Luffy arrived at his locker to find a flurry of students in and about their shoe lockers. He weaved his way through the throng to find his locker, situated right in the middle of the row of metal doors. As he switched out his shoes, one of them flew out of his hand and into the pathway of an unfortunate passerby. He bent over to pick it up, only for their knee to collide with his shoulder, sending them both to the ground.
Nami groaned and looked directly at the cause of her fall. As fate would have it, it was the same guy who had been on her mind all day. He rubbed the back of his head and opened his eyes, they too widened in recognition. It was then that she realized how close they were. Their faces were mere inches apart, and she was pressed up against him. Though he looked skinny, he was solid and wiry, and exuded warmth. His arm was wrapped protectively around her and rested in the hollow of her waist. The heat rushed to her cheeks, and her heart rate rapidly increased. A few snickered at the usually classy president's embarrassed state. She quickly got up to her feet and shot him an accusing look.
He picked up his shoes and got up, smiling at her. Shishishi he laughed, readjusting his hat. He was laughing? Yup, definitely a moron.
"Why are you laughing?" She demanded, taking a step back from him, crossing her arms. He stopped laughing, and was quiet.
Nami crossed her arms. "Anyway, it was your fault," she tapped her foot in anticipation. "You were in my way."
"You tripped over me though," he pointed out, reopening his locker and placing his shoes inside.
"You were the one who dropped your shoe," she argued, a smirk forming on her face because she was sure of her point's validity.
"You're stupid," Luffy made a face at her, sticking out his tongue. Nami's brows furrowed. She had not expected such a childish response. With that, Luffy walked away and into the crowd of students, disappearing in an instant.
You don't have time for the likes of people like him anyway. Nami told herself as she turned and walked in the opposite direction. He's just a stupid moron, not perceptive at all. But at the back of her mind, there was the small, nagging notion: Her heart had beat like crazy. It was just an embarrassing moment, she told herself. Nothing more.
"How was school?" Ace asked later that night when Luffy finally returned home. Dressed in an apron, with the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to reveal tanned, muscular forearms, he was sautéing some vegetables in a pan over the stove. The smell of cooked meat mingled with the sound of the sizzling vegetables, making Luffy practically salivate. Luffy dumped his stuff by the front door, and trudged towards the kitchen in a zombie-like manner.
"Meat…so hungry," he mumbled. Ace rolled his eyes. There was no getting a straight answer out of Luffy when he was hungry. The questions would have to wait until dinner.
"Dinner's almost ready Luffy, you can make it," Ace encouraged, turning his attention back to the vegetables. Luffy dragged his feet and sat down on his mat at the table. Turning off the stove, Ace took the pan to an aluminum dish on the counter and dumped the steaming vegetables in. "Luffy, can you help me set the food out for supper?" He asked, taking the lid off of the rice maker.
A sudden energy seemed to flow throughout Luffy at the mention of food. He quickly stood up and retrieved the vegetable dish. The process of setting out the food took a miniscule amount of time in reality, but to Luffy it seemed like it took Ace forever to scrape the rice of out of the rice maker and into a bowl.
Finally, they sat down at the table. Luffy began to reach for the food, but Ace slapped his wrist away. "Prayers first," he said, clasping his hands together and shutting his eyes. "Dear Lord," Ace began the prayer and without even opening his eyes, slapped Luffy's hand away from the food once more. "Please help this food to nourish our bodies. Amen."
Luffy lunged for the food like he hadn't eaten in years. He didn't even bother to pile it up on his plate, he just grabbed for it with amazing speed and stuffed it inside his mouth. Ace barely had enough time to get enough food on his plate.
"How was your day at school?" Ace asked, taking a bite of rice.
"It was really fweird," Luffy answered with his mouth full. "The weople there are really strange." Ace nodded his head, he understood, a skill he had acquired from years of living with Luffy. "There was this really klutzy girl there," he momentarily swallowed before proceeding to stuff his face even more.
"A girl now?" Ace asked in a knowing tone. "What was she like?"
"She tripped over me and then yelled at me. She was weird." Luffy said matter-of-factly. The bowls of food were emptied, but Luffy's plate was untouched. Ace rolled his eyes and chuckled. Luffy was not known for his way with the ladies that was for sure.
"But there was also a teacher who asked me about my school records. I told her I couldn't say," Luffy told Ace suddenly. "I don't know why, but I feel like you should know that." Ace's features darkened and he stared at Luffy.
"What was her name?" He inquired, leaning across the table.
"Ah, I don't know. Her name was Miss N-something," Luffy shrugged.
Ace sighed and plopped back down on his mat. Sounds like someone is nosing around where they shouldn't be. He thought. He would have to find out for himself.
Later that night
The glow of the laptop illuminated Ace's features as his black pupils scanned the screen. He had finally found the teacher that Luffy had mentioned at dinner. Fishing the phone out of his pocket, he dialed a number in, and the phone began to ring on the other line.
"Tell Dadan we have a code 7,"Ace said in a serious tone.
