Chapter 1 : Paradise Academy

[33 days before]

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Nami blew on the loose orange curl from the corner of her mouth, giving up on tucking back the one rebellious strand. Her crisply ironed white blouse felt constricting under the new navy suit jacket but she knew how first impressions worked - presentation was key. Clammy hands swiped away the microscopic dust on her matching navy skirt for the umpteenth time as she crossed and uncrossed her stocking-clad legs indecisively.

She looked up and immediately flushed in embarrassment upon meeting the amused gaze of the principal. Had he been watching her the whole time?

Nojiko, to her left, was still chattering away, so she had assumed they were still engaged in a conversation.

Nami smiled awkwardly.

The seconds dragged on and he didn't look away.

Nami started. Wait, had he asked her a question?!

She hadn't been paying attention - what was she supposed to say?

She opened her mouth to stutter out some form of response but his dark eyes shifted back to Nojiko, suddenly uninterested in what she had to say. She felt a tick sprout on her temple.

Staring is rude you know!

She blew out a sigh. Focus, Nami, she thought to herself, and tried to concentrate on Nojiko's made-up explanation.

Seconds later, the orangette grew distracted by the gold letters inscribed on the nameplate on the desk.

"Principal Garp," it read and Nami quickly examined its namesake.

Large, was what first came to mind.

Everything about him was oversized, from the suit he wore slung over his broad shoulders to his fists, crossed strongly over his chest. His hair, mustache and beard were gray, indicating his advancement in age, but somehow felt deceiving. Something about this man radiated power. Plus, those biceps were bigger than her head.

She took another deep breath. The room smelled like fresh paint. The leather cushions rubbed at the back of her thighs as she shifted, trying to make her wandering gaze inconspicuous.

Curious hazelnut orbs silently roamed the large office, taking note of the desk-high stacks of pink paper marked 'insubordination' on the hardwood floors and the poorly covered graffiti on the walls.

The window on their right was open, royal blue drapes shifting from a light fall breeze, teasing loose papers on the principal's desk, verge of being whisked away.

By the window was a glass case with numerous rows of shining gold trophies lining its shelves. Such a blatant display of achievements meant the Academy was no amateur when it came to academics and sports. It truly was at the top of its class, despite its students paradoxically lacking in such a concept.

"-right, Nami?"

She straightened in her seat, quickly smiling back at her sister.

"Right," she blinked, trying to look competent.

Principal Garp let out a deep chuckle. He looked down at the opened file on his desk before grinning at the orange-haired girl from across the stacks of pink slips. He leaned back heavily on his chair, crossed his arms and regarded Nami with a glint in his eye.

"Hmmm," he rumbled. "Nami, was it? So this will be your first official day at this Academy?"

Nami nodded firmly. "Yes, sir. I know I'm a bit late in starting, but I'll work hard to catch up."

He tilted his head back in a roaring laugh. "Bwahaha! As if any of these delinquents did any work this past month!"

Nami and Nojiko both joined in an awkward laugh.

"Bah! You'll be just fine," Principal Garp assured. His eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled and Nami felt like she could believe him.

She smiled genuinely this time. "Un," she nodded again, determined.

"Besides," he continued, his tone more serious. "You'll be facing a new kind of challenge at this school, one that doesn't have to do with academics. I'm sure you're aware of the reputation of this school. If you're up for-"

His speech abruptly ended, his chin falling forward onto his chest. The two sisters across from him stared, unsure of what just happened and if they should be alarmed. It was silent for a few moments.

Tentatively, Nojiko spoke up. "Um… Principal Garp-"

The girls jolted in their seats when a large snore reverberated throughout the room. A clear snot bubble rose from his nose as the principal breathed in and out deeply.

There were a few more seconds of bewildered silence.

Then Nami lurched out of her seat, fists raised, all prestigious manners thrown out the window.

"What the hell?!" she roared, sharp teeth bared, small ticks appearing on her forehead. "Did this guy seriously just fall asleep?!"

Nojiko breathed a sigh of relief, sinking back into her seat before chuckling a bit. "I thought he had died for a second there."

Nami sat back down in a huff. "How can you find this amusing, Nojiko? If the principal is like this..."

She rubbed her temples, already exasperated at imagining how the students under his care were like. She mulled over what he had begun to say. What exactly was she getting herself into?

Nojiko's eyes glowed. "This school is something else, Nami. I can feel it. You'll fit in perfectly."

Nami resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

Although they were adopted sisters, Nojiko really acted like an overly-involved mom sometimes. She even had the whole, "vicariously-living-the-highschool-experience-through-you" part down pat. Despite reviewing the details of their story multiple times last night, this morning the tattooed girl had insisted that she come to the school with Nami to "make sure you don't mess up", obviously a lame excuse to get to walk in and marvel at the halls of the infamous academy.

Nami couldn't complain much, though - having her sister with her did calm a bit of her nerves and made transitioning into a new school a lot less daunting.

"Let's hope this is the last one." It was said softly, meant almost as a sigh, but Nami heard it.

Her heart panged at the words. "Nojiko..."

Her sister turned to her with a smile, reaching out to place a hand on hers. "Nami. Don't be afraid to make friends here, okay?"

Nami looked down, away from her sister's hopeful eyes. "I'll be fine," she muttered.

"I'm serious." Nojiko squeezed her hand before pulling away. "This time for sure. Promise me you'll try."

"Nojiko," she started to refute. "You can't-"

"Promise?"

Nami sighed, finally looking up. Her lips strained into a smile. "Fine, fine. I promise I'll try." But it doesn't mean I'll succeed, she finished in her head.

Nojiko beamed.

Satisfied with Nami's answer, she turned back to the snoring principal, still out-cold. She sweatdropped. "How long do you think he's gonna be like that?"

Nami shrugged. "Maybe until-"

"GAUGH!"

They both jumped at the sudden cry from the large man.

"Eh? What- who-?" He muttered drunkenly, scratching his bushy mustache, before his eyes landed on the two wary-looking young sisters in front of him. "Damn it, it happened again...er, where was I... ah, yes-"

He cleared his throat before slamming the desk in front of him with both hands. The two sisters cowered as the wooden furniture shook dangerously before steadying itself. Principal Garp stood and Nami inadvertently gulped as he towered over the two.

"Miss Nami," he began gruffly.

"H-hai," the orangette squeaked out, bracing herself for the next unpredictable action.

The principal reached out a large, hairy hand towards her. Nami looked at it, perplexed at the gesture, before looking up at his expectant gaze.

A strong wind suddenly blew in through the open window and whipped at her hair, teasing more curly strands from her ponytail. The stacks of pink slips finally toppled over, scattering all around the office, a wild tornado of paper and potential papercuts. In the back of her head, Nami wondered if this moment represented the chaos that was surely awaiting her at this school.

Still, she stretched her hand out to clasp Principal Garp's in a rough handshake. His hand was as warm as his smile.

"The Academy is happy to have you here, Nami. Welcome to Paradise."

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Paradise Academy was not, in fact, a paradise.

Quite the opposite, it was reputably known in all of Grand Line City as the school of misfits. Despite this disadvantageous reputation, the school consistently ranked number one in the whole district in overall academics.

The secret to this success? No one was quite sure.

At least, that's what Nami was getting from this brochure she had been handed from the office.

She munched on a breakfast bar (courtesy of secretary Hina's goody basket back at the main office) as she made her way across the empty courtyard to one of her buildings for class. She scanned the rest of the information on the folded piece of paper.

Basically, Paradise Academy won its prestige by obtaining the One Piece, an award only given when a school's participants scored high marks on the national exam, a stressful end-of-year exam taken during a student's final year of high school. Passing this exam allowed immediate entrance into Raftel University, a prominent college that had graduated legendary men like Gol D. Roger.

As such, young, rich teens made up a quarter of the student population here at Paradise Academy, sent there by parents who didn't care about the rumored delinquents attending, simply wanting their own children to excel in order to get into Raftel.

Another quarter of the school was made up of rebellious teens with a knack for trouble, but were reportedly gifted. Those gifts were drawn out through unconventional teaching methods that allowed space for creativity while encouraging individual wills.

The rest of the school's population seemed to be regular teens who wanted to experience High School at an academy rather than in a public school, or lived close enough to the school to apply and be accepted. Discipline was strictly enforced as needed to keep things in order, but positive reinforcement (rather than punishment) was highlighted as the key to growth.

The school's motto? A quote by Gol D. Roger himself.

"If the endless dream guides your restless spirit... seize it!" Nami read aloud quietly.

Hm. Not bad.

She pocketed the brochure into her bag along with the wrapper of her finished snack and stopped at the short set of stairs leading up to the building. Blocking the rays of the sun with one hand, she gazed up at the looming structure in front of her, growing apprehensive at the thought of a new place with all different types of people.

This wasn't the first time she'd been a new student at a school but the butterflies in her stomach never gave her a say in moments like this.

She shouldered her bag, took a deep breath, and climbed up the concrete steps.

Her hand had just barely brushed the handle of the double doors when they suddenly burst open in front of her.

Nami yelped before something- no, someone, she managed to discern by the subsequent cry of surprise, barreled into her at full speed. She felt her feet lifting off the ground from the impact and knew she was a goner.

They were airborne for a split second before tumbling down the hard steps in a flurry of white and blue and orange. Then, with a loud thump, the two landed on the ground in an unceremonious heap of tangled arms and legs.

Nami groaned, squeezing her eyes shut before blinking them open again.

She waited for the ground to stop spinning and for the nausea to pass. By some sort of miracle, her body was still intact. That, or the adrenaline was hiding the fact that she was possibly bleeding out somewhere.

Nami found herself lying on something warm and sturdy, likely what broke her fall. She quickly deduced it as 1) the body of the idiot who slammed into her, and 2) that that idiot was male.

"Itai-tai-tai," that male hissed from below.

Good, she thought passively. Suffer.

There was a bit of an awkward shuffle when her head, previously encased in what she guessed were his arms, was made free. Nami took care not to raise her head from his chest just yet though. His racing heart pounded under her ears but Nami was not one to be caught in some sort of cheesy eye contact scene like their position oh-so-happened to be set up for.

She felt him move his arms to his sides but she was quicker, untangling her legs from him to roll away on her back just as he sat up.

Lying on the ground, squinting up at the wispy clouds lazily moving across the blue expanse, Nami once again wondered exactly what was in store for her at this school, and if it was worth the trouble that was sure to come.

A nice cool breeze blew by, shifting her bangs slightly across her forehead and Nami sat up, whipping her head towards the culprit, ready to unleash a torrent of curses that were sure to get her written up if someone overheard them.

"What in the-?" Her scathing words were immediately cut off, replaced by confusion as she observed the dark-haired boy hold a finger to his grinning lips, coal black eyes brimming with unconcealed mischief.

"Shh," he shushed.

So unexpected was his gesture that Nami just blinked, stunned, as the guy stood up and peered back from where he had run from, his back tense.

Definitely trouble, Nami concluded with half-lidded eyes.

Everything from his messy black hair, half-unbuttoned shirt, loosened red tie, ripped-at-the knee slacks and sandals for Oda's sake, spelled disaster. Not to mention how he seemed to be on the run from something.

She hadn't even been to her first class and here she was already tangled up with a delinquent. Just her luck.

It was best to make a run for it now, she decided, while he was preoccupied with the lurking danger behind him.

Nami reached for her bag, which had fallen off her shoulder in the scuffle, and slapped down the blue slip of paper containing her class schedule and a map of the school before it flew away. She had already memorized all her classes and their room numbers but still needed the map to know how to get there. In this building, she had her first class - World History with Mr. Silvers.

Nami looked up and almost flinched at the curious black orbs staring back at her. So much for making a run for it.

"Are you new?" He asked bluntly. "Haven't seen you around."

His eyes landed on the schedule, slightly crumpled in her hands. Nami stuffed it quickly in her bag and stood up, indignant.

Who was this guy? His manners were atrocious. "Shouldn't you be apologizing for something?"

He tilted his head quizzically. "Are you lost?" he asked, completely ignoring her last question.

"What? No, you idiot, I'm-"

A sudden noise unlike the sound of a rolling door slamming open came from inside the building.

"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY THIS TIME YOU LITTLE BRAT!" a menacing voice thundered.

A cold chill ran down Nami's back.

"Ngh! Oh, crap!" she could hear the slight panic in the black-haired boy's voice as they both looked back at the closed double doors, eyes wide. The faint but booming sound of footsteps drew nearer. Something… big was coming.

"Who did you piss off this badly?" Nami found herself whispering heatedly, in shock from the sheer anger that had emanated from the voice.

"No time," she heard in response, before she was grabbed by her wrist and dragged around the stairs to the side of the building just as the doors burst open a second time, it's hinges squealing in protest.

Nami didn't dare make a sound as their backs clung to the building's smooth wall, trying to melt into it's shadow. Rough, heavy breathing made way to her ears.

"MONKEY D. LUFFY," the voice growled. "YOU'LL PAY FOR EATING MY DELICIOUS SWEETS!"

Nami turned to this 'Monkey D. Luffy', incredulous.

Seriously? she glared with her eyes.

He gave her a blinding grin in return.

"WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU…"

They could hear her coming down the steps. Luffy pulled her quickly from the side of the building to the back, still hiding in the shade.

Nami's pulse thundered in her ears. Why was she hiding exactly? It wasn't like she had done anything wrong. She didn't have anything to do with eating some teacher's sweets. She was innocent!

She side-eyed the one who got her in this situation in the first place - Monkey D. Luffy, was it? Wasn't it all this stupid, blundering, unapologetic idiot's fault?

She closed her eyes as a bead of sweat slid down her temple.

If she were to reveal herself now, though, she reasoned grimly, she'd look like an accomplice. Nami gulped at the thought. She had yet to see the teacher but she wasn't eager to plead her case in front of such potential terror.

Something squeezed her hand. She looked down at the tanned hand covering her own then back up at the owner of that hand with narrowed eyes. Even with the danger they were currently in, his eyes still held a playful glint in them - he was enjoying this, Nami realized.

She sweatdropped. He must be insane.

He held up his other hand with three fingers up.

After a moment, Nami nodded. She had no choice.

She counted down in her head.

Three. She took a quiet breath in, then out.

Two. Footsteps on the grass. Getting closer. "HOW DARE YOU MAKE A MOCKERY OUT OF ME!"

One. "MONKEY D. LUFFY!"

With nothing else to lose both, the two pushed off from the wall and sprinted towards the other side of the building, diving into the bushes there just as the silhouette of a big round woman with curly hair came rounding the corner. Nami didn't have time to catch what the teacher looked like before she was being pulled through the brush, across a grassy open field, down a ditch, up a hill, and into a grove of cherry blossom trees.

The two of them collapsed behind the trunk of one of the trees, breathing hard, hands still clasped together. Nami wasn't sure if they'd been seen or not.

She pushed back the loose curls that had escaped from her hair tie and waited with baited breath for any indication of them being followed, her heart doing jumping jacks in her chest.

A minute passes and they hear the voice call for Luffy once more, but farther away.

Five minutes. Nami bravely takes a peek around the trunk of the trees. No one in sight.

She sits back down and sighs, letting go some of the tension in her body.

Ten minutes.

"Shishishishishi!"

At Monkey D. Luffy's laugh, Nami breathes another sigh of relief, releasing her hand from the boy's loose grip. She let out a giggle herself, then a chuckle, before finally letting herself go into full-blown laughter.

Luffy fell to the ground holding his stomach, his laugh light and infectious. She didn't know how long they stayed there, under the cherry blossoms, laughing their butts off from escaping what was possibly the scariest punishment of their lives.

When their giggles finally teetered off, Nami breathed in the scent of grass and sun and cherry blossoms, fully immersing herself in the moment, before sitting up.

She was abruptly hit with the sobering reality that she was at school, not some playground to run around in like she was just doing.

And this was only her first day.

She cringed at the thought of her History teacher waiting for her to arrive only for her to show up so late. Not a very good first impression.

Maybe she can say she got lost.

"We should get back to class," she said.

The grass shifted beside her as her partner-in-crime sat up as well. "Mm, probably."

Just as the words left his mouth, a long, dull ring sounded from across the field. It was the bell - a telltale signal of the transition to the next class, the sound reverberating across the school grounds, towards the hill, and into Nami's slowly reddening ears.

Her heart dropped. She scrambled up her spot on the exposed root of the tree and peered around it's trunk to confirm the inevitable truth.

A steady stream of students - her classmates - started to make their way out of multiple buildings and slowly fill the courtyard, mingling outside before moving onto their next class. Their cheerful voices and laughter traveled up the hill and to the grove, mocking her.

Nami ran a hand down her face.

"Shishishishi! Right on time, don't you think? We can blend in now," the cause of her current suffering stated happily, oblivious to her inner torment.

Nami's eye twitched. What the hell was she doing here again?

Nevermind the idiot, I need to know what my next class is.

She dug in her bag for her schedule to confirm her next class - Trigonometry with Mr. Mihawk, Building 8, Class 3-A at 8:20am. She checked her watch. Five minutes until the bell rang again.

"We need to go," she stated absentmindedly, checking the map. It was opposite of her first building, Building 4, on the other side of the courtyard.

"Ne, what's your name?" came the cheerful voice.

Nami scoffed. "What makes you think I'd tell you that?"

She folded the paper and put it back in her bag. She'll say she got lost for her first class. But it will only work once as an excuse. No more mishaps.

"Well, you know mine. My name is Monkey D. Luffy."

"Luffy," she murmured.

"Un. What's yours?"

"Luffy," she repeated, then turned to face him. He seemed like a good guy, honestly, but she really couldn't get mixed up with people like him.

"Thanks for the adventure, really, but I think it's best if we keep our distance from now on."

"Eh?" He tilted his head. "But we just-"

Nami glanced at her watch. Four minutes. She'd have to run now.

"Nami," she said hurriedly, confused as to why she was giving it to him but doing so nonetheless. She made her way through the grove and down the hill. "It's Nami."

She was already climbing out of the ditch and stepping onto the grassy field when she heard him holler. "Nami!"

She sighed in exasperation. Already she regretted giving him her name. Still, she turned back around to see him, red tie flipped over his shoulder, a wide grin on his face as his arm waved wildly in the air.

"See you later, Nami!"

She glared back at him but his grin didn't falter, bursting instead into another round of laughter.

Doesn't this guy have a class? she briefly wondered. She doubted he understood at all what she had said before about staying away.

Without a word she faced forward and sprinted across the field, making a beeline for the group of kids milling about the courtyard.

For now, she accepted as she panted from her run, pushing through the crowd and strolling towards the double doors of Building 8, for making her skip her first class, Monkey D. Luffy had won this round.

Man, I thought I'd never be back haha! Let's see what I can do.

- forgottensongs