Chapter One: Meet the Gang
It was a normal day for Nami, another day getting up, dressing and waiting for her 'father' to take her to school. Father, she thought bitterly. Since when has he ever acted like a father? She was waiting in the kitchen, nibbling around a mikan while she waited. There was a huge screen TV plastered onto one wall and she was watching the news. The anchorman looked rattled as he stepped over rubble from a crime scene.
"It appears that late last night a gang attacked this part of the city. It's not clear why as it looks like nothing has been stolen, but the amount of the property damage is estimated to total around 300,000,000 belli. If anyone has any knowledge about these criminals Captain Smoker is requesting that you call the station immediately, if you wish for your name not to be used, he'd be happy to have any anonymous help."
The TV turned black. "Honestly Nami, why do you watch that crap? It's only going to upset you," Nami glanced over her shoulder at her adoptive father. Arlong was a powerful man; he controlled most of the city and ran a gang that almost no one seemed to know about. If the cops knew about him, then he paid them off to keep his name out of the news. Her mother had been killed in one of his raids when she was ten, and being the kind hearted man he was, he took her in. He'd been amazed with her talents at drawing and the way she seemed to know her way around any place, even if she'd never been there. When he'd brought her back to his home in Grand Line, he'd enrolled her at Gold Roger's Private School for the Gifted, making sure that she took all advance classes that would only further her art and navigational skills. She didn't argue, she bit her tongue and suffered in silence dreaming of the day when graduation would come and she could get as far away from this man as possible.
"I don't see what the big deal is," she said shrugging her shoulders. "It's just a bunch of kids who are causing trouble," she grabbed her bag off the counter and slipped her shoes on.
He chuckled as poured his coffee and twisted on the lid to his to-go mug. "How is it that you can be so smart, but so naive at the same time?" he asked turning to look at her.
Nami shrugged. "Can we go? I told Miss Robin that I would be there to help her get ready for class."
Arlong grabbed his keys from the counter and followed her out to his car. "What are you helping her with?" he asked as they slid inside. The only thing he ever did that could be considered fatherly was take an interest in her schooling; only the best for his Nami.
"She's going over ancient ruins today and she's got a few pieces from an Aztec temple that she borrowed from the museum, she needs help setting them up and cleaning them up a little bit. They've been in storage," Nami replied almost automatically. Arlong nodded as he pulled out of the driveway. Nami stared out the window as he drove, looking at all of the kids laughing and walking together. She'd asked once before why she wasn't allowed to walk to school with Vivi, one of her best friends, Arlong told her that he didn't trust the men on the streets to not cause trouble. She knew that wasn't the real reason but she didn't push the issue.
He pulled up to the school and parked the car. Before Nami got out he reached into the glove box and pulled a small wrapped present from the confines. "Happy birthday," he told her with a smile that was meant to butter her up. Nami forced a smile and unwrapped the small box and pulled out a sliver bracelet with her name inscribed on it in beautiful calligraphy. The forced smile became a genuine one as she pulled the chain from the box and held it up to the light. The silver glittered as the sun warmed its surface. Arlong reached over and pulled it from her fingers and fastened it around her wrist. "I thought you should have some real jewelry since you're eighteen," he said with a smile.
"It's beautiful, I love it," she said leaning over and placed a kiss on his cheek.
"I'm glad, I won't be able to pick you up after school, I have a meeting at three, do you think Vivi could keep you company until I can come and get you?" he asked.
Nami knew that he really didn't have a meeting that normal fathers went to, he had a gang related meeting. Nonetheless she nodded her head. "If I know Professor Burukku he'll have a big project for us to do over the week, so we can work on that at her house." Arlong nodded slowly. He didn't let her go to Vivi's often, only when it couldn't be avoided.
Nami slid from the car and grabbed her bag. She knew Arlong would be watching her until Cabaji came up to look after her, and right on time, Cabaji slid up and took her hand in his. She shivered; his skin was always so cold. "Good morning, Nami," he whispered softly in her ear.
"Cabaji, did you know, there are these wonderful inventions, called clothes?" Nami asked pulling her hand away from his. "Why are you always so cold?"
Cabaji shrugged as they walked into the school. Cabaji was in the gang Arlong ran, he was part of Buggy's division and often recruited and ran small time operations out of the school. Arlong had ordered him to watch Nami while at school; he'd even reprogrammed the school's computer so they had all the same classes as each other. "Why did you have to be here so early?" he asked as they walked down to Nami's locker.
"Because, Professor Robin asked me to come in and help her," she told him opening up her locker and grabbing her books. "I told you Friday before Arlong picked me up that you'd have to be here earlier. Don't blame me because Arlong's over protective take that up with your boss," she snapped her locker shut and headed down the hall.
"Oh trust me Nami; I don't have a problem with it." He smirked and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her into him. "In fact, you and me, alone in the school could be fun."
Nami glared as a shiver ran up her spine. "You know that if you touched me Arlong would skin you alive." She opened the door to Robin's classroom thankful that Cabaji wouldn't be able to try anything while the teacher was around. Robin was at her desk, pulling out glass stands for the tablets she was going to be showing in class.
"Nami thanks so much again for coming," she smiled and then looked at Cabaji. "Why on earth are you here so early?" she asked.
Cabaji shrugged. "I thought I would be able to get some extra sleep here, the family is too loud at home," he lied smoothly as he took his usual seat in the back of the room.
Nami helped Robin set up the tablets and get them cleaned and ready for class while Cabaji slept in the back of the room. By the time they were done the classroom was already filling with student and Nami didn't have much down time before the bell rang for class. She moved to her seat and put her bag down. Vivi glanced at her from her seat and smiled.
"What's got you so happy?" Nami asked looking at her best friend.
"Oh, nothing," Vivi smiled and she had that tone in her voice that made Nami wary. It was the sound Vivi's voice had when she was planning something.
"Whatever you're planning forget about it," Nami pulled out her notebook covered with flags in all different colors, marking the important things Nami thought were necessary to warrant a flag; almost every page. "I need to come over for a little bit after school, Arlong has a meeting."
"Alright, and I wasn't planning anything," Vivi said pulling a small bag filled with multi colored tissue paper and placed it in front of Nami. "Happy birthday," she smiled.
Nami delved into the bag and pulled out an Indian style scarf with a multitude of colors and intricate designs. "I love it!" Nami leaned over and hugged Vivi as the bell signaling the beginning of class. Nami quickly pulled out a pen so she could take notes on Professor Robin's lecture. Robin was in the middle of talking about the second tablet she and Nami had set up when the door opened. Everyone glanced and Saw Roronoa Zoro walked in. Late, as usual, Nami thought. Zoro was one of the school's bad boys. Apart from Cabaji there was another small gang in school that was classified as 'bad boys', and the girls simply adored them, because no matter what, every girl loved a bad boy. Well if that's the case I must be defective, Nami sighed as Zoro slid into the only empty seat behind her. She was probably the only girl in school who didn't fawn and drool over Zoro and his friends like a love sick girl. She honestly couldn't stand guys like him; they were all like Arlong in the end, only looking out for number one.
He tapped her shoulder and leaned forward, "Got some paper?" he whispered in her ear. Nami sighed and ripped a few pieces out of her notebook and handed them back over her shoulder to him. He thanked her and fell back into his seat. Vivi glanced at her with one of those smiles. Nami gave her a look to drop it before she even got started; even though she knew as soon as class was over she'd bring it up.
"Nami?"
Nami shook her head and looked up at Professor Robin. "Yes?" she asked, blushing slightly because she'd been caught in her own head.
"Can you come up here and give a demonstration of this last tablet please?" Robin asked smiling.
"Of course Miss," Nami stood and walked to the front of the room and stood beside the last tablet. "This is the Double-Headed Serpent; it's a fifteenth century wall hanging of compound stone. It was used as a ceremonial chest ornament that may have been worn by a pries. In Mesoamerica culture, serpents held a very religious symbolism; the shedding of their skin made them a symbol for rebirth and renewal." She said like she was reading it right out of a book. Nami was smart; all of the studying Arlong had made her do when she was younger had made sure of that.
"Thank you Nami," Robin said taking over the class again.
Nami slid into her seat, her blush only deepening. She hated talking in front of the class. Zoro leaned forward again, this time he was so close Nami could feel his leather jacket on the back of her shoulder. "Cute, I bet you know a lot of things, huh Nami?" he asked.
She pulled her foot forward and kicked backwards. She's learned that Zoro liked to stretch his legs out and they always came within kicking distance. She never missed the opportunity to kick him when he made a smart-ass remark like that. He groaned behind her and leaned back in his seat. Nami smirked and started taking notes again. Like I said; defective.
By lunch Nami was ready to strangle Vivi, since Archeology class Vivi had been insisting that Zoro only tested her because he liked her. Nami kept telling her that she was crazy and that nothing could make Zoro like her. They were from completely different worlds. The stereotypical was that Nami was an innocent rich girl and Zoro was a bad boy with no respect for authority. But she knew it went deeper than the stereotypical. She didn't know how deep it went for Zoro, but for her…it was a lot deeper. Sure she was rich, but that was only because her 'father' was the head of a big crime boss organization and ran half of the city out of the comfort of his chair in front of a fireplace behind the walls of a house that had only the best security system money could buy. As far as innocent went, she as only innocent as far as relationships went. She'd never had a boyfriend before, mainly because everyone saw the way Cabaji hung all over her and figured that she belonged to him; anyone who tried to hit on her, or even talk to her ended up getting a 'talk' from Cabaji.
She sighed as she and Nami sat down at their usual table and Cabaji slid in beside her. "So Cabaji, it looks like someone's trying to steal your girlfriend away," Vivi teased.
Cabaji looked at Nami with a slow smile that only sent a shiver down her spine. "Oh really, fell like sharing who it is Nami?" he asked.
"As if," she sighed and grabbed her water, opening it and taking a drink. "Vivi's just hallucinating."
"Oh come off it Nami, have you seen the way he looks at you?" she asked. "He totally wants you!"
Nami glared and got up, grabbing her water and her bag. "No he doesn't, and even if he did, there would be no way I would ever say yes!" she stormed out of the cafeteria and even Cabaji who never left her side knew to stay behind to let her calm down. She walked outside to the school's courtyard and leaned against a tree that was in full bloom with sakura blossoms. There was a soft breeze that blew the petals that had fallen to the ground around the grass, carrying them away. She felt envious of the little flowers; they were free to go wherever the wind would carry them. She was stuck here, probably for the rest of her life. She hoped that once she was done with high school she'd be able to leave, but she knew deep, deep down that Arlong would never let her go. She'd probably end up marrying Cabaji. That particular thought sent a shiver down her spine as her stomach flipped.
"You know, it's not very nice to kick people," Nami looked up and saw Zoro walking towards her with Franky and Sanji, two of his best friends. They were wearing matching leather jackets, all of his friends wore them; it separated them from the rest of the school's population.
"Maybe if you didn't piss people off they wouldn't kick you," she shot back, glaring at him.
He chuckled and stopped in front of her crossing his arms over his broad chest. Franky mimicked him, but Sanji only kept a hand in his pocket, the other holding the cigarette he was smoking. He smiled and dropped the burning thing on the ground, putting it out with his foot before moving closer to her. He took her hand and kissed the back of it. "I must say, getting to see you every day somehow makes the school day bearable," he said in a softly seductive voice.
"Give it a rest, will ya?" Zoro called out. He grabbed Sanji and pulled him back.
"What was that Marimo?" Sanji asked glaring at Zoro.
"You heard me, curly brow!" Zoro shot back.
"Alright you two knock it off," Franky grabbed them and pulled them apart before they could get into a big fight. Nami looked at them like they were crazy. They were supposed to be best friends and yet they fought like they hated each other.
"Did you need something, or did you just come over here to get me even angrier?" she asked, crossing her arms under her breasts.
Zoro glanced at her and smirked. "I wanted to know what you're doing this weekend," he said causally. She looked at him, at a complete loss for words. Vivi couldn't be right, could she? There was no way. It just wasn't plausible. "Cat got your tongue?" he chuckled when she still didn't answer him. "I'll take that as an, 'You can pick me up at eight'?"
"You most certainly can't!" Nami fumed. "I'm busy this weekend, sorry," she pushed past him and started to walk away, hearing his laugh behind her and Sanji yelling at him. She stalked into her class and sat down at her spot, pulling out her sketch pad and a pencil. She really needed to find some way to challenge her anger better. This was getting out of control.
Makino walked into the room and smiled at her as she started setting up for class. "Good afternoon Miss Nami,"
"Good afternoon, Professor Makino," she answered, blindly sketching in her pad of paper.
"Are you going to participate in the school's play this year?" she asked, idly making small talk.
Nami thought about it for a minute. She'd been in every play the school performed since she first arrived at Gold Roger's Private School for the Gifted, and after a few years had been granted the lead, every year after that she'd been the lead in every major school production. She hadn't given much thought to the play this year; she'd been too preoccupied with everything else going on lately. "What play is it this year?" she asked.
"I believe they're putting on Grease this year," Makino called from over on the other side of the room.
Nami thought about it, it could be fun. It was the epitome of bad boy meets good girl, and it was one of her favorite musicals to watch when she was stuck at home on a Saturday night. It could be fun playing Sandy and the clothes would be fun to help with. Making up her mind Nami signed up for the auditions after class; where Cabaji found her. "Where did you run off to?" he whispered in her ear.
She shrugged him off and glared. "I went outside to get some fresh air, shouldn't you be speeding off somewhere on your bike right about now?" Nami asked walking down to her locker.
"Not today," Cabaji said following her. "Arlong wants me to take you home until he gets back from his meeting," he told her, leaning against the wall of lockers beside hers.
"What? He said I could go to Vivi's," she complained.
Cabaji shrugged lazily, "The boss texted me during lunch, I already told Vivi," he sighed and grabbed her bag from her hands as she wrapped the scarf Vivi gave her around her neck. "So you're going home and getting started on your homework." He told her, escorting her out of the building.
Zoro and his whole group of friends were sitting on the steps leading from the school and he smirked at her when she walked by, her arm in Cabaji's hand. "Hey Nami, where you going in such a hurry?" he called out to her. "Seems like your boyfriend wants to get you home fast," he smirked and chuckled.
She turned and glared at him. "One he's not my boyfriend, and two, like I would ever let him touch me like that." She snapped. She ripped her arm out of Cabaji's hand and got on the back of his motorcycle as he grabbed his helmets from the back. He always carried two because they never knew when Arlong was going to have him taking her someplace. He handed one to her and Nami pulled it on without a word. Once he had the bike started and was on it, Nami wrapped her arms around his waist and closed her eyes. She really hated riding with him, he was careless and she knew that one of these days he was going to crash and she just knew that she was going to be on the back of the death trap when he did. He sped off and Nami held her breath as the bike jerked forward.
Once she was safe and sound back on her own two feet she let him into the house and went to the kitchen to look for something to eat, since she'd skipped lunch she was starving and god only knew when Arlong would be home with dinner. Cabaji came in and leaned on the counter, she could feel his eyes on her back and tried to ignore the feeling it gave her. Cabaji was like a snake, always waiting for the right moment to strike and she never felt safe with him, the only reason she knew that he wouldn't try anything was because Arlong would kill him if he did. She pulled out some left over Kung POW Chicken from the fridge and moved to the microwave putting it inside to warm up.
"So what's the play this year?" he asked, looking through a magazine he'd brought in with him.
"Grease," she answered while making coffee. "Sandy would be a fun role to play," she sighed and grabbed her food from the microwave and picked at it while she waited for the coffee.
"Hmm, Grease huh?"
Nami didn't like that tone that Cabaji had, but she didn't mention anything to him about it. She didn't need to in order to know what he was planning. He was going to audition for the play and try to land the role of Danny; with her luck, he'd get it too. After she poured her coffee and grabbed her food she went into the living room and pulled her iPod out of her bag along with her homework. She plugged in her headphones and got started on her homework while Cabaji watched TV. With any luck Arlong's meeting wouldn't run late and he'd come home and tell Cabaji to get lost. The sooner the creep was out of her house the better she would feel.
Unfortunately Arlong didn't get home till nine that night, and Cabaji had been more than a pain in the ass. Complaining when she took the remote away from him and turned the channel, when she'd made him fork over money for dinner, and when she'd made him wait outside with the doors locked so she could take a shower. Even a threat from Arlong wouldn't keep the bastard from peeping at her.
"Hey baby," he said kissing the top of her head and smiling. She looked up at him with a glare. "Nami, don't look at me like that, the meeting took longer than I expected," he tried to explain.
"A whole five hours longer?" she asked getting up. She shook her head when he opened his mouth to say something. "Just make him leave already, he's annoying." She pointed over at Cabaji who was reclining on the loveseat watching wrestling on TV
Arlong sighed and nodded his head. "Cabaji you can go," he took off his suit jacket and laid it over the back of the couch. "Thanks for doing this for me," he added.
Cabaji nodded and stood up, turning off the TV and dropping the remote on the table. "No problem boss," he grabbed his bag and his keys. "See you tomorrow Nami," he gave her a bone chilling smile and left.
"So how was school?" Arlong asked as he looked through the food she'd ordered.
Nami sighed and collapsed against the couch again, lying down on the sued material. "It was another boring day, I signed up for the school play though," she added a little more quietly. "Hope you don't mind."
"Of course not, you know I love watching you perform." He smiled and sat down beside her on the couch, pulling her feet up onto his lap. "What's it going to be this year?"
"Grease, I'm hoping to get Sandy," she mumbled into one of the matching pillows that came with the couch. "Then again, I don't know if I really want her, it depends on who gets Danny," she added.
Arlong nodded, "I'll probably have Buggy pick you up from rehearsals, if he doesn't creep you out too much,"
Meaning if he didn't creep her out anymore than Cabaji did. "No, Buggy's fine," she mumbled turning around so her head wasn't buried against the pillow anymore; she was having trouble breathing through all that material. "Auditions are tomorrow, and rehearsals start next week," Arlong nodded and looked at the blank TV thoughtfully. "Something wrong?" she asked after a few minutes of silence. She was thinking the meeting hadn't gone the way he'd hoped; which probably meant there was blood to be spilled.
"Yeah, just thinking," he murmured.
Nami sighed, he didn't usually talk about his 'work' and she didn't ask, because honestly she didn't want to know. "Alright, well I think I'm going to go to bed," she sighed getting up.
"Good night sweetie," he said smiling.
"Night," she kissed his head and headed up stairs to her bedroom. She walked inside, turned on the light, and looked around. It was a huge room shaped strangely for her taste. When you first walked into the room you could see two French doors leading to the balcony that wrapped halfway around the left side of the house with black curtains that could cover the windows and on either side were two floor to ceiling bookcases filled with books, and some of them spilled over onto the floor and other various places in the room. The wall that came off on the right side of the wall with the French doors held her dresser before the wall indented, her bed was pushed into the spot where it dipped, two small bedside tables on either side of it, one holding a lamp and the other holding her alarm clock. Above the bed was another shelf that held pictures, more books, and had two cabinets filled with various items. After the wall came back out from the indent there was another small desk that held her laptop and a printer. From the left side of the wall holding the French doors, half of the wall was her closet. It was a walk in style that held so many clothes and shoes she was certain that if she didn't do any laundry for two months she would still have clean clothes to wear and after the closet there was a small half hexagon stage with three mirrors where she could model her outfits before deciding on one. The remaining part of the wall was covered with a hot pink couch that lined the wall and slid up the side of the stage. The walls alternated between hot pink and black with white carpet and a ceiling and trim along the walls. The texture of the bedding and the chairs in the room was zebra print along with the pillows on her bed that were also hot pink and black. The desks were either black or white and on one of the black walls there was a painted white tree on the black wall her bed was by that she had hand painted.
She sighed and dropped her bag beside her bed and changed into a simple black silk nightgown that floated down to her shins and had decorative lace around the hems. She pulled back the blankets and climbed into bed, setting her alarm back an hour since she didn't have to be to school early tomorrow and closed her eyes, planning on going to sleep. Unfortunately an unwanted image appeared in her mind. Roronoa Zoro. Damn him, why wasn't it enough that he had to bother her at school, now he had to plague her dreams? What did she do to deserve that? She knew the answer to that. She wasn't interested in him, that's why he picked on her so much. She was the only girl he could do it to without thinking that it meant something more. Should he pick on any other girl, they would think that he was interested in her and she'd follow him everywhere. So she was forced to be the brunt of all his jokes and teasing. Finally falling asleep she made a secret promise to herself to make sure she paid him back.