Mass x Acceleration - Chapter Ten
Title: Mass x Acceleration
Chapters: Prologue + 10 Chapters
Rating: R
Pairings: Eventually
Summary: Sanji decides to grab a second job - it is not the kind of work he expected.
Mass x Acceleration
By Dixxy Mouri
Chapter Ten: The Sapphire Witch
Although Nami’s desire to collect and horde money had faded considerably, her head was still great with numbers and Sanji was a tiny bit mesmerized watching her crunch the numbers together, muttering things and writing down something in a notebook to keep track of what went where. Sanji wasn’t terrible with numbers himself, but his expertise was more in fractions and measurements - things that were useful to a cook. He could handle finances, too, but the business side of running a restaurant was his least favorite aspect so he didn’t really LIKE dealing with the books.
Sanji was perfectly content to let Nami manage their attempts to save up for this apartment.
So, with part of their paychecks going towards rent/food bills (which Mac tried to decline) and keeping a small amount for his own devices, the bulk of their money was kept in the bottom drawer of a dresser they shared, with Nami noting every beli that came in and out. Sanji largely forgot what they were saving up for and was mostly content to continue on with the new routine he was developing.
Once the other cooks returned to work at the Cider Mug, the lunch rush became much more manageable and Sanji was able to get back into his grove, earning him a few more hours of work and a slight pay raise when Haralson asked him to start doubling his batches of soup in the morning. They were getting along well with Mac, and Cobbler was starting to prefer sleeping in their room. Ria and Braeburn came over to visit, sometimes together and sometimes alone, sometime with the twins in tow (Wendy and Sundae ALWAYS had more pictures for them). Dr. Gala seemed cautiously optimistic about their recovery (and a little annoyed they’d started work, even part time work) but always left with words of encouragement for me.
Three and a half weeks later, Nami greeted him outside of the Cider Mug with a bright smile.
“We have a deposit and a first month’s rent!!!” she said excitedly, clapping enthusiastically,
“Um . . .” Sanji was a little lost. What the hell was she talking about?
“For the apartment. We need to put down a deposit and we need to have the first month’s rent,” said Nami. She frowned, moving her arms around to try and get him to remember. “Remember? We were talking about moving out of Mac’s place? Asserting our independence? Getting our groove back? Ringing any bells?”
It was, but it wasn’t making any sense to the cook. How could they have saved up that kind of money that quickly at the rate they were working and earning money? Even considering they were spending next to nothing, there was no way they could have done it. “That fast? We saved it up that fast?” asked Sanji. “But, how?”
The two started to walk back to the mayor’s house while the navigator explained where the money had magically materialized from. “Well, Mac refused to accept any of rent or food money, even when I tried to sneak it to him, and between the two of us not really doing a whole lot of spending . . . yeah, we’re good for it,” said Nami. “There’s even some extra - we can get a couch or a table or something, too.”
Sanji raised an eyebrow. “That still doesn’t seem possible.”
Nami shook her head and pulled out a notebook. “Okay, see, here’s my weekly income-“
Sanji’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head. Nami was making THREE TIMES as much as he was getting at the Cider Mug. Even considering that her job was gaining hours a little bit faster than his was, it was still a daunting pay scale difference. He guessed she might be making a little bit more than him but this was more humble pie than he was expecting to be served. “You make THAT much more than me!?”
Nami shied away a little. “Um . . .”
Sanji realized he was being rude, composed himself, and shook his head. “I’m sorry. I get that ‘secretary to the mayor’ pays more than ‘part time cook at small restaurant’.” He paused, stood in front of her, and took her hands when he realized what this all meant. “Nami-san, that means most of that rent and deposit money is yours.”
Nami glowered at him for a moment. “Is this because I’m a woman?”
It took him a moment to realize what she was implying and he shook his head vigorously. “What? No! That’s not it!” said Sanji. “We’re supposed to be sharing the apartment, right? I should be paying half. I don’t need or want you to pay more than your fair share.” He sighed. “This whole moving out on our own thing was supposed to be about asserting our independence and taking control of our lives again . . . it isn’t good for either of us to be a crutch for the other, financial or not.”
“I don’t mind,” she said. “You don’t even have to pay me back.”
“There’s a difference between accepting money you’re owed and . . . what you did to everyone back with Luffy, and the former is okay. Look, if you want to move ahead with the search right away that’s all right, but at least give me an opportunity to pay you back,” said Sanji. “I mean, maybe I can get a second job.”
She shook her head. “Sanji-kun, you don’t need to get a second job,” said Nami.
Sanji shrugged. “You’re going to be at town hall if Mac has you working full time way more than I’m going to be at the Cider Mug for a while - I don’t mind grabbing a second job to make some extra money and kill some extra time when you’re not home. I mean, what am I going to do all day with myself? Knit?” He looked at her with a pout. “I don’t know how to knit, Nami-san.”
Nami sighed and laughed. “Okay, okay, I’m not going to stop you. But are you sure?”
“Sure. It can’t be that hard to find a second job, right?”
Two days later . . .
Sanji quickly learned that he was wrong.
Working for Haralson, it would be a conflict of interest for Sanji to work for one of the other food places in town (none of which were hiring anyways, so the point was moot). Additionally, he had no other practical skills that would make him useful anywhere else - he didn’t have farming skills or blacksmithing skills or anything else useful.
Mac suggested being a store clerk. “Operating a cash register is pretty easy - I think.”
That approach didn’t work, either. Aside from a few particularly observant regulars at the Cider Mug and those who had been to town hall recently, most of the people of the island didn’t have a clue who Sanji or Nami was. The reluctance to hire a stranger was obvious, and establishment after establishment left him feeling awkward, unwanted, and slightly poorer.
Eventually, Sanji found himself outside of a dress shop with a pink and yellow sign advertising it as The Apple Blossom. The signs in the window also offered tailoring and seamstress services, and he realized this was probably Ria’s shop. The building was a bright sunshine yellow, with the door frames painted with flowers and butterflies. Although a dress shop wasn’t his dream job, at least Ria would be nice to him if she wasn’t hiring.
Sanji let himself into the shop. There were a few mannequins modeling dresses and suits and some shelves and racks carrying more standard clothing items for men, women, and children, but most of the walls of the shop were lined with different kinds of fabrics and trims and thread and other things used to make clothing. Evidently Ria did a lot more custom work than he or Nami realized.
As for the proprietor herself, Sanji saw the familiar red-head with her head buried in her folded arms, screaming into the counter. Sanji approached gently, sensing that Ria was likely . . . stressed out or something. Just as his hands were about to touch the countertop, Ria’s head snapped up and she opened her mouth to yell. “WHAT - oh, I’m sorry Sanji, how can I help you today, sugah?”
Sanji froze from the outburst and decided to tackle her problem before he tackled his own. “Are you all right?”
Ria sighed and frowned. “No.”
“What’s wrong?”
The seamstress held up a notebook half ready to explode with extraneous, color pieces of paper. “This is wrong. I’ve got about a bazillion orders to fill by the end of the week, and I’m down two seamstresses right now - three, actually. One of my customers just came in here demanding why a dress I promised her next week isn’t done yet and proceeded to berate me for not getting my work done on time. I had to show her the work order and explain to her five times that I told her the dress wasn’t going to be done until next week, then I find out her stupid party got moved up so she tried to get her dress moved up and I’m sorry, but that is NOT my problem. Hence why you probably saw me screaming.”
Sanji frowned. “That sounds unpleasant.”
“It was, sugah. I’m so pissed right now. I only had four girls working here. One of them just had a baby and being a mother myself I’m not about to pull her away from that little bundle of joy before she’s ready - I’m not mad at her. But I had another one walk out on me yesterday over something stupid and petty - she can kiss my ass,” said Ria. She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, you’ve got enough problems to sort out, I’m sure. I’ll figure something out.”
“Well, um, actually, the reason I’m here is that I’m looking for a second job,” said Sanji. “Nami-san and I want to get an apartment and move out of Mac’s house and so far everyone on the island’s shot me down. I was wondering if maybe I could run your register for you or something? I don’t know how to sew so I can’t help you there but . . . maybe there’s something else I can do for you?”
Ria considered this for a moment. “You willing to do something a little dangerous?”
Sanji looked around the shop and laughed. “The most dangerous thing in here is needles and I already told you I don’t sew.” He crossed his arms. Ria clucked her tongue and shook her head. “No? Not the most dangerous thing in here?” She nodded. “Look, I know you probably don’t think I’m back in fighting condition - and to be fair, you’d be right - but I was a pirate, I think I can handle anything you can throw at me.” Seriously, what would a seamstress have that would qualify as dangerous?
The seamstress grinned coyly. “You sure, sugah?” she said, her voice tinged with amusement.
“Positive.”
Without missing a beat, Ria started to head towards the stairs, looking back at him with a mischievous wink. “Okay, just remember, I’m one of the only people on this island with combat training and you’re still on the mend, meaning that I can and I will murder the shit out of you if something bad happens to them.”
Sanji blinked. “Them?” And suddenly he realized what he’d just agreed to.
And this is what we call a “mistake”.
“WENDY! SUNDAE! SANJI’S GOING TO TAKE YOU OUT FOR ICE CREAM!”
Baby-sitter.
After getting the twins ice cream (in which Wendy demanded flavors that didn’t exist and Sundae couldn’t make up her mind, so he let them both have hot fudge sundaes with three flavors each), he’d swung by town hall to seek Nami’s wisdom on what the hell he was supposed to do with a pair of toddlers for the next three hours.
“Now how did you end up a baby-sitter?” Nami asked. The two kept glancing over to where the twins were doodling on some scrap paper Nami had at her desk - they were quiet and loved to draw, but they WERE small children so there was no telling how long that would keep them entertained. “I thought you were trying to be a shop clerk.”
“Ria’s short-staffed at her shop and one of the few employees she has left was tied up watching the twins. She needed that girl relieved of toddler time to sew, and for some reason she thinks I’m baby-sitter material,” Sanji said, keeping one eye on the girls as he talked with Nami. “So if today goes well she’s going to pay me for watching them a few afternoons a week, triple if she needs me to watch them for a full day.”
“What’s a normal day pay?” Nami asked.
“This,” said Sanji, writing it down. Nami whistled when she saw the number.
“That’s really, really good money for baby-sitting, especially if she needs you the whole day” said Nami. “Although seeing as she’s using you to give her more time to focus on work as opposed to, I don’t know, going out to dinner or something, it’s an important expense for her business. You’re allowing her to bring more money into her home to keep food on the table for those little ones.”
“That, or this is what she pays her regular employees and since she was paying them this rate to watch them anyways, what difference would it make if it’s me doing it? Other than, well, freeing up her skilled labor to make fancy hats,” said Sanji. He glanced back at the girls. They showed each other their drawings and giggled.
“Well they seem all right for the moment, and don’t you want kids someday anyways?”
Sanji frowned. That was true - he did want to be a father someday and settle down with a wife and two to three kids, but between his relatively young age, his life goals not being completed (i.e. finding All Blue), and recovering from everything That Man had put him through, he certainly wasn’t ready (or able, thanks to That Man) to be a father.
“You’re only going to have them a few of hours out of the day, then they go back to Ria for the night. Most of the hard stuff you won’t have to deal with - putting them to bed for the night, dealing with nightmares, handling bigger problems like bullies or sickness, whatever. Think of them as practice children,” said Nami.
“Practice children,” Sanji said dryly. “And what will Ria do to me if I scr- mess up?” He looked for signs that the girls had overheard his almost-swear word. The two caught him staring and help up pictures of the ice cream they’d just eaten, kicking their feet in their chairs. They were getting rowdy again (perhaps letting them have extra sprinkles wasn’t such a good idea - those things were all sugar) and they’d probably need to leave soon.
“No parent is perfect - I’m quite sure Ria is doing plenty of ‘messing up’ herself, and she doesn’t even have the twin’s F-A-T-H-E-R in the picture for assistance,” said Nami. “But it’ll give you an idea on how to do the bare basics, right? Any exposure to watching children has got to be better than nothing.” She beamed. “After you’ve dropped them off, come back here - I want to show you something.”
“What?” asked Sanji.
Nami leaned forward and grinned. “I think I found the perfect apartment.”
After leaving town hall, Sanji wasn’t sure where to take the twins. He thought they might be too little to play in the snow, and he wasn’t sure where to bring children to entertain them. What was he supposed to do with toddlers? Babies he figured might be easier to amuse (wasn’t stupid stuff like “peek-a-boo” a big hit with babies?) and older kids might better at entertaining themselves, but these little girls were a few months shy of three. Could they amuse themselves?
About a block away from the Cider Mug, the trio happened upon the island’s bookstore. Sanji had attempted to get a job here, too. The owner was a scatter brained sort going by Mr. Pinova who’d been wearing no less than three pairs of reading glasses (one pushed up on his head, one attached to a chain around his neck, and one sitting on the bridge of his nose). He’d been one of the more polite shopkeepers to turn Sanji down (citing that his stock was too unstable for even a part time employee), so a return trip didn’t bother him much.
The real question was whether or not the twins would be interested in a book store. They were probably too young to read by themselves, although Sanji toyed with the idea of seeing if the shop had any picture books - the girls would probably be able to follow along with the pictures and he could probably read the words aloud to them.
“Are we going into the bookstore, Uncle Sanji?” asked Wendy, tugging on his coat sleeve.
“Can we look at ones with pictures? Word books are boring,” said Sundae.
“When did I become ‘Uncle’ Sanji?” Sanji asked in curiosity as they entered the store.
The twins ignored his question as they started to open books, disappointed every time they found a “word” book and tossing them aside. Sanji tried to get them to stop, attempting to catch all of the books before they were wrecked while explaining to the girls that it was not okay to throw books.
He heard a belly laugh from the back of the shop - apparently Mr. Pinova was amused by the twins’ antics. “You know, people assume that children are easy to please, but they’re amongst the harshest critics in the world. An adult will give you the first few pages if you’re lucky, but a child will toss you aside - literally, in this case - if you don’t catch their eye after the first few words.”
“I am so sorry about this,” said Sanji, finally managing to wrangle the toddlers. He gathered up their discarded books (mostly non-fiction books dealing with advanced mathematical theories - Sanji didn’t agree with the twins’ method, but he more or less agreed with their sentiment) and put them on the counter. Mr. Pinova simply, smiled folding his hands and putting them on the counter. “Do you have any suggestions for-“
“What’s this, Uncle Sanji?” asked Sundae, pointing at a small spinning rack with a selection of comic books. Wendy joined her sister and they started to turn the rack, looking over the selection. Sanji’s eyes widened - he hadn’t read comics since his early days on The Orbit. He stared at the rack fondly, remembering reading the adventure stories by candlelight in his bunk at night.
“Those are comic books,” Mr. Pinova said. “They tell exciting stories about adventures.”
Wendy and Sundae turned to look at Mr. Pinova in wonder. “Adventures?” they asked in unison.
“Yeah, I used to read them when I was a kid,” said Sanji.
“You use to be a kid?!” Wendy said in amazement. “Wow!”
Sanji rolled his eyes and chuckled. “Yeah, you need to be a child before you get to be an adult.”
“We’re going to be adults one day?” asked Sundae, looking a little nervous.
“Well, not for a while - you’ve got a lot of growing to do first,” Mr. Pinova said with a laugh.
“Aw, I wanted to be a fairy unicorn princess,” Sundae said, sounding a little crestfallen.
Wendy pulled one of the comics out of the rack. “Can we get this one? The lady on the cover is pretty,” she said. Sundae nodded in agreement and Sanji gently took the comic from the child, checking it over for violence or language that might be too mature for the girls or go over their heads completely. It looked like it was a collection of several issues, detailing several adventures of the main character and her friends. He flipped through the pages to get an idea of what the storyline was, decided it was safe for the girls, and dug into the rest of the money Ria had given him to entertain the girls with.
The girl on the cover was wearing a blue dress with a pointy blue witch’s hat. She had short blonde hair in two braids and a spackling on freckles on each cheek. She was riding some sort of a large blue bird with what looked like flaming wings (a phoenix, maybe?) and was holding what had to be a magic want in one hand. The book’s title, written in blue script, was The Sapphire Witch.
It wasn’t a title he was familiar with, maybe it started after he stopped reading comics or wasn’t being sold in the North Blue. It was about a girl who had a magic wand that transformed her into the Sapphire Witch, a hero who protected Sunshine Island with the help of a several animal companions who also looked like they fit the gemstone theme. Most of the adventures didn’t seem like anything the girls couldn’t handle, with things like “the Crusty Badger wants all of the town’s toys for himself” and “the Green Horse tries to ruin Princess Honeycomb’s birthday party” serving as plot lines. It was all very colorful, easy to follow, and hopefully enough to keep the girls entertained for the next two hours.
Wendy and Sundae seemed excited that the comic had been bought, and Sanji led them out of the store, telling the girls to wave good bye to Mr. Pinova and that they’d get some story time once he got them back to The Apple Blossom. The twins cheered loudly and bounced the entire way back to their mother’s shop.
Ria seemed slightly amused with Sanji’s choice for the last leg of his baby-sitting effort, telling him he read to them in the upstairs apartment. “There’s some milk in the fridge - that’ll calm them down enough so you can actually read to them without having to do too much wrangling,” she said. The girls were already on their way up to the apartment, yelling down to Sanji that it was story time. Ria laughed. “You did this to yourself, sugah.”
“It wasn’t as bad as you made it out to be,” said Sanji. “They behaved just fine.”
“Oh really? They got you to buy a comic.”
“You gave me plenty to pay for their ice cream and I had leftovers.”
Ria frowned. “Didn’t you get any ice cream for yourself?”
Sanji sighed. “I still need to be careful with what I eat for a while yet, but thanks anyways.”
The seamstress shrugged. “You know, come to think of it, they’re fully aware you were sick for a while - maybe they decided to go easy on you,” said Ria, crossing her arms. She smiled. “But hey, at least you didn’t end up covered in chocolate pudding . . . or lit on fire.” Sanji’s draw dropped - chocolate pudding, well, he’d seen small children eat before so that made sense, but he couldn’t fathom Wendy and Sundae actually . . .
I don’t want to know.
Ria’s apartment was a little messy, but seemed like the kind of mess a single mother of two might have. The sink was full of dirty dishes and there were stuffed animals on the couch and easy chair. Two abandoned coloring books were on the coffee table, and Sanji spied a massive laundry bag down the hall where the bedrooms presumably were.
After getting the girls their milk (which Wendy wanted to drink from a straw - straws were hidden in one of the cabinet behind some sugary children’s cereal with an almost terrifyingly happy walrus on the box), Sanji ushered the girls to the couch, sat himself on the middle cushion, and patted the spaces beside him.
“Okay, let’s start at the beginning,” he said, crossing his legs. This was the origin story of the Sapphire Witch and started with her secret identity, Mimi Whistleberry, walking along a country road. “Mimi Whistleberry was walking home from her grandmother’s house after a day of baking pies,” Sanji read aloud.
“What kind of pies?” asked Sundae.
“It doesn’t say,” said Sanji.
“So how do we know what kind of pie she was baking?” asked Wendy, crossing her arms at him.
Sanji looked at the panel again - there was a house in the background (presumably belonging to the grandmother) and outside were rows of low-lying bushes with pinkish-red dots. “Looks like strawberry pie - see those bushes? They look like strawberry bushes to me.” The twins seemed to accept this answer and started pointing at the next panel, where Mimi was talking.
“Okay so Mimi says ‘I’m so glad-‘”
“You’re doing it wrong,” said Wendy.
Sanji raised an eyebrow at Wendy. “And you learned to read in the last five minutes?”
“No, I’m almost three, I can’t read,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You’re talking wrong.”
Sundae nodded. “Can you please read it in Mimi’s voice, Sanji?”
Sanji sighed. He considered protesting, but he was outnumbered and they were giving him sad puppy dog eyes. All right, he’d give them theatrics. He cleared his throat and tried to raise his voice as best he could. “’I’m so glad Granny and I were able to get all of those pies ready for the festival tomorrow night! It’s going to be so much fun!’” Wendy and Sundae patted his arms, nodding in approval.
The stupid swordsman would never let me hear the end of this if I was here.
As the afternoon turned to early evening, Sanji continued to read, making up voices for other characters as they came up, and soon found he was getting rather into it. By the time the King of the Forest Goblins appeared to steal the pies so he could have them all to himself (“But won’t that give the goblin a tummy ache if he tries to eat all the pies by himself? Wendy and I got tummy aches when we ate one pie by ourselves and we barfed on Uncle Braeburn’s couch,” Sundae had quipped), he was making silly faces and hand gestures at the girls, which had them giggling and clapping happily.
By the time the second story had ended, Sanji was so absorbed with entertaining the twins that he hadn’t noticed Ria and Nami standing by the top of the stairs, watching in amusement. Sensing their mother was done with work, the twins cheered and rushed to her side to latch onto the seamstress’s sides. “Looks like you did okay,” said Ria.
“I really liked the voice you gave Princess Honeycomb,” Nami said teasingly. Sanji pouted - he’d manufactured a prim and proper accent for the princess character that, coming out of him, was particularly ridiculous. Nami laughed and walked over, kissing his forehead. “She sounded like a very pretty princess.”
“Not as pretty you,” Sanji joked back. Nami seemed a little taken aback, and even the cook took a moment to pause. It had been a long time since he’d said anything flirty to her. He blushed and looked away, unsure if he’d crossed a line. He’d mostly meant it as a friendly retort to her “pretty princess” comment but he couldn’t help but wonder if it had come across the wrong way. “Um, sorry, I didn’t mean to - I mean you’re not ugly but I wasn’t trying to insinuate- I’m an idiot.”
Nami shook her head, looking a little confused and flustered herself. “Don’t worry about it.”
“What are you doing here anyways? I thought I was meeting you at town hall,” said Sanji.
“Seems like story time ran a little late and Nami got antsy when you didn’t show up,” said Ria. The twins looked up at her with frowns. “What? He’ll be back to watch you again and I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to read you more stories about the Sapphire Witch.” She gave Sanji a wink and a nod, silently letting him know he had a steady second job if he wanted it.
The twins cheered, excited at the prospect of more story time, breaking away from their mother to tackle Sanji from either side. “Thank you, Uncle Sanji!” they said in unison. Sanji smiled, ruffling their hair a bit before they decided to go back to their mother, bouncing up and down as they traversed the living room floor.
“Okay, kids, thanks for going easy on him, for me,” said Nami.
“Not a problem, Auntie Nami!” said Wendy.
Nami seemed a bit confused by the new moniker, looking at Ria for an answer. The seamstress shrugged. “They continually adopt aunts and uncles - my personal favorite was Uncle Shanks,” she said with a chuckle. “Took it like a pro. He just went along with it and wore the daisy chain necklace they made for him with a smile.”
“He was pretty,” said Sundae, nodding confidently.
Sanji and Nami weren’t sure what the appropriate reaction to this was. Shanks was one of the Four Emperors, one of the most powerful pirates sailing the seas right now . . . and he’d allowed a pair of little girls to dress him up in flowers. I guess Shanks must really care about the people on this island, Sanji thought to himself.
Then again he could see Luffy going along with that, too.
“Okay then - we’ll make sure Uncle Sanji baby-sits you again really soon, but right now I need to go show him something, okay?” Nami said, leaning forward with her hands on her knees. The twins each gave her a hug, and then ran over to give Sanji another hug, and then said their goodbyes and disappeared down the hall.
“Thanks again, Sanji - let’s say Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to start?” said Ria. Sanji nodded, smiling and finding himself looking forward to being a baby-sitter again. He shook Ria’s hand, thanked her when she slipped an envelope of money into his other hand, and waved as he followed Nami down the stairs and out of the shop.
Author’s Notes
Mr. Pinova’s absent-mindedness is based on that thing where someone has their glasses on top of their head but keeps searching around for them anyways, oblivious to where they are.
I originally wanted this chapter to focus on the new apartment, but Sanji’s second job as a baby-sitter really needed some setup, too, and I didn’t want their new home to be tacked onto the end of another chapter. That chapter is almost done but feels a little too lean for my liking - going to work on bulking it up some before sending it off for beta.
-Dixxy
Chapters: Prologue + 10 Chapters
Rating: R
Pairings: Eventually
Summary: Sanji decides to grab a second job - it is not the kind of work he expected.
Mass x Acceleration
By Dixxy Mouri
Chapter Ten: The Sapphire Witch
Although Nami’s desire to collect and horde money had faded considerably, her head was still great with numbers and Sanji was a tiny bit mesmerized watching her crunch the numbers together, muttering things and writing down something in a notebook to keep track of what went where. Sanji wasn’t terrible with numbers himself, but his expertise was more in fractions and measurements - things that were useful to a cook. He could handle finances, too, but the business side of running a restaurant was his least favorite aspect so he didn’t really LIKE dealing with the books.
Sanji was perfectly content to let Nami manage their attempts to save up for this apartment.
So, with part of their paychecks going towards rent/food bills (which Mac tried to decline) and keeping a small amount for his own devices, the bulk of their money was kept in the bottom drawer of a dresser they shared, with Nami noting every beli that came in and out. Sanji largely forgot what they were saving up for and was mostly content to continue on with the new routine he was developing.
Once the other cooks returned to work at the Cider Mug, the lunch rush became much more manageable and Sanji was able to get back into his grove, earning him a few more hours of work and a slight pay raise when Haralson asked him to start doubling his batches of soup in the morning. They were getting along well with Mac, and Cobbler was starting to prefer sleeping in their room. Ria and Braeburn came over to visit, sometimes together and sometimes alone, sometime with the twins in tow (Wendy and Sundae ALWAYS had more pictures for them). Dr. Gala seemed cautiously optimistic about their recovery (and a little annoyed they’d started work, even part time work) but always left with words of encouragement for me.
Three and a half weeks later, Nami greeted him outside of the Cider Mug with a bright smile.
“We have a deposit and a first month’s rent!!!” she said excitedly, clapping enthusiastically,
“Um . . .” Sanji was a little lost. What the hell was she talking about?
“For the apartment. We need to put down a deposit and we need to have the first month’s rent,” said Nami. She frowned, moving her arms around to try and get him to remember. “Remember? We were talking about moving out of Mac’s place? Asserting our independence? Getting our groove back? Ringing any bells?”
It was, but it wasn’t making any sense to the cook. How could they have saved up that kind of money that quickly at the rate they were working and earning money? Even considering they were spending next to nothing, there was no way they could have done it. “That fast? We saved it up that fast?” asked Sanji. “But, how?”
The two started to walk back to the mayor’s house while the navigator explained where the money had magically materialized from. “Well, Mac refused to accept any of rent or food money, even when I tried to sneak it to him, and between the two of us not really doing a whole lot of spending . . . yeah, we’re good for it,” said Nami. “There’s even some extra - we can get a couch or a table or something, too.”
Sanji raised an eyebrow. “That still doesn’t seem possible.”
Nami shook her head and pulled out a notebook. “Okay, see, here’s my weekly income-“
Sanji’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head. Nami was making THREE TIMES as much as he was getting at the Cider Mug. Even considering that her job was gaining hours a little bit faster than his was, it was still a daunting pay scale difference. He guessed she might be making a little bit more than him but this was more humble pie than he was expecting to be served. “You make THAT much more than me!?”
Nami shied away a little. “Um . . .”
Sanji realized he was being rude, composed himself, and shook his head. “I’m sorry. I get that ‘secretary to the mayor’ pays more than ‘part time cook at small restaurant’.” He paused, stood in front of her, and took her hands when he realized what this all meant. “Nami-san, that means most of that rent and deposit money is yours.”
Nami glowered at him for a moment. “Is this because I’m a woman?”
It took him a moment to realize what she was implying and he shook his head vigorously. “What? No! That’s not it!” said Sanji. “We’re supposed to be sharing the apartment, right? I should be paying half. I don’t need or want you to pay more than your fair share.” He sighed. “This whole moving out on our own thing was supposed to be about asserting our independence and taking control of our lives again . . . it isn’t good for either of us to be a crutch for the other, financial or not.”
“I don’t mind,” she said. “You don’t even have to pay me back.”
“There’s a difference between accepting money you’re owed and . . . what you did to everyone back with Luffy, and the former is okay. Look, if you want to move ahead with the search right away that’s all right, but at least give me an opportunity to pay you back,” said Sanji. “I mean, maybe I can get a second job.”
She shook her head. “Sanji-kun, you don’t need to get a second job,” said Nami.
Sanji shrugged. “You’re going to be at town hall if Mac has you working full time way more than I’m going to be at the Cider Mug for a while - I don’t mind grabbing a second job to make some extra money and kill some extra time when you’re not home. I mean, what am I going to do all day with myself? Knit?” He looked at her with a pout. “I don’t know how to knit, Nami-san.”
Nami sighed and laughed. “Okay, okay, I’m not going to stop you. But are you sure?”
“Sure. It can’t be that hard to find a second job, right?”
Two days later . . .
Sanji quickly learned that he was wrong.
Working for Haralson, it would be a conflict of interest for Sanji to work for one of the other food places in town (none of which were hiring anyways, so the point was moot). Additionally, he had no other practical skills that would make him useful anywhere else - he didn’t have farming skills or blacksmithing skills or anything else useful.
Mac suggested being a store clerk. “Operating a cash register is pretty easy - I think.”
That approach didn’t work, either. Aside from a few particularly observant regulars at the Cider Mug and those who had been to town hall recently, most of the people of the island didn’t have a clue who Sanji or Nami was. The reluctance to hire a stranger was obvious, and establishment after establishment left him feeling awkward, unwanted, and slightly poorer.
Eventually, Sanji found himself outside of a dress shop with a pink and yellow sign advertising it as The Apple Blossom. The signs in the window also offered tailoring and seamstress services, and he realized this was probably Ria’s shop. The building was a bright sunshine yellow, with the door frames painted with flowers and butterflies. Although a dress shop wasn’t his dream job, at least Ria would be nice to him if she wasn’t hiring.
Sanji let himself into the shop. There were a few mannequins modeling dresses and suits and some shelves and racks carrying more standard clothing items for men, women, and children, but most of the walls of the shop were lined with different kinds of fabrics and trims and thread and other things used to make clothing. Evidently Ria did a lot more custom work than he or Nami realized.
As for the proprietor herself, Sanji saw the familiar red-head with her head buried in her folded arms, screaming into the counter. Sanji approached gently, sensing that Ria was likely . . . stressed out or something. Just as his hands were about to touch the countertop, Ria’s head snapped up and she opened her mouth to yell. “WHAT - oh, I’m sorry Sanji, how can I help you today, sugah?”
Sanji froze from the outburst and decided to tackle her problem before he tackled his own. “Are you all right?”
Ria sighed and frowned. “No.”
“What’s wrong?”
The seamstress held up a notebook half ready to explode with extraneous, color pieces of paper. “This is wrong. I’ve got about a bazillion orders to fill by the end of the week, and I’m down two seamstresses right now - three, actually. One of my customers just came in here demanding why a dress I promised her next week isn’t done yet and proceeded to berate me for not getting my work done on time. I had to show her the work order and explain to her five times that I told her the dress wasn’t going to be done until next week, then I find out her stupid party got moved up so she tried to get her dress moved up and I’m sorry, but that is NOT my problem. Hence why you probably saw me screaming.”
Sanji frowned. “That sounds unpleasant.”
“It was, sugah. I’m so pissed right now. I only had four girls working here. One of them just had a baby and being a mother myself I’m not about to pull her away from that little bundle of joy before she’s ready - I’m not mad at her. But I had another one walk out on me yesterday over something stupid and petty - she can kiss my ass,” said Ria. She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, you’ve got enough problems to sort out, I’m sure. I’ll figure something out.”
“Well, um, actually, the reason I’m here is that I’m looking for a second job,” said Sanji. “Nami-san and I want to get an apartment and move out of Mac’s house and so far everyone on the island’s shot me down. I was wondering if maybe I could run your register for you or something? I don’t know how to sew so I can’t help you there but . . . maybe there’s something else I can do for you?”
Ria considered this for a moment. “You willing to do something a little dangerous?”
Sanji looked around the shop and laughed. “The most dangerous thing in here is needles and I already told you I don’t sew.” He crossed his arms. Ria clucked her tongue and shook her head. “No? Not the most dangerous thing in here?” She nodded. “Look, I know you probably don’t think I’m back in fighting condition - and to be fair, you’d be right - but I was a pirate, I think I can handle anything you can throw at me.” Seriously, what would a seamstress have that would qualify as dangerous?
The seamstress grinned coyly. “You sure, sugah?” she said, her voice tinged with amusement.
“Positive.”
Without missing a beat, Ria started to head towards the stairs, looking back at him with a mischievous wink. “Okay, just remember, I’m one of the only people on this island with combat training and you’re still on the mend, meaning that I can and I will murder the shit out of you if something bad happens to them.”
Sanji blinked. “Them?” And suddenly he realized what he’d just agreed to.
And this is what we call a “mistake”.
“WENDY! SUNDAE! SANJI’S GOING TO TAKE YOU OUT FOR ICE CREAM!”
Baby-sitter.
After getting the twins ice cream (in which Wendy demanded flavors that didn’t exist and Sundae couldn’t make up her mind, so he let them both have hot fudge sundaes with three flavors each), he’d swung by town hall to seek Nami’s wisdom on what the hell he was supposed to do with a pair of toddlers for the next three hours.
“Now how did you end up a baby-sitter?” Nami asked. The two kept glancing over to where the twins were doodling on some scrap paper Nami had at her desk - they were quiet and loved to draw, but they WERE small children so there was no telling how long that would keep them entertained. “I thought you were trying to be a shop clerk.”
“Ria’s short-staffed at her shop and one of the few employees she has left was tied up watching the twins. She needed that girl relieved of toddler time to sew, and for some reason she thinks I’m baby-sitter material,” Sanji said, keeping one eye on the girls as he talked with Nami. “So if today goes well she’s going to pay me for watching them a few afternoons a week, triple if she needs me to watch them for a full day.”
“What’s a normal day pay?” Nami asked.
“This,” said Sanji, writing it down. Nami whistled when she saw the number.
“That’s really, really good money for baby-sitting, especially if she needs you the whole day” said Nami. “Although seeing as she’s using you to give her more time to focus on work as opposed to, I don’t know, going out to dinner or something, it’s an important expense for her business. You’re allowing her to bring more money into her home to keep food on the table for those little ones.”
“That, or this is what she pays her regular employees and since she was paying them this rate to watch them anyways, what difference would it make if it’s me doing it? Other than, well, freeing up her skilled labor to make fancy hats,” said Sanji. He glanced back at the girls. They showed each other their drawings and giggled.
“Well they seem all right for the moment, and don’t you want kids someday anyways?”
Sanji frowned. That was true - he did want to be a father someday and settle down with a wife and two to three kids, but between his relatively young age, his life goals not being completed (i.e. finding All Blue), and recovering from everything That Man had put him through, he certainly wasn’t ready (or able, thanks to That Man) to be a father.
“You’re only going to have them a few of hours out of the day, then they go back to Ria for the night. Most of the hard stuff you won’t have to deal with - putting them to bed for the night, dealing with nightmares, handling bigger problems like bullies or sickness, whatever. Think of them as practice children,” said Nami.
“Practice children,” Sanji said dryly. “And what will Ria do to me if I scr- mess up?” He looked for signs that the girls had overheard his almost-swear word. The two caught him staring and help up pictures of the ice cream they’d just eaten, kicking their feet in their chairs. They were getting rowdy again (perhaps letting them have extra sprinkles wasn’t such a good idea - those things were all sugar) and they’d probably need to leave soon.
“No parent is perfect - I’m quite sure Ria is doing plenty of ‘messing up’ herself, and she doesn’t even have the twin’s F-A-T-H-E-R in the picture for assistance,” said Nami. “But it’ll give you an idea on how to do the bare basics, right? Any exposure to watching children has got to be better than nothing.” She beamed. “After you’ve dropped them off, come back here - I want to show you something.”
“What?” asked Sanji.
Nami leaned forward and grinned. “I think I found the perfect apartment.”
After leaving town hall, Sanji wasn’t sure where to take the twins. He thought they might be too little to play in the snow, and he wasn’t sure where to bring children to entertain them. What was he supposed to do with toddlers? Babies he figured might be easier to amuse (wasn’t stupid stuff like “peek-a-boo” a big hit with babies?) and older kids might better at entertaining themselves, but these little girls were a few months shy of three. Could they amuse themselves?
About a block away from the Cider Mug, the trio happened upon the island’s bookstore. Sanji had attempted to get a job here, too. The owner was a scatter brained sort going by Mr. Pinova who’d been wearing no less than three pairs of reading glasses (one pushed up on his head, one attached to a chain around his neck, and one sitting on the bridge of his nose). He’d been one of the more polite shopkeepers to turn Sanji down (citing that his stock was too unstable for even a part time employee), so a return trip didn’t bother him much.
The real question was whether or not the twins would be interested in a book store. They were probably too young to read by themselves, although Sanji toyed with the idea of seeing if the shop had any picture books - the girls would probably be able to follow along with the pictures and he could probably read the words aloud to them.
“Are we going into the bookstore, Uncle Sanji?” asked Wendy, tugging on his coat sleeve.
“Can we look at ones with pictures? Word books are boring,” said Sundae.
“When did I become ‘Uncle’ Sanji?” Sanji asked in curiosity as they entered the store.
The twins ignored his question as they started to open books, disappointed every time they found a “word” book and tossing them aside. Sanji tried to get them to stop, attempting to catch all of the books before they were wrecked while explaining to the girls that it was not okay to throw books.
He heard a belly laugh from the back of the shop - apparently Mr. Pinova was amused by the twins’ antics. “You know, people assume that children are easy to please, but they’re amongst the harshest critics in the world. An adult will give you the first few pages if you’re lucky, but a child will toss you aside - literally, in this case - if you don’t catch their eye after the first few words.”
“I am so sorry about this,” said Sanji, finally managing to wrangle the toddlers. He gathered up their discarded books (mostly non-fiction books dealing with advanced mathematical theories - Sanji didn’t agree with the twins’ method, but he more or less agreed with their sentiment) and put them on the counter. Mr. Pinova simply, smiled folding his hands and putting them on the counter. “Do you have any suggestions for-“
“What’s this, Uncle Sanji?” asked Sundae, pointing at a small spinning rack with a selection of comic books. Wendy joined her sister and they started to turn the rack, looking over the selection. Sanji’s eyes widened - he hadn’t read comics since his early days on The Orbit. He stared at the rack fondly, remembering reading the adventure stories by candlelight in his bunk at night.
“Those are comic books,” Mr. Pinova said. “They tell exciting stories about adventures.”
Wendy and Sundae turned to look at Mr. Pinova in wonder. “Adventures?” they asked in unison.
“Yeah, I used to read them when I was a kid,” said Sanji.
“You use to be a kid?!” Wendy said in amazement. “Wow!”
Sanji rolled his eyes and chuckled. “Yeah, you need to be a child before you get to be an adult.”
“We’re going to be adults one day?” asked Sundae, looking a little nervous.
“Well, not for a while - you’ve got a lot of growing to do first,” Mr. Pinova said with a laugh.
“Aw, I wanted to be a fairy unicorn princess,” Sundae said, sounding a little crestfallen.
Wendy pulled one of the comics out of the rack. “Can we get this one? The lady on the cover is pretty,” she said. Sundae nodded in agreement and Sanji gently took the comic from the child, checking it over for violence or language that might be too mature for the girls or go over their heads completely. It looked like it was a collection of several issues, detailing several adventures of the main character and her friends. He flipped through the pages to get an idea of what the storyline was, decided it was safe for the girls, and dug into the rest of the money Ria had given him to entertain the girls with.
The girl on the cover was wearing a blue dress with a pointy blue witch’s hat. She had short blonde hair in two braids and a spackling on freckles on each cheek. She was riding some sort of a large blue bird with what looked like flaming wings (a phoenix, maybe?) and was holding what had to be a magic want in one hand. The book’s title, written in blue script, was The Sapphire Witch.
It wasn’t a title he was familiar with, maybe it started after he stopped reading comics or wasn’t being sold in the North Blue. It was about a girl who had a magic wand that transformed her into the Sapphire Witch, a hero who protected Sunshine Island with the help of a several animal companions who also looked like they fit the gemstone theme. Most of the adventures didn’t seem like anything the girls couldn’t handle, with things like “the Crusty Badger wants all of the town’s toys for himself” and “the Green Horse tries to ruin Princess Honeycomb’s birthday party” serving as plot lines. It was all very colorful, easy to follow, and hopefully enough to keep the girls entertained for the next two hours.
Wendy and Sundae seemed excited that the comic had been bought, and Sanji led them out of the store, telling the girls to wave good bye to Mr. Pinova and that they’d get some story time once he got them back to The Apple Blossom. The twins cheered loudly and bounced the entire way back to their mother’s shop.
Ria seemed slightly amused with Sanji’s choice for the last leg of his baby-sitting effort, telling him he read to them in the upstairs apartment. “There’s some milk in the fridge - that’ll calm them down enough so you can actually read to them without having to do too much wrangling,” she said. The girls were already on their way up to the apartment, yelling down to Sanji that it was story time. Ria laughed. “You did this to yourself, sugah.”
“It wasn’t as bad as you made it out to be,” said Sanji. “They behaved just fine.”
“Oh really? They got you to buy a comic.”
“You gave me plenty to pay for their ice cream and I had leftovers.”
Ria frowned. “Didn’t you get any ice cream for yourself?”
Sanji sighed. “I still need to be careful with what I eat for a while yet, but thanks anyways.”
The seamstress shrugged. “You know, come to think of it, they’re fully aware you were sick for a while - maybe they decided to go easy on you,” said Ria, crossing her arms. She smiled. “But hey, at least you didn’t end up covered in chocolate pudding . . . or lit on fire.” Sanji’s draw dropped - chocolate pudding, well, he’d seen small children eat before so that made sense, but he couldn’t fathom Wendy and Sundae actually . . .
I don’t want to know.
Ria’s apartment was a little messy, but seemed like the kind of mess a single mother of two might have. The sink was full of dirty dishes and there were stuffed animals on the couch and easy chair. Two abandoned coloring books were on the coffee table, and Sanji spied a massive laundry bag down the hall where the bedrooms presumably were.
After getting the girls their milk (which Wendy wanted to drink from a straw - straws were hidden in one of the cabinet behind some sugary children’s cereal with an almost terrifyingly happy walrus on the box), Sanji ushered the girls to the couch, sat himself on the middle cushion, and patted the spaces beside him.
“Okay, let’s start at the beginning,” he said, crossing his legs. This was the origin story of the Sapphire Witch and started with her secret identity, Mimi Whistleberry, walking along a country road. “Mimi Whistleberry was walking home from her grandmother’s house after a day of baking pies,” Sanji read aloud.
“What kind of pies?” asked Sundae.
“It doesn’t say,” said Sanji.
“So how do we know what kind of pie she was baking?” asked Wendy, crossing her arms at him.
Sanji looked at the panel again - there was a house in the background (presumably belonging to the grandmother) and outside were rows of low-lying bushes with pinkish-red dots. “Looks like strawberry pie - see those bushes? They look like strawberry bushes to me.” The twins seemed to accept this answer and started pointing at the next panel, where Mimi was talking.
“Okay so Mimi says ‘I’m so glad-‘”
“You’re doing it wrong,” said Wendy.
Sanji raised an eyebrow at Wendy. “And you learned to read in the last five minutes?”
“No, I’m almost three, I can’t read,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You’re talking wrong.”
Sundae nodded. “Can you please read it in Mimi’s voice, Sanji?”
Sanji sighed. He considered protesting, but he was outnumbered and they were giving him sad puppy dog eyes. All right, he’d give them theatrics. He cleared his throat and tried to raise his voice as best he could. “’I’m so glad Granny and I were able to get all of those pies ready for the festival tomorrow night! It’s going to be so much fun!’” Wendy and Sundae patted his arms, nodding in approval.
The stupid swordsman would never let me hear the end of this if I was here.
As the afternoon turned to early evening, Sanji continued to read, making up voices for other characters as they came up, and soon found he was getting rather into it. By the time the King of the Forest Goblins appeared to steal the pies so he could have them all to himself (“But won’t that give the goblin a tummy ache if he tries to eat all the pies by himself? Wendy and I got tummy aches when we ate one pie by ourselves and we barfed on Uncle Braeburn’s couch,” Sundae had quipped), he was making silly faces and hand gestures at the girls, which had them giggling and clapping happily.
By the time the second story had ended, Sanji was so absorbed with entertaining the twins that he hadn’t noticed Ria and Nami standing by the top of the stairs, watching in amusement. Sensing their mother was done with work, the twins cheered and rushed to her side to latch onto the seamstress’s sides. “Looks like you did okay,” said Ria.
“I really liked the voice you gave Princess Honeycomb,” Nami said teasingly. Sanji pouted - he’d manufactured a prim and proper accent for the princess character that, coming out of him, was particularly ridiculous. Nami laughed and walked over, kissing his forehead. “She sounded like a very pretty princess.”
“Not as pretty you,” Sanji joked back. Nami seemed a little taken aback, and even the cook took a moment to pause. It had been a long time since he’d said anything flirty to her. He blushed and looked away, unsure if he’d crossed a line. He’d mostly meant it as a friendly retort to her “pretty princess” comment but he couldn’t help but wonder if it had come across the wrong way. “Um, sorry, I didn’t mean to - I mean you’re not ugly but I wasn’t trying to insinuate- I’m an idiot.”
Nami shook her head, looking a little confused and flustered herself. “Don’t worry about it.”
“What are you doing here anyways? I thought I was meeting you at town hall,” said Sanji.
“Seems like story time ran a little late and Nami got antsy when you didn’t show up,” said Ria. The twins looked up at her with frowns. “What? He’ll be back to watch you again and I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to read you more stories about the Sapphire Witch.” She gave Sanji a wink and a nod, silently letting him know he had a steady second job if he wanted it.
The twins cheered, excited at the prospect of more story time, breaking away from their mother to tackle Sanji from either side. “Thank you, Uncle Sanji!” they said in unison. Sanji smiled, ruffling their hair a bit before they decided to go back to their mother, bouncing up and down as they traversed the living room floor.
“Okay, kids, thanks for going easy on him, for me,” said Nami.
“Not a problem, Auntie Nami!” said Wendy.
Nami seemed a bit confused by the new moniker, looking at Ria for an answer. The seamstress shrugged. “They continually adopt aunts and uncles - my personal favorite was Uncle Shanks,” she said with a chuckle. “Took it like a pro. He just went along with it and wore the daisy chain necklace they made for him with a smile.”
“He was pretty,” said Sundae, nodding confidently.
Sanji and Nami weren’t sure what the appropriate reaction to this was. Shanks was one of the Four Emperors, one of the most powerful pirates sailing the seas right now . . . and he’d allowed a pair of little girls to dress him up in flowers. I guess Shanks must really care about the people on this island, Sanji thought to himself.
Then again he could see Luffy going along with that, too.
“Okay then - we’ll make sure Uncle Sanji baby-sits you again really soon, but right now I need to go show him something, okay?” Nami said, leaning forward with her hands on her knees. The twins each gave her a hug, and then ran over to give Sanji another hug, and then said their goodbyes and disappeared down the hall.
“Thanks again, Sanji - let’s say Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to start?” said Ria. Sanji nodded, smiling and finding himself looking forward to being a baby-sitter again. He shook Ria’s hand, thanked her when she slipped an envelope of money into his other hand, and waved as he followed Nami down the stairs and out of the shop.
Author’s Notes
Mr. Pinova’s absent-mindedness is based on that thing where someone has their glasses on top of their head but keeps searching around for them anyways, oblivious to where they are.
I originally wanted this chapter to focus on the new apartment, but Sanji’s second job as a baby-sitter really needed some setup, too, and I didn’t want their new home to be tacked onto the end of another chapter. That chapter is almost done but feels a little too lean for my liking - going to work on bulking it up some before sending it off for beta.
-Dixxy