Looking for balance

27. On edge

Thanks to KumaZura for proof reading this chapter.

***

"Hey, why did you all leave? What's going on?" Luffy asked, meeting Usopp, Franky, Chopper and Brook on the deck.

The sniper nodded towards Zoro and Sanji. "They're fighting again, it's unbelievable," He sighed.

"It's already the third time this morning," The reindeer added with concern.

Since the crew had sailed off again after breakfast that morning, the Sunny's two enemies were constantly fighting and their friends were beginning to suspect there was a bigger motive than just their usual quarrels. On the other hand, the straw hat captain shrugged. "Healthy competition keeps fit!"

"Yeah, but that's not healthy competition anymore," Franky noted, stepping aside so as not to get punched by the swordsman flying through the air. "That's just hate."

"They destroyed the galley table," The musician said.

"Oh. You think we should split them up?" Luffy asked, avoiding Sanji from crashing into him.

"Maybe that wouldn't be so bad," The cyborg agreed.

"Usually, it's Nami who takes care of it but she's putting away the new books she bought with Robin and she asked not to be disturbed," The captain remembered, ducking down to avoid a sword.

Brook stepped forward, determined. "Dear friends, violence doesn't solve anything. It would be wiser to-" A kick from Sanji for the swordsman sent him crashing against the mast and the skeleton took a few seconds to get back up, groggy.

"Hey, you gotta calm down now!" Franky stepped in as he walked towards the two men. A sword from Zoro brushed his shirt and the shipwright jumped back to avoid being cut.

"They can't hear us, they're out of control," Chopper grimaced.

"Too bad for them, let them tear each other to pieces. Anyway, Nami's gonna kill them when she'll see the ship's condition," Usopp grumbled fatalistically.

The rest of the crew nodded with a sigh, and everyone returned to quieter activities.

***

During lunch, the atmosphere didn't get any better even though when she had left the library, the navigator had immediately split the chef and the fencer up with barrels thrown at their heads. Then she had made sure that Sanji remained locked in the galley and Zoro in the crow's nest the rest of the time. As the table was broken and Franky hadn't been able to fix it yet, the crew was squeezing up to the counter or on the couch to eat. While the cook was beginning to arrange the dishes, the cyborg grabbed his bottle of cola from the fridge.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Sanji yelled.

The engineer waved the bottle under his nose. "I'm taking my cola. Why, what's the problem?"

"The problem is that everyone just waltzes in and out of this galley and half the things are disappearing!" The blond got annoyed.

Franky sat down, grunting, and Brook tried to start a lighter conversation to dispel the tension in the room. "There is an island on the Grand Line where every everyday object emits musical notes - it's the island of the chant!"

"You mean all objects are making noise?" Usopp wondered.

"People don't use oral language to communicate," The skeleton agreed. "They use objects to make sounds and make themselves understood!"

"Not easy when you can't read music," Franky pointed out.

"You can learn relatively fast, I assure you."