Chapter 4: Getting to Know You

It hasn't even been a day but I REALLY REALLY wanna post this so here! *throws chapter at your face and runs*

The next morning, I woke up pretty late. I mean, I guess it was late because Sanji wasn't in his bed. From what I could tell, the guy got up pretty early on most days. I got up and stretched with a yawn; last night certainly was hectic. But on the upside, I don't think I have to worry about being cooked or chased with knives.

"Morning." I hear a familiar voice and turn to see Sanji straightening his tie on his suit. He turns towards me slightly, "Sleep well?" I give him a look but a smile graces my lips.

"Pikachu." I answer, turning away from him to groom my fur; it was pretty matted down from how soundly I slept. I hear Sanji finishing up and open the door.

"Ready for your first day Pika-chan?"

I freeze and look back at him, a confused frown on my face. "Pika?" 'What did you just call me?'

Sanji grins, "Like it?"

'No! I don't like it!'

"Since you're living here now, might as well give you a proper name."

How is Pika-chan a proper name?! It's practically my real name (if it is my real name) so what's the point?! "Pika pi…" I mutter but Sanji either ignores it or doesn't hear my distaste.

"Well, c'mon Pika-chan. We've got work to do."

I tense at the nickname before following him out with an annoyed scowl on my face. 'You have work to do, I'm a guard dog remember?' The nickname was obviously gonna take some getting used to.

I follow Sanji to the kitchen where all the other chefs are getting ready for the day as well. I eye the frantic trampling feet in the narrow space and frown. I would prefer to not get squished. As if on pure instinct, I jumped up onto Sanji's shoulder making him start a bit from my sudden presence. Well it was certainly a much better view from up here, and I didn't have to worry about getting stepped on.

When Sanji stops at a certain point on the counter and jump off and land on the counter; I didn't want to hinder him. I flinch as he suddenly throws me an apple and I barely catch it. "Breakfast." he says. "And you better eat the whole thing or I'll cook you up myself."

I grimace and sit against the wall, munching on my apple; what is with these guys and cooking me up? And what happened to me not looking edible? Can these guys make up their minds please? By the time I finished my apple, the kitchen was full of amazing aromas coming from all different kinds of dishes. But out of all of them, Sanji's smelled the best. Maybe it was because I was sitting right next to him, but the smell of his food stood out more than any other in here.

Once Sanji's done, he hands it off to a waiter and starts preparing another meal. Must be a lot of hungry people out there. However, once this order is done, Sanji actually picks up the dish and begins to exit the kitchen without handing it off to a waiter. Why? I watch him go from the counter when something grabs the back of my neck.

I squeal, making Sanji stop just before he exits the door. "Sanji! Take your pet and make sure it does its job!" From the voice I realize that it's Patty. I gotta say, he's got guts to hold me like this since I shocked him the last time he picked me up.

My ears fold back and a frown makes its way to my face. 'What'd you call me?' Sparks start flying from my cheeks and Patty tosses me towards Sanji, quite quickly I might add. I land on my paws but not without stumbling a bit. I turn back to Patty and growl at him; he was such a jerk!

Sanji sighs, "You know, I get that with bullies, the big ones always go for the smaller targets." he says, a smirk coming to his face. "But picking on a mouse? I think that's a new low." I smirk as I hear the muffled laughter of the others chefs and Patty's face turns red with rage. "C'mon Pika-chan." Sanji says.

I flinch and scowl at that accursed name and follow him out. I follow him down the stairs where everyone is eating heartily. I stay close to Sanji's legs when he arrives at a table where two girls are sitting and talking happily. "Your dishes, my lovely ladies." he says dreamily, placing the food gently in front of them. I give him a weird look as I spy hearts appearing in his eyes. The hell…?

"Thank you! It looks wonderful!" One of the girls says. I back away slowly as Sanji practically melts and begins what I can only attempt to distinguish as flirting.

One of the girls then spots me and smile, "Aw, look at that cute little thing!" she squeals.

The other girl and Sanji look at me. "Aww! It is cute!" the other girl squeals. "Does it belong to you?"

I glance at Sanji and I can see plotting in his eyes; no, don't you freaking dare!

I manage to restrain myself from filling the whole restaurant with lightning as Sanji holds me and shows me off, making the girls giggle and squeal. 'What have I gotten myself into…?'

The rest of the week passed and it was pretty much the same routine for me. Wake up, watch Sanji cook, wander around the restaurant for any troublemakers, and occasionally get dragged over to a table by Sanji to unwillingly help him pick up girls.

I admit, I liked the attention and scratches I got out of it, but that didn't mean it wasn't degrading to be used as a trump card for shameless flirting. It takes everything to not shock the moron when he starts making up new stories of how he found me, and takes care of me like I'm a valuable treasure, and calling me Pika-chan like a sap.

I tried not to cringe as my new name was also spread around to the other chefs, but some refused to use it, like Patty and Zeff. They just stuck with calling me degrading names like Rodent or Pipsqueak. I guess Pika-chan isn't too awful a name compared to those; at least he didn't call me something stupid like Sunflower or Cotton.

Yeah, I'm cute, but it's not something to always be proud of, and the last thing I want is a name that constantly screams 'I'm a cute innocent little mouse'! I guess they're lucky that I don't remember my real name. I know I have a real name; it's in the back of my head, I can feel it.

But as the days pass, I find that my amnesia is bothering me less and less. Maybe because I'm filling my head with new memories I'm worrying about the old ones. Don't get me wrong, I really want to figure out how I got here and why, but right now...I don't think that's possible. I'm not going to find my memories in one of Zeff's recipes for Arceus' sake.

I don't know when or how I'll get my memories back, but for now, I'll focus on the restaurant. I have a new job to do, and until my old life rears its head, I'll do the best I can.

That night, at the end of the week, it was storming really badly. In fact, the past few days have been rainy and gloomy. It really puts a damper on things around here, if you can believe it. I was sleeping pretty soundly; I found the thunder and lightning soothing, to be honest.

What woke me up was the bedsheets rustling, much more than usual. I open my eyes tiredly and look to see Sanji tossing and turning quite fitfully. But what really gets my attention is the small whimper I catch coming from him. Was he having a nightmare? I was pretty stunned; despite having only known him for about a week, this was incredibly out of character for him.

I get up and walk over to his head and get a good look at his face. He looks really...scared. I didn't think Sanji was even capable of getting scared. I place my paw on his shoulder and shake him, "Pika? Pikachu?" I call.

I repeat the process a few more times until Sanji opens his eyes, his gaze falling right on me. "Oh, Pika-chan-" I frown lightly at the name. "-it's just you…" He rubs the bridge of his nose and sighs, pulling himself together.

"Pika?" 'You okay?'

He shakes his head, not removing his hand, "It's nothing; go back to sleep." he says. Okay, now I'm curious; that was clearly no ordinary nightmare if it could make someone like Sanji look so shaken up. Sanji silently curses and sits up, sitting against the wall, massaging his temples. I went up to him as lightning flashed through the window. I glance at the window as Sanji's little breakdown doesn't seem to be going away. Did this storm maybe trigger his nightmare?

I point to the window, "Pika?" 'Is it the storm?' I ask.

Sanji looks at me and where I'm pointing. It takes him a minute before he gives me a frown, "I'm not afraid of lightning!" he exclaims softly and I sweatdrop.

'That's not what I said...'

His frown fades and he looks at the window. "Well, I guess you could say that storms kind of hit home for me." he says.

My ears droop and I tilt my head, "Pi?"

"I met the old man because of a storm; he was a pirate raiding the ship I was working on." My ears perked back up. Zeff used to be a pirate? That...actually explained a lot. He did act like a pirate when I really thought about it, in fact, everyone here acted like a pirate. I guess that's why fights are really no big deal here; it's basically like one big pirate ship. Well, at least the fights were fun to watch (and occasionally join in).

My eyes are then drawn to the picture on his dresser of him and Zeff. From what he told me, I guess Zeff attacked Sanji's ship when he was a kid. But how did he end up here?

Sanji follows my gaze and a small smile graces his face. "I know, the stupid geezer attacks my ship and I end up working with him; weird right?"

I nod and look at him again. "Pika?" I ask.

He looks down at me, "Hm? You wanna know why?" he asks. I nod again. "Well, it's a long story...and it's one I don't like to tell very often." He shudders and I frown slightly; what on earth could have happened?

I listen intently as he tells me about how he met Zeff, and how he saved his life in more ways than one. He also describes how he nearly starved to death and I can't help but shudder. No wonder he was having a nightmare; nearly starving to death would be terrifying for anyone! But I can't help but feel awed by what Zeff sacrificed for him. He gave up his own leg and title as a pirate, and even risked starving to death...just so Sanji could live.

And all because they shared the same dream: the All Blue.

A smile comes to my face as Sanji begins gushing about how amazing the All Blue is and how it's his dream to find it and prove that it exists. I have to say, an ocean like that sounds amazing! It would certainly be a sight to behold if someone actually found it! And the way Sanji talked about it, he sounded like a completely different person. He sounded like a giddy little boy, but in a good way, and he looked really happy.

After a while, Sanji's rambling dies down and we both yawn; it was probably pretty late by now. Sheesh, one nightmare and Sanji had just about told me his life story; I admit, I feel like I know him much more than I had before.

"We should get to sleep." Sanji says, getting back under the covers. "The old man will kill us if we're tired tomorrow."

"Pika…" I agree with a yawn.

I then flinch as Sanji pets my head, "Thanks for listening," he says.

'Huh?'

"I've never told that story to anyone until now; feels good to finally get it off my chest." I blink at him as his hand remains on my head. He had never told that story to anyone except me? Me of all things? Why me? "Goodnight Pika-chan." Sanji says, finally taking his hand off and lying back down.

I stare at him as he closes his eyes. What happened just now was definitely an eye-opener. Sanji...trusted me. I'm not sure how far that trust goes, but it's there, and it feels...strange. But not in a bad way, I think. I feel something deep inside me and it feels...warm. Maybe...this is what it felt like to be wanted, trusted by someone.

Why is this feeling so new to me? Maybe because I forgot what it was like. I don't remember any of the ones I trusted before I came here. But, this feeling, it feels...nice. I calmly crawl up and slowly nestle myself in the crook of Sanji's arm. I feel him shift and after a few moments, he puts his hand on my back. Yeah...this feeling...it feels really nice. Maybe living here really won't be so bad.

The next morning, I wake up, still in Sanji's arms. He's still sound asleep and I know Zeff will want us up, so I wake him. Once he's dressed and ready we head out of our room, me trotting by his side. "Ready for another day, Pika-chan?" Sanji asks.

This time, I smile up at him. "Pikachu!" Sanji smiles back and we head downstairs, where customers are already starting to fill in.

Before I knew it, a number of months had passed with my memory showing no sign of return, but honestly, being here with Sanji, Zeff and the other chefs, I didn't care.

Alright, little character development out of the way, and now we can proceed! And we finally have a name for our little hero!

And I'm gonna say this now: Pika-chan's gender? Honestly, it's up to you. I wrote this story in 1st person for a reason. And I checked; the honorific '-chan' is ambiguous when used on animals. With animals and creatures, it just means cute. It only refers to females when used on humans. At least, that's the logic I'm using to justify this...

But the point is, Pika-chan is technically you, the reader, so slip into this little mouse's skin and enjoy the ride! Whether you're male or female, Pika-chan's adventures and thoughts are yours to experience!

Next chapter, our favorite rubber captain will be making his smashing entrance!