Once again, the Strawhats were poor.
Yup, there was no doubt about it. Definitely.
But it was bound to happen sooner or later seeing that all of them spent money like Luffy eats meat. More like, all of it went to feed Luffy's black hole of a stomach and Zoro's black hole of a gut when it came to booze. Oh, and there was Franky's black hole for cola. But they weren't the only ones. Sanji probably spent thousands, maybe millions, on cigarettes and new locks for the kitchen (though the locks always proved to be no match for captain's sticky hands and genius when it comes to dealing with food).
Usopp and Chopper were okay… Okay, scratch that. They easily believed legends and bought fake products like those golden apples back at Alabastia. Only she, Robin, and maybe… Just maybe Brook knew how to spend money sparingly. All the others always used it up and before they knew it, they were poor again.
What? What do you mean about all the popular brand clothes that Nami buy? Clothes were necessary things so buying them didn't count as wasting money. Even if it's a whole closet full of them… (*Author was threatened by the navigator to write this… haha…ha…*)
Anyways, they were dirt poor. Broke, even.
Sighing, Nami sipped her skin-rejuvenating drink that Sanji had whipped up for her. She gazed at the vast blue sky, wondering if there was some get-rich-fast plot out there in the world that she could use… As if by fate, she heard a peaceful song drift slowly in the air. Turning to the direction of the tune, she saw Brook.
Oh, right… Brook used to be a famous rock star; he must know some way to make money fast. And if I have enough luck, then he still has his savings from his band days.
With a smirk, she walked towards the celebrity skeleton.
"Ne, Brook, do you know a way to make money fast?" Straight to the point.
Said skeleton glanced at Nami with surprise and asked,
"Ah, may I see your panties?" Immediately, he received a nearly bone-crushing kick to the head.
"Yohohoho, I lost some brain cells from that…"
"But you don't have any brain cells, right?" Chopper interrupted, making Brook fall in a nearby chair depressed. Clouds gloomily hung over him as he sighed wistfully. Usopp and Luffy laughed as they came closer.
"So does that mean that I'm smarter than Brook?" Everyone within hearing distance stared at Luffy. In sync, they all comically slapped the thought away while shaking their heads,
"No." To which Luffy pouted cutely. Sweating, Usopp returned his stare at the navigator, who was normally sun-bathing or writing maps at this time,
"So what are you guys doing?" Nami sighed as she put her head in her hands.
"We're going red again; do you know any get-rich-fast method?"
"No." In an instant, the trio walked back to their game.
"I was a fool for even asking you guys…" Then, she turned back to Brook with Beli eyes,
"Sorede? Do you have any idea?" In response, Brook dramatically rose from his dead spirits and a light shined on him as he said (*drum roll*),
"No." Nami fought back an urge to smack his head (as it would have hurt since he drank milk that morning). Instead, she gave him a questioning look,
"Then, how did you gain money and sell 2 million TDs so fast?" Brook's eyes brightly shined (though he has none; YOHOHOHOHO),
"Through music!" After a thoughtful pause, he added, "And my handsome looks!"
This time, Nami really did smack him. Brook just defensively quoted his song, Bone To Be Wild,
"It's nonsense to become macho just to attract women.
Soul King is mysterious.
He's nothing but bones!
Afro on the skull! Girls love the contrast."
Nami scoffed disbelievingly, but curiously asked,
"So how do you make money through looks?"
Brook smiled and once again dramatically rose—only to get smacked by a thoroughly annoyed Nami,
"Spill it." Although he had no lips, Brook tried pouting before answering,
"By selling modeling portfolios!"
"Modeling portfolio?" Brook chuckled at her stupefied expression.
"Yohohoho, yes, Nami-san. Fashion designers and makeup artists and photographers…" He trailed off in a daze as he remembered his Soul King days. In his daze, he took out a book from his afro and absent-mindedly handed it to Nami. She took it and stared at the cover. A picture of Brook stared at her seriously and big-font words, Soul King Brook, were spread across the cover. Gingerly, she opened the book and flipped through the pages. She had to admit; despite being nothing but bones, he really was stunning. Maybe it was the afro...
After reaching the last photo, she closed the book and widened her eyes at the small print above the bar code. Her eyes turned into Beli.
"You sold this for 10,000 Beli's? That's too expensive for a book! How many people bought it?" Proudly, Brook stuck up his chest (rib cage) in the air,
"One million of them, all sold out on the first day!" Immediately, Nami calculated the profit in her head and yelled for the whole group to gather on deck. Today…
Today, they were going to make a portfolio.
Never in life had she thanked Oda for giving them all good looks as much as now.
A/N: May or may not continue. I feel like writing my own One Piece adventure for my OC characters...