General Warnings: GEN, no pairings
Disclaimer: I don't own or will ever own One Piece (unless Oda-sensei will give it to me, and in that case, One Piece will turn into crack). I only own the plot.
Author Notes: This is a part of the Me and Myself, Brothers fic ( before the story events take place), but can stand alone. You can still enjoy it without reading Me and Myself, Brothers first. Enjoy~
Of Books and Claps
All the members of the Strawhat pirates gaped at him in shock, except Robin, who just smiled knowingly at Luffy.
With help from Robin and using his little knowledge -Makino had taught him about the basics of literature and mathematics before he got bored and raced out of the inn to play- he had read the book slowly out loud.
Clap clap clap clap
He puffed out his chest when his crew clapped in wonder -Robin just smiled next to him- after he finished the entire book.
"Oh my god, what was that!"
"Shut up Nami, what was so surprising about that?"
"You shouldn't talk to ladies like that moss-head!"
"What did you call me-!"
"Shut up both of you! And Zoro, I knew even you didn't believe that Luffy has the ability to sit down and concentrate on something. But anyways, I'm glad; he is finally using that empty brain of his."
"Yes, the captain is SUPER!"
"Yohohoho, I agree!"
Luffy felt epic. Who knew reading a bit will make his crew clap for him? Sure, they admired and respected him -even though some hid the fact that they did- but they never clapped for him. In that case, he should read more! The story and the big pictures of pirates on an adventure interested him too, but he doesn't really know how to read. He wanted to read the books with more words -and cooler adventures-, so his crew will be more proud of him!
"Okay, Ussop, Zoro, Nami, Chopper, Sanji, Franky, and Brook! You are all going to clap for me again because I will learn how to read! Robin, come on, teach me!" With that, he took Robin's hand and dragged her out of the aquarium.
"You will what?!-"
"Shush Zoro!" Nami punched Zoro and he fell to the ground, clutching at the bump that was on his head "If Luffy will read, he won't annoy us so much, and maybe if he fills up that space between his ears, he might finally stop rushing into things and risking our lives!" she whispered as she stared at Luffy and Robin, who was turning a corner in the hallway.
"Yeah that's right" (this was Chopper)
"Luffy should learn! But I, captain Usopp, was reading books since I was a month old!"
Meanwhile when the others were whispering among themselves, Robin pulled out a thick book from one of the many shelves and flipped to what seems to be a random page.
"Okay, captain-san, you know what are letters and the alphabet are, right?"
When Luffy nodded -Makino had taught him those things- Robin continued to speak.
"And you know that some letters grouped together can form words right?"
At this Luffy nodded again.
"And do you know that words can be grouped together to form sentences right?"
Luffy shook his head slowly, steam building up inside his head when he tried to decipher the question.
"Alright then, captain-san, it seems that I know where to start teaching you now. You see, words with different meanings can be grouped together into a string of words to be more meaningful. Those groups are called 'sentences', but not all words can be grouped together. This sentences typically contain a subject, predicate and has a main clause and sometimes more sub-causes…"
Luffy's face began turning read and steam started coming out of the top of his head. He felt a bit dizzy.
"...and those sentences are ended with punctuation: full stops, exclamation marks and question marks. There are also commas and semi-colons in between sentences. Full stops are used to-"
"Argh! I can't take it anymore! I don't wanna learn anymore!" Luffy felt like his head exploded. He collapsed onto the floor and began crawling on his belly, dragging himself towards the door.
"No Luffy! Don't try to escape! You shouldn't say something then give up on it! You must learn, or our lives will be at risk because of your stupidity forever!" Nami suddenly opened the door from the other side and kicked a flailing Luffy back toward the table Robin was sitting at.
Luffy landed face down, butt up, on the floor in front of Robin. She looked down at him and smiled. He gulped.
"Captan-san, should we continue?"
~XXX~
So Luffy learnt and the crew clapped for him when he read out loud, just to humour him. When Luffy read a whole book by himself -he couldn't believe he could do it-, and even though he took more than an hour to read the picture book, his nakama cheered and he beamed.
(But to Nami's, Usopp's and Chopper's disappointment, Luffy didn't stop dragging them into dangerous situations.)
End
Even though this plot has been done serval of times, I wanted to write a version of my own, since who doesn't like a Strawhat nakamaship fic? I uploaded this almost right after I posted Me and Myself, Brothers because I referred to this story in the fic, and I don't want all of you to wonder where was it! Sorry for any grammar mistakes (english is not first language), currently am looking for beta for my stories.
If you haven't read Me and Myself, Brothers, I encourage you to do so~ (shameless self-promote)... Anyways, if you got any ideas for one shots, please tell me; I am always looking for new ideas! Who knows, they might spiral into a multiple chapter fic (providing if I have time/don't feel lazy)
For all those Me and Myself, Brothers, see you in a week or so in the next update!~
Breaking Penguin (B. Penge)