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RUMBLE!	By : TreeStar Category: +M to R > One Piece Views: 7990 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
RUMBLE!

7

Tickle

~~~ *** ~~~ *** ~~~

Once they were all in the kitchen, Luffy climbed to the top of Zoro�s hand to poke his head out� and saw the most welcome sight on earth. Oh yes.

Sanji had spread the makings of subs all over the entire table so that Luffy would be able to help assemble them with him freely. There were meats and cheeses and pickles and all sorts of wet things like ketchup to slather everywhere. Yay!

Zoro smiled inwardly at the display as well, and made his way to the table to set Luffy down. With such a sight before him, Luffy could not be down fast enough. Talk about a distraction, Zoro thought, as Luffy danced around the food, skipping and kicking and twirling about comically. Zoro himself headed to the wall to lay down for a breather. Nice job, Cook.

Sanji walked in behind them and saw Luffy�s dance and a smile lit up his face. �What do you think, captain? Are sandwiches okay?�

�Yeah!� Luffy cheered, throwing his arms in the air and running back to the end of the table where Zoro was� only to see that Zoro had laid down against the wall. Probably to take a nap or something. �well, that was okay as long as he was close. He�d just had an attack anyway, so that meant (in his own rubber mind) that he wouldn�t have another one for a long time, right?

He smiled and skipped back over to the food.

Sanji walked over and pulled the bench away from the table side so he could stand right beside him. �Alright, then. I took orders from everyone a few minutes ago, so all we need to do is pick a name and some bread and put everything on it that�s under that name.� He set the list down by Luffy so that the little thing could read over it fine. It was all katakana in order to be positive Luffy could read it. �So I can pick any name and make it?�

�I�m doing the ladies�, but anyone else�s, yes. Who do you want?�

Luffy crawled up and down the paper, reading a bunch of names and ingredients. Then he put his hand to his chin in a pose of mock-consideration, which he needn�t have done, because Sanji already knew whose he would pick. Luffy wasn�t big on following directions and remembering what goes on what when.

�Ummm� All of them. I�ll help with all of them!� he smiled merrily.

Sanji nodded and said, �Okay, then how about I tell you what to get, and then you get it and bring it over, okay? While I�ll do the mustard and stuff.�

�You mean just fetch things?� Luffy pouted, disappointed.

Sanji gave him a look of disbelief. �You think it�ll be that easy, do you? I bet you can�t even keep up with me.� he shook his head in feigned doubt.

�You�re on!� the boy shouted, and dragged a bread roll over.

Sanji chuckled. He�d planned for it to happen this way. He began to read ingredients out loud, and Luffy skipped and ran all over, gathering it. Sanji read a little faster, and Luffy laughed, trying to keep up. When the munchkin started to fall behind, Sanji would pretend to need to fix something to look nicer� before reading the next item on the list, in order to give Luffy the impression that he was doing exceedingly well.

Zoro observed all of this happen from the wall. He smiled when he figured out what Sanji was doing. Neither knew if Luffy picked up on this or not, but he was having a good time, so it didn�t really matter, did it? The two had made up, and everything was fine now.

Luffy actually was doing very well. He never got distracted, focused fully on his challenge, and only slipped up once, grabbing the wrong number of chicken breasts for the parmesan melt that Zoro called for from the wall.

Once They had finished all the other guys� subs, Luffy grinned triumphantly at his cook. �See? I told you I could do it! Hah!�

Zoro laughed from his position, and Sanji nodded as if very impressed. �Good job. Now, what do you want on yours?�

Luffy turned around to look at all the condiments stacked around him. Hmmm� �I can put anything on it?� He wasn�t used to being set loose around food with no �except for�s or �only a little�s, but he didn�t want to be splatted, so he had to be sure�

Sanji nodded, �Anything, any amount. -That you think you can handle,� he added before turning him loose. With Luffy�s new size, a huge meal to him was a normal meal to the other guys, so Sanji had no need for concern.

This was like the perfect game for Luffy. He could throw everything he decided would taste good onto a roll of bread that was three times longer than he was, and then eat it all in one go. How he could do this would defy imagination, but Sanji had prepared all of this knowing it would happen. He wasn�t sure what Luffy would like, but the kid had to have a big meal for energy. That fact had proven itself time and time again, so now Luffy would decide, and Sanji would just let him have it.

This was obviously something that would never happen again once the Rumble-effect wore off, so Sanji didn�t feel weird saying the phrase, �Be sure to taste a little of what you think you want before you add it. Things taste different now, remember.�

Luffy rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

As the spectacle began, and Luffy took Sanji�s recommendation to heart, taking a bite out of most everything on the table, Zoro couldn�t help but hand it to the cook. If ever there was a peace offering to be made with their captain, this was it.

Luffy ran about the amazing assortment around him. He learned that the white cheeses were okay to eat, and the yellows were a little stronger.

He took a bite of Pepper Jack, and immediately started waving his arms in frantic motions. For what, he had no clue, but Sanji had gave him a small pre-poured osake-saucer of milk off the counter to get that taste out of his mouth. �Be careful, Luffy. Smaller bites, okay?�

The little saucer was a pretty manageable size for the shrunken pirate. Sanji had really thought about everything this time, and Luffy smiled at him gratefully. He had the best cook in the world!

Luffy finished and recommenced his quest.

Sanji sighed as tiny footprints -one red and one yellow- progressed to leave a trial behind everywhere that Luffy had gone. The boy had stepped into mustard and then ran right across the inside of the mayonnaise lid while he was racing to keep up with Sanji. The cook didn�t even know how he had gotten the ketchup on only his left foot, but he wasn�t sure how he�d gotten it all up and down his arms, either. All Sanji could imagine was that ketchup was messy and he hadn�t been watching his captain the whole time, because it had happened somehow. �And if Luffy had run through another open roll without anyone noticing, then the cook probably didn�t want to know about it, anyway.

Zoro watched this with expression of open humor on his face. He found humor in both Luffy�s actions and the cook�s sighs, so this was pretty fun for him, altogether.

Hah! Sanji had just glared at him. Well, that only made it funnier.

It was pretty impressive, though, how Sanji was doing all this without even needing a smoke yet! It was actually pretty weird� Zoro was impressed, way down in that place where he felt things that he refused to acknowledge.

Luffy seemed to have noticed this too, for after running across the table with his sixth slice of salami wrapped over his head like a taco, he turned to his chef to inquire of him, �Sanji, are you sick?�

Sanji paused in his trying to make Luffy�s sub actually look like a recognizable type of food of some sort, instead of the� pile of meats it looked like now. �What? No!�

Luffy appeared to be confused by this answer. �Oh.�

Sanji went back to working on the sub. �Why?�

Luffy poked his arm through a piece of Swiss cheese and waved it about for no apparent reason. �Because we were talking and we thought that maybe you didn�t feel well, because you were so cranky today. Even though you were fine yesterday.�

Sanji groaned a little. �No, it�s not� I�m not sick. I just can�t smoke anymore. I�m adjusting.�

Adjusting�? Luffy furrowed his brow in confusion. What an annoyingly long word. �Since when?� He put his head through the cheese hole and just let it stay there as he tilted his head adorably. Zoro smiled� then made it go away.

Sanji sighed again, �Last night.�

Luffy nodded slowly, but still looked confused as a couple unasked questions flashed in his eyes. After a moment, however, Luffy seemed to find his own answer because his expression dimmed a little, and his unasked questions changed. He raised his eyes back up to Sanji�s. �Because of me?�

Sanji sighed and after a moment, answered, �No. No, not because of you. Don�t worry about that.�

Luffy reflected quietly, arms folded, a serious look on his face that told any who looked at him that he was going over something serious in his mind. Even with the cheese in place. After a moment, he spoke to Sanji, but never changed position. He had actually hoped that Sanji would answer him affirmatively, because if it wasn�t because of him, then that meant� �Then you are sick.�

Sanji looked a little uncomfortable, �No�I just decided to quit, that�s all.�

Luffy met his eyes, expression unchanging. It was quiet for a moment. Everyone in the room knew there was more to it than that. Sanji truly enjoyed smoking, so why would he quit? Luffy wouldn�t budge. His nakama�s well-being was a matter of great priority to the young captain.

Knowing that his captain -usually so hyper- was very stubborn and would have no problem at all with standing in that same stance waiting for more for the next twenty minutes at least, Sanji finally sputtered a little, and made most of Nami�s entire sub while he quickly blustered uncomfortably though his answer. �I�m not sick, okay? Not yet. Chopper said I had to stop, so I�m trying, here, alright?! I�m trying, so I�m gonna be fine.�

Luffy expression changed to a smile at these words. �Good.�

Then he ran across the tabletop to throw the cheese he was wearing onto his roll.

Zoro grunted. �So it�s withdrawal, then? You gonna be okay?�

�I�ll be fine, moron. What would you do about it anyway?� he glanced pointedly at the tiny boy as he pulled himself up the top of the pickle jar and peaked inside� only to be hit by the scent and fall back to the wooden surface. Sanji looked back at the swordsman. �You already have your hands full, sometimes quite literally.�

Zoro nodded, for that was true. Chopper would have to take care of the cook. Zoro had another charge to look after. Said charge had dropped to sitting on the table with his head between his knees. That was an odd position to see him in, but one that was steadily becoming more common as the day went by. It made Zoro very nervous. He just couldn�t help it.

�Luffy?� Zoro called. �You okay?�

Luffy groaned, nodded� and after a moment slooowly pushed himself to his feet. That had been a miserable surprise. Humph! Just see if he went near any pickles again any time soon! This was so despairing. It just wasn�t fair.

Sanji finished the girls� subs, having speed in the kitchen that even Luffy knew not, the cook looked at his captain�s ensemble and waved the incoming armful of olives away. �No more, Luffy.�

Luffy stopped, �But you said-�

�No more on this sandwich. If you want to make another after you�ve finished eating this one, that�s fine, but if you put anything else on this one I won�t be able to close it, and then even you won�t be able to properly chew it.�

A dramatic sigh, �Alllriiiight�� and Luffy trudged back over to the olive bowl to unload his arms.

Recognizing this as the sign that food was ready again, Zoro began to automatically move outside to call those fools in to eat. Even thought they had already eaten not too long ago. Zoro turned back around, �Oi, cook. You sure they�ll be hungry again?�

�Maybe not. Who cares? Lunch is already about two hours late and I�m not waiting anymore. Are you gonna get them?�

Zoro shrugged as if he hadn�t been moving to do that very thing anyway and Sanji had just dumped this terrible burden on him. �I suppose��

�Then wait for me to finish cleaning up, first.�

�ME TOO!� came the small voice from the table. Zoro looked down to see Luffy pouting at him as if he felt he�d been forgotten about.

The swordsman frowned. �Luffy, it�s freezing out there for you.�

�That�s okay.� Luffy insisted, even though it probably wasn�t, �It wasn�t that bad when we came back in here a little bit ago! Please?�

�Luffy, I don�t know�� the sword fighter answered. �All I have to do is get them, so I�ll only be out there for a minute.�

Luffy bit his lip and looked around the room as if he expected to find the perfect reason that it was okay all of a sudden just floating in the air around him. He didn�t find it, and his breathing got faster as he got more upset. Finally he just started hopping from one foot to the other, begging. �Can�t I go? Can�t I, Zoro? Can�t I go, too? I�ll be okaaayy��

�Oh for the love of- will you just take him off the table, already?� Sanji asked, sounding exasperated. �I can�t wash it with him jumping around splashing ketchup all over.�

Luffy looked down and noticed the mess of his legs and feet for the first time. �Hey! I�m all messy.�

Zoro snickered. He couldn�t help it. Luffy smiled at his first mate, because he had done something that made Zoro happy� even though he had no clue what that was�

Unfortunately, Zoro�s next words wiped the smile off his face. �That�s right. You�re all messy. I don�t want that all over me.�

Sanji rolled his eyes, picked up the captain as Luffy yelped in surprise, and threw him at the swordsman, anyway. �Then clean him off in the sink.�

�That was great! Again!� Luffy laughed at his fast, unexpected journey, looking toward Sanji, who ignored him as Zoro sighed and walked over to the sink.

Sighing again and more loudly, so that the cook wouldn�t realize that he didn�t mind taking care Luffy like this, Zoro turned on the faucet gently and made sure the water was just tepid.

Sobering instinctively at the sound of running water, Luffy began to squirm in his hand. �Zoro, what are you gonna do?�

Zoro didn�t answer, and simply moved Luffy so that his feet were under the water.

Luffy�s body tensed up in shock� and then he burst out laughing and started squirming even harder. The water falling on his feet tickled SO BAD. He shrieked with laughter, and Zoro rolled his eyes at his captain�s reaction to the water. He knew it had to tickle, because this was Luffy�s ticklish-laugh (not to be confused with his something-interesting-laugh or his I-have-a-good-idea-laugh or his general-nonsense-laugh or his victory-laugh), and it had a little more desperation in it than this other laughs did. Sanji got the weirdest expression on his face for a moment, and that finally set Zoro laughing.

With all Luffy�s squirming, it didn�t take long for the water to do it�s job. Since the poor kid was wiggling his toes and spazing, the ketchup came off everything and the boy was left cleaner than he was before waking up that morning. The water on only his feet did it�s job in another way, too, and Luffy eventually felt his energy start leave him. He stopped kicking eventually, but the laughter couldn�t stop. It just tickled too much.

As soon as he was sure Luffy was clean, Zoro pulled him away and turned off the water. The kid was struggling to draw breath so hard that he couldn�t talk, and he kept laughing as if on �auto� or something while Zoro laid him down in his other palm to let him calm a bit.

Gradually the laughter died down, and a panting Luffy slumped into Zoro�s hand fully, utterly exhausted, eyes closed and hand on his chest. Holy crap, that had tickled!

Zoro and Sanji both looked from their captain to each other. Sanji finally raised his eyebrow and turned around pointedly as if to say �Don�t look at me, he�s all yours�.

Zoro lowered his thumb over Luffy, as he had learned that Luffy tended to move for it to calm him. Zoro noticed that he held onto it whenever he was tired or in a strong emotional state of any type, whether it be cheerfulness or anxiety or frustration.

Sure enough, even as he lowered his thumb, Luffy reached for it without opening his eyes and pulled it against his chest.

�You okay?�

Luffy tiredly nodded, head lolling to one side.

Zoro started to get the tiniest bit concerned. �Sorry about that. It was just to get you clean.�

Luffy didn�t nod this time, but after a moment, he licked his lips� and got out a quiet answer, � �m okay� just� water.�

Aaa, yeah� �Your curse.�

Luffy nodded again. He still hadn�t opened his eyes.

Zoro held him still and didn�t move a muscle until Luffy had caught his breath and let his hands fall from around the swordsman�s thumb. Damn, he�s sensitive. Even I�ve never seen him that bad. He was absolutely hysterical. I guess my idea of sink-showers is out the window. He won�t do that again willingly�

�That was fun, though.� Luffy smiled up at him from where he lay. Zoro�s thought died in his head.

He looked into his hand and rolled his eyes. �Well, I�m glad you liked it, I guess. But if you�re thinking about asking me to do it again, I�m gonna tell you no.�

Luffy pouted, his mouth closing from being in mid-question preparation as he finally sat up in Zoro�s palm. �Awww, Zoro, why not?�

�Just in case it could turn bad. You were exhausted a minute ago. I won�t do anything that could become too much for you, so that will only happen when you�re messy.�

Luffy folded his arms and frowned stubbornly, �Hmmmm�.

Sanji cleared his throat and pointed to the door, and Zoro decided to take the hint and change the subject before Luffy gave him a really bizarre order that would start a game that Zoro just couldn�t see himself ever playing with the kid. He looked back down to Luffy, �Wanna go get them now?�

Oh yeah! �Okay,� the rubber munchkin smiled, all previous thoughts forgotten.

�Come on, then.� Zoro cupped him close, �And we can�t stay out there for long, okay?� Luffy laughed in anticipation and hugged himself to Zoro while the two headed out.

The first thing Zoro realized upon leaving the door was that the sun was blocked by clouds, which consequently holding the heat in, so it had warmed up some. His captain was relaxed against him with his hands over his eyes to block the light that was still bright to him, but he wasn�t curled up for heat this time, so that was somewhat of a good sign right there. Zoro carried him around the wall to Aft.

Luffy shifted around in the large hand that held him, and, making sure he was going to stay in Zoro�s shadow, slowly squinted and pulled himself to the top of Zoro�s hand to chance a look around his ship. Nami was downstairs with her cartography, and Luffy smiled upon hearing Sanji�s inept calls �encouraging� her to come to the kitchen and see the lovely lunch the two had made, but the other three were lingering in the sun, either fiddling with some contraption of sorts or reading. They�re gonna love it! He thought to himself excitedly.

�Hey!� he shouted at the top of his lungs� which everyone just managed to make out, �Let�s go eat lunch because I made lunch with Sanji and it�s good so let�s go eat it!�

Robin laughed and set her book down to rise and walk over toward the two, but Usopp and Chopper bolted up and dashed past them excitedly. Luffy would usually have been with the latter two, bolting toward the kitchen chaotically, and he kind of missed being able to do it now.

Zoro noticed Luffy looking after them longingly, and decided to get his mind off of it by bouncing him a little. He cupped his captain in two hands quite suddenly, and before the boy could even grasp what was happening, he was being flung up just a little above Zoro�s hands like he was on a trampoline. Luffy squealed and then laughed heartily, grabbing Zoro�s pointer for leverage as his body repeatedly lost its grounding against the large palms. After almost a minute of playing this way with his captain, Zoro stayed his hand to let the now-hyperactive Lilliputian regain a semblance of balance. �You dizzy?� he laughed.

Luffy�s answering smile at him a moment later was absolutely glowing. �That was fun, Zoro! Can you do that again?�

Zoro grinned a little. �I suppose. But let�s get lunch now, okay?�

Luffy�s smile continued full-force and he nodded, �YEAH!� Then the sun came out from behind a cloud and he let out a little cry and covered his eyes, instinctively moving down in Zoro�s hands.

Robin, who had stopped at the top of the stairs to watch the whole thing, serenely continued down the stairs as though nothing had happened. Still, Ken-san had started to open up more since this happened to Luffy, and she had noticed. Luffy is right. Even in the darkest of times, there is always light to be found somewhere if you know how to look for it.

---------------

Lunch held a very different atmosphere than breakfast had. There were fewer paranoid looks directed toward the captain, and this time it was okay to play with the food.

When Zoro had first walked in behind Robin to find everyone else assembled, Luffy had started jumping around like a hot potato in his hand to be set down. Then he had pranced around the table to see everyone take a bite of their sub individually and enjoy it (which had weirded some of them out a little) before he had run back to his own place.

Luffy now sat happily on a yellow placemat which Sanji had decided to give him in order to keep Luffy sort of confined to one area of the table, and not skidding to other�s dinning places to drool over food he couldn�t eat. Knowing that Luffy would still feel inclined to run around whether he had a placemat or not, Sanji had further instilled in the boy a sense of belonging to that spot on the table by calling that placemat �his special place�. Luffy had loved this and not left it yet, except when Sanji had first set it down on the table --he had grabbed the placemat without a word and towed it over so that Zoro was forced to just share the edge. The swordsman hadn�t even looked or paused in his bite when he did this, automatically lifting his mug when Luffy came, and then setting it down again as if he had simply known what was happening without any warning whatsoever. Luffy hadn�t even looked to see if the mug was lifted, he just rushed backward and right through where the mug had been moments before. It was like some bizarre, subconscious choreography that they both just knew. But they had always been like that, and while Robin had watched with a smile, no one else had so much as blinked.

Sanji was craving a cigarette like his captain craved adventure: if he didn�t get to have one soon, he knew he would go crazy. He had considered trying to sneak one that night, but one look at Luffy running around the table playing that game with him a few minutes ago had changed his mind. He just couldn�t do anything to hurt that boy. He had already hurt Luffy once. That was too much, already. So no smoking. He just had to keep himself distracted so as not to think about it, but his splitting headache was making it difficult. That�s why he was sitting to eat with them all now, as opposed to leaning on the stove to watch the havoc ensue.

Now that Sanji had decided to abstain for himself (instead of having Chopper decide for him, which had automatically made him feel defiant) it was becoming a little easier. He longed so for that �last one�, but knew that Chopper would smell it and jump on him about it, and also that Luffy would detect it as well. Although Luffy probably wouldn�t say anything, Sanji knew he would be disappointed at his lack of will power. But with him being so addicted to Zoro right now, the cook had a feeling that Luffy was really getting a taste of what it meant to be so openly dependant on something� and clearly understood that to have that something suddenly taken away would be devastating.

Luffy was very needy normally; he absorbed love from his nakama like a sponge-- but in this state, it was very obvious to Sanji that Luffy now needed more affection than normal. The chef, who had a habit of watching interaction between people from a distance, had observed that, since he had eaten the Rumble Balls, Luffy had been on an almost constant hunt for physical affection of some kind; he now sought to be held or played with in almost any fashion all the time. He couldn�t go for more than about ten minutes without climbing into that idiot over there�s lap or, as it was right now, patting Zoro�s hand next to him on the table for no obvious reason.

Of all the people on the ship to cling to for comfort� The cook couldn�t figure out exactly what it was about Zoro that made the swordsman known throughout East Blue as a �demon� so approachable to kids! Chopper went to him with every problem, Usopp was always hiding behind him, Nami had him under her thumb, and Luffy now had him wrapped around his finger to the point where the slightest move summoned him to the captain�s side.

What a sap� Sanji thought to himself, taking another bite of sandwich. When everyone stared at him, he realized he must have spoken out loud. Crap.

�Who�s a sap, idiot?� Zoro said, sounding casual but there was a very clear dare in his gaze.

Without thinking, Sanji bit the hook. �You. You�re a complete pushover. You just fold like a flower all the time.�

Zoro wondered what the hell Sanji was thinking about that kept bringing on these totally deranged comments out of nowhere today. He sighed, determined not to give in to the moron�s inanity.

Sanji got pissed when Zoro didn�t answer at started to rise� only to have Nami�s hand slap down on the table, accompanied by her reminder, �Truce!�

Both Zoro and Sanji looked at her, then glared at each other, then realized again that this no-fighting crap was gonna be a little more difficult to adhere to than they had first figured�

Zoro rolled his eyes and then glanced down at the placemat again� and then looked around to find his captain who appeared to have wandered away from him as soon as Sanji started snapping.

He found the boy on the other side of the table with Robin. She was holding Luffy, who was looking out at both him and the cook as if he expected punches to start flying any moment.

Now seeing that this wasn�t the case, Luffy jumped out of her hand to land beside her sandwich� and steal an olive rather indiscreetly from her paper plate. He looked up to see that she had seen (naturally), but when she only smiled at him, he laughed back a little like he had been given a treat of some sort. Then he turned and skittled back across the table to his yellow placemat, bare feet slapping on the wood all the way.

For some reason this whole interaction bothered Zoro just a little. It was a strange feeling he had, almost as though the sight of Luffy being so friendly with someone else in his helpless state was unfair for some reason. He didn�t know what the feeling was exactly, and tried to justify it as a sort of irritation toward Sanji for making Luffy run from him in the first place� but that wasn�t quite right. It was more of that feeling that he always got when he caught Luffy playing with his swords--which were off limits to everyone else on the ship. Not because they might hurt the swords, but more because those swords were his. He was the swordsman, not them, and he had never been big on other people handling his things.

Now sitting beside him, Luffy smiled up at him innocently. Zoro had the feeling he did this mostly because he knew there was a good chance that whomever he was smiling at would return the gesture and cheer up a bit, even if they weren�t down before. It was merely Luffy�s way. After a moment, Zoro grunted at him and finished off his sub. Luffy laughed, and the swordsman squashed the strange feeling, for it had no grounds for existing and was a stupid thing to feel, anyway.

Everyone else finished up around the same time Zoro had, and those who hadn�t seemed to feel inclined to bring the rest outside into the sun.

Usopp seemed especially keyed up about something, and Sanji remembered that contraption of his that he wanted to bring in here to make a mess in the galley with� He looked tiredly at the sniper. �Are you still bringing that weird thing in here?�

�It�s not a WEIRD THING!� Usopp shouted indignantly, drowning out all other voices and earning himself the usual exasperated looks all around. �And no.�

Sanji raised his eyebrow in surprise.

�I�ll do that later!�

Sanji�s eyebrow dropped again and he automatically reached for his front pocket, only to frown deeper when he found it empty.

Usopp was still going, �I want to do something else now.�

It was about here that most of the others decided they had heard enough, weren�t involved, and didn�t want to be, so they went back outside, gathering their food if they had any, to further enjoy the sunshine.

Usopp looked over to where Luffy had climbed up to Zoro�s head and was currently tying small knots in the green hair that his swordsman would probably not appreciate later. Usopp tried not to laugh, knowing that he would have been killed had he been in Luffy�s place right now� �Hey, Luffy! Wanna do something fun with me?�

Luffy looked up from his meticulous work with an excited expression. �A game?�

�Um, sort of. It�s an activity. I�m sure you�ll like it! It�s kinda messy!�

Luffy smiled hugely. �YAYAYAY!� he cheered, jumping up and down as Zoro dawned a the most queer expression that anyone of them had ever seen him wear. The little one�s trampoline was reaching up to pull his captain off his mop when Luffy suddenly lost his balance and toppled off on his own.

It was the strangest sensation. Not at first, for he had fallen many times before in his life, and it had never hurt. But this time Luffy had the oddest sense of foreboding as he saw Zoro�s body fly past him. He didn�t have the time to think about what he was doing, for thinking in an immediately-hazardous situation had never helped him before and was rather likely to get him killed in most cases, because he never seemed to connect the right circuits. His reach for the bench as he fell was purely instinctive� and unfortunately a split second too late.

Before he was even fully aware of what was happening to him, Luffy had landed on the wooden floor of the galley hard and painfully with a solid *THWACK*.
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RUMBLE!