Chapter Two: Classmates with a...?!

Chapter Notes: -

There was a loud crash where a metallic pot fell on the floor, spilling its hot contents all over the place.

The scene playing out was a shoulder-length haired woman striking a fighting stance, ready to defend herself at any moment's notice from the two people that just entered the kitchen.

In fact, it was wrong to say this since it was the shoulder-length haired woman that was the intruder and the two that just entered the kitchen were the residents.

"Darling, stay back!" Boa Hancock said with a forceful tone, her hands outstretched as if to protect Luffy from the stranger.

The tall, skinny, straw-hat wearing teen's eyes became that of when he hunted down criminals: narrow and cold, devoid of any warmth. He exuded a killer's aura that sent chills down both the women in the room's spines. However, after a while, this frightening aura subsided.

"Ah, my bad, my bad," Luffy apologised sincerely, smiling sheepishly as he did so. "I'm just so terribly hungry that I didn't take it well when I saw you spill the food. Ahhh~," he sighed. "Look at all that meat you wasted."

The shoulder-length haired girl did a couple of backflips to distance herself away from the teen. In her mind all she was thinking was to figure out a way to get away from this place safely. "That teen isn't normal," she thought to herself.

However, before she could go on any further, Luffy stretched out his arm and caught her by surprise.

"Where do you think you're going? You're the cook here aren't you?" Luffy smiled widely. "What's your name?"

Nico Robin didn't know whether the straw-hat wearing teen was dumb or not, but either way, she remained apprehensive and wary of both of them. Though she remained silent, Boa Hancock spoke instead.

"I think you're misunderstanding something, Luffy-dear."

"Oh, is that so? Well, I certainly thought she was the cook. She must be the helper of the house then!" Luffy insisted.

Knowing that Luffy would not give up the case, Boa Hancock could only sigh inwardly and shake her head slightly. "That's the nice way to put it, but no, she's the maid."

It was a few minutes later after the incident. Boa Hancock recooked everything from scratch for her beloved Luffy but she made a bit of extra for the girl too at Luffy's request.

"She looks hungry doesn't she?" Luffy observed. "Hey, you look like you're about to pass out. Come and eat with us. You can have one of my meat. Just ONE by the way."

And so, Boa Hancock led the stranger into the kitchen to get her to help her with the cooking. Of course, she wasn't very happy about it since she wanted to make everything for Luffy herself but it couldn't be helped. If Luffy insisted that she was the maid, then that's that and all she could do was to let the act continue by getting her to do her duties as a "maid".

As soon as they were out of sight and out of hearing distance, she pulled the stranger to the side and started in a dangerous tone, "You may have fooled my fiance, but you're not going to fool me. I know who you are… Nico Robin."

Nico Robin looked back into the towering woman before her's eyes. She had been used to people looking at her with loathing and hatred as if she was a plague or an object or a tool for their use. However, she could not detect any signs of that in the woman's eyes. Instead, all she saw was that of a woman who wanted to protect her lover from being stolen by another woman.

She was confused of the events that transpired, but she concluded that the place seemed like a good place to hide from her pursuers. Much like how she skipped from person to person, she decided that this would be her next place of refuge until she could no longer stay anymore. However, she always kept her guard up just in case.

Nodding her head slightly in acknowledgement, she said, "Very well then, Master."

Boa Hancock huffed angrily. "I don't want to be called that."

"Then what should I call my employer?"

"Oho~ So you understand that due to my fiance's whim, you've come under my employment. Very well, call me Boa Hancock. As for your pay… I'm a fair woman. Though giving you food and shelter for free should be a fair enough exchange, I'll be paying you the minimum wage for maids. Of course, I expect you to take care of everything that comes with the title."

Nico Robin acknowledged.

Luffy waited… not patiently, but not impatiently either… for the food to be cooked. His stomach grumbled loudly and it took all of his effort to sit down and wait for the food to come.

"Nico Robin, huh?" he muttered aloud, audibly enough only for himself to hear.

The intruder hadn't introduced herself yet, but he already knew and was mulling things over. He could give away her location to the Marines and gain even more credit, but he thought it too troublesome to do. Besides, memories of the heinous acts of the tenryuubito were still fresh on his mind and he found himself questioning what he was really fighting for.

Was it for the world to be a better place?

He didn't really know. Whatever it was, before he knew it he was already slipping into a depressive state.

"Oh, what do we have here?" a rather bossy, annoying voice came up directly close to his ear.

He turned to see who the voice belonged to and saw a pink haired girl's head coming out from his shoulders.

Huh?

His shoulders?

"EEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHH?!" he exclaimed in surprise before leaning away from the strange apparition so much that his chair tilted sideways, crashing and hurtling him towards the floor.

"G-g-g-ghost!"

As soon as she heard her beloved's panicked voice, Boa Hancock dropped everything that she was doing immediately and rushed towards Luffy's location.

"What happened darling? - Oh, hi there Perona," she greeted the apparition (or was it a girl?) casually as if this wasn't something out of the blue.

"Principal!" the ghost girl pouted. "How rude, this stranger just called me a ghost! More importantly, who is he anyway?" she demanded.

"Oh him? He's Luffy. He'll be your new classmate from Monday on," before adding under hear breath, "And he's my fiance too."

Fortunately, neither Perona nor Luffy heard the latter part as both of them could only stare at each other with their faces filled with terror.

"Eeeh?! You mean to tell me that I have a ghost for a classmate?"

"What?! I've never heard anything about a new classmate, much less a GUY!"

They both shouted simultaneously.

End of Chapter Two

To be continued...