Clean Up Duty
The school festival is over, and Smoker is in charge of cleaning up the aftermath.
Written for the OP Marines Week!
DAY 5: Modern Era AU
Smoker leaned next to the gymnasium, watching as the last group of families finally left for the evening. That meant he could leave too. And smoke. He could finally get that sweet hit of nicotine that he'd been craving for the last eight hours.
He stepped away from the building, heading in the direction of the Teacher's Lounge when a voice behind him called his name. Smoker's shoulders hunched and it took a monumental effort to turn around and respond.
"Glad I caught you. We need someone to oversee the clean up of the gym and field," Sengoku smiled brightly, the pineapples on his tie looking particularly offensive to Smoker in the waning light of the sun. He blinked at the School Principal and hoped that the look on his face was threatening enough to make Sengoku find someone else.
No such luck. Without waiting for him to accept, Sengoku clapped him on the shoulder, "Great! I'll see you in the morning! What a great last cultural festival before I retire!" he chortled and walked away. Smoker's eye twitched violently.
He clenched his jaw and turned around, looking back inside the gym. It was empty. Well, almost empty. Near the entrance on the other side of the building were three small figures. He recognized them, sighed, and made his way over.
"Oh, excuse me Sir, the event is over, and the exit is the other way!"
Smoker closed his eyes, his temples starting to throb. "Put your glasses on Tashigi," he grunted as he reached the tiny group. Tashigi blinked at him and pushed her glasses back onto her nose. "Oh! Mr. Smoker!"
He rolled his eyes. "Are you here to help us with clean-up duty?" She smiled brightly at him. He grunted in response, which she took as a yes. Tashigi then turned to their other companions. Koby, one of his first year students that aced his math tests but was always on the verge of passing out from fear whenever Smoker called on him. The other, Helmeppo, not one of Smoker's students, but Smoker had replaced Helmeppo's father after the idiot got caught falsifying grades for money.
Neither kid would meet his eyes. What he wouldn't do for a smoke right now... "Okay, boys, um, I um...I guess we should start with putting away the equipment!" Tashigi clapped her hands together and gestured to the pile of sports shit that had been shoved under the bleachers. Baseball bats, basketballs, practice swords, gloves, protective gear… this was going to be tedious.
"Fine, you three drag it all out here, I'll clear the actual bleachers," he muttered. Tashigi smiled, patted Koby on the shoulder and they scampered under the huge metal structure to begin sorting through the mess. Smoker rubbed a hand down his face before clambering onto the bleachers and sweeping through each aisle, picking up trash, and a couple forgotten sweaters.
As he reached under a bench to grab the remnants of a victory poster, he heard Tashigi's voice echo up from below. "Wow, these are heavier than they look, huh Koby?" the sound of shuffling and something shifting. Smoker sighed as he yanked on the wedged paper, the damn poster board was wedged good under the bench. Dammit.
"I-I can carry that Ms. Tashigi!" Koby squeaked.
"Oh, you sure? Only if you're sure… by the way, thank you for volunteering to be on clean-up duty!" Smoker raised an eyebrow. The kid had signed up for this? This was the worst part of the cultural festival! He tugged harder on the poster.
"It's nothing, I wanted to contribute somehow...so…" the kid's voice trailed off.
"There weren't any other events you wanted to do?" Tashigi asked. The poster shifted as Smoker gave it once last yank. Unfortunately, he'd misjudged how hard he was pulling and when the poster came loose… he lost his balance and fell backward onto the painful metal steps.
He stared at the high ceiling of the gym, noting a few balloons stuck high in the corners for a moment, dazed. He sat up as he heard rushing footsteps from under the bleachers. In a second, Tashigi and Koby appeared, Tashigi jolting to a stop, Koby colliding with her.
The two of them went down, Smoker's eyebrows going up as both of their glasses clattered to the floor. "Mr. Smoker! Are you alright?! We heard a crash!" Tashigi looked in his vague direction as she felt around on the floor for her glasses.
"I'm-" he stopped as Tashigi grabbed Koby's glasses from the floor and placed them on her face. Koby had done the same thing. They both blanched, took them off, looked at one another and swapped. Smoker closed his eyes and shook his head. "I'm fine," he grumbled, getting to his feet and shoving the damned poster into a trash bag.
Tashigi looked at him with concern before Helmeppo's voice caught her attention. "Alright, that's everything out from under the bleachers," he called out, standing near the pile with his arms folded. Smoker picked up his trash bag and walked away from the others as he took it outside to the dumpster.
As he returned, he stopped, staring. Tashigi was holding a wooden practice sword in her hands, as was Helmeppo, standing next to her. "You hold it like this, and then…" with quick sure footed movements, Tashigi slid through a set of stances, the sword slicing through the air cleanly and precisely. Koby clapped. Helmeppo watched her closely, adjusting his grip on the sword to match hers.
Smoker coughed and the three of them startled. Tashigi turned red. "Good footwork, but let's focus and get this done," he muttered as he stepped forward and grabbed a couple baseball bats from the pile.
"Oh, um, thank you, and uh, yes right," she smiled sheepishly, grabbing a mat from the pile. Koby grabbed a couple pairs of baseball gloves, Helmeppo awkwardly tucking three basketballs under his arms. The four of them left the gym and made their way to the equipment room. "I wonder if the baseball club will be holding tryouts soon, after all, they saw some talent earlier today!" Tashigi wondered aloud as they began putting things away.
Smoker raised an eyebrow. He'd been focused on basketball and had missed the baseball game. "If they do, you should try out, Koby," said Helmeppo as he helped Tashigi put away the swords. "I...I don't think I'm good enough-" Koby squeaked from next to Smoker's elbow, his face quickly turning bright red.
"Bullshit," Helmeppo glared at him.
"Language Helmeppo!" Tashigi scolded. Helmeppo winced but continued giving Koby a look. The pinkette was nearly as pink as his hair.
"I used to play, I could tell you for sure," Smoker dropped casually. The others stared at him as he grabbed a bat. The poor kid looked like he was going to pass out, but Tashigi smiled encouragingly at him. Helmeppo grabbed a glove and ushered Koby out of the room as Smoker moved away onto the baseball field.
He stood over the base, bending his knees, bat gripped in his hands. It felt good to hold a bat again. Helmeppo shoved Koby onto the pitcher's mound, patting him on the shoulder. Tashigi stood off to the side, her hands clasped together.
Koby stared at him, biting his lip before he took a deep breath and relaxed his shoulders. Smoker tightened his grip on the bat, and lucky he did because Koby threw the goddamn ball at him so fast that if it weren't for his years of experience, he would have missed it!
BAM! The ball sailed off across the field, and Smoker blinked in surprise at Koby, like he'd never seen him before. "S-sorry, I should have asked if you were rea-!" Koby looked horrified.
"Try out for the baseball team, you've got a hell of an arm," Smoker shut him up. His eyes went wide behind his glasses before he turned bright red and nodded. Tashigi clapped as Helmeppo returned with the ball, a smug look on his face.
They resumed putting away the last of the equipment as the sun set and Smoker watched Koby and Helmeppo leave the gym, chattering excitedly. Smoker looked around quickly, and not seeing anything else he needed to do, finally reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. Nicotine sweet nico- "Smoker! You can't smoke on school grounds!" Tashigi hissed at him, aghast. He glowered at her. She glared back. He put his cigarette away.
Tashigi handed him a candy bar as some irritating form of placation. They both leaned back against the wall of the gym as he took a bite aggressively. "So, Garp is retiring from coaching the baseball team…" she trailed off and looked up at him, a knowing smile on her face.
"I'll think about it," he grumbled as the sun finally set. As much as he wanted a smoke, he could wait a little longer. Tashigi giggled.
Notes:
This was originally written for the OP Bunkasai zine that got cancelled so I decided to reuse it for OP Marines Week! I had a lot of fun writing these idiots. Coby and Helmeppo's relationship is so sweet. This fic was written for One Piece Marines Week (check out the fic collection and all the artwork on twitter under the tag #OPMarinesWeek!)
Let me know your thoughts!
As always, thank you for reading and you can find me on twitter at buggyisbest