Heart of the Kitsune

Heart of the Kitsune

Chapter 4

-

Sanji let himself in to Zoro's home through the window and smirked when he heard the other mumbling to himself upstairs before heading into the kitchen. "Hmm, what to make for him tonight?" he murmured to himself as he looked at what was remaining. A trill from outside alerted him to another's presence and he moved over to the window, opening it and smiled when it was Robin. "Robin-chwan, glad to see you! Have anything new for me to know about my dear marimo?"

"Yes. Luffy and I were watching him all day. For food, he likes sea king meat and sake. He cares greatly for his swords and takes pride in their care. And the city pretty much treats him like a revered official for his good deeds during the course of his militant life." Robin said and he nodded. "Good, good. I don't know about the latter but I can definitely work with the first two." he said and grinned to Robin. "Thanks, Robin-chwan!"

Robin smiled and nodded before fluttering off. He closed the window once she was gone and he hummed. "Hmm, sea king meat? That's pretty expensive stuff. Guess I'll have to dip into my treasures to get him some. But for now, make with what I have." he murmured as he pulled out what he needed and got to work. An hour or so later and the table was filled with many fancy cuisine.

He smiled at his usual work before he started making his way upstairs. Zoro was sitting in his room cleaning off Kitetsu when he found him. "Marimo, dinner awaits you." he said. Zoro looked up to him before waving a hand to dismiss him. "I'm not hungry." he spoke. Sanji glared at the other male before stepping towards him.

"You march your ass down to the dinner table or else." he growled.

"Or else what?"

"You just like testing my patience, don't you?"

"Well no one asked you to sit here trying to woo me." Zoro grumbled before he stood, quickly blocking a foot with the flat of his blade. 'Damn...that was almost too quick for me to catch.' he thought. Sanji growled before backflipping, making another kick for the swordsman, which he once again blocked. "What is your problem!?"

"You're not giving me a chance! That's the problem!" Sanji hissed as he made a roundhouse kick. "I should give you a taste of manners but since we're in such a confined space, you're saved from such." he grumbled. Zoro growled as he went to swipe at the fox who dodged. "Well, you're holding your own which I'm surprised to say good job." he said as he went to attack the fox once more.

The two continued their mock battle until they were at a cross counter. Shuusui was at Sanji's throat while the kitsune's foot was aimed for a vital spot where if he didn't stop the force of his kick, it would cause some fatal damage to the swordsman. "Alright, if you can fight like that, you gained some respect from me." Zoro said as he moved the sword while Sanji set his foot back down. "Good. So will you stop shooing me away before I can do nice things for you?"

"Don't push your luck, shit-fox."

Sanji huffed. "Fine, fine. At least join me for dinner. I promise I won't try anything." Zoro looked to him before sighing as he nodded, setting Shuusui back into its saya and set it with the other two and followed Sanji downstairs for dinner. Outside perched Robin who smiled softly.

"Don't give up too soon, cook-san. Swordsman-san will break down to your will soon enough. Maybe even sooner than you think." she whispered as she watched the two out the window. She was joined not long after by Luffy and Nami who watched as well. "So how's it going with Sanji?" Luffy asked.

"Well, they got into a fight---"

"What?!"

"You didn't let me finish, Luffy." she reprimanded and the little monkey pouted. "They had a fight but from out here, it looked like a test for cook-san. If he faltered in the slightest, I'm sure swordsman-san wouldn't look to him ever again if he showed some sort of weakness." Robin finished and Luffy pondered over what she said while Nami nodded, completely understanding what she meant.

"Well, Sanji-kun is stronger than anyone else in the forest, excluding the higher ups and the fact that we don't know how strong Lucci and Jyabura are now that they've returned." she murmured and Robin nodded. "Well, if cook-san gotten swordsman-san's respect, maybe soon enough, he can entrust his protection into him. But for now, all we can do is watch the outcome and only help if we're really needed."

Luffy and Nami nodded before Luffy finally clapped his hands together. "Oh, I get it! Sanji would be completely ignored by Zoro if he was weak!"

"We just said that." Nami said, clapping a hand over her face at the delayed understanding from the monkey.

-

"Let me stay the night, marimo. At least I deserve that for fixing you such a nice meal." Sanji demanded, arms crossed as he looked to the swordsman. "No. Get going." he said with a finality tone and Sanji sighed before watching as the other male headed upstairs. He huffed, tails bristling before he left, knowing that if Zoro were to wake sometime in the middle of the night and find him there still, he'll be tossed out like a cat, no offense to his dear Nami-swan. He left and changed into his fox form before loping off into the forest, never knowing he was about to get another meeting from a hated individual.

-

"Alright, the trap's in place now all I need is a good bait." Spandam said as he pondered over the choices he brought with him. There wasn't much. He had the leftover bento he ate as he decided on a place to set a trap, the scent of a rich perfume from the woman he lain with out of boredom and not much else.

He never really cared for the women that he finds himself bedding whenever he decides to take a trip to the red light district. As a retired naval commander, relieved from duty because of his unorthodox methods of handling things, he was sill revered through the city. Not as much as Zoro, which annoyed him whenever he thought of the swordsman, but still good enough that he was allowed to do what he wished and not be questioned.

"Wait..." he murmured to himself and smirked as he removed the shirt he wore and set it over the snare before moving to hide. “That perfume should cover most of my scent and if that fox is as much of a womanizer as the rest of its kin, it would be attracted to the scent of a pretty woman." Spandam said, grinning at the thought. It was a good couple of minutes before the fox finally showed, nose twitching as he caught onto the scent. 'Got you...' Spandam thought as he watched the fox get closer to the trap. When the telltale snap of the snare closing and the fox's yelp came, he jumped up from his hiding spot and ran over.

"Guess you couldn't resist the smell of a pretty woman, can you?" he said with a grin and the fox growled. Spandam opened the snare and caught the fox by its ruff before it could escape and stuffed it into a sack he was carrying with him. "Fame and fortune, here I come." he said before making his way back to the city, unaware that he was in for a great surprise.

-

Further in the forest, Sanji laughed as the man fell for another illusion. "Man, this guy is dense. Does he really think I would fall for something so easily, especially when the hunter sucks ass at hiding?" he murmured to himself as he watched as Spandam left for the city with the rustling bag. Once he was out of sight did he snap his fingers and the illusion faded, leaving only a leaf in place of the supposed kitsune that he caught.

"Have fun making yourself look like an ass in front of the drunkards."

-

When he entered the bar, the men from before looked up. "Well if it isn't the kitsune hunter. Tell me, did you fail yet?" he questioned and Spandam huffed. "For your information, I didn't fail. The kitsune is right here in this bag. He couldn't resist the scent of a pretty woman so of course I used the scent of the perfume from my shirt to get it right where I wanted him." he explained and this interested the men along with some of the other patrons around the bar. "Well don't hold out! Show it to us!"

"Yeah! We can get some free wishes from it!"

The bar was in an uproar and Spandam smirked before opening the bag but was met with nothing but a leaf inside. He paled as the men looked to him. "Well? Where's the kitsune?" One asked. Spandam gulped before shaking the bag over the table and the leaf fluttered down to rest on the table. "A leaf! You fell for the kitsune's tricks again!?" The man said again before some yelled profanities at him while others laughed. "See! He couldn't catch anything, much less a kitsune!"

"You liar! You think you can get everyone's hopes up to catch such an elusive creature!"

Spandam growled before slamming a fist on the table. "Shut up! All of you!" he hissed as he looked to them all. "I'm sure I wasn't the only one who failed in catching that beast! I'm sure you too, when claiming you were chasing a lore creature, were laughed and mocked at. But some of us know that lore creatures live right under our noses and they're all are hiding away in that forest. If you join me now, we'll make all the money we could ever dream of. But we need to band together and learn their tricks and outsmart them or these rich dreams will never come true. How about it? Will you join me and chasing down these creatures and turning them in for the fortune they're worth?!" Spandam called and those with greed in their eyes agreed to join him, the bar getting more rowdy as the hunting party grew in numbers.

Spandam nodded. "Good. That kitsune won't be able to elude us this time for this time, we shall claim its hoshi no tama and leave it powerless enough that it can't even flee." he murmured, leaning back in his seat with an evil sneer spread across his face. "I will soon be known in higher terms than that foolish swordsman."

-

Zypher: And there we have it, another chapter for you all as well as more plotting from Spandam. Looks like he got a plan going but will it work? Well that shall be found out soon. Keeping showing your love for this story and I'll keep giving you more. See you soon.