REVISED from its original post on my Deviant Art count. So this is my original work. I didn't steal it, only revised it.
NOTICE: Apparently reader inserts aren't allowed here. So it's just a one shot now.
Seven Minutes in Heaven with Penguin
Rain was sitting on Luffy's lap in the bar of the Sunny while casually glancing around at the two crews partying it up. She's been sailing with the Straw Hats for a little over a year now. And it's taking her some time to get use to their hijinks. But eventually she settled down and grew accustom to their way of life.
Rain was carefully taking in all the pirates before her. Zoro and several Heart Pirates were gathered together in a corner guzzling down drinks. Brook was standing near them playing his violin while Chopper, Usopp, and Franky were dancing in a very silly fashion to the music, all three of them had chop sticks in their noses. She never did understand how they could do that. It looked as uncomfortable as it felt, and she would know since they forced her to do that once before. She hasn't done it since. She let her eyes move on. They land on who she affectionately call the Trio of the Heart Pirates. And that would be Shachi, Bepo, and Penguin. The Trio seemed to always be together when she saw them. And right now was no different. Bepo was calmly observing the room while Shachi was having some kind of hush hush conversation with Penguin that the black and white hatted man didn't seem to care much for. Penguin kept frowning and shaking his head at Shachi.
Robin and Luffy were sitting with her. She really didn't want to be on Luffy's lap, but he never gave her much choice in the matter. She was like his own personal teddy bear, despite being human, that he loved to hold. He was always like that with her. Moving on, her eyes land on Robin, who was sitting beside her and Luffy on the bench. The only others on the bench were the Heart Pirates captain, or captains considering Neo, Law's pregnant wife, was given just as much respect from the crew as they gave to Law. This girl really intrigued Rain. And not just because she wasn't human and had sky blue hair with electric blue eyes. Rain just couldn't figure out how such a quiet girl managed to keep a man such as Trafalgar Law so calm and relaxed. The stories that she's heard about the Heart Pirates captain didn't seem to fit the man she come to know since her own crew became allies to them. Of course Rain knew that Law was as sadistic as he could be to his enemies. Danger just radiated off of him. But when Neo was around, he was such a different man. His aura completely changed. Unless she was in danger, then the sadism came out. The thought made Rain shiver. She's seen it before. Hurting Neo or making her cry was definitely a taboo around here. Rain couldn't blame him though for being so protective of her. Neo has faced a lot of pain in her life. She deserved a lot of love and affection. And both her own crew and the Heart Pirates clearly gave her that, especially now with Law's arms protectively around her. He didn't allow her to play games like this, for good reason to. They've played spin the bottle before. Once it landed on Neo and both crews got sliced up in Law's Room. Since then no one asked Neo or Law to participate in kissing games, not even Luffy who had a bad habit of bugging them about joining the fun.
Suddenly, Nami's shadow fell over Rain causing her to pull her attention away from the captains and look up at her. With the bag in hand and a bright smile, she says, "Your turn, Rain."
"No," Rain said flatly. She never liked this game. And she really didn't want to play it. It never made sense to her. Pick an object from a bag and go into the closet to kiss the person it belonged to? Who came up with that? What if you got someone you really didn't like? What if you picked someone you were related to? Or what if the person you had to kiss hasn't brushed their teeth in days? It made her stomach turn. She had to force herself to stop thinking about all the "What if's". She really didn't want to go there again. She's thought about them a lot and some real doozies have come to mind. "I don't feel like playing."
"Come on, Rain. Have a little fun." Nami laughed. "Surely there's someone you want to kiss here. Now's your chance to do that."
"Yeah! Have a little fun, Rain!" several members of both crews cheered. "Pick! Pick! Pick!"
Rain could feel her face growing hot as the louder crewmembers cheered her on to pick something from the bag, which was just a pillowcase, Nami was holding out to her. She gnawed on the inside of her cheek. Indeed she did have a crush on someone that was currently in the room. And that was Penguin. But considering he was a crewmate on the Heart Pirates and only allies with her crew until they took down Kaido the King of Beasts, she knew they couldn't be together. Still, she couldn't help but like the man. Since the two crews have become allies he has always been so nice to her and friendly. However, tonight he seemed distant from her. He's barely said a word to her since the two crews starting this little party. He's been standing off in the distance with occasional glances at her.
She couldn't help but cast a glance over at him at that point. He was leaning against the wall now with a drink in his hand, but it didn't look like he hadn't touched it. His hat was low over his eyes so it was hard to tell where he was looking. At one point she felt like he was looking at her. When she felt that way she quickly looked away, blushing. She felt incredibly silly. She had no idea if he was looking at her or not. But she really felt like he was. She couldn't help but look away.
Luffy's sudden laughter caused her to jump. His arms then wrapped around her waist in a tight hug. He said, "Kiss someone other than me? I think I'll be jealous knowing someone is kissing my favorite girl. But it's just a game after all. So go ahead, Rain."
"Hey!" Neo protested. She lifted her foot, reached around Robin, and tapped Luffy on the knee.
"All right, one of my favorite girls," Luffy said with a cheesy grin. "You know I love you too."
"That's better," Neo said. She snuggled back down in Law's hold when he growled in annoyance at the attention she was giving Luffy. When she looked up at him, he pecked her lips. Law settled back down himself then. He placed his hand on her rounded stomach, affectionately brushing his thumb over his yellow and black hoodie she was wearing.
"Luffy." Rain pout at the black haired teen, thinking he'd at least be the one person on her side. But nope. He was completely against her as he grabbed her hand and shoved it into the pillowcase. Not letting her have any kind of control, he curled her fingers around something then pulled it and her hand out of the pillowcase. Her heart thumped hard and wildly against her chest. She couldn't believe her luck. There in her hand was a black and white hat with the word Penguin across the front of it. Her cheeks grew warm from the cheers some of the crew shouted out.
"She's blushing!" Zoro teased.
"Rain, my sweet! You are just too cute when you blush!" Sanji gushed. He spun in his typical tornado fashion when he always gushed over a woman.
"Hey, Penguin! Rain picked your item!" Usopp waved to the silent man.
"What?! B-but I didn't-Shachi!" Penguin stuttered as his cheeks turned bright pink. He shot his hidden eyes, his hidden glare, at his so-called best friend.
"What?" Shachi shrugged innocently. But his grin said it all. He was the one who put Penguin's hat in the pillowcase. He had set his friend up. He had set Rain up.
"B-But I'm not-I didn't-" Penguin stuttered.
"No arguing!" Nami said as she and Shachi picked Penguin up by his arms and threw him into the closet. Maybe they set Rain up?
Rain automatically turned to look at Neo. Rain knew she had issues with people showing such affection to the Heart Pirates. Her jaw about dropped off her head when she saw Neo wore a smile of her own. Did she really find this amusing? Even Law had a smile on his face, it was small and his hat was lowered over his eyes, but he was still smiling. The jerks, Rain thought. Maybe both crews were in on this?
Rain turned to Luffy to protest this whole ordeal. But she didn't get the chance to utter a word as he picked her up when he stood up. His hold on her tightened while he walked across the room to the closet and shoved her into it. The door slammed behind her as she stumbled right into Penguin's chest. She felt his arms close around her while they fell to the back of the closet with a loud thud. She mentally growled when she heard Shachi say something inappropriate outside the closet. If Penguin didn't get him for this, she surely was going to. Holding still in the darkness, she expect to hear Penguin groan or mutter a curse from her body landing on top of his when they both hit the wall, but he didn't say a word for a minute. She wonder if he's angry with her. It made her heart speed up, but it stopped when he finally spoke up. He then asked, "A-are you all right?"
"F-fine," Rain stutter as she quickly pull away from him. She press her back to another wall and slide down to the floor. Hugging her knees she let out a soft sigh, thinking about how she was going to go about getting revenge for this. And since it was clear that everyone was enjoying her predicament, they all were probably in on this. She were going to have a lot of people to get even with, except for Neo and Law since the Heart captain scared her easily. But the rest were going to be toast. Burnt toast for this.
"You really don't want to be here, huh?" Penguin asked her from the quiet darkness.
"Oh, well." Rain pause for a second, unsure of what to say or how to even say what she should. I like you, Penguin. "Sorta. It's just that... I've never liked this game. It's just a strange game. What if you got stuck in here with someone you really didn't like who really wanted to kiss you?"
"You don't have to kiss them."
"I know. Still, it's just an awkward position to be in."
"So, there's no one you want to kiss here?" Rain look up to where Penguin's voice was coming from. His voice sounded kind of sad to her. She wished she could see him to know for sure.
"Well, there is someone I'd like to kiss," Rain admitted. She was thankful it was too dark for him to see her blushing. She figured her cheeks were as red as they could possible get by now. "He's a really sweet guy."
"I'm sorry you couldn't be with Luffy here," Penguin suddenly said.
"What do you-" He cut her off by suddenly getting up. She could feel him moving passed her. She heard the turning of the doorknob before the light from outside the small room blinded her for a second. She heard protests and questions for Penguin while she recovered, stood up, and dashed out of the closet.
"Penguin, where are you going?"
"Your times not up!"
"Did things get to frisky for you in the closet?"
Rain wasn't quick enough. When her eyes finally adjusted to the light Penguin was nowhere to be seen. Everyone's eyes turned to her, filled with questions that they didn't ask. She just shrug. She had no idea what just happened. With no clue what to say or do, she walked back over to Luffy. She sat down beside him, placing her elbow on her knee and her chin in the palm of her hand. He asked, "You okay?"
"Fine," Rain said with a sigh. Her mind remained stuck on Penguin as the party noises faded from her ears. She figured he went back to the sub, or at least he's out on the deck of the Sunny. She wanted to go after him, but she wasn't sure if she should. She was brought back to reality when she felt someone tap her shoulder. She look up just in time to see Shachi lean over to her ear.
"He'll be moping on the sub. You should go explain to him what your relationship to Luffy really is," Shachi whispered to her.
"H-how did you know?" Rain asked. He just smiles at her before walking off. She watched him for a moment as he purposely distracts the crews for her to slip out unnoticed. She hesitate for a second before she found her legs suddenly taking control. She stood up and quickly slipped out of the room.
Rain rushed out onto the deck and over to the plank that connected to two ships. Carefully crossing it, she made it to the deck of the Polar Tang and rushed inside. Lucky for her, she's been in here enough times to remember where the crews' quarters were. She rushed through the sub, down the stairs, and walk down the hall until she reach the room she was aiming for. The door was cracked open, a normal sign to let people know it was okay to enter without knocking. Still she tapped on it before stepping inside. She didn't care much for entering into a bedroom like this without some sort of an announcement. A small smile pulled across her lips when she saw Penguin lying on his bunk. He was on his back, with his arms behind his head, and his right leg crossed over his left knee. His eyes were clearly closed since he didn't notice her there despite the tap she did on the door. She said, "Penguin?"
Penguin shot up in his bed when he saw her. "R-Rain?"
"H-Hey, can we talk?" Rain asked shyly. She noticed he took a nervous gulp before giving her a nod. She walked over to his bed, fiddling with her fingers. "Mind if I sit?"
"S-sure." He crossed his legs as he sits up fully in bed. She sat down then push off her shoes, leaving them beside his on the floor, and pulled her feet on the bed, mimicking his sitting posture. When she looked at him, he asks, "What did you want to talk about?"
"About what happened in the closet. I told you there was someone I wanted to kiss." Rain look down while twiddling her thumbs and chewing her bottom lip. She could feel his gaze on her and it made her even more nervous. Why was this kind of thing so hard? There was nothing wrong with getting rejected. It just happened. Beside it would feel good to get her feelings out in the open.
"Yeah. You told me." She cringed at the flat, disappointed sound of his voice. He clearly thought she and Luffy were in a romantic relationship. It then occurred to her that Penguin liked her back. He actually liked her. That's why he was acting this way. He wanted to kiss her, but didn't because he thought she was with Luffy. That gave her the feeling that words really weren't going to get her feelings or the truth across.
"You silly bird." With a quick motion she took his face in her hands and brought his lips to hers. Feeling he was still hesitating over her and his own feelings, she took the lead in the kiss by slipping her tongue past his lips. After a few gentle strokes of her tongue against his, she succeeded in enticing him to kiss back. The two fought for dominance for a few seconds before he won. She didn't mind. He was kissing her. Finally kissing her. A little while after that the two had to part for air. "W-wait. What about Luffy?"
"What about him?" Rain asked.
"Isn't he your boyfriend?" Rain blink at him, despite knowing that was what he thought this entire time, then started to giggle. "What?"
"I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner. I just didn't know you actually liked me until now." Rain blushed. "There's nothing for you to be jealous about. Luffy's my cousin."
"What?" His voice was flat again as he looked at her in disbelief. "But you two are always flirting! And you always sit on his lap! How can you not love him?"
"Yeah, about that... I do love him, but not like you're thinking." Rain ran a hand through her black hair. Looking his directly in the face with light green eyes she told him the reason behind that. "When we were little kids, I had accidentally fell into a river. Luffy pulled me out and held my hand as we walked back home because it scared me. This woman had spotted us and told us that we would make such a cute couple one day. Things like that have happened several times since then. I don't know what we do to give people that type of impression. One day we just started joking around about it. The flirting, sitting on his lap…it's just a joke."
"I see." Penguin looked down at his lap in deep thought before looking back up at her. "So, it would be all right if I kissed you again?"
Rain nod seconds before he captured her lips with his. He wraps his arms around her and pulled her with him as he lies back on the bed.
…
"They're so cute!" Luffy laughs as he, Nami and Shachi stare down at Rain and Penguin's sleeping forms. The two were cuddling on his bed after their intense make out session. Luffy grabbed the blanket at the end of the bed and covered the two up.
"Your not taking her back to your ship?" Shachi asked.
"Naw. Let them cuddle for as long as we're together." Luffy grinned brightly.
"So, you knew that they liked each other?" Nami asked.
"Yup." Luffy nodded. "I love my cousin. How could I not know how she was feeling? You two knew as well. That's why you only had Penguin's hat in the pillow case when Rain offered it to her, right?"
Shachi and Nami exchanged guilty looks before bolting from the room. Luffy quickly followed after them.
"So they were the ones," Penguin said once the others were gone.
"Yeah. Now I know who to thank for this," Rain said.
"Include me in on the revenge," Penguin said.
"Sure thing," Rain reply before falling back asleep in his arms.
