Character Background

Before long, Sanji brought Rubick five servings of seafood fried rice and a large bowl of clear seafood soup on a tray.

"Your food is ready. Enjoy."

Sanji turned to leave, but Rubick said casually, "Cook, I feel like I've seen you somewhere before."

"Hmph. You've got the wrong person. This is your first time here, so how could you have seen me?"

Rubick tapped his spoon against the porcelain bowl. "I've seen someone with eyebrows just like yours."

Sanji stopped dead. Rubick went on, "I think it was in the North Blue. A beautiful woman, though her eyebrows were a little different. Yours curl clockwise; hers curled counterclockwise."

Sanji clenched his fists, his whole body taut.

"Haha, this world really has everything. Oh, this fried rice is good."

Sanji stood there for a moment. When Rubick said nothing more, he walked away. But Zeff, watching from the second floor, saw the dark look on his face.

Zeff returned to the Captain's Quarters and called into the speaking tube, "Sanji, come up here."

Soon, Sanji knocked and came in, looking unhappy.

"What do you want, old man?"

Zeff ignored the way Sanji addressed him. "Who was that man?"

Sanji took a deep breath and steadied himself. "That guy's seen my family. He probably knows who I am and where I come from. Old man, I'll leave the Baratie tonight. I won't drag you into any trouble."

"Ridiculous!"

Zeff slapped the table. "I'm Red-Leg Zeff. I sailed the Grand Line as a pirate back in the day. You think I'm afraid of trouble? If you're worried, keep an eye on him. When he leaves, follow him and finish him off. Dead men keep secrets."

"Old man, that goes against my Chivalric Spirit."

"Then bring him up here for a talk. If we can't settle it, I'll kick him to death. But what secret are you hiding, kid? Why are you so afraid of people learning where you came from?"

Sanji answered Zeff's question with silence.

While the two talked in the Captain's Quarters, Rubick finished all the fried rice. He had spent 10,000 Beli and was still only half full. It felt like a bit of a rip-off.

As Rubick drank his soup, he wondered where he could earn some money. Then Sanji returned.

"I think we need to talk."

"Then you'll have to buy me another meal tonight."

Sanji nearly choked. Through gritted teeth, he said, "Deal."

On the walkway outside the restaurant, Sanji offered Rubick a cigarette. Rubick shook his head, so Sanji lit it himself and asked, "Well? Tell me what you're after."

Rubick almost laughed. Clearly, what he had said earlier had given Sanji the wrong idea.

"Look, I'm not after anything. I just noticed your eyebrows and said what came to mind."

Sanji glared at Rubick. "You've seen eyebrows like mine in the North Blue. That means you know who I am, right? What do you want? Money? Something else?"

Sanji had escaped from home with his sister's help. If his Tyrant Father learned where he was, the family's assassins might turn up here within a month or two to protect its honor.

"I'm here to find someone."

"See? You did come looking for me!"

Rubick stared at the agitated Sanji. "Are you crazy? I'm looking for a captain."

"Oh! Wait, a captain? You want to be a pirate?"

Sanji looked surprised. "Why become a pirate when you could live as an honest citizen?"

"Because I want to go home."

Rubick sighed. "I left my hometown, and now I can't find my way back. So I want to find a decent captain and travel with him. Maybe someday I'll get a chance to return home."

Sanji caught on. "Oh, so you're too weak to make it on your own. But I should warn you, pirates aren't good people. You'd be better off finding your own way."

Rubick shot back, "Come on. Wasn't your head chef, Zeff, a pirate too?"

"Damn it, that's different! He lost a leg saving me, and I was a complete stranger!"

Rubick shook his head. "Forget it. Can you take me to your head chef? I heard he spent time on the Grand Line. I want to ask if he's ever heard of my hometown."

"Wait. You're not from the North Blue?"

"No. My hometown is on the Grand Line. I ended up in the East Blue by accident."

Sanji's face changed. "Wait again. What about that beautiful woman you said you saw in the North Blue?"

After all, ordinary people had no way to travel straight from the Grand Line to the North Blue. Rubick's story didn't add up.

Rubick smiled. "I only heard about her. I've never been to the North Blue. But I really did hear someone talk about the Germa Kingdom. That family's eyebrows are hard to forget. Cook, don't tell me you're related to them?"

Sanji tossed his spent cigarette into the sea. "Of course not. I was born in the East Blue. The old man took me in. I'll ask if he has time to see you."

Sanji decided to compare stories with Zeff first. They needed to make sure his origins stayed firmly planted in the East Blue.

"Sure. I'll wait here."

Rubick breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like Sanji had bought it.

Before long, Zeff came out onto the deck with Sanji. Rubick felt a little flattered that he had come in person.

"Kid, you wanted to see me?"

Zeff had been a cook for so long that he no longer carried the air of the formidable pirate he had once been. Still, his meter-tall chef's hat made him an imposing sight.

"That's right," Rubick said. "I heard you spent a year on the Grand Line and made it back in one piece. Sorry to bother you, but I wanted to ask if you might have heard anything about my hometown."

Zeff stamped his right foot on the deck, making a wooden thunk, thunk. "I wouldn't say I made it back in one piece," he said with a wry smile. "I'm missing a leg, aren't I?"

"That's all right. This kid said you lost it saving him. He can be your leg from now on."

Zeff burst out laughing. "I like that. You're right. He's my leg now, and he still has to go see whether the All Blue really exists."

Sanji refused at once. "Old man, don't even think about getting rid of me!"

Zeff looked at him in exasperation. "What kind of nonsense is that? You're my leg now. You have to fulfill my dream!"

Rubick coughed, interrupting their heartfelt exchange. "Uh, chef, could I ask you something?"

Zeff came back to himself. "Oh, you wanted to ask about your hometown. But I'll say this first: the Grand Line is vast, and I only sailed it for a year..."

Rubick only wanted to give himself a believable background, so Zeff's warning did not bother him. There was no way Zeff could have heard of his hometown anyway.