People's Hearts pt. 1

Thirteen was brought in front of a man with an absurdly tall chef's hat and a long braided mustache. The man stood in front of Thirteen with his arms crossed, looking down at him before saying "You're the brat that threw a cannonball into my restaurant?" Thirteen nodded and said nothing.

The man looked the boy over and continued "You're gonna work it off…" before turning around and waving his arm adding "Get him shoes and a uniform, also clean yourself up." as he walked away.

Thirteen looked at the man before turning to a young man, who was smoking a cigarette. The young man had blonde hair and a curly eyebrow, but at the moment his face was expressionless as he said "Follow me, Big Cat." before walking away.

Thirteen flicked his tail behind him and followed the young man out of the restaurant floor. The customers, who were staring at Thirteen since he walked in, turned back to their friends and whispered "Did you see that half-breed?"

The man with the chef's hat's eye twitched as he listened to "How disgusting." "I thought this was a high-class place…" "How am I supposed to eat with that disgusting creature near me…"

Thirteen followed the young man to a stock room, while the young man grabbed clothes and a box, Thirteen looked around inside. The young man handed him the clothes, shoes, and a box, saying "Zeff doesn't like slackers."

Thirteen looked at the stuff and the young man continued "I've never seen a guy like you before. You not from the East Blue?" as he leaned against a shelf, lighting a new cigarette.

Thirteen sat on the floor and opened the box, finding gauze and medical supplies. He started bandaging his foot and hands as he replied "No." the young man exhaled a mouthful of smoke, adding in "Me neither. Even where I'm from, I've never heard of people with cat ears and tails."

Thirteen took off his shirt and pulled the white dress shirt over his head, he got stuck on the cuffs and simply ripped the shirt before rolling up his sleeves to just before his elbow, as he replied "They're Tiger ears, not cat."

The young man raised his hands and said "Apologizes, Big Cat." Thirteen ignored him and tried to put the pants on before sighing and fixing the pants over the chains, rolling them up slightly, so that they looked better.

The young man offered Thirteen a cigarette, to which Thirteen looked at it before saying "Never had one." The young man smirked and said "Nice and relaxing. I can put some catnip in it for you if you want." Thirteen looked at the young man before taking the cigarette, the young man lit it for him before asking "So what's the chains all about? New hip style?"

Thirteen inhaled the smoke from the cigarette and started coughing, prompting the young man to laugh. Thirteen cleared his throat and held the cigarette in his mouth as he answered "I'm a slave." while trying to put on the shoes.

They looked fancy but really they were closer to chinese martial artist shoes than anything, they were all black.

The young man paused and said quietly "Is that so…" before taking a drag of his cigarette. Thirteen poked a hole in the back of the pants, letting his tail loose before inhaling from the cigarette again, hardening his lungs at the same time, lessening his coughing.

The young man reached out a hand and Thirteen grabbed it, he pulled himself up and the young man said "I'm Sanji. Nice to meet you…" Thirteen said "Thirteen." Sanji asked "The number?" Thirteen nodded and Sanji patted his shoulder, passing him and adding "At any rate, Zeff's gonna kill us if we're not out in about 5 seconds. Let's go, Big Cat."

Before leaving the storeroom. Thirteen followed him and walked back to the restaurant floor, throwing his cigarette out the window as he passed one.

Zeff looked at Thirteen and Sanji, saying "Took you long enough." Sanji smirked and said "This guy's a real talker!" Zeff rolled his eyes and looked at Thirteen, saying "You're waiting tables, you can do that right?" Thirteen nodded and Zeff added "Well get to work, that roof's expensive."

Thirteen turned to the tables and started walking around. Though he was a slave, he was educated before he was captured. Also, he wasn't an idiot. He knew how to work in a restaurant, it was pretty simple. Walk to the tables where there were menus but no food and ask them what they would like.

Thirteen walked to a table and stared at the group blankly, asking "Ready?" The man at the table looked at Thirteen and put on a disgusted look saying "I'd like a normal person to take my order, not a half-breed like you." Thirteen nodded and left the table, going to another one.

He got the same results at every table before returning to Zeff, who sighed and said "Just serve the food then." Thirteen nodded and waited at the kitchen window, Zeff looked at him and shook his head before going back to work keeping an eye on Thirteen.

Speaking of which, Thirteen picked up a tray and was told "Table 7." He nodded and turned around looking at the tables before walking over to one. As he passed by the tables, people looked at him in disgust, muttering "Disgusting…" and "Freak…" but he wasn't bothered by their words and continued his work.

Until…

He passed by a table and a man stuck his foot out, tripping Thirteen to the ground face first. He slammed face first on the ground but held up the tray without dropping anything. The man shouted "Watch where you're going, you filthy half-animal freak!" The rest of the people inside the restaurant turned their attention to the scene, including the chefs, Sanji, Zeff, and the crew, who were now in the restaurant at a table.

Luffy watched with clenched fists as Thirteen got up and said "Sorry." before moving on to the table and serving their food.

Unfortunately for him, this was just the beginning.