Chapter Text
Whole Cake Island made Sanji a different man. He’s begun to recognize the love his crew had for him, and he learnt how to trust his crewmates to ask for help. He truly fell in love, with a beautiful woman by the name of Charlotte Pudding. But, while he did not remember a thing, he knew that she sacrificed herself for him – making Sanji forget two key things: that the two were married, and that she had openly betrayed her own crew to save him. But after he had realized, Luffy promised that once they were done with their conquest to defeat Kaidou in Wano, their next target would be Big Mom – and Sanji would have the opportunity to save Pudding.
Entering Wano was a conquest in itself – the Thousand Sunny; carrying Luffy, Nami, Carrot, Brook, Chopper and himself; had climbed a waterfall with the help of freshwater koi. But then they lost their boat and captain to a whirlpool while Sanji sky-walked the rest of their crew to safety. He then spent ages looking for their captain in the waters but found his vivre card instead. They happily reunited with Luffy later at the ruins of Kuri castle and met with Kin’emon. It was eventful – and Sanji was thrilled to be back in the groove of adventure. Kin’emon seemed happy to have him back too, and it was nice to see the goofy samurai again.
Sanji learnt that the samurai time-travelled 20 years. He learnt about a noble man by the name of Oden, and his trials to protect the land of Wano and to travel the oceans. It was heart-wrenching to hear just how much suffering they all went through to make it this far.
They learnt of their mission – they were going to raid Onigashima, where Kaidou would reside during the Flower Captial’s fire festival. For that, they would need to gather manpower and intel – and Sanji was going to be a soba cook. He needed to recruit people with a crescent moon mark on their foot and keep a distinct look out for Ashura Doji, Kawamatsu, and Denjiro – three of Oden’s former retainers.
There was an issue with Kaidou attacking a place called Okobore Town (“leftovers” huh?) and Luffy recklessly rushed in to fight the emperor with sheer anger. He got defeated and then arrested, but Sanji knew Luffy would be fine. And that’s how the adventures of Sangoro, the esteemed soba chef of the Flower Capital, began. It was finally time to switch gears from Whole Cake’s turbulent rollercoaster.
~~~
Sangoro set up his stand on the busy street. He arrived on an early morning after saying goodbye to Onami (the lovely kunoichi), Chopperemon and Carrot (ninjas), and Bonekichi (ghost? – Kin’emon was weird). It felt kind of weird to separate from them, it felt like they had become incredibly tight knit over the last few weeks. But he was excited to meet the other half of his crew again.
Sangoro had heard that “Zorojuro” (he needs to come up with a good nickname for that one) and Usohachi have engaged in recruiting people too. Franosuke went to work with someone who built Kaidou’s mansion at Onigashima, to get blueprints. Meanwhile, the one Sangoro was the most excited about was geisha Orobi, who was keeping tabs on Orochi’s forces.
“WELCOME! WELCOME! COME AND HAVE A SERVING, LADIES!! MELTS ON YOUR TONGUE BUT AL DENTE BETWEEN YOUR TEETH! IT’S MY SPECIAL SOBA!!”
“Can I have some soba?” some man asked.
“Go line up then!” Sangoro angrily replied, before smiling at and serving another beautiful lady.
It didn’t take long for the attention of the crowd to be on Sangoro’s soba stand. Soon he had a line of ladies waiting for his best soba, and Sangoro was excited. Boil noodles in water, add it to a bowl of soup along with some nice seasoning and toppings, serve while hot. The chef got into the routine of the monotonous work, all while keeping a dorky grin on his face. He missed this – the opportunity of being a stupid idiot with hearts in place of logic.
He didn’t forget to hand that important sheet of paper to a couple of women possessing a crescent moon tattoo on their ankle.
“May I please have some soba, Soba-Cook-san?” a calm and angelic voice arose fondly. And when Sangoro turned to smile at her, he saw the familiar face and had a double take.
“Ro-”
Sangoro stopped himself, as the woman in question smiled at him.
“Orobi-chan!” Sangoro happily cheered.
“It’s good to see you again,” Orobi greeted, “glad to see you’re as lively as ever!”
“Likewise!” Sangoro grinned, resisting the urge to jump into her arms and hug her, “I’m so happy to see you again too! You look so beautiful!”
Orobi was in an expensive looking, black kimono with a wavy pattern of red, white and purple. There was also a pink flower pattern colouring those waves. Her hair was tied intricately into the standard Wano hairstyle, with a single flowered hairpin and a golden comb colouring it. It’s the most makeup Sangoro has ever seen Orobi use too.
“Thank you, Soba-Cook-san,” Orobi beamed.
“My name is Sangoro,” Sangoro clarified, before motioning her to a barrel, “there’s a place to sit over there, if you’d like!”
“Of course,” Orobi replied, making her way over to the designated spot, “when we heard that you guys were at Wano, we decided to meet up at the place where your stand would be open. It was Usohachi’s idea.”
“So that means…” Sangoro began. He was going to see everyone again!
“Usohachi and Frannosuke are also showing up,” Orobi nodded, “although Zorojuro is a pretty well-known ronin now, so he won’t be showing up.”
“Darn, that stupid idiot,” Sangoro sighed. Though no one had to know about that small disappointment that festered within him.
“Oh, but I heard that Luffy ended up in jail,” Orobi giggled, bringing her fingers to her lovely lips, “they don’t seem to be too different from each other.”
“Yeah,” Sangoro shared the laugh, “they’re both idiots, that blockhead duo.”
“I must say, soba is definitely my favourite food here,” Orobi smiled, “I’m excited to try yours. I really did miss your cooking.”
“I missed cooking for you guys too,” Sangoro sighed fondly, his voice becoming quiet, “I mean that.”
There was a slight pause, as the soba chef turned away in slight embarrassment. He decided to make it seem natural by heading to the soup pot to check how the broth was looking.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t show up for you,” Orobi spoke after a while, matching his tempo, “we really wanted to. I’ll never forget how you did the same for me, and I wish I could’ve done something to help you.”
Sangoro raised an eyebrow at her wistfully as he focused on stirring his soup. He just wanted to get across how much he truly missed them, because he felt that he had taken the days he spent with his crew for granted. He told himself he’d be a little nicer to the others too, although it was much easier to be honest with Orobi.
But then, Orobi felt helpless about not being able to help? Well, if Sangoro had been sent to Wano while Orobi had been in the clutches of another emperor, he’d surely feel helpless too. It made sense, but…
“It’s okay,” Sangoro replied gently, “it’d make no sense to ignore Kaidou who was already mad at us, and it wouldn’t have felt right knowing that I hindered this plan.”
Orobi looked like she was about to interject, but Sangoro held his hand up so that he could finish first.
“And…uh…” he awkwardly began, looking lame for someone who actually just interrupted a lady, “if I… when I end up needing help in the future, I won’t hesitate to ask any of you guys unlike last time at Zou.”
Orobi watched him in surprise, as Sangoro offered her a bowl.
“Freshly made soba,” Sangoro smiled.
“Thank you, Sangoro,” Orobi smiled back, accepting the bowl, “I can see how you’ve changed, just a little.”
“You’re not wrong about that,” Sangoro replied, before he heard two other familiar voices.
“Are you going to give us some soba too, Sanji?” Usohachi asked from the counter, standing with Franosuke.
“We’re starvin’!” Franosuke added with a grin.
“It’s Sangoro,” Sangoro muttered under his breath, before Usohachi pounced onto him into a big hug.
“It’s been way too long man!!” Usohachi grinned, as Sangoro almost fell backwards, “I missed you! How’ve you been?!”
“Been doing just fine,” Sangoro mumbled sheepishly, the sudden clingy affection of the stupid long nose being a lot to take in, “came out of an emperor’s territory alive.”
“IT MUST’VE BEEN SO ROUGH!!” Franosuke started sobbing, as he pulled both Usohachi and Sangoro into a huge hug of his own, “I MISSED YOU SO MUCH, SANGORO!! I’M GLAD YOU’RE OKAY!!”
“Yeah!!” Usohachi teared up dramatically, holding Sangoro tighter, “we didn’t know what we’d do without you!”
Sangoro let a small, shy smile grace his face at this overwhelmingly happy reunion.
“Uh…sorry for making you guys worry,” Sangoro quietly said, “I… I missed you guys too.”
Usohachi and Franosuke exchanged a glance of surprise before making the sob session louder.
“SANGOROOOOOO!!!!”
“G-Get off of me! I’ll kick you both if you don’t shut up!!!” Sangoro screamed.
Orobi’s quiet laugh in the background filled the air, as the fond feeling of returning home dawned on him.
Later, Sangoro would serve the two soba as well. Usohachi, Franosuke and Orobi ate it all happily. Complimenting his cooking and talking about how much they missed it, how much they missed him, and how they were glad that he was alright.
And while Sangoro shot down Usohachi’s compliments in favour of Orobi’s, it truly made him happy.
~~~
Well, that was until some idiot decided that wasting food was a good idea. Those bastards had kicked over Sangoro’s soba pot and even whacked away a young girl’s bowl too. It made his blood boil; he was livid to the point of growling.
So, he kicked the guy’s face into the dirt. Franosuke gave his cronies a Supplex, thankfully supporting the impulse decision. And Sangoro shoved the wasted noodles into their mouths. The streets became empty within seconds, with the exception of the young girl who had her soba knocked over.
Sangoro felt a pang of empathy when he saw how excited she had been for that soba. So, he took the remaining soba that was still in his pot and served her a pot.
“I’m glad there was still one bowl’s worth left that was good,” Sangoro smiled, kneeling down to the poor girl, “here, eat up.”
“Yaaay!! Thank you!!” The girl laughed, before slurping down the noodles immediately, “I heard the special soba was so good I had to line up all day just to try it!! And now I’m late for work because of it! I saved up my allowance and everything! And when I finally bought my bowl, it got spilled! I was so sad!! IT’S SO YUMMYYYY!!!! AHAHAHAHAH I’ve never tasted such yummy soba before!!”
The longer the girl rambled, the brighter Sangoro’s smile became. By the end of it, he was laughing because… what earnest appreciation for his food! It was really heartwarming and sweet!
“Hahaha! You make me wanna smile too!” Sangoro replied, “what’s your name, kid?”
“It’s Toko! But say it with the honorific ‘o’ in front!” Toko answered.
“O?” Franosuke repeated.
“Otoko,” Orobi bluntly responded.
“HEY, I’M NOT A MAN!! AHAHAHAHAHA!!” Toko joked, “OTOKO’S JUST MY NAME!!”
The laughter Sangoro had burst into was incredibly raw. It was the type that made him fall onto his back and wheeze. Because this kid… she was too funny. And from the looks of it, it was the same for Franosuke and Usohachi too.
“Is that funny?? AHAHAHAHA!!” Toko laughed too, “everyone says it’s easy to remember! Heehee!!”
Sangoro will not be forgetting that name.
“Ahhh, that was so good!! Thanks for the soba!!” Toko grinned, happily handing the empty bowl back to Sangoro.
“You bet, come back anytime!” Sangoro responded, ruffling her hair in pure joy.
“I will!!” Toko smiled.
Toko then ran off, suddenly realizing that there was the Oiran’s procession passing through town and that she was late for her job. Everyone’s spirits were high – and Sangoro may be a lot more excited for the upcoming Oiran procession than he was supposed to be but hey! It was all in good spirits! Then they found out that the Oiran in question was womanhood perfection: Komurasaki. Now he wasn’t the only one excited (Usohachi and Franosuke were too), but he was the most excited!
And then Orobi got summoned to meet Shogun Orochi in person – a surefire way of gaining more intel on Onigashima. Sangoro could only think of how amazing Orobi was. It was only Sangoro’s first day back with this half of the crew and he realized the substantial progress that they had made.
This crew truly was amazing. What a happy day.