Chapter Two – First Day
If there was one thing that could get Luffy to wake up faster than a bucket of cold water in the face, it was the smell of bacon. Since Makino didn't exactly approve of such unhealthy foods, it was a somewhat rare treat in the household. Shanks, Makino, and Ace were all in their new kitchen when Luffy tore in at top speed. "ALL RIGHT!" he cheered at the sight of the frying pan. "Thanks, Makino!"
Makino nodded and smiled. "Same thing every year, Luffy. First day of school comes with a special breakfast."
Ace leaned back in his chair and grinned. "It's so easy to make you happy, Luffy," he commented, shaking his head. "Just a little bit of good meat, and everything is right in the world, eh?"
Luffy just grinned in return as he sat. Then he looked at Ace. "Why are you up so early? College doesn't start for another week, I thought."
"It doesn't," he replied with a shrug. "I thought it would be good to see you off on your first day at this new school..."
Luffy laughed. "Since when do you care? You love sleeping in. This is surprising!"
Ace smirked. "I'm also gonna drive you every morning for the first week. You know how easily you get lost, so make sure to pay attention when I'm driving you."
Luffy frowned. "Hey, that's not very nice. I don't get lost that easily... do I?"
Everyone sweatdropped. He really did get lost that easily.
Before he knew it, it was time for Luffy to leave. "Awww, but I'm still hungry," he complained as Shanks handed him money for lunch. Shanks laughed. "I guess you'll have to survive until lunch, huh?"
Makino came up and hugged him. "Good luck, honey. Try not to get lost in the school, okay?"
"Hey!" Luffy yelled in protest. "I'm not that dumb, okay? Jeez."
Shanks laughed again and patted his son's shoulder. "More importantly, pay attention in class, and make sure you write all your home-"
"I KNOW, Shanks," Luffy groaned. "Bye, guys." As he and Ace walked down their large front lawn to the car parked in front of it, Makino kept waving as Shanks closed his eyes and grinned.
"How well do you think Luffy will do there...?" Shanks wondered aloud. Makino smiled at her husband. "He'll be fine. We both know it. Now... get inside and iron your clothes for work."
"But Makinooooo," he whined as he followed her inside. "Why can't you do it...?"
The drive to the school wasn't that long. To Luffy's great annoyance, Ace kept reminding him to pay attention to where they were going. "Don't forget, Luffy," he kept saying, "I'm only driving this first week."
"Be quiet, jeez!" Luffy said exasperatedly. "I know; I won't get lost."
Ace grinned. "Yeah, well, I'm just making-" Suddenly, someone turned out of a side road right in front of them, cutting them off and forcing Ace to slam on the brakes. The black sports car sped away at a ridiculously high speed, its engine roaring obnoxiously. Ace blinked. "Who the hell does that guy think he is...?" he muttered angrily as he continued down the road at a more acceptable speed. "Could've gotten us killed..."
"I'll find out for you," Luffy growled, "and kick his ass."
Ace glanced at him. "Ooooh, no, you won't," he said warningly. "I told you, don't start things in this school. It's dangerous."
Luffy crossed his arms. "And I told you, I don't care."
Ace sighed and didn't bother arguing. The rest of the trip was made in silence. They arrived at Roguetown High. Upon entering the rather long entryway that wrapped around the parking lot and led to the front of the school, Luffy couldn't help but notice how much the school resembled a prison. It was large and blocky with a plain, tan color exterior. The only thing that made it seem less foreboding were the several large windows in the upper levels and the cheap flower pots that were placed on the sills as a sad attempt to make the place look more lively. The large front lawn had weak green grass with scraggly trees. The large ornate sign that welcomed people to Roguetown High on that front lawn was surrounded by a poorly done arrangement of flowers.
"Um... welcome to Roguetown High... I guess," Ace said as he pulled up in front of the school, joining the large throng of vehicles doing the same. His voice sounded almost sympathetic. Luffy raised an eyebrow at him. "Gee, thanks," he said sarcastically. "I'll see ya later." He got out of the car and watched Ace drive away. As he joined the crowd to walk up the paved ramp that led to the several glass front doors, he experienced a lot of pushing and shoving. He walked into the large entrance hall. There were lots of kids standing around in groups talking. On the right was the cafeteria. A lot of kids were hanging out in there as well. Some of the long off-white tables were mostly devoid of people. Luffy sat at one of those and just watched the others with his chin in his hands. At one table, there was a group of pretty girls chatting with each other animatedly. At another, there were two boys. One had curly, black hair and a long nose, and the other had neatly combed pink hair and round glasses. They seemed to be arguing over cards laid out on the table. At a third table, there was some huge guy surrounded by a bunch of other tough-looking guys. They were speaking in low tones, sometimes laughing derisively. The huge guy in the middle noticed Luffy looking at him and glared. "What are you looking at, kid?" he snarled.
Luffy raised his eyebrows. "You," he stated as if the answer was obvious. The guy was pretty ugly. He had a large, square face, messy, short purple-ish hair, and a bulging body. He seemed to a leader figure to the little group of tough kids sitting at that table.
"Me?" the boy said, amused. "Hahaha!" He got up and the others backed away with grins on their faces. "You better watch what you say," he added threateningly as he advanced towards Luffy. Luffy continued to watch him with mild interest as he sat down heavily in the chair next to him. He put his arm around Luffy's shoulders in a mock friendly manner. "Otherwise, you just might... get hurt." He took the straw hat off Luffy's head and twirled it around on the tip of his finger. "No hats allowed in school, you naughty boy."
Luffy aggressively snatched his straw hat from the boy's hand. "Don't touch that, you square-face freak," he said, annoyed.
"WHAT?" the boy roared, jumping up. "DON'T YOU DARE-"
A teacher ran in. "Oi, Krieg, isn't a bit early in the school year to be starting fights?" he inquired loudly. "It's the first day, for God's sake. Leave that kid alone."
Krieg put his fist down and stalked away toward his group. "Fine," he muttered. "...For now."
At that point, the bell rang. As everyone milled towards the stairs or first-floor classrooms, Luffy took the schedule that was mailed to him a couple weeks ago out of his red backpack and looked at it. "Aaah, wait, Teacher Ossan," he called to the teacher who was already walking away. He turned around. "Teacher Ossan? Learn a little respect, boy." "Ah, sorry... sir," Luffy quickly added. "Can you tell me where this room is?" His first class was chemistry. The teacher looked at it. "The room number starts with 3, so it's on the third floor. I'm sure you can find it from there." With that, he walked away. "Jeez, such helpful people in this school..." Luffy muttered as he made his way to the stairs.
As he searched the third floor, he heard the bell ring again. "Hmm, sounds like class has just started," he said to himself. Four minutes later, Luffy was still searching in halls empty of people when the bell rang yet again. Now he started to run. "Shit, I'm late!" he groaned as he dashed around. "Oooh, I've been here before... and here... and here... and HERE, TOO... Goddamnit!" Finally, he arrived at his classroom five minutes late. The moment he stepped in, a short old lady behind the counter screeched at him, "YOU'RE LATE, YOU PIECE OF VERMIN!" Everyone snickered as he took the front center seat, the only seat left in the crowded classroom. "Sorry," he said, "I'm new here, first day, so I-"
"WHY ARE YOU TALKING?" the teacher screamed. "SHUT UP!" This renewed the quiet laughter all around the classroom.
The rest of the class went uneventful. They went over the syllabus and the teacher laid down the safety rules of the lab. "And last but not least, and I know this will be hard for all of you... DON'T DO ANYTHING STUPID! Any questions? Good." At that moment, the bell rang, signifying the start of homeroom. The teacher took attendance as everyone listened to the school announcements coming to them through the speaker hanging from the ceiling in the corner of the room.
The next class was math. It was on the second floor, and this time, Luffy was only 3 minutes late. His teacher, however, was not some half-blind, short old lady who flipped out and screeched at him. It was a tall, dark haired man. When class began, he talked very quietly to the point where the students had to make sure they weren't even breathing too loud to listen to him. Mr. Devlin was indeed a soft spoken man, but it could easily be seen how intelligent he was.
"Another thing..." he said as he was describing how the class will run for the rest of the year. "I do not scold students for misbehaving in class. I do not report them, unless it is under an extreme case. Instead, I will hand you a piece of paper at the end of class that tells you how much your grade has dropped as a result of your... poorly made decision." He gestured at a pile of paper next to his bag on the long teacher's desk. "Do not make me use these, as they are my enemy just as much as they yours. I would like to see everyone here pass. That is my goal as a teacher and I believe you are all highly capable of helping me reach that goal." He paused for a few long moments and looked around almost blandly at the students before him. He then turned around and started writing simple algebra problems on the board.
When the class ended, Luffy heard mutterings of how weird their teacher was. "Why's he gotta be so quiet...? What teacher does that? It's so annoying." "He gives such blank looks. It's almost creepy..." Luffy frowned. He did give a bit of a weird vibe, but at the same time, he couldn't help but like him.
Third period came with study hall. Luffy found this one pretty easy without being late. The fact it was also on the second floor made it easier. The teacher who overlooked this study hall was a rather attractive, young woman who seemed to be very good-natured. When the late bell rang, signifying the beginning of class, she sat on the edge of the teacher's desk and smiled. "Well, study hall is supposed to be quiet and for work, but I know you guys talking is gonna be inevitable. So, just make sure you keep it down to a level where you're not disturbing the classes around us, 'kay?" Everyone happily agreed and immediately started talking to their neighbors. Some people moved chairs around to talk to groups of friends and such. Luffy just leaned back in his chair in the back of the room and closed his eyes, wondering what was going to be for lunch. According to his schedule, he was going to have to go through one more class after study hall before that beloved time of day.
A cute girl with bright blond hair and pale skin was talking to a group of friends. She noticed the boy with black hair in the back sitting all by himself with his eyes closed. He had a sort of nonchalant air about him. She realized that she had never seen him before, so she turned to her friends and said, "Hold on a sec, girls. I'm gonna go talk to that new guy." "Oooh, you noticed him, too?" one of her friends inquired. Another giggled. "He's kinda cute..." "Yeah, but I wonder what's with that straw hat he's got hanging from his neck," yet another said, frowning. "It's kinda weird." The blonde shrugged and got up to walk over to him. She always did this when she noticed a new person. She was a genuinely nice, kind-hearted girl who always wanted to make others feel welcome.
Luffy sensed someone walking over to him, but he didn't bother opening his eyes. "Um, hi," said a soft female voice. Luffy opened an eye to give her a look. She wore relatively plain clothing, but she was rather good-looking nonetheless. A very warm smiled graced her pale face. She extended a slender hand. "My name is Kaya."
Luffy opened both his eyes and shook her hand. "Yo, I'm Luffy," he responded.
Kaya sat down. "So, you're new here, yes?"
"Yeah," Luffy answered, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes again. "I just moved here a week ago."
"I see," she said. "Where are you from?"
"Waaaay up north, in a town called Fuchsia."
"Oooh, so do you like it here?"
"Um, not really. Maybe I just gotta get used to it."
She laughed. "Yeah, I have to say, just about anywhere seems to be a better place to live than Roguetown. I actually live just outside Roguetown."
"Oh? Why do you go to this school then?"
"Well, the house I live in is very old, and it has been passed down from generation to generation. This school was built before the other one closer to me, so it was originally the only choice. Now, it's just tradition that all our family come here..."
Luffy smirked. "Dumb tradition, I'd say."
Kaya nodded appreciatively. "It is rather annoying."
They talked a little more. When they were done, Kaya got up and smiled. "Well, if you ever want someone to do your homework with or something, you can come join me anytime you want, okay?"
Luffy nodded and she walked away. As she rejoined her group, he noticed a blue-haired girl looking at him. He caught her eye and grinned. She quickly looked away with a small smile on her face. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes yet again. 'Haha, the people here are funny,' he thought. 'I wonder what's for lunch...'
The bell rang soon after Luffy and Kaya's conversation had ended. Fourth period was history on the first floor. The teacher was a middle-aged woman with black hair. She was nice, but judging by the syllabus, it seemed that she loved to give out work. Luffy groaned inwardly when he saw how many essays they were going to write throughout the year.
Finally, fifth period came. Luffy walked as quickly as he could to the cafeteria. He got there before most other kids, so he didn't have to wait long in line for his food. It was chicken nuggets. He bought that and some chips and sat down at the emptiest long lunch table he could find. He ate his lunch very fast and was disappointed to realize that he was still hungry. However, he had used all the money Makino had given him, so he just sat back and watched the other kids. The cafeteria was quite crowded and noisy. Suddenly, he noticed a somewhat weird looking guy with blue hair and huge arms walking toward his table. He was flanked with two girls. They had extraordinarily huge and odd-shaped black hair and wore rather small, tight clothing that left little to imagination. They were talking and laughing pretty loudly as they walked, drawing annoyed stares from everyone around them. Suddenly, he stopped in front of Luffy's table. The girls stopped as well and gave their companion a curious look. "What's wrong, Aniki?" they asked.
"Yeow!" he exclaimed, looking at Luffy. "Who's this new kid sitting here?" He sat down opposite him and pushed up the sun glasses covering his dark eyes. Luffy realized with a jolt that his nose was metal. "Hey," he greeted, trying to keep his eyes off the guy's nose.
"Name's Franky," the guy stated as if Luffy had asked. Luffy nodded. "And I'm Luffy. Nice to-"
"LUFFY, HUH?" Franky interrupted loudly. "Super name, kid! I like it. Don't you, girls?"
"Of course," they chorused in unison.
Luffy raised an eyebrow. "Umm... thanks."
"No problem, no problem," Franky replied airily. He leaned back and placed his feet on the lunch table. He was wearing worn brown leather sandals. He had a Hawaiian style shirt buttoned up, except it was a bit too small for him and looked like it was going to burst open any minute. Once you include the small swim shorts he was wearing, he was indeed one strange-looking character. "Now," he continued, "I'll have you know that me and my gang are the best mechanical geniuses around! You got any car problems, you come to us. We'll take care of ya real good, and for a much lower price than real mechanics!"
Luffy sweatdropped. "So, um, you're not real mechanics?"
"No no, that's not what I meant...! You know what I mean, Straw Hat!"
"Straw Hat, eh?" Luffy repeated with interest. "No one's called me that before. I like it!" He laughed. "So, Franky, you're the leader of a gang?"
"Yep, and proud of it," Franky nodded. The girls nodded enthusiastically as well. With that, he got up to leave. "Well, Straw Hat, it's been nice talking to you..."
"Wait," Luffy said suddenly as the gang leader started walking away. He turned around. "Hm?"
"Do you know a guy named Krieg?"
Franky laughed. "Who doesn't? That fugly brute is pretty infamous around here. Has the biggest gang in town. Real good fighter too..." He tapped his chin as if thinking hard. "I'd say Zoro is the only one who could give him a run for his money. But seeing as Zoro never fights without reason, and Krieg wouldn't ever want to pick a fight with him... I guess we'll never find out."
"Zoro, huh? Who's that?"
Franky shook his head. "Man, you really are new, aren't you? He's the best fighter around, and the captain of two of our sport teams."
"Oh, so he's not in a gang?"
"Nah, he doesn't really like gangs. He's more of a loner. One lucky guy, too. If you ever see his girl, you'll know why I say that." He laughed again and started walking away. "Ja ne!" "Bye!" the girls chimed in.
The rest of the day went without event. Luffy's last four classes were English, his elective (cooking), chemistry, and finally gym. When the final bell rang, Luffy heaved a sigh. "My god, that was a long day... I thought it would never end." Buses were lined up in front of the school. Kids were standing all around the front lawn and sidewalk hanging out, talking, kissing their significant others good-bye, and other such activity. As the buses pulled away, Luffy noticed Ace's car driving up the entrance road that wound around the parking lot led to the front of the school. As he started walking toward Ace's car, he noticed a beautiful convertible roaring down the parking lot to the exit. In it was a smug Franky, both girls in the car with him. Luffy shook his head when he got in his brother's car.
"Hm? What's up?" Ace inquired as he pulled away.
"Haha, nothing," Luffy replied. "So I met a couple scary gang leaders today." There was much sarcasm in the word "scary".
"Wow, already?" Ace said, surprised. "Well, tell me about it." Luffy told him all about Krieg and Franky.
"Well, that Franky sounds like an interesting guy..." Ace said thoughtfully. "But Krieg is they type I warned you about, Luffy. Don't cross him."
Luffy scowled. "Franky said only some kid named Zoro would have a chance against him. Ha, whatever. I could take on square-face."
Ace shook his head. "I just really hope you don't eat those words someday, Luffy..."
WillLuffy eat those words someday? Or will he really be able to take Krieg on? And when will Luffy get to meet this legendary Zoro? Okay, so yeah, boring chapter. But don't worry; it will be a lot less boring as it goes on! Okay, until next time.