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The kisses in his neck were marvelous, definitely a sensation Sanji never imagined to feel from this source. The story between them had happened too suddenly and it was hard to even describe how it began. Nevertheless, he was glad it did, for he was having such a great time. It was hard to picture this differently; it was like a dream come true and he couldn’t thank Luffy enough for approaching him.
It had started after Luffy had rescued him from Big Mom’s territory and he had told Sanji to be together because he couldn’t be without him, like it was painful to be away from him. Sanji had taken his time to think about it and after realizing in the middle of the fight against Kaido that he too couldn’t live without Luffy he had decided that they could be together as a couple, but under one condition: the crew couldn’t know about their relationship.
No public display of their affection and no one knowing what they did in the dark; they couldn’t have any idea of what happened when Luffy visited Sanji while he cooked or why sometimes it seemed they got lost at the same time. Keeping it a secret was something undeniably difficult, but Sanji preferred it that way. He didn’t want anyone thinking he possessed privileges over the crew just because Luffy was his boyfriend. Luffy didn’t like it too much and always said that no one would say anything about them being together, but he couldn’t risk it so it was a secret between them.
That meant that, while Luffy tried to pamper Sanji with gifts of all types and kisses for his birthday, they still couldn’t be anything exuberant. The restyling of the whole kitchen had to be excused in it getting burned, which was the truth since Luffy really had burned it back in the day, but it was something that could be fixed easily. The acquisition of numerous suits of all colors had been under another excuse that Luffy had destroyed too many of them one time. That was a blatant lie, but Luffy really wanted to give them to Sanji so they had to make it seem like it was something that had happened.
The flowers that appeared that day in Sanji’s kitchen had to be hidden close to Nami’s trees. The chocolates that were sent for him in the town they were currently staying at had been delivered by a secret admirer and this was how the whole morning went by. Secrets gifts here and there, but what Sanji desired the most was to have Luffy close to him so under another excuse, one Sanji himself wasn’t supposed to know, the captain had been in charge of distracting him until his secret party was prepared.
Sanji wanted to celebrate with his friends and companions, but the distraction was too good in his opinion. The way Luffy kissed his neck promised Sanji that the hours they had until going back to the Sunny would be magnificent. When Luffy stopped marking his neck, he went back to kiss his lips fully. Sanji responded readily and with half a mind he thought that he would have to cover Luffy’s marks somehow, but now he was too focused on what he was feeling and how Luffy’s mouth played with his heart. Later he would make up more excuses for this other present.
……………………………….
They had to get ready in a short time since the three hours of distraction had gone flying. They practically ran back to the Sunny and when they arrived Sanji had to feign ignorance upon seeing the big poster for his birthday in the entrance of the ship. The smile wasn’t fake though as he was truly happy that the crew loved him so much.
The party began when Luffy yelled that it was a party so only after that the music started and the drinks were served. The food was good and even if it wasn’t prepared by him Sanji still enjoyed it a lot. At first they danced and then they sang happy birthday with a cake that Sanji could see was baked well. After eating a portion of it, the crew gave their gifts to Sanji and he was really thankful for them.
Each one of them had given something special for him, even the moss head that had given him a good kitchen knife. Nami had given him a blue handkerchief, Robin a cuisine book, Brook perfume, Chopper a newly made antiseptic for surfaces, Usopp a new type of fishing rod, Franky a kneading machine that prepared dough in less than five minutes, and Jinbei a yellow notebook to write new recipes. Luffy’s only gift that was visible for the public was a navy blue tie that was beautiful as the owner. Sanji knew that he had spent a lot of money on it, but Luffy said not to mind it and just enjoy it.
When the night was approaching Franky arranged some fireworks and they blew up high in the sky, mixing the color of the lights with the last remaining glow of the clouds. With each explosion of the fireworks Sanji felt more tempted to hold Luffy’s hand or kiss him. It was incredibly hard to maintain distance as Luffy was having trouble staying away from him too. It was obvious for Sanji that he wanted to embrace and tell him the sweet nothings he used to say when they were alone.
They continued looking at the fireworks and when they ended, the celebrations were over for the day. The crew told Sanji that they would tidy what was left of the party and he went to the men’s room to sleep. While he was changing into his pajamas Luffy appeared and kissed his cheek. He asked him if he had liked his party and Sanji had said that he had loved it, but that they had to be careful since the guys could arrive at any time.
Luffy gave him one last kiss and he lay in his bed waiting for the others to finally sleep. When the males got to the room and turned the lights off, Sanji had a smile. He saw that Luffy was looking at him in the darkness and he made sure no one was looking at them and blew up a kiss his way. Luffy wished him good night and with that both slept well, hoping to be in the other’s arms.
The next day found Sanji waking up early as usual to prepare breakfast for the crew. He showered and dressed with one of his new clothes. He cooked eggs with bacon and made orange juice. He served some portion of the cake they had yesterday and called the crew to eat. When they arrived at the kitchen Sanji saw the look Luffy sent his way and the small shill smile he had on his face. He gave him a smile of his own and hoped that no one would notice them.
When breakfast was over, they started their journey again. Nami, as always, gave the crew directions to start navigating, but once the ship had its right path they could do their usual activities. Sanji went to the kitchen to marinate turkey meat and he saw that Luffy stayed at the deck fishing with Usopp and Chopper. They used the new fishing rod that Usopp had designed since he lent it to them.
An hour passed by and Sanji heard screams and incredibly loud noises from outside so he went to see what was going on. Surrounding the Sunny a huge octopus was staring at them with clear intentions of either eating the whole crew or sinking the ship. As the octopus wasn’t in the list of the most enormous things they had seen, Sanji saw how Luffy eyed the animal with hunger.
Luffy exclaimed loudly that he wanted the octopus for lunch and dinner so that meant that the turkey meat would have to be used for another occasion. Sanji lit up his cigarette while he waited for Luffy to be done with the octopus. The animal seemed to notice that it was in danger and tried to escape, but Luffy punched it with force and it fell down on top of one side of the Sunny.
Of course that since it was Luffy the one in charge of bringing it down the situation couldn’t be exempt from a disaster. The octopus, before going down, just had to expulse ink to the whole ship and that was how the Sunny ended up covered in black with its crew the same way.
Everyone yelled at Luffy for being so careless, but he only said that he couldn’t have known the octopus would do that. Sanji knew that too, but he was still angry since he was wearing one of the new suits Luffy himself had given him for his birthday so he scowled at him knowing the clothes were ruined. Luffy upon seeing his face started apologizing, but Sanji knew that he was only doing it because he was mad and was not taking into consideration the rest of the crew. Things like these were further proof that Luffy was sometimes biased towards him when he shouldn’t so Sanji understood that what they had was better left unknown for the others.
When the initial shock of having ink everywhere was past, they decided to first get clean and change clothes to begin washing the ink away. Sanji and Jinbei would be in charge of cutting the meat of the octopus while the others cleaned the Sunny. With that plan they went to shower in turns. The women bathed first and after them the rest of the guys that with time found it more uncomfortable to be covered in ink since Nami and Robin were taking their sweet time washing up.
After many protests the girls finally left to start cleaning the Sunny and the men were able to wash. They had to take as much time as the women since the ink was hard to get rid of. It stuck to the skin and left everything black making them change the water of the bath many times.
When the water was transparent again they continued scratching their skins to clean the rest of the ink. Sanji was the first to end since he needed to cut the octopus fast as it could be rancid if left alone under the sun. He went to get dressed and he felt some stares on his back, but he didn’t know why. He turned around to see what the problem the guys had with him was. They kept staring at him even when he lifted his eyebrow to ask what they wanted and no one said anything.
Sanji looked at Luffy who seemed shy and had half his face under the water for some reason. Some more time passed and he asked what they wanted that they were staring at him so much. Everyone stayed quiet until Zoro smirked and Sanji didn’t like it one bit.
“It seemed you had a great time yesterday, right? Seeing how many of those marks you have in your body, I mean,” Zoro said and everyone started laughing except for Chopper and Luffy.
Sanji fought the urge to blush and in a second thought of a good excuse. He didn’t have anything too good, but he knew he had to say something. How could he have been so careless?
“What marks?” He said and started to look at his body like he didn’t know exactly where they were or what (who) had provoked them.
“Don’t play dumb. You know what I’m talking about. Look at those marks you have in your neck and collarbone,” Zoro said while shaking his head and the others continued laughing.
Sanji saw that Luffy was assessing the situation and waited until he had a good answer to do something. Sanji went to the mirror to inspect the marks he supposedly didn’t know about. He made it seem like they were new in his eyes and said the worst excuse he could have come up with, but he was desperate and nothing was more believable than this.
“I think they are bug bites. I don’t know where I could have gotten from though,” Sanji said and heard how the guys laughed Luffy included.
“That’s disgusting! You touch our food with mosquitoes around you?” Usopp said with a grimace and the others continued to laugh. He was getting really annoyed by the whole situation.
“Those must be some huge-ass mosquitoes. They must have one hell of a big mouth,” Franky said and it was obvious his lie wasn’t in the least convincing.
“Probably, but I don’t know. Guess I’ll be more careful,” Sanji said and put his shirt on like everything was normal, putting an end to the conversation.
“Yeah, tell that annoying bug to be more careful next time!” Brook said and everyone laughed and Sanji didn’t know how he wasn’t blushing yet.
He went out to the kitchen quickly to grab his knives and start cutting the meat of the octopus. Sanji knew that the rumor that he was “bitten” by a “bug” would be heard even by the lovely ladies and he wanted to die. He loved Luffy, but he still adored Nami and Robin and to have them thinking of him so lowly devastated him. Furthermore, the excuse he said was literally the worst, but it would at least delay them from putting two and two together for some time or that was what he hoped.
If Sanji had said that he had gotten the love marks from a random woman it wouldn’t have made too much sense considering he had been yesterday with Luffy. It would be impossible to make Luffy lie about anything so the more he had him away from everything the better. The crew would only have theories but no proof so all they had to do was play it cool and be away from each other for some time. He knew he could do that, but Luffy was hard to imagine not trying to be close to him. Even like that it was still a better option and probably after some weeks no one would remember something so stupid.
He cut the octopus meat with dexterity and when Jinbei came to help him he had a face that showed how much he wanted to laugh. Sanji wasn’t anyone’s laughing stock so he scowled immediately after seeing him and with that he focused on their work. It took them hours to cut so much meat and the crew had a hard time cleaning the ink in the deck. Every once in a while someone scolded Luffy for being stupid and making them work their asses off over something so ridiculous. Luffy said that he didn’t care since he had octopus meat for months and every time he said that the rest got more annoyed. At one point Nami hit him in the head saying that he couldn’t make fun of their misery like that.
When it was past the usual time to have lunch Sanji went to the kitchen to cook something quick. He prepared takoyaki and called everyone to eat to continue cleaning after having some food. They were fast in eating since they couldn’t leave the ship like that and the ink was starting to dry off so it was taking more time to wash up the deck. They even decided that if the ink was impossible to clean Franky would have to paint the ship again. Of course all the costs would be covered by Luffy’s money so that left the others feeling better. Sanji for his part knew that Luffy was going to be moneyless for months given all the Bellies he spent in buying things for him and now the cost of the repairs for the Sunny.
They still went to work and Sanji was added to the continuous effort since the octopus was already sliced and no usable meat was left from it. He had a bucket and a sponge and rubbed the surface of the deck. While he was busy scrubbing he heard many laughs from behind him. At first he tried to make it seem like he was unperturbed by their annoying antics, but not long took before he got mad. He turned around and warned Usopp and Brook to stop or he would get too angry and they didn’t want something to happen with their dinner. They were the worst type of people so of course they said that they would stop since they didn’t want bugs in their food.
Everyone laughed and now Sanji knew that Nami and Robin had heard of his misadventures. He didn’t say anything and continued cleaning the deck like the rest. After some time he heard more laughter and more jokes about his problems with “bugs”. He even heard Luffy laugh and he wanted to sink the entire ship with everyone in it, but he knew it was better that Luffy was considered a part of the joke and not the joke itself.
When they were finally done cleaning and it was well into the evening, Sanji went to prepare dinner for the crew even if they clearly didn’t deserve it. He made another type of octopus dish, but nothing too refined since they had been too annoying with him. He wondered for how long they would make fun of him, but it was true that his lie was absurd and hilarious. At this point he only hoped they would get bored and not inquire more than that.
Sanji called everyone to eat when dinner was ready and as in the entire day everyone had the same face that showed they wanted to laugh. He didn’t pay them any mind and served them food. While everyone ate they sometimes stared directly at him, more specifically to his neck and he hated the sensation of having so many people observing him. He still didn’t say anything and let them have their fun even if he hated it.
After a while Nami started pondering about some things Sanji seriously didn’t want her to think of. She wondered out loud asking the crew about what their thoughts were on the matter with the bugs.
“But if you guys think about it, it’s not too believable that those marks are from bugs,” she said and this was exactly what Sanji didn’t want.
“Of course they aren’t, Nami. They were made by a human being, but we still don’t know who it was,” Usopp said and it seemed they were really going to talk about this.
“They were made by bugs so stop being annoying. You and your perverted minds are thinking too much into it,” Sanji said, lying his whole way again.
“Yeah, sure. They suddenly appear in your neck and you think we will believe that. Why would they choose that when you have your arms more accessible?” Zoro asked him and he knew he had to divert the attention from him.
“I don’t know, I’m not in the mind of those things. It’s actually more surprising that you know such a complicated work like ‘accessible’,” Sanji said and Zoro scowled at him.
“But it’s true though, it’s just not believable, bro. Why don’t you just say that you’re going out with someone or that you spent the day with someone?” Franky said and the whole crew nodded, even Luffy.
“Because it isn’t like that so leave me alone!” Sanji exclaimed more annoyed than what he was actually feeling.
“Come on, Sanji! Just tell us. It can’t be that bad,” Nami said and then added, “Unless it’s one of us. It’s someone from the crew, right?”
Sanji wanted to run and hide under his bed or fall to the ocean so they would stop asking so much about something private. He didn’t dare to look at Luffy because the moment he laid his eyes on him everyone would know about their relationship and he really didn’t want that at all.
“It really isn’t like that! Leave me alone!” He was practically pleading, but they seriously weren’t stopping.
“It’s someone from the crew. It’s confirmed now. So who is it? Let’s bet,” Nami said and pulled money from one of her pockets. “I bet it’s Luffy.”
“What? No, no, no,” Luffy said and for some reason it was a lot more believable than what Sanji was expecting.
Robin pulled out money too and said, “I bet it’s Zoro.”
Zoro was drinking water and exploded so everyone got dirty with it, as if the ink in the morning wasn’t enough. “What? No way in hell! Don’t even joke with that, woman! I was the first one that noticed so it makes no sense that I’m the bug here. It’s someone else. I bet it’s Usopp.”
“What? No, no. No. It isn’t me! It’s someone else, possibly that secret admirer Sanji had back in that town,” Usopp said and pulled out money too because apparently this had become a game.
“I bet it’s that secret admirer too, but yesterday I don’t know how Sanji had time if he was with all of us the whole day,” Franky said and didn’t put any money on the table since he was thinking.
“He wasn’t. He was with Luffy for at least three hours,” Nami said and everyone looked perplexed. The idea that it was Luffy who secretly and intimately marked Sanji was beginning to take form in the whole crew.
“You are right! It has to be him!” Usopp exclaimed while Zoro laughed his guts out. He put money down on the table as well.
Sanji’s face went red with the commotion and someone new interfered to defend Luffy.
“It can’t be Luffy. He isn’t like that!” Spitted Jinbei, as if the idea was completely ruled out.
There was a long silence while everyone, including Chopper, stared at Luffy again, thinking if it was possible their captain actually could mark Sanji with hickeys and all that implied. No one said anything for some time until Nami shook her head.
“You are right, Jinbei. Luffy isn’t capable of leaving hickeys on Sanji. He doesn’t know what they are…” She said and shrugged, and Sanji, for a small moment, was glad she was on his side.
It lasted little when he saw Luffy turn red, lower his head, and smoke came out of his head like he was burning. The crew was silent waiting for a reaction, but they didn’t have to wait much, for Luffy stood up like a madman and all but yelled.
“Of course I can leave hickeys on Sanji’s neck and anywhere I want! I know his body like the palm of my hand! He’s mine!”
And if that didn’t confirm the whole truth to the crew, Sanji didn’t know what else could do it.
“I knew it!” Nami said and winked her pretty eyelashes like the cat burglar she was.
“Well, now we know who was bugging Sanji so much…” Robin said with a smile, but Sanji instead was mad.
How could Luffy do that to him? It was so embarrassing to think the crew knew their secret. He stood up without answering anyone’s claims or questions and went to the deck. He lit a cigarette and thought back to Luffy’s words. It was clear he was crazy for him, and Sanji was too, but he couldn’t believe he didn’t respect their deal of not telling anyone about their relationship; he was swayed so easily by Nami’s game.
As he imagined, he didn’t stay alone on the deck for long: Luffy was behind him some minutes after his disruption. Nevertheless, Sanji didn’t turn around to see him as he was too mad with him yet.
“Are you alright?” Luffy asked him with a peaceful voice, very unlike him.
“Of course not,” Sanji said and turned around to look at Luffy, finally. “How could you have done that to me? It was so embarrassing…”
It was short, but Sanji could see the glimmer of sadness pass through Luffy’s eyes.
“Are you embarrassed of me?” Luffy asked and the pain was obvious.
Sanji had to make things right at least on that aspect: he loved Luffy and there was no changing that. He simply didn’t think it was right for them to be together when the crew could have no biases.
“No, I love you, but with the crew knowing, things get difficult.”
Luffy stared at him and said, “What things get difficult? Everyone told me that they were okay with us being together.”
That caught Sanji by surprise. He wasn’t expecting the crew to be so understanding, but really, they were the best. It made sense and he was a stupid idiot that couldn’t recognize the value of his friends. He had to make up with Luffy too, apologize for being irrational and pushing him to the extreme.
“I’m sorry, Lu. I thought they would hate us for being a couple and put unnecessary pressure on you.”
“You misjudged them, but it’s alright! They say they will forgive you if you give us a feast,” Luffy said with his usual lying face, but Sanji instead of getting mad, smiled.
“Okay, okay, I will treat them to a feast they haven’t seen yet!” He exclaimed with a grin and noticed that Luffy was looking elsewhere. “Is something wrong, Luffy?”
He stared at his feet and then looked nervous at Sanji. “Are we alright? Are we still boyfriends?”
Sanji chuckled. Luffy being in love with him was something so special. He behaved in ways not even in his wildest dream he could have imagined. From the pampering and endless gifts, like a romantic, to their love making that was usually passionate, wild and amazing and Luffy’s need to have Sanji happy all the time, it awed the cook. It always melted something deep inside Sanji.
Luffy looked more nervous with his reaction, but Sanji caught him by surprise with a kiss. He leaned down and grabbed Luffy’s face. Luffy was confused for a moment, but caught up with him quickly. He kissed back and pulled Sanji by the neck into a frenetic kiss. Luffy didn’t need more than this to understand that they were okay and he was happy.
What they didn’t know was that the crew was handing money to Nami, who had won the bet and therefore was also incredibly happy for his crewmates. The rest of the crew wasn’t so happy as they put the Bellies in Nami's hand. They liked it better when Sanji had secret bugs bothering him and wondered if from then on the deep kiss Luffy and Sanji were sharing would become something normal. They genuinely didn’t care but they could save a little for later! With that they left the couple alone and hoped that they would get a room soon.
Meanwhile Sanji was thinking that the hand trying to unbutton his shirt was too hot. Oh what to do with Luffy! He was too much and he loved it that way, poor crew that would have to withstand them. Nonetheless, he forgot all about them once a mouth was placed in his neck marking him again. He couldn’t deny his King further. Later he would care that they were in open space…
THE END