Chapter Text
Sanji takes a long shower to calm down his nerves. He’s been on edge ever since he smelled the citrus scent all over Zoro. Hearing Zoro insinuate he had sex with his girlfriend only made him feel worse.
Shit, he shouldn’t have accepted Gin’s offer. He’d only said yes to try and piss off Zoro, but that had horribly backfired. He’d thought Zoro’s concern might’ve been jealousy, but he had been painfully brought down from cloud nine when the tiger had doubted his strength. He’d been planning to cancel on Gin, but then Zoro had voice his concern and now he wants nothing more than to go to that stupid club and prove to the tiger that they are equals.
He can probably just go, drink a couple of beers, and leave. He has no intentions of getting serious with Gin—it isn’t fair to Gin, and Sanji doesn’t even have the excuse of thinking Zoro will get jealous. He gets out of the shower and dries off. He picks out a comfortable outfit, something that looks good on him but doesn’t look he made any effort to look good for Gin.
When he walks out, Zoro isn’t in his room. He ignores the thought that whispers that maybe Zoro is with his girlfriend, then grabs his house keys and walks out. He had agreed to meet with Gin outside of Merry Go, his now favorite coffee shop, but he has to wait a couple of minutes before Gin shows up.
“Sorry!” he gasps out, a little out of breath. “I couldn’t find my phone!”
“That’s okay,” Sanji shrugs. “Where’s this Wild Cherry anyway?” He’s a little curious as to why Gin would ask him out to this place if it’s as seedy as Zoro says it is.
“Down by the docks,” Gin answers. “It’s not that far—do you mind walking?”
“Nah, it’s fine.”
Sanji doesn’t really know much about Gin, so they spent their time talking. He shares a couple of classes with him, though the other man isn’t a culinary major like him. The night is a pleasant cool, a warning to the cold front that will be coming in the next couple of weeks, so Sanji doesn’t really mind having to walk. And like Gin said, the docks aren’t that far away.
When Sanji thinks about Zoro’s warning, he pictures the docks being seedy and trashy, the kind of place that just screams ‘illegal activities!’. Instead, he’s surprised to see a bright and busy business strip. There are a couple of clubs and bars, crowds of people walking in and out, packs of girls laughing and boys being rowdy. It looks…normal.
The only thing that looks iffy is the hulking bouncer, but the guy simply nods at Gin and lets them inside without a hitch. As soon as they enter the club, the smell of sweat, alcohol, and cheap perfume hits him and leaves him a bit dazed. Gin gives him an apologetic smile, but he looks more used to the vulgar scent, so Sanji lets himself be guided to the bar.
Gin nods at the bartender and leans in to order. The guy nods and turns around to get their drinks ready.
“Sorry!” Gin yells in his ear to be heard above the loud music. “It’s always like this on Fridays! The band is pretty popular!”
“It’s okay,” Sanji yells back and takes the drink the bartender offers him. It’ sweet with just the barest hint of alcohol. He’s not much of a drinker, and he knows sweet drinks are a danger because you never can tell just how much alcohol they have, so he makes a mental note not to drink more than two.
The band that’s playing tonight does look pretty popular, judging by the tightly packed crowd near the stage that’s screaming and dancing to the upbeat music. Sanji doesn’t particular enjoy clubs or live music, but he promised himself he was going to relax and have fun tonight. So when Gin invites him to the dancer floor, he goes easily.
It doesn’t take long for him to get lost in the crowd. He really doesn’t know if the person he’s dancing against is Gin or some other sweaty, hot body, but it feels too good to care. The drinks keep coming, and they taste freaking good, so keeps drinking them. He doesn’t feel drunk at all, just pumped full of adrenaline. It’s the same feeling he gets before he’s about to get into a fight, the same burning challenge that burns through him and leaves him exhilarated.
Skinny arms wrap around his waist and Sanji leans back into the wiry chest. There’s an uncomfortable pressure in his lower back, and some fucking sweaty dude is pressing too close to his side, so he’s glad when whoever is holding him tugs him out of the dancing crowd.
“Dude, you’re so drunk!” Gin laughs in his ear—oh, he’s the one that’s holding him. Sanji laughs, too, simply because he feels good, and leans heavily against Gin.
“M’not!” he denies, his speech slurred. “Didn’t drink that much.”
“What?” Gin asks, clearly not understanding his garbled speed, but shakes his head and tugs him closer. “C’mon! Let’s get you sobered up!”
He thinks he sees a flash of green in the dance floor, but it’s just his imagination. He shakes off the feeling of disappointment and lets Gin move him around. He can feel his heart thumping to the beat of the music, the scents are all around him thick and heady and sticking to his throat. Everything is too hot, too heavy, and when Gin helps him splash cold water on his face, it’s the best feeling ever. He’s a tad disoriented, his brain fuzzy and muddy, voices around him muddled.
There is this feeling of wrongness that is slowly creeping up on him, and no matter how hard he shakes his head, it won’t leave him alone. It takes him a moment to realize that the music is gone and the room is brighter—too bright for his dilated eyes. There is a thick, medicinal stench all around him, a smell that reminds him too much of hospitals and cleaning products. There is this strange feeling inside of him, not unpleasant but odd in an unfamiliar kind of way. It feels like his blood has thickened in his veins, like the air he’s breathing has tiny shards of glass—not big enough to hurt, but big enough to give him the feeling of sand paper in his lungs.
“Gin…” Sanji says, though he doesn’t know if the word came out of his mouth. His tongue feels heavy, his mouth dry. When he tries to move, it feels like his limbs are made out of lead. Something is wrong…something is very, very wrong.
“It looks like he’s coming to,” a deep voice says somewhere to his left. Sanji tries to find the source, but he only succeeds in lolling his face a bit to the side. He’s sitting down, he suddenly realizes.
“I gave him a lot,” a familiar voice replies. Gin, his mind uselessly supplies. “He probably has no idea what’s going on around him.”
“It’s fine. His immune system is stronger than yours. Shit, I can’t believe I fucking got a purebred in my hands! Look at his tail!”
Rough hands grips his tail where it connects to his spinal cord and Sanji flinches. He wants to move away, bite the hand off, but he can’t even talk. His pupils are slowly contracting and the room doesn’t look as bright as before, but he still can’t move his arms or legs.
“How much stuff did you give him?” the deep voice asks and Sanji jerks when something brushes against his ears. He flattens them in an effort to get them away from the touch, but yelps when they’re roughly pulled up.
“Um….four, five shots?”
“Five shots? He shouldn’t be…are you fucking sure he’s unmated?”
“Y-yeah! I’ve never seen him with anyone,” Gin exclaims.
Sanji jerks his hand and groans when the heavy feeling in his veins leaves him. He feels like he’s waking up from a deep sleep, or like how he felt after the first night he got drunk. Everything is loaded and fucking slow, but at least the feeling is slowly fading. Whatever shit Gin gave him—whatever drug he slipped in his drink—is slowly leaving his system.
He feels the sharp sting of shame and anger at having been caught in this position. Shit, Zoro fucking warned him that this place was dangerous, he should have been more careful. Why would Gin ask him to such a shady place? Why didn’t he listen to Zoro? A fucking tiger warned him, and his stupid pride was too big to listen to him. Now he’s probably going to be killed or drugged until he loses sight of his humanity and is nothing more than an angry, snarling animal.
He gags when thick fingers enter his mouth and roughly push it down. He tries to bite down on them, hating the sharp tang of salt and something sour. Something dry is pressed down on his tongue, giving him the same feeling of licking paper, then the fingers are gone.
“Fucker,” he growls and is elated when the word comes out semi-understandable. He tries to follow the movement around him and this time he succeeds: his eyes meet Gin’s horrified expression, but he’s more interested in the other, taller man with silvery hair. This one is human, his scent acrid and fucking wrong, but Sanji’s instincts tell him that this man is the one in charge here.
“H-how!? I gave him the drug, Don Krieg! I swear!” Gin exclaims, looking at the older man. “He’s not mated!”
The other man, Krieg, stares at the slip of paper in his hand. Sanji is still a little out of it, but he knows that’s what the man shoved in his mouth. It kind of reminds Sanji of litmus paper, but this one is wider than it is longer. The paper itself is a dark gray color, but there’s a wet spot on the edge that is fading slowly—not entirely white, but a lighter color than the rest.
“He’s bonded,” Krieg snarls. “Nobody’s gonna want a fucking bonded hybrid! Fucking shit!”
“I’m gonna fucking kick your ass,” Sanji gasps out, but the human ignores him. Gin is silently staring between Sanji and the other man, the thick scent of fear making Sanji’s nostrils flare. The feeling in his limbs is slowly returning, but he’s still not strong enough to take on both of them. Fucking shit, he’s gonna fucking rip their throats out.
“We’re gonna have to break the bond,” Krieg finally says firmly, and the scent of fear spikes.
“Break it!?” Gin gasps. “Don, that…that could kill him!”
“He’s as useless now as he is dead!” Krieg snarls. “I’m not gonna lose this fucking money because of some fucking half-baked bond, you hear me! Watch him while I go get it.”
“But Don—.”
“Are you fucking disobeying me?”
Sanji has no idea what the fuck is going on. It seems like whatever drug they gave him isn’t working like they thought it should—Gin probably knows that Sanji is not easy to overpower when he’s in full capacity of his limbs. But why the fuck do they think he’s mated? And what the fuck is a bond? Is this one of those obscure things about hybrids he doesn’t know? Fuck, he loves Zeff (he will never say it at loud, but he really does), but sometimes he hates the fact that he was raised by humans. Hybrids are secretive, especially since they haven’t been around all that long compared to humans. It’s only been about five hundred years since the first humans evolved into hybrids and back in those times, humans feared them. It’s only recently that they have been able to integrate somewhat into society, but there are still things about hybrid biology that isn’t public knowledge—much less to humans. Shit, in some third world countries, hybrids are still treated like objects.
“No, sir!” Gin quickly says, lowering his ears in submission. Krieg scoffs but leaves them, slamming the door shut behind him. But in that short time the door opened, Sanji is able to hear the muted beat of music and realizes that they’re still at the club. Maybe he doesn’t need to overpower these guys. Maybe he just needs to get far enough that he can yell for help. He’s gonna have to use the element of surprise in order to pull this off. Gin doesn’t look like much, but Sanji has seen him working out and knows that there is some strength to the mutt. He’s not strong enough to escape Gin right now, but maybe if he pretends that the feeling isn’t coming back to his body, he can make his escape when Krieg comes back.
He forces himself to stay pliant and spread on the uncomfortable chair. His eyes follow Gin’s movements, but the mutt isn’t looking at him. He looks nervous and scared and for the first time, Sanji wonders why he would follow a human. He’s clearly the stronger of the two—humans are, by nature, always physically weaker than them—but he is clearly cowed by the other.
“I didn’t know you were bonded.”
Sanji narrows his eyes at the question but knows better than to answer. If he speaks, Gin will realize that the effects of the drug are almost gone. The feeling of lead running through his veins is gone, but his heart is still beating too rapidly. He feels exhausted, like he’s been running for days, but he can feel his muscles responding to him. Should he try escaping now, before Krieg comes back?
Gin turns his back on him when is clear Sanji won’t answer, and the fox takes his chance. There is a terrible second when he thinks his body won’t respond, but then he’s on his feet and running towards the door. He hears Gin curse behind him, but his hands are already reaching the door and all he needs to do is touch it and—
The fucking door opens.
Sanji stares with wide eyes at the human for a frozen moment, but then Krieg reacts. He slaps him across the face, hard, and Sanji hits the floors. He tastes blood and the blow leaves him disoriented, but he’s already back on his feet. Like fuck is he going to give up now!
“Hold him!” Krieg yells, his thick arms wrapping around Sanji’s chest to keep him from escaping, but Sanji is kicking with abandon, uncaring of where he makes contact. Gin grabs him from behind, his arms skinnier but just as strong and Sanji flails, desperation fueling his body.
“Shit!”
An unforgiving hand grips his hair tightly and Sanji grunts when his head is pulled back. He tries to bite at the fingers that enter his mouth but it’s hard to close his jaw with the way Krieg is pulling his head. He feels something sandy and thick scrape his throat, and he instinctively swallows to dislodge the object. At the same moment, he feels his knee connect with soft flesh and Gin drops to the ground. The hand on his hair slackens in surprise and Sanji uses that to his advantage, bringing his head down to head-butt Krieg in the face. His head explodes in pain, but he hears something crunch and feels something give, and then he’s running again.
He doesn’t know where he’s going, he just knows that he has to get away. His feet are not working the way they should and he can hear the heavy footfalls of his pursuer, but he has adrenaline and desperation on his side. The music is faint, too fucking faint, and it sounds above him, but he doesn’t care. He needs to run, he needs to get away.
He turns the corner and his heart stops when he his body slams against something hard. He hits the floor and pain floods his system. Oh fuck, flashes through his mind, but then every thought is wiped clean as the pain increases. Why does it fucking hurt so much?
“Sanji?”
He doesn’t recognize the voice, but it doesn’t matter. The footfalls behind him stop and his whole body twists when Gin’s scent hits him. He tries to move, he tries to scramble away, but his blood is boiling and his heart is splitting, and it fucking feels like his brain is about to melt.
“Who the hell—?”
The words are cut off by the sound of a roar. The rumbling sound shakes the very ground and splits the ears, it’s deep and growling and so full of anger and power that Sanji’s whole body cowers and flinches. His ears flatten and his tail lowers, and suddenly everything is screaming at him to submit, to lower his body and bare his throat and hope he won’t get killed. He hears Gin hit the floor behind him, trapped in the same animal urge to submit, but he pays him no mind. It doesn’t even matter anymore. The pain is fucking unbearable and the dark spots dancing in his eyesight are getting bigger and bigger. His lungs are expanding inside his body, but he can’t breathe.
He’s going to die.
When Sanji wakes up to brightness, he panics. His whole body convulses and something starts beating rapidly. His panic alleviates somewhat when he realizes that he can move, he’s not sluggish at all, and he’s on a semi-comfortable bed. The beeping sound is still ringing loudly, but before he can make sense of where he is, the doors open and a pretty woman followed by a slightly familiar man step in.
“Mr. Black, calm down,” the man says calmly as the woman rushes forward and starts checking over him.
It takes him a moment to realize he’s facing a doctor and a nurse. He’s in a hospital. “W-what happened?” he asks, his voice rough, allowing the woman to lower him back on the bed. He can’t remember anything other than that horrible roar an every time he tries to think back on it, pain flares inside of him.
“You had a seizure,” the doctor says matter-of-factly. “How is he?” he asks the nurse.
“Slightly elevated hear-rate, but everything else is back to normal,” the nurse replies. “Brain activity is standard and blood levels are stable.”
“Good. You can leave us.”
The nurse nods and after offering Sanji a slight smile, leaves.
“Who are you?” Sanji asks, clearing his throat. He feels…surprisingly fine, considering everything that happened. He’s slightly sore and his throat hurts, but he can live with that. This is nothing compared to the bone-crushing pain that paralyzed him before. “How long have I’ve been here?”
“My name is Dr. Trafalgar,” the doctor replies. “But you can call me Law. Luffy brought you in three days ago.”
Three days ago? Fucking shit. And who the hell is Luffy? He doesn’t recognize the name at all. Is that the guy he bumped into in the hall? If so, he needs to thank him as soon as possible. He owns his life to that man. “When can I leave?” he asks, eager to go home. He hates hospitals, always have and probably always will. He squirms uncomfortably when he feels something strange inside of him, a deep aching sense of emptiness, like he’s missing something.
“Not yet,” Law replies. “Bond-breakage is a serious injury. You seem to be recuperating well, but I want to keep you in observation for another day. Mr. Roronoa has yet to wake up from his coma, and I’m worried you will crash, too.”
“Z-Zoro?” Sanji says, confused. He rubs his chest, trying to dislodge the uncomfortable feeling. It doesn’t hurt, but he doesn’t like it. “What does he—he’s in a fucking coma!?”
“Of course,” Law replies simply, raising an eyebrow. “The bond affects both parties.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Sanji snaps, freaking out. Zoro is hurt? He’s in a coma? But…fuck, nothing is making any sense! Is this why he’s feeling like this? Is this strange hollowness a sense of foreboding? He needs to know that Zoro is okay.
“Mr. Black…you are aware of what a bond-breakage is, right?” Law asks carefully, his black ears flicking in curiosity.
Sanji shakes his head, trying to clear his mind. “No, I…what is wrong with Zoro?” Sanji whispers, afraid.
Law studies him for a moment, then sighs. “Do you know how mating works?”
“Just answer my fucking question!”
“He’s bond-broken,” Law replies, rolling his eyes. “I’m trying to tell you what that is.”
“Oh,” Sanji says, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment. He really needs to calm down. Screaming at his doctor is not going to solve anything, and no matter how worried he is bout Zoro, freaking out is not going to solve anything. “Mating…that’s when you sleep with your mate, isn’t it?” he answers hesitantly. “Um, I…I’m sorry. I was raised by humans, so all I know is what the Internet has told me.”
Law sighs again and folds his legs. “There is sex, then there is mating—the two are very different, though not exclusive. Unlike humans, hybrids cannot reproduce as easily. There are many psychological and biological factors that affect our reproduction. All hybrids are born with the innate ability to recognize the person best fitted to reproduce with—your soulmate, if you believe classic romanticism. There are two stages to mating: the mating bond, and the mating act. Usually, it is the predator who recognizes their perfect prey first and initiates the bond. It is actually quite fascinating—all that the predator has to do is choose his prey and the bond initiates. It activates a biological change that makes it impossible for other predators to find this prey compatible. Once the bond has been strengthened by the sexual act, the bond is complete and it becomes unbreakable. Since the mating bond increases the reproduction of dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin—three of the most important hormones responsible for the feeling of ‘falling in love’—many people equate the mating bond to love at first sight.”
Sanji frowns, remembering Krieg’s words. “Don Krieg….the human that drugged me…he said I was bonded.”
“Yes. The bond between Mr. Roronoa and you was very old,” Law says easily. “It must have happened at quite the young age.”
Sanji’s mouth falls open. “W-what?” He’s bonded with Zoro? Holy fuck! So Zoro is what, he’s fucking soulmate? Is this why he’s never been able to forget the tiger? The heart monitor picks up his increased heart-rate, and he blushes when he realizes that Law can hear how excited he is. But he finds himself not caring. Zoro is his fucking soulmate! They’re meant to be in love! Fucking Mother Nature created them with the sole purpose of being together. The romantic inside of him cheers in happiness.
“Are you feeling well?” Law asks worriedly, glancing at the heart monitor.
“I’m fine,” Sanji hurriedly says. “So…so this means Zoro and I…we’re meant to be?” he asks, trying to hide the eagerness in his voice. The ache in his heart throbs, but the feeling is bearable. He’s probably just worried about Zoro—his soulmate.
“Well, not anymore,” Law chuckles. “This is why we’re here, after all.”
Oh. Something falters inside of him, and he’s almost afraid to ask the next question, but does so anyway. “What do you mean?” Sanji asks, fearing the worst.
“The man who tried to kidnap you, Don Krieg, is a well-known hybrid trafficker. He sells exotic breeds to humans oversees, where hybrid slavery is still legal. Authorities have spent a lot of time searching for him. He was arrested shortly after you escaped, thank goodness, but he did manage to feed you a drug called RH-98—it is an illegal substance than contains heavy amounts of cortisol, amongst other man-made hormones. To put it in simple terms, this drug is a virus that destroys the hormones in your body that create the mating bond. It changes your biological structure, something that is very dangerous and often leads to death. In fact, 97% of hybrids infected with this virus die. Once your body started to destroy the mating bond, Mr. Roronoa’s body started to copy the process—truly, it is fascinating, don’t you think? Zoro wasn’t fed the drug, nor was he near you when you were infected, yet his body automatically knew that the bond in your body was being destroyed and acted correspondingly. It is but one of the many mysteries of hybrid anatomy that we might never understand.”
Sanji ignores him, too stunned by the previous words spoken. He remembers Krieg slipping him something when he tried to escape. That must have been the pill, RH-whatever. The pain he felt in the hall…that was probably his body destroying the bond. The roar he heard…that had been Zoro. He stares at his hands blankly, trying to wrap his head around all of this. “So this means…we’re no longer bonded?” Is that what he’s feeling? Is this emptiness in him the space where his bond used to be? He feels carved out, useless and otiose.
“That’s right,” Law nods, unware of the way Sanji’s heart is breaking. “You shouldn’t worry too much about Zoro. The fact that you woke up bodes very good news for him. He should be regaining consciousness in the next couple of hours. So it’s good news all around.”
“How can…how can this be good news?” Sanji whispers, horrified. “You just basically told me I lost my fucking soulmate!”
“You…you really don’t know anything about hybrids, do you?” Law snorts, and his clear amusement sparks a flare of anger inside Sanji. How fucking dare he? “Weren’t you listening when I explained the mating bond?”
“Yes! And despite your fucking cynicism, I happened to think true love fucking exists, alright!?” Sanji shouts. “Call me a fucking romantic or whatever, but I don’t give a fuck about the science of things.”
Law makes a confused face. “You…you actually felt the bond?”
“You just fucking said—!”
“Yeah, but you’re a fox,” Law interrupts, shutting him up. “Look, there are different levels of strength in these bonds,” he explains, waving a hand in the air as if to show how unimportant he finds all of it. “With over seven billion people in the world, the instinct to breed isn’t so strong anymore. But it is still there. Obviously, reproduction only happens between heterosexual couples. The mating bond between heterosexual predator and prey will always be the strongest, simply because they have a bigger chance of producing offspring. A heterosexual coupling between two predators or two prey does not have the same chance at offspring, with only 40% of couples successfully reproducing, but it is still not unusual to see.
“And with the increase in population, it isn’t unusual to find homosexual couples. In fact, three out of five hybrids don’t care about the gender of their mates. But a bonded homosexual couple between two predators…that has absolutely no value in the face of science. There is zero chance of reproduction, so their bond will always be the weakest—in fact, the only reason why you survived the RH-98 virus is because you were bonded to a male predator. A bond like yours…its literally one in a million.”
Sanji bites his lip stubbornly. “So what?” he hisses. “That still means there are over seven thousand people just like us. Why does it matter? The earth is overpopulated anyway.”
“Yes, Sanji…but your race is almost extinct,” Law says, using his first name for the first time, and Sanji freezes at the reminder. “Since the last world census there were less than two hundred tiger hybrids in the world and less than seventy-five fox hybrids. Your species is dying out…the mere fact that you two bonded each other is astounding…a glitch in the system. It was a mistake. It may sound harsh, but the two of you are lucky that the bond was broken.”
Sanji doesn’t know what to say. Law is right. There is no reason why he and Zoro should be together. But…but if it is so wrong, then why did they bond in the first place? Why does he feel like a piece of himself was ripped out? Why does it hurt so much?
“You said that the predator initiates the bond…but if both Zoro and I are predators, then who initiated it?” Sanji asks quietly.
“The one who saw the other first,” Law shrugs. “Whoever initiate it was probably too young to understand what was happening.”
“I was nine,” Sanji murmurs, remembering the day at the aquarium when he first saw Zoro.
“Ah. Zoro probably realized what was going on when he went into rut,” Law says thoughtfully. “His father most likely explained everything to him. You know, you’re very lucky he knew better than to mate with you. A bond is unbreakable once you engage in sexual intercourse.”
Zoro already knew. Of course. Sanji remembers Zoro telling him he went into rut that day at the basketball court. His father must have told him what it meant. But if he knew…then that means he kept away from Sanji on purpose. It means he always felt the same way Sanji does, but he chose to keep away. Suddenly, a lot of things make sense.
Zoro rushing out of the elevator. Zoro insulting him in the roof. Zoro ignoring him before.
Zoro didn’t want this bond. He was probably appalled when he discovered that Sanji had bonded with him. He probably hates Sanji for forcing himself on him. Shit…Zoro has a girlfriend. A feline hybrid, someone he could have bonded with if Sanji hadn’t made the stupid mistake of bonding him when they were nine. And why shouldn’t he hate Sanji? They are both a dying race, Zoro probably wants children. Sanji should want children, too. There are less of his kind than Zoro’s. Zoro will be overjoy when he wakes up and no longer feels Sanji’s bond inside of him. It won’t feel like an open wound to him.
“Once the bond is broken, can we bond again?” Sanji asks quietly.
“Well...most prey die when the bond is broken, but all the facts lead to yes,” Law answers, frowning. “Most likely, the body will simply try to find the next best compatible partner.”
That’s good. That means Zoro will be able to bond with his girlfriend. Law said predator couples don’t have a great chance at reproduction, but anything is better than zero chance.
“Sanji…you don’t feel the bond anymore, do you?” Law asks and for the first time, Sanji can feel concern in his voice.
Ah, of course. The virus destroyed the mating bond between him and Zoro so he’s not supposed to care anymore. If the reason he loved Zoro was because of this stupid bond, now that is broken, Sanji shouldn’t be in love anymore. Then why can’t he stop thinking about the tiger? Why is it so painful to think that Zoro doesn't care about him? Why does it feel like there’s a vicious grip around his heart that won’t let it beat?
He’s a glitch in the system. He’s a freak of nature. There must be something wrong with him.
“No…I don’t feel anything.”