SUMMARY: [AU] What is a kiss? Something one gives to their beloved. An unspoken promise. But, wait. What's this? Someone just gave Luffy a kiss? A little boy in a big city. Luffy's story starts!
.:.
Growing Pains
.:.
(Listening to Memories. One Piece 1st ending)
Behind every person and every thing, there is a story. One that grows and builds over time. A weed spreading steadily through a small garden. The sprouting of a new tree. A horse's firstborn. Each has its own story to tell. Some decide to keep their stories to themselves, although they yearn to share them. Others may show their stories boldly, with or without words. But in each story, there is growth and changing relationships. And this story is not exempt from the never ending process of growth and change.
Monkey D. Luffy was a boy who was always straightforward and honest about his feelings. If he didn't like you, he would say that he didn't like you. If he wanted you to be his friend, you would be his friend. He was a young man who kept all the promises he made. And right at this moment, this black haired boy was making his way out of the train station, wearing only a light red vest and tattered jean shorts while holding a small bag over his shoulder. A dusty looking straw hat hung limp on his back, with only a string tied around his neck to keep it in place. After pushing past the people crossing in and out of the underground train, Luffy stopped at the top of the stairs leading up from the station. He glanced curiously from left to right, taking in all the new sights and sounds around him. There were buildings as far as his eyes could see that towered over him by sixteen floors, reaching up to the sky. The sidewalk was stained with the dust from the thousands of feet that crossed each day. Exhaust from the buses and cars passing by trailed behind, leaving the hot and dry stink of oil in the air. Luffy grinned and watched the new environment with wide eyes. It was a world that he would've never imagined. Who knew so many strangers could be in one place at once? He maneuvered his way through the people, who were scurrying about the stairs like working ants, and started walking in one direction with a spring in his step. Where would he be going? Well, that was the question. He didn't really know himself. But the truth was, faced with the thrilling adventure of city life, Luffy had completely forgotten that before he had set foot on the train, his uncle had given him instructions to find the Academy of Arts, a school he had been invited to attend.
Now, among all the tall buildings of Lohm City, the tallest of them was the world famous Academy of Arts. It was tall, silver, and was extremely hard to miss in a bleak place such as Lohm City. And, of course, Monkey D. Luffy coincidentally set his sights upon this academy, unsuspecting that his life as he knew it would be drastically changed.
"Woah…" The black haired boy froze mid-step as his eyes landed upon the enormous tower of silver shooting up through the clouds. Ping! That was the sound of Luffy's mind getting an idea. A mischievous grin spread along his lips and his brown eyes twinkled in excitement. In a flash, he was racing towards the silver building, dodging agilely through the crowds of people who did not notice or pay attention to the great structure before their eyes. Luffy laughed as he rounded another corner, sprinting ever closer towards the silver academy. As he ran, buildings bobbed past, almost as if trying to block him from the enormous silver building. They shouted at him, "Look at me! Look at me!" But Luffy merely rounded another corner and watched as the silver building came ever closer and larger than before.
Now, as in life, we are to expect the unexpected. Maybe you were lying back in a chair peacefully and then as you decide to straighten up, a strand of your hair gets caught in the chair, tugging at your scalp painfully. Or maybe you are crunching your way through a pile of leaves and never bother to notice that a pile of slumbering ladybugs are being crushed by your shoes. Surprises come in all forms. And as Luffy rounded his third corner, he was about to get one. They always did say, "Three is a charm!"
As Monkey D. Luffy rounded the corner at a pace the human eye could barely keep up with, the black haired boy was too distracted by the silver building to notice another young man, who was also distracted by the time on his mobile phone, sprinting around the same corner at the same time as Luffy. When Luffy finally noticed, he had no time to dodge the young man before him.
"Ah!" He let out just before the two slammed into each other. Their bodies bashed into each other with a loud plack! The sound of flesh meeting flesh at high speeds. And before Luffy could do anything about it, the stranger's lips crushed into his in a simple and accidental coincidence. A tingling feeling, something like a warm static, ran up Luffy's spine and tickled at the back of his neck. The black haired boy blinked and watched dumbly as the stranger moved back and caught him by the shoulders before he bounced backwards onto the pavement. The stranger started to stare at him in confusion.
"Hey, you all right?" The man asked in a gruff tone. Luffy merely stared at him, too shocked to utter a sound not to mention respond to the man's question. The man frowned and furrowed his eyebrows before shrugging and running in the direction he had been running in, completely dismissing the fact that the person he had run into had just had his first kiss taken away. Just like that. It only took a millisecond. Luffy's body turned in the direction of the man and followed his back with his eyes. Green hair… That man had green hair… Luffy's lips were still parted, feeling the tingling and throbbing feeling of having foreign lips being crushed upon his own. Those lips had been slightly rough, yet warm and soft. How strange… and there was a mysterious feeling spreading throughout his body. As if he had just been engulfed in a gust of hot steam. The boy blinked again, staring in bewilderment at the street the green haired man had disappeared in. Who was that man? And why did he give him a kiss? The boy was completely dumbstruck. He could hardly think anymore. A salty metallic taste in his mouth was what brought him back from his temporary brain paralysis. Was that…blood? He ignored the taste and grinned goofily. It was his first kiss after all. Anyone watching him at that very moment would've thought he was crazy: a boy standing in the streets, smiling goofily as fresh blood trickled down from his gums to his teeth. But Luffy didn't care. Someone had just given him a kiss! Wasn't that strange? And he had just gotten here…
.:.
A little boy hummed to himself, clutching onto the hand of a red haired man. His sandaled feet hit the dirt path with a loud plat! with every step he took. The boy looked up through his black bangs and grinned widely at the red haired man holding his hand. Then he stared at the path lined with leafy green trees, his grin pasted on his face as if nothing could tear it away. As the two made their way around a bend in the path, the boy noticed a cozy bench, and sitting in it was a man and a woman. He blinked at the couple. They sure were close to each other. In fact, their heads looked stuck together. The boy tilted his head in curiosity, watching the two people with round eyes. Now that he was closer to the bench, he could see that the lips of the two people were pressed against each other. The boy glanced up at the red haired man he was holding hands with.
"Shanks? What are they doing?" The boy pointed at the two people with his free hand. He could feel that the man's steps were starting to pick up and the boy quickened his footsteps so that he could keep up. As the two walked further along the path and away from the bench, the boy frowned in annoyance, wondering why Shanks hadn't answered him yet. He dug his heels into the dirt and stared at the red haired man fiercely. "Shanks!" The man paused before smiling down at the boy.
"All right, Luffy." He sighed and crouched down to the boy's level, grinning sheepishly. "I knew this would happen one day..." He frowned slightly and stared off into the distance. "Didn't think it would be today..."
Luffy scowled at Shanks and crossed his arms over his chest. "You're still not telling me! What were they doing? They had their faces stuck together!"
The red haired man chuckled and then patted the boy's head. "Ah, Luffy. That is called 'kissing'."
"Kissing?" The boy stared into Shanks's eyes in confusion. "When people stick their heads together, they're kissing?"
"Kissing, kiss, kisses," The man shrugged his shoulders and smiled at Luffy. "When people's lips touch, they call that magical moment a 'kiss'."
Luffy glanced over his shoulder in the direction of the bench and started whispering to Shanks. "So...those two were 'kissing', right?"
"That's right!" Shanks laughed and ruffled the boy's black hair affectionately. Luffy swatted away the man's hand and frowned.
"But why were they 'kissing'?"
The man abruptly stopped laughing and scratched at his head. "Well...that's because..."
Luffy waited as Shanks scratched at his red hair for another moment. The boy pouted in annoyance. It wasn't such a hard question! Why did those two people stick their lips together? Shanks had mentioned that it was 'a magical moment'...maybe there was a magic spell that stuck the two people together?
"Ah! Okay, here we go." The red haired man smirked and put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "They were kissing because..." Luffy nodded in anticipation, eyes turning round with curiosity. "It's because they are making a promise to one another!" Shanks spoke with finality. Luffy stared at the man, watching as he grinned proudly at himself.
"...That's lame!"
Shanks spluttered and nearly fell over. "Hey hey! Is that the way to speak to your uncle after he kindly answered your question?"
The black haired boy frowned and pointed in the direction of the two people kissing. "If they were just making a promise, they don't have to stick their lips together!"
The man sighed and pushed the boy's finger down to the side. "Okay, listen closely. A kiss is not just a normal promise."
Luffy's eyes widened. "Not a normal promise? What does that mean?"
"Shh...Let me finish." Shanks smiled at the boy, "It's a magical promise that shows that they belong to the person receiving the kiss."
"Belong...?" Luffy's eyes went round again.
"If a person gives you a kiss, it means that they want to be with you for a long long time. It's a promise to you that they want to be with you. So don't give kisses to just anyone, all right?"
"Give kisses to people you want to be with for a long long time. And give kisses to people you want to belong to. Got it!" Luffy grinned happily. Shanks stared at the boy skeptically. Did he really understand? His explanation really wasn't good enough. There were so many other factors involved in kissing... The man sighed. Oh well, he could always tell the kid about it another day...
"Shanks?"
"Hm?" The red haired man stood up and patted his pants of any dust from the dirt path.
"What are they doing now?" The black haired boy pointed at the man who had started to suck and nibble at different places along the woman's neck, causing deep moans to emit from her throat. Shanks froze, his eyes nearly bugging out from his eye sockets.
"Uhhh…well, Luffy. Let's go somewhere else first…" The man started to usher the boy away from the area.
.:.
Monkey D. Luffy stood still in the streets of Lohm City, staring at the empty avenue the green haired man had just run down. He brought a hand up lightly to his lips and blinked as his fingers came away with red blood.
"Wow…" The young man stared at his fingers in bewilderment. "What a kiss…! Shanks never said anything about bleeding..." Nor did he mention anything about all the weird, crazy, fluttery aftereffects that were suddenly engulfing his body. Maybe that was the magic working? He quickly wiped his fingers on his red vest and started chasing after the man, wondering why he had run off so quickly after giving him a kiss. Didn't that guy want to be with him? After all, kisses were given to people you wanted to be with for a long long time, right? Luffy raced around a few curbs, twisting through the city, searching for the elusive green haired man. But try as he might, Luffy just couldn't find the man he had shared his first kiss with. It was strange. Why would someone who wanted to be with him for a long long time be hiding from him?
Wait…what was that? There was a flash of green around that building!
Monkey D. Luffy grinned happily and jumped around the corner only to spot that the bit of green had disappeared yet again. The young man frowned and his brown eyes studied the large street steadily. There were so many people… how would he ever spot one person in such a crowd? Just as he was about to lose hope, he saw it! There was a bit of green among the heads of the people crossing the street. The pedestrian light was still green, albeit flashing slightly. Luffy smiled and sped into the dispersing crowd, searching around for the green haired man who had kissed him. Where could he be? There weren't that many people crossing the street anymore. It should be easier to find someone with green hair now… And then suddenly, there was no one on the street anymore. A loud beeee! made Luffy jump and turn his attention away from the people on the sidewalk. The light had just changed! He yelped and leapt back as a black van rushed past him. Geez, some people sure weren't patient…!
The young man stood marooned in the middle of the street, peering around for the green haired man. How hard could it be to find that guy…? He had green hair for heaven's sake! Luffy crossed his arms over his chest in annoyance, waiting for the pedestrian light to change again. As he observed his surroundings, the black haired boy noticed that the silver tower he had originally been running to was now right before his eyes. All he needed to do was cross the street and he'd be there! Luffy's mouth formed an 'o' of awe and his eyes traveled up the building, wondering exactly how tall the entire building was. It was shining brightly and the top of the building was blocked by a circle of cloud.
"That's amazing…" Luffy sighed, letting his eyes wander down to the entrance of the academy, which was decorated with two large glass doors. Over the glass doors, the words 'Lohm City - Academy of Arts' hung shining in brass. The words hit Luffy with surprise, like a sack of lumpy flour that had just keeled over to the ground. He came to Lohm City to enroll in the Academy of Arts! And the silver tower was the very academy he would be studying in! The boy laughed at himself and stared at his to-be school. How lucky could he get? As his eyes skimmed over the entrance of the silver tower, he noticed a spot of green inside. The boy gasped. Could it be possible? The man who had kissed him also attended the same school as him…? How could there be so much coincidence in one day?
The pedestrian light finally changed and the cars stopped speeding across the road. Luffy let out a cry of glee, surprising the people across the street, and ran over the white stripes marking the pedestrian walk. He burst through the glass doors of the academy and glanced from left to right. The walls were painted with a comforting white and a few paintings full of color decorated the walls. In the left hallway, there were teenagers walking in and out wearing navy blue uniforms with silver buttons and embroidery. As Luffy quickly turned to face the hallway to his right, he found a spot of green disappearing around the wall. At last! He had finally caught up with that green haired man…!
"May I help you, sir?" A woman's voice came from the main desk, which was conveniently set against the middle wall between the two hallways so that any confused visitors could easily spot it. But Monkey D. Luffy paid no attention to the woman addressing him and flew around the corner. The green was right in front of him and the black haired boy pounced on it without another thought.
"I got you!" Luffy shouted happily, tackling the person to the black marble ground. He heard the person under his arms yelp in shock and he blinked in surprise. That didn't sound like a noise a man would make…! Luffy focused his eyes upon the person under him and tilted his head in confusion. "Ah-re..?" An orange haired girl. An orange haired girl was under him. Strange… he had thought that the green haired man was the one he had jumped on.
"Get off of Nami-san, you bastard!" Luffy felt something impact his head before he went flying into a wall. The black haired boy held his head in pain and looked up with a pout upon his lips. What the heck was that for? Why did someone hit him when he didn't even hurt anyone? Luffy watched as a blonde haired man knelt beside the girl named Nami and tried to help her up. But, she batted away his hands and shot an annoyed look at the blonde. The girl quickly picked herself up and brushed away the dust that had gotten on her uniform's skirt. Then, she put a hand on her hip and frowned at Luffy.
"Who are you and what do you want with me?" Her voice was clear, firm, and most of all, to the point. Luffy sprang onto his feet and patted his jean pants before smiling apologetically at the girl.
"Sorry, I got the wrong person."
Luffy noticed that the people in the hall suddenly seemed to be focusing on him with an intense and wide eyed stare. He blinked a few times and his smile turned to a small frown. They were looking at him as if they had just experienced the unexpected. Like he had spoken something unspeakable or had dressed up in a costume of a muscle man with a head of a panda. But all he did was just tackle the wrong person to the ground. It wasn't that big of a deal. Luffy crossed his arms over his chest in annoyance. "What?"
Nami was the first to snap out of her stupefaction. "Wha-what are you? Even Sanji would make sure that the person he pounced on was the one he wanted to pounce on!" She exclaimed while pointing a shaky finger at the blonde haired man.
"Exactly." Sanji closed his eyes and nodded in agreement, completely unaware that Nami had not made a very flattering comment about him. Luffy scratched his head and stared at the two strange people. They sure were weird…especially the blonde haired person. His bangs covered his left eye as if they were pasted onto the left half of his face…
"Hey, you!" The woman's voice from the front desk broke the air and greeted the students in the hall with rage. People started scurrying back to where they were going, hoping that they would not incur the wrath of the pink haired woman. Luffy stood where he was, glancing over his shoulder to look at the woman who was yelling at them, or more specifically, at him. "Boy, get over here…!" She grabbed Luffy by his red vest and flung him towards the entrance of the academy. Then, she pointed a neatly gloved finger at Sanji. "No fighting in the hallways, remember? If you're going to fight, go to the arena."
The blonde's visible eye turned into a heart upon seeing the pink haired receptionist and he nodded eagerly, "Yes, Hina-chan~!"
"Good. Now go to class. All of you." Hina gazed at every student in the hall with a scolding look before turning on her heel and heading towards Luffy. The black haired boy sat on the black marble floor, watching as Nami picked up a lime green purse from the ground and slung it over her shoulder. Luffy sighed sadly. That must've been what he had seen. Not the green haired man, but a lime green purse. He watched as the orange haired girl glanced over her shoulder at him curiously before jogging off down the hall to catch up with her friends. He felt another strong gaze on him and he locked eyes with the blonde haired man, still standing in the hallway.
"You better not be getting any weird ideas about Nami-san, bastard." Sanji narrowed his eyes dangerously. Luffy nodded. He didn't really understand what the blonde guy meant, but he didn't think he was getting any weird ideas about the orange girl. Sanji sneered and stuffed his hands into his pockets before skulking down the hall. Suddenly, a hand yanked Luffy up onto his feet and he peered into the eyes of the pink haired woman who had thrown him across the room.
"Okay, boy." Hina dragged him towards the desk she had been sitting behind earlier and tossed him into a chair. Then, she crossed her arms over her chest and stared steadily at Luffy. "Tell me who you are and what you are doing here."
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy," The young man grinned confidently under Hina's steady gaze. "And I think I'm supposed to enroll into this school."
The woman raised an elegant eyebrow and frowned at the boy. "You think?"
"Well, it's my first time in this city… well, in any city actually…" Luffy scratched his head, "And I'm not sure if there are any more Academy of Arts here."
Hina sighed and moved to sit in her chair behind the desk. She rubbed her temples in annoyance and held out her free hand to Luffy, as if she were expecting the boy to hand her something. "There's only one Academy of Arts in Lohm City so give me your Letter of Recommendation."
Luffy cocked his head to the right. "Letter of Recommendation?"
Hina looked up through her fingers at the black haired boy. "If you don't have it then leave immediately."
The young man shoved a hand into his shoulder bag and shuffled around in it before pulling out a crumpled piece of paper. "Do you mean the letter saying that I could study here?"
The pink haired woman eyed the crumpled paper and frowned. What a careless person. To crumple such an important piece of paper…! She took the letter from Luffy's hand and smoothed it out, trying to keep her temper in check. "Yes, boy. This letter."
Luffy grinned and sat back in his seat. This woman had been making him kind of nervous. She seemed as if she were always annoyed at something. But, at least he had given her what she had wanted. He relaxed in his chair and glanced around his surroundings again. Left hallway. Right hallway. Colorful paintings hung on the walls, equally spaced away. The middle wall he was currently sitting in front of displayed a beautiful painting of an aerial view of the Academy of Arts. The skies were painted a blue that nearly matched the color of shallow ocean waters and the top of the academy was shining brightly against the sun peering over the clouds. Luffy smiled. It was a really nice painting. But who drew it?
"Okay, Monkey D. Luffy. I'll register you into our database and assign you a room." Hina started tapping her fingers on the screen of a computer built into the desk.
"Woah! Cool!" Luffy gasped and turned his attention onto the touch-screen computer. He watched Hina scroll down through a list of names with her thumb before stopping at his name. She tapped on his name twice and a window popped up. After a few moments of taps and beeps, Hina picked up a card from under the table and swiped it through the side of the desk. Luffy watched her go through this entire process with wide eyes, full of awe. Who knew that such technology was possible? The pink haired woman placed the card on the table and slid it towards the black haired boy.
"This is your house key and ID card. Don't lose it."
"Yes, ma'am!" Luffy grinned excitedly and took the card with both hands, studying it closely. He watched as his name and picture showed up on the front of the card and on the back, his room number appeared beside a strip of black. Maybe he would get to swipe the card through the door of his room…?
Hina watched as the black haired boy smiled happily, clutching the card in his hands like a new-found toy. She shook her head and smiled slightly. It was nice to see such a happy and childish person once in a while… A sound of paper whirring through a machine came from the desk and Hina quickly ripped out a piece of paper. "Okay, boy. This is your schedule sheet. You should choose which courses you wish to take and then fill out that sheet. Read it for further directions. You can find the offered courses in this booklet and if you have any questions, contact the office down the left hallway." She passed the paper and the course booklet to Luffy and gestured to both halls. "There are elevators in the hallways. Just keep walking down the hall and you'll eventually find one. You can use the elevators to get to all the floors in the academy."
Luffy looked up from his key card and nodded, taking the paper with which his blank schedule had been printed on. "Office on the left. Elevators in the halls. Got it!" He stuck the card in his pocket and slid his straw hat onto his head. Then, picking up his small shoulder bag, he stood up and waved at Hina before jogging eagerly towards the hallway that was closest to him. "Thanks, pink haired lady!"
"Have fun, boy." Hina let out a small chuckle before glancing down at the computer screen. Monkey D. Luffy, huh? Somehow, she had the feeling that things would start changing now that the black haired boy was here…
.:.
"This is so interesting!" Luffy laughed giddily and pressed the elevator button for the twelfth time. The students standing around him glanced at each other in bewilderment. What was with this guy? Had he never seen an elevator before…?
Ting!
Luffy jumped slightly at the sudden sound and he watched as the silver doors decorated with a translucent design opened down the split, presenting a small wooden room with a flat mirror, which was reflecting his surprised expression back at him. The students started filing in together, looking back at him, wondering whether or not he would be entering. Luffy smiled in return and hopped into the room large enough to fit thirty people together.
"So, where are we going?" He voiced simply, feeling slightly cramped inside the small room. A long nosed boy, squished beside him, blinked.
"You don't know…?"
"I just got here." Luffy smiled. "Should I go to class right now?"
The long nosed boy stared at the black haired boy in surprise. "You didn't read the course booklet yet?"
Luffy shook his head and started to flip open the booklet Hina had given him. The doors of the room opened and a few students left as another batch of students entered. The long nosed boy sighed and pointed at one of the paragraphs on the first page.
"Look, it says here that you should settle down in your room first. You know what your room number is?" The long nosed boy glanced skeptically at Luffy.
"Ehh…" Luffy fished out his key card and read out the number on the back. "35038…" The black haired boy blinked at the number. There sure were a lot of rooms in the building… Luffy glanced back to the long nosed boy and waved a hand at him since the long nosed boy looked frozen still. "Hello…?"
Luffy watched in confusion as a grin started to spread across the long nosed boy's face. Suddenly, the boy stuck a hand out to Luffy. "I'm Usopp! Nice to meet you, room mate!"
The black haired boy was stunned for a moment. But he quickly recovered and laughed merrily, taking his room mate by the hand. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy! Nice to meet you, Usopp!" They laughed together and heard the elevator ting! excitedly in their ears. They were on the 35th floor.
The two new friends stepped out and walked down the hallway. Usopp chuckled and swiped his nose a few times. "But really, what a coincidence. That the two of us would be room mates. I haven't had a room mate since Sanji had decided to move out. That was probably about two years ago."
"Sanji?" Luffy turned to face his room mate. Usopp nodded.
"Aa. I think he lives on the 65th floor right now. You know him?"
"He's got blonde hair that covers his left eye, right?" Luffy smiled. "Yeah, I bumped into him just a while ago. I tackled a girl named Nami and he started to look really angry."
Usopp stopped in his tracks and his skin paled visibly.
"Usopp?" Luffy paused and turned to look at the long nosed boy skeptically.
"Y-you…tackled…Nami?"
"Mm." Luffy nodded to verify Usopp's claim.
"A-and…you did that…in front of…Sanji?"
"Mm." Luffy nodded again. Usopp grabbed his room mate by the shoulders and shook the boy repeatedly.
"ARE YOU CRAZY?"
"Wah! Usopp! Stop shaking me!" Luffy pried the hands off of his shoulders and tried to still his spinning vision. When his eyes finally stopped going around and around in his eye sockets, the black haired boy found Usopp staring at him nervously.
"This is bad, Luffy. Bad. Sanji's been chasing after Nami ever since she enrolled. He's beaten up people who tried to make moves on her, too. A-and…you just…tackled her! To the ground!" Usopp cringed and covered his face with his hands in shame. "You animal!"
Luffy frowned in annoyance. He remembered the kick that had sent him into the wall. Sanji must've done it. But... he didn't mean to jump on Nami. He was looking for that green haired man who had kissed him! "Hold on a second," Luffy put both hands on his hips and furrowed his eyebrows. "I just mistook her as another person. Why does Sanji have to beat me up?"
Usopp sighed and patted his room mate's shoulder comfortingly. "Luffy, when it comes to love, some people do the most absurd things. It's illogical. Anyway, our room's coming up. I'll help you fight against Sanji, okay? But first, we have to be behind closed and private doors. We don't want anyone to listen in on us and tell Sanji about me helping you…"
"But…" Luffy scratched his head. "Aren't you already saying that you'll help me? Anyone can listen in."
"SHHH!" Usopp glanced from left to right nervously and shuffled down the hall, pressed tightly against the wall. "Do you want to get me in trouble, too?"
Luffy blinked at the long nosed boy and then chortled, holding a hand over his stomach. "Usopp! You're a really funny person…!"
"Shut up, Luffy…" Usopp grumbled half-heartedly and then smiled. It was nice to have such a bright friend… There weren't many people that were like Luffy in the academy. It was all academic this, competition that. Always the best, the best, the best. He was in such a serious and stifling school. It was refreshing to have such an energetic and carefree person as a room mate. They stopped in front of a wooden colored door with the brass numbers '35038' hanging on the side of the wall and Usopp whipped out his card, ready to swipe it through the door handle. But Luffy quickly stopped him and pouted.
"Let me open the door. Please?"
Usopp sighed and stepped back. "Hai, hai." He grinned at the enthusiasm his new room mate was expressing and pointed at the handle. "Go ahead. Knock yourself out."
Luffy let out a whoop of glee and swiped his card through the handle of the door. A whirring noise came from inside and a small beep! sounded, causing a flashing green light to light up on the key card. "Oh…! Su-ge…!" Luffy twisted the handle and pushed the door in. He was greeted with a cozy room painted with white walls. There was at least two of everything. Two beds, two desks, and two closets. There was only one bathroom though. One side of the room was untouched. There were no sheets or books near it. On the other side, a few paintings lay against the wall and small glass containers were set along one of the desks. A crumpled light blue sheet lay on Usopp's bed. It wasn't tidy but it was cleaner and neater than anything else he had seen back at home… Luffy entered and grinned at everything.
"This is so cool!" The black haired boy laughed and jumped onto the untouched bed, spreading himself out on his stomach. Usopp smiled and sat down on his bed, looking across the room at Luffy.
"We'll need to get you some sheets. All you have is a mattress right now." Usopp pointed to the closet next to the desk. "And you should have two sets of uniforms in there by the time you finalize your course schedule."
Luffy nodded and flung his shoulder bag carelessly onto the floor. Then, he turned his attention to the paintings lying against the side of the wall. Somehow, that style looked familiar… He scratched his head and turned to eye his room mate curiously. "Did you draw an aerial view of the Academy of Arts…?"
Usopp blinked in surprise before grinning proudly. "Yep! I drew that! People call me Usopp the Great Painter of All Time!"
"Woah…!" Luffy's eyes bugged out and he stared at his room mate in awe. "That's amazing, Usopp! Can I see your other paintings?"
"Sure thing…!"
Luffy pumped both fists into the air in joy and promptly leapt off of his bed to study the paintings. There was another large painting of a complicated looking forest with rays of light beaming through the leaves. "You're really good, Usopp. I can't draw like you do."
"So what do you do well, then?" Usopp asked curiously and handed the black haired boy another painting. Luffy frowned for a moment, looking as if deep in thought, while studying the painting. Then, he put the canvas down and grinned.
"I can beat people up!"
The long nosed boy stiffened and watched in horror as his room mate beamed at him. "Oi, oi. Nobody's that confident…"
Luffy merely smiled and studied the glass tanks on the long nosed boy's desk. Usopp sighed and shook his head. Apparently, someone was that confident… Speaking of fighting… weren't they going to discuss how to take on Sanji? Right. Usopp closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "Anyway, regardless of the fact that you can fight, you don't want to go up against Sanji. I have the perfect plan for you—"
"Eh? Isn't this an Atlas?" Usopp heard his energetic room mate exclaim and he turned to watch the boy point at one of the glass tanks enthusiastically.
"Oi! Are you even listening to me?" Usopp growled and walked towards Luffy to peer into the glass tank. "Oh, yeah. That's an Atlas." Usopp smiled at the kabuto beetle gnawing away at the little cup of jam he had given it in the morning. Luffy turned to Usopp with shining eyes.
"Y-you…you have…an Atlas…!"
Usopp grinned proudly. "That's not all. Look here…!" The boy pointed to the other tanks lying side to side along the desk. "I have a Hercules, too."
"Woah! Usopp, you're so cool!" Luffy cried, pressing his face against the tank holding the large horned beetle. The black haired boy jumped from tank to tank, observing each of the beetles. "How long have you had them so far…?"
"I just got it recently." Usopp pointed at two tanks with two separate tarantulas. "And I've had these for five years already."
"Wow, so long?" Luffy stuck a finger into the tank and tickled the fuzzy tarantula. His mouth formed an 'o' and his eyes turned to his dark skinned room mate. "It's really hairy."
Usopp scratched at the tip of his nose and chuckled. "Heh, that reminds me of when Sanji used to live here. Although he moved out almost immediately. He said that my tarantulas were really gross and that he couldn't sleep in a room with a tarantula in it…" The long nosed boy paused and an idea dawned upon him. "Wait, that's it! A perfect plan to battle Sanji! And if that doesn't work then…" The long nosed boy pulled Luffy over and started whispering into Luffy's ear.
The black haired boy blinked and shot a skeptic look at his new friend. "Are you sure that'll work?"
"I'm positive! One hundred percent!" Usopp gave his room mate a thumbs up sign. "You can pull it off, don't worry!"
Luffy shrugged and glanced at the insects inside the glass containers. "If you say so…"
.:.