Chapter 7
The ride back is quiet. Quieter than even Nami is used to; given that the few times she went through long car rides, she was with the company of her friends who, needless to say, are anything but quiet. Nobody is bothering to ask about the outcome of her and Law's visit to the underground prison; after all, it isn't hard to figure out. The plan was another let down. And unless he takes initiative to speak about what they heard, she feels obligated to keep it between them. Yet, much to everyone's moderately pleasant surprise, instead of sulking and isolating himself from everyone, Law reacts to it in a rather determined way.
"I've decided," he begins to explain, not giving the speed limit a second glance as he drops his foot down onto the gas pedal and races past one car after the other, "that we shouldn't keep going in one group. We'll split."
A small silence follows before Kid decides to speak up, "sure that'll work? It's hard enough as it is with us all going. Even the squirt's presence made things easier, how can you think this'd be a smart move?"
"On the contrary," Law replies, "the smaller the groups, the better. It'll be easier to execute our plans and it will save us a lot of valuable time."
"I see your point, Law-san, but…" Penguin chimes into the conversation, shifting slightly under Nami's weight, "we're five; the group with only two people are gonna have it really tough, since it's not always easy getting ourselves into these places."
Another small silence ensues.
"I'm aware of that," the surgeon finally says as he turns his car into the apartment's driveway, "which is why I have a plan."
…
"That's your plan?!" Nami cries, slamming the refrigerator door shut after taking out a carton of eggs; she offered to make everyone something to eat, and being the poor cooks they are, her offer was quickly accepted. She sets them down on the counter and turns to face the surgeon, a frustrated expression etched across her features.
"Yes," he says, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning over the counter, "that's my plan."
"Last time I checked, you hated my friends," she says in reproach, dropping her hand to her waist, "what happened to that? They suddenly appeal to you now that you need their help?!"
He sighs, not bothering to hide the irritability in his tone, "They are completely free to decline my proposal. There is no need for you to get worked up over this."
"But there's something you need to understand, Law," she replies as she turns around to whisk the eggs in an overly enthusiastic manner, "Luffy never declines when someone asks for help. Ever. He doesn't even consider the possibility that someone could be using him; he has too good of a heart!"
"Ah," he concludes with a mild smirk, "then his 'too good of a heart' will come as a big advantage to me."
Nami drops the whisk.
"What is the matter with you?!" she finally snaps, snatching a piece of broccoli from a basket settled at the corner of the counter and hurling it towards his face. Luckily for him, however, and along with his sharp instinct, the lid of her pan happens to be in his reach, providing him a perfect shield he can deflect it with.
"Eustass-ya was right," he mutters from behind the lid - still receiving hard pitches of broccoli, and what seems to be large cloves of garlic, "you certainly do need to take a joke every now and then."
Nami releases an inflated groan, points her finger towards the door and says, "Just get out so I can get this stupid dish done!"
An irked, and mildly offended look settles on his face in response.
"Are you kicking me out of my own kitchen?" he inquires calmly.
"Yes, I am! So unless you want to dine on that crappy pizza Kid has had on his living room couch for the past three weeks, I suggest you listen to me and leave me to my kitchen business," she counters, brandishing her ladle as she speaks.
But to her utmost annoyance, the insulted look on his face dissolves, and replaces it an expression of amusement, accompanied with a small smile. Her eyebrows knit into an aggravated line, only compelling the laughter in his eyes to enhance. The reprimand at the tip of her tongue halts as she feels his fingers run through her short hair in a startlingly affectionate gesture. Every shred of anger she feels is instantly replaced with confusion; both at the abrupt change in his behavior, and at the frustrating knot her stomach twisted into the second his fingers got into contact with her now tousled hair.
"I'll leave you to your cooking then, Nami-ya," he finally closes, retrieving his hand and turning to leave the kitchen, quickly enough to prevent her from watching his face revolve back into the distinct expression of resentment and worry.
Unsure of what to think of the unanticipated outcome of their encounter, Nami bites at her lower lip and bends down to retrieve the relatively big number of broccoli heads and garlic cloves now scattered across the floor; partly doing it for the sake of not wasting precious food items, and partly to distract herself from the intrusive feeling now gnawing at her chest and mind. It isn't the first time she comes upon this feeling because of him; but she has been doing well at ignoring it, and she will continue to do so.
"Oi."
Nami drops one of the broccoli heads and snaps her head up to see Kid, looking at her through the kitchen doorway; a mildly irritated look on his dark face. "Where's the food? And why is your face all red?"
"Eh," she sighs impatiently, grabbing the last garlic clove from the floor and straightening her back, "would you quit being such an annoyance and wait a few more minutes? And my face isn't red…" she mumbles, turning around, "it's just a little warm in here, is all."
He snorts, ignoring her insult, "no wonder, you're always wearing thick-ass clothes! What's up with that? It's like eighty degrees out today."
"I get cold easily, mind you!"
"Heh, you really are a pussy," he says, uncrossing his arms and leaving the kitchen with an excessively loud laugh.
At that moment, Nami's angry conscience chooses to add something special to Kid's portion of food. After dusting off her apron, and with a small smirk, she pushes herself on her tiptoes to open the spices cabinet. A little hot sauce, she decides, should teach him to cut down on the pussy jokes.
Her plan to make him cut down on the insults didn't exactly go the way she wanted it to. It was, nevertheless, extremely entertaining to watch him spout some of the most colorful words she has heard him direct towards her as he scampered to the kitchen to grab two, large bottles of milk to ease the fiery feeling spreading throughout his mouth and down his throat. Shachi and Penguin had to prevent him from attacking her straight on; all whilst she laughed her insides out at the mortified look on his crimson shaded face.
With Nami currently buckling her seatbelt in the front seat of Law's car, the recollection of said events makes it easier on her not to feel anxious around the surgeon as he inserts the car key into the ignition and turns his head towards the back window to carefully back out of the apartment driveway. He releases a small sigh from his nose, settling back in his chair to drive her home.
"Nami-ya," he finally breaks the silence, "have you been having any more pains in your chest?"
She blinks, slightly taken aback by his sudden inquiry, "the pressure can be kinda uncomfortable sometimes, but there's no pain."
His eyebrows knit in concern, "maybe it would be wise of you to stop this act. At least in front of the guys, since you're spending much of your time with them. I assure you, they may not look it, but they are trustworthy."
She takes her eyes off of him temporarily to settle them back onto the window. It isn't like she hadn't thought of it herself; it would make things easier on her, that's for sure. Nami refuses to admit it to the surgeon, but she considers it to be a kind of protection; a veil, or a shield of some sort. Yes, she decided to trust them by not inquiring any further about the reason behind their needing the maps at the start, but that doesn't mean she trusts them with her own matters. It took her a while to adapt to the surgeon - who has proven to be the type of person not to look too deeply into other people's concerns, much to her convenience- so to be forced to adapt to another set of three men she scarcely knows, who may demand to know the background of her circumstances –specifically Kid- isn't something she finds lining up with her comfort zone.
With a small clear of her throat, she finally answers, "It may take a while for me to build up enough trust around them. Don't take me wrong… they're great guys! It's just..."
She shifts in her seat, crosses her legs and continues, "To put it briefly, the fewer who know about it, the easier it'll be on me."
Much to her relief, he nods in understanding, not making any further suggestions or inquiries about the issue, nor taking any offence to her words. The rest of the ride back is settled in a rather comfortable silence between them; the anxiousness that was previously occupying her no longer present.
Her thoughts eventually take a different route: Law's plan.
Though she is still convinced that she was in the right, and that his so-called joke about using her friends was unnecessarily rude, the overall plan isn't, in fact, a bad idea. He explained to her his thoughts; that making a sort of alliance by bringing in more people –preferably ones he can relatively guarantee to be trustworthy-, splitting into separate groupings and going through the plans would not only save them time, but it would also have a big part in catching Doflamingo off guard. All in all, she thinks it as a very worthy plan, but Luffy and the others have not only made so much effort already to help her with her current situation, but they also have lives of their own to worry about. It isn't fair of her to push this on them; especially when she knows they wouldn't decline her request.
And that is precisely why she is now escorting the surgeon out of his car and towards Usopp's house which, she conveniently notes, is surrounded by her friends' vehicles, confirming to her their presence in her friend's household. Aside from Luffy and Chopper, none of them are particularly fond of Law, so their declining or confirming of this plan will be solely based on their true opinions.
"Crap…I forgot my keys at your place," Nami mutters as she stands impatiently in front of the house's front door. She extends her arm to press the doorbell, but pauses when she recalls the extra key.
"Ah!" she exclaims with a small smile, bending down and retrieving a house key from under the doormat, "Usopp always keeps an extra one somewhere outside."
"Longnose-ya?" the surgeon asks, his voice tinted with a hint of sketchiness, "You live on your own with a man?"
She pauses from turning the key long enough to look at him curiously and nod, "that's right."
Pushing the door open, Nami is instantly welcomed by five sets of eyes, and one set of two pumping hearts.
"Nami-swaaaan!~" Sanji cries.
"Nami! You're finally here! And you brought Dr. Torao, too!" Luffy exclaims as he propels himself excitedly from the end of the living room towards her and the frowning surgeon. Nami, on instinct, pushes Law out of the way fast enough to be the only one receiving the overly eager glomp coming from her hyperactive best friend.
"Dammit, Luffy!" she struggles in his tight embrace, barely able to breathe, "I can't…breathe! Get off of me!"
"Oi, Luffy! Get your filthy hands off my Nami-swan!"
"Shishishi!" he laughs, finally releasing her and stepping back to look at Law instead, who she finds is not only mortified by the boy, but of the piece of pizza dangling from the fan right above his head.
"Luffy! I told you not to start that food fight!" scolds Usopp as he stands with a tray of drinks at the kitchen doorway. He sends Law a sheepish smile, "excuse him, Torao. Nami, bring him in and sit in the living room."
With a roll of her eyes, Nami beckons for the surgeon to follow her in, ignoring the cook as he inconveniently squeezes himself between the two of them. Two seats are available on the couches; one right between a bouncing Luffy and a sleeping Chopper, and one by a supposedly napping Zoro, whose face is rested in a subtle frown; as it always is, and his arms crossed over his chest. Robin, who is sitting next to him, sends Nami a sympathetic smile as she contemplates where to have Law seated. She finally decides to have him sit next to Zoro; seeing how Luffy's excitement might be a bit of a disturbance to him.
"Awww! I didn't want you to sit next to me, Nami!" Luffy whines, succeeding in ticking the cartographer off.
"Sorry to disappoint you!" she snaps, releasing an irritable sigh as she plunks down next to him, despite his noisy protests.
Once handing out the drinks, Usopp grabs a chair from the kitchen and joins everyone in the living room. After a few minutes of silence, aside from the gentle wheezing coming from the slumbering Chopper, Law decides to finally speak up.
"I have a proposal," he begins, instantly getting the attention of Zoro, who until that moment was seemingly unaware of his presence, "Or, more specifically, a request."
He continues to explain his plan to them, and introduce the names of his own friends, all whilst ignoring the crucial details concerning Corazon and his relation to him, which even Nami has yet to know everything about. He even goes far enough to explain the corruption of the Donquixote family, to which she silently nodded. Half way through his explanation, Chopper wakes up, a little confused at first, but eventually catching on once Usopp takes a moment to whisper a couple of clarifications in his ear. Another silence, this time rather uncomfortable, follows his explanation of the plan. The first to speak is Zoro.
"Shouldn't you tell us more about the man you're looking for?" he inquires, his eyes fixated directly at the surgeon, "how can you prove to us this isn't some scheme? I don't know about everyone else, but this is the first time I've heard of the Donquixote family being frauds."
"Ne," Nami insists, momentarily forgetting her previous goal of not butting in, "I've been with him to one of those places; what he said is true. I trust him, is that not enough?"
"You're being too gullible," her friend shoots back.
"Me? Gullible?!" she cries disbelievingly, "You more than anyone else should understand the difficulty I have in trusting people!"
"Then you should know a couple of months is scarcely enough to trust someone. Are you being blinded by how much time you've been spending with him, or do you really trust him, Nami?!"
"I…" she gnaws at her cheeks, remembering the deep concern she sees in the surgeon's eyes whenever one of his friends happen to mention Corazon. She remembers the concern he has shown towards her, multiple times, though subtle, and the unfathomable connection she felt the time she witnessed him wistfully eyeing his tattoos.
Her eyes finally find the courage to look into Zoro's with deep, genuine confidence, "Yes, Zoro. I trust him."
Her friend holds their eye contact for a while longer; increasing the already growing tension in the room, then eventually crosses his arms again and closes his eyes. The tension, however, is immediately broken as Luffy claps his hands happily and switches his curious gaze towards the surgeon once more.
"This sounds like an adventure!" he merrily cries out, bouncing off his place on the couch and attacking Usopp, the poor victim, with overenthusiastic slaps on the back, "we're in!"
"Oi," Sanji butts in next, lighting another cigarette as he eyes Law from where he stands next to the window, "I'm only doing this for Nami-san, you hear me, surgeon?"
"I never thought I'd have an adventure with Dr. Trafalgar! He's so cool!" giggles Chopper, who is still oblivious of the fact that he works at a hospital run by a criminal. They have all decided not to tell him; none of them have the heart to disappoint him, not with how happy he currently seems to be. Even Zoro, who was uptight the entire time, is now relaxed enough to pick a fight with the cook, much to Nami's relief. Her own tense body finally loosens up, despite the fact that her supposed plan to keep it entirely up to the surgeon went straight down the drain. Only then does she find it in herself to look at Law, who is conveniently seated right across from her, and discovers that he has already been directing his gaze at her, a small smile etched across his lips.
She returns it with a victorious wink, "you owe me, doc!"
He chuckles, "that's probably a bad thing to be hearing from you, Nami-ya. But yes, I definitely do."
I didn't get to finish this chapter until today, so excuse any rushed sentences :']. In any case, thank you for the constant support, and YAY, YOU'LL BE SEEING MUCH MORE OF OUR BELOVED STRAW HATS from now on forth c:!
