DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS IN IT!

The wooden office sited at the back of the Baratie was dimly lit due to the immense pain of the overworked manager, Sanji. His present migraine was a rarity to him as his well balanced nutrition intake was always precisely thought out.

Sanji stretched out his long, slender hand towards his desk draw and slid it open. His left hand held his head, massaging his temple. He reaching inside the messy compartment with his slender fingers and rummaged around, blind to the things he didn't want to ever see as it would certainly add to his distress. He finally drew out a crumpled piece of paper, slightly smaller than A4. He placed it on his desk, groaning as his delicate eyes made contact with the work-lamp's hateful glare. Sanji grasped the warm head and bent it so it would show him the sheet of paper he urgently needed to study.

The grid was complicated only to people whose eyes have never seen this information but to Sanji, this was a daily depressor. It provided most of his grief as a manager of a restaurant but that single piece of paper still had his undivided attention.

Sanji spent five good minutes sifting through names, times and dates. Finding a suitable time for a new worker had never been so hard. If he changed one person's time, then the whole schedule would become irrevocably distorted. Even now, the image of paper and ink was blurring in his vision.

Sanji was about to give in to his warm bed – as the 11th hour was closing in – when he heard the horrifyingly familiar clunk shuffle clunk shuffle clunk shuffle. The sound drew closer and closer to his office door. Panicking, Sanji turned the lamp off and slowly lowered himself to the ground. He had never had to have hid from Zeff before; he even enjoyed their arguments sometimes but now it was different. The previous manager had given Sanji his disgraceful job as he was "too old" to do it anymore. The footsteps stopped and the door handle rattled slightly as the "intruder" gripped it. Sanji hugged his knees in order to fit in the small space. He fingered the cloth, waiting for the door to open.

After a couple of minutes, he finally heard a creak; the wood groaning under the strain.

Clunk shuffle clunk.

Pause.

The light was switched on and the bright light flooded every nook and cranny. Sanji stifled his reflex groan.

The person shuffle clunked towards him and stopped at the desk. Sanji wouldn't let himself breathe, even if it was a long slow one.

Soon enough he heard Zeff walk out the room and close the door. The light still blinded Sanji as it reflected off every surface. He waited for the legendary Red Leg to swing the door open again as a trick but he never heard another sound.

Sanji moved his hand a tiny fraction in order to get up when a knock came to his door. Who he presumed was Zeff opened the door.

'Sanji?' a female voice called out.

He immediately jumped up at the sound of Vivi-swan's voice but at once regretted it as his head started to pump blood furiously around his head. The added light pierced through his eyes and made him temporarily blind.

'Vivi-san…I don't mean to bother you but could you turn the light off?' He said, squinting his eyes at the secretary goddess in front of him. Each word he said stung as the sound rang in his ears.

The cool darkness soothed his mind instantly. He sunk into his chair and waited for Vivi's words.

'I didn't mean to disturb you.' She said, slightly worried.

'I'm fine. There is no need to worry about me. What was it that you needed? My shitty job? Please take it…' Sanji mumbled, putting his head into his hands. The immediate smell of smoke and seafood tickled his senses.

'If i was brave enough to take on all the work you have to do then i would like to take the load off your shoulders but...sorry. Actually, there is a group of about 20 men in the restaurant. They look like they might cause trouble and the customers are a bit worried.' She said.

'What about those shitty chefs? Isn't it their jobs to get rid of trouble?' Sanji said until he looked up to see Vivi-swan again. 'But for you - anything!'

She smiled at him and walked out the door, her light footsteps carrying the graceful woman down the hallways. At first Sanji's love explosions were an annoyance to her but she had got used to it and realised how sweet he really was, however she knew that he didn't actually love her. It was just his unlimited respect for women that built a mask.

'Shitty hooligans.' Sanji mumbled as he walked out into the equally dark corridor, dragging his feet like bricks as he went.

He was now standing behind the door that will lead to the big dining room full of noises and brightness. Frightful sun rays shone through the two round windows and rested on his shins. Looking at his feet, he remembered that he might need to use violence in the next ten minutes. He leaned back, letting his spine crack. The adrenaline chemicals released themselves into his blood stream and he felt at ease.

Sanji put pressure on the door with his hands and pushed them open. His first step into hell on earth was surprisingly easy. He was often very good at hiding things from the public. His head still throbbed but now it was no more than an annoying hum in the background. The hooligans were laughing loudly, a big mist of smoke surrounding their heads. It was very unusual for there to be a warning for these kinds of things even thought they happened daily, maybe even hourly. Sanji could make out a muscular man sitting in the centre. He could see two or three large cigars sticking out of his mouth.

Sanji took a deep breath and walked over to them. In the corner of the room, all of his chefs were huddled together. When they saw him they gave him the thumbs up.

'Shitty cowards…' Sanji mumbled.

He had reached the table and at once the chatter stopped. All eyes were on him, foolhardy expressions waiting for the seemingly pathetic man to say something.

Sanji ran his fingers along the empty chair in front of him.

'Mind if I join you for a smoke?' Sanji asked the man who he assumed was the "gang leader" who gave him a long look before letting out a loud cheerful laugh.

'Nothing can rid me of my good mood! Sit! Have a drink with us!' the man said, laughing once more. Sanji complied and sunk into the seat. He drew out a cigarette and lit it instantly. As he took a long drag, his eyes tried to pierce through the welcoming fog where he could see something green. He thought of seaweed straight away. Seaweed stir-fry wasn't supposed to be on the menu today.

Can't those shitty cooks do anything right?

The man, Smoker, and Sanji conversed for over 15 minutes; mainly stories about adventures around te world - all of which were most likely made up.

Sanji stood up swiftly, his expression and mind calmer due to the smoke and being reassured of the peace at this table.

'Hey - you planning to cause any trouble?' He asked, expecting them to take it lightly.

Smoker's face faltered, his once joyful face dripping off his face like venom. He looked up slowly to meet Sanji's eyes and his expression was one of a merciless anger.

'So...thats why you came' Smoker said darkly. 'No wonder you talked so much!'

Sanji's eyes widened, 'No-'

'We didn't come here to cause trouble.'

Sanji's eyes narrowed and he removed the cigarette from his thin lips.

'Good, enjoy your meal.'

'Hold on pretty boy...'

Sanji turned his head to the side to look behind him to be greeted by a heavy blow to the head. He was sent flying a few metres and crashed to the floor. He flipped himself up and spat out a mouthful of blood.

The blond cook lifted his leg a few centimeters in the air as a warning and slid his hands in his pocket. Smoker aimed another blow but Sanji blocked it with his shin who tried to get a low kick with his other leg but was grabbed before he could make contact. Soon he was upside down, only one leg free from the beastly grip.

Smoker dropped him and signalled for his underlings to assault. Sanji got up and circled to make eye contact with all of the "small fry" surrounding him. They approached, all wielding knives. Sanji bend his right leg up into a full strike position and waited.

One man dared to get close and soon he was on the floor. The same story with the next four or five men.

Soon all of them were down except Smoker and another man sitting down amidst all the smoke. He didn't look at all bothered by the fight.

Sanji turned on Smoker again and started spinning around on the same spot. This move he would only use on a special occasion and it seemed this was the right moment. when he felt his right foot ignite, he stopped and let the oxygen in the air make it glow redder. Smoker looked at it in amusement and crossed his arms.

Sanji smirked and aimed a stabbing motion towards the mans gut, hoping to Peirce it like he did the punch bag in his room. Smoker flew into the tables behind him but the kick only burnt a couple of centimetres in. The other man Smoker was with was now standing up seeing as his table was knocked over.

Smoker got up straight away and clicked his fingers deafeningly. He started chuckling through a wide smirk.

'You'll pay for that sonny boy...' He said, taking a little bottle out of his rucksack. when he pressed a button, it squirted infront of him and soaked Sanji.

'What the hell!? What the hell are you doing you shitty bastard!?' Sanji said through gritted teeth.

'i thought that fire leg of yours looked quite lonely. i think the rest of you should burn along with it!'

Sanji suddenly smelt the petrol on his clothes and swore. Any ignition and he would be dead.

'Smoker, I'll take it from here.' said the man who hadn't said a word. He stepped out of the smoke and the first thing Sanji saw was the green ruffles on the top of this mans head. His eyebrows arched at the tips and his eyes were murderous. his dark green boots and trousers fit perfectly around his muscles and his black halfway open duffel coat also hugged his torso and arms which were gripping two long swords.

This man was Roronoa Zoro. He owned three swords and was known well by the local people. Sanji had never seen him before but he handed in criminals to the police, dead or alive. Although he was also a criminal, the police could never catch him as he was out of their league.

Zoro only stepped forward because of his small admiration for this man with immense fighting skills, both strong and merciless. He knew that a man with great potential should have a chance to reach their best and knew that Sanji would not be able to do this if Smoker killed him.

Sanji and Zoro stared into each others eyes, not breaking contact. Zoro immediately made the first move and Sanji threw his leg sideways to block it. Any normal leg would have been sliced in half but Sanji knew that Zoro was using the back of his sword.

A sword and leg were locked in combat. Zoro was leaning forward about twenty centimetres from his Sanji's face.

Zoro whispered furiously so that Smoker who had sat down to watch couldn't hear, 'When i break the contact, run. You can't beat Smoker, shitty curly-eyebrow cook! I'm sure you don't want your shitty resturant to burst to flames!'

Sanji didn't say anything for a second but grew angry. 'I don't run away from fights bastard...marimo-head! I'm not a coward, i will always fight until i die!'

'Neither do i but think of the shitty people in here. They are all innocent. And i'm sure there is some shitty person one you care about in here!'

Sanji followed Zoro's eye vision and saw Vivi-san looked frightened. All of the chefs had gathered too. And yet, the shitty old fart was no-where to be seen. It took an extremely long moment to give in to the shitty swordsman's idea.

'Fine, I'll run but next time i will kill that shitty bastard! And you too!' said Sanji and almost immediately the contact was lost. He took a few steps backwards and walked towards the "staff only" door.

'Get lost. You're frightening the beautiful women.' He said before stepping into the dark corridor. His migraine instantly came back and he groaned.

Smoker huffed and walked out of the resturant, a new feeling in his gut...a desire.

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please review! i have almost finished CHAPTER 2 and it should be out kinda soon but if you want it quicker then i need more reviews. :) (be nice...)