Pets my boyfriend loves
Chapter 4 Luffy's Job
Noisy vehicles and grouchy people. Even though it was only six thirty, the streets of Raftel were littered with people. Ones who didn't own cars waited for buses and taxis. Luffy walked through the crowd humming the song that was paying on his zoon. The small bird on his shoulders was humming along.
Luffy got his usual looks and whispers from common people while newer people of the city just stared in shock. It had gotten to the point where people were beginning to ignore the teen. Luffy would walk to school every morning and he would sometimes have a small animal with him.
It wasn't that he stood out. He wasn't wearing a business suit or anything but as a teenager, his jean shorts and red vest like shirt weren't that uncommon. He was dressed casually for school and that was about it. Sure the straw hat on his head and the fact that he was wearing flip flops was a little different, but it didn't concern many people. They were all beginning to think that he was just a normal teenager. Other than the fact about his job.
It creeped a lot of people out and scared them away, but there were still those people who believed in the trait of the D tribe and called for their help. When Luffy's family died, he had taken up to job right away. He wasn't any different from the rest of his family, maybe a little more in depth with the animals, but he had done a fine job.
The price of the job depended on the animal but it seemed that people would always pay more than the actual price. But that didn't concern the boy much. The people could pay them as much as they wanted as long as it wasn't less than the asking price. Nami seemed to like it that way as well.
Luffy crossed the street with a mass of other people and began to head towards the outskirts of the town. Near the warehouses was a path. You go through the path that leads through a small leg of woods and once out you will find two paths. One that goes to the right while the other goes to straight. Luffy took the one to the right.
Luffy followed it down the hill. The path was dirt but school buses and vehicles drove on it. Luffy walked along the side in case an impatient teen or parent comes flying by. The grass hadn't been mowed recently and went up to Luffy's ankles.
Brook began to hum another tune and Luffy turned off his zoon knowing he would get in trouble for having it at Moby Dick High. Brook stayed on the teen's shoulder as he walked up the stairs and through the double door entrance. Nobody looked up at the teen's entrance. They did seem annoyed by the humming of the small bird.
Luffy ignored everyone and went to his locker with his usual grin. He opened it up and got everything he needed before heading to the cafeteria. He already had a good breakfast courtesy of Sanji the Wolf, but a donut couldn't hurt. The cafeteria lady gave Luffy his usual look as he bought the two powdered donuts and headed towards the stairs.
Luffy opened them up and held one up to Brook while beginning to eat the other. The white powder covered his face but he simply licked it off. The school was three stories but the top floor was for certain kids only. Not troublesome or handicapped, but more meant for 'unique' kids. The principal is said to up there as well. Nobody has ever actually seen the old man, but they said he was scary. Luffy isn't as concerned about it as others though. He and Brook just continued eating their snack.
By the time the two of them made it to the classroom, the donuts were gone and powder cleaned off. Luffy quickly brushed the white sugar on his shirt off leaving small almost un-seeable white streaks. Luffy shrugged them off and opened the door already knowing he would be one of the first in the classroom. Not that the teacher really cared. Marco-sensei was probably still asleep on his desk.
Luffy was right, the blonde was very peacefully sleeping on the desk he was sitting at. Luffy chuckled to himself and went to the back of the room right next to a window. Luffy opened it up and stared at the courtyard. Class still had a few minutes to start and people were still arriving parking in the dirt parking lot and meeting up with friends. Brook stood on the sill and stared at them as well. Luffy gently ran a finger on the song bird's head.
"You know, it doesn't take much to make a friend."
Luffy turned around to see Marco-sensei leaning against the desk next to his. Luffy smiled even though the man had surprised him. "I do have friends and I did make another." Luffy said trying to defend himself. Brook flew over to the man's shoulder and chirped a hello. Marco smiled at the bird and went back to his student.
"I mean human friends and I know there's Red Hair, but you need some your age." Marco said ignoring the students that were coming into the classroom.
"I did meet a human friend." Luffy said again trying to convince the lazy teacher. Marco nodded knowing that Luffy was telling the truth. There were a lot of things Luffy was, a liar wasn't one of them. Well, the kid would try, but he really sucked at it. Brook went back to the black haired teen's shoulder and Marco began class.
Luffy sat on the roof of the school and ate lunch. Robin and Brook were eating with him. The stork was at the small pond behind the school during the day since she was needed for the next job. Luffy was explaining the call that he had gotten the day before.
"They have these huge spot billed ducks and apparently one of them isn't coming out of its little hiding spot." Luffy explained as he took a bite of the sandwich Sanji had made for him. Luffy used his chopsticks and pulled and omelet roll out of his bento.
'Sounds like a form of trauma.' Robin said taking a bite out of some melon bread Luffy had bought for the two birds. She rather enjoyed the taste.
"Yeah, that's why I asked you two to come along. I might need help with all the things that might affect a bird." Luffy said finishing up his lunch. People seemed to become afraid of Luffy when he was talking to animals so the teen had climbed up to the roof. It was questionable on how he actually got there because the only entrance was supposed to be on the third floor and Luffy wasn't one of the students who went there. If he was, the whole school would know.
Luffy packed up everything and stood up. Brook flew to the boy's shoulder and Robin prepared her wings for flight. "I'll meet you at the fork after school." Luffy told the bird who flew off to the back of the school. Luffy watched her go before swinging his bag onto his empty shoulder and walking towards the side of the school building.
From the front of the school, the pile of wood and boxes weren't visible due to the large fans that were attached to the kitchen to prevent it from overheating. Luffy used those to get to the up and down by easily jumping down and scaling them. Luffy stopped on a platform that was made and looked at the window in front of him. It was small and probably didn't have a classroom in it, but the boy's curiosity about what might be on the third floor overpowered him.
Luffy carefully walked towards the window and went up onto his toes so that he could see in it. The window was kept clean to let the sunshine through so the boy had no problem looking in it. Luffy had his hands on the sill so that he didn't lose his balance. Brook warned the teen that he only had a few minutes to get to class.
"I know, but I just wanna see." Luffy said looking at the room in front on him. His straw hat scratched against the glass. The room looked like some form of office. There was a desk and some chairs and the room looked well carpeted and there were bookshelves and posters on the wall. Luffy saw what looked like to be a flag.
Before the teen could see what was on the flag, a shadow fell over the window and the boy fell backwards at the sudden appearance and fell off the platform, tumbling to the bottom with a small yelp. Brook had flown off the boy's shoulder when he had begun to sway and watched him fall. The small white bird instantly flew down to the half out of it boy as the window began to open.
'Luffy-san, we need to get out of here.' Brook said to the boy. Luffy noticed the opening window and quickly grabbed his bag from under a couple of pieces of wood and bolted to the back of the school where he could get into the building for his next class.
"What is it?" a man asked the other as he was staring out the window.
"I saw one of them gakis looking through the window." The other said closing the window and turning back to the shorter man in the room. "One wearing a straw hat."
Luffy caught his breath as he and Brook stood outside the classroom just as the bell was about to ring. He quickly opened it and walked to his seat by the window. He had run all the way to his classroom after nearly being caught spying. Man he hoped that he hadn't been caught. He was sure people were going to be whispering about the run he did through the halls.
Hina was looking at the boy as he sat and stared at the pond in the field behind the school. The bird he had called Brook was sitting on his shoulder and probably paying more attention to her lesson than the boy himself. She still didn't understand why he never got in trouble for actually bringing the thing to school. He did it almost all the time. It had started when he went to Merry Go and then to Thousand Sunny GO Junior High and now here. They had learned about it through his past records. His school picture even had the bird in it.
She knew that the boy wasn't particularly attached to the bird himself. The bird was the only animal he could bring to school because she doubted walking around with a wolf or bear would go ever very well. The familiar light blue color was around its neck representing it as a D family 'pet'. She happened to like the little thing even though it kinda strange looking.
The history lesson commenced and the teen tried his hardest to get what Hina was teaching. He wrote down everything he saw, but was struggling. The students around him ignored his confused looks on the worksheet that they were told to do after the lesson. Brook wound up having to help the boy. Hina allowed it on worksheets, but on tests and quizzes the bird was to stay outside the classroom. Luffy agreed because he didn't want to cheat on the tests and that it would be unfair. Though fairness rarely came.
For the final class of the day Luffy had gym with Smoker. Luffy quickly got changed and looked at the board that told them what activity they would be doing. They were playing soccer today. Luffy grinned and went into the gym with the others. They were told to do stretches. Luffy stretched by himself while a animatedly talking with Brook. Smoker looked at the boy and shook his head.
It always made him wonder how the boy was able to smile and laugh when his only friends were a bunch of animals. He was teased constantly due to it and yet he is as happy as can be. Luffy stood up and walked to the circle that had surrounded the coach. Smoker began to explain the rules. Everyone was to get into teams of six.
Luffy stood where he was. He knew how it would work. He would go with the leftovers. The ones who wither didn't have enough members, or like him were left out due to differences. Smokey sighed at the boy who was just standing there. Luffy was a bright character, he was nice and always friendly yet he had the inability to make any friends his age. Even the teachers liked the boy more. Some talked to the boy just as a friend more than actually trying to help him with school work.
When most people had their teams ready, there was one group of four and five people without a team to go to. Smoker sighed and made the five people a team and told the group of four to be a team. The four girls seemed happy about the fact and went to the sidelines. Luffy grinned at his group. They stared at him without much expression.
Luffy never stopped smiling even though throughout gym the other four did nothing with helping him win the game. They didn't bother with the goal and whenever the ball got near them would lightly kick it out of the way and stay where they were. Luffy was still able to get the ball into the other team's goal. This caused slight frustration from the other players. He was one lone player and he was kicking their asses.
Soon it was just Luffy versus the leaders of the soccer team. His team had been told to stay on the sidelines by Smoker. The man was enjoying watching the boy they had outcast beat them rather easily. The game started and Luffy had claimed the black and white soccer ball. Smoker looked up as he saw Marco come in and watch. The man didn't have a class for the last block of the day but he never came to the gym.
"You bored and here to watch." Smoker asked the younger man. Marco smiled and nodded. He was often bored and would randomly pop up in a classroom and watch what was happening. Marco noticed the soccer match was one on six. Luffy was the only one wearing a penny.
"So, what happened to Luffy's team?" Marco asked using a first name bases for the teen. Well, almost all of his teachers did since they were so familiar with the boy.
"They were doing nothing and this is fun to watch." Smoker said as Luffy made a goal. Smoker blew his whistle and the next round started. Luffy was sweating and breathing hard like the other team but he seemed to be having more fun. A large smile was on his face.
Brook had noticed Marco and moved from his spot on the bleachers where everyone was resting to the man's shoulder. Marco greeted the bird and went back to the match. Luffy blocked a shot to his net with his head and sent the ball into the gut of the soccer team's captain. The man buckled over and Smoker called time out.
"I'm sorry." Luffy said to the other teen. Luffy tried to help him up but the black haired captain swung his arm around and forced Luffy to step back. Brook went to Luffy's shoulder and stared at the teen who was struggling to his feet. He kept on glaring at the black haired boy.
"Oi, don't get an attitude with the boy." Smoker said as he walked up behind Luffy, "He's only trying to make sure you're okay and apologizing for the hit."
"I don't care." The teen spat staring at Luffy. The teen was around the same height only slightly taller. "Continue the match."
"I think that's about it." Marco said acknowledging the teen's pain from the hit. "Luffy won and you should probably go to the nurse."
The boy was about to argue but Smoker sent him a look that shut him up quick. The teen was led to the exit of the gym while everyone else went to the locker room. Luffy smiled at his teachers before heading off as well.
"Ever try scouting him for the teams?" Marco asked heading in the direction of the exit.
"Yeah, he said he had no interest." Smoker said. Marco laughed at the remark and exited the gym. That was good.
Luffy walked along the sidewalk in one of the rather nicer neighborhoods. A slip of paper that had the address of the house he was to stop at was in his hand. Luffy looked around at the large houses in amazement. Sure his house was rather large, but his was old. These were all newer and fancier. Though the teen did enjoy the coziness he got at his home.
Robin was flying above him and keeping an eye out for what they were looking for. Luffy signaled for the purple bird to come down when he found the address. Robin did so and they stood at the gate of a large white house. Luffy stared up at it in awe and Brook rang the doorbell. A voice came from the speaker.
"Hello, please state your name and business." It said.
"Ah, um, I'm Monkey D. Luffy. I was called to look at one of your animals." Luffy said praying this was the right house.
"We'll open the door in a minute." Luffy stepped back as the gate automatically opened and walked in. the patch was clean white stepping stone that was surrounded by a lush garden. Beside the steps that led to the door was a statue of a jackal and a falcon.
Luffy walked up to the door and waited for it to open. A man with dark tanned skin and a crooked nose with black hair opened the door. Luffy made a quick bow so not disturb Brook who was clinging to his shirt. Robin did one as well as she stood by the teen.
"I'm Luffy the hearer of the D tribe." Luffy said the usual introduction that his family did. He looked up at the man with a grin.
The man hesitantly let Luffy into the house. Luffy walked in with the birds. The man didn't question the animals but he was a little concerned about the kid. He knew that the boy was the last of his tribe, but he hadn't expected him to be an actual boy.
Chaka led the teen to a living room where a man with long wavy black hair and a pharaoh style beard was waiting with a girl around Luffy's age. She had long light blue hair and was a pleasant yet worried smile. She smiled at Luffy a little brighter as he introduced himself.
"I'm sorry if I seem a little flustered." The man who called himself Cobra said. "I didn't expect that you were a teenager around the age of my daughter. I had heard you lost your family and were living by yourself so I assumed you were an adult."
"It's okay," Luffy said with a small laugh. "Everyone thinks I'm an adult at first. But I'm not alone; I have my family with me." Luffy gestured to the two birds. Brook had flown over to blue haired teen who had introduced herself as Vivi. Luffy laughed at what the bird asked her and Robin chirped at him to get down. The white bird flew to the purple one and landed on her head.
"The song bird is Brook and the stork's name is Robin. They came to help me with my job." Luffy said introducing them.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Robin-chan, Brook-san." Vivi said smiling at the animals. They greeted her in return. Luffy looked at Cobra.
"I will pay any amount if it helps Carue." He told the boy. Luffy nodded and asked for them to show him where the bird was hiding.
Vivi led them to her room. The room was fairly large with a king sized bed that had a clear white curtain around it. There was a white vanity and many well polished pieces of furniture in the room itself. Vivi went over to a corner that was covered by a silk blue cloth. She moved it slightly to reveal a large duck that was shivering in fear.
"He hasn't slept, moved or eaten in days." Vivi said with tears beginning to form in her light brown eyes. Luffy walked over to the bird, and calmly knelt in front of it. He didn't move the cloth any more than what the teen had done. The bird they called Carue was covering his face and shivering.
"When did this start?" Luffy asked looking at Cobra. The man ran a hand over his beard and concentrated.
"I believe it was when Vivi was planning on seeing a friend of hers. He all of a suddenly rushed to this room and hid in this corner." The man said looking at the duck. Luffy stood up and looked at the girl.
"Where does your friend live?" this job was actually pretty simple.
"Kohza lives on the other side of Midway Forest and past Grey Terminal." Vivi said. Luffy noticed the slight flinching of the names.
The boy sat down and moved the cloth that the bird was hiding behind completely. This action surprised the father and daughter but Luffy smiled to assure him that everything was fine.
"Path no human can walk." Luffy said naming a name that the forest was called.
Carue cringed.
"Trash mountain." Another name for Grey Terminal. Another cringe.
"Place of endings." A small whimper could be heard from the bird.
"What are you doing, Carue is suffering." Vivi said looking at the boy like he was crazy. Luffy began to laugh.
"He's scared of the places." Luffy said calmly. He looked backwards at the other humans.
'AM NOT!' Carue said looking at Luffy; small tears were in its eyes.
"Then why do you cringe at the sound of the places names?" Luffy asked curiously. Cobra and Vivi stared at the boy as he had a conversation with their duck. Brook and Robin had perched next to the boy so that they could also hear the conversation better.
'Why should I tell you human?' the thing said making Luffy laugh.
"Guess there's only one other option then." Luffy said getting looks from both parties.
"Go there and find out what it is in the places that he's afraid of." Brook and Robin chirped in unison while Vivi and Cobra stayed where they were. Carue instantly shot up and started to flap around the room in a panic.
'NO, NO, NO!' the bird continued his little tantrum while Luffy laughed.
"Okay than tell us why you don't want to go." Luffy said with his hands on his hips. He stared at the bird in the eye. Carue began to sweat and looked at the boy. He then looked away. "Guess we…"
'Okay, okay, I'll talk!' Carue waved his wings in front of him and looked at the boy. Luffy was smiling triumphantly.
As Luffy walked home with the bag of money safely in his pocket he thought about the job. It seemed that Carue was more worried about Vivi going there. He had figured that if he acted scared of the place, she wouldn't go. Luffy had promised that he would meet them at the normal entrance and make sure that they get to her friend safely. The boy had a lot of knowledge about the two places.
Cobra had thanked the boy for his offer and said that they would be at the entrance next Tuesday. That meant Luffy got to ditch school for a few days. He would have to call in about that. Zoro came to his mind as he crossed the street and went pass Makino's store. He really wanted to see the man again. Robin had already headed home to tell the others of the added mission and Brook was beginning to become tired.
It was already getting late and the sun was beginning to set. The streets were still full of cars but there were less people out walking. Luffy stayed closer to the streets and out of grabbing range from the alleys. He learned last time not to get too close. There was even less of a chance of him surviving this time.
"Ah, I wish I could see Zoro again." Luffy said aloud as he looked up at the sky. The stars were becoming visible and he knew he had to hurry up. The place where he had done his job was on the other side of town from the school and in a different direction of his house.
Luffy began to hear voices and the sound of scuffing feet. He ignored it and kept walking. Why should he get involved in something that wasn't his business? Though a good fight would be nice to watch. The sounds were getting louder and the teen realized that the fight wasn't in an alley. It was out on the street.
"Just my luck." Luffy groaned. Cars and traffic had stopped at a corner that was only a couple of blocks from where he wanted to go. Luffy saw the lights were round around in a circle. All concentrating on something before them. It wasn't a riot like the boy had originally thought, it was a street fight. And Zoro was one of the men fighting.
I had to make the high school Luffy went to be based of the Moby Dick. I love the Whitebeard crew so much and that is why pretty much all of my fanfics have him in there at some point. Or at least have Ace. It was rather interesting typing up Carue's dialect because he never actually talks except for his little 'kwaahs'. I did learn an interesting fact. Carue's voice in the japanese version is actually played by Sanji. Most of the animals are palyed by the Mugiwaras. I thought that was awsome. Well, later.