Second Wind

49

"It's not that I'm not satisfied already..." Sanji muttered. "I don't have big, grandiose dreams like you or Zoro. My goal is just to find All Blue and be the best chef I can be," he admitted. "But I've started to realize recently...if we're going to keep running into guys like Crocodile and Enel, I'm only going to be in the way." He grunted again as he got to his feet. "You two are way ahead of the rest of us...and for a while, I was content with that. But like you said when we started doing this, there's going to come a time when you two have your hands full, and when that day comes, I won't be a liability."

"I couldn't have said it better myself," Luffy said. "So, what will you do?"

"First, I'm going to wipe that smug grin off your face!" the chef shouted before charging in again, only for Luffy to disappear from his sight.

"You'll have to catch me first!" the rubber man taunted from behind him. He spun around and aimed a kick at the location of his aura, but he only disappeared again.

Sanji's eyes roamed around the deck of the Going Merry as his captain constantly blurred in and out of sight. Something was different than usual. If he was really just taunting him, he wouldn't be able to see Luffy at all. Which meant he was going slow intentionally. Sanji narrowed his eyes and focused his observation haki on his captain's movements, following his blurred form as it drew closer and closer to him. His legs were in constant motion, slowing down only for an instant as his form became more defined, and then speeding up again as he disappeared from sight.

So that's how it is.

As each jump brought the rubber man closer and closer, Sanji got into a ready stance. As he sensed Luffy closing in, he kicked the floor ten times in an instant, resulting in a leap backwards that was much faster than what he could usually accomplish, just as Luffy leg swept through the area he was previously occupying.

Now!

He leapt forward again and feinted a kick at Luffy's head. When he predictably, or perhaps indulgently, vanished from sight in response, Sanji went through the same series of movements again, and tracking him with his haki, aimed another kick at his sternum. As the two appeared back into sight, Luffy was holding Sanji's leg, preventing it from reaching him.

"You learned Soru. I'm impressed," Luffy said with a grin.

"Yeah..." Sanji said, before collapsing back into a sitting position. "But it puts a lot of strain on my legs. I can see why you waited until now to teach me."

"You'll get used to it soon," Luffy said. "When I first started using it, I didn't really notice the strain. Rubber man and all. But I did notice that it got easier to use pretty quickly."

"Sanji learned something again?" Usopp asked. "Why do I feel like he's always the only one?"

"It helps that he has more physical conditioning than the rest of you," Zoro said. "Or, maybe you're just not trying hard enough, Usopp."

"Hey, that's not fair! I think I'm starting to get the hang of this haki stuff!"

Zoro raised an eyebrow, and Usopp faltered a bit. "Sort of...maybe...a little..."

"Well, I'm still not having any progress, so I think I'll just stick to my Clima-Tact for now. How are those upgrades coming along by the way?"

Usopp lit up at the reminder. "Oh, they're coming along! Those dials are worth more than their weight in gold! You'll be lighting up enemies before they even know what lit them up!"

Nami smiled. "Thanks! Just tell me when they're ready so I can test them out for myself," she requested.

"Of course! It might interest you to know that my own arsenal has been improved as well..." he trailed off as Nami was already walking away, not having heard him. "Hey!"