SUUUUUUPER sorry for these late updates, college has had me so busy that I didn't have time to upload. Really sorry about that. Shout out to Nisekoi for an idea that I may have taken.

Chapter 7-Warmth (I)

The day following the events prior I didn't see Boa very much. Occasionally I would hear my name being called but whenever I would look towards the sound there would be nothing there. Even while walking back home I didn't so much as catch a glimpse of her. As such my day past without so much as hearing from her. The following day the same thing happened, I began to wonder if she was mad at me for something I may have done. I didn't know what her schedule was so I couldn't look for her, and on top of this she wasn't showing up to the class we had together. Worried that something might be wrong, I called her as soon as school was done for the day. The phone immediately went to voicemail. This was strange. It was fast, too fast, but I at least knew she was okay, and that was good enough for me.

A few minutes later my phone began to ring. I looked at the caller ID and saw it was Boa. I picked it up.

"Hello?"

"H-hello Luffy, sorry for not picking up earlier, did you need something?"

"Oh, that, I was just wondering if you were alright cuz I didn't see you these last two days."

"O-oh, sorry, I was just…feeling a little sick."

"Oh, alright then. I hope you get better."

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow."

With that the call ended, it was good to hear that she wasn't mad at me. I'll see her tomorrow then.

On the other side of the phone was a totally different reaction.

[Ahh, there's no way I could tell him that I was trying to muster my courage to see him, after that. Absolutely no way.]

With two different emotions resulting from the phone call, the day came to an end. The days ensuing life had returned to normal.

Not too long after Boa came back to class, the teacher of our Maritime tech class reminded us to pay our dues for the fieldtrip we had on the weekend. I had almost forgotten about it. It was a two-day one-night stay in an inn from where we would tour a very famous museum about the history of boatmaking as well as a shipyard. I was really looking forward to it, especially the food that the inn would provide. They had some of the best food I'd ever tasted. As I was thinking about the inn the teacher struck me with a stick of chalk knocking me off my balance and resulting in me falling face first onto the desk.

"Pay attention Luffy."

Finally, the day of the trip had arrived. I woke up extra early to make sure I wouldn't be late. Our charter bus was going to pick us up at our school, so I hurried over there as soon as I could. I knew I was early but not even our teacher was here yet. I waited in the parking lot for a bit until I saw someone come through the gates. Yes! I exclaimed in my head, now I would have someone to talk to while the bus came. From what I could see it was a girl, judging from her height it was probably Hancock. This was great since I didn't really know too many people in the class aside from her. She was sporting a pink Crimin t-shirt with a yellow hoodie over it, peach pants that outlined her curves modestly, and a pair of very light brown converse with white laces. All in all, it was a very cute outfit, likewise I told her so upon her arrival.

"Morning, your outfit looks very cute." I said when she set her belongings down beside me.

A few seconds passed but there was no response. I walked in front of her and waved my hand in her face. That did the trick. She jumped a little but I'd successfully drawn her out of her thoughts. Upon further of her face I noticed she looked surprisingly well for such an early hour, it was like 5am. It was tinged a bit red but that was probably due to the cold. She whispered something under her breath, I didn't quite catch it so I asked her what she said.

"Thank you."

"Huh, oh yeah. Just being honest."

After that little exchange we talked for about thirty minutes until the bus came. We tossed our luggage into the bus and took our seats. I sat near the front, but Boa sat near the back, she probably wanted more space. As our teacher was talking about the trip, my mind drifted away.

"Luffy, Luffy"

I felt someone shake my shoulder and my eyes shot open. I had fallen asleep. Boa was shaking me awake. I got up and looked around, everyone else had already left the bus, they were just waiting on us. I thanked Boa and quickly got my belongings and exited the bus. We had arrived at the inn, and it was as unbelievable as I had remembered it. There were five stories, six baths, a huge dining room, and a bunch of cool decorations over the wall (my favorite was the samurai armor). We were greeted by five maids who led us to our rooms on the second floor. The maids split up and led the boys and girls to separate ends of the floor. Each room was to be shared by four guys, however when the people who were to be in my room came, we counted five. We called a maid and asked her what to do since there were only four futons. She told us there must have been a mistake in the booking of the rooms, apparently the teacher forgot to count himself.

Twenty minutes later the maid came back and told us there were no open rooms due to the winter festival that was being held by the city. However, there was a room that they fixed up for us that could hold an individual. She told us where it was and left the room. The five of us looked at each other. None of us wanted to be in the single room, we wanted to have fun and play games with one another. We decided on playing a tournament of paper rock scissors. The winner's prize was the one-man room, in most cases one would jump at the sight of a room all to themselves, but not this time. Being alone meant that there was nobody to stay up all night with, nobody to prank while asleep, any nobody to wake you up for breakfast, in other words if you win, you lose.

We readied our hands and hearts.

ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS!

Luck wasn't kind to me. I sighed and moved my stuff to the room. I checked time and headed down to the lobby. Most of everyone was here and once the teacher called roll, we left for the museum.

The museum was huge. It was as if someone looked at the Parthenon and decided it was too small for their tastes. As I tried to take everything in, a loud voice snapped me out of my awe. The voice belonged to my teacher, he was telling us that our tour guides had just arrived. Proceeding this, we were split into groups based on the periods when had the class. We formed six groups and one after another left with our tour guides. As we walked in we were met with beautiful boats and ships models hanging from the ceiling. The walls were light brown and covered with portraits of naval commanders and shipbuilders, at eye level were rows after rows of glass cases containing relics of famous ships, and the floor was tiled with an ocean blue. It felt as if we had entered an enormous ship but had only just stepped on deck. I was truly a baby in a candy store but before I could get any further I felt a pat on my shoulder. I turned to see Hancock.

"Luffy, it looks like we're in the same group. What a coincidence huh."

"Yeah, I wanted to see you."

Leaving a blushing Hancock behind, I went into the museum. As we walked past artifacts, I spared no effort in explaining it very thoroughly to Hancock. Before I knew it a lot of time had passed, and it was now lunch. We ate food at nearby restaurants, for about two hours and then we went back into the museum. The tour guide took across the upper floors of the museum. While on the fourth floor the tour guide took into a large black walk through exhibition.

The passageway was dark and lit only with some lamps. Across the walls were pictures and paintings of the ways ships were made before the existence of proper shipbuilding companies, the most prominent way being the use of slaves. Drawings of their cruel treatments and terrible working conditions littered the walls. Some even showed inflicted injuries in detail. Their skin was torn and scarred, wounds were unwrapped and hideous, and their bodies were a mess. Their punishments were also shown in the same amount of detail.

As I walked through the exhibition, I shuddered as the pictures grew worse one and worse. This would continue until we reached the room's exit. Upon exiting the exhibit, I was exasperated, as I tried to steady my breath I reflected on what I had seen. I was pulled from the midst of my thoughts by the tour guide's voice.

"Is everybody here?" She asked in a semi-loud voice.

I looked around and to see if anyone was missing. As I scanned the room I immediately realized, who was missing and ran full speed into the room.

(Hancock 10 minutes ago)

Everybody was walking into the exhibition in a single line. The room was small, so we had to line up single file. I was in the very back and Luffy was a few people in front of me. I tried to get to a closer position but not even my beauty could do anything about the cramped room. Finally, it was my turn to go into the exhibition.

The place had a very eerie air to it. It felt like walking through a dimly lit dungeon decorated in pictures. I walked through the exhibit for a bit without paying attention. Halfway through I stepped on a sharp rock that snapped me out of my daydream. I winced at the pain but all that came to a stop when I saw the pictures for what they were. My eyes widened as I took in the images before me.

Pain, suffering, anguish, and death encompassed me from all sides. It was just like that place. Everywhere I looked I saw a picture of my sisters and I being beaten, punished, starved and violated by the adults. As my repressed memories of that place escaped, my knees gave in and I fell to the cold floor and my entire body began to quiver. Images of the caretaker and "clients" flashed through my head. Screams of my sisters rang through my ears. The scars on my back began to flare up, getting hotter and hotter by the second. Tears spilled from my eyes but more than anything else I was scared.

I tried to call for help but nothing would escape my voice. I was all alone. Nobody was going to come just like that time. The pain in my back, the cool touch of the floor and the tears on my cheek continued as I felt the world grow cold.

I closed my eyes and curled into a ball. With the last of my strength one frail word escaped my lips.

"Help…"

Then everything went black.

Sorry for the cliffhanger of an ending, I wanted to update asap. I'm really really sorry about the huge gap in updates. I'll try to write a lot more in the next few days.