Title: The Lucky Ones (1/?)
Author: Chibimono Akuno
Fandom: One Piece
Pairing: Zoro x Luffy, Shanks x Ben
Rating: PG
Word Count: 760
Warnings: Foster-children situation. Highschool dropout. Gay relatives having custody of a minor. A budding romance between two male friends. If any of this bothers you, please don't read.
Disclaimers: Not mine. Just pretending. I love Oda with all my heart.
A/N: A modern-ish AU. This is unedited/unbeta'ed and was written over a span of time. None of the parts are written in the same exact style. If you see any glaring errors, feel free to point them out.

The Lucky Ones
- Part One -
by Chibimono Akuno

Luffy fumbled around in his frustration and finally just slid his text book off the coffee table in a heap, a growl rumbling in his throat.

"What do I even need Geometry for anyway?" he pouted with puffed cheeks. "It's not like I'll find a job where I'll be measuring triangles or circles."

"I don't know why they require it, but you can't do nothing about it," Zoro said from his bunk, not even looking up from his magazine.

"They have pi, you know?" Luffy piped up. "But you can't eat it. How can you have a pi you can't eat!?"

"Have you tasted your protractor, instead?" Zoro chuckled, idly flipping to the next glossy page.

Luffy snorted. "No way! It's not even edible."

Zoro laughed more, finally looking up to smile at his friend. "Just checking."

"So... what kinda grades did you get in Geometry?" Luffy asked, tapping his pencil on his makeshift desk of a coffee table.

"I failed it the first time," Zoro said, grabbing for a new magazine off his nightstand made of grey concrete blocks.

Luffy waited in anticipation to know what Zoro's grade the second time around was like, but Zoro was not supplying the tale. "And?" he finally asked over the long silence.

"And what?" Zoro looked up from an article of Suzuki's newest model of motorcycle. He knew he'd never have the money for it, but it was nice to dream of something other than his beat up, little Yamaha.

"What about the second time you took Geometry?" Luffy asked, persistent for an answer. After all, his own grade was on the line and he needed a little help. He was nowhere near the greatest at anything math related.

"I was failing again, but I dropped out anyway," Zoro shrugged, before turning back to his glossy dreams of speed and engine roar.

Across the room, Luffy snorted and folded his arms over his chest. "Zoro is stupid."

Zoro sputtered in shock before growling at his friend. "Who the hell asked you anyway?!" he barked.

Nothing more was said between them for a while as Luffy fiddled with his homework. Finally, he slammed his text book shut and just leaned against the wall. His eyes fell on his friend as he gazed longingly over his periodicals.

"I didn't... I was never good at school," Zoro said quietly as the staring became more than he could stand. "I figured I'd be working crap jobs all my life anyway. I know I'm not smart. The only class I could ever get a decent grade in was Gym, and that was only if I wasn't beating the crap out of the other students for picking fights with me. School just... became a waste of time when I could... be working."

Shoving his magazines to the floor, Zoro rolled onto his back and looked up at the ceiling. He was becoming the loser his sister Kuina always said he would be. He could just hear the hum of all those pretty, sleek, new motorbikes racing away from him.

The bed dipped under Luffy's weight as he sat beside his friend. He looked at the images of shiny chrome, flashy paint-jobs, and leather seats scattered on the floor.

"I suck at Geometry, too. And you know... I'm not too bright, either," Luffy smiled as if that was something to be proud of. "But I'm gonna try to finish school. And then I'll try to get a good job. And when I make enough money..."

Picking a copy of Cycle World from off the floor, Luffy flipped through it for a moment. He picked the rest of them up as well, and rolled them so they would fit in one of the openings in a cement block.

"When I make enough money, we'll get a neat little house. One that's funny shaped or something. And then we'll go get custom-made Choppers or Harleys or something..."

"Luffy..." Zoro looked to his friend. After all the foster homes he had been tossed in and out of, this boy was the first he ever managed to get along with. Sometimes, it hurt Zoro when Luffy showed just how much he cared.

Leaning back, Luffy used Zoro's stomach as a pillow. "Won't it be cool, Zoro? Just me and you? We'll work hard together and make it there. It'll be awesome."

Zoro just ruffled the boy's hair, unable to say the 'thank you' he so wanted to say, for fear of his voice being choked by the lump in his throat.

- to be concluded -