A/N: Yay, I got one written! So, please, when you write the reviews, be harsh. I want to hear feedback!
Burn
She saw him once, sitting in a booth at the steakhouse where she worked. He was talking animatedly with a red-headed woman who wore a skeptical expression.
Instant jealousy surged through her, before she shook her head and told herself that it was illogical – she didn't know the man and there was no such thing as 'love at first sight.'
Nonetheless, she kept watching him that night – until the bartender finally elbowed her and said, "If you like him that much, then go over and say 'Hi.' Luffy doesn't bite, unless you've just been roasted on a spit."
At this, she gave him an odd look. The blue-haired man shrugged, "He likes his meat."
She perked up, "Maybe I can get Sanji-san to make something for him, on the house."
"So long as it's a woman who's asking." He shrugged and went back to polishing a martini glass.
"Arigato, Franky."
Her idea was a success – he said "Thank you." When he did, all she could do was blush and stutter, "I didn't cook it," and run away.
Well, it was silly, anyway.
The next night, she pressed Franky for information about him.
"Look, I don't know much. We only spoke once, Boa-san. You'd be better off asking Zoro."
Zoro turned out to be the green-haired man who sat at the bar every night, drinking an unbelievable amount of alcohol.
"Luffy's a professor at the college downtown," he said loudly, with a crooked smile on his face, "He teaches the kids about old times 'n whatnot."
He was an incredibly annoying man, considering that there were two colleges downtown and he didn't care to specify which one.
"And who was the woman with him that night?" she asked, begging for information.
"Do I look like I keep track of who he eats with every night, lady?" At which point, Sanji came out of the kitchen where he'd been listening and kicked the chair out from the 'marimo' for insulting her.
Once again, she reprimanded herself for paying so much attention to a man she didn't know and decided she needed a girl's night to forget about him.
She and her sisters went dancing at Golden Merry – women didn't need men to dance and it was a perfectly enjoyable pastime without them. It was an interesting pub because it had a giant sheep's head looming out over the bar. It was said that the thing was once part of a pirate ship, but she hadn't investigated further.
When she had gotten tired of dancing, she went over to get a drink and gaze at the odd decoration. She thought it was kinda romantic, how men and women used to sail the seas like that.
"Y'know, there's a pretty cool story about that thing."
She turned to look at the speaker, dreading an uninteresting conversation about ships. To her surprise, it was the man from the steakhouse – Luffy! A faint blush rose to her cheeks; he was very handsome in his crimson shirt and black slacks.
"The Going Merry was the first ship of Monkey D. Luffy, an ancestor of mine. He sailed the seas and had hundreds of adventures with his nakama." He gazed dreamily at the giant sheep's head, "When I was little, I always wanted to be a pirate," he turned to her, "Still do, in fact. I'm Luffy. You?"
She blushed heavily, "Boa Hancock."
"I remember you!" he exclaimed, a wide grin on his face, "You're the waitress at that one restaurant! Hey, thanks, those steaks were really good."
"Arigato." She murmured. She found herself feeling lightheaded under his gaze. But the feeling wouldn't be there for long if he grew bored with the silence and left! Gathering her courage, she said, "So, what's one of the adventures that Monkey-senchou's crew went on?"
His eyes lit up at her question, "Well, the crew was called the Strawhat Pirates…"
And so on. They met again at a café and continued with their conversation about pirates. There was something beautiful about how his eyes burned when he spoke about ships and seas, and great battles.
The second time they met she was the one talking, telling him about college life and asking for tips with homework and things.
"Well, I'm not really the best person to ask about things like that – I'm pretty disorganized. Drives my students crazy because I lose their papers all the time." He laughed at himself.
That year, she decided to switch to his college and try and get a class with him. Apparently, she'd learned a lot about pirates while they were talking, even if she didn't know it.
The next time they met, she grinned and hurriedly told him her good news, saddened when his face fell, "What's wrong, Luffy-kun?" she asked worriedly.
"Well, I was thinking that…maybe, y'know, since we like hanging out so much…maybe we could get together. But now that you're my student…" Too late, Hancock realized her mistake.
"Ah! Gomen, Luffy-kun! I thought that it would be better, since we go to see each other more often that way! Gomen!" she said quickly.
A small smile tugged at his mouth, "Well, I guess it is good that we get to see each other more often, even if it is during lectures. And when the Semester's over, we could still go out." He started grinning, "That's great, Hancock!"
She smiled again, glad that it hadn't become a big problem.
That day, she eagerly got up, exited to go to class. Shuffling into the large room with the rest of the students, she looked around eagerly for her teacher.
Luffy walked into the room, scanning the seats for her face, smiling when he saw her. "Good day. We're going to start off this term by discussing pirates."
She loved it when his eyes burned like that.