A.N: I'm so sorry it took so long! I thought I'd get this and the actual Christmas chapter done before Christmas but well, it didn't happen... which means the New Year's chapter is late too... but better late than never, no?
Chapter 35: Christmas Date
It was December 22nd, school was ending for the year and it was time for Luffy and his friends to give the presents.
"The hell?" Kohza asked from Sanji, holding a book titled "The Key to Good Manners."
"Though you might need it" Sanji said with a chuckle and the others laughed.
"Okay, who's next?"
"We'll see" Nami said "Out of the ring, Sanji-kun. Spin the bottle, Kohza."
Kohza did as told, and the bottle pointed at Kaya, so now it was her turn to give a present.
"Here" Kaya said, handing her present to Ace.
"Thanks" he said, opening it.
"Chocolate?" Kohza asked as he saw what she gave to the older guy "So ordinary."
"Shut it, Sand Head, bet you're just jealous" Sanji said. Glaring at him, Kohza shot back: "Well it would've been better than your gift!"
"Both of you shut up!" Nami hissed "Spin the bottle, Ace."
"Right" the freckles faced man said, doing as told. The bottle ended up pointing at Nami, who slid her present across the floor to Usopp.
"Let's see..." Usopp muttered as he unwrapped the present "A new water gun? Cool! Luffy broke my another one last month and-"
Usopp paused suddenly as he noticed everyone laughing "What?"
"Told you he's like a kid" Zoro said to Ace who laughed so hard he might fall over soon.
"I can't believe that guy!" Margaret said as she leaned on Kaya's, who was also giggling, shoulder for support.
"You know Usopp, that thing's loaded" Nami said suddenly. It took a moment for the long nose to register her words but when he did, he grinned.
"Oh shit..." Zoro muttered, everyone's laughter dying down.
"Run!" Luffy called out. They ran around in the otherwise empty classroom where they shouldn't be anymore but which Shanks had "forgotten" to lock for a while before sitting down again.
"Prepare to eat snow when we get out, Usopp" Zoro told the long nose with a glare, making the younger boy gulp. Wanting to change the subject, he spun the bottle.
"Your turn, Vivi" Kohza said and Vivi handed her present to Luffy, who ripped the paper off faster than Zoro gets lost. Taking out a book he blinked, reading the title out loud: "Cooking for Morons?"
"What?" the others, including Vivi, asked.
"Why'd you buy him a book?"
"Scratch that, what's up with the title?" Kohza asked "I mean I can see what, but that's not like you at all, Vivi."
"It wasn't supposed to be anything like that!" Vivi was fast to react "I mean I did want to buy him a book since he reads so little, but I didn't know what kind so I asked Nami for help and... well..."
"And I just thought that'd fit him well" Nami said with a shrug "And it does, doesn't it?"
"Can't disagree with that" Ace said with a chuckle "Maybe he could try to learn to cook on his own now."
"Not in my kitchen" Sanji said "I don't want it to be ruined."
"Aren't you guys a bit too mean?" Vivi asked, but the others just shook their heads "Nah, just realistic."
Luffy spun the bottle, making it point at Zoro who gave his present to Vivi.
"Box of chocolates?" Margaret asked after Vivi had opened her present "That's lame."
"Shut up" Zoro said simply, momentarily wishing he'd gotten Margaret or Nami. To them he could have bought something not so nice, but since he had gotten Vivi he had to get something normal. Now it was Vivi's turn to spin the bottle, and it ended up pointing at Luffy.
"I don't have it with me" the teen said.
"Idiot" Kohza summed up with a sigh "Somehow I kind of saw this coming."
"I didn't forget it; it's just something I couldn't bring" Luffy defended himself "I'll show it after school."
"Sure, we believe you" Margaret said with a roll of her eyes "It better not have been my gift."
"No, it was Nami's" Luffy replied. The orange haired woman sighed, muttering: "Just my luck."
"It's the law of karma" Kohza said "Blame yourself for buying that book."
"But my present is good" Luffy defended himself, realizing he was being insulted again.
"Sure" Kohza said "Spin the bottle Nami; this is getting boring."
"Shut up" Nami said, spinning the bottle anyway. It pointed at Chopper.
"Zoro!" Chopper called, tossing the present to the older guy who caught it easily. Opening the present he pulled out a big and fluffy dark green pillow.
"Exactly what you needed aint it?" Usopp asked "Not that you'd need a pillow to fall asleep but you get the point."
"Shut up" Zoro said "Thanks, Chopper."
Zoro spun the bottle, making it Usopp's turn to give his gift.
"Yosh, it's time for the great Usopp-sama to give his present!" the long nose said, giving the small package to Kaya "Here"
Kaya took out the necklace, leaning away from Margaret who came over to check it.
"Wow" Margaret said "Looks like Usopp does have some good sides after all."
"Is that how you define a person's worth?" Zoro asked "Bitch."
"You know that's not what I meant" Margaret said with a glare.
"Is there any other way to understand that?" Zoro asked, getting an answer from Kohza: "As far as I know, no."
"Stop it guys; let's not fight before Christmas" Kaya said "Thank you Usopp, it's lovely."
To avoid more fighting Kaya spun the bottle, making it point at Margaret.
"Still not my turn to get a present, huh?" she muttered as she handed her present to Chopper.
"Thanks!" the boy said happily, tearing the paper off "Yay, its cotton candy!"
"Cotton candy?" Kohza asked from Margaret with a raised eyebrow "Seriously?"
"He likes it, which means I made the right choice" Margaret said, sticking her tongue out "Deal with it."
"You just had it easy" Usopp put in "It's not that hard to please Chopper."
Margaret was about to say something, but Nami did so before her: "Both of you cut it out."
"I'll spin the bottle!" Chopper cheered and the bottle was next pointed at Kohza.
"Looks like I'll get rid of this after all" he said, sending his present to Margaret by sliding it across the floor. Margaret took it, but had a bad feeling. She had caught the smirk on Kohza's face as the bottle had pointed at him.
"It better not be anything disgusting" Margaret mumbled as she started to open the present.
"So did you put in the worms?" Zoro asked, making Margaret freeze. Catching on immediately, Kohza replied: "You'll see..."
"They're pulling your leg" Usopp told Margaret "If it had worms they would have made air holes on it."
"Why'd you have to spoil the fun?" Zoro asked as Margaret glared at him and Kohza.
"You guys are jerks" she said as she continued to open the present. Kohza and Zoro started laughing the second Margaret saw what was inside; they knew when she'd seen it from the look on her face.
"Manners for Morons?" Kaya read the title "I wonder if its same series with Luffy's Cooking for Morons?"
"Very funny guys" Margaret said with a roll of her eyes "I'm just dying of laughter here."
"We know it's not something you wanted, but you definitely need it" Kohza said, ignoring the glare he got "Admit it."
"I do have manners, I just see no need in using them around an idiot like you" she defended.
"Your harsh words are making my soul bleed" Kohza said with a chuckle "There's only one present left, right? Let's get this over with."
"Agreed" Ace said "Catch, Sanji!"
Sanji caught the present easily, taking a note of its lightness. It wasn't a book that much he was sure of. Opening it, he took out a pair of yellow rubber gloves.
"Pink just isn't your color" Ace explained simply "So I thought you could use those."
The others laughed at that while Sanji just stared at the pair of gloves before shrugging.
"Whatever" he said "Thanks."
"Okay, that was all" Nami said "We should probably get going before the teacher catches us; we aren't supposed to be here."
Some of the others could catch irritation in her voice, and it was not hard to guess why. She was mad ´cause she hadn't gotten her present.
"Yeah, let's go so that I can show you your present!" Luffy cheered, but his smile fell as Nami told him: "Nojiko and I decided to leave right after school; it'll have to wait a few days, sorry."
"Actually, it doesn't" Ace said "I had a feeling Luffy might screw up by not taking a note of your schedule, so I talked to Nojiko beforehand. She said you two can leave tomorrow morning."
"See?" Luffy asked "You can see your present today!"
"Looks like it" Nami said "But you really need to learn to consider other peoples' plans too."
"Why? Things worked out fine"
Nami let out an annoyed sigh, saying: "Yeah, thanks to your brother."
Luffy shrugged, saying: "Doesn't matter, let's go."
Nami sighed. Despite having a feeling she was going to regret it later she followed the boy out of the class and the whole school.
XXXXX
"Luffy, where exactly are we going?" Nami asked as they walked through the heavy snow in the woods. If it was someone else she would've started doubting something already, but this was Luffy. He was way too stupid to try something.
"We´re almost there"
"Almost where?" Nami asked as she struggled to keep up with Luffy.
"You'll see" was Luffy's answer. Nami cursed in her mind; who was it again that said Luffy couldn't keep a secret? "We're here."
They stopped and Nami looked around, but saw nothing special. Only trees and snow. Crossing her arms, she asked: "Where exactly is here?"
"Look up" Nami did so, a bit annoyed already. Her eyes widened as she saw a lot of colorful lights lit up in a huge tree, lined up in a way that made it look like a heart.
"Wow" she breathed out.
"The best is still coming" Luffy said as he sneaked his arm around her waist. All Nami could do was say "What?" before she saw Luffy's arm stretch out, taking a hold of a big branch high up in the tree.
"Here we go" Luffy said before jumping, causing both of them to fly upwards fast. Nami let out a scream, tightly holding on to Luffy. After they had landed and Nami had caught her breath she hit Luffy on the head, yelling: "Don't ever do that again!"
"But wasn't it fun?" Luffy asked. Nami's punch hadn't hurt; after all he was rubber at the moment.
"No, it was dangerous and scary, so never do it again!" Nami told, her voice getting louder with every word.
"But nothing bad happened" Luffy insisted, causing him to get hit again.
"It was still dangerous and something could have happened so don't do it again; especially without a warning and in a place like this!" Nami yelled again. Luffy pouted, but decided to stop arguing. They shouldn't ruin the night "Okay."
They were both quiet for a while until Nami asked: "What exactly are we doing here?"
"Eating" Luffy answered and only then Nami noticed all the food in there, set like for a picnic. She didn't think it'd get too cold either; there were blankets and candles everywhere. Besides, it luckily wasn't that cold today. Only -4 Celsius. They sat down on the pillows, talking about everyone and everything as they ate.
XXXXX
"Ace, take your foot off of my head will you?" Sabo asked as he lay down in a tree not too far away from the one Luffy and Nami were in.
"The hell you talking about? I'm on a branch below you, it can't be my foot" his brother told back, rolling his eyes.
"Huh? Then who's sitting above me?" the blond asked, looking up before groaning. Of course.
"Something wrong, Sabo-kun?" Robin asked with a sly smirk.
"Do you mind taking your leg off of my head?" the blond asked "It's not a platform!"
Robin seemed to think for a moment before answering: "No, I like it where it is."
Sabo glared at her, but she just smiled back as innocently as she could.
"I suppose it's obvious who's on the top in that relationship" Nojiko commented from the branch next to Robin's. Sabo's face went red but before he was able to say that they weren't in a relationship Ace beat him to it: "They're not in a relationship" he said "Sabo's way too slow."
"Wha-!?"
"I see" Nojiko said, adjusting her binoculars as she kept an eye on Luffy and Nami "Is that a family fault by chance?"
"The heck are you trying to say?" Ace asked, looking up at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, nothing" Nojiko said, whistling innocently. Ace narrowed his eyes, but focused his attention on Zoro as he said from the highest branch: "Will you guys shut up for a moment and try to concentrate? Wasn't it you who suggested we spy them on the first place?"
"It's not like the three of you weren't enjoying this, too" Ace said "You're lucky Robin; you're even capable of listening them with your drug power."
"And yet it's probably hard since everyone keeps talking" Nojiko said "So shut it."
"You were talking too!" Ace protested, but was shut up by Robin who covered his mouth with an extra hand.
"Look!" Nojiko shouted out suddenly, turning everyone's attention to the other tree completely.
XXXXX
"Luffy? What are you doing?" Nami asked as Luffy's hand came to her face.
"You have cream on your face" the boy said simply, wiping it off with his finger. Nami sweat dropped, more to herself than to him, tough. For a moment she had thought he was going to kiss her, but that was a stupid idea; this was Luffy after all.
"Right" she said "...I could've wiped it away by myself, you know."
"But you were too slow" Luffy said and Nami had a sudden urge to test if his rubber ability would prevent him from getting hurt if she pushed him off the tree. Even if it did she couldn't come up with any other good side in the rubber drug.
"Say Luffy, is that rubber drug actually useful in some way?" she decided to ask.
"I fell from the roof once, but I didn't get injured since I had just taken the drug" Luffy told, looking like he was thinking "And it's easier to reach things with stretchable arms."
"Is that all?" Nami asked. Luffy just shrugged and then grinned, saying: "It's a fun ability."
"Right" she said, sweat dropping "Or you're simply just an idiot."
XXXXX
"I can't believe we sat there the whole night and those two didn't even kiss!" Ace complained as he walked home with Sabo, Zoro and Robin. Nojiko had taken off the second she got down from the tree.
"It can't be helped; he's a little slow" Sabo said "Besides he's got about as much experience with women as Zoro's got a sense of direction."
"Oi!" Zoro protested, making the others laugh "As far as I know Ace has never even kissed anyone and Sabo's still not making any process with asking Robin out!"
Ace and Sabo flushed red, but Robin continued laughing, only harder now.
"Who said I've been planning to ask her out in the first place?!" Sabo yelled. Zoro smirked, meeting eyes with Robin for a split second.
"Oh?" he wondered "Does this mean you have no romantic feelings towards her?"
Sabo was about to respond, but got no word out of his mouth. What was he supposed to say since Robin was there too?
"...I don't need to answer that" was what he settled on.
"In other words he's still too chicken to confess his love" Ace summed up, getting hit by Sabo as a result "Shut up!"
As the brothers fought the other two walked on with the older one talking: "Could it be that you and Ace went a bit far?"
"Nah" Zoro said "Besides you're already aware of his feelings, no?"
"Yes" Robin admitted "But I don't know how serious he is about me, so-"
"So you're too much of a chicken to confess first" Zoro summed up "Sabo's a great guy you know; if you don't hurry someone will snatch him from you."
"Could that someone perhaps be you?" Robin asked with a smirk, intending to make fun of Zoro, but she saw it failed as he smirked back, saying only one word: "Maybe."