A/N: Good to know you people liked the last chapter. I like it too, in fact.

Also, I was so impressed the good response got the last chapter, and something I want to point out, the last three chapters have been the most review ones in this story, Guarded receiving 13 reviews alone, I'm so happy. Furthermore, this story is follow by over ninety nine people, last time I checked. Just wow, really. I never, in my point of view, expected to have so many followers.

I, also, want to thanks to all people who sent me condolence, I hope it that way you say it, if not you are welcome to correct me.

Changing the theme, there is something I want to do when we reach the 100 reviews, which I bet is going to happen soon, so I hope you like it. Now onward with the chapter.

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..

"Join your crew?"

"Yeah, although you will be my first member, meaning you are going to be my first-mate! Is going to be fun!"

"Me? Being a pirate? I can't see that happening."

"...Oh come on! It will be awesome!"

"..."

"And since I'm going to be the Queen Pirate, I need the strongest swordsman in the world in my crew!"

"Queen Pirate? Strongest swordsman, huh?"

"Yeah, what ya' think?!"

"...I'll think about."

"Since you already accepted and being my right hand, you will help me in battles."

"Oi, oi! I didn't accept anything!"

"Of course you did!"

"I didn't! In fact, I refuse your offer."

"I refuse your refusal."

"What can of logic is that!?"

"My logic."

"Your logic doesn't even make any sense."

"For me it does. Even thought you didn't want to express it out loud, I know you want to fight by my side."

"...Keep dreaming."

"Isn't a dream; but a reality."

"...Your twisted reality."

"A twisted reality that you want to take part of."

"..."

"Shishishi!"

"...Idiot."

"Heh, I'm an idiot but I'm your idiot."

"Captain?!" yells most peoples' presence in the classroom.

Ace delivers a kick to Jabra in the face sending him flying to some desk and turned to look at Luffy. "So you already started, huh."

Robin raised an eyebrow in wonder. "It was much sooner than I expected."

"Roronoa working under Strawhats?" Izo wonders out loud. "That could mean trouble for us."

Lucci raised an eyebrow in question. "So you accept this little girl's proposal but not ours, huh. How much is she going to pay you? Is she going to pay you with her body?"

For an unknown reason, a warming feeling reached Luffy's cheek for what Lucci has just said.

"They have asked Zoro-san before to join them?" Brook asks in amazement. "How come we weren't informed?"

"No," Zoro responds grimly to Lucci. "I gain something else none of you could ever give me."

"And what do I gain from all this? Uh? I don't need you to get any stronger— I could do that alone. I don't need money or any stuff from you. So what I gain from all this?"

"Oh," Lucci mused. "And that is?"

Hearing this perked up, also, everyone's interest. Luffy grinned, still in her fighting stance, waiting for him to answer.

"Truly is. But I can still give something you are still missing."

"And that is..?"

"A partner," Zoro responds simply, a grin making himself presence on his face.

Lucci raised an eyebrow in question. "Partner?" What is he talking about? Is about someone to cover his back, he could have hired anyone from their agency to do the job. He narrowed his eyes. Maybe, maybe what he is talking about is something much deeper than just a simple partner.

Sabo, also, looked somewhat baffled. Zoro's response has confused him, and what he's supposed, everyone too. Well— that is, except his crew for what it seems, since they have a knowing and happy expression upon their faces. Did he not trust in his crew? That couldn't be, they knew themselves even before he arrived at this school and that's a long time. For the first time in his life, he is puzzled.

On the other hand, Zoro's friends understood the meaning behind those simple words and all of them have a small smile upon their lips. They're not angry nor offended by his words. Instead, they're happy. After all, they've clearly understood the meaning behind those words.

"I don't understand you, Roronoa," Lucci says truly– not lowering his guard to the girl between him and the swordsman. "You have more faint in an impulsive girl than us?"

Luffy growled at him and furrowed his brows. What's he mean by that? She wasn't impulsive.

"I prefer to put my faint in an impulsive girl rather than a sadist bastard," Zoro returns, a choir of 'burns' was followed shortly from the crowd. He narrows his eyes at Kaku and address him. "Is dishonored to attack people's bare back."

Kaku chuckled giving him a knowing gaze. "Isn't as her back was bare."

"...True is." Zoro smirked. All of a sudden, he felt an extra weight lean in his back. He turns his face slightly to the side–not lowering his defense, to see he was back-to-back with none other than Luffy herself. This made him grin more.

"What you say?"

She has just got her response, not words were needed to understand him. After all, she can read him like an open book. She sees him grin at her and she returns the grin too. "Shall we kick their asses?"

"This is priceless," Jabra says watching the unfolding event with an amused expression upon his face. "Roronoa and cutie-chan working together, huh?" he glances at his foe to see him wide open for an attack. "You should not lower your guard," he warns and rush to him in a blind speed at Ace.

Ace turns around and was about to intercept the attack when two things happened. First, the weird man was kicked by a burning leg to the closest wall, a sickening 'crack' followed closely.

Next, a few rockets were sent in the direction where the black-haired man has fallen– creating an explosion, afterward.

The leg fighter growled and lower his burning leg. "Is marimo there can enter the fight so we."

The robot man cracks his knuckles– his right shoulder opened, showing he was responsible for firing the rockets. "Yosh~ I'm feeling super this week."

"Yohohoho~! You didn't leave me any opportunity to cut him," a talking and walking skeleton says, standing beside his comrades as he took out his sword from his cane.

"The hell?" Ace manages to exclaim.

Sabo last part of his bo staff was kicked away from his arm at the last woman's attack. He growls and narrows his eyes. He has nothing else, meaning he is going to be forced to use hand-to-hand combat, much to his delight.

"Huh, now you don't have your weapon, this will be easy," the blonde woman says, confident evident in her words and disappear from sight to finish him.

Just when the woman was over Sabo, a bust of gust hit her on the side, sending her flying away– surprising Sabo. He flicks his gaze back to see a reindeer, a redhead girl and a raven woman standing a few feet away from him.

"You don't play fair, neither we," the redhead girl says while she playfully sticks out her tongue and winks at the blonde woman. While the reindeer, beside her, glare ferocious at the woman.

"We would like to join you in this fight," the black-haired woman says. "Blue."

Sabo tilts his hats in acknowledging and says, "Be my guest."

"A fight with CP9 and the troublemaker gang?!" someone from the crowd exclaimed.

"This is going to be epic," other cheered and the crowd follows his lead and started to yell for them to fight.

"Ararara, what a surprise," an unfamiliar voice says from inside the classroom. "That wasn't expected."

Everyone shifted theirs' gazes to the side of the classroom to see a laid back man, lying down in the desk while watching the unfolding event with a tired expression upon his face. Nobody has taken his presence before.

"You're..."

"...Aokiji!"

"Arg! He is such a party popper!" yelled an infuriated Luffy as they walk down the hall toward the cafeteria. "When things started to turn interesting, he came and ruin it all!"

"Still," Robin starts to say, she puts a hand on her chin and rub it, deep in thought. "It's rare to see an admiral here."

Luffy stopped dead on her track, all color leaving her face. "Admiral?! He is an admiral?" she says surprised. "That lazy guy?! And he is here on a pirate and gang school?" This is bad. This is really bad. Have they been found out already?

Nami nodded. "They come usually in this time to speak with the director about the tournament."

"...Only to speak with the old man." Luffy murmurs and later sighs wearily, that was a close call. Way too close. She didn't want to get another close encounter with them so suddenly. Her wounds are still healing from the fight.

Zoro watches closely Luffy, noticing her sudden change of posture but against to make any comments out loud.

"Right." Sanji confirms her.

Luffy relaxed and a comforting silence falls on them. "Still he hasn't the right to enter other people's fights," she growled while folding her arm. " She later adds under her breath, "I was hoping to see how well Zoro and I fight together as a team."

"What?"

"Nothing."

Even thought she had said it very low, Zoro was able to clearly hear her and smile at her. He was also hoping he could see how well both of them fighting together were. What happens just minutes ago was nothing in comparison of what he– and he knew her, wanted.

"Anyway, Luffy-chan you should let Chopper check that wound of yours," Sanji says while signally the wound of her right thigh, where more blood started to trickle down.

Luffy gazes down to look at it, a frown upon her face. She has almost, almost forgotten that sadist bastard manages to hurt her. She flicks her gazes from the wound to the group, waving in dismissal. "Nah, I will go to the nurse's office, so don't worry" she says while Chopper viewed her wound. She rests her hand on his head a ruffle it. "You should go to the cafeteria and wait me there," she began to walk the way they have come. "Besides, I've some business to take care too."

"You sure, Luffy-sis?" Franky questions.

"We won't mind accompany you, you know," Brook adds and his friends nodded in agreement.

Luffy shook her head. "Is fine, really," she side-eyed them her gaze landing on Zoro. Both stare at each other in the eye for a second. When, suddenly, Zoro breaks the contact, turning around to walk forward, giving his back at Luffy– who grinned in a knowing way.

"Let's go," Zoro commands, not leaving a room for any objection. A murmurs of 'when did he became the leader' was heard but nobody voice out loud any objection of his decision. "We will be eating in the same place as always," he later adds over his shoulder to Luffy. "Hurry up or there will be no food left."

Don't take long. I'll be waiting for you. Luffy chuckles. "Aye~!" and she dashes at her new destination.

.

..

"Okay, this is the worst idea I've come to follow," Luffy stated dryly, gazing every direction around her– looking like a lost puppy. "I mean, come on! I'm only one week in here and I expect to find the nurse's office," she growled as she stomps on the floor angrily. "I should have brought some with me." She keeps walking a head when her stomach suddenly growled, remembering she is on her lunch break. "Hungry~!" she groans as she pats her stomach wishing the stupid office to just appear in front of her.

"Lost, Muguiwara-ya?" a voice asks from behind her, startling the young girl– who has her guard down.

She twisted herself to be greeted by a slim tall man with a long sword resting on his right shoulder. A white and dark spots fur hat resting on his head. He smirks her in a dark way.

"Wha-t do you want?" she asked in the most dangerous voice she could muster.

She has been completely startled by him and it surprises her a tall man as him was able to sneak up behind her without her notice it. Also, for an unknown reason, he sees so awfully familiar. The worst thing is she has a nagging feeling in the back of her mind telling her to turn around and run away and her instinct is telling her she was in great danger. But since she is Luffy, she is too stubborn to turn around a run and decides to face him head on. She wouldn't longer run away.

"I heard you're looking for a nurse's office and decide to guide you to it. You wouldn't mind, will you?"

Luffy eyed him warily but reluctantly nodded. She still didn't trust him, though. He motions her to follow him and she compliments. While walking, Luffy remembers she has still the other business to take care of. She quickly takes out her Galaxy S, pressing the side button for it to turn on and the password pattern appears on the screen, she quickly enters the password and it sends her to the home page. In there, she opens the message app she has downloaded and scrolls down in her latest conversation to find Ace's one. She taps on it and quickly write her message down.

We need to talk, I go more information.

She later pushes the send button and push a button on the side of the phone to block it again. While doing this, she felts eyes on her and she gazes up to be met by the mystery man's back. She narrowed her eyes and could bet the one watching her was him. Her phone vibrates to indicate her a message has come– taking her out of her deep thought. She glances at it and read the response Ace has sent.

Me too. We talk later.

She furrows her brows and block once again her phone. When she lifted her gazes she was met by defiant smirk. Luffy scowls at him. She didn't like him at all. "It this is?" she asked, already tired of following the arrogant bastard.

The arrogant man nodded. "It is," he opens the door leading to the room. His smirk grew as he stared at the girl in front of her. "Did I mention I was the doctor here?"

His response came in the form of a groan.

.

..

"This is perfect," Luffy murmurs sarcastically from his sitting position on the medical bed.

"Oh, you think, Mugiwara-ya?" the man further mocks from his crouched position while checking the wound on the girl's right thigh.

Luffy glares dagger at him, earning her a chuckled.

"Why so angry, Mugiwara-ya?"

"I officially hate you."

He chuckled again. "So blunt the little girl is. Those are harsh words," He receives a hard glare in response. "You should stay put while I clean your wound," he commands rather than says as he starts to clean the wound. He stood up and throw the dirty cotton in the trash can while he looks for a few bottles of disinfectant and some ointment on the drawers. Finding them, he approaches the girl again– her gazes never leaving him. "You know it is kind of uncomfortable for me to work with someone watching every movement I make."

"Deal with it."

He ignores her comments and crouches down again, applying a small amount of the disinfectant liquid in the new cotton and rub it in her wound– earning a small hiss. He closes the bottle and put it on the bed beside the sitting girl and picks up his special made ointment. He rubs it on her wound– sealing it with it, preventing for further blood to come out.

"Besides, isn't as I trust you or anything."

The man smirks a stood up. He closes the ointment and took the disinfectant liquid with him to return it to his proper place. "I know," he finally says, reaching for his sword– knowing well what he was just about to say to the girl would invoke her wrath. "After all, you shouldn't trust in the world government's people."

As the man has predicted, the girl was over him in a second her fist under his chin, glaring him darkly while his sword was at her neck, his sheath falling to the floor in the process with a loud thud.

A small line of blood started to appear to trickle down from her neck and down her body– his sword has unintentionally cut her. He could see the fury burning in her eyes. One wrong move from his part and he will be on the receiving end of that devastating punch. Something he intent to avoid at all cost.

"I recall who you are– the arrogant behavior of yours never changes, huh? New appointed Shichibukai, 'Surgeon of Death' Trafalgar Law."

A/N: So this is for today people. This chapter stretched more and more and I was finding difficult to cut it and finish it.

Now I finally can move this story onward. About Lucci and Luffy encounter, it needed to be cut there for the story to continue but I've something you would all love, which is to going to happen in a few chapters *rub hand*

I need to really stop staying up in the morning writing story and updating them. In case you wanna now, here are currently 4am I'm very sleepy, so I am going to sleep. Also I forgot tomorrow, I have a party, urg.

Until then, adios~!

PS: Be kind a review ;_;