Guess what, guys? It turns out I'm not dead and therefore able to release another chapter!

I don't really have anything to say about my huge absence, except that I had been on a hiatus from watching One Piece for a while. Quite truthfully, I'm still on about episode 325 though I am aware of quite a lot of things that happen after due to my forum browsing. Also, my writing style may have changed from the last two chapters; either in actual narration or with my level of familiarity in this story.

I could've sworn that I wrote about three thousand or so words already for this chapter, but they somehow became deleted from my hard drive so I had to start over. Oh well, crying wouldn't get me anywhere. Enough talk; action!

Disclaimer: One Piece is not mine (why don't people just say that anymore?).

Chapter 3 (Finished 04/20/2010)

Nami sat impatiently against the walls of the room, her legs crossed and bobbing up and down. She still had a major migraine from earlier that day; what with that long-nosed liar whispering outlandish tales to the new student every time she spoke, which was quite often, and the starry-eyed expression that the idiot would wear a second later. It amazed her how he could do that; she would've probably already conducted some experiment on his eyes if her reputation had allowed her to do so.

As she had finally made it to the library, very few of her male friends were actually there. And, she was willing to bet that almost three-quarters of them didn't just up and get out of there into the hall for the simple reason that they either didn't hear, or had rambunctious girlfriends. When she finally spotted a familiar head of dark blue hair and proceeded to smile and walk over however, the new kid-Luffy-yelled out in excitement and ran off into the isle of picture books. Usopp hesitantly followed in an attempt to advise him to keep it down.

Picture books, really? At that point, she nearly gave up on helping this kid out. If he ended up kicked out or arrested and put into prison for life for making such a mess, it wasn't her problem, was it? She should just tell him that it was his fault in the first place; but no, that wouldn't be good for her. She could only sigh and follow after them.

It didn't end up that bad, actually. Especially when Nami bent down to pick up one of the discarded books Luffy was throwing around, only to read the title of one of the only books based on her favorite past time which she had never seen before in this library. She just couldn't put it down. The rest of the lunch was spent with her leisurely sitting on a couch while keeping a noble eye for anyone who could spot them and spread gossip around that Nami was 'slacking' on the job. Thank goodness the library was nearly empty.

That was then and this is now. Of course, the pain in her head was no reason for why she was here. Why was she here?

"Hey Nami, I scheduled something for you today."

Why?

"W-What are you talking about? You see me everyday…what's so different this time?" She tried to smile innocently to hide it.

"It's not that anything's changed," she leaned forward slightly on her elbows, "I've been meaning to for a while, actually."

Without consulting me?! I ought to-

"You've been stuttering again, Nami."

'Well, big thanks to you, Nojiko; really.' Nami cursed in her mind bitterly. That's why she was now sitting in the middle of a waiting room, watching the seconds tick by until the dreaded time when she would be called. She was absolutely, one-hundred percent not crazy. Yet every few months or so, Nojiko would suddenly start sprouting out serious innuendos and send her here again. Each time she came, the person she would see would be different.

The first was only a couple weeks after what had happened. She was nine, and her sister found her sitting atop of that hill, muttering fruitless words about how she'd save everyone. In her state, she didn't -couldn't- resist Nojiko's rants, and ended up face to face with a stern-looking lady with glasses, blonde hair tied up neatly in a bun, and an unhealthy obsession with soap. Needless to say, Nami drove that woman crazy the second she came in the door with a dirt stain all over her small dress.

The second didn't come again until 3 years later, well after she had learned how to use her body and sweet smile in order to get what she wanted. She never did anything drastic, but it gave them something to talk about until the hour was up. It helped that all the ones she was assigned to since then were males, after the apparent complaint that her first had filed against her masculinity.

They kept coming and going, but she did remember one that was particularly loathsome. He had a large build and figure, and was always looming over her and whispering things about how she would never escape. If he wasn't so intimidating and somehow comfortable in the dark corner of her life, she would've simply punched him in the gut like she had with some of the others. Instead, she simply called her sister on it and told her to switch.

She learned not to lie to them; it was their job to catch on to that kind of stuff. Of course, that didn't mean that she couldn't obscure some of the truth. And she had to say, she was pretty good at it.

"Ah, Nami-san!"

The girl addressed widened her eyes at the familiar voice and immediately stopped the childish charade in her legs, before turning to the woman standing by the door way.

"M-Ms. Nico?!" Her mouth opened in shock at the sight of her Geography teacher in a white suit and a solid gold nametag across the right side of her chest. Too bad she didn't have a gold nametag; it would be nice…hehe…

"Well then, this is interesting," the tall woman smiled, interrupting Nami from her silent chanting, "come on in, Nami-san." The orange-haired girl quickly snapped out of it, and stood up to follow the teacher.

"I decided to come out here and meet my next patient in person," she looked over her shoulder at the teen, answering one of the questions she held in her mind. "I always do that with my newer ones."

"Excuse me, Ms. Nico, but aren't you…?" Darn it, she was stuttering again. It had been happening since she left school yesterday and she could only be so glad that it had chosen to pop up again only once the weekend had arrived. Sitting in that library and reading that book…it was all that new kid's fault.

"Yes, I'm a school teacher too," her smile nearly grew wider in response to Nami's gaping mouth, "I only do this as a part-time job when I'm not occupied. And I thought we established this, Nami-san, that you shall address me as Robin." Neither said another word until they were both in Robin's office and seated in a room filled with motivational posters.

'Challenges…? I face them!'

'It doesn't hurt to be different as it does to be the same.'

'This environment accepts everyone despite sexual orientation.'

Nami cringed slightly at them, only to have her teacher chuckle softly. "Those are for some of my younger patients."

"I-I can see that…"

"Of course, they aren't mine. I prefer to accept the notion that the sun shall burn out one day, become a black hole, and take out the galaxy with it. We'd all be doomed."

"Yeah, then we'll just have to escape." Nami shrugged.

"I see…" Nico Robin smiled, and wrote a line of text onto her note pad. "You're a very bright person, Nami-san."

"Geography's my best subject." She smirked, before it fell into a slight frown again.

"Yes, I'd imagine so. I prefer History however. It's always changing depending on how man intends to write it, yet the results are always the same."

"Isn't that the truth?" Nami couldn't help it, but she started sliding down in her chair out of habit anyway. The conversation was a lot less abrasive than she was used to, and she always enjoyed talking to her teacher once in a while. But, having her here in this room as her mental superior was just weird; it would take a while for her blank tone to rearrange itself.

"Do you like my classes, Nami-san?"

"You're a good teacher, though…" Stutter again.

"You already know everything?" Robin's smile wore down slightly as she peered down at her paper in order to check another box on the survey.

"Yeah…" Nami smiled out of spite despite where she feared this talk was leading to. It was interesting really, having Robin being able to tread further into her life in a couple minutes than most could after hours. She could only be so grateful that Robin wasn't bringing her attitude in school into this talk.

"You know, this report says that you have episodes of stuttering every few months, is this true?"

"Yes, it is."

"Hmm, you're not stuttering now."

"This is being paid for, Robin." The thought of the one hundred and fifty dollars Nojiko was spending on something so trivial was already making Nami scoff. She knew what her sister would be eating for the next month and it just wasn't necessary. She would have to make a trip or two tonight in order to pay for it. "Stuttering would be wasting time."

"Perhaps we shall find someone to pay you for not stuttering?"

"That is what's happening right now." She had to admit though; the idea was tempting…

"It started yesterday, did it not?"

"Yeah, a little after lunch."

"I didn't think the new student would be that aggravating." Nami found herself sitting back up when the statement reached her ears.

"It's not that, Robin!" She leaned forward in her chair, and for once let the feeling of irritation in the whole situation run through her. "I found this book, alright? It was a book filled with pictures of maps and how to draw them. Normally I wouldn't have been reading such a book but I just had to show him the library, and he just had to throw it right in my direction! If it wasn't for that idiot, I wouldn't be back here!" She didn't know why, but she had the sudden urge to run up to Luffy first thing on Monday and give him a big and painful punch to the face. Not that she was allowed to.

"Eee, I suppose that's the case…do you feel angry?"

Nami sighed before finally calming down and resting her back to the chair. "No, but it's still all his fault."

"Do you like maps, Nami-san?" Robin rested her chin on the palm of her hand.

"So you like maps, Nami?" There was a smile and ruffle of her hair. She looked up cheerfully.

"Yeah…! Of course I do!"

"Yes."

"I see…" One last scribbled on the notepad, "your time is up, Nami-san. I'll see you at school on Monday."

-----

Usopp paced up and down the lone streets of Fushia, particularly in front of a certain house. It was strange really, after only being around Luffy for less than 24 hours or so, it was becoming a bit unbearable to just wonder around his house alone all day like he used to. Not that he was a nerd who stayed indoors playing video games and surfing the internet for inappropriate pictures of cartoons or anything like that, but it's just that he never had anywhere to go. Aside from his usual rounds to his job at the grocery store and perhaps a walk around the neighborhood in order to chance at spreading some rumors, he simply didn't do much.

That was why he didn't really have any excuse when Luffy decided to drag him along on his outing yesterday. That and the fact that a man never went back on his word, especially concerning paying back a debt that he owed someone.

Okay, maybe that was a lie; he just enjoyed actually being around someone.

"Prompt number 56…" Usopp whispered to himself while scratching a well-sharpened and used pencil against a small notebook. He immediately put the two items down before crouching down in a shivering position.

"Oh no, look guys! There's Usopp right outside our doorstep and he's shivering!"

"Luffy! N-No, don't rescue me…I can handle it."

"No way, Usopp…! You're my friend and I can't stand not playing with you!"

"Well, if you insist then I suppose I could play with you ag-"

"Oi, Usopp!" Luffy called from a window of the house upon noticing his friend outside, shaking Usopp from his dramatic performance.

"L-L-Luffy…! N-No, don't rescue me! I can handle it-"

"Keep it down! Makino says she can't work with all the noise outside!" With that, his head popped back into the window.

"W-W-W-WAIT A SECOND…!" Usopp yelled out from in between his pose, running towards the edge of the sidewalk and climbing up the fence. He landed squarely on his feet, almost tripping in the process, but managed to make his way across the yard and start knocking loudly at the door.

"You know Usopp, if you wanted to help, you should've just said so." Luffy looked to Usopp with a half disappointed, half annoyed expression on his face as he carried a bucket filled with plates.

"That's what I've been trying to do all day!" the other teen yelled out in exasperation, almost dropping the two glasses of water he was holding. Luffy simply laughed and waved him off.

"Then it's fine, it's fine!" He grinned once more before disappearing from view into the back kitchen area. Usopp placed the two glasses in front of the guests and sighed; he'd learned by now that it was absolutely ludicrous to question Luffy. One of the reasons being not only that he couldn't answer any of them straightly, but the fact that his attitude just made it too impossible to feel inferior. It was ironic how one of the first people he associates with would be that way.

Yeah, he still didn't consider Luffy a friend exactly. They simply talked to each other for the sole reason that they have no one else to do so with; at least that was what Usopp thought about what just took place. When first comes to first and the situation called for support, neither would provide it.

'Yeah…that's what's going on…' Usopp smiled bitterly and proceeded to move on to the next table.

A noise erupted from the front of the bar.

People screamed, and the light hanging from the ceiling shook.

The inner thoughts of Usopp's mind as well as his wiping of the table with a cloth were both interrupted by the now broken half of the restaurant door that flung across the room, only missing him by mere inches. "D-D-Dangerous…!" His eyes popped out of their sockets at the sight of the door breaking on contact of the counter behind him, just where he was standing seconds before.

He slowly turned around, the part of his legs which weren't visible from behind the table shaking with all the fear pent up inside them. The rate they were going only increased when he saw three main frames from in the doorway, and a dozen or so smaller ones behind them.

"Oi, shitty bastards…! What did you do with Nami-san?!" the cry of the figure right in the center radiated from the entrance, causing some of the glasses on the tables to shatter and the hinges on all the windows in the room to break open. Surprisingly, Usopp was the only one still standing from the outburst. Others had either rushed to a chair or were crouching on the ground.

Sanji made his steps hard and stiff as he slowly walked in, the true anger and rage which filled his eyes only becoming visible under the light of the bar. He quickly scanned the few amounts of people scattered around in fear, and realizing that none of them had any business, silently muttered out a "Get out of here". No one wasted any time following that order, and the restaurant quickly emptied out.

Usopp attempted to run out along with everyone else, only to have his collar snatched by the one man that he feared the most at that moment. From the sudden stop, he fell onto the floor, the bar's apron still attached securely around his waist.

"Oh, not you again…" Patty, the figure who was beside Sanji while breaking the door, muttered with an indifferent look. "Want me to take care of him?" The blonde held up an arm, stopping Patty from advancing any further upon Usopp. He lowered his head, eyeing the white fabric around Usopp's waist.

"So, you work here, huh?" It wasn't a question, it was a fact that Sanji had imposed onto Usopp as the other 12 teenagers behind them started filing into the restaurant. That simple statement had sealed his fate, that's what he knew.

The group swiftly advanced onto the limp figure of Usopp, as he was slowly raised once again on the collar by Sanji's strong hand. This was it; he was going to take a blow and go down for his fifteen-thousand men.

"I'll ask again," he unintentionally breathed out a slight puff of smoke on Usopp's face, causing the slightly shorter teen to cough under his breath, "where are you keeping Nami-san?"

The long-nosed boy shook for another moment but quickly obliged when he peered down at Sanji's rage-filled look. His legs presumed shaking once again despite not having to support anything. "W-What are you talking a-about, Sanji? I haven't seen h-her since yesterday!" The shaking spread from his legs to his stomach and upper-body.

"You expect me to believe…" Sanji released one hand from its grip on Usopp's collar in order to light another cigarette, "…a liar like you?!" Usopp screamed slightly at the outburst, so much so that even his nose was now shaking in fear. Before the blond had a chance to throw the limp teen on the ground, a voice broke out, "may I help you, sir?"

He lowered Usopp to the ground, whom immediately fell motionless against the floor of the bar as soon as his feet touched solid ground. Sanji faced the owner of the voice with his cigarette still in tact.

"If you want something to eat, I'm afraid it would be better to ask." A woman with dark green hair stepped out from behind the counter, wiping her hands on the apron of the dress. She wore a hardened frown which held a slight tint of excitement in it. It's been awhile since anything interesting has been going on here, aside from the recent arrival of course.

"So, you're Makino, the owner of this bar, right?" Sanji lifted two fingers in order to give his mouth a chance to breathe out a puff of smoke. "You aren't exactly popular around here. It's a shame that a wonderful lady must have such a bad reputation."

"That's arguable, but I suppose that's not the reason that you're here, am I correct?"

"I think you will understand as well as anyone else that when a man's woman is threatened, kidnapped, or hurt, that that man cannot forgive the perpetrator." Part of Makino's frown disappeared to substitute with a cheerful smile.

"I'm sorry, but I don't believe that I'm threatened, kidnapped, or hurt, so you can make yourselves useful and leave."

Sanji scoffed inwardly; she was making fun of him. Unfortunately, the other dozen men behind them didn't take it as lightly.

"What was that, you bi-?!"

"Oi, Makino…!" Luffy ran out into the scene from the kitchen entrance, covered with a wide range of dishwashing bubbles from head to toe. "I think your sink's broken or something!"

"H-Hey, it's that straw-hat guy!"

"You mean that new student who talked badly about Sanji-sama?!"

"Yeah, that's him!"

A loud burst of chatter immediately overtook the back half of the room, with only Patty, Carne, and Sanji himself keeping silent. At the accelerating volume, the swirly-eyebrow teen only bit down on his cigarette harder and harder. "Be quiet; all of you!" They quickly settled down at their leader's booming voice, before erupting in another charade of sound, this time of apologies.

"We're very sorry, Sanji!"

"Please forgive us!"

"We have to make up for it somehow!"

"Oi, you guys-" Patty tried.

"We will never do it again!"

Beneath the shadow of the light, Sanji found his frown widening. He wasn't dumb; he knew when a woman needed rescuing and when Carne had received an ominous call claiming the kidnap of Nami around these areas, he wouldn't miss on the chance to rescue her. Not only would it be really shitty if someone else beat him to it, but in no way would he allow her to be hurt or taken. The fact that his own men were acting so obnoxiously just to please him would be equivalent to the thought of him saving Nami just for the thrill of the reputation he'd gain. He didn't doubt that they cared very little for the actual goal at hand. That is, if Nami was actually kept here like the voice on the telephone claimed.

It was strange, then; these people behind the counter.

"…Are you having trouble with your group?"

Sanji turned his vision from the fearful teens to Luffy, who now had a frown on his face despite the bubbles clinging to his skin. Somehow, Sanji found his once deep frown toned down to a simple look of indifference. He'd been suspecting it for a while, but he still needed to try it just to be sure. "Hey shitty straw-hat, I only came to get Nami back. Don't you dare put down my gang just to make yourself seem innocent."

"I'm not. And we don't have Nami. Leave." His frown deepened upon eyeing the limp Usopp on the floor as Sanji released another puff of smoke. The dark gleam in his eyes and the blunt way he stated it made it very unlikely for the situation he was given to be true.

He had to face it; the kid didn't have Nami. Sanji turned slightly as if in the motion to leave, ignoring the chatter of the others until both of their ears caught on to something in their conversation.

"I know how we'll pay Sanji back!"

"How…?"

"Tell us!"

"We just have to raid this place and get Nami-chan back for real!"

"That sounds like a great idea!"

"Let's go!"

"O-Oi, you guys…!" Sanji's eyes widened upon the notion, turning his body through the rest of the one-eighty just in time to see the teens rush past him, ignoring any words their leader yelled in the process. He turned again with the plan to stop them midway, but froze as the first man made connection with the presence of the straw-hat.

Luffy side-stepped to the right from the first blow and made his way left again at the second, the soap from his body whisking off him. By then, the other eleven teenagers had reached him, bringing out the knives that Sanji didn't know they had.

It happened so quickly; no one could blame the four remaining souls for not being able to do anything.

The straw-hat boy bluntly grabbed the first teen by the head and skidded his way off the top of the next, landing neatly on his feet on the opposite side in which the others were facing. Before any of them could process what had happened, he brought the arm that held the man up and swung him around in a full semi-circle. With a scream from the adrenaline and a couple grunts at the surprise blow, all twelve boys were knocked down onto the ground, unconscious.

Luffy proceeded to stand up from the crouch he was in to duck from the bodies of men flying to the ground just seconds before. He only tripped down again when his foot reached a spot on the floor which held debris of soap that had fallen from his body earlier. He attempted to up himself again, and fell on his stomach. Stupid sink and its mystery soap.

"Hey, Makino…! Take care of that mystery sink!" Luffy gasped out when he finally straightened himself by hanging on to the edge of the countertop.

With a slightly bemused expression, Makino nodded and rushed to the kitchen and away from the scene and Luffy, stepping over the motionless bodies of the other teenagers. Sanji remained silent while the faces of the two beside him contorted into a mix of irritation and shock.

"That kid is stronger than he looks…" Patty's expression twisted into that of a smirk.

"Maybe we should get out of here?"

"Nah, it's been a while since we had a challenge." Patty cracked his knuckles and proceeded to make his way to the much shorter teen. Sanji didn't stop them; the pressure on the butt of his cigarette continued to increase.

Luffy turned to Sanji when the two were midway across the room, "you know, you're not a very good captain."

The cigarette finally snapped in half.

Unexpectedly, instead of showing anger when the blonde's face was raised into the light, the stern yet small frown was still etched onto his face. He spat out the remains of the stick in the garbage and proceeded to pick up the other half. "No, I suppose I'm not."

"Sorry, but Nami really isn't here."

"Yeah, I know." Patty and Carne continued to gain on the dark haired boy. It was obvious that they weren't aware of the outside conversation. Silence took over the two.

"…Carne received a call a while ago saying that Nami-san was being kept here." He dumped the cigarette into the can, turning back to Luffy. "I don't know what he was trying to pull, but apparently he knows our every move."

Luffy looked slightly confused for a moment but nodded. At a sudden jerk, he nonchalantly reached up and punched the dark figure that had loomed behind him.

Patty flew across the opposite half of the room, crashing into Carne. The two bounced off a table, breaking its counter in half and doing a double flip in the air out the window. The moment they had both gotten up from the impact, Luffy knew that they weren't as weak as the other twelve.

"Sorry about the mess," Sanji stated once the two started mumbling curses from outside, "and dump some cold water on that guy, would you?" He motioned his head towards Usopp, who had apparently fainted during the whole ordeal. 'That's no good. I have to teach him not to faint.' Luffy noted to himself and grinned at the blond.

"Yosh, I'll see you at school then!" Sanji continued stalking out the door, without any indication to imply that he heard him. Luffy didn't notice, and went to Usopp to attempt to wake him up. For a guy who claimed to have fifteen thousand men working for him, he could only hope that they were a lot nicer than the ones Sanji had. Even if they weren't, at least they'd have a reason to with their constipation problems anyway.

"You're an interesting guy, you know that?" A low voice emitted from the very back of the room. Luffy turned his head towards the sound, before shooting another grin at the owner.

"Yo…! It's the sleeping earring guy!" Completely forgetting about the task at hand to wake his sleeping friend, he quickly made himself a seat at the table that he was sitting at. "So I guess you saw all of that, huh?"

"Yup." The moss-haired teen yawned. As long as he wasn't questioning why a teen was in a bar under-aged or ask him to leave, he didn't mind talking to him.

"That Sanji guy is a lot cooler than I thought. Usopp fainted and missed it all though…too bad." Luffy started pouting, peering at the limp figure on the ground that was, by now, drooling in his sleep. "I have to get him to not do that if he's going to be my friend."

"Ah, so you're Usopp's friend now." Zoro leaned back in the seat, almost breaking it in the process if it wasn't for his one leg propped on the ground. Indeed it wasn't something he heard everyday, considering how secluded the biggest liar in town was. "He's an unusual choice for your first friend."

"Shishishi, I thought so too!" Luffy laughed, causing his companion to raise an eyebrow at him.

"You have a knack to do that to the strangest people, I guess." The dark-eyed boy contained his laughter in order to grin at him and shrug. A comfortable silence followed afterward. The only times it was broken was when Zoro let out a yawn, or when the sounds of Makino in the back kitchen radiated throughout the restaurant.

"I would watch out if I were you." Zoro finally said upon remembering the words that the swirly-eyebrow man muttered. "And tell that woman to watch out too."

"Ah, you mean Nami?"

"Yeah." Luffy looked to him, before forming his lips into a pout and sprawling himself up against his chair in a tired and irritated fashion.

"Nah," his voice came out in almost a whiny tone, "she can handle it herself. It's her business." He stuck out his tongue while facing the doorway of the bar. "I'll help if she asks me to."

A frown made its way onto Zoro's face. Soon after it followed a parade of other negative emotions which ultimately stacked up to an expression which most people would've thought was equivalent to the green-haired teen proceeding to punch him. Luffy continued staring at the door, seemingly oblivious to whatever the man beside him thought. The seconds ticked away anyway.

Instead when the time reached its tensest point, Zoro flicked his shoulders and a smirk formed on his lips, "that's what I was thinking too."

"Zoro," Luffy stated after another moment, "are you strong?"

"Strong enough to take you on and win, probably." Luffy stuck a finger in his nose as if deep in thought. He was interesting, indeed.

"Okay, I've made my decision!" The straw-hat boy bounded up from his chair, knocking it across the floor just before it crashed against the wall. He had both his fists pumped into the air and ran into the kitchen, out of Zoro's line of eye sight. Looking irritated at first, the other teen shrugged and took another gulp of his drink.

A crash was heard from the kitchen, along with the cries of "LUFFY, YOU BROKE ANOTHER TABLE?!" followed by an "AH…?! How did that happen?!?!" Zoro felt a strange sensation climbing its way up his throat, and before he could stop it, a moderate laugh left his mouth.

"Let's see what you're thinking, Straw-hat Luffy."

-----

The door to the house slammed and a blue haired woman working on the stove turned her head slightly at the sound. She resisted the notion of rolling her eyes when noisy foot steps made their way down the hall and the yell of "Nojiko!" reached her ears. 'I guess she's back.'

"How was it?" She asked, surprisingly calm. Nami rounded the corner into the kitchen with a slight frown on her face. It was different seeing her sister walk in after a session only being a bit irritated rather than emotion raging mad like she usually was. It only made the blue-haired girl more curious when, without a word, Nami sat herself onto one of the chairs. She winced upon the feeling of the ominous creak it made.

"It was fine," She looked up, "it was my Geography teacher this time."

"Your Geography teacher…?" The older of the two raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Interesting…"

"D-Don't you start too, Nojiko…!" The orange-haired girl bit her lip and rested back in her spot, "And you know how I feel about you blowing off so much money just to send me to some psycho ward."

"Yeah, yeah," she waved her off, "I'm your older sister, so you can't do anything about it anyway." She turned around with a cheerful smile, only to see her sister's tongue stuck out right at her and a frown on her face. It was cute how she once claimed to have trashed everything, yet still maintained that particular trait. "You had two calls today by the way."

"Oh…?"

"I'm surprised it wasn't more." She turned back to the stove.

"Spit it out, Nojiko!"

"The first one was from this boy named Daisuke. He wanted to know if-"

"Next." Nami spat out as if her sister were a message box in her phone.

"Oh, and I suppose you would like the message to be deleted?"

"Okay, what did he…?" She stopped mid-sentence and cursed herself once again.

"He mentioned something about a kissing booth and wanted to meet you on the roof of the school on Monday to talk about it."

"What time?"

"Right at lunch, so you don't have to spend your early morning at school or anything."

"Well, I'm not going." Her head slid back against the tip of the chair-board as her hand covered half of her face in a tired fashion. "I'm supposed to look after the new student for the rest of the week."

"Girl or boy?"

"Boy."

"Ah…I can see why you're so tired then." Nami sighed. No, it was actually the exact opposite from what her sister was probably thinking, and about ten times as exasperating. She almost wished he'd just bow down at her feet like everyone else and be done with it, and didn't hang out with equally as annoying and strangely observant people. Next thing she'd know, he'd probably become best buddies with that creepy moss-head earring-wearing Zoro, who always seemed to be silently staring at everyone even when he was taking one of his many naps. 'Haha, no way…'

"The second one…was a little different." She lifted the pan off the stove and lowered the heat, spreading out the noodles she cooked onto a large plate. "It was from Sanji."

Nami up-righted her position and a nearly visible look of shock and almost horror crossed her face, "Sanji? What did he want?"

"He called asking me if you were alright, and that if any 'shitty idiot with a straw hat' bothered you, that he'll kick his ass for you." Nojiko stated with empty quotation marks at the phrase that obviously didn't come from her.

"How dare he refuse that cute smile!"

Out of nowhere, a booming voice filled Nami's head. The impact of it caused her to groan and rest her head on her crossed arms against the table. She didn't feel too well.

Sanji was always like that, overprotective of her if she happened to be standing within talking distance of any other boy. It was aggravating how catastrophic he took everything. Did he ever think what would happen if there ever really was an emergency and she didn't take him seriously?

Her sister managed to send her a questioning look even when facing the opposite wall, but didn't say anything for several seconds. It didn't matter, Nami could tell and opened her mouth to answer.

"Maybe she's losing her touch." Another boom.

"New student." The orange blob of hair finally replied with a strained voice and gritted teeth. She could handle it…she could take it…she wasn't weak and damn well she will…

"Ah…" A strange look crossed the taller woman's features at the mention of a trait as strange as a straw-hat, but her mouth continued on as she remembered the rest of the call, "he told you to call back immediately…"

"How interesting…! That book is your dream." An annoying and obnoxious laughter filled her mind, and that was enough.

Nojiko was interrupted when a sound emerged from the limp body on the table in front of her. It was a cross between gagging and coughing, and before the girl let herself emit a second one, she dashed out of the room and made head to the path towards the bathroom. A hard frown capsized her face and ceased to change when she calmly walked to the dinning room with plates in hand and the sound of the toilet flushing only a couple meters away. However, the small frown deepened upon the noise of the sink being turned on.

Another cough and Nami gracefully slide back into the kitchen moments after, hair and clothes perfectly intact.

"H-Hey, I don't feel like having any dinner tonight." She smiled happily at her sister before talking a wad of green out of her pockets and throwing it towards her. The item landed squarely in the palms of the older woman. "That's to pay for the session. Don't work too hard, okay?" Before she could say anything, Nami was off and in her room.

If the situation was any less depressing, Nojiko would've almost laughed at the sight of the premium amounts of cash that were now in her hand. No doubt in her mind where it came from, yet the award for such efforts always appeared so bleak to her.

The doorbell rang just then, and she had to be bothered with opening their front entrance just to behold the sight of a brown-haired boy standing on the porch. He carried a bouquet of orange flowers and a large box of chocolate in his hands, as well as a meek expression. "Um…is Nami-san here?"

"No, she's not." And she slammed the door with a smile.

-----

Luffy took in another breath with an irritated sigh, sucking the contents of his now running nose in before turning back to the paper in front of him. After countless hours of dumping cold water, beer, and some other eerily green-colored stuff Makino brought in from the back room onto him, Usopp had finally woken up and left. He asked what had happened, but only received the simple reply that he had gotten his ass kicked and shouldn't faint anymore. The long-nosed boy looked to have wanted to question Luffy further, but scurried out of the room the second his sight caught the green-haired man napping in the corner.

It was interesting, really, how Zoro managed to fall asleep anywhere and anytime. Makino had been nice enough to allow the man to stay rooted in his spot, especially considering how the commotion from earlier had driven out most of their day-time customers. That was a great idea since strangely, the way he just abruptly sat down and decided to nap on his own accord filled Luffy with a great sense of happiness. Didn't know why, but oh well.

It was that time in the bar when the more rowdy of the people started piling in. It came when the door-just recently repaired from Sanji-was kicked open violently, though not at quite the strength the earlier man had. They would stalk their way to the counter, up-righting any chairs in the way, flirt with Makino, before finally demanding a drink from the woman. However, it didn't really begin until the fighting. Yes, one guy would push the other or steal a sip from someone else's glass, and one thing would lead to another before they'd start beating each other up. Luffy didn't particularly like it, but the atmosphere they created sure was cool.

Not much help was needed, since all those men ever asked for were countless bottles of beer and maybe a cigarette or two. Which was the reason why the straw-hat boy was now forced to tackle the complexity of his math homework alone behind the counter.

This was confusing. It's not like he needed to know the value of x in order to build a ship anyway. Even if he were to make one out of boredom, he'd just go ahead and build it on instinct, that's what a true shipwright would be able to do anyhow. Aside from the initial confusion at people wasting their lives on finding what x is, Luffy scribbled a messy "Square Root 23.8/5*10^3 mm" as his final answer after a few seconds of staring and closed his book. He slide back in his chair with his hands crossed behind his head. Only a half-hour passed since he first sat down, and it was raining outside. Damn it.

"AAARRRGGGHH…! I'M SO BORED!" he slammed both his arms against the countertop of the bar and rested the side of his head against it, oblivious to the many stares he received. Maybe he should ask Zoro to play a game of tag? Luffy tilted his head to the table next to the window in which the man still sat, back against the chair board and snoring away. Noticing the sway of the trees against the wind of the storm outside the window, a bright light bulb made its way into Luffy's head.

Without bothering to grab a jacket, he dashed across the floor and made his way outside.

A man was there, arms crossed and against his chest as he stared intently at the building. He almost appeared to be waiting for Luffy out in the rain, but the theory was quickly disproved when the boy passed by him without a word. Neither seemed very affected by the storm that was now edging onto catastrophic.

"Haven't seen you around here." He finally spoke, the majority of his face hidden by the hood of his over-sized coat.

Luffy stopped in his tracks, his head turning with a smile, "me neither."

He inched his way forward, his large and muscular hand making contact with the exterior of the building, "this house is holding sturdy after all these years."

The shorter boy raised his vision away from the man, his body turned sideways and the red shirt beginning to stick loosely on his skin. The strangely-shaped roof occasionally made eerily creaks against the vicious winds and rain and the shutters of the windows shook, yet none of the noise succeeded in interrupting the sanctuary just beyond the walls. It was fooling to the mind. A ship among canoes, the scene resembling the waves of the angry ocean trying to detach an island.

"Amazing, isn't it?" He could make out the outline of a confident smirk underneath the hood.

Abandoning all sense of hesitation, Luffy turned in order to peer at the moderate structure. He had his hands crossed on his chest in a similar fashion to that of the man in front of him just moments before, a smirk gracing his features, "it should be."

Silence loomed over them, the distant sounds of "give that back!" and "you want to fight?!" audible just a few feet away. It had started.

The taller of the two stared back at him and paused, "it's not good for little boys to be out here in the rain, ya know."

"Yeah, thanks for the advice." Luffy's smile etched into a grin and he took off once more, but not before sending the building another glance. This guy didn't seem so bad.

The latter swiftly turned around, teeth gritting slightly in shock and his hair sticking out from underneath his large cloak. What was that supposed to be? Eventually, he relaxed his tense body and shook the strangeness of the abrupt response out of his mind.

"How did I even end up back here? How Un-Super…"

END OF CHAPTER

What's that? It's shorter than the last…? I know. Sorry for the lack of any real high-school clichés present in this chapter, but I'll try my best to include more of them next time without actually ruining the story. Yes, Nami was a huge focus this time around and some of you may be curious as to the sudden turn around of events.

To be honest, when I first planned this story, I had wanted something with exhilarating action and adventure, just with a mix of my own drama and romance here and there. I realized that this was just something I wrote out of my own desire to simply have a version of One Piece out there that had some more Luffy/Nami in it in order to make up for the current one. No, I very much love, support, and find Oda's handling of romance very refreshing so don't take it the wrong way. But with how cheap romance novels affect our brains these days, one can't help but be squeamish.

It occurred to me that there really was no definite path for where I was going with this and that was probably driving fans away, so all I did here was give it one. Or, at least make it more prominent than it was before. For that reason, I have also changed the summary of the story so then I'd actually get some more people reading this rather than just the ones who can look past the initial "great, another retell of the One Piece story but with bad OCs/romances and in high school". The story deserves more credit than that if I want to finish it.

Sorry for the long wait!