Chapter 1: Crossing A Line
AN: So, Welcome to the remastered version of Life is a Highway based on One Piece Hungry Days commercials and my absolute favorite was Nami's. Besides all the easter eggs we all have seen, what I found remarkable was seeing Arlong as a human. This story was based on an old Arlong/Nami story that I had started back in 2007 but had lost all the notes I had for it, and taking inspiration from the characters seen Hungry Days, I started my old fic. So the story takes place two years after Nami and her friends have graduated. I do not own One Piece! That will always belong to Eiichiro Oda!
Today was the day; today was finally the day Nami would tell the arrogant jerk she worked for the last two years that she was quitting. Her adopted mother, Belle-mere, had been urging her to do so. Arlong had it coming, and Nami was determined to walk out the door, her head high. Since the day he hired her as a part-time dishwasher for his popular seafood restaurant Arlong Park (named after himself, of course), Arlong had never respected her nor fairly treated her. In truth, he never treated any of his employees reasonably except for Kuroobi and Chew. With Nami, he had made her life a living hell. He would yell and berate her just because Arlong felt like it, never giving a damn when she even apologized for being late. Well, no more! She finished with him and his damn attitude.
The restaurant was closed after the lunch rush for cleaning and preparations before the dinner rush. It made the place friendly and quiet, though also creepy, Arlong's idea of the perfect décor. True, it had the oceanic theme to express it was a seafood restaurant but what creeped Nami out was the different species of sharks on display. The replica heads had specific places along the walls, from the nightmarish great white to the long nose sawtooth shark. Every one of them with jaws opened, looking ready to strike at any moment. For Nami, it was enough to give just anyone nightmares. The only thing that put Nami to slight ease was the red sun painted on the underside of their mouths, something that matched their table lamps.
It was past the kitchen to the rear entrance where Arlong had his office from the dining room. The office was a 7'-5 x 6'-10 space, but it looked smaller with the large desk positioned so that Arlong had a good view of the back door, loading dock, and kitchen. Nobody could come or go through the area without him knowing. Nami knew Arlong had seen her cause of the slight movement of his eyes as he glanced up from the computer monitor to the clock that hung on the wall.
"You don't start until five o'clock, Chizu," Arlong said, her last name sounding off in his usual nasty and arrogant tone. He leaned back in the office chair, his arms resting on the armrests. "Unless you're here for some other reason?"
Nami gulped as she tried to calm herself as she stared at him. She remembered when she came to this place for her interview as a dishwasher, and he still looked the same from that day, still arrogant and meaner than a shark.
Okane Arlong had long, black hair with a widow's peak reaching down to his shoulders under a brown urshanka. Whenever Nami looked at him, what consistently came to her mind was a shark. From his angular jaw to his nose, which was not as long as her friend Usopp was, but it was what he did that screamed a saw shark. Arlong had three nose ring piercings going down both sides, and the man even had his teeth filed down that they resemble the teeth of a shark. His attire was composed of fashionable, light clothes that reflected his rich status and his rumored background as a thug. He wore a short-sleeved, unbuttoned yellow cabana shirt decorated by many black lightning-like spots (the standard uniform for the food servers) over a light purple tank top. He wore Bermuda shorts that were green and a purple sash around the waist and simple sandals. A golden chain bracelet was around his left wrist and two golden bracelets around each ankle, with straw-like decorations hanging from them.
'You can do this, no backing down,' Nami thought as she took a small breath, finally summoning the courage needed. "I quit," she said.
"What?!" Arlong's fierce light blue eyes were dark with anger now. "What did you just say to me?"
"I said I quit!" Nami repeated, louder now.
"The hell you are! You are not walking out on me!"
Did he just seriously say that? Nami could not believe that he say something that outrageous! "Out on you?! You are acting like I am breaking up with you, not quitting! We aren't in a relationship!"
It was a mistake on Arlong's part. An honest one, but he was too proud to admit that, especially in front of Nami. "We aren't, but I pity anyone who would be with you. Putting up with you wouldn't be worth the headache," he snarled.
"Do you know what you are?" Nami said, now offended. "You are the biggest arrogant, sexiest jerk I have ever met!"
Now Arlong was a hothead, and Nami's insult just pissed him beyond anything. The chair he was sitting in crashed on the floor as he came out of it so fast that it tipped over. He slammed both hands down onto the desk that everything on it shook. "Arrogant, sexiest jerk?! Who the hell do you think you are talking to, girl?!"
He was expecting to see the girl cower, as usual, bowing as she apologized for upsetting him and apologize for even thinking of quitting. Only that was not happening. Nami did not cower, and she did not say sorry. Instead, she stood firm, unyielding, and her warm chocolate brown eyes showed a fierce fire of pure defiance. No, this certainly was not the girl who he bullied and harassed for the last two years. Oh no, this was a young woman who had the damn guts and fire actually to challenge his authority, and this got Arlong's attention. She even boldly matched his intimidation act by slamming her hands down on his desk. In Arlong's opinion, this was a lioness ready to challenge anyone. Fierce and very fiery.
What happened next was something the two thought would never happen, and years later, who made the first move was still a mystery, but their fierce little stare down turned into a kiss that Arlong did not want to end.
Her lips were so soft and so warm against his. The tenderness from that kiss sent shivers up and down Arlong's spine that it was pure bliss. Tenderly he cupped both hands around the girl's face bringing her closer, almost pulling her up onto the desk. He was kissing her with a sudden hungry, longing desire. Neither one knew how long this went on, but it ended when Nami broke their kiss. "I'm sorry…." That was all she could say just before she ran out.
Arlong reached down, righting his chair, and fell back into it, looking at the ceiling. He was in deep shit. Hell, they both were. They had crossed a line, and there was no going back, no do-over. It had happened. Truly happened. He and Nami had kissed, and he loved every second of it. But, no matter how much he had enjoyed it, Arlong knew this would come back and bite him right in the ass.
'Damn it; I can lose everything. Not after how hard I worked to get here," Arlong thought bitterly.
It was then his cell rang, and glancing at the caller's ID, did Arlong sigh. 'How does he always know?' he thought and then answered. "Big Brother, I royally screwed up this time."
"Arlong, what did you do and start at the beginning."
~~.~~.~~
Nami arrived home in a clouded state of mind, thankfully neither her adoptive mother and adopted sister, Nojiko, were not there, or they would have seen how upset she was. They would have pressed on what happened, and Nami did not feel like talking to anyone.
She silently went up the stairs to her room and closed the door behind herself even though alone. All she could do was fall back onto her bed, not even taking off her shoes, and stare numbly at the ceiling. Her thoughts focused on everything that happened, especially the one thing that never should have happened. Had that indeed happened? Did she kiss a man that she called an arrogant, sexiest jerk?
'What did I do?' Nami thought. 'I went there to tell him I quit, and what happened? We kissed! I kissed Arlong!'
Her cell phone, which was lying next to her, began to vibrate, and she picked it up. She did not recognize the number, but there was a chance that one of her friends, probably Luffy or Zoro. It was usually them, got a new cell and were calling to show off their unique number.
"Hello?" she said, trying not to sound off.
"Nami."
The voice on the other end was the last person she thought would ever call. Her eyes widened with shock and surprise. "A-arlong? How did you get this number?"
"You gave it to me, remember? As part of your resume," he explained, sounding different as if he was another person at that moment. "Anyways, I want to talk."
"Talk?" she said. "There is nothing to-"
"Nothing? You know that is not true," he said. "What about us?"
"Us? Arlong, there is not us. What happened was a mistake."
The silence that followed seemed like an eternity. "Do you believe that?" Arlong finally said.
"What?"
"Can you honestly say that? That what happened was just a mistake?"
"Y-yes," Nami said with slight hesitation.
"Prove it then," Arlong challenged her.
"What do you mean?"
"You say it to me," Arlong said. "Tonight."
Nami heard the end call beep and all she could do was stare at her phone in shock.
~~.~~.~~
Arlong laid his phone down on the desk and closed his eyes. 'I hope Big Brother is right about this," he thought.
~~Flashback~~
"Big Brother, I screwed up royally this time."
"Arlong, what did you do and start at the beginning."
"The girl that I have as a part-time dishwasher comes in here and has the nerve to tell me she is quitting." Arlong starts to explain, his aggravation from earlier coming back slightly.
"I wonder why she would." That was the reply he got.
"Tiger, do you want me to continue or what?"
"Calm down, Arlong," Tiger said, calm as ever. "So, she tells you that she is leaving."
"Yeah, and I tell her that is not happening. Well, we argued, and we kissed."
"Wait, wait. You two kissed?"
Arlong groaned. "That is what I just said."
"Did you kiss her, or did she kiss you?"
"Does it god damn matter? It doesn't matter if Nami kissed me or if I kissed her first!" Arlong was losing his patience with his big brother. "What matters is I can get in serious trouble, and if that happens, I will lose everything!"
"Arlong, take a deep breath and relax."
"Relax?! You want me to relax?! Have you been paying attention to what I've said at all?!"
"She likes you."
"What…?" Arlong was not sure he had just heard Tiger right. Nami liked him? No, his big brother had to be wrong. There was no way that girl wanted him not on that level. "Nami…no… she doesn't like me."
"Are you sure?"
"She called me an arrogant, sexiest jerk!"
Laughter erupted on the other end, and Arlong glared at the cell phone held in his hand, debating whether he should hang up. No, he couldn't do that. No matter how mad Tiger made him at times, he could never hate him. Besides, Tiger would make sure the conversation would go on even if he hung up.
Slowly the laughter died down. "I already like this girl," Tiger said with a good hearty chuckle. "She got you painted right on the money."
"You know you're such a damn ass at times," Arlong grumbled. "Still, I do not believe she likes me in any way."
"Well, that's your fault," Tiger said. "You always had problems when it comes to women and relationships."
"Not my problem, and why should I care?"
"Right there, that attitude of yours. But, Arlong, I get you always had to be this tough guy when you were a kid growing up on the streets," Tiger's tone took a serious note. "You're not that scared little kid anymore, and maybe it's time you changed some, or you're going to spend the rest of your life miserable and alone. You don't even speak to your sister anymore."
"Shyarly and I didn't agree on certain things, and you know that," he said, an angry edge to his voice at the memory. "And you're trying to distract me as usual."
"How are you about this girl, Nami?"
"What?"
"You heard me, you smart ass! How do you feel about this girl?"
Along was silent as confusion clouded his thoughts at that moment. How did he feel? He never cared about Nami, and he treated her like he treated all the others who worked for him. Like shit. Yet the moment he replayed that kiss, he felt so strange. He felt a tingle, like a small electric shock go through him as he pictured her clearly in his mind. The fire he saw in her eyes that way she looked at that moment. So defiant. So beautiful. He felt a tightening in his chest as his breath seemed caught in his throat. He realized right there and then that he had actual feelings for the girl, feelings that were so strange and alien to him. "I- "Arlong found it hard to talk as the words seemed stuck in his throat.
"You're in love," Tiger said.
No, that couldn't be right. There was no way hell he had fallen in love! Not with a girl like that, and yet he longed to taste her lips again. To touch her-NO! He quickly dismissed the untold fantasies and images that filled his head. It didn't feel right to him. Yet it was there, and he couldn't deny that very truth that he wanted to hide. Big Brother was right. He had at that very moment fallen hard for the orange-haired beauty who dared challenged him, called him an arrogant, sexiest jerk, and then kissed him with such tenderness that he was hungering for it. "What should I do?"
"Talk to her," Tiger told him.
~~End Flashback~~
Arlong opened his eyes, glancing at the clock, which read four o'clock. 'An hour before she gets here.' After gathering his thoughts, Arlong heard the evening and closing crews coming in. Kuroobi and Chew were loud as usual.
"So, did you even watch the game?"
"Dude, it was a snooze fest," Chew said. "Feel asleep like during the third inning,"
Kuroobi laughed. "Of course, you would!"
"Quiet out there!" Arlong snapped, feeling the urge to get back to his old self. "I was enjoying the quiet until you two came in!"
"Damn, you're moody today," Kuroobi shot back before he stood in the doorway. "Just to give ya a heads up, it looks like we got a nice thunderstorm coming in. You want us to check on the generator?"
"You do your jobs," Arlong said, getting up from the chair. "I'll make sure we're ready in case of anything. No way I'm losing any business if some stupid power outage happens."
"Looks like the boss man is determined to be the badass as usual," Chew said.
"And who has the bragging rights for being the around here?" Arlong said with a smirk. "Now get your asses moving because we'll have customers coming in soon."
~~.~~.~~
The storm hit just before Nami had reached the door of Arlong Park, and though she carried her umbrella, she still got caught in the torrent of rain. Inside was the usual crowd of customers with a few new ones. 'That'll make Arlong happy.' She thought.
"At least you're not running late. For once."
Nami didn't look at Arlong though the remark was not as nasty as usual. It was better to avoid any eye contact for the moment, and she just nodded. She just wanted to get the shift over with and then go home. "May I please go and get my apron?"
Arlong had been blocking her path, and he moved aside so she could pass, though before Nami could, he leaned down to her height. "We're still going to have that little talk before you leave, though," he whispered near her ear. Nami said nothing but hurried to the kitchen as fast as she could go. Arlong sighed mentally; this would be a long and rough night for the both of them.
The storm that raged outside had passed when the restaurant closed for the night. Nami planned to get out as fast as possible; to hell with the talk! Except that plan did not go as she had hoped it would. Arlong was at the main entrance waiting, hands in the pockets of his shorts, looking up at the night sky through the window. What Nami found strange was that the man looked so peaceful and calm before he looked in her direction. No getting away on this, and he was making sure.
"Fine…" she said bitterly, pulling a chair out from the table near the door. "We'll talk."
"Why did you do it?" he asked.
She blinked, staring at him. No way this was him, not the Arlong she knew. "Do what?"
"The kiss, don't play coy. Why did you do it?"
Nami didn't have an answer to that when she had no reason why she did it. Was it at that time a very heat of the moment? First, they were arguing, and then they were sharing that kiss. It was something so innocent that it should have never had happened. Nami lowered her head, staring at her folded hands that rested on her legs. "I don't have an answer."
"So, you had no real reason, did you?" Arlong questioned.
"No," Nami said.
"So, it was, as you said, a mistake."
"Yes,"
She gave a startled jump when his fingers curl under her chin, lifting her head so she was staring into his face. "Say it," Arlong said. "Say it to my face. If you say what happened was truly a mistake, I won't stop you from leaving. Say it, and you can quit; I'll never bother you again."
Nami could do that, and once she did, she could leave here for good. "It was a- " she wanted to say the word, but she could not. No matter how much she wanted to say those four simple words, nothing would come out of her mouth. So why couldn't she say it? Why?
'Just say it! Say it, and you are free of him!' Nami had tears of frustration spilling down her cheeks. "I-I can't! I can't say it!" she said, feeling so ashamed of herself. She cost herself the one chance to be rid of him.
To see the girl like this. To see the tears flowing because she couldn't say it was enough to humble Arlong. Nami had done the impossible, and she didn't even realize she had done it. What he was feeling was so frightening and confusing at the same time. Arlong's body was moving without him even realizing it as he brushed the tears away. He needed her. He truly needed her. Not to possess or own but to want her in a way he never believed possible. He had fallen in love with the girl.
"No more tears," Arlong said, his tone gentle.
"I couldn't say it," she said with a sob.
"I know."
"I couldn't say it because…. I enjoyed it."
Her confession floored him. She enjoyed it. "You what?"
Nami looked at him, and those beautiful brown eyes were full of shame. "I enjoyed kissing you," she said.
To hear her say it was so shocking, and yet it was music to his ears. He hesitantly took hold of her hands, his heart racing as he struggled to speak the words that were swirling around in his mind.
"Nami…." He asked softly. "Would you give me a chance? Please."
"No."
Arlong was shocked. No? Did she tell him no? Where his anger would have been at that moment, there was none. Then his big brothers came back to him; it's time you changed some, or you're going to spend the rest of your life miserable and alone. Arlong realized the ugly and frightening truth that his big brother was so right. He had to change from his attitude to his way of thinking of others.
"Nami, you are correct to say no because I've been a miserable bastard," he said, swallowing the lump that was forming in his throat. "I've treated you like shit like everyone else around here-"
"Except for Kuroobi and Chew," Nami interrupted.
"Yeah, and I've known them since we were kids," Arlong said, nodding. "As I was saying, I've treated you and every other employee minus those two like shit." He lowered his head as his shoulders slumped some. "Maybe it's time that I changed truly changed. Then maybe I might find a woman who will give me a chance."
Nami couldn't believe that this was Arlong. He looked so different at the moment, so broken and hurting so bad. Her saying no had hurt him, and Nami wondered if she dared give him a real chance.
"Do you mean everything you just said?" Nami asked him. "About changing yourself?"
Arlong looked at her. Was there a slight chance that she would give him a real possibility? "Yes."
Nami prayed she wouldn't regret her decision. "Than I will give you that chance if you promise that you will work on changing yourself for the better. That you'll treat everyone else, including the customers, better."
"Yes. I swear I will do it," Arlong said, bringing her hands to his chest. "I swear on this night that I will become a man not only worthy of you but that you can be proud to be with."
Nami gave him a small smile, but to Arlong, it was enough. He stood, guiding her from the chair before he leaned forward to press his lips against hers. The kiss they shared at that moment was a promise. A promise that slowly became passionate, something Arlong never knew, let alone believed existed. Yes, they crossed a line, and they certainly had no desire ever to go back.
Well, Arlong and Nami have indeed crossed a severe line. A big thanks go out to my friend BXE, the editor of this story and Saw Pirates. So, in this edited version, we decided to give Nami and Arlong last names. Nami's surname name, Chizu, means a map, while Arlong's surname Okane means money. So remember to Read and Review.