When Sanji came to check on Nami, he found her sitting on the bed with tears in her eyes while Tom said something nearby. He immediately demanded, "Stupid fisherman! Did you do something to upset Nami-swan? Why is she crying?"
"I wouldn't do something so boring. Though, her being like this is indeed my fault," Tom answered truthfully. He hadn't bullied Nami.
Nami was crying because Tom's hands, which had been peeling garlic earlier, touched her face. The pungent garlic smell on his hands made her eyes sting and turn sour, causing uncontrollable tears to fall. At first glance, it looked like she was crying.
Unfortunately, Sanji only heard Tom's first sentence and didn't let him explain further. Especially after discovering Tom had fed Nami garlic water, he roared angrily, "You rude bastard! Feeding a lady something like that! I'll kick you to death!"
"What nonsense are you talking about? I didn't even eat garlic," Tom said, dodging Sanji's kick.
"Shut up! How is that any different from making her eat garlic?!"
As Sanji and Tom fought, Miss Goldenweek blinked her cute big eyes and spoke to Sanji with grievance, saying that Tom had also forced her to drink garlic water. Looking at the pitiful little girl's wronged appearance, it seemed as if she had been cruelly abused by someone.
This made Sanji, who always treated women like flowers to be protected, even more determined to kick Tom flying.
"You even bully such a young girl! Aren't you ashamed, you damn fisherman whose brain only thinks about monsters!"
"What did you say? You idiot perverted cook whose eyes only see women! I did it for their own good!"
Sanji believed Tom had no manners toward women, caring more about whether grotesque monsters appeared at sea than the women on board—simply despicable. Tom thought Sanji seemed interested even in little girls—simply worse than a beast.
The two disagreed at a word and immediately went at it, soon fighting from the room below deck to the deck above. The intense battle produced constant banging sounds, even causing the ship to sway slightly.
Luffy, a trouble-loving guy, didn't try to stop them. Instead, he excitedly shouted along with Usopp, though Usopp reminded them not to damage the ship.
For a time, the Going Merry, anchored in the dark sea, was very lively.
The ship had stopped because, without navigator Nami's guidance, they couldn't sail at night.
"Why aren't you stopping them, Mr. Bushido?" Vivi had expected Luffy and Usopp not to intervene, but seeing Zoro's indifferent attitude, she grew anxious, fearing something might happen if they fought so recklessly.
"Let them be. Let them vent," Zoro said, glancing at the pair fighting fiercely before walking away to train alone.
Indeed, Zoro was right. For the past two days, everyone had been holding it in because of Nami's illness. Without a way to vent, it could easily drive someone mad.
Tom and Sanji only stopped after fighting until they were panting heavily, having fought to their hearts' content.
Later, after Sanji prepared dinner for Tom again, he also made special meals for Nami and Miss Goldenweek. Seeing the two women eat so lavishly, Tom's eyes nearly popped out. Though he knew Sanji gave ladies special treatment, this was too outrageous. Compared to his own simple three dishes and a soup, he felt like he was living in a refugee camp.
Seeing Nami's appetite was much better than before, eating more than the past two days, Sanji was in a good mood and didn't criticize Tom further.
As for Miss Goldenweek, after being force-fed garlic water by Tom, she was now much more energetic. But she absolutely refused to eat dinner with Tom, preferring to stay in the room with Nami. She didn't want her meal ruined by someone spraying garlic breath in her face again.
After dinner, Nami fell into a drowsy sleep under her covers.
That night, because Nami was still ill, everyone slept in the same room as the previous two nights.
The clock on the wall ticked steadily. Around 3 a.m., while everyone was sleeping soundly, Nami woke up.
With the loud snoring of Luffy and Tom in her ears, Nami glanced around. Vivi was sleeping face-down by her bedside—she had worked very hard caring for Nami these past two days. With so many men on board, some things only another girl could do. Miss Goldenweek was also sleeping soundly on the other side of the bed.
As for the others, they slept casually on the floor. Zoro lay on Karoo, Usopp slept against the wall, and Luffy and Tom slept the most carelessly—neither using a blanket, just sprawled on the floor snoring away.
Luffy's sleeping posture was extremely improper, one foot resting on Usopp's head against the wall. Tom nearby wasn't much better. Turning in his sleep, he slapped Karoo's face with a loud smack, making the sleeping Karoo quack once. Luckily, Karoo didn't fully wake, and its cry didn't rouse the others. Tom's foot also landed on Zoro's stomach, who was sleeping nearby on Karoo. Luckily, Zoro slept deeply, or a fight might have broken out.
Nami originally wanted to go cover Tom and Luffy with blankets, but before she could get out of bed, Usopp, leaning against the wall wearing his sniper goggles, suddenly shouted in his sleep, "Really? You want my autograph that badly? After all, I am Captain Usopp, leader of eight thousand men!"
Seeing Usopp's smug self-praise even in his sleep made Nami want to laugh.
But as soon as Usopp finished, Zoro, who had been sleeping soundly on Karoo, suddenly sat up and declared with great momentum, "I will never lose! The one who will become the world's greatest swordsman is me!" After saying this, the sleepy Zoro casually lay back down on Karoo and continued snoring as if nothing had happened.
Before Nami could recover from the shock of Zoro, she heard the sleeping Tom laugh slyly, "What kind of creature is this? Never seen it before. I'll catch it and study it!" Still asleep, Tom reached toward Luffy beside him.
Just as Tom's hand grabbed the sleeping Luffy, Luffy grabbed Tom nearby, muttering, "This is my meat!"
"Is this how these guys usually sleep?" Nami thought, black lines covering her forehead as Luffy and Tom became tangled together. She usually slept in her own room and, aside from occasionally being disturbed by Tom and Luffy's shouting, never knew the men slept like this at night. It was a wonder they could squeeze together like this.
After tossing about for a while, Nami felt a bit tired. She glanced at Tom, pulled the blanket over herself, fell asleep peacefully with a faint smile at the corner of her mouth, and soon entered dreamland.
Sanji was on watch duty that night. Sitting alone on the lookout perch, wrapped tightly in a blanket with a cigarette, he glanced at the bright moon in the sky and only felt how cold the weather was.
Time passed second by second. Soon, the sun rose again—a new dawn, a new day.
The crew woke up as usual. Luffy, Tom, Usopp, and Zoro stood neatly at the railing brushing their teeth, their actions surprisingly synchronized—brushing, rinsing, spitting—exactly the same.
However, Luffy was brushing his teeth with a grilled fish, prompting Sanji on the perch to curse loudly, accusing Luffy of stealing food from the kitchen again.
"Use this to catch some more fish later," Luffy said after eating the grilled fish clean through his "brushing" method, handing Tom the fishing rod with only fish bones left.
"Throw away your own trash. You can't use this for fishing," Tom said casually.
"Did you hear any strange noises last night?" Usopp asked Zoro.
"Maybe someone was talking in their sleep," Zoro replied, thinking some warm-up exercise before breakfast wouldn't be bad, and went to train.
"Is that so? Must have been those two. Really, even sleeping so restlessly, they almost disturbed me," Usopp said, looking at Luffy and Tom.
You were the first one talking in your sleep last night, Usopp! Nami thought as she stepped onto the deck, hearing Usopp's words.
"Nami-swan! Are you alright now?" Sanji asked happily upon seeing her.
"My head still feels a bit dizzy. But it's better than the last two days," Nami said, her pretty face still carrying a trace of sickly pallor, but her overall appearance was clearly better than before.
Seeing Nami able to get up and walk around, everyone gathered around, asking after her all at once.
"You've only just recovered a bit. You should go back and rest," Tom said. Though it wasn't snowing today, the weather was clearly even colder than yesterday, with gusts of cold wind blowing through.
"I want to feel some fresh air too," Nami said, having stayed in the room below deck for two straight days—it really was a bit stuffy.
"As long as she wears more clothes, it should be fine," Sanji said to Tom. Seeing Nami was much more energetic, he prepared to make a good breakfast, but Luffy called out to stop him. "Can you remake this into something for me to eat?"
"You've eaten it down to the bone! What do you want me to make from it?" Sanji could use fish bones in cooking, but the rod was covered in Luffy's saliva. He naturally refused.
"What a waste. I guess I'll have to eat it then," Luffy said, swallowing the entire fish bone in an instant.
"You really can eat anything," Nami said. She had told Luffy before that normal people don't eat fish bones, but he still liked swallowing them whole.
Luffy asked if Nami was cured. She nodded, saying she really felt much better.
Tom touched Nami's forehead—it was still a bit hot, but not as bad as the past two days. However, Miss Goldenweek's cold and fever had completely vanished overnight, while Nami was still sick, making Tom feel faintly uneasy.
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T/N :
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