Prologue
She was amused when Nojiko's eyebrows disappeared into her hairline the second she stepped into the small kitchen. She uttered a small 'good morning' and went straight past her sister's shocked form.
A smirk was fighting at the corners of her newly glossed, 'playful peach' lips but she held it in and hummed nonchalantly, something she knew would annoy her older sister to no end. Nami struggled to stifle a snicker.
When she bent down to open the fridge, the slightly flared skirt shifted a bit higher than expected - she made a mental note to start squatting instead or risk flashing black lace panties at anyone unfortunate (or fortunate?) enough to be behind her. For now, she was lucky it was only Nojiko - though the tattooed sister was probably feeling less than pleased that her little sister had 'borrowed' one of her newer, more luxurious sets of lingerie.
Nami dug around in the fridge some more before pouting. She turned to her slack-jawed sister, whose spoonful of milk and cereal was dripping back into the bowl, fingers loose on the metallic handle.
"Ne, Nojiko," Nami started, "Have you seen my-"
"Mind? Yeah, I think you left it upstairs, by some clothes you were supposed to wear."
"-lunch?" Nami finished, before rolling her eyes. "Say what you want Nojiko, but this is today's... fashion. You're too old to understand."
She spotted the brown lunch bag, rolled up at the counter, the usual orange fruit placed right beside it, and walked over to place the prepared lunch in her schoolbag.
"Old?" Nojiko echoed behind her, sounding indignant. "I'm like, 2 years older than you. And who said you could take my new underwear?"
Nami turned to face her and, deciding to ignore the question, put a fist to her hip, tisking. "You're letting it go soggy, Nojiko," she chided, referring to the neglected bowl of grains.
"And you're going to be late," Nojiko retorted. She leant back against the chair and appraised her sibling with a gleaming eye. "But seriously. This is new. Very… adventurous. For you, I mean."
Nami looked down, pulling at the rim of her pleated skirt. "What? This old thing?" She grinned mischievously. "Hardly."
Nojiko finally cracked a smile, before busting out laughing, shaking her head. "So what's the special occasion, Na-chan? Important enough to skip breakfast?"
Even with the teasing nickname, Nami's grin faltered just slightly, a slight frown marring her visage, but it disappeared so quickly, Nojiko was almost positive she had imagined it.
"No occasion," she said, walking back to take another mikan from the tiny table, ignoring Nojiko's protest - "hey, that's mine!" - and strolling towards door again, it's dark blue paint peeling like the mikan in her hand, the other delectable fruit safe in the bag slung over her shoulder.
Just before pulling the door shut behind her, she stuck her tongue back at her only sister - her only family, really - who was still pretending to be mad at her, cheeks puffed out in a childish pout.
Nami winked.
"Just a little fun."
The steel gates of Paradise Academy seemed to loom ominously above her.
Nami took a deep, dramatic breath to prepare herself only for the cool air to unexpectedly dry her throat. She hacked out a cough, pounding her chest, eyes watering slightly.
Her knees suddenly shook so badly she had to steady them with her hands. She stayed in that hunched position for a minute, long apricot hair covering the slight panic taking over her mind at the absolute worst time possible.
Where was all that confidence she had when she was talking to Nojiko? Gone like her sense of reason, apparently.
What the hell was she thinking? She couldn't do this. She wasn't capable of doing something like this. And what was she going to prove anyway? That she was exactly who they so certainly claimed she was?
She should just go back home and change. Or just skip school in general. Yeah. That sounded good. Home was nice and warm and free of any wild accusations.
Already her heeled feet were moving, numbing in the chill. This idea was stupid. She was stupid.
Stupid and naive for going to that dumb party - after only two weeks at the school, did she really think she could fit in? Did she really think she was one of them? But then, she had never expected that one night to have gone so wrong. Three weeks in, and she was the talk of seemingly everyone at that school.
Didn't you hear? One of the many whispers she had heard suddenly echoed in her head, and she slowed her steps.
She charges 200,000 beli for just looking.
Nami stopped walking abruptly, head down, bangs shadowing her face.
A light breeze blew across the sidewalk, shuffling fallen red, orange, and rusty brown leaves across the pavement and around her lone figure. To anyone passing, it would seem like she had a thousand inner battles raging on inside her head.
A cloud passed overhead, a disfigured shadow on the concrete. Then the sun's rays were shining again, warming her hair.
A smile stretched slowly onto Nami's bent face - an undeniably hungry, mischievous smile. Her head rose to reveal eyes shaped like belli signs, glinting in the sunlight. Nami pivoted quickly on her heels, happy thoughts of bathing in bills and golden coins cushioning her steps, making them feel a bit lighter as she strided past the grand gates.
Her peers, in all of their slandering, were right about one thing (but only one thing). And, shamelessly, Nami agreed with them.
Yes, she was greedy (but that was her only fault, promise, ...if you don't include thievery). In a school filled with delinquents that burned properties down in their downtime, her crime was a lesser one.
Plus, the word was out, and even if it was so far from the truth it was laughable and a little scary, there was nothing she could do but ride its tumultuous waves.
She just hoped she didn't drown in them.
Halfway across the courtyard, Nami realized her mistake. She cursed under her breath, stubbornly refusing to let her teeth chatter. It was chilly, and her high stockings did nothing to warm her legs, but she pushed those thoughts away to marvel at the (hilarious) reactions of her fellow peers.
She grimaced when she thought of one person who definitely won't be able to handle "his Nami-swan" so scandalously dressed. She wondered amusedly if he would have to be sent down to the infirmary again.
But really! The turnout was almost overwhelming, and she wasn't even in the building yet. She watched as a third year female slapped a guy that was caught following her (lower body) movements and made sure to steer around the arguing couple - she didn't think she'd get this much attention.
And if the stares weren't an indication, then the familiar sight of the fuming man walking towards her definitely told her that she had exceeded their expectations.
She made a face. She had forgotten about him.
"Oi! Stop right there, young lady!"
She kept walking, albeit a bit faster, and taking a slight turn in an attempt to enter through the side entrance. But before long, he blocked her path, a finger wildly pointing up and down at her clothing. Even as he scowled at her disapprovingly, Paulie still had an evident red blush sweeping across his tanned cheeks.
"W-What do you think you're wearing?! That's a clear violation of dress code! A proper lady shouldn't dress like that!"
Nami huffed out a breath, shifting to her right hip. "Section 4.7 of the Code of Abimant actually says what I should wear."
She had no idea what she was talking about, only having scanned that section before falling asleep on pure boredom, but he didn't know that.
She smiled smartly, bluffing. "There's nothing on how to wear it. That is to be left to the judgement of the student."
She walked past him, eyes closed and feathers nicely pruned, gladiator heels clicking. "If you have a problem, take it up with the geniuses who wrote the book."
"Wha- still!" She heard the Woodshop professor protest, adamant. "It's the middle of fall! You're going to catch a cold in that- that- getup!"
"Oh?" She turned back around, deciding to try out her charms. She crossed her arms under her bust and rocked slightly to the side. She looked up at the red-faced instructor, eyes big and glossy and innocent, just like she's practiced countless times in front of a mirror until all the awkwardness was gone. She acted suddenly shy, biting her lip, her voice softer.
"Th-then… maybe y-you can warm me up, Paulie-sama?"
"Gauh!"
Nami jumped back as a stream of blood spurted from his nose to land where she had been a second ago, Paulie having flown back a few feet complete with pumping hearts in his eyes.
She blinked. Whoa.
Her stunned state didn't last long - she had an audience, after all. A sly grin crept up her face and a weird sense of accomplishment swelled in her chest.
She strolled over to the mumbling man and squatted down near his head, taking care to fold her skirt inside her thighs. Then, with great flare, she whipped out a sticky note and pen from a pocket in her bag. She scribbled something on it before sticking it on his forehead.
She got up, patting down her mid-thigh, dark blue skirt. She adjusted the collar of her loose white button-down blouse so that a generous amount of cleavage showed and flipped her hair.
She smiled sweetly down at her first victim. "Thank you for your contribution."
What a pervert, she thought absently, making sure she sashayed for the wandering eyes. The whispers that followed her didn't bother her as much.
Just as her fingers curled over the handle to the doors of Paradise Academy's entrance, she got the strangest feeling that she was being watched. No, that wasn't right - everyone was watching her. Not to sound arrogant or anything, but a grown man just had a nosebleed after her funny little performance.
Nami looked around. There. She squinted past the glare of the sun to see more clearly the tall figure leaning against the tree, uniform crisply ironed, long black hair swaying slightly in the breeze, bright blue eyes narrowed in her direction. The beauty of Paradise Academy.
She didn't look that happy. And Nami could guess why: for once, the Snake Princess wouldn't get what she wanted. This made the orange-haired girl smile. Genuinely.
She opened the doors and was rewarded with the immediate cry of a "NAMI-SWANNN~!" before another blood fountain came spurting out of the nose of a kind but also perverted, swirly-browed friend.
Oh yeah. She could have fun with this.
… WELL.
This came out today.
Let's see where it goes cuz I have no idea. XD
Also, I'm pretty much done with ch 3 of No Hard Feelings but idkkk, something's holding me back from posting it. I'm not satisfied with the result. Same thing goes for "Dear Captain, My Captain" and "Scum of the Earth." Gomen, minna… will you wait just a little more? I'm working on them, promise! ^^
In the meantime, tell me what you think about this chappie! Reviews feed my selfish soul.
Ja ne,
forgottensongs
P.S. Just to be clear, this isn't a Hancock-bashing fic. Even if I find her antics a bit annoying, I respect Hancock as one of the top badass characters in One Piece (even if I think she would be a better character without her weird infatuation for Luffy). Do keep in mind this is a LuNa story so she is one of the main antagonists, but not without a good backstory. I don't want to make her out as a total bi-... bully. Who knows? Maybe Hancock-haters will like her in the end.
That is all :) thank you. 3
edit: line breaks for time/location change