You exit a few minutes later once you have washed your face and changed back into your regular clothes, much more comfortable in your (f/c) hoodie. You pause surprised finding Ace waiting for you, lent against the wall opposite the door reading something on his phone, he glances up at you as the door shuts with a snap, you jump at the sound and he chuckles lightly, "You didn't have to wait..." you tell him,

"I know, I wanted to," he smiles and pushes of the wall, his smile droops a little though as he looks at you with concern in his coal black eyes, "you really okay?" you find yourself rubbing your shoulder gently and surprised at the sudden urge to tell him, to tell him you're not okay, about the scar, about the incident. But the words are stuck in your throat. With a sigh you shake your head and give him a smile,

"I'm fine, don't worry. More embarrassed than anything, and confused," You pout, "what was that girl's problem?" the pair of you begin to walk as he twirls his phone in his hand, you're worried he will drop it if he's not careful,

"Bonney? She's kind of a psycho, it was probably because Kid chose you for his team honestly. She gets majorly jealous, laid in pretty thick to his best mate end of last year. Everyone's pretty sure that's why they left," he rambles before glancing at you, "how do you and Kid know one another though? I didn't think you two shared a class, other than Phys Ed that is?"

"We're locker neighbours," you shrug, "So Bonney is his girlfriend?" he nods, "I'll make a mental note to stay away from her crazy ass then, I don't need any more of that kind of abuse in my life again," you cluck your tongue rubbing your shoulder again, oblivious to the deep frown Ace gives you. You both walk quietly for a moment, before his phone twirling gets on your nerves and you swipe it from his grasp, he quirks a brow at you. "Can I have your number?" you ask, he stumbles a step before raising his brows at you,

"You want my number...?" he sounds so surprised, you bite your lip and look down at his phone in your hands, the background is of him, Sabo and Luffy wearing Disney hats and pulling dorky faces,

"W,well... what Koala was saying before... about being friends and not having each other's numbers, I'm not used to having more than one friend," you begin awkwardly, "It used to be just Camie... a,and I just thought since we're friends..." you don't understand why this feels so awkward, "I mean... we live next door to each other so maybe it's a little weird..." Ace pauses your words by placing a hand over yours. Without realising it you have come to a complete stop and he's in front of you. You look up into his amused face,

"I'd like it if we exchanged numbers," he smiles wider and you feel your cheeks warm, "you've never asked for someone's number before have you?" it's like he can see straight through you,

"That obvious huh?" you cringe embarrassed, "Camie and I got our phones at the same time, we didn't even question it we just swapped numbers without a thought. Then other than that I only had my mothers, Rayleigh's and Shakky's. But then I get here and people keep asking for it," you puff out your cheeks, "I'm not used to it at all," he chuckles and gives you a goofy grin,

"So, I'm the first person you've asked personally, I'm honoured," you roll your eyes at his silliness,

"I'll put my number in your phone then..." you look at him again questioningly and he nods releasing your hands and you quickly type it in then hand him the phone so he can save it as a contact, he quickly does so and sends you a message. Pulling your phone out of your bag you snicker at the silly emoji he's sent; you save his contact as 'freckles' and smile feeling a strange warmth across your chest,

You both ended up heading straight to your next lesson as your free period was almost over. It wasn't long until Sabo and Koala joined you, "I thought you were going to meet us at the library," the girl pouts as she sits down behind you,

"Sorry, I took a little longer than I thought," you shrug,

"Hmm," Koala narrows her eyes a little and looks between you and Ace, "Is that all?"

"What else would it be?" Ace questions while leaning back on his chair,

"Well you were pretty insistent on waiting for her," she smiles, Ace blushes and scowls at her,

"Are you feeling better now (Y/N)?" Sabo steps in before anything can start,

"Yes, thank you for worrying about me but I'm fine honestly," you give him a smile, "Oh!" you look between both brothers, "do you guys want a lift home?"

"We can walk don't worry," Sabo says, "We have to stay after school anyhow,"

"Yeah, me and Luffy have team practice and Sabo's got school council stuff," Ace informs,

"It's a meeting actually, not just 'stuff' Ace," Koala points out,

"I don't mind waiting," you tell them, "what time do you finish? I can hang out at the library and do homework until you're finished,"

"I should be finished around five, I think Luffy's the same," Ace immediately liking the idea of you waiting for him,

"Are your sure (Y/N)?" Sabo frowns but you chuckle,

"Sabo it's fine, remember what I said this morning, I'll feel much better if you guys are with me, don't see this as me doing something for you, but you doing something for me,"

"Alright I guess," he finally gives in,

"Do you need a lift Koala?" you ask, surprising the girl,

"That's very generous of you thank you."

You waved goodbye to them and headed to the library, having to avoid running into Bonney at one point. You shake your head as you slip into the library, not having the energy to deal with that basket case right now. You're surprised to find Shachi and Penguin sat at a table, Penguin looks like he's sleeping with a magazine over his face making you frown disapprovingly, Shachi however is frowning in concentration, smiling you head over and drop into a seat beside him, "It can't be that painful can it?" you tease, he looks up surprised then grins,

"Hey (Y/N), history assignment," he cringes, "this one's supposed to be helping," he kicks Penguin under the table, making the boy yelp loudly and sit up scowling. They get shushed by others making you and Shachi giggle,

"Did you have to kick me," Penguin grumbles rubbing his shin before realising you're here, "Oh, hi (Y/N),"

"Hello," you chuckle while pulling out your own homework, "I hope Shachi didn't kick you too hard,"

"Should've kicked harder," Shachi mumbles getting a scowl from his friend,

"It's fine," Penguin responds to you, "how's your shoulder doing?"

"Much better," you figure you should probably get used to being asked this, you have a feeling it won't be the last time,

"Bonney really went at you," he shakes his head, "that girl is insane,"

"So, I've been informed, Ace was telling me she's likely jealous because Kid chose me for his team," you begin going over your homework,

"How did that come about by the way?" Shachi asks curiously, "he chose you even before Killer, he's only ever done that with... well they've left anyhow now," he shrugs, you raise a brow and Penguin leans forwards resting his elbows on the table and playing on his phone,

"You probably think Killer is his best mate, right? Well you would be right I suppose but there was someone even closer, inseparable they were, lived next door to one another and grew up together. They built the craziest shit. But then Bonney happened and well, there was a huge argument and since then, poof, they've been gone," Penguin pulls up a picture, "Science fair last year, this is them and the contraption they built," you gaze at the picture of Kid and another much smaller grinning form,

"They look really close," you note,

"Yup, and Bonney shattered that, she's been moving through one guy to the next since we started high school," Shachi shakes his head, "pretty sure she was with Ace before she moved onto Kid,"

"Wait really?" this shocked you, Ace hadn't mentioned anything when he told you about Bonney. It unsettled you for some reason. Deciding you needed to change the topic of conversation you ask the boys, "so is it just you two here? Where's mister stoic and sarcasm?" they both snort out a laugh,

"Law is on the basketball team," Shachi tells you, "so we always wait for him, what about you? You don't usually come to the library after school, not that I'm complaining," he grins,

"I offered to give Ace, Sabo and Luffy a lift home, oh and Koala," both boys look at you, "I live next door to them," they make oh faces causing you to giggle. Within no time you finish your homework and even help out them with theirs, where you can at least. Once your all done there is still half an hour left to wait,

"I'm bored," Penguin announces, "let's go watch the last bit of their practice," he suggests standing up. You nod in agreement, sitting here any longer you might fall asleep. And so, you head towards the gym, but the sweet sounds of a violin had you slowing down until you come to a stop outside a classroom, Shachi and Penguin haven't even noticed you stopping. You slip into the room enthralled by the music to find a tall figure with an impressive afro stood beside a music stand playing the violin. After a moment they stop playing and turn to face you, you snap back to your senses,

"Sorry... I heard the music and couldn't help..." you shrug smiling sheepishly,

"Yohohoho, no problem at all, I sense a fellow music lover," he smiles,

"You play beautifully," you compliment him,

"Why thank you (Y/N)," he chuckles and you pause,

"You know who I am?"

"Yes, Luffy speaks very highly of you," he responds,

"You're a friend of Luffy's... wait... are you Brook?" you remembered the others talking about a friend they had yet to introduce you too, he nods and bows,

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance at last (Y/N), I've been busy helping the band get ready for homecoming. Do you play?" he holds up his violin,

"I dabble a little I suppose, with an acoustic guitar that is," you shrug, "I'm still learning,"

"We're always learning, every day we learn," he moves over to the corner and pulls a guitar off the rack, "would you play something for me?"

"Oh... I don't know, I've never really played in front of anyone before,"

"You play!?" you jump and turn around to see Shachi and Penguin at the door,

"You vanished from us so we backtracked," Shachi chuckles, you pout,

"I play a little, I'm not very good..."

"Play something?" Shachi pleads, you sigh, he's like a puppy,

"Okay... but please keep in mind I'm not exactly good at it," you turn back to Brook and take the guitar he's holding out to you, "I usually make up my own stuff so..."

"Please, play what you're comfortable with," Brook insists, you walk over to where a piano stands in the corner and sit on the bench, dropping your bag to the floor you get yourself comfortable. With a deep breath you block out everything around you, you strum a few chords letting their vibrations flow over you before beginning a song you had created a long time ago, a song you knew like the back of your hand. You start to become lost in the music as Brook adds his own sound to it, you smile, never having played music with someone else before. Feeling a bit more confident you sing the words softly, allowing your voice to get steadily louder as the sound of the music built up echoing around the small music room. Once you finished you lowered the guitar across your lap, "that was beautiful," Brook commends making you blush slightly, a sudden burst of applause by the door makes your face flush even darker red, especially when you notice it's not only Shachi and Penguin now. At some point Ace, Sabo, Luffy and Koala had arrived and were stood there looking stunned, even Zoro and Law was there. Law flashes you a smirk before bopping his two friends on the head and heading out. They give you a wave goodbye before hurrying after him.

"How long have you lot been there?" you ask while handing the guitar back to Brook who secures it away,

"Pretty much from the start," Koala chuckles, "that was amazing (Y/N),"

"That was AWESOME!" Luffy bounces, "You guys should play together again!"

"Maybe some other time Luffy," you pick up your bag feeling flustered,

"It would be an absolute pleasure to play with you again anytime," Brook informs you; you smile up at him,

"That would be quite nice," you admit getting a chuckle.