Nami absolutely hated going to the library. It was stuffy and dusty, always crowded with geeks and nerds who had nothing to do but study; or spend their day reading the new issue of whatever science fiction comic that was popular at the time. Getting dragged there every Friday afternoon by Chopper and Usopp was becoming an annoyance she was hell-bent on ridding herself of. That was, until she saw the librarian at the info desk.
She was a tall woman, dark hair, beautiful dark skin, and had striking blue eyes masked by square reading glasses. Her demeanor was calm and oozed benevolence when Nami approached her. Nami's plan was to strike up a conversation, maybe flirt a little, but definitely keep a conversation going. She'd confidently walked over, leaned on the desk, and opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. There went her so called "plan".
"Is there anything I can help you with, Miss?" The librarian asked, offering up a sugary sweet smile. Nami stared, flushed and mesmerized by the literal sunshine beaming from the lady's face. A minute passed before the expression on the librarian's face became concerned and worried. Nami snapped out of her daydream, and cleared her throat, flushing a deep scarlet shade.
"U-uh...I uh….I don't really read too much and I-I don't know what I should read to- to change that." She stuttered, refusing to meet the librarian's eyes. Her eyes were fixated on a nametag. 'Robin', it read. Her name was just as lovely as she was. Nami didn't know what to do with that information.
"Well, let's start with a genre. Do you know what kind of stories you feel you would be particularly interested in?" Robin continued as if Nami hadn't completely blanked out on her just a second ago. It brought some temporary relief, but Nami knew that she probably thought she was a creep or something.
Nami shrugged. "Fantasy type stuff? Y'know, with dragons and elves and all that?"
Robin chuckled. It was a soft and subtle sound, like the sound of birds in the early morning, flying about in their morning routine. Nami might've melted a bit right then and there. She wasn't going to admit it, though. Her punk rock shell was worn and tough, absolutely impenetrable. A simple giggle shouldn't have made her feel that way, so it simply didn't happen. Simply shoved down into her cluttered conscious never to be found again.
Robin gracefully got up from her seat behind the desk and motioned for Nami to follow her through the seemingly endless rows of bookshelves. They stopped near the middle of the ongoing rows of fiction then walked into a narrow space between two of the shelves packed tight with what seemed to be millions of books. Robin pulled a book off of the shelf and handed it to Nami, and told her that it was a relatively short story of a knight and wizard off on an adventure in a far off land filled with beastly creatures.
"And would that be all for today?" Asked Robin.
"No. I…I don't have a library card…" Nami answered, feeling a bit sheepish. That incited another soft chuckle from the librarian. She told Nami that she'd be able to make her one back at her desk, so Nami followed her back and in about three minutes, she had her first library card and checked out her first library book.
She sauntered back over to her friends, who were still chatting on about such and such comic and artist. When she plopped down across from them, book in hand and opened, their conversation stopped.
"Hey, Nami. Is that a book you have there…?" Usopp coughed. Nami shot him a glare and his hands flew up in surrender. She went back to reading her book, ignoring the stares coming from her mystified friends. Eventually, they picked up their conversation again, and seemed to have dropped their volume significantly. Nami didn't really care about it. The book was turning out to be really great and she was determined to get through the first 5 chapters before they left.
Somehow, the trio had managed to stay until the sun was setting then were ushered out with a quickness. On the walk home, Chopper and Usopp asked about the book again to which Nami answered with silence. They could have a bit of mystery until she wanted to tell them.
Nami looked up at the not so starry sky and sighed. She really couldn't believe she had a crush on a librarian, someone who was the complete opposite of her. The phrase 'Opposites attract' came to mind, but she'd never got along with anyone who differed from her so greatly, aside from the two idiots walking with her. She hoped that Robin would be the exception in her case, Nami was falling for her, and that she would admit. They say a crush is a crush for a reason, and she knew that very well, but this time felt a bit different from the others.
Usopp and Chopper broke off from her path after wishing her a goodnight, leaving her to get home by herself. It wasn't anything she couldn't do. She was perfectly capable of defending herself and had the scars and bruises to prove it. Just the other day she'd kicked this guy's ass because he wouldn't stop harassing her while she was on her way to a party. If she'd stuck around, she was sure the cops would've been there ASAP.
Her small brownstone came into view and all the thoughts from her walk quickly disappeared in excitement of seeing her family after a day of going to class and spending time at the library; however, she paused before unlocking the front door. Feelings were gonna get complicated from there on out. It was hard to tell whether or not she could mask it, and it left her conflicted. She figured she had to at least try and put up a decent veneer. It probably wouldn't even be that hard. She shrugged, unlocked the door and walked in.
"Mom, I'm home!"