Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.
I wanted to write a fic where Luffy and Bon Clay are friends because their friendship during Impel Down moved me to tears.
Ten thirty was physical education class for Sophomore Year Roronoa Zoro. A crowd of shivering men, including him, entered the locker room to change. Most of them scoffed at the fact that it was cold: cold never bothered a man. But the season was in dead winter, and being out naked for a minute sent a nasty chill down any man's spine.
Zoro sighed and began unbuttoning his jacket and tugged his scarf free. He shivered when the warm neck was exposed to the cold. He had to get used to it; today they were going to run a few laps around the track It was a piece of cake for him since he jogged every morning, but he got out of a comfortably heated classroom. Plus, he took a nap, so his body temperature was low already. He ignored the dreading feel of the cold and removed his top off.
Suddenly, Zoro stopped, so the crumpled up shirt was still on his arms. He felt a weird presence. He swiftly looked back, but there was no one looking at his direction. Everyone was focused on changing into their P.E. outfits as fast as possible. The green haired man frowned. He wasn't hallucinating; he felt eyes on him but from where?
He noticed that mostly everyone was done changing and were heading outside. Zoro removed the rest of his shirt and jeans, rolled them up, and threw them into the lockers. Then, he grabbed his P.E. clothes, slightly damp from sweat, and put it on. He wanted to get out of there fast because now those eyes were strong and on him.
"Hey, Zoro! What's taking you so long?"
"Did you get lost?"
"Shut up!" Zoro shouted back at his two friends, Johnny and Yosaku, and hurried out of the lockers.
The door was closed, and the room fell into silence.
"Hup!" One of the taller lockers suddenly opened and a leg shot out. It bent by the knee, so that the other leg could come out also. Elegantly, the rest of the body slithered out as if it were a butterfly emerging from a cocoon. A tall, young man with a short, perfectly cut black hair twirled in circles while keeping one leg high above his head.
This man was Bentham, but he preferred to be called Bon Clay. He was a sophomore also, but his class was having a fifteen minute break, so he always used this opportunity to take pictures of his friend's crush.
"I did it!" The man cheered, "Now, I must show this to Mugi-chan!" He hushed himself, and twirled out of the room, trying his best to not stand out.
-.-.-
The heavy chime of the school bell rang five times. It was the signal for the students to stuff their backpacks and go home. Luffy ran out of his classroom like a top runner because he remembered that Ace bought a stash of pork buns. He was already out into the courtyard when he heard something.
"MUGI-CHAN-!" Luffy turned to the sound of Bon Clay's call. He grinned as he saw a beautifully spinning tornado heading towards him.
"Bon-chan!" Luffy ran up with outstretched arms to hug his friend. The spinning stopped, and Bon Clay spread his arms wide to embrace.
"Mugi-chan! I did it!"
"Did what?"
Bon Clay hushed him and pulled him close. He cupped a hand on Luffy's ear and whispered.
"I got some pictures of your crush!"
Luffy blushed and shook his head out of control. Even the word 'crush' made Luffy turn into goo.
"Can I see it?"
"Can I come over?"
"Today? But today I have-"
"What?"
"Uh."
"What?"
Luffy hesitated, "Pork Buns."
"Pork Buns? I thought you are going to say something urgent!" Bon Clay shrugged. "Oh well-! Off to your house!" Bon Clay began to twirl and run off, making Luffy run again. Although Bon Clay's strange ballet spinning run was fast, Luffy was as fast. He caught up with Bon Clay and shot a quick glace at Bon Clay's handbag.
"Where did you take it at?"
"Oh ho ho, you'll be surprised!"
"Where where?"
"In the locker room!"
Luffy gasped and turned scarlet, "I-Is he naked?"
"Of course!"
Luffy skidded to a halt. Bon Clay didn't expect this, so he ran an extra three feet before realizing that his friend had stopped. He twirled back and peered in Luffy's face.
"Mugi-chan?" He saw that Luffy's face was as red as a tomato.
"Bon-chan..." Luffy's nostrils flared up, "I want to see it now." Bon Clay gasped because Luffy's nostrils only flared when he was about to start a fight.
"Not here!"
"Now!"
"W-wait Mugi-chan! L-Let's find a spot first."
The two ended up taking a detour to the city park. There were people walking, playing, and having a casual stroll in the park. It was the biggest park in town; so big, newcomers thought it was a forest in the middle of the city. There were hundreds of thick forests, so people did crazy stuff there. Bon Clay and Luffy wandered deep into the forest and found a nice tree with roots emerging from the soil. They picked one fat root and sat side-by-side.
Luffy was shaking with excitement as Bon Clay pulled out his digital camera Den Den and shuffled through its saved previews.
Bon Clay swallowed and slowly handed the Den Den to Luffy, "There's four in all." Bon Clay stared in awe when Luffy yanked the camera and glared at the screen with beast-like eyes. He feared that Luffy was going to eat it.
Luffy pressed the Den Den Mushi's eyeballs and that turned to the other pictures. He kept squeezing the eyes, so Bon Clay felt sorry for the creature. This repeated procedure lasted three long minutes, but Bon Clay waited patiently. Finally, Luffy dropped his arms and handed the digital camera Den Den back without a word.
"...how was it Mugi-chan?"
Luffy began to tremble and his face was so hot, Bon Clay feared he suddenly gained a fever. His friend looked like he wanted to say something, but all Luffy could do was mouth out nonsense. Bon Clay sighed in pity for Luffy. When the freshman enrolled into the Rogue High, he was immediately stricken by a love arrow at the sight of Roronoa Zoro. Bon Clay was friends with Luffy since late middle school year, but Luffy never was the type to be interesting in love. Now, it hit him like an unexpected slug in the head by a sledgehammer, so Luffy didn't know how to react. Bon Clay thought that pictures might help decrease this illness, but there wasn't any improvement so far.
"H-he..."
"He?"
"He looks delicious."
"What?" Bon Clay laughed, "You sound like you want to eat him!" When Bon Clay saw drool pooling at the corner of Luffy's mouth, he realized that his friend was serious. Bon Clay clamped his mouth shut. He didn't expect Luffy to be that kind of character.
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah...but not like how I eat meat."
"Oh that's good-"
"I want to eat him from the inside out!"
"That sounds so wrong!" Bon Clay covered his mouth and let out a gasp, "But Mugi-chan, I think you have to get rid of your serious case of lovesickness to approach him."
"I know..." Luffy leaned back and stared up at the leaves, "What should I do?"
"Mugi-chan, I think the first thing you need to do is to become his friend."
Luffy stared at Bon Clay for a few seconds to take what his friend had said. Then, the younger man nodded. If he became friends with Zoro, then he could be closer to him. He was getting frustrated with himself that he had been hiding behind buildings or trees to get a glimpse of him. If he wasn't lovesick, he would've asked him to be his friend on the first day of school. It was going to be like anyone else: he was going to run up to Zoro and say 'do you want to be my friend?'
It would be easy.
-.-.-
The following day, Luffy was at the school gates with his arms on his hips. Bon Clay stood by watching him behind the wall.
"You can do it Mugi-chan!"
"Yeah!" Luffy shouted back with vigor. His eyes flashed when he saw his crush walk toward him, or in actuality, the school gates. Luffy's plan was to call Zoro to get his attention and immediately ask him to be his friend. Then, Zoro would say yes and they would gradually become best friends. Afterwards, Luffy was going to research to see if Zoro was gay. If he was, then he would immediately ask him out. If not, he would ask anyways. Zoro was getting closer, so Luffy braced himself. He was ready. When Zoro was only several feet within his reach, Luffy was getting ready to shout out his name.
All of a sudden, Zoro seem to notice Luffy's presence and walked toward him.
"Hey...you want something?" Zoro asked in a calming, sexy voice.
Luffy's body jerked and became very rigid.
Oh no...! Bon Clay thought as he gripped the wall until his knuckles turned white.
"Um...I..." Luffy started in quick breaths. Bon Clay didn't lower his shoulders in relief because his friend was still in shock that his crush had noticed him. "Umm..."
"Hmm?"
"I...I, I can't-!" Luffy squeezed his eyes and ran bolted away from Zoro. The older man's eyes widened and had his arms poised as if he was reaching out for him. However, he remained standing there as Luffy ran to the school. He cut a corner and ran to the back side of the school. Bon Clay got up from his hiding spot and ran after him.
"Mugi-chan!" Bon Clay called, but Luffy kept running. He saw him turn a corner of the bathroom building, so he spun around.
Bon Clay found Luffy huddling behind a tree and looking very depressed.
"I couldn't do it!" Luffy wailed and slammed his fists on the ground.
"Mugi-chan..."
"Why is he so cool?"
"Because he is."
"If he were a bit uglier-!"
"Then you wouldn't be falling for him silly!"
Luffy rubbed his face in the dirt, "He probably thinks I'm weird because I ran away from him!"
"Maybe, but we can try again, so it wouldn't be a misunderstanding!" Bon Clay tried to cheer his friend up, but it was a huge shock for Luffy to be unable to ask Zoro out (as a friend).
-.-.-
Meanwhile, Zoro was standing where he was left off. He put a hand over his mouth and wondered why the boy suddenly ran away from him. He knew the kid's name, Monkey D. Luffy. He had a weird last name, so it was easy to remember. But that wasn't all. He knew that he was a freshman, and he was the best player in the boxing club. He had a bright smile and he had seen lots of girls trying to ask him out. He ate a lot, and always bought three different types of lunches to satisfy him.
Zoro was interested in Luffy and wanted to be friends, but for some reason they could never meet. So today he was inwardly glad to see Luffy standing at the gates.
Zoro felt his own kind of shock. Was the kid afraid of him? Did he sound like he was mad at him? Was he glaring at him when he was examining the cute guy? He always did this to strangers, so he feared that he might have scared Luffy off. His heart sunk and he mentally slapped himself. He needed to find Luffy and take care of this misunderstanding. He prayed that luck would fall on him and united with the freshman again.
