed himself for his mistake, when suddenly there was a grip on his hand.

Sanji opened his eyes while still holding onto the girl and saw three other girls all trying to pull him out. He mustered up what strength he could and searched for solid ground with his feet. When he found it, he pushed himself up and laid himself and the girl on the ground.

The girls surrounded their friend, checking if she was ok, as Sanji sat up. The girl coughed and whimpered and scrubbed at the tears on her cheeks. Her friends all turned to Sanji with gracious smiles. They opened their mouths to speak when loud, obnoxious yelling broke through the relieved air surrounding the girls.

Boys.

They were older than himself and the girls, and the boys began yelling at him, blaming him for something he didn't do, for pushing her in the water. They shoved and kicked and punched, and no matter how much he fought back, he couldn't face four boys of their size alone. They wouldn't listen to the younger girls, their friends and sisters, who clung to their arms and bodies to try to get them to stop. In the end, the boys dragged the girls away after leaving Sanji in a sorry state. The one he saved sent him an apologetic look as she was dragged away by her older brother. She mouthed the words "thank you" before he yanked her face away from the soaked blond.

Sanji was left soaking wet, alone, cold and hungry. His body shivered as he rubbed up and down his arms. His eyes darted around. No one else was there. No one to help. He had been left to freeze by the boys who should have been thanking him. He was beginning to hate boys and men more and more. He didn't hurt her; he had saved her.

And this was his thanks.

Sanji stood, staggered to the bridge, and stumbled down the bleak brick path until he collapsed between the racks of a clothing store, soaking wet and full of hate.

A/N: Thank you for reading! I hope you all enjoy it! :) Thank you for the comments!